Friday, November 29, 2019

Voices from Vietnam Essay Example For Students

Voices from Vietnam Essay This readers rating for this book is average. It is a very well written book but it may not appeal to some people. If the reader was familiar with the war then this would be a wonderful book to read. This reader thought it was interesting but not as enthralling as it should be. The book was mainly made out of quotes or dialogue from the men in the war. This was a very different way of writing but it was interesting. Many of the veterans had interesting stories to tell and how it felt like to be in the war. Overall it was a book to consider if youre into war stories. We will write a custom essay on Voices from Vietnam specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now The things this reader likes about this book is that it was interesting in the fact that it had real stories from real veterans in the war. Some of the stories were explained in gruesome detail in which this reader thought was very disturbing. It is disgusting to know what happened to some of the Vietnamese and veterans during that war. What this reader also liked was how they explained the war while showing the opinions of some of the veterans. The least thing this reader liked about this book was that it didnt keep you on the edge. Even though this was a war story it didnt captivate me as much as I would have wanted it to. It became boring at parts when they explained how the war started and how the Chinese were trying to take control of Vietnam. What the author should have done was explain the war with minimum detail and have many comments from the people who were actually involved in it. In this readers opinion this book should be good for older people. Older people would underst and the meaning of the war better and how it started. Also older people would probably find it interesting and actually want to read into it. Since older people have most likely lived during the Vietnam War they would appreciate this book much more than a teenager would. Voices from Vietnam is not even close to simple. With the exception of the dialogue the words used in the book were a little advanced for a teenager. This reader didnt enjoy much of the book because of this reason. The book is also quite long since it explains the war and contains comments from the veterans. It may be to long for some people since not many teenagers have long attention spans. This reader thinks that this book may or may not be appropriate for ages fifteen to eighteen. Again if the teenager is familiar with the war then he or she may enjoy it very much while others will not find it interesting. Yes Voices from Vietnam would make an excellent movie. The drama that went on in the war and the horror of what happened would make it a great movie to see. It would be much like the movie Pearl Harbor because it would have a reenactment of the war but would modernize it. The only thing that wouldnt be added from the book would be the comments. If the comments were added then it would just a History Channel special on a big screen. It may or may not be a hit though since the Vietnam War didnt prove to be a very good war. Many people would probably refuse to see the same war again. A brief explanation of the book would be that the majority of it takes place on the battlefield in Vietnam. The plot is very self-explanatory in which the US is trying to stop Vietnam from becoming a communist country. It was under Chinas rule for centuries until the French seized control and made it one of their colonies. They wanted to use the raw materials and exploit the local population. By the end of World War II the Vietnamese revolt grew stronger. A Vietnamese communist named Ho Chi Minh led this revolt. The French called it the dirty war and didnt take then seriously. It wasnt until the French were defeated at a battle near the village of Dienbienphu that the Americans decided to take Frances place. The Navy, Army, and Airforce were all involved in this very depressing war. Some of the presidents that were in office at the time were Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. There is no need for spoiling the plot since everyone knows what the outcome was. Over three hundred t housand men and women were injured in the war. Fifty eight thousand of them died there also. The author uses no special form of writing with the exception of the comments that were added into the explanation of the war. That is the only special type of writing that this reader could find. .uabe7ac9fe5ab5c15131582014c1e5839 , .uabe7ac9fe5ab5c15131582014c1e5839 .postImageUrl , .uabe7ac9fe5ab5c15131582014c1e5839 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uabe7ac9fe5ab5c15131582014c1e5839 , .uabe7ac9fe5ab5c15131582014c1e5839:hover , .uabe7ac9fe5ab5c15131582014c1e5839:visited , .uabe7ac9fe5ab5c15131582014c1e5839:active { border:0!important; } .uabe7ac9fe5ab5c15131582014c1e5839 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uabe7ac9fe5ab5c15131582014c1e5839 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uabe7ac9fe5ab5c15131582014c1e5839:active , .uabe7ac9fe5ab5c15131582014c1e5839:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uabe7ac9fe5ab5c15131582014c1e5839 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uabe7ac9fe5ab5c15131582014c1e5839 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uabe7ac9fe5ab5c15131582014c1e5839 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uabe7ac9fe5ab5c15131582014c1e5839 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uabe7ac9fe5ab5c15131582014c1e5839:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uabe7ac9fe5ab5c15131582014c1e5839 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uabe7ac9fe5ab5c15131582014c1e5839 .uabe7ac9fe5ab5c15131582014c1e5839-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uabe7ac9fe5ab5c15131582014c1e5839:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The Effects of HIV Mutations on the Immune System Essay In this readers opinion reading another book by this author wouldnt be a good idea. Voices from Vietnam wasnt the type of book I thought it was. It was boring most of the time but the only interesting thing was the comments. If the author made the book more interesting to read I may have considered reading another one of his books. This book doesnt remind me what of any others that I have read. I dont really enjoy reading books because I dont have much patience for boring books. Not that this book was boring its just because Im not really much of a war book reader. As I explained before this book may be great for othe rs but in this readers opinion it was an average book. Words/ Pages : 997 / 24

