Investment Management

· Describe the current global business and investment environment (domestic and international), including the impact of currency rates, interest rates, culture, ethics and human behavior on investment decisions;

· Obtain and interpret investment information from various sources;

· Demonstrate a basic understanding of various investment vehicles such as:

(common stock, fixed income securities, derivative securities and mutual funds);

· Demonstrate an understanding of the basic option strategies;

· Diagram combinations of basic option positions and the underlying asset;

· Understand the process of developing investment strategies for individuals and institutions;

· Explain the operations of security markets by providing examples of investment transactions using Stock-Trak;

· Determine if a portfolio is consistent with an investor's financial objectives;

· Evaluate the performance of a portfolio;

· Relate financial theories to current market conditions by justifying trades in Stock-Trak.

BBA Learning Goals and how they are achieved in 334 course:

1. Business Knowledge: Integration of functional areas

a. Finance product development (e.g., index funds, ETFs, hedge funds, etc.)

b. Promotion of financial products (e.g., insurance products and mutual fund performance)

c. Impact of financial data on investment decisions (e.g., calculate returns and risk measures from price data obtained from a web site)

2. Business Environment

a. Diversity and Global Business Issues

i. Cultural differences in investing (e.g., asset allocation)

ii. Impact of foreign currency exchange rates on valuation

iii. Importance of diversification on risk/return and value

iv. Significance of global events (international agreements, wars, etc.)

b. Business Environment—Ethics

i. Impact of ethics on firm value (e.g., Enron)

ii. Importance of internal controls (Nick Lessen of Barrings Bank (1995—$1.3 billion loss) and Jerome Kerviel of Societe Generale (2008—$7.16 billion loss))

iii. CFA Institute: The code of ethics and standards of professional conduct

3. Business Skills

a. Communication Skills

i. Students are required to complete a series assignments with charts and trend lines

ii. Required use of D2L discussion board

b. Project Management Skills

i. Students must complete a series of assignments and exercises during the course

c. Analytical Thinking & Problem Solving Skills

i. Assignments require students to gather data, organize the raw data, and analyze the data using various statistics (t-tests, correlation, ANOVA, regression and solver)

d. Interpersonal and Leadership Skills

i. In-class exercises with current articles requires the group discussion

e. Work Experience

i. Students are penalized for unprofessional conduct (e.g., cell phone ringing)

Required Materials:

(1) Text: Custom text that is a combination of three texts: INVESTMENTS (CUSTOM) Author: REILLY ISBN: 9781111030148. Students can obtain this textbook only from the UW Oshkosh University Bookstore or from a student who was enrolled in the course during the Fall 2009, Spring 2010, or Fall 2010 terms.

Each of the three texts has a companion web site. The texts and their web sites are:

Reilly, Frank K. and Edgar A. Norton. Seventh Edition, Investments, (South-Western a division of Thomson Learning, 2006). Text’s web site for updated material is http://reilly.swcollege.com/

Reilly, Frank K. and Keith C. Brown, Ninth Edition, Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management, (Cengage Learning, 2009). Click here for Text Web site:

Strong, Robert, Fourth Edition, Practical Investment Management, (South-Western a division of Thomson Learning, 2007). Click here for Text Web site:

(2) Financial Calculator: The student’s calculator should be able to make time value of money computations. The student is responsible for knowing how to use a financial calculator.

(3) Handout Materials and Materials found on course's D2L web site: supplemental articles and readings will be distributed in class or via e-mail or course's D2Lweb site during the semester. Students should check their e-mail and/or D2L Course Home prior to coming to class.

(4) Required subscriptions to Stock-Trak (trading begins February 14, 2011 and ends May 6, 2011). Students must register for using the web site provided. The subscription is for 12 weeks and up to 200 trades for a cost of $26.95. Each student will be required to make specific trades and report the results of the trades each week, during the term to a dropbox in D2L (or in class). This is for a $1,000,000 simulated trading portfolio. The class code portfolio is 334S11 at StockTrak.com. To register in this Class Code, use the following link to register for this tournament: http://www.stocktrak.com/public/members/registrationstudents.aspx?p=334S11

Please enter a user name that begins with the first five letters of your last name (avoid inappropriate usernames) and fill in all the boxes (not secondary user). I will not have access to passwords--if you forget, you have to go the Stock-Trak help desk, which can take up to 48 hours.

