Universal Virtues Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Universal Virtues - Coursework Example Remarkably, individuals fail to practice and put into consideration the universal virtues. Consequently, individuals undergo a tremendous transformation in their lives which hinders them from actually realizing their abilities and potentials to embrace any of the virtues. Leaders are meant to act as a role models to the people and have the responsibility of practicing all the six universal virtues to ensure efficiency in their ruling (Chiles, 2007). Unfortunately, they fail to adopt all of them but only achieve to practice just a few. In the decision making process, a leader can make a wise and just decision but lacks the courage to support his decision. According to Chiles (2007), wisdom, courage and humanity are the most essential virtues. They form the basis of an individual’s life which enables him to make wise decisions and to be brave when dealing with others. The six universal virtues are the keys to a successful life that ensures togetherness in a community or in an

The Natural resources Essay Example for Free

The Natural resources Essay The Natural resources company in the oil production exploration field had huge number of projects to work on including 50% platform projects, 30% medium 20% small scale projects, 80000 hours are required to cover all the projects. 41 employees are currently overseeing the project management department where, an average of 5 employees contributes in the major project 8 for minor medium each. At present, many projects in particular the minors, have crossed their deadlines budget. The reason; too much labour being utilized in the major projects, creating trouble for the employees as well as the company’s budget. To retain a balanced portfolio, project resources will have to be split equally across the three types of Projects i. e. 33. 3% by reducing the platform projects from 5 to 3 and increasing Small Scale Projects from current 18 to about 22. The main issues strategies of the company can be observed by conducting an overall analysis, which can help in accomplishing a thriving portfolio. All these steps can be taken successfully, only if the support of management is present the new users made aware of the implementation of the plan through regular meetings in order to obtain their contribution via feedback. Due to the oil prices on a high rate, the company is gaining in the financial perspective therefore; creating prospects for new projects hence expands the portfolio. Ensuring the quality of the product at a competitive price can be achieved through effective project management. Reducing the operating costs delivering on time will help to increase profits by securing clients. This prospect is being incorporated by involving local firms in the company’s projects. Increasing the number of employees will let us take up more projects saving time consequently gaining revenue. The proposed stratagem should fit the culture of the company and the community or they would face customers’ rejection.

Priorities and Hunting in Lord of the Flies :: Lord of the Flies Essays

" We can help them find us. We must make a fire."(P. 41). While the boys were making huts for shelter, Jack was off hunting instead of helping with the huts. All he cared about was that the boys needed meat, which was indeed true, but they also needed shelter. As Ralph, Piggy and Simon are working on a shelter they are listening to, " And then," said Jack, " when I've had a bathe and something to eat I'll just trek over to the other side of the mountain and see if I can see any traces. Coming?"(P.62). In the beginning, the boys got along great, but I think that it works against each other. Ralph and Jack get along so good that when things get kind of bad it just goes way bad. "Almost too heavy." Jack grinned back. "Not for the two of us."(P. 43). The book starts by Ralph and Piggy meeting in the jungle of a stranded island. They wander to the beach wondering if there is any other kids on the beach. When they find a shell , "the conch", they blow into it and make a bellowing sound. At the sound of the "conch", every boy, big and small, comes to the beach. Along with a group of boys is Jack Merridew, the leader of a choir. When the assembly begins, they decide that they want a chief. The kids all believe that the boy with the "conch" should be chief. They also decide that there is no "beastie", which Jack also obsesses about hunting and takes much of his attention. Immidiatly Jack is offended and has something against Ralph, even though he seems to hide his jealosy. When Jack's obsession for hunting overrides all other reality he decides to start his own tribe. Many of the boys choose to follow. One night when they have a feast over a dead sow of the tribe a figure considered to be the beast is beaten and stabbed with spears. It was really Simon. The ones who don't join the tribe are now the outcasts of the island. One night Jack and two of his tribe members raid the huts of Ralph, Piggy and Samneric. They stole Piggy's glasses, which only had one glass anyway, now making him blind in both eyes. The next day Ralph, Piggy and Samneric travel to the other side of the Island to get the glasses back.

The Effect of Hurricane Sandy on Jamaica

The Effects of Hurricane Sandy on Jamaica FOUNDATION SKILLS FOR GRADUATE MANAGEMENT EDUCATION The Three Main Effects of Hurricane Sandy that Affected Jamaica were Rainfall Induced Flooding, Storm Surges and Winds STEPHANIE SMITH Executive Summary On October 22, 2012, it was announced by The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM,)  that a tropical depression (Sandy) was headed towards the shores of Jamaica and that the arrival to our shores would be on October 24. On the 24th Sandy approached and the effects were devastating.The winds caused several trees to plummet, taking down power lines, utility poles and homes with them. The winds blew roof tops off and destroyed several produce causing a huge devastation to the agricultural sector. The rainfall caused several homes and roads impassible and even completely flooded a number of communities. The storm surges caused shores to be evacuated as the tides were too high and strong for shore home owners to weath er the storm. .† 70% of Jamaicans were without electricity after the passage of Sandy due to down power lines, fire and blown transformers.Many roads were impassible due to trees that had fallen. â€Å"Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Ian Hayles, says early estimates indicate that close to 11,000 farmers across the island have been affected by Hurricane Sandy, with some 1,500 hectares of crops â€Å"totally destroyed. † (Reynolds-Baker, 2012). † He goes on to highlight the breakdown of early estimates of damages that amounted to $700 million. . Understanding the effects such as wind damage, flooding and storm surges can better help us as Jamaicans and the Jamaican government to prepare for tropical depressions, storms and hurricanes.If the government takes short and long term steps along with its current hurricane initiative, it will reduce the amount of damages by a significant amount of dollars and the Jamaican society will b e able to bounce back from another episode of hurricane much faster. Thesis Statement: The Three Main Effects of Hurricane Sandy that Affected Jamaica were Rainfall Induced Flooding, Storm Surges and Winds On October 22, 2012, it was announced by The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM,)  that a tropical depression (Sandy) was headed towards the shores of Jamaica and that the arrival to our shores would be on October 24.Within a couple of hours Sandy had been upgraded to a tropical storm and Jamaica was put on tropical storm watch. This advisory was then upgraded on the 23rd to a tropical storm warning as a hurricane watch was issued. Jamaica was again upgraded from hurricane watch to warning sometime during the day on the 23rd, because as soon as Sandy touched landfall she will manifest into a hurricane. Wednesday approached and with it Sandy. The effects were devastating. The winds caused several trees to plummet, taking down power lines, utility pole s and homes with them.The winds blew roof tops off and destroyed several produce causing a huge devastation to the agricultural sector. The rainfall caused several homes and roads impassible and even completely flooded a number of communities. The storm surges caused shores to be evacuated as the tides were too high and strong for shore home owners to weather the storm. Classifications of Tropical Weather There are three main classifications of tropical weather activity: tropical depression, tropical storm and hurricane. The first official stage of a tropical classification is a tropical depression.AccuWeather explains that â€Å"a tropical depression forms when a low pressure area is accompanied by thunderstorms that produce a circular  flow with maximum sustained winds below 39 mph. Most tropical depressions have maximum sustained winds between 25 and 35 mph. † The second stage is the tropical storm which is an upgrade to the tropical depression where the cyclonic circula tions become more organized and has winds between 38 and 76 mph. â€Å"Tropical storm status is when the naming of the storm takes place.A tropical storm is then upgraded into Category 1 hurricane status as maximum sustained winds increase to between 74 mph and 95 mph (AccuWeather, 2010). † The main feature of a hurricane is wind. Tropical depressions and storms will have a lot of rainfall and calm winds, but once the winds pick up intensity it will quickly be classified into a hurricane. This is why the measure of hurricanes is done by its wind intensity. There are 5 ratings measured by The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale which is used to rate hurricane intensity in the Atlantic Basin.SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE| CATEGORY| WIND| DAMAGE POTENTIAL| 5| * 156| Catastrophic| 4| 131 – 155| Extreme| 3| 111 – 130| Extensive| 2| 96 – 110| Moderate| 1| 74 – 95| Minimal| Table 1: Saffir-Simpson Scale Within these 3 classifications, watches and warnings are issued. à ¢â‚¬Å"A watch lets you know that weather conditions are favorable for a hazard to occur while a warning requires immediate action (National Hurricane Center, n. d. ). † A tropical storm or hurricane watch occur when those conditions (mentioned above) are possible/likely to occur in that specified area.While, the tropical storm of hurricane warning take place when those conditions are expected to occur. Effects of Sandy â€Å"Wind is responsible for much of the structural damage caused by hurricanes. High winds, uproot trees and tear down power lines. The maximum winds from fast moving and powerful storms may remain high, even when the storm is well inland (The Weather Channel, n. d. ). † The aftermath of Sandy in Jamaica was the epitome of wind damage. â€Å"With storm force winds of up to 80miles per hour, Sandy left a trail of mainly wind damage in the central and eastern parishes (Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, 2012). 70% of Jamaicans were without e lectricity after the passage of Sandy due to down power lines, fire and blown transformers. Many roads were impassible due to trees that had fallen. A huge sector that was affected by winds was the agricultural sector. â€Å"Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Ian Hayles, says early estimates indicate that close to 11,000 farmers across the island have been affected by Hurricane Sandy, with some 1,500 hectares of crops â€Å"totally destroyed. † (Reynolds-Baker, 2012). The news article goes on to highlight the breakdown of early estimates of damages that amounted to $700 million. â€Å"Mr. Hayles explained that the total figure will be much more, when assessments for the parishes St. Thomas, Portland, St. Ann and Clarendon are completed (Reynolds-Baker, 2012). â€Å"The heavy rains associated with a tropical weather system are responsible not only for major flooding in areas where the storm initially strikes, but also can affect areas hundr eds of miles from where the storm originally made landfall (The Weather Channel, n. . ). † There was flooding in some communities following the passage of Sandy. Low lying areas in the St. Mary and Portland and St Ann’s suffered flooding. One community was totally marooned by floods. (Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, 2012). † The rainfall is a huge factor in damage done to roads. â€Å"The estimate of the damage done to roads and other infrastructure by those rains is just under $1. 1 billion. (OPM Communications Unit, 2012)†. This could be attributed to the poor construction and maintenance or roads and drainage systems.Homes that were built on gully banks were at high risk from flooding and wind. â€Å"Storm surge is a rapid rise in the level of water that moves onto land as the  eye  of the storm makes landfall. Once the edge of the storm reaches the shallow waters of the continental shelf, water piles up. Winds of hurricane strength force the water onto shore. (The Weather Channel, n. d. ). † The Jamaican government ordered the evacuation of coast as they knew that Sandy came with it storm surges that would be a devastating factor to home owners and fishermen on the coastlines.Conclusion and Recommendation Since Jamaica is in a tropical zone where we are prone to a numerous amount of Hurricanes, we need to understand the effects and risks. Understanding the effects such as wind damage, flooding and storm surges can better help us as Jamaicans and the Jamaican government to prepare for tropical depressions, storms and hurricanes. Understanding the type of weather system prepares us even further; whether depression or storm prepare for more flooding than wind damage and hurricane more wind damage than flooding.The government needs to put policies and proper processes in place on a long term basis to prepare for hurricanes. The government needs to review building codes such as living in flood prone areas and living on gully sides. They also need to urge persons pursuing construction as well as the National Works Agency (NWA) to properly fix and pave the Jamaican roads. It makes no sense for roads to be fixed one month in advance of a hurricane and during a hurricane the roads get a washed away. The government also needs to put and maintain proper drainage systems.The needs to place a sufficient amount drains to handle the water build up as well as when roads are paved over the relevant companies close the drains that were once in place. On a more short term basis, the government needs to trim trees or urge citizens to trim trees that are close and over hanging utility lines. This will lessen the number of fallen poles and lines rapidly. If the government takes these steps along with its current hurricane initiative, it will reduce the amount of damages by a significant amount of dollars and the Jamaican society will be able to bounce back from another episode of hurricane much faster.R eferences AccuWeather. (2010, July 22). What's the Difference Between a Tropical Depression, Tropical Storm and Hurricane. Retrieved November 6, 2012, from AccuWeather. com: http://www. accuweather. com/en/weather-news/whats-the-difference-between-a/34388 Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency. (2012, October 28). CDEMA Situation Report #3 – Hurricane Sandy. Retrieved November 6, 2012, from reliefweb: http://reliefweb. int/report/jamaica/cdema-situation-report-3-hurricane-sandy Irie FM. (2012, October 23).Education Ministry orders all schools closed tomorrow. Retrieved November 6, 2012, from IrieFM. net: http://www. iriefm. net/news/headline/education-ministry-orders-all-schools-closed-tomorrow Jamaica Observer. (2012, October 23). Early Closure of Tax Offices. Retrieved Novermber 6, 2012, from The Jamaica Observer: http://www. jamaicaobserver. com/news/Early-closure-for-Tax-Offices Live Jamaica. (2012, October 23). Education Ministry Orders Schools Closed Tomorrow. R etrieved November 6, 2012, from Live Jamaica Updates:

