Course Syllabus

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Econ 355 -- Financial Markets and Institutions -- Spring 2024

Professor: Mahmoud A. El-Gamal

 

TA: Yan-Yu Chiou and Domonique E. Folkes

 Textbook: Mishkin, Frederic S. with Stanley G. Eakins, Financial Markets and Institutions, 10th ed., Pearson, 2023 https://www.pearson.com/en-us/subject-catalog/p/financial-markets-and-institutions/P200000009817/9780138025465

Classes: MWF 10:00--10:50 KRF 125

Office Hours: M 12:30--1:30 KRF 429

This course covers most aspects of financial markets and institutions at a highly non-technical level (with rare exceptions). Its objective is to enable students to read any major financial newspaper or website and understand most articles therein, with a deep understanding of the economic forces at work.

Students will read most of the textbook and be tested on the material through multiple-choice assignments (which account for 10% of the grade). Similar multiple-choice questions on textbook material will account for half the grades in three midterms and one optional substitute exam. Practice multiple choice questions for the assignments and exams are available under the Quizzes tab.

The other half of each exam's grade will be based on short answers to questions regarding current events, which will be covered in class and summarized with links in lecture slides posted under the Files tab, as well as in-class discussions of results from economic theory and behavioral economics experiments cited and summarized in lecture slides. 

There will be a review the week before each exam that covers the material for that exam. The overall grade will be calculated based on the best three out of four exams. All exams, as well as assignments, will be conducted online on Canvas. 

 

 Mon Wed  Fri 

(Tentative) Syllabus    

Textbook Readings
January

8

 10 12 Introduction + Overview + Interest Rates Chs 1-3
15 17 19
 MLK Day + Interest rates Risk + Term Structure Chs 4-5

22 24 26 Efficient Markets + Financial Institutions+ Review Chs 6-7
Jan/Feb 29 31 2 Midterm I + Central Banking + Monetary Policy
 Chs 9-10
  5 7 9
 Money + Bond Markets + Spring Recess Chs 11-12
12 14 16 Stock Markets + Mortgage Markets Chs 13-14
  19 21 23

Forex Markets + International System + Review  

 Chs 15-16
Feb/March 26 28 1

Midterm II + International System + Banking

 Chs 16-17
  4 6 8 Financial Regulation + Banking Industry  Chs 18-19
11
 13   15 Spring Break  
18 20 22 Mutual Funds + Insurance Chs 20-21
               25 27
 29 Investment Banks + Review Ch. 22
April 1 3 5 Risk Measurement + Midterm III +   Hedging with Derivatives Chs. 23- 24
  8 10 12 Eclipse + Derivatives + Review for Substitute Exam
15 17
 19 Substitute Exam (optional) + Commodities & Energy Markets


 

Grading:
Weekly Homeworks 10 %
First Midterm 30 %
Second Midterm 30 %
Third Midterm 30 %
Substitute for lowest Midterm (opt)
 30 %

 

Course Summary:

Date Details Due