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Knowing how to secure your financial well-being is one of the most important things you’ll ever need in life. You don’t have to be a genius to do it. You just need to know a few basics, form a plan, and be ready to stick to it.

No matter how much or little money you have, the important thing is to educate yourself about your opportunities. In this brochure we’ll cover the basics on saving and investing.

At the SEC, we enforce the laws that determine how investments are offered and sold to you. These laws protect investors, but you need to do your part, too. Part of this brochure tells you how to check out investments and the people that sell them so you do not fall victim to fraud or costly mistakes.

No one can guarantee that you’ll make money from investments you make. But if you get the facts about saving and investing and follow through with an intelligent plan, you should be able to gain financial security over the years and enjoy the benefits of managing your money.

Please feel free to contact us with any of your questions or concerns about investing. It always pays to learn before you invest. And congratulations on taking your first step on the road to financial security! [Download]

Over the last 15 years, that model has changed. First, advances in technology and regulatory reforms led to the rise of discount brokers, making it difficult for the old-fashioned stockbroker to sustain the same fee structure.

Later, partly in response to that assault, the financial services industry looked to develop a more stable and less cyclical revenue stream. This fit in neatly with consumer concerns about conflicts of interest, and has led to a new paradigm in financial advice—the movement toward offering consultative services instead of product pushes and straightforward fee structures rather than complex or opaque ones.[Download]

Yes, it’s true – NOBODY knows the future.We don’t even know what will happen tomorrow. People want to believe that it is possible to predict events and outcomes.

Unfortunately, not even that renowned investor,Warren Buffet, can foresee the future. Some people make lucky guesses or constantly predict calamities. Famed investment analyst Elaine Gazarelli predicted (guessed) to the exact date that there would be a crash on October 19, 1987, yet her track record after that prediction has been miserable.

If every day you say it’s going to rain, eventually you will be right.

Yet some events have a level of certainty.The sun has a record of rising every day – sure, clouds block it some days – but it still shines.You know that in winter it will most likely snow in most cities in Canada. You also recognize that the winter will end, followed by spring and summer. [Download]

I was persuaded to write this book by colleagues who liked my other book Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives, but found the material a little too advanced for their students. Fundamentals of Futures and Options Markets (formerly Introduction to Futures and Options Markets) covers some of the same ground as Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives—but in a way that readers who have had limited training in mathematics will find easier to understand. One important difference between this book and my other one is that there is no calculus in this book.

The text can be used in a number of different ways. Instructors who like to focus on one- and two-step binomial trees when valuing options may wish to cover only the first 10 chapters. Instructors who feel that swaps are adequately covered by other courses can choose to omit Chapter 6. There are many different ways in which Chapters 11 to 21 can be used. Instructors who feel that the material in Chapters 14, 16, 17, or 18 is too specialized can skip one or more of these chapters.

This booklet was written and designed to help educate and guide its readers so they might:

• Better understand the data included in financial reports and how to analyze it.
• Learn more about companies that offer employment or provide investment opportunities.

A good starting point for achieving these goals is to become familiar with the main components of a company’s annual report.