Monday, November 25, 2019

Washingtons Farewell Address

Washingtons Farewell Address Time was running fast and the period that George Washington was to be in office had come to an end. Being the first president and having seen what the country needed, Washington felt obliged to leave the country in a peaceful state.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Washington’s Farewell Address specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Citizens were in a state of confusion, unable to imagine a government without Washington. To help in restoring people’s confidence in the succeeding regime, he decided to sensitize the public that leaders cannot achieve anything on their own. Moreover, he touches on various issues that are critical for prosperity of America. Addressing the nation, Washington begins by insisting on the importance of unity to the American people. He warns the Americans that unity of all states is paramount in protection of their freedom (Washington, 2004). He continues by stating that the greatest en emy of America will be the person whose main agenda will be to divide Americans along any ideologies. In this regard, Washington wants all Americans irrespective of religion, gender, ethnicity or race to work towards enhancing the culture of togetherness. Citizens should first of all consider themselves as Americans before grouping themselves along other aspects. It should be noted that Americans are not exhorted to stick together in good times only, but also in hard times for example during credit crunch (Whitney, 2003). It is upon every citizen to avoid any person who seems to interfere with the unity of the American States. The west will need some products from the east same with the south and the north. Washington enumerates the benefits received so far through combined effort, and the many more that are expected. Additionally, he highlights the dangers of a divided nation. In addition, Washington points out the dangers that can occur if political parties are used wrongly. The F ederalist Party, which selectively promoted interests of some people, adds to the weight of Washington’s point that political parties can be manipulated. He argues that political parties are necessary in any human society, but warns that they should be accepted with a pinch of salt (Washington, 2004). Washington emphasizes that the tendency of political parties to take sides in foreign matters like War is harmful to the country. According to him, the country will be better off if it remained neutral regarding foreign matters.Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In his view, America should refrain from making permanent friends or enemies since this will lead to partiality which is not good for the nation. Washington warns that political parties are only beneficial in dictatorial governments. However, they must be placed under control in democratic governments since they h ave a tendency of diverging attention of governments from critical issues. Furthermore, Washington coaxes Americans to always protect and uphold the new constitution. He tells them that though the constitution might not address every issue that they would have wanted, it is a mile stone in steps towards controlling the nation. In this regard, Washington urges Americans to protect the constitution from power hungry politicians, who will seek to weaken it for their selfish interests in the name of developing the nation (Hargrove, 2000). Though he categorically states that he does not think he has been a good president, Washington warns that human beings get intoxicated by power. Consequently, he warns Americans to be careful with whom they choose to lead them. Stressing on the importance of the constitution and the negative impacts of political parties, Washington points out the benefits of decentralized method of governorship (Whitney, 2003). Americans are encouraged to ensure that t oo much power is not concentrated in one office, because this will lead to despotic and diabolic dictators whose main agenda will be serving personal interests. Moreover, he wants the succeeding governments to avoid public debts. While he accepts that debts are sometimes inevitable, he wants governments to pay back as soon as possible because debts enslave nations. However, Washington goes ahead to state that this does not imply that the nation should not offer financial assistance. Most importantly, Washington stresses on the importance of peace by outlining the effects of rebellions. Washington emphasizes on the role of religion in society. He says that religion is a fundamental ingredient in enhancing morality. He argues that it is difficult for a leader to brag of good leadership qualities without a religious background. Religiosity instills good behavior in people and thus will play an important role in ensuring that there is unity and harmony among citizens (Washington, 2004). On top of that, Washington underscores the importance of education in development of a nation. He tells Americans that the nation will prosper only if the average level of education is increased.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Washington’s Farewell Address specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Having been a president, Washington knows what the country needs for prosperity. He points out what he thinks has made his time in office successful. Though he is leaving office, Washington wants Americans to know that they are moving in the good direction. Lastly, Washington is aware of the fact that his advice might not be taken serious at that point in time, but he hopes one day people will reflect on what he says for guidance. References Hargrove, J. (2000). Washington’s Farewell Address: History Speak. Dayton: Lorenz Educational Press. Washington, G. (2004). Washington’s Farewell Address to the People of the United States. Washington: Government Printing Office. Whitney, G. (2003). American Presidents: Farewell Messages to the Nation, 1796-2001. Lanham: Lexington Books.

Friday, November 22, 2019

Tourism Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Tourism Project - Essay Example This tourism sector is worth Singapore dollars 12.4 billion (2006) annually. On the other hand, Hong Kong, with its proposed Disneyland and a new cultural centre at West Kowloon that is seven times the size of the Esplanade, Dubai Japan and Bangkok are Singapore's greatest competitors in the tourism sector. Their multimillion dollar tourism projects to lure tourists from all over the world are ominous enough to make any forward thinking government which is driven by economic consideration, plan to think of new ideas to attract tourists to their country. One of them is to think up new tourism based themes which can make investors think that Singapore is transforming itself into a diversified service-based economy. One of these steps is by opening up an integrated resort. The basic objective of an integrated resort is to attract tourists. It would not be limited to just casinos. They should include convention centers, hotels, restaurants, shopping, convention space, theatres, museums and theme parks. The government can thus hope to be able its overall goal to generate tourism receipts of $9. 5-billion annually by 2015,1 which is half the target set by the Singapore tourism board. Apart from this, the other completion of a project successfully and its performance at Marina South can be targeted to bring in the international convention market. This can eventually boost up the Singaporean tourism sector and economy to make it on par with its nearest competitors. Business Objectives The project aims to complete the