The Cask of Amontillado

The Cask of Amontillado† Unexpected Endings In â€Å"The Cask Of Amontillado† there are several themes shown throughout the short story. There are only two main characters in the story, and each shows their way of betrayal. The entire story is based on betrayal, and lies. Fortunado is betrayed by Monresor, who in the end, kills this intoxicated man. Montresor was supposedly betrayed by Fortunado, a story of which we are never told. Finally, we as the reader are betrayed by the narrator, because we are given so few details and logic to back up the story.Fortunado, Montresor, and the reader are betrayed throughout the short story, â€Å"The Cask Of Amontillado†. Throughout the story, Montresor betrays Fortunado. He asks Fortunado to come into his catacombs aware that he would be killing him. He taunts Fortunado by asking him if he want to go back, because he is sick. Montresor does so when saying â€Å"‘Come,’ I said, with decision, ‘we will go b ack; your health is precious†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬  (Poe 535) However, when Fortunado insists he comes to taste the amontillado, he is once again betrayed by Montresor when he drinks more of his wine.He becomes overly intoxicated and once again, is able to be taken advantage of. The entire walk through the catacombs Montresor betrays Fortunado by lying to him and taunting him about being sick. At the end of the story Montresor traps Fortunado by building him into a small shackled space. â€Å"A succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting suddenly from the throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me back violently† (Poe 536). According to Chad Dyer â€Å"The story is written in the form of confession, its reader learning of Montresour’s vengeful deed fifty years after its execution. † (Dyer).When Montresor kills Fortunando he commits not only a huge crime but a betrayal that is unbelievable to most people. Furtunado is a simpler, less obvious betrayer. He is mentioned in the very beginning cause a â€Å"thousand injuries† (Poe 533) causing Montresor to â€Å"vow upon revenge† (Poe 533). Despite all the wrongdoing of Montresor, Fotunado was the beginning, and cause of it all. â€Å"It must be understood, that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunado cause to doubt my good will† (Poe 533). As the editorial team on Shmoop claims, â€Å"Fortunado betrays himself by not paying enough attention to his surroundings†. Shmoop Editorial Team). Fortunado was so severely intoxicated he didn’t stop to notice the dead bodies surrounding him in the catacombs, not the fact that he was with a man he has never been friendly with. He allowed himself to continually drink from the wine his enemy was providing without even the thought that it could be deadly. In the beginning of the story, Montresor tells us â€Å"The thousand injuries of Furtunado I had borne as best I could†¦ † (Poe 533) We however ar e never given any type of proof of what Fortunado had done to hurt Montrsor as much as he claims.We are never given an explanation, or even a slight clue of the wrongdoing Fortunado had caused. This leaves one to suggest that maybe the narrator was telling us a complete lie. The story was written to keep us guessing. Throughout the entire walk through the catacombs, we had no clue what they were truly walking through. We were given vague descriptions of the bodies lining the walls. When he describes building the brick wall to trap Furtunado, he describes it in a very undetailed description. Montresor shows betrayal, as well as Fortunado, and the narrator.This proves it to be a common theme throughout the story. It is shown through Montresor when he betrays Fortunado multiple times. When he kills Fortunado, he lies to him throughout the story, and plans to kill him before he even agrees to drink wine with him. Fortunado’s betrayal, although never explained, is the beginning of all the betrayal throughout the story. He has hurt Montresor in a way so badly Montresor feels his only escape it to kill Fortunado. As the reader were betrayed throughout the entire story.We are told multiple things throughout the story, but nothing is ever proven. We have to assume the narrator is telling us the truth. The theme betrayal is shown dramatically through Poe’s eyes.Works Cited Dyer, Chad M. Edgar Allen Poes The Cask Of Amontillado. Diss. Ball State, 1992. N. p. : n. p. , n. d. Web. <https://cardinalscholar. bsu. edu/bitstream/handle/190175/1/D94_1991DyerChadM. pdf>. Poe, Edgar A. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003. Print. Riggs, Kait. The Cask of Amontillado Irony Analysis of â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† In â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† by Edgar Allan Poe, the main character named Montresor is set out for revenge. Montresor’s only concern is to get revenge on the man who has wronged him named Fortuanto. Montresor never states why Fortunato deserves to be punished. The only statement Montresor makes is that Fortunato â€Å"causes him a thousand injuries† until â€Å"venturing upon insult. † (Poe, Online) Montresor plans to take out his revenge by burying Fortunato alive. Montresor carries out each detail while he smiles at his victim.Montresor doesn’t smile at the thought of Fortunato’s â€Å"immolation† but because of viciousness. (Sweet Jr. Online) Montresor smiles because he believes the sacrifice of Fortunato will bring him a great reward. Fortunato is ironically the â€Å"mirror self† of Montresor (Sweet Jr. Online). Montresor’s desire to bury Fortunato alive â €Å"paints the psychological portrait of repression† (Sweet Jr. Online). The burial of Fortunato represses Montresor’s evil nature and puts him at peace. In â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado,† Edgar Allan Poe uses irony to develop his theme of seeking salvation through repression.Poe uses Fortunato’s name ironically to symbolize one personality between Montresor and Fortunato. Though Fortunato means â€Å"the fortunate one† in Italian, Fortuanto meets an unfortunate fate as the victim Montresor’s overall revenge plot. (Stott, Online) Therefore, the Fortunato side of Montresor symbolizes fortune. Montresor’s desire is to repress Fortunato. Since â€Å"the love of money is the root of all evils,† a fortune would â€Å"plunge a man into ruin and destruction† (1Timothy 6:9-10). The Fortunato side of Montresor’s personality wants to have wealth.The wealth Fortunato receives makes him both respected and feared. (Poe, Online ) By having wealth, Fortunato causes Montresor â€Å"a thousand injuries†(Poe, Online). When Fortunato’s wealth gains the fear of others, he â€Å"ventures upon insulting God† (Poe, Online). When a â€Å"man seeks greed for gain, he curses and renounces the Lord† (Psalms 10:3). Montresor needs to repress Fortunato to protect his soul from damnation. (Stott, Online) The only way Montresor can protect himself is to get rid of Fortunato. Montresor can repress the aspect of his personality which insults God by burying Fortunato alive.Fortunato, ironically despite his name, faces a very unfortunate fate at the hands of Montresor. Montresor’s name translation similar to Fortunato’s in two ways. In French Montresor’s name â€Å"combines the words montrer and sort meaning to show fate† (Clendenning, Online). Montresor shows Fortunato his fate but Fortunato â€Å"receives no utterance to a threat† about his fate. (Poe, Online) Wh en Montresor shows Fortunato his fate of being buried alive it demonstrates that Fortunato’s live burial is an act of repression. The second French translation for Montersor is â€Å"my treasure†.Through punishing Fortunato Montresor believes he can have the treasure of purity and salvation. Fortunato’s dress is ironic for a man with his stature in society. Fortunato is a man with stature who is â€Å"rich, respected, and admired† (Poe, Online). Fortunato wears a â€Å"tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his head is surmounted by the conical cap and bells† for the carnival. † (Poe, Online). Instead of the cap representing Christ’s crown of thorns, the cap represents Satan’s role as â€Å"Prince of Fools† (Pittman, Online).Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Christians were able to receive salvation. Through Fortunato’s sacrifice, Montresor will seek salvation. Montresor dresses more like a priest for the carn ival season. â€Å"Montresor’s black roquelaire symbolizes a priest’s black cope worn during a funeral mass. † (Cooney, Online) Montresor dresses for the occasion that he is going to bury Fortunato. Montresor’s attire suggests that the repression of Fortunato will have an important spiritual reward. Through the repression of Fortunato, Montresor will reach salvation.The carnival setting ironically suggests a time for sin. â€Å"The carnival season consists of the last indulgences in the pleasures of the flesh† (Pittman, Online). Fortunato’s sin of abundantly drinking makes Montresor‘s plan easy to carry out. â€Å"The word carnival can be translated in Italian meaning to put away the flesh which demonstrates symbolic irony of Montresor’s intent for Fortunato† (Clendenning, Online). Montresor can make himself free of sin and worthy of salvation by repressing the sinfulness of Fortunato. The catacombs are an ironic symbol o f the way Montresor thinks.The repression begins when Montresor takes Fortunato into his family catacombs with the promise of Amontillado wine. The catacombs are â€Å"lined with human remains† and that suggests generational family troubles (Poe, Online). Fortunato keeps going farther and farther into the catacombs with only his sinful thoughts of being able to drink more wine, not knowing he is moving closer and closer to his fate of being buried alive. The wall symbolizes the finish of the repression of Fortunato. â€Å"Ironically, the wall forms Fortunato’s burial crypt. (Sweet Jr. , Online) Salvation can only happen when sins are repented. Once Fortunato yells â€Å"For the love of God, Montresor! ,† Montresor says â€Å"Yes, . . . for the love of God! † (Poe, Online). Montresor believes that Fortunato’s repression shows his love for God and demonstrates Montresor reaching salvation. The cask symbolizes a confession. Montresor tells the story fifty years later in a confession tone. â€Å"When Montresor says, â€Å"You, who so well know the nature of my soul,† he implies a priest receives his confession† (Sweet Jr. , Online).Montresor believes that Fortunato’s burial was done in good. Montresor has no remorse as he confesses but, he still confesses. â€Å"Montresor’s conscience knows Fortunato’s burial is an evil deed. † (Sweet Jr. , Online) Montresor ends by saying â€Å"In pace requiescat† (Poe, Online). â€Å"Montresor’s prayer suggests that he desires relief from guilt, not forgiveness for a crime† (Sweet Jr. 11). The feeling of salvation Montresor seeks through his confession doesn‘t happen. â€Å"For a confession to receive absolution, the confessor must demonstrate the conviction of remorse. (Sweet Jr. , Online) Montresor is unable to achieve the salvation he seeks through the repression of Fortunato. The Amontillado symbolizes Christ’s bl ood in communion. Christ’s blood offers the salvation that Montresor seeks. The Amontillado may lead Fortunato to his burial but it symbolizes the salvation Montresor wants to gain through repression. Fortunato wants to drink the wine out of pride and lust while Montresor sees the wine as something that brings him the bond of communion and the reward of salvation.Edgar Allan Poe’s uses ironic symbols throughout â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado. † The ironic symbols helped him develop the theme of seeking salvation through repression. Fortunato’s character was able to represent man’s flesh and how people easily give in to the sins of the flesh while Montresor represents how man seeks salvation through acts of repression. Fortunato represents the side of Montresor that should confess but Montresor chooses to bury Fortunato which leads to the failure of his own salvation. The Cask of Amontillado The Cask of Amontillado† Unexpected Endings In â€Å"The Cask Of Amontillado† there are several themes shown throughout the short story. There are only two main characters in the story, and each shows their way of betrayal. The entire story is based on betrayal, and lies. Fortunado is betrayed by Monresor, who in the end, kills this intoxicated man. Montresor was supposedly betrayed by Fortunado, a story of which we are never told. Finally, we as the reader are betrayed by the narrator, because we are given so few details and logic to back up the story.Fortunado, Montresor, and the reader are betrayed throughout the short story, â€Å"The Cask Of Amontillado†. Throughout the story, Montresor betrays Fortunado. He asks Fortunado to come into his catacombs aware that he would be killing him. He taunts Fortunado by asking him if he want to go back, because he is sick. Montresor does so when saying â€Å"‘Come,’ I said, with decision, ‘we will go b ack; your health is precious†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬  (Poe 535) However, when Fortunado insists he comes to taste the amontillado, he is once again betrayed by Montresor when he drinks more of his wine.He becomes overly intoxicated and once again, is able to be taken advantage of. The entire walk through the catacombs Montresor betrays Fortunado by lying to him and taunting him about being sick. At the end of the story Montresor traps Fortunado by building him into a small shackled space. â€Å"A succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting suddenly from the throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me back violently† (Poe 536). According to Chad Dyer â€Å"The story is written in the form of confession, its reader learning of Montresour’s vengeful deed fifty years after its execution. † (Dyer).When Montresor kills Fortunando he commits not only a huge crime but a betrayal that is unbelievable to most people. Furtunado is a simpler, less obvious betrayer. He is mentioned in the very beginning cause a â€Å"thousand injuries† (Poe 533) causing Montresor to â€Å"vow upon revenge† (Poe 533). Despite all the wrongdoing of Montresor, Fotunado was the beginning, and cause of it all. â€Å"It must be understood, that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunado cause to doubt my good will† (Poe 533). As the editorial team on Shmoop claims, â€Å"Fortunado betrays himself by not paying enough attention to his surroundings†. Shmoop Editorial Team). Fortunado was so severely intoxicated he didn’t stop to notice the dead bodies surrounding him in the catacombs, not the fact that he was with a man he has never been friendly with. He allowed himself to continually drink from the wine his enemy was providing without even the thought that it could be deadly. In the beginning of the story, Montresor tells us â€Å"The thousand injuries of Furtunado I had borne as best I could†¦ † (Poe 533) We however ar e never given any type of proof of what Fortunado had done to hurt Montrsor as much as he claims.We are never given an explanation, or even a slight clue of the wrongdoing Fortunado had caused. This leaves one to suggest that maybe the narrator was telling us a complete lie. The story was written to keep us guessing. Throughout the entire walk through the catacombs, we had no clue what they were truly walking through. We were given vague descriptions of the bodies lining the walls. When he describes building the brick wall to trap Furtunado, he describes it in a very undetailed description. Montresor shows betrayal, as well as Fortunado, and the narrator.This proves it to be a common theme throughout the story. It is shown through Montresor when he betrays Fortunado multiple times. When he kills Fortunado, he lies to him throughout the story, and plans to kill him before he even agrees to drink wine with him. Fortunado’s betrayal, although never explained, is the beginning of all the betrayal throughout the story. He has hurt Montresor in a way so badly Montresor feels his only escape it to kill Fortunado. As the reader were betrayed throughout the entire story.We are told multiple things throughout the story, but nothing is ever proven. We have to assume the narrator is telling us the truth. The theme betrayal is shown dramatically through Poe’s eyes.Works Cited Dyer, Chad M. Edgar Allen Poes The Cask Of Amontillado. Diss. Ball State, 1992. N. p. : n. p. , n. d. Web. <https://cardinalscholar. bsu. edu/bitstream/handle/190175/1/D94_1991DyerChadM. pdf>. Poe, Edgar A. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003. Print. Riggs, Kait.

The eNotes Blog A Government of Wolves Ten Writers SoundOff

A Government of Wolves Ten Writers SoundOff Like most of you, I am becoming more and more annoyed by the government shutdown. Yesterday, I heard a sick child will not get his weekly visit with a therapy dog because those non-essential workers had been furloughed. Here are ten quotes from writers, past and present, that may help you channel and articulate your own feelings and frustration with our elected leaders: 1.   A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.†Ã‚   Edward R. Murrow 2.   â€Å"People shouldnt be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.†Ã‚   Alan Moore, V for Vendetta 4.   â€Å"You have to remember one thing about the will of the people: it wasnt that long ago that we were swept away by the Macarena.†Ã‚   Jon Stewart 5.   â€Å"The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, and intolerable†Ã‚   H.L. Mencken 6.   â€Å"The greatest patriotism is to tell your country when it is behaving dishonorably, foolishly, viciously.†Ã‚   Julian Barnes, Flauberts Parrot 7.   â€Å"Laws are spider webs through which the big flies pass and the little ones get caught.†Ã‚   Honore de Balzac 8.   â€Å"It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.†Ã‚   Mark Twain 9.   â€Å"Its all very well to run around saying regulation is bad, get the government off our backs, etc. Of course our lives are regulated. When you come to a stop sign, you stop; if you want to go fishing, you get a license; if you want to shoot ducks, you can shoot only three ducks. The alternative is dead bodies at the intersection, no fish, and no ducks. OK?   Molly Ivins 10.   â€Å"Good governance never depends upon laws, but upon the personal qualities of those who govern. The machinery of government is always subordinate to the will of those who administer that machinery. The most important element of government, therefore, is the method of choosing leaders.†Ã‚   Frank Herbert, Children of Dune

Caribian Crisis Essays - CubaUnited States Relations, Fidel Castro

Caribian Crisis Essays - CubaUnited States Relations, Fidel Castro Caribian Crisis Outline A. Introduction 1. Topic 2. Topic question - Give evidence - Give examples of other ideas 3. Thesis B. Batista/Castro Government 1. Before Castros reign - conservative at first - turned communist 2. USSR stayed ally with Castro C. U-2 Spy Plane Incident 1. Francis Gary Powers - USAs excuse - 1958 incident 2. Note to the US government - air space violation - Cuba 90 miles off the cost of Florida 3. Rejection of open skies proposal - Eisenhower left for the summit conference - no more U2 flights over the USSR 4. Powers tried and convicted of espionage by the supreme court of the USSR - Castro seized all American-owned properties - oil refineries - sugar mills - electric utilities - USA very angry D. Summary of The Inspector General's Survey of The Cuban Operation 1. Freedom of Information Act to the National Security Archives -group that publishes declassified government documents -the porpoise of document 2. A Program of Covert Action Against the Castro Regime - Cuban exile organization - propaganda offense - clandestine intelligence - paramilitary force E. The CIA's Plan of Invasion 1. The bay of Pigs - Cuban exile organization - propaganda offense - clandestine intelligence - paramilitary force 2. Budget approved - Political action - propaganda - paramilitary - intelligence collection F. What Went Wrong In The Bay of Pigs Invasion 1. The actual Plan 2. The Inspector Generals conclusions - The Central Intelligence Agency - failures with the project and agency G. What Actually Happened In The Bay of Pigs Invasion H. Conclusion The invasion at the Bay of Pigs has raised many questions and many interesting things have come out of it. What people want to know is, why it happened, or what caused it, but the most important question that is not commonly asked is what was the main affect of the invasion? Some say that the affects are not many. People believed for a while that there was no way that the united states could suffer from the invasion on Cuba, they were wrong. The main affect was that Cuban leaders feared another direct US invasion, and so they allowed the USSR to place nuclear missiles in Cuba, aimed at the United States, this is called the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Soviet Union offered military aid to Cuba, and Cuba agreed to let the Soviet Union send missiles and materials to build launch sites. In October 1962, the United States learned that Cuba had nuclear missiles in place that could be launched toward American cities. President John F. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade to halt the further shipment of arms. He demanded that the Soviet Union remove all missiles from the island and dismantle the remaining missile bases. For several days, the world stood on the brink of nuclear war. Finally, the Soviet Union removed the weapons under protest from Castro. The Soviet action came after Kennedy privately agreed not to invade Cuba. Kennedy also agreed to remove U.S. nuclear missiles from Turkey, which the Soviets considered to be a threat. All because of the invasion on Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. Fulgencio Batista y Zaldvar became the dictator of Cuba in 1952. The United States had been kind to Batista. Shortly after, Fidel Castro, became the leader of an underground antigovernment group. After leading several failed uprisings, and being arrested for leading those revolts, Castro finally lead a successful rebellion against Batista. In 1959, Castro became the Premier. At first, Castro was very conservative, but after he realized how much power he had gained, he started abusing it, being very hostile to both the Cuban people, and the United States. The United States, who had been very good to Cuba, but the U.S. started to get angry when, in 1960, Castro seized American oil refineries, sugar mills, and electric utilities. In the early 60s, he also started to welcome communism and formed close ties with the USSR. In 1959, when Castro became premier, the Central Intelligence Agency, (CIA) started planning an invasion near Guantnamo Bay, a US naval base in Cuba, in the Bay of Pigs, in southern Cuba. The CIA set up a small sub-organization with the sole purpose of planning the invasion. Despite the propaganda, intelligence planning, counter intelligence planning, and paramilitary planning, the mission still failed. In February 1962, the Inspector General wrote a document called The Inspector General's Survey of the Cuban Operation. This was deemed top secret until 1997. Inside it tells many reasons for the failure. Why didn't the CIA think of these problems ahead of time? Before Castro's reign over Cuba, a man named Fulgencio Batista y Zaldvar was the Premier from 1952 to

Spelling Tips Free Rein or Free Reign

Spelling Tips Free Rein or Free Reign Spelling Tips: Free Rein or Free Reign? Today, we’re looking at one of the most commonly misspelled phrases in the English language: â€Å"free rein† and â€Å"free reign.† Both spellings are common, but the original (and technically correct) version is â€Å"free rein.† So why is this one correct? And what exactly does â€Å"free rein† mean? Let’s find out. The Origins of Free Rein The phrase â€Å"free rein† dates back to the seventeenth century. We use it to mean â€Å"give someone the freedom to do or say whatever they want†: The designers were given free rein to try new ideas. On a literal level, â€Å"reins† are the straps used to guide a horse. So to give someone â€Å"free rein† is to give them freedom in the same way that holding the reins loosely gives a horse freedom to move. This is also why we use the phrase â€Å"rein in† to mean â€Å"bring something under control.† Just trying reining me in, bozo. The Confusion: Rein vs. Reign Unfortunately, â€Å"rein† sounds exactly like â€Å"reign,† so they are easy to confuse. This second term can be either a noun or a verb, but in both cases refers to the rule of a king or queen. For instance, we could say: The reign of Queen Elizabeth II has been largely peaceful. King Henry VII reigned over England from 1485 to 1509. As a result, many people think the phrase about freedom is spelled â€Å"free reign.† This almost makes sense, as you could take the phrase to mean â€Å"the freedom to behave like a monarch.† Not all kings have much freedom, of course. Some can only move one space in any direction.(Photo: Michal Jarmoluk) Nevertheless, this spelling began as an error and many still consider it to be incorrect. As such, it is always better to write â€Å"free rein.† Free Rein or Free Reign? In formal writing, idioms can help you express yourself clearly and demonstrate your command of language. As such, although â€Å"free reign† is unlikely to cause confusion, â€Å"free rein† is still the correct spelling. To remember, keep the equestrian connection in mind. You will avoid errors as long as you recall that the â€Å"reins† in â€Å"free rein† are used to steer a horse. And if you need any help with your spelling, don’t forget to ask a proofreader.

