Scarlet Letter Analysis free essay sample

Kelsey Federspill Scarlet Letter Literary Analysis R5 12. 2. 12 Over Coming Guilt Remorse is an inclination experienced subsequent to submitting a demonstration that creates a feeling of blame. An actual existence exercise can be learned in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s epic, The Scarlet Letter, about the subject of blame. Everybody encounters blame when they submit a wrongdoing or human fragility however the way one handles the sentiments of blame is extraordinary. Blame is communicated in three primary manners: disregarding or concealing the wrongdoing and letting the blame develop within, censuring others for the transgression and needing vengeance for the manner in which the individual feels, and grasping the wrongdoing submitted and not discharging the blame. The various ways blame is experienced decides the manner in which it is rebuffed: by others or nobody by any means. However, discipline for the transgression doesnt consistently influence the measure of blame felt by one. Hawthorne utilizes imagery and incongruity to exhibit that blame ought not take over one’s life, rather it ought to be an exercise educated of embracement, absolution, and acknowledgment. We will compose a custom paper test on Red Letter Analysis or on the other hand any comparable subject explicitly for you Don't WasteYour Time Recruit WRITER Just 13.90/page In The Scarlet Letter, the character Hester Prynne is notable for the red letter that she had to wear. Prynne grasped the discipline of the red letter and utilized the discipline in a special manner, â€Å"On the bosom of her outfit in fine red material, encompassed with an intricate weaving and awesome twists of gold string, showed up the letter A† (37). The letter ‘A’ spoke to the wrongdoing of infidelity that Prynne had submitted. The people group pick this type of discipline for Prynne to cause her to feel liable for the demonstration of infidelity she submitted and utilized it for instance to the remainder of the network. As Prynne departures from jail Hawthorne portrays the scene, â€Å"the scene was not without a blend of stunningness, for example, should consistently contribute the display of blame and disgrace in an individual creature† (39). Prynne decides to grasp the red letter instead of let the sentiment of blame assume control over her life since she wanted to set a genuine model for her little girl, Pearl. She had the option to grasp her transgression and the red letter since she was attempting to set a model for her little girl. It was unexpected how the network attempted to constrain coerce on to Prynne, however consequently she grasped the discipline in full step and even utilized it to filter herself, â€Å"Here, she said to herself, had been the location of her blame, and her ought to be the area of her discipline; thus, perchance, the torment of her day by day disgrace would finally cleanse her spirit, and work out another immaculateness than that which she had lost; more holy person like, in light of the fact that the consequence of martyrdom† (55). At the point when the town individuals saw Prynne as she left the jail, individuals stated, â€Å"thus she will be a living lesson against sin† (44). The town individuals would consistently be helped to remember her transgression. Prynne didn't let the blame of her transgression produce a significant effect on her life. Or maybe she acknowledged her offense and scholarly the significance of not letting her past slip-ups and coerce contrarily influence her future. Rosebushes are loaded with magnificence however torment can be exacted on somebody who attempts to hold it because of the rosebush’s sharp thistles. At the point when Hawthorne delineates the town he portrays the rosebush on the jail, â€Å"but, on one side of the entry, and established nearly at the limit, was a wild rosebush, secured, in this period of June, with its sensitive jewels, which may be envisioned to offer their aroma and delicate magnificence to the detainee as he went in, and to the denounced criminal as he approached to his fate, in token that the profound heart of nature could feel sorry for and be benevolent to him† (33). The rosebush represents pardoning from blame all through The Scarlet Letter. Pearl, Prynne’s little girl, was visiting the governor’s corridor with her mom one day to convey a couple of weave gloves Prynne had made. While at the governor’s house, Pearl saw a rosebush and responded in an uncommon manner, â€Å"Pearl, seeing the rosebushes, started to sob for a red rose, and would not be pacified,† (73). Pearl reacted with this emergency since she needed pardoning for her mom and for her dad, Reverend Dimmesdale, to be acknowledged by the network. Pearl felt remorseful yet accused others. She was looking for retribution on the townspeople for the manner in which they caused her mom to feel. The incongruity of the rosebush is the way it hurt Prynne, Pearl, and Dimmesdale, similar to the thistles on a rosebush when contacted. At long last the family moved out of their locale endeavoring to not let the errors of the past assume control over their current lives. Eventually, they pick a new beginning. Pearl was a result of Prynne’s sin of infidelity. Pearl’s birth was embarrassing for Prynne; by the by Pearl despite everything meant everything to Prynne. Pearl’s name even has centrality, â€Å"but she names the baby ‘Pearl,’ as being of extraordinary cost, bought with all she had, her mother’s just treasure† (61). The scriptural mention to the pearl is alluded to in Matthew 13 about an illustration of a man who quit any pretense of everything at a pearl of extraordinary cost. Prynne quit any pretense of all that she had for her little girl. She even dresses Pearl in the best garments, while she dresses inadequately. To Prynne, Pearl was an image of solidarity and beating hindrances. Prynne stated, â€Å"I can train my little Pearl what I have gained from this [the red letter],† (76). Prynne is an extraordinary model and life exercise to Pearl of how to acknowledge the slip-ups made before and not let the disgrace characterize oneself. Prynne utilizes Pearl to show how extreme a small kid can be. Then again, the town saw Pearl as the villain youngster: abhorrent. The town examined Pearl as, â€Å"an pixie of abhorrence, symbol and result of sin,† (64) and, â€Å"poor little Pearl was an evil presence offspring,† (68). Pearl herself is genuinely an image of numbness and expectation. Hawthorne depicted an event of Pearl conversing with Mr. Wilson, a minister, â€Å"after placing her finger in her mouth, with numerous ungracious refusals to answer great Mr. Wilson’s question, the youngster at long last declared that she had not been made by any means, yet had been culled by her mom off the rosebush of wild roses, that developed by the prison,† (76). Pearl accepted she was made for acceptable and had an idealistic disposition on life. She didn't let blame become a feeling known in her. Pearl didn't let the past impact her future. Taking everything into account, life exercises were found out about embracement, pardoning, and acknowledgment from blame with the utilization of imagery and incongruity from Hawthorne in The Scarlet Letter. The various ways blame can be taken care of was exhibited in The Scarlet Letter, yet not letting blame take over one’s life was critical. Proceeding onward and gaining from a wrongdoing or human delicacy is noteworthy and something everybody can gain from.

The Cowboy Phenomenon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Cowboy Phenomenon - Essay Example At long last, the rancher is forceful on the grounds that nothing can prevent him from accomplishing any objective he wishes to accomplish (Ruud, Geoff and Hugo 156). â€Å"There are a few things a man just can’t flee from† The principal normal for the rancher includes certain parts of his lives that are compulsory. Thusly, the cowpoke must play out these capacities since he has no different choices. The capacities could even be hazardous to the cowboy’s presence. Be that as it may, the cattle rustler plays out the capacities to fulfill huge desires throughout his life. For instance, in Johnny Guitar†, Johnny understands that he is enamored with Vienna. This affection for Vienna empowers the watchers to experience the main rancher normal for Johnny Guitar. This is on the grounds that Johnny Guitar keeps up Vienna’s organization after oneself proclaimed transformed. Guitar thinks about Vienna’s conceivable association in the burglary due to cri minal history, which Vienna as of now has. Be that as it may, this doesn't prevent Johnny Guitar from sparing his adoration, Vienna. Johnny Guitar knows that it is an extraordinary hazard to spare Vienna after her catch yet the affection he has moves him (Ray). Thus, Charles Cosby shows comparative cattle rustler qualities in â€Å"Cocaine Cowboys 2†. The main distinction is that Cosby’s motivation is the desire to be effective in the cocaine business, not love. Cosby has excellent boldness, which empowers him to compose letters to Blanco. Obviously, Griselda Blanco is a sovereign pin who the vast majority dread. Consequently, Cosby’s choice to compose the letter to Blanco is equivalent with the primary trait of the cattle rustler. This is on the grounds that Cosby dreams of additionally driving the cocaine business. Later he sets up the cocaine business and is a rich man since he was not hesitant to move toward the adoptive parent (Corben and Perry). â€Å"A m an should do what he believes is right† The second quality of the cowhand urges cattle rustlers to do what they believe is correct paying little mind to different people’s sees. Johnny Guitar assists Vienna with excursion of the consuming bar without considering if Vienna was correct or wrong. Johnny Guitar accepts that men should ensure the individual ladies who they love. Consequently, he spares Vienna from all difficulties that face her like when Emma persuades the men to slaughter Vienna. Likewise, Cosby takes part in certain conduct that individuals would somehow or another think about improper. For instance, he sells cocaine in the city without thinking about the threats, which he postures to individuals. Cosby is similarly mindful of the outcomes of the cocaine business. He chances serving prison time like Blanca or in any event, confronting more disciplines that are not kidding. Be that as it may, this information doesn't prevent Cosby from taking part in the pe rilous medication business. His solitary concern is to be effective with the medications, which he understands when he possesses the 40 Million-cocaine business (Ray). â€Å"If everything isn’t highly contrasting, I state â€Å"why the hellfire not?† Finally, the cattle rustler is forceful in all that he does in light of what Johnny Guitar and Charles Cosby uncover in their particular circumstances. For example, Johnny Guitar guarantees that he spares Vienna when Emma proposes slaughtering Vienna. It is among the most perilous choices he makes in the whole film. This is a result of Vienna’s past and the displeasure, which Emma and her posse have for Vienna. Clearly, Emma would likewise slaughter any individual who was on Vienna’s side. Nonetheless, that couldn't keep Johnny Guitar from confronting the furious

