M4M4 Monoculture Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

M4M4 Monoculture - Assignment Example Today, many of small nations and communities living along the coast lines are highly threatened as beaches once locked in Arctic permafrost continue to be released by melting ice, shoreline erosion, rise in sea levels and increased storm activity. According to Pilkey, Pilkey and Fraser (2011), Miami has been listed as one of the most threatened cities based on the value of property that could be destroyed by floods caused by a three-foot sea level rise. It is estimated that sea levels in some cities located along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts could rise up to 55 inches. In a particular, the sea levels could rise by 20 inches in Miami Beach while in Boston city the levels could hit the 38 inches mark. The following table represents some of the urban centers likely to be affected by rising sea levels across the globe. The population likely to be affected by rising sea levels in Miami is estimated to be above 5.2 million and is expected to increase due to the growing number of tourism activities in the city (Pilkey, Pilkey & Fraser, 2011). This city is fourth largest and also United States’ lowest city. For this reason, sea levels are expected to increase by 20 inches by 2020. Floods resulting from the rising levels are expected to disrupt water supply systems in the city leading to emergence of waterborne disease including cholera and typhoid among other complications. Floods also form breeding areas for mosquitoes leading to high prevalence of malaria and other conditions whose mosquitoes are the vectors. Boston city is current listed among several U.S coastal areas where more than 4.5 million people living along the coastal line are to be adversely affected by expected rise in sea levels (Green Peace Campaign, n.d). Such populations are likely to be completely displaced leading to public health complications associated with displaced persons

Safety Incentive Program Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Safety Incentive Program - Research Paper Example The researcher states that there has been a recent scrutiny and analysis of safety programs in organizations by the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration in order to ascertain their effectiveness in the organizations. Many previous studies on safety incentive programs emphasized the undependable and anecdotal evidence that assesses the advantages and disadvantages of applying incentives on safety programs. The long-term impact of the safety incentive program on the construction of safety in the intervention period has remained hesitant. In general, safety incentive program aims to reduce the losses of the organizations resulting from the work injuries and accidents. Reducing occupational accidents, injury incidents and work down through rewards and application of incentive on safety program archetypical concern in many organizations. In the process of setting the goals, every single employee is involved especially the top management as a safety incentive program is all-inclusive. It is a moral boost to have every particular employee at the same level. All workers therefore need to be motivated to get involved by providing ideas or rewarding employees who identifies safety hazards. Safety incentive program that are considered effective outlines achievable goals, objectives, and assigns responsibility and obligations to employees and management, and implements the safety program goals. In the determination of safety program goals, much focus and emphasis is put where the occupational accidents and work injuries are taking place. Again, the work time lost due to the injuries in the workplace is intensely analyzed. Through doing this, focus areas are identified and required backgrounds are determined so as to set reasonable objectives that will lead to the accomplishment of the safety incentive goals.

Ethical issues in Health Care Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethical issues in Health Care Management - Essay Example One of the most baffling and difficult potential causes for ethical issues in the healthcare system is the doctor-patient relationship. Let’s take for example a fictitious healthcare center. In any case the issue of doctor-patient relationship can extend much more in reality and can indulge even the healthcare personnel – nurses, caregivers and medical assistants. We can discover multi-layer ethical issues arising on the grounds of giver-receiver relation. This relationship is radically distinctive in the sense that one has the advantage of possessing certain knowledge and the other is exposed, vulnerable and intimidated to trust. In order to prevent misuse of the giver (medical personnel and doctors) and imposing his dominance over the receiver (the patient) ethic codes and value must be solidly instilled. There are several causes for ethical issues in the doctor – patient model. The first cause is the information availability. We can look at two examples. On one hand due to the nature of the healthcare institution, the personnel is able to extract details from the patient which is any other situation would be considered invasive. Thus, the healthcare institution is obliged to keep high confidentiality to preserve the patients’ rights and privacy. On the other hand, possessing the knowledge allows doctors to withhold sensitive information in order to protect the patient. A fine line needs to be created and ethical codes in healthcare centers try to achieve the ethical violations. Klugman and Dalinis (2008) give a distinctive commentary on the healthcare issues and practices in the rural areas and how they differ from the urban settings. They comment that rural practitioners are physically placed in small, closed communities where socializing with their patients is necessary outside of the healthcare center. Residents in the rural areas have different

Court Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Court Report - Essay Example Medical Practitioner Board in Victoria is a statutory authority established to protect the community by ensuring doctors maintain professional standards and practice ethically and competently. The Medical Practice Act 1994 guides the operations of the Board and clearly states that the Board’s main purpose is to protect the public. According to the complainant she went to Dr. Leeks eight times in 1979 or 1980. She narrates that Dr. leeks fondled her breast and digitally penetrating her. But Dr. Leeks denies her allegations.Several complaints has been also forwarded to the Medical Board complaining Dr. Leeks of the use of electric shock in treating the children. The case was dropped since Dr. Leeks voluntarily stop practicing his profession to avoid further investigation. The Board investigates the complaints about any aspect of a doctor’s professional activity. It takes seriously all matters raised by the community and investigates them thoroughly. In this case the Board is carefully analyzing if the Country Court Judge Duggan is correct in accusing Dr. Leeks of sexual misconduct. The complainant also files a complaint to Dr. Leeks in the Medical Board. Since sexual misconduct is a serious allegation the case is referred to a formal hearing. Formal Hearings are open to the public and the media (although the identity of the complainant is protected by law) and both the doctor and the Board are entitled to legal representation.

