Finance - Hedging Strategies Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Finance - Hedging Strategies - Assignment Example The essence of hedging strategies is to reduce business risks while deterring the creation of additional risks. Multinational firms encounter a multitude of risks, particularly as a result of their competitive exposures across the globe. General Motors has along experienced competitive exposure due to the Japanese yen. This exposure has a lot to do with the depreciating Japanese yen. However, the company is yet to establish clear guidelines to deal with the competitive risk caused by the yen’s continued depreciation. In essence, the company’s hedging strategies do not provide lucid hedging strategy guidelines. General Motor’s treasurer and finance vice-president Eric Feldstein had to establish robust hedging strategies to counter the risk posed by the depreciating Japanese yen. General Motors was incurring substantial losses as a result of market changes with regard to the US dollar and Japanese yen (Desai & Veblen, 2006). General Motors, therefore, sought to min imize currency risk to maximize its profitability. GM established a passive policy that involved hedging half of its commercial exposures on a regional basis. This means that GM’s hedging strategy involved a clear distinction between commercial and financial exposures. GM defined its commercial exposures as cash flows related to its ongoing business, for instance, payables and receivables and its financial exposures as dividends and debt repayments. The primary purpose of GM’s overall hedging strategy was related to its foreign exchange risk management policy. This hedging strategy aimed at reducing the volatility between cash flow and earnings by hedging cash flows i.e. transaction exposures only and disregard translation (balance sheet) exposures. In addition, GM’s strategy aimed at minimizing the cost, as well as management time devoted to the management of global foreign exchange. This policy was an outcome of an internal audit, which showed that resource in vestment in active foreign exchange management had not led to substantial operation of passive benchmarks. This led to policy changes, as well as the adoption of a passive approach in place of the active one. Lastly, GM’s hedging strategy aimed at aligning the company’s foreign exchange management with GM’s operation of its automotive business (Desai & Veblen, 2006). This move reflected the assumption that financial management needs to conform to the geographic, operational footprint of GM’s overlying business. Overall, GM’s hedging strategy has effectively reduced its foreign exchange risks, enabling the company to operate efficiently in the Japanese market. JP Morgan is a US-based financial company that rolled out its business in other regions of the world. While companies establish hedging strategies to protect them from risks, particularly future risks, wrong practices can cost massive losses to a company. One such company is JP Morgan, which u sed derivatives as its primary hedging strategy resulting in losses of up to $ 2 billion. JP Morgan adopted the use of risky derivatives rather than less risky bonds used by its competitors such as Bank of America, Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. (Griffin & Moore, 2012). The later financial companies do not trade in credit-default swaps with regard to their indexes. However, JP Morgan accumulated massive credit-default indexes, which resulted in, price moves within the financial industry. Unlike JP Morgan, other financial industry players use

