Monday, September 30, 2019

General Motors

Is primarily engaged In the production of vehicles. It designs, manufactures and markets car, trucks, and other automobile parts all over the world. GM has a strong brand portfolio gives It significant competitive advantage. However, sustained decline in light vehicle sales as a result of increasing durability of vehicles and weak economic conditional pressure on the overall performance of the company. strengths Global presence New vision and strategy Strong brand portfolio Strong presence in China weaknessHigh cost structure Brand dilution Bureaucratic culture Car recall Knowledge of home market 4 well performing brands Threats Opportunities Positive attitude toward â€Å"green† vehicles Fluctuating fuel prices Increasing fuel New emission standards prices Changing customer needs Growth through acquisition Rising raw material prices Intense competition Exchange rates Strengths: Global presence, GM was the leading auto manufacturer in terms of sales for 77 years until 2007. Th e business has grown its presence In the world and is now operating in 157 countries, while its Chevrolet brand reached world record sales (4. million units). New vision and strategy. after 2008 bailout. GM has experienced major changes and reorganized the way it does business. New members were appointed to the firm's management team with Daniel Akerson as the CEO. He shook GM†s bureaucratic organizational culture and introduced new strategy and visions to the business, GM became smaller but leaner and is becoming more. Strong brand portfolio, GM currently sells 18 automobile brand to satisfy as many customer needs as possible. The most popular brand are Cadillac, Buick GMC, and Chevrolet that sells very well In USA and china.Chevrolet reached global sales record and sold 4. 95 million units in 2012. Strong presence in China, China is the largest automotive market and Is an emerging economy that grows steadily. It is also the second largest market for GM in terms of vehicle un its sold. An early entrance into China, well performing partnerships and local Buick brand are the main reasons why GM has a strong position in China's automotive market. Knowledge of home market, GM is the largest car manufacturer In US and currently holds more than 18% market share. 1 OF3 I nls Is malnly Oue to extensive Knowledge 0T market ana Its consumer. well performing brands, GM's has one of the highest cost structures compared to all automobiles manufacturers. GM's Cadillac, GMC, Chevrolet, and Buick are among the best-selling brands in US and China and brings in more than 80% of all General Motors sales. Weakness: High cost structures, GM has one of the highest cost structures compared to all automobiles manufacturers. GM costs are driven by its generous employee compensation and pension plans. Although GM has reduced its cost after 2008 it still has a lot to do to become cost competitive.Brand dilution, GM controls 18 automobile brands that vary in quality and are sold in separate markets. With so many brands in sales, customers find it hard to identify which brand belongs to GM family, as only one of 18 brands carry GM letters. The result is lower GM brand awareness. Bureaucratic culture, before reorganization in 2008, GM was infamous for its rigid culture and structure. Since them, the company has made some cultural and structural changes but should continue improving as it isn't as quick as it competitors in reaching to constantly changing environment.Car recall, last year, General Motors ecalled 119,000 pickups due to missing hood latch. The same year it had to recall it Chevrolet volt and fix battery problems. Recalls are expensive and damages brand reputation, especially when the company announces them so often. Opportunities: Positive attitude toward â€Å"green† vehicle, today consumers are more aware of the negative effects (air pollution) caused by cars fueled by petrol and diesel. Large quantities of C02 emission intensity greenhou se effect, and negatively impact the life on earth, and thus, consumers are more likely to buy new hybrid and electrical cars hat emit less c02.Increasing fuel price, increasing fuel prices open up large markets for GM's hybrid and electric cars as consumers shift toward cheaper fuel types. Changing customer needs, by introducing new cars models, General Motors would be able to meet changing customer needs for smaller and more fuel-efficient cars. Growth through acquisitions, GM has successfully acquired many car companies in the past and should continue doing so to gain new skills assets and access to new market. Threats: Fluctuating fuel prices, due to increasing extraction of shale gas, future fuel prices hould drop and make electric and hybrid cars less attractive.GM would treat the project of hybrid and electric cars as losses, rather than perspective future cars. On the other hand, steeping fuel prices would make current GM models less attractive to cost conscious consumer low er amounts of fuel. New emission standards, a new wave for stricter regulation on vehicle emission standards may negatively affect GM's finances. The corporate would have to invest large amount of money to comply with these new standards. Rising raw material prices, rising prices for raw metals will lift he cost for auto manufactures and result in squeezed profits for the companies.Intense competition, for 77 years from 1931 to 2007, GM led global sales of vehicles, but lost its position in 2008 due to increased competition of cheaper and better quality cars, especially from Japan and South Korea. Exchange rates, China are GM's second largest market and the business earns huge profits there. Exchange rate fluctuations threaten GM's profits if the dollar would appreciate against Chinese renminbi.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

History &The Philosophies of Enlightenment Essay

The Enlightenment, also named the Age of reason, was an era for the period of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The term â€Å"Enlightenment† also specifically talks about a rational movement. Moreover, this movement provided a basis for the American and French Revolutions. During this period, philosophers started to realize that by using reason they can find answers to their questions and solutions to their problems. Enlightenment philosophers believed that all human beings should have freedom of religion and speech. Furthermore, they wanted to have a government of their own and a right to vote. John Locke and Thomas Hobbes were two very important philosophical thinkers of their time. John Locke was a prominent thinker from England, and Thomas Hobbes is perhaps the most complete materialist philosopher of the 17th century. John Locke believed that people are good, and they should have natural rights such as â€Å"life, liberty, and property† but Thomas Hobbs main focus was how human beings can live together in peace and evade the danger and fear of civil war. John Locke (1634-1704) was one of the most significant and powerful philosophers during the Enlightenment era. Both the French Enlightenment and Founding Fathers of the American Revolution drew on his thoughts. John Locke suggested that the human mind was a tabula rasa (blank slate). There were no â€Å"innate ideas† known from birth by all people and society forms people’s mind. Since all people share the same undeveloped usual features, people are all equal and they determine their liberty. Locke said all human beings are equal expect women and Negroes because they are closer to the state of nature therefore they are less civilized and this led to the American Revolution. Locke’s most important work of political philosophy was the Two Treatises on Government. He argued that the power of the king is derived from the people, each person has a right to hold property, and if ruler takes this property from people without their own permission, people can depose and resist him. . Thomas Hobbes is another philosopher in 17th century who argued that people were naturally wicked and could not be trusted to govern. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was born in London. He finished his college education at Oxford University in England, where he studied classics. Hobbes was English philosopher, scientist, and historian, best known for his political  philosophy, especially as expressed in his masterpiece Leviathan. In his boos he described the â€Å"state of nature† where all persons were naturally equal. He said that people are frightened of violent death, and every single human on the planet has a right to protect him/herself in any way possible. He assumed that it’s in people’s best interest to avoid war. Moreover, he believed that life in the state of nature is â€Å"solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.† Although John Locke and Thomas Hobbes do have some similarities, they have different opinions about most of their political arguments. Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were two of the great political theorists of their time. Both created great philosophical texts that help to describe their opinions about man’s state of nature in addition to the role of government in man’s life. Both of them believed in individualism. Two years after the end of the English Civil War, Thomas Hobbes published Leviathan. He believed people had a good personality, if they were left to their own plans, life would become â€Å"a solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.† He said if people give some of their freedom, they can have a harmless life. He believed people are always in competition with each other for the best food, shelter, money, and so on. Hobbes supposed the best way to protect citizens would be to have a sovereign that is threatening and supreme. . Locke’s view of the state of nature says that humans have limits as to what people should or should not do. In contrast to Hobbes, Locke believed that humans are generally nice to one another, and we will not bother one another. Therefore, in Locke’s state of nature, humans are peaceful. Locke believed that people had the basic principles needed for a civilized society, so they were allowed to have natural rights such as life, liberty, and property. Locke believed rather than each person being equally at risk of death, each person was equally free and sovereign. The Enlightenment was an era of free thinking and individualism. Different philosophers had enormous role in this era. Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were philosophers from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Both philosophers had very strong views on freedom and how a country should be governed. Hobbes had more of a negative view on freedom while Locke’s opinions are more positive. Work Cited FernaÃŒ ndez Armesto, Felipe. â€Å"The Exchange Of Enlightenments: Eighteenth Century Thought.† The World : A History. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2010. 738-65. Print. SparkNotes Editors. â€Å"SparkNote on John Locke (1634–1704).† SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2005. Web. 14 Mar. 2013 SparkNotes Editors. â€Å"SparkNote on Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679).† SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2005. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 1

Case Study - Essay Example Despite serious social movement of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) community in recent decades, the minority of people are still fighting for equality. And in this fight corporations are extremely important in terms of the LGBT community acknowledgement because they can provide their employees with decent support and do it more profoundly than country and local authorities (LGTB Manual, 2010). There are few companies that are able to risk their reputation, unless their reputation is so immaculate, and make such a contradictory issue as accepting non-traditional sexual orientation of the employees in company`s policy. Such companies receive unnecessary attention and their public relations sphere is suffering. In such a situation Disney, the company specializing on the children`s entertainment content and supporting homosexuality acknowledgment at working places looks absolutely extraordinary (Tully, 2013). However, Disney was and remains such company, and despite its worldwide success it is being accused of promoting immoral values to future generation. Reasonably it raises a lot of questions regarding the place of homosexuality propaganda in a corporate world and especially in children`s content. However, Disney manages to communicate to the world that their policy is grounded on higher values such as equality, acceptance, and diversity, and sticking to these goals can se rve as the most important factor. Moreover, Disney`s internal policy of visibility is coherent with its external representation which proves that the company has well-elaborated policy and know what image to create in consumers` perception. Disney was established in 1923 by two brothers, Walter and Roy Disneys, as a small cartoon studio in California. Today this multinational corporation is one of the biggest Hollywood studios and is the owner of 11 theme parks around the planet, two aqua parks, and several broadcasting companies. The company`s main product was

Friday, September 27, 2019

Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 18

Essay Example Creativity can only be hindered if the creative person thinks he is being led into hindrance. Since he is a creative person, he must understand that the rules of decision making and problem solving are there to assist his creative abilities and not to take anything away from his self belief and creativity. If the energies are exerted in a positive manner, then there is no shadow of a doubt that these decision making and problem solving approaches would work to the advantage of the creative process which is all about understanding and comprehension of a subject or matter. The out of the box approach could be fastened up if the principles of problem solving and decision making are followed in a methodical manner. Creative persons are usually not very good group members but what is good about them is that they analyze things from different perspectives and ways. It gives them a better picture of the overall process than a single side of the story which a commoner might have. The creative people that I know are divided into the set of being good group members as well as the ones who are not social and hence do not make for a good read when the talk goes out loud of working within a single group, for the betterment of the group nonetheless. The girl ABC that I know is a good group member when she works in unison with different people yet she is creative out and out. My friend XYZ does not like to mingle with people yet his creative thinking abilities are undoubtedly the best in the advertising industry. It is all a matter of different people working in different settings. The important thing is to get the best work out of them no matter whatever their personal likes and dislikes are. The thing which makes people creative is the fact that they do and act differently from the rest of the population around them. Thus there is ample opportunity for them to demonstrate what