(5) I highly recommend (not required) that all 334 students subscribe to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Go to http://subscribe.wsj.com/semester to submit a subscription. Although we will be discussing many financial concepts in academic settings, we also will be applying those tools to the current financial environment. The Wall Street Journal has, historically, been the method for investment professionals to remain current. Students are eligible to subscribe at the special educational rate of $34.95 for 15 weeks. Students generally start to receive the WSJ from 2 to 5 days after submitting their order.

COURSE EXPECTATIONS

Students enrolled in this course are expected to have a basic understanding of:

· Basic finance concepts (e.g., time-value-of-money, risk and return, bond valuation, net present value, etc.—topics from BUS 331),

· Fundamental business and economic concepts (e.g., types of business entities, marginal cost, marginal revenue, etc.—topics from ECON 204 and ECON 206),

· Accounting (BUS 204),

· Mathematics (MATH 204 and MATH 206), and

· Statistics (ECON 210 and BUS 389).

Course work includes activities that require the use of a financial calculator, and the use of electronic spreadsheets (i.e., topics and skills from BUS 389). Assignments require that students use Excel for: calculating descriptive statistics, finding minimums/maximums (using the add-in solver), testing mean differences, performing regression analysis, and creating graphs/charts. In addition, students will need to acquire skills in obtaining data from electronic data bases and/or from the internet. Students who are not deficient in the areas mentioned above can expect to spend at least 6 hours per week preparing for the course. Students who are deficient in one or more areas mentioned above will need more time to prepare for class.

Investment Management is NOT a remedial course. I do not issue extra credit to individuals. I do not curve grades on individual quizzes or exams. I try to be fair and consistent when administering the policies found in this syllabus. Students are expected to have read the syllabus and to adhere to the policies found in it. As part of each student's course grade, I subjectively evaluate each student’s contribution to the class and evaluate his/her understanding of the course material based on communication between the student and me.

Grading Criteria, Policy, and Tentative Dates:

· 15% Exam I in Testing Center, Thursday, February 24 or Friday February 25

· 15% Exam II in Testing Center, Thursday March 31or Friday April 1

· 20% Exam III in Testing Center, Thursday, April 14 or Friday, April 15

· 20% Exam IV in class, Thursday, May 12 (only allowed use of note card in class)

· 10% Quizzes and Assignments (turned-in at the beginning of class)

· 10% Stock-Trak Trading Summaries, ten summaries due to dropbox in D2L

· 8% Contribution (Subjective grade--see explanation below)

· 2% Attendance (see explanation below)

Other Important dates:

No Class on Thursday, February 24 (exam in the Testing Center)

No Class on Thursday, March 31(exam in the Testing Center)

Thursday, April 21 Special Class in Reeve Union Theatre 7:30am (alternative assignment is available)

No Class on Thursday, April 14 (exam in the Testing Center

Class with be held in a computer lab in for five or six class meetings—watch for announcement

Allocation of Letter Grades
A	Scores of 93% or higher	C	Scores from 73% to 77%
A−	Scores from 90% to 92%	C−	Scores from 70% to 72%
B+	Scores from 88% to 89%	D+	Scores of 69%
B	Scores from 83% to 87%	D	Scores from 66% to 68%
B−	Scores from 80% to 82%	D−	Scores of 65%
C+	Scores from 78% to 79%	F	scores less than 65%

Grading Policy

If a student does not agree with a grade, the student has two weeks from the posting of the grade to contest it. For the final course grade, students have two weeks from the end of the semester to contest the grade. After two weeks, I will not be willing to spend time with students to discuss their final grade or their final exam (unless a documented reason for not having a conference within the allotted period is provided). I will post course grades only on TitanWeb. Students are responsible for verifying that the scores recorded in D2L are correct—after two weeks, I will not correct the recorded score.

