NBA 6730 - Derivatives Securities Part I

Fall, spring. 1.5 credits.

Prerequisite: NCC 5060 or permission of instructor.

P. Gao, M. Zurack.

Derivative securities allow investors to shift risks that they would otherwise be forced to bear. This course provides an introduction to basic derivatives such as futures, swaps, and options. We deal with the issue of pricing derivative securities by simple arbitrage arguments, and develop a framework for analyzing and using financial derivatives in various applications. By the end of the course, you should have a good understanding of commonly used derivatives in practice. Although the study of financial instruments is inherently quantitative, we focus on economic intuitions and interpretations behind derivative securities while keeping mathematic derivations minimal.