BUS 43400 - Financial Analytics

The objective of this course is to provide upper-level undergraduate students with a solid foundation in Financial Modeling and Asset Valuation using Excel. As a widely accessible and user-friendly tool, Excel is available to students at no cost and serves as the primary platform for analysis throughout the course. Adopting a data-driven approach, the course introduces key financial concepts such as Portfolio Theory, the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), Duration Analysis, the Black-Scholes Model, and Value at Risk (VaR). In addition, selected elements of SQL and Tableau will be incorporated to enhance students’ data management, analysis, and visualization skills. Emphasis is placed on building practical skills and developing an intuitive understanding of how these models are applied in real-world financial decision-making.

Preparation for Course
P: BUS 30100.

Cr. 3.
Notes
Enrollment in business (BUS) courses numbered 30100 and above is restricted to students who meet established criteria: business majors who have met the pre-business requirements and been admitted into one of the business majors; or students that have declared other pre-approved programs or minors which require particular business courses, and completed all course prerequisites; or students that have obtained written permission from the department through which the course is offered.
Student Learning Outcomes
1. Acquire and prepare financial data by retrieving raw data on stocks and bonds, visualizing trends, and transforming prices into returns to compute and interpret basic return statistics.
2. Explain and apply the basic principles of Portfolio Theory to analyze market risk and describe the benefits of diversification and risk-return trade-offs.
3. Apply the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) to estimate expected returns and evaluate asset valuation in practical investment scenarios.
4. Describe and apply fundamental techniques for valuing fixed-income securities, including bonds, and assess interest rate risk using Duration Analysis.
5. Explain the key features of options and apply introductory option-pricing models, including the Binomial Model and the Black-Scholes Model, to estimate option values.
6. Apply Value at Risk (VaR) methods to measure and interpret portfolio risk under different assumptions and simplified financial scenarios.