Biography of Kate Chopin Essay Example for Free

Biography of Kate Chopin Essay Kate Chopin was an American author of short stories and novels. Considered as one of the earliest feminist authors of the 20th century, she was one of the most-celebrated female writers of her time. She wrote several short stories including The Story of an Hour (1894), Euphrase (1850), Mrs. Mobrys Reason (1891), A Shameful Affair (1893), and many others. Her literature usually described her own life, reflecting the time she lived in and the life she led. When readers look into her literature, they do not only read what is on the text but also try to understand the context. When you look through her fiction, you might notice that the contexts include the life of the author, the time it was written and the social condition during the time it was set, among others. One of her short stories, The Story of an Hour, depicts a woman’s reactions to the news of her husband’s death, upon reading which I found connections between her life and the life of the main character of the short story. Background and early life After Kate Chopin’s father was killed in a train accident, she moved into a household of women in St. Louis. As a girl she was mentored mainly by women her mother, her grandmother, and her great grandmother. She also had deep bonds with her family members, the sisters who taught her at school, and with her life-long friend Kitty Garasche. A lot of the fiction Kate wrote was hugely influenced by the women she grew up with, especially regarding her views about feminism, and women. In 1870, at the age of 20, she settled in New Orleans. Oscar, her husband, bought a general store in Cloutierville, but in 1882 he died of malaria and left Kate with $12,000 in debt (approximately $229,360 in 2005 dollars). Kate Chopin was widowed at 32. She attempted to run the plantation and store alone but with no success. Two years later, she sold her Louisiana business. Her mother wanted her to move back to St. Louis. The following year, her mother died. After the loss of both her husband and the mother, Kate Chopin found herself drifting into the realms of depression. Her doctor felt that writing would be a good way for her to heal this developing depression. Her doctor understood that writing could serve as a focus for her energy as well as a source of income. She thus indulged herself and became successful, and found many of her work getting published. However, some of her writings were far too ahead of their times and she faced lack of acceptance for almost 12 years. Literary works with examples Kate Chopin commented on the importance of describing human existence in its subtle, complex, true meaning, stripped of the veil with which ethical and conventional standards have draped it† (1894). An interview on the PBS website for Kate Chopin says, I think she was much more interested in the excitement, the civilization that came in her circle of intellectual friends. That was freedom, the freedom to explore ideas† (PBS, 1999). Kate was neither a feminist nor a suffragist, she said so. She was nonetheless a woman who took women extremely seriously. She never doubted the womans ability to be strong. She came from a long line of strong women whom she loved and respected, owing to the affiliation with her great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother. She had strong intellectual women friends. Her lack of interest in feminism and suffrage did not have anything to do with a lack of confidence in women, nor did it have a lot to do with a lack of desire for freedom. She simply had a different understanding of freedom. She saw freedom as much more a matter of spirit, soul, and character than anything else, of living your life within the constraints that the world makes [or] your God offers you, because all of us do live within constraints. There is no indication that â€Å"she regretted her marriage, or regretted being a mother† (PBS, 1999). Early 1970s was the period thriving with womens rights movements, and Kate Chopin was one leading contributor to the said phenomenon. She contributed a lot through her writings about women, daytime dramas, the feminine mystique, women’s liberation, Mars vs. Venus, self-help and commentary on open marriages. You can see how Kate Chopin’s life event (train accident, A Widow, and Freedom for Women) influenced her fictions through The Story of an Hour. One of the main events in the story is a man’s loss, namely Mrs. Mallard’s husband. Josephine, Mrs. Mallard’s sister, brought the sad message that there was a railroad disaster and of those listed as killed included Brently Mallard, who was Mrs. Mallard’s husband. In Kate’s life, there had been a similar loss. That someone was her father who passed away in a railroad accident in 1855. Furthermore, Mrs. Mallard is in due course assumed to be a widow, but readers will soon find out that Mr. Mallard is alive. In Kate’s life, her father had widowed her mother. Both had experienced what it’s like to be a widow but of course, the response to the loss may entirely be different. In the end, before she learnt of Brently’s return from the accident, Louise died of heart disease of joy that kills. This could suggest that she had a moment of monstrous joy, which consumed her and overwhelmed her to death. Perhaps Chopin would just let Louise die instead of seeing Brently again, causing her to remain imprisoned and be confined to her husband’s hands. Lastly, in The Story of An Hour, Chopin made no suggestion to the readers that Mrs. Mallard was sorry for her husband’s loss. Instead, she uttered under her breath, â€Å"free, free, and free! † which suggests how happy Mrs. Mallard was to have lost her husband, because she now has freedom of herself. The joy she feels after regaining her freedom is something which consumes her. In Kate’s life, a lot of her work mentioned the rise in the rights of women. She experienced a period where there was a decline in those rights and women were deprived of public needs like education, the right to vote, the right to property and their children. Those events drove her to write the kind of feminist text she did instead of dedicating herself to other themes. As observed, literature can bring us to the world of the author. Literary works reflect the time, state of mind, and the life of the author. By understanding the connection between Kate Chopin and Mrs. Mallard in the short story, The Story of an Hour, it can be confirmed that the novel portrayed a reference to Kate Chopin’s life since most of the events (train accident, A Widow, and Freedom for Women) in Louise’s life are similar to, or at least greatly influenced by her own. References Chopin, K. (1894). One Story. PBS (Director). (1999). Kate Chopin: A Re-Awakening [Motion Picture].

