Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 43

Case study - Essay Example Companies that opt for such media for adverts may be affected (Hanlon, 2015). The advancement in the use of internet has led to the existence of pricing options of products from companies. The use of online platform through internet provision is gradually and rapidly transforming economic aspects of operations of companies. HMV should apply both the physical stores and online platform to maximize it sales in the entertainment industry whose economy has been steadily rising (Hanlon, 2015). The HMV management should have a comprehension of the socially accepted practices within the various cultures that are available online in attempting to market their products. This includes appreciating the dynamics and differences and beliefs of societies within its online market since obtaining this is easier than before. It has the potential of not only creating opportunities but also opening new markets for the company (Hanlon, 2015). The company has a technological leverage in their internet site for retail which makes them competitive with other players/industries in the market. Its online store will likely be versatile as it will enable integration of window media player, iTunes, et cetera. In addition, infiltrating into the digital market is an innovative way of growing with the demand of the consumers. HMV anticipates enhancing their competitive leverage by diversifying experiences in the entertainment over the contemporary rivals. The group of HMV has a joint venture with companies such as Curzon Artificial Eye for the purpose of bring the experience of cinema to the retail outlets of the company (HMV, 2015). The production of DVDs and CDs should entail the use of materials that are both non-biodegradable and non-renewable. The recycling process has proved to be not only complex and costly but also inefficient. Moreover, CDs and DVDs with high storage

The Efficacy of non-invasive ventilation in the acute exacerbation of Research Paper

The Efficacy of non-invasive ventilation in the acute exacerbation of COPD Patient - Research Paper Example Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease best known as COPD, is actually a group of lung diseases that together block airflow to the lungs making it hard to breathe. The two most common diseases that constitute this disease are chronic bronchitis, inflammation of the bronchial tract mucosal lining, and emphysema, gradual destruction of the alveoli at the end of the bronchioles (Huang and Ghio et al., 2012). These may also be accompanied by asthma. Chronic bronchitis causes coughing and sputum production, which may scar and damage the airways. Alveoli damage by emphysema reduce oxygen uptake thus causing breathing problems for the patient. The combination of the destruction these two diseases cause irreversible damage to the pulmonary system, but the good thing is that there is treatment available that can help reduce the symptoms of the disease. One of them is through non invasive ventilation, otherwise known as NIV in short. This paper will be looking at this form of therapy and its ef ficiency in the treatment of COPD. It will discuss its use and advantages it the clinical setting. Being a pulmonary disease, its symptoms are generally ignored or just taken in passing for something else. COPD can cause breathlessness/dyspnea, coughing, excessive production of mucus/phlegm and fatigue. Some of these symptoms, breathlessness and fatigue, are hard to point out or see because they are sensations that are experienced by the patient and do not manifest physically (Barnes, 2009). Only the person experiencing the symptom can describe them and talk about how badly they make them feel as opposed to the production of sputum and coughing which manifest physically. Unfortunately, once these symptoms, among others begin to manifest the patient may discard them as simply smoker’s cough or fatigue from being unfit. These are to be considered as signs

Relationship Between Savings and Inflation

Relationship Between Savings and Inflation Savings help cushion the business cycle as the economy faces hard economic situations (Syden, 2014). To have a sustainable economic growth, there is a need for sustainable resources to support it. That is why savings are needed to finance capital spending. These high savings rate levels have allowed the economy to gain high levels of investment (Horioka Terada-Hagiwara, 2011). China’s domestic savings rate is one of the highest in the world (Loayza, Schmidt-Hebbel, Serven, 2000). Inadequate savings would leave the economy vulnerable to shocks in income uncertainty and unexpected rise in prices. At 52% of the national GDP, China’s domestic savings rate is among the highest in emerging markets inadequate savings leave households vulnerable to shocks in income and rising prices, add burden to government in providing retirement assistance, constrain individuals in accumulating wealth inadequate savings leave households vulnerable to shocks in income and rising prices, add burden to government in providing retirement assistance, constrain individuals in accumulating wealth. Many factors come into play with regard to how much to spend and how much to ‘keep’ for future spending. REVIEW LITERATURE There have been a lot of theoretical and empricical research studies about the relationship of savings on different factors like inflation rate, unemployment rate, and interest rate. It has been argued that savings