Rock and Roll Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Rock and Roll - Assignment Example The cultural phenomenon associated with the song is undeniable, but a close analysis of the music content exposes negligible evidence of explicit or revolutionary intents. The thrusting, shaking, and gyrating dance moves by Presley when performing this song were seen as fostering destructive and negative reactions to youths. The song has a twelve-bar blues, carefully structured to enhance dancing, particularly with the quick tempo. The song has a constant backbone thanks to the double bass present in the guitar solo and the chorus section. The drumming is just perfect. It is unadorned and simple; purposely and concisely striking on the song beats prior to blasting into machine-gun burst at every verse-end, revealing to the listener the beginning of a subsequent twelve bars. The lead guitar solo also encourages the listeners to dance due to its simple and rhythmic nature, and with the added advantage of not distracting the beat. The rhythm from the guitar is superb, as it provides a driving, compelling impetus. Moreover, the guitar rhythm plays at nine bars of the twelve bar pattern (Bennett 15). Simultaneously, strutting riff plays, adding the body and depth of the magnificent twelve bar pattern, and when its play stops, its absence reflects a certain conspicuous. Combine the rock and roll magic of these instruments with Presley’s voice, the driving force, perfect control, and power, and you get the most unique and popular song in the 1950s. 2. Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon Consumerist ideals dominated the 1960’s society, with Americans in upper and middle class struggling to attain a â€Å"model life†. The consumerist goals created a false sense of peace and security. The song â€Å"sound of silence† by Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon uses diction, clear metaphors, contrasting tones, and repetition to highlight the need for social changes. The 1960s had an awkward epoch where majority of the Americans dared not to question or criticize societal expectations (Perone 45). The song reflects the mixed emotions in the 1960s such as hopes of societal activists and submissive conformists for social change. Composed in the aftermath of President John F. Kennedy and the Vietnam War, the two artists reinforce the need for social change; condemn submissiveness, and ig norance using the term â€Å"silence†. The song uses various similes and metaphors to pass across the message. It highlights the American national well-being as a facade that most citizens are afraid to address. The lyrics to the song compares â€Å"cancer† to the disturbing the silence, highlighting the impossibility of changes in society at the time. Through such similes, Garfunkel and Simon highlight the complacency, stubbornness of upper and middle-class levels, especially with reference to nuclear family. The song may fall into the folk music category due to its style of writing. The song resembles storytelling, though it fuses with the popular genre of music during the 1960s, which was traditional folk music, thus the presence of electric bass, drums, and electric guitar (Perone 47). The use of rhythmic syncopations and those other instruments promote the essence of storytelling. This, combined with the audacity to question societal expectations at a time when it was considered a social crime, makes the song a great piece of rock and roll music. 3. John Lennon There was imminent danger of a possible lack of unity and peace in the world in the 1970s era. The revolutions that were taking place were a threat to world peace, and this perhaps triggered John Lennon of the Beatles to compose the song â€Å"Imagine†. The song is a strong, emotional, and though-provoking piece of music advocating for the

Transformation of Asean Community to Aec and the Effects to Thailand Essay Example for Free

Transformation of Asean Community to Aec and the Effects to Thailand Essay Recently, the world has experienced financial crisis, those countries that have been powerful and have strong economies such as the members of European Union (EU) such as the United Kingdom, France and Greece, are facing a big financial collapse. So now a new economic community is arising with intense competition because new markets are developing and financial opportunities are sought. Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is one of significant players in the world’s economy for centuries. It has emerged strongly from the financial crisis offering the new opportunities for investors and businesspeople. The interest and attention of investment are moving to the ASEAN area more and more each year because of the available untapped market in the ASEAN and the potential of being the production base that eases and facilitates those new incoming traders and investors. Many investors have kept their eyes on the region’s performance and its transition into the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) which is the newest area of economic integration in the world. To study this economic bloc is significant in order to capture the great opportunities and prepare to be ready in taking the supreme advantages from the AEC. In the transforming processes, some practices will be applied to the members and that can make the difference between failure and success of the AEC project apparent. This could lead to a modification of the plan for AEC integration in the future, from the beginning of origin point to the change of community which takes place in four phases, its visions and four pillars. They should be taken into consideration to learn how it works to move forward because this economic community will possibly be the new engine of the world economy. This essay consists of an introduction, explanation and clarification on the ASEAN and the AEC. In order to critically examine the AEC; most of its dimensions will be discussed. There are three areas included in the paper which are, firstly; identify and describe both communities’ purposes of existing as well as the characteristics of the community, these explanations can be used to explain and clarify what the AEC represents in the past, present, and future. The detail of each four-pillar, the core targets of the AEC, will be carefully interpreted. Secondly; the benefits of the AEC will be briefly examined. And lastly, the challenges that the AEC may face in the progression of it transformation from ASEAN will be analysed. Some suggestion will be offered in the conclusion. What are ASEAN and AEC? Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand. The founding members are Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. After that Brunei Darussalam, Viet Nam, Lao PDR and Myanmar, and Cambodia joined in 1984, 1995, 1997, and 1999, respectively. At the beginning, â€Å"it was for political purposes and was declared a preferential trade area in 1977.