1. Examinations: FOUR exams are given during this course.

A failing grade will be earned for a missed exam. NO MAKE-UP EXAMINATIONS ARE GIVEN.
Requests to take the exam early because of a legitimate conflict should be made at least five week days prior to the scheduled exam date (however, students are NOT allowed to use an index card when they take an exam outside of the regularly scheduled time, no matter what the reason).
The exams will consist of a combination of objective questions and short answer questions.
During the exams, students will be able to use a calculator, a foreign language dictionary (if needed) and one 3"x5" index card.
There are no restrictions on what can be on the 3"x5" index card (front and back are permitted). The only rule is that the notes must be hand written and include the student’s name. Computer generated or photocopied notes will be considered cheating and will earn a zero on the exam.
Each student must turn in his/her index card along with all other exam materials. A student’s failure to turn in their index card, with his/her name written on it, will result in the student being prohibited from using an index card on the next exam.
I reserve the right to disallow the use of the index card for an individual student, a course section, or all students enrolled in the course. The following are examples of class events that will result in revoking the use of an index card during an exam: phone ringing, texting in class, leaving the class for no apparent reason, excessive talking to other students during a lecture, lack of participation during lectures, reading material not related to the class (especially the Bogle book), etc.
Students who turn in the wrong size index card will receive a 20 percentage point deduction from their exam grade for the first offense, and will receive a zero on the exam for the second or more offenses.
I reserve the right to inspect calculators for stored text, formulas and/or data.
Phones are NOT allowed to be used during exams (or other graded activities), even if the student is just looking at the time (i.e., bring a watch).
I will deduct 5% (on a 100 point scale) from a student’s exam for each missing name, student id or exam form letter on the scan sheet. I also will deduct 5% for each missing name on an exam or index card. These point deductions are not debatable.
I also will deduct 1 point for each minute over the 90 minute time limit when taking exams in the testing center. Students with documented special needs are exempt from this penalty; however, they must provide documentation from the Dean of Students.
I will have at least 110 points on each exam, which are graded on a 100 point scale. The 10 extra points compensate for a number of issues, including: missing class due to illness (lost points on an assignment and/or attendance), having points deducted for missing name, etc., and a test question that may not seem to correspond with the text or lecture.

2. Quizzes: A few short quizzes (or in-class exercises/discussions) may be given during the semester. Quizzes are designed to prepare students for the exam and to keep students up-to-date with material being covered in class. Students may be required to turn in an assigned homework problem to count as a quiz grade. Some quizzes may be taken using the internet/D2L.

I do NOT drop the lowest score; however, there may be bonus points available (e.g., pre-test score).

There are NO make-up quizzes for students not in class or for students who show up when the quiz is in progress.
Students must always bring their textbook, calculator, class notes, and a PENCIL to class.
Quizzes may require data from the text

If students do not have their text, they earn a zero on the quiz

Quizzes may or may not be announced in classes prior to the quizzes.
The likelihood of a quiz increases if any of the following occurs during class:

Cell phone rings (student with cell phone will be asked to leave),
Students arrive late or leave during the class,
Unexplained discussion among students.

3. Assignments: About 10 to 12 assignments are required during the term. A more detailed description of each assignment will be described during class or distributed during the semester. Many times, students are allowed to work together on an assignment, but each student turns in his/her own work for grading. The out-of-class portion of the assignment is worth 80 points (on a 100 point scale). A student’s level of understanding of the assignment is evaluated by asking four questions about the assignment (or lecture) prior to turning in the assignment. Each of the four questions is worth 6 points. Therefore, the total available points for an assignment are 104 on a 100 point scale. I include the extra points so that missing one class when an assignment is due will not impact a student’s overall assignment grade. I do NOT drop low scores. Scores for assignments not turned in during class will NOT be eligible for the in-class points. This includes assignments turned in via e-mail.

4. Stock-Trak Project requires weekly trades, explanations, and a final report (10% of total grade).

A portfolio is constructed and managed by each student. Details of required weekly trades are found in D2L, along with the trading and portfolio constraints. Below is a general outline of the required trades.