are important, and when the economy is hit hard, having money in the bank can ease the problem (Elmerraji, 2010). Saving rates around the world differs widely. (Loayza, Schmidt-Hebbel, Serven, 2000) stated that China, world’s fastest growing economy, had one of the largest national saving rates in the world. Those at Sub-Saharan Africa save less than 15% of their gross national disposable income while East Asia saves more than 30%. In recent years, saving rates have doubled in East Asia while those in Latin America were stagnated. What people do not spend after consuming part of their income is called personal savings. People tend to put their savings on bank accounts or partly invested (Piana, 2003). Given a certain income, the decision of consuming a good negatively affects savings. Postponing such consumption would increase savings and in contrast, savings can rise due to negative expectations for future income. As economic shocks occur on business cycles, households experience hard time in unexpected reduction in income. According to the Life-cycle hypothesis by Milton Freidman, people would eventually save more and minimize consumption to avoid future uncertainty. (Zaman, Carannate, Ferra, 2013) In times of economic crisis like the recent financial crisis on 2008, policy measures and uncertainty affects household consumption and saving decisions. In the Spanish economy, after the great recession, there has been an evolution of saving rates (Bande Riveiro, 2012). The behavior of households has changed after the great recession, through increasing saving rates. Large increase in savings rates is connected to the increased uncertainty in the future (Bande Riveiro, 2012). EMPLOYMENT Macroeconomic instability which is measured by inflation, causes an upward trend in saving. The season of high inflation and high unemployment, as well as cutting public benefits have raised income uncertainty and changed the expected future income of the economy (Chowdhurry, 2014). When an economy has a crisis, it leads to unemployment, and the risk of future uncertainty in income makes households save more (Zaman, Carannate, Ferra, 2013). When part of the households are affected with future uncertainty of income, it stimulates to low demand and consumption which would worsen the economic situation of the country. Financial crisis happens when labor market is distorted with high unemployment, changing households’ structure of saving portfolio. Any sort of financial crisis leading to a recession would have a significant effect on household savings. ECONOMIC GROWTH Growth models includes Harrod (1939), Domar (1946) states that economic growth is highly dependent on level of savings and output ration. These models indicate that increase in saving means high investment which stimulates economic growth. The availability of funds for investment increases as effect of having higher savings (Sothan, 2014). The higher the level of saving rate leads to increased capital stock that in progress leads to a high level of output. Business Cycle Different economies go through different patterns of ups and downs in the value of its Gross Domestic Product (Riley, 2012). This business cycle has four phases namely boom, recession, depression, and recovery. Economic boom has high consumer spending, profits, and investment. Unemployment tends to be low in this economic situation. Economic Recession has low level of consumer spending, income, and investment, and has a rising unemployment as businesses cut costs. Economic depression is when there is a declining GDP, showing weak level of consumer spending and investment, rapid rise of unemployment and prices starting to fall. Economic recovery is when economic situation starts to get better and consumers begin to increase spending and investment. Every country’s goal is for an economy to achieve a sustainable level of growth (Riley, 2012). Trend growth rate is what helps assess and compare the growth of the different economies. (Lequiller Blades, 2007) REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE EFFECT OF INFLATION ON SAVINGS RATE Almost all the past literatures that were found concerning the relationship of the variables inflation rate and savings rate concluded that the relationship between the two are positive and significant. In a cross-sectional data on inflation rates and savings rates of various countries in the world, both developed and developing, the results obtained in the recent study showed that inflation rates of all the countries positively impacts each of the countries’ savings rate (Cheng Li, 2014). El-Seoud (2014) conducted a study on the effect of Gross Domestic Product, interest rate, and inflation rate on the national saving rate in the kingdom of Bahrain over the past 20 years. The researcher found that inflation rate has a positive relationship and significant impact on Bahrain’s saving rate in both the long run and short run. Similarly, Syden (2014) also found that in their study of South Africa’s 48 years of household savings data, inflation significantly creates a positive impact on the continent’s saving rate. As for the case of Turkey, Er, Tugcu, Coban (2014) used the Autoregressive Distributed Lag approach and the study’s results indicated that there that inflation positively affects inflation rate and savings but there was no relationship of significance between inflation and savings in the short run. Using two stage least squares model, the study of Chaturvedi, Kumar Dholakia (2009) on the relationship