FINC 381
Investment Analysis

1. Catalog Entry

FINC 381. Investment Analysis
Three hours lecture.

Prerequisites: FINC 331

This course provides a survey and an analysis of different types of financial securities and the markets in which they are traded. It focuses on both traditional securities such as stocks and bonds and on the newer derivative instruments such as futures, options, and swaps.

2. Detailed Description of Content of Course

1. Marketable Financial Assets

a. Treasury and Federal Agency Securities
b. Corporate Securities
c. Municipal Securities

2. Portfolio Theory and Management

a. An Overview of Risk and Return
b. Selection of an Optimal Portfolio
c. Multiple - Asset Portfolios

3. Developments in Speculative Markets

a. New products
b. Coping with changes in the market place

4. Stock and Interest Options

a. Fundamentals of stock options
b. Advanced option strategies and considerations
c. Interest rate options

5. The Futures Markets

a. Commodity futures
b. Interest rate futures
c. Stock index futures
d. Foreign exchange futures
e. Gold and silver futures

3. Detailed Description of Conduct of Course

This course is a combination of lecture, case presentation, and discussion.

4. Goals and Objectives of the Course

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

• identify various investment instruments offered in the financial market.
• identify various financial markets.
• measure the risk/return of each individual security as well as a portfolio.
• construct an optimal portfolio given a set of financial assets.
• differentiate between technical and fundamental analyses in predicting the future performance of the market.
• predict relative performance for a given set of financial securities.

5. Assessment Measures

Graded assignments may include in-class tests, a final examination, pop quizzes, the assignment and presentation of problem exercises, papers, and class preparation and participation.

6. Other Course Information
7. Review and Approval

 DATE ACTION APPROVED BY
 September 2001 Reviewed Dr. Dan Davidson, Chair