Fi 473 Syllabus with Case Studies Included

Edited August 25th, 2015 (Subject to change)

Finance 473 Debt and Money Market
Syllabus

Andrei Simonov / Eppley 321/  simonov@msu.edu

“Debt and Money Markets” is one of the primary topics in finance and will be of interest to any senior student who is interested in either investments or corporate finance.  This course provides students with a focused examination of the debt market.  Topics examined include valuation, term structure of interest rates, derivatives of fixed income instruments, Treasury securities, corporate bonds, mortgage-backed securities, municipal securities, and bond portfolio management.  The course should also be beneficial to students that want to pass CFA exams.

Teaching material:

1.         Course note package and additional materials online;

2.         Textbook:  Frank J. Fabozzi, Bond Markets, Analysis and Strategies, (Hardcover: 792 pages,  Publisher: Prentice Hall; 6th , 7th, or 8th editions)  Available in Spartan Bookstore.

3.         Cases (case pack is available for sale in Spartan Bookstore)

1. Tombstones (HBS 5-213-085)
2. Cougars (HBS Case 295006).
3. Kroll Bond rating Agency (HBS Case  5-212-065)
4. Enron Corp.: Credit Sensitive Notes (HBS Case 297099).
5. The B.F. Goodrich- Rabobank Interest Rate Swap (HBS Case 5-295-161)

Instructional methods:

The course will be presented in a traditional lecture format.  Students will be evaluated on several assignments, case studies, and exams.  The weights are as follows: participation 5%, eight in-class quizzes 28% (3.5% each), five cases 35% (7% each), midterm and final exams (16% each).   All cases are due on due date before the start of class. In case you miss the case/assignment without good reason (for example, certified by MD medical need), the exams weight will increase correspondingly.  Please note that you can miss no more than one case and two quizzes.

Also note that I am on purpose do not announce dates of those quizzes. However, they will not happen on the date of cases and guest lectures.

Grading:

The course will be graded on a curve according to instructor discretion. Approximately the curve will work as follows (the instructor maintains the right to make changes if necessary). Assuming satisfactory overall class performance, the aim will be for a mean grade of around 3.5. However, the actual mean grade may be higher or lower than 3.5 depending on the overall class performance.