Course Objectives

• This course aims to introduce students to global financial markets with an emphasis on the European dimension.
• To provide and understanding about various international financial markets such as the foreign exchange market, the Eurocurrency market and Eurobond market.
• Students will study a range of financial instruments such as bills and bonds, options, forwards and futures.

Pre-requisite for course CAS EC 102 Introductory Macroeconomic Analysis.

Course Comments

"Professor Pilbeam was very nice and the course material was great. I feel like I learned a lot in this class." Anon., Fall 2009 

“This class was one of the best classes I’ve ever taken. I learned a ton and Professor Pilbeam does an incredible job explaining the way financial markets operate.” Elena Shulman, Spring 2008

“He is a really great professor. He knows what he is talking about, presents information in a very clear manner and is very excited about teaching.” Anon., Spring 2008

“Professor Pilbeam talks about a lot of current events and makes great connections with course concepts. I think I really have learned a lot from this class and professor.” Anon., Summer 2008

“This course is a great opportunity to understand financial markets. I know I will leave this class and be able to open ‘The Economist’ or ‘Financial Times’ finance sections and understand something.” Anon., Summer 2008

“He is a great professor who brings outside facts into the class. This is a great way of learning as students are encouraged to apply theoretical skills on a practical level. Professor Pilbeam has an amazing sense of humour and his way of teaching is commendable.”  Anon., Fall 2008

Faculty Information

Dr Keith Pilbeam holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the European University Institute in Florence. He is a Professor of International Economics and Finance at City University, London. He is an Examiner for a number of institutions and acts as a consultant to the Foreign Office on international economic issues. He is the author two widely used books, International Finance (2006) and Finance and Financial Markets (2005). He is President of the International Economics and Finance Society (UK), http://www.iefs.org.uk and Treasurer of the European Economics and finance Society www.eefs.eu. He has published research papers in leading economics journals such as Oxford Economic Papers, the International Journal of Finance and Economics, Applied Economics and the Journal of Economic Integration.

Course Syllabus and Materials

Hyperlinked readings:

"Anaylst blog : credit default swaps explained" (2008) Zacks investment research.  Available at: http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/14884/Credit+Default+Swaps+Explained

Engle, R. (2009) "Volatility remains a threat", Financial times, 26 May 2009.  Available at: http://tinyurl.com/343chpo

Hansen, S. W. (2009) "Understanding the TED spread", Nasdaq, 13 March 2009.  Available at: http://tinyurl.com/3ym45d8

Heaton, C.S. (2006) "The dangers of derivatives", Money week, 27 September 2006.  Available at: http://www.moneyweek.com/investments/stock-markets/the-dangers-of-derivatives.aspx

MacKenzie, M. (2008) "Overview : most volatile week since crunch began", Financial times, 3 October 2008.  Available at:  http://tinyurl.com/323pt4m

Oakely, D. & Tett, G. (2008) "Credit markets point to strain in rich economies", Financial times, 7 October 2008.  Available at: http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto100720081636124856

Robinson, P. (2008) "Libor mystifies Americans as mayor reads doomsday", Bloomberg, 3 October 2008.  Available at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?sid=ahZ4C6T_mjfk&pid=20601109

Royer, M. (n.d.) "Collatorized debt obligations : an overview", Professional Risk Managers' International Assocation. Available at: http://www.prmia.org/Chapter_Pages/Data/NewYork/Royer_11_30_04.PDF

Sender, H. (2008) "Lehman exposes credit default swaps, Financial times, 6 October 2008.  Available at: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/076343c6-93e1-11dd-b277-0000779fd18c.html

"Vix" (n.d.), Wikipedia.  Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VIX

Downloadable readings:

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