In our daily lives, there are things we label as “essentials”.

Without these things, one

cannot go on with his/her life the way he/she wants it to be. This applies to everything, even in
the business sector. In relation to this, anyone would agree that financing is one of the most
important aspects in the business world. So, as a college student who is bound to finish the
course of Financial Markets a few weeks from now, I am lucky to have been exposed to the
presets of finance. I learned so many things, gained a lot of knowledge, and acquired a lot of
experience which I surely will use as I strive for a bright future.
Learning about the Philippine financial system opened my eyes to the issues and
challenges that it is facing for so long. I found out that our financial system’s complexity is even
gradually increasing. This is a threat because according to Guinigundo (n.d.), it heightens our
country’s vulnerability to external shocks and exposure to risks. But despite these challenges,
the good news is that we continue to develop structural reforms that allow free entry of foreign
capital. This, in turn, paves the way for healthy competition and increased efficiency. From this
topic, I have once again realized the importance of not giving up. When faced with different
adversities, one must not give up. Instead, he/she should find ways to lift himself/herself from
that downfall.
Moving on to the premises of organization and structure of markets, studying about
this topic exposed me to the term ‘monetary mechanism’. According to Modigliani &
Papademos (n.d.), monetary mechanism is “the mechanism through which the monetary
authority by controlling certain financial variables achieves (more or less) effective control over
nominal income”. Studying this topic also refreshed my knowledge of the different market
structures namely: perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly. As
an accountancy student, such discussions are crucial because we will surely be dealing with
these throughout our careers.
On the account of common stock market, I can say that its inclusion to this subject’s
syllabus is a game changer. Like the market structures, common stock market is also a resident
of my course. So, studying it over and over again increases my proficiency of it. For this
semester, I was able to understand how the stock market works, its functions, and the many
challenges that this market is facing today.
Jumping on to the money market, the readings on this topic enlightened me because
honestly, I am still confused on a lot of things regarding this topic. According to Cook & LaRoche
(n.d.), “the major purpose of financial markets is to transfer funds from lenders to borrowers.”
Further explanations by them marked the end of my confusion between capital market and
money market. Through reading the provided article in the NEUVLE, I have also understood the
reason why a money market is necessary – receipts of economic units do not coincide with their
expenditures. These units can contain money balances, such as currency, demand deposits, or
NOW accounts, to ensure that scheduled expenditures can be met regardless of cash receipts.
 The next topic is corporate senior instruments. This, I think, is my first time to
encounter this concept. In short, it is new to my vocabulary. That is why, I really did a thorough
study of this. According to my probe, corporate senior instruments are “securities, instruments
or obligations of the Company: (i) the holders of which are unsubordinated creditors of the
Company (“Unsubordinated Instruments”), or (ii) which are, or are expressed to be,
subordinated.” Studying this gave me a life hack. Since these instruments rank highest in the
order of repayment before other security holders receive a payout, I surely will opt for
this one once I have the resources to buy securities. Of course, we need to be wise.
Municipal and real estate markets

Market for Asset-Backed Securities