A History of Microfinance - Muhammad Yunus

This lecture by microfinance pioneer and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yunus, outlines the history of microfinance - the origins of the idea, how it works, and what the future holds. Microfinance is a fascinating and empowering innovation in finance, and essentially deploys the power of the market to help people help themselves. The main point is to help people in poverty to be able to become entrepreneurs; be it buying a goat to milk, or chickens to lay eggs to sell, or buying a sewing machine, or bike; the point is to provide low cost financing on a small scale to empower people to lift themselves and their families out of poverty through small business. Thanks to technology and the internet we can all now easily participate in microfinance through websites like Kiva - think of it like microfinance 2.0

Prof. Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi economist and founder of the Grameen Bank, an institution that provides microcredit to help its clients establish creditworthiness and financial self-sufficiency. In 2006 Yunus and Grameen received the Nobel Peace Prize. Yunus himself has received several other national and international honors. He is a member of advisory board at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology. Previously, he was a professor of economics at Chittagong University where he developed the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. He is the author of Banker to the Poor and two books on Social Business Models, and a founding board member of Grameen America and Grameen Foundation.

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Finance Documentaries: http://www.financedocumentaries.com/2012/11/a-history-of-microfinance-muhammad-yunus.html

How to Build Your Own Options Trading Hedge Fund

So maybe you want to trade options or maybe you want to start a hedge fund - this presentation discusses 'how to build a one-man options trading hedge fund'. Dennis Chen and Mark Sebastian, co-authors of the book 'The Option Trader's Hedge Fund- A Business Framework for Trading Equity and Index Options', discuss how you can build your own option trading hedge fund. In the hedge fund world, small size is often an advantage when it comes to being nimble and agile in your trading, but it also means less resources and it means you also have to be smarter about how you run your trading operation. Options, including binary options, provide a means of accessing and implementing a vast range of strategies and can provide the leverage the pay-off ratios required to bring in the larger returns. The key concepts in the presentation include: trading options like a 'one man insurance company', the five essential components of high-profit options trades, management of risks - including black swan risks, and how to build and execute highly effective and efficient trading plans. In a field where knowledge is power and the stakes are high, presentations and information like what these authors present is potentially very valuable, enjoy. See also: trading lectures

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Finance Documentaries: http://www.financedocumentaries.com/2012/10/how-to-build-your-own-options-trading.html

Jack Schwager - Winning Methods of the Market Wizard

Jack Schwager has found fame through his 'market wizard' book series where he wrote up detailed interviews with some of the world's most successful traders. Be they stock traders, futures traders, currency traders, commodity traders, or mutual fund traders; the market wizards he interviews have all developed a winning method and style that helped them find financial success. In this 1 hour lecture Jack Schwager explains the characteristics and behavioural patterns that the best traders share in common, and proffers insights into how you can develop those same winning characteristics. This lecture is well worth watching; both entertaining and informative, and it provides a great preview into the published work he has. Jack Schwager is the author of The Complete Guide to the Futures Markets, Market Wizards, The New Market Wizards, Fundamental Analysis, and Technical Analysis. See also: 15 Hedge Fund Market Wizards and related viewing: Alexander Elder - Trading for a Living
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Finance Documentaries: http://www.financedocumentaries.com/2012/10/jack-schwager-winning-methods-of-market.html

Warren Buffet MBA Talk

This is an excellent lecture from the legendary billionaire investor, Warren Buffett. Among the things he talks about, one of the key messages for the MBA students is the importance of integrity, intelligence, and energy for success; but that there is more to it than intelligence and energy - without integrity a person can become dumb and lazy. He also goes into a Q&A session with the students, providing insights into the following questions: What does he think about investing in Japan? What was behind BRK investment in Long Term Capital Management? What do you look for in a company? What investment mistakes have you made? How does he determine if a business has reached its full potential? This definitely a timeless and valuable lecture from someone with a deep insight into investing and business.