The Definitive Guide to Fama-French Three-Factor Model

The Definitive Guide to Fama-French Three-Factor Model If youre an investor, financial analyst or a financial manager, by now, youve definitely heard of the Fama-French three-factor model.But just because you heard about it, doesnt mean that you understand it, what its used for and how to use it yourself.And that is why were here!In short, this model describes stock returns, which is one of the most important factors investors take into consideration when choosing which project, product or company is worth their time and money.But, I’m not going to lie; the Fama-French model is a tricky business.So, today, we will cover everything you need to know, including:What is the Fama-French three-factor model?Why is it so important?How was it created?How is it calculated?What is it used for?What other types of models exist?We will cover all the details and yet explain everything as simple as possible.Turn off the WIFI on your phone, grab a cup of coffee, grab a pen and paper and prepare to learn!Buckle up!THE IMPORTANCE OF PAYING ATTENTION TO S TOCK RETURNSSince the Fama-French three-factor model is one of the most known tools to describe stock returns, first, we will shortly cover why this subject is important.You probably know from the movies that many investors out there focus on prices of stocks that are changing over time. They compare the movement of the prices from time to time.However, this is a common mistake, and heres why.Stocks usually pay out in dividends distribution of reward that is a part of the companies’ earnings to their respective shareholders.They are managed by the companies’ board of directors and can be issued as stock, shares, cash or in other ways, while cash dividends are the most common option.Funds, as well as companies, are often known for paying out dividends to their trusted shareholders.To get a clear picture of how stocks perform over a period of time, we should take into consideration capital gains as well as dividends.This is very useful when it comes to evaluating stocks and compa ring investment results when stocks are held for different periods of time.WHAT WAS THERE BEFORE THE FAMA-FRENCH THREE-FACTOR MODEL?This model is actually an extension to a model which existed before the CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model).CAPM is a one-factor model, and it explains the portfolios returns with the amount of risk it contains, according to the market.Basically, CAPM explains portfolio performance primarily using the performance of the market as a whole.The Capital Asset Pricing ModelCAPM describes the relationship between expected return in stocks and systematic risk.This is the first model of this kind. It is widely known and used for pricing risky securities and generating expected returns for assets, based on the risk and cost of capital.The following formula is used to calculate it:ERi  = Rf  + ßi*(ERm   Rf)where:ERi= Expected return of investmentRf= Risk-free rate (time value of money)ßi= Beta of the investment (a measure of risk)ERm= Expected return of the mar ket(ERm Rf) = Market risk premiumLogically, investors want to have compensation for the risk and the time value of money, which is represented by the risk-free rate.The other parts of the equation are there to address all additional risks the investor is facing.The beta of the investment measures the amount of risk the investment adds to the portfolio which resembles the market.If the Beta is greater than one, the stock is riskier than the market itself.If the Beta is equal to less than one, the formula will assume that the risk of a portfolio will be reduced.The Market risk premium is the return expected from the market. The stocks Beta is multiplied by the Market risk premium, and the result gives the manager or investor a required return which can be later used to figure out the value of the asset.So, whats the main point?The main goal of the CAPM formula is to determine if the stock is valued as it should be.The question CAPM answers is: is the value of the stock good when its e xpected return is compared to the risk and time value of money?Disadvantages of CAPMCAPM has been proven not to be so reliable in practice.None the less, it is still widely used because of its simplicity. It is still one of the easiest tools to compare alternatives when investing.But, one of the problems that this model has is that, when we include the Beta in the formula, we are assuming that the risk can be completely measured by a stocks price volatility. But, moving the price in two different directions is not equally risky.CAPM also assumes that the Risk-free rate stays the same during the period of discounting.In real life, holding periods last for more than 10 years, so its highly unlikely that this rate stays the same for that entire period.When the Risk-free rate is increased, the stock can end up being overvalued because the cost of capital has increased as well.Finally, the biggest concern regarding CAPM is that future cash flows can be estimated for the process of discou nting.If this was the case, an investor or a manager could estimate the stock return value precisely, and then there would be no need for CAPM at all.Unfortunately, CAPM wasnt flexible enough it used only one variable to describe stock returns. It also didnt take into consideration situations with outperformance.CREATION OF THE FAMA-FRENCH THREE-FACTOR MODELSo, professors Fama and French created a new one, with two extra risk factors.Therefore, making it a better tool for performance evaluation.To the original factor, which is the market risk factor, two more were added.These two (SMB and HML) were added because of their consistent contribution to portfolio performance.Nowadays, it is very popular as a measurement for portfolio performance and for predicting future stock returns.Even today, there is a lot of debate about the outperformance tendency:Does it happen because of market efficiency?Or does it happen because of market inefficiency?To support the first theory, it is stated that outperformance happens because of the excess risk which value stocks and small-cap stocks.This excess risk is the result of a higher cost of capital and greater business risk.Supporters of the second statement explain the outperformance with incorrect pricing of the value of companies by market participants. Long-term, with value adjusts, this leads to the excess return.WHAT IS THE FAMA-FRENCH THREE-FACTOR MODEL?This is the way of thinking on which the Fama-French model is based on:Small-cap high-value companies usually do better than the overall marketHigher investments usually lead to bigger and better returnsValue companies outperform growth companiesProfessors Eugene Fama and Kenneth French, who were professors at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, designed this model back in the 1990s to describe stock returns in portfolio management and asset pricing.The Fama-French three-factor model (in future uses the Fama-French model) pays attention to three major f actors:Market riskCompany size Outperformance of small vs big companiesValue factors Outperformance of high book/market vs small book/market companiesOne of the scientists, Eugene Fama, shared the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. This shows just how appreciated this professor is in the field of economics and how valued his work is.His contribution to the Fama-French model led to it being widely used by investors and financial managers today to help with making important decisions.This model is basically the result of an econometric regression of historical stock prices.Its based on the assumption that the riskier environment, the higher the compensation should be, which should lead to bigger earnings potential.An interesting fact is that the model was originally designed for just 4 countries:CanadaUnited States of AmericaUnited KingdomJapanOf course, local factors lead to better results and conclusion than global factors, because they better explain the variation of time series in stock returns.So, with a few adjustments and with updated risk factors, the model also became useful for Asia, Europe and other regions.FORMULAAll of this seems rational, but how do I put it to use?Well, when we talk about the Fama-French model, in order to describe stock returns, our final goal is to calculate the portfolios expected rate of return.This is done with the following formula:Portfolios Expected Rate of Return = Risk-free Rate + Market Risk Premium + SMB + HMLor:r  = rf + ß1*(rm  â€" rf) + ß2*(SMB) + ß3*(HML) + ?  where:r  = Portfolios Expected Rate of Returnrf  = Riskfree Return Rateß1,2,3  = Factor’s Coefficient originally there was just 1, now there are 3 of them. This is the main innovation in the Fama-French model.(rm  â€" rf)  =  Market Risk PremiumSMB(Small Minus Big)  = Historic excess returns of small-cap companies over large-cap companiesHML(High Minus Low)  = Historic excess returns of value stocks* over growth stocks**?= Risk*Value stocks a re stocks which have a high book to price ratio**Growth stock are stocks which have a low book to price ratioThe historic excess values can be found for free on Kenneth Frenchs website.March 2019Last 3 MonthsLast 12 MonthsFama/French 3 Research FactorsRm-Rf SMB HML1.10 -3.15 -4.0813.38 1.73 -8.366.43 -3.57 -15.44Fama/French 5 Research Factors (23)Rm-Rf SMB HML RMW CMA1.10 -3.56 -4.08 0.91 -1.0113.38 1.02 -8.36 0.55 -4.256.43 -5.81 -15.44 -0.58 -0.20Fama/French Research PortfoliosSize and Book-to-Market PortfoliosSmall Value Small Neutral Small GrowthBig Value Big Neutral Big Growth-4.34 -2.87 -0.63-1.62 0.42 2.829.86 12.77 19.378.41 12.77 15.62-3.75 0.70 8.70-4.64 7.20 13.80Size and Operating Profitability PortfoliosSmall Robust Small Neutral Small WeakBig Robust Big Neutral Big Weak-2.81 -3.83 -1.392.64 0.92 -0.6014.79 11.67 15.8814.59 13.39 12.40-5.90 1.16 5.4813.18 5.80 2.96Size and Investment PortfoliosSmall Conservative Small Neutral Small AggressiveBig Conservative Big Neutral Big Aggressive-1.84 -3.30 -2.310.71 0.27 3.2013.74 11.19 17.1811.08 12.89 16.133.60 1.96 0.678.78 5.77 12.11Calculation of the Fama-French three-factor model is commonly done in software programs capable of handling big data. Excel is one of the most popular ones out there. Remember, this is a three-factor model. To best explain it further, lets look at each factor one by one.1. Market Risk PremiumWhat does this part of the formula mean?(rm  â€" rf)The market risk premium basically represents the difference between the expected return of the market and the risk-free return rate. It gives the investor returns above the risk-free rate.2. Small minus big market capitalization (SMB)This factor is commonly known as the small firm effect. or the size effect, where size is determined by the companys market capitalization. It represents a historic excess of small-cap companies over large-cap companies.A side effect which is based on the market capitalization of a company is SMB. Its factor s coefficient is calculated via linear regression, and it can have negative and positive values.Again, the logic behind the Fama-French model is that higher returns come from small-cap companies, rather than large-cap companies.3. High minus low book-to-market ratios (HML)HML is used to show the spread in returns between companies which have high and companies which have a low book to market ratios (value companies and growth companies).Its factors coefficient is also calculated using linear regression, and it can have a negative as well as a positive value.This third factor shows that in the long run, growth companies have lower returns than value companies. This is why they are at the second place in the formula.The HML factor is used to evaluate profit margins, short-term and long-term. It states the anticipated performance of security in the future. In the formula high minus low, we calculate the associated range.Using HML we can see if a manager is relying on the value premium to earn an abnormal return, by investing in stocks with high book-to-market ratios.If this is the case, then a positive relation to the HML factor is shown.This explains why the portfolios returns are accredited only to the value premium. The original excess of the manager will decrease because the model is able to explain more of the portfolios return.Its not officially stated by the creators, Fama and French, why book-to-price ratios measure risk.However, there are theories that have been mentioned. If a stock has a high book-to-price ratio, it could mean that the stock is distressed.This means that its not likely for future earnings to happen and that is the reason why the stock is selling low.It could also mean that the stock capital is intensive. Intensive stock capital happens when stocks are more vulnerable to low earnings during slow times in economics.What would happen if a firm which isnt capital intensive were to become distressed?This is one of the questions these theori es do not answer. They both make sense, but when you think about them, they explain completely different situations.There is a third theory which states that the broad market index weighs stocks in accordance to the market capitalization. This makes it biased to size and blind for valuation.This leads to thinking that the added two factors in this model are just a couple of tweaks, which address these problems.This is the reason why momentum was added as another factor, to show where capitalization has been putting their money lately, instead of showing where it has been put for years, like the market capitalization factor shows.Momentum was later added as a factor to a different version of the Fama-French model, but we will cover more on that later in the article.USES OF THE MODELAll of this is fine to me, but how do I put in practice what Ive learned here?Well, weve established that when we look long-term, small companies have a tendency to outperform large companies. Also, value companies do better than growth ones.Fama and French studied the model further and found that it can explain the majority of diversified portfolio returns.It explains a whole 90% of it to be exact, where the original CAPM described just 70% of diversified portfolio returns. Source: corporatefinanceinstitute.comIm an investor, how do I use this model?Fama and French insist that investors must be ready to handle extra periodic underperformance and short-term volatility that can happen in a short period of time.To put it bluntly if you are investing for 10 or more years, you will be rewarded in the long run for your periodic losses in the short run.When you combine size and value factors with their beta factors, they explain about 90% of the return in your diversified stock portfolio.This was proven when Fama and French ran their studies with thousands of random stock portfolio to test their model.With this model, you as an investor can construct a portfolio where you can see the average expected return, all according to the relative risks youve assumed.The main factors which drive the expected returns are:market sensitivitysize sensitivityvalue stocks sensitivity, measured by the book to market ratioIf any additional average expected return occurs, it is attributed to unsystematic or unpriced risk.Using the model, it is possible to separate the skill of the investor from the higher returns.If the three factors can completely explain the portfolios performance, what is the manager doing?The high returns didnt happen because of his or her abilities or skills.Well, the manager should contribute to good performance by picking good stocks. Unfortunately, there isnt a formula yet which makes decisions for you perfectly. Making good decisions is still a skill only people possess.A lot of studies in emerging markets were conducted to see how the model would handle in that territory.The High Minus Low book-to-market ratio still explains everything it should very well.Unfortunately, the same cant be said for the market value of equity factor. This is why a fresh three-factor model was introduced by Foye, Mramor and Pahor in 2013.They replaced the market value of equity factor with a more useable one.DIFFERENT FAMA-FRENCH MODELSThe Fama-Frenc h model has gone through changes over time. Now, there are also the four-factor and the five-factor versions of the model, which require more information to calculate but give more detailed results.1. The Four-Factor modelThis is an extension to the regular three-factor model, created by Mark Carhart. It adds the momentum factor for asset pricing of stock, commonly also known as the MOM factor (monthly momentum).What does momentum mean?Momentum in a stock is when the stock price is rising, and it has a tendency to keep rising. Same goes for the other way around if the stock price is declining, momentum means it will keep going down.Monthly momentum is the difference between the equal weighted average of the lowest performing companies and the equal-weighted average of the highest performing ones, lagging one month.If a stocks average of returns for the past 12 months is positive, we say that the stock is showing momentum.The four-factor model is actively used as a model for managem ent and mutual fund evaluation.Momentum strategies are still very much used in financial markets where financial analysts give buy or sell recommendations based on the yearly price high/low.2. The Five-Factor modelBack in 2014, two more factors were added to the original Fama-French model profitability and investment.The first being a simple difference between the returns of companies with high and low operating profitability, while the investment factor is the difference between the returns of companies which invest conservatively and those which invest aggressively.The fourth factor, profitability, suggests that firms which report higher earnings in the future have higher returns in the stock market.Investment is the fifth factor, and it is closely related to the concept of internal investments and returns. It suggests that companies which direct their profit to big growth projects are more likely to experience losses in the stock market.It is found that the CAPM and the three-fa ctor models, in some cases, dont explain properly cross-sectional variations in portfolio returns.In cases like these, the five-factor model is a much better choice for a tool for evaluation.KEY TAKEAWAYSThe three factors are market risk, company size (SMB) and value factors (HML).The Fama-French model is an extension to the one-factor Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). A new model was created because CAPM isnt flexible and doesnt take into consideration overperformance.Value companies do better on the market than the growing companies.The bigger and riskier the investment, the higher the payoff should be.Local factors explain better than global factors the variations in time series in stock returns.We use the Fama-French model to calculate the Portfolios Expected Rate of Return.No matter how precisely this model describes the stock returns, it is up to the managers or investors to choose where it would be good to invest.The four-factor model adds the momentum factor, which describ es where the value of the stock will be based on the value trends.The five-factor model takes into consideration two extra factors profitability and investment.FINAL THOUGHTSAnalyzing the past is useful to learn from those experiences and drive conclusions from them.However, investing in the future is even more important.By investing we are giving up short-term gains in the hopes of gaining long-term gains.That hope can be slim, and it can also be very big and reliable.By calculating our risks and making our decisions based on the calculations, we improve our chances of gaining.Every day, decisions for the companys future are made by the investors and the companys management.Should we do this new project?Should we invest in this other company?Should we invest in this?All of these questions are hard to answer. The right investment will lead to a positive outcome for the company, while the wrong decision will lead to failure.The pressure to make this kind of decision is huge.Luckily, there are some tools that help us make the right decision.The Fama-French three-factor model is one of the well-known tools, managers and financial experts or analysts use to calculate whether an investment is worth the time and the money or not. It takes into consideration three factors which best describe the stock return value.Before you go on to decide your next big investment move, be sure to use this tool to up your chances of success.Hopefully, with this article, youve understood all the ins and outs of the Fama-French model, and you are now ready to use it!We hope that by next time we see each other, youll have already seen the payoff of your smart investments! Remember good luck favors well-calculated risks!

