FINANCE 320: Debt Markets

Course Description

This course is intended for those who plan careers that may involve debt financing for their businesses or other investments, or involve trading or investing in debt instruments and their derivatives, including money-market instruments, government bonds, repurchase agreements, interest-rate swaps, corporate bonds, structured credit products, and credit derivatives. We will emphasize the business rationales and institutional features of these markets, including structuring, issuing (corporate borrowing), trading, pricing, and hedging. The course includes a focus on distressed debt and restructuring. Most lectures will start with a cold-called student presentation of an un-graded short homework calculation. There will also be a series of graded homework, a take-home mid-term, and about 12 graded 'pop quizzes' of 5 minutes or less.