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Love and time Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Love and time - Essay Example Likewise, the second which will be analyzed is Andrew Marvell’s â€Å"To His Coy Mistress†. Even though these two points were written in roughly the same timeframe, the key differential which will be analyzed is with regards to the way in which the respective authors understand love and somewhat of an asymmetrical manner. As will be discussed within the preceding analysis, John Donne’s point focuses upon love existing outside of the con strains of time whereas Andrew Marvell’s point focuses upon the immediacy, urgency, and physical necessity of love existing within the very moment. Through an analysis and discussion of these facts, it is the hope of this author that the reader will gain a more informed understanding with respect to the way in which love was understood in different ways by different authors; even within the same era. Firstly, with regards to Andrew Marvell’s poem, â€Å"To His Coy Mistress†, the reader can quickly come to unde rstand that the approach that this particular poet utilizes is one that places a profound level of emphasis and importance upon what can only be described as a â€Å"carpe diem† approach to life. Within this particular approach, the poet encourages the Mistress to accept his sexual advances and to discontinue her coy behavior. However, by much the same token, rather than merely seeking to break down the walls of seeming rejection that the woman places as an impediment for the subject to overcome, a further focus is placed upon insisting that the love and devotion that he shares for her is not as fleeting and short-lived as a mere sexual fascination. Instead, the author focuses a great deal of energy on examining the fact that even though the time to act is now and an urgency, tension, and immediacy defines the love and passion that the subject has for the Mistress, a deeper and more profound realization of what defines love and the eternity of passion and interest that the su bject could direct for this Mistress if only she opened her heart and her body to the subject is reflected in a variety of different ways. For instance, after the exhortation to stop dismissing the advances of the suitor, Marvell references the fact that in so doing the woman would be able to experience love as she had never before seen it. Ultimately, what is presented to the reader is an argument for the immediacy, passion, and necessity to experience love in the moment. However, due to the fact that a woman would likely find the emotion of immediacy and the need to seize the day as alarming and definitive of a passing craze or crush, the poetry goes to great lengths to prove that the nature of the emotions that are being defined are not short-lived but will instead last for far longer than life itself is able to exist. By means of contrast, John Donne spends almost the entirety of his point in discussing the fact that love does not require a public profession and easily understoo d emotions. Ultimately, the key differential between these two poets is with regards the fact that John Donne’s poem focuses upon the fact that time in and of itself is unimportant to love and love exists beyond and outside of this temporal concept/construct (D'addario 421). Completely contrary to Andrew Marvell’

Monday, November 18, 2019

Harrods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Harrods - Essay Example There is no denying the fact that every person is supposed to visit Harrods when in London. Harrods is an integral part of the essentially British culture and taste and has an image for luxury, which would take nothing less than an act passed by parliament or a civil war to change or alter. However, aligning Harrods with tradition and heritage does not mean that the brand is old fashioned in its approach towards business. For Harrods it is all about retaining its traditional associations with luxury, while continually redefining the image in consonance with the latest, the best and the most coveted in fashion and design. It would not be wrong to say that Harrods do qualifies to be labelled as one of the world’s most prestigious luxury store and the store is well aware of the fact that it takes a continual dedication to and cognizance of the needs and aspirations of its high end customers to retain this status. Harrods offers a massive range of brands and designers to its fashi on savvy customers. Thus Harrods is the right place for anyone who is passionate about fashion, who wants everything under one roof and who is not willing to compromise when it comes to comfort and luxury. Harrods places emphasis on the ability of its personnel to get to know the choices and aspirations of its customers. .

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Capm And Fama French Three Factor Model Finance Essay

