KING ABDULAZIZ UNIVERSITY Faculty of Economics & Administration Executive MBA Course Syllabus BUSE 622: Investment Analysis

Fall 2013/14 (Qasim) Instructor: Dr. Husam-Aldin Al-Malkawi Office: 345 (FEA) Office Hours: by appointment E-mail: hmalkawi.students@gmail.com

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course provides an introduction to equity investments, markets, and instruments. Its main focus will be on common stocks by presenting financial theory and analytical tools and techniques for making and analyzing investment decisions. First, we describe the investment environment, financial markets, and instruments. Second, we examine the riskreturn tradeoff, optimal portfolio selection, asset pricing models, and market efficiency. Third, we explore theoretical and applied methodologies for stock analysis and valuation. COURSE OBJECTIVE: The goal of this course is for each student to develop a thorough understanding of investments. The requirements for this course provide the opportunity to learn how to make rational investment decisions. LEARNING OUTCOMES: Upon completion of the course, students should be able to 1. Describe the current investment environment (domestic and international). 2. Obtain and interpret investment information from various sources (both traditional and electronic). 3. Analyze the various investment vehicles such as: Common stock, Fixed income securities (e.g., bonds and preferred stock), Derivative securities (e.g., options and futures contracts), and Mutual Funds; 4. Develop and implement investment strategies for individuals and institutions; 5. Explain the operations of security markets by providing examples of investment transactions using real world information; 6. Evaluate, select and manage a portfolio that is consistent with an investor's financial objectives; 7. Relate financial theories of valuation (risk and return), portfolio management and efficient markets to current market conditions; 8. Apply research, analytical, and writing skills through formal case studies; 9. Demonstrate proficiency in making oral presentations.

COURSE MATERIAL: Required Text Bodie, Z., A. Kane, and A.J. Marcus, Investments, McGraw-Hill Irwin, 9th ed., 2011. Supplementary (but optional) Texts Reilly, F.K. and K. Brown, Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management, Thomson/South-Western, 9th Edition, 2009. Higgins, R.C., Analysis for Financial Management, Irwin McGraw-Hill, Eighth Edition, 2009 Nofsinger, J.R., The Psychology of Investing, 4th ed., Prentice-Hall, 2010. Malkiel, B.C., A Random Walk Down Wall Street, W.W. Norton & Company, 2007. Siegel, J.J., Stocks for the Long Run, 4th, ed., McGraw-Hill, 2007. An important complement to class work is following the financial news. There are several sources of information: The Wall Street Journal and its European counterpart, The Financial Times. The business sections of the New York Times and Globe and Mail are very informative, as well as weekly magazines such as Business Week and the Economist. The Internet offers substantial information resources (Bloomberg, Reuters, NYSE.com, ft.com, and others). It will keep you informed on what is happening in the business world and help you connect the concepts developed during the lectures with the real world. Course Requirements and Expectations The course relies on basic concepts from calculus, algebra, and statistics. I will do a review when it is necessary. You will need to use a spreadsheet such as Excel for the class project. Students should prepare for class by completing all required readings in advance. This class requires a lot of work but I do think that everyone has the capacity to achieve an above average performance or better if they do the work. Course Grading Your course grade will reflect your performance on midterm and final exams, class participation, one presentation, and one group project with weights determined as follows: Presentation Class Participation Group Project Midterm Exam Final Exam 15% 10% 15% 20% 40%

Class participation: Many of you have useful professional experience that can undoubtedly benefit our class discussions. Do not hesitate to share your experience with the rest of the class. The midterm exam will be done on the third session. Both tests are closed book exams but a sheet of formulas will be provided. Each 4 students are required to make one presentation (maximum 15 minutes) on a finance topic assigned by the instructor (a detailed report must be submitted electronically,
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following the presentation). These presentations should deepen your understanding of the subject matter as well as help master the relevant methodologies. The group project (same composition as the presentation) deals with the optimal financial decision making process or portfolio management using real data.
Portfolio Management Project Each student is required to complete the Portfolio Management Project individually. Upon the completion of the project, students are also required to give a 15-minute oral presentation (Due on Week 3). You will be provided with a file (Returns Data.xls) gives 132 months returns for thirty securities drawn from the FTSE ALL share index. Also you will be provided with another file contains different questions and the instructions related to portfolio construction. Use the Excel functions to undertake the analysis. The projects contents should include, but not be limited to, the following: 1) Executive summary 2) Thorough explanation of the portfolio-construction process 3) The relevant portfolio equations 4) Analysis of the results 5) Conclusion

Information about the groups must be submitted to the instructor by November 1, 2012 via email.
Tentative Course Outline Week Topic Week 1 September 26 Introduction to Investments and Important Concepts September 27 Securities Trading and Instruments Week 2 November 7 Asset Allocation and Portfolio Theory November 8 Asset Pricing Models Week 3 December 5 Midterm Exam & Portfolio Performance Evaluation December 6 Security Analysis and Valuation Fundamental and Technical Analyses [Presentations] Readings Chapters 1-2 Chapters 3-4

Chapters 5-6-7 Chapters 9-10

Chapter 24 Chapter 18 Chapter 17

December 27 Final Exam Note: The above syllabus and schedule are subject to change at the discretion of the instructor, as necessary.

In every aspect of the course, students are required to adhere to the standards of conduct in the King Abdulaziz University Honor Code.