between economic growth, inflation, and saving rate in Asia revealed that inflation rate has a positive effect on the interest rates of the Asian countries as well. On the other hand, Heer Suessmuth (2006) utilized data of the inflation and saving rates from United States postwar period in order to analyze the monetary policy regimes of the three eras, namely the Pre-Volcker Era (’65-’78), Volcker Era (’79-’87), and the Greenspan Era (’88-’98). There appeared to be ambiguous resu lts on the effect of inflation on the saving rates. In the Pre-Volcker Era and Greenspan Era, inflation negatively affected the saving rates. In the Volcker Era, on the other hand, inflation is positively associated with saving rates (Heer Suessmuth, 2006). EFFECT OF INTEREST RATE ON SAVINGS RATE El-Seoud (2014) concluded from his previously mentioned study that the interest rate in Bahrain, just like inflation, has a positive and significant effect on the national saving rate in the short run. However, in the long run, El-Seoud (2014) saw that while the interest rate still has a positive relationship on Bahrain’s saving rate, this effect is now insignificant. On the other hand, in the results acquired from the study of Syden (2014) on South Africa, it showed that interest rate has a negative relationship and significantly impacts the saving behavior of South Africa. In a study on the Turkish economy, the researchers found that there was no significant relationship between interest rates and saving rate found in the long run (Er, Tugcu Coban, 2014). (Challe Ragot) (Romer) References El-Seoud, M. S. (2014). The Effect of Interest Rate, Inflation Rate And GDP On National Savings Rate. Retrieved from http://www.gifre.org/admin/papers/gjcmp/1-7-EFFECT-vol-3-3-gjcmp.pdf Syden, M. (2014). Trends and Determinants of Household Saving in South Africa. Economic Affairs: 59(2): 191-208 Cheng, Q. Li, X. (2014). Cross-Country Effects of Inflation on National Savings. Retrieved from https://smartech.gatech.edu/bitstream/handle/1853/52867/Cross-Country Effects of Inflation on National Savings(ECON3161).pdf Chaturvedi, V., Kumar, B. Dholakia, R. H. (2009). Inter-Relationship between Economic Growth, Savings and Inflation in Asia. Journal of International Economic Studies, No.23, 1–22. Retrieved from http://repo.lib.hosei.ac.jp/bitstream/10114/3628/1/23VaibhavChaturvedi-ather.pdf Heer, B. Suessmuth, B. (2006). The Savings-Inflation Puzzle. Retrieved from http://www.cesifo-group.de/pls/guestci/download/CESifo Working Papers 2006/CESifo Working Papers January 2006/cesifo1_wp1645.pdf Er, P. H., Tugcu, C. T. Coban O. (2014). Investigating The Link between Savings, Inflation and Economic Growth: An ARDL Analysis for The Case of Turkey. Journal of Economics, Finance and Accounting. Vol. 1, Issue 2. Wachtel, P. (1977). Inflation, Uncertainty, and Saving Behavior since the Mid-1950s. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/chapters/c9102.pdf Bibliography Bande, R., Riveiro, D. (2012, October). Private Saving Rates and Macroeconomic Uncertainty: Evidence from Spanish Regional Data. Iberian Regional Economics Network. Retrieved March 2015, from http://otega.usc.es/docs_idega/documentos_de_traballo/irene/irene_4.pdf Challe, E., Ragot, X. (n.d.). Precautionary Saving over the Business Cycle. Retrieved March 2015, from http://www.su.se/polopoly_fs/1.57517.1321520817!/ChalleRagot.pdf Chowdhurry, A. (2014, December). Terms of Trade shocks and Private Savings in the developing Countries. Journal of Comparative Economics. Retrieved March 2015, from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2015.02.006 Elmerraji, J. (2010, February 28). How Savings Are Saving the Economy. Retrieved February 2015, from http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0310/savings-are-a-blessing-in-a-slow-recovery.aspx Horioka, C. Y., Terada-Hagiwara, A. (2011, November). The Determinants and Long-Term Projections of Saving Ratesin Developing Asia. National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w17581 Lequiller, F., Blades, D. (2007). Understanding National Accounts. 415. doi:10.1787/9789264027657-en Loayza, N., Schmidt-Hebbel, K., Serven, L. (2000). Saving in Developing Countries: An Overview. The World Bank Economic Review, 14, 393-414. Piana, V. (2003). Savings. Economics Web Institute. Retrieved February 2015, from http://www.economicswebinstitute.org/glossary/savings.htm Riley, J. (2012, September). Economic Environment. Retrieved March http://www.tutor2u.net/business/strategy/economy-business-cycle.html, 2015 Romer, C. (n.d.). Business Cycles. The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. Retrieved March 2015, from http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc1/BusinessCycles.html Sothan, S. (2014). Causal Relationship between Domestic Saving and Economic Growth: Evidence from Cambodia. International Journal of Economics and Finance, 6. doi:10.5539/ijef.v6n9p213 Syden, M. (2014, June). Trends and Determinants of Household Saving in South Africa. Economic Affairs. doi:10.5958/J.0976-4666.59.2.018 Zaman, R., Carannate, M., Ferra, E. (2013, June 17). Effects of Uncertainty on Household Saving Rate. Munich Personal RePEc Archive. Retrieved March 2015, from http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/51208/

Life Of Fredrick Douglass :: essays research papers fc

