Saturday, October 5, 2019
Equity Valuation in the Style of Warren Buffet Project Essay
Equity Valuation in the Style of Warren Buffet Project - Essay Example The strategy is proved to be effective over time and prevents investors from making costly and foolish investment losses. The investment strategy uses both quantitative and qualitative factors which finding a good stock. The company chosen for financial analysis is Apple Inc. (Ticker Symbol AAPL) which is a Fortune 500 company whose shares are publicly traded. Apple Inc. is a leading hardware and software company which has headquarters in Cupertino, California, U.S. The company has over 400 global retail stores spread in over 14 countries and it is listed in NASDAQ as a publicly traded company. The Four Filters Approach Filter 1 – Understanding of a company and its products The company sells its products globally through retail outlets, online stores and direct sales with the help of third party distribution networks. The company is best known for its innovative hardware products and next generation media including iPhone, iPad, iPod, Smart Phones, and so on. The companyâ€⠄¢s products and services also include MAC, iCloud, App stores, Apple TV, App Stores, MAC App Stores and iBookstores. Their software services include iOS operating system, OS X, iTunes, iWork and iLife production and creativity suites. The company’s customers are small and medium sized businesses, retail customers, enterprises, educational institutions, and government customers. Filter 2 – Competitive Advantage Apple Inc. is the second largest company in information technology sector in the world. In terms of revenues, only Samsung Electronics (leading Korean company and key competitor of Apple) exceeds the consolidated revenue of Apple. In the year 2008, Fortune magazine name the company as the most admired company in United States as well as globally. Filter 3 – Ability and Trustworthiness of Management The company delivers innovative products and services to customers that include software, hardware, peripheral, and applications. Apple is committed to providi ng best user experience by leveraging its ability of producing unique design. The company continuously invests in marketing, advertising, research and development in order to boost sales and produce innovative products and technologies. The company’s long term strategy includes expansion of distribution network for reaching more customers globally in developing countries and providing them with high quality sales and support experience. Filter 4 – Intrinsic Value Analysis Free-Cash Flows The free cash flows are used to measure the financial performance of the company and it is calculated by subtracting capital expenditures from operating revenues. The free cash-flow represents the company’s ability to generate money required for expanding asset base and hence they are important to identify opportunities that can enhance shareholders’ value. Cash is very important to invest in new products, make M&A, reduce debt and pay dividends. The FCF is calculated usi ng the following formula: In order to determine the
Friday, October 4, 2019
Gambling Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2
Gambling - Research Paper Example There was a time when gambling was considered illegal or a disrespectful activity but now it has become a Multi-billion dollar activity in most parts of the world. In many parts of the world funding charities and other voluntary works are heavily funded with the money raised from gambling. People tend to fantasize that what they would do when they would win the lottery but mostly people rely on buying lottery tickets and some occasionally gamble with intentions that their lives are not seriously affected with it. After the approval of legalizing gambling in the United States, there has been a significant decline in certain types of gambling which include buying lottery tickets and mostly bingo for different cash prizes (Pew Research Center 2006). Gambling in the view of many people is the most popular kind of fun enjoyment activity today. Most of the people indulge in gambling because they feel a rush or another kind of feeling each time they place a bet whether it is on sports on its casino gambling. Mostly it is a tool to have fun among most of the people. Since gambling is being legalized in many parts of the world, therefore legislative bodies have imposed many laws for safe gambling. All in all the basic reason behind legalizing gambling was the establishment of gambling places which plays an important role in the economic development. Many religious groups protested against the legalization of gambling and they mainly focused on the key points that it will threaten the stability of the community (Azmier 2000). After the Gambling was legalized in the United States of America, it was evident that people started to spend more money on legal gambling now and this is a significant change if compared to history. The legalization of gambling encouraged people to gamble more than the limit they could afford. Buying lottery tickets has increased significantly in United States of America and a large proportion of people believe that it is a way to
Thursday, October 3, 2019
Traffic Movie Essay Example for Free
