To Whom It May Concern, Essays - Usher, Singing,

To Whom It May Concern, I am writing to appeal my expulsion from Dawson College. I was very upset and disappointed to receive the expulsion letter. The grades I received are not a reflection of who I am as a student and my ability to perform in school. I received these marks for reasons that were beyond my control. At the beginning of February, my girlfriend of 2 years broke up with me which caused me to fall into a severe depression. Due to how important she was to me and seeing that the event was unexpected, it took a large toll on my life. The symptoms I suffered because of this were insomnia, nausea and headaches. These symptoms made it hard for me to focus on my education and my marks were affected because of it. I was getting an hour of sleep almost every night and going to school in constant pain. If you look at my Fall 2016 semester marks, you can see that I have the ability to do well as I attained an overall average of 78% and this is when I was in a healthy and happy state of mind. Throughout this semester, I had a hard time expressing what I was feeling and kept it to myself but I didn't realize that it would lead to my dismissal from the College. I don't think it's fair that the depression I suffered should jeopardize my future and education. I am now taking the necessary means to help me recover from this depression. Attached to this letter, you will find a medical note that explains to you what I was suffering during the semester. Please understand that there are certain things life that an individual cannot control and it therefore should not be a deciding factor on whether or not I should remain in the College. My grades in my first semester at Dawson College is a better representation of my ability to perform academically. My poor performance this semester was due to the reasons I've stated above, and I am disappointed with myself and the way I chose to go about this. I hope it is not too late to get re-admitted to the college because I do believe I can excel and prove my academic abilities. Sincerely, Gianluca Adornato

The Writers Voice in Literature and Rhetoric

The Writers Voice in Literature and Rhetoric In rhetoric and literary studies, voice is the distinctive style or manner of expression of an author or narrator.  As discussed below, voice is one of the most elusive yet important qualities in a piece of writing.   Voice is usually the key element in effective writing, says teacher and journalist Donald Murray. It is  what attracts the reader and communicates  to the reader. It is that element that gives the illusion of speech.  Murray continues: Voice carries the writers intensity and glues together the information that the reader needs to know. It is the music in writing that makes the meaning clear (Expecting the Unexpected: Teaching Myselfand Othersto Read and Write, 1989). EtymologyFrom the Latin, call The Music of a Writers Voice Voice is the sum of all strategies used by the author to create the illusion that the writer is speaking directly to the reader from the page. (Don Fry, quoted by Roy P. Clark, Writing Tools. Little, Brown, 2006) Voice is the most popular metaphor for writing style, but an equally suggestive one may be delivery or presentation, as it includes body language, facial expression, stance, and other qualities that set speakers apart from one another. (Ben Yagoda, The Sound on the Page. HarperCollins, 2004) If one means by style the voice, the irreducible and always recognizable and alive thing, then of course style is really everything. (Mary McCarthy, Writers at Work: The Paris Review Interviews, Second Series. 1977) Voice and Speech I think voice is one of the main forces that draws us into texts. We often give other explanations for what we like (clarity, style, energy, sublimity, reach, even truth), but I think its often one sort of voice or another. One way of saying this is that voice seems to overcome writing or textuality. That is, speech seems to come to us as listener; the speaker seems to do the work of getting the meaning into our heads. In the case of writing, on the other hand, its as though we as reader have [to] go to the text and do the work of extracting the meaning. And speech seems to give us more sense of contact with the author. (Peter Elbow, Everyone Can Write: Essays Toward a Hopeful Theory of Writing and Teaching. Oxford University Press, 2000) Multiple Voices The personality I am expressing in this written sentence is not the same as the one I orally express to my three-year-old who at this moment is bent on climbing onto my typewriter. For each of these two situations, I choose a different voice, a different mask, in order to accomplish what I want accomplished. (Walker Gibson, The Limits of Language. Hill and Wang, 1966) Just as you dress differently on different occasions, as a writer you assume different voices in different situations. If youre writing an essay about a personal experience, you may work hard to create a strong personal voice in your essay. . . . If youre writing a report or essay exam, you will adopt a more formal, public tone. Whatever the situation, the choice you make as you write and revise . . . will determine how readers interpret and respond to your presence. (Lisa Ede, Work in Progress: A Guide to Writing and Revising. St. Martins Press, 1989) Tone and Voice If voice is the writers personality that a reader hears in a text, then tone might be described as the writers attitude in a text. The tone of a text might be emotional (angry, enthusiastic, melancholy), measured (such as in an essay in which the author wants to seem reasonable on a controversial topic), or objective or neutral (as in a scientific report). . . . In writing, tone is created through word choice, sentence structure, imagery, and similar devices that convey to a reader the writers attitude. Voice, in writing, by contrast, is like the sound of your spoken voice: deep, high-pitched, nasal. It is the quality that makes your voice distinctly your own, no matter what tone you might take. In some ways, tone and voice overlap, but voice is a more fundamental characteristic of a writer, whereas tone changes upon the subject and the writers feelings about it. (Robert P. Yagelski,  Writing: Ten Core Concepts. Cengage, 2015) Grammar and Voice ​If, as we believe, grammar is linked to voice, students need to be thinking about grammar far earlier in the writing process. We cannot teach grammar in lasting ways if we teach it as a way to fix students writing, especially writing they view as already complete. Students need to construct knowledge of grammar by practicing it as part of what it means to write, particularly in how it helps create a voice that engages the reader on the page. (Mary Ehrenworth and Vicki Vinton, The Power of Grammar: Unconventional Approaches to the Conventions of Language. Heinemann, 2005) The Elusive Entity of Voice One of the most mysterious of writing’s immaterial properties is what people call voice. . . . Prose can show many virtues, including originality, without having a voice. It may avoid clichà ©, radiate conviction, be grammatically so clean that your grandmother could eat off it. But none of this has anything to do with this elusive entity the voice. There are probably all kinds of literary sins that prevent a piece of writing from having a voice, but there seems to be no guaranteed technique for creating one. Grammatical correctness doesn’t insure it. Calculated incorrectness doesn’t, either. Ingenuity, wit, sarcasm, euphony, frequent outbreaks of the first-person singular- any of these can enliven prose without giving it a voice. (Louis Menand, Bad Comma. The New Yorker, June 28, 2004)

The Alcan Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Alcan - Case Study Example Lastly, the paper also identifies some other IT projects or initiatives recommended to help support any changes in governance that is believed to suit Alcan. Accenture IT Governance Model Efficient, Predictable Operators Quadrant: Undoubtedly, Alcan faces the some challenge of identifying governance priorities like any other contemporary organizations, which revolve around information technology. Accenture IT Governance Model is a useful strategic management tool that helps organizations in identifying their quadrant thus making it easy to identify governance priorities. According to Kiritsis (719), the three main factors influencing the positioning of a firm within Accenture IT Governance Model include rate of change, operational efficient, as well as product or service differentiation. From the four quadrants of Accenture IT Governance Model, Alcan falls in the first quadrant of Efficient, Predictable Operators, given the fact that it has slow rate of change while attempting to enh ance operational efficiency within the firm. Kiritsis (720) identifies the fact that organizations falling in this quadrant are likely to meet business needs through supporting low-cost orientation. In addition, such firms keep costs low through minimizing changes whilst engaging in maximization of lifecycle of information technology assets. What’s more, organizations falling in the quadrant keep costs low through leveraging cost-saving devices through sharing of devices, outsourcing, and co-sourcing amongst others (Kiritsis 720). These are the same scenarios within Alcan when the CFO believes that the firm does not and cannot spend $300 million in IT as Robert asserts. In addition, the firm’s Corporate IT function organization structure has the infrastructure shared devices group indicating that Alcan attempts to keep costs low through leveraging cost-saving devices. Weill and Ross model of IT Governance The definition of IT governance as the decisions rights coupled with accountability framework that are applied within organizations to stimulate desirable behavior in as far as the use of IT is concerned, is a perfect description of the Weill and Ross Model of IT Governance. In this perspective, Weill and Ross Model of IT Governance identifies five key decision domains that include IT principles, IT infrastructure strategies, IT architecture, business applications needs, and IT investments. Alcan uses different governance styles in these five key decision domains in a bid to achieving efficiency through information technology (Kiritsis 657). IT governance styles are determined by the inputs and decision making process within Alcan. Nonetheless, every group within the IT department is represented in terms of information technology governance in the Alcan. Leadership monarchy is a governance style applied within IT principles domain as well as the IT investment domains. This is because despite the fact that the IT investment domain uses more that it is allocated by the CFO, it is the CFO who does the decisions in as far as IT investments are concerned. On the other hand, IT monarchy is a governance style that is highly seen within IT architecture. Various groups of IT senior managers define the architecture of the information technology with respect to the requirements and functions of their respect units. With

