Changes to syllabus after 6/8/09 that apply to Summer 2009 are written in a green font

International Finance: BUS-335

Course Syllabus—Summer 2009 Professor Huffman

6/17 to 7/29 with exam in testing center on 7/30 or 7/31

NO CLASS on JULY 1st

In-Class: Wednesdays 6:00 – 9:10 pm

On-line: Discussions and quizzes on Desire 2 Learn

I. Course Description

This course will focus on financial management in the international setting. The focus will be on how financial management in a business setting is influenced by international factors, such as fluctuating exchange rates and international governmental and institutional differences.

II. Learning Outcomes At the end of the course the successful student will be able to:

· Explain how the international flow of funds is influenced by economic factors

· Describe the background and corporate use of the foreign exchange market and the international stock markets

· Explain how exchange rate movements are measured and how the equilibrium exchange rate is determined

· Explain how forward contracts, currency futures, and options contracts are used to speculate or hedge based on anticipated exchange rate movements

· Explain how governments use direct and indirect intervention to influence exchange rates and how this intervention can affect economic conditions

· Explain the market conditions that will result in various forms of international arbitrage

· Explain the concept of interest rate parity and how it prevents arbitrage opportunities

· Explain the concept of purchasing power parity and the International Fisher Effect and the implications for exchange rate changes

· Explain how transaction, economic, and translation exposure can be measured and hedged, and

· Compare the advantages and disadvantages among hedging techniques

· Describe transactions associated with a currency swaps and interest rate swaps

III. Course Materials

· Madura, International Financial Management, 9^th edition is the required text. The abridged edition is also acceptable, but appendices must be downloaded from the publisher’s website. Text's web site for update material is http://madura.swcollege.com

· A financial calculator Your calculator should be able to make time value of money computations. The student is responsible for knowing how to use a financial calculator

· Access to the Wall Street Journal is required.

· Supplementary materials may be found on Desire 2 Learn (D2L).Please check your e-mail prior to coming to class.

IV. 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) is also expected.

International Finance 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, the instructor will also subjectively evaluate each student's contribution to the class and evaluate their understanding of the course material based on communication between student and instructor.

V. Student Evaluation

Grading Criteria

Weighting	Component	Tentative Date
15%	14 Online chapter quizzes from text’s web site each worth ~~1.5~~ 1% of total course grade (usually 30 questions and can be retaken). There is one quiz to be taken in D2L (open book). Quizzes not send to professor by due date earn a 0 and there is no makeup quiz.	See course schedule Take quiz at text’s web site and send results to professor’s grad assistant via e-mail to ernaza57@uwosh.edu
20%	Exam 1 on Chapters 1, 2, 3, & 4 and class discussions	July 1st(D2L “Quiz” online—open book)
20%	Exam 2 on Chapters 5, 6, 7, & 8 and class discussions	July 22^nd (1 hour in-class exam, can only use calculator and index card)
25%	Exam 3 on Chapters 9, 10, 11, 12, 16 & 18 (Will require some knowledge of material from chapters covered on previous exams)	In Testing center on Thursday July 30^th or Friday July 31^st can only use calculator and index card
10%	10 Discussions entries in D2L: Predictions, assessment of USD, and tracking of assigned currency values and change in value with supporting articles.	Entered each Monday into the discussion area of D2L (see updated schedule in D2L)
2%	Attendance	Proportion of 18 hours of class time
8%	Contribution	Professor’s subjective evaluation

Important dates:

No Class on July 1st

Allocation of Letter Grades
A	scores of 93 % or higher	C	scores from 73% to 78%
AB	scores from 89% to 92%	CD	scores from 69% to 72%
B	scores from 83% to 88%	D	scores from 65% to 68%
BC	scores from 79% to 82%	F	scores less than 65%

If you do not agree with a grade that you receive, you have two weeks from the posting of the grade to contest it. For the final course grade, you 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 you discussing your grade (unless you have a documented reason for not having a conference within the allotted period). I will post your grades on web page or e-mail your scores. Students are responsible for verifying that the scores are correctly recorded

Examinations: Three 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, you are NOT allowed to use a note card when you 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 you 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 you can have on the 3"x5"card (front and back is permitted). The only rule is that the notes must be hand written. Computer generated or photocopied notes will be considered cheating and will earn a zero on the exam. Each card must also include your name and section and must be turned in along with all other exam materials. Students who turn in the wrong size index card will receive a 20 percentage point deduction from their exam grade for the first offensive and will receive a zero on the exam for the second or more offenses.
I reserve the right to inspect calculators for stored text.
Cell phones are NOT allowed to be used during exams (or other graded activities), even if you are just looking at the time (i.e., bring a watch).
I will deduct 5% (on a 100 point scale) from your exam for each missing name, student id or exam form letter on the scan sheet. I will also deduct 5% for each missing name on an exam or index card. These point deductions are not debatable.
I will also deduct 1 point for each minute over the 90 minute time limit when taking exams in the testing center. Student with documented special needs are exempt from this penalty.

Ten D2L discussions

· 2 predictions of value of the USD versus the Euro, UK Pound and Yen

· 4 weekly discussions of the value of the USD versus major currencies and an assessment of the value of the dollar supported by current articles

· 4 weekly entries of an assigned currency, calculation of weekly change in value and source of information.

Contribution to the course and Instructor's Professional Evaluation: More than just attending class is required for this portion of your grade. Students are required to be prepared and alert during all class meetings (this includes: turning off your cell phone 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 course material and how the student used that knowledge to improve the learning environment of all students. That is, did student's participation in the course contribute to the overall learning of all students?