† (Frankel and Wei, 1997, p.312) that is the point where the ASEAN started moving towards the economic community and move further in 1992 when the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) was established. Source: International Monetary Fund, 1994, World Economic Outlook, October 1994: A Survey by the Staff (Washington) Its performances have been outstanding. Apparently from many measurements, for example, the increasing of ASEAN’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the indicator that used to calculate health of the areas’ economy, compares to other countries’ is remarkable. In figure 1, from 1960-70, its Real GDP was 5.6. It has gradually increased and in 1990-2000, the real GDP was 7.6 which comparable with Republic of Korea, slightly lower than China and even higher than Japan that was at 2.5 (Larsen F., Aziz J., 1997, p.309). The Real GDP Growth of the ASEAN-6 (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) is forecasted to reach 6.0% on average from 2011-2015 while the EU’s real GDP growth before 2015 will not be more than 3% (The Conference Board, 2012). Additionally, the inflation has remained stable which reflects the notable performance of the ASEAN in setting fiscal and financial policies. Furthermore, the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows that was unattractive in the past, now it has distinguished among the world FDI inflows. As of 1995-2005, the FDI inflows of the ASEAN was about US$15,773 to US$38,083 million (ASEAN FDI Database, 2006, p.13) but after that it has been rocketed to US$47,075.6, US$ 38,266 and US$76,207 million in 2008-2010, respectively.(ASEAN Foreign Direct Investment Statistics Database, 2012, p.1) Part One: Purposes of Establishing AEC The main purpose of the establishment of ASEAN was cooperation in many areas such as economic, social, and etc. that promotes the regional peace and stability. (Economic Community Factbook , 2011, p.viii) Even though, there are many changes in the framework of improvement in the ASEAN, the shared vision â€Å"outward looking, living in peace, stability and prosperity, bonded together in partnership in dynamic development and in a community of caring societies†(ibid., p.viii) is maintained and used as fundamental outline in the future for every ASEAN nations. In 2003, all ASEAN members decided to create the more committed and strong economic community which is called â€Å"AEC†; they targeted to reach the plan by 2020. But then in 2007, they have changed to accelerate the established to 2015. The understanding on core four-pillar of the AEC can acknowledge the main purposes of the AEC and build an awareness on how the opportunities will be occurred in the region. Regard to the four-pillar (ASEAN Secretariat, 2012, p.3-14), first is ‘Single Market and Production Base’, the ASEAN attempts to bring 10 nations to become one market and a key production base of the world by executing â€Å"Five Free Flows† which are; firstly, Free Flow of Goods by creating a tariff liberalisation and a trade facilitation within the region. Making the custom process more ready and standardised to build an ‘ASEAN Single Window’, this flow leads to economies of scale, and reduction in cost while increasing productivity, to the region. Secondly, Free Flow of Services which liberalises every service sector to leverage the flexibility within the ASEAN. Thirdly, Free Flow of Skilled Labour, support efficiency and effectiveness of qualified professionals’ mobility. Fourthly, Free Flow of Investment eliminates restricted regulations that not facilitate free flow and openness in an investment. Lastly, Free Flow of Capital that integrat es the ASEAN’s financial market and capital market to ensure the trade’s strength and flow. The willingness of each nation to consolidate market is the problem that brings the most difficulty in success this pillar. The second pillar, ‘Competitive Economic Region’, aims to create the appropriate competition environment within the ASEAN by setting policies in order to protect the customer right and businesses in the ASEAN. The most important component of this pillar is an infrastructure development which includes the transportation and logistics services. The crucial point is to enhance the efficient and secure transport network; not only physical infrastructure, e.g. road and rail, but also the soft infrastructure such as high-speed connection on internet and ICT application. To ease inter-border investment and financing on regional infrastructure are the most significant leverage to create a competitive economic in the region. The infrastructures are important in catching up the world’s advancement and speed up the equal competition within the region. The third pillar, ‘Equitable Economic Development’, purposes to support the Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam (CLMV) and SMEs in the region for creating the fair competition and promoting the advanced competitiveness environment. It also aims to strengthen the ASEAN’s competitive capacity in international level. The gap that exists within the region can slow down the process in success of this pillar. The last pillar, ‘Integration into the Global Economy’, even though it has existed over the decades that ASEAN has signed Free Trade Area agreement with major partners in the world market, the AEC will act as the one partner to the other markets, for instance, with China where the ASEAN benefits most because of its early economic recovery. Part Two: Benefits of AEC In 2012, the ASEAN is in the phase III of the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint which consists of four phases, the master plan in creating the AEC, which some benefits and obstacles in turn into new economic community have appeared and those can be learned in order to adjust the new plan, maintain the effectiveness of it and hasten the efficiency. Regard to the four-pillar, the benefits of the AEC are; attract new FDI both from within and outside the region as a result of larger market, openness and free flow within the ASEAN that are caused by non-tariff barriers. These can promote the technologicals improvement and hasten the trade integration of the region which leads to the independence from external regions’ economy. In the past, the ASEAN has relied its economic growth and trade with the major partners such as United States and European Union. As the AEC becomes more integrated, the more productivity growth and more strength in international competition capacity it will be and it will also less vulnerability to external crisis. The economies of scale is another benefit that the AEC can received if the successful of the ‘Single Market and Production Base’ happens which bring about to the cost reduction in production because of the tariff liberalisation. As soon as the free flow of skilled labour occurred, the level of education will increase dramatically which improves the living standard and income standard. Not only well-beings will arise but also the decreasing of poverty in the region will truly happen. By adding the new infrastructure to region, the convenience in communication, travel and trade will support the competitiveness of the ASEAN. Part Three: Challenges of Becoming AEC When the massive progression takes