Capm And Fama French Three Factor Model Finance Essay Shortly after the ground-breaking work of Markowitz on modern portfolio theory (1952) a new branch in Finance developed trying to explain the expected return on any financial asset. Soon the model with probably largest impact on the financial industry was born, the Capital Asset Pricing Model. Even after many different studies questioning the validity of the model, it is still the most used by practitioners. A lot of other models were subsequently developed on the same reasoning. Fama French Three-Factor Model is considered one of the most promising and consistent. We start this paper briefly explaining the CAPM and its shortcomings. On those grounds, we explain the Fama French model. Then, we test both models in US data from 1967 till now. Different portfolios were used, testing for the impact of size, book-to-market ratios, and the specific industry. We end up drawing conclusions on the results found. CAPM The Capital Asset Pricing Model (henceforth CAPM) has a very curious history, being built independently by Jack Treynor (1965), William Sharpe (1964), John Lintner (1965) and Jan Mossin (1966), all in the same time span of the early sixties. This work was based on the earlier revolutionary theory of Markowitz and also on Tobins Separation Theorem. The CAPM has several strong assumptions inherited from the said projects of mean variance efficiency that essentially create a perfect market environment. Investors are rational and risk averse, can borrow and lend unlimited amounts at the risk-free rate and have homogenous expectations and information about all assets returns. There are no taxes, inflation, transaction costs, no short selling restrictions and all assets are infinitely divisible and perfectly liquid. The assumptions constrain the setting for the CAPM world. They set a stage that only non-diversifiable risks are rewarded with extra returns, and since each additional asset introduced into a portfolio further diversifies the portfolio, the optimal portfolio must comprise every asset with each asset value-weighted. All such optimal portfolios comprise the efficient frontier. This makes the expected return of any asset or portfolio to vary linearly with the returns of the market portfolio, according to the following formula: Beta is the key measure as it gives the sensitivity of the excess returns of an asset or portfolio compared to the excess returns of the market portfolio. Since the unsystematic risk is diversifiable, the risk of a portfolio can be viewed as beta. The CAPM is best described by Sharpe (1988) as a simple, yet powerful description of the relationship between risk and return in an efficient market. This is a very intuitive thought process. The level of returns one expects to get is directly related to the exposure to market volatility. Stock specific error is diversified away when choosing the efficient portfolio, and as such the only source of return comes from choosing the relation your portfolio has with the market. The CAPM is so important that the standard deviation of a stock return no longer was the normally used risk measure, but rather its relation to the market returns. It is also the number one tool to find discount rates for company valuation and for portfolio management. However it has not been free of criticism. CAPM criticism After it was proposed, empirical tests were executed normally running the following regression: Where a proxy of excess market returns is used and regressed against a certain asset return. The Alpha of the regression indicates the excess return (either positive or negative) that is not explained by the CAPM. According to CAPM, as the correlation with market should completely explain its return, the apha of the previous regression should be 0. First of all, the use of a market proxy leads to Richard Rolls critique (1976). It is quite simple but revealing and it simply states the CAPM can never be tested as the exact composition of the market portfolio is not known. All proxies used might be mean variance efficient but the market might not, leading to all tests being inherently biased. Besides, the interpretation of Beta using market proxies leads to relative measures of risk, as the Beta obtained depends on the market proxy used. Besides Rolls opinion on the theory, a number of anomalies were found on the model. Characteristics such as size, earnings/price, Cash flow/price, book-to-market-equity, past sales growth had effects on average returns of stocks. These are called anomalies as they are not explained by CAPM, leading to the idea that risk is multidimensional and as such the CAPM is fundamentally wrong in its core conclusion. Eugene Fama and Kenneth French (1996) made the greatest stride, when stating that anomaly variables include a risk premium contained in the characteristics of these variables. These anomalies are mainly divided by two main factors. Size, which they explain theoretically, and relative distress, passing through the E/P and book to market as measures. Fama French Three-Factor Model Eugene Fama and Kenneth French since expanded the CAPM to the Fama-French (FF) tri-factor model (1992), which adds two variables to capture the cross-sectional variation in average stock returns associated with market: Beta, size, leverage, book to market and earnings-price ratio. This creates the following model: , which can be transformed into Where the factors added to the CAPM are the SMB (Small minus Big), a measure of the historic excess return of small caps over big caps, and HML (High minus Low), the same difference for returns of value stocks over growth stocks. This model is not as widely used as the CAPM, but we will test empirically if it performs better than the original one-factor model. Methodology After introducing the theoretical bases of these models, we will explain the methodology we used on our tests. We used data from Kenneth French ´s website, consisting of market excess returns from NYSE, AMEX, and NASDAQ firms and the values of returns from all those companies divided into size and book to market quintiles and also divided into five sections of industries Consumer Goods, Manufacturing (energy and utilities), High-tech, Healthcare and Service industry. The data is monthly from 1967 to 2010. Our variables of interest comprise the alphas of each regression (i.e., returns unexplained by the model) and the adjusted, which adjusts for the number of explanatory terms in a model unlike the regular, the adjusted increases only if new variables improve the model. We used all this data to run the normal empirical test regression expressed in (2). We will ignore Rolls critique in the tests and use a certain market proxy as in our opinion data on returns of a certain index representative of the country where investors negotiate is quite representative of market returns, as that data is amply divulged and influences all assets related. Results These are the results in regression form and the values of the alphas obtained with double standard error bands: Table 1 Regression Results from Size Portfolios (Values in parenthesis refer to the t-stat of the variable above) Looking at the alpha values of the regressions under the CAPM, the 4th quintile is the only one significant on a 95% confidence interval. All the beta values are significant and different than zero. Alpha values decrease as we go from portfolios of smaller to bigger companies, as does the of the regressions. As for the Fama French model, the values of factors are significant in all the size