financial economics, financial system, financial markets, financial institutions, financial instruments, financial claims, financial assets, paper assets, securities, counterparty risk, stocks, equity, bonds, debt, fixed-income securities, currencies, savers, investors, investments, asset classes, investment class, real assets, hard assets, intrinsic value, direct finance, indirect finance, funding, financing, financial intermediary, investment bank, primary market, issuer, secondary market, brokerage, stockholder, bondholder, spot market, futures market, money markets, capital markets, public markets, private markets.