C15.0007.03 Professor Crocker H. Liu
Investment Principles
UC50 Tu/Thurs 9:30 - 10:45 am
(212) 998-0353 Office
(212) 995-4233 FAX
email: cliu@stern.nyu.edu
Spring 2003
9-10 Tisch Hall
Office Hours: Open Door Policy (Mo,Tu, Thu)
Website:www.stern.nyu.edu/~cliu

Texts:
Required

A. Damodaran (AD), 2nd Edition, Investment Valuation:Tools and Techniques for Determining the Value of Any Asset, Wiley

P. Peterson and D. Peterson (PP), Company Performance and Measures of Value Added, AIMR (Association for Investment Management).

J. Siegel (JS), 3rd Edition, Stocks for the Long Run : The Definitive Guide to Financial Market Returns and Long-Term Investment Strategies, McGraw-Hill.

Recommended

S. Benninga (B), 1998, Financial Modeling, MIT Press. I highly recommend this book for those students who wish to master Excel.

T. Copeland, T. Koller, and J. Murrin, 3rd Edition, Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies, Wiley

B. Madden, Cfroi Valuation: A Total System Approach to Valuing the Firm, Butterworth Heinemann.

Class Packets: Available at the NYU Main Bookstore located at 18 Washington Place.
Lecture Handouts Packet 2003
C. Liu (L), 1999, How to Use Excel for Financial Modeling Packet

Grading Policy: Late homework and late mini-cases are not accepted
Mini-Cases 
35%
Midterm Exam: 
30%
Final Exam:
35%

Mini-cases are due in class on the assigned date at the beginning of class. Students are not allowed to email their cases to me (I've had several emailed projects in the past that have contained malicious viruses that eluded both my McAfee and Norton Anti-Virus software). The Case Projects are an individual effort.  Rationale: Employers frequently ask students to submit an example(s) of a project done solely by them which demonstrates their analytical ability, their proficiency at financial modeling, and their  effectiveness at written communication. My intent is to provide students with a portfolio of their own work which they can use in the job interview process e.g. submit it to potential employers along with their resumes and cover letters.

Grade Distribution: Grading is based on the class curve rather than the total number of points and adheres to the grading curve set by the Finance department. The professor has no control over this curve. This grade distribution is only an approximation
A (A, A-) 25%
B (B+, B, B-) 55%
C (C+, C, C-) 15% (may increase to 20% if no one gets a D or F)
D and F (What you receive if you cheat) 5% (you have to try very hard to get these grades)

Computers and Calculators: The tools of the trade.  Although not required, it is STRONGLY recommended that students own a computer (laptop or desktop).  At the peak times, the Stern computer labs are overcrowed. Students may experience a lost of their work in these labs due to computer viruses or hard drive failures.  Students should also own a business/financial calculator.  Please make sure that the calculator has net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) functions.

What is Expected of Students:

WARNING: This is a labor intensive class. The philosophy that we use is to talk about it, read about it, and then JUST DO IT! No incompletes will be given. I have front-end loaded the work where the first part of the semester has the heaviest amount of work to be completed.

COURSE SCHEDULE


Week
Date
Day
Topic
Assigned Readings/Assignment
1
1/22-1/27
Weds/Mon
Drivers of Capital Markets Gold, the Federal Reserve and Inflation, Ch. 11 (JS)
Stocks and the Business Cycle, Ch. 12 (JS)
World Events Which Impact Fincl Markets, Ch. 13 (JS)
Reaction of Fin. Markets to Economic Data, Ch. 14 (JS)
How to Use Excel for Financial Modeling (L), pp. 8-47

Case: Sources of Data and Macroeconomic Analysis

2-3
1/29-1/31
Tu/Th
Market Efficiency
Investment Strategies
Technical Analysis & Trend Investing, Ch. 17 (JS)
Calendar Anomalies, Ch. 18 (JS)
Behavioral Finance & Investing Psychology, Ch. 19 (JS)
Stock Indexes, Ch. 3 (JS)
Perspectives on Stocks as Investments, Ch. 5 (JS)
Large, Small, Value, and Growth Stocks, Ch. 8 (JS)
Valuation of Growth and Technology Stocks, Ch. 9 (JS)