Summary and response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Summary and response - Essay Example In her own words she notes, â€Å"I am strongly opposed to young children playing tackle football.† In another instance, she notes that, by children taking part in competitive sports, they will be deprived of their ability to develop competitive aspects. In conclusion, Statsky affirms her position by noting that competitive sports only stresses on the aspects of competition and winning. By only using such credible information, she is able to relay the intended message which is plainly illustrated in her statement in which she strongly develops the image that competitive sports may be harmful to children. In her opinion, children should just be allowed to play sports that are appropriate to them and suits their abilities and needs. By these statements, it is clearly and strongly evident how Statsky has developed her arguments against such plays among children, and the recommendations she gives as alternatives for such children. Looking at the arguments set forth in the essay, I would categorically state that I agree with Statsky’s position regarding competitive sports for young children, although to a partial degree. This is because; I also value the essence of competitive theory, which forms the basis of competitive growth even in sports. However, I am mesmerized by the manner in which the author organizes and presents her arguments on the topic. In this response, I would specifically concentrate on the points that seemingly make her essay to be very effective and how she manages to build on such credibility. Particularly, she appears to be consistent in her reasoning considering that her opinions are well-supported in the essay thus, allowing readers to be convinced by it. I think that the success achieved in conveying the message across is one main achievement that is made possible and feasible by the engagement of various kinds of

Check processing before check 21 legislation Term Paper

Check processing before check 21 legislation - Term Paper Example k 21 legislation, previous law was made in a way that banks were forced to accept â€Å"Presentment† that was a unique check made of paper before transferring funds to other accounts. The old Check processing system was exceedingly slow comparing to the electronic system and customers had to wait for their Check clearance for two to three days (Bauer and Gerdes). The check clearing process before legislation 21 was complicated as it requires Federal Reserve to receive Checks from banks where they have been deposited, sort them in an organized manner, adding the amount of payment for deposited banks and delivering Checks from where there were drawn. This was the main source of income for Federal processing as forward items used to generate profits. Before legislation 21, paper Check accounted for more than 60% of the noncash payment in the year 2000. The Federal Reserve System used to process large number of paper Checks physically, but even before the emergence of legislation 21, the paper Check processing was declining because of its complications. The customers used to face different types of problems before this legislation, and they were not properly secured against unauthorized payments of paper Checks (Wheelock and Wilson). This legislation brought new measures of safety that the previous system was unable to implement. There was a fra ud case for Hauser Contracting Co. in which a thief obtained Check of stock that was used for paying employees. He made many Checks of payroll and withdrawal more than $24,000. These types of fraud were particularly common when paper Checks was used by the banks (Abagnale). The banks previously were not used to give any canceled Checks back to the customer, and they were only able to see the documents of Checks that were paid. Another disadvantage of the previous system was that banks were not able to processed claims made for paper Checks and they used to take more time for investigation. The electronic Check system after