Statement of purpose for geophysics masters Personal

Of purpose for geophysics masters - Personal Statement Example In reference to this, I made a decision to pursue Geological Sciences Option II, which is more involved in seismic study of the deep Earth. As of now, I can confidently articulate that my skills are ready for the job market. Moreover, the industrial attachment I attended for six months enabled me to put the theories I learnt in class into practice. The University of Texas has prepared me for the future in character and knowledge, and now I am a graduate with a first class honors degree. Pertaining to this, I am constantly motivated to increase my knowledge so that I can give more solid contributions towards making the world a better place to live through this field. For this undoubted reason, my persona compels me to make an application for a Masters Degree in Geophysics in your reputable institution in the coming days. I am fully informed of the institution’s reputation, and I have no misgivings that you will offer me a platform for this

BL21 (DE3) RIL competent cells to express tau protein Article

BL21 (DE3) RIL competent cells to express tau protein - Article Example The BL21-CodonPlus(DE3)-RP cells possess excess of the argU which code identifies the arginine codons AGA, tRNAs which encodes the proline codon CCC and proL genes which code tRNAs which identifies the arginine codons AGG. The BL21-CodonPlus (DE3)-RIPL cells contain extra copies of the argU, ileY, and leuW as well as the positive tRNA genes (Sussman, & Israel 218). This particular strain liberates the appearance of heterologous proteins obtainable from organisms that possess each AT- or GC containing genomes (Sussman, & Israel 220). BL21 (DE3) RIL is important in the expression of the tau protein since it promotes the optimal protein transformation. The Tau proteins are steadies microtubules, they are copious in nerves in the CNS and are least frequent somewhere else (Robbins & Maria 230). BL21 (DE3) RIL is important in the assembly of tubulin assisting in the optimal transformation of cells that induce the expression of tau protein. Tau possesses two N-terminal exons and has all the microtubule attaching repeats in the largest human tau isoform. This promotes the transformation and the expression of the tau protein in the medium (Robbins & Maria

Art history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Art history - Essay Example The painting clearly shows the image of a young mother nursing a child and a man standing with a spear. On the background there is a river passing by and visible buildings on the river bank. The man is guarding the woman who has probably just given birth. Poesia describes the works of Italian Renaissance that were inspired by myths and fables. The painting has an elaborate use of light and color which is a hallmark characteristic of Venetian paintings. The author of the work also used canvas. The use of mannerisms to depict human beings in distorted poses is also evident of Venetian painting (Humfrey, 132). Meeting of Bacchus and Ariadne depicts the magnificence of art through the images of strong men and women in some small setting. On the other hand Botticelli’s Birth of Venus shows the sensual evocation as depicted by the impressive looking Goddess of love in Venus. An Apocalypse refers to a revelation of something with hidden meaning. In the Christian context, Apocalypse generally refers to the revelation of some things which are hidden from human beings. The second figure from the fore represents death as it is bigger and scarier than the rest. The painting is woodcut the relief images are cut onto the surface of the wood. DÃ ¼rer depicts himself in the self portrait as a God. The implied position of an artist is that of divine nature akin to that of God to create. An artist’s role in the society had grown in stature. This is because artists were able to create image that were subject to various interpretations by the audience. DÃ ¼rer painted this picture to portray the present conditions in terms of religion during his time. It should be noted that the title of the painting is misleading as there are actually three apostles in the painting. The painting was presented to the magistrates after the Reformation. The painting seems to appreciate the role of scripture in the society but warns against false teachings. In essence,

Interview Reflection Worksheet Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Interview Reflection Worksheet - Coursework Example My weak point is in competence that majorly rises from my inability to make some decisions under pressure effectively. Competence will improve when I gain the necessary work experience and gain more knowledge in my area of operation. The assessment of people to some extent showed me the various points of weakness. I realised that I need to improve on competence and efficiency in decision-making. The alignment of people’s perception and mine shown that i am ethical similar to my personal assessment. My surprise was the knowledge of other people that i am incompetent due to the minimal experience I possess. It was not easy to stay open minded and non-defensive during the interview. The questions were touching on my personality and i felt like faking and lying about some aspects of the issues under discussion. I achieved this by trying to be ethical and comprehensively cooperative. I am being perceived this way because am truthful to my acts. My partner was ethical and tried to corner my answers but due to professionalism and adhering to the set standards, he got the right information that provided the right illustration of my characters. However, the results were not as per my expectations but they are a true reflection of my

In what ways are horses used as symbolism in the plays The New York Essay

In what ways are horses used as symbolism in the plays The New York Idea by Landgon Mitchell, and the play Mazeppa by Henry - Essay Example In order to understand why horses are used in both stories, we must take a closer look at the general perception of what horses stand for. According to Psychics and Mediums Network, a fantastic website dedicated to the interpretation of dreams and symbols, horses in a dream mean the following: Wild forces that have been tamed are symbolized by the horse. Horses are also a symbol of sexuality and were considered by Freud to represent the terrifying aspect of the father. To dream of ridding an out-of-control horse, may indicate that you are being ‘carried away’ by your passions, whereas a tightly tethered horse may show that you inhibit these natural feelings. Therefore, horses reflect on the feelings of individuals—where they are going and what they are doing. This concept is certainly used in both Mitchell and Milner’s works. As noted above, horses are used to judge different individual actions. In the introduction of â€Å"The New York Idea,† Mitche ll states, interestingly enough: â€Å"The temperament of the race-horse has to be considered—much more, that of the 'star'.† (2). This is an important concept in relation to what we have already been discussing. The author is basically admitting the purpose of the horses in the play itself—to reflect on the actions and emotions of individuals. In Mazeppa, we see a similar stance. The bulk of the narrative focuses on a romantic journey on a horse, the horse serving as sort of escape from reality, or one’s emotions and personal responsibilities. This is especially accurate if we compare this with the Freudian interpretation of horses above. Horses can represent one being carried away by one’s passions, and this seems to be in line with what is going on in Mazeppa. Therefore, the general interpretation of what horses can mean symbolically certainly ties back to what Mazeppa is trying to reveal a horse can mean. Another concept present in Psychics and Mediums network is the reflection of what horses generally mean in mythological terms, and again, this concept can be used to better understand the symbols present in both stories that we are discussing. According to Psychics and Mediums Network, horses can myth logically mean the following: In some myths and fairytales horses speak. In dreams, this represents the voice of your unconscious- a message from your innermost self. In Greek myth, horses were associated with Hades, the underworld and death. However, dream prophecy says that to dream of horses indicates that you will receive news from a distance. And it is extremely lucky to dream of a horse being shod. So, the journey of the horse in â€Å"Mazeppa† can be related to the ultimate end of all human journeys—that of death. Basically, there is the sense that no matter what we do with our lives, all of us will eventually face this end of the journey, or the ultimate end, of relinquishing our souls. This concept is not as present in The New York Idea, but if we think of the races present in the story as a type of journey for the horses, then we see a similar concept present; that of the journey and the finish, and whether ones wins or loses it does not really seem to matter when one reaches the final end of all things. The other interesting point to note about this interpretation of horses is the concept of receiving news from a dista

Interview Reflection Worksheet Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Interview Reflection Worksheet - Coursework Example My weak point is in competence that majorly rises from my inability to make some decisions under pressure effectively. Competence will improve when I gain the necessary work experience and gain more knowledge in my area of operation. The assessment of people to some extent showed me the various points of weakness. I realised that I need to improve on competence and efficiency in decision-making. The alignment of people’s perception and mine shown that i am ethical similar to my personal assessment. My surprise was the knowledge of other people that i am incompetent due to the minimal experience I possess. It was not easy to stay open minded and non-defensive during the interview. The questions were touching on my personality and i felt like faking and lying about some aspects of the issues under discussion. I achieved this by trying to be ethical and comprehensively cooperative. I am being perceived this way because am truthful to my acts. My partner was ethical and tried to corner my answers but due to professionalism and adhering to the set standards, he got the right information that provided the right illustration of my characters. However, the results were not as per my expectations but they are a true reflection of my

LEGO Case Study - Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

LEGO Case Study - Strategic Management - Essay Example In the 80-year history of the company, the last fifteen years or so have been one of happenings periods in the history of company. From its peak in the mid 90s to a serious slump in the late 1990s and early 2000s and then from that to a period of recovery and dominance, the period of 1995-2009 has many stories to tell for Lego (Ireland, Hoskisson & Hitt, pp. 85-89, 2008). Problems for the company started somewhere in the 1990s but they did not made the headlines or even got the attention of the top management of the company till 1998 when the company incurred its first loss on its income statement in its entire history. Lego got back on the track of making profits during 2001 and 2002 but that was primarily because of the deals with Harry Potter franchise and when no Harry Potter movie was released during 2003, the company’s sales decreased by 26 percent and 20 percent in the subsequent year (The Lego Group, 2012). Furthermore, the company posted a record loss of over 240 mill ion US dollars and rumors started in the market that Mattel would soon takeover Lego (Lewis, pp. 21-23, 2011). There were many reasons behind the declining market share of the company. First, the toy industry was going through a similar revolution and competitive outburst as of the airline industry. Many competitors with low cost and claiming to be high quality, entered into the market to disrupt the equilibrium. For example, a Canadian toy company, Megabloks was instrumental in removing Lego toys from many shelves because not only it was of lower price to attract the customers but also even the retailers were paid with higher profit margins. Second, many of the customers of the company that were young boys were being more attracted to computer games and video games during that time thus decreasing the sales even further. Third, Lego’s main operations were in Denmark, which was high cost economy with long supply chains and many supplies. In fact, it at one point in time, Lego had more suppliers than Boeing had to build aircrafts (Ireland, Hoskisson & Hitt, pp. 85-89, 2008). Strategies In order to understand the strategies used by Lego during the period of 1995-2009, we will have to divide the period between two sub-periods of 1998-2003 and 2004-2009 since the company shifted its strategy during the period. First period (1998-2003) During the first period of 1998-2003 and even before that, Lego was following an aggressive policy of product development. Lego was constantly trying to improve its existing products with bringing new variations. The mindset of the company’s strategists was that by providing more product variations, they would force the customers to spend more and new variations would bring more and new customers into the loop (Bender, pp. 55, 2010). In fact, it appeared that somehow Lego was trapped in the product orientation, one of the five marketing orientations. In it, the prime focus and expectation of the company was on improving the current products, bringing more colour, designs and variations hoping that would make the customers stay and even become ready to pay a premium for Lego’s products (Ireland, Hoskisson & Hitt, pp. 85-89, 2008). Secondly, this was a period where Lego engaged in many strategic partners with Harry Potter, Disney and other franchises in an attempt to co-brand their products. In fact, this was the prime reason why Lego was able to show some profit during these years (The Lego Group, 2012). Second

Management Philosophy Essay Example for Free

Management Philosophy Essay Diversity trainer through the National Multi-Cultural Institute (NMCI) which is based out of Washington DC. Bahaudin worked as a manager, an Internal Consultant, Trainer, and Teacher at the Education and Training Development Department of Human Resources with Publix Super Markets Inc. for sixteen years. Bahaudin has been a visitor or speaker on conferences in the United States of America, Vietnam, Malaysia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Brazil, Jamaica, Bahamas, St. Lucia, Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), Grenada, and several other Caribbean countries. Bahaudin was born in Khoshie of Logar and raised in Kabul of Afghanistan. Bahaudin finished his high school degree and higher education in the United States. Management Philosophy: Some of Bahaudin’s favorite management concepts, which he has used in practice, happen to be Self-fulfilling Prophecy, Theory Y View of Motivation, Management by Objective and Management by Walking Around. Managers are likely to get exactly what they expect from themselves and their employees. Bahaudin believes that most people want to do a good job, especially when they are given the right tools, educational developments and performance opportunities. He prefers leading people and managing systems. Bahaudin likes to clarify his overall objectives, set realistic goals and then work to achieve them in a realistic timeframe. According to Bahaudin, the journey of working toward the achievement of one’s goals itself can certainly be one way to happiness. As they say, happiness is the way. Bahaudin truly believes that happiness is a journey, and not a destination. Happiness is the progressive realization of worthwhile and predetermined goals. So, set your goals and, as someone said, then â€Å"work like you dont need money; study like you are a noble prize winner; love like youve never been hurt; and dance like no ones watching. Have a positive attitude and, when possible, make a difference in at least one person’s life. Remember, if you can perceive and believe a better state of being, then you are very likely to achieve it as well. Overall, learn as much as you can; stretch yourself as far as possible, but not beyond; never settle for less than your capabilities; aim for total integrity; and be the best that you can be! As an effective manager and leader, may you have the hindsight to know where you have been; the foresight to know where you are going; and the insight to know when you are about to go too far.