Case: Price and Earnings Momentum and Intl Gaming Tech 2001 data

4
2/05-2/07
Tu/Th
Portfolio Management Stock and Bond Returns Since 1802, Ch. 1 (JS)
Risk, Return, and Portfolio Allocation, Ch. 2 (JS)
Fund Performance, Indexing, and "Beating the Market", Ch. 20 (JS)
Structuring a Portfolio for LT Growth, Ch. 21 (JS)
The determinants and predictive ability of mutual fund ratings; Ajay Khorana

Case: Portfolio Construction and Analysis and Clipper Fund 2002 data

5
2/12-2/14
Tu/Th
Introduction to Valuation
Relative Valuation
Sources and Measures of Stock Mkt Value, Ch. 6 (JS)
Bull Market, New Economy, Age Wave and Future Stock Returns, Ch. 7 (JS)
Introduction to Valuation, Ch. 1 (AD)
Approaches to Valuation, Ch. 2 (AD)
Basics of Risk, Ch. 4 (AD)
Fundamental Principles of Relative Valuation, Ch. 17 (AD)
Earnings Multiples, Ch. 18 (AD)
Book Value Multiples, Ch. 19 (AD)
Revenue Multiples and Sector-Specific Multiples, Ch. 20 (AD)

Case: Relative Valuation and Eli Lilly 2001 data

6
2/19-2/21
Tu/Th
Absolute Valuation
(These concepts should be a review 
for those of you who have taken Financial Management and
Corporate Finance)
Riskless Rates and Risk Premiums, Ch. 7 (AD)
Estimating Risk Parameters and Costs of Financing, Ch. 8 (AD)
Measuring Earnings, Ch. 9 (AD)
From Earnings to Cash Flow, Ch. 10 (AD)
Estimating Growth, Ch. 11 (AD)
Closure in Valuation: Estimating Terminal Value, Ch. 12 (AD)
Dividend Discount Models, Ch. 13 (AD)
Free Cash Flow to Equity Discount Models, Ch. 14 (AD)
Firm Valuation: Cost of Capital and Adjusted PV Approaches, Ch. 15 (AD)
Estimating Equity Value per Share, Ch. 16 (AD)
7
2/26
Tu
Mergers and Acquisitions Acquisitions and Takeovers, Ch. 25 (AD)

Case: Mergers and Acquisition and Amgen-Immunex 2001 data

7
2/28
Th
Midterm Exam (Covers material 
up to and including Week 6)
Bring calculator to class. PV tables will be given out. 
Test is closed book.
8
3/05-3/07
Tues
Economic Profit/
Economic Value Added (EVA)
Value Enhancement: A DCF Valuation Framework, Ch. 31 (AD)
Value Enhancement: EVA, CFROI, and Other Tools, Ch. 32 (AD)
Company Performance and Measures of Value Added (PP)

Case: Economic Profit (EVA) and Procter & Gamble 2001 data

9
3/11-3/15 Tu/Th Spring Recess
10
3/19-3/21
Tu/Th
Cash Flow Return on Investment 
(CFROI)
Value Enhancement: A Discounted CF Valuation Framework, Ch. 31 (AD)
Value Enhancement: EVA, CFROI, and Other Tools, Ch. 32 (AD)
Company Performance and Measures of Value Added (PP)
The CFROI valuation model; Bartley J Madden

Case: Cash Flow Return on Investment (CFROI) and Kimberly-Clark 2001 data

11
4/02-4/04
Tu/Th
Valuing Young or Start-Up Firms  Valuing Young or Start-Up Firms, Ch. 23 (AD)
12
4/09-4/11
Tu/Th
Cross Border Valuation Global Investing, Ch. 10 (JS)
13-14
4/16-4/30
Tu/Th
Option Pricing Spiders, Cubes, Futures and Options, Ch. 15 (JS)
Market Volatility, Ch. 16 (JS)
Option Pricing Theory and Models, Ch. 5 (AD)
The Option to Delay and Valuation Implications, Ch. 28 (AD)
The Options to Expand and to Abandon: Valuation Implications, Ch. 29 (AD)
Valuing Equity in Distressed Firms, Ch. 30 (AD)
15
5/02
Tu/Th
Understanding Financial 
Statements: 
Understanding Financial Statements, Ch. 3 (AD)