Primary Instructor: Dr. Paul Ellinger Phone: 333-5503  Fax: 333-2312 Office: 301 Mumford Hall Office hours:  MW: 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM or by appointment E-mail: pellinge@uiuc.edu ACE 243: Fall 2003  3 hours credit 432 Armory 9:00-10:20 Section B 10:30 - 12:00 Section C TA: Eric Micheels Office:300b Mumford Hall Office hours: FR 10-11:30   micheels@uiuc.edu Instructor Mandi Alt 300b Mumford Hall mandialt@uiuc.edu [Overview, Organization & Objectives][Grading][Professionalism][Outline]    Class Information Overview:  The course is an introduction to agricultural finance including a study of financial markets and institutions providing debt and equity capital to agricultural firms. You will also develop skills in applying principles and methods of financial management to agricultu`fral firms.   Organization: The class organization is lecture-discussion.   I expect a high degree of intellectual interchange. Please note that interchange indicates two directions.  Your participation is crucial for your understanding of the course concepts.  Materials will be provided through class lectures, internet, and electronic mail. There will be ungraded homework assignments and internet exercises that review and reinforce the concepts discussed in class. There will also be two mid-term examinations and a cumulative final exam. Prerequisite: ACE 232 or ACCY 201, or equivalent.. Objectives: The content objectives of the course are to improve your understanding of: financial statements used in production agriculture, the roles intermediaries play in the agricultural  financial markets, the application of time value of money concepts to agricultural firms,  investment analysis of agricultural firms, and tools to aid in financial decision making by agricultural firms.            Additionally, this class will: enhance your critical thinking skills and demonstrate the role of technology, computers and quantitative models in the decision processes of agricultural firms and financial intermediaries. Class Material:  Financial Management in Agriculture, 6th edition, Barry, Ellinger, Hopkin and Baker. Also, a CD with chapter summaries, problems and business analysis tools will be required and available September 3.  The cost of the CD will be $10.00.  Class notes and assignments will be available on the internet. The materials used in class will be online by noon the day before class. The home page is located at http://www.business.uiuc.edu/~pellinge/ACE243/ Examinations: There will be three examinations, during the regular class meeting time, and a final examination, which will be comprehensive, at the end of the semester. Reserve these dates since no make-up examinations will be provided without prior arrangement. Examination # 1  October 6:  7:00 PM  Examination # 2  November 11:  7:00 PM      Examination # 3  December 8:  7:00 PM Final Examination Section B  7:00-10:00 PM,  Friday, December 19 Section C: 8:00-11:00 AM, Wednesday, December 17 Class Participation: Most of our class periods will be devoted to covering material from the textbook, assigned readings, current developments, and assignments. Class participation via discussion, questions, and contributions of examples from current events is required. A portion of your grade (5%) will depend on your contribution to the class. We will work assignments in class and participation is expected.  It is a good idea to bring your calculators each day. .   Stock Project: The economic, political, technological and regulatory environments faced by agricultural firms are constantly changing. Keeping abreast of the current events and issues facing agricultural firms is a major focus of this course. One way to accomplish this is to read the Wall Street Journal daily. In addition, certain weekly publications like Barrons, Forbes and Business Week are useful for keeping up to date. There is a considerable amount of current information on the internet . A good portion of the class is devoted to unaudited/ nonpublicly traded firms.  To understand more completely the differences between these firms and publicly traded firms, you will also follow  the financial performance of  a larger agribusiness.     You will follow an agribusiness stock throughout the semester. You  will keep a journal reviews important events and stock price  movements.  You will also be assigned a date during the  semester where you will discuss some of the recent performance of your firm.   Lender/Financial Manager Project: You are are required to complete a lender visit during the semester. You will be required to write a brief description of the experience.  You can complete this exercise in groups of up to three class members. More details will be provided in class. Assignments: There will be 5 assignments to be completed and graded. Moreover, there will be many ungraded assignments that will be discussed during class.  This class is highly quantitative and requires that you do many problems in order to comprehend the material.   Grading: Your course grade will be determined using the following weights: Examination # 1 15% Examination # 2 15% Examination # 3 15% Final Exam 15% Assignments 15% Stock  Project 15% Lender Project 5% Participation  5% TOTAL  100% The +/- grading system will be used. The Campus Gradebook is used to store and retrieve grades.   You can access the Campus Gradebook at all university computer labs or download and retrieve helpful information about the software at www.uiuc.edu/ccso/gradebook/guidstud.html . The grades can also be accessed online at https://gradebook.cso.uiuc.edu/SWA. Student-faculty communication. Many methods are available to communicate with the instructor. First, I maintain an open door policy; you can stop by my office any time you have a question or concern. It is usually best to schedule a time since I may not be in my office. I will typically be unavailable TuTh mornings. You can also communicate with me by electronic or voice mail. We also have dedicated instructor and TA online chat time.  Times will be announced during class. We will also have optional meetings on  Fridays to review computer Computer Competency: You will be required to use Excel spreadsheets at a basic level. We plan to have organized sessions in University computer labs.  Assistance will be provided in class, but you may wish to take a short refresher course if you are uncomfortable with spreadsheets. You will be required to learn how to use electronic mail and access the internet. Professionalism and Academic Integrity. You are expected to conduct yourself in a professional manner. Effective speaking and writing abilities are essential in order to succeed in any career. Demonstrations of these abilities are expected in this class. Your assignments will always be graded on overall quality, proper grammar and punctuation. Take time to edit and spell-check your document. Furthermore, demonstration of promptness and ability to do independent work are strongly recommended. The University statement on your obligation to maintain academic integrity is: "If you engage in an act of academic dishonesty, you will become liable to severe disciplinary action. Such acts include cheating; falsification or invention of any information or citation in an academic endeavor; helping or attempting to help others commit academic infractions; plagiarism; offering bribes, favors or threats; academic interference; computer-related infractions; and failure to comply with research regulations." Rule 33 of the Code on Campus Affairs and Handbook of Policies and Regulations Applying to All Students gives complete details of rules governing integrity for all students. You are responsible for knowing and abiding by these rules. Topic List Following is a tentative general topic list. Specific topics and assignments can be found in the class calendar.  08/27/2003  Overview & Finance  09/03/2003  Transactions  09/08/2003  Cash Flows in Agriculture  09/10/2003  Balance Sheet: Assets  09/15/2003  Balance Sheet: Liabilities  09/17/2003  Depreciation  09/22/2003  Income Statement  09/24/2003  IS continued & Statement of Cash Flows  09/29/2003  Statement of Change OE  10/01/2003  Ag v nonag, Coordination of statements and review  10/06/2003 Exam I  10/08/2003  Ratio Analysis and Issues  10/13/2003  Pro forma Statements  10/15/2003  Cash Flow Budgeting and ST Lending  10/20/2003  Financial Analysis and Term-Lending   10/22/2003  Time Value of Money Concepts   10/27/2003  Time Value of Money Concepts   10/29/2003  Interest Rate Concepts  11/03/2003  Capital Budgeting  11/05/2003  Capital Budgeting   11/10/2003  Risk and Statistical Methods in Finance   11/12/2003 Exam II  11/17/2003  Investment & Portfolio Analysis  11/19/2003  Investment & Portfolio Analysis  11/24/2003  Break  11/26/2003  Break  12/01/2003  Lenders and Lending Issues in Agriculture  12/03/2003  Lenders and Lending Issues in Agriculture  12/08/2003 Exam III  12/10/2003  Wrap Up and Catch Up