place, the challenges and problems that present obstacles and slow down the processes of transformation will occur and cause difficulties in reaching the goal. From the earlier processes till 2012; the third phase, the problems that struggle the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint have been reviewed and observed through the scorecard measurement that evaluates each phases of four-pillar. The percentage of completed tasks comparing to the benchmark is showing both successful and unsuccessful performance of the AEC. Source: Adapted from ASEAN Secretariat (2012).Chartering Progress toward Regional Economic Integration .ASEAN Economic Community Scorecard, 8-15. Retrieved August 21, 2012, http://www.aseansec.org/publications/ASEAN_AECFactBook.pdf According to the scorecard the most successful area in the four-dimension is the ‘Integration into the Global Economy’; phase I achieved 100% and phase II achieved 77.8% (on average of 85.7%), as suggested in the prior part that ASEAN have done many agreement with world partners so it is the task that every nations in ASEAN can do best as a result of well experienced. The most difficult part is ‘Single Market and Production Base’; phase I achieved 93.8% and phase II achieved 49.1% (on average of 65.9%) and closely followed by the ‘Equitable Economic Development’ that is on average of 66.7%. These are the areas where the ASEAN cannot do well because of the gap between members, obviously that ASEAN-6 and CLMV are very apart in standard of living and education which lead to lack of attention from those laggards in improving equality abilities toward the AEC, as well as the behindhand infrastructure development countries such as the Philippines, Lao PDR and Vietnam that have to catch up with others (Basu Das, 2012, p.4) the lack of financial support could be the main cause because to build up the strong infrastructure network, it requires massive financial investment not only for the construct platform but also the management tasks. Those other countries are also slow in implementing the plan, for example, in Thailand; the corruption has slowed the development progress. In Cambodia and Myanmar, political restrictions and barriers are controversial and unpredictable. Another challenge is the ASEAN nations see each other as competitors not partners, for instance, Thailand and Vietnam in Rice industry, they compete to lead in the sector, they not intend to become the single market in reality. Moreover, trade within the ASEAN is relatively low compared with other regions in the world (A. Frankel J. Wei S., 1997, p.312). This causes the weakness of the ASEAN in competing with other regional integration because its economy, including the export and import, depends on other countries and leads to financial weakness. Lastly, the language struggle is a major issue. People in the ASEAN are lacking in linguistic skills, except in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines, they cannot speak English and Chinese which are the main business median languages so it seems to bring the inequality to the people in region and slow the success of ‘Free Flow of Labour’. Conclusion The AEC is the most crucial task that the ASEAN has to complete in order to have a sustainable growth in financial and economic affairs in the future. Though the establishment of the ASEAN was long, the gap between nations still exists. And even though outstanding performance is the most attractiveness from investors, the readiness in infrastructure is still questionable. Towards the AEC era requires hard working and cooperation within the ASEAN, the success of the AEC can come from the readiness of individuals in region. Thus, education is the fundamental factor to create understanding in the AEC’s purposes. It can empower people to obtain the most benefits from the AEC and not to be taken advantages by foreign investors. The foundation principles of the AEC are the four-pillars which will assist it in becoming a single market and key production base of the world. With an appropriate competitive environment and a developed uniformity the region can become a significant global economic engine. People should also be well-informed about the positive sides as well as the challenges in the transformation to the AEC so they can take full advantage of these opportunities. Nevertheless, the AEC is like other economic communities, it is essential to have a consistency in development, discipline and commitment of each nation in the community. As can be seen from the failure of the other communities such as the EU, the carelessness and indiscipline can cause on uncontrollable crisis that can affect people around the world and diminish confidence. Bibliography ASEAN FDI Database (2006).FDI Flow to ASEAN 1995-1st Quarter 2006.Statistics of Foreign Direct Investment in ASEAN, 13. Retrieved August 14, 2012, from http://www.aseansec.org/5187-1.pdf ASEAN Foreign Direct Investment Statistics Database (2012).Top ten sources of foreign direct investment inflow to ASEAN.ASEAN Statistics.1. Retrieved August 14, 2012, from http://www.aseansec.org/stat/Table27.pdf ASEAN Secretariat (2012).Chartering Progress toward Regional Economic Integration .ASEAN Economic Community Scorecard, Retrieved August 21, 2012, http://www.aseansec.org/publications/ASEAN_AECFactBook.pdf Basu Das, S. (Eds.) (2012). Achieving the Asian Economic Community 2015: Challenges for member countries and business. Singapore: ISEAS. Frankel, J., Wei, S. (1997).ASEAN in a Regional Perspective. In J.Hicklin D.Robinson A. Singh(Eds.), Macroeconomic Issues Facing ASEAN Countries (pp.311-365). Washington D.C.: External Relations Department, Publication Services. International Monetary Fund, 1994, World Economic Outlook, October 1994: A Survey by the Staff (Washington). Larsen, F., Aziz, J. (1997).ASEAN in the World Economy. In J.Hicklin D.Robinson A. Singh (Eds.), Macroeconomic Issues Facing ASEAN Countries (pp.299-310). Washington D.C.: External Relations Department, Publication Services. The Conference Board (2012).Comparison of Base Scenario with Optimistic and Pessimistic Scenarios, 2012 – 2025.Global Economic Outlook 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2012, from http://www.conference-board.org/data/globaloutlook.cfm

Investing in Futures and Options Essay Example for Free