Traffic Movie Essay I felt that the movie, â€Å"Traffic†(Soderbergh, 2000), was very informative on the subject of drugs. I was able to see three different stories concerning drugs and the drug trade, including the drug dealers, the people who abuse them and the narcotics officers who are paid to get rid of them. Each story was able to peak my interest, and taught me something different about the drug scene and some of the people they destroy.            I found it shocking to realize just how powerful the effects of drug dealing can be on the family of individuals who take up selling drugs, as their choice in careers.            When Carlos Ayala was arrested, his pregnant wife, Helena didn’t realize what was going on. I felt bad for her, knowing she had the baby to care for and when she is threatened by Carlos’s associates and followed by DEA agents, it was hard to believe that she fell into the same trap as her husband.            Helena’s choice in taking over her husband’s business didn’t seem like a very good idea. I figured that she would have learned what can happen to a person who deals drugs, by watching the events that occurred when Carlos was dealing drugs.            I thought that Michael Douglas was perfect for the role he played as the judge, who is head of the President’s Office of National Drug Control. It was surprising that such an important person, such as a judge, who was paid to deal with drug dealers and abusers, so often, would have a young daughter who would be victimized by drug use. It shows that drugs can destroy many different types of people.            Crack cocaine is such a strong drug and it was hard to believe that Caroline, the judge’s daughter, would dare try such a dangerous drug.            Caroline and her boyfriend, I felt were going too far when they tried to dump their friend at the hospital, after they had overdosed on drugs. It showed that their fear of being caught for using drugs, and possibly being arrested was more important to them than remaining with their friend, who could possibly die from taking too many drugs.            In the third story, I felt the interrogation of Eduardo Ruiz was insane. Ruiz was ready to rat out his friend to save his own skin, which shows how being involved in the drug trade can cause you to turn on anyone, at anytime. It’s very frightening to think about how many horrible things can occur from using or dealing with illegal narcotics, but it is very educational and teaches about the hardships of drug activity from all walks of life.            Drugs were responsible for changing so many lives in this movie and some of them could have been so happy, if they wouldn’t have chosen the wrong path and resorted to greed and addiction.            Overall, I think this movie was worth watching and I feel that everyone could learn so much about the bad effects of drugs on our society. Some of the scenes aren’t appropriate for smaller children, but I think it’s a good idea for teenagers and adults to watch this movie so they can see what can happen if you have anything to do with illegal narcotics.            I felt that â€Å"Traffic†was a very good movie and I would recommend that parents allow their teenagers to watch this movie and learn from other’s mistakes.                                                   Reference Page Soderbergh, Steven. (2000).â€Å"Traffic†Polygram USA Video.
African American Influences On American Popular Music Cultural Studies Essay
African American Influences On American Popular Music Cultural Studies Essay These days, its not uncommon to hear the fusion of different styles of music. In fact, American music is more integrated than before and showcases different music from around the world. Melding different styles of music was popularly done as early as the twentieth century with the growth of American popular music. One style of music that had major influence on popular music was African American music. At the time, American popular music was burgeoning with different styles of music; each style was distinct in its own right with different rhythms, melodies, textures, and performance styles. From 1930 to 1970, popular music can be traced to black music of the nineteenth and twentieth century as evidenced by the metric organization, scales, instruments, and performing styles that originated from African music. By recapitulating the influences of African American music on popular music, the impact that black music has had on various musical genres is shown. African American music was brought by slaves to the Americas and later adapted to European styles. Later, African American music would incorporate highly syncopated music and the features of ragtime. These features set the stage for more music to be created, and in time many of the characteristics of black music were embedded into other musical genres. In particular, the 1930s-1940s Big Band era; 1930s country music; 1950s-1960s rock, used observable components of African American music. The music was not only influenced by the musical structure of black music, but by the performing styles of musicians. To adopt many of the African-American features, many musicians of the time had to re-invent or improvise the old with something new. These components lead up to the merging of different styles with African-American music. For many people, jazz is pleasant and enjoyable. One of the reasons it is because there are so many different sounds that come together to form this music. In the Big Band era of the 1930s, jazz, or swing, had become popular and incorporated the African elements of syncopation and riffs. Riffs, rhythms, and syncopations are just a few characteristics of African American influence on virtually all music, and jazz music in particular took this influence to a different level. (Campbell 70). What changed was that previously, in the early nineteenth century, ragtime was essentially syncopated music but was more in accordance with marching and piano music. Jazz is highly improvisational, which give way to more sounds and changes in rhythm, melody, and texture. The structure and metric organization of the jazz band was also influenced by African American music. In no other musical genre can one