30 Dec Do some research on

WEEK 1: FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
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Much of the analysis done by financial managers is based on numbers that are different from what would seem to be the corresponding numbers presented in the financial statements. This difference is not due to any kind of cooking the books or other attempts to mislead anyone. One example is the use of market value rather than historical cost in the valuation of assets. For your first post, define financial management. What are some other examples of the differences between financial management and financial accounting? Give examples.

For your next post, explain the DuPont identity. How is it used in finance? Locate the financial statements for two firms in the same industry. Calculate all four terms of the DuPont identity, and present the results but do not analyze them.

For an additional post, analyze the results that another student has posted. If you were the appropriate financial manager of one of the firms that you analyzed, what would be your observations and recommendations?

FIN515 Week 2 Discussion Latest 2018 January

WEEK 2: TVM MODEL
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This week, the lesson provided some examples of TVM problem scenarios. For your first post, provide a story problem that can be solved using one or more of the TVM calculations.

Your second post will be a description of how the problem posed by another student can be solved.

For your next post, describe some of the assumptions behind the TVM calculations. How do these assumptions limit our application of these calculations?

FIN515 Week 3 Discussion Latest 2018 January

WEEK 3: STOCKS AND BONDS
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What are Stocks and Bonds? Describe how you could estimate their values. If you are investing in the stock market, which would you invest in and why?

For your second post, select a stock in which you are interested. Calculate its per share value using the DDM or another method discussed in Chapter 9. Then, find the current market value of a share of the stock. Compare the two. Can you explain the similarity or difference?

For your next post, do some research, probably on the Web, and find some bonds with differing yields to maturity (YTM). How do you explain the difference? Both the lecture and the textbook discuss some factors that may lead to this difference.

FIN515 Week 4 Discussion Latest 2018 January

WEEK 4: CALCULATING CAPM AND WACC FOR A REAL FIRM
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Our discussion topic concerns the calculation of stock values using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). Explain the CAPM model. The textbook provides a list of betas for a selection of stocks. Choose two firms from that list and discuss whether the betas are what you would expect. Be sure to explain why or why not. Calculate the returns based on the CAPM model. Be sure to state your assumptions.

For your second post, the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) for a firm can be calculated or found through research. Select two firms in the same industry. The industry may be that in which you currently work or it may be an industry in which you are interested. Calculate or find the WACC for the two firms. How do the WACCs compare? Are the WACCs what you would expect? What causes the differences between the two firms’ WACCs?

For your next post, review the findings of another student. Explain in detail why the CAPM or the WACC for these firms differ from each other. If you were the Stock Analyst, what would be your recommendations?

FIN515 Week 5 Discussion Latest 2018 January

WEEK 5: CAPITAL BUDGETING
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Our textbook and lesson discuss some considerations that should be taken into account when doing capital budgeting. Incremental earnings, interest expenses, taxes, opportunity costs, externalities, sunk costs, cannibalization or erosion, depreciation, and salvage value; as well as others. For your first posting, explain in detail what defines capital budgeting. Then, explain how two of these considerations above affect capital budgeting.

For your second posting, describe a potential capital expenditure project from the industry in which you now work or an industry in which you are interested. What is the project? Describe and provide an approximate value of the initial cash flow. Describe and provide an approximate value of the annual cash flow. Provide an estimation of the life of the project, as well as the exit costs.

For your next posting, review the second posting of another student. Then, calculate the NPV and IRR of the project. Based on your workings and assumptions, indicate whether you would accept the project, explaining why.

FIN515 Week 6 Discussion Latest 2018 January

WEEK 6: AGENCY PROBLEMS, FORECASTING, AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
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Do some research and find some historical or current real-life examples of agency problems. Will the measures discussed in the text help to prevent problems like your examples in the future? What else would you advise? You may provide examples of agency problems from your own experience. If you do that, be careful to provide enough anonymity so that you won’t get in trouble.

For your second post, does the financial manager have a greater responsibility or a lesser responsibility for maintaining ethical corporate governance? Why or why not? Explain what ethical corporate governance is, and give examples.

For your next post, explain what forecasting is. Do you have any good (or bad) examples of forecasting done by firms with which you are familiar? As the financial manager in developing forecast for the firm, where would you go to in order to start your forecast and refine it with more accurate future projections concerning interest rates, raw material prices, and the like to build your estimates?

FIN515 Week 7 Discussion Latest 2018 January

WEEK 7: WORKING CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
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Do some research on two firms in your industry or an industry in which you are interested. Can you get an idea of their working capital management policies from publicly available information? How do the two companies differ in their apparent working capital management policies? Which policy do you think is better and why?

For your second post, consider the company you work for or a company in which you are interested. Also, do some research to find some current cost estimates for various means of financing working capital. What would be your recommendation to the company for financing its working capital needs? If the information is publicly available, or if you have access to it and have permission to discuss it, how does your recommendation compare what the firm is actually doing?

For your next post, explain the cash conversion cycle (CCC). Describe the CCC for your employer or company in an industry in which you’re interested. What are some specific things that your company could do to decrease your cash conversion cycle? Let’s be sure to describe, in pretty specific terms, the CCC for our company and what could be done to shorten it.