Causes of Muscle Damage

Causes of Muscle Damage An antioxidant has been defined as a substance that reduces oxidative damage such as that caused by free radicals (Halliwell 1984). Oxygen-centred free radicals known as Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) may contribute to exercise induced muscle damage (Mc Ginley 2009). Due to this, it has been widely accepted over the past 20 years that increasing antioxidants in the body will provide greater protection against ROS (Sastre 1992; Hathcock 2005). However, the significance of exercise-induced oxidative stress is open for discussion (Cabrera 2008) with unclear conclusions in literature. This has led to the recent investigation on the possibility of increased production of free radicals during exercise and the effects of antioxidant supplementation in athletes (Finaud 2006; Gomez-Cabrera 2008;Ristow 2009). Free radical proliferation is a widely suggested mechanism in the damage response to exercise by process of phacocytosis and activation of the respiratory burst by neutrophils during the i nflammatory response (Pyne 1994). The most commonly used antioxidants in the sporting world are vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and vitamin E (tocopherol) with an astonishing 84% of athletes using antioxidants during the 2008 Beijing Olympics (International Olympic Committee 2008). It has been well documented that high intensity exercise results in damage to active muscle fibres resulting in soreness, stiffness and a reduction in the muscles force producing capabilities (Allen 2001; Armstrong 1990; Clarkson 2002). Peroxidation of muscle fibre lipids causes disturbance in cellular homeostasis which may result in muscle fatigue or injury, possibly implicating free radical formation as a major cause of delayed-onset muscle soreness (Byrd 1992). Preventing muscle tissue damage during exercise training may help optimize the training effect and eventual competitive sports performance (Sen 2001). In order to minimise tissue cell damage, there must be an equilibrium maintained between oxidants (ROS) and antioxidants (reductants). ROS increases with intense physical exercise (Fig 1) which can exceed the capacity of the bodys natural antioxidant defence (Reid 2001). This was illustrated by Davis (1982) and Ebbeling (1990), whereby strenuous activity led to increased lev els of malondialdehyde (MDA), a 3-carbon-chain aldehyde. Measurement of MDA has become the most commonly used indicator of lipid peroxidation (Mc Bride 1999).Thus, the ingestion of exogenous antioxidants has been proposed to attenuate this increase in ROS. Evans (1990) noted that several antioxidants, including vitamin C and especially vitamin E, have been shown to decrease the exercise-induced increase in the rate of lipid peroxidation, which could help prevent muscle tissue damage. The effects of Vitamin E have been more extensively researched than Vitamin C due to some promising results in the literature. Vitamin E is the main lipidsoluble, chain-breaking antioxidant (Ji 1996) which accumulates in the phospholipid bilayer of cell membranes and helps attenuate lipid peroxidation (Sjodin 1990) within the cell membrane acting as an important scavenger of superoxide and lipid radicals (Powers 2000). Vitamin E supplementation has been shown to significantly decrease the amount of lipid peroxidation (Kanter 1993) and membrane damage associated with single bouts of low and high intensity submaximal exercise aswell as resistance exercise (Mc Bride 1998; Ashton 1999). Sumida (1989) stated that 300 mg of vitamin E given for 4 weeks reduced exercise-induced lipid peroxidation . Mc Bride (1998) reported the effectiveness of vitamin E supplementation in reducing MDA and creatine kinase (CK) levels. Cannon (1990) reported a decrease in CK and a faster recovery after supplem entation of vitamin E. Furthermore, Kanter (1997) recently reported a 35 % increase in T-lag time (indicative of a diminished LDL oxidation rate) in subjects who consumed 1000 mg d-a-tocopherol acetate daily for 1 week before exercise. Various studies have also demonstrated beneficial physiological effects of vitamin C supplementation in physically-active people. Jakeman and Maxwell (1993) found that supplementing vitamin C showed less strength loss (Fig 2) in the triceps surae post-exercise, and a faster recovery (Fig 3) compared to placebo. The force response to tetanic stimulation was less in the vitamin C group also, indicating a reduction in contractile function. Kaminski and Boal (1992) pre-supplemented subjects for 3 days with 1 g of vitamin C 3 times a day and then induced damage in the posterior calf muscles. Supplementation continued for 7 days post-exercise with vitamin C group reporting reduced soreness ratings ranging from 25-44% less than the control group. Peters (1993) noted fewer cases of upper respiratory tract infection in runners who consumed 600 mg vitamin C/d for 3 weeks before a 42 km road race. Bryer (2006) reported lower DOMS in a high-dose Vitamin C supplementation group 2 weeks prior and 4 days post eccentric exercise Studies which have used combinations of antioxidants (consumed 300-800 mg d-cr-tocopherol plus 200 mg vitamin C/d for 4-8 weeks) reported post-exercise declines in serum enzymes indicative of muscle tissue damage in subjects (Sumida 1989; Rokitzi 1994). Kanter (1993) reported that a mixture of vitamin E (592 mg), vitamin C (1,000 mg), and 30 mg of beta carotene resulted in a decreased level of a lipid peroxidation marker after exercise. All the previously mentioned studies suggest tangible benefits of antioxidant supplementation in combating detrimental physiological processes that may be initiated by physical activity thus appearing beneficial to sports and exercise participants. Exercise exhibits numerous positive effects on general health (Wartburton 2006), most notably improving glucose metabolism. It is well documented that exercise increases ROS production (Powers 2008), however it is unknown whether this may influence the health promoting effects of exercise. The effects of antioxidant supplementation on the health-promoting effects of exercise have recently been investigated (Gomez-Cabrera 2008; Ristow 2009). Exercise helps initiate mitochondrial metabolism, with a reduction of this metabolism linked with type 2 diabetes (Simoneau 1997). Since mitochondria are the main source of ROS, its been proclaimed that ROS may be a factor in some health promoting effects (Schulz 2007; Birringer 2007). Ristow (2009) investigated this theory and hypothesized that antioxidant supplementation may repeal certain health promoting benefits of exercise and oxidative stress. Thus, if increases in oxidative stress exhibit a counteracting effect on insulin-resistance, then the prevention of ROS activation by antioxidants may increase the risk of disease such as type 2 diabetes. Ristow (2009) proposed an essential role for ROS formation in increasing insulin sensitivity in exercising humans. The study found that vitamin C and vitamin E blocked many of the beneficial effects of exercise such as insulin sensitivity (glucose infusion rates-GIR) and the promotion of muscle antioxidant defence post-exercise. James (1984) found non-supplemented subjects showed significant increase in GIR after 4 weeks training whereas antioxidant group found no significant change (Fig 4). In addition, the non supplemented group also increased adiponectin levels compared to the supplemented group (Fig 5). Adiponectin (secretory protein) has been shown to have a positive correlation with insulin sensitivity and is inversely correlated with risk of type 2 diabetes (Spranger 2003). A recent meta-analysis of 232,550 participants suggests use of antioxidants may increase all-cause mortality (Bjelakovic 2007). Of the 136,023 receiving antioxidants, 13.1% died (17,880) whereas of the 96,5 27 controls, 10.5% died (10,136). Studies in healthy subjects show that low aerobic capacity is a strong predictor of mortality (Myers 2002; Yusuf 2004). Impaired regulation of mitochondrial function is an important mechanism for low aerobic capacity (Wisloff 2005). Gomez-Cabrera (2008) found that mitochondrial content is a key determinant of endurance capacity and that vitamin C decreases exercise-induced mitochondrial biogenesis in muscle. Free radicals serve as signals to adapt muscle cells to exercise through gene expression (Khassaf 2003). Vitamin C was found to prevent beneficial training effects to occur due to their prevention of activation of two major antioxidants (Mn-SOD and GPx) (Gomez-Cabrera 2008). The aforementioned study also concluded that endurance capacity is directly related to mitochondrial content, which is negatively affected by antioxidants. Antioxidant supplementation is extremely popular among athletes, but data indicating beneficial effects on functional capacity of muscle are elusive. There is no strong evidence from literature for the use of antioxidant supplementation in athletic populations as there are many poor controlled studies involving unusually high doses, involving low muscle damaging activity and more recent research has alleviated to minimal if any benefits. Antioxidants do not seem beneficial in preventing DOMS, increasing recovery time or protect against muscle damage but in fact long term supplementation (with vitamin E in particular) may increase mortality (Bjelakovic 2007). Most notably for athletes, not only does supplementation appear ineffective in preventing against exercise induced muscle damage, but interferes with the ROS signalling which are needed for adaptation to occur (Gomez-Cabrera 2008). References: Allen DG (2001). Eccentric muscle damage: mechanisms of early reduction of force. Acta Physiol Scand; 171(3):311-9 Aoi W, Naito Y, Takanami Y, Kawai Y, Sakuma K, Ichikawa H (2004). Oxidative stress and delayed-onset muscle damage after exercise. Free Radic Biol Med;37:480- 7. Armstrong RB (1990). Initial events in exercise-induced muscular injury. Med Sci Sports Exerc; 22(4): 429-35 Ashton T, Young IS, Peters JR, Jones E, Jackson SK, Davies B (1999). Electron spin resonance spectroscopy, exercise, and oxidative stress: an ascorbic acid intervention study. J Appl Physiol;87:2032- 6 Birringer M, et al. (2007) Improved glucose metabolism in mice lacking alphatocopherol transfer protein. Eur J Nutr 46:397-405. Bjelakovic G, Nikolova D, Gluud LL, Simonetti RG, Gluud C (2007) Mortality in randomized trials of antioxidant supplements for primary and secondary prevention: Systematic review and meta-analysis. J Am Med Assoc 297:842-857. Bryer SC, Goldfarb AH (2006). Effect of high dose vitamin C supplementation on muscle soreness, damage, function and oxidative stress to eccentric exercise. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab; 16(3): 270-80 Byrd, S.K.(1992) Alterations in the sarcoplasmic reticulum: A possible link to exercise-induced muscle damage. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 24:531-536 Cannon, J.G, Evans W.J (1990). Acute phase response in exercise: Interaction of age and vitamin E on neutrophils and muscle enzyme release. Am. J. Physiol. 259:R1214-R1219. Clarkson PM, Hubal MJ (2002). Exercise-induced muscle damage in humans. Am J Phys Med Rehabil; 81(11): S52-59 Davies, K.J, BROOKS G.A, and Packer L (1982). Free radicals and tissue damage produced by exercise. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 107:1198-1205. Dillard CJ, Litov RE, Savin RE, Dumelin EE Tappel AL (1978) Effects of exercise, vitamin E, and ozone on pulmonary function and lipid peroxidation. Journal of Applied Physiology Ebbeling, C.B, and Clarkson P.M(1990). Muscle adaptation prior to recovery following eccentric exercise. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 60: 26-31. Finaud J, Lac G, Filaire E (2006). Oxidative Stress: relationship with exercise and training. Sports Med;36(4):327-58 Gomez-Cabrera MC, Domenech E (2008). Moderate exercise is an antioxidant: upregulation of antioxidant genes by training. Free Radic Biol Med; 44(2): 126-31 Gomez-Cabrera MC, et al. (2008) Oral administration of vitamin C decreases muscle mitochondrial biogenesis and hampers training-induced adaptations in endurance performance. Am J Clin Nutr 87:142-149. Halliwell, B., Gutteridge J. M (1984). Oxygen toxicity, oxygen radicals, transition metals and disease. J. Biochem. 219:1-14. Hartmann A, Nies AM, Grunert-Fuchs M, Poch B Speit G (1995) Vitamin E prevents exercise-induced DNA damage. Mutation Research 346, 195-202. Hathcock JN, Azzi A, Blumberg J (2005). Vitamins E andCare safe across a broad range of intakes. Am J Clin Nutr;81:736-45 Hellsten, Y, Sjodin B (1997) Xanthine oxidase in human skeletal muscle following eccentric exercise: A role in inflammation. J. Physiol. 498: 239-248. James DE, Kraegen EW, Chisholm DJ (1984) Effect of exercise training on whole-body insulin sensitivity and responsiveness. J Appl Physiol 56:1217-1222. Ji, L.L (1996). Exercise, oxidative stress, and antioxidants. Am. J. Sports Med. 24:S20-S24. Ji, L.L. (2000) Free radicals and antioxidants in exercise and sports. G.E. Garrett, and D.T. Kirkendall. Exercise and Sport Science. New York, NY: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. pp. 299- 317. Kaminski, M, Boal M (1992). An effect of ascorbic acid on delayed- onset muscle soreness. Pain 50:317-321. Kanter MM, Bartoli WP, Eddy DE Horn MK (1997) Effects of short term vitamin E supplementation on lipid peroxidation, inflammation and tissue damage during and following exercise. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 29, S40. Kanter, M.M., Nolte L ,and Holloszy H (1993). Effects of an antioxidant vitamin mixture on lipid peroxidation at rest and postexercise. J. Appl. Physiol. 74:965-969. Kanter, M.M., Nolte L.A and Holloszy J.O (1993). Effects of an antioxidant vitamin mixture on lipid peroxidation at rest and post-exercise. J. Appl. Physiol. 74:965-969. Khassaf M, McArdle A, Esanu C (2003). Effect of vitamin C supplements on antioxidant defence and stress proteins in human lymphocytes and skeletal muscle. J Physiol;549:645-52. Kosmidou I, Vassilakopoulos T, Xagorari A, Zakynthinos S, Papapetropoulos A, Roussos C (2002). Production of interleukin-6 by skeletal muscle myotubes. Role of reactive oxygen species. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol;26:587- 93. Maxwell SRJ, Jakeman P, Thomason H, (1993). Changes in plasma antioxidant status during eccentric exercise and the effect of vitamin supplementation. Free Radic Res Commun;19:191-202. McBride, J.M., and Kraemer W.J (1998) Effect of resistance exercise on free radical production. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 30:67-72. McBride, J.M., and Kraemer W.J (1999). Free radicals, exercise, and antioxidants. J. Strength Cond. Res. 13:175-183. Myers J, Prakash M, Froelicher V, Do D, Partington S, Atwood JE (2002). Exercise capacity and mortality among men referred for exercise testing. N Engl J Med;346:793- 801. Powers SK, Jackson MJ (2008) Exercise-induced oxidative stress: Cellular mechanisms and impact on muscle force production. Physiol Rev 88:1243-1276. Pyne, D.B (1994). Regulation of neutrophil function during exercise. Sports Med. 17:245-258. Reid, M.B, Shoji T,Moody M.R, and Entman M.L.(1992) Reactive oxygen in skeletal muscle. II. Extracellular release of free radicals.J. Appl. Physiol. 73:1805-1809. Ristow, M., Zarse, K., Oberbach, A., Kloting, N., Birringer, M., Kiehntopf, M. Stumvoll, M., Kahn, C.R., Bluher, M. (2009). Antioxidants prevent health-promoting effects of physical exercise in humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106, 8665-8670. Rokitzi L, Logemann E, Sagredos AN, Wetzel-Roth W Keul J (1994) Lipid peroxidation and antioxidative vitamins under extreme endurance stress. Acta Physiologica Scandinavica 154, 149-154. Sastre J, Asensi M, Gasco E (1992). Exhaustive physical exercise causes oxidation of glutathione status in blood: prevention by antioxidant administration. Am J Physiol;263:R992-5. Schulz TJ, et al. (2007) Glucose restriction extends Caenorhabditis elegans life span by inducing mitochondrial respiration and increasing oxidative stress. Cell Metab 6:280-293. Sen, C, K (2001). Antioxidants in Exercise. Nutrition Journal of Sports Medicine- Volume 31 Issue 13 pp 891-908 Simoneau JA, Kelley DE (1997) Altered glycolytic and oxidative capacities of skeletal muscle contribute to insulin resistance in NIDDM. J Appl Physiol 83:166-171. Sjodin, B., Y. And Apple F.S (1990). Biochemical mechanisms for oxygen free radical formation during exercise. Sports Med. 10:236-254. Spranger J, et al. (2003) Adiponectin and protection against type 2 diabetes mellitus. Lancet 361:226-228. Sumida, S., Tanaka K, Kitao H, Nakadomo F (1989). Exercise- induced lipid peroxidation and leakage of enzymes before and after vitamin E supplementation. Int. J. Biochem. 21:835- 838. Warburton DE, Nicol CW, Bredin SS (2006) Health benefits of physical activity: The evidence. Can Med Ass J 174:801-809. Wisloff U, Najjar SM, Ellingsen O (2005). Cardiovascular risk factors emerge after artificial selection for low aerobic capacity. Science; 307:418 -20. Yusuf S, Hawken S, Ounpuu S (2004). Effect of potentially modifiable risk factors associated with myocardial infarction in 52 countries (the Interheart Study): case-control study. Lancet;364:937-52.

The Turn of the Screw - A Look at a Criticism :: Henry James Turn Screw Essays

The Turn of the Screw - A Look at a Criticism There are many different ways to interpret The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James. Many critics over the past century have voiced their opinions about the story. Each critical analysis of the story disagrees with the beliefs expressed in another. Robert B. Heilman is a critic who wrote in the mid-twentieth century. He interprets The Turn of the Screw to be a representation of the conflict between good and evil. Heilman's points are clear and obviously well thought out, but there are flaws in his argument that make his interpretation questionable. In his 1948 essay, Robert Heilman explores the suggestion that The Turn of the Screw is a symbolic representation of the conflict between good and evil. Heilman interprets the apparitions of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel as evil forces. He explains that the ghosts only appear to the governess because evil lurks in subtlety before it strikes. It is the duty of the governess to "detect and ward off evil." She must protect the children from the awful ghosts. The governess describes Miles and Flora as beautiful little cherubs whose only fault is their gentleness (James, 18-19). Heilman views the children's beauty as a "symbol of the spiritual perfection of which man is capable." Heilman explains the ghosts' attempts to reach the children by explaining that evil forces will always try to conquer and possess the human soul. Heilman continues to draw from the descriptions of Miles and Flora to support his theories. He points out that the two children are described as having an "angelic beauty " and a "positive fragrance of purity" (James 9, 13). The governess describes them as if they are perfect and beautiful in every way. This repeated vision of beauty, radiance, and innocence parallels the image of Eden. The house at Bly also resembles this image, "I remember the lawn and the bright flowers..." (James 7). The governess makes mention of the "golden sky" and of Flora's "hair of gold," which Heilman believes connects Bly and Flora with these images of golden hues (James 7, 9). Robert Heilman perceives that the ghost of Peter Quint is a direct representation of the serpent that plagues the Garden of Eden. Heilman supports this with the description of Quint found in the text, "His eyes are sharp, strange- awfully; .

