Financial Markets

General objectives:
This course aims to give professionals the knowledge about operation, products and techniques analysis used in financial markets.

Specific objectives:
At the end of the course, professionals are able to:

• Understand the operation of financial markets in Portugal, including the legal framework, and its main financial institutions;
• Describe the organization and operation of the main segments of the financial market;
• Identify main financial products, its potential and risks;
• Understand methodologies and analysis techniques of the binomial profitability/risk the main financial products.

CONTENTS

Module I – Introduction

• The savings-investment circuit
• Functions of financial markets
• The segmentation of financial markets
• Intermediation, disintermediation and re-intermediation Financial
• Analysis of factors affecting the financial markets
• Concept of Profitability, Risk and Diversification

Module II - The Portuguese financial system

• Portuguese financial system organization
• Credit institutions
• Finance corporation
• Other financial institutions
• Oversight institutions of the financial system

Module III – The Financial assets

• General information on liquidity, return and risk
• Different types of financial assets; concept and characterization
• Notion of transferable securities

Module IV - Money Market

• Targeting short-term markets
• The interbank money market
• The interbank bond market
• Typical financial products money market:
  • Treasury bills
  • Commercial paper
  • Certificates of deposit

Module V - Capital Market

• Primary market: stocks and bonds Emissions
• Secondary market: Stock exchanges
  • Exchange Market, OTC and special markets
  • Trading Principles in Exchange
  • Formation of prices mode
  • Exchange orders
  • Settlement operations
  • Stock Exchange Special Operations
• Instruments of medium and long term
  • Public debt securities
  • Ações: Caraterização, Tipos de ações, Índices de ações e Aumentos de Capital e seus cálculos
  • Actions: characterization, types of shares, shares indices and Capital Increases and their calculations
  • Obligations: Characterization and Key Concepts
  • Interest rate risk and credit risk types of bonds
  • Investment funds

Module VI - Futures and options

• Futures Market
  • Characterization
  • Agents involved
  • Characteristics of futures contracts
  • The Portuguese derivatives market
  • The types of operations in futures markets
• Options Market
  • Concept and types of options
  • Rights and obligations of options contracts
  • Class options
  • Valuation of options
  • Intrinsic value and time
  • Value Determinants
• Operations of fixing the term interest: FRA's (Forward Rate Agreements)

Module VII - Valuation of financial assets

• Shares Assessment
• Fundamental analysis vs. technical analysis
• Valuation models based on financial ratios
• Bond Evaluation
  • Theoretical price of a bond