Financial Calculator


	Find It:


		Financial Calculators

	You will need to obtain a financial calculator, learn to use it and bring it to class. I recommend that you choose one of the two that are supported in appendix D of the text. One is the HP-10BII and the other is the TI BA II Plus. ( I have a slight personal preference for the HP unit--but with very little rational agrument for it. I also like the feel of the TI BA II Plus. ) Both are widely available, the office supply stores sell them for about $31.49 each. Aztec shops charges substantially more--so shop around. There are more expensive, complicated calculators available, but I don't reommend them. (If you want to learn how to use a more complicated financial calculator switch to a spreadsheet.) These are frequently harder to use and do not supply better results. A financial calculator should be looked at as a special purpose tool, don't get any more bells and whistles than are absolutely necessary in a tool. The most important thing is to learn to use it. Start with the manual. If you can't find yours here they are (they are PDF files):

HP 10BII	Users Manual
	Individual Example Usage (Zipped file)
TI BA II Plus	Users Manual
	Quick Start Guide


	To the calculator tutorial etc.


	Spreadsheet Calculator

Many of the problems assigned in this class you will work in part by using a calculator. In realty this is frequently not the way. Financial modeling software is frequently much more convenient to use. Spreadsheets, which are an example of modeling software, are ubiquitous and all of you should learn to be proficient at using one.

To help you get started in learning something about the specific financial functions that are part of a spreadsheet you can download and take a look at the "Financial Calculator" spreadsheet that I have created. It is very similar to the financial calculator you are (should) be using. The one difference is that the buttons which provide the answers are below the inputs and you don't need to push to buttons since the spreadsheet will automatically calculate any values that are missing. I have tested it and I believe it will act very much like the calculator you are using. I will use this spreadsheet in class on occasion to demonstrate some answers to problems we will do.

After you download the file (and set off all of your virus scanners) to a directory of your choice double click (and again set off your virus scanners) on it and it will prompt you for the "password" and then extract the spreadsheet file.

Quattro Version:	Calfinq.exe
Excel Version:	Calfinx.exe
Open Office Version	Calfinop.exe


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