Trading Week 1 (trades from FEB 14 through FEB 18): Buy ETFs

Trading Week 2 (trades from FEB 21 through FEB 25): Buy bonds and Mutual Funds

Trading Week 3 (trades from FEB 28 through MAR 4): Buy ADRs

Trading Week 4 (trades from MAR 7 through MAR 11): Place Stops-loss orders and limit orders,

Trading Week 5 (trades from MAR14 through MAR 21): Shorting and Margin Accounts

Trading Week 6 (trades from MAR 21 through MAR 25): No required trades—SPRING BREAK

Trading Week 7 (trades from MAR 28 through APR 1): Impact of leverage (inverse and levered ETFs)

Trading Week 8 (trades from APR 4 through APR 8): Buy or sell the ETN VXX

Trading Week 9 (trades from APR 11 through APR 15): Buy or sell futures for commodities, gold or FX

Trading Week 10 (trades from APR 18 through APR 22): Buy/Sell futures on SP500

Trading Week 11 (trades from APR 25 through APR 29): Basic option trades

Trading Week 12 (trades from MAY 2 through MAY 6): Advanced option trades

Almost every week, each student is required to turn in a summary and explanation of the trading activity in the active portfolio for the prior week (1 or 2 brief paragraphs--see below). You must use the returns after 3pm on Friday and place your Stock-Trak summary in the Dropbox by Monday at 8am. If you miss placing your trades or fail to have your trades executed by 3pm on the Friday of the week that the trades are required, the most you can earn on the summary is 50%. During the fall term, I had students lose points during the last four trading weeks, because they did not follow directions related to trading futures and options. The instructor can review each of your trades and evaluate the holdings in your portfolio on any given day.

After the first 6 weeks of trading, competitive points will be awarded/deducted across both sections for final 7 weeks. A student with a portfolio in the top five, based on total portfolio value, will receive 5 bonus points. A 5 point bonus will also be awarded to students with portfolios in the top 5 portfolios based on the Sharpe Ratio (but only, if the Sharpe Ratio is positive—if in top five for both portfolio value and Sharpe Ratio then only one 5 point bonus is given). For students with a portfolio value in the bottom 5 portfolios and in the bottom 5 portfolios based on the Sharpe ratio (if positive) will have 5 points deducted from their score. That is, to have points deducted you must be in the bottom 5 for both portfolio value and portfolio Sharpe Ratio.

The Weekly Stock-Trak summaries are turned into the dropbox in D2L as a MS word file (or if directed by professor turned in during class) and must contain the student’s name, section, and indicate the report week (minus 5 points missing name, section, or report week). Each student summary requires (no image files or print screens) the following:

· an explanation of trades made and (justification for week 5 and each subsequent week),

· a comparison of the returns of the active portfolio to the S&P 500 index,

· completion of the statement: “This week, the most important insight gained (or trading technique learned) was . . . .” , and

· proper citation of sources used in gathering the information used in the trade decisions.

5. Class Requirements: It is essential that each student comes to class prepared in order to obtain full benefit from the class discussions, activities, and lectures. I REQUIRE EACH STUDENT TO BRING THEIR TEXTBOOKS TO CLASS EVERY DAY. Students will be asked regularly throughout the semester to participate in the discussions concerning the class requirements and current investment news. I have provided suggested end of the chapter questions, problems, etc. to help students review the chapter material. These suggested questions and problems can be found by linking to 334 problems. The solutions are available in the content’s section of D2L.

6. Contribution to the course and Instructor's Professional Evaluation: More than just attending class is required for this portion of a student’s grade. Students are required to be prepared and alert during all class meetings (this includes turning off cell phones and other electronic devices). Students who arrive late for class and those who leave during class are disruptive to the overall learning environment. Any lack of effort on any course requirement or detraction to the learning environment will be reflected in the contribution grade. During the semester, students may be required to turn in a self evaluation and/or a peer evaluation. The contribution grade is the professor's subjective evaluation of how well a student knows the course material and how the student used that knowledge to improve the learning environment of all students. That is, did a student's participation in the course contribute to the overall learning of all the students enrolled in the course?

Students can make a contribution to the course in a number of different ways, including:

asking relevant questions about a course topic (e.g., how a topic relates to a current event),
volunteering to answer questions from the professor addressed to the class,
correctly answering a question from the professor addressed to the student,
answering questions from other students addressed to the professor,
asking a relevant question about a course topic by e-mail or during the professor's office hours,
providing the professor with a current article on a course topic, and
active participation in small group discussions

Contribution grades are not assigned until grades from all course requirements are completed. I review the scores of each course requirement and my notes on what each student did (or did not do) during class and determine the impact that the student had on the class. I then make a subjective determination of each student’s contribution grade.