Learn English With These Basic Conversation Skills

If youre just starting to learn English, theres no better way to improve your speaking skills than with basic conversation exercises. These simple role-playing games will help you learn how to introduce yourself, how to ask for directions, and more. With practice, youll be able to understand others and begin to enjoy conversations in your new language.  Below are links to some essential exercises that will help you have basic English conversations. Getting Started All you need to begin are the basic conversation guides youll find below and a friend or classmate to practice with. Be patient with yourselves; English is not an easy language to learn, but you can do it. Begin with the first conversation in this list, then move on to the next when you feel comfortable doing so.  You can also use the key vocabulary provided at the end of each exercise to write and practice your own conversations. Asking and Answering Questions Learn how to ask and answer simple  questions in English with these articles. Key skills covered include basic questions, polite questions, asking permission, and providing personal information such as your name, address, and phone number. Introductions Learning how to introduce yourself and greet people both formally and informally are essential skills in any language, whether its your own or a new one youre studying. In these lessons, you learn how to say hello and goodbye, as well as vocabulary that you can use when meeting new people and making friends. Telling the Time and Using Numbers Even if youre just visiting an English-speaking country for a few days, knowing how to tell the time is important. This role-playing exercise teaches you the right phrases to ask a stranger what time it is. Youll also learn how to thank the person who helped you, plus key conversation words. And if youre going to tell time, youll also need to know how to express numbers in English. This article will help you out with all kinds of numbers, including weights, distance, decimals, and more. Finally, when expressing quantities, English uses either much or many, depending on whether the noun is countable or non-countable. Speaking on the Phone Phone calls can be challenging for people who dont speak English well. Improve your telephone skills with this exercise and vocabulary quiz. Learn how to make travel arrangements and how to make purchases over the phone, plus other important words. Best of all, youll use the conversation skills you learned in the other lessons here. Shopping for Clothing Everyone loves to go shopping for new clothes, especially if youre visiting a foreign country. In this exercise, you and your practice partner learn the basic vocabulary that youll use in a shop. Although this particular game is set in a clothing store, you can use these skills in any kind of store. Eating at a Restaurant After youre finished shopping, you might want to eat at a restaurant or go to a bar for a drink. In these dialogues, you learn how to order from a menu and how to ask questions about the food, whether youre by yourself or out with friends. Youll also find a quiz to help you improve your restaurant vocabulary. Traveling at the Airport Security at most major airports is very tight, so you should expect to speak English with many different people when youre traveling. By practicing this exercise, youll learn how to have basic conversations when you check-in as well as when you go through security and customs.   Asking for Directions Its easy for anyone to lose their way when traveling, especially if you dont speak the language. Learn how to ask simple directions and how to understand what people tell you. This exercise gives you basic vocabulary plus tips for finding your way. Finally, youll want to know how to ask for a room at a hotel or motel once youve arrived at your destination. Going to the Doctor Nothing is worse than not feeling well and not knowing how to communicate with a doctor. These tips, vocabulary lists, and sample dialogues can help you practice making an appointment. Tips for English Teachers These basic English conversations can also be used in a classroom setting. Here are a few suggestions for using conversation lessons and role-playing activities: Ask students about their experiences in the situation featured in the dialogue. Solicit important phrases, grammar structures, and so on from the students and write them on the board.Introduce new vocabulary and key phrases to students.Pass out printed dialogue to students.Have each student take on a role and practice the dialogues in pairs. Students should take on both roles.Based on the dialogue, ask students to write out their own related conversations using key vocabulary.Have students practice their own dialogues to the point where they can  perform  short conversations  in front of the class.

