Week 1 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Week 1 - Assignment Example The various financial markets and how these have changed over the years since 2007/2008 are thus discussed. An assessment of how the changes have taken place is also presented. The financial market has been noted to be a place where the trading of financial securities and commodities take place among people and entities at prices that reflect demand and supply (Naude and Rossouw, 2010). This means that there are two clear components of the financial market, which are commodities and securities. In my country, both commodities and securities are emphasised, which means that the country operates a market economy. With the general financial market within my country, there are two broad forms of markets, which are the capital market and money market. As noted by Bodie, Kane and Marcus (2011), the capital market is used for long term financial investment whiles the money market is used for short term financial investment. All in all, there are six main financial markets, even though there are other minor financial markets, which are not considered in mainstream discussion. The six main financial markets are stock markets, bond markets, commodity markets, money markets, insurance market, and foreign exchange market. Some of the shadow financial markets are derivatives market and future markets. Since the end of the recession in 2008, the major changes that have taken place in the financial market in my country have largely taken the form of the type of financial market that is patronised by the majority of people. On the whole, the changes can be seen among three players within the financial market, which are government, industry and individuals. On the part of government, there has been a change that looks towards to patronage of more long term finance such as bond and stock. Government has since 2008 increased its capital market investment in the areas of bond and stock so as to ensure that it is protected against future meltdowns