Investing in Futures and Options Essay INTRODUCTION Of late, investors who are in the stock and commodity are focusing their attention towards risk management especially due to high volatility nature. Since these volatility movements are uncertain, it has become foremost cause of vagueness for such investors. Since the globalization of trade and free trade between major countries has become the order of the day, all most all the investors have to be under mercy of the exchange rate fluctuations which results in volatility   .The notion that exchange rates , profitability and other factors   influence a firm’s value and therefore the price of its stock is widely held by financial analyst ,economists and corporate managers . The liberalization of economic policies and investment policies due to world trade organization’s (WTO) free flow of investments and trade between member countries and bilateral free trade agreements between countries have augmented internationalization of economic activity and exceptional era of world wide currency and interest rates instability. To counter these financial risks, new pioneering concept commodity and stock market hedging techniques have nurtured at a rapid speed. The main feature of the using derivatives through hedging is to have control over the financial risk and minimizing the effect of uncertain cash flows. Financial institutions have come to rescue to these corporations who have exposure to financial risk with the range of products to assist in risk management. By far the most significant event in finance during the past decade has been the extraordinary development and expansion of financial derivatives. These instruments enhance the ability to differentiate risk and allocate it to the investors most able and   willing to take it – a process that has undoubtedly improved national productivity growth and standards of living .’ Allen Green Span, Chairman, Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve System. The structural advantage of derivatives i.e. leverage or gearing   makes them suitable for managing risk can also result in the generation of leveraged profits or in the event of adverse market movement , a significant losses. The main advantage of gearing is that the buyer or seller need only to cough up a small proportion of total price at the time of deal is executed. It may be 1% and 8% depending upon the volatility of the underlying commodity or instrument. In the case of exchange traded transactions, this deposit is recognized as â€Å"initial margin† and is expected to reflect the amount by which the price of a contract may vary in one day’s trading. At the day end, all contracts will be valued and if the price has been found to move against the position, the losing party will have to pay further â€Å"variation margin† calls. In contrary, if the price movement is positive, credit will be given to the party .It is this element of gearing that provides the opportunity to make large gains or losses. Prudent handling of this leverage will result in considerable profit maximization and if it handled inexpertly, may generate losses .In some cases , these losses though high but they are few in number when measured against volume of business and number of participants in derivative business .The contributory factors for sustaining loss includes excessive position taking ( in relation to capital) , fraudulent activity , unexpected market moves, ineffective risk management, insufficient product understanding and inadequacies in corporate policy governing their use. What is a derivative? Derivative is a mathematical word which refers to a variable, which has been derived from another variable and they have no values of their own. Derivatives derive their value from the value of some other asset, which is referred as the underlying. For instance, a derivative of the shares of AT T Corporation (underlying), will derive its value from the share price (value) of AT T Corporation. Likewise, a derivative contract on wheat depends upon the price of wheat. An agreement or an option to buy or sell the underlying asset of the derivative up to a certain time in the future at a predetermined price i.e. the exercise price by way of special contract is known as derivative contract. The contract also has a flat expiry period mostly in the range of 3 to 12 months from the date of origination of the contract. The price of the underlying asset and the expiry period of the contract determine the value of the contract. Financial derivatives comprises of underlying financial asset like currency, debt instruments, equity shares, share price index etc.Exchange-traded derivatives are derivative contracts that has been standardized and traded on the stock exchanges. Over-the –counter derivatives is one which has been customized as per the requirements of the user by negotiating with the other party involved. Some of the common forms of derivatives are Futures, Forwards and Options. Futures: Futures are the derivative contracts that give the holder the chance to buy or sell the underlying asset at a pre-specified price some time in the near future and usually thy come with standardized form like contract size, fixed expiry time and price. The future market is one where continues auction market and exchanges presenting the recent information about the supply and demand as regards to individual commodities or financial instruments like stocks . In other words, future market is one where buyers and sellers of variety of commodities, financial instruments get together to trade. The main aim of the future market is to manage price risk. The future price risk is averted by buying or selling futures contract, with a price level arrived at now, for items to be delivered in future. This is achieved by hedging which helps to shield against the risk of an adverse price change in the near future or use of futures to lock in an acceptable margin between their purchase and their selling price. In futures, bankers, farmers, traders, manufacturers will arrange for the purchase or sale of a futures contract. In future market, commodities are broken down into five categories namely agriculture, metallurgical, interest bearingassets, jndexes and foreign currency. Agricultural futures market includes oats, corn , wheat , soybeans , soy meal ,soyoil,sunflower oil ,cattles , live hogs   and pork bellies, lumber , plywood ,cotton, coffee, cocoa, rice, orange juice and sugar. For every one of these commodities, different contract months are available and it depends upon the harvest cycle. More aggressively traded commodities usually have more contract months available and a new type of contract is available almost every month to meet the growing institutional and corporate market. Futures on Metallurgical Products: Petroleum products and metals is being covered under this group and it includes platinum, gold, silver, palladium, copper, gasoline, crude oil, propane and heating oil. Every month a new type of contract emerges to cater the needs of ever increasing institutional and corporate market. Assets which bears interest: This has its origin during 1975 and products in these categories include treasury bonds, Treasury Bills, Municipal Bonds, Treasury Notes and Eurodollar deposits. It is also possible to trade contracts with the same maturity but different expected interest rate differentials. Futures on Indexes: Now futures are available on most chief indexes such as New York Stock Exchange Composite, SP 500, New York Stock Exchange Utility index, Russell 2000, Commodity Research Bureau (CRB), SP 400 Midcap, FT-Se 100 Index (London) and Value line. These stock index features are settled in cash and there is no delivery of goods is involved in this method. A trader has to settle his positions by buying or selling an offsetting position or in cash at expiration. Foreign Currency Futures: During