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Employment-At-Will Doctrine Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Employment-At-Will Doctrine - Research Paper Example Legally, an organization has the right to terminate the services of an employer if he or she proves incompetent. A manger or an employer has a fundamental role of solving performance issues in the organization. In essence, the best way to handle an employee’s productivity or performance is through creating a performance evaluation system. This system cultivates a culture where collaboration and communication will assist in addressing such problems. In the first case of Jenifer, since she is a new recruit to the company, I will ensure that she receives more training on computer packages even though she has had training already (DelPo & Guerin, 2011). In addition, as a manager, my responsibilities include ensuring that all employees fully gratify their job descriptions. In this regard, I would institute a probation period for Jenifer, during which her skills, abilities and competence would be evaluated and monitored to fit to the company’s employment environment (DelPo & Guerin, 2011). The results of the analysis during the probation period would mark the conclusion of the work contract or the termination of the employment contract. Since all the employees in an organization were employed through a competitive process of recruitment, they all were hired according to their skills and abilities. Needless to say, all the employees submitted documents which were too used in the process of recruitment. As a manager, I would also go back to assess the documents submitted recorded during the interview of not only Jenifer but also all the employees. After reviewing the information, I would notify all the employees of a periodical evaluation. This would offer a platform where the employees can express their worries or proposals to enhance the working environment. In addition, this will provide the company with an opportunity to document and evaluate worker’s performance. As an accounting manager, my role entails ensuring that the firm offers outstandi ng services to the clients above all when it is about their tax and finance preparations. If after the evaluations Jenifer will not have improved, then I will express my worries regarding her lack of ability to carry out simple computer tasks (DelPo & Guerin, 2011). In the second case, Jenifer seems to do whatever she feels and does not care about anyone else in the organization or whatever they feel. In addition, she seems to express her threat on termination of her employment contract. Jenifer’s behavior is unacceptable and sustaining such a behavior in the organization may be a virus to the company. Her attitude may not only kill the morale of her immediate team but also the employees around her. This will kill the morale of the employees and result in low worker productivity and performance. In reference to Perry (1997), motivation is an internal driver in the organization whose direction is directed by behavior. As a manager, I would set up measures that addresses and de als with her behavior once it happens. I would not wait to an hour or a day later or arrange a meeting to discuss that matter. Chances are, this will just worsen the situation. Jenifer acts in such a manner because she feels that she is being criticized and insulted. Giving her time to brood about the argument will only offer her adequate time to give good reasons for her attitude before I can have the

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

The Impact of Stevedoring & Its Implications on the Port Productivity Research Proposal

The Impact of Stevedoring & Its Implications on the Port Productivity - Research Proposal Example This was done in an effort to increase efficiency in the delivery of services at the port. Whereas the port has been widely successful in carrying out its functions, its efficiency has been affected by the poor operation of stevedoring. These constitute all institutions, public and private, as well as individuals involved in the loading and offloading of goods from ships at the docks. This proposal seeks to lay the ground for the implementation of a study to establish the relationship between stevedores and service delivery at the Jeddah Islamic Port, as well as establish the relationship between logistics and these operations. The proposal lays down the criteria for the study, establishing the problem, objectives, assumptions, and methodologies of research. These are discussed in the following sections of the proposal. Stevedoring entails all persons involved in the loading and unloading of containers at the port (Logistics Training council 3). Currently, the port’s activities are mostly automated; however, the equipment is operated by human beings. The efficiency with which stevedoring carry out their operations, together with logistical operations, has a direct effect on productivity at Jeddah Islamic Port (MacElwee and Taylor 37). Some of these effects are positive, others negative, while some have no significant impacts. These effects could be financial or social and are both local and international (Thomas 13). The current trend in stevedoring is such as to raise the efficiency of operations and increase the productivity of Jeddah Islamic Port. This research will be necessary to establish the impacts of stevedoring and logistical operations on productivity in the port. Information acquired from this study will be useful in the management of the port. This information can be used to optimize port operations to guarantee maximum profitability form operations. The result would be increased productivity, leading to improved service delivery. The port

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

International Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

International Marketing - Essay Example 2.0 The features indicating achievement of global brand status Quelch (1999) provides a benchmark for the seven characteristics of a brand that are prevalent when a business has achieved global brand status. This is inclusive of strength in the home market, having a geographical balance in sales, the ability to address homogenous consumer needs worldwide, maintaining consistent brand positioning, reducing the country-of-origin effect, the specific product category focus of the firm and corporate name. This section of the report examines the extent to which Lenovo maintains appropriate emphasis on the aforesaid benchmark criteria for advancement to a legitimate global brand. Lenovo must maintain all identified characteristics in order to be considered a victor in becoming a genuine global brand. 2.1 Strength in the home market In 2011, China contributed 46 percent of total business revenues with all supplemental sales stemming from combined international markets and emerging markets ( Lenovo 2012). China is considered the largest personal computer market in the world and Lenovo has managed to increase its market share in this highly competitive technology market. Much of this success is due to a contracted 2011 strategic alliance with Compal Electronics that significantly increased Lenovo’s production capabilities. Through dual investments by Lenovo and Compal, totalling $300 million each, a new production facility was built from the ground up in Hefei, China that exploits the talents and resources of both partners to deliver faster output and more frequency of innovative products (Lenovo 2011). The Chinese personal computer market is projected to achieve a growth rate of three to four percent in 2013, which is largely driven by rural consumer demand for desktop computers (China.org.cn 2013). Whilst the rest of the developed world, such as the United States, has seen declines in demand on personal computers as consumers defect to more agile mobile computin g opportunities, Lenovo operates in a market where rural consumers are witnessing more government investment into infrastructure improvements in rural regions that are increasing personal incomes of rural consumers (China.org.cn 2013). The rural consumer sector is a major market segment within a national population volume of over 1.34 billion consumers (News Limited 2013). Lenovo was very adept in establishing a joint venture with Compal in order to expand the ability to deliver faster production output to the rural regions within China whilst demand for desktop and laptop computers are experiencing growth with a variety of target segments. Lenovo also participated in a government subsidy program designed to give rural consumers less-expensive personal computers which assisted Lenovo in achieving a $1.7 billion USD sales increase in the country (Hille 2009). Lenovo recognises appropriate opportunities to expand its brand presence and hence improve its brand recognition in China. The Chinese government is imposing a variety of new programs to facilitate more economic growth and improve the labour environment within the nation. By engaging appropriate political forces to allow the Lenovo brand to be associated with a nationwide initiative to modernise rural China,

Monday, September 23, 2019

Commentary (Economics HL) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Commentary (Economics HL) - Essay Example It’s a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements. It’s a place for them to settle trade disputes. It operates a system of trade rules. (But it’s not Superman, just in case anyone thought it could solve — or cause — all the world’s problems!)† (What is WTO, 29 September 2008) Some of the most significant functions of the WTO are underlined in the above quote; WTO is an ideal platform for the governments of different countries to negotiate the terms and conditions at which they want the trade to take place. No other organization provides any government with this wonderful opportunity to venture into global trade and to get a taste of the same. Global trade contributes immensely to the economy of any country which is actively involved in it. For instance, Pakistan produces the maximum no of footballs when compared to any other country in the world; the footballs are exported to different countries and the whole process of exporti ng becomes global trade, the profit generated from the production of footballs helps the economy of Pakistan to grow. WTO has 153 members as of now and Pakistan is also one of the 153 members, so this is how WTO helps in the growth of a countries’ economy. The first step in the process of negotiation is talks; the WTO organizes Talks between the representatives of various countries. Negotiation is a very important part of the WTO, the organization firmly believes in negotiating terms and conditions and the same has an influence on the member countries of the WTO. This policy of outing negotiation the first step in the agenda has helped the WTO grow with leaps and bounds. â€Å"Where countries have faced trade barriers and wanted them lowered, the negotiations have helped to liberalize trade. But the WTO is not just about liberalizing trade, and in some circumstances its rules support maintaining trade barriers — for example to protect consumers or prevent the spread of

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Comparing the Mesopotamia and Egypt River Valleys Essay Example for Free

Comparing the Mesopotamia and Egypt River Valleys Essay Though Egypt and Mesopotamia were both river valleys they have a lot of differences, but some similarities. Such as they have very different social and political views while the two river valleys had a quite a bit of similarities when it came to religion. The difference between the two valleys social views were that in Egypt women were treated with respect and as equals where in Mesopotamia women were treated like property and didn’t have the same privileges as men. Both Egypt and Mesopotamia based their social culture through religion, but the Mesopotamians believed that the gods punished them for their wrong doings and that’s why the river flooded unpredictably giving them a pessimistic view of the gods and eternal life. The people of Egypt didn’t fear the gods because the world was always good to them by the river always flooding at the same time of year helping the soil be good for their agriculture which gave them a more cheerful and hopeful outlook of the world and the gods they worshiped. The main difference between the two valleys socially were that in Egypt it was more of a positive and well being environment, while in Mesopotamia the atmosphere was very unequal between genders and they were never happy because the gods were never happy with them. Egypt and Mesopotamia had different ways of politics since Mesopotamia was a democracy it had a king who claimed to be patron deity and who controlled the affairs of the walled city and surrounding rural area. In Egypt they had a centralized government which means the pharaoh was treated like a king, but everyone below him was fairly equal (even the women, though they were still slightly below the men). The main difference between the two valleys politically is that Mesopotamia had a king that made the rules and was the one in charge of everything while in Egypt the Pharaoh was like a king except the people below him had a voice and were treated more equally. Religion is very similar in Mesopotamia and Egypt by both being polytheistic and the fact that the king/Pharaoh was supposively the closest to god in the valley, the king/Pharaoh would have many sacrifices when something bad happened. They also had animism and used carvings, drawings, and statues to show their beliefs towards the gods. And though their gods were not the same the views of the afterlife and beliefs were very similar. The main similarities between the two valleys religion was they’re both polytheistic and that their beliefs were very similar towards the gods and the afterlife. In conclusion the two main differences were social and political views when it came to gender equality, classes (rank), and the way the gods treated the people. The main similarity was religion in the way they showed their beliefs in gods and what would happen when they do wrong things and when they die.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Napster and Apple’s Ipod Essay Example for Free

Napster and Apple’s Ipod Essay This paper deals with a through case study of the music industry in the face of change within the age of the Internet with the major focus on Napster and Apple’s ipod. In 2000 Shawn Fanning founded Napster – a file sharing program where people could download music for free and access the songs they have downloaded at any hour of the day. However, in 2000, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and a number of the big business recording labels argued that Napster was violating copyright laws, facilitating the illegal copying and distribution of copyrighted music. ’’ (Hill, 1) After Napster was in the lime light for allowing people to take advantage of free downloads, peer sharing technologies such as Kazaa were just coming into play where people were able to download music in a similar fashion. In very short order after Napster’s service was shut down, a number of new file sharing services started to rapidly gain users.’’ (Hill, 11) However there was one slight difference here, people were downloading through other people’s computers and not accessing the files via a central server and therefore it became difficult to stop this practice from taking place. The music industry responded as it had with Napster, filing lawsuits in attempt to shut down the services for copyright violation. But in this case it was more difficult to prove infringement.’’ (Hill, 11) Within the last 20 years since CD’s have been in vogue the music industry has changed. People have differing opinions regarding whether one is better than the other. It was Apple’s ipod and the Itunes online music service that revolutionized the music industry. These were the programs and applications that allowed you to purchase and listen to whatever you want but at the same time protect the artists that wrote and produced the music. It is important to look at the growth in the music recording industry since these changes took place and to see what the results and changes have been. There was strong growth in the music recording industry in the 90’s. However, when the 2000’s hit global sales dropped by 5% and continued to drop for the next three years. Many people have been blaming this negative trend on Napster. In 2003 sales dropped to a low of $32 billion in 2003. In the early 90’s the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) was concerned about consumers burning’’ songs downloaded over the Internet onto CD’s. This was such an easy process to do as you could download the files you wished to place on your CD from Napster and use a program by which you can copy CD’s. This concern was important to take into consideration because of the sheer amount of songs that were downloaded over the Internet for free and if people were downloading the songs they were not purchasing the CD’s from their favourite artists. There is a large cost in promoting an artist and the use of copyrighted material makes this process even more expensive for the artist as not as many people will be purchasing the CD’s. People would be more likely to download the songs instead of purchasing them because it is cheap (free) and easy. In the past, the music industry has always been concerned about the potential for piracy of copyrighted material. However, another trend that raised copyright infringement issues was MP3- compressed digital files that could be downloaded for free from the Internet. At the point where Napster was going through the courts certain lobbying groups were concerned with websites where people could download free MP3 files and in doing that listen to pirated music. The RIAA tried to shut down Napster because of piracy and the laws that the company had broken. During this time the music industry also tried to develop technology that would protect digital audio recordings from piracy and counterfeiting. The main problem in regard to Napster and the piracy issue is to do with the fact that Napster’s service was violating copyright, facilitating massive piracy of intellectual property and consequently stealing. There were talks about a paid subscription service to be created by Napster in 2001 but nothing ended up coming into fruition and on September 2, 2002, Napster announced its liquidation. It is clear to see why Napster has such an appeal to its audience given the fact that it was free and people could download any song that they wanted. In today’s environment people can still access peer-sharing websites however sometimes songs may be written down under a search engine listing and may even be a computer virus. Itunes is therefore giving users and artists the best of both worlds – consumers get to download the songs they want even if it is only one song off a particular album and the artist gets compensated for it. All in all, it is clear to see the vast changes that have taken place over the last decade or more and the fact that significant changes will take place in the future. The growing popularity and vast information available on the Internet is going to change the way people purchase and listen to music and people need to be aware of this as the world changes everyday and nothing lasts forever. References Hill, Charles W, The music industry in the age of the Internet: from Napster to Apple’s Ipod.