Library Management System

Library Management System Development and connection to multiple online /www database using jsp Introduction: There are many web based application running with only single database. It has some problems such as performance issues etc but we are going to implement the Our primarily purpose is to connect the multiple databases with the application to decrease the database terrific and make it efficient. On the other hand we will To Online Library Management systems that connect to multiple databases. When any user will come to access the application and do registration then its information will be saved only one database on the base of implemented business logic of the databases. Library Management System will give you facility to search the online books on the base of different options, reserve the books in advance, user management and interactive report module. All the search information will come from different databases. Problem Statement The problem with the existing system is that most of the online application is based single or centralized database. When multiple users comes and access the same application at the same time than the response time of the application goes slow due to huge amount of requests as long as database processing also go slow to process the all requests and application go stuck. Although all data stored in only single database and if the central database fails then whole application will not work. Aim and objective: The main aim of this project is to build online application that integrate the more than one connection with the multiple databases as in result query processing time will also go faster because information will be saved in different or more than one database. There are many objectives which well use after implement  · Remove the Database Centric Concept.  · Increase the Database performance and its speed.  · Minimize the database load.  · Improve the Processing power of each system Proposed methodologies Methodology is processes that focus on what information is collected and how to analyze it. In our Development and Connect multiple databases we will implement the RAD methodology.RAD stands for Rapid Application Development as long as product can be implemented rapidly with high quality.RAD produce the quick and dirty prototype application or software which satisfied the customer needs and requirements. In RAD the software developed in series of cycles which probably know time boxes. The main advantage of RAD is that customer gives the feedback on each completion of phase of software. Without completion of previous phase the next phase cannot be started. Expected artefact / outcomes: The expected outcomes of development and connect multiple databases is that it provides the online Library Management System in which user can get registration and search the different kind of books on base of different parameter such as BookID, Author Name etc as long as confirm the booking of book in advance. By connecting the more than two databases with each other, system will execute the efficient, reliable and reduce the database terrific as well as database performance will be increased. Technologies for implementation Java:- Java is one of the most popular language that currently using for Software Development because its an open source features. There are many features provide by Java such as JVM(Java virtual Machine) is use to translate the Java program into machine language, JIT(Just in time complier) to compile all the methods of the coded program[1], exceptional handling and gives the rich support of JDBC API for communication with the Database. We will implement this project in Java. So, all the methods, Classes, Interfaces, Data Types will be implemented in Java. In order to Java version well implement it using Java 6 or latest version. Servlet:- Servlet is a Java class which use of Web based Application. This class is same like the Simple Java class but it has some extra features and interfaces that make it powerful. In server there are many features available like Session Handling, Request, Response, and Dispatcher etc [2]. All the requests of the clients handle on the servlet. JSP:- JSP stands for Java Server Pages and its server side programming language that provide the dynamic web pages feature. Its known as a scripting language. it has built in JSTL( JSP Standard Tag Library) to do some actions and components such as scriptlet, expression. In our project well use JSP as a view and follow the MVC architecture. We will controller to control the terrific of the application, implement the Business logic in Business Layer and JSP as a view. Java Script JavaScript is an Object-oriented programming language and client side scripting. JavaScript code embedded in the HTML and run on the users web browser [4].Like Java, it also has Classes, method and data types but different is Java is run on Server side and JavaScript run on Client Side. You can also generate Dynamic html. In our project well use Java Script only for validation purpose. Itll validate the data such as BookID, Date and address of the book. MySQL:- MYSQL is a relational database managements system that provides the multi databases access to all the users. Its going popular day by day as well as it has no license fee. It has many powerful features such as stored procedures, locking and unlocking, views and triggers. In our project well use MYSQLl as a backend database to store all the data of Library Management System. There will be more than two databases used in our project to store, view, update and delete the existing data. Whenever user will send a search request then itll search the data to all the databases. Apache Tomcat Server:- Apache Tomcat Server is a web server that Java Servlet container. A Web server the listen the HTTP request which is sent by the user and return the response. All the websites, application will be deployed under the Tomcat Server cond Structure. Tomcat is good because it supports both the Java Servlet and JSP pages. In our application well use the latest release of Apache Tomcat 6.x. Design/Structural Formation High Level Design In Development and connecting multiple database application, when user send the searching request then application will search the data from those databases in which search data is saved and return the result from all databases. Project Plan: Interim Project Report 1 week Requirement Analysis 1 week Design 4 days Implementation 3 week Poster Design 3 days Testing 1 week References: 1. Effectiveness of Cross-Platform Optimizations for a Java Just-In-Time Compiler by Kazuaki Ishizaki, Mikio Takeuchi, Kiyokuni Kawachiya, Toshio Suganuma, Osamu Gohda, Tatsushi Inagaki, Akira Koseki, Kazunori Ogata, Motohiro Kawahito, Toshiaki Yasue, Takeshi Ogasawara, Tamiya Onodera, Hideaki Komatsu, and Toshio Nakatani Page[1] http://0-portal.acm.org.brum.beds.ac.uk/citation.cfm?id=949305.949322coll=ACMdl=ACMCFID=82535495CFTOKEN=35642467 2. An Introduction to Java Servlet Programming by Vandana Pursnani http://0-www.acm.org.brum.beds.ac.uk/crossroads/xrds82/servletsProgramming.html?CFID=82535495CFTOKEN=35642467 3. An Online Bookstore Using JSP Technology by Jose Hughes http://0-delivery.acm.org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1145/1170000/1167328/p339-hughes.pdf?key1=1167328key2=3359398621coll=ACMdl=ACMCFID=82535495CFTOKEN=35642467 4. Characterizing Insecure JavaScript Practices on the Web by Chuan Yue, Haining Wang[1] http://0-delivery.acm.org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1145/1530000/1526838/p961-yue.pdf?key1=1526838key2=0773498621coll=ACMdl=ACMCFID=82535495CFTOKEN=35642467