the post war period, the exchange rates and interest rates were stable and the mechanism of fixed exchange rates of the Bretton Woods era enabled the corporations to know in advance their foreign exchange liabilities for their imports. But the collapse of Bretton Woods’s system after the war resulted in the introduction of general floating exchange rates replacing the earlier fixed system. The introduction of floating exchange rates have resulted in large unexpected movements in exchange rates that too in unforeseen directions and magnitudes which affected interest rate movements as the monetary establishment tried to influence the exchange rates by movements in interest rates. It is to be noted that the forward market in currencies is much bigger than the foreign exchange futures market. Further, there are cross currency futures that are being traded and these includes Deutsch mark / yen, Deutsch mark / French franc. Forwards Options: Forward is another form of a derivative contract but tailored to the needs of the user in terms of expiry date, contract size, and price. These contracts confer the holder the option to buy or sell the under lying at a pre-determined price some time in the future .Call option is one where the buyer has given his option to buy the underlying at the near future .Where as an option to sell the underlying at a specified price in the future is called as Put Option. As regards to the option contract, the buyer is not obliged to exercise the option contract. Generally, options can be traded on the stock exchange or on the OTC. In option, the participants may assume a position in an underlying futures contract at a certain price which is known as exercise or strike price within a particular period of time. The price or premium of the option is determined through action market trading. Swaps: Swaps contract was introduced in 1981 and can be considered as one of the latest financial innovations to manage financial risks. The contracting parties are obliged to exchange specified cash flows at specified intervals under a swap contract. In a nutshell, a swap contract can be defined as a series of forward contracts put together. If the exchange of interest rate payments in one currency for payments in another currency is devised, then it amounts to a currency swap. If the exchange between two parties of interest obligations or receipts in the same currency on an agreed amount of notional principal for an agreed period of time is devised, then it is known as interest rate swap. An interest rate swap is an agreement between two parties to exchange interest payments calculated on different bases over a period of time. Under interest rate swap, one party to the contract makes fixed –rate payments while the other party’s payments are based on a floating rate such as LIBOR. For instance, if a company which has borrowed from a bank at a floating rate (7 m LIBOR) may want to swap that for a fixed rate (7m LIBOR) so that they can cover the risk if the interest rates go up. On one side, they pay 7% (of the agreed notional principal) and receive 7m LIBOR and on the other side they pay 7m LIBOR straight out to repay their loan. Thus they have converted a floating rate loan into a fixed rate loan. The said bank may manages its own risk from the above swap transaction by backing it out with another swap , say by paying 6.95% for 7m LIBOR and thus they earn a profit of 0.5% difference thus avoiding the risk in the interest rate changes . The other different types of interest rate swap are: Basis swap: For instance, swapping 2m LIBOR for 4m LIBOR. Basic swaps are mostly used by mortgage companies because the get the mortgage payments on monthly basis. Both fixed Currency Swap : Both fixed and say fixed $ for fixed  £ Both floating currency swap: 2m $ LIBOR for 4 m Yen LIBOR. Cross Currency Swap: fixed  £ for 2m CHF LIBOR. Companies derive more flexibility to exploit their comparative advantage in their respective borrowing markets under currency swaps. Under interest rate swap, corporations try to focus on their comparative advantage in borrowing in a single currency in the short end of the maturity spectrum vs. the long –end of the maturity spectrum. USES OF DERIVATIVES: Derivatives are mainly used for speculation or hedging. For speculation, derivatives offer us leverage. For instance, instead of buying  £ 5Million bond in the anticipation that its price will rise up, one can buy an option on that bond, which might only cost  £ 2000. The profit chances or opportunities are the same less the price of the option but the risk is much less as the most we can loose in this deal is the option price ( £ 2000). For hedging, derivatives let you to seal the price now for a trade in future or at least limits the rise or fall of that price. An UK company holding a US bond which is on the verge of its maturity could buy an interest rate option to guarantee the dollar / sterling rate did not diminish the value of its bond. Volatility is regarded as the most precise measure of risk and its return. The greater the volatility, the greater the risk and the reward as it is evidenced in the transaction from bull to bear markets. It is to be observed in the bearish market, volatility and risk augment while returns disappear including short –selling returns. History: The very first exchange for trading derivatives started by Royal Exchange in London, which allowed forward contract. Likewise, the first future contract was introduced to Yodoya rice market in Osaka, Japan in 1650. Then in 1848, Chicago Board of Trade was started to handle futures market of US. Russell Sage, a famous New York financier introduced synthetic loans using the principle of put-call parity. Sage could able to create a synthetic loan by fixing the put, call and strike prices with interest rate poignantly higher than the US usury law permitted. Chicago Mercantile Exchange started International Monetary Market in 1972 which permitted trading in currency futures. The Chicago Board of Trade started first interest rate futures in 1975.Treasury bill futures contract was introduced in 1975 by Merc. The Chicago Board Options Exchange was started in 1973 and there were publications for the first time option pricing model of Fischer Black and Myron Scholes. Chicago Board Options Exchange created an option on an index of stocks which was originally known as CBOE 100 index which later known as SP 100. During 1980, Swaps and other over-the –counter derivatives were introduced. It was in 1994, the derivative trade witnessed a series of huge losses and this affected experienced trading firms like Metallgesellschaft and Procter and Gamble. Orange country, California which is the America’s wealthiest city was declared as bankruptcy due to derivative trading and use of leverage in a portfolio of short -term Treasury securities. DERIVATIVES OR DESTRUCTIVE? A CASE STUDY OF BARINGS, UK. Baring Brothers, a British merchant bank went to bankruptcy in 1995 after incurring a whooping loss of  £ 860 million occurred on the Singapore and Osaka derivative exchanges. Nick Leeson, the bank’s star