FNAN 491 Special Topics in Finance Master Syllabus
Course Instructor:
Office Number:
Office Hours:
Email:
Course Meeting Times:
Course Materials:
- Required:
- An online, Paper Trading Account at Interactive Brokers opened through an invite link sent to class students. For details, see course announcements
- Highly Recommended:
- A subscription to the Wall Street Journal is also encouraged.You now have free access to Wall Street Journal through Mason Libraries.Please refer to this comprehensive how-to guide for further details.
- Students are encouraged to read/check out other financial publications/web sites regularly to keep up with the latest financial market news in general, and the banking/financial services industry news in particular. A few such sources are Bloomberg, The Economist, American Banker, CNBC, Yahoo! Finance.
Course Website: Canvas
- At this site, you can access course materials (e.g., lecture slides) and course assignments.
Course Description
This course is an introduction to Modern Trading, as in learning how Modern Trading platforms that are available to retail traders can be utilized for more informed trading and investing. We will begin with an overview of the U.S. stock market structure, an overview of the stock market and stock indexes – how various players in the stock market facilitate a trade to flow from order entry to execution, and the role of different players in the stock market. Next, we look at the anatomy of a trade, a trading plan, and an introductory overview into trading in the U.S. financial markets. Then we learn about how to use Fundamental Analysis and Technical Analysis to make trading decisions, and how modern trading platforms facilitate application of these analyses techniques to generate initial trading ideas. Next, we learn the role of Risk Management in trading. We then conclude the Part-1 of the course by exploring a few published academic research papers to see how empirical analyses can be used to investigate and generate trading ideas.
In part-2, we focus on learning how to develop trading strategies using Algorithmic Trading principles (no prior knowledge of coding/programming is required or assumed). First, we learn applying some popular technical indicators to generate trading strategies using pseudo code. We learn about how to evaluate a trading strategy by using different performance metrics. Then, we develop a couple of trading strategies, back-test them, and learn how to optimize the parameters. We conclude the course by learning about the pitfalls in strategy development, such as data snooping and curve fitting, and how to avoid them, and also by taking an introductory overview of the psychology of trading.
The course is essential to anyone who is interested in learning about trading in financial markets – in a structured, methodical, and disciplined manner using hands-on application of the learning. This course is designed with an objective to be useful for those who want to pursue trading in financial markets on a professional path, as well as for those who want to learn trading in financial markets for personal, non-professional pursuits.
Course Objectives
The purpose of this course is to acquaint students with the following subjects:
-
The U.S. Equity Market structure, Trading and Analysis, Using modern-day retail trading platforms to conduct preliminary stock screening as well as to generate trading ideas
-
Fundamental Analysis, Technical Analysis, and Risk Management
-
The basic concepts of Algorithmic Trading, Trading Strategy Development, Back testing, Optimizing, and Performance Evaluation; The limitations and pitfalls of strategy development
-
The psychological factors and cognitive biases affecting trading decisions
Student Responsibilities and Classwork Submission Policy
I expect you to come prepared for each class, specifically in terms of the pre-class reading. Prepared means that you have completed the required reading, have taken the pre-class reading quizzes prior to coming class, and are ready to participate in the classroom experience and contribute to it with your questions and answers.
It is your responsibility to be on top of the syllabus, schedule, assignment due dates etc., and to submit your work in a timely manner. Do NOT wait until the deadline to submit your work on the last minute – technical issues may push you beyond the deadline and such last minute issues will NOT be counted as a legitimate extenuating circumstance to request for any extensions of the deadline. Late submissions will generally NOT be entertained as the solutions will be promptly released.
The structure of the grading components already takes into account that sometimes things could be beyond your control and unexpected issues could sometimes render you unable to submit your assignments before or on time. That is why, you have multiple attempts on the pre-class quizzes, and the lowest scoring Unit Test is dropped from your final grade (best two out of the three).
Also, if you are absent from a class, it is your responsibility to consult the syllabus and your classmates to come up to speed with your preparations for the next class – please do NOT send the professor an email asking what you have missed.