Chicano Studies Paper

The United States, a place associated with hope, equal opportunity and freedom also faces many underlying issues. The idea of this â€Å"perfect† country has been corrupted with problems such as immigration, growing class division and most prominently the 2007 recession. These burdens have prevented people from living the â€Å"American Dream†, a concept that our country has over glorified. The root of these ongoing problems has not been properly addressed, preventing our nation from making any progress.Looking closely at the continuous problems that the Unites States has and still faces, it is viable to say that these issues revolve around capitalism. The novel, The Barbarian Nurseries by Hector Tobar illustrates how immigrants like Araceli are victimized due to unresolved issues with money and the recession. When Araceli is prosecuted for abusing and kidnapping the Torres-Thompson children, the case eventually transitions into an issue with immigration. As the case ga ins media attention people like Ian Goller and Janet Bryson express resentment toward Araceli.Within Araceli, Goller and Bryson saw a representation of immigrants, who in their mind were to blame for the issues that had erupted in â€Å"their† country, such as the everlasting recession. Janet Bryson exemplifies this anger and bitterness when she boldly states: â€Å"To those who want to point out how much these illegal immigrants [†¦] contribute to their society [.. ] Look at our full prisons, our higher insurance rates, our lowering education standards†(325). Bryson and Goller’s actions symbolize the result of capitalism, the true villain within the novel.Capitalism has never been fully recognized as the true cause for many of the problems the U. S has faced causing immigrants like Araceli to be used as scapegoats for issues they had little influence in causing. As a result, capitalism can be seen as the barbarian in the novel, which in turn leads to barba ric actions on behalf of people like Goller and Bryson, against immigrants like Araceli who are innocently trying to secure a better life for themselves in the United States.I personally found it appalling that even after Araceli was found innocent for harming and kidnapping of the Thompson kids, Goller had the audacity to try and prosecute and deport Araceli: â€Å"Your honor before you adjourn, [.. ] there is also the matter of the defendant’s immigration status† (408). These never ending accusations that immigrants have to carry, prevent them from reaching that better life that they work so hard to one day achieve in the Unites States. In the end Araceli is unjustly forced to escape and essentially start a new life from scratch due to the negative associations that an immigrant label carriers.In the film A Better Life, capitalism is also a hidden factor to many of the conflicts that are portrayed throughout the film. The film depicts Carlos, a hardworking immigrant worker striving to do all he possibly can to create a better life for him and his son. This proves to be easier said than done as Carlos’ continuous efforts backfire and he ends up getting deported. The driving force behind his inability to reach the better life he so desperately desires is capitalism.Passion and motivation can be seen within Carlos’ optimism and spirit when he says: â€Å"This country is a land of dreams, it can be a hard place, a cruel place, but it’s where I work and I dream for a better place for my son†. Unfortunately his drive is not enough to move up economically which is the key to sustaining a better living. Even when hope is created through the purchase of a truck, his gateway to living the American dream is quickly shattered when his truck is stolen by Santiago, another immigrant worker.The injustice that he had faced when getting his truck stolen led me to resent Santiago, but I later realized that he was going through his own hardships in trying to live out his own American Dream. The darkness of capitalism had led him to a desperate barbaric action, emphasizing the want for a better life as a universal battle. Capitalism further acts as a catalyst in the film as seen through Carlos unstable living in a run down neighborhood, preventing his son Luis from getting getting the proper education he deserves and needs to accomplish a better future.The probability of his son ending up in the same oppressive situation as him becomes very probable, causing doubts of the possibility of ever reaching success. This never ending cycle of constant input with no output leads to the devastating realization that this idea of a better life may be unattainable. This understanding is described by Celo who chose to face the reality of his limited opportunities by joining a gang: â€Å"They either lock us out or lock us up†. This makes me stop and realize that there is a reason behind all of the â€Å"bad† deci sions that people make, sometimes it’s becomes their only option.At the end of the film, a better life is not achieved by Carlos, instead he is seen in the desert trying to cross the border, back to the same place that he had started, making one wonder if a better life is even reachable. The 2007 recession, a result of capitalism has also had a personal impact on my family’s lives. Before the recession, my family lived a pretty stable life in a beautiful home that my parents had worked so hard to provide for us. When the recession struck its effects took a toll on my family for several years to come. Around 2009 my mom was laid off from her teaching position, leaving her jobless for over a year.During this time all of the financial responsibilities for the house were left to my dad who did not gain much income as a truck driver. Without any financial help from my mom, money became a huge issue for my family. Letting go of certain luxuries, such as going out to eat freq uently and shopping for new gadgets whenever we pleased became difficult. As payments for the house became more complicated to pay, my parents also started drifting apart. Eventually my dad was unable to make the payments for the house causing us to lose our home as well as deal with the eventual separation of my parents.All of these events led back to the recession which has definitely taken us off the path from living the better life that my parents worked so hard to achieve. Looking back at the successes that my parents have achieved only to be beaten down by the devious recession, I strive to rebuild that â€Å"better life† that we once had, full of unity, happiness, and achievement. Due to these burdens, several years later my family is still dealing with the consequences of an issue that has yet to be dealt with efficiently by the United States.Reaching a better life has become more difficult due to the Unites States’ inability to address a problem that has been plaguing our nation over and over again. This capitalist issue has shattered many hopes and dreams that many hoped to achieve. Life should not be based on lost aspirations but on anticipation for a successful future. Through the text, the novel and my personal experience our nation’s issue with capitalism can be seen as an unchanging factor in our society in both the past and present.Due to our nation’s failure in providing a solution for the problems that capitalism has ensued, its negative effects have come up time and time again. During the 1930’s the Unites States faced an economic depression resulting in a very high unemployment rate. In order to deflect the nation away from the issues the nation was facing, immigrants were targeted for the country’s falling out. The justification for these unjust actions is portrayed in the reader stating that â€Å"The deportation of more Mexicans meant more jobs for real Americans† (147).These unreasonable initiatives that the nation took in order to draw attention away from United State’s real issues, appear to be very similar to the actions taken by the nation in today’s recession. It is due to these continued patterns that reaching for a more stable, successful life has become difficult not only for immigrants but for everyone in the United States trying to make something of themselves. As Sunny Patterson states in her poem, â€Å"Money and power and greed, the game. They suck and devour the souls of the slain†.Patterson highlights how our societies corrupted desire for money and control has selfishly left the rest of the population thirsting for the day they will be able to rebuild the path toward their desired life. It is for these reasons that I believe that our nation is still in the â€Å"dessert† as Patterson suggests, facing the same unresolved problems that have progressively lead to high unemployment, rising tuition for educations, higher costs of living and so on. A positive initiative needs to be taken in order to prevent our nations from getting even worse than it already is.Martin Luther King proposes a solution to this problem when he states: â€Å"We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing oriented society to a person oriented society† (A Time to Break Silence). He suggests that a shift needs to be made from individualistic selfish needs to a population coming together and conquering the nation’s issues in unison. This idea is also suggested by Patterson after addressing all of the abominations that the Unites States has yet to address when she states: â€Å"But come, come children, rally around and maybe together we can make a sound that will shake the trees or rattle the ground†.This simple change of coming together to change a cause is an effortless act that can bring just the right push to in bringing a positive change to our nation. This small yet useful act can be used as a way to express common concerns within a population to bring about the urgently needed change that we need in our nation. It is only through this radical change as King speaks out about that our nation will finally get out of the all too familiar desert that we have revisited over and over again.

Internet Use Essay

Introduction Learning is a process of acquiring modifications in existing knowledge, skills, habits, or tendencies through experience, practice, or exercise. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2012) Clinical education is a vital component in the curricula of pre-registration nursing courses and provides student nurses with the opportunity to combine cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains. Various studies have suggested that not all practice settings are able to provide nursing students with a positive learning environment. In order to maximize nursing students’ clinical learning outcomes, there is a need to examine the clinical learning environment. (Chan, 2004) Clinical experience has been the vital part of nursing education. According to Dunn and Burnette (1995), it is the avenue for the students to utilize the theories that they’ve learned in their discussion. It prepares student nurses to be able of â€Å"doing† as well as â€Å"knowing† the clinical principles in practice. The clinical practice stimulates students to use their critical thinking skills for problem solving. It is where the student nurses enhance their knowledge in nursing concepts and principles as well as to develop and improve their skills and attitude towards rendering quality of nursing services. Internet is a worldwide network that connects millions of computer and rapidly transforming the character of life and work. Internet gives tremendous impact on the conduct of every aspect in life especially in education. Nowadays, most of the students rely in the new trends brought by technology. When it comes to education, internet is the number one sour ce of the students in making school requirements. However, there are negative aspects too with regards in using internet, but if we use it enough in the right way, it will be a big help and easier for us to learn something new in just a click away. The internet, or sometimes called â€Å"The Net† is a worldwide system of computer network at any computer can get information from any other computers. (Gaylah, 2010) Regular use of computers can have an effect on student performance on standardized tests, according to a new study by researchers at Boston College and the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. Analyzing test performance and computers uses of 1986 fourth grade students from 55 classrooms in nine Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment Systems (MCAS) English Language Arts Exam. According to federal communication commission, 97% of schools across the country had internet connectivity as of 2010 (FCC, 2010). Far fewer, were able to successfully meet the need from higher speed access, the FCC said, citing that demand as one reason it unveiled its National Broadband Plan in March 2010. A study of I. Kabakci, et al., about â€Å"Parents Views about Internet use of their Children† was revealed that parents consi der Internet as an important source that children can especially use to do research for their lessons and to do their homework. It was concluded that Internet influences the personal development of children negatively because children are exposed to physiological effects since they spend a lot of time on internet. The study of Kabacki et. Al., was all about Internet Use and Its Effect to Academic Performance but there was only limited study conducted about Internet and Clinical Performance of Nursing Students, thus, the Researchers would like to conduct a study about the Internet Use in Clinical Performance of Nursing Students to identify how student’s performance on clinical area would be affected with the use of internet and to fill the gap of the researcher’s curiosity about the said study. Statement of the Problem This study was intended to determine the effects of internet use of student nurses in relation to their clinical performance. Specifically, the study sought answers to the following: 1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of: 1.1 sex; 1.2 age; 1.3 year level; and 1.4 weekly allowance? 2. How often do student nurses use the Internet? 3. Is there a significant relationship between student nurses’ use of the Internet and their profile variates? 4. What is the clinical performance of the student nurse-respondents? 5. Is there a significant relationship between student-respondents’ clinical performance and profile variates? 6. Is there a significant relationship between Internet usage of student nurses and their clinical performance? 7. What are the implications can be drawn from the study? Hypotheses Based on the specific questions presented above, the following hypotheses were tested: 1. There is no significant relationship between student nurses’ use of the Internet and their profile variates. 2. There is no significant relationship between students-respondents clinical performance and profile variates. 3. There is no significant relationship between Internet use of student nurses and their clinical performance. Theoretical Framework Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning by Mayer where in the principle known as the multimedia principle states that â€Å"people learn more deeply from words and pictures than from words alone†(Mayer,1996 p.47). However, simply adding words to pictures is not an effective way to achieve multimedia learning. The goal is to instructional media in the light of how human mind works. This is the bases of Mayer’s cognitive theory of multimedia learning. This theory proposes three main assumptions when it comes to learning with multimedia: There are two separate channels, auditory and visual for processing information sometimes referred to as Dual-coding Theory; Each channel has a limited (finite) capacity similar to Sweller’s notion of cognitive; Learning is an active process of filtering, selecting, organizing and integrating information based upon prior knowledge. Humans can only process a finite amount of information in a channel at a time and they make of sense o f incoming information by acting creating mental representations. Mayer also discusses the role of three memory stores sensory (which receives stimuli and restores if for a very short time), working (where we actively process information to create mental constructs (or schema) and long-term (the repository of all things learned). Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia presents the idea that the brain does not interpret a multimedia presentation of words, pictures and auditory information in a mutually exclusive fashion; rather these elements are selected organized dynamically to produce logical mental constructs. Furthermore, Mayer underscores the importance of learning (based upon the testing of content and demonstrating the successful transfer of knowledge) when new information is integrated with prior knowledge. Design principles include providing coherent verbal, pictorial information, guiding the learners to select relevant words and images and reducing the load for a sing processing channel etc. can be entailed from this theory. Experi mental Learning Theory by David A. Kolb emphasizes that the true play in the learning process. He states that â€Å"learning is a process is whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience† (1984, p.38). The theory presents a cyclical model of learning, consisting of four stages. One may begin at any stage, but must follow each other in the sequence: concrete experience (or â€Å"DO†), reflective observation (or â€Å"OBSERVE†), abstract conceptualization (or â€Å"THINK†), active experimentation (or â€Å"PLAN†). Kolb’s four-stage learning cycle shows how experience is translated through reflection into concepts, which in turn are used as guides for active experimentation and the choice of new experiences. The first stage, concrete experience (CE), is where the learner actively experiences an activity such as a lab session or field work. The second stage, reflective observation (RO), is when the learner consciously reflects back on that experience. The third stage, abstract conceptualization (AC), is where the le arner attempts to conceptualize a theory or model of what is observed. The fourth stage, active experimentation (AE), is where the learner is trying to plan how to test a model or theory or plan for a forthcoming experience. Kolb identified four learning styles which correspond to these stages. The styles highlight conditions under which learners learn better. These styles are: assimilators, who learn better when presented with sound logical theories to consider, convergers, who learn better when provided with practical applications of concepts and theories, accommodators, who learn better when provided with â€Å"hands-on† experiences, divergers, who learn better when allowed to observe and collect a wide range of information. Conceptual Framework Presented in the Figure 1 is the Conceptual Framework of the research study, a frame at the base of the diagram shows the study group or the research environment, 78 Student Nurses of Samar State University S.Y. 2012-2013. The said frame is connected to a bigger frame by a single arrow where it consist the research process. The aim of the study is to determine the relationship between the internet use of students and their profile variates, the internet use of students and clinical performance, and the relationship between the profile variates and clinical performance of the students. The frame for the research process is connected to the finding and analysis of the researcher and the implication which serves as a room of opportunity in the improvement of learning skills of student nurses.