trader and absence of management controls to monitor his activities were the main reasons for this debacle. During the period between 1992 and 1995, Lesson built up positions in futures and options contracts on the Nikkei 225 stock exchange index, which proved highly profitable in the early years. Futures positions were bought by Lesson on the Nikkei index and financed cash calls on them as they fell in value by selling put options on the contract, thereby producing a straddle and thus betting against volatility of the market. Simex derivative exchange in Singapore were used to book the contracts and he run a hedged position on Nikkei index futures and make money by arbitraging between Singapore and Osaka markets. However he ceased hedging on the purchases made in Singapore and took on risk. Due to unexpected volatility in the market, losses were incurred and these losses in fact exceeded the net worth of Baring Bank .Lesson was later imprisoned for the falsification of records in an attempt to cover up his activities. The rationale of this case law is to elucidate how a bank can face bankruptcy if there is no proper risk management system is in force. The case also establishes the concept of ‘value at risk ‘(VAR) which is a simple method to express the risk of a portfolio. Because of the recent derivatives disasters, end-users, regulators, financial institutions and central bankers are now resorting to VAR as a method to foster stability in financial markets .The case illustrates how VAR could have been utilized to Baring Bank case to warn its management of the risk they were facing in advance. VOLATILITY: Volatility has its effect on administered market and it is high when both supply and demand are inelastic and liable to random shocks. According to Rudiger Dornbusch, market always overshoots in reaction to unexpected changes in economic variables. Volatility is a type of market incompetence and it is a reaction to uncertainty and excessive volatility is unreasonable. Volatility in stock and commodity market is represented by sharp changes in prices and inventory levels and level of volatility itself has fluctuated over the time. Changes in future prices, spot prices and inventories are influenced by changes in volatility Volatility is a determinant of changes in price expressed in percentage terms without regard to direction especially in stock price and stock index levels , commodities and in financial intermediaries .For example , an increase from 200 to 201 in one index is as same as the volatility terms to an increase in 100 to 101 in another index , because both changes are 1% and as this 1% increase is equal to volatility terms to a 1 % price decline .There are four ways to explain the volatility or movement and they are historical volatility , future volatility , expected volatility and implied volatility . Historical volatility is an appraiser of actual price variation during a particular period in the past. Future volatility refers annualized standard deviation of daily returns during particular future period basically between current and an option expiration. Expected volatility is an investor’s forecast of volatility utilized in an option method to gauge the theoretical value of an option. Implied volatility is the volatility percentage that illustrates the current market price of an option and it is the indicator of an option’s price. Volatility is described as standard deviation of the yield of an asset and the value of an option always increases with volatility. The greater the volatility, the higher the option chance during its life and convertible to the underlying asset at a marginal profit and this methodology has been proved in the Black-Scholes formula. Black-scholes formula yield results during trends and unsuccessful when the market change sign. â€Å" The implied volatilities are efficient forecasts of future volatility since varying market conditions cause volatilities to change through time stochastically and traditional volatilities   can not correct itself to varying market conditions as ghastly .Stochastic volatility contradicts the assumption required by the Black-Scholes model –if volatilities do modify stochastically through moment in time, the Black-Scholes method is no longer the correct pricing method and an implied volatility derived from the Black-Scholes formula provides no fresh information. Black-Scholes formula is lacking on certain issues like the oblique volatilities of various options on the identical stock tend to differ disregarding the formulas hypothesize that a single stock can be correlated with only one value of implied volatility. The Black-Scholes formula mainly ignores the distribution of stock prices in US market.   Some studies have revealed severe deviation from the price process fundamental to Black-Scholes formula like excess kurtosis, skewness, time varying volatilities and serial correlation. Further Black –scholes deals with stochastic volatility poorly and it relies on impractical assumption that market dickers endlessly thereby ignoring institutional constraints and transaction costs. Stock Charting: Stock charting is the process of a graphical sequence record enables it easier to dapple the effect of cardinal happenings on authoritarian security’s price., its functioning over a period of time and whether it’s trading its higher or its lower or in between these. Traders are very particular in daily, intraday data to forecast short-term price movements.   Investors rely on weekly and monthly charts to mark long term trends and movements. Line chart, Bar chart, Candlestick Chart and point and figure chart are some of the examples of stock charting method.   Arithmetic and semi-log arithmetic scales are two methods of price scaling used in the stock charting method. When the price range is hemmed within a tight range and used in general for short-term charts and trading. Semi-log scales are useful for long term charts to estimate the percentage movements over a foresighted period of time including large movements. Stock and other securities are estimated in relative terms through tools lime PE, Price/Revenues and Price/Book and as such it will be more useful to analyse in percentage terms. Ocillator: This is an indicator which is calculated by taking 10 day moving average of the difference between the numbers of advancing and defining issues for authoritarian given index. An indicator will reflect whether an index is gaining or losing impetus, so the size of the moves is more significant than the level of the current reading. The level of the reading is influenced by how the oscillator changes each day thereby dropping a value ten days ago and adding today’s value. The scale in moves is also helpful when it is compared with the divergence from the index price. If the Dow climaxes at the same time, the oscillator peaks in overbought area and suggests a top. Divergence is said to be negative and momentum is declining when index makes a new high but the oscillator fails to make a higher .One can buy if the index declines at this point but oscillator moves into oversold