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Finance Documentaries: http://www.financedocumentaries.com/2012/10/warren-buffet-mba-talk.html

Finance and Insurance as Powerful Forces in Our Economy and Society

This lecture is one in a series by Professor Robert Shiller of Yale University. Robert Shiller has made a name for himself as a key member of the academic finance community, and his work is widely used and cited. Among the data that he has made available is the Case-Shiller house price index, and his 100+ years of S&P500 data spreadsheet; which is used by many to calculated the "Shiller PE" or cyclically adjusted PE ratio. This lecture covers the introduction to the course (series of lectures), technology and the subprime crisis, the morality of studying finance, and topics covered in the course. This lecture features under the lectures section of the website.

Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website:
http://open.yale.edu/courses 

This course was recorded in Spring 2008.

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Finance Documentaries: http://www.financedocumentaries.com/2012/09/finance-and-insurance-as-powerful.html

Alexander Elder - Trading for a Living

Alexander Elder has made a name for himself as one of the most widely recognised educators of traders. He authored the books "Trading for a Living", "Come Into My Trading Room", and "Entries & Exits". In this lecture he explains some of the key insights and lessons from his book "Trading for a Living". Alexander Elder explains the importance of the 3 Ms i.e. Mind, Method, and Money. Which basically put means you need to master yourself first i.e. have discipline, avoid making the natural/common psychological mistakes that most people are wired to make. Only then should you focus on putting together a winning method which suits your style and circumstances and of course makes money. Finally the point of money is about having adequate risk management policies and procedures so that you don't blowout as a result of one or two mistakes. Well worth a watch for those considering or already trading for a living.

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Finance Documentaries: http://www.financedocumentaries.com/2012/09/alexander-elder-trading-for-living.html

Mind Over Money

Economics and finance have become topics dominated by maths and theory, with a key theory of economics being 'rational expectations' with theories predicated on rational operators. But the problem with this is it misses the point that people are emotional, and people are the ones who determine how the economy operates and how prices behave in financial markets. Indeed the emerging field of behavioral finance is honing in on this very point and attracting increasing attention. If any example illustrated the folly of human behavior in financial and economic systems, it was the global financial crisis. Simply put, in order to really understand economics and finance you must understand the impact of human psychology, emotions, and behaviour.

NOVA presents "Mind Over Money"—an entertaining and penetrating exploration of why mainstream economists failed to predict the crash of 2008 and why we so often make irrational financial decisions. The program reveals how our emotions interfere with our decision-making and explores controversial new arguments about the world of finance. In the face of the recent crash, can a new science that aims to incorporate human psychology into finance—behavioral economics—help us make better financial decisions? 


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Finance Documentaries: http://www.financedocumentaries.com/2012/04/mind-over-money.html

The Future of Finance

Robert C. Merton is one of the masters of finance, and is counted among the greats in financial theory. Merton won a Nobel Prize in 1997 for his work on option pricing theory. Merton was also one of the founders of the ill-fated Long Term Capital Management (see documentary: Trillion Dollar Bet). Given his background and involvement in financial innovation, Merton is well placed to address the topic of "The Future of Finance". Indeed this is a topic well worthy of exploration, the financial crisis has prompted the questioning of existing instruments and practices, and has also created a burst of products and thinking on crash risk protection, downside risk modeling, etc. A strong and well developed financial system is the basis for a strong economy, so this talk will be of great relevance to many.

In his keynote address, Robert Merton chooses not to focus on the financial crisis. It is clear to him there were “fools and knaves,” as well as “many structural elements that would have happened even if people were well behaved and well informed” -- risks are simply “embedded in our systems.” Instead, Merton explores how financial engineering is essential in preparing for the inevitable next crisis, and in solving critical challenges. “The world has changed; we can’t go back. Let’s talk about what we should do going forward.” Thanks to MIT


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Finance Documentaries: http://www.financedocumentaries.com/2011/12/future-of-finance.html