Study Of Various Discounted Cash Flow Valuation Models Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 2937 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? The paper is a study of various Discounted Cash Flow Valuation Models to value both equity and organizations. The difference between cash flow to equity and to an organization is studied. The basic Dividend Discount Model is studied with its various variants like Gordon Growth Model, two stage and three stage dividend discount models. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Study Of Various Discounted Cash Flow Valuation Models Finance Essay" essay for you Create order In the last two the values of extraordinary growth is separated from the value of steady state growth. There is a discussion of why free cash flows to equities different from dividends for a lot of organizations. The two and three stage FCFE models are described. An alternative valuing model FCFF has been described which discounts cash flows to the firm at the weighted average cost of capital. The advantages and limitations of each model is mentioned along with conditions of which model has to be applied under what conditions. VALUATIONS Determining the Present Value of the future cash flows of a company is the aim of any valuation technique. Generally investors buy stocks for as they expect that the future cash flows of the company will be high. Hence how much cash flow an asset is going to generate has to be calculated in order to determine the fair price to be paid for the particular stock. Price is that numerical figure at a moment when a transaction is completed when the market is in balance. It represents a snapshot of a dynamic market. Price is generally the function of demand and supply. Valuations are used by Fundamental Analysts, Franchise Buyers, Chartists, Information Traders, Market Timers and Efficient Marketers in different ways to suit their respective objectives. Valuations are also required in Acquisition Analysis and Corporate Finance. Valuations take into account future cash flows. Future cash flows can only be predicted or guessed with some amount of certainty. Hence even small errors lik e non payment of rent, etc could lead to an error in valuations. The more certain one is about the future cash flow, the valuations are correct to that degree of certainty. Therefore valuations a definitely uncertain. Valuations can be done by various methods and no one method is the best. Different methods have to be used under different circumstances. Valuation methods, generally, can be divided into three approaches Discounted Cash Flow method, Relative Valuation method and Contingent Claim Valuation method. All the above if used for the same valuation an give very different end results. DISCOUNTED CASH FLOW VALUATIONS The sources of uncertainties in valuations are rational and can easily be identified. For the purpose of our study for this paper, we will concentrate on the Discounted Cash Flow valuation method. This method is based on the thought that The actual value of any asset is its present value of the expected future cash flows that it will generate. Cash Flows will be different for every asset. To transform the value of future cash flows into present value, we use a Discount Rate. For some, this Discount Rate is the function of riskiness of estimated cash flows that is the rates will be higher for riskier assets and will be lower for safer assets. where DPV Value n life of the asset FV Cash Flow in time t i discount rate which reflects riskiness of the estimated cash flows There is a difference between Equity Valuation and Company Valuation. Either on the equity stake can be valued in an organization or the entire organization can be valued. In both the methods, the fu ture cash flows of the firm are discounted, the cash flows and discount rates taken into account are different. For an Equity Valuation, the expected cash flow to equity is discounted at the Cost of Equity while to value a company, the expected cash flow to the company is discounted at the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC). Discounted Cash Flow Method is firms that have positive cash flows which can be estimated with certain amount of reliability for the future. The method cannot be used for firms in trouble, cyclical firms, firms that have unutilized assets, firms with patents, firms which are restructuring, the ones involved in acquisitions, private firms. The most commonly used methods by discounted cash flow in order to value companies are Free Cash Flow which is discounted at the Weighted Average Cost of Capital Cash Flow to equity discounted at the Rate of Return on Equity that is required Capital Cash Flow which is discounted at the Weighted Average Cost of Capital before tax Adjusted Present Value Risk Adjusted Free Cash Flow to a firm discounted at the Rate of Return required to the Assets Risk Adjusted Equity Cash Flow to a firm discounted at the Rate of Return required to the Assets Economic Profit which is discounted at Rate of required Return to Equity Economic Value Added which is discounted at Weighted Average Cost of Capital Risk Free Rate Adjusted Free Cash Flows which are discounted at the Risk Free rate of Return Risk Free Rate Adjusted Equity Cash Flows which are discounted at the Rate of Return required to Assets All the above methods giving the same end results is very logical as all the methods only differ in the cash flows taken at the start of the method but has the same of same reality and hypothesis. DIVIDEND DISCOUNT MODELS GORDON MODEL A very convenient and widely used Dividend Discount model includes The Gordon Growth Model. It can only be used for firms that have a stable growth rate. Po Value of stock D1 Expected dividends during next year k Required rate of return for equity investors g Growth rate in dividends forever This Model assumes that the growth rate in dividends is going to last till infinity and hence the same can to assumed for firms other measures of performance. A stable growth rate which has to be assumed has to be a very reasonable value as in the long term, the organizations growth rate cannot be more than that at which the economy operates. The above method is highly sensitive to the input of growth rate. As the growth rate will converge on discount rate, the value goes to infinity. It is best used for organizations whose growth rates can be compared to the nominal growth rate of the economy. TWO STAGE DIVIDEND DISCOUNT MODEL Another method is called the Two Stage Dividend Discount Model. It takes into account two stages of growth the first one which has a high growth rate and the next one which has a stable growth rate and is expected to be that way for a long time. Value of stock at present = (from 1 to n) ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å" (Expected dividends per share in year t / ((1 + Required rate of return)^t)) + Price at the end of year n / ((1 + Required rate of return)^n) where Price at the end of year n = Expected dividends in the year n + 1 / (Required rate of return Growth rate forever after year n) The above Model faces a problem in specifying the length of the high growth period, as the growth is expected to decline and come to stable after this period, increasing this time period will increase the value. In reality, the shift from high growth rate to a stable growth rate happens gradually over time but this model assumes that it happens suddenly which may only be the practica l case for few. However the method can be used for firms which are expected to maintain the high growth rate for some time after which the reasons for high growth rate disappear. VALUE OF GROWTH The value of Growth is important to estimate which can be done using the two stage dividend model as high growth companies tend to have a very high price/earnings and price/book value ratios. Due to this investors end up paying higher premiums to own the stock. There are several factors which determine the value of growth. It depends on growth rates when the growth period is extraordinary. The higher is the growth rate during this period, higher will be the value of growth. It depends on How long will the extraordinary growth period last. The longer is this period, hence greater will be the value of growth. As and when projects start becoming more and more profitable, the growth rate increases and so does the resulting value from extraordinary growth. If the risk of the stock increases the corresponding discount rate will also increase thereby decreasing the present value to extraordinary growth. H MODEL There is The H Model which is used for valuing growth. It is a two stage growth model where the initial high growth rate decreases linearly with time to reach the steady state growth rate. If the growth rate suddenly drops from a high value to a low one, then the above value proves to be wrong. Also assuming that payout ratio is constant is also incorrect here as it usually increases and is not the same or both the phases. THREE STAGE DIVIDEND DISCOUNT MODEL There is also a Three Stage Dividend Discount Model which combines both the Two Stage model and the H model. It requires a very large number of inputs but also eliminates a lot of drawbacks from the above models. It should be used for organizations that have an extraordinary present growth rate, will maintain so for sometime then with a gradual decline will reach the steady state stable growth rate period. The Dividend Discount model is simple to use but is not really used for valuations due to its drawbacks and has limited applications in high dividend paying equities. The model can also be used for firms which are high growth and are not paying dividends with the consideration that the dividend/payout ratio is adjusted to show the changes in the expected growth rate. This model creates a tax disadvantage in case where dividends are taxed at a greater rate than capital gains. The model does show very impressive results over long periods of time. The model generally outperforms the markets in five year time frames. It is also biased towards finding low price/earnings with high dividends and high price/earnings with low dividends. FREE CASH FLOW TO EQUITY (FCFE) MODELS FCFE = Net Income + Depreciation Capital Spending ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   Working Capital Principal repayments + New debt issues FCFE = Net Income + (1 ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ´) (Capital expenditure Depreciation) + (1 ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ´) ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   Working capital Dividends are different from FCFE. FCFE measures how much an organization can afford to pay as dividends. Dividends paid from FCFE are different for different organizations for the below four reasons Organizations have a Desire for Stability where in they do not want to change the dividends as variations in dividends is considered to be a lot lower than variations in earnings and cash flows. Organizations may not pay dividends at all to meets its Future Investment Needs. It might require a lot of capital expenditure in the future and raising capital again is an expensive process. Tax Factors come into play where if Dividends are taxed higher than Capital gains then firms m ight again not pay out dividends. Organizations also use dividends as a sign of saying, with the increase in dividends implying is a positive sign while decrease in dividends a negative one. It is nothing more than a Dividend Prerogative. CONSTANT GROWTH FCFE MODEL The Constant Growth FCFE Model values organizations that are in a steady state ie have a stable growth rate. Po Value of stock today FCFE1 Expected FCFE over the next year r Cost of equity gn Growth rate in FCFE forever for the firm The model is very similar the the Gordon Growth model and hence all the above advantages and limitations apply to this model as well. TWO STAGE FCFE MODEL The above heading also contains a Two Stage FCFE Model and a Three Stage FCFE Model (E Model). The two stage FCFE Model has the same concept as had been described above. THREE STAGE FCFE MODEL OR E MODEL The E Model is used for organizations which are expected to initially grow with very high growth rates then come into a transition period where in the growth rate decline and then comes to a stable period where it is at steady state. Here assumptions about variables have to be consistent with the assumption of growth rates. As the organization moves from a high growth organization to a stable stead state one, the relationship between capital expenditure and depreciation is bound to change. Also as the growth patterns of the firm changes so does the Risk pattern consequently. The Model is very similar to Three stage dividend discount model. It is appropriate to use it in organizations which currently have a very high growth rate. Comparison between FCFE Valuations and Dividend Discount Model Valuations Same values can be obtained by using the above two only when either dividends and FCFE are equal or when FCFE is more than dividends, but the remaining cash is invested in projects which have Net Present Value as zero. The above two also provide with a different estimate when FCFE is more than dividend but the difference between the two earns interest lower than the market rates or is invested in negative NPV projects. If an organization pays out small dividends as compared to what it can afford, the debt/equity ratios decrease hence making the organization underleveraged which will also decrease value. In another case if too much dividends are paid out then simply loss of wealth happens with there are capital constraints to good projects. FREE CASH FLOW TO FIRM MODELS (FCFF) FCFF = FCFE + Interest expense (1 tax rate) + Principal repayments New debt issues + Preferred dividends FCFF = EBIT (1 tax rate) + Depreciation Capital expenditure ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   Working Capital Difference in Growth of FCFE and FCFF The main reason for the difference in the growth rates in FCFF and the growth rates in FCFE is leverage. Generally, due to leverage, growth increases in FCFE. It affects the growth rate in Earning Per Share. However, growth rates in Earnings Before Interest and Tax, growth rates in depreciation, growth rates in capital expenditure and growth rates in capital spending all remain identical. STABLE GROWTH FIRM MODEL The above method includes Stable Growth Firm Model. Value of firm = FCFF1  / (WACC gn) where FCFF1 Expected FCFF over next year WACC Weighted Average Cost of Capital gn Growth rate in the FCFF To use the above model, the growth rate used has to be relative and reasonable as compared to the nominal growth rate in the economy at that particular time. Also, depreciation and capital spending should have a relationship which support the assumption of stable growth. A stable firm, generally, cannot have depreciation significantly lower than capital expenditure as there in no high growth and hence there is no need for additional high capital expenditure. The model is also highly sensitive to the expected growth rates that are used for calculations. It is also sensitive to assumptions about capital expenditure with respect to depreciation. The value of FCFF can be adjusted by adjusting the value of capital expenditure with respect to depreciation. TWO AND THREE STAGE FCFF MODEL There are also a General Version of the FCFF Model which are also the Two and Three Stage versions of the FCFF Model It can be used to value any firm where FCFF can be forecasted with available sufficient information. Value of a Firm = where FCFFt Free Cash Flow to firm in year t The above model values organizations and not equity, however, the value of equity can be calculated by subtracting the market value of debt which is outstanding. The advantage of using FCFF over FCFE is that cash flows related to debts do not have to be accounted for separately. Where ever there is leverage which is expected to change largely with time, this turns out to be a significant saving. Also FCFF does not required any information regarding debt ratios or even interest rates to find out the Weighted Average Cost of Capital. The model is best suited to use for by organizations that have a high leverage or the organizations that are in the process of transforming their leverage. Using FCFE has a drawback that it frequently turns out to be negative in cases with high leverage and cyclical organizations. CONCLUSION After looking at a number of different models applicable to various situations, it is a fact that a lot of time and resources get wasted in trying to fit the data to a valuation model. We cannot call any one model as best. It depends upon the following factors What are the level of earnings of an organization. Has it lost or gained money, the ones that have gained money are easier to value than those which have lost it. The choice of the model also depends upon the level of current growth found in earnings. For firms with stable growth rates, the Gordon growth model, and stable FCFE and FCFF models should be used. Examining the sources of growth is also important. High growth can be due to competitive advantage due to brand building or reducing production costs or patent advantages. There can be other competitive advantages the speed of whose loss depends upon the competences of the organizations management and the entry barriers for that particular industry. Also, t he ease of use decides the choice between cash flows to organization and cash flows to firms.

