Portfolio Analysis Essay Example for Free

Portfolio Analysis Essay ABSTRACT This paper discusses the portfolio analysis. The paper includes a brief discussion on the meaning of the portfolio and why it is important for an investor to consider portfolio. It   also explains how an investor would select a particular asset to be a part of his portfolio. The limitations and disadvantages of having a portfolio analysis is also discussed in the last paragraphs of the paper. An investor or entrepreneur must study where he or she must invest in. These assets are combined in order to maximize the return of investment of the investor and entrepreneur. The combination of these assets, according to Weston and Copeland (1992) can be called a portfolio. The aim of an investor is to maximize their investments. Weston and Copeland (1992) believe in applying the portfolio theory to optimize the selection of assets. Each portfolio has a certain degree of risk and advantages. The weighted average of the returns of the individual assets is done in order to compute for the rate of return of the portfolio. A risk of a portfolio is the combination of all assets. The risk of the portfolio is different from the asset if it is held in isolation. A particular asset can be considered as very risky if it is held in isolation. However, this may not be so if it is combined with the other assets. Rather, these assets may contribute largely to an optimal portfolio of the investor. The risk of a particular portfolio depends on the risk factors of the assets. Litterman and Winkemann (1996) had noted that investors select their portfolio depending on the benchmark or the standard that they had set. The benchmark depends on the selection of the investors. These can be a liability stream, performance index or cash return. Experts are trying to understand the risk of assets and portfolio. Littermann and Winkelmann (1996) had recommended the use of risk factors. One of the most important risk factors that the investors must looked out for is the market exposure of the portfolio. This makes the risk of portfolio very unpredictable that is why investors are expected to risk their assets when they are managing their portfolio and are deciding on where to put their money. The analysis of one’s portfolio is important in its management. Through the analysis of the portfolio an investor can estimate the return or the loss that a particular asset may contribute. Having been able to study the portfolio does not mean a total success because as stated above, investing is a risk and an investor decides based on uncertainty. There may be cases that an investor had chosen the wrong combination of assets that may result to losses. Every businesses are exposed to risk and the percentage of failing is not fixed. An investor may estimate that the percentage of success is 75% and the percentage of failure is 25%. However, this may not be the case. It could be the other way around. Failure percentage can be higher than that of the success depending on the events that may happen. Even though the investors have uncovered all the risk factors that is connected with the success of the investment, there could be other complications that can occur once the investment had already been decided.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Investing in stocks and bonds are also a part of the portfolio. There is no fixed amount of return concerning stocks. A particular company stock may be high now but because of matters in the economy or problems in the company it could go very low. The limitations of having the portfolio analysis is that the computation of the portfolio may now approach the benchmark of the investor however, there could be times that the portfolio of an investor changes because of the â€Å"risk factors†Ã‚   in the market. REFERENCES: Littermann R. and Winkelmann K. 1996.   Managing Market Exposure. Retrieved last February 20, 2008 from Goldman Sachs. Website: http://faculty.fuqua.duke.edu/~charvey/Teaching/IntesaBci_2001/GS_Managing_market_exposure.pdf Weston, J. and Copeland, T. 1992. Managerial Finance 9th edition. Dryden Press. United States ofAmerica.

