Finance Wall Street Journal: Stockholder Alignment Tactics: Weekly Finance News
6 min read
Prompt 1: What are some of the actions that stockholders can take to ensure that management’s and stockholder’s interests are aligned? Prompt 2: "FITN" stands for "Finance in the News.” Each week, you will post a link to and a brief summary of a recent article related to corporate finance, marketable securities, and/or central banking as a new thread in the class discussion forum. ▪ Publications you may find useful include: The NY Times CNBC Finance Wall Street Journal Bloomberg Yahoo Finance Realclearmarkets.com o There are other good sources of current financial news, so the list above is not exhaustive. Your posting should highlight the important issues and clearly fit with the subject matter of the course. You will then moderate a discussion on the forum regarding your article as other students respond to your post. o Criteria for grading the assignment include how interesting the article, depth of discussion, currency/novelty, and fit with the course. The discussion should cover the following areas: ▪ Review the financial concept(s) highlighted by the article. ▪ Describe the companies and/or industries affected. ▪ Evaluate the likely impact on a specific company or markets, depending on how the article is written. If possible, comment on the extent to which the article supports (or contradicts) what we have discussed or read in class. o Requirements: In addition to your own FITN thread, which should be 250-300 words in length and demonstrate course-related knowledge, you are required to reply to at least 2 other classmates’ FITN threads during each weekly posting. Each reply must be 150-200 words in length and be substantive in content, adding to the discussion regarding the classmate’s original thread. Complete the following end-of-chapter homework questions and submit by Saturday 11:59 p.m. The unit 1 homework questions do not require calculation, so submitting a word document with your answers is permissible. • Chapter 1: 1-1, 1-2, 1-4, 1-6, 1-7 • Chapter 2: 2-1, 2-4, 2-5, 2-6, 2-10 Prompt 4: Spiritual Life Discussion. Watch the video prompt, read the linked material and answer the following question: How should our faith influence the decisions we make about our life and career? ▪ Michael Novak – https://lawliberty.org/michael-novaks-spirit-of-democratic-capitalism-remains-essential-for-our-time/ ▪ Dorothy Sayers – https://tifwe.org/dorothy-sayers-a-revolution-in-work/Links to an external site. Complete the following end-of-chapter homework problems and submit by Saturday 11:59 p.m. • Chapter 3: 3-3-1, 3-2, 3-3, 3-4, 3-14, 3-17 • Chapter 4: 4-3, 4-7, 4-23, 4-24 Prompt 6: "FITN" stands for "Finance in the News.” Each week, you will post a link to and a brief summary of a recent article related to corporate finance, marketable securities, and/or central banking as a new thread in the class discussion forum. ▪ Publications you may find useful include: The NY Times CNBC Finance Wall Street Journal Bloomberg Yahoo Finance Realclearmarkets.com o There are other good sources of current financial news, so the list above is not exhaustive. Your posting should highlight the important issues and clearly fit with thesubject matter of the course. You will then moderate a discussion on the forum regarding your article as other students respond to your post. o Criteria for grading the assignment include how interesting the article, depth of discussion, currency/novelty, and fit with the course. The discussion should cover the following areas: ▪ Review the financial concept(s) highlighted by the article. ▪ Describe the companies and/or industries affected. ▪ Evaluate the likely impact on a specific company or markets, depending on how the article is written. If possible, comment on the extent to which the article supports (or contradicts) what we have discussed or read in class. Requirements: In addition to your own FITN thread, which should be 250-300 words in length and demonstrate course-related knowledge, you are required to reply to at least 2 other classmates’ FITN threads during each weekly posting. Each reply must be 150-200 words in length and be substantive in content, adding to the discussion regarding the classmate’s original thread. Complete the following end-of-chapter homework problems and submit by Saturday 11:59 p.m. • Chapter 5: 5-1, 5-3, 5-4, 5-9, 5-11, 5-15, 5-18, 5-20, 5-31 • Chapter 6: 6-2, 6-3, 6-5, 6-11, 6-12, 6-17 Prompt 7: During the third week of class, the students will prepare and submit a financial ratio analysis of a target company: Amazon.com. The deliverables for this project are an Excel spreadsheet showing all of the calculations, and a separate Word document in which the student writes a detailed analysis and interpretation of the calculated ratios. At a minimum, the calculated ratios should include those listed below. Analyze the 3 most recent fiscal years for this assignment. In your detailed analysis, comment on both the most recent year (current position) as well as the trend over time. Summarize the assignment by answering the following question, “What does this analysis tell you about the company and its financial ability?” Requirements: The length of the word document should not exceed three pages, exclusive of cover page and exhibits. At a minimum, the calculated ratios should include those listed below. Analyze the 3 most recent fiscal years for this assignment. In your detailed analysis, comment on both the most recent year (current position) as well as the trend over time. Summarize the assignment by answering the following question, “What does this analysis tell you about the company and its financial ability?” Liquidity Quick ratio Current ratio Asset Management Inventory Turnover Ratio Days Sales Outstanding Fixed Asset Turnover Ratio Total Asset Turnover Ratio Debt management Total Debt to Total Capital Total Debt to Total Assets Debt to Equity Ratio Profitability Operating Margin Profit Margin Return on Total Assets (ROA) Return on Common Equity (ROE) Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) Market Value P/E Ratio Market/Book Ratio Dupont Formula (disaggregated ROE) Financial_Analysis_Template for students to use on midterm
You can also explore more resources on our website.