Jacksonian Democrats Dbq Free Essays

The election of 1828 is viewed by many as a revolution. Just as the French Revolution marked the end of aristocratic rule and the ascent of the lower classes, the election of Andrew Jackson as the seventh president of the United States likewise marked the end of the aristocratic â€Å"Virginia Dynasty† and the ascent of the common man. While Jackson was a hero of the people, having routed the British at the Battle of New Orleans and having clawed his way from poverty to wealth, he was elected primarily because his followers believed he stood for certain ideals. We will write a custom essay sample on Jacksonian Democrats Dbq or any similar topic only for you Order Now The Jacksonian Democrats were self-styled guardians of the United States Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity. As a strict constitutional constructionist, Jackson indeed guarded what he considered the spirit of the constitution. This is borne out in his handling of South Carolina’s Nullification Crisis. By passing the â€Å"force bill,† Jackson made a statement that the position of John C. Calhoun and his home state was unconstitutional, and that he, as president, was prepared to back his ideals with force if necessary. Jackson further advanced his strict constructionist position through his handling of the â€Å"Bank War. † Nowhere in Article I, section 8 of the Constitution is the authority to create a national bank given to congress. By allowing Roger B. Taney to assist in withdrawing the federal treasury from the Bank of the U. S. and subsequently depositing the funds into regional â€Å"pet banks,† Jackson effectively disassembled what he viewed as a â€Å"monopoly of the foreign and domestic exchange† which was not â€Å"compatible with justice, with sound policy, or with the Constitution of our country. (B) Jackson’s position on the Bank of the United States also illustrates his commitment to political democracy. The Bank re-charter of 1832, though designed by Webster and Clay to embarrass Jackson publicly, backfired on the opponent Whigs. In his bank veto message of 1832, he pointed out the dangers of control of the institution by foreigners and the American mone y-elite. After all, Jackson noted, â€Å"[i]s there not danger to our liberty and independence in a bank that in its nature has so little to bind it to our country†? B) This grassroots commitment resulted in a surge in reform movements throughout the nation. The Working Men’s Party, for example, espoused the enlightenment philosophy of the Declaration of Independence in its belief that â€Å"all men are created equal. †(A) Harriet Martineau, a social observer, was indeed shocked at the absurdity of the debate â€Å"’whether the people should be encouraged to govern themselves, or whether the wise should save them from themselves. ’† Her amazement stemmed from the fact that she had observed â€Å"every man in the towns an independent citizen; every man in the country a landowner. (D) Political democracy, after all, had swept the nation. Just as his bank veto message had made apparent his support of political democracy, it also established Ja ckson as a champion of individual liberty; still, it must be made clear, that the only individuals who were beneficiaries of liberty were, in fact, white male â€Å"citizens. † The painting â€Å"The Trail of Tears† serves as a painful reminder of Jackson’s prejudiced policy of Indian Removal and the Cherokee Nation v. Georgia and Worcester v. Georgia cases. G) Ironically, Jackson’s reputation as a hero and champion of the people stems, in part, from his legendary Indian battles such as Horseshoe Bend and those with Chief Osceola and the Seminole nation. The Seneca Falls convention, while accomplishing little in the way of reform, sadly points out the inequity which existed for American women. Philip Hone, a member of the opposition party, the Whigs, points out the inequality of immigrants. He recorded in his diary â€Å"the disgraceful scene which commenced the warfare†¦. A band of Irishmen of the lowest class came out†¦armed with clubs, and commenced a savage attack upon all†¦. †(E) Perhaps the most tragic disgrace of all—the enslavement African Americans—is pointed out by the Acts and Resolutions of South Carolina. The legislature of South Carolina requested that federal laws be passed to make it illegal to print or distribute material which had the â€Å"tendency to excite the slaves of the southern states to insurrection and revolt. (F) The final ideal of which Jacksonian Democrats considered themselves champions was equality of economic opportunity. Jackson’s veto of the Bank Bill vividly illustrates this point. â€Å"It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes. †(B) While Daniel Webster, a Whig opponent, publicly denounced Jackson’s veto as â€Å"executive pretension,†Ã‚ © Jackson firmly believed â€Å"that great evils to our country and its institutions might flow from such a concentration of power in the hands of a few men irresponsible to the people. (B) Jacksonian commitment to equality of economic opportunity is further espoused in the opinion of Jackson’s Supreme Court appointee, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, in the Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge case. While Jackson’s arch-nemesis John Marshall had cleared the way for competition in Gibbons v. Ogden, Taney pointed out in characteristic Jacksonian fashion, that charters, like the Constitution, must be interpreted strictly. â€Å"There is no exclusive privilege given to them over the waters of Charles River†¦. (H) Here, surely, is commitment to equal economic opportunity. So powerful was the figure Andrew Jackson that an entire era of American history bears his name. His administration marks a fundamental paradigm shift in American ideals. Despite his opponent’s branding him a tyrant and labeling him with suc h unflattering monikers as â€Å"King Andrew,† President Jackson left an indelible mark on history as a champion of the U. S. Constitution, defender of political democracy and—to some extent—personal liberty, and equality of economic opportunity. How to cite Jacksonian Democrats Dbq, Papers

Risk and Return in Financial Statements-Free-Samples for Students

Questions: 1.Discuss about the Risk and Return in Financial Statements. 2.Discuss about the Risk and Returns in Investment Decisions. Answers: Introduction An accountant is a very important part of every business organization whether small or big. An accountants primary duty is to compile every financial transaction and present them in a concise manner which allows the stakeholders to understand the effect of financial transactions and they're after effects (Porter Norton, 2014). In case the accountant is fully capable of understanding financial transactions and its effects, an organization shall never be left deprived of financial viability. However, an accountant should be technically sound and updated of the accounting updates and accounting standards applicable for the organization (Bodie et. al, 2014). An auditors role is half done if the accounting has been properly done and documented. In case the internal controls of the company are sound and properly placed, the auditor can rely on the internal controls also. 1.Risk and Return in Financial Statements The accountant should properly understand the risk involved in the business and the effects of the nonidentification of risk. We would like to explain the above point with an example: ABC Limited is a bank operating in Australia having thousands of customers having deposits, investments and loans disbursed simultaneously. The risk involved in the accounting of a bank is as follows: Confidential data of clients like KYC details, bank details, and their credit profile- in case these details are compromised, the bank may land up in a big problem. The risk of loans becoming irrecoverable due to non understanding of credit profile of a person at the time of granting loans. Dependency on IT infrastructure and database responsible for storing customers and its failure. An accountant has to fully understand the risk involved in any business and properly place or recommend internal controls for detection and prevention of the risk involved. An accountant should properly get training and increase his skills to understand and make an attempt to minimize man-made errors or risk (Deegan, 2011). For example thorough understanding of the accounting principles and the accounting standards, understanding of the IT software and infrastructure etc. 2.Risk and Returns in Investment Decisions In case the accountant feels that the investment decisions made by the management are not financially viable, he may recommend some changes in the investment plans. This is only possible if the accountant has a profound knowledge about the risk and returns of investment decisions he should explore all possible and available investment options in the market (Davies Crawford, 2012). He should also measure the opportunity cost involved with every investment option and should try to increase the return with minimum risk with a long-term investment vision as well. He can also use analytical skills and formula like ratio analysis, percentage calculations, last year trends, investment credit ratings and past profile of the investment options and only after this analysis, we should consider and recommend the investment to the top management through his reports (Graham Smart, 2012). The ultimate goal of the investment decisions is to maximize return at minimum possible risk. All this can be accomplished by an accountant when he has proper knowledge about the market returns and the risk factors included therein. Hence, the learning of risk and return is very vital for an accountant if he wants to fulfill his duties and responsibilities most efficiently. For example, there are four investment options available in the market namely : Investment in equity shares having low return with higher risk attached. Investment in preference shares- less return with less risk. Investment in debentures- medium return with less risk. Investment in Bank Deposits- moderate return with least risk. Now, the accountant should understand the concept of risk and return in these investments and further the investment needs of the company on whether and in which segment the company needs to invest and how much risk the company is able to bear. On the basis of the assessment made, an accountant should make the investment with available resources and should make his investment decision (Berk et. al, 2015). He may use the formula for lowest cost of capital and then accordingly invest in the market. In case the company is well placed in the market and wants to take ownership in any company or subsidiary, it may directly purchase or invest in their equity share capital which shall give them ownership but on the other hand, it may be a riskier option as well. On the other hand in case the company does not want to take any risk it may invest in any companys debentures or preference shares which ensure moderate returns but a safer option on the whole. Hence, it depends upon the risk-bearing capacity of the company (Petty et. al, 2012). Of all the options above the least risky option are bank deposits. Another example can be taken for the investments in shares of different companies. If a company generally invests in shares of other companies like construction companies, banking companies etc, it is very important that the credit rating of such companies should be checked first (Arnold, 2010). Also, the price trends of the company should be analyzed before investing to avoid probable losses. These recommendations can be given by an accountant only if he has known about the risks and returns associated with such investments Conclusion Hence, the learning about risk and returns is very important for an accountant if he wants to fulfill his job commitments and his job responsibilities. If we talk about the returns, the accountant is supposed to go through the incomes earned and the sources of income and also the expenses incurred during the compilation and summarizing of accounts. This is to be done so that the discrepancies can be found out in comparison to the projections made by the company in the previous year for the expected returns to the company. The perspective of returns is different for different kinds of companies. For example, the returns can be either in the form of dividends or the retained earnings. The accountant can assess the risks and returns in financial statements when he has proper accounting knowledge and about the different risks and returns. References Arnold, G 2010, The Financial Times Guide to Investing, Prentice Hall. Berk, J, DeMarzo, P Stangeland, D 2015, Corporate Finance, Canadian Toronto: Pearson Canada. Bodie, Z, Kane, A. Marcus, A. J 2014, Investments, McGraw Hill Davies, T Crawford, I 2012, Financial accounting, Harlow, England: Pearson. Deegan, C. M 2011, In Financial accounting theory, North Ryde, N.S.W: McGraw-Hill Graham, J Smart, S 2012, Introduction to corporate finance, Australia: South-Western Cengage Learning. Petty, J. W, Titman, S., Keown, A. J., Martin, J. D., Burrow, M Nguyen, H 2012, Financial Management: Principles and Applications, 6th ed., Australia: Pearson Education Australia Porter, G Norton, C 2014, Financial Accounting: The Impact on Decision Maker, Texas: Cengage Learnin

