Instructor Dr. Coleman
Office Location: Auerbach 412B Office Phone: 860-768-4690
Email: Scoleman@mail.hartford.edu Fax Number: 860-768-4911
Web Site: http:// Home Phone:
Office Hours T/Th 1-2:50
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Texts: required: Fundamentals of Financial Management by Brigham & Houston
optional: Wall Street Journal
Course Description:
Finance 310 provides an introduction to the general principles of business
finance. Subjects include balance sheets and income statements, working
capital management, forecasting, ratio analysis, discounted cash flow,
short and long term sources of funds, leverage, net present value
and internal rate of return, cost of capital, capital structure,
and capital budgeting. Emphasis will be placed upon the development
of problem solving skills and financial applications in the business community;
ethical issues and uses of technology will be explored.
Course Objectives:
Upon completion of the course student should be able to
--understand balance sheets and incomes statements and the relationship
between them
--identify company strengths and weaknesses using ratio analysis
--forecast balance sheets and income statements
--understand various sources of financing and their characteristics
--calculate net present values and internal rates of return
--calculate cost of capital
--determine capital structure and understand the effects of leverage
--conduct a capital budgeting analysis
Grading:
3 Exams: 33 1/3% each
Exams will be given on the day assigned. Students who do not appear for the exam will receive a grade of 0. Make-ups will be given only with a signed medical excuse from a doctor on the doctor’s letterhead.
Code of Conduct:
1. Class attendance is required. I will take attendance at each class. If you miss more than 2 classes (Thursday class) or 3 classes (Tuesday/Thursday class) I will withdraw you from the class.
2. As a courtesy to the professor and other students, be prepared to arrive at class and be in your seat on time.
3. Similarly, if you need to get something to eat or drink, do so before class. If you need to use the restroom, do so before class. If is very disruptive to have people rustling food wrappers or walking in and out after class has started.
Academic Honesty Statement from The Source and Manual of Academic Policies and Procedures:
B. All students are expected to observe generally accepted principles
of scholarly writing in all examinations, compositions, papers, essays,
tests, quizzes, reports and dissertations whether written in the classroom
or outside. Sources of information used by a student in the preparation
of work submitted as a basis for credit, or for a grade, or to satisfy
graduate or undergraduate thesis requirements shall be clearly indicated
in some conventional manner, such as by the use of quotation marks, footnotes,
and bibliography.
C. Students are forbidden to submit as their own any project, paper,
or creative work which is in whole or part the work of another.
D. The use of a term paper writing service, such services being prohibited
by Connecticut law, is academically dishonest and violate rules of scholarship.
E. All examinations and quizzes are to be completed without reference
to books or notes, except when the instructor of a course shall have given
explicit authorization for an "open-book examination" or some other specified
sort of assistance. Except as authorized by the instructor, no student
is to give or receive assistance in the completion of an examination or
a quiz.
Action to be taken in event of an alleged act of academic dishonesty
L. 2. to report that the student is considered to be guilty
of the alleged violation beyond a reasonable doubt, and to recommend one
or more of the following:
(a) that the student be dropped from the course
and/or a grade of "F" be assigned.
(b) that the student be suspended (i)
for the remainder of the current semester, losing credit for their current
academic program, or (ii) for the following semester or year;
(c) that the student be dismissed from the
university.
Topics Covered:
Week 1: Introduction and Course Outline
Financial Statements and Cash Flow
Chapters 1 & 2
Week 2: Analysis of Financial Statements
Chapter 3
Week 3: Financial Forecasting
Chapter 14
Technology Assignment: CD Disclosure
Week 4: Managing Current Assets and Liabilities
Chapters 15-16
Week 5: Exam #1
Week 6: The Financial Environment
Risk and Rates of Return
Chapters 4-5
International Issues: Handout: WSJ
Week 7: The Time Value of Money
Chapter 6
Week 8: Bonds and their Valuation
Chapter 7
Week 9: Stocks and their Valuation
Chapter 8
Ethical Issues: Insider Trading
Week 10: Exam #2
Week 11: Cost of Capital
Chapter 9
Week 12: Capital Structure and Leverage
Chapter 12
Chapter 13: Capital Budgeting
Chapter 10
Chapter 14: Capital Budgeting
Chapter 11
Weeks 15: Final Exam