Wall Street with Merrill Lynch

Wall Street with Merrill Lynch is a single term single-period History course that introduces students to basic finances. The course material includes how financial markets function and covers current financial events.

Curriculum
The curriculum begins with the introduction of Wall Street finance. Stocks, mutual funds, bonds, and options are some of the markets highlighted by the course. The course also implements the Stock Market Game to give students the opportunity to simulate the management of a portfolio. The course also goes over the history of finance with respect to stocks. Students are also expected to keep updated with current events in the financial world.

As of winter of 2010, the Wall Street class's relationship with Merrill Lynch (now Bank of America Merill Lynch) was reinstated. Students will have an opportunity to visit the Bank of America Tower located at 1 Bryant Park. Throughout the day, students will hear from guest speakers and visit the trading floor.

Mr. Kennedy
Mr. Kennedy takes a very discussion-oriented approach to the class. Mr. Kennedy will write terms and phrases on the board prior to beginning his discussion, which will often include articles read from the Wall Street Journal distributed in the beginning of the class. He will often incorporate films into the class to cover topics such as the leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco, the fall of Long Term Capital Management, the financial meltdown of 2008, etc. He will accept late homework until the marking period ends, but he prefers that homework is done on time. His tests are almost always based on the homework and reading he has assigned. Also he requires a book report on a current book on finance as a term project.