Top Ten Reasons For Legalizing Euthanasia :: Argument in Favor of Euthanasia

Euthanasia has always been a taboo subject in some cultures. People all over the world so openly engage in conversation in matters of life. But when it comes to the other half of life, death, no one likes discussing it. Only terrorists claim how glorious death will be. These are some of the reasons that many people in society feel that euthanasia is morally wrong. Who is to say when it is time for someone to die or how much a person should suffer before they are allowed to end their life? How does someone know what the right age is that people should die? Should people be allowed to end their life when they feel their health is degenerating? Just keep in mind the word euthanasia comes from the Greek words eu â€Å"good† and thanatos â€Å"death.† Literal translation is â€Å"good death.† There are a variety of meanings and ways to be euthanized. The meaning of euthanasia is the intentional killing by act or omission of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit. (The key word here is â€Å"intentional†. If death is not intended, it is not an act of euthanasia.) Euthanasia by action is intentionally causing a person’s death by performing an action such as by giving a lethal injection. Euthanasia by omission is intentionally causing death by not providing necessary and ordinary (usual and customary) care or food and water. What euthanasia is not: there is no euthanasia unless the death is intentionally caused by what was done or not done. Thus, some medical actions that are often labeled "passive euthanasia" are no form of euthanasia, since the intention to take life is lacking. These acts include not commencing treatment that would not provide a benefit to the patient, withdrawing treatment that has been shown to be ineffective, too burdenso me or is unwanted, and the giving of high doses of pain-killers that may endanger life, when they have been shown to be necessary. All those are part of good medical practice, endorsed by law, when they are properly carried out. (Euthanasia definitions) Euthanasia also includes assisted suicide. If a doctor is involved with the death of a patient or person it is called physician assisted. Until recent times the word euthanasia was thought of as dying from old age or a natural death. In the nineteenth century is when physicians and politicians started using it as a life shortening death, taking years away from someone that could live a long life if cared for properly.

Creation Stories :: African Creation Tales Essays

Creation Stories All cultures seek to explain how everything in this world was created. They come up with their own creation stories that describe the creation of themselves and the things around them. Most creation stories also attempt to explain mysterious phenomena, teach lessons to the listeners, and emphasize aspects of life that each culture finds important. The three creation stories that I chose to compare were the creation myths of the Mande, the African Bushmen, and the Egyptians. These creation stories, though extremely different do share some similarities. The African Bushmen myth and the Egyptian myth both have lessons or morals to be learned from the story; specifically, they emphasize the importance of obeying laws. The Egyptian myth, â€Å"The Story of Re,† shows that men must obey the laws of Re, the creator, even if he appears weak in their eyes. When the men stopped obeying Re, they were slaughtered by his daughter, Sekhmet. The African Bushmen myth demonstrated that one should always obey the laws of the creator (in this case, Kaang) because it is usually for one’s own benefit anyway. The people disobeyed Kaang’s warning not to use fire and so their use of fire ended up scaring off the animals breaking off communication between people and animals. All three myths reveal something about what its culture considers to be important in life—the myths indicate what these cultures value and what fascinates them. The Egyptian myth, â€Å"The Story of Re,† reveals the Egyptians’ fascination with bloodshed; there is a great deal of bloodshed when Sekhmet slaughters men and takes pleasure in their blood. The myth also indicates that Egyptians valued cunning deception and magic arts. The myth involves two instances in which a character tricks another character using clever and/or magical means. In one instance, Re tricks Sekhmet into drinking large amounts of alcohol by dying it red with red ocher, so that she thinks it is blood. In another instance, Isis tricks Re into telling her his secret name by requiring it as part of a cure for a snakebite. Through their creation myth, the African Bushmen indicate that they value man’s interaction with animals; they show concern about fire and the fact that it frightens animals. They seem to feel that fire has ruined the relationship between men and animals.

