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Access to ASM fileserver for Schatzberg Courses for Fall 1998 MGT 426 Advanced Corporate Finance This course will emphasize those advanced topics in corporate finance included in the Weston, Belsey, and Brigham text that were either not stressed or not covered in MGT 326. The structure of the class will be lecture and discussion. To augment the discussion provided in Essentials, we will utilize selected cases from the Bruner book as well as relevant readings in The Revolution in Corporate Finance. Rather than requiring group presentations for these cases (as was done in prior semesters with different instructors), we will discuss these cases together after the appropriate foundational material is covered in lecture. As with any course utilizing cases, it is crucial that each student be adequately prepared for the discussion in order to maximize the learning potential of each case. MGT 571 Investments This class is meant to be a second exposure to investment topics beyond that covered in MGT 526. We will use a survey approach concentrating on the topics of fixed income securities, equities, and derivatives. As such, this course will differ from the specialized seminars offered by the finance department in the depth of study within each topic. The course begins with a presentation of the investment environment which includes the description of various securities, the trading of these securities, and term structure issues. Next we will go through the three main modules of the course covering fixed income, equity, and derivative investments. Within each module we will describe the instruments involved, the usefulness of the particular security to various classes of investors, discuss valuation models, and investigate some practical trading considerations where appropriate. In addition to the materials discussed above from the text, we will also utilize 2 additional materials to enhance your understanding of the investments environments. First, I have assigned A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel. This is a classic work for the investor which is now in its sixth edition. The basic idea expressed in this text is that, despite some exceptions, it is very difficult to "beat" the market by doing your own analysis. Consequently, the ideas expressed here, as well as in other recent works, have suggested that investors may be best served by considering index funds. In addition, the text provides specific other advice for the individual investor including asset allocation and tax issues. I have roughly divided the book into 3 parts as indicated in the course outline. Although this book deals mostly with equities, and therefore does not always correspond to the neighboring topics within BKM, the reading is mostly non-technical such that this division should not present any difficulties in understanding the material. Secondly, we will be using the Innovative Investor which is a spreadsheet-based workbook written in basic with an Excel front-end. The workbook comes with a diskette such that you may install the software on a machine of your choosing or you may access the application through the ASM lab. This particular tool serves 2 main uses. First, like a financial calculator, it contains algorithms to quickly solve for certain concepts. Secondly, many modules allow the potential for sensitivity and scenario analysis so that you can readily investigate the impact of changing one or more input variables. Although the Innovative Investor is quite a time-saving tool that you will have available after graduation, there is also a substantial risk if used improperly. Specifically, it is important that you understand the particular substance behind the calculations and not regard the tool as a black box. To help in this regard, I will devote some portion of class time to reviewing examples and showing the correspondence between these calculations and those presented in our main text.
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