ECON 424/CFRM 462:  Computational Finance and Financial Econometrics

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Class Syllabus

Winter 2016

Note 1: In the Reading column below, "ZLM" refers to A Beginner's Guide to R by Zuur, Leno and Meesters; "R Cookbook" refers to R Cookbook by Teetor; "EZ" referes to book chapters of Introduction to Computational Finance and Financial Econometrics with R by Eric Zivot; "EG" refers to Modern Portfolio Theory by Elton and Gruber; "Ruppert" refers to Statistics and Data Analysis for Financial Engineering by Ruppert and Matteson . "*" denotes optional reading.

Note 2: Recent changes to the reading list are denoted with .

Note 3: My Book chapters are work in progress and are not guaranteed to be free of errors. The book manuscript is posted on the class Canvas syllabus page. As the quarter progresses I will be making changes and additions to the chapters so check the revision dates to make sure you have the most up to date set of notes. Please let me know if you find typos or other errors. 

Last updated on  January 11,  2016
Week Topic Reading Additional Material
1

  1. Course Introduction

  2. Computing Asset Returns

  3. Getting financial data from Yahoo!

  4. Excel calculations

  5. Introduction to R

  6. Univariate random variables and distributions

  1. Ruppert, chapter 2 (Returns).

  2. EZ, chapter 1 (return calculations).

  3. EZ, chapter 2 (Review of Random Variables).

  4. EZ, class slides on course introduction.

  5. EZ, class slides on return calculations.

  6. EZ, class slides on probability review: Part I.

  7. ZLM, chapters 1-3, 5.

  8. R Cookbook, chapters 1 - 5, 10 (sections 1 - 15)

  9. An Introduction to R, sections 1-3, 6 and 7.

  10. R for Beginners, sections 1-3.

  11. *EG, chapters 1-3

  1. finance.yahoo.com Check out finance/quote section

  2. returnCalculations.xls

  3. returnCalculations.r (R code for book chapter examples)

  4. returnCalculations.Rmd (R markdown file for web-page examples)

  5. returnCalculations.html (R examples in web page using R markdown - best viewed in Chrome)

  6. Rintro.pdf (introduction to R covered) 

  7. probReview.xls

  8. probReview.r (R code for book chapter examples)

 
2 & 3

  1. Characteristics of distributions

  2. The normal distribution

  3. Linear function of random variables

  4. Quantiles of a distribution, Value-at-Risk

  5. Bivariate distributions

  6. Covariance, correlation, autocorrelation

  7. Linear combinations of random variables

  8. Time Series concepts

  9. Matrix algebra

  1. Ruppert, chapter 5 (Modeling Univariate Distributions), chapter 7 (Multivariate Statistical Models), chapter 9 (Time Series Models: Basics), Appendix (sections 1-10, 12-15, 20)

  2. EZ, chapter 2 (Review of random variables), chapter 3 (matrix algebra review) and chapter 4 (time series concepts)

  3. EZ, class slides on probability review: Part I.

  4. EZ, class slides on probability review: Part II.

  5. EZ, class slides on time series concepts.

  6. EZ, class slides on matrix algebra.

  7. ZLM, chapters 3-7.

  8. R Cookbook, chapter 8 and chapter 14 (sections 1 - 16).

  9. An Introduction to R, section 8.

  10. R for Beginners, section 4.

  1. probReview.xls

  2. probReview.r (R code for book chapter examples)

  3. probabilityReview.Rmd (R markdown file used to create webpage examples)

  4. probabilityReview.html (R examples in webpage created with R markdown)

  5. timeSeriesConcepts.r (R code for book chapter examples)

  6. timeSeriesConcepts.Rmd (R markdown file used to create webpage examples)

  7. timeSeriesConcepts.html (R examples in webpage created with R markdown - best viewed in Chrome)

  8. matrixReview.r (R code for book chapter examples)

  9. matrixReview.Rmd (R markdown file used to create webpage examples)

  10. matrixReview.html (R examples in webpage created with R markdown - best viewed in Chrome)

  11. Working with time series data in R
4-5

  1. Descriptive statistics: histograms, sample means, variances, covariances and autocorrelations

  2. The constant expected return model.

  3. Monte Carlo simulation

  4. Standard errors of estimates

  5. Confidence intervals

  6. Bootstrapping standard errors and confidence intervals

  7. Hypothesis testing 

  8. Midterm exam:

  9. Midterm solutions

  10. Grade distribution econ 424

  1. Ruppert, chapter 4 (Exploratory Data Analysis), chapter 5 sections 9 and 10 (maximum likelihood estimation), chapter 6 (Resampling), Appendix (sections 11, 16 - 18)

  2. EZ, chapter 5 (descriptive statistics for financial data), chapter 6 (constant expected return model) , chapter 7 (estimation of the CER model), chapter 8 (bootstrapping), chapter 9 (hypothesis testing in the CER model)

  3. EZ, class slides on descriptive statistics.

  4. EZ, class slides on CER model.

  5. EZ, class slides on bootstrapping

  6. EZ, class slides on hypothesis testing in the CER model.

  7. EZ, class slides on maximum likelihood estimation. Note: will not cover this material this term.

  8. Bootstrap Methods and Permutation Tests, by Tim Hesterberg. Read sections 1 - 5.

  9. R Cookbook, chapter 9 (General Statistics) chapter 10 (Graphics), chapter 13 (Beyond Basic Numerics and Statistics, section 8 on Bootstrapping).

