Instructor: Prof. Mark S. Johnson, Ph.D. Class Meets Section 002 TTH 10:20-11:40 G032 Hubbard Section 001 TTH 2:40-4:00 2400 Engineering Building Office: 324 Eppley Center Office phone: 432-6253 E-mail: johnsonm@bus.msu.edu Office Hours: MW 2:30-3:30 PM and by appointment
Textbook: Corporate Finance, 10th Edition, by Stephen Ross, Randolph Westerfield, and Jeffrey Jaffe, 2008, McGraw-Hill/Irwin. ISBN 978-0-07-803477-0. Also one Harvard case must be purchased, case # 201-025
Course Objective: The goal of this course is to provide an overview of modern corporate financial methods with an emphasis on valuation. This will include valuation of real assets, securities, real options and derivative assets. The course should be useful to all graduate students preparing for careers that have at least some financial analysis component. Additionally, this course will serve as a solid foundation for further graduate study in finance, in particular, finance 852 (Financial markets and strategies) and finance 853 (Fixed income securities).
Course Format: The course will follow a traditional lecture format. For most of the lecture material I will use overhead slides that will be made available on Angel.
Course Requirements: You are required to learn the material covered in class and in the assigned readings. Attendance is not required except on quiz days. I will be following the textbook fairly closely, but some material not in the textbook will be covered in class. Additionally, my treatment of some material differs slightly from the textbook. There are 7 problem sets during the semester. The 7 problem sets are not graded. Additionally, there will be 7 non-cumulative quizzes during the semester each associated with one of the 7 problem sets. If you miss a quiz a zero will be recorded in the grade-book for the quiz. I will use the top 5 of 7 quizzes to compute your grade. Each quiz should require 30 minutes of class time depending on the topic covered. Finally there is one valuation case assignment which must be turned in at the start of the last class period in the semester. This case may be done with up to two other people of your choosing.
7 Quizzes (100 points per Quiz, highest 5) 500 points
1 case assignment 100 points
Total points available 600 points
Quizzes: Will consist of 5-10 multiple choice problems followed by 1-3 long problems. You may use any calculator that you wish to help you find answers. A sheet of relevant formulas will be provided by the instructor for each exam. These formula sheets will be posted on ANGEL 2 days before each quiz.
Note that in order to pass this class with a 2.0 you must earn at least 50% of the available points.
Should you have a question regarding your final grade in the class, please e-mail me as soon as possible after the scores are posted on ANGEL.
Attendance:
Attendance is not required except on quiz days. It is anticipated that attendance will influence your course grade.
Academic Honesty:
Article 2.3.3 of the Academic Freedom Report states that “the student shares with the faculty the responsibility for maintaining the integrity of scholarship, grades, and professional standards.” In addition, the Finance department adheres to the policies on academic honesty as specified in General Student Regulations 1.0, Protection of Scholarship and Grades, and in the All-University Policy on Integrity of Scholarship and Grades, which are included in Spartan Life: Student Handbook and Resource Guide, as well as Broad College Student Honor Code. Students who cheat on examinations will receive a 0.0 on the exam and cannot earn a grade above a 2.0 in the course regardless of their point total in the class. You are expected to do your
