BUS322 (FIN331): Financial Institutions and Markets
FALL 2007, Room 111, Ballentine Hall
TTH, 3:30 – 4:45pm
GENERAL INFORMATION
INSTRUCTOR:
Tong Yu
OFFICE:
Ballentine 223
TELEPHONE:
(401) 874-7415
E-MAIL:
tongyu@uri.edu
Office Hours:
TTH 2:00 – 3:00pm or when the door is open
Web page:
http://www.cba.uri.edu/tong
PREREQUISITES:
EC 201, BAC 202, ACC 202.
REQUIRED TEXTS
1) Mishkin and Eakins, Financial Markets and Institutions, (5th Edition); Addison, Wesley,
Longman, ISBN: 0-321-28029-6
2) Joel Greenblatt, The Little Book that Beats the Market, Wiley, ISBN: 0-471-73306-7
3) The Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
FINANCIAL CALCULATOR
You are required to have a financial calculator in this class. Several are available, and I will be
using the overhead version of the BA-II Plus model (Texas Instruments). You are responsible for
learning how to operate the financial calculator.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Introduce the operation and structure of the financial system in the United States. We will cover
following topics: (1) interest rate determination, (2) central bank operation, (3) commercial
banking business, (4) bank risk management, (5) real estate market and (6) investment banking
and mutual fund business. The course will also help you achieve a good understanding of Wall
Street Journal.
GRADING
Your grade will consist of homework quizzes, exams, and projects.
Projects:
Participation and Homework:
Quizzes:
Exam I:
Exam II:
Final exam:
10%
5%
10%
25%
25%
25%
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BUS 322, Syllabus, continued
QUIZZES and EXAMS
Quizzes: We have 3 quizzes. The quizzes will be given at the beginning of the class and take you
approximately 20 minutes for each quiz.
Exams: There will be 3 exams. A legitimate conflict with any of the examinations can only be
determined by the instructor. Failure to obtain this approval PRIOR TO THE EXAM will result
in a ZERO grade. To attend a make-up exam within one week of the original date of the exam:
1) you contacted the instructor prior to the original exam date, and 2) a legitimate conflict is
approved by the instructor. If you are late arriving for a quiz or an exam, you will not be given
additional time to complete the quiz.
ATTENDENCE
Attendance will be taken at the beginning of class.
PROJECTS
You will form groups up to 5 people to work on the project. Requirement includes an oral
presentation and a written report. Specific requirement will be announced later. 20 Percent of
the grade will be deducted from total points possible for late work.
HOMEWORK
You should turn in your homework on time. Please write your answers clearly. If there are
multiple pages, please staple them! Homework contains three parts: (1) regular textbook
exercises, (2) portfolio analysis, and (3) major financial event analysis. I will provide solutions
to homework. You will find some of exam and quiz questions are similar to your homework.
Homework schedule has been listed in Syllabus but subject to changes according to course
progress. Please submit homework on time. Late homework without an excuse will not be
accepted.
CHEATING
Cheating on exams and quizzes will NOT be tolerated. Please refer to the URI University
Manual for policies related to cheating.
MISCELLANEOUS
 Presentation materials used in the class will be made available on-line before the class.
 I reserve the right to make any modifications in the syllabus. Modifications will be
announced in class. You are responsible for the changes announced in class.
GRADING SCALE
The following scale will be used for grading purposes:
100 - 94 A
93 - 90 A89 - 87 B+
86 - 84 B
83 - 80 B79 - 77 C+
76 - 74 C
73 - 70 C67 - 69 D+
60 - 66 D
0 - 59 F
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BUS 322, Syllabus, Cont’d
COURSE CALENDAR (TENTATIVE)
DATE
SUBJECT
Week of Sep 6
Reading:
Introductions and Financial System
Chapters 1 & 2
Week of Sep 11
Reading:
Basics about Interest Rates
Chapter 3
Week of Sep 18
Reading:
Homework 1
Duration
Chapter 3; Little Book (ch1 – ch5)
Week of Sep 25
Reading:
Quiz 1
Duration
Chapter 3
Week of Oct 2
Reading:
Homework 2
Equilibrium Analysis on Interest Rates
Chapter 4, Little Book (ch6-ch10)
Week of Oct 9
Reading:
Exam 1
Term Structure of Interest Rates
Chapter 5
Week of Oct 16
Reading:
Term Structure of Interest Rates (Cont’d)
Chapter 5
Week of Oct 23
Quiz 2
Reading:
Financial and Real Estate Markets
Week of Oct 30
Reading:
Central Banks and Fed Policy
Chapters 7 & 8, Little Book (ch11 – ch13)
Week of Nov 6
Reading:
Homework 3
Exam 2
Commercial Banking
Chapters 16, 17, 18 & 20
Week of Nov 13
Reading:
Quiz 3
Commercial Banking (cont’d)
Chapters 16, 17, 18, 20
Chapters 9, 10, 11
3
BUS 322, Syllabus, continued
Week of Nov 20
Reading:
Risk Management
chapters 24, 25
Week of Nov 27
Reading:
Security Firms and Mutual Funds
Chapter 21, 23
Week of Dec 4
Group Presentations
Final Exam
Date to be announced
Let’s have a great semester!
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