ECON/FINA 365 FINANCE FALL 2016

INSTRUCTOR:Dr. T. Shawn Strother, CFA

OFFICE:
CBA 243
PHONE:
472-2329
OFFICE HOURS:
MW 12:00pm-2:30pm, or by Appointment
EMAIL:
tstrother2@unl.edu
SECTIONS:
002: 3:30pm-4:45pm, TR, CBA 104
003: 12:30pm-1:45pm, TR, BURN 120
004: 5:00pm-6:15pm, TR, CBA 128
COURSE OBJECTIVE:
Various institutions which collectively constitute the USA financial system and their origin and development. Analysis of
the supply and demand for funds and characteristics of the main financial markets. The determination of the price of credit
and the term structure of interest rates.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
FINA365/ECON365 is a survey course on various markets/institutions that collectively constitute the U.S. financial
system. We will discuss the purpose and micro-mechanics of the financial system. At the end of the course, students are
expected to develop an understanding for the followings:
Depository Institutions (commercial banks, saving banks and credit unions)
Monetary Policy
Non-Depository Institutions (insurance companies, investment companies and pension funds)
Risks of Financial Institutions
Interest Rate Risk
Individual Loan Risk
Credit Risk & Analysis
Liquidity Risk & Market Risk
Capital Adequacy
Loan Sales
TEXT:
Financial Institutions Management: A Risk Management Approach, 8/e, Saunders & Cornett, 2014
TWITTER (https://twitter.com)
You MUST subscribe to my Twitter feed for articles relevant to the course and finance in general.
@DrShawnStrother
FINANCE Websites of Interest
http://www.imf.org/external/ns/cs.aspx?id=352 (IMF Publications on Islamic Finance)
http://www.bis.org/ (Bank for International Settlements)
http://www.federalreserve.gov/
http://www.treasury.gov/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.worldbank.org/
http://www.ssrn.com/en/ (Social Science Research Network)
https://www.fdic.gov/
http://www.occ.gov/ (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency)
http://www.nber.org/ (the National Bureau of Economic Research)
http://www.imf.org/external/ (International Monetary Fund)
http://www.sec.gov/ (Securities and Exchange Commission)
http://www.cepr.org/content/discussion-papers
http://nyserules.nyse.com/

ECON/FINA 365 FINANCE FALL 2016

FINANCIAL CALCULATOR: Texas Instruments BAII-Plus is required for the course and it is the only calculator
allowed in tests.
PollEverywhere
We will be using the Poll Everywhere Wi-Fi enabled in class quiz system to reinforce important concepts. All you need is
a Wi-Fi enabled device like a smartphone or laptop to participate and answer the questions.
BLACKBOARD:
All of my announcements will be sent to your email address listed on Blackboard. It is your responsibility to make sure
that Blackboard has the email address that you use. After you log into Blackboard go to Personal Information, and
click Edit Personal Information. This is where you update your email address information.
UNIVERSITY POLICY:
It is the policy of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln not to discriminate on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, handicap,
race, color, religion and national or ethnic origin in its educational programs. The faculty of the College of Business
Administration strongly supports this policy. If you feel that some form of discrimination has been directed at you, contact
me or the Department Chair.
STUDENTS with DISABILITIES are encouraged to contact the instructor for a confidential discussion of their
individual needs for academic accommodation. It is the policy of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to provide flexible
and individualized accommodation to students with documented disabilities that may affect their ability to fully
participate in course activities or to meet course requirements. To receive accommodation services, students must be
registered with the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) office, 132 Canfield Administration, 472-3787 voice or
TTY.
PREREQUISITES:
ACCT 201; ECON 210 or 211; FINA 361 Graduating seniors receive priority.
The College will drop you from the course if you fail to meet the requirements for this course. If you are incorrectly
dropped from the course, go to the Undergraduate Advising Office.
POWERPOINT:
I will make PowerPoint slides available on Blackboard. You will find them to be helpful, but they are not a substitute for
attending lectures, reading the book, and working problems. The PowerPoint slides will help to organize course material
and your study preparation.
ATTENDANCE:
You are responsible for all material presented in lecture and recitation. Some of the material that is presented in class is
not in the textbook. Many homework assignments and other important announcements are made in class. It is important
that you use class time wisely. Remember that coming to class late or leaving early distracts other students, you
should do so only in an emergency.
If you miss a class, you should arrange to get the material you missed form another student. I will not use time during my
office hours to go over material I covered in class.
I will attempt to make the course as interesting as possible, but you must do your part. You must read the text, do the
problems, and address any confusing material. Reading the material before class and completing the homework
assignments as we go along makes the class time much more interesting. Coming to class, paying attention, and getting
help from me is your responsibility.
EXAMS:
There are three exams. Examination dates are in the class schedule at the end of this syllabus. The exams are based on the
material presented in class, the assigned text, and articles. All students, including seniors, must take the final at the
scheduled time.
TYPE OF EXAMS:
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ECON/FINA 365 FINANCE FALL 2016