regressions, and the alpha value is only significant in the 5th quintile of biggest companies. The follows a similar behavior. These results seem to favour the tri-factor approach, as including the SMB variable seems to improve the quality of fit of smaller companies. The difference in the adjusted of the lowest 20% quintile between the CAPM and Fama French models is a whopping 30%, indicating that some unsystematic risks, captured by the difference between big and small firms, affect returns. In other words, these results favor Fama and French ´s model in explaining returns over the CAPM. Chart 1 Plot of CAPM alpha with double standard error band Chart 2 Plot of FF alpha with double standard error band These charts tell a more interesting story. The alpha values of the CAPM diminish a lot when going from small cap quintiles to large cap ones, from relatively high alphas to close to zero. Everything changes when using FF three-factor model where the alpha values are negative for small caps and go to positive when moving to bigger companies. The larger range of alphas in the CAPM over FF, especially in smaller companies, again indicates that returns are not fully captured by measuring only correlation with the market. Accordingly, by adding SMB this range is considerably reduced, especially in the portfolios based on the lowest 20% companies in size. Table 2 Regression Results from Book-to-Market Portfolios (Values in parenthesis refer to the t-stat of the variable above) Here the Betas of all regressions are significant. The fourth and fifth quintiles on the CAPM present a high alpha rejecting the null hypothesis that they are not significant, with a 95% confidence level. On the other hand, the FF model rejects only the lowest 20% B/M portfolios, and by the tiniest of margins. These results show evidence that Fama and French were indeed correct by considering the HML factor in their regression. In fact, the existence of significant alphas in the two highest quintiles in the CAPM, combined with the substantial differences in the adjusted 13% for the 4th quintile, almost 20% in the 5th again demonstrate that CAPM is not considering important variables in determining returns. Chart 3 Plot of CAPM alpha with double standard error band Chart 4 Plot of FF alpha with double standard error band As the B/M values increase, CAPMs results are ever worse regarding alpha. By adding double standard error bands, CAPMs portfolios based on the highest 20% value have alphas ranging from 0.1 and 0.6, very substantial values. FF performs much better, with alphas not moving far away from 0. Table 3 Regression Results from Industry Portfolios (Values in parenthesis refer to the t-stat of the variable above) Chart 5 Plot of CAPM alpha with double standard error band Chart 6 Plot of FF alpha with double standard error band Contrary to the previous analysis, the three-factor model only displays marginal improvements in the adjusted to the single-factor model when dealing with industry-based portfolios. In fact, the FF model has significant alphas in two different industries Health Care and Others while the CAPM has none. Moreover, the SMB variable seems to be irrelevant in the Consumer Goods and in other industries. We should not be surprised by these results, as the FF model was built around two ideas: small companies and those with high B/M ratios were undervalued by the market. Thus, when analyzing portfolios based on different restraints (like industry) the model will not perform much better compared to the CAPM. A note on Fama-French Three-Factor Model The FF model is an extension of the CAPM model in the sense that it uses two extra factors: SMB and HML. The first one increases the modulation of different size portfolios. The second one addresses the difference in book values of companies included in different portfolios. We suspect that SMB is in fact important whenever we are trying to predict the different performance of portfolios split using size as the criteria. The same reasoning can be used to portfolios split using book-to-market ratio as the criteria. We decided to apply this idea to the data, computing the average contribution of each factor to the total excess return of each portfolio. The resulting table is presented below. Table 4 Factor Contribution to Excess Return We can see that, as we suspected, SMB is in fact very relevant (19% on average) to explain the excess return of different portfolios split with market size criteria. That is even more critical when we are considering portfolios of smaller stocks. In those portfolios, the factor HML is not particularly important. When we move to book-to-market value different portfolios, it is HML that contributes significantly (14%), especially to high book-to-value stocks, and SMB can be neglected. Finally, when the criterion to split portfolios is neither size nor book-to-market, the two extra factors of the Fama-French model have no explanatory power on average. We can see the average weights are very close to standard CAPM. We can speculate on the difference across industries: for instance, hi-tech and health care stocks tend to have higher book-to-market ratios, and so the HML factor is relevant. It is possible that a factor like high dividend yield less low dividend yield might be robust to explain performance differences among portfolios split according to dividend yield level. We are not questioning the applicability of the Fama-French model. What we are addressing here is that each factor does not have a generalized relevant contribution to explain excess returns. In certain situations, like small cap portfolios and growth stocks, each factor in turn becomes very important. Outside of these native environments, the factors do not contribute to explain or predict excess returns. Final Remarks Throughout this work we have shown that Fama and Frenchs tri-factor model is superior to the CAPM in capturing some non-systematic anomalies not considered by the simple one-factor approach. These anomalies include the undervaluation of small firms and those with high B/M ratios. Adding variables that reflect this effect considerably improves the quality of fit of the model and eliminates loose ends as reflected by the significant alphas present in some portfolios using the CAPM. However, we must pay close attention to data, as performing a FF regression on data that does not reflect these variables, as industry does not improve the models. References and Other Bibliography Fama, E. F., French, K. R. (1992). The Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns. The Journal of Finance, 47(2), 427-465. Fama, E. F., MacBeth, J. D. (1973). Risk, Return, and Equilibrium: Empirical Tests. The Journal of Political Economy, 81(3), 607-636. Lintner, J. (1965). The Valuation of Risk Assets and the Selection of Risky Investments in Stock Portfolios and Capital Budgets. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 47(1), 13-37. Markowitz, H. (1952). Portfolio Selection. The Journal of Finance, 7(1), 77-91. Mossin, J. (1966). Equilibrium in a Capital Asset Market. Econometrica, 34(4), 768-783. Roll, R. (1977). A critique of the asset pricing theorys tests Part I: On past and potential testability of the theory. Journal of Financial Economics, 4(2), 129-176. Sharpe, W. F. (1964). Capital Asset Prices: A Theory of Market Equilibrium under Conditions of Risk. The Journal of Finance, 19(3), 425-442. Treynor, Jack L. (1965). How to Rate Management of Investment Funds. Harvard Business Review, 43(1), 63-75.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