The Misidentification of The Day We Were Dogs Essay -- Day We Were Dog

The Misidentification of The Day We Were Dogs      Ã‚   "The Day We Were Dogs," published in 1993 by Elena Garro, illustrates the common error of misidentification of Magical Realism. The fact that Garro is a Mexican author and that fantasy is so closely related to Magical Realism often causes the reader to associate this particular work with Magical Realism. However, this work also contains fantastic elements as well as sublime characteristics, which make it difficult to classify as a strictly Magical Realist work. As "The Day We Were Dogs" can be interpreted in so many different ways, the explanation of the details of the story become much more difficult. Are the two girls, Eva and Leli, pretending to be dogs or did they actually become dogs for a day? Each reader may have a different view of this important question, and this view may alter how he or she classifies this work. The short story does contain several magical elements and even fulfills several of the characteristics of Magical Realism as described by Faris. Should one assume the girls are actually in the canine form, one should notice that the girls are understood by the people around, even though Toni is not. The servants understand when the girls tell them to prepare lunch for three dogs. The men at the murder scene, as well, understand the "dogs" when they question what the dogs saw. This interspecies communication holds a magical aspect due to its nonoccurance in reality (Faris 167). The communication that exists between the "dogs" and Toni, another dog, one could understand. Toni communicates by some speech, but mostly by his actions. He bares his teeth during lunch so he might take the meat and, therefore, prove himself to be the head of the pecking ord... ...the story goes against its classification of Magical Realism in that hesitation occurs by both the reader and the characters. Where does one classify such a work? That answer truly depends upon one's own interpretation and opinion. Works Cited Faris, Wendy B. "Scheherazade's Children: Magical Realism and Postmodern Fiction." Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham, N.C.: Duke UP, 1995: 163-190. Garro, Elena. "The Day We Were Dogs." Latin American Writers: Thirty Short Stories. Ed. Gabriella Ibieta. New York, N.Y.: St. Martin's Press, 1993: 206-212. Simpkins, Scott. "Sources of Magical Realism/ Supplements to Realism in Contemporary Latin American Literature." Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham, N.C.: Duke UP, 1995: 145-159.   

Citizenship Birthright Under Fire

Citizenship Birthright Under Fire Summary During one morning in Washington, DC, Senator Mitch McConnell who is the Senate minority leader, argued with Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina about the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. The 14th Amendment grants citizenship to anymore born in the United States. Graham spoke out saying the Amendment was a mistake because children of illegal immigrants could become citizens if they were born in the United States automatically.He also stated as well as granting legal status to millions of illegal immigrants, he would also amend the 14th Amendment in order to nullify future unauthorized immigration. Republican and Democratic lawmakers were surprised with Graham’s proposal since he was basically the only Republican to negotiate with Democrats to create an immigration overhaul bill. This debate has been centered on the citizenship clause â€Å"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction th ereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. People against this amendment have argued that illegal immigrants are not under U. S. jurisdiction and therefore America-born children should not be automatically become citizens. The amendment has been practiced since the 1860’s and if the law were changed it would make babies born from Mexican mothers illegally they would become immigrants at birth. Opponents against the amendment say that Mexican mothers would have the babies here in the U. S. so that hopefully the mothers would receive citizenship. The only thing is by law American citizen children must wait until they are 21 years old to apply for legal residency for their parents.About 4 million citizen children have at least one parent who is an illegal immigrant. Even though Graham is pushing to reconstruct the amendment it would be huge political proposition. Opinion I woke up this morning, proud to be an American. I do not usually think w ould if I was born somewhere else or would if my relatives never came over to America? Or even would if the 14th Amendment was never thought of or brought up? I just go about my day as usual. If I really look into it and think about it, if my relatives never came to America, I would not be sitting here in this comfortable chair, typing this paper for my government class.As a matter of fact I, as a human being, would not be here. My grandfather’s roots are from Mexico and my grandmother’s are from Germany. If it was not for the 14th Amendment, they would have not met or have been able to be in this country. People come to America for a better life and opportunity. The U. S. is very diverse with different cultures, religions, and races and yet some people whose ancestors came over here are arguing that it is not fair for other people to have an opportunity to succeed. Yet I sort of see why they are complaining because America gets bigger every year due to people coming o ver