COURSE SYLLABUS - FINANCE 350 Fall 2006[1]
INSTRUCTOR: Donglin Li (, NOT the sfsu account.)
OFFICE: BUS 315 (405-0981)
OFFICE HOUR: W 11:00-13:00, Th 12:00-14:00
CLASSROOM HSS154 19:00-21:45 W
HOMEPAGE : http://online.sfsu.edu/~donglin/courses.html
REQUIRED TEXT: “Fundamentals of Financial Management” Brigham and Houston, Thomas Southwestern Publisher, concise 5th edition.
Prerequisites:
ACCT 101, ECON 101, DS 110, 212; ISYS 263 or pass computer information systems proficiency test. Please note that you need to get a grade of C- or better to use 350 as a prerequisite for higher level courses.
Course Objectives:
The primary purpose of the course is to provide the students with conceptual, analytical and institutional aspects of financial decision making at an introductory level. Specifically, the topics may include Financial Analysis, Capital Budgeting, Capital Structure, Valuation, Cost of Capital and Risk Analysis.
I hope that by the end of this course you will have a grasp of basic finance principles and that you will have gone beyond just memorizing facts and formulae. This will enable you to better understand current events in finance and will provide a solid framework for any subsequent courses you wish to take in finance.
I shall present the material in various topics. You are advised to review assigned chapters before lectures. You are highly recommended to do the self-test problems and homework problems of each covered chapter in the textbook.
Calculator:
You must have a financial calculator to get through the course. Many of the exam problems involve complex financial calculations - a financial calculator is necessary to solve them. For the exams you will only be allowed to bring in a calculator; no computer is allowed.
I recommend the Texas Instruments BAII-Plus. The BAII-Plus will do everything needed in this and other undergraduate finance classes.
The ability to use a financial calculator is critical for success in this class. You are responsible for learning how to operate your financial calculator - and it is crucial that you are familiar with your calculator by the time we begin Chapter 5. Students may not share calculators during exams. Please check your batteries before exams.
Class Web Page:
There is a web page for this class at http://online.sfsu.edu/~donglin/courses.html. This web contains a lot of useful and very important information such as syllabus, lecture notes, homework solutions, exam solutions, and other useful links.
Homework
To help you understand the concepts and prepare for the quizzes and the final exam, there will be weekly homework problem sets. Homework solution will be posted on my website. Finance is a science; the only way to learn the material in this class is to work out a large number of problems. No credit is assigned for homework.
Class Performance
Class Performance can be enhanced by behaving well in class. Full attendance helps but does not guarantee full credit on class performance.
In Class Work
There are a total of 4 projects that are done in class. The highest two scores will be counted toward your total points. In other words, one can theoretically earn full credit while missing two in-class projects. There are absolutely no make-ups. Yes, you can discuss with others in doing these projects in class. The schedule of these 4 in-class-work projects is not announced in advance.
Midterm, Final and Grading:
There will be three short midterms and one final exam during the semester.
Out of the 3 midterms, the highest 2 scores will be counted toward your total points.[2] To take advantage of this policy, it might be helpful to take all three midterms. There are absolutely no make-ups. You can NOT discuss with others in doing midterms or the final. The schedule of these 3 midterms is not announced in advance; however the instructor might alert you one week earlier. Please bring your SFSU ID or a driver license to class, as well as scantrons.
The midterms and final exams will be held in class (closed book). The midterms are in the form of multiple choice questions, consisting of a mix of conceptual questions and numerical problems. The final might be also multiple choices or a combination of multiple choice and short answer questions.
The final exam will be cumulative, although more weight may be placed on late chapters. In general, the coverage will reflect the amount of time spent in class on the different chapters.
There will be NO makeup or in-advance exams. Giving the final before or after the assigned dates is NOT POSSIBLE. No incomplete will be given. If you anticipate missing many classes, please take the course at a later date.
Since this course is a core business course and it is used as a prerequisite for another core course (e.g., Bus 690), you must earn a grade of at least C- or better in order to take the next core course.
Total available points will be broken down as follows:
Class performance 10
In Class Work 10
Midterms (highest two of three) 40
Third Exam (Final) 40
The grade that will appear on your transcript is based on the ranking of your total scores in class:
Above 90% of class / Above 65% of class / Above 30% of class / Bottom 30%A range / B range / C range / D and F range
The instructor reserves the right to make minor adjustment if necessary.
Academic Integrity Rules
Any students caught behaving unethically with regard to this class, including but not limited to cheating in exams, will receive a failing grade. During exams, it is helpful to sit as far as possible between each other. It helps to look at the classroom ceiling, your shoes, or the blackboard rather than your neighbors when you need to rest your eyes.
Any attempt to seek undue favor from the instructor will automatically and negatively affect your class performance points. The instructor cannot assign extra work to any individual to improve her/his grade. I impose this policy just to be fair to the whole class.
Tentative Course Outline
Date
/Chapter
/Topic
/HW Problems
8/30 / 1 / Introduction to Financial Management9/6 / 2 / Time value of money / ST-3, 9-15, 20
9/13 / 2 / Time value of money / ST-3, 9-15, 20
9/20 / 3 / Financial Statements, Taxes and Cash Flow / 5,7,10,11
9/27 / 4 / Analysis of Financial Statements / 7,10,17,18, 21
10/4 / 7, 6 / Bonds and their valuation; Interest rates / Ch7: ST-2, 1-5, 7, 20
10/11 / 8 / Risk and Return / 1-6,12,17,21
10/18 / 8 / Risk and Return
11/1 / 9, 5 / Stocks and their Valuation / Ch9: 1-3,5,8,11
11/8 / 10 / Cost of Capital (Business ethics week) / 1-3, 8, 17
11/15 / 11 / Basics of Capital Budgeting / ST-2, 1,2, 4, 6
11/29 / 12 / Cash Flow Estimation and Risk Analysis / 12(a)
12/6 / 13 / Capital Structure and Leverage / 2
12/13 / Slack, Catchup, or Review
12/20 / Final Exam / 19:00 pm -21:45 pm HSS154
September 8 (Friday) / Last day to ADD a course using White Stickers.
Also, last day to sign up to Audit a course.
September 25(Monday) / Last day to ADD using Gold Stickers and
Last day to DROP a course
No Adds or Drops after September 25, 2006
October 23 (Monday) / Last day to elect CR/NC option.
Once elected, the option cannot be changed a later date.
November 17 (Friday) / Last day for student Withdrawals.
Only ONE withdrawal per COB course is permitted.
3
[1] Tentative and subject to change.
[2] However, if a student attempted cheating during a midterm, a zero score from that test must be included (with score from another midterm) in computing the total points. That is, one cannot drop a zero score from cheated test.