Efficient market hypothesis

Efficient market hypothesis Introduction: From the last several decades the efficiency of stock market has been the sole purpose of research studies. As a result, several theories have been introduced and implemented in relation to principally how the competition in the stock market will force the known information into the prices of securities. The knowledge of information on a variety of securities that are traded in the market is one of the major factors in influencing the movements of stock market. In the stock market, a securities price tends to move rise and fall depending mainly on the availability of the information. The stock prices in the efficient market correspond to available information and therefore register any rise or fall mainly when recent and unpredictable information is available. The up and down in the security prices largely depends upon the advantages and disadvantages associated with the available information and to what extent it will affect the companys performance which is represented by the secur ity. As it is very difficult to tell whether the information available is useful or not, in the same way it is quite impossible to make predictions about the trend of the stock market, such that whether there will be an upward or downward trend in the near future by using the available information. In the financial market it is not mandatory that all professionals related to market always possess the information about the securities and have skills to evaluate this information for their gain. The only thing the efficient market requires is that few individuals must have the information about securities and as a result of the information supplied by them, the whole market must be well informed and benefitted. Hence the available information plays an important role in determining the efficiency of the stock market. By focussing on the above idea, the concept of Efficient Market Hypothesis has been developed and became one of the most concentrated and debatable topic among professionals and people related to finance and stock market studies. RESEARCH AIM: The main aim of my research is to analyse the efficiency of stock market supported by the concept of Efficient Market Hypothesis. It also aims to depict the impact of the Efficient Market Hypothesis on security trading by reviewing the available literature. RESEARCH QUESTIONS: My research aims to answer the following questions: To what extent the available information, according to the concept of Efficient Market Theory, affects the security trading in stock market. What is insider trading and its impact on the efficiency of stock market. What are the various types of anomalies associated with the stock market and their effect on the stock market efficiency. LITERATURE REVIEW: In this part of my research paper I will re-examine the existing literature on the anomalies and the efficiency of the stock market. An efficient market is defined as a market where there are large numbers of rational, profit-maximizers actively competing, with each trying to predict future market values of individual securities, and where important current information is almost freely available to all participants. In an efficient market, competition among the many intelligent participants leads to a situation where, at any point in time, actual prices of individual securities already reflect the effects of information based both on events that have already occurred and on events which, as of now, the market expects to take place in the future. In other words, in an efficient market at any point in time the actual price of a individual securities already reflect the effects of information based both on events that have already occurred and on events which, as of now, the market expects to take place in the future. In other words, in an efficient market at any point in time the actual price of a security will be a good estimate of its intrinsic value.(Eugene F. Fama 1965) According to the Efficient Market Hypothesis, given by Fama, the ups and downs in the prices of securities in the financial market totally reflect known information at a specified period of time. In other words, Efficient Market Hypothesis states that the trading of securities by the individuals is always carried out purely based on the assumption that securities worth are always more or less than the price offer by market. Whereas, trading of securities trying to outperform the stock market will be luck instead of professional skills if current prices fully reflect all available information as well as stock markets are efficient. According to this hypothesis if new information is revealed about a firm it will be incorporated into the share price rapidly and rationally, with respect to the direction of the share price movement and the size of that movement. (Elearn -NetTel) . Efficiency is an unclear word in itself so for more clarification, in my dissertation, I will describe all ty pes of efficiencies: operational, allocation and pricing. I will also give full detail on levels of market efficiency : weak-form efficiency, semi-strong form efficiency and strong-form efficiency. According Random walk theory , there are no trends and format that are being followed by the prices of securities in stock market. There is another fact given by this theory which says that the prices of securities in the past can not be useful for future predictions and fluctuation in prices. The Efficient Market Hypothesis and anomalies related to the stock market developed by the researchers always contrasts with each other. The search for anomalies is effectively the search for systems or patterns that can be used to outperform passive and/or buy-and-hold strategies. (Invest Home). With the invention of any anomaly, there is always a kind of exploitation by the investors of the anomalies discovered in order to increase their profit. This practice make the anomaly disappear with the passage of time. There are so many internal and external factors of the entities that affects the operations of stock market and those factors are often known as Anomalies which plays an important role in over performing or under performing the operations of the stock market by taking into consideration the fact that these anomalies have good or bad effect on the prices of stocks and entities. There are different types of anomalies and some of the anomalies are discussed. Fundamental Anomalies: First type of anomaly is fundamental anomaly which basically depends upon the price of the stock and on the past performance of the entity due to which stock prices rises or fall. Several anomalies of these kinds exist related to the growth, present value and profitability of the companies concerned. Under fundamental anomaly, there exist a most historical and famous anomaly named Value investing and is regarded as the most appropriate strategy for investment purposes. These anomalies depend on the stock value and companys performance based on which the stock prices go up or down. A technique used is to divide the given index into high price and low price to book value stocks. The low price to book concept was developed by Eugene Fama and Keneth French favouring the hypothesis that lower risk is attached to value stocks whereas the stocks with growth are attached with higher risk. According to another anomaly named as low price to sales, stocks with low price to sales ratio perform b etter then high price to sales ratio. According to James P. O Shaughnesey, prices are the only strongest determinant of excessive return. There are several studies which advocates that stocks having low P/E ratio always perform better in the market as compared to stocks with high P/E ratios. In the same manner, the stocks with high dividend yield are better performers than stocks with low dividend yields. There are some other stocks named as neglected stock and are chosen by those with the contrarian strategy. A study was conducted by F.M DeBondtand Richard Thaler on 35 best and worst performer stocks between 1932 and 1977 in New York Stock Exchange and came out with the result that the performance of best performer stocks in the stock exchange falls whereas the stocks with bad performance in the past showed better results when compared to the results of the same stock in the past. Technical Anomalies: Another types of anomalies in which past prices and statistics are used to predict the prices of securities are known as technical anomalies. The techniques used in these types of anomalies include strategies related to support and resistance, moving averages and strength. Some researchers are against the method of technical analysis and say that the investors are hardly benefitted from these technical analysis techniques where as some researchers argue that there is enough evidence and facts that are sufficient to say that the technical analysis method is favourable for the investors. According to technical analysts, the selling of stocks is influenced by the resistance level whereas the buying is influenced at the support level. A signal to sell the stock is developed in case the support level is penetrated by the price whereas a signal to buy the stock is produced in case price penetrated the resistance level. According to the conclusion made by William Brock, Josef Lakonishok, an d Blake LeBaron, the outcomes are reliable with technical rules having forecasting power. But at the same time the cost related to transaction must be taken into account before implementing such concepts and strategies. Another conclusion given by them says that the stock returns generating is more complicated and different process as compared to the results obtained by conducting different studies and researches using various linear models. Calendar Anomalies: Calendar anomaly is another type of anomaly in which various effects are included. In January effect, general and small stocks perform abnormally better in the month of January. Philippe Jorion and Robert Haugen say that, the January effect is, perhaps the best-known example of anomalous behaviour in security markets throughout the world. An interesting fact about January effect is that it lasted for nearly two decades whereas any anomaly hardly survive as traders start taking advantage of the anomalies which results in vanishing of anomaly. Another effect named Turn of the Month was founded by Chris R. Hensel and William T. Ziemba, according to which, in between period 1928 to 1993, the returns for the turn of the month performed well and considerably greater than normal performance. According to study, those investors who make regular purchases may be benefitted if they make schedule to do the purchasing at the end and prior to the starting of next month. In addition to these effec ts another effect is known as Monday effect and is considered to be the worst day in stock market if investments are made on this day. According to study conducted by Lawrence Harris, the week end effect occurs during first 45 minutes of buying and selling whereas prices shows upward trend during the first 45 minutes of trading on all other days. This kind of anomaly may occur due to moods and behaviour of people after weekend holidays. Other Anomalies There are certain other facts that are responsible for affecting the operations of stock market. The size effect, announcement based effect, IPOs, Stock buybacks, insider transactions and S and P game. According to Fama and French (1992), the book to market ratio as well as the size capture the cross-sectional variation of average stock returns in NYSE, and Nsdaq securities. A complete investigation of book to market was provided by Tim Loughran in relation to dimensions of firm size, exchange listings etc and experimental findings of French and Fama are basically forwarded by two features of the data which includes relatively low returns on small, new and growing stocks. Srinivas Nippani, Augustine C. Arize study three main US corporate bond market indices by taking into account calendar based anomalies between the years 1982-2002. In the analysis, the whole bond market as well as two broad classes of industries namely industrials and utilities were taken into account. The study find the mixed response for the weekend effect in the overall bond index and industrial index whereas very less response to utilities index. The findings showed definite proof of January effect on the bond market. RESEARCH METHOD AND DATA: Data Collection Methods: The general idea of business research is that it is concerned with collection of data, making questionnaires and then analysing and evaluating the collected data. In addition to this, the identification of problem and the approach needed to solve the problem is also important. (Ghauri et al., 1995). Data sources are often referred to as the carriers of data information. Basically data sources are divided into two categories namely primary data and secondary data. Primary data is concerned with the interviews and