Truman S Harry Essays - Presidency Of Harry S. Truman,

Truman S Harry Truman was a simple honest man. His impact on world history however was much more than simple. In his life he would take part in both world wars and serve two terms in office as president. Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri, on May 8, 1884. His full name was Harry S. Truman. The S did not stand for anything but was put there to appease his two relatives who's names started with s. He was the eldest of three children with a younger brother Vivian, and a younger sister Mary Jane. His parents were not rich but his mother, Martha Ellen Young Truman, always found that money was there for piano lessons or books. Truman moved to Independence when he was six. He went to the Presbyterian Church and attended Sunday school (he met his future wife Elizabeth Wallace here). Truman began school at eight years of age. His two passions, reading and music, helped him gain a strong education and high grades. His large glasses and vast knowledge also alienated himself from other children. After graduating in 1901, his future was unclear. His poor eyesight barred him from military service and his families financial situation would not allow him to go on to college. Truman worked as a time keeper for thirty five dollars per month at Sante Fe Railroad. He still read up on histories and encyclopedias when he could find the time. He moved to Kansas City and worked as a clerk for the Kansas City Star, he then began work at the National Bank of Commerce and finally the Union National Bank's book keeper. He returned home in 1906 after his grandfathers death. The family had inherited a farm in Grandview Missouri and for ten years Truman worked and became quite a successful farmer. He had his first small taste of politics when he joined the local democratic party organization, run by Mike Penergast. He was made Grandview Postmaster. Truman invested some money in Lead mines and then oil fields. He sold his stocks and enlisted in the United states army in 1917. Truman trained in Oklahoma, at a military base called Fort Sill. He became a recruiter in Missouri and the Missouri Second Field Artillery elected him first lieutenant. He sailed for France in march 30, 1918. He was made captain of Battery D (nick named Dizzy D), tamed their rowdy ways and lead them to glory in the battles of Saint-Miheal and Argonne. Truman finished the war a Major and returned home in April of 1919. Truman married Elizabeth Wallace on June 28, 1919. Truman opened a clothing store for men with his friend Eddie Jacobson in Kansas City. The store was quite successful and many of the veterans of the Dizzy D's were repeat customers. The store lost money when farm prices dropped in 1920 and finally shut down in the winter of 1922. Truman however paid his debts and never declared bankruptcy. Truman looked for help in his old acquaintance Pendergast. He was entered in a four way democratic primary for a judgeship in eastern Jackson County. One of his opponents was backed by the kkk. Truman was asked to join, however, he rejected their racial attitudes towards blacks, and religious hatreds to the Jews and Catholics. Pendergast withdrew the entrance money. Truman did however run, his war record and previous work and Missouri were the basis of his campaign. He was successful in the primary and was sworn in on January 1923. This was his first public office position. His duties as county judge left him with a one million dollar debt and roads and buildings to be maintained. In his two year term he lowered the debt by 600,000 dollars and helped to improve the roads. In 1926 Truman was made court judge. He quickly exposed and fired many of Pendergast's corrupt members and cleaning the corrupt political machine. He appointed independent commissions to look into roads and buildings, secured low interest loans, hand picked the architect to rebuild the court house and hired respectable workers. He received a second term as the county judge. The son of the now late Mike Pendergast, Tom, asked Truman to run for the senate in 1935. Truman came to power playing on the popular New Deal. He was sworn in as Junior senator of Missouri on January 3, 1935. In the Senate, Truman was not trusted for his dealings with Tom Pendergast. The white house was uncovering the Pendergast

Research Methods Essays

Research Methods Essays Research Methods Essay Research Methods Essay Overview of various research methods When writing a Research Paper it is important to know different research methods. These methods help to gather and systematize the information and data In order to scientifically prove the validity of the work. Further will be explained ways how to collect the data. Research methods are divided In two big blocks: quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative methods are those where results are explained In numbers, whereas qualitative methods define outcomes by what respondents answer. It Is more objective and more open, as results are not described by numbers, but rather as observations. To put both methods differences together: quantitative look more for statistical explanation, but qualitative are more in-depth. 1 Further will be in more detail explained methods that lay under quantitative and qualitative. There are many ways how to collect data for the research. One of them is doing experiments. It usually involves small amount of people who are doing some tests, for example, detecting how fast people read, what affects their reading skills and other objectives. This method is very in-depth and counted as qualitative as the behavior people is investigated in order to conclude some outcomes. One of the minuses of such methods is that it only researches small group of the society and does not give overall overview for all public. 2 Second type of methods is surveys. Surveys are conducted when a researcher wants quickly to gather a big amount of data. They have low cost, wide range of respondents, easy to conduct and systematize the results. Surveys are usually in a written form and they can be transferred to people in various ways- through e-mail, Web pages or questions can be asked in a person or through telephone call. This type also has few flaws- not all participants will answer to all questions, meaning they can skips some parts, it usually has a low return rate of answers and It also cannot present all society. 3 Third type of how to collect data for research Is to conduct a questionnaire. Questionnaire similarly to survey Is a method where Information Is gathered from a big amount of people and It Is analyses quantitatively and systematically. The pluses of such method are: easy and quick to fill In, easy to analyses the data and It Is easy to port the results. In questionnaires It Is Important to keep questions simple as people are usually lazy and not so eager to read long and complicated questions. A very good approach is to ask short answers and multiple choice answers for a quick response. It allows people just to circle the option and rapidly go to the next inquiry. For example, a question: How many hours do you sleep in a night? In a multiple placed a line where to write the number of hours. This shows how simply questions should be made. Moreover, questionnaires should not involve any sensitive topics, only general and common themes. Fourth type of research methods is interviewing people. It is not common to have yes/ no questions in this type, as the aim of it is to collect more in-depth data and have an open discussion with the respondent. Firstly, the interview has to be properly planned. It is relevant to create a pleasant atmosphere for a participant. If interview process will be chaotic and unplanned, researcher will not hear any true answers. For example, when interviewing a director of a bank. Researcher has to set a goal and objectives of the interview- what needs to be found out? Also it is important to come prepared not only with questions, but also materials which record the answers, such as paper, pencils or maybe a recorder. If a researcher wants to record the conversation with an electronic device a permission of the respondent has to be asked prior to the session. One of the drawbacks of recording an interview is that usually people are more thinking what they say and it can happen that half of the answers will be very short and lacking details, when purpose of the interview is getting deep explanation. 5 Fifth type of research method is observation. It can be an observation of a person or of some activity or some model. This method can include when over seeing what people do, what is their behavior, their relationship with others. Observation can also be on some cases or models, or even comparing two or more activities and making conclusions. This is more called analysis and is very detailed in its structure; therefore it is one of the qualitative methods. In conclusion, in this essay were described most popular research method types, which can be used almost by every chosen topic to investigate. Before choosing a epic it is important to consider what kind of data researcher wants to collect- quantitative or qualitative, because method aims differ. Surveys and questionnaires are used to collect quantitative and objective data, whereas interviews, experiments and observations are used to gather qualitative and subjective data. 2) Most suitable research methods for topic Marketing approaches in Real Estate companies in Riga In this research aim will be to explore what are the common marketing strategies which real estate companies utilize in Riga and what they aim at. Methods will be seed on three biggest real estate companies in Riga- Lotion, Arcos and Boer Hausa. Further will be explained most suitable research methods in order to achieve goal to get to know scheme of marketing in capital of Latvia. Impossible to do quantitative research methods. First of all, real estate companies do not present their marketing strategies, where they aim at the public, secondly the aim of research is to explore marketing strategies in depth, and therefore qualitative approaches will be used. Secondly, questionnaire and survey are given to a big amount of people, usually to a public. In this case, the goal is to get to know companies internal marketing strategies not to find out what society thinks about real estate advertising campaigns. Thirdly, quantitative methods would give numerical outcomes, meaning results will be expressed in numbers, whereas in this Research Paper the definitions of marketing strategies have to be explored. Therefore as defined above to reach the target qualitative methods must be used such as interviews and experiments. One of the qualitative approaches, which will be suitable for investigating real estate company marketing strategies, is interviews. This method will help researcher to have an insight into the companies policy and get more detailed view what is going on in the market of Latvia. The interview will be recorded either on recorder device or on the paper, which will help better to describe information in the Research Paper. Interviews will take place in real estate companies in Riga such as Lotion, Arcos, Boer Hausa and other enterprises. Marketing managers will be interviewed. If they will not be available, then discussion will be done with managers who are aware of companies marketing policy. By interviewing managers and professionals in arresting field who work in the companies, researcher will obtain very important and objective information of where these companies aim and how to they reach their target audience. Author will also try to collect information what are the most important target audiences and how to they get to them. It will promote a better understanding of each company policy and methods they use to maintain it. Therefore, main objective of the interview will be to find out what the society groups they focus on and what approaches they use to make them their customers. Second qualitative method will be used after having done the first one. In interview researcher will obtain information where companies publish their information and what parts of society they aim at. After this method, observation, comparison and analysis of these companies will be done. Here will be observed Web sites, magazines, radio and social media- everything where companies post and publish their information. It means that everything where real estate companies place their advertisements will be compared and analyzed through marketing theory.