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 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 professor's office hours,
providing professor with current article on a course topic, and
active participation in small group discussions

Attendance: Your attendance grade is based on the proportion of the non-exam classes you attend. For example for summer there are 18 non-exam class hours. If you attend 15 hours you earn 83.3% for the attendance portion of the overall grade. During the spring 2009 term over 70% of my students attended each 334 class period and my GPA average was 3.00. During the spring 2008 term, 53% of my 334 students were at every class period and my GPA was 2.7. On a 100 point scale, the average exam grade of students with perfect attendance was 6.6% points higher than students who miss one or more class periods (81.7% versus 75.1%, respectively). The average GPA was 3.0 for those with perfect attendance as 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).

Class Requirements It is essential that you come to class prepared in order to obtain full benefit from the class discussions. I REQUIRE THAT YOU BRING YOUR TEXTBOOK TO CLASS EVERYDAY. You 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, spreadsheet exercises and web exercises to help you review the chapter material. These suggested questions and problems can be found by linking to End of Chapter Questions and Problems

Review of quizzes and exams:

Some of the testing instruments will not be reviewed in class or returned. However, your exam or quizzes will be available for review in my office. I assume that I have your permission to post your grades by a code of your choosing.

VI. Tentative Course Schedule

Week

Preparation

Wednesdays In Class

6 pm to 9:10

Mondays – Online quizzes and D2L discussions all due at midnight

Read Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 3A the appendix to chapter 3

Do recommended problems

Topic: Int’l Financial Markets & Investing

6/17/09:

Introduction and chapter 3 and Appendix 3A

6/22/09:

Online Quizzes from text: chapters 1, 2, 3 and ~~Ch. 3A~~, which is in Course D2L

D2L Discussion USD Prediction for July 24^th for Euro, Yen, and Pound

Read chapters 4, 5, and 6

Do recommended problems

Topic: Currency Derivatives and impact of Government on FX and introduction to IRP

6/24/09:

Class discussion of USD

Cover chapters 4 and 6 then ch 5 on hedging with derivatives (e.g., Forwards, futures and options)

6/29/09:

Online Quizzes from text chapters Ch. 3A, 4, 5 and 6

In D2L enter assigned currency values (Friday’s close) and thread related to overall assessment of value of USD with supporting article(s) reference(s)

Read chapter 7 (twice)

Do recommended problems

Topic: IRP

7/1/09:

NO Class, but Exam 1 is due at midnight using D2L Quiz area--covers Chapters 1, 2, 3, 3a, & 4

7/8/09:

Online Quizzes from text chapter 7

In D2L enter assigned currency values (Friday’s close) and thread related to overall assessment of value of USD with supporting article(s) reference(s)

Read chapter 8

Do recommended problems

Topic: IRP, PPP and IFE

7/8/09:

Student WSJ Discussion

Cover chapter 7 and 8

7/13/09:

Online Quizzes from text chapter 8

In D2L enter assigned currency values (Friday’s close) and thread related to overall assessment of value of USD with supporting article(s) reference(s)

Read chapters 9, and 10

Do recommended problems

Topic: Exchange Rate Mgt.

7/15/09:

Student WSJ Discussion

Cover chapters 9 & 10

Exam #2 in class covers chapters 5, 6, 7 and 8

7/20/09:

Online Quizzes from text chapter 9, and 10

In D2L enter assigned currency values (Friday’s close) and thread related to overall assessment of value of USD with supporting article(s) reference(s)

Read chapters 11, 12 and 16

Do recommended problems

Topic: Transaction versus Translation Exposure

7/22/09:

Student WSJ Discussion

Cover chapters 11, 12 and 16

7/27/09:

Online Quizzes from text chapter 11, 12, and 16

D2L Discussion USD Prediction for June 30, 2010 for Euro, Yen, & Pound (2x weight of other D2L discussions)

Read chapters 11, 12 and 16

Do recommended problems

7/29/09:

Cover chapter 18 and review for exam

7/30/ 09 or 7/31/09

Exam 3 in testing Center

Chapters 9, 10, 11, 12, 16 and 18

VII. Course Policies

Lectures are designed to clarify and supplement text material. Unless otherwise instructed, you will be held responsible for all reading assignments (even if they are not covered in lecture) plus all supplementary material, handouts, and announcements presented in lecture. Attendance is not mandatory but highly recommended; attendance for the full class period is expected.

Since quizzes and exams are scheduled well in advance, all students are expected to arrange their personal calendars in order to be present. Absence from an exam will result in a grade of “0” unless you have an official medical or athletic excuse that is approved by the instructor beforehand. A make-up exam will not be given in the event a student misses an exam. Any cheating on an exam will result in a “0” for that exam and possible expulsion from the class and the University.

Any email communication with the instructor should have “335” in the subject line. Your email message will not be opened and read if the course is not identified in the subject line.

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 the respect of others’ academic endeavors.” Guidelines and procedures may be found on the Dean of Students website, www.uwosh.edu/dean/conduct.htm.

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

Examples of Acts of Misconduct and Penalties

STUDENT-ENDOWMENT FUND MANAGER COURSE: BUS 438

BUS 438 is a 3 credit Finance Seminar that will be offered each fall and spring semester. More information and applications are available at the web site: http://www.business.uwosh.edu/currentstudents/undergraduate/majors/finance_438.php

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