🔎 Graduate Paper Topics

Graduate Paper Resources

Did you know that you have access to Harvard Libraries through the extension school?

Please see these links for more information on accessing Harvard Libraries:

• https://guides.library.harvard.edu/extensionstudents/visit
• https://extension.harvard.edu/for-students/support-and-services/libraries/ Access to this resource does require a Harvard Key

Resources that your Harvard affiliation can facilitate access to:

• Wall Street Journal
• The Financial Times ← this is an amazing newspaper for a very smart international perspective.
• New York Times
• Hollis.harvard.edu grants you access to many other resources.

Remember, your paper is supposed to be a fun exploration of a material covered in the course. The only requirements are that it is 1-2 pages and you properly cite your sources, although no specific citation or paper style is required. This is a great opportunity to apply the material from the course to an area of finance that you have a special interest in. We live in a rapidly changing world and finance touches many aspects of current events and our own experiences.

For more information of how to properly cite sources can be found here:

• https://extension.harvard.edu/for-students/support-and-services/the-writing-center/
• https://extension.harvard.edu/for-students/support-and-services/using-sources-effectively-and-responsibly/

Recent Paper topic ideas

Ask me about these!

SEC reportedly won’t ban PFOF
The Securities and Exchange Commission will not go so far as to ban payment for order flow arrangements between financial firms in rulemaking on the practice, sources say. However, the regulator might require changes that diminish the profitability of such arrangements to push more trading to exchanges. The SEC is expected to announce a plan in coming months. Full Story: BNN Bloomberg (Canada) (9/22), MarketWatch (tiered subscription model) (9/22), Reuters (9/22)

Stock indexes fall again after interest-rate hike
Major stock indexes have continued to process the impact of the Federal Reserve’s latest interest-rate increase, with the Nasdaq composite sliding 1.4% Thursday. The S&P 500 dropped 0.8%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.3%. Full Story: CNBC (9/22)

Fed decision to wait on sales bolsters mortgage bonds
Mortgage bonds climbed 0.4% Wednesday after the Federal Reserve announced it had no immediate intention to sell mortgage-backed securities holdings, worth $2.7 trillion. John Kerschner, head of US securitized products at Janus Henderson Investors, says the announcement makes money managers and others more confident in purchasing mortgage bonds, while Citigroup has revised an expectation of the start of Fed sales to April from November. Full Story: BNN Bloomberg (Canada) (9/22), American Banker (9/21)

Companies turn to loans as bond costs rise
Highly rated firms are finding term loans a less expensive option than bonds for financing, as credit markets become faster than banks to adapt to rising interest rates. “We are seeing some resurgence in interest in term loans because it is a cheaper alternative for many borrowers,” says James Shepard, head of investment-grade debt capital markets at Mizuho Americas. Full Story: The Wall Street Journal (9/22)