Argomenti dell'insegnamento
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.

Modalità di insegnamento
Frontal lectures in classroom

Obiettivi formativi
Knowledge and understanding Area: Quantitative methods for decision-making Mastery of basic and intermediate mathematical tools for understanding and analysing economic mechanisms using theoretical models and empirical applications Knowledge of tools for statically, dynamically and comparatively analysing data on individuals, companies and the economy Knowledge and understanding of descriptive statistics, the basics of probability theory and sampling methods, standard distributions and their application to economic analyses as well as linear and non-linear regression Knowledge of parametric estimation and hypothesis testing Knowledge of the computer tools required for reading and analysing economic data and models Knowledge of the structure of computer networks, their most important applications and security techniques as well as techniques for collecting, visualising and analysing data using suitable software Knowledge of international accounting systems and double-entry bookkeeping for recording and evaluating business transactions Understanding of annual financial statements Thorough knowledge of accounting data collection or management control Knowledge of the analysis method for estimating present values and discount factors for estimating the cost of capital and the valuation of bonds and shares Knowledge of the methods of medium and long-term financial forecasting and sensitivity analysis with simulation under uncertainty for risk management in the area of corporate and international finance Knowledge and understanding of the international financial environment, multinational risk defence techniques and competitive strategies of global banks Knowledge of the mechanisms underlying effective communication of quantitative topics in three languages: Italian, German and English Ability to apply knowledge and understanding Area: Quantitative methods for decision making Ability to analyse problems in (unconstrained) optimisation and mathematical interpretation of models of social and economic dynamics be able to formalise and solve economic problems using mathematical models and interpret the results conceptually be able to analyse economic data using methods of descriptive, parametric and non-parametric statistics as well as linear and non-linear regression and interpret the results be able to apply international accounting standards to the various contexts of corporate reality Know how to derive and interpret economic information from the Internet Know how to use computers and computer networks to analyse large amounts of data to solve complex problems and to write dissertations and articles Know how to use spreadsheet programmes to value fixed-interest financial instruments and shares in listed companies be able to analyse financial statements using financial ratios and communicate the results in accordance with international professional standards be able to apply the most important theories about capital, foreign exchange and commodity markets to current observational data, including international data Knowledge of how to set up and carry out an empirical project using econometric software and financial or economic databases Be able to apply techniques to evaluate the performance of financial assets and understand the pricing mechanisms of high-risk financial assets and of spot and forward interest rates Ability to use basic and intermediate mathematical and statistical tools to investigate the behaviour of economic agents from a theoretical and empirical perspective Knowledge of analysing economic data using spreadsheets or other suitable software knowledge of the use of computerised tools for analysing economies be able to communicate the results of quantitative analyses carried out according to international professional standards in three languages: Italian, German and English Autonomy of judgement identify the most important problems in complex decision-making situations carry out a critical analysis of the facts and situations to be addressed choose the most appropriate quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis use logical reasoning to combine information and analytical methods, including modern software packages, to arrive at a solution.B38 Learning skills analyse, critically process and integrate data, information and future experience, also using advanced software

Modalità d'esame
The assessment is the same for both attending and non-attending students. Grades are entirely based on a final closed book written exam. 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.

Criteri di valutazione
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.