The Nature of Terrorism :: Terrorism

Given the growing global threats of terrorism, it is significant that an understanding of the history, nature and mechanism-premises under which terror operates is obtained. This is significant as it would shape the perspective of policy makers when addressing issues of this nature. Terrorism, as it is understood is the action of none-state weak actors, individual or groups, who for some reasons feels suppressed, marginalized and, or denied what they may view as the basic human right. All terrorism has political objectives, even though the perpetrators may use religious relics to appeal to a wider existing audience, and invoke a response through violent act to prove or propagate their point. Yoram Schweitzer in "Suicide Terrorism Development & Characteristics," Mark Sedgwick in "Al-Qaeda and the "Nature of Religious Terrorism," and Dr. James Armstrong, all demonstrates that suicide terror attacks are politically motivated even though the perpetrator may use religious symbolism to jus tifies their acts. Observing areas in the world where terrorism is frequent, especially in the Middle East, it can be argued that groups that engaged in terrorists' activities are those that feel suppressed and taken advantage of by a much greater power. Thus, terrorism, particularly suicide terror is prevalent in areas where systems of gross injustice seem to exist. Therefore, the actual use of terrorism by non-state actors is a tactic aimed at polarizing the population in their favor. By killing people in mass number, they are attempting to take away the view that only the state can legitimately kill – thus undermining the state authority. As Armstrong, Sedgwick and Schweitzer exemplify, suicide terrorism is not a new happening, but an old historical phenomenon. And that just as modern day terror organizations, particularly Al-Qaeda, uses religious concepts to motivate its actions (though their immediate goal is political), various old terrorist groups have used similar approached to achieve t heir political end. To understand the history of suicide terrorism and how terrorist groups in the past have used religious tone to propagate their political course, Armstrong pointed out the Zealots-an extremist Jewish sect that opposed Jesus. The Zealots engaged in political assassinations of their political foe, knowing that they would be killed in the process. Even though their ultimate goal might have been religious, the Zealots immediate aim was political. In the same way, during the third century, the Assassins- a notorious terrorist wing (similar in nature to Al-Qaeda) in modern day Syria, assassinated many of their political opponents in order to establish their own form of Islam.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Personality Psychology Essay

Everyday, we meet different kinds of people. It can be our friends, family or new acquaintances. Some of them we already know or even share a common trait. However, it is not always guaranteed that we understand them always. They may behave in this way today, but will be completely different tomorrow. Just as genes contribute to the uniqueness of each one of us, personality in every person is also distinct. Personality is defined as the entire mental organization of a human being at any stage of his development. It embraces every phase of human character: intellect, temperament, skill, morality, and every attitude that has been built up in the course of one’s life (Warren & Carmichael, 1930). With this concept in mind, we can say that personality is the essence of the human being. He reacts to any life circumstances with his own personality. Psychology regards this as an important factor in understanding people. Personality can work itself on what you are now and how will you be in the future. Research efforts have been expended through the years on how personality develops on one person. Studies on the different patterns of behavior, feelings and thoughts that make a person have been experimented. David and Larsen mentioned in their book that the fundamental components of personality are the following: (1) consistency, which means that people behave in a recognizable order; (2) psychological and physiological, aside from the works of the mind, personality is also governed by biological factors; (3) impact behaviors and actions, it does not only influence how a person respond, but also causes him to act in certain ways and; (4) multiple expressions, personality is embodied not only on one behavior. Given these complexities, it has become a basis of school of thoughts to theorize a person’s personality. Nevertheless, most researchers unite on the fact that personality lies on biological and social systems. Early psychology attributes personality as influence of biological factors. These are what to be known as Type Theories. It tells us that it depends on a person how he reacts on the external environment. One can be extroverted or introverted. Another type of personality theories are the Trait Theories. According to the American Psychiatric Association, traits are enduring patterns of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and oneself that are exhibited in a wide range of social and personal contexts. Traits can be considered also as a big player in defining one’s personality. Overtime, researches on personality has evolved. Earlier, it directs its focus on the person itself, but later on, psychologists acknowledge that the environment the person plays with also dictate his disposition. A person’s personality can change depending on what he sees on other people, not only what he believes in himself. Behavioral and social cognitive theories comprise the contemporary theories on personality. Together with the evolution of personality research, personality tests were also developed. These are very useful nowadays to educational and working environments where people are subjected to diverse kinds of people and experiences. Understanding a person’s personality is an important indicator to teachers and bosses, since this will aid them in handling other people. Personalities of people continue to be a mystery to most of us. However, with how psychology evolves, we can now, if not all, pinpoint the factors that will let us understand how people behave. True enough, it is still a very interesting topic to look on to, given the challenges of the ever changing society. Bibliography Buss, D. M. , & Larsen, R. J. (2006). Personality Psychology: Domains of Knowledge About Human Nature. New York City: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages. Robins. (2002). Overview of the proceedings of the 2002 meeting of the association for research in personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 36(6), 539-540. Warren, H. C. , & Carmichael, L. (1930). Elements of human psychology. Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Product Offering

Product Offering IntroductionMicrosoft plans to introduce new software products to China and other developing nations. Strategies need to be developed to develop Microsoft into Chinese culture. Brand image and potential will need to be evaluated. The Chinese market needs and risks are analyzed in our paper. In our introductory product launch, we show Microsoft's potential for software sales in China.Market Needs and GrowthMicrosoft is globally recognized to be a high quality brand. The company has dominated the market in retail software sales, driven by advertisements and successful marketing strategies. To increase their market share in developing countries, Microsoft faces several challenges, including high pricing for the demographic, piracy of the software, and loose government regulation on illegal software systems. Microsoft will need to overcome these challenges by marketing information to its customer demographic. Xiaobai (2005) has suggested that working with the Chinese government officials to show the importance of product licensing can lead to increased piracy enforcement.Microsoft BuildingWith high brand equity in Asian countries, Microsoft will likely be able to expand its market and financially succeed.As any company looks to offer new products or expand into new territory, understanding our market and acting on that knowledge is essential for sales and marketing success (Primary Intelligence, 2007). The Chinese market is expanding; however the business profits are lower than the United States and other countries. Microsoft has experienced an unfortunate start in China. Software prices were extremely high for Windows operating system and office applications. The organization learned the Chinese population pirated Windows and the Chinese government started using Linux, a free open-source operating systems.Product Offering DefinitionThe product offering is a subscription-based copy of Windows 7 for emerging countries. Despite preventative measures, piracy rates of software in developing nations exceed 90% (Gopal Sanders, 1998). The product is bit...

