FIN819S Money and Financial Markets in Central Europe

School of Business Administration in Karvina
Winter 2008
Extent and Intensity
1/2/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Guaranteed by
prof. Ing. Daniel Stavárek, Ph.D.
Department of Finance and Accounting – School of Business Administration in Karvina
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
Course objectives (in Czech)
The aim of the course is to analyse various aspects affecting building of investment strategies in Central European money and capital markets, especially markets of Visegrad Group countries (V-4): Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. Specific features of these markets are analysed in details: their size, level of efficiency, trade volumes, relations to macroeconomic indicators, relations to banking systems and cash and treasury management systems. Markets are characterised from the point of view of market structures, usefulness of technical and fundamental analyses, financial risk factors, etc. Students will increase their computer skills using spreadsheets for financial analysis.
Syllabus (in Czech)
  • Structure of the Course:
    1. General Characteristics of the Financial Markets in V-4 Countries.
    Common features of markets in the Central European region, process of markets establishment, characteristics of the markets in Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.
    2. Efficiency of the Financial Markets in Central Europe.
    Allocation efficiency and operational efficiency of the markets. Information efficiency of the markets - theory, levels of efficiency, tests of efficiency verified under conditions of Central European markets. Fractal efficiency of the markets - theory, investment horizons, their relations, testing of fractal efficiency in Central European markets.
    3. Legal Background and Regulation.
    Legislation of financial markets in Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. Regulatory issues - need of regulations, types of regulations. Regulatory institutions in Central European countries and level of their independence. Money laundering and its preventing in Central Europe. Self-regulatory institutions (professional bodies, associations and chambers). Advantages of self regulation compared to governmental regulation.
    4. Institutional Framework.
    Financial market institutions in countries of Central Europe. Stock exchanges. Over-the-counter markets. Central depositories and registers. Brokerage companies. Issuers. Collective investment - mutual funds and pension funds. Other players in the market.
    5. Investment Strategies in Central Europe.
    The best practices in building of appropriate investment strategies. Passive investment strategies and their advantages: index-based funds, buy-and-hold strategy. Active investment strategies and their advantages: market timing. Tests of market timing and index-based strategy in Central European financial markets. Passive and active investment strategies combined - Treynor-Black model. Advantages of international diversification of investment.
    6. Securities Market Analysis in Central Europe.
    Theoretical base of (a) technical analysis, (b) fundamental analysis and (3) using contemporary information technologies and artificial intelligence methods in capital market analysis. Examples of analysis of Central European stock indices using the tools and techniques of technical and fundamental analysis. How to use fuzzy sets for building appropriate investment strategy.
    7. Macroeconomic Indicators and Financial Markets.
    Relations between stock market prices and macroeconomic indicators. Theoretical correlation and their tests in Central European markets (money supply M1, economic growth measured by GDP growth, rate of inflation, interest rates).
    8. Financial Risk.
    Components of financial risk. Market risk. Credit risk. Default risk. Clearing and settlement rules of G-30 group. Clearing and settlement rules of the stock markets in Central Europe. Capital adequacy rules. Value-at-risk method. Risk hedging. Dynamic hedging. Hedging accounting.
    9. Risk of Investment in the New Markets.
    Development of financial markets in 1990´s. Globalisation, internationalisation, new economy. Establishment of the new markets. Characteristics of high-tech stocks. Risk of investment in high-tech stocks. Specific features of biotechnologies.

Literature
    required literature
  • Trading rules of the stock exchanges in Prague, Budapest, Warsaw and Bratislava. info
  • Various readings from The Economist, The Banker, IMF Working Paper Series and other. info
  • ROSE, PS. Money and Capital Markets. Richard D. Irwin, Inc., USA,, 1996. ISBN 0-07-231002-2. info
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
The course is also listed under the following terms Winter 1990, Summer 1991, Winter 1991, Summer 1992, Winter 1992, Summer 1993, Winter 1993, Summer 1994, Winter 1994, Summer 1995, Winter 1995, Summer 1996, Winter 1996, Summer 1997, Winter 1997, Summer 1998, Winter 1998, Summer 1999, Winter 1999, Summer 2000, Winter 2000, Summer 2001, Winter 2001, Summer 2002, Winter 2002, Summer 2003, Winter 2003, Summer 2004, Winter 2004, Summer 2005, Winter 2005, Summer 2006, Winter 2006, Summer 2007, Winter 2007, Summer 2008, Summer 2009, Winter 2009, Summer 2010.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Winter 2008, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.slu.cz/course/opf/winter2008/FIN819S