A class introduction (no numbers) to the Racism topic. Frankly, I don't think it is great, but for such an important topic it did need an introduction. Short version: racism is really bad, but still here, and in this section we will look at

An overview of why/how behavioral biases can influence investors' returns

Jul 20th, 2017 9m 1s

WHen most people think of behavioral finance, they think of the material we will cover in this section. It is a look at how biases can impact investor returns. We will look at bubbles, excessive trading (and risk taking), and the social aspec

Behavioral CORPORATE finance: How behavioral finance affects firms

Jul 20th, 2017 14m 33s

Most work in the field of behavioral finance focuses on the investment side of the fence. That is unfortunate as managers are people too and they fall prey to many of the same biases that investors do. In this section of the course we will loo

Behavioral Econ/Finance outside of finance

Jul 19th, 2017 10m 12s

From Marketing to politics., from Healthcare to Education, from International Development to treating addictions, the things we learned in Behavioral Finance and Economics can be used to help make the world a better place.

Behavioral Finance: introduction to the brain, neuroscience, and neurotransmitters

Jul 18th, 2017 15m 22s

While this is not a science class, we do need to have an understanding of the various parts of the brain, how we look at the brain, and how what we do (or don't do) can influence the brain and our decisions. We also look some at addiction as i

Scarcity in two parts: Scarcity as in tunneling/Lack of Bandwidth and Scarcity as in Poverty

Jul 18th, 2017 8m 38s

This episode gives a short introduction into the two concepts covered in this part class:The concept of Scarcity as described in Mullainathan and Shafer's great book: Scarcity: The New Science of Having Less and How It Defines Our Lives. How h

Behavioral Finance Introduction for MBA 639

Jul 12th, 2017 10m 5s

An Introduction to Behavioral Finance and Behavioral Economics at St. Bonaventure University. It is tailored to MBA 639 but can be listened to by anyone. Not sure what happened to the audio quality. Sounds like I was in a tunnel. Which I a

Behavioral Finance MBA 639 Introduction to Biases

Jul 12th, 2017 10m 53s

This is an introduction to behavioral biases. The short version: thinking is hard. It can take time and effort. So we have evolved to come up with shortcuts and biases that do not always help us when it comes to financial decisions (or othe

Mergers and Acquisitions Part 2

Mar 27th, 2017 14m 18s

Hostile takeover defenses. Takeover waves. Still no voice, but a little better. how to fight acquisitions Pre-bid defenses:Maximize Shareholder value!Shark repellentsSuper majority: For a takeover, you need more than 51% of votesFair Price A

Trends in Finance and Economics

Mar 26th, 2017 24m 57s

In an attempt to wrap up MBA 610, I made a list of things on the horizon. It was a tough list to make. A few things that were really close: FinTech, raising interest rates, the role of government in markets, and more. The list: Income and W

Mergers and Acquisitions Part I

Mar 24th, 2017 13m 34s

First, let me apologize, I lost my voice for much of this week and this is definitely not the best audio quality. I am happy with the content however and I edited out most of my coughs :)The merger and acquisition market is part of the market

Why corporations hedge (the theory)

Mar 9th, 2017 8m 4s

Shareholders' payoff looks like that of a call holder. Calls appreciate with volatility. So why do firms hedge? There are many reasons (at least theoretically): It makes contracting easier, it makes it easier to hire people, lowers the cost

Derivatives: an overview

Mar 7th, 2017 15m 30s

I don't dive in super deep here but rather give you an overview/primer to the basic building blocks and option pricing models. It should be used in addition to the textbook and class notes, not instead of! :)

A look at IPO underpricing and overpricing

Mar 7th, 2017 16m 13s

IPOs tend to be underpriced in short-run. That is to say, they go up on the first day of trading. In the longer-term (3-5 years) they tend up underperform their control groups.

Market Efficiency

Mar 6th, 2017 19m 13s

Market efficiency is not a Binary YES/NO variable. Rather it is a continuum from not so efficient to very very efficient. NOTE . market efficiency does not imply perfection! :) Links I mention: https://helpified.com/paths/technically-not-pa

Capital Budgeting Introduction

Mar 6th, 2017 10m 23s

A fast look at capital budgeting. Capital budgeting is deciding which assets you want on your balance sheet. The key point it to compare costs and benefits. This is EXACTLY what NPV does which is why I suggest you use NPV whenever possible.

A VERY short look at a futures contract

Mar 3rd, 2017 2m 8s

This is to accompany a look at the specs of a corn futures contract: http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/agricultural/grain-and-oilseed/corn_contract_specifications.html is what we will focus on.

A short look at Capital Structure

Feb 21st, 2017 16m 9s

This is a quick look at capital structure. Capital structure questions (how much debt to use) center on the tradeoff between tax savings and risk.

Stock market indexes (or Indices if you prefer :) )

Feb 21st, 2017 4m 44s

A short look at/introduction to stock market indexes. We discuss both price-weighted indexes (such as the DOW) and value-weighted (such as the S&P 500).

Introduction to Cost of Equity and CAPM

Feb 7th, 2017 9m 36s

An introduction to the cost of equity and CAPM I should stress, that equity is not free. Investors want a return. That return is a cost to the firm. (even though it does not appear on the income statement). CAPM is a common way to estimate

An introduction to Behavioral Finance for MBA 610

Jan 23rd, 2017 17m 20s

Behavioral finance is the coming together of psychology, economics, and finance. It is a fascinating topic that deserves much more coverage. This is just to introduce you and to whet your appetite! :) This is intended to go along with class

An introduction to valuation for MBA 610

Jan 23rd, 2017 16m 38s

Valuation of stocks and bonds rests on Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) and market comparable (market multiple) valuation methods. This short introduction (along with the text and online notes) should help clarify what is often a difficult thing to

A look at governance and CEO pay for MBA 610

Jan 23rd, 2017 11m 58s

I am teaching an online MBA class in Financial Management at St Bonaventure University. I will be sharing a series of short "classes" on various topics that we cover. The audio is intended to be used in coordination with the text and notes.

What is the problem with the Venezuelan Economy?

Dec 21st, 2016 31m 46s

A home-run. A look at the inflation, shortages, and violence that is now widespread in Venezuela. A talk with Luis Guevara and Juan Farah. For more here are two helpified paths that will be used in classhttps://helpified.com/paths/venezuela

Rene Pochop on Ethics

Dec 8th, 2016 24m 20s

Rene Pochop is a financial planner from Burlington VT who is on the BonaSIMM (http://BonaSIMM.org) board. She speaks here on potential conflicts of interest, the importance of your reputation, and ethics. Here is here bio etc: http://www.poc