Finance (GR)

This course is the subsequent course following GFIN-500 Financial Management intended for Graduate Finance majors and other related majors concentrating in the finance area. It covers intermediate to advanced level finance topics such as capital structure and long-term financing, options & futures in corporate finance, mergers & acquisitions, other critical modern finance issues.

This course is an MBA level course with an emphasis on the theory application of financial markets, institutions, and asset allocation. It consists of four parts. The first part deals with the introduction and overview of financial markets, institutions, and instruments. In addition we cover the Federal Reserve System, its monetary control functions, and monetary policy. The second part deals with security analysis and evaluation. Part 3 includes the depository financial institutions, including commercial banks. The fourth section deals with investment banks and investment companies.

This course examines four different types of financial markets both global and domestic; equity markets, fixed income security markets, options and futures markets with a focus on the valuation of securities in these markets, the empirical evidence concerning valuation models and strategies that can be employed to achieve various investment goals. Both practical and theoretical aspects of portfolio management will be discussed in the course.

This is a hands-on graduate course conducted entirely in instructional computer labs, requiring students to work on intensive spreadsheet-based finance assignments and projects in every class, individually and in teams. It is a finance elective for finance majors and a business elective for non-finance majors.

The main objective of this course is to provide the student with an in-depth knowledge of financial derivatives with a focus on the electric power industry. The central topics which will be covered, include: The mathematics of financial derivatives, the economics of the energy sector, futures and options as they apply to the current energy sector. Strong emphasis will be placed both on the mathematical modeling of energy derivatives and the practical aspects of energy markets in the U.S. Measures of risk, portfolio management as it applies to energy products, and value at risk (VAR) models will also be covered.

The main objective of this course is to provide the student with a solid background in financial analysis. This should enable students to successfully sit for the CFA'ae Level 1 exam. This course is essentially self study with discussion. Students will have a quiz prior to discussing the materials in class.

This course exposes students to a wide range of topics in the finance literature. All Finance Ph.D. students are required to attend, but only those in their second year take it for credit. The course allows students to develop ideas for their dissertations. Students will present papers related to their own interests as well as critical evaluation of the extant literature.

This course is designed to examine the major strategic and policy issues facing firms operating in the increasingly competitive global environment. Its focus is on the relationships of the company's external environment and internal resources which result in the development of broad corporate strategies and specific operational policies. The purpose is to provide students with an in-depth conceptual framework for analyzing those issues and challenges which must be addressed in order to optimize benefits to the corporation as a whole. Thus the course takes an integrative approach to solving problems attendant to: (l) operation in foreign environments, or across national boundaries; and/or (2) competing against global competitors. Note - Because of the prior preparation of the students enrolled in the class this semester, the focus of the course this semester will be on the Environment of International to which the students were not previously exposed.

The main objective of this course is to provide the student with an in-depth knowledge of financial management, and an ability to perform financial analysis. The central topics which will be covered include: Financial analysis planning and control, time value of money, opportunity cost of capital, risk and return. A strong emphasis will be placed upon capital budgeting.