Emergency Contraception Essay -- Biology Essays Research Papers

Emergency Contraception There are many myths surrounding the use of emergency contraception. The question of what it is and when to use it is just a fraction of the controversy surrounding this arguably new practice. Emergency contraception is a method of preventing pregnancy after the act of unprotected sexual intercourse. It does not protect against sexually transmitted diseases. However, emergency contraception can not be obtained without a prescription. Why does the US government not trust women with the choice of making sure they do not get pregnant after having unprotected sex? If abortion is a choice and abortion terminates a life, why can women not have the choice to make sure they do not need an abortion? What is wrong with preventing an unwanted pregnancy? There are two types of emergency contraception, pills (ECP's) or copper T intrauterine devices (IUD). There are two distinct pill types, the brand name "Preven" and the brand name "Plan B". Preven contains the same hormones as regular birth control, estrogen and progestin. (1) It causes more instances of nausea and vomiting than Plan Bs, and decreases the chances of pregnancy by 75%. However, Preven can be used as an ongoing form of birth control. Plan B only contains the hormone progestin. It is more effective, decreasing chances of pregnancy by 89%, and has less of a chance for side effects. (1) These pills can be taken immediately after the sex, or up to 72 hours later. (2). The other form of emergency contraception, IUD, can be inserted up to five days after the unprotected sex and is more effective than the pills (99% decreased chance of pregnancy). (1) An IUD can be left in for up to 10 years as a form of birth control, but in some cases can lead to pe... ...e. The American government still denies the request for these to be readily available for American women. Why is this so? In a country where abortion is such a moral issue, you would think that an alternative to having to end a life would be widely welcomed by all sides of the issue. WWW Sources 1) emergency contraception at princeton http://ec.princeton.edu/info/eciud.html 2) teen forum on ec, myth/fact based site http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f03/web1/www.cfoc.org/3_teen/3_emergency.cfm 3) publication paper, stand on emergency contraception http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f03/web1/www.amwa-doc.org 4) ec connection, valuable resource http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f03/web1/www.ecconnection.org 5) plannedparenthood, good price list http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f03/web1/www.plannedparenthood.com

Reflection and Evaluation Essay

As part of the 7407 stage 1 course there is a requirement for several groups of students to complete a micro teaching session, we would do the session in front of the other students who would provide the feedback for the session. There is no doubt that immediate feedback is the most beneficial due to the work still being fresh in the mind of the student. Reece & Walker (2002 p470) Reflection We had initially planned to deliver the micro teach two weeks earlier but one member of the group had a personal issue that forced the session to be delayed by two weeks. Our group had a diverse knowledge pool, IT, Physical Education and Marketing and because of this diversity I initially thought that finding a subject for the micro teaching session would be hard but to my surprise we had discussed and agreed the subject and each persons involvement within thirty minutes. The micro teaching session would be based on the human heart with each member of the group delivering a part of the session, my part would be to create the presentation materials using Microsoft PowerPoint, the marketing expert would devise the session plan and handouts and the PE instructor would discuss the function of the human heart. Each individual in the group contributed to each part of the session (see lesson plan and scheme of work submitted with this document). Action Points We set up the resources and distributed the handouts, the session started with our marketing expert discussing the aims and objectives of the session, when she had finished it was my turn to read some interesting heart facts from a PowerPoint presentation, I chose to read these facts direct from the projected screen and because of this I could not face the class, I believe that this was a mistake and in future I will ensure that I read from printed material. After I had finished my interesting facts presentation the PE instructor completed her section which included explanations of the different aspects of the human heart, this was done using models and overhead projections, this section went particularly well and the students participated by asking questions, we had only allowed five minutes for this section but the amount of questions asked made the section overrun slightly. After this section was complete the students were given a quiz sheet, the quiz was based on the delivered session and this would be used to check learning had taken place, this section was handled mainly by the marketing expert who read the questions and confirmed the answers at the end. Overall the micro teaching session went well and issues were identified immediately, the students performed well on the quiz and the overall feedback was good. Bibliography Reece I & Walker S (2002) Teacher Training and Learning Fourth Edition Business Education Publishers Limited.