find the call and response style of music that was originated from African American music, and many genres have since borrowed from this method. Many jazz bands used call and response between the players and their instruments. This made the music much livelier, adding to the energy created by the fast- paced flow of jazz that appeared in the twentieth century. Four-beat counts were used in jazz music characteristic of black music in the earlier part of the twentieth century. This was the main foundation for jazz which also used percussions found in ragtime and African drum dance. Country music in the 1930s was a whole different style of music. It prominently featured singers accompanied by simple chords, melodies, stanza forms, and topics. (online). It did however, have understated influences that can be traced back to African-American music. One of the most obvious influences is the use of the banjo, an instrument from Africa used by African Americans during slavery. The banjo has mistakenly been attributed to Western culture and identified in country music despite the fact that it originated in Africa. The delivery of songs in country was inspired by the blues, gospel, and spiritual songs. Jimmie Rodgers, known for his vocal style, used the style of blues throughout a lot of his music, the musical texture of the Carter Family was touched by gospel vocals and harmonies (online), and Hank Williams tragic songs were undoubtedly inspired by the spiritual songs and blues sung by African Americans. Many of these singing styles, textures, instrumentation set the s tandard for country music, aiding in the course of its span in popular music. The 1960s and 1970s music had a different feel to it. Various social, political, and technological movements helped advance music. Rock was not just white music, but black were widely responsible for developing rock music, although met with some oppositions. African Americans influenced a degree of rock music during the 1960s and 1970s, and here is where you can see how singing and performing styles were adopted by the musicians. For example, Elvis Presley was known for having a black feel to his music and performance. He was very popular but was criticized for his true contributions to rock n roll. Many of the songs during that time were cover songs of black musicians, who because of little mainstream acceptance, did not receive the credit they deserved. Although music certainly is about different origins, sounds, and functionalities, it is interesting to see that one style of music has served universally to change the whole landscape of music. Since Africans had to develop their own ways of communicating and celebrating since the beginning of time, these people possibly held the key to a fruitful point of departure for all of music today. We are well on our way to continue this pattern borrowing and influencing music to form new music that is by people all around the world.
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Albert Einstein :: essays research papers
Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Germany. Further to this, his parents initially believed him to be somewhat backward as he was late in starting to talk. Einstein was noted for saying that he waited until he could speak in complete sentences before he would say a word. He entered school at the age of six and to his parents surprise, he did very well. Albert did not mix well with other students, often preferring to play his own private games or reading books; he never liked school. At the age of 12 he was given a book on geometry, from that point on he taught himself anything he wanted to learn. "In 1905 Einstein received his doctorate from the University of Zurich for a theoretical dissertation on the Dimensions of Molecules, and he also published three theoretical papers important to the development of 20th century physics." (http://www.physics.gla.ac.uk/introPhy/Famous/ei†¦n/einstein.html) The first of these, on Brownian Motion, made significant predictions about the motion of particles that are randomly distributed in a fluid. This theory was later proven by experiment. The second paper, on the Photoelectric Effect, presented a hypothesis on the Nature of light. He not only proposed that under certain circumstances light can be considered as consisting of particles, but also stated that the energy carried by a photon is proportional to the frequency of the radiation. No one accepted this theory, even Robert Millikan was overwhelmed when Einstein prove this theory to be correct. "In 1915 Einstein published his third paper on the General theory of Relativity, his theory of Gravity."(http://www.humboldt.com/~gralsto/einstein/einstein.html) In this theory Einstein made his statement on equivalence, in which it’s impossible to distinguish between whether the force acting on a body is caused by the body accelerating or whether it’s gravity. For example, if you were weightless inside a lift in outer space and you then feel a force pulling your feet to the floor you can’t distinguish whether the lift is accelerating upwards, or whether there is a large volume of matter below causing the attraction. "The General Theory of Relativity describes gravity as being the result of a four-dimensional continuum (space-time) and that matter produces curves in this space-time with the measure of the curvature being a measure of the strength of gravity. In this perspective, bodies of matter follow the path of ‘shortest distance or least resistance’ and hence in the case of curved space-time around a star a planetary body would follow a ‘circular/elliptical’ orbit. Einstein’s theory was able to explain anomalies in the Mercury’s orbit which had eluded explanation from Newton’s Laws.