observations collected while conducting research project where as, secondary data is collected by others and academic and non academic sources are included in this type of data. In my topic of research which is to study the efficiency of stock market, I want to use the Desk method that is secondary data collection method. This includes the gathering of information from sources like books, journals related to my topic of research, and from electronic media like internet which is one of the major sources of information. These all sources of information will be helpful for the accomplishment of my research. DATA SOURCES: As I have already describe that I will use secondary method in my dissertation so I have to search a lot for this topic and for this search my main resource is FBES (Faculty of Business, Environment and Society) which provides the best online business information services which is also including the digital management library. Some of the main sources (journal databases) for my research area are given below: EBSCO Business Source. Business Source Premiere. Emerald. Science Direct. NetLibrary. Overall these cover hundreds of journals, and give access to up to a million journal articles. EXPECTED OUTCOMES: While reviewing all the information from available literature on efficient market hypothesis, operations of stock market, price fluctuations and the anomalies of stock market, I have come to the conclusion that the following outcomes could be possible and predictable from my research, If the stock market is efficient then no information can play any role in making any change towards the performance of stock market. The efficient market hypothesis is expected to take any of the following forms which are weak, semi-strong and strong which purely depends upon the availability, and trueness of the past and present information about the stock concerned in the stock market. The anomalies like technical anomalies could be of great help to the researchers and analysts to predict the changing trend in the prices of stocks in the stock market but the transaction cost is the cause of concern while using such technical method. There are some other stock market anomalies which purely depend upon the internal and external factors of the entity and may result in fluctuations in the stock market. The anomalies related to stock market exist for short period of time but function against the concept of efficient market hypothesis and in my research I will find out the facts relating to the vibrations in the stock market as a result of these anomalies. LIMITATIONS AND EXPECTED DIFFICULTIES: While conducting my research I have to face certain difficulties and limitations which may occur during the course of my research. As my research involves the collection of secondary data, I have to be quite aware of the limitations that may arise due to the nature of data. Some of the limitations that are possible are as follows It could be possible that the theory and data we collected for our research is unclear and is not helpful for the companies in their decision making. It is important to check the source of the information as it could be wrong and misleading. It is possible that the theory is quite old for studies and research purposes in todays rapidly developing world. The theory may not be fit for application due to development of new and technological methods and techniques used for the analysis. REFERENCES: Chris R. Hensel and William T. Ziemba (1996)Investment Results from Exploiting Turn-of-the-Month Effects, Journal of Portfolio Management 22, 17-23 Elearn NetTel Financial Analysis Revised: Session 1: Market Efficiency [Online] Available From: http://cbdd.wsu.edu/kewlcontent/cdoutput/TR505r/page4.htm Eugene Fama and Kenneth R. French (1992)The Cross-section of Expected Stock Returns, The Journal of Finance 47, 427-465. Eugene F. Fama (1995) Random Walks in Stock Market Prices, Financial Analysts Journal 21, 55-59. Ghauri, P., Gronhaug K and Kristianslund I., (1995) Research methods in business studies a practical guide Hempstead: Prentice Hall Investor Home Historical Stock Market Anomolies [Online] Available From: James P. OShaughnessy (1998) 2nd edn. What Works on Wall Street: A Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All Time. New York: McGraw Hills Lawrence Harris (1986) A Transaction Data Study of Weekly and Intradaily Patterns in Stock Returns, Journal of Financial Economics 16, 99-117 Loughran Tim (1997)Book-to-Market across firm Size, Exchange, and seasonality: Is There an Effect? Journal of Finance Quantitative Analysis 32, 249-268 Marc R. Reinganum (1997) The Size Effect: Evidence and Potential Explanations, Investing in Small-Cap and Microcap Securities, Association for Investment Management and Research, 1997. Robert Haugen and Philippe Jorion, (1996)The January Effect: Still There after All These Years, Financial Analysts Journal, January-February 1996. Srinivas Nippani and Anita K. Pennathur (2004) Day-of-the-week effects in commercial paper yield rates. Quaterly Review of economics Finance 44, 508-520 Werner F.M. DeBondtand Richard Thaler (1985)Does the Stock Market Overreact? The Journal of Finance 40, 793-805. Efficient Market Hypothesis Efficient Market Hypothesis Literature Review 2.0 Introduction In order to better understand the origin and the idea behind the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH), the first section deals with an overview of the EMH. Section 2 deals with the Random Walk Model which is a close counterpart of the EMH. We then have examine the different degrees of information efficiency that exist, namely the weak form efficiency, semi-strong form efficiency and the strong form efficiency. In section 4, we have a brief overview of the different types of statistical tests that have been used in the literature to examine the weak form efficiency. Section 5 explains the implications of efficient markets for investors. 2.1 Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) The concept of efficiency is one of the essential concepts in finance. Market efficiency is a term used in many different contexts with many different meanings. Market efficiency involves three related concepts- allocation efficiency, operational efficiency and informational efficiency. Allocation efficiency: A characteristic of an efficient market in which capital is allocated in a way that benefits all participants. It occurs when organizations in the public and private sectors can obtain funding for the projects that will be the most profitable, thereby promoting economic growth Operational efficiency: A marketcondition that exists when participants can execute transactions and receive services at a price that fairly equates to the actual costs required to provide them.Economists use this term to describe the way resources are employed to facilitate the operation of the market. It is usually desirable that markets carry out their operations at as low a cost as possible. Information efficiency: The actual market price of a share should reflect its intrinsic value. Information efficiency implies that the observed market price of a security reflect all information relevant to the pricing of the security. The investor can manage to earn merely a risk-adjusted return from his investment, as prices move instantaneously and in an unbiased manner to any news. The efficiency in the market for financial assets and assets returns refers here to the information efficiency and should not be confused with the other types of efficiency. As explained by Rahman and Hossain (2006): For a stock market to be efficient, stock prices must always fully reflect all relevant and available information. This definition can be expressed as Æ’(Ri,t, Rj,t à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ | à Ã¢â‚¬  M t-1) = Æ’( Ri,t, Rj,t à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ | à Ã¢â‚¬  M t-1, à Ã¢â‚¬  a t-1), where Æ’(.) = a probability distribution function, Ri,t = the return on security i in period t, à Ã¢â‚¬  M t-1 = the information set used by the market at t à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 1, à Ã¢â‚¬  a t-1 = the specific information item placed in the public domain at t à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 1. This equation has two important implications. 1. Specific information item at t-1 (à Ã¢â‚¬  a t-1) cannot be used to earn non zero abnormal return. 2. When a new information item is added to the information set à Ã¢â‚¬  M, it is instantaneously reflected on market prices. The concept of market efficiency was first introduced by Bachelier (1900). Since then, there has been many studies like Working (1934), Cowles and Jones (1937), Kendall (1953), Cootner (1964). However it was Fama (1965) who first used termed it as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“efficient marketà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . Fama (1970) later stated the sufficient but not necessary conditions for efficiency: i. there are no transaction costs in trading securities; ii. all available information is costlessly available to all market participants, and iii. all agree on the implications of current information for the current price and distributions of future prices of each security He also identified three degrees of informational efficiency namely the weak form, the semi-strong form and the strong form. 2.2 Random Walk Model (RWM) The Random Walk Model is a close counterpart of the Efficient Market Hypothesis. The model was originally examined by Kendall (1953). It states that stock price fluctuations are independent of each other and have the same probability distribution. Thus the Random Walk theory suggests that stock price change randomly, making it impossible to predict stock prices. The Random Walk Model is linked to the belief that markets are efficient and that investors cannot beat or predict the market because stock prices reflect all available information and the new information arises randomly. As mentioned in Fama (1970) the two hypotheses constituting the Random Walk Model , that is (i) successive price changes are independent and (ii) successive changes are identically distributed, are implicitly assumed in the Efficient Market Hypothesis. The Random Walk Model is in direct opposition to technical analysis, which suggests that a stocks future price can be forecasted based on historical information through observing chart patterns and technical indicators. 2.3 Forms of Market Efficiency 2.3.1 Weak-Form Efficiency Fama (1970) stipulates that no investor can earn excess returns by formulating trading strategies based on historical price or return information in a weak-form efficient market. The weak-form efficiency thus assumes that the price of a stock fully reflects all information contained in past prices, that is the historical sequence of prices, rate of returns and other historical market information. A weak-form efficient market implies that it is of no use to engage in technical analysis that use past prices alone to find undervalued stocks. In order to test whether past share prices can be used to predict future share prices( that is, weak-form efficiency), statistical or econometric tests can be used. These studies seek to study the evolution of share prices from one period to the next period and try to detect correlation between the successive price changes. Technical analysts study the evolution of past share prices, with the aim of predicting share prices to make gains. 2.3.2 Semi-Strong Form Efficiency Fama (1970) described the semi-strong form efficiency as one where share price fully reflect all information contained not only in past prices but all public information. All public information includes capital market information as used in the weak form Efficient Market Hypothesis(EMH) as well as non-market information such as earnings, dividend announcements, price earnings ratio, information about the economy and political news (Reilly1997). New public information is almost instantaneously integrated in share price and the share price is adjusted so as to reflect the true value of the share. This means that an investor cannot use public information to generate gains on the stock market. In order to test for semi-strong form efficiency, event studies are often used. These event studies are performed by analyzing the effect of the release of new public information on the share price. If the market is semi-strong form efficient, the new public information ( for example annual reports, earning announcement or dividend announcement) is instantaneously integrated in the share price, so as to reflect the intrinsic value of the share. New information can be both good or bad. Thus they can cause increases or decreases at their release. 2.3.3 Strong Form Efficiency Under strong form efficiency, the current price reflects all information, public as well as private. Private information, in this context, means information not yet published. On the stock market, there are professionals (for example security analysts, fund managers) who have private as well as public information. Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) assumes that no investor has monopolistic access to any information. This means that as new public and private information is released, it is incorporated in share price to reflect its true value. An investor will not be able to consistently find undervalued or overvalued shares and make gains on the strong form efficient market. Fama (1970) perceives a strong form efficient market as one where investors are not expected to earn excess returns by relying on inside information. To test whether past share prices, public and private information can used to predict future share prices, the investment records and gains generated by professional investors are often studied. Investors should not be consistently able to make gains by using public and private information. At all moments, the share prices incorporate all public and private information to reflect the true value of the shares. 2.4 Statistical Tests to examine validity of Weak-Form EMH In order to examine the validity of the weak form efficiency, a number of statistical tests have been used in the literature. These tests can be categorized into two groups: i. Using mechanical trading rules also known as filter rules. These rules test for the possibility of non-linear dependence existing in the price data. Filter rules were first used by S.A Alexander (1961) and later Fama and Blume (1966) added to the literature. Professor Alexanders filter techniques attempts to apply a sophisticated criteria to identify movements in stock prices. An x percent filter is defined as follows: If the daily closing price of a particular security moves up at least x percent, buy and hold the security until its price moves down at least x percent from a subsequent high, then sell and go short (Fama and Blume, 1966). The short position is then maintained until the daily closing price rises at least x percent above a subsequent low when one is going to cover and buy. Moves less than x percent in either direction are ignored. ii. Statistical tests of independence between successive price changes. Serial autocorrelation tests and run tests are among the most popular tests. Some of the researches in this field use Spectral Analysis which decomposes a time series into a spectrum of cycles of different length. This spectral decomposition of a time series yield a spectral density function that measures the contribution of each of the frequency bands to the overall variance of the times series. There is also a relatively new test introduced by Lo and Mackinlay (1988), it is called the Variance Ratio which is based on the heteroscedasticity problem. The basic idea behind the Lo and Mackinlay (1988) variance-ratios test is that if a natural logarithm of a time series is a pure random walk, then, the variance of its k-differences in a finite sample grows linearly with the difference, Let (pt) denote a time series consisting of T observations p1,p2,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦,pT of asset returns. Then, the variance-ratio of the k-th difference, VR(k), is defined as: VR(k)= à Ã†â€™2(k)/à Ã†â€™2(1) where, VR(k) is the variance-ratio of the shares returns k-th differences; à Ã†â€™2(k) is the unbiased estimator of 1/k of the variance of the shares returns k-th differences, under the null hypothesis; à Ã†â€™2(1) is the variance of the first-differenced share returns series, and k is the number of days of base observations interval or lag (Ntim et al. ,2007). 2.5 Implications of EMH Market efficiency has important implications for both investors and authorities. If a market is inefficient, investors should doubt the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“hold the marketà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  strategy and should try to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“beat the marketà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . While the authorities on their part should restructure the stock market by enacting effective law and enhancing financial media. The graph below shows the effect of EMH on stock prices. The straight line shows the reaction under EMH while the dotted lines show the over-reaction and under-reaction that occur with the existence of market imperfections. If a market is efficient, investors: 1. should not worry about investment analysis. They should rather concentrate on holding a well diversified portfolio. Investors holding an inefficient diversified portfolio will be exposed to risk which could be avoided and for which they will not be rewarded. In other words, the market only provides return for systematic risk, while specific risks have to be diversified away. 2. Should adopt a buy and hold policy once they have established their portfolios. This is because there is no advantage in changing from one group of securities to another. By doing this, there would be transaction costs which they would have to incur and as a result, the risk-adjusted return would be affected. Altering the composition of a portfolio can only be justified a) if the risk exposure has changed due to relative changes in the market value of the constituent securities. b) if tax payments can be minimized. Other implications of EMH are: Price changes are random and unpredictable Investors are not easily fooled by the glossy financial reports or à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"creative accounting techniques Timing of new issues of securities are not important since prices represent the intrinsic and will reflect the degree of risk in the share. Thus under EMH neither fundamental nor technical analysis can be used to achieve superior gains. Investors should concentrate on constructing and holding efficiently diversified portfolios. 2.6 Empirical Evidences Based on the literature, it can be seen that there are two competing schools of thoughts about market efficiency. The first school argues that markets are efficient and as a result, returns cannot be predicted. For example early studies (Working, 1934; Kendall, 1943, 1953; Cootner, 1962; Osborne, 1962; Fama, 1965) on developed markets support the weak form efficiency of the market with a low degree of serial correlation and transaction cost. The studies in this school of thought, support the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) and show that price changes could not be used to forecast future price changes, especially after transaction costs were taken into account. The second school, on the other hand, provides empirical evidence of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"anomalies that contradict the theory of efficient markets. Some of these studies are Summers (1986), Keim (1988), Fama and French (1988), Lo and MacKinlay (1988) and Poterba and Summers (1988). They found some à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"anomalies, which could not be explained by the theory of Fama (1965). Some of the market anomalies that they found are: January Effect/Turn of The Year Effect Stock returns are usually abnormally high during the first few days of January. The January effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Then they quickly reinvest their money after the new year, causing stock prices to rise. Rozeff and Kinney (1976) was among the first to prove this market anomaly. Rozeff and Kinney (1976) methodology gives smaller companies greater relative influence than would be true in value-weighted indices where large firms dominate. Subsequent researches (Reinganum, 1983; Roll, 1983, among others) later confirm that the January effect is a small cap phenomenon. Size Effect/Small Firm Effect The Size Effect is the tendency for firms with a small market capitalization to outperform larger companies over the long term. For example Banz (1981) and Reinganum (1981) showed that small-capitalization firms on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) earned a return in excess of what would be predicted by the Sharpe (1964) Linter (1965) capital asset-pricing model (CAPM) from 1936-1975. However as mentioned by G.W. Schwert (2003, p.943), it seems that the small-firm anomaly has disappeared since the initial publication of the papers that discovered it. Alternatively, the differential risk premium for small-capitalization stocks has decreased over the years. Weekend Effect/Day of The Week Effect This is a phenomenon in which stock returns on Mondays are often significantly lower than those of the immediately preceding Friday. French (1890) observed this anomaly. He noted that the average return to the Standard and Poors (SP) Composite Portfolio was reliably negative over weekends in the periods 1953-1977. Again, like the size effect, the weekend effect seems to have disappeared, or at least substantially attenuated, since it was first documented in 1980. Value Effect/Price Earnings Ratio Effect The value effect refers to the tendency for stocks with low price earnings ratio to outperform portfolios consisting of stocks with a high price earnings ratio. Basu (1977) shows that investors holding low price earnings ratio portfolio earned higher returns. The existence of market anomalies have important implications. If stock returns do not follow a random process, then it is possible to design profitable trading strategies based on historical information 2.6.1 Empirical Evidences from Developing Countries Despite the large number of empirical studies that have been conducted to test the validity of the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) in developed countries with booming financial markets, studies to support or dispute the efficiency or inefficiency of the African stock markets are quite limited. There is a small number of empirical studies analyzing emerging African equity markets with regards to weak form of market efficiency test. While some of these studies have analysed single markets ( e.g. Samuels and Yacout 1981; Parkinson 1984; Ayadi 1984; Dickinson and Muragu 1994; Osei 1998; Olowe 1999; Mecagni and Sourial 1999; Asal 2000; Adelegan, 2004; Dewotor and Gborglah, 2004; Ntim et al., 2007), others have analysed groups of countries (e.g. Claessens et al., 1995; Magnusson and Wydick, 2002; Smith et al., 2002; Appiah-Kusi and Menya, 2003; Simons and Laryea, 2004; Jefferis and Smith, 2005). However, while there are only a few empirical studies, their conclusions as to the efficiency and predictability of future stock returns have been mixed. For example Dickinson and Muragu (1994) shows that the Kenyan stock market is weak form efficient, in contrast to the results of Parkinson (1984). Also, most of the existing studies made use of conventional weak form testing techniques such as serial correlation tests. Samuels and Yacout (1981) and Parkinson (1984) were among the first to use serial correlation tests to examine the weak form efficiency on the African continent. Samuels and Yacout analysed the weak form market efficiency in weekly price series of 21 listed Nigerian firms from 1977 to 1979 and provided empirical evidence that the market was efficient. Parkinson on his part, analysed monthly price series of 30 listed Kenyan firms from 1974 to 1978 and rejected the weak form efficiency. Dickinson and Muragu (1994) reinvestigated the Kenyan market by applying run and serial correlation tests to weekly stock price series of 30 listed companies on the Nairobi Stock Exchange and their results were in contrast with Parkinson (1984). They demonstrated that successive price changes are independent of each other for the majority of the companies investigated. Most of the developing countries suffer from the problem of thin trading (Mlambo and Biekpe, 2005). The problems caused by thin trading have been widely acknowledged in financial market researches (e.g., Dimson, 1979; Cohen et al. ,1983; Butler and Simonds, 1987; Lo and Mackinlay, 1990a and b; Bowie, 1994; Muthuswamy and Whaley, 1994) . Fisher (1966) who was the first to identify the bias caused by thin trading in the serial correlation of index returns, explained that recorded prices of securities are not necessarily equal to their underlying theoretical values. This is because when a share does not trade, the price recorded remains the closing price when the share was last traded. However, while most of the African stock markets suffer from thin trading, many existing studies fail to adjust for thin trading. For example recent studies conducted on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius (Appiah-Kusi and Menya, 2003 and Simons and Laryes, 2004) made used of conventional techniques and did not adjust for thin trading. Other studies (Kabba, 1998; Roux and Gilberson, 1978 and Poshawale, 1996) which have examined the behavior of stock price and rejected the weak-form efficiency, have explained that the inefficiency might be due to delay in operations and high transaction cost, thinness of trading and illiquidity in the market.