Breaking the Shackles   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If there is a theme that has been present in writings since the beginning of time, it is discrimination. Since the creation of man, discrimination has been a problem in society. The theme of discrimination is illustrated through the novel, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass; the essay, “Indian Civilization Vs. White Civilization;'; and the speech, “I Have a Dream.'; The theme of discrimination is clearly present in Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass was born in Tuckahoe, Maryland around 1818. He had no accurate knowledge of his age. Douglass was born to a black mother and a white father, who he believed was his master (Douglass 19). By secretly studying books, Douglass learned to read a crime punishable by death. He escaped slavery when he was barely an adult and wrote the story of his life and how discrimination affected it. Not only is discrimination the theme of Douglass’ novel, it is also the cause of his horrible condition. In his autobiography he claims he “was made to drink the bitterest dregs of slavery'; (73). Throughout the novel Douglass never encounters a slave who is not black. “Why am I a slave,'; Douglass asks (Douglass 73). This is surely a question asked by every victim of prejudice. Another piece that illustrates discrimination is Joseph Brant’s, “Indian Civilization Vs. White Civilization.'; Joseph Brant was born in 1742 and died in 1807 (Barnett et al. 938). Brant, or Thayendanega, was educated at Wheelock’s Indian school in Connecticut. He served the British in the French and Indian war and the American Revolution. Being a Mohawk Chief, Brant was subject to much racially motivated discrimination. Discrimination, though most author would like you to believe otherwise, is never one sided. “ Indian Civilization Vs. White Civilization,'; looks at the reactions of those victimized by racial discrimination. Joseph Brant initially takes a defensive stand, but quickly turns to criticism of white society. In this piece Brant is “obliged to give [his] opinion in favor of [his] own people.'; (Brant 939). He describes the white people’s judicial system a pompous parade'; (Brant 939). In conclusion of this piece Brant never overcomes his bitterness for white people and their actions calling them “tenfold more the children of cruelty'; (Brant 939). In addition to this essay, Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech , “ I Have a Dream'; also contains the theme of discrimination.

Comerica Case Study Essay

The purpose of this paper is to recommend Jack to long the Comerica Incorporated (CMA) stock. In this paper we explain how banks operate and present a small back ground on the issue Comerica is facing. Then we more on to financial statements analysis of CMA, which does not present a very strong outlook of the company, but because of the financial crisis, whole industry is experiencing financial stress. Next, our valuation methods show that CMA is undervalued relative to its peers, and hence is a good company to invest in. BACKGROUND: Simply putting, banks accept deposits from public; keep some of those deposits with them and lend the rest to businesses and individuals. Businesses and individuals in turn pay interest on those loans and banks pay interest to depositors, making money from the spread. Nowadays banks operations have become more and more complicated, and hence more important to capital markets. To get in to more detail, banks’ profits come from the following several ways: Differences between Interest Rates on Loans and Deposits: As already explained Banks lend loans at the interest rates that are higher than the ones they pay for deposits. A large part of banks’ profits come from the spread between banks’ depositing and lending rates. Service Fees: Banks provide financial services to their clients and charge certain amount of fees. By charging fees for managing customers’ bank accounts and providing other financial services such as issuing letter of credits, banks create another source of income, known as noninterest income. Now banks’ services have also expanded into investment consulting and information disseminating. These services usually cost expensive fees. Financial Products: Banks provide financial products to help clients manage their property and generate noninterest income. A good example can be that banks sell mutual funds to their clients and gain income from both commissions and certain percentage of the funds’ returns. In addition, banks sometimes also act as  brokers and generate revenues from bid-ask spread. Investment: Some banks play an active role in venture capital industry. By making investments in promising small companies, banks earn the benefits like capital investors or buy-out funds do. In addition, banks can also explore profit opportunities within currency exchange market. Circulation Intermediary for Cash: Bank can boost the economy by reallocating idle money to investors who need money. Banks can gather the discrete money by absorbing deposit and then lend out loans, thereby increasing the liquidity of cash and thriving investment activities. Create Derivative Value: Because of banks, several times the value of original deposit is created. People save their money in banks, and banks lend the money out. New loans throughout the banking system generate new deposits elsewhere in the system. Thus new deposits are derived by the loan and create more sources of cash for banks to lend out. Payment Chains: Banks encourage the business between companies by managing the shift of funds through corporate accounts. Banks can also represent their clients to make