The Typical Detective Genre Portrayed in Sherlock Holmes Literature Es
The Typical Detective Genre Portrayed in Sherlock Holmes' Literature The late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a phenomenally successful writer, not only in the Victorian era but is still popular today; his Sherlock Homes stories were perhaps his most successful, in which he combines realistic situations of murders and scandals with the improbable situation of such a successful detective. Victorian London was an exceptionally dangerous place to live. Prostitution, opium dens and murders were inescapable. A women's role within the household was very much dependent on her class and her husband, purely due to the fact was that herr husband was the breadwinner. They were to stay at home; sex was supposedly purely for reproduction. London's police force was around but famously was rather ineffective with solving crimes. This is one of the reasons Holmes was extremely popular; almost a fantasy world where a character with such an inquisitive mind could solve the most challenging misdemeanours. Conan Doyle sets his stories in the heart of England, London. Perhaps this is because the busy bustling town is ideal for such a character, London Is the most important place in England, and therefore surely Holmes must be the most important detective? Conan's Doyle's stories are all in some way alike; they all have a villain, or somebody who is believed to break society's rules. This helps the audience to gain interest in how the villain will survive with Holmes on their case, how they will be punished in the context of the story. Neville St Claire in 'The man with the twisted lip' was found guilty of dressing as a tramp, to deceive people to give him money. Maybe he did this for greed; he obviously was not in favour of ga... ...chievous scheme; "I surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind." No reader would have predicted this was the reason for the beating of this stick. This is the type of fascinating unpredictable actions, which make detective stories almost addictive until the end and appealing to the reader. Conan Doyle made sure that all questions during the story are answered and no queries left hanging. This is alluring to all readers as the endings are moral and all dilemmas are resolved. Detective story's have become one of the most popular genre, authors such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle manage to make even the most straightforward storylines interesting and appealing to all readers simply because of false trails, red herrings and the way information is with held to the reader.
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Attachment theory Essay
Attachment is an important factor in a childs life. It makes them feel safe and secure. ‘The infant’s tendency to seek the closeness to particular people and to feel more secure in their presence.’ (Erikson 1976) I think that when Erikson made this statement, what he was actually saying was that an attachment is when a child is more comfortable in a setting if they are with the people they are closest to and the people that they like to be with and seek attention of these people more than others. ‘Attachment is like a piece of invisible string that binds individuals in a way that allows a healthy development’ (psychology for AS level). This statement in my opinion states that an attachment which forms a bond between the people involved is important for good development for the child. What happens if there isn’t a bond or an attachment in the child’s life? I am going to look into three different psychologists theories on attachment and see what their opinions on the subject are. The first psychologist I am looking into is Bowlby. Bowlby had very strong opinions on attachment and the long term affects a lack of a bond or attachment can have on a child’s life. Bowlby believed that a child should form one and only one strong attachment which should be with the mother of the child. This is known as monotrophy. The father in Bowlby’s eyes was there for the making of the baby only and would show no input or importance in the child’s upbringing. Bowlby came to the conclusion that children who failed to form this bond with their mother in the first three years of the child’s life would have problems in later life bonding with people and trusting people. He also described a child with a lack of bonding to be an affectionless psychopath, which he described to be someone who shows lack of guilt when done something wrong has difficulties showing emotion to things around them or someone with behaviour problems. Another affect of not having an attachment in this critical period as it was also known in Bowlby’s eyes was development retardation which meant the child may grow up with learning difficulties or slower intellectual skills. The next psychologist I am going to discuss is Mary Ainsworth. Ainsworth investigated bonding and broke it down into different sections. She broke it down it to three different types of attachment. These were secure attachments, anxious – avoidant attachments and anxious – resistant attachments. Secure attachments were described as the strongest of the three. This is where the children know they are loved and cared for and they feel secure with the person they have bonded to. When they are left without their attachment figure for the first time they will show lots of distress and upset. However after time they will get used to being left and they will not be as distressed as time go’s on. Anxious – avoidant attachment is not as strong as the secure