Overview

Bonds and the bond market are greatly misunderstood. Traditionally, bonds have been a haven for investors seeking income and safety, and although that certainly is still true today, bonds offer so much more to those savvy investors seeking to understand market drivers and market dynamics.

Today’s bond market also offers unprecedented volatility for the more active traders. In this class, we will address this investor group by looking at bond ETF’s and Futures, which offer the retail speculator much greater liquidity and transparency than bonds themselves.

Finally, bonds and interest rates are major drivers of the economy. Irrespective of what asset category you might be trading (Equities, Commodities, Bonds, FX), all respond to changes in interest rates. For those savvy investors who seek to truly understand what affects prices, a knowledge of this market and its inter-relationship is critical. As a result, we will review the drivers of what causes interest rates to change: The Federal Reserve, Fiscal and Monetary Policy, and economic releases, as well as discuss what’s really going on in today’s economic cycles impacting the broader markets. Additionally, the bond market is also an economic forecasting tool (as well as historically a very accurate forecasting tool). We will review what economic phases we might encounter regardless of the business cycle, and how the bond market continues to remain a key economic driver, and forecasting tool.

Finally, it is recognized that most US investors have much less knowledge and comfort with bonds than other assets like Stocks, Futures and Options. Accordingly, in this class we will also address the unique “jargon and lingo” of this market, as well as the structure, features, and benefits of this often misunderstood and mysterious market.

This course will cover:

• Understanding the Economic Cycles from the perspective of Interest rates, Monetary Policy and the Bond Yield Curve
• The four phases of a business/economic cycle
• Understanding Bond Basics "Bonds 101"
• Application of trading and investing Bond ETFs and Bond Futures Spreads

Application Sessions:

• Weekly review of the current economic conditions affecting the Bond Markets
• How to apply the information used during the class to complement your overall portfolio

Audience

This course is designed for students who are interested in further developing their knowledge of the Bond Markets.

Prerequisites

No prior knowledge required, other than a desire to better understand market dynamics.

Duration

Approx. 6 hours of live instruction & 1, 90-minute live session delivered weekly for 4 weeks post-class

Access

6-hour class when purchased includes 4, 90-minute application sessions accessible from the same course. Unlimited Retakes.

Class Type

Live Online class with Application Sessions