This course is a graduate level introductory level course in finance. It serves two purposes. First it is an introduction to corporate finance and provides a framework for understanding and analyzing investment and financial decisions of corporations. Second, it introduces topics in the investments area of finance that are important for the understanding of how prices are set and markets behave. Lectures, readings and problem sets/cases will provide an introduction to simple accounting concepts and financial statement analysis, present value techniques, risk and return trade offs, portfolio theory, capital budgeting, financial market efficiency, capital structure decisions, corporate cost of capital issues, financial planning, option theory, and risk management. The focus of the course is on fundamental principles and quantitative tools of finance, so the approach of the course is rigorous and analytical. The goal is to provide students with a solid conceptual understanding of the basic ideas of modern financial theory as well as the quantitative tools necessary to participate in the modern financial world. (Cross listed International Economics/International Development)