Arkansas State University
College of Business
Spring 2012
COURSE: FIN 3713, Business Finance
SCHEDULE: WEBA
INSTRUCTOR: Bill X. Hu
Office: 309
Phone: 972-2470
Email: xhu@astate.edu
Office Hours:
M 9:00am-noon; TR 8:30-9:30am; or By appointment
PREREQUISITES: ACCT 2133 or 2023
COURSE OBJECTIVES
1. Students will demonstrate the ability to solve time value of money problems using a financial
calculator. (Technology, Business Knowledge)
2. Students will calculate the value of equity and debt instruments using discounted cash flow
analysis. (Business Knowledge)
3. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the risk/return tradeoff present in investment
decisions. (Critical Thinking)
4. Students will calculate a firm’s cost of capital and describe the factors that may lead to
changes in the cost of capital. (Critical Thinking, Business Knowledge)
5. Students will be able to complete an analysis of a capital budgeting project using NPV and
IRR. (Critical Thinking, Business Knowledge)
REQUIRED MATERIALS
Textbook: Finance Applications & Theory, ISBN-10: 0077596129 | ISBN-13: 978-0077596125,
Cornett, Adair, & Nofsinger, 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill Irwin. (Required with Connect access)
Connect Account: Quizzes and exams for the course will be administered through Connect
located within the Blackboard 9 environment. You must set up a Connect account either using the
access code that comes with the textbook or registering with Connect separately if your textbook
does not have an access code.
Note: "Start Free Trial" option is also available during registration, enabling students to register
and access Connect Plus without an access code (typically for 2 to 3 weeks) before being required
to get one. This option is useful for students awaiting financial aid, those who may drop the class,
or those who want to try the Connect Plus eBook before they buy. When a student’s free trial
expires, they can simply purchase access and continue with all of their previous saved work.
Final Exam: The comprehensive final exam must be taken in a proctored environment. You
should arrange and take the final exam either at a testing center or at a regional campus. The final
exam will be available online through Connect or Blackboard during the final week of the
semester. Thus you need to have access to a computer and the Internet. One formula sheet is
allowed along with your financial calculator. Details will be announced again before the final
exam.
1
Financial Calculator: You must have a financial calculator to get through the course. Texas
Instrument BA II Plus Professional is highly recommended. Calculators with text-storing
capacities are not allowed in exams.
GRADING
There will be three exams throughout the semester, two during the semester and one during the
final exam week. The final exam will be comprehensive. Your grade in the course will be
determined based on your performance on the three examinations, quizzes, and participation.
Weekly Quizzes
200
Participation
100
st
1 Mid-term Exam
200
2nd Mid-term Exam
200
Final Exam (Comprehensive) 300
Grading Scale: 900 —1000 A, 800 — 899 B, 700 —799 C, 600 — 699 D, 0 — 599 F
The participation points are determined mainly through discussions and projects on blackboard. I
will initiate discussions on blackboard and students shall respond.
The instructor reserves the right to curve grades at the end, or during the course.
Policies:
 Class attendance will be checked by weekly quizzes.
 You quiz grade will be determined by the total of your best 10 quizzes out of 11 quizzes.
If you miss a quiz, the grade for that quiz would be zero.
 Your participation grade will be mainly based on your postings in the Course Blog
section on Blackboard. Good news: Your first self-introduction posting will be 10 points.
The remaining points will be specified in the discussion topics and/or projects (to be
prepared and posted by the instructor). Bonuses might be added to reward the students
according to their efforts in the class.
 I encourage students forming study groups of 2 to 8 students. Although forming a group
is entirely voluntary, there are benefits for forming groups. For example, you can discuss
difficult course materials together and learn from each other. In addition, you can work
on projects together and post on the discussion board as a group. In this case, please
specify your group members clearly so that I will give each of you participation points
accordingly.
 The instructor will vigorously enforce all University policies concerning academic
dishonesty and misconduct.
 Postings on Blackboard discussion forums should follow Posting Rubrics.
 The final exam, administered online via Connect or Blackboard, must be taken in a
proctored environment either at a regional campus or at a testing center.
 Grades will be recorded in numerical form until the final grades are determined at the end
of the semester.
2
TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE
This schedule is extremely tentative, and subject to change. Any change will be announced
via Blackboard in advance.
Date
Week 1
Week 2-3
Week 4
Week 5
February 12-19
Week 6
Week 7-8
Week 9
March 11-18
Week 10
March 19-24
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13-14
Week 15
Week 16
May 1-7
Topic
Introduction to Financial Management
Time Value of Money
Project 1: Lease or Buy?
Valuing Bonds
Mid-Term Exam I
Valuing Stocks
Characterizing Risk and Return
Estimating Risk and Return
Chapters
1
4-5
7
8
9
10
Project 2: Beta calculation
Mid-Term Exam 2
Spring Break
Understanding Financial Markets and
Institutions
Calculating the Cost of Capital
Estimating Cash Flows on Capital
Budgeting Projects
Weighing Net Present Value and Other
Capital Budgeting Criteria
Comprehensive review and practice test
Final Exam (comprehensive)
3
6
11
12
13