DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY

Brennan School of Business

Econ 367- 01 – Financial Markets and Institutions

TR 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM

FALL 2009

Instructor	Wenlian Gao
Phone	(708) 524-6579
Office	Fine Arts 209
Email	wgao@dom.edu
Office Hours	T 1:30 -2:30pm & by appointment
Prerequisites	Econ 190 & Econ 191 required, Bad 350 recommended.

Textbooks & Supplements

1. Required Text: Money, Banking, and Financial Markets, by Miller and VanHoose, 3^rd edition.

2. It is expected that all students will bring a calculator to the class.

Course Description

The course is an introductory course in the money, banking, and financial markets.  Topics covered include the nature of money and the Federal Reserve, interest rates, the bond and stock markets, banks, savings and loans, and other financial institutions in the economy, as well as the regulation of these financial markets.

Class Procedures

• The structure of this class makes your individual study and preparation outside class extremely important.  The lecture material will focus on the major points introduced in the text.  Reading the assigned chapters and having some familiarity with them before class will greatly assist your understanding of the lecture.  After the lecture, you should study your notes and the review questions for each chapter.
• All handouts and class material for Econ 367 are located on MyDu. You can download all the materials from there. It will include the course outline, class handouts, lecture notes, problem solutions, exam reviews, office hours, and exam schedule.  As the semester continues, the resources available in MyDu will expand.

Examinations

There will be two midterm exams and one final exam.  The exam schedule is as follows:

Exam 1:                                     15 points

             Exam 2:                                         15 points

Final Exam:                                     15 points

Homework                                                                                          20 points

Projects                                                                                              25 points

                        Attendance                                                                                        10 points

I'll check attendance ten times randomly during the whole semester. Each student is only allowed to miss 2 classes without an excuse, and still get all 10 points. However, I strongly encourage you to make effort to attend every class. If a student misses more than 2 classes, he or she will lose all 10 points of attendance. There is no partial credit. Attendance will be monitored at the end of classes.

Homework assignments are individual work.

There will be three projects. These are team work. Each team consists of 2 or 3 students. Team member will get the same grade. The first two projects are case problems.  Each team should submit one copy of your project. For the third project, you are required to do a short 10 to 15 minute presentation on current international-finance related issue or news based on your own interest.

Requirements on presentation: You are required to email me your presentation at least one day in advance, so that it can be made available to all students through MyDu. Do mention your source of information in your slides. Sign up for presentation date on the presentation schedule sheet. Besides internet, some other good sources for financial markets related news are The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Business Week, etc (available in the library).

You must have a valid excuse to miss any of the exams and to take a makeup exam.  If you do not have a valid excuse for missing an exam, it will count as a zero. In order to be excused from an exam, the student must contact me before the exam.  In most cases, I will require students to provide me with additional documentation to justify why the student is unable to take the exam.  Please note that a simple note indicating that you were seen at the health center the day of the exam does not, in and of itself, provide sufficient documentation.  Excuses will be granted if the student is unable to take the exam because of serious illness or injury, or a significant personal or professional commitment.

Final Letter Grades will be determined by the following grading-scale table. The instructor reserves the right to adjust the scale depending on overall class performance.

Final Course Letter Grade	Final Course Grade
A	>=92%
A-	>=90% but <92%
B+	>=87% but <90%
B	>=84% but <87%
B-	>=80% but <84%
C+	>=75% but <80%
C	>=72% but <75%
C-	>=68% but <72%
D	>=60% but <68%
F	<60%

Policies regarding Projects and Homework Assignment

1. All homework assignments and projects are due on the designated day. No late homework or project will be accepted without prior notification and official documentation for absences.
2. Any student caught cheating on an exam or plagiarizing material for the project  will receive 0 point for that assignment and a letter will be placed in your file at the Dean’s Office immediately.
3. Homework assignments should be submitted in a clear and legible manner (typed where appropriate).

Classroom Conduct

1. Please turn off cell phones. 

2. Please do not hold private conversations during class because it disturbs both the

instructor and the other students in the class. 

3. If you are late for class, please enter from a back door if possible or quietly from the

front.

Websites and Web-Based Resources

1. http://economics.about.com/ : Get articles, information, and definitions on any economic topic.
2. http://www.investopedia.com/ Get articles, tutorials, and definitions on any topic in finance.
3. http://www.fdic.gov  Banking regulation
4. http://www.imf.org   International finance system
5. http://www.federalreserve.gov  Federal Reserve