  10. An Introduction to R, section 12.

  1. descriptiveStatistics.r (R code for book chapter examples)

  2. descriptiveStatisticDaily.r

  3. descriptiveStatistics.Rmd (R markdown file used to create webpage examples)

  4. descriptiveStatistics.html (R examples in webpage created with R markdown)

  5. cerModel.r (R code for book chapter examples)

  6. cerModel.Rmd (R markdown file used to create webpage examples)

  7. cerModel.html (R examples in webpage created with R markdown - best viewed in Chrome)

  8. cerModelEstimation.r (R code for book chapter examples)

  9. cerModelEstimation.Rmd (R markdown file used to create webpage examples)

  10. cerModelEstimation.html (R examples in webpage created with R markdown - best viewed in Chrome)

  11. bootstrap.Rmd (R markdown file used to create webpage examples)

  12. bootstrap.html (R examples in webpage created with R markdown - best viewed in Chrome)

  13. bootStrap.r (R code examples)

  14. rollingCerModel.Rmd (R markdown file used to create webpage examples)

  15. rollingCerModel.html (R examples in webpage created with R markdown - best viewed in Chrome)

  16. hypothesisTestingCER.r

  17. hypothesisTestingCerModel.Rmd (R markdown file used to create webpage examples)

  18. hypothesisTestingCerModel.html (R examples in webpage created with R markdown - best viewed in Chrome)

  19. maximumLikelihood.r

  20. maxLike R package vignette.
6-7

  1. Introduction to portfolio theory

  2. Optimization

  3. Markowitz algorithm

  4. Markowitz algorithm using the solver and matrix algebra

  5. Markowitz algorithm with no short sales constraints

 

  1. Ruppert, chapter 11 (Portfolio Theory).

  2. EZ, chapter 10 (introduction to portfolio theory), and chapter 11 (portfolio theory with matrix algebra)

  3. Notes on using Excel's solver.

  4. EZ, class slides on Introduction to Portfolio Theory.

  5. EZ, class slides on portfolio theory with matrix algebra.

  6. R Cookbook, chapter 13 (Beyond Basin Numerics and Statistics, sections 1 - 2)

  7. *EG, chapters 5 and 6

 

  1. introPortfolioTheory.xls

  2. 3firmExample.xls

  3. introductionToPortfolioTheory.r

  4. introductionToPortfolioTheory.Rmd (R markdown file used to create webpage examples)

  5. introductionToPortfolioTheory.html (R examples in webpage created with R markdown - best viewed in Chrome)

  6. portfolioTheoryMatrix.r

  7. portfolioTheoryMatrix.Rmd ( R markdown file used to create webpage examples)

  8. portfolioTheoryMatrix.html ( R examples in webpage created with R markdown - best viewed in Chrome)
8 & 9

  1. Portfolio risk budgeting

  2. Statistical Analysis of Efficient Portfolios

  3. Beta as a measure of portfolio risk

  1. Ruppert, chapter 12 (Regression: Basics), chapter 13 (Regression: Troubleshooting), chapter 16 (CAPM)

  2. EZ, chapter 12 (portfolio risk budgeting), chapter 13 (statistical analysis of portfolios), and chapter 14 (single index model)

  3. EZ, class slides on portfolio theory with no short sales.

  4. EZ class slides on statistical properties of efficient portfolios.

  5. EZ, class slides on portfolio risk budgeting

  6. R Cookbook, chapter 11 (Linear Regression and ANOVA)

  7. *EG, chapters 6, 7 and 9

  1. portfolioTheoryNoShortSales.r

  2. portfolioTheoryNoShorts.html (R examples in webpage created with R markdown - best viewed in Chrome)

  3. portfolioTheoryNoShorts.Rmd (R markdown file used to create webpage examples)

  4. statisticalAnalysisPortfolios.Rmd (R markdown file used to create webpage examples)

  5. statisticalAnalysisPortfolios.html (R examples in webpage created with R markdown - best viewed in Chrome)

  6. riskBudgeting.Rmd (R markdown file used to create webpage examples)

  7. riskBudgeting.html (R examples in webpage created with R markdown - best viewed in Chrome)

  8. rollingPortfolios.r

  9. bootstrapPortfolio.R

  10. singleIndex.r

  11. singleIndexPrices.xls (added May 22, 2006)

  12. testCAPM.r
10

  1. The Single Index Model

  2. Estimating the Single Index Model using simple linear regression 

  3. Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM)

  1. EZ, chapter 14 (single index model) and chapter 15 (CAPM)

  2. EZ class slides on the single index model.

  3. EZ class slides on estimating single index model using regression.

  4. EZ class slides on the Capital Asset Pricing Model

 
Finals week

Final Exam: Tuesday March 15  Smith 304.

Final Project: Due Friday March 11 by 8 pm via Canvas