American history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

American history - Essay Example The revisions made on the book have been aimed at getting the complete attention of his students and according to him those who have tried reading it find it indispensable. This book provides fresh evidence in each chapter that it contains and also includes other recent research findings that have been made by scholars. It provides details on the wars that occurred between the natives and the colonials in the 18th and 19th centuries. The wars that took place between the Indians and French people have also been detailed by the author. The author has provided information concerning the activities of the Indians and their relations to the settlers who came into the country. Most of the book’s chapters speak on issues that are fundamentally the same though they have been reorganized to become more appealing to the student. This book also speaks about the treatment that different people got for their religious beliefs along with the practices of the protestant denominations existin g in America during the 19th century. In addition, the issue of slavery and a history of the southern part of the country have also been highlighted. The author describes the causes and events that led to the Mexican war, immigrants who came to the country due to the Irish famine and the issues of political machines in American towns. Unlike the previously released editions, this book talks about the racial issues that took place within the country in the 20th century and brought about the rise of civil movements during the 1950’s. Finally, the book provides a history of the country’s social along with culture and an insight into the religious practices of the 20th century. The book by Conlin does not however tell us how the early American history has affected the current lifestyle of the American people. The source confirms the picture of the history of early America by using the findings from the works of other research as information sources. Castillo, P. (2000). Th e American Beginnings to 1877. New York: Prentice Hall. Has the early American history affected the way the country currently relates with other countries around the globe? This book tries to ascertain the American history up to around the year 1877 and highlights other activities that have taken place since then. The author of this book is also a professor and targets students who are undertaking American history. His book provides greater insights into issues like the European exploration of the country and the activities of the colonial period. It also provides details concerning the American Revolution and the early formation of a republic, the country’s constitution and the growing of a youthful nation under the stewardship of Thomas Jefferson. The author has provided insight into the union’s problems and the issues that threatened its unity. This book describes issues concerning the problems that immigrants encountered upon entering the country along with the dif ferent rights that have been accorded to the people. The cultural clashes that occurred when various people were settling on the western prairies, on their great plains and the activities of the populist movements have also been described by the author. This book differs from the book by Conlin since it describes how the new industrial period came into being, the expansion of American industries, railroads and labor markets. The book has also provided insight into the immigrants who were coming into the country, the challenges that the country

Document Imaging Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Document Imaging - Research Paper Example With the advancement in science and technology, document imaging concept has become one of the most effective and essential concept, which has helped business organizations as an official communication intermediary in modern civilization. The concept of document imaging has been introduced in the business in order to minimize the physical effort of human. It has been observed that the traditional methods of storing paper and records required a higher rate of effort to manage the entire document imaging process. Moreover, it has been observed that more difficulties arise during the distributing and finding process. It can be further asserted that with the growing number of files, the difficulties in managing them also increased accompanied with significant time and effort consumption. The actual purpose of developing this document image process is to perform business operations quickly and efficiently. Similarly the imaging document concepts also help to analysis and compare several d ata, information and messages at a time. According to the observation, it has been identified that document imaging transforms paper documents into electronic images format, which has helped individuals and business organizations to perform their business task easily and efficiently. The document imaging process can take many forms such as document scanner, multifunction peripheral (MFP), fax machine and other scanning device among others (Hewahi et al, n.d.). It has observed that during the early 21th century the concept of document imaging has been used by modern civilization in order to collect, capture, and store information, images and characters for business or individual operational purpose. During the early historic period it has been observed, that human used to architect historical matters in a hand scripted documents for their memoirs such as declaration of independence, the constitution and Bill of right among others. Thus, it can be apparently