Analysis of Donahues Sister from Thom Gunn’s The Passages of Joy Essay

  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thom Gunn, an English poet who has spent most of his life living in the United States, is a member of what has come to be called the "Movement". Members of the Movement "rejected what seemed to them the Romantic excesses of the New Apocalypse (whose most prominent member was Dylan Thomas), and. . .were equally dissatisfied with the modernist revolution led by [Ezra] Pound and [T.S.] Eliot" (Ellmann and O’Clair 1335). Gunn has criticized modernists for "strengthen[ing] the images [in their poetry] while...banishing [the] concepts" (Qtd. in Ellmann and O’Clair 1335). Members of the Movement "sought greater concreteness and a less high-flown diction for poetry" (Ellmann and O’Clair 1335).   Ã‚  Ã‚   Thom Gunn is known for writing poems that are not only concrete, but that can also be thought of as quite risky. Gunn has never been a cautious poet (Ellmann and O’Clair 1335), instead choosing to deal with subjects that are very "real," and in some cases very controversial. Gunn confronts the issue of alcoholism and its effects, not only on the alcoholics, but also on those who care about them, in his poem "Donahue’s Sister," which was published in 1982 as part of a book of poems entitled The Passages of Joy.   Ã‚  Ã‚   "Donahue’s Sister" begins with the two characters, a man and a woman (presumably Donahue and his sister), encountering each other at the head of the stairs. The first two lines read, "She comes level with him at / the head of the stairs," and indicate a sense of competition and tension between the two people. Immediately, it is apparent that there is a power struggle going on between the man and the woman. At this point, the reader has not been told the source of the competition between the characters, but there is a sense ... ...poetry is not intellectual... rather, it explores concrete reality in a sensuous manner" (Parini 138). Gunn paints a colorful and all-too-believable picture of the effects of alcoholism. He does not attempt to pass judgment, though. He does not condemn the alcoholic, or glorify the man who tries to help her. He simply shows us an honest depiction of alcoholism, and allows us as readers to make our own moral judgments. Works Cited Ellmann, Richard and Robert O’Clair, eds.   The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry.   2nd ed.   New York: W.W. Norton, 1988. Giles, Paul.   â€Å"Landscapes of repetition: the self-parodic nature of Thom Gunn’s later poetry.†Ã‚   Critical Quarterly 29.2 (1987): 85-99. Parini, Jay.   â€Å"Rule and Energy: The Poetry of Thom Gunn.†Ã‚   The Massachusetts Review 23 (1982): 134-151. Sanborn, Patricia F.   Existentialism.   New York: Pegasus, 1968.