attachment and the bond it weaker. These children seem more independent and can manage small tasks on their own. This may be due to a change in the attachment figures attitude or behaviour towards the child which may be caused by death or separation from a partner. This can also be caused by separation from child and attachment figure due to illness or separation at birth. This attachment is usually weaker because of the lack of full trust from either party. Anxious – resistant attachment is similar to anxious – avoidant attachment but the child often is more clingy and seeks more attention to people as well as the attachment figure but when people tries to comfort them they will often not accept the comfort. The last psychologists I am going to look at are Shaffer and Emerson. Shaffer and Emerson’s theory is the one Ainsworth used to conclude her investigations. They looked more at children with multiple attachments which contradicts Bowlby’s theory which said only one strong attachment can be made. They broke their findings down in to four sections. These sections are Asocial stage which is children of 0-2, the indiscriminate stage, children of 2-7 months, specific stage which is children of 7 months plus and then finally multiple attachment. Asocial stage is described to be where the children aged 0-2 months will respond to human faces but will not show any main distress towards whom it is they are with. This means that if you placed a 0-2 month baby in a day care setting then they will not really kick much of a fuss when their mother leaves them they will usually be happy and content as long as they are getting some attention. On my placement while I was working in the 0-2 room the youngest child there at the time was only 6 weeks old she would come to nursery with no hassle every day after her nap she would sometimes cry a little bit until she got some attention. She was happy when her mum came to get her but she didn’t cry for her when she wasn’t there. Where as one of the oldest children who was nearly 18 months used to cry for her mum nearly all day, she only seemed happy when she was eating. The indiscriminate stage is for children from 2 month up until 7 month. These children are more aware of what is happening and they know who they prefer to spend time with usually in most cases it is the main care giver, but they will still be ok and not too worried around strangers and unknown faces. The specific stage is where one strong attachment is clear and the child becomes very weary and anxious around unknown people. This is usually why when a child over 7 months is brought into a child care setting, they take a while to settle and cry for their carer. Multiple attachments are where the child is close to or has an attachment with more than one person. This is often when they spend a lot of time with these people as well as their care givers. These people can include grand parents, extended family, neighbours and realistically people who they spend a lot of time with and they feel safe around. As some of the theorists mentioned above said they would be distress when a child was left or was separated from their attachment figure its is important that children get used to a setting before being brought and left alone. In some child care setting they hold visits for the children where they can come with their attachment figure and see the setting and play with the other children to see what it is like and to get to know the care workers faces first. In my placement they do this over a period of 6 visits(longer if child is very unsettled) to avoid too much stress and upset for the new children coming to nursery each time a visit takes place the attachment figure will stay a little bit less than the time before leaving the child with the other children and care givers. This way they feel that the child gets used to not having their mother there all the time and also gets to know the other people in the setting and environment. Another way the children help settle in the nurseries or child care setting is they are allowed to bring with them a transitional object with them to comfort them when they get upset. One child in my placement had a pink cushion which she has all the time when she is upset. When she settles down she often puts it down a leaves it on the floor, at this point the care worker picks it up discreetly and puts it in her box. They do this because they feel if she is playing nice and contently then she see’s the cushion she will pick it up and carry it round again where as if it is out of the way the child will hopefully play for a longer amount of time. The child gets it back if she asks for it or if she becomes distressed on upset in anyway. In my placement to avoid too much stress and upset for the new children coming to nursery, they have an induction period. This is where the child will come in to the nursery with their parent to have a look around, meet the staff and the other children in the setting. The child gets to play with the toys and will start to get used to the setting so when its time for their parent to leave then it won’t be so distressing. When a child is in the setting some of the parents come and visit the child during lunch time or if they get a break at work. This was good for some children as it reassured the children that their parents were coming back for them and they hadn’t just left them forever. For some children however this was not beneficial and the situation was more distressing for them having to say bye to their carer all over again.
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