Friday, September 20, 2019

The Nitration Of Methyl Benzoate Biology Essay

The Nitration Of Methyl Benzoate Biology Essay Methyl Benzoate is electron rich and thus undergoes electrophilic aromatic substitution. Nitration of methyl benzoate will form a major product, methyl m-nitrobenzoate that was further purified by re-crystallization. The electrophile or the nitronium ion attached to the meta position in the benzene ring because of the carboxyl group being meta-deactivator that made the reaction took place in the meta position and the ortho and para positions are destabilized. The mass of re-crystallized methyl m-nitrobenzoate was determined to be 0.257 g compared to the mass of methyl benzoate, 0.360 g that resulted to †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ % yield. The melting point of the methyl m-nitrobenzoate resulted to 74 °C compared to its true melting point 78 °C was computed to have 5.13% difference. Many side-products like different orientations in the benzene ring will be formed during chemical reactions. To see how much were formed and how pure was the product was, its TLC Profile was calculated that resulte d into Rf = 0.79 wherein the result from iodine vapor indicating that the product synthesized was pure. The results of the experiment are therefore accurate and useful in familiarizing with reactions and mechanisms that occur during nitration. __________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION Aromatic hydrocarbons are compounds with one or more benzene rings (3). Due to electron delocalization by its alternating double bonds, it is characterized by being more stable compared to alkenes (2). Benzene, being aromatic, is a cyclic compound, an unsaturated compound due the presence of pi bonds. In contrast to the double bonds causing the unsaturation of benzene, it is strong and unreactive because of its resonance structure where there is rearrangement of electron pair. They undergo EAS or Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution reaction due to the fact that they are electron rich. The nitration of methyl benzoate, C6H8O2, undergoes such type of reaction with concentrated nitric acid and sulfuric acid to yield methyl m-nitrobenzoate. From the methyl benzoate, methyl m-nitrobenzoate will be formed and will undergo purification by re-crystallizing with methanol. Thin Layer Chromatography profile and melting point of the product were used in the experiment to make sure that there are no by-products formed like compounds with o- and p- orientation (2). MATERIALS AND METHODS The mass of conical flask was determined and added with 20 drops of methyl benzoate. The mass was also determined as well as the mass of methyl benzoate itself. The methyl benzoate in the flask was placed in an ice bath while added by 2 ml of conc. H2SO4 while swirling. Then, the nitrating agent was prepared which is a mixture of 1 ml conc. HNO3 and 1 ml conc. H2SO4 chilled in an ice bath. The nitrating agent was then added to the methyl benzoate solution using a Pasteur pipet. The mixture was constantly stirred and still chilled in an ice bath. However, conc. H2SO4 must be added if cloudiness occurs to change the mixture into its clear appearance. Furthermore, the reaction mixture was added 10 g of crushed ice then stirred. As the ice melted, the solid product formed was separated using vacuum filtration where a filter paper was folded into 1/16 big enough to cover holes in the Buchner funnel. Then, the product was washed with cold distilled water, followed by 5% NaHCO3 and with col d distilled water until the filtrate became neutral. The product was transferred in a watch glass and dried over a steam bath. Methanol was used to recrystallize or solidify the product and the percentage yield was calculated. The melting point of the recrystallized product was determined using the melting point apparatus. The TLC profile was determined using a TLC plate. The TLC plate was drawn with a line using a pencil 1 cm from the bottom and from the top then dipped in a beaker with ethyl acetate. The plate was dipped in ethyl acetate 3 times. When the solvent reached the other edge (the other line), the plate was removed from the beaker. Lastly, Iodine pellets were used to further determine the TLC profile. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Methyl benzoate, C6H8O2, is an aromatic hydrocarbon, a methyl ester with a colorless appearance and used in perfumery. With Methyl benzoate, methyl m-nitrobenzoate will be synthesized and will further be purified by re-crystallization (2) with results shown in Table 1. Table 1. Percentage Yield of methyl m-nitrobenzoate Mass of conical flask 91.749 g Mass of methyl benzoate and conical flask 92.109 g Mass of methyl benzoate 0.360 g Mass of re-crystallized methyl m-nitrobenzoate 0.257 g % yield The mass of methyl benzoate was determined by difference then cooled in an ice bath then added conc. H2SO4. The solution will still be colorless because methyl benzoate is soluble in H2SO4. Thus, it will form a homogenous mixture. On the contrary, it will form a yellow solution if the flask used is contaminated. The nitrating agent prepared in an ice bath because nitration is an exothermic that requires only 15 °C and must not increase (1). HNO3 and H2SO4 should be added in the homogenous solution slowly while stirring to avoid side products formation like compounds with o- and p- orientation. Also, it will result to a low yield of the product desired. Likewise, fast addition will result to getting a high temperature that must be 15 °C only. Addition of H2SO4 if cloudiness will occur is important since methyl benzoate is soluble in sulfuric acid and will produce a colorless solution. The mixture of HNO3 and H2SO4 produces nitronium ion that will attach to the benzene ring (5). Methyl Benzoate is characterized for being electron rich and thus capable of reacting to electrophiles and undergoes EAS or Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution with a mechanism via carbocation [C+] intermediate shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. Complete Mechanism of Nitration via Carbocation Intermediate It follows 3 steps that started from the generation of electrophile which is the nitronium ion, NO2. Then, the formation of carbocation intermediate where nitronium ion will be attacked by the nucleophile will follow. The carbocation in the second step is capable of resonating since aromatic compounds are resonance structure wherein the electron pair can move around the molecule. The resonance of the benzene ring makes them stable and favorable to the reaction since the more stabilize the benzene ring is, the more reaction. The last step is the dissociation of H+ and the reformation of aromatic ring where the electrophile will substitute in one of the hydrogens on the benzene ring. This mechanism resulted to an overall reaction shown in Figure 2. Figure 1. Nitration of methyl benzoate The solvent of the nitration which is the sulfuric acid will protonate the reagent, methyl benzoate, which will create stabilized carbocation intermediate. The electrophile or the electron poor nitronium ion, will react to the protonated intermediate in the meta position. The carboxyl group belongs to the e- withdrawing group that deactivates the aromatic ring. Since electron withdrawing group has a meta orientation and a deactivator, the reaction will take place in the meta position. Likewise, the ortho and para positions are destabilized (5). The major product now is the methyl m-nitrobenzene which has nitro and carboxyl group being both electron withdrawing groups oriented at the meta position. After adding the nitrating agent, the reaction mixture was added 10 g of crushed ice until it solidified and filtrated by vacuum filtration to get a dryer product. It was then washed by cold distilled water and 5% NaHCO to make excess acid neutralize that made the product green-colored. The product was dried over a steam bath and re-crystallized with methanol for purification. By washing the product with methanol, by-products or impurities like substitution on different places on the aromatic ring (ortho and para positions), methyl-2-nitrobenzoate or maybe methy-3-nitrobenzoate formed during the previous reactions should purified to get the preferred product. However, the methanol is preferred cold to control loss of desired product. The re-crystallized methyl m-nitrobenzoate weighed 0.257 and had †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ % yield. The melting point of the re-crystallized methyl m-nitrobenzoate was determined to be 74 °C that is close to its true melting point being 78 °C. The % difference was determined to be 5.13% as shown in Table 2. Table 2. Melting point of re-crystallized methyl m-nitrobenzoate Melting point of re-crystallized methyl m-nitrobenzoate 74 °C True Melting point of methyl m-nitrobenzoate 78 °C % difference 5.13% To see how much products were formed and to check its purity, the TLC profile or Thin Layer Chromatography should be done (6). Each trial as the TLC plate was dipped in the solvent (Ethyl acetate) should have only 1 spot that is equivalent to 1 compound. If 3 spots were formed in the TLC plate on 3 trials when the solvent moves on the top of the plate by capillary action, it simply means that 3 compounds were present in the product. Thus, making it considered as not pure. The spots will be clealy visualized when the plate is placed in an iodine vapor (4) here it sublimes from solid to liquid stain. Also, other compounds are capable of adsorbing iodine and become visible. On the contrary, the re-crystallized m-nitrobenzene formed had been considered as a pure compound as illustrated in Figure 3 and had an Rf value of 0.79. Rf = dspot / dsolvent front Rf = 3.75 cm / 4.6 cmC:Documents and SettingsnicolleMy DocumentsCollege Files2nd Year 2nd SemORGCHEMLABEXPT4 NITRATION OF METHYL BENZOATETLC Plate.jpg Rf = 0.79 dsolvent front = 4.7 cm dspot = 3.7 cm Figure 3. TLC Profile The desired product, methyl m-benzoate, purified by re-crystallization was successfully synthesized from methyl benzoate by avoiding the formation of other side-products. However, if phenyl benzoate was used, it will also follow EAS or Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution

Thursday, September 19, 2019

America and the Cyberpunk Counterculture Essays -- Cultural Identity Es

History has evolved through a series of counter-cultures, contraries to a community's subjective, shared system of beliefs that provide meaning to objective reality. Timothy Leary has defined the evolution of countercultures that range from the beatniks of the early fifties, the hippies of the sixties and seventies to the present day cyberpunks and new breeds (Vitanza 365). These groups have been met with resistance over the years as a result of their expressive attitudes and tendencies to break the molds of conformity which their culture had previously set. I will focus of the latest stage of evolution, the cyberpunk. The cyberpunk counterculture has encountered mixed reviews over the years. Many people feel as though it is a movement that is made up of no good troublemakers who pose a threat to the computer world. On the contrary, I feel that cyberpunks are taking a lot of heat from a small number of hell raisers who roam the data-highways looking to cause havoc. For th e most part, cyberpunks have contributed to society in beneficial ways. As computer technology is rapidly increasing everyday, the issue is becoming relevant to society as a whole. We are all affected by its presence and therefore should become more aware of what lurks in the cyberworld. In the late twentieth century, two words cybernetics and punk were merged together to form a term that would label the art of combining the science of communication, with an anti-social or rebellious attitude. An ideology was established that included an infatuation with high-tech tools and disdain for conventional usage of them (Elmer-Dewitt 59). Many descriptive phrases have been connected with the cyberpunk culture. An activist in the movement calle... ...is becoming all too familiar with. So let us join in and ride the trails of cyberspace, our new Final Frontier. Works Cited Elmer Dewitt, Philip. "Cyberpunk." Time. 8 Feb. 1993: 58-65. Haussman, Sook Elsie. Cyberpunks: Friend or Foe. 1996. 28 Jan. 1997. gt984a@prism.gatech.edu. Leary, Timothy. "Evolution of Countercultures." CyberReader. Ed. Victor Vitanza. Mass: Allyn & Bacon, 1996. 364. Neil, Easterbrook. "The Arc of Destruction: Reversal and Erasure in Cyberpunk." Science-Fiction-Studies. Nov. 1992:378-394. Pientras, Jamie. "The Brainy Bunch." U.Magazine Fall 1998: 16. 6 Nov.1998 www.umagazine.com. Rayl, A.J.S. "Secrets of a Cuberculture." Omni. Nov. 1992:58-67. Sterling, Bruce. "Cyberpunk in the Nineties." Writings About Cyberpunk. (1995): 6-9. 5 Nov. 1998 http://www.streettech.com/bcp/BCPgraf/Manifestos/CPInThe90's.html.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

