Money Lessons with Andrew Temte, PhD, CFA

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy answers a question he has been holding since last year: if your stock trades are free, how does a broker make its money?  He explains payment for order flow — the arrangement where your broker sells your order to a wholesale market maker that fills it and pays for the privilege. Andy walks through why your everyday orders are so valuable, where the real confl...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy explains the exchange-traded fund — the ETF — the vehicle most people now use to own a whole index in a single trade.  He traces it back to the first one, State Street's SPDR, launched in 1993 to track the S&P 500, and shows how an ETF differs from the index mutual fund Jack Bogle created in 1976: one trades all day on an exchange like a stock, the other...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy tackles a phrase we lean on without ever defining it: "the market." He explains what a stock market index is, where the Dow, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq-100 come from, and how each one measures the market differently — the Dow by share price, the others by company size. He unpacks the Dow's hidden divisor and the outsized power of a denominator, shows how...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy uses the 2021 GameStop saga to reveal the hidden machinery that runs underneath every stock trade.  He explains how a struggling video-game retailer became the most heavily bet-against stock on Wall Street, why ordinary investors banded together to buy it, and how its price rocketed from about $17 to around $483 in a matter of weeks.  Then he answers the ques...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy explores information asymmetry—the gap between what some market participants know and what others know—and the rules that try to keep that gap from getting too wide.  He walks through the structural advantages built into the architecture of the market itself, the meaningful distinction between buy-side and sell-side analysts that financial pundits throw aroun...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy explores one of the most misunderstood practices in financial markets — short selling. He traces the origins of the practice to Isaac Le Maire and the Dutch East India Company in 1609, walks through the mechanics of borrowing shares to sell them, and explains the asymmetric risk that makes short positions fundamentally different from owning a stock.  He bring...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy picks up where last week's IPO episode left off and walks through what changes once a company is publicly traded.  He explains the lockup period that follows every IPO — using Airbnb's May 17, 2021 lockup expiration and six-percent drop as the concrete example — then breaks down the SEC's three core disclosure filings (10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K) that drive the rhyt...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy walks through what happens when a company goes public — how a private business with a small group of owners becomes a publicly traded stock that anyone with a brokerage account can buy.  The episode covers the five reasons companies decide to go public, the underwriting process and the role of investment banks, the road show and how the offering price gets se...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy tackles one of the most foundational questions in investing: what is a stock actually worth? Returning to value-investing pioneer Benjamin Graham, Andy walks through the three primary lenses professional analysts use to estimate stock value—relative valuation, asset-based valuation, and cash-flow-based valuation—and shows how each one offers a different angle...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy walks through the three categories of risk that dominate the experience of owning stock: firm-specific risk, market risk, and behavioral risk. He explains why a stock's daily movement is mostly driven by company news, but why the broad market overwhelms those differences when it moves sharply—answering the listener's natural "which is it?" question.  Using th...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy explores leverage and margin — what happens when investors borrow money to buy stocks. He traces the story from the unchecked margin trading of the 1920s that fueled the 1929 crash through the regulatory response that reshaped modern markets, including Regulation T and FINRA's maintenance margin requirements.  Andy walks through a margin call example to show...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy explores preferred stock — the hybrid security that sits between bonds and common stock in a company's capital structure. He traces its origins to the Railway Mania of 1840s Britain and the aftermath of the Panic of 1837 in America, where distressed railroads and canal companies invented a new class of shares to attract cautious investors.  Andy explains how...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy traces the historical shift from dividend-focused investing to earnings-based valuation, showing how mandatory financial disclosure in the 1930s transformed the way investors evaluate stocks.  He walks through five essential equity metrics—earnings per share (EPS), the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, the dividend payout ratio, the price-to-sales (P/S) ratio, a...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy explores how dividends work and why they matter for investors building long-term wealth. He traces the history of dividends back to the Dutch East India Company's first payment in 1610—which was made in spices, not cash—and walks through the four key dates every dividend investor needs to understand.  Andy also explains dividend yield, why some companies pay...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy breaks down the three most common ways companies change their share structure. He explains how stock splits work — including Apple's five splits and Warren Buffett's famous refusal to split Berkshire Hathaway—and why reverse stock splits often signal trouble.  He then explores share buybacks, how they boost earnings per share, and why investors need to look p...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy explains what you actually own when you buy a share of stock. He explores the concept of the residual claim — why shareholders are last in line during bankruptcy but first to benefit when companies thrive — and walks through the four key rights of common stock ownership: voting, dividends, information, and the right to sell. The episode also covers the bankru...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy breaks down the three fundamental stock order types every investor needs to understand — market orders, limit orders, and stop orders. He explains how each order type works, when to use them, and the tradeoffs between speed, price control, and downside protection. The episode also covers order duration, how brokerages route your trades behind the scenes, and...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy explores the mechanics of stock trading, focusing on the concept of liquidity. He explains how liquidity affects stock prices, the role of specialists in maintaining market order, and the significance of the bid-ask spread. The conversation also covers the historical context of stock price quotations and the impact of decimalization on trading costs, emphasiz...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy wraps up the fourteen-episode debt securities series by exploring how to actually build a bond portfolio. He covers the three roles bonds play in a portfolio — income, stability, and diversification — and walks through the practical differences between bond funds and individual bonds. The episode also introduces the bond ladder strategy, duration matching, an...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy introduces the concept of duration in bond investing, explaining its significance in understanding how bond prices react to changes in interest rates. He discusses the historical context of duration, its mathematical underpinnings, and its practical implications for investors. The conversation highlights the importance of duration in managing interest rate ri...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy explores the concept of the yield curve, its various shapes, and implications for the economy and investors. He discusses the normal upward slope of the yield curve, the significance of flat and inverted curves, and how these indicators can signal economic conditions and potential recessions. Andy also emphasizes the importance of understanding the yield curv...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy explores the failures of credit ratings through historical examples, including the Penn Central bankruptcy, the Enron collapse, and the 2008 financial crisis. He discusses the inherent conflicts in the credit rating system, particularly the issuer-pay model, and the implications of these failures for investors. The episode concludes with lessons learned and t...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy discusses the world of credit ratings, explaining their significance in the bond market. He introduces the historical context of credit ratings, their development by John Moody, and how they provide a simplified measure of bond quality. The episode covers the different rating scales, the factors influencing ratings, and the implications of these ratings on in...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy explores the landscape of bond types, focusing on the reasons behind varying yields. He discusses Treasury bonds as the safest investment, corporate bonds and their associated risks, and municipal bonds with tax advantages. The conversation emphasizes the relationship between risk and return in bond investing, providing insights into how investors can make in...

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy discusses the concept of yield on bonds, explaining their significance in evaluating investment returns. He breaks down various yield measures, including nominal yield, current yield, and yield to maturity, highlighting their differences and importance in bond investment. The episode also covers callable bonds and the hierarchy of yield measures, providing li...