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

How much of the emotion in the play comes from the relationship between Raleigh and Stanhope Essays

How much of the emotion in the play comes from the relationship between Raleigh and Stanhope Essays How much of the emotion in the play comes from the relationship between Raleigh and Stanhope Paper How much of the emotion in the play comes from the relationship between Raleigh and Stanhope Paper Essay Topic: Alice in Wonderland Literature Before the war, Raleigh and Stanhope had a strong relationship. Their families were friends, and Stanhope found a love interest in Raleighs sister. We learn that they were good friends when early on in the play Raleigh says to Osborne: Our fathers were friends and Dennis used to come and stay with us in the holidays. Of course, at school I didnt see much of him, but in the holidays we were terrific pals. The last time Raleigh saw Stanhope before the war was when Stanhope won a Military Cross, awarded to him for bravery. Stanhope was giving a talk to his old school, the same school that Raleigh attended. It was after this talk when Raleigh decided to enrol for the war. He pulled strings to get himself into the same company as Stanhope. Raleigh was able to do this because he had an uncle, who was the person in charge of sending different people to different companies. This is why he appears to be so excited about the war, because he is reunited with his close friend and role model Stanhope. He expresses his enthusiasm towards Stanhope when he says: Im awfully glad I got to your company, Stanhope. Stanhope on the other hand is not as enthusiastic towards the war. He has spent three years fighting, and seen many of his men die. He finds that the only way to cope is by drinking whisky. He is not the only other person who has been affected by the war; Sherriff puts this point across by showing what the war has done to the other officers. Osborne blocks out the horrors of the war by reading Alice in Wonderland, a childrens story which just keeps him occupied instead of letting him think about the war. He also engages in meaningless conversations before going to raid. We know this because before he and Raleigh make a dangerous raid he starts talking about pigs, which bear absolute no relevance to the war. At this point Raleigh is still enthusiastic, he just keeps on talking about the war. A group of officers drink champagne after Osborne has died, not out of celebration but to forget about what has just happened to their friend. They drink champagne because it is well known that champagne works quickly on the body. Stanhope drinks yet more alcohol at this point because he starts drinking whisky straight after the champagne. Stanhope is not a bad officer with drinking problems, and the reader knows this. The reader learns that despite his dependence on alcohol, Stanhope is a good officer for in reply to Hardys observation Poor old man. It must be pretty rotten for you, being his second in command, and you such a quiet, sober old thing. Osborne replies, Hes a long way the best company commander weve got. Throughout the play, Stanhopes qualities as a good leader begin to show more and more. We realise that he will not send men to do something that he himself would not do. We also realise that he will not tolerate cowards within his company, as he manages to keep Hibbert in the company, instead of letting him walk away from the war leaving his fellow men to die. At this point he in convincing Hibbert to stay, by telling him: Better die of pain than to be shot for deserting. Despite being a good officer, he is a changed man to what he was before the war began. His father is the vicar of the small town in which he lived. He was known before for how he would not tolerate people drinking alcohol, this is shown when Raleigh talks about how Stanhope to Osborne early on in the play: I remember once at school he caught some chaps in a study with a bottle of whisky He gave them a dozen each with a cricket stump. Now however he himself is a heavy drinker, and this information can get back to his hometown via letters from Raleigh. Therefore Stanhope is scared of being exposed and bringing shame to his family and to the woman he loves (Raleighs sister). Here he expresses his fear to Osborne, about what Raleigh may do: You know hell write and tell her that I reek of whisky all day. This fear of exposure is what is making Stanhope negative towards Raleighs presence. He knows he has a problem and that he will never be accepted back into his town if he is exposed, because the people there will not understand his problems, and that is why he has the sympathy of the audience. He admits his weakness to Osborne by saying: There were only two ways of breaking the strain. One was pretending I was ill and going home; the other was this. (He holds up his glass). Stanhope is so scared of what may be said about him, he actually attempts to censor Raleighs letters home, this only makes the audience more sympathetic because they can see how much he wants to remain a hero in his town, and to his love interest. Raleigh also has the sympathy of the audience, because he has joined the war and in particular this company thinking that it will be an adventure. Instead the reason that persuaded him to come, Stanhope, rejects Raleigh leaving him feeling sad and lonely. The audience can also relate to Raleigh because like him, they have no idea about the ugly things that occur during war. They realise he is vulnerable to all of these things, especially after Osborne dies. Osborne was the one person who Raleigh bonded with, he was fond of Raleigh from the first time they met, he comments, Hes a good-looking youngster. I like him. Stanhopes fear erects a barrier between himself and Raleigh. He does this by constantly rejecting Raleigh, an example is when Stanhope shouts at Raleigh, here he continues building the barrier by telling Raleigh not to refer to him as Dennis and by showing him who is boss: Dont Dennis me! Stanhopes my name! Youre not at school! Go and inspect your rifles! The barrier is made poignant because the audience and Stanhope know that everyone is going to die in the forth-coming raid. The audience learns this when Stanhope orders his men to wire both sides of the trench, allowing no escape an indication that they are going to fight until the last man. The audience may have also realised this because the title of the play is Journeys End showing that the journey of these men will come to an end. It is poignant because the audience know that Raleigh and Stanhope are best friends who will die together and who will not be able to cherish their last few days together because Stanhope is not allowing himself to get too close to Raleigh. The poignancy is increased as Raleigh remains excited at the fact that he has come to spend the rest of the war with Stanhope, little does he know that they will only have three days with each other, and those days will not be as memorable or as well spent as he could hope. It can be seen that Stanhope is actually trying to protect Raleigh but because he is unable he does not get too close to him. This barrier is broken down at the very end of the play, when Raleigh is hit during the attack by the Germans. It is Stanhope who breaks down all of the barriers, the same barriers that Raleigh has been seen trying to remove. They start using each others first names again because it has finally become apparent to Stanhope that Raleigh is dying, and cannot send home any information. Therefore Stanhope is willing to be friends with Raleigh, as he wants them to leave each other on good terms. This is from when Stanhope breaks down the barriers that he initially set: Its quite all right Jimmy. Therefore I can conclude that almost all of the emotion in the play comes from the relationship between Raleigh and Stanhope. The deaths of the other officers seem irrelevant when the play is finished, because of the tragedy, which is Raleighs death. Raleighs death is more tragic than most because he came to have a good time but he was miss-treated until the very end when all was made up, and he was also very young with many ambitions and didnt realise what he was letting himself in for by joining the war. The emotion also comes from the barrier set up by Stanhope because the audience can sense a tragic ending but do not want it to take place.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Musical Theaters Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Musical Theaters - Assignment Example The first factor that made musical theater leap from â€Å"Oklahoma† to â€Å"Rent† is attributed to the uniqueness of the performances in theaters. (Everett & Laired, 2009). Theaters became revolutionized in that performances included singing, acting and dancing. The actions of; singing, acting and dancing instilled new life in the theaters, and eradicated the old fashion theaters, which only involved acting. In essence, the musical, â€Å"Oh what a beautiful morning† portrayed both aspects of signing and acting. The theme of the musical contained lyrics, which inspired a great number of people, and this made the musical very appealing (Everett & Laired, 2009). The second factor that made musical theaters leap from â€Å"Oklahoma† to â€Å"Rent† is related to the society. The musical â€Å"I will† by Jonathan Larson is performed by individuals from impoverished societies faced with negative issues such as poverty and AIDS. Through this, the theater became appealing since many individuals found relevance while in the theaters. Individuals in American societies and around the world, mostly the youths, found themselves on the negative side. Musicals such as â€Å"Oh what a beautiful morning† flourished as it touched a great number of individuals. The inspiring nature of the two musicals â€Å"Oh what a beautiful morning† and â€Å"I will† added with the drama and music definitely appeals (Everett & Laired, 2009).