payments and help their clients to honor cash. Comerica Incorporated (CMA), one of the 20-largest banks operating in America, has major operations in Midwest, California, Texas and Florida. Comerica operated under three business segments: the business bank, the retail bank and the wealth and institutional management. Due to the financial crisis of 2008, banks, especially ones with high exposure in mortgage related loans, were under a lot of stress. Comerica, being one of them, is being evaluated by the Jack, as a potential investment. CHARACTERISTICS OF CMA’s FINANCIAL HEALTH: Based on the financial statements provided and the Exhibit 5, we have outlined the main characteristics which define CMA’s financial health. Increase in Credit Loss Reserves: Credit loss provisions are the estimated loan losses from the current operating period, which means that company is not expecting to receive these loans back and hence expensing them out, by increasing the allowance for credit losses on balance sheet. There is a substantial increase in the company’s credit loss provisions for Comerica. The percentage of credit loss provisions to PBT plus credit losses skyrocketed, from 3.6 percent in 2006 to 66 percent in Jun 2008, indicating the Corporation’s tough situation in collecting the outstanding loans. Increase in Non-Performing Assets: Reserve coverage ratio, despite the increase in loss reserves, is decreasing dramatically, from 213% in 2006 to 87% in June 2008, indicating an enormous increase in non-performing assets (NPA). The main reason on increase in NPAs the fact that high percentage (32.9%) of company’s total loans is Real Estate loans. This is the reason that company’s interest income has decreased despite the increase in loans made in 2008. Efficiency ratio is basically an operating expense margin measure, the lower the better. The above 60 percent efficiency ratio, 50 percent generally regarded as optimal, is an indicator of company’s deteriorating performance. Use of Long Term and Short Term Debt to Finance Loans: Balance sheet show that Comerica’s total deposits are maintaining a level since 2005, however company’s net loans have increased by almost $10 Billion. Balance sheet clearly shows that these loans are finance from the increase in short-term and long term debt, which cast doubts on the profitability of company going forward. Unsustainability of the Dividend Pay-out Ratio: Exhibit 5 shows an increasing trend in the dividends, which Comerica has tried to maintain despite the low earnings. In the June 2008 quarter, company paid $99 Million as dividends against the net income of $56 Million during the same quarter. These levels of dividends are not sustainable in the current recessionary environment, and when the company does cut dividends, it will send a bad signal to the market. Downward Revision in the Federal Funds Rate: We noticed that spread, which equals to net interest expense as a % of earning assets minus net interest expense as a percentage of interest bearing liabilities, is decreasing. One of the reason of this phenomenon is that interest bearing deposits are increasing – which is bad for the company. Moreover, there has been a downward revision of 3.25 percent in the federal funds’ rate from its original level of 5.25% in July 2007, to 2.0% in 2008 – limiting the banks’ ability to charge higher spreads. Moreover, commercial loans are predominantly floating rate, so decrease in the Federal Funds rate will affect company’s interest income. We do think that decrease in the Fed’s rate will increase the demand for loans but given the credit crunch, it seems unreasonable in the short run. Decrease in Interest Income Percentage Measures: The shrinkage of interest income can be obviously seen from the Corporation’s net interest income as a percentage of earning assets, from 6.82% in 2007 to 4.86% by the end June 2008. This decrease is due to both factors of the ratio, one interest income is decreasing, secondly earning assets for Comerica Inc., which is loans, investment securities available-for-sale and short-term investments are increasing. Moreover, net interest margin, which is calculated as a difference between net interest income and net interest expenses divided by earning assets, show a downward trend. VALUATION: To value Comerica, we have used both methods Jack is planning to use. We will first do the sensitivity analysis (Exhibit 7 in the case) to find the range of tangible book value, earnings and dividends. Using that sensitivity analysis table, we will find the range of firm’s value employing comparable and dividend discount models. Sensitivity Analysis: In the Exhibit 7 at the end of the case, we have already been given the existing quarterly earnings estimates and tangible book value at the end of 2009. Those estimates are based on charge-off ratio of 0.85%. We have completed the sensitivity analysis based on the following assumptions: †¢Percentage of charge off is annual, and dollar value of the charge off will be distributed over each quarter equally. †¢Company’s charge-off ratio taken in 2008 will continue to be the same in 2009. We think this is a  reasonable assumption because of current low reserves for credit losses to NPA ratio of Comerica, as compared to its peers. †¢Company will maintain a certain level of allowance of loan losses. Therefore any increase in percentage of charge off will translate to decrease in tangible book value of the company through the income statement. †¢Dividends are taken to be 48% of