Recent Trends in Capital Market of Bangladesh Critical Evaluation

RECENT TRENDS IN CAPITAL MARKET OF BANGLADESH: CRITICAL EVALUATION OF REGULATION by Syed Golam Shahjarul Alam A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Professional Master in Banking and Finance Examination Committee: Dr. Sundar Venkatesh (Chairperson) Dr. Winai Wongsurawat Dr. Yuosre Badir Nationality: Previous Degree: Bangladeshi Master of Business Administration University of Dhaka Dhaka, Bangladesh Bangladesh Bank (Central Bank of Bangladesh) Scholarship Donor:Asian Institute of Technology School of Management Thailand May2012 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My greatest Gratitude is given to Dr. Sundar Venkatesh, my project advisor, for his deep insight in capital market, which helped me to accomplish the project paper. His dedication towards teaching, motivating and supervising influenced me greatly, leading to do my project work carefully and seriously. I wish to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to Bangladesh Bank, My office, for granting me a scholarship, to pursue my Masters in banking and finance.I express my gratitude and deepest appreciation to my friend Ms. Senjuti binte rafiq, My Colleagues in Bangladesh Bank and DSE Library staffs who helped me by providing valuable suggestions and necessary data for my analysis. I am very much thankful to Dr. Winai Wongsurawat and Dr. Juthathip Jongwanich for their valuable suggestions regarding my project. I express my gratitude and deepest appreciation to Ms Kluaymai Thongkham, Ms. Farah Nashid Hossain and other AIT staffs for their effort in creating a homely atmosphere amid the difficult time. i ABSTRACT The Capital Market of Bangladesh is passing tough times since December 2010 as high volatility is eroding the capital of Thousands of Investors that might turn into social instability. This fall is caused by many factors that I tried to identify and tried to link up between causal factors of market crash and regulatory failure. Primary issue related problems was faulty list ing methods and IPO overpricing, few numbers of new listings, revaluating assets before company listing, high premium in issuance of right share/Repeat IPO etc. hile secondary market related problems was stock splits and stock price manipulations through block trading, circular trading and insider trading. Investor’s greed and irrational behavior played a big rule to make the stock prices sky rocking as they were crazy to buy shares without judging the company fundamentals. Shares of the companies with closed operations and big accumulated losses were rising constantly due to investors high risk appetite that caused them to loss everything.Government had already taken many steps (including SEC reforms) to stabilize the market but failed as investors confidence is in the bottom level. Government and regulators should work together to identify the main speculators and should brought under proper trial to bring investors back to the market. Regulator should make reforms on Listi ng procedures and other faulty regulatory frameworks to ensure transparency and efficiency in the capital market and also should bring clear guidelines regarding Private Placements, Asset Revaluation, Insider Trading, Dealing with Omnibus Accounts etc. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER TITLE Title Page Acknowledgements Abstract Table of Contents List of Tables List of Figures List of Illustrations 1 Introduction 1. 1 Background 1. 2 Statement of the problems 1. 3 Objectives 1. 3. 1 Overall Objective 1. 3. 2 Specific Objectives 1. 4 Scope Literature Review 2. 1 Terminology 2. 2 Previous research works on this topic Methodology 3. 1 Data Source 3. 2 Methods Recent Trends of Capital Market PAGE i ii iii iv vi vii viii 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 10 14 14 14 15 2 3 4 6 7 8 Factors behind recent Capital market Crash in Bangladesh Conclusions and Recommendations Bibliography/References Appendixes 22 35 39 40 iv LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 2. 1 2. 2 2. 3 5. 2 TITLE Trend of Bombay Stock Exchange-30 (BSE-30) i ndex Trend of DSE General (DGEN) index Trend of SET Index Price Trend of Chittagong Vegetable Oil Ind. Ltd. PAGE 9 9 10 30 v LIST OF TABLES TABLE 2. 1 2. 2 4. 1 4. 2 4. 3 4. 4 4. 5 5. 1 5. 2 5. 3 5. 4 5. 5 5. 6 5. 7 5. 8 5. 9 5. 10 5. 11 5. 12 5. 13 5. 14 5. 15 5. 16 5. 7 TITLE DSE Top five BO Accountholders in 2010 Comparison of DSE volatility with other market Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) activities DSE Highest Records Change in total Number of BO Accounts in two Years Detail information of fresh Issues in the DSE during 2009-11 Inconsistency in regulations regarding Margin Loan Price comparison of companies with different per value Price comparison of Mutual Funds with different per value List of some stock split companies and their Market Capitalization Top 10 NAV-gainer companies after asset revaluationsTop Companies offered Right shares with high premium Top Companies offered preference Shares Companies floated shares through Book Building Method Basic Listing Information of Khu lna Power Company Ltd. Basic Listing Information of Ocean Containers Limited.Top 20 Gainers in 2010 Financial Performance of Chittagong Vegetable Oil Industries Ltd Price trends of the stocks of Chittagong vegetable oil Industries Ltd Paired Samples Test One Sample Test Price sensitive information of Chittagong vegetable oil Industries Regulatory Actions displayed in DSE screen Increase of Market Capitalization and Total Turnover PAGE 5 9 17 17 18 19 20 22 23 24 25 25 26 26 27 27 28 30 31 32 32 32 33 39 viLIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AIT Asian Institute of Technology BB Bangladesh Bank DSE Dhaka Stock Exchange SEC Securities and Exchange Commission CSE Chittagong Stock Exchange Report Ibrahim Khalid Share Probe Report FI Financial Institution ADB Asian Development Bank EII Eligible Institutional Investors IPO Initial Public Offerings PER Price Earnings Ratio DGEN DSE General Index vii viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1. 1 Background/Rationale for the thesis Sound Capital Market is an indispensi ble part of an Economy.Without sound and efficient capital market, rapid economic development could be hampered as capital market provides long term funds to entrepreneurs. Capital Market of Bangladesh is still highly speculative and lacks transparency due to poor regulatory framework. In Bangladesh, Financial sector was historically driven by banks and capital market had fewer rules to play as people had mixed perception about the risk pattern in capital market that discouraged them mostly to invest there. But in the mid of ninetieths of last century capital market started to show vibrant behavior that make people interested bout the stock exchanges. As the index was rising sharply and everyone was making money, many people started to invest their money to the heated market that made a bigger bubble and finally the bubble bursts. Benchmark index came down to 700 point in November 1997 from its highest 3600 point in November 1996. Thousands of investors lost their money that made th em reluctant to invest in the capital market again. It took one decade for them to forget the history of collapse. After that, regulators had taken many steps to stabilize the market. Hundreds of new issues came to the market.Central depository, circuit breaker, online trading, etc. were introduced in the market to attract investors. As a result, the market started to grow again. Investors started to forget the history of 1996 and started to invest again. This time most investors were new and young with little knowledge about stocks and did not care about market risk. They invested their money and finally lost everything when the bubble started to burst in December, 2010 that had started to grow from the year 2009. This time Benchmark index came down to 3616 points in early February 2012 from its highest point 8918 in December 2010.Millions of investors lost their money and came down to the street. This is the small picture of stock market crashes in Bangladesh. In both cases regula tors had failed to take proactive measures to not grow the bubble and caused losses for millions of investors when the bubbles burst. When analysts were anxious about the bubbles, regulators were ignoring them and even defended the bubbles. The recent volatility of the capital market of Bangladesh is an abnormal phenomenon and such volatility tends to economic instability. I believe it will be interested enough to look into the causes of the problem.As such volatility affects mass people (many investors), it is essential to try to minimize such volatility by identifying the causes (esp. , Regulatory failure) and solving the problems. In my study, I will try to identify the reasons of this volatility and also to recommend some suggestions to minimize such volatility in future. 1. 2 ? Statement of the Problems As recent volatility raises many questions about the regulatory capability of the SEC, I would like to study whether regulator had any rule to worsen the problem or does it had anything to do at all?In my study, I will try to identify the reasons of recent unexpected events of the capital market of Bangladesh and will also try so suggests some ways to avoid same incidences in the future. Another reason to choose this topic is my present job field. I work for the central Bank of Bangladesh that plays a vital rule for economic development as a regulator. So the learning from this study will help me to identify 1 ? ? ? ? ? future risks associated with both money and capital market and also will make me able to make proactive decisions to prevent the economy from such disasters.As no research is made in this important issue, I believe that my research will be very useful for users. I also believe that regulators (e. g. , SEC, DSE, CSE, Bangladesh Bank) might use my study to strengthen the financial system (esp. , capital market) of Bangladesh. It is unknown whether the recent stock market fluctuation is due to regulatory failure or due to irrational behaviors of investors. Irrational behavior of investors might be an important reason for recent stock market bubble. Patterns of investor’s behavior might be covered by the study.In many cases, data availability might hinder to reach on my objectives. Data related to stock manipulations and insider trading are not available and that’s why I have to rely on secondary sources (if there is any) to conduct my study. Objectives of the Research Overall objective The study will try to identify the rule of regulators behind the recent capital market crash and focus on developing a road map for promoting Sustainable capital market regulatory framework in Bangladesh. Specific objectives 1. 3 1. 3. 1 1. 3. 2 The specific objectives of the study will be: ? To analyze and identify the reasons (Esp. regulatory rules. ) for recent stock market crash in Bangladesh. ? To review the existing listing and trading rules in Stock indices in Bangladesh. ? To recommend some guidelines for better regul ations to strengthen the capital market of Bangladesh. 1. 4 Scope This study is focused on the recent trend of the capital market of Bangladesh. The study will explain the regulatory aspects of capital market of Bangladesh on the basis of disclosed regulations and will try to judge the quality of the regulations in terms of its achievement of the goals. This study is basically descriptive in nature.Data is collected from both Primary (Stock Exchange, SEC) and secondary sources like different publications of DSE, Bangladesh Bank, ADB, WB and IMF. Some other research papers in this line will also be used. The areas that will be concentrated are: ? Various aspects of capital market regulations of Bangladesh ? Recent trends of Capital Market ? Bubble creation and Bubble Burst and reasons behind this market collapse 2 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 1 Terminology To establish the conceptual framework for the research, it is important to provide definitions of key terminologies that are gi ven below: 2. 1. 1 Capital MarketA capital market is a market for both debt and equity securities, where business enterprises and governments can raise long-term funds. It is defined as a market in which money is provided for periods longer than a year (Sullivan et. al. , 2003) 2. 1. 2 Money Market Money market is a segment of the financial market in which financial instruments with high liquidity and short maturities (one year or shorter) are traded. Trading in the money markets involves Treasury bills, bankers' acceptances, certificates of deposit, commercial paper, federal funds, and short-lived mortgage- and asset-backed securities.It provides liquidity support to the global financial system (Frank J. Fabozzi et. al. , 2002). Money market of Bangladesh consists Bangladesh Bank (BB) as the central bank, 4 State Owned Commercial Banks (SCB), 5 government owned specialized banks, 30 domestic private banks, 9 foreign banks and 29 non-bank financial institutions. Moreover, MicroCredi t Regulatory Authority (MRA) has given license to more than 300 Micro-credit Organizations. 2. 1. 3 Stock Exchange A stock exchange is a body that provides services to stock brokers and traders to trade stocks, bonds, and other securities.Stock exchanges also provide facilities for issuance and redemption of securities and other financial instruments, capital events including the payment of income and dividends. Securities traded on a stock exchange include shares issued by companies, Mutual funds, unit trusts, derivatives and bonds. The initial public offering (IPO) of securities (stocks and bonds) is done in the primary market and subsequent trading of it is done in the secondary market. A stock exchange is often the most important component of a stock market. The major functions of Stock Exchanges are: 1.Listing of Companies (As per Listing Regulations). 2. Providing the screen based automated trading of listed Securities. 3. Settlement of trading (As per Settlement of Transactio n Regulations). 4. Gifting of share / granting approval to the transaction/transfer of share outside the trading system of the exchange (As per Listing Regulations 42). 5. Market Administration & Control. 6. Market Surveillance. 7. Publication of Monthly Review. 8. Monitoring the activities of listed companies (As per Listing Regulations). 9. Investor’s grievance Cell (Disposal of complaint by laws 1997). 0. Investors Protection Fund (As per investor protection fund Regulations 1999). 3 11. Announcement of Price sensitive or other information about listed companies through online. 2. 1. 6 Demutualization Demutualization of a stock exchange is the process of transforming a non-profit memberowned mutual organization into a profit seeking shareholder Corporation. Exchanges all over the world have been demutualizing due to increasing international competition and technological challenges to traditional modes of securities trading.The change of a stock exchange from a member-owned organization to a for-profit shareholder corporation triggers a number of questions about regulatory oversight. In Bangladesh, Stock indices are directed by the elected body of stock brokers where conflict of interest happens. There is very poor corporate governance in the Stock Indices that is an important reason of recent debacle (Investigation Report by the Committee). In chapter 2 I discussed about benefits of demutualization that are applicable for the capital market of Bangladesh.As stock dealers and brokers are familiar as institutional investors and play a big rule in the capital market mechanism, they should be regulated properly. In Bangladesh, DSE conduct inspection on brokerage houses and DSE is also run by a selected committee of brokerage house, so one cannot expect proper judgment from the DSE. Table 2. 1 DSE Top five BO Accountholders in 2010 Name Total Annual Turnover (Tk. Billion ) Prime Bank Investment Ltd. 676. 73 IDLC Finance Ltd. 555. 58 LankaBangla Securities Ltd. 525. 33 Trust Bank Ltd. 523. 25 AB Investments Ltd. 497. 33 Sl. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.From the table, we find that all the top investors are brokerage houses who are mainly monitored by DSE that creates many conflicts of interests. So, if brokerage houses make any big irregularity, DSE is supposed to hide it as it a member of DSE. In 2010, many positive factors along with regulatory supports (SEC, DSE) inflated the market and finally caused big losses for general investors. In case of irregularities (serial Trading, price manipulation) by brokerage houses/members, DSE had failed to make any proper investigation and also failed to inform it to SEC for regulatory actions and favored members.In case of price bidding under book-building method, some members (associated to underwriter of the company) quoted very high and irrational price and DSE listed the securities of these companies without asking any question that rises about the transparency of the listing methods. Without stock excha nge demutualization such conflict of interests could not be avoided. 2. 1. 7 Stock market Bubble A stock market bubble is one kind of economic bubble that takes place in stock markets when market participants drive stock prices above their value in relation to some system of stock valuation. (Smith et. al. 1988) 4Impact of Bubble: There is debate about the impact of economic bubbles among different schools of economic thoughts. Many of the mainstream economists believe that bubbles cannot be recognized in advance, cannot be prevented from forming and attempts to â€Å"prick† the bubble cause financial crises. Instead of pricking the bubble, authorities should wait for bubbles to burst by their own ways, dealing with the consequences via monetary and fiscal policies (Robert E. Wright, 2010). Other economists believe that bubble have negative impact on the economy as it tends to cause misallocation of resources into non-optimal uses.Robert E. Wright, a political economist argue s that bubbles can be identified ex ante with high confidence. In addition, the crash that is caused by an economic bubble can demolish a large amount of wealth and might cause continuing economic depression; this view is particularly linked to the debt-deflation theory of Irving Fisher and elaborated within PostKeynesian economics. An important aspect of economic bubbles is its impact on spending habits. Market participants with overvalued assets tend to spend more because they â€Å"feel† richer (the wealth effect).Many observers quote the housing market of New Zealand, Spain, United Kingdom, Australia and United States in recent times as an example of this effect. Possible causes of Bubble: Low interest rate policies by the Federal Reserve system are believed to have exacerbated housing and commodities bubbles. The housing bubble popped as subprime mortgages began to default at much higher rates than expected, which also coincided with the rising of the fed funds rate. It has also been variously suggested that bubbles may be intrinsic, rational and contagious.To date, there is no widely accepted theory to explain their occurrence. Recent computergenerated agency models suggest that excessive leverage could be a key factor in causing financial bubbles. Some of the causes of economic bubble are given below: Liquidity: One of the possible causes of bubbles is the presence of excessive liquidity in the financial system that induces aggressive lending banks that make asset markets vulnerable. Economic bubbles often occur when too much money is chasing too few assets, causing both good and bad assets to appreciate excessively beyond their intrinsic value to an unacceptable level.Greater fool theory: Greater fool theory says that bubbles are driven by the behavior of highly optimistic market participants (the fools) who buy overpriced assets in anticipation of selling it to other speculators (the greater fools) at a higher price. According to this unsupport ed explanation, the bubbles continue as long as the fools can find greater fools to pay up for the overpriced assets. The bubbles will be ended only when the greater fool becomes the greatest fool who pays the highest price for the overpriced asset and no longer finds another buyer to pay for it at a higher price (Levine et. al. 007) Extrapolation: Extrapolation is the process of projecting historical data into the future on the same basis. If price of an asset have increased at a certain rate in the past, they are supposed to continue to rise at that rate perpetually. It says that investors tend to extrapolate past abnormal returns on investment of certain assets into the future, causing them to overbid those risky assets in order to attempt to capture the same rates of return 5 again. Overbidding on certain assets will at a point of time results uneconomic rates of return for investors and then the asset price starts to shrink (Buchanan and Mark, 2008).Herding: Investors tend to b uy or sell an asset in the direction of the market trend. This is sometimes supported by technical analysis that tries to identify those trends and follow them that creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. Investment managers are compensated and retained in part due to their performance relative to their industry peers. Taking a conservative or contrarian position as a bubble builds results in performance unfavorable to peers that might cause customers to go to competitors and might affect the investment manager's employment and compensation.Moral hazard: Moral hazard is the prospect that a party insulated from risk may behave differently from the way it would behave if it were fully exposed to the risk. A person's belief that they are responsible for the consequences of their own actions is an important aspect of rational behavior. An investor must balance the possibility of making a return on their investment with the risk of making a loss – the risk-return relationship. A moral hazard can occur when this relationship is interfered with, often via government policy.A recent example is the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), signed into law by U. S. President George W. Bush on October 3, 2008 to provide a Government bailout for many financial and non-financial institutions who speculated in high-risk financial instruments during the housing boom condemned by a 2005 story in The Economist titled â€Å"The worldwide rise in house prices is the biggest bubble in history†. Manipulation: Manipulation could be a very important reason of economic bubble. Especially, stock market bubble could be created through stock manipulations.In many developed and developing countries, big investors (Both individuals and Institutional) might manipulate the stock price and could create a bubble. Recent stock market bubble in Bangladesh is mostly caused by manipulations (Ibrahim Khalid stock market probe Report, 2011) Insider Trading: Insider trading also might be a cau se of economic bubble, esp. , in the capital market. Insiders can use the hidden information to take advantage of the undisclosed news from the market and can make the stock price higher than its intrinsic value (Ronald R et. al. 993) Other possible causes of Economic Bubble: Some regard bubbles as related to inflation and thus believe that the causes of inflation are also the causes of bubbles. Others think that bubbles represent an increase over that â€Å"fundamental value† of an asset, which finally return to that fundamental value. Finally, others regard bubbles as necessary consequences of illogically valuing assets solely based upon their returns in the recent past without resorting to a rigorous analysis based on their underlying â€Å"fundamentals†. 