Prior to the last exam, I recommend that students use 60% as a proxy of their contribution grade as a way to estimate what they need to earn on the last exam to receive a grade of “x." Historically, the last exam of the semester has had the lowest average score.

7. Attendance: A student’s attendance grade is based on the proportion of the non-exam classes he/she attends. For Tuesday/Thursday classes, I will deduct 4% for each missed classed because there are 24 non-exam class periods.. ~~For Monday/Wednesday/Friday classes I deduct 2.5% for each class period missed.~~ I realize that issues do arise during the term; therefore, each student will be issued 104 points (on a 100 point scale) at the beginning of the course. For example, if a student missed two classes, the student would earn 96% (104% – 8.0%) for the attendance portion of the overall grade. Similarly, if a student missed 5 classes the attendance grade would be 84% (104% – 20.0%).

FYI: During the Spring 2008 term, 53% of my 334 students were at every class period. On a 100 point scale, the average exam grade of students with perfect attendance was 6.6% points higher than students who missed one or more class periods (81.7% versus 75.1%, respectively). The average GPA was 3.0 for those with perfect attendance, compared to 2.3 for those missing one or more classes (the maximum number of classes missed out of 25 was 6, and the median was 3). For the Spring 2009 term, 70.3% of the 334 students had perfect attendance, and the course GPA was 3.0 (only 2 students missed more than 1 class). The 27% of my Fall 2009 334 course with perfect attendance had an average GPA of 3.24, the 23% that missed only one day had an average GPA of 2.49, while the remaining students who missed more than one day had an average GPA of 2.35 (overall class average 2.61). Bottom line: attendance matters.

Attending class and being prepared for class are important; however, students need to use good judgment if they are sick or are traveling in dangerous situations. For a MWF course, I deduct 2.5% (from 100% maximum) for each class period that is missed. That is, missing one class period will decrease a student’s overall score by 0.05% (2.5%*0.02) for a MWF course. For a TR course, missing one class will reduce a student’s overall score by 0.08% (4.0%*0.02). A student would have to miss 20 class periods to have an impact of 1% on the overall score for a MWF course (or more than 12 for a TR course). Bottom line: do not come to class if you are sick or if travel conditions put you in an unsafe situation. Keep me informed via e-mail when you do miss class. I usually record why you missed class and include that in my subjective evaluation of your contribution grade.

8. Review of quizzes and exams:

Most of the testing instruments will not be reviewed in class or returned. However, exam or quizzes are available for review in my office.

9. Academic Integrity: The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh is committed to a standard of academic integrity for all students. The system guidelines state: "Students are responsible for the honest completion and representation of their work, for the appropriate citation of sources, and for respect of others’ academic endeavors." (s. UWS 14.01, Wisconsin Administrative Code). Students are subject to disciplinary action for academic misconduct, which is defined in s. UWS 14.03, Wisconsin Administrative Code.

Examples of acts of misconduct and penalties are provided at the following link:

Examples of Acts of Misconduct and Penalties

FINANCE CLUB

Students who are Juniors should be active in clubs related to their future careers. Clubs provide opportunities to meet and interact with business professionals. Clubs provide an opportunity to network. More information is available at UW Oshkosh College of Business | Student Clubs FMA

INTERNSHIPS Watch the bulletin board outside the Dean's Office (CC 151) or the listing on the web page. http://www.uwosh.edu/cob/future-students/undergraduate/careers

FINANCE MAJOR SCHOLARSHIPS

There are several scholarships available to finance majors. Notices of scholarship deadlines are e-mailed to students. Scholarships usually are due in October/November. Check the finance team web site: UW Oshkosh College of Business Scholarships

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS SCHOLARSHIPS

COB scholarships usually are awarded in the spring and can be found at UW Oshkosh College of Business Scholarships

STUDENT-ENDOWMENT FUND MANAGER COURSE: BUS 438

BUS 438 is a 3.0 credit Finance Seminar that is offered each fall and spring semester. More information is available at the web site: Student-Managed Endowment Fund Manager Course or

http://www.uwosh.edu/cob/future-students/undergraduate/academics/majors/smef

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