Smartphones, tablets, Twitter and Facebook. These gizmos keep us in touch and on time.

The investing world has its gizmos, too. They're called derivatives.

Derivatives are so named because their price is derived from the price of something else, such as a stock or a commodity. Just as tech gizmos have proliferated over the past few decades, so too have the number and variety of derivatives. Most fall under one of two basic types: futures and options.

This course will cover how futures and options work, and help you determine how these very risky investments may work in your portfolio.

Next: What Are Futures >>