Classes Offered

Various business classes, as well as other learning opportunities, are offered in the Smeal Trading Room.

FIN 414 - Financial Trading and Applications

This course focuses on the application of financial theory and technology to the practice of financial trading. The first half of the class examines tools for constructing and evaluating trading strategies. After a short review of probability and statistics, attention turns to the analysis of models for valuing options, credit default swaps, and other financial instruments. Emphasis is placed on the assumptions underlying these models and the application of these models in the real-world.

FIN 415 - Advanced Financial Modeling

Students will develop financial models using spreadsheets, VBA programs, and trading room applications such as Bloomberg and @Risk. Students learn Excel's financial functions, shortcuts, web queries, data analysis capabilities, and optimization techniques. Students use @Risk software to define variable distributions and correlations to run Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate stochastic processes. Students access market data through the internet and proprietary providers such as Bloomberg.

Wall Street Boot Camp

A semester long program for first, second, and third year students interested in pursuing a career in financial services. Students develop interviewing, communication, and networking skills and hear from guest speakers currently working in investment banking, sales and trading, and other areas of financial services.

Other Educational Opportunities

Introductory classes are regularly offered in the Trading Room for students interested in learning how to use Bloomberg, FactSet, Capital IQ, and Refinitiv Eikon.

Bloomberg, FactSet and several of the other software products in the Trading Room offer self-paced programs for students to gain certification in using these products.