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Finance & investing,
learn at your own pace.

Lessons attached to live SEC filings, ten-year financials, and credit data — the same primary sources the professionals read. From understanding what a stock is to reading a 10-K end-to-end. Every lesson is interactive, AI-assisted, and free to start — no account required.

Hit a term you don’t know? Every lesson defines its terms inline; the glossary is the full reference.

Curated journeys

Sequenced paths through the catalog — pick a journey and go.

Understand what your stocks are doing

beginner

First-principles literacy on what a ticker page is showing — price, fundamentals, filings, news.

4 paths · 23 lessons

Reading a 10-K

intermediate

Income statement → balance sheet → cash flow → MD&A → notes → auditor's report. The annual report, demystified.

6 paths · 42 lessons

Build your first portfolio

beginner

Asset allocation, diversification, dollar-cost averaging, and the behavioral guardrails that keep you in the game.

4 paths · 29 lessons

Personal-finance journey

beginner

Foundations → tax basics → retirement vehicles → the bridge from saving to investing.

2 paths · 34 lessons

Reading beyond charts

intermediate

Value investing as a discipline — moats, cash flows, DCF, margin of safety. Treat businesses as businesses, not tickers.

5 paths · 35 lessons

From zero to options

intermediate

Stocks → derivatives basics → Greeks → covered calls → spreads → advanced strategies.

4 paths · 23 lessons

Bonds and credit

intermediate

Yield curve → coupon mechanics → credit risk → BDC structure → distressed and restructuring.

5 paths · 33 lessons

The deal-maker's path

advanced

Valuation → DCF → LBO mechanics → M&A analysis → special situations. The mechanics behind every transaction.

6 paths · 43 lessons
I want to:
Starter courses
No prior knowledge required. Start here if you're new to investing.
12 courses · 106 lessons
Understand what options are, how they're priced, and how investors use them for income, speculation, and hedging.
Prerequisite: Stock Market Fundamentals
01Calls and Puts: The Building Blocks›02In, Out, and At the Money›03The Greeks: Delta and Theta›04Implied Volatility: The Options Market's Forecast›05Covered Calls and Protective Puts: Practical Strategies›
Build a discipline
Assumes familiarity with stocks and basic financial concepts.
17 courses · 111 lessons
Understand how the financial system actually works — from Treasury auctions to repo markets to the mechanics of the 2008 crisis. This path…
Prerequisites: Understanding Bonds and Fixed Income and Stock Market Fundamentals
01Treasury Securities Essentials›02Understanding Yield Curves›03Corporate Bonds & Credit Risk›04Introduction to Derivatives›05Repo Markets & Money Markets›06Mortgage-Backed Securities›
Learn to evaluate a company's creditworthiness like a bond analyst. Assess default risk, recovery, and credit deterioration signals.
Prerequisites: Reading Financial Statements and Understanding Bonds and Fixed Income
01The Five Cs of Credit Analysis›02Key Credit Metrics: Leverage, Coverage, and Liquidity›03Credit Deterioration: The Warning Signs›04Recovery Analysis: What Do You Get If They Default?›05Altman Z-Score: Quantifying Bankruptcy Risk›06Covenant Taxonomy: Reading an Indenture by Purpose›
Understand how real estate is valued, financed, and traded — from cap rates and REIT metrics to mortgage math and leverage. Essential for…
Prerequisites: Understanding Valuation and Reading Financial Statements
01Cap Rates and Property Valuation›02REIT Metrics: FFO, AFFO, and NAV›03Mortgage Mechanics for Investors›04Leverage in Real Estate›05Real Estate Cycles and the Broader Market›06REITs vs. Direct Ownership›07Building a Real Estate Allocation›
Turn the concepts you have learned into the outputs serious investors actually produce. Build a falsifiable thesis, sharpen a…
Prerequisites: Understanding Valuation, Reading Financial Statements, and Key Financial Ratios
01Anatomy of an Investment Thesis›02Building Differentiated Views›03Items for Further Diligence: Intellectual Humility as a Tool›04Risk / Reward and Sizing: From View to Position›
The companies you invest in tell you what they actually believe in their filings — but only if you know where to look. Learn the…
Prerequisites: Reading Financial Statements and Stock Market Fundamentals
01The 10-K: A Field Guide to the Annual Report›02Reading 13D, 13G, and Form 4: Tracking the Smart Money›
What 'alts' are, why institutions hold them, and how the market-agnostic hedge-fund mandate works. This path is the conceptual…
Prerequisite: Understanding Valuation
01What Alternative Investments Are›02Hedge Funds: The Market-Agnostic Mandate›
What it means to put a client first, how conflicts of interest distort advice, and why trading on secret information is illegal. This path…
01Fiduciary Duty: The Client Comes First›02Conflicts of Interest and Fair Dealing›03Material Nonpublic Information and the Insider-Trading Line›
Go deeper
For readers who want to push past the fundamentals into the deep cuts.
9 courses · 55 lessons
Go beyond the textbook WACC formula. Learn to estimate cost of equity using multiple methods, handle complex capital structures, and…
Prerequisites: DCF Valuation in Practice and Credit Analysis Fundamentals
01Cost of Equity: Beyond Textbook CAPM›02Cost of Debt: What Lenders Actually Charge›03How Leverage Changes Everything: The Modigliani-Miller Framework›04Unlevering and Relevering Beta›05Capital Structure Optimization: Finding the Sweet Spot›
Master the valuation tools that separate senior analysts from juniors: APV for changing capital structures, real options for strategic…
Prerequisites: DCF Valuation in Practice and Cost of Capital Mastery
01APV: When WACC Falls Apart›02Continuing Value: The Value Driver Approach›03Excess Earnings Method: Valuing Intangible-Heavy Businesses›04Real Options: Valuing Strategic Flexibility›05Financial Modeling Discipline: Building Models That Earn Trust›
Understand how private equity firms use debt to amplify returns. Learn LBO mechanics, returns math, and how to think about a company…
Prerequisites: DCF Valuation in Practice and Cost of Capital Mastery
01LBO Mechanics: How Financial Sponsors Create Returns›02LBO Return Decomposition: IRR Drill›03Debt Structure in LBOs: Layers of the Capital Stack›04IRR Math: What PE Firms Actually Target›05What Makes a Good LBO Candidate?›06LBO Sensitivity and Exit Analysis›
Deep dive into bond math, curve strategies, structured credit, and the mechanics of the global fixed income market.
Prerequisites: Understanding Bonds and Fixed Income and Credit Analysis Fundamentals
01Convexity: When Duration Is Not Enough›02Yield Curve Strategies: Bullets, Barbells, and Ladders›03Credit Default Swaps: Insurance on Bonds›04Structured Credit: CLOs, MBS, and ABS›05Distressed Debt Investing›
Most of the market is efficient most of the time. Special situations are the corners where it stops being so — spin-offs where index funds…
Prerequisites: M&A Analysis, Understanding Valuation, and Comparable Company Analysis
01Spin-Offs: The Forced-Selling Mispricing›02Capital Structure Arbitrage›03Short Selling Mechanics and the Squeeze›
All courses are free, no account required. Progress and prior attempts are saved locally so you can return where you left off. Some paths include a final review that walks you through the patterns one more time.
Or wander — the Ledge Reads shelf and Investment Lore archive are unstructured reading for between lessons.
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