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Impact of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Research Paper

Impact of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome - Research Paper Example 2005) Due to this Fatal Alcohol Syndrome, children that are born are mostly with less dramatic physical defects but with many of the same behavioral and psychosocial characteristics as those with FAS. Fatal Alcohol Effects are often thought of as lower on a continuum than FAS, but this is not correct. Many individuals with FAE, while looking quite normal, have significant deficits in their intellectual, behavioral, and social abilities which prevent them from leading normal lives. About forty-four percent of women who drink heavily during pregnancy will have a child with Fatal Alcohol Syndrome. Of the other fifty-six percent, some will have Fatal Alcohol Effects, be Fatal Alcohol exposed, to minor learning and behavioral difficulties. A few will be normal apparently. (. (Tubman, 1993). Impacts of FAS on Children: There are certain factors which determine that whether the child will be affected with FAS or FAE. The first factor will be the genetic makeup of the mother and the fetus. I t has been observed that many people of a certain population have similar genetic compositions. From various studies and researches, it has been suggested that for example if some individuals of Native American descent do not make enough of an enzyme necessary in the breakdown of alcohol in the liver or some are lacking that enzyme all together, then these individuals would be at genetic risk of passing this trait onto the fetus. A mother's nutritional status and physical well-being might also play roles of varying significance in determining whether an infant is affected, and to what degree, by the prenatal exposure to alcohol. A vivid research is necessary to determine the reason that some developing fetuses are more vulnerable to prenatal exposure to alcohol than others. The knowledge base in this arena needs to be greatly expanded. There is a continuum of effects that can result from maternal prenatal consumption of alcohol. (Olsen and Tuntiseranee 1995). The most common effect that is observed is a rise in the degree of spontaneous abortions which in other word also known as miscarriages. Babies can born with low birth weight, low birth length, and with a small head circumference resulting from prenatal alcohol exposure. Some of the other effects caused by maternal drinking ranges from an increase in the number of stillbirths, an increase in the number of birth defects, increased developmental delays to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and an increased death rate. If a child needs to be diagnosed for FAS, then the child must have a distinct pattern of facial dysmorphia, growth problems, and evidence of abnormality in his central nervous system (CNS). (Beattie et al. 1983; Caley et al. 2005) Facial Dysmorphia: For diagnosing facial dysmorphia, three facial characteristics are required which is a smooth philtrum, a thin vermillion, and a small palpebral fissures based on racial norms. (Connolly-Ahern and Broadway, 2008). Growth Problems : A diagnosis of a child suffe ring from FAS requires confirmation of growth deficits including prenatal or postnatal height or weight, or both, at or below the 10th percentile, documented at any one point in time adjusted for age, sex, gestational age, race or ethnicity.( Connolly-Ahern and Broadway, 2008). CNS Abnormalities: There are three categories on which children with FAS have been diagnosed. One of them is structural abnormalities which consist