A Rose for Emily By William Faulkner :: Free Essay Writer

Faulkner’s "A Rose For Emily" is told by a resident of Jefferson, Mississippi, a town in which the Grierson family is the closest thing to true aristocracy. To the outside world it might have appeared that Miss Emily Grierson grew up wealthy and happy, however it was a lonely life for her father ruled Emily with an iron fist, turning away every suitor. No man was good enough for his daughter. The first thing Emily did after her father’s death was find a boyfriend named Homer Barron. She went out driving with Homer, and bought him expensive and personal things like a silver toilet seat and a nightshirt. The towns people assumed she had secretly gotten married because with her father dead, a big social wedding would be in bad taste. Emily became a very stubborn old lady who refused to pay her taxes due to a tale that Colonel Sartoris who was the mayor at the time had told her. According to Sartoris, her father had lent the town some money, and therefore all of her taxes were remitted. Miss Emily would manage to make her self disappear for a certain period of time. This would cause people to talk because no one would know where she was or what she was doing. When her father had died people called and dropped by the house to give Miss Emily their condolences. She told them that he was not dead and that he was still alive. She refused for her father’s body to be disposed of. The town thought she had gone crazy. They talked a lot of Miss Emily’s servant. They made racial comments about him, and noticed when Miss Emily’s house started giving off some sort of bad odor, and complained to Judge Stevens about the smell. For a while Emily convinced herself that the townspeople still respected her. When Emily found out Homer was gay, she realized his company would cause her to be pitied and laughed at. A Rose for Emily By William Faulkner :: Free Essay Writer Faulkner’s "A Rose For Emily" is told by a resident of Jefferson, Mississippi, a town in which the Grierson family is the closest thing to true aristocracy. To the outside world it might have appeared that Miss Emily Grierson grew up wealthy and happy, however it was a lonely life for her father ruled Emily with an iron fist, turning away every suitor. No man was good enough for his daughter. The first thing Emily did after her father’s death was find a boyfriend named Homer Barron. She went out driving with Homer, and bought him expensive and personal things like a silver toilet seat and a nightshirt. The towns people assumed she had secretly gotten married because with her father dead, a big social wedding would be in bad taste. Emily became a very stubborn old lady who refused to pay her taxes due to a tale that Colonel Sartoris who was the mayor at the time had told her. According to Sartoris, her father had lent the town some money, and therefore all of her taxes were remitted. Miss Emily would manage to make her self disappear for a certain period of time. This would cause people to talk because no one would know where she was or what she was doing. When her father had died people called and dropped by the house to give Miss Emily their condolences. She told them that he was not dead and that he was still alive. She refused for her father’s body to be disposed of. The town thought she had gone crazy. They talked a lot of Miss Emily’s servant. They made racial comments about him, and noticed when Miss Emily’s house started giving off some sort of bad odor, and complained to Judge Stevens about the smell. For a while Emily convinced herself that the townspeople still respected her. When Emily found out Homer was gay, she realized his company would cause her to be pitied and laughed at.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Chinese Literature Essay

