1. Fundamentals of
Business & Financial Journalism
Week 1: Introduction & course outline
Jeffrey Timmermans
Monday, 17 September, 12

2. 75,000,000,000
25,000
128,000
56,220 60
0
40,000
43,700
1,600,000,000
Monday, 17 September, 12

3. 75,000,000,000
US$75 billion: estimated losses 25,000
from the Sept. 2008 bankruptcy of
Lehman Brothers, one of the five
biggest U.S. investment banks 128,000
56,220 60
0
40,000
43,700
1,600,000,000
Source: The Wall Street Journal, 29 Dec. 2008
Monday, 17 September, 12

4. 75,000,000,000
25,000
25,000 people lost their jobs after
128,000 Lehman collapsed
56,220 60
0
40,000
43,700
1,600,000,000
Source: Newsweek, 13 Sep. 2009
Monday, 17 September, 12

5. 75,000,000,000
25,000
128,000
56,220 60
0 people in Hong
Around 43,700
40,000
43,700 Kong bought “mini-bonds”
linked to Lehman
1,600,000,000
Source: South China Morning Post, 25 Oct. 2008
Monday, 17 September, 12

6. 75,000,000,000
25,000
128,000
56,220 60
0
Those 43,700 people purchased
40,000
US$1.6 billion in Lehman-linked
43,700 investments
1,600,000,000
Source: South China Morning Post, 25 Oct. 2008
Monday, 17 September, 12

7. 75,000,000,000
25,000
128,000
56,220US$128,000: life savings of 55-
60
0
year-old Esther Ip, invested
entirely in Lehman “mini-bonds”
40,000
43,700
1,600,000,000
Source: The Wall Street Journal Asia, 17 Oct. 2008
Monday, 17 September, 12

8. 75,000,000,000
25,000
128,000
Zero: value of Lehman “mini-
bonds” after the investment
56,220 bank’s collapse 60
0
40,000
43,700
1,600,000,000
Monday, 17 September, 12

9. 75,000,000,000
25,000
After press coverage of deceptive
128,000 sales practices at banks selling
56,220 “mini-bonds” in Hong Kong, and
government pressure, the banks
60
0
agree to refund 60% of investors’
40,000
money; this was later increased to
43,700 85-96.5% in May 2011
1,600,000,000
Source: The Wall Street Journal Asia, 23 Jul. 2009 & 20 May 2011
Monday, 17 September, 12

10. 75,000,000,000
25,000
128,000
56,220 60
US$40,000: median annual salary
0
of U.S. journalism school 2011
40,000
43,700 Master’s degree graduates
1,600,000,000
Source: Survey by Grady College of Journalism & Mass Communication, University of Georgia
Monday, 17 September, 12

11. 75,000,000,000
25,000
128,000
US$56,220: median 2010-11
56,220 annual salary of U.S. business
journalists
60
0
40,000
43,700
1,600,000,000
Source: Survey by Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism
Monday, 17 September, 12

12. Key themes
✤ In today’s global financial system, everything is interrelated
✤ Business journalism isn’t just about numbers & money – it’s about
people
✤ But following the money will usually lead you to the news
✤ Business journalism is important, not least because business &
financial events affect all of us
Monday, 17 September, 12

13. What is business news?
✤ Corporate events
✤ Announcements of economic data
✤ Government policy changes
✤ Financial market activity
✤ How all of the above affect people
Monday, 17 September, 12

14. Intended learning outcomes
✤ Understand basic structure of ✤ Interpret and explain economic
business news data
✤ Identify newsworthy business ✤ Analyze and identify news in
& financial events corporate disclosure
✤ Explain how companies ✤ Write coherent market
function commentary
✤ Explain corporate events ✤ Write coherent corporate news
stories
✤ Explain how markets function
Monday, 17 September, 12

15. Assessment standards
✤ Weekly lab assignments: 50% of final grade
✤ Group project: 20% of final grade
✤ Class discussion: 15% of final grade
✤ Knowledge of business news events: 15% of final grade
Monday, 17 September, 12

16. Assessment Tasks
percentage of final grade
15%
Tutorial Assignments
Class Participation
20% 50%
Group Project
News Knowledge
15%
Monday, 17 September, 12

17. Required daily reading
✤ Course blog: jmsc.hku.hk/courses/jmsc0074
✤ Course notebook: www.evernote.com/pub/jeffreyt/0074
✤ Reuters’ top news and SCMP’s Business section
✤ Recommended: Bloomberg News, The Wall Street Journal or Financial
Times or Reuters’ Counterparties
Monday, 17 September, 12

18. Course structure
✤ Lectures: Mondays 9:30-11:20am in 101 Eliot Hall
✤ Labs: Wednesdays 2:30-3:25pm in 102 Eliot Hall
(Labs begin on Sept. 19)
✤ Attendance for both is mandatory, although some lab assignments
will be out-of-class assignments
✤ You may be asked to bring your laptop to the lab session
Monday, 17 September, 12

19. Course Schedule
Week Topic
1 Introduction to business & financial news
2 Covering financial markets/Covering stock markets
3 Covering foreign exchange and bond markets
4 Covering company news & earnings announcements
5 Analyzing profit-and-loss statements
6 Analyzing balance sheets & cash flow statements
7 Covering economic events
8 Economic data and indicators
9 Trade & global competition
10 Covering mergers & acquisitions / Final group presentations
Monday, 17 September, 12