The exams mostly consist of multiple-choice computational problems. I try very hard to design exam problems that are
similar to, but not copies of, assigned homework problems and problems completed in class. It has been my experience
that students who are diligent about completing the homework problems are more likely to perform well on the
examinations. However, as there is a good amount of detailed descriptive material, some students do find the material
challenging.
MAKE-UP EXAMS:
Students must take exams and quizzes at the scheduled times. If you have a university acceptable reason to miss an
exam, you must inform me prior to the examination.
QUIZZES
Experience shows that the biggest hurdle students face in this class is that they wait until an exam to study. In a class that
is both analytical and quantitative, this is often an irreversible mistake. Keep up with the homework in the chapters. Many
of the problems are answered in the Appendix, and I have posted solutions to all of the problems in the textbook on
Blackboard.
We will have in-class response problems/questions and online quizzes testing your understanding of the chapter learning
outcomes. Online Quizzes MUST be completed by the due date, there are NO extensions. You CANNOT make up in-class
response questions. Bring your Wi-Fi enabled device to EVERY class meeting!
GROUP PROJECTS/PRESENTATION
There are three short GROUP writing assignments. Each group has 4 students when possible. I assign the groups.
ASSESSMENT:
First Exam
Second Exam
Cumulative Final Exam
Bloomberg
In-class iClicker problems/quizzes/Pre-test
Group Paper 1
Group Paper 2 (& 3-2-1 Feedback) (12%+3%)

15%
15%
20%
10%
15%
10%
15%

Bloomberg Market Concepts (BMC)

Two Bloomberg Terminals are located in the COE lab. Ten Terminals are in classroom CBA 33/38, but are only available
when there is no class in session. The Bloomberg Terminals have Bloomberg physically written on the bottom of the
monitor. Also, the keyboard has a row of color coded keys.
GRADING POLICY:
Points
Grade
97-100
A+
93-96.9
A
90-92.9
A87-89.9
B+
83-86.9
B
80-82.9
B77-79.9
C+
73-76.9
C
70-72.9
C67-69.9
D+
63-66.9
D
60-62.9
DBelow 60
F
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ECON/FINA 365 FINANCE FALL 2016

GRADE APPEALS:
All grade appeals must be in writing and submitted to me by the next class. No late appeals will be considered.
CBA POLICY ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Per the UNL Student Code of Conduct: "The maintenance of academic honesty and integrity is a vital concern of the
University community. Any student found guilty of academic dishonesty shall be subject to both academic and
disciplinary sanctions."
A. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, the following: Copying or attempting to copy from an academic
test or examination of another student; using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, notes, study aids or
other devices for an academic test, examination or exercise; engaging or attempting to engage the assistance of another
individual in misrepresenting the academic performance of a student; communicating information in an unauthorized
manner to another person for an academic test, examination or exercise; plagiarism; tampering with academic records and
examinations; falsifying identity; aiding other students in academic dishonesty, and other behaviors in the student judicial
code of conduct, Article III section B (stuafs.unl.edu/dos/code)
B. The penalties for academic dishonesty will be severe, and may range from receiving a failing grade on the test or
assignment, failing the course in which academic dishonesty took place, or the possibility of expulsion from the
university. Faculty will report all cases of academic dishonesty to the Dean of Students at UNL, who will place a report in
the students permanent file. A file of academic integrity violations will also be maintained by the College of Business.
C. If you copy, or substantially copy, work from anyone else on a paper, the work must be put in quotes and the source(s)
cited. Otherwise, it is plagiarism. If plagiarism or other forms of academic dishonesty are found on a group work
assignment, it is possible that every member of the group will be punished. It is to your advantage to check out anything
that does not seem like the work of your group members or colleagues. Written assignments are subject to verification
using Safe Assignment for plagiarism.
READINGS AND HOMEWORK:
You must attend class to learn what material is important. Some topics are fairly straight forward, while others are fairly
difficult. I will mostly concentrate on either the important or difficult material in class. It is essential that you keep up with
the material as it is presented. In particular, it is important to do the problems as the material is presented.
PROJECTS (PAPERS):
In general, each written assignment should be related to the material covered in the following chapters. As each groups
topic must be approved and no two groups can cover the same topic, I will approve topics on a first-come, first-approved
basis (i.e. a first mover advantage). I will provide examples of possible topics, but you are allowed a great degree of
latitude regarding what is an acceptable topic.
The paper is limited to five double-spaced pages, excluding citations and tables and/or graphs. The cover sheet should
provide the title of the paper and list the names of all group members. Use Times New Roman font, size 12. One-inch
margins on all sides. Use APA sixth edition formatting for references. Microsoft Word has a built-in reference
input/formatting tool that makes this easy for you.
PowerPoint must be used for the end-of-semester presentation. Each group member MUST present a portion of the final
assignment.
Assignment
Paper 1
Paper 2

Topics
TBD
TBD

Topic Due
9/8/2016
10/11/2016

Assignment Due Date 3-2-1 Feedback Due

9/29/2016
11/1/2016
11/8/2016

Revised Paper Due

11/15/2016

ECON/FINA 365 FINANCE FALL 2016

CLASS SCHEDULE
This schedule is tentative and might be adjusted during the semester.

ECON/FINA 365 FINANCE FALL 2016