Practical Financial Markets

Duke’s Practical Financial Markets class (ECON 256) taught by Emma Rasiel and John Caccavale covered an overview of the financial sector. This class was a great introduction to finance as a career. The class introduced the Bond and Stock markets, talked about current macro-economic trends such as rising interest rates, and featured guest speakers to give students a sense of career paths in investment banking, private wealth management, and consulting. All students were required to complete the Bloomberg Market Concepts online course (see link to my certification).

The class included three major competitions, a Black Rock Retirement Portfolio Competition where students were tasked with describing the asset allocation of a retirement portfolio for a person planning on retiring in 10, 20, or 30 years. Students used Black Rock tools to research stocks and create their portfolios.

The second project was a Trade Pitch competition sponsored by Goldman Sachs. My group proposed shorting sub-prime auto loans while hedging with auto sector stocks. Rising inflation and interest rates have increased car prices and default rates on auto loans in the past few years, potentially making this a very attractive investment positiion.

The final project was a financial model competition including a Discounted Cashflow (DCF) and Leveraged By Out (LBO) model to simulate a private equity deal.

The class also coordinated recruiting events with groups including Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and BlackStone to help students prepare for a career in finance.