earnings in case of positive net income and zero in case of negative net income. Company is trying hard to keep the level of dividends constants, to avoid sending bad signals. But company will not be able to sustain this level of dividends, so it will revert to the historical average of 48% dividend payout ratio (Exhibit – 1). Using these assumptions, we get the range of tangible book value, at the end of 2009, of $5,247 Million in case of 0.85% charge off to $4,647 Million in case of 2% charge-off. Detailed calculations are provided in the Exhibit – 2. Comparable Method: We have chosen two multiples to value Comerica i.e price to tangible book value and price to earnings ratio. Since, due to the current financial crisis, earnings of the companies are very volatile, we think price to tangible book value is a better multiple. Therefore, we will use price to earnings ratio just as a check multiple. Now that we have decided which multiples to use, we need to assign weights to the comparable companies to find out the weighted average multiples. To assign weights, we considered the following factors in terms of similarity between Comerica and comparable companies. †¢Geological location of the operations †¢Percentage of loans from different business segments †¢Financials – Including total revenue break up, return on equity and assets, reserves for loan losses to total loan and total NPAs etc. Based on these weights assigned we calculated the comparable weighted average of the price to tangible book value ratio and price to earnings ratio. Following table summarizes values calculated by both the methods and their sensitivity to the charge-off percentage. Detailed calculations are given in Exhibit – 2 and 3. As we mentioned before, earnings are very volatile right now and are suppressed because of the financial crisis. So we think price to tangible  book value is a better measure of company’s intrinsic value. Therefore we think, company is undervalued right now and hence Jack should propose to long its stock. Dividend Discount Model (DDM): We have also used DDM to find the intrinsic value of the company. We think that company will not be able to sustain its dividends of $0.66 per share per quarter in the short run. However, by year 2010 company will have enough earnings to come back to its previous level. Keeping in mind the fact that company has been growing its dividend payout ratio, and earning are also expected to increase in the long run; we have assumed that company’s dividends will grow at the rate of 2% in perpetuity. Using these assumption, and cost of equity 8.8%, dividend discount model gives us the share price of $40.39 per share, which also indicates that company is undervalued right now. Detailed calculations are provided in Exhibit 4. FUTURE INDUSTRY OUTLOOK: The collapse of mortgage market has taught financial industry an expensive lesson, making a lot of financial institutions unable to fully recover even till now. One of the major factors that cause a lot of banks’ failure and bankruptcy during financial crisis is the banks’ overconfidence in real estate market and issuing huge amount of new debt without the checking credit quality of borrowers. After the financial crisis, banks have become very cautious when dealing with mortgage related loans. Requirements regarding borrowers’ personal incomes and documentation have been considered necessary and valuation process about mortgages has gone very conservative. Facing the illiquidity during the financial crisis, banks are required to improve their capital bases to improve their insolvency. One regulation from Base III incorporates a significant expansion in risk coverage and introduces modified ways to calculate risk-based capital. Moreover, complex hybrid capital ins truments, which used to be considered as a part of banks’ equity, has been exclude from banks’ equity calculation. Base III also puts increasing focus and emphasis on banks to acquire common equity that can be quickly cashed out when facing unexpected situation. The enactment of Base III and the self-improvement happening in the banking industry or, even broader, financial industry have made bank valuation focus more on bank’s  traditional originate-to-hold business, and associated bank’s securitization activities with higher risk. Increasing focus has also been put on a bank’s capital base, which has everything to do with a bank’s solvency and liquidity. Banks, whose equities have complex hybrid equity capital instruments, tend to be less liquid and have higher business risk. Funding source is another factor considered. Banks with less retail funding on their balance sheets are more vulnerable when unexpected situations happen. Loan quality, which had been largely neglected when everyone had big overconfidence to housing market before the burst of the financial cris is, has been brought back to the ‘valuation table’ and greatly reemphasized. These improvements in the regulatory requirements have restored the confidence of investors in the banking industry to some extent. That’s why we see the financial industry raising to the level where it was before the financial crisis. CONCLUSION: Financial statements analysis of CMA does not present a very pretty picture, but because of the financial crisis, whole industry is under stress and experiencing the same deterioration in the quality of earnings. However, our valuation methods show that CMA is undervalued relative to its peer companies and hence is a good investment to hold right now.

