Module 4 of 4 in Macroeconomics and financial markets
Industries, earnings and the news
How economic conditions affect different industries, the corporate earnings cycle, expectations compared with outcomes, and reading economic news critically.
4 lessons in this module. Progress is saved in your browser as you go.
Markets react to surprises, not to whether news sounds good or bad. This module connects the economy to industries and earnings, explains why an apparently good result can send a share down, and gives you a method for reading financial news.
By the end of this module you should be able to
- Explain how interest rates, inflation, currencies and the cycle affect different industries.
- Explain why markets react to the difference between expectations and outcomes.
- Describe the corporate earnings season and how analysts' estimates are used.
- Read economic and market news critically, separating data, interpretation and noise.
Lessons in order
Module test
10 questions, chosen at random from a bank of 31 questions and balanced across this module's learning goals and difficulty levels. Every question comes with an explanation. You need 80% to pass, and you can retake it as often as you like with a fresh set of questions.
This module builds on
- Economic cycles and recessions: Industry sensitivity is largely about how businesses behave through the cycle.
- Crude oil and commodity prices: Input-cost exposure builds on the commodity links explained there.
- Misleading numbers and charts: Many misleading headlines use the statistical tricks explained there.