Starbucks Financial Analysis

Starbucks is a strong competitor in the service sector and a leader in the gourmet coffee industry. With a continued growth rate in store openings and maintaining successful profitability of its operations, Starbucks has demonstrated its ability to sustain a reliable and steady growth. Starbucks’ ability to contend with the vulnerability to current financial threats such as economic recession, higher interest rates, and global competition, is constantly proven by its incomparable brand image, its continual product innovations, and its exceptional customer service. This also proves to be its strongest investment strategy.One strategic way to evaluate the vulnerability of Starbucks to current financial threats is to execute a SWOT Analysis. A SWOT analysis is a situation analysis in which the strengths and weaknesses of an organization, and external opportunities and threats it faces are examined to chart a strategy (Business Dictionary, 2012).SWOT is the acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The purpose of the SWOT analysis is to assess what an organization can and cannot do in addition to evaluating the potential opportunities and any financial and economical threats it may face.Over the years, Starbucks have developed much successful strengths. Here are a few of the most recognizable strengths: The quality of their coffee is considered the highest in the world. They engage with customers and the communities to provide better business.Starbucks has over 17,000 stores globally in convenient locations to attract more customers. Starbucks have expanded their product line to sandwiches, pastries, and natural tea-blend drinks. Starbucks have loyal employees who are valued, motivated, and hard-working and are provided a pleasant working environment.They have exceptional relationships with all suppliers which helps them exceed as industry market leaders. Over the past several years, Starbucks has received several award and recognitions such as â€Å"No. 1 Best Coffee† and â€Å"No. 1 Most Popular Quick Refreshment Chain† by Zagat’s Survey of National Chain Restaurants, one of â€Å"The Best 100 Companies to Work For† by Fortune Magazine, one of the â€Å"World’s Most Ethical Compamies† by Ethisphere, and one of the â€Å"World’s 50 most Innovative Companies† by Fast Company. With all companies, where there are strengths there are weaknesses.Starbucks have noted and viable strengths, but they have weaknesses that could overshadow the success of these strengths placing them a step or two behind their competitors. Here are some of their weaknesses: The size of the company is larger than most of their competitors, lack of internal focus because much focus is on expansion and not on the diversification of other sectors, product pricing is overstated because of their premium brand coffee, which demands premium pricing, and excessive dependency on coffee-alone produ cts.Starbucks have willed many opportunities to become the most valuable gourmet coffee leader in the world. They have already succeeded in expanding their product line by introducing the world to cold coffee beverages, flavored herbal drinks, and hot sandwiches and salads for lunch.So, now they have the opportunity to continue to expand in their development overseas, continue their innovation and commitment to product development, and possibly co-brand with other manufacturers of food and drinks to help expand their product line.The competition in gourmet coffee in general has proved to be more advanced than one would imagine. So, it’s no surprise that the competition would be one the most highly doable threats. With coffee sellers ranging from coffee houses to restaurants and fast-food carry-outs such as McDonald’s, Starbucks has to contend with ensuring that they maintain their perfection in coffee and customer service to avoid such threats. Another major threat is the economy. The state of the economy today, particularly in the future depends especially on consumer spending.This would play a key role in Starbucks’ sales growth and profits. Factors such as increased debt service levels resulting from interest rate changes, downturn in the housing market, and the increase in oil and gas prices would affect optional spending.Now that the assessment of the SWOT analysis has been completed, it’s time to determine the financial performance of Starbucks over the past three years and predict how it will perform in the future by using financial ratio analysis. This will be determined by examining the Income Statement and Balance Sheet as of FY 2011.Consolidated Statements Of Earnings (USD $)12 Months EndedIn Millions, except Per Share data Oct. 02, 2011 Oct. 03, 2010 Sep. 27, 2009 Net revenues: Company-operated stores $ 9,632.4 $ 8,963.5 $ 8,180.1 Licensed stores 1,007.50875.2795 CPG, foodservice and other 1,060.50868.7799.5 Total net re venues 11,700.4010,707.409,774.60 Cost of sales including occupancy costs 4,949.304,458.604,324.90 Store operating expenses 3,665.103,551.403,425.10 Other operating expenses 402293.2264.4 Depreciation and amortization expenses 523.3510.4534.7 General and administrative expenses 636.1569.5453 Restructuring charges 053332.4 Total operating expenses 10,175.809,436.109,334.50 Gain on sale of properties 30.200 Income from equity investees 173.7148.1121.9 Operating income 1,728.501,419.40562 Interest income and other, net 115.950.337 Interest expense 33.3-32.7-39.1 Earnings before income taxes 1,811.101,437559.9 Income taxes 563.1488.7168.4 Net earnings including noncontrolling interests 1,248948.3391.5 Net earnings (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests 2.32.70.7 Net earnings attributable to Starbucks $ 1,245.7 $ 945.6 $ 390.8 Earnings per share – basic $ 1.66 $ 1.27 $ 0.53 Earnings per share – diluted $ 1.62 $ 1.24 $ 0.52 Weighted average shares outstanding: Basic 748.3744.4738.7 Diluted 769.7764.2745.9 Cash dividends declared per share $ 0.56 $ 0.36 $ 0In reviewing the Income Statement for Starbucks from 2009 to 2011, it is evident that the company has successfully increased its profitability through performance each year by almost 10%. Its income from operation has almost tripled from 2009. Based on Starbucks’ continued plan of expansion, this financial progression depicts a continuous trend.As noted in the financial statement above and pictured in the chart below, Starbucks obtains the majority of its revenue from its company-operated stores. This proves that if Starbucks continues its expansion of retail stores, the revenue from these sales will continue to rise as it has in the past 10 years. The company’s share earnings have also spiked in the last three years by almost doubling between 2009 and 2010 and up 31% in 2011.The financial ratio analysis will provide an assessment of the stability and profitability of Starbucks and allow investors and shareholders to determine the probability of a profitable future. Below is a chart of different financial ratios used to describe the different criteria for Starbucks and to evaluate the past three years. Profitability – Revenue201120102009Gross Profit 57.7%   58.4%   55.8% EBIT Ratio 15.5%   13.4%   5.7%The first set of ratios measures the profitability of Starbucks. These ratios measure the effectiveness of Starbucks capital. A high profitability could be attributed to effective competency. This chart shows that Starbucks have maintained an elevated profit margin, which indicates its ability to manage its largest assets costs.The other ratio, EBIT measures the overall operating efficiency. The next chart shows the liquidity ratios of the firm which indicates how efficient Starbucks handles its short-term obligations. Short-term liquidity includes items that are to be received or paid in cash within a year.A ratio of 2 is the ideal rate for a good standing company using the current ratio. This indicates that the company can pay its creditors and that it has more current assets than current liabilities. A current ratio below 1 signifies trouble for the company and that they may have problems meeting their creditor obligations. The difference between the current ratio and quick ratio is the use of inventory.Financial Condition 2011-2010Debt/Equity Ratio 20%   25% Current Ratio 1.831.55 Quick Ratio 0.190.17The below chart illustrates what kind of return Starbucks receives on its investments. These ratios give investors a clear mind of how well the investments are performing. The ROE ratio illustrates the returns that stockholders are earning on their investments in Starbucks. In prior years, Starbucks have consistently increased this ratio percentage and continues to rise. The ROA ratio tells investors how much profit Starbucks generated for every dollar in assets.Investment Returns % 2011-2010Return on Equity 28.4% 25.7% Return on Assets 18.1% 13.8%Based on the ratios above, it appears that Starbucks is continuing to progress successfully in profits and its ability to increase leverage and maintain a reasonably stable trend in the future. Starbucks can increase leverage by repurchasing outstanding stock and increasing debt financing. Based on the recent benchmarks over a 12 month period, Starbucks is still in line with the industry. â€Å">

Ideal of Perfection essays

Ideal of Perfection essays Throughout history the Greeks have been know to be excellent in almost every aspect of life. Aristocracy was a major part in the structure of Greek culture and males were the complete rulers of the Greek cities. The Greeks set up a social structure where the males would be gauged by the Greek ideal of perfection. If a male was to follow these ideals he was honored and worshiped by the women and the lower classes of the towns but there were many necessities that one had to abide by. There are many ideas that the Greeks had to consider for one to be perfect but one of the most important characteristics was for a man to have a gorgeous, slender, muscular and fit body. Since most of the events that took place, mostly arena fighting, took place in the nude and fit bodies were definitely admired. Not only did the females during events and daily life admire these bodies, but since homosexuality was a big role in their society, males liked fit bodies on their male friends as well. It was most common for adult males to have relationships with young men. This was considered a perfection trait because these relations were see to be education, teaching the young me ideas and beliefs about their society among other things. These fit bodies on the men represented that they were strong, powerful, very courageous and since it was mostly military men it showed that they also had money because most people at that time couldnt afford to be in the army because they didnt get paid, hence people in the army must have been able to afford it, they had money. It was not only important to have fit bodies, homosexual partners and money, but an education was very important in this perfection ideal. This education goes along with how men interacted with their homosexual partners. Since these relationships were seen as an education experience for the young men, the males would definitely have to be educated not ...