1. Shang Dynasty (about 1700-1050 BC) Development of Chinese Writing * Historical record and archaeological evidence are present in this era. * Hieroglyphic writing system later evolved into ideographic and partly-phonetic Chinese characters. 2. Zhou Dynasty (1045-255 BC) Basic Philosophical and Religious Literature * The great literary works of philosophy and religion that became the basis for Chinese religious and social belief stem from what is called the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476) and the Warring States Period (475-221). * Taoism, Confucian literature, and other prominent religious and philosophical schools all emerged during these two periods or the so called â€Å"One Hundred Schools of Thought.† * They say that most of the philosophical and religious works of that time were destroyed. If there were great fictional books created, they have been lost. 3. Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) Literary Disaster and Legalism * A big philosophical and religious school then was called Mohism. * An early form of Buddhism was also established in China at that time. * The emperor wanted to reduce and destroy the â€Å"One Hundred Schools of Thought† * So the â€Å"Book Burning and Burial of Scholars† was a literary disaster. * The Qin Dynasty standardized the written Classical Language. * The Qin Emperor favored a philosophical school that was called Legalism (æ ³â€¢Ã¥ ® ¶). 4. Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) Scientific and Historical Texts * Confucian texts were rewritten and republished. Confucianism was mixed with the Legalism philosophy of Li Si. * Sima Qian wrote Historical Records that is a major history concerning the overall history of China from before the Shang Dynasty until the Han Dynasty. * The Han Dynasty era was one of the two main hotspot eras for scientific and technical advance. * Two or three mathematical texts showing advanced mathematics for the times were written. 5. Tang Dynasty (618-907) Early Woodblock Printing and Poetry * This era’s main contribution to Chinese literature was in the poetry of Dufu, Li Bai and many other poets. 6. Song Dynasty (960-1279) Early Woodblock Printing, Travel Literature, Poetry, Scientific Texts and the Neo-Confucian Classics * Has made remarkable scientific and technical advances. * Invention of movable type which helped to spread knowledge since printed material could be published more quickly and cheaply. * Travel literature in which authors wrote about their trips and about various destinations became popular perhaps because the texts could be cheaply bought. * The Confucian Classics were codified and used as test material for the entrance examination into the elite bureaucracy, advanced scientific texts and atlases were published, and important poems were written. * The Five Classics and Four Books were written in the written Classical Language which include: * * Five Classics: * The Book of Changes, * The Classic of Poetry, * The Record of Rites * The Classic of History, and * The Spring and Autumn Annals * Four Books: * The Analects of Confucius * The Doctrine of the Mean * The Great Learning * Analects of Confucius * .Shen Kuo (1031–1095) is said to have discovered the concepts of true north and magnetic declination towards the North Pole * Su Song (1020–1101) wrote a treatise called the Bencao Tujing with information on medicine, botany and zoology. * Song poet named Lu is thought to have written almost 10,000 poems. Su Tungpo is regarded as a great poet of the Northern Song era. Here is a stanza he wrote: â€Å"The moon rounds the red mansion Stoops to silk-pad doors Shines upon the sleepless Bearing no grudge Why does the moon tend to be full when people are apart?† 7. Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) Drama and Great Fictional Novels * An era whereof some historically renowned dramatic playwrights and novelists who wrote in vernacular language. * The Yuan â€Å"Zaju† style of opera was similar to their shadow plays. Perhaps the playwrights adopted the plots and the features. The music of the Zaju operas was called Yuan Qu (Yuan Music). * After the Yuan Dynasty, the operatic style developed into the Painted Faces style of Chinese opera that was popular until modern times. * Guan Hanqing is regarded as one of the best playwrights of the times. He wrote Midsummer Snow that was one of the most popular drama pieces. * The Romance of the Western Chamber was written by Wang Shifu. It is considered one of the best romantic dramas ever written in China. * Novels were another outstanding achievement of the Yuan era. 8. Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Novels * The Journey to the West is based on the historical journey of a Buddhist to India during the Tang era to learn Buddhist teachings and bring back scriptures and information. 9. Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) Novels and Pre-modern Literature * In the 19th century, foreign literature and the West became better known. In the middle of this era, the last of China’s four great classic novels was written called Dream of the Red Chamber (ç ´â€¦Ã¦ ¨â€œÃ¥ ¤ ¢); and near the end of the era, modernistic literature developed. * Educated Chinese had easier access to foreign literature, and they were more influenced by Western culture. Chinese Literatures 1. Chinese Classical Prose * Prose writing in ancient and pre-modern China differed from poetry in that it was less rigidly structured and wasn’t like verses in a song or like one of the common styles of poetry. But compared to English prose, literary prose before the year 1900 was often much more formalized. * Classical prose can be divided into three types called * Piantiwen style or parallel prose style is more formalized style of prose writing * Guwen style is less formal and more ancient style * Vernacular style which is used in operatic dramas and in the Four Classic Novels of Chinese literature. 2. Chinese Poetry * Poetry has been a favorite literary genre for thousands of years. Poetry isn’t taken very seriously in the West, especially in the last two hundred years, but Chinese ancient poetry is still read and ancient Chinese poets are honored. * There are Five Major Kinds of Major Ancient Poetic Styles * Shi è © © poems are composed of couplets. They are poems of two more coupled lines. The two lines of a couplet usually rhyme and match rhythmically and complement each other tonally. Modern Mandarin only has five tones, but ancient languages usually had more, so the tonal rhythms are generally lost. * Ci è ©Å¾ poetry can be described as poems that have patterns of syllables and tonal patterns. In making a Ci poetry, a poet chooses words that fit a specific pattern. These patterns may have once been part of a song. But the music has been lost. There are various patterns that provided affective settings for various effects or moods. * Ge æ ­Å' means song. Ge poems are the words to a song that can be sung. There were folk songs as well as songs composed by the literate and educated composers. * Qu æ› ² is the style of music and song in the operas or Mongol Music. The songs from the operas and popular songs were a poetic style that was also popular in later eras. The poetic style is freer of form. * Fuè ³ ¦ is the fifth major style of poetry . These are descriptive poems that contain both prose and couplets. These were popular about 1,500 years to 2,000 years ago. Often poets included rare or unusual written characters from preceding eras in their poems. * The greatest ancient poets are thought to lived in the Tang, Song, and Han eras. The following were considered to be the exemplary poets: * Du Fu (712-770) liked to write in a structured form of poetry that was called Lu Shi Ã¥ ¾â€¹Ã¨ © © or regulated poetry. He is thought of as one of the greatest realist poets of China. His poems reflect the hard realities of war, people dying next to rich rulers, and primitive rural life. Here is a famous ‘couplet: â€Å"Behind redden doors stink wine and meat; But upon the road die frozen men.† * Li Bai (701-762) liked to write in a free form poetry like that of more ancient times. This kind of poetry was called Gu Shi (Ã¥  ¤Ã¨ © ©). He wrote about places he visited and things he saw. He is described as a romantic poet. * Su Tungpo (1037-1101) is also called Su Shi. He is regarded as a great poet of the Northern Song era (960-1127). More than 2,000 of his poems survive. Here is a stanza he wrote: â€Å"The moon rounds the red mansion Stoops to silk-pad doors Shines upon the sleepless Bearing no grudge Why does the moon tend to be full when people are apart?† 3. Chinese Scientific Texts * Chinese science texts give an idea of the state of knowledge in the dynastic eras. During several eras,Chinese scientists and inventors led the world in various fields. * Suan Shu Shu (Computation and Numbers Book). It shows how to solve arithmetic problems that officials or people doing business face. * Jiuzhang Suanshu (Nine Chapter Computation Book). The book features basic algebra such as finding cube roots and square roots. Negative numbers are also used. * Zhoubi Suan Jing (The Arithmetical Classic of the Gnomon and the Circular Paths of Heaven) about astronomical problems. It is said text has a mathematical proof for the â€Å"Gougu Theorem† (å‹ ¾Ã¨â€š ¡Ã¥ ®Å¡Ã§ â€ ; a2 + b2 = c2) that is known as the Pythagorean Theorem in the West. A method of determining the distance of the sun from the earth by using a right angled triangle is described. * The second period of rapid scientific and technological advancement was the Song era. Two men in particular stand out: Shen Kuo (1031–1095) and Su Song (1020–1101) both wrote scientific treatises about their research and about various fields. 4. China’s Classic Novels * Four long fictional novels are usually thought to be the best novels in Chinese literature. And the following two novels set a standard for classical literary works. * The Romance of the Three Kingdoms The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a semi-historical work said to be written by Luo Guan Zhong. It is historical fiction about the lives and struggles of rulers and the wars at the end of the Han Dynasty and in the Three Kingdoms Period. The novel describes the machinations, court intrigues, and the shifting alliances of the three kingdoms that emerged from the Han Empire. * Water Margin Water Margin is about the lives and ideals of a group of characters who fought against the corrupt Song Dynasty that the Mongols conquered. It is said it was written in vernacular language by Shi Nai An. The setting of the novel is during the Northern Song Dynasty era before the northern part of the Song Empire was overrun by a northern tribe and before the Mongols conquered the whole area. Water Margin is reminiscent of the story of Robin Hood. Likewise, there may have been actual outlaws, and popular legends and stories later grew. But Water Margin is probably more fictional and less historically accurate than The Romance of the Three Kingdoms * The other two novels. * Journey to the West The long tale about a fantastic journey to the west of a group that went to India was written at a time that the Silk Road land routes were blocked by Mongol and Muslim countries. Perhaps one of the reasons the novel was popular was that people during the Ming era wanted to travel to the west, but they couldn’t. The latter Ming Dynasty was isolationist. In the novel, a great intelligent monkey and a small band of characters protects a defenseless monk during his journey. Buddha commissioned the monk to help India that had fallen into gross sin and immorality. The monkey and other characters have magical skills. Journey to the West is thought to have been published anonymously by Wu Cheng’en in the 16th century though scholars have doubt about the authorship. * The Dream of the Red Chamber The fourth major novel that made an impact on Chinese history and literature is The Dream of the Red Chamber. It was the last of the Four Classic Novels to be written. It is about the fortunes and lives of the people of two branches of a clan in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) era. The two families had adjacent compounds. It is appreciated because it gives a view into the lives of two ruling families of that time. One of the members of the clan was made a concubine of an emperor. But then the imperial court turned against the two families.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In an economy, people indulge in economic activity to support their consumption requirements. Savings arise from deferred consumption, to be invested, in anticipation of future returns. Investments could be made into financial assets, like stocks, bonds, and similar instruments or into real assets, like houses, land, or commodities. The aim of Portfolio Manager is to provide a brief overview of three aspects of investment: * The various options available to an investor in financial instruments. The tools used in modern finance to optimally manage the financial portfolio. * Lastly the professional asset management industry as it exists today. Returns more often than not differ across their risk profiles, generally rising with the expected risk, i. e. , higher the returns, higher the risk. The underlying objective of portfolio management is therefore to create a balance between the trade-off of returns and risk across multiple asset classes. Portfolio management is th e art of managing the expected return requirement for the corresponding risk tolerance.Simply put, a good portfolio manager’s objective is to maximize the return subject to the risk-tolerance level or to achieve a pre-specified level of return with minimum risk. 1. Investment and Its objectives Mini Content 2. 1 Define Investment 2. 2 Defining Investment Objectives 2. 3 Goals and Needs 2. 4 Types of investors 2. 5 Investment Process 2. 6 Investments available in India Define Investment Investment is putting money into something with the expectation of gain that upon thorough analysis has a high degree of security for the principal amount, as well as security of return, within an expected period of time. . The action or process of investing money for profit or material result. 2. Two main classes of investment are (i)  Fixed income investment  such as  bonds,  fixed deposits,  preference shares, and (ii)  Variable  income investment such as  business  ownersh ip  (equities), or property ownership. In  economics, investment  means  creation of  capital  or  goods  capable of  producing  other goods or  services. Expenditure  on  education  and  health  is recognized as an investment in  human capital, and  research and development  in  intellectual capital. Return on investment (ROI)  is a key  measure  of an  organization's  performance.DEFINING YOUR INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES: Investing wisely is a function of your speci? c needs and goals. Each investor has different objectives that need to be met depending on age, income, planned activities, and attitudes about risk. How can you work with your investment advisor to best determine which investments are right for you? Among the important factors to consider are personal status, plans, and constraints. Some of the issues that you and your advisor should consider in de? ning the objectives that are right for you are listed below. Goals and Need s: You may have speci? goals and requirements that you want your investment portfolio to ful? ll. For example, you may be funding college for children, business expansion, travel plans, or retirement needs. You should identify these goals and needs clearly with your investment advisor so that his or her recommendations for your portfolio can assist you in meeting them. Age: Your age is an important consideration when deciding how much risk to assume. Portfolio assets that are riskier and that will ? uctuate more over time may be appropriate for younger investors but not for others.An individual who does not expect to liquidate the assets in his or her portfolio for a number of years has more time to recover from a market downturn, while an investor close to retirement may be more likely to prefer stable assets and capital preservation. Age also affects the choice between income-earning securities and those oriented toward capital gains. An investor who is employed and near peak earn ing power will probably want to minimize paying taxes, and will therefore lean toward investments that do not provide current income. Income :Both your absolute income level and your income requirements in? uence your investment objectives in several ways. First, income, like age, in? uences the choice between dividend-paying or interest-paying investments, and those whose primary return is in the form of capital gains. You may prefer income-producing investments if you need to supplement or replace earned income. Your income level also affects your investment choices because it determines your tax rate. Low-tax-bracket investors — generally those whose income is lower — will be more likely to prefer income-producing investments.High-tax-rate investors are more likely to choose tax-deferred or tax-sheltered assets. Income also may in? uence risk preferences. High income investors may be more willing to choose higher risk investments since they can more easily contribut e additional investment capital should they sustain losses. Taxes Your after-tax return is the return that matters. You should fully inform your investment advisor about your tax rate and any special tax circumstances that might apply to you. This will determine whether you should seek tax exempt or tax-sheltered securities as a part of your portfolio.The appropriateness of income or capital gains should be discussed in the context of your personal situation, so you may want your investment advisor to consult with your accountant. Occupation Your occupation also can affect portfolio objectives. Some professions produce more stable incomes than others, enabling the investor to tolerate more investment ? uctuations. Your profession also may determine other assets. For example, does your job provide an adequate retirement plan, or must you fund your retirement from your investment portfolio?If your employer provides a stock-purchase plan, this may be a substantial part of your personal wealth, and you should consider it as a diversi? cation issue when you make other portfolio choices. If you receive tax-quali? ed or tax-deferred assets from your job, these also will in? uence your investment decisions. Wealth Investment objectives should take into consideration the assets you hold outside the portfolio. For