Global Financial Markets

The focus of this course is on the fundamental drivers, functioning and inter-connectedness of global financial markets. Products covered will be interest rate markets (government bonds, money markets, swaps, interest rate derivatives, credit markets), equity indices, and foreign exchange markets. Tickers flash across TV screens detailing every move ininterest rates, currencies and equity markets. Why do some events move marketssometimes and not at other times? What just happened in UK markets? We willexplore the role of economic data, flow of funds analysis, central bank policy,and fiscal and other government policies from a macro perspective in assessingthese questions. We will learn from historical episodes that still shapemarket structures and behavior today.We will approach these topics from a practitioner's perspective and two or three active portfolio managers will be guest lecturers over the course of the semester. Learning will be via a combination of classroom, reading research papers, and observing markets in real time. There will be weekly homework assignments related to required reading that include current events. A team based project and a mid-term project will tie together subjects covered to that point in the course. Discussions of the current market environment will take place over the period of the course, with the final project requiring each student to formulate and present an investment outlook that ties together the various disciplines learned over the semester. A curious and open mind are helpful attributes for students wishing to take this course.