Courses

The course seeks to familiarize students with the basic derivatives (futures and options contracts).  Both have played a role in the markets for many-many years (before the emergence of modern derivative markets in the 70s).  Following the beginning of standardization at CBOE (1973) we have witnessed a dramatic growth in options markets and options are now traded on many exchanges around the world (CBOE, PHLX, NYSE etc.) Huge volumes of options are also traded over the counter (OTC), particularly on foreign exchange and interest rates.  Many options are traded daily in the markets on a wide array of underlying assets from commodities to financial instruments (stocks, bonds, indexes, currencies, futures etc.) to… weather! The appearance of exotic options has driven volumes even higher in the OTC market providing investors with even wider possibilities for customizing risks borne and hedging against risks. 

Students will examine the generally accepted account principles (GAAP) underlying financial statements and their implementation in practice. The perspective and main focus of the course is from the users of the information contained in the statements, including investors, financial analysts, creditors and, management. By the end of this class students will be able to construct a cash flow statement, balance sheet and decipher a 10K report.

Prerequisites: BUSI PS5020 Introduction to Marketing/or Professor Approval is required Students will develop analytical skills used to formulate and implement marketing driven strategies for an organization. Students will develop a deeper understanding of marketing strategies and how to implement tactics to achieve desired goals. Students will work on case study projects in both individual and team based projects. By the end of this course, you will be able to develop a marketing strategy based on market assessments and company needs.

This course is designed for students interested in entrepreneurship and becoming CEO/Founders or leaders in industry as innovators and operators. The class is appropriate for those with a strong interest in new ventures or innovation at the corporate level, or for those who want to develop an entrepreneurial mindset even if you have no plans to start a business. This includes potential entrepreneurs, those interested in the financing of new ventures, working in new ventures, or a portfolio company, or in broader general management of entrepreneurial firms. Entrepreneurial topics include: the entrepreneurial journey, founders & co-founders, the art of the pitch, shaping opportunities, traditional business models, business models for the greater good, the lean startup method and the hypothesis-driven approach, technology strategy, product testing, marketing strategy, entrepreneurial marketing, venture financing and emerging developments. Academic readings, analysis of case studies, class discussions, independent exercises, reading assessments, team work, guest speakers, investor panels, weekly deliverable options and a final investor pitch are the main modalities used to help you learn and assist you on your entrepreneurial path. There are no prerequisites for this course.

Prerequisites: BUSI PS5001 Intro to Finance and BUSI PS5003 Corporate Finance or Professor Approval required. If you have not taken PS5001 or PS5003 at Columbia University, please contact the course instructor for approval. Students will learn about the valuation of publicly traded equity securities. By the end of the semester students will be able to perform fundamental analysis (bottoms-up, firm-level, business and financial analysis), prepare pro forma financial statements, estimate free cash flows and apply valuation models.

Prerequisites: some high school algebra. Designed for students in fields that emphasize quantitative methods. This course satisfies the statistics requirements of all majors except statistics, economics, and engineering. Graphical and numerical summaries, probability, theory of sampling distributions, linear regression, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing are taught as aids to quantitative reasoning and data analysis. Use of statistical software required. Illustrations are taken from a variety of fields. Data-collection/analysis project with emphasis on study designs is part of the coursework requirement.

Prerequisites: some high school algebra. Designed for students in fields that emphasize quantitative methods. This course satisfies the statistics requirements of all majors except statistics, economics, and engineering. Graphical and numerical summaries, probability, theory of sampling distributions, linear regression, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing are taught as aids to quantitative reasoning and data analysis. Use of statistical software required. Illustrations are taken from a variety of fields. Data-collection/analysis project with emphasis on study designs is part of the coursework requirement.

Prerequisites: working knowledge of calculus (differentiation and integration). Designed for students who desire a strong grounding in statistical concepts with a greater degree of mathematical rigor than in STAT W1111. Random variables, probability distributions, pdf, cdf, mean, variance, correlation, conditional distribution, conditional mean and conditional variance, law of iterated expectations, normal, chi-square, F and t distributions, law of large numbers, central limit theorem, parameter estimation, unbiasedness, consistency, efficiency, hypothesis testing, p-value,confidence intervals. maximum likelihood estimation. Satisfies the pre-requisites for ECON W3412.

Prerequisites: working knowledge of calculus (differentiation and integration). Designed for students who desire a strong grounding in statistical concepts with a greater degree of mathematical rigor than in STAT W1111. Random variables, probability distributions, pdf, cdf, mean, variance, correlation, conditional distribution, conditional mean and conditional variance, law of iterated expectations, normal, chi-square, F and t distributions, law of large numbers, central limit theorem, parameter estimation, unbiasedness, consistency, efficiency, hypothesis testing, p-value,confidence intervals. maximum likelihood estimation. Satisfies the pre-requisites for ECON W3412.

Prerequisites: the project mentors permission. This course provides a mechanism for students who undertake research with a faculty member from the Department of Statistics to receive academic credit. Students seeking research opportunities should be proactive and entrepreneurial: identify congenial faculty whose research is appealing, let them know of your interest and your background and skills.

Prerequisites: A good working knowledge of calculus, including derivatives, single and double, limits, sums and series. Life is a gamble and with some knowledge of probability / statistics is easier evaluate the risks and rewards involved. Probability theory allows us take a known underlying model and estimate how likely will we be able to see future events. Statistical Inference allows us to take data we have seen and estimate the missing parts of an unknown model. The first part of the course focus on the former and the second part the latter.

Prerequisites: MATH V1101 Calculus I and MATH V1102 Calculus II, or the equivalent, and STAT W1111 or STAT W1211 (Introduction to Statistics). Corequisites: MATH V1201 Calculus III, or the equivalent, or the instructor's permission. This course can be taken as a single course for students requiring knowledge of probability or as a foundation for more advanced courses. It is open to both undergraduate and master students. This course satisfies the prerequisite for STAT W3107 and W4107. Topics covered include combinatorics, conditional probability, random variables and common distributions, expectation, independence, Bayes' rule, joint distributions, conditional expectations, moment generating functions, central limit theorem, laws of large numbers, characteristic functions.