2. 1. 8 Omnibus Account Omnibus account is a type of account between two futures merchants (brokers).Transaction of individual accounts is combined in this type of account that allows easier management of portfolio by the futures merchant. But this type of account could be used to manipulate stock as many individual transactions are kept hidden over there. 6 In a recent investigation, it was found that many speculative deals were made through Omnibus accounts of Merchant Banks. Report showed that each Omnibus account consists of 3000-10000 individual accounts and big market players/manipulators used Omnibus Accounts to make speculate stock prices.Even high SEC and Government Officials used the help of Omnibus account to buy and sell share though its prohibited for them to involve invest in the stock market. (Ibrahim Khalid Committee Report) In this case Merchant Bank did not comply with SEC and Bangladesh Bank rules. As per central Bank law, shares of Banks cannot be bought in unidentified accounts but Merchant banks did so in many cases. But SEC never raised any question about such accounts and never made any investigations to dig out irregularities that indicate poor regulations. . 1. 9 Sto ck market crash A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic fall of stock prices across a significant crosssection of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper assets. Crashes are driven by panic as much as by underlying economic factors. They often follow speculative stock market bubbles. Stock market crashes are social phenomena where external economic events combine with crowd behavior and psychology in a positive feedback loop where selling by some market participants drives more market participants to sell.Generally speaking, crashes usually occur under the following conditions, a prolonged period of rising stock prices and excessive economic optimism, a market where P/E ratios exceed long-term averages, and extensive use of margin debt and leverage by market participants (Galbraith, The Great Crash 1929, 1988). There is no numerically specific definition of a stock market crash but the term commonly applies to steep double-digit percentage losses in a stock market index over a period of several days. Crashes are often distinguished from bear markets by panic selling and abrupt, dramatic price declines.Bear markets are periods of declining stock market prices that are measured in months or years. While crashes are often associated with bear markets, they do not necessarily go hand in hand. The crash of 1987, for example, did not lead to a bear market. Likewise, the Japanese Nikkei bear market of the 1990s occurred over several years without any notable crashes. 2. 2 Comparison of recent stock market volatility of DSE with other markets As any sudden dramatic and persistent stock price fall is treated as stock market crash, I believe the recent price fall of Dhaka stock exchange should be called a crash.Recent price fall in DSE was sudden and persistent that caused significant loss of paper wealth and was abnormal in nature compared to other stock markets. If I compare the price trends of Dhaka Stock exchange with other stock exchange I find t he price movement of DSE is absolutely different from other stock markets. Table-22: Comparison of DSE volatility with other market Name of the Index Index Return Std. Dev of index return (Dec’10-Jan’12) (Dec’10-Jan’12) DSE (50%) 11% BSE-30 (14%) 7. 8% SET 55. 62% 5. 84% 7 From the table 2. , we find that during December 2011 to January 2012 Bombay Stock Exchange selected index (BSE-30) felled by 14% while SET index of Thailand increased by 55. 62% during the period while Dhaka Stock Exchange general Index (DGEN) felled by more than 50% during that period, i. e. , DGEN lose its value by 50% during the period that says that this is not simple volatility and it can be defined as a collapse. On the other hand, Standard deviation of index return (a measure of volatility) for BSE-30 and SET index was respective 7. 8% and 5. 4%. But for DSE, the standard deviation of index return was 11% that was much higher than other two indices. DSE index felled sharply duri ng the period from 8200 point (approx. ) to 4000 point (approx. ) and the fall was persisted over a long period. Graph 2. 1 Trend of Bombay Stock Exchange-30 (BSE-30) index Graph 2. 2 Trend of DSE General (DGEN) index Graph 2. 3 Trend of SET Index 8 From the graph 2. 1 we find that BSE-30 index fluctuating over the period in the range of 10000 to 20000 points and showing an increasing trend now.As a result the standard deviation of the index return was 7. 8%. But the BSE-30 index fluctuation is much lower than the DSE general index (Graph-2. 2). Graph 2. 3 gives the trend of SET Index of Thailand that is growing fast and crossed 1000 points from 600 points during the period. Standard deviation of SET index was 5. 84% that is much lower than that of DSE general index (11%). Graph 2. 2 gives the highly volatile and sharply falling index trend of DSE general Index that started to increase from 2600 points in January 2009 and crossed its zenith price of 8600 in December 2010.After climb ing the highest point it started to fall sharply and came down below 4000 in January 2012 less than half of the highest point. From the above analysis we can conclude that DSE index movement was not normal and the fall was so abrupt that it caused huge loss for investors. Especially investors who invested with margin loan lost everything as the index loss was more than 50%. Both BSE30 and SET are facing regular rise and fall while DSE is facing regular and sharp that indicates that the fall was like a stock market collapse and in the later part of the study I will identify this as a stock market collapse. 2. Previous research on this topic Many studies are done around the world to find the reasons of stock market crash and linked with regulatory issues. Recent economic crunch and stock market crash in US motivated economists to conduct in-depth research on it. In Bangladesh many analysts expressed their view regarding the capital market crash but no comprehensive research work is st ill done on it. Government had formed an enquiry team headed by Mr. Ibrahim Khalid, former deputy Governor of the Central Bank to make a probe into the recent activity and to identify the culprits that submitted their report to the government.I am going to discuss the causes of recent Credit Crisis of 2007-2009 and â€Å"Ibrahim Khalid stock probe report† regarding the stock market of Bangladesh in this chapter. 2. 3. 1 Research on Capital Market crash in Bangladesh After the recent catastrophe of capital market of Bangladesh, Government of Peoples republic of Bangladesh had formed a high-powered committee in 2011 to investigate the issue and to give a report to the government within two months. The committee was headed by the ex-deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank, Mr. Khondoker Ibrahim 9 Khaled and the committee was named â€Å"Ibrahim Khaled share market probe Committee†.The committee published a report that was initially kept undisclosed to the general people but la ter on it was disclosed as investors groups and civil society was creating pressure over the government for disclosing it. I will try to summarize the findings of the report in this chapter. Reasons behind the Market Failure: Committee identify following broad factors that caused the capital market disaster recently: a) Primary Issue related Problems: ? Direct listing in Primary issue ? Abuse of Book Building Method of IPO ? High premium for stock listing ? Illegal Private placement market ?Asset Revaluation of Companies before listing to charge higher premium. b) Secondary market related problems: ? Circular trading in Secondary market ? Block trading ? Stock Price Manipulation through Omnibus Accounts ? Most of the market players are identified in the report c) Irregularities in issuance of Right Share/Preference Share/Repeat IPO etc. d) Recommendation of Stock Dividend by companies against unrealized Profits e) Regulatory Failure ? Inconsistency in regulatory activities ? Support ing and legalization of unethical activities of Big Investors ?Irresponsible Behavior/Weakness in many areas ? Formulating policies to support market Players (Manipulators) ? Lack of Due Diligence ? Lack of Co-ordination between SEC and Stock exchanges ? Allowing Financial Institutions to invest in capital market aggressively ? SEC Failed to take measure against manipulation of Financial statements Report says that the burden of this failure should be carried by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Recommendations by the Committee The Committee has recommended some suggestions to the Government to recover the Capital Market from the depression.Major points of their recommendations are given below: a) Restructuring of SEC ? Termination of SEC chief and some other corrupt members ? Comprehensive inspection of their corruption and necessary legal actions ? Recruiting qualified accountants/financial analysts/experts/Talents for SEC ? Increase the remuneration of SEC staff to attrac t talents ? Ensuring integrity of SEC personnel b) Stock Exchange Demutualization: ? Form Committee within DSE to give report regarding demutualization process within 3 months 10 c) d) e) f) g) h) i) j) k) l) m) If DSE fails to give report on time, Government should take steps after 3 months ? Government can take advisory supports from World Bank or any other international organization ? Government can employ an â€Å"Administrator† to DSE to implement the demutualization process. Co-ordination between SEC and stock exchanges for better regulation Capital Market financing by Financial Institutions (FI’s) ? Formulate policy for capital market investment by FI’s in the line of such policies in India and Pakistan ? Take measures against FI’s who are involved with the recent stock market manipulation ?Central Bank should monitor FI’s aggressive stock investment very strictly Formulate clear policy for Pre-IPO placement Ensure transparency in dealing wi th Omnibus Accounts Prohibit share trading by some Government Officials (e. g. , SEC, DSE, CSE, Bangladesh bank , Commercial bank officials) Asset Revaluation by companies should be reviewed by SEC Review the Book-Building Method of IPO Make uniform face-value of all companies Take legal actions against market players/manipulators Government should be more aware about the capital market and they should be free from influence of top market players ( Salman F.Rahman, Rakibur Rahman etc. ) SEC should Open Investors advisory support services to avoid rumor-based trading Conclusion: Committee has made a study on the capital market issues. They specially focused on individual manipulations and regulatory system failure and provided some clear-cut recommendations for the government. I will conduct empirical study on some of the factors to test whether the volatility was due regulatory failure or not. 11 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3. 1 Data Source This study is basically descriptive in nature.Da ta is collected from both Primary (Stock Exchange, SEC) and secondary sources like different publications of DSE, Bangladesh Bank, ADB, WB and IMF. Some other research papers in this line will also be used. 3. 2 Analysis Technique/method 3. 2. 1 Qualitative analysis: As my study will try to examine the regulatory aspect in the capital market of Bangladesh, I will focus more qualitative analysis techniques. Quantitative Analysis: In my study, I will also use quantitative techniques to analyze data. Software’s like SPSS, Excel might be helpful for me. 3. 2. 2 12CHAPTER 4 Recent Trends of Capital Market Over the last few years, the capital market of Bangladesh has witnessed a super-normal growth which is not in line of development of real sector of the country. Progress in capital market development has been made possible by, among other things, the central depository system and the automated trading system, a substantial increase in the minimum capital requirement of banks and nonbank financial institutions, lower interest rates on long-term government savings instruments, and an increase in overseas workers’ remittances (Bangladesh Bank, 2011).Increased investors' participation and demand for stocks are fueling price hikes in the market. Other indicators of the capital market also recorded significant growth. Market capitalization of DSE remarkably increased during last three years as reflected in the ratios of market capitalization to the country's GDP at current market price. Market capitalization stood at Taka 2700. 7 billion at the end of FY10 increased by 190. 1 percent from Taka 931. 0 billion of end FY08. The ratio of market capitalization of DSE to GDP rose to 39. percent in end FY10 from 5. 2 percent in FY06 and from 2. 3 percent of FY00. Except for the 13. 1 percent bubble in 1996, the ratio was almost flat at below 3 percent up to FY04. After the 1996's bubble and bust, the market returned to sunny days in the beginning of last quarter FY04 by crossing the index 1100 marked point. After ten years of a flat capital market, the DSE General Index (DGEN) crossed 3000 marked point in December 2007 for the second time. Since the third quarter of FY09, the DGEN gained sharply and it jumped to 8918. 1 in December 2010 increased by 5908. 51 points or 197 percent from the index of end June 2009(3010 points). When the recent past global recession adversely affected the world capital market, sustained rise of price index and daily average turnover of Bangladesh capital market could be seen as a positive sign for the Bangladesh economy. Investment by foreigners in DSE increased during last three years. In FY10, the foreign trade turnover was Taka 18. 7 billion (0. 7 percent of total turnover in DSE) which was 57. 9 percent higher than previous year.Foreign trade was Taka 9. 9 billion (6. 0 percent of total turnover) in FY07 and was Taka 3. 4 billion (9. 7 percent of total turnover) in FY97 (Bangladesh Bank, 2011) Nonetheless, long-term prospects for capital market development are mixed. Although, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Bangladesh has tried to correct the abnormal behavior observed in the market, very often it is argued that lack of proper and firm decisions from the regulator’s side has contributed to make the market more unstable rather than stabilizing it.At the beginning of recent Bull Run, Bangladesh capital market was fairly underpriced in terms of Price Earnings Ratio. The market weighted PER of DSE was 11 to 18 during FY04-FY07. PER became to bigger from beginning of FY09 as the acceleration of price index. The PER reached to its peak level at 30. 6 in February 2010 from 18. 4 of end June 2009. The high PER indicates that the market is highly overpriced and overheated. The strong demand from the retail investors, not matched by a corresponding increase in supply of stocks, has caused the PER to rise beyond rational levels.In terms of any measure, Bangladesh capital market is overheated during last couple of years as supply shocks (Bangladesh bank, 2011). 13 The capital market developments and its sustainability depend on market fundamentals at least in the medium term, and the fundamental strength of the market essentially comes from financial strength of the listed companies. Also, strong regulatory environment created and maintained by the regulatory bodies and participation of institutional investors and professional market analysts help orderly market operations.The market witnessed that last few years many fundamental companies with strong financial strength have been listed in the market. The main regulatory body SEC and the Government of Bangladesh and others related regulatory authorities have continued their all efforts to develop the Bangladesh capital market that reflected in the market trends. But growth of market demand for stock was much then that of supply that inflated the market in recent years and made the market most volatil e one in the region.The recent vibrant nature of the capital market also might be due to the increased interest in the market by a large number of individual investors which has been influenced by the government’s decision to reduce the bank interest rates for its different types of savings instrument. Some basic information regarding Dhaka stock Exchange is given below: Table 4. 1 Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) activities FY08 FY09 FY10 378 443 450 No. of listed securities 284. 4 457. 9 607. 3 Issued equity and debt (billion Taka) 1044. 80 1903 3508. 0 Market capitalization (billion Taka) 4309. 46 9327. 153 17831. 37 Turnover in value (million Taka) 2795. 00 4535. 30 8290. 50 DSE General Index* ? Year-end close Price, Source-Dhaka Stock exchange FY11 459 618. 51 2616 5598. 52 5257. 50 Table 4. 2 DSE Highest Records Total Number of Trades Total Trade Volume Total Traded Value in Taka(mn) Total Market Capital in Taka(mn) DSI Index Values 389310 242856735 32495. 756 3680714. 195 73 83. 93657 8918. 51346 Date 05-12-2010 21-07-2011 05-12-2010 05-12-2010 05-12-2010 05-12-2010From Table 4. 1, we find that DSE general index, Daily trade value and market capitalization of DSE increased substantially during last 4 years. But number of listed securities remained almost the same during the period that implies that supply side response was less relative to demand side response and market capitalization and index increased due to increased demand for securities and scarcity of good securities. Nature of Investors: At the end of 2010, total number Beneficiary Owner (BO) Account stood at 3. Million (DSE Data). Out of that a big number of investors did not have sufficient knowledge about securities trading and most of them were relying on rumors spread by big investors. Information of BO accounts of last 3 years are given below: Table 4. 