The GoldSim Financial Module is intended for use by analysts, researchers and students who are interested in understanding and predicting the performance of complex financial systems, and the interaction of such systems with the outside world.
The software itself, although relatively complex, can be mastered by anyone familiar with the basic functions of a personal computer and the Windows operating system. The key requirements for applying the Financial Module are a clear understanding of the financial system being modeled; and a basic understanding of uncertainty analysis and probability theory:
•Because the software was designed to be extremely flexible, it intentionally imposes few constraints on the inputs that you define. Hence, it is your responsibility to ensure that the system being defined is consistent and realistic. As a result, the most important requirement is that you have a clear understanding of the features, processes, and events controlling the behavior of the system to be modeled. This should include a good understanding of the fundamentals of financial analysis and modeling.
•Although GoldSim can be run in a deterministic manner (i.e., with no specified uncertainty in input parameters), one of the key features of GoldSim is its ability to explicitly represent such uncertainty through the use of probability distributions. In order to do so, the user must have at least a basic understanding of the representation and propagation of uncertainty. Appendix A of the GoldSim User's Guide provides a brief primer on this topic, along with suggestions for further reading.