Course Topics
Market Microstructure: Students will analyze the architecture of trading venues, including order types, execution mechanisms, bid-ask spreads, and the role of liquidity. Supply, Demand, and Price Formation: The course investigates the fundamental economic forces that drive asset prices. Students will learn how information, investor behavior, and macroeconomic factors interact to shape supply and demand in financial markets. Money Markets vs. Capital Markets: A comparative study of short-term versus long-term financing instruments. The course explores the purposes, instruments, and participants in each market, highlighting their roles in the broader financial system. Security Brokers and Dealers: Students will examine the functions of intermediaries who facilitate trading, provide liquidity, and manage risk in financial markets. Mutual Funds: Structure, management, and performance evaluation of pooled investment funds accessible to retail investors. Hedge Funds: Strategies, risk profiles, and regulatory considerations of alternative investment funds targeting absolute returns. Short Squeezes: Case studies and theoretical frameworks explaining how coordinated buying pressure can force short sellers to cover positions, leading to rapid price increases.

Teaching format
Frontal lectures in classroom

Educational objectives
ILO (Intended Learning Outcomes) ILO 1 Knowledge and understanding ILO 1.1 Knowledge of the analytical method for estimating present values and discount factors for estimating the cost of capital and the valuation of bonds and equities ILO 1.2 Knowledge of the methods of medium and long-term financial forecasting and sensitivity analysis with simulation under uncertainty for risk management in corporate and international finance ILO 1.3 Knowledge and understanding of the international financial environment, multinational risk defence techniques and competitive strategies of global banks ILO 2 Ability to apply knowledge and understanding ILO 2.1 be able to apply key theories of capital, foreign exchange and commodity markets to current observable data, including international data ILO 3 Making judgements ILO 3.1 make a critical analysis of the facts and the situations to be dealt with ILO 3.2 select the most appropriate quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis ILO 3.3 combine information and analytical methods, including the use of modern software packages, in a logical argument to find a solution ILO 4 Learning skills ILO 4.1 critically analyse and integrate data, information and future experiences, including using advanced software packages

Assessment
The assessment is the same for both attending and non-attending students. Grades are entirely based on a final closed book written exam (ILO 1.1 - 1.3, 2.1, 3.1 - 3.3, 4.1). Students have the possibility to sit a voluntary mid-term exam that can account for 30% of the final exam. The final exam consists of three parts: A) Shorter and longer calculation/open-ended questions on Lectures 1-10; B) Shorter and longer calculation/open-ended questions on Lectures 12-18: C) Multiple choice questions on Lectures 1-18. The mid-term exam is a voluntary substitute for part A. This means that the student can: (i) Take the midterm, keep the result from the mid-term, and then only answer parts B and C on the final exam; (ii) Take the midterm, discard the result from the mid-term, and then answer parts A, B, and C on the final exam. (iii) Skip the midterm and answer parts A, B, and C on the final exam.

Evaluation criteria
The exam includes both open-ended questions and multiple-choice questions. Multiple-choice answers neither require motivations nor calculations. Open answers require short explanations and/or calculations, and the marks will be awarded based on the correctness of calculations and/or how well the argumentation links to the course concepts.