Courses

Short courses that take one subject from the start, a lesson at a time. Each lesson has a worked example and a quiz you can check on the page. No sign-up and nothing to pay.

  1. 1

    Investing · Beginner · 4 lessons · about 72 min

    How to Evaluate a Stock: A Starter Course

    Investors who have bought a fund or two and now want to judge a single company from its own filings.

    1. 1What Is a Share of Stock? What You Own When You Buy One
    2. 2The Three Financial Statements in One Sitting
    3. 3P/E Ratio: Price Against Earnings, Your First Valuation Check
    4. 4Investment Thesis: Writing a One-Page Case for a Stock
  2. 2

    Investing · Beginner · 4 lessons · about 54 min

    Investor Protection Basics: Safeguarding Your Money and Account

    Anyone opening a brokerage account, or already holding one, who wants to know what protects it and where the gaps are.

    1. 1FINRA BrokerCheck: Check a Broker or Adviser Before You Send Money
    2. 2SIPC Coverage: What It Protects and What It Doesn't
    3. 3Investment Fraud: How to Spot It Before It Costs You
    4. 4Brokerage Account Security: Protecting Your Login From Takeover
  3. 3

    Investing · Intermediate · 4 lessons · about 63 min

    Growth Stocks: Measuring Growth That Lasts

    Investors who can already read an income statement and want a method for judging a company whose sales are climbing fast.

    1. 1Revenue Growth: Calculating It and Finding Where It Came From
    2. 2CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate for Sales and Earnings
    3. 3Share Dilution: When Growth Costs More Than It Earns
    4. 4PEG Ratio: How Much to Pay for Growth
  4. 4

    Investing · Beginner · 4 lessons · about 57 min

    Diversification: Building a Portfolio That Holds Up

    Investors with a handful of holdings who want a plan for the portfolio as a whole, and a way to tell whether it is really spread out.

    1. 1Concentration Risk: Why a Single Stock Is a Risky Portfolio
    2. 2Sector Diversification: Spreading Across Sizes and Countries Too
    3. 3Index Funds vs Individual Stocks: Building the Core
    4. 4Portfolio Rebalancing: Bringing the Mix Back in Line
  5. 5

    Options · Beginner · 4 lessons · about 60 min

    Options for Beginners: Calls, Puts and Your First Trade

    Stock investors who have never placed an options trade and want the mechanics in order before the first order goes in.

    1. 1Call and Put Options: The Two Contracts Explained
    2. 2How to Read an Option Chain, Column by Column
    3. 3Option Payoff at Expiration: Profit and Loss, Drawn Out
    4. 4Options Approval Levels and Your First Trade
  6. 6

    Dividends · Beginner · 4 lessons · about 65 min

    Dividend Income Portfolio: Building One That Pays You

    Investors who want a stock portfolio that produces regular cash, whether they reinvest it now or plan to spend it later.

    1. 1How Dividends Are Paid: From the Company to Your Account
    2. 2Dividend Payout Ratio: Can the Company Afford Its Dividend?
    3. 3Total Return, Dividend Yield and Growth Together
    4. 4How to Build a Dividend Portfolio, Step by Step

How the courses work

Each course is a short sequence: an overview that says who it suits and what to have ready, then four lessons that build on each other. Lessons end with a few multiple-choice questions. Pick an answer and the page marks it and explains the right one; nothing is recorded, so treat the quiz as a way to find the part worth rereading.

Examples use hypothetical companies and round numbers, so you can repeat every sum with a real annual report. The starter course on evaluating a stock is the natural first stop; the options course assumes you already own shares and want to understand the contracts before trading one.