3 Change in total Number of BO Accounts in two Years Date 01. 01. 2009 30. 06. 2009 31. 12. 2009 Total No. of BO A/C 14,68,500 14,19,019 1 9,20,602 Change (+/-) -(49481) 5,01,583 14 30. 06. 2010 31. 01. 2011 25,70,654 33,79,719 6,50,052 8,09,065From the table we find that most of the BO accounts were opened during June ’2009 to January ’2011 that indicated that more than half of the investors could be treated as new investors. During 2009, stock exchanges, Institutional investors and SEC make many campaigns within and outside the country to attract new investor that seems to be successful as the BO accountholders was doubled in last two years that might be treated as a potential for market development. But due to scarcity of new securities market price increased substantially.This demand-supply mismatch along with inadequate investor’s knowledge made the stock prices in a new height and finally turned into a big depression that is still going on. Recently listed Companies with financial information: Twenty three companies (including three direct listing companies) raised new equity of Taka 18. 2 bi llion in the capital market in FY10, higher than the Taka 5. 9 billion raised by the sixteen companies in FY09. Of the new equity issued, Taka 5. 3 billion raised through private placements and Taka 12. 9 billion raised through public placements against Taka 0. billion raised through private placements and Taka 5. 0 billion through initial public offerings (IPO) in FY09. The volume of public offerings in FY10 was oversubscribed more than nine times indicating the high demand of new securities in the primary market. Bonus shares valued at Taka 27. 6 billion were issued in FY10 by one hundred and twenty one companies against retained profits, higher than the Taka 16. 2 billion issued in FY09 by ninety one companies. Currently 493 securities (Debt and Equity securities) are being traded in Dhaka stock exchange. Few numbers of companies are making fresh issue every year. 3, 18 and 10 companies listed their securities respectively in 2009, 2010 and 2011(up to July). Traditionally DSE use d fixed price method for flotation of new companies. But fixed price method does not attract good companies always. So, to attract new companies, SEC decided to introduce Book building method that is a globally acceptable method for IPO. But in Bangladesh, Book Building method is handled very roughly that caused loss for millions of investors. Detail information of securities floated in the market for last 3 years are given in table 4. 4. 15 Table 4. Detail information of fresh Issues in the DSE during 2009-11 Book Value 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 10 10 10 10 100 100 10 10 10 100 10 10 10 100 100 10 10 10 100 100 100 10 Issue Price 111. 6 127 10 10 10 60 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 25 100 10 10 10 48 120 100 10 10 10 100 10 20 70 100 100 10 90 10 100 100 250 10 Opening Price 134 145 12. 7 10 10. 2 73 68 10. 8 9. 5 74 9. 6 136 9. 3 10. 9 12. 6 11. 4 89. 2 89 235 12. 7 12. 9 16. 5 208 799 514 28. 6 23. 5 27 559 25 57 177 462 261 63. 1 325 35. 5 1955 405 784 71. 6 1st day return 20. 07 14. 7 27. 00 0. 00 2. 00 21. 67 580. 00 8. 00 -5. 00 640. 00 -4. 00 1260. 00 -7. 00 9. 00 26. 00 14. 00 792. 00 256. 00 135. 00 27. 00 29. 00 65. 00 333. 33 565. 83 414. 00 186. 00 135. 00 170. 00 459. 00 150. 00 185. 00 152. 86 362. 00 161. 00 531. 00 261. 11 255. 00 1855. 00 305. 00 213. 60 616. 00 1st Month close Price 140 190 10. 5 9. 2 8. 5 65 48 9. 5 9. 8 61 9. 5 130 10. 2 10 11. 4 10. 5 85. 2 85 620 12. 4 12. 7 16 170 740 506 24. 2 20. 6 20 619 27 60 171 511 180 59 451 31. 5 1667 470 762 46. 9 1st Month return 25. 45 49. 61 5. 00 -8. 00 -15. 00 8. 33 380. 00 -5. 00 -2. 0 510. 00 -5. 00 1200. 00 2. 00 0. 00 14. 00 5. 00 752. 00 240. 00 520. 00 24. 00 27. 00 60. 00 254. 17 516. 67 406. 00 142. 00 106. 00 100. 00 519. 00 170. 00 200. 00 144. 29 411. 00 80. 00 490. 00 401. 11 215. 00 1567. 00 370. 00 204. 80 369. 00 1st year close price 70 71. 9 8. 3 8. 6 8. 7 35. 1 23. 5 7. 7 9. 5 29. 3 5. 4 77 7. 2 7. 4 8. 1 7. 4 41 70 510 8. 7 9. 4 14 103 2 646 1197 16. 1 17. 5 17 800 17 102 245 604 156 73. 1 672 17. 5 2497 838. 5 1721 29. 8 Yearly return -37. 28* -43. 39* -17* -14* -13* -41. 5* 135* -23 -5 193 -46 670 -28 -26 -19 -26 310 180 410 -13 -6 40 114. 8 2105 1097 61 75 70 700 70 410 250 504 56 631 646. 67 75 2397 738. 5 588. 4 198 year 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 Issue Name M. I. Cement MJL BD Ltd. Reliance MF EBL NRB MF SEBL 1st MF Barkatullah Electrodes Salvo chemicals MBL MF AIBL MF Deshbandhu polymer PHP MF Active Fine Chemicals IFIL MF Popular MF Janata MF Green delta MF Beacon Pharma Malek Spinning United Air ICB 3rd MF Phoenix MF IFIC MF RAK Ceramic Dhaka Insurance R.N. Spinning DBH 1st MF Prime Bank 1st Icb MF Trust Bank MF Provati Insurance ICB employees MF Goldenson (RPO) Grameen Phone Ltd. Islami Insurance ICB AMCL MF Dacca Dying MARICO BD L td. EBL 1st MF Rupali Life insurance Asia Insurace Bay Leasing Prime Finance 1st MF From the table it was found that many of the new issues were overvalued and lost value in fast few month that are contrary to traditional ideas regarding IPO.Most of such losing stocks were listed through Book building method where it was assumed that premium value for new stock was much higher than the intrinsic value and after listing in the market these stocks reached on their fundamental value. Actually this is an example of overpricing of IPOs in Bangladesh that caused bubble in the market. 16 CHAPTER 5 Empirical examination of three problems identified by Ibrahim Khalid committee In recent years, Bangladesh capital market witnessed both bullish and bearish trends caused by irregular fluctuation in the indices due to various reasons.In this chapter, I will try to identify some reasons/factor that caused such irregular cycles or stock market crash in Bangladesh. 5. 1 Changes in Face Value (Stock Split) of Securities: There are several theories that explain the reasons of stock split by companies. The most common reasons are to achieve an optimal price range for liquidity, to achieve an optimal tick size and to signal the confidence of managements’ in the future stock price. Various studies on stock split and market behavior shows that there are stock price might lead increase in stock price and trade volume in the short term (Aduda and Caroline. 2010).Copeland (1979) noted that a stock split changes stock prices to a more optimal price, which in turn increased demand for the stock. Their hypothesis of the optimal price range stated that there was a price range within which trading was most liquid for stocks of a company. Baker and Powell (1993) noted that the main motivation for the executives to split stock was toward improved liquidity. High-priced stocks found to be illiquid due to the psychological reasons and transaction costs. Therefore, when the prices climbs up to a certain level, the executive splits the stock to lower prices which facilitates trading and enhance liquidity.Benartzi et al. (2005) argued that management splits their stocks only if it considers the current level of stock price and earnings to be persistent. In Bangladesh, price of small face value (Tk. 10) securities are relatively higher then big face value (Tk. 100) securities where other things remain the same. By May 2010, SEC instructed all companies to convert the face value of securities to Tk. 10 from various per values that increased price level of Tk. 10 share substantially that inflated both the individual stock price and indices. During the period of 2009-2010, 62 companies had changed their face value.Some of the examples are given below with pairs: Table 5. 1 Price comparison of companies with same fundamentals but different per value Items EPS-2009 (Tk. ) NAV-2009 (Tk. ) (floating share (%)) Dividend-2009 Price-30/12/09 Price-30/12/10 1. Union Capital (Par value- 2. BIFC (Par value- Differences(1-2) 10) 100) 3. 90(39. 00) 34. 35 15. 60(156) 153 417. 5 Million (21%) 359. 0 Million (22%) 30%B 10%C, 12%B 116. 50(1165) 323. 00 246. 80(2468) 1117. 00 Market Return (31/12/09-31/12/10) -4. 65 +3 +58. 50 +8% TK. 842 (+360%) TK. 1351 (+221%) 82% Table 5. 2 Price comparison of Mutual Funds with different per value Items EPS-2009 (Tk. NAV-2009 (Tk. ) Paid Up capital 1. AIMS MF (Par 2. GrameenMF(Par value-1) value-10) 0. 19(1. 9) 3. 45 1. 91(19. 1) 34. 65 168. 0 Million 170. 0 Million Differences (1-2) -1. 55 -15. 55 -2 17 Dividend-2009 Price-30/12/09(TK) Price-30/12/10 (TK) No dividend was declared that year due to pending case with the court. 13. 83(138. 30) 78. 48 +59. 52(176%) 11. 85(118. 50) 104. 17 +14. 33(114%) From the both table given above that with similar financial condition or weaker financial conditions lower face value companies were overvalued relative to higher face value companies in same industries.This situation was persisting for many years and regulator failed to identify the face value of all listed companies that created some overvalued securities in the market. Investors were eager to buy the securities of these companies that were going to change face and before split price of these were jumping. As an example, National Bank Ltd (NBL) spits its share from Tk. 100 par value to Tk. 10 at 22/09/2010. At that day, the price of those securities was Tk. 823. 00(82. 30) only. But after just two months, price of the securities stood at Tk. 40 (22/11/2011) without any significant change in the company fundamentals. Another example is Prime finance and Investment Companies Ltd. that split the stock in 25 July 2010 when the stock price was Tk. 331. But just after two month (26 July 2010) stock price rose to Tk. 472 and the increase during this two month is almost 43%. So, we might say that change in face value (stock Split) inflated the market and caused an unanticipated bubble in the market. List of some sto ck split companies and their market capitalization are given below: Table 5. List of some stock split companies and their Market Capitalization(Tk. ) Market Capitalization Market Capitalization Change Market Millions Name of the Company (as on 02. 07. 2009) (as on 05. 12. 2010) (%) Adjusted Return (%) NBL Pubali Bank UCBL Uttara Bank ICB Islamic Bank Ltd Eastern Bank Uttara Finance Al-Arafah Islami Bank Prime Bank Southeast Bank Dhaka Bank NCCBL Social Islami Bank MIDAS Finance Standard Bank EXIM Bank People’s Leasing Prime Finance Jamuna Bank Shahjalal Islami Bank Premier Bank Ltd. BD Finance Phoenix Finance First Security Bank Ltd. Automobile Aftab 17093. 5 16979. 24 9544. 65 20777. 12 7946. 52 2475. 00 2475. 00 6687. 61 15747. 27 10584. 51 7324. 53 7511. 61 6762. 96 1560. 80 6953. 95 12498. 38 10172. 48 10172. 48 5100. 82 7583. 21 6889. 42 2039. 68 1059. 30 2768. 4 2768. 41 18 77256. 42 57735. 13 765099. 54 43391. 15 13958. 75 39460. 16 21859. 2 32413. 54 57186. 03 45708. 89 21250. 18 37404. 66 16044. 57 12483. 34 22424. 52 42838. 33 33180. 05 43690. 10 17602. 83 309117. 03 20200. 744 20200. 75 12199. 52 12963. 72 24360. 48 351. 96 240. 03 7916. 0 0 108. 84 75. 65 1494. 3 5 783. 2 384. 68 263. 14 331. 84 190. 12 397. 95 137. 24 699. 0 222. 47 242. 75 226. 17 329. 49 245. 09 3976. 3 3 193. 21 890. 38 1051. 6 5 368. 27 779. 94 2. 5 (30) Not traded in 2009 (150) (147) 4 240 101 (30) (77) (55) (54) (76) 228 (23. 8) (153) 612 263 (103) 45 (62) 273 225 (65) 70 From the table we find that market capitalization of stock split companies increased substantially during that period. Market adjusted returns of these companies were mixed as dividends, Right share issues are not considered here. Stock denomination fixation and Regulatory rules: From the table 4. 5 we find how stock split companies’ shares increased substantially.But such behavior is considered as normal in terms of other markets and cannot be treated as market failure and regulator cannot st op stock split in a stock market. 5. 2 Asset Revaluation: Chainirun and Narktabtee (2008) argued that firms revalue their assets to signal the firms’ growth prospect and liquidity improvement in order to decrease information asymmetry. Sharpe and Walker (2007) revealed that announcements of asset revaluation were associated with substantial upward movement in stock price and these shift in stock price generally sustains in later months.In Bangladesh, companies revalued their assets (Land and other Fixed Assets) that increased their asset value substantially as price of land and all other assets increased sharply that caused increased stock prices in the market. Many factors influenced companies to revalue their fixed assets. Some of these factors are to increase Stock price, to get more credit under NAV-based margin rules, to get higher ratings, to strengthen financial statement and to attain investors confident etc. sample of the companies of top value gainers are listed bel ow: Table 5. Top 10 NAV-gainer companies after asset revaluations Stock Price DGEN the NAV per Share(Tk. ) NAV Before Asset Revaluation After Asset Revaluation Name of Company Change (%) Change during Jan’2009Dec’2010 (%) Change Jan’2009Dec’2010(%) Market Adjusted return (%) Libra Infusions Ltd. 438 15,667 Sonali Ansh Ltd. 297 2,157 Rahim Textile Ltd. 127 785 BD Thai Aluminum 142 566 Ltd. Infusions Ltd. Orion 20 101 Ocean Containers 13 50 Shinepukur 12 26 ceramics Prime Textile 300 633 Eastern Insurance 151 309 BD welding 20 39 electrodesthe company was listed in 2010. As 3472 626 518 298 413 296 120 110 104 95 355 767 641 185 357 Not Applicable* 212% 21 572 162 1001 143 555 429 (27) 145 —(191) 360 (50) 789 From the Table 5. 4 given above, we find that some company gained up-to 1000% after asset revaluations during the period of 2009-10. As there is a clear and direct relationship between asset revaluation gain and stock price growth, I can say tha t revaluation might help the market to grow up faster and also caused much volatility. Many of the company directors sold their shares when the price went to the peak in 2010.But such phenomenon is supported by study and cannot be treated as regulatory failure. 19 5. 3 Issuance of Right/Preference Shares: Companies offer right shares to increase capital base or to meet regulatory capitals. In 2010, 22 companies proposed right shares to existing shareholders valuing 24720 million Taka that almost 17 times than that of 2009 figure which was only 1450 Million taka. Most of the right proposals of 2010 were with a premium price that differed on a range of 10% to 600%. Table 5. 5 Top Companies offered Right shares with high premium Company Name Confidence Cement Co.Ltd. Bay Leasing & Finance Eastern Insurance Co. Ltd. The City Bank Ltd. Phoenix Finance Asia Insurance *Close Price of 1st Trading day Premium Value (Tk. ) 600 250 200 100 100 100 Stock Price on 01/01/2009 (Tk. ) 323. 00 784. 75* 562. 25 432. 50 440. 50 404. 30* From table 5. 5 we find that in January 2009, price of confidence cement co. ltd. was only Tk. 323 but just after one year its right offer price was Tk. 700 (including Tk. 600 Premium) that was approved by the SEC which is a classic example of regulatory silence toward manipulation. Table 5. Top Companies offered preference Shares Company Name Value of Preference Share (Tk. Million) Private Placement Beximco Pharma 4100 63% Sumit Power 3000 69% Aftab Automobile 1800 82% Peoples Leasing 1200 58% BD Thai Aluminum 750 77% In case of preference share, most of them are distributed through private placement where there was no transparency of allocation. Another interesting thing is that, stock price of most of the companies mentioned above increased substantially just after the offerings that increased the greed of investors to make profit through buying right/preference shares of these companies. . 4 Faulty listing methods: In the year 2010, regulator introduced Book building method to attract new companies to the market. Some companies abused this opportunity to exploit maximum benefits from listing that inflated the market. SEC allows companies to float securities through IPO (Fixed Price and Book Building method), Direct Listing and Repeat IPO where Book building method is used mostly in the year 2010. In Bangladesh, following companies used book building method for listing in the capital market: 20 Table 5. Companies floated shares through Book Building Method Name of Company Premium Offer Collected capital value price (Million Tk. ) MJL Bangladesh Ltd. MI cement Ltd. Khulna power company Ltd. Ocean containers Ltd. (OCL) RAK Ceramics Ltd. 142. 40 101. 60 184. 25 135 38 152. 40 111. 60 194. 25 145 48 5690 3050 9600 1600 1310 Market Price (02/02/12) 68. 10 65. 20 43. 20 46. 20 54. 07 From the Table 5. 7 we find that first four companies charged very high premium for its share where and withdrawn huge amount of capital from mar ket.When these companies asked for very high price, shares of other companies of same industry tends to rise on an expectation that it is highly undervalued that increases the general price index. As per the local expert, local media and committee report, Book building method is the most important factor behind the recent stock market volatility in Bangladesh. So we need to study this factor deeply to reach on a conclusion. I would like to describe the implication of price discovery method followed to discover the price of KPCL and OCL here. Khulna Power Company Ltd: Khulna Power Company Ltd. s a power generation company under private ownership that sells supply electricity to consumers through national distribution system. Its security was first traded in 18April, 2010 and price of the securities is being discovered by eligible institutional investors through Book Building system. The company was registered in 15 October, 1997. Its NAV was 17. 09 and 18. 53 respectively for the yea r 2008 and 2009 while EPS was 0. 97 and 2. 79 respectively for the year 2008 and 2009. Other listing related information regarding the company is given below: Table 5. Basic Listing Information of Khulna Power Company Ltd. Khulna Power Company Ltd. Name of the Item Sl. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Face Value Indicative price Offer Price NAV (As of 2009) EPS(As of 2009) Salable Shares Paid Up capital(As of 2009) First day Trade Price(18/04/2010) Trade price after 7 days Trade price after 30 days Trade Price After 1 year Lowest trade price Highest Trade Price(18/04/2010) Taka Tk. 10 Tk. 162 TK. 194 Tk. 18. 53 Tk. 2. 97 5,21,48,250 TK. 208,593,0000 Tk. 273. 60 TK. 270 TK. 207 Tk. 90. 60 TK. 55. 00 Tk. 341 21 Net Asset Value of KPCL was TK. 18. 3 and indicative price was Tk. 162 that is Ten times higher than the asset value of the company. EPS of the company was TK. 2. 79 and before the listing P/E of the security stood at almost 60 that is unusual in respect of other company. Ocean Containers Limited: It is the pioneer for Inland Container Depot (ICD) and Container Freight Stations (CFS) and is the largest privately owned land container port (Off-dock) in Bangladesh. It is located at Patenga Industrial Area of Chittagong on the International Airport road, which is only 6 km from the country’s largest seaport, Chittagong Port.It was listed with DSE in 2010 through book building method. Other listing related information regarding the company is given below: Table 5. 9 Basic Listing Information of Ocean Containers Limited. Sl. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Ocean Containers Limited. Name of the Item Face Value Offer price NAV (As of 2009) EPS(As of 2009) First day Trade Price (04/03/2910) Trade price after 7 days Trade price after 30 days Trade Price After 1 year Lowest trade price Highest Trade Price (04/03/2910) Taka Tk. 10 Tk. 145 Tk. 55 Tk. 3. 73 Tk. 297 TK. 79 TK. 258 Tk. 96. 60 TK. 62 Tk. 2254 From these figures, we find that the maximum price of the stock was Tk. 2254 and minimum price was Tk. 69 only against face value of Tk. 10. The lowest price of the securities was half of the offer price of the securities that indicates that many shareholders caused huge losses out of this security. In both cases discussed above most benefit goes to the owners of the company and both the company are owned by same people. Few institutional investors benefited directly from these two securities.Book Building method for price discovery gives various massages to the market. Some of these are follows: 1. Investors will feel that market is undervalued and they will select instruments that are already in the peak but relatively undervalued if compared to KPCL/OCL. 2. Companies of same industry of which KPCL is operating should go up. Most of the companies of power sector seemed undervalued relative to KPCL as it was overvalued and investors had expectations that price of each company will go to that level that fueled the speculative trend of the market. 3.General Investors had a perception that Eligible institutional investors are technically sound to discover the justified price for a specific stock and th