Classes

For campus students:

 A 3-hour combined lecture / tutorial / computer lab session will be held each week. Normally the lecture part takes up the first 1.5 - 2.0 hours and the tutorial / lab session the last 1.0 - 1.5 hours. The location is E4B214

 All lecture content and tutorial exercises and solutions will be available on iLearn. 

Changes since last offering:

Nil

Textbooks: 

The textbook for this unit is "Fundamentals of Corporate Finance" by Parrino et al (isbn 9781118378076). An electronic version of the book is available and may be cheaper than the paper version. This book covers most but not all of the topics in the unit. The lecture notes will also cover what you need to know. Additional readings may be assigned for the various topics each week. This will either be journal articles, or other materials available on the web or available electronically e.g. via the Macquarie University Library

Reference Books:

Berk, J. and Demarzo,  P. Corporate Finance, Pearson (ISBN 9780273756033)

Beninga Principles of Finance with Excel, Oxford (ISBN 978 0 19 975547 9)

This book may be used to by students to learn about using excel for the various financial calculations involved in the course, during the tutorial / computer lab sessions.

Copeland, Weston and Shastri, Financial Theory and Corporate Policy 4th Edition, Pearson (ISBN 0-321-22353-5)

Grinblatt and Titman, Financial Markets and Corporate Strategy 2nd Edition, McGraw-Hill (ISBN 0-07-229433-7)

Hull, Options, Futures and Other Derivatives 8^th  Edition, Prentice Hall

Technology Used and Required

Students will require access to the internet to download lecture slides and tutorial solutions.

 The assignment and most tutorial exercises will require the use of word processing and/or spreadsheet programs.

 In most weeks we will be using excel spreadsheets for the various financial calculations needed. Our classes are held in a computer laboratory and all students will have access to a computer with the required software installed on it.

 Students will be instructed in how to use excel for the purposes of the unit

 Students may wish to bring a headset to class so they can view and listen to the mp4 video files of lectures / tutorials / excel demonstrations 

Unit Web Page

 Course material is available on the learning management system (iLearn)

 The web page for this unit can be found at: http://ilearn.mq.edu.au/course/view.php?id=17756

Learning and Teaching Activities

 The unit is taught via lectures, tutorial exercises and the use of spreadsheet software for implementing models and calculations for the purpose of financial decision making

 Each lecture is self-contained and structured according to the summary provided in the “weekly curriculum” section below. Students are expected to read the relevant chapters prior to the lecture, so that they are familiar with the material to be covered. This will greatly enhance your learning experience.

 Dealing with advanced material in our subject area requires a range of generic skills. This unit aims at developing such skills. The lectures and in particular the assignments and tutorial exercises are tailored to enhance critical analysis, problem-solving and creative thinking, comprehension, computing and writing skills.

 You should take the time to work on the problem sets, since they will tend to be similar in nature to the problems you see on the test and exam. Solutions will be provided for the assigned selected questions.

 We cover many examples of financial valuation and decision making problems and how to solve these using spreadsheets. Our approach is one of learning by example and by practicing using excel to solve financial decision making problems.

 This unit gives you practice in applying research findings in your assignments

 This unit gives you opportunities to conduct your own research