example, if you have substantial equity in your home, you may want to minimize real estate holdings in your ? nancial assets, or you may need to consider a different type of real estate asset.If you hold illiquid assets, then new investments may emphasize liquidity. The value of your existing assets will probably affect your tolerance for risk. In addition, your level of wealth has probably in? uenced your lifestyle. Maintaining a desired lifestyle into retirement and throughout will need to be factored into your investment objectives. Time Horizon An important consideration in setting investment objectives is your time horizon. When do you expect to liquidate a portfolio? Should you choose assets of short or long maturity?Do you have time to recover from a declining market, or is capital preservation important to meet an immediate ? nancial need? Liquidity Liquidity is the ease with which you can convert your assets to cash at fair market value. It is essential that you recognize the need to convert your assets into cash at the appropriate times. Do you require a portfolio that can be liquidated easily, or can you afford to wait? Since greater liquidity generally results in lower return, it is necessary to give serious consideration to the inherent tradeoffs. Tolerance for Risk Your tolerance for risk is a very personal decision, and a question that is dif? ult for many investors to answer. In general, markets tend to provide higher returns in exchange for bearing higher risks. Often you will ? nd that the investments with the highest long-term returns are very volatile in the short run. It is important to be honest with yourself in ass essing whether you are comfortable with market volatility, and the level you can tolerate. While it is easy in hindsight to wish you had invested in a risky segment of the market that has performed well recently, a more realistic view is to look forward at the risk that might occur in the future. Other Special CircumstancesAre there other considerations of which your advisor should be aware? Consider here any special needs, goals, or problems you have not already addressed. Types of investors There is wide diversity among investors, depending on their investment styles, mandates, horizons, and assets under management. Primarily, investors are either individuals,in that they invest for themselves or institutions, where they invest on behalf of others. Risk appetites and return requirements greatly vary across investor classes and are key determinants of the investing styles and strategies followed as also the constraints faced.A quick look at the broad groups of investors in the mark et illustrates the point. Individuals While in terms of numbers, individuals comprise the single largest group in most markets, the size of the portfolio of each investor is usually quite small. Individuals differ across their risk appetite and return requirements. Those averse to risk in their portfolios would be inclined towards safe investments like Government securities and bank deposits, while others may be risk takers who would like to invest and / or speculate in the equity markets.Requirements of individuals also evolve according to their life-cycle positioning. For example, in India, an individual in the 25-35 years age group may plan for purchase of a house and vehicle, an individual belonging to the age group of 35-45 years may plan for children’s education and children’s marriage, an individual in his or her fifties would be planning for post-retirement life. The investment portfolio then changes depending on the capital needed for these requirements. Insti tutionsInstitutional investors comprise the largest active group in the financial markets. As mentioned earlier, institutions are representative organizations, i. e. , they invest capital on behalf of others, like individuals or other institutions. Assets under management are generally large and managed professionally by fund managers. Examples of such organizations are mutual funds, pension funds, insurance companies, hedge funds, endowment funds, banks, private equity and venture capital firms and other financial institutions. We briefly describe some of them here. Mutual fundsIndividuals are usually constrained either by resources or by limits to their knowledge of the investment outlook of various financial assets (or both) and the difficulty of keeping abreast of changes taking place in a rapidly changing economic environment. Given the small portfolio size to manage, it may not be optimal for an individual to spend his or her time analyzing various possible investment strategi es and devise investment plans and strategies accordingly. Instead, they could rely on professionals who possess the necessary expertise to manage their funds within a broad, pre-specified plan.Mutual funds pool investors’ money and invest according to pre-specified, broad parameters. These funds are managed and operated by professionals whose remunerations are linked to the performance of the funds. The profit or capital gain from the funds, after paying the management fees and commission is distributed among the individual investors in proportion to their holdings in the fund. Mutual funds vary greatly, depending on their investment objectives, the set of asset classes they invest in, and the overall strategy they adopt towards investments. Pension fundsPension funds are created (either by employers or employee unions) to manage the retirement funds of the employees of companies or the Government. Funds are contributed by the employers and employees during the working life of the employees and the objective is to provide benefits to the employees post their retirement. The management of pension funds may be in-house or through some financial intermediary. Pension funds of large organizations are usually very large and form a substantial investor group for various financial instruments. Endowment fundsEndowment funds are generally non-profit organizations that manage funds to generate a steady return to help them fulfill their investment objectives. Endowment funds are usually initiated by a non-refundable capital contribution. The contributor generally specifies the purpose (specific or general) and appoints trustees’ to manage the funds. Such funds are usually managed by charitable organizations, educational organization, non-Government organizations, etc. The investment policy of endowment funds needs to be approved by the trustees of the funds. Insurance companies (Life and Non-life)Insurance companies, both life and non-life, hold large por tfolios from premiums contributed by policyholders to policies that these companies underwrite. There are many different kinds of insurance policies and the premiums differ accordingly. For example, unlike term insurance, assurance or endowment policies ensure a return of capital to the policyholder on maturity, along with the death benefits. The premium for such policies may be higher than term policies. The investment strategy of insurance companies depends on actuarial estimates of timing and amount of future claims.Insurance companies are generally conservative in their attitude towards risks and their asset investments are geared towards meeting current cash flow needs as well as meeting perceived future liabilities. Banks Assets of banks consist mainly of loans to businesses and consumers and their liabilities comprise of various forms of deposits from consumers. Their main source of income is from what is called as the interest rate spread, which is the difference between the lending rate (rate at which banks earn) and the deposit rate (rate at which banks pay).Banks generally do not lend 100% of their deposits. They are statutorily required to maintain a certain portion of the deposits as cash and another portion in the form of liquid and safe assets (generally Government securities), which yield a lower rate of return. These requirements, known as the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR ratio) and Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR ratio) in India, are stipulated by the Reserve Bank of India and banks need to adhere to them. In addition to the broad categories mentioned above, investors in the markets are also classified based on the objectives with which they trade.Under this classification, there are hedgers, speculators and arbitrageurs. Hedgers invest to provide a cover for risks on a portfolio they already hold, speculators take additional risks to earn supernormal returns and arbitrageurs take simultaneous positions (say in two equivalent assets or same asset i n two different markets etc. ) to earn riskless profits arising out of the price differential if they exist. Another category of investors include day-traders who trade in order to profit from intra-day price changes.They generally take a position at the beginning of the trading session and square off their position later during the day, ensuring that they do not carry any open position to the next trading day. Traders in the markets not only invest directly in securities in the so called cash markets, they also invest in derivatives, instruments that derive their value from the underlying securities. Types of investment in Indian Financial Market Banking SectorIntroductionThe Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is India's central bank.Though the banking industry is currently dominated by public sector banks, numerous private and foreign banks exist. India's government-owned banks dominate the market. Their performance has been mixed, with a few being consistently profitable. Several public sector banks are being restructured, and in some the government either already has or will reduce its ownership. Banks in India can be categorized into non-scheduled banks and scheduled banks. Scheduled banks constitute of commercial banks and co-operative banks. There are about 67,000 branches of Scheduled banks spread across India.During the first phase of financial reforms, there was a nationalization of 14 major banks in 1969. This crucial step led to a shift from Class banking to Mass banking. Since then the growth of the banking industry in India has been a continuous process. As far as the present scenario is concerned the banking industry is in a transition phase. The Public Sector Banks (PSBs), which are the foundation of the Indian Banking system account for more than 78 per cent of total banking industry assets. Unfortunately they are burdened with excessive Non Performing assets (NPAs), massive manpower and lack of modern technology.On the other hand the Private Sector Banks in India are witnessing immense progress. They are leaders in Internet banking, mobile banking, phone banking, ATMs. On the other hand the Public Sector Banks are still facing the problem of unhappy employees. There has been a decrease of 20 percent in the employee strength of the private sector in the wake of the Voluntary Retirement Schemes (VRS). As far as foreign banks are concerned they are likely to succeed in India. Induslnd Bank was the first private bank to be set up in India.IDBI, ING Vyasa Bank, SBI Commercial and International Bank Ltd, Dhanalakshmi Bank Ltd, Karur Vysya Bank Ltd, Bank of Rajasthan Ltd etc are some Private Sector Banks. Banks from the Public Sector include Punjab National bank, Vijaya Bank, UCO Bank, Oriental Bank, Allahabad Bank, Andhra Bank etc. ANZ Grindlays Bank, ABN-AMRO Bank, American Express Bank Ltd, Citibank etc are some foreign banks operating in India. Private and foreign banksThe RBI has granted operating approval to a few privately own ed domestic banks; of these many commenced banking business.Foreign banks operate more than 150 branches in India. The entry of foreign banks is based on reciprocity, economic and political bilateral relations. An inter-departmental committee approves applications for entry and expansion. RBI bankingThe Reserve Bank of India is the central banking institution. It is the sole authority for issuing bank notes and the supervisory body for banking operations in India. It supervises and administers exchange control and banking regulations, and administers the government's monetary policy. It is also responsible for granting licenses for new bank branches. 5 foreign banks operate in India with full banking licenses. Several licenses for private banks have been approved. Despite fairly broad banking coverage nationwide, the financial system remains inaccessible to the poorest people in India. Some of its main objectives are regulating the issue of bank notes, managing India's foreign excha nge reserves, operating India's currency and credit system with a view to securing monetary stability and developing India's financial structure in line with national socio-economic objectives and policies. Indian banking systemThe banking system has three tiers.These are the scheduled commercial banks; the regional rural banks which operate in rural areas not covered by the scheduled banks; and the cooperative and special purpose rural banks. Scheduled and non scheduled banksThere are approximately 80 scheduled commercial banks, Indian and foreign; almost 200 regional rural banks; more than 350 central cooperative banks, 20 land development banks; and a number of primary agricultural credit societies. In terms of business, the public sector banks, namely the State Bank of India and the nationalized banks, dominate the banking sector.RBI restrictionsThe Reserve Bank of India lays down restrictions on bank lending and other activities with large companies. These restrictions, popular ly known as â€Å"consortium guidelines† seem to have outlived their usefulness, because they hinder the availability of credit to the non-food sector and at the same time do not foster competition between banks. Indian vs. Foreign banksMost Indian banks are well behind foreign banks in the areas of customer funds transfer and clearing systems. They are hugely over-staffed and are unlikely to be able to compete with the new private banks that are now entering the market.While these new banks and foreign banks still face restrictions in their activities, they are well-capitalized, use modern equipment and attract high-caliber employees. Grey futureOne more reason being the opacity of the The Reserve Bank of India. This does not mean a forecast of doom for the Indian banking sector the kind that has washed out south east Asia. And also not because Indian banks are healthy. We still have no clue about the real non-performing assets of financial institutions and banks. Many banks are now listed. That puts additional responsibility of sharing information.It is now clear that it was the financial sector that caused the sensational meltdown of some Asian nations. India is not Thailand, Indonesia and Korea. Borrowed investment in property in India is low and property prices have already fallen, letting out steam gently. Our micro-meltdown has already been happening. | Bank Deposit Schemes * Bank Deposit Schemes for Resident Indians * Bank Deposit Schemes for Non Resident IndiansBank deposits are preferred more for their  liquidity and safety  than for the returns thereon. Various banking and other facilities that one gets by opening a bank account viz.ATM cards, ATM-cum-Debit cards, Credit Cards, On-line / Internet banking, collection / realization of cheques and other instruments, safe deposit lockers, better customer service etc. are also a major reason in favour of bank deposits vis-a-vis other options. The deposit accounts offered by banks fall broadly under following categories :Bank Deposit Schemes for Resident IndiansFollowing deposit accounts are offered by banks to Resident Indians: * Savings Bank Accounts:  These accounts are opened for savings, liquidity and safety of funds and convenience in making day to day expenses and also earning some interest income.These accounts inculcate the habit of thrift in account holders. View salient features of Savings Bank accounts. * Current Accounts:  These accounts are opened for liquidity and safety of funds and for meeting day to day expenses. Current accounts are opened and maintained primarily by business and commercial organizations. No income is earned on these deposits. Individuals usually open these accounts for availing overdraft facility as overdraft facility is not available in Savings Bank accounts. View salient features of  Current Accounts. * Recurring Deposit Accounts:  These accounts are opened for saving purpose only.Some fixed amount is deposited at monthly int ervals for a pre-fixed term. These accounts generally earn higher interest than Savings Bank Accounts. View salient features of  Recurring Deposit accounts  in banks. * Fixed Deposit or Term Deposit Accounts:  These accounts are opened for investing funds for fixed terms to earn higher interests. Usually deposit for a longer period of time earns higher Interest Rate. The account holders have option of getting periodic payment of interest at monthly/quarterly intervals or re-investing the interest to be paid on maturity with the principal.View salient features of  Term / Fixed Deposit Accounts  in banks. * Special Bank Term Deposit Scheme – Bank Deposit Scheme under section 80C:  This is the only  Tax Saving Scheme  available with banks. The accounts opened under this scheme are eligible for  relief under Section 80C  of the Income Tax, Act. View salient features of  Bank Deposit Scheme for tax saving. Bank Deposit Schemes for Non-Resident IndiansFollowin g deposit accounts are offered by banks to Non Resident Indians: * Non-Resident External (NRE) Accounts:  These Accounts can be opened by Non Resident Indians individually or jointly with other Non Resident Indian(s).The accounts can be opened in Savings Bank, Current Account, Term/Fixed Deposit with monthly/quarterly interest payment or Term/Fixed Deposit with interest reinvestment types. The account holders can grant Power of Attorney to Resident Indians to operate upon their Savings Bank or Current Accounts. The accounts are maintained in Indian Rupees. View salient features of  NRE Accounts * * Foreign Currency Non Resident (FCNR) Accounts:  These Accounts can be opened by Non Resident Indians individually or jointly with other Non Resident Indian(s).The accounts can be opened as Term/Fixed Deposit with the option of monthly/quarterly Interest payment or of re-investing the interest for payment on maturity with the principal. The accounts are maintained in foreign currenci es viz. US Dollars, Euros, Sterling Pounds, Canadian Dollars, Australian Dollars and Japanese Yen. View salient features of  FCNR accounts. * Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) Accounts:  