Principles of Finance – BA 300 – Spring 2018 Main Campus

Welcome to BA 300 .  I have prepopulated recordings of prior lectures so that you have some watching material for your “non-classroom” days, and to assist with assignments.  I generally (technology permitting) record all my lectures and post them to YouTube in the event you need a refresh, to study, or in the UNLIKELY EVENT you ever would miss one…

The assignments will be on the syllabus (coming later) – and need to be completed online. The information for the online course may be found here:

Course Link URL: https://studentdashboard.cengagebrain.com/#/course-confirmation/4LPP15GPBSNH/initial-course-confirmation
Course Link Instructions: Print instructions
Course Key:

4LPP15GPBSNH

 

This is a heavy quantitative course, and you will need to have Excel, Google Sheets or some other spreadsheet program.  Additionally, you will find that I am not big on memorization, and all tests and work are open book, notes, computer and the like. Be aware, however, that the workload is heavy and the class can be challenging for those who don’t like math or spreadsheets.  Please plan your time accordingly.

I’m looking forward to getting to know you all this semester. If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.  I’m in 206 Old Main

A few notes –

  • Attached is the syllabus.  Take a good look – because this is a challenging course and we have a challenging semester ahead.
  • The course is heavily quantitative – but the math is pretty straightforward.  Algebra is about as hard as it gets.  There is a ton of material – Finance is a major discipline – and it may feel like you are drinking from a firehose most of the term.  Don’t worry.  Do the work and you will pass.
  • The quizzes may be taken over and over again – as many times as you like – and I will record the HIGHEST grade.  The midterm can be taken TWICE and I will record the highest grade.  The Quizzes and Midterm are all multiple choice tests that will be taken on the Cengage website for the course – so you will need the book and the course code for online access.
  • All quizzes and online access to the book will be open today.  Manage your time well.  You can move ahead and to some extent set your own pace – with the caveat that once a quiz deadline passes, it will close and you will no longer be able to take it.  So, please keep up – and you can move ahead if we are too slow or you have life getting in the way.
  • The old lectures from the last BA300 section are online in Moodle.  Refer to them and use them often.  The quality is marginal – for which I apologize – but they will help reinforce concepts.
  • If you have questions on the quizzes or the materials assigned, please post the question here to Moodle for all to see, and I will respond here as well.  That will help everyone understand the material a little better with limited class time available.
  • The Moodle site has a bunch of Excel tutorial videos.  This course requires intermediate Excel/spreadsheet knowledge.  We will use the financial functions such as =PV, =IRR, =MIRR, =NVP etc.  Familiarize yourself with these.  The world uses Excel for finance, so we will as well.
  • I realize life happens, but classroom attendance is critical.  I expect you to be there.  I will record them if technology permits, but that should not be relied on.  Attendance counts for 15% of your grade.
  • When you have questions, bring the question to class.  If you have questions on the quizzes, please bring the question and the multiple choices to class for us to discuss.  I expect we will a fair amount of time in class discussing difficult concepts and working through questions.
  • BA300 is a tough course – cooperate and graduate.  If you keep up, come to class and do the work (quizzes and midterm and come to class) you WILL pass.  Folks who have had problems in this class are ones who fell behind early and couldn’t catch up or failed to actually show up to class.
  • There are two primary concepts in finance – remember these and you will be on the right track:
  •                     Time has a money value, money has a time value
  •                      The cost of money is driven by the risk free interest rate and a risk premium.

See you Wednesday the 17th.

Ed