Boxer Rebellion Timeline in China

Boxer Rebellion Timeline in China At the turn of the 20th century, intense social pressure due to increasing foreign influence in Qing China led to an upsurge of participation in the Righteous Harmony Society Movement (Yihetuan), called the Boxers by foreign observers. From their base in drought-ravaged northern China, the Boxers spread across the country, attacking foreign missionaries, diplomats, and traders, as well as Chinese Christian converts. By the time it ended, the Boxer Rebellion had claimed almost 50,000 lives. Background to the Boxer Rebellion 1807: First Protestant Christian missionary arrives in China from the London Missionary Society.1835-36: Daoguang Emperor expels missionaries for distributing Christian books.1839-42: First Opium War, Britain imposes an unequal treaty on China and takes Hong Kong.1842: Treaty of Nanjing provides extraterritorial rights to all foreigners in China - they are no longer subject to Chinese law.The 1840s: Western Christian missionaries flood into China.1850-64: Christian convert Hong Xiuquan leads to bloody Taiping Rebellion against the Qing Dynasty.1856-60: Second Opium War; Britain and France defeat China and impose harsh Treaties of Tientsin.1894-95: First Sino-Japanese War, former tributary Japan defeats China and takes Korea.Nov. 1, 1897: Juye Incident, armed men kill two Germans at missionary home in Shandong Province, northern China.Nov. 14, 1897: German Kaiser Wilhelm II sends a fleet to Shandong, urges them to take no prisoners like Attila and the Huns.1897-98: Drought followed by flooding strikes Shandong, causing widespread misery. The Boxers Rebel 1898: Young men in Shandong form Righteous Fist groups, practicing martial arts and traditional spiritualism.June 11-Sept. 21, 1898: Hundred Days Reform, Emperor Guangxu tries to quickly modernize China.Sept. 21, 1898: On the verge of handing over sovereignty to Japan, Guangxu is stopped and goes into internal exile. Empress Dowager Cixi rules in his name.Oct. 1898: Boxers attack Liyuantun villages Catholic church, converted from a temple to the Jade Emperor.Jan. 1900: Empress Dowager Cixi rescinds condemnation of Boxers, issues letter of support.Jan-May, 1900: Boxers storm through the countryside, burning churches, killing missionaries and converts.May 30, 1900: British Minister Claude MacDonald requests defense force for Beijing foreign legations; Chinese allow 400 troops from eight nations into capital. The Rebellion Reaches Beijing Jun 5, 1900: Boxers cut railroad line at Tianjin, isolating Beijing.June 13, 1900: First Boxer appears in Beijings Legation (diplomatic) Quarter.June 13, 1900: Pro-Boxer General Dong Fuxians troops kill Japanese diplomat Sugiyama Akira.June 14, 1900: German Minister Clemens von Ketteler arrests and summarily executes a young boy he suspects of being a Boxer.June 14, 1900: Thousands of angry Boxers storm Beijing and burn Christian churches in response to boys murder.June 16, 1900: Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu hold council meeting, decide to fully support Boxers.June 19, 1900: Qing government sends messengers to offer foreign legation members safe passage out of Beijing; instead, the foreigners shoot the messengers dead.June 20, 1900: Manchu Bannerman Captain En Hai kills Minister von Ketteler in a melee to avenge the murdered Boxer boy. Siege of the Legations June 20-Aug. 14, 1900: Boxers and Chinese Imperial Army besiege legations sheltering 473 foreign civilians, 400 foreign soldiers, and approximately 3,000 Chinese Christians.June 21, 1900: Empress Dowager Cixi declares war against the foreign powers.June 22-23, 1900: Chinese set fire to parts of Legation district; priceless Hanlin Academy library burns.June 30, 1900: Chinese force Germans from a position atop Tartar Wall overlooking legations, but Americans hold the position.July 3, 1900: 56 US, British and Russian soldiers on Tartar Wall launch a 2 am a surprise attack, kill 20 Chinese soldiers, and drive survivors from the wall.July 9, 1900: Outside of Beijing; Shanxi Province governor executes 44 missionary families (men, women, and children) after offering them asylum at Taiyuan. Victims of Taiyuan Massacre become martyrs in eyes of Chinese Christians.July 13-14, 1900: Also 120 km (75 miles) outside Beijing, Battle of Tientsin (Tianjin); Eight-Nations relief force besieges Boxer-h eld city, 550 Boxers and 250 foreigners killed. Foreign troops (especially Germans and Russians) rampage through city afterward, looting, raping and killing civilians, while Japanese and Americans try to restrain them. July 13, 1900: In Beijing, Chinese set off a mine under French Legation, force French and Austrians to shelter in British compound.July 13, 1900: Advancing Chinese drive Japanese and Italian troops to precarious last defense line at Prince Sus palace.July 16, 1900: Australian journalist George Morrison injured and British Captain Strouts killed by Chinese snipers.July 16, 1900: London Daily Mail publishes a  report that all legation besieged had been massacred, including mercy killing of women and children, Russians boiled to death in oil, etc. The story was false, fabricated by a reporter in Shanghai.July 17, 1900: Eight-Nations relief force lands on the coast, begins the march to BeijingJuly 17, 1900: Qing government declares a cease-fire on legations.August 13, 1900: Chinese end cease-fire, bombard legations as foreign rescue force approaches capital.August 14, 1900: Relief force lifts the siege on legations, forgets to relieve besieged Catholic North Cathedral until August 16.A ugust 15, 1900: Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu escape Forbidden City dressed as peasants, go on inspection tour to ​the  ancient capital of Xian (formerly Changan) in Shaanxi Province. Aftermath Sept. 7, 1900: Qing officials sign Boxer Protocol, agree to pay huge war reparations over 40 years.Sept. 21, 1900: Russian troops seize Jilin and occupy Manchuria, moves that will spark 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War​.Jan. 1902: Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu return to Beijing from Xian and resume control of the government​.1905: Empress Dowager Cixi abolishes imperial examination system for training bureaucrats in favor of western-style university system, part of an attempt at sweeping modernization​.Nov. 14-15, 1908: Emperor Guangxu dies of arsenic poisoning, followed the next day by Empress Dowager Cixi​.Feb. 12, 1912: Qing Dynasty falls to Sun Yat-sen; formal abdication by Last Emperor Puyi.

The effect of rising gas prices on your compan Essay

The effect of rising gas prices on your compan - Essay Example The following discussion will provide a detailed insight towards this issue. As a manager at this delivery service, it is my responsibility to provide the management with future projections about gas prices and to forecast and project gas prices in another 10 years. These steps are of utmost importance. The basic idea behind this discussion is to help the senior management plan everything on long term basis. No company today can survive without extensive consumption of fuel (Magnuson, 2008). This is especially true for the delivery service industry. The competitive edge lies precisely in the fact that the company must deliver all the good on time, every time. Thus it is of utmost importance to the company to be sure about their future gas fuel requirement and the costs associated with it. Gas prices over the last 20 years: The data used for this research is in fact Consumer Price Index - Average Price Data. The prices of Gasoline, unleaded regular, per gallon/3.785 liters from the year 1982 to 2011 have been studied. While studying this data, a lot of statistical techniques and tools have been applied on this set of data. First of all, the data is available in monthly figures. Though monthly figures give us a clear picture of how the prices vary over time, the projections cannot be created without calculating the annual data. The annual mean or average price has been calculated by adding all the monthly figures for any year and divide the sum by 12 to get the average annual figure.

Given what you have learned about the demcocratic Essay

Given what you have learned about the demcocratic - Essay Example He commissions and controls the armed forces. The monarch government also can call elections regardless of the will of the public. She or he delivers powers directly within her choice and her personal influence is not opposed by anyone. The modern monarchy otherwise recommends the queen to be advised and guided by the ministers she is working closely with (Bradley and Ewing 2011, 198). In a democratic state, every citizen of that state has all the essential rights to decide which type of government he or she wants. The citizens have the sovereign power and will to choose which types of leaders and government they want. Democracy has principles and practices that are specific to it. These principles distinguish it from other forms of government. The citizens to that country possess all the civic responsibility and power to either directly or indirectly exercise their electoral rights. Democracy has its foundation that the majority always rules. What the majority wills and opts for is respected and their rights are supported as well (Bradley and Ewing 103). This refers to the aspect of a government dividing up its responsibilities among distinctive arms. This is advantageous as one arm would not dominate over others by concentrating the core responsibilities and functions to itself. The power is distributed among the branches or so called the arms. The main reason for this is so that an evaluation of performance could be easily done. Incase of any deviations from the expectations of the public, possible corrections could be easily made (Carroll 2013, 105). Under the model instituted by Charles Louis, he divided democracy into three arms (Carroll 111). From his view the political authority took the form of legislative, judicial or executive powers. He explained that to ensure effectiveness in the freedom given to citizens, then these three must be distinct and relate as separate powers, the legislative form pass laws that govern the state. They