A comprehensive 24-page practical reference on financial instruments, markets, and trading mechanics — compiled from investopedia, schwab, vanguard, CFI, and interactivebrokers. Designed as a print-ready study guide for finance professionals and interview preparation.
Sixteen chapters covering the full spectrum of tradable financial instruments and market mechanics:
- What Are Financial Instruments? — Primary vs. derivative, classification framework
- How Stock Markets Work — Exchanges, order books, market structure, trading hours
- Cash Instruments: Stocks & Equities — Common/preferred stock, valuation, IPO process
- Debt Instruments: Bonds & Fixed Income — Treasuries, munis, corporates, TIPS, MBS, ratings
- Derivative Instruments Overview — Exchange-traded vs. OTC, core derivative types
- Futures Contracts — Margin mechanics, hedgers vs. speculators, settlement at expiration
- Options Contracts — Calls/puts, Greeks basics, American/European style, ESOs, employee stock options
- Forwards & Swaps — Interest rate swaps, currency swaps, credit default swaps
- ETFs, Mutual Funds & REITs — Expense ratios, creation/redemption, tax efficiency
- Credit Default Swaps & Synthetic Products — CDS pricing in basis points, auctions, recovery rates
- Settlement, Delivery & Payment Mechanics — T+1/T+2 cycles, DTC, settlement risk
- Trading Orders, Markets & Exchanges — Market/limit/stop orders, market makers, dark pools, bid-ask spread
- Margin, Short Selling & Leverage — Reg T margin, maintenance calls, PDT rule, unlimited downside risk
- Dividends, Stock Splits & Corporate Actions — Declaration/ex-dividend/record/payment dates, DRIPs, buybacks
- Foreign Exchange (Forex) — Currency pairs, major pairs, spot vs. forwards, market participants
- Risk Management & Hedging Strategies — Basis risk, VaR, systemic risk, financial crisis lessons
# Generate PDF from markdown
npx md-to-pdf guide.md --config-file scripts/guide-pdf-config.jsThe PDF is pre-generated as guide.pdf (Letter size, 24 pages, ~850 KB) — ready to print.
financial-instruments-guide/
├── guide.md # Source markdown (~830 lines)
├── guide.pdf # Generated PDF (print-ready)
└── scripts/
├── guide-pdf-config.js # md-to-pdf Puppeteer config (header/footer)
└── guide-pdf.css # Print stylesheet (Inter font, justified text)
| Audience | Suggested Path |
|---|---|
| Interview prep | Read chapters in order — every concept is self-contained |
| Quick reference | Jump to Chapters 6–8 for derivatives deep-dive, Chapter 11 for settlement mechanics |
| Trading fundamentals | Focus on Chapters 2, 3, 12–14 for market mechanics and execution |
| Fixed income / bonds | Chapters 4 + 10 for comprehensive fixed-income coverage |
- Markdown → PDF pipeline:
md-to-pdf(wraps Puppeteer/Chromium) - Config:
scripts/guide-pdf-config.js— header/footer templates, Letter page size - Styling:
scripts/guide-pdf.css— Inter font family, justified paragraphs, responsive tables, print color-adjust
Content compiled and synthesized from:
- Investopedia (financial instruments, derivatives, settlement, options)
- Charles Schwab (bond types, trading orders, margin)
- Vanguard (ETFs, mutual funds)
- Corporate Finance Institute (asset classification)
- Interactive Brokers Campus (short selling, margin, dividends, forex)
- FINRA / SEC / OCC regulatory publications
MIT — free to use, modify, and distribute.