These accounts can be opened by Non Resident Indians individually or jointly with other Non Resident or Resident Indian(s). These accounts can also be opened by Resident Indians by foreign inward remittance.The accounts are maintained in Indian Rupees. View salient features of  NRO Accounts. Mutual fundsMutual fund is a mechanism for pooling the resources by issuing units to the investors and investing funds in securities in accordance with objectives as disclosed in offer document. Investments in securities are spread across a wide cross-section of industries and sectors and thus the risk is reduced. Diversification reduces the risk because all stocks may not move in the same direction in the same proportion at the same time. Mutual fund  issues units to the investors in accordance with quantum o f money invested by them.Investors of mutual funds are known as  unit holders. The profits or losses are shared by the investors in proportion to their investments. The mutual funds normally come out with a number of schemes with different investment objectives which are launched from time to time. A mutual fund is required to be registered with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) which regulates securities markets before it can collect funds from the public. Schemes according to Maturity Period:A mutual fund scheme can be classified into open-ended scheme or close-ended scheme depending on its maturity period.Open-ended Fund/ SchemeAn open-ended fund or scheme is one that is available for subscription and repurchase on a continuous basis. These schemes do not have a fixed maturity period. Investors can conveniently buy and sell units at Net Asset Value (NAV) related prices which are declared on a daily basis. The key feature of open-end schemes is liquidity. Close-ended Fund/ SchemeA close-ended fund or scheme has a stipulated maturity period e. g. 5-7 years. The fund is open for subscription only during a specified period at the time of launch of the scheme.Investors can invest in the scheme at the time of the initial public issue and thereafter they can buy or sell the units of the scheme on the stock exchanges where the units are listed. In order to provide an exit route to the investors, some close-ended funds give an option of selling back the units to the mutual fund through periodic repurchase at NAV related prices. SEBI Regulations stipulate that at least one of the two exit routes is provided to the investor i. e. either repurchase facility or through listing on stock exchanges.These mutual funds schemes disclose NAV generally on weekly basis. Schemes according to Investment Objective:A scheme can also be classified as growth scheme, income scheme, or balanced scheme considering its investment objective. Such schemes may be open-ended or close-ended schemes as described earlier. Such schemes may be classified mainly as follows:Growth / Equity Oriented SchemeThe aim of growth funds is to provide capital appreciation over the medium to long- term. Such schemes normally invest a major part of their corpus in equities.Such funds have comparatively high risks. These schemes provide different options to the investors like dividend option, capital appreciation, etc. and the investors may choose an option depending on their preferences. The investors must indicate the option in the application form. The mutual funds also allow the investors to change the options at a later date. Growth schemes are good for investors having a long-term outlook seeking appreciation over a period of time. Income / Debt Oriented SchemeThe aim of income funds is to provide regular and steady income to investors.Such schemes generally invest in fixed income securities such as bonds, corporate debentures, Government securities and money market ins truments. Such funds are less risky compared to equity schemes. These funds are not affected because of fluctuations in equity markets. However, opportunities of capital appreciation are also limited in such funds. The  NAVs  of such funds are affected because of change in interest rates in the country. If the interest rates fall,  NAVs  of such funds are likely to increase in the short run and vice versa.However, long term investors may not bother about these fluctuations. Balanced FundThe aim of balanced funds is to provide both growth and regular income as such schemes invest both in equities and fixed income securities in the proportion indicated in their offer documents. These are appropriate for investors looking for moderate growth. They generally invest 40-60% in equity and debt instruments. These funds are also affected because of fluctuations in share prices in the stock markets. However,  NAVs  of such funds are likely to be less volatile compared to pure equi ty funds.Money Market or Liquid FundThese funds are also income funds and their aim is to provide easy liquidity, preservation of capital and moderate income. These schemes invest exclusively in safer short-term instruments such as treasury bills, certificates of deposit, commercial paper and inter-bank call money, government securities, etc. Returns on these schemes fluctuate much less compared to other funds. These funds are appropriate for corporate and individual investors as a means to park their surplus funds for short periods. Gilt FundThese funds invest exclusively in government securities.Government securities have no default risk. NAVs  of these schemes also fluctuate due to change in interest rates and other economic factors as is the case with income or debt oriented schemes. Index FundsIndex Funds replicate the portfolio of a particular index such as the BSE Sensitive index, S;P NSE 50 index (Nifty), etc These schemes invest in the securities in the same  weightageà ‚  comprising of an index. NAVs  of such schemes would rise or fall in accordance with the rise or fall in the index, though not exactly by the same percentage due to some factors known as â€Å"tracking error† in technical terms.Necessary disclosures in this regard are made in the offer document of the mutual fund scheme. There are also exchange traded index funds launched by the mutual funds which are traded on the stock exchanges. Postal savings| Postal Services in India India possesses the largest postal network in the world with 154,866  post offices, of which 139,040 (89. 78%) are in rural areas and 15,826 (10. 22%) are in urban areas. It has 25,464 departmental PO s and 129,402 ED BPOs. spread all over the country . Post offices in India play a vital role in the rural areas.They connect these rural areas with the rest of the country and also provide banking facilities in the absence of banks in the rural areas. Post Offices offer various types of schemes. These are : * Monthly Income Scheme * National Savings Certificate * Public Provident Fund * Time Deposit Scheme * Senior Citizen’s Saving Scheme * Saving Account Monthly Income Scheme (MIS) This scheme appeals to conservative investors with traditional values, and for good reason. This scheme offers monthly income and is a safe, guaranteed-by-the-government option. For retirees, widows and others looking or a steady income, it can be ideal. Read on to learn more. The Post Office Monthly Income Scheme, or PO MIS, is offered by Indian Post Offices. A lump sum amount is deposited with the post office and monthly interest earned each month is paid out to you. As the scheme is offered by post offices, it is backed by the government. Thus, the PO MIS is one of the safest investments available. Salient Features: * Interest rate of 8. 5% per annum payable monthly w. e. f. 01. 04. 2012 * Maturity period is 5 years. * No Bonus on Maturity w. e. f. 01. 12. 2011. * No tax deduction at source (TDS ). * No tax rebate is applicable. Minimum investment amount is Rs. 1500/- or in multiple thereafter. * Maximum amount is Rs. 4. 50 lakhs in a single account and Rs. 9 lakhs in a joint account. * Auto credit facility of monthly interest to saving account if accounts are at the same post office. * Account can be opened by an individual, two/three adults jointly, and a minor through a guardian. * Non-Resident Indian / HUF cannot open an Account. * Minors have a separate limit of investment of Rs. 3 lakhs and the same is not clubbed with the limit of guardian. * Facility of premature closure of account after 1 year but on or before 3 years @ 2. 0% discount. * Deduction of 1% if account is closed prematurely at any time after three years. * Suitable scheme for retired employees/ senior citizens and for those who need regular monthly income. National Saving Certificate (NSC) National Savings Certificates (NSC) are certificates issued by Department of post, Government of India and are avai lable at all post office counters in the country. This scheme is specially designed for Government employees, Businessmen and other salaried classes who are IT assesses. It is a long term safe savings option for the investor.Trust and HUF cannot invest. The scheme combines growth in money with reductions in tax liability as per the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The duration of a NSC scheme is 5 years. Salient Features: * NSC VIII Issue (5 years) – Interest rate of 8. 6% per annum w. e. f. 01. 04. 2012 * NSC IX Issue (10 years) – Interest rate of 8. 9% per annum w. e. f. 01. 04. 2012 * Minimum investment Rs. 100/-. No maximum limit for investment. * No tax deduction at source. * Investment up to Rs 1,00,000/- per annum qualifies for Income Tax Rebate under NSC – section 80C of IT Act. Certificates can be kept as collateral security to get loan from banks. * Trust and HUF cannot invest. * A single holder type certificate can be purchased by an adult for himself or on behalf of a minor or to a minor. * The interest accruing annually but deemed to be reinvested will also qualify for deduction under NSC – section 80C of IT Act. Public Provident Fund (PPF) Public Provident Fund, popularly known as PPF, is a savings cum tax saving instrument. It also serves as a retirement planning tool for many of those who do not have any structured pension plan covering them.The balances in PPF account cannot be attached by any authority normally. Salient Features: * Interest rate of 8. 8% per annum w. e. f. 01. 04. 2012. * Minimum deposit is 500/- per annum. Maximum deposit is Rs. 1,00,000/- per annum * The scheme is for 15 years. * Investment up to Rs 1,00,000/- per annum qualifies for Income Tax Rebate under section 80C of IT Act. * Interest is completely tax-free. * Deposits can be made in lumpsum or in 12 installments. * One deposit with a minimum amount of Rs 500/- is mandatory in each financial year. * Withdrawal is permissible from 6th financial year. Loan facility available from 3rd financial year upto 5th financial year. The rate of interest charged on loan taken by the subscriber of a PPF account on or after 01. 12. 2011 shall be 2% p. a. However, the rate of interest of 1% p. a. shall continue to be charged on the loans already taken or taken up to 30. 11. 2011. * Free from court attachment. * Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) not eligible. * An individual cannot invest on behalf of HUF (Hindu Undivided Family) or Association of persons. * Ideal investment option for both salaried as well as self employed classes.Time Deposit Scheme A Post-Office Time  Deposit  Account  (RDA) is a  Ã‚  banking  service  similar to a Bank Fixed Deposit   offered by Department of post, Government of India at all post office counters in the country. The scheme is meant for those investors who want to deposit a lump sum of money for a fixed period; say for a minimum period of one year to two years, three years and a maxim um period of five years. Investor gets a lump sum (principal + interest) at the maturity of the deposit. Time Deposits scheme return a lower, but safer, growth in investment. Salient Features: 1 year, 2 year, 3 year and 5 year time deposits can be opened. * Interest payable annually but compounded quarterly: PERIOD| RATE OF INTEREST| One Year| 8. 2%| Two Years| 8. 3%| Three Years| 8. 4%| Five Years| 8. 5%| * Minimum amount of deposit is Rs 200/- and in multiples of Rs 200/- thereafter. No maximum limit. * Investment up to Rs 1,00,000/- per annum qualifies for Income Tax Rebate under section 80C of IT Act. * Interest income is taxable. * Facility of redeposit on maturity of an account. * In case of premature closure of 1 year, 2 Year, 3 Year or 5 Year account on or after 01. 12. 011 between 6 months to one year from the date of deposit, simple interest at the rate applicable to from time to time to post office savings account shall be payable. * 2 year, 3 year or 5 year accounts on o r after 01. 12. 2011 if closed after one year, interest on such deposits shall be calculated at a discount of 1% on the rate specified for respective period as mentioned in the concerned table given under Rule 7 of  Post office Time Deposit Rules. * Account can be pledged as security against a loan to banks/ Government institutions. * Any individual (a single adult or two adults jointly) can open an account. Group Accounts, Institutional Accounts and Misc. account not permissible. * Trust, Regimental Fund or Welfare Fund not permissible to invest. Senior Citizen’s Saving Scheme A new savings scheme called ‘Senior Citizens Savings Scheme’ has been notified with effect from August 2, 2004. The Scheme is for the benefit of senior citizens and maturity period of the deposit will be five years, extendable by another three years. Initially the scheme will be available through designated post offices through out the country. Salient Features: * Interest @ 9. 3% per an num from the date of deposit on quarterly basis w. e. f. 1. 04. 2012 * Minimum deposit is Rs 1000 and multiples thereof. Maximum limit of 15 lakhs. * Maturity period is 5 years and can be extended for a further period of 3 years. * Age should be 60 years or more, and 55 years or more but less than 60 years who has retired under a Voluntary Retirement Scheme or a Special Voluntary Retirement Scheme on the date of opening of the account within three months from the date of retirement. * No age limit for the retired personnel of Defence services provided they fulfill other specified conditions. * The account may be opened in individual capacity or jointly with spouse. TDS is deducted at source on interest if the interest amount is more than Rs 10,000/- per annum. * Investment up to Rs 1,00,000/- per annum qualifies for Income Tax Rebate under section 80C of IT Act. * Interest can be automatically credited to savings account provided both the accounts stand in the same post office. * Pr emature closure is allowed after one year on deduction of 1. 5% of the deposit and after 2 years on deduction of 1%. * No withdrawal permitted before the expiry of a period of 5 years from the date of opening of the account. * Non-resident Indians (NRIs) and Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) are not eligible to open an account.Saving Account Post office saving account is similar to a savings account in a bank. It is a safe instrument to park those funds, which you might need to liquidate fully or partially at very short notice. Post office savings accounts are especially suited for those living in rural and semi-rural areas where the reach of banks is very limited. Salient Features: * Rate of interest 4. 0% per annum * Minimum amount Rs 50/- in case of non-cheque account, Rs. 500/- in case of cheque account. * Maximum balance permissible is Rs 1,00,000/- in a single account and Rs 2,00,000/- in a joint account. Interest Tax Free. * Any individual can open an account. * Cheque facility av ailable. * Group Account, Institutional Account, other Accounts like Security Deposit account ; Official Capacity account are not permissible. Equity Indian Equity Market The Indian Equity Market is also the other name for Indian share market or Indian stock market. The forces of the market depend on monsoons, global fundings flowing into equities in the market and the performance of various companies. The Indian market of equities is transacted on the basis of two major stock indices, National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. NSE) and The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the trading being carried on in a dematerialized form. The physical stocks are in liquid form and cannot be sold by the investors in any market. Two types of funds are there in the Indian Equity Market; Venture Capital Funds and Private Equity Funds. The equity indexes are correlated beyond the boundaries of different countries with their exposure to common calamities like monsoon which would affect both India and Banglade sh or trade integration policies and close connection with the foreign investors.From 1995 onwards, both in terms of trade integration and FIIs India has made an advance. All these have established a close relationship between the stock market indexes of India stock market and those of other countries. The Stock derivatives add up all futures and options on all individual stocks. This stock index derivative was found to have gone up from 12 % of NSE derivatives turnover in 2002 to 35 % in 2004. The Indian Equity Market also comprise of the Debt Market, dominated by primary dealers, banks and wholesale investors.Indian Equity Market at present is a lucrative field for the investors and investing in Indian stocks are profitable for not only the long and medium-term investors, but also the position traders, short-term swing traders and also very short term intra-day traders. In terms of market capitalization, there are over 2500 companies in the BSE chart list with the Reliance Industr ies Limited at the top. The SENSEX today has rose from 1000 levels to 8000 levels providing a profitable business to all those who had been investing in the Indian Equity Market.There are about 22 stock exchanges in India which regulates the market trends of different stocks. Generally the bigger companies are listed with the NSE and the BSE, but there is the OTCEI or the Over the Counter Exchange of India, which lists the medium and small sized companies. There is the SEBI or the Securities and Exchange Board of India which supervises the functioning of the stock markets in India. In the Indian market scenario, the large FMCG companies reached the top line with a double-digit growth, with their shares being attractive for investing in the Indian stock market.Such companies like the Tata Tea, Britannia, to name a few, have been providing a bustling business for the Indian share market. Other leading houses offering equally beneficial stocks for investing in Indian Equity Market, of the SENSEX chart are the two-wheeler and three-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto and second largest software exporter Infosys Technologies. Other than some restricted industries, foreign investment in general enjoys a majority share in the Indian Equity Market. Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) need to register themselves with the SEBI and the RBI for operating in Indian stock exchanges.In fact from the Indian stock market analysis it is known that in some specific industries foreigners can have even 100% shares. In the last few years with the facility of the Online Stock Market Trading in India, it has been very convenient for the FIIs to trade in the Indian stock market. From an analysis on the Indian Equity Market it can be said that the increase in the foreign investments over the years no doubt have accentuated the dynamism of the Indian market of equities. Foreign investors are allowed to buy Indian equity for the purpose of converting the equity into ADR or GDR.Thus, the growing f inancial capital markets of India being encouraged by domestic and foreign investments is becoming a profitable business more with each day. If all the economic parameters are unchanged Indian Equity Market will be conducive for the growth of private equities and this will lead to an overall improvement in the Indian economy. Insurance Insurance  is a form of  risk management  primarily used to  hedge  against the  risk  of a contingent,  uncertain  loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment.An insurer, or insurance carrier, is a company selling the insurance; the insured, or policyholder, is the person or entity buying the insurance policy. The amount to be charged for a certain amount of insurance coverage is called the premium. Risk management, the practice of  appraising  and controlling risk, has evolved as a discrete field of study and practice. The transaction involves t he insured assuming a guaranteed and known relatively small loss in the form of payment to the insurer in exchange for the insurer's promise to compensate (indemnify) the insured in the case of a financial (personal) loss.The insured receives a  contract, called the  insurance policy, which details the conditions and circumstances under which the insured will be financially compensated. The business of Insurance essentially means defraying risks attached to any activity over time (including life) and sharing the risks between various entities, both persons and organizations. Insurance companies (ICs) are important players in financial markets as they collect and invest large amounts of premium. Insurance products are multipurpose and offer the following benefits: Protection to the investors * Accumulate savings * Channelize savings into sectors needing huge long term investments. Insurance involves  pooling  funds from  many  insured entities (known as exposures) to pay for the losses that some may incur. The insured entities are therefore protected from risk for a fee, with the fee being dependent upon the frequency and severity of the event occurring. In order to be insurable, the risk insured against must meet certain characteristics in order to be an  insurable risk.Insurance is a commercial enterprise and a major part of the financial services industry, but individual entities can also  self-insure  through saving money for possible future losses. Insurability Risk which can be insured by private companies typically share seven common characteristics: 1. Large number of similar exposure units: Since insurance operates through pooling resources, the majority of insurance policies are provided for individual members of large classes, allowing insurers to benefit from the  law of large numbers  in which predicted losses are similar to the actual losses.Exceptions include  Lloyd's of London, which is famous for insuring the life or hea lth of actors, sports figures and other famous individuals. However, all exposures will have particular differences, which may lead to different premium rates. 2. Definite loss: The loss takes place at a known time, in a known place, and from a known cause. The classic example is death of an insured person on a life insurance policy. Fire,  automobile accidents, and worker injuries may all easily meet this criterion. Other types of losses may only be definite in theory.Occupational disease, for instance, may involve prolonged exposure to injurious conditions where no specific time, place or cause is identifiable. Ideally, the time, place and cause of a loss should be clear enough that a reasonable person, with sufficient information, could objectively verify all three elements. 3. Accidental loss: The event that constitutes the trigger of a claim should be fortuitous, or at least outside the control of the beneficiary of the insurance. The loss should be pure, in the sense that it results from an event for which there is only the opportunity for cost.Events that contain speculative elements, such as ordinary business risks or even purchasing a lottery ticket, are generally not considered insurable. 4. Large loss: The size of the loss must be meaningful from the perspective of the insured. Insurance premiums need to cover both the expected cost of losses, plus the cost of issuing and administering the policy, adjusting losses, and supplying the capital needed to reasonably assure that the insurer will be able to pay claims. For small losses these latter costs may be several times the size of the expected cost of losses.There is hardly any point in paying such costs unless the protection offered has real value to a buyer. 5. Affordable premium: If the likelihood of an insured event is so high, or the cost of the event so large, that the resulting premium is large relative to the amount of protection offered, it is not likely that the insurance will be purchase d, even if on offer. Further, as the accounting profession formally recognizes in financial accounting standards, the premium cannot be so large that there is not a reasonable chance of a significant loss to the insurer.If there is no such chance of loss, the transaction may have the form of insurance, but not the substance. 6. Calculable loss: There are two elements that must be at least estimable, if not formally calculable: the probability of loss, and the attendant cost. Probability of loss is generally an empirical exercise, while cost has more to do with the ability of a reasonable person in possession of a copy of the insurance policy and a proof of loss associated with a claim presented under that policy to make a reasonably definite and objective evaluation of the amount of the loss recoverable as a result of the claim. . Limited risk of catastrophically large losses: Insurable losses are ideally  independent  and non-catastrophic, meaning that the losses do not happen all at once and individual losses are not severe enough to bankrupt the insurer; insurers may prefer to limit their exposure to a loss from a single event to some small portion of their capital base. Capital  constrains insurers' ability to sell  earthquake insurance  as well as wind insurance in  hurricane  zones. In the US,  flood risk  is insured by the federal government.In commercial fire insurance it is possible to find single properties whose total exposed value is well in excess of any individual insurer's capital constraint. Such properties are generally shared among several insurers, or are insured by a single insurer who syndicates the risk into the  reinsurance  market. Legal When a company insures an individual entity, there are basic legal requirements. Several commonly cited legal principles of insurance include: 1. Indemnity  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ the insurance company indemnifies, or compensates, the insured in the case of certain losses only up to the insure d's interest. . Insurable interest  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ the insured typically must directly suffer from the loss. Insurable interest must exist whether property insurance or insurance on a person is involved. The concept requires that the insured have a â€Å"stake† in the loss or damage to the life or property insured. What that â€Å"stake† is will be determined by the kind of insurance involved and the nature of the property ownership or relationship between the persons. 3. Utmost good faith  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ the insured and the insurer are bound by a  good faith  bond of honesty and fairness. Material facts must be disclosed. 4.Contribution – insurers which have similar obligations to the insured contribute in the indemnification, according to some method. 5. Subrogation – the insurance company acquires legal rights to pursue recoveries on behalf of the insured; for example, the insurer may sue those liable for insured's loss. 6. Causa proxima, or proximate caus e – the cause of loss (the peril) must be covered under the insuring agreement of the policy, and the dominant cause must not be  excluded 7. Mitigation – In case of any loss or casualty, the asset owner must attempt to keep the loss to a minimum, as if the asset was not insured.Indemnification To â€Å"indemnify† means to make whole again, or to be reinstated to the position that one was in, to the extent possible, prior to the happening of a specified event or peril. Accordingly,  life insuranceis generally not considered to be indemnity insurance, but rather â€Å"contingent† insurance (i. e. , a claim arises on the occurrence of a specified event). There are generally two types of insurance contracts that seek to indemnify an insured: 1. an â€Å"indemnity† policy, and 2. a â€Å"pay on behalf† or â€Å"on behalf of†Ã‚  policy. The difference is significant on paper, but rarely material in practice.An â€Å"indemnity† p olicy will never pay claims until the insured has paid out of pocket to some third party; for example, a visitor to your home slips on a floor that you left wet and sues you for $10,000 and wins. Under an â€Å"indemnity† policy the homeowner would have to come up with the $10,000 to pay for the visitor's fall and then would be â€Å"indemnified† by the insurance carrier for the out of pocket costs (the $10,000). [4][5] Under the same situation, a â€Å"pay on behalf† policy, the insurance carrier would pay the claim and the insured (the homeowner in the above example) would not be out of pocket for anything.Most modern liability insurance is written on the basis of â€Å"pay on behalf† language. An entity seeking to transfer risk (an individual, corporation, or association of any type, etc. ) becomes the ‘insured' party once risk is assumed by an ‘insurer', the insuring party, by means of a contract, called an  insurance policy. Generally, an insurance contract includes, at a minimum, the following elements: identification of participating parties (the insurer, the insured, the beneficiaries), the premium, the period of coverage, the particular loss event covered, the amount of coverage (i. . , the amount to be paid to the insured or beneficiary in the event of a loss), and exclusions  (events not covered). An insured is thus said to be â€Å"indemnified† against the loss covered in the policy. When insured parties experience a loss for a specified peril, the coverage entitles the policyholder to make a claim against the insurer for the covered amount of loss as specified by the policy. The fee paid by the insured to the insurer for assuming the risk is called the premium.Insurance premiums from many insureds are used to fund accounts reserved for later payment of claims — in theory for a relatively few claimants — and for  overhead  costs. So long as an insurer maintains adequate funds set aside for anticipated losses (called reserves), the remaining margin is an insurer's  profit. Types of Insurances * Life Insurance * General Insurance Life Insurance Life insurance  is a contract between an  insurance policy holder  and an  insurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated  beneficiary sum of money (the â€Å"benefits†) upon the death of the insured person.Depending on the contract, other events such as  terminal illness  or critical illness  may also trigger payment. The policy holder typically pays a premium, either regularly or as a lump sum. Other expenses (such as funeral expenses) are also sometimes included in the benefits. The advantage for the policy owner is â€Å"peace of mind†, in knowing that the death of the insured person will not result in financial hardship for loved ones and lenders. Life policies are legal contracts and the terms of the contract describe the limitations of the insured events.Specific exclusion s are often written into the contract to limit the liability of the insurer; common examples are claims relating to suicide, fraud, war, riot and civil commotion. Life-based contracts tend to fall into two major categories: * Protection  policies – designed to provide a benefit in the event of specified event, typically a lump sum payment. A common form of this design is term insurance. * Investment  policies – where the main objective is to facilitate the growth of capital by regular or single premiums.Common forms (in the US) are  whole life,  universal life  and  variable life policies. General Insurance General insurance  or non-life insurance policies, including automobile and homeowners policies, provide payments depending on the loss from a particular financial event. General insurance typically comprises any insurance that is not determined to be  life insurance. It is called  property  and casualty  insurance  in the  U. S. and  Non -Life Insurance  in Continental Europe. Commercial lines  products are usually designed for relatively small legal entities.These would include workers' comp (employers liability), public liability, product liability, commercial fleet and other general insurance products sold in a relatively standard fashion to many organisations. There are many companies that supply comprehensive commercial insurance packages for a wide range of different industries, including shops, restaurants and hotels. Personal lines  products are designed to be sold in large quantities. This would include  autos  (private car),  homeowners  (household), pet insurance, creditor insurance and others. ACORD  which is the insurance industry global standards organisation.ACORD has standards for personal and commercial lines and has been working with the Australian General Insurers to develop those XML standards, standard applications for insurance, and certificates of currency. PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT A good way to begin understanding what portfolio management is (and is not) may be to define the term  portfolio. In a business context, we can look to the mutual fund industry to explain the term's origins. Morgan Stanley's  Dictionary of Financial Terms  offers the following explanation: If you own more than one security, you have an investment portfolio.You build the portfolio by buying additional stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or other investments. Your goal is to increase the portfolio's value by selecting investments that you believe will go up in price. According to modern portfolio theory, you can reduce your investment risk by creating a diversified portfolio that includes enough different types, or classes, of securities so that at least some of them may produce strong returns in any economic climate. Note that this explanation contains a number of important ideas: * A portfolio contains many investment vehicles. Owning a portfolio involves making choices — tha t is, deciding what additional stocks, bonds, or other financial instruments to buy; when to buy; what and when to sell; and so forth. Making such decisions is a form of management. * The management of a portfolio is goal-driven. For an investment portfolio, the specific goal is to increase the value. * Managing a portfolio involves inherent risks. Objectives of Portfolio Management:- The objective of  portfolio management  is to invest in securities is securities in such a way that one maximizes one’s returns and minimizes risks in order to achieve one’s investment objective.A good  portfolio  should have multiple objectives and achieve a sound balance among them. Any one objective should not be given undue importance at the cost of others. Presented below are some important objectives of portfolio management. 1. Stable Current Return: – Once investment safety is guaranteed, the portfolio should yield a steady current income. The current returns should at least match the opportunity cost of the funds of the investor. What we are referring to here current income by way of interest of dividends, not capital gains. 2. Marketability: –A good portfolio consists of investment, which can be marketed without difficulty. If there are too many unlisted or inactive shares in your portfolio, you will face problems in encasing them, and switching from one investment to another. It is desirable to invest in companies listed on major stock exchanges, which are actively traded. 3. Tax Planning: – Since taxation is an important variable in total planning, a good portfolio should enable its owner to enjoy a favorable tax shelter. The portfolio should be developed considering not only income tax, but capital gains tax, and gift tax, as well.What a good portfolio aims at is tax planning, not tax evasion or tax avoidance. 4. Appreciation in the value of capital: A good portfolio should appreciate in value in order to protect the investor from any erosion in purchasing power due to inflation. In other words, a balanced portfolio must consist of certain investments, which tend to appreciate in real value after adjusting for inflation. 5. Liquidity: The portfolio should ensure that there are enough funds available at short notice to take care of the investor’s liquidity requirements.It is desirable to keep a line of credit from a bank for use in case it becomes necessary to participate in right issues, or for any other personal needs. 6. Safety of the investment: The first important objective of a portfolio, no matter who owns it, is to ensure that the investment is absolutely safe. Other considerations like income, growth, etc. , only come into the picture after the safety of your investment is ensured. Investment safety or minimization of risks is one of the important objectives of portfolio management.There are many types of risks, which are associated with investment in equity stocks, including super stocks . Bear in mind that there is no such thing as a zero risk investment. More over, relatively low risk i