Did Mrs. OLearys Cow Start the Great Chicago Fire

Popular legend has long held that a cow being milked by Mrs. Catherine OLeary kicked over a kerosene lantern, igniting a barn fire  that spread into the  Great Chicago Fire. The famous story of Mrs. OLearys cow appeared soon after colossal fire that consumed much of Chicago.  And the story has spread ever since. But was the cow really the culprit? No. The real blame for the enormous  fire which began on October 8, 1871, lies with a combination of  perilous conditions: a long drought over  a very hot summer, loosely enforced fire codes, and a sprawling city built almost entirely of wood. Yet Mrs. OLeary and her cow took the blame in the public mind. And  the legend about them being the cause of the fire endures to the present day. The OLeary Family The OLeary family, immigrants from Ireland, lived at 137 De Koven Street in Chicago. Mrs. OLeary had a small dairy business, and she routinely milked cows in a barn behind the familys cottage. A fire did begin in OLearys barn at about 9:00 pm on Sunday, October 8, 1871. Catherine OLeary and her husband Patrick, a Civil War veteran, later swore that they had already retired for the night and were in bed when they heard neighbors calling out about the fire in the barn. By some accounts, a rumor about a cow kicking over a lantern began spreading almost as soon as the first fire company responded to the blaze. Another rumor in the neighborhood was that a boarder in the OLeary house, Dennis Peg Leg Sullivan, had slipped into the barn to have a few drinks with some of his friends. During their revelry they started a fire in the barns hay by smoking pipes. It is also possible the fire ignited from an ember which blew from a nearby chimney. Many fires did start that was in the 1800s, though they didnt have the conditions to spread as quickly and widely as the fire that night in Chicago. No one will ever know what really happened that night in the OLeary barn. What isnt disputed is that the blaze spread. And, assisted by strong winds, the barn fire turned into the Great Chicago Fire. Within a few days a newspaper reporter, Michael Ahern, wrote an article which put the neighborhood rumor about Mrs. OLearys cow kicking over a kerosene lantern into print. The story took hold, and was circulated widely. The Official Report An official commission investigating the fire heard testimony about Mrs. OLeary and her cow in November 1871. An article in the New York Times on November 29, 1871, was headlined Mrs. OLearys Cow.   The article described the testimony given by Catherine OLeary before the Chicago Board of Police and Fire Commissioners. In her account, she and her husband had been asleep when two men came to their house to alert them that  their barn was on fire. Mrs. OLearys husband, Patrick, was also questioned. He testified that he did not know how the fire started as he had also been asleep until he heard the neighbors. The commission concluded in its official report that Mrs. OLeary had not been in the barn when the fire began. The report did not state a precise cause of the fire, but mentioned that a spark blown from a chimney of a nearby house on that windy night could have started the fire in the barn. The OLearys After the Fire Despite being cleared in the official report, the OLeary family became notorious. In a quirk of fate, their house has actually survived the fire, as the flames spread outward away from property. Yet, facing the stigma of the constant rumors, which had spread nationwide,  they eventually moved from De Koven Street. Mrs. OLeary lived out the rest of her life as a virtual recluse, only leaving her residence to attend daily mass. When she died in 1895 she was described as heartbroken that she was always blamed for causing so much destruction. Years after Mrs. OLearys death, Michael Ahern, the newspaper reporter who had first published the rumor, admitted that he and other reporters had made up the story. They believed it would hype the story, as if a fire that destroyed a major American city needed any extra sensationalism. When Ahern died in 1927, a small item from the Associated Press datelined Chicago offered his corrected account: Michael Ahern, last surviving reporter of the famous Chicago fire of 1871, and who denied the authenticity of the story of Mrs. OLearys famous cow which was credited with kicking over a lamp in a barn and starting the fire, died here tonight.In 1921, Ahern, in writing an anniversary story of the fire said that he and two other reporters, John English and Jim Haynie, concocted the explanation of the cow starting the fire, and admitted that he afterward learned that spontaneous combustion of hay in the OLeary barn probably was the cause. At the time of the fire Ahern was a police reporter for The Chicago Republican. The Legend Lived On And while the story of Mrs. OLeary and her cow isnt true, the legendary tale lived on. Lithographs of the scene were produced in the late 1800s. The legend of the cow and the lantern were the basis for popular songs over the years, and the story was even told in a major Hollywood movie produced in 1937, In Old Chicago. The MGM film, which was produced by Daryl F. Zanuck, provided a completely fictitious account of the OLeary family  and portrayed the story of the cow kicking over the lantern as the truth. And while In Old Chicago may have been completely wrong on the facts, the movies popularity and the fact that it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture helped perpetuate the legend of Mrs. OLearys cow. The Great Chicago Fire is remembered as one of the major disasters of the 19th century, along with the eruption of Krakatoa  or the Johnstown Flood. And its also remembered, of course, as it seemed to have a distinctive character, Mrs. OLearys cow, at the center of it.