[This is a weblog for the upcoming Love Can Only Go Up Visual Novel where you'll try to save the investment company through your deals - and find love on the way! If you're intrigued, check out the full story an back it now on the Kickstarter!]
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Hi everyone! It's Olivia here. I, uh, hope you're all doing well today. So, I've been asked to talk a bit about basic types of financial instruments. And I have a confession to make first. Actually, when I was a little girl, I wanted to be a teacher. I always believed that knowledge should be shared. And I promise I'll try my best to make everything clear!

Basic types of financial instruments

Let’s start with stocks. Think of stocks as little pieces of ownership in a company. When you buy a stock, you're essentially buying a tiny share of that company. The value of that stock can go up or down depending on how well the company does. So, if the company does great, the stock value rises! Our stocks might increase in value, and we can sell them for a profit. Emily has already explained what the BANG stocks are. She’s such a great coach and helped me a lot when I started working here!

Next up, commodities. They’re basically raw materials and precious metals. Gold, platinum, oil, wheat, cocoa, you name it. I absolutely love chocolate. I probably eat way too much of it. S-sorry, I know that's totally off-topic. I tend to digress when I'm feeling stressed out. It's like chocolate is my comfort food, you know? Anyway, back to the task at hand.

Commodities are goods that are traded in markets, and their prices can fluctuate based on supply and demand, weather conditions, and geopolitical events. If there is a drought or flood in the countries producing cocoa, its price will increase. Some investors like to include commodities in their portfolios to diversify their investments. I think it’s a good idea too.

Bonds are similar to loans, but in reverse. When you buy a bond, you're essentially lending money to a company or a government. And in return, they promise to pay you back the original amount plus interest at a later date. They’re my favorite instruments because they’re usually stable. I always advise against risk. But I know we don’t have much time to save the company.

And finally, foreign exchange, or forex. This is basically trading one currency for another. If you've ever traveled abroad and exchanged your money for the local currency, that's forex. Foreign currencies are traded in pairs. For example, you can buy Japanese yen for the dollar, or sell the euro for the dollar. While the price movements of the currencies aren’t big, we can use the leverage if we want to expand the potential profits.

And that's pretty much it for my explanation of financial instruments. There will be a lot of tough decisions to make, that’s for sure. I’m happy I can help. I promise I’ll do my best!