| 5/10/2023 |
a.
Your final exam grades have been posted to BS and the course site,
and your letter grades have been determined.
I have sent you an email with a spreadsheet named "math-454-grades-examples.xlsx",
which you can use to compute your letter grade as follows:
•
The first three "students" have been created to give you examples of how the system
works.
•
Use #4 ("Your Grades") to enter your data for quizzes 1-10 and the three major exams.
•
Do NOT enter anything into the computed fields
(QSum, Exam 1, Exam 2, Final, Total, Total+30, Grade)!
•
The "Total" column computes the points you actually achieved,
the "Total+30" column adds an extra 30 points.
•
The "Grade" column computes your letter grade
from the "Grade+30" column, in accordance with the grading scale
you see at the bottom of the home page of the course site.
•
You can experiment with the grades for the first three students and see how
your letter grade is affected.
b.
In the near future, I will migrate the course site into my archive:
Click the link in the last row of my math faculty web page, and you will find
a link to this course site.
c.
I hope you all are satisfied with the grade you achieved in my class.
It was my privilege to be your instructor for Math 454.
I wish you all the best of luck for your future, academic and otherwise.
-- Michael Fochler --
|
| 5/5/2023 |
From one of your peers:
Q:
I just wanted to confirm that the final exam is cumulative from ch 2-14.
A:
The final exam is cumulative, but there is some good news:
You will not be quizzed directly about ch.2 and 3,
since those are just prerequisites for understanding Math 454.
Very little will be asked about the very lengthy chapter 4,
since that also provides a tool kit for the subsequent chapters.
Your focus should be on the non-optional material of ch.5-14.
Rather, it should be on the meaning of the propositions and theorems
and not on the proofs.
To a large degree, working through the remarks and examples is more important
than understanding the proofs.
|
| 5/2/2023 |
a.
Quiz 10 grades have been posted to BS and the course site.
Solutions are on the course materials page.
b.
Today we start the finals review after maybe 10-15 minutes on the American call option.
|
| 4/29/2023 |
a.
I have decided to spend at least half of Tuesday's lecture and all of
Wednesday's lecture on a finals review and I will
cancel the Sat May 7 review in WH 329.
b.
Scope of quiz 10 on Monday, May 1: Ch.14.2 - Ch.14.4 until before Example 14.1.
•
You need not remember the PDE formulas (14.39) and (14.40),
but I expect you to remember (14.37) and (14.38)
and the terminal conditions following (14.40).
•
Asian options: I also will not ask you about (14.46) and (14.47), but you should know
Remark 14.6, and thus also formula (14.45).
|
| 4/27/2023 |
a.
Finals review session:
Saturday, May 6, 11:30 - 2:00 in WH 329
b.
Reminder: Quiz 10 will be given on Monday, May 1.
|
| 4/26/2023 |
a.
The solutions for Quiz 9 and the formula sheet for the final exam
have been posted to the course materials page.
b.
Finals review session:
There are twice as many votes for the May 6-7 weekend
than for the April 29-30 weekend, with a slight preference for Saturday, May 6.
I just found out about a commitment I'll have on Sun, May 7,
so the date will be Sat, May 6.
Since the distribution of votes is quite uniform over all time slots,
I'll ask those who will show up today for what time preference you have
for that day. The final decision then depends on getting a room at a time
as close to your choice as possible.
|
| 4/24/2023 |
a.
The grades for Quiz 9 have been posted
b.
Quiz 10 will be given on Monday, May 1!
|
| 4/22/2023 |
a.
Quiz 9, Monday, April 24.
Revised Scope: Ch.13 - 14.1: All of Ch.13.3 is in scope,
but ch.14.2 is excluded.
b.
LN 2023-04-21 has been published. Some revisions to Ch.14,
and Ch.13.6 (Addenda to Ch.13)
contains a write-up of the proof of Proposition 13.4
(pricing of a European call given a constant and deterministic interest rate)
c.
Remember the Monday, April 24 deadline to request the alternate final.
d.
On Monday I'll set a date for a Final Exam Review Session.
Think about it NOW!
|
| 4/21/2023 |
a.
Schedule for remaining course material:
• Ch.13.4 (Forward Contracts and Zero Coupon Bonds)
• Ch.14.2 (Interest Rates Driven by Stochastic Differential Equations)
• Ch.13.3 (Constant Dividend Rates)
• Remainder of Ch.14 (Stochastic Methods for Partial Differential Equations)
This re-ordering is necessary because Ch.14.2
builds on the content of Ch.13.4.
b.