Comparisons of The Parthenon in Athens and the Pantheon in Rome Essay

The Parthenon and the Pantheon are temples built by ancient peoples are alike in so many ways but dissimilar in others.  Ã‚   Both were built to honor the Gods of their builders. The Parthenon built by the Greeks in Athens and the Pantheon in Rome built by the Romans.   On first looking at the buildings, the Parthenon is rectangular and the Pantheon primarily circular.  Ã‚   The Parthenon is built of white marble blocks; the Pantheon is built of concrete and was only faced in marble.   Concrete was a Roman invention and came after the Greek civilization.   Both structures were built to honor Gods.   The Greek structure was built to honor Athena, patron of Athens, Athena Parthenos; the Roman structure was built to honor all the Gods in their pantheon of deities.   Both structures were lighted by only natural light of the sun.   The Parthenon was illuminated only by light coming in through the open doors at the front of the temple.   The Pantheon was lighted by illumination coming in through a circular opening in the ceiling called the oculus.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Parthenon in Athens was built according to the Doric order.   The Pantheon was built to the Corinthian order.   The three orders being Doric, Ionic and Corinthian.   Doric is the most simple or the types and Corinthian the most ornate. It is said that one can tell plain to fancy by the syllables.   Doric having one syllable, Ionic two and Corinthian three. Roman architecture coming after the Greek, it is generally acknowledged that the Roman architecture was derived from the Greek as were most of the Roman Gods, but they refined and added to both to get them Roman.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As for the architectural elements of the buildings, the Parthenon is basically a rectangle with slab on column architecture.   The Pantheon, a Greek word meaning â€Å"all the Gods†, by the way, is a product of Roman advanced architecture with the arch (a Roman invention) made into a dome (essentially an arch completely turned round on its central axis).   The front is a barrel vault (an arch, repeated endlessly on the central axis), attached to the dome.   Both structures have columns, but on both structures they are plain.   The Doric column is a round plain shaft, but on the Pantheon they are plain by choice.   The ordinary Corinthian column most often being fluted.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another distinctive feature of the Pantheon is the dome.   An invention of the much later Romans is heavier at the base.   The dome is made of cement wider and heavier at the base with progressive thinness graduating toward the top.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Both structures have had multiple uses since its completion.   Both have been reported being built for worship.   That factor has been debated for centuries.   The Parthenon could have been a treasury.  Ã‚   With each succeeding conquering entity, the use of the building changed.   As with the Parthenon, the Pantheon uses have changed.   Most notably, from pagan temple to Catholic church.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although both buildings are from the Classical period, both buildings survived into the 20th century.   The Pantheon being built of concrete and so fireproof, survived in better condition.   Both structures in their time were used as marble quarries for the conquering entity of the time.   Sculpture was taken from both also.  Ã‚   Enough remains of the structures with descriptions of each through all their existence, to give a picture of them the moment completion was finished.   Enough remains of each, to give a picture of how magnificent they looked in their time, to the people that conceived and built them. References: Sullivan, MA. Images of The Pantheon. March 21, 2007 Platner, SB and Ashby, T.   A  Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, London: Oxford University Press, 1929.   March 21, 2007 < http://penelope.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  uchicago.edu /Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Pantheon.html> The British Museum. The Parthenon. March 22, 2007 The Parthenon.   March 22, 2007 The Parthenon. March 22, 2007 The Parthenon. March 22, 2007