Boost up Math Skills

Often time I dive deep in a subject, I cannot avoid coming across Math. In order to get a taste of the greatest mind in the fields like computer science and economics, I decide to boost up my Math skills. There are many math topics. I have no way to learn them all over again. I am going to focus on the ones that I have seen its applications in the real world like statistics, probability, linear algebra and etc. Luckily, I found some very good lecture notes and materials in the Net. Below are some of my findings:

1. Live lecture of statistics from New Zealand’s Auckland University
   • Basic Probability, Bayes Theorem, Random Variables,
   • Probability Distribution, Hypothesis Testing, Likelihood and Estimation, Expectation and Variance of  a random variable, Change of variable procedures and Modeling
2. Khan Academy has a rich set of youtube video for learning
   • Derivative (1-9): The application of derivative is to find the slope of a curve at any given point. There are chain and product rules that make seemingly complicated functions easily tackled.

Learning Macro-Economy

You want to learn what is going on of our economy but you don’t have time to pick up a course about it. Don’t worry, there are plenty of good materials in the Net.

1. Paul Krugman’s Macroeconomic textbook - video supplement
2. Good wiki page for economy concepts
3. Khan Academy has a rich set of youtube video for learning 

Advanced Bond Concept (pdf)

1. Term Structure of Interest Rates - Yield curve (yield over maturity period) is a very common bond valuation method. In general, the long the maturity period, the more uncertainties/ risks investors need to take, the more interest rates should be paid off. There are 3 types of yield curves: Normal, Flat and Inverted. Of the 3, inverted yield curve is the most rare one. The inverted yield curve indicates that the market currently expects interest rates to decline as time moves farther into the future, which in turn means the market expects yields of long-term bonds to decline. You may be wondering why investors would choose to purchase long-term fixed-income investments when there is an inverted yield curve, which indicates that investors expect to receive less compensation for taking on more risk. Some investors, however, interpret an inverted curve as an indication that the economy will soon experience a slowdown, which causes future interest rates to give even lower yields. Before a slowdown, it is better to lock money into long-term investments at present prevailing yields, because future yields will be even lower.

What did the experts say

Mortgage-back Security - II

Mortgage-back Security - III

Collateralized Debt Obligation

Systemic Risk

Paulson’s Plan

Does the bailout have any chance of working?

Moral Hazard

 Real World Merrill Lynch Example

 How did AIG fall?

How did AIG fall - 2?