Reminder: Quiz 9 will be given on Monday, April 24.
Scope: Ch.13 - 14.2. I do not know yet whether parts of Ch. 13.3 will be exempt.
c.
IMPORTANT Reminder:
If you have three or more final exams within a 24 hr period
and you want to request to take the alternate final,
then you must do so by Monday, April 24,
by sending me an email.
•
The date of the makeup final will be Wed May 10.
Time TBD.
|
| 4/18/2023 |
a.
The grades and solutions for Quiz 8 have been posted
b.
Quiz 9 will be given on Monday, April 24!
|
| 4/15/2023 |
a.
The grades for the second midterm have been published.
b.
There will be a quiz on Monday, April 17!
|
| 4//8/2023 |
a.
The formula sheet I emailed to you yesterday now also can be found on
the coursematerials page.
b.
You will receive a mint copy of that sheet when you take the exam.
You are not allowed to use your own copy (since it may contain additional notes)!
c.
HW12 has been published, and written problems have been added to HW10 and HW11.
You are advised to try solving them.
d.
Version 2023-04-08 of the MF lecture notes has been published.
Some minor correction in ch.9-13, and an improvement of
the theoretical explanations of chapter 14.1.
|
| 3/30/2023 |
a.
Quiz 7 solutions can be found at the bottom of the course materials page.
b.
Scope of midterm 2 will be ch.8 - 12.5
(We exclude ch.12.6: Multidimensional Financial Market Models.
c.
I am working on getting out the reading for HW 11 today.
Written assignments, also for #10, may have to wait until the weekend.
d.
HW 11 has been published.
Written assignments will have to wait until the weekend.
|
| 3/28/2023 |
Quiz 7 grades have been published.
I had assigned the points incorrectly (16 + 9 + 9 ≠ 25!)
The correct figures are:
• #1: 8 pts
• #2: 7 pts
• #3: 10 pts
Considering that I had announced the quiz, I am surprised how many of you did
not show up without notifying me.
Your grades will suffer if you miss out on the quizzes!
|
| 3/24/2023 |
a.
HW 10 has been published. No written assignments yet.
b.
There will be a quiz on Monday!
|
| 3/22/2023 |
HW 8 and 9 have been re-published with written assignments.
|
| 3/16/2023 |
a.
Quiz 6 grades have been published.
I'll incorporate the solution of #1 into my lecture notes today or tomorrow
b.
LN 2023-03-16 has been published. Addenda to ch.8 contains quiz #1 solution.
b.
HW 7 has been re-published with new solution to #1e.
|
| 3/14/2023 |
a.
There will be a quiz in tomorrow's lecture (Wed 3/15)
b.
HW9 has been published. No written assignments yet.
Reading assignments are rather light.
|
| 3/13/2023 |
a.
MF lecture notes version 2023-03-12 have been published.
Check the addenda chapters for solutions to HW7
which has been re-published with written assignments.
b.
No written assignments yet for HW8.
|
| 3/11/2023 |
a.
MF lecture notes version 2023-03-10 have been published.
The solution for midterm 1 can be found in several of the addenda chapters.
b.
I plan to publish an update which contains written assignments for HW7 and HW8
on Monday morning.
|
| 3/7/2023 |
a.
Grades for the midterm definitely are posted now.
b.
HW 8 has been published. No written assignments yet
for both HW 7 and HW 8.
|
| 3/7/2023 |
Grades for the midterm are on BS and on the anonymous grades page.
|
| 3/1/2023 |
a.
Grades for quiz 5 are on BS and on the anonymous grades page.
b.
MF lecture notes version 2023-03-02 have been published.
Addenda to ch.7 chapter now contains the solution for problem 2 of quiz 5.
c.
HW 7 has been published. No written assignments yet!
d.
The Monday, March 6 midterm will start at 3:05 PM and last 60 minutes.
I'll be there at 2:50 to return quiz #5 to you and answer any questions you might have.
|
| 3/1/2023 |
I have published version 2023-02-28 of the MF lecture notes.
Only a few errors were corrected, mostly in ch.7.
|
| 2/25/2023 |
a.
HW6 has been re-published with written assignments
b.