territory. If the oscillator rises above a previous overbought level though the index rises but does not make new heights, it is said to be upside momentum exists to continue the rally. Support: A support level is the price at which buyers are anticipated to enter the market in considerable numbers to take control from sellers. As the market has its track record, when price falls to a new low and then soars, the buyers who ignored on the first low will be persuaded to buy if price returns to that level back .Fearing of missing out the opportunity for the second time, these traders may enter into market in adequate numbers to take control from sellers. As the result, there is a rally strengthening sensitivity that price is unlikely to fall further thereby creating a support level. Resistance: The price level at which the sellers are anticipated to enter the market in sizeable numbers to take control from buyers is known as resistance level. If price makes a new High and then move back, sellers who ignored the previous High will be predisposed to sell when price returns to that level back. Fearing of missing the opportunity for the second time, these sellers may enter the market in large numbers to overwhelm buyers. As the result, market perception will be reinforced that price is unlikely to increase higher and form a resistance level. CANDLE CHARTING: It is a price chart that shows the open, low, the high and close for a stock each day over a specified period of time .It is known as Japanese candles because they used to analyse the price of rice contracts. When the close is higher than the open , the same is represented by an white empty box in the candle charting .When the close is lower than the open , then it is represented by a solid black candle ,Colored candles are used to reflect the day’s volume. Investment strategies in stock and options Following is the most of common investment strategies for keeping investment objectives, financial means and risk tolerance. Despite of market crash in 1929, market break in 1987, market correction in 1989 and though the prices of all securities fell down drastically but broad movement of the market has seen their value steadily increased. One of the strategies is to buy and hold for long the high quality stocks or futures of stock or commodities .The buy –and-hold strategy offers one to profit from this long term forward trend of the stock market. Further, dividend investment plan offers small investors a painless method of building wealth. Dollar –Cost Averaging: This is also a long term strategy and one has to invest in a stock or mutual fund or futures at regular intervals monthly, quarterly or semiannually. The success of dollar-cost averaging relies on consistency of amount invested and the regularity of the payments so as to minimize pricing and timing risk. The success of the Dollar cost averaging depends upon the following factors. The plan for the investment should be for a long period i.e. from 7 years to 10 years .In the last 100 years, there were about 40 recessions or market corrections or a downturn about every 3 years and If one carry on to invest through about three of these corrections, the profits of dollar-cost averaging tend to be maximized. 2 .Investment at regular intervals is most preferred. Investment should be made regularly regardless of the price of the stock. Give preference to high quality of stocks or mutual funds and a company or fund with history of habitual dividend payments and possible for capital appreciation is a better choice. One has to make sure that he has enough strength so that he can adhere to the plan through highs and lows and sell out at the peak and thus the money allocated for dollar-cost averaging result in wealth-building funds, not committed funds.[i] Going Short: An investor who prefers short i.e. enters into futures contract by agreeing to sell and deliver the underlying at a price and wishes to make profit from declining price levels and thereby selling high now , the contract can be repurchased in the future at a lesser price thus creating a profit for the investor. 16.Spreads: It involve taking benefit of the price difference between two different contracts of the same commodity and spreading is believed to be the most conventional forms of trading in the futures market because it is much safer than the trading long / short futures contract. There are different types of spread namely calendar spread, inter-exchange spread and inter-market spread. Swing Trading: It denotes a technique of placing emphasis on playing the swings in the PPS, selling on the highs and buying on the lows rather than the swiftness of the trade. To complete the swing trade, it may need more than a day, a week or authoritarian month or longer period and channeling stock is pursued by the some swing traders. Flipping: It refers the process of trading a stock very quickly with in minutes or hours etc as past as possible may be on the same day. It is often used to explain a buy and sell with a share that is running and where the trader buys the stock as it is moving up and sells the same on even a higher point in a short period of time. A flipper aim is to maximize his profits by emphasizing on fast trades to earn quick profits. The risk is also less downside as the trader sits in a stock for a less time. [i] Hall, Alvin D., and Carolyn M. Brown. Investment Strategies Made Easy: Heres How to Overcome Your Fears of the Market and Invest like a Pro. Black Enterprise Mar. 1994: 66+. 2.Fisher, Black and Myron Scholes, â€Å"The pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities â€Å"The Journal of Political Economy, 81,637-654. 3.Mackay, Charles. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds: New York, Harmony Books (1980). 4.Chance .Don M.† A Chronology of Derivatives† Derivative Quarterly, 2 (winter, 1955) 53-60. 5.Thomas L. Friedman ,The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century Stephen Leeb, Glen Strathy ,The Coming Economic Collapse: How You Can Thrive When Oil Costs $200 a Barrel 7.George A. Fontanills, Tom Gentile The Volatility Course 8.George Soros, Paul A. Volcker The Alchemy of Finance (Wiley Investment Classics) 9.John C. Hull Options, Futures and Other Derivatives (6th Edition) 10.Marc Allaire ,The Options Strategist 11. George Kleinman, Trading Commodities and Financial Future: A Step by Step Guide to Mastering the Markets (3rd Edition). 12. Sheldon Natenberg ,Option Volatility Pricing: Advanced Trading Strategies and Techniques Jeffrey M. Christian, Commodities Rising: The Reality Behind the Hype and How To Really Profit in the Commodities Market. John J. Murphy ,Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets: A Comprehensive Guide to Trading Methods and Applications (New York Institute of Finance John F. Carter, Mastering the Trade (McGraw-Hill Trader’s Edge) 16. Joseph Kellogg, Trading From the Inside 17. Thomas N. Bulkowski ,Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns (Wiley Trading) 18.Stephen W. Bigalow, Profitable Candlestick Trading: Pinpointing Market Opportunities to Maximize Profits