FIN 3850
Intermediate Finance
Fall 2008

Professor:

Timothy R. Mayes, Ph.D.

Office:

WC 247 E

e-mail

mayest2@comcast.net or
mayest@mscd.edu

Phone:

303-556-3776 (office)

Webpages

http://clem.mscd.edu/~mayest/
http://www.tvmcalcs.com/

Office
Hours:

Tues/Thurs 1:30 – 2:30, 4:00 – 5:30
Wed 3:00 – 4:00

Available by
Appointment Only:

Tues/Thurs 12:00 – 1:30
Wed              1:00 – 3:00

Prerequisites:

FIN 3300 with a grade of “C” or better, and at least junior standing.  Prerequisites will be enforced, so you must also have all of your MTH, ECO, and ACC courses.  In addition to these prerequisites, students are expected to have good algebra and statistics skills.

Textbook:

Intermediate Financial Management 9th ed. by Brigham and Daves.
Intermediate Financial Management Study Guide 9th ed. by Brigham
In addition, a subscription to the Wall Street Journal will be helpful since many of the topics discussed in class are illustrated daily in Journal articles.

Calculator

A financial calculator that can handle uneven cash flow streams is required.  I provide in-depth tutorials for all financial calculators at: http://www.tvmcalcs.com/.

Purpose:

This course builds on and reinforces concepts that you were introduced to in previous finance courses.  Among the topics covered are risk measurement and management, capital market theory, capital budgeting, valuation, capital structure theory, and dividend policy.  The course concentrates on quantitative techniques and financial theory.

Format:

Most of the class time will be devoted to working the mini-cases at the end of each chapter. Students are required to participate, and are expected to be prepared with the solutions to the mini-case before class discussion. Preparation should consist of reading the chapter, working homework problems and working the mini-case problems.  Participation is an important part of your grade, so you are urged to be prepared.

Exams:

Each of the three exams will consist of multiple-choice questions and a problem section where you must show your work or answer a short essay question. The final exam will be cumulative. Participation is graded according to the quality of your answers to the mini-case questions.  Each student will be called upon, randomly, several times during the semester to answer specific questions.
Students are expected to complete exams at the scheduled times.  Make-up exams will not be given except in extreme situations and with prior notification.

Week of

Chapters

Weight

Grades , :

6 October

Exam 1: Ch. 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9

25%

10 November

Exam 2: Ch. 10, 11, 12, 13

25%

8 December

Exam 3 (final): Ch. 15, 17, 21 and cumulative

30%

Participation

20%

Total

100%