There will be a quiz this coming Wednesday, March 1.
|
| 2/19/2023 |
HW5 has been re-published with additional written assignments
|
| 2/18/2023 |
The date of the final exam is Mon May 08, 2023 - 05:40 PM - 07:40 PM - CW 202.
If you have a conflict with another exam or you are entitled to take the alternate
exam because you have three finals within 24 hours, then you must
email me and provide documentation of the other exams
by Mon April 24.
|
| 2/17/2023 |
a.
Quiz 4 grades have been published.
b.
The midterm 1 date has been changed from Mon 2/27 to Mon 3/6!
My course site will be updated accordingly tomorrow (Sat 2/18)
|
| 2/15/2023 |
HW5 has been published. Written assignments will follow later.
|
| 2/9/2023 |
HW4 has been re-published with additional written assignments.
|
| 2/9/2023 |
HW4 has been published. There will be more written assignments.
|
| 2/8/2023 |
Quiz 3 grades have been published.
|
| 1/18/2023 |
a.
I have published version 2023-02-01 of the MF lecture notes.
Small corrections + unlocked several proofs assigned as open book HW.
b.
I have published HW3.
|
| 1/30/2023 |
a.
Quiz 2 grades have been published.
b.
Remember that the ADD/DROP DEADLINE IS TONIGHT!
|
| 1/26/2023 |
This is a very friendly reminder that this course is, in spirit,
much more about pure math like abstract algebra or real analysis,
than an actuarial class, such as Math 450 or Math 455.
Please do not ignore the following advice.
I have talked to more than one student who enrolled into this course
because that seemed to be the only option to graduate on time.
This is very likely not the case.
If you are one of those students then you should
contact Prof. David Biddle RIGHT NOW,
and talk to him before Monday Night's add/drop deadline.
He has found alternatives for several students already!
Remember what I told you at the beginning:
If you did not like Math 330 then you will hate this class.
All that having been said, I will do my best to let you pass this course
at the level that you desire.
|
| 1/25/2023 |
HW2 has been re-published with written assignments.
|
| 1/25/2023 |
HW2 has been published.
Some reading assignments are for today's lecture.
See what you can do on such short notice!
Written assignments will follow later.
|
| 1/23/2023 |
Quiz 1 grades have been posted to BS (BrightSpace) and, anonymously, my grades page.
|
| 1/23/2023 |
Since it takes place in the afternoon, Math 454 class
will be held today in SL 302 as usual!
|
| 1/22/2023 |
Fixed a bad link to the 2022-12-21 version of my Math 330 lecture notes
|
| 1/20/2023 |
There will be two quizzes before the 11/30 add/drop deadline:
•
Quiz 1: Mon 1/23/2023. Scope: MF ch.2, 3
•
Quiz 2: Mon 1/30/2023. I'll try to grade it before the add/drop deadline
(same day, 11:59 PM).
Remember for future quizzes that they generally will NOT be announced!
|
| 1/18/2023 |
I have published version 2023-01-17 of the MF lecture notes.
Small corrections.
|
| 1/11/2023 |
a.
I have published version 2023-01-10 of the MF lecture notes.
Small additions (American Call Options) + corrections.
b.
I have added a more current link to my Math 330 lecture notes to the
bottom of the course materials page.
|
| 1/3/2023 |
I have published version 2023-01-02 of the MF lecture notes.
There will be further updates, but I consider this no more a
preliminary version.
Discard the older version!
|
| 12/20/2022 |
I have published version 2022-12-20 of the MF lecture notes.
Discard the older version!
|
| 11/27/2022 |
I have published version 2022-11-27 of the MF lecture notes.
Discard the older version!
|
| 11/23/2022 |
a.
review all previous announcements:
They have been made current for the Spring 2023 semester!
b.
Homework 1 has been published.
Reading assignments are due Friday, January 20, 2022,
and so is HW zero!
c.
I have published version 2022-11-23 of the MF lecture notes.
Discard the older version!
|
| 10/31/2022 |
a.
The schedule page has been created and the midterm dates have been set.
|
| 10/30/2022 |
a.
The first lecture will be on Wednesday, January 18.
Don't miss it!
b.
Homework about your math background
(email - see "Homework zero" on the Homework page!)
is due on Friday, January 20,
and so are the reading assignments of homework 1 (not yet published)
c.
The first quiz will be administered as early as Monday, January 23.
|