Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update
Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, any references to assessment tasks and on-campus delivery may no longer be up-to-date on this page.
Students should consult iLearn for revised unit information.
Find out more about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and potential impacts on staff and students
Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Unit convenor
Sachi Purcal
Contact via sachi.purcal@mq.edu.au
4EaR 728
see iLearn
Angela Chow
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Credit points |
Credit points
10
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
50cp at 1000 level or above including [(ACST101 or ACST1001) and (STAT150 or STAT1250 or STAT170 or STAT1170 or STAT171 or STAT1371)]
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
This unit explores some basic concepts of finance, in particular: price; yield; the relationship between price and yield; interest rate risk; reinvestment risk; duration and its uses; volatility; the contingent payments approach; arbitrage pricing theory; pricing forwards; futures and options. To achieve understanding, this unit uses financial mathematics (the techniques learned in ACST1001 are developed further here) to analyse transactions involving commonly used financial instruments in the context of the markets in which they are traded. At the same time, students develop skills in solving problems; in explaining financial ideas in simple language; in constructing spreadsheet models; and in working as part of a team. A range of assessment tasks are provided, some to generate feedback on how well the understanding and skills are developing, and others to determine the standard of understanding and skills attained. |
Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update
Assessment details are no longer provided here as a result of changes due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Students should consult iLearn for revised unit information.
Find out more about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and potential impacts on staff and students
Gradebook
It is the responsibility of students to view their marks for each within session assessment on iLearn within 20 working days of posting. If there are any discrepancies, students must contact the unit convenor immediately. Failure to do so will mean that queries received after the release of final results regarding assessment marks (not including the final exam mark) will not be addressed.
Special consideration
Where a Special Consideration application is approved, the student may be offered an alternative assessment or may receive a mark based on the percentage mark achieved by the student in one or more other assessment tasks, at the Unit Convenor’s discretion.
Late submissions and extensions
Tasks 10% or less – No extensions will be granted. Students who have not submitted the task prior to the deadline will be awarded a mark of 0 for the task, except for cases in which an application for special consideration is made and approved.
Tasks above 10% - No extensions will be granted. There will be a deduction of 10% of the total available marks made from the total awarded mark for each 24 hour period or part thereof that the submission is late (for example, 25 hours late in submission – 20% penalty). This penalty does not apply for cases in which an application for special consideration is made and approved. No submission will be accepted after solutions have been posted.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update
Any references to on-campus delivery below may no longer be relevant due to COVID-19.
Please check here for updated delivery information: https://ask.mq.edu.au/account/pub/display/unit_status
You may use a calculator in the class tests and at the final exam provided that it is portable, silent and battery operated, but you must show clearly the steps involved in every calculation. In the final exam you may NOT use any calculators that have a text-retrieval capacity, whether or not they have a full alphabet on the keyboard. Calculators may be checked at the commencement of the final exam, and the make/model may be recorded.
Many of the problems you will encounter in this unit can be solved easily with the spreadsheet program, Excel. You can use this spreadsheet program to verify your solutions to many of the problems you are solving. You will need to use Excel to do the Spreadsheet quizzes and the Group Spreadsheet Project. In addition, students in ACST2001 will be given access to the financial industry data platform, FactSet. This can be accessed through a web browser. You will use the data from FactSet to complete a number of the assessment tasks in the unit.
You need to electronically submit your solutions (using iLearn) to the take-home quizzes as PDF files. Some possibilities to produce these files are: scan your handwritten solutions to a PDF file; use WORD (or similar software) to type out your solutions and save your work as a PDF file. For each take-home quiz you can only submit one PDF file; it must contain all the pages of your solution (so make sure, if your scanner produces separate PDF pages, that you can combine them into one file).
If you submit your solutions in a file format other than PDF for a take-home quiz you will be awarded a mark of zero for the quiz.
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
Students seeking more policy resources can visit the Student Policy Gateway (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/student-policy-gateway). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.
If you would like to see all the policies relevant to Learning and Teaching visit Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central).
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/getting-started/student-conduct
Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au
Supplementary exams
Information regarding supplementary exams, including dates, is available at: http://www.businessandeconomics.mq.edu.au/current_students/undergraduate/how_do_i/disruption_to_studies
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to help you improve your marks and take control of your study.
The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources.
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
If you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au
For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/.
When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.