Grading - Structure
| Graded Item (tentative – subject to change) | Weight |
|---|---|
| Pre-class Learning Assignments (7 @ 3%) | 21% |
| Unit-tests (3 @ 10% each) | 30% |
| Term Paper or Trading Exercises | 10% |
| Final Exam | 35% |
| Attendance & Class Participation | 4% |
Class Work Expectations
Late submissions will not be accepted. I may make exceptions if feasible, but only for extraordinary circumstances, e.g., birth of your child, military deployments, severe illness, death of an immediate family member. Requests for extensions should be made prior to the submission deadline. Please note that I won’t accept claims of conflicts from other course requirements or excessive workloads from your employer as justification for an extension. For situations where solutions are already posted online, no extensions can be granted.
In correspondence/communication students will be expected to:
- Be professional and respectful in correspondence.
- Make reasonable requests of the instructor. We will be happy to clarify course material and answer legitimate questions; however, please exhaust other information sources (e.g., syllabus, Canvas) for answering your question before contacting me.
Regarding honesty in work, students will be expected to:
- Review the University integrity and honesty policies in the student handbook for guidelines regarding plagiarism and cheating (summarized below). I will gladly clarify my stance on any questionable or “grey area” issues you may have.
- Refrain from dishonest work as it will receive a minimum penalty of zero on the assignment and a maximum penalty of a zero for the course with a report to the Honor committee. The George Mason University Honor Code requires that faculty submit any suspected Honor Code violations to the Honor Committee. Therefore, any suspected offense will be submitted for adjudication.
Mason Honor Code
The complete Honor Code is as follows:
To promote a stronger sense of mutual responsibility, respect, trust, and fairness among all members of the George Mason University community and with the desire for greater academic and personal achievement, we, the student members of the university community, have set forth this honor code:
Student members of the George Mason University community pledge not to cheat, plagiarize, steal, or lie in matters related to academic work.
Cheating Policy
Any form of cheating on an activity, project, or exam will result in zero points earned.
“Cheating” includes, but is not limited to, the following: reviewing others’ exam papers, having ANY resources utilized when not allowed, collaborating with another student during an individual assignment.
If you have questions about when the contributions of others to your work must be acknowledged and appropriate ways to cite those contributions, please talk with the professor or utilize the George Mason University writing center.
Plagiarism and the Internet
Copyright rules also apply to users of the Internet who cite from Internet sources. Information and graphics accessed electronically must also be cited, giving credit to the sources.
This material includes but is not limited to e-mail (don't cite or forward someone else's e-mail without permission), newsgroup material, information from Web sites, including graphics. Even if you give credit, you must get permission from the original source to put any graphic that you did not create on your web page. Shareware graphics are not free. Freeware clipart is available for you to freely use. If the material does not say "free," assume it is not.
Putting someone else's Internet material on your web page is stealing intellectual property. Making links to a site is, at this time, okay, but getting permission is strongly advised, since many Web sites have their own requirements for linking to their material. Review the Honor Code here.
Individuals with Disabilities
Students with documented disabilities should contact the Office of Disability Services (703) 993-2474 to learn more about accommodations that may be available to them.
Academic Integrity and Inclusivity
This course embodies the perspective that we all have differing perspectives and ideas and we each deserve the opportunity to share our thoughts. Therefore, we will conduct our discussions with respect for those differences. That means, we each have the freedom to express our ideas, but we should also do so keeping in mind that our colleagues deserve to hear differing thoughts in a respectful manner, i.e. we may disagree without being disagreeable.
Student Privacy Policy
George Mason University strives to fully comply with FERPA by protecting the privacy of student records and judiciously evaluating requests for release of information from those records.
Please see George Mason University’s student privacy policy. Academic Misconduct
Academic misconduct causes failing the course and triggers quite unpleasant university-mandated procedures which result in further sanctions. Faculty Rule 2.11.5 (Faculty Responsibility under the Honor Code) requires alleged misconduct to be reported to the department and the Honor Committee. So follow the George Mason University honor code at all times and don’t even think about cheating!
Email Policy
George Mason uses electronic mail to provide official information to students. Examples include notices from the library, notices about academic standing, financial aid information, class materials, assignments, questions, and instructor feedback.
You are responsible for the content of university communication sent to your George Mason e-mail account and are required to activate that account and check it regularly.
To print: Right-click and choose “Print,” then follow your browser’s print settings.
To download: Right-click and choose “Print,” then select “Save as PDF.”