Natural Zeolite as a Cost-effective Opacifier

Natural Zeolite as a Cost-effective Opacifier Ali Ghafarinazari1, 2 à ¯Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ªÃƒ ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ , Esfandiar Amiri1, Mahnaz Karbassi3, Morteza Soroor1, Talieh Rajabloo3 Abstract Zircon as an opacifier material is under the very real risk of being replaced. This is mainly because of two reasons: the anticipated shortage of high-quality grade zircon, and high costs associated with the production of zircon as an opacifier material, which is resulting in upward pressure on zircon prices. This study aimed at assessing the influence natural zeolite as opacifier of on both the technological behavior during processing and the technical performances of ceramic glaze for tile manufacturers. Moreover, preliminary investigations show this category of tiles has potential at antibacterial activity in a cost-effective way. Keywords: Glass-ceramic; Anti-bacterial Tile; Titanates; Zirconia; 1. Introduction The ceramic tile industry is being progressively moving its worldwide production toward new materials with improved aesthetic and technical properties. The availability of these raw materials in the huge amounts required by the tile industry is a problem in many areas, while in other contexts it is the high price to make the tile manufacture disadvantaged in competition with other producers of building materials, whose manufacturing costs are lower. Thus, the ceramic industry is continuously searching for cheap raw materials able to replace the traditional without altering the process and product characteristics [1]. In glaze production, amongst commercial frits, zircon (ZrSiO4) is most conventional opacifier [2]. Nevertheless, these frits are quite expensive and therefore, there have recently been certain attempts to lower the production cost such as optimizing amount of zircon [3], or taking another suitable glass–ceramic glaze systems [4]. Another common opacifier is titania (TiO2). Although refractive indices of titania (2.52 for anatase and 2.76 for rutile [5]) is higher than zirconium oxide (2.17 [1]), but it has technical problems. First is low chemical stability during melting. In addition, rutile, which is stable structure of titania in standard conditions, is the main problem. Because rutile phase, in opposite of anatase, is yellow and leads to increase roughness of surface. Zeolites are high porous and crystalline alumino-silicates with a three-dimensional structure based upon repeated units of silica (SiO4) and alumina (AlO4) tetrahedral [6]. Based on high-temperature phase transformations of natural zeolites [7], possibility of using Iranian natural zeolite as opacifier of tiles are investigated in this study. Zeolites belong to the tectosilicate mineral group and are building up by a framework of corner-sharing. The framework arranges as such to form a microporous structure with large cages (diameters less than 2 nm) connected into channels. They possess special properties, such as ion exchange, molecular sieves, a large surface area, and catalytic activity, which make them a preferable material for tremendous industrial applications in industries such as domestic and commercial water purification, softening, petrochemical industry, biogas industry, heating and refrigeration, detergents, medical, agriculture [8]. Now a days, they are promising for im plementation at ceramic production, such as brick [9], ceramic pigments [10], porcelain and tiles bodies [11] also self-glazing ceramic tiles [12]. The main objective of this study is to use Iranian natural zeolite and develop from this a zeolite opacifier product for glazes, which possesses superior opacifying properties or whiteness values after application on a ceramic body, compared to that of the current zircon, more expensive commercial ceramic or prime grade zircon materials. 2. Experimental Procedure 2.1. Fabrication of Samples In the first part of the experimental study, one single fast-firing opaque tile glaze selected as standard frit (Table 1). The basic Standard frit composition was selected consisting of 6 wt% suspending agent (kaolin), 0.2 wt% deflocculated (sodium tri-poly-phosphate), and 0.1 wt% ligand (Carboxyl Methyl Cellulose, CMC) in an eccentric mill used at selected suspension compositions. At this research, all of materials were of commercial grades (less than 98 wt% purity) from industrial clays. 2.2. Sintering The frit suspensions applied on the surface of tile supports using a regulated glaze applicator for the deposition of raw layers with 0.4 mm thickness. The test specimens were then fired in a roller kiln corresponded to the temperature and rate used industrially to manufacture the product with the support and glaze in question. Heating and cooling rates were about 40  ºC/min and soaking time at 1000  ºC was 3 minutes. 2.3. Characterization of samples The opacity of glaze was evaluated based on a colorimetric analysis using a Minolta CM-2600d spectrophotometer. The results are expressed by the tri-chromatic coordinates: L* means the degree of whiteness, a* indicates the variation between green and red colors, and b* presents the variation between blue and yellow colors, therefore investigation of opacity amount of L* is very important. To better understand the gloss results of the glazes (ÃŽ ²60) was determined by Zehntner ZGM1110 glossiness analyzer. To complement the results, the glazes were characterized micro structurally by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). Crystalline phase identification was performed on glazes prepared from ground samples using a X-ray diffractometer (Philips PW 170) operating with (Cu-KÃŽ ± = 1.54056 Ã…, 35 kV, 40 mA) radiation in the range of 10-60 ° 2ÃŽ ¸, using the following settings: 0.1 mm receiving slit, 0.4 s/0.04 ° 2ÃŽ ¸ counting time. FESEM images were taken by Hitachi S-4160. On account of experiments method and results, particularly SEM, we predicted that the new tile has potential for antibacterial activity. The popular method for antibacterial activity is  ½ McFarland. We described in detail this method for antibacterial tile [13]. As briefly speaking, E. coli and S. aureus were deposited on tile slide (5 cm Ãâ€" 5 cm). Each slide was placed in a sterile vial. Tryptone soy broth was then added to each vial. An aliquot (10 ml) of S. aureus or E. coli suspension was added to each vial (1.6 Ãâ€" 103 ml-1) containing the slides. The vials were incubated with agitation at 35  °C, 220 rpm. The bacteriostatic activity was evaluated after 24 h and the percentage of bacteria reduction was calculated using the following equation (1): (1) In which R is the reduction rate, A is the number of bacterial colonies from untreated tiles and B is the number of bacterial colonies from the treated tiles. 3. Results and discussion In order to investigate effect of zeolite in glaze at different chemical conditions, some experiments carried out in the same firing profile. Output of glossiness and spectrophotometer these experiments showed in Table 2. Before going to the results, it is better to remind that depend on type of body, in general acceptable amount of L* for an opaque glaze is 83.24, it is noticed that this reference opaque glaze has 14wt% Zircon. In addition, acceptable amount for glossiness for shiny tile is at least 88 such as standard frit which is perfectly transparent. After checking standard, conventional opacifires, zircon and titania, were added. When 10wt% zircon was added to frit as state of compound, degree of whiteness and covering increased sharply, without significant effect on glossy. Uniformity distribution of unfired zircon powders on standard frit exhibited on Figure 1. Another conventional opacifier, titania, was added in amount of 5 and 10wt% to the standard frit. Outcomes in Table 2 confirm that amounts of whiteness (L*) and covering (a*) is very upper than zircon but yellowish amount (b*) and decreasing of shiny confirm that titania is in rutile crystallographic state. Morphology of titania on glaze is directly depended on crystallographic state. Microstructural studies confirmed that rutile crystals always have had an acicular morphology, however, anatase crystals were observed with cubic and rectangular morphologies [14]. The other stable phase of titanium in glaze is sphene (CaTiSiO5 [15]), which is completely sphere in glaze [4]. Visual effect of sphene and anatase is white, while anatase has benefits such as semiconductor and antibacterial effects. Bou et al. published that in order to improving smoothness and glossiness adding 1-3wt% P2O5, rutile transformed to sphene. The problem of sphene is non-uniform distribution in glass matrix [4], which decrease chemical and mechanical resistant. Based on Figure 2, existence of rutile confirmed. This big crystal leads to roughness of surface and diminishing glossiness to 25. One of interesting results of FESEM of glaze containing titania is elemental distribution on glass-ceramic. In glassy matrix, atomic percentages of fluxes are 0.93, 4.87, 7.01, and 2.36 % for Na, K, Ca, and Zn respectively, but these amounts are 3.46, 5.25, 12.35, and 3.11 %; i.e. around crystalline part flux materials especially sodium and calcium lead to nucleation. And about 3 at% titanium was solved in glass, due to low chemical stability. In order to investigation of effect of natural zeolite in glaze and comparing with other opacifiers, 10wt% natural zeolite supplemented to the standard. Result of XRD shows that the zeolite has crystallinity based on having less amount of background with sharp peaks (Figure 3). The zeolite leads to covering and whitening surface without significant effect on glossy. As it can be seen in Figure 4, there are large amounts of unfired or crystalline materials in glass matrix which is due to existence of zeolite. In contrast, for higher temperature (1100  °C) and time duration (2 h) zeolite acts as a flux [1], but at this condition it acts as a refractory. Although these results (Table 2) were comparable with zircon, we could not achieve a sufficient opaque glaze because of refractive index of zeolite which is about 1.48 – 1.60 [16], and is close to silicate-leadless glasses (1.5 – 1.7) [5]. For sufficient covering with whitening in glaze by zeolite, possibility of using zeolite as a nucleus for titanium oxides was inspected. For this purpose, 3wt% TiO2 and 7wt% zeolite added to the standard. Table 2 confirms that this glaze is an acceptable as an opaque glaze. This glaze has a shiny surface, well covered tile body, high whiteness, and especially low price due to cheap raw materials. To complement the results, FESEM was carried out on these tiles. Figure 5 exhibits rectangular nanoparticles (25-500 nm, 85 nm average) with uniform distribution in glaze. Based on previous lectures, this structure is related to anatase [5]. Owing to EDX analysis, elements distribution on matrix and ceramic generally was the same with previous samples but percentage of Ti in matrix relented to 0.42 (instead of 3 at% in Figure 2). Indeed, natural zeolite is a cheap agent for nucleation of nanocrystalline anatase without side effect on other properties of tiles. One proposed mechanism for this phenomenon from thermodynamic point of view is alumina and silica which leads to stability of anatase [9]. Based upon zeolite is alumino-silica, this reasoning was checked by kaolin, which is a mineral clay contains mainly alumina and silicates. Results of this experiment are illustrated in Table 2 and Figure 6. Kaolin had no effect on phase and morphology of rutile, and it led to increasing of roughness and firing temperature of glaze. In a conclusion ability of natural zeolite in making glass-ceramic by nanoparticles of anatase is unique according to high porosity and crystallinity (Figure 3) structure. Due to the fact that there are anatase nanoparticles in the glaze, it is promising having antibacterial activity [17]. This phenomenon investigated by  ½ McFarland method as wrote in experimental procedure at end of section 2.3. In this case it has been shown achieving stable nanostructural anatase is not enough for antibacterial activity [18]. In fact, anatase must be excited by Ultraviolet illumination. This tile has just about 35% bacteriostatic which is not significant comparison by naked eye and it needs to measure by microscope. This result is very low in comparison with other components which had more than 95% [13]. It would be obvious that titania at glaze initially melted and then solidification carried out in the form of anatase. The increase zeolite anti-bacteria agent is prepared by achieving smaller anatase particles and better distribution which can be realized by chemistry of glass network. However, due to the fact that propose of this research was just opacity, this result also is very interesting and beyond our goal. 4. Conclusion Natural zeolite is a new mineral source for construction and ceramic glass materials. Our research showed that zeolite is economically expedient to use natural zeolite for fabricating opaque glaze. Indeed natural zeolite led to stabilized nano crystalline of anatase. This glaze has potential for antibacterial tiles. Initial investigation showed potential of antibacterial activity if this kind of products in a cost-effective way. References [1] Demirkiran AÃ…Å ¾, R. Artir, and E. Avci. Effect of natural zeolite addition on sintering kinetics of porcelain bodies. Journal of materials processing technology. 2008;203(1-3):465-70. [2] Beals M, et al Study of Particle Size of the Opacifying Phase in Titania Enamels: I, Change of Particle Size with Change of Concentration of Dissolved TiO2. Journal of the American Ceramic Society. 1951;45(1):403. [3] Bish DLaJWC. Thermal behavior of natural zeolites. Reviews in mineralogy and geochemistry. 2001;45(1):403. [4] Bou E, et al. Microstructural study of opaque glazes obtained from frits of the system: SiO2-Al2O3-B2O3-(P2O5)-CaO-K2O-TiO2. Journal of the European Ceramic Society. 2007;27 (2-3):1791-6. [5] Casasola R, J. Rincà ³n, and M. Romero. Glass–ceramic glazes for ceramic tiles: a review. Journal of Materials Science. 2012;47(2):553-82. [6] Eppler R. Crystallization and Phase Transformation in TiO2 Opacified Porcelain Enamels: 11, Cornparison of Theory with Experiment. Journal of the American Ceramic Society. 1969;52(2):94-9. [7] Diop MaMG. Sodium silicate activated clay brick. Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment. 2008;67(4):499-505. [8] Osman Gencel a, Mucahit Sutcu b, Ertugrul Erdogmus c, Vahdettin Koc d, Vedat Veli Cay e,, Gok MS. Properties of bricks with waste ferrochromium slag and zeolite. Journal of Cleaner Production 2013;59 111-9. [9] Hanaor DaC, Sorrell. Review of the anatase to rutile phase transformation. Journal of Materials Science. 2011;46(4):855-74. [10] Pekkan KaBK. Production of opaque frits with low ZrO2 and ZnO contents and their industrial uses for fast single-fired wall tile glazes. Journal of Materials Science. 2009;44(10):2533-40. [11] Pogrebenkov VM, Sedelnikova MB, Vereshchagin VI. Zeolites: Raw material for ceramic pigments. Glass and Ceramics. 1998;55(1-2):55-6. [12] Pogrebenkov VM, E.D. Melnik, and V.I. Vereshchagin,. Use of Siberian mineral raw materials in the manufacture of self-glazing ceramic tile. Glass and Ceramics. 1997;54(11-12):373-5. [13] Ghafarinzari A, Moztarzadeh F, Rabiee SM, Rajabloo T, Mozafari M, Tayebi L. Antibacterial activity of silver photodeposited nepheline thin film coatings. Ceramics International. 2012;38(7):5445-51. [14] Teixeira SaAMB. Development of TiO2 white glazes for ceramic tiles. Dyes and Pigments. 2009;80(3):292-6. [15] Frost BR, K.R. Chamberlain, and J.C. Schumacher, Sphene (titanite): phase relations and role as a geochronometer. Chemical Geology. 2001;172(1–2):131-48. [16] Larlus O, et al. Silicalite-1/polymer films with low-k dielectric constants. Applied Surface Science. 2004;226(1-3):155-60. [17] Saeki Y. Application of Antibacterial and Self-Cleaning Effects to Noncementitious Construction Materials. Applications of Titanium Dioxide Photocatalysis to Construction Materials: Springer; 2011. p. 17-22. [18] Niederhà £usern S, Bondi M, Bondioli F. Selfà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Cleaning and Antibacteric Ceramic Tile Surface. International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology. 2012. Figure captures Figure1 FESEM of glaze with 10wt% zircon. Figure2 FESEM of standard frit with a) 5 and b) 10wt% titania Figure3. XRD from Iranian natural zeolite Figure4. FESEM of standard frit containing 10wt% natural zeolite Figure5. FESEM of standard frit containing 3wt% TiO2 and 7wt% Zeolite; a) morphology of crystal is in range of 25 – 500 nm, in average of 85 nm; b) fine distribution of crystals. Figure6. FESEM of standard frit containing 3wt% TiO2 and 7wt% kaolin Table captures Table1. Composition of the standard frit Table2. Results of spectrophotometer and glossiness 1 à ¯Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ªÃƒ ¯Ã‚ Ã‚  Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 3886598606 E-mail address: [emailprotected] (A. Ghafarinazari)