Course Syllabus

Finance 301

St. Bonaventure University

“Fall” 2005

Jim Mahar

Instructor: Jim Mahar, 231 Murphy Building, 375-2359, jimmahar@FinanceProfessor.com or jmahar@sbu.edu (but I check less frequently). Also AIM screenname is FinanceProfessor

Class time: 11:30 MWF Murphy

Office Hours: MW 1:15-3:45 and by appointment

Course Description

Finance 301 is a 3 credit business foundational courses, required for all undergraduate business majors at St. Bonaventure University. Finance 301 is designed to provide a basic knowledge of finance for all business majors and to serve as an introduction to finance for finance majors.

Course Objective:

This course will introduce you to the world of finance. It will expand your knowledge of finance in general and corporate finance in particular. The class will introduce you to firms and how they interact with the capital markets, we will discuss the goals of organizations and how the goals of different stakeholders vary. We will learn the time value of money, stock and bond valuation models, and the basic risk-return relationship.

Applicable Program Objectives

For specific program goals please see (note this link only works from on campus computers): http://ms.sbu.edu/program_learning_goals.htm

Course Objectives

Upon completion of the course students will be expected to:

Describe the model of the financial system
Explain the nexus of contracts model and discuss its importance through the eyes of various stakeholders (and be able to identify the incentives of various stakeholders)
Apply Time Value of Money techniques in both personal and corporate decisions
Understand the risk-return relationship
Correctly use various valuation techniques
Explain the implications of the Market Efficiency Hypothesis
Discuss intelligently differing capital structure theories
Discuss the advantages of alternative capital structures
Discuss common trends in the finance

Text:

Introduction to Corporate Finance By William Megginson and Scott Smart

Text’s website: SmartFinance which will be used a great deal.

Class Website: Essentially FinanceProfessor.com, but more specifically http://www.financeprofessor.com/fin301/fin301mainpage.html

Supplemental Texts and websites:

Required:

FinanceProfessor.com blog http://financeprofessorblog.blogspot.com/

FinanceProfessor.com class blog http://financeclass.blogspot.com//

Optional

Student Solution manual to accompany Megginson and Smart Introduction to Corporate Finance (optional)

Finance Professor.com Newsletter

FinanceProfessor.com class podcast

Wall Street Journal

It should be noted that the class website is meant as a means of assistance to you and as a means of organizing the class. It is not as a replacement for the text or for coming to class. For some topics there will be much online coverage, for others there will not be as much coverage. Remember this is not meant to replace your other means of learning.

Prerequisites: As per catalog. Economics 101, 102, Stats 1 (QMX 211), Accounting 201.

Technology Requirements

Proficiency in Excel as demonstrated by successful completion of either CS 104 or CS 120 or by a waiver for CS 104.
An ability to access the internet
Use of RSS reader and ability to play MP3 files is recommended but not required.
A basic calculator is required for every class.

Evaluation Procedures

Students will be evaluated based on their performances on exams, quizzes, class participation, and out of class projects.

Exams will assess your comprehension of the covered topics as well as your ability to apply the concepts and theories to new and different situations. Two exams will be given during the courses of the semester as well as a comprehensive final exam. The dates for the three exams are tentative. The date of the final is determined by the university calendar. Students who are absent from an exam without prior permission from the instructor will receive a “0” on that exam.

Quizzes will be given in class periodically to assess your understanding of the material and to provide you with more timely feedback than is possible with exams. Each quiz will cover all material assigned and/or covered since the previous quiz/exam. Failure to attend class the day of an in-class quiz will result in a zero for that quiz. There will be no make-up quizzes.

Projects will be completed individually. You can help each other but each student is expected to turn in his/her own work. Failure to hand in projects on time will result in a zero for that project.

Operational Details:

The course will be centered on lectures and text readings but will also

incorporate financial events as they occur throughout the semester.

There will be several “special topics” days during the semester. These will include guest lecturers, discussion of current financial topics, and other timely material. This material will be tested.

We will cover a great deal of material. I make no qualms about this not

being a "cake" course. It is imperative that you "keep up" with the

material..

You are expected to attend class AND to participate. Sitting quietly is not sufficient. I would HIGHLY recommend reading the book prior to class. You will be amazed at how much better (and easier!) class is when you make this small investment.

This means that you should do all of the readings and attend all classes. J

Grading: Grades will be assigned based on the following:

Attendance and Class Participation	15%
Test 1	20%
Test 2	20%
Cumulative Final	25%
Projects	20%

Grades will be assigned using the following scale:

90-100 = A

80- 90 = B

70- 80 = C

60-70 = D

Below 60 = F

I should warn you that I am often accused of being a hard "tester" and frequently my grades are lower than the above scale. For example the typical average on the test is a low C, whereas the typical average grade I assign at the end of the year is a C+. This means that I reserve the right to "curve" grades at the end of the semester. The curve is done relative to your peers so that the grades will be roughly in line with those from the other sections. Thus how you do relative to your peers is more important than any number grade you receive on a test. (Please reread that).

This is not a guarantee of curving!

The tests will center predominately on lecture notes. The tests may include multiple choice, true/false, problems, short answers, and/or essays. Currently I plan on having the majority of the questions multiple choice. The tests are somewhat cumulative and will generally include approximately 10%-15 based exclusively from the book and outside readings (blog, newsletter etc.) packet. The final is cumulative and is required.

I reserve the right to have unannounced quizzes. However, I do not currently have any unannounced quizzes scheduled.

You will need a calculator that can do exponents. While you probably want a financial calculator it is not required.

University Policies

Academic Honesty Policy at St. Bonaventure University:

I am committed to St. Bonaventure University’s academic environment for students, supporting and rewarding only the highest standards of ethical behavior. That said, academic dishonesty, in any form, will not be tolerated. Please consult the St. Bonaventure University Student Handbook for a list of unacceptable practices, penalties to be assigned and procedures to be followed in prosecuting cases of alleged academic dishonesty. Further, the St. Bonaventure University Undergraduate Catalog may be consulted for specific details on all academic policies at St. Bonaventure.

Cheating will not be tolerated. Unless specifically stated in class, students can work together on the homework, but each student is expected to submit his/her own work. Cheating on a test or project will result in a Failing grade for the course. Please do not cheat

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities who believe that they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact the Disability Support Services Office, Doyle Room 26, at 375-2065 as soon as possible to better ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion. Documentation from this office is required before accommodations can be made.

Instructor Policies

Attendance

As you can see from the schedule, we will be investigating a new topic at nearly every class. It is critical that you come to class. Students who aren’t in class on a regular basis will not do well. Students are also expected to be on time for class and to be prepared.

Participation

Students are expected to actively participate in class by asking and answering questions.

Preparation

Students are expected to have the reading assignment completed when they arrive at class. While some material is difficult and may need additional explanation, students should have a basic understanding of the concepts that are to be covered that day. Use your notebook to jot down topics/ideas that you don’t understand from the reading and questions that you want to have answered during the next class.

Courtesy

Students are expected to arrive on time and prepared for each class meeting and to refrain from behavior that distracts other students (answering cell phones, text messaging, etc.).

Collaboration

There will be occasions during this course when students will be given the opportunity to work collaboratively with one other student or in a larger group. Collaborative work allows student to learn from each other.

Now that the legal and administrative parts of the class are out of the way it should be noted that this will also be a very fun class. You will be challenged, but you will learn a great deal. This will help you in other finance classes as well as in both your personal financial life as well as in your business life.

Please let me know of any problem you are having--Preferably early in the semester. Tell me in advance of the problem when we can still solve it, not afterwards when it is too late.