Writing in the Visual Age Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Writing in the Visual Age - Research Paper Example While some emphasize the need to essentially teach rhetorical analysis of images to the students of a writing class, others advocate the importance of aural or textual messages by claiming that no matter how skillfully designed, pictures or images should not be considered to be more capable both emotionally and informatively in comparison to words. Those favoring the newly introduced development of visual rhetoric stress on the importance of photographs and deem them as elements significantly capable of providing more obvious evidence to the public. This paper is basically an attempt to explain why visual rhetoric should be taught as part of a writing class while also acknowledging the opposing ideas put forward by critics weighing the credibility of visual rhetoric in a writing class. This paper will also include some suggestions about how effective actions could be made to enhance the position and validity of visual rhetoric in context of composition studies. This is important beca use though some people might be able to institute change on some levels, it again leaves many educationists and teachers to deal with depressing frustration when visual communication fails to stick for long. I... isually demonstrate how Europe brought the light of literacy and humanity to the dark land of Congo, she filled the star in the flag with very meaningful images of slavery and explorers and the blue field around it with several though-provoking and informative images of old African art. Such useful incorporation of visual rhetoric not only must have delivered more inspirational, interesting, informative, and emotional lesson to the class but it also must have made the whole class remember the logic behind the flag’s design for a longer period. This is understandable as in contrast to a teacher who likes to simply stand behind the rostrum sticking to very conventional and orthodox teaching strategies is certainly much less likely to convey a deeper understanding of a subject to his/her students than a teacher who prefers to institute change and benefit from strategies like using visual rhetoric to demonstrate the meaning and logic behind a concept. Majority of the researchers a t the Wharton School of Business concluded after comparing verbal presentations to visual presentations that â€Å"presenters who combined visual and verbal components were more persuasive† (MacroVU, Inc.). Students are much more likely to reason with a complex dilemma which might be puzzling them when teachers feel motivated to visually explain the confusing parts which is why visual rhetoric should be taught as part of a writing class. It is claimed by Williams in support of the visual mode of communication that this mode literally challenges the people to both see and perceive an image in many different new ways unlike verbal or textual messages (18). Visual communication is the name of a very reasonable and self-evident strategy which should not be underestimated. The research stresses that

The Impact of Disruption to Sleep Patterns in the Intensive Care Unit Essay

The Impact of Disruption to Sleep Patterns in the Intensive Care Unit - Essay Example One indisputable fact is that lack of sleep affects the health and progress of the healing for patients in the ICU. A study on the impacts of sleep disruptions in the ICU indicated that the nature of sleep patterns in a nursing environment has some significant associations with the mortality rates (Friese, 2007, p. 1210). Nursing institutions that promote good sleep habits for patients in the ICU have also shown significant reductions in the levels of mortality. On the other hand, nursing institutions that do not have any structures for promoting good sleep habits were also associated with high mortality rates. The findings of this study were consistent with other findings that showed a positive association between the states of health of patients in the ICU with the number of hours of sleep that the patients managed to get (Friese, 2007, p. 1212). For instance, these findings showed that most of the patients who managed to get uninterrupted sleep were able to respond faster and bett er to treatment than those who were occasionally interrupted by the nurses or other factors. Discussion Various studies have developed an association between the rate of patients’ readmission to the nursing homes and the disruptions to the sleep patterns (Patel, Chipman, Carlin & Shade, 2008, p. 309; Patel, Chipman, Carlin & Shade, 2008, p. 310). Some of the inferences drawn from this study are that the sleep patterns of the patients in the ICU promoted the natural defences of the body, thus, allowing the patients to develop long-terms health stability. These associations are also consistent with other studies that have established the existence of positive influences between long term health balances of individuals to the quality of sleep that they receive (Eliassen & Hopstock, 2011, p. 140). Opinions of some nursing experts suggest that the promotion of environmental conditions that support quality sleeping patterns is more sustainable than interventions that involve the us e of sleep inducers. Patients who are occasionally subjected to sleep inducers often lapse into delirium after a short while and may require stronger inducers in order for them to acquire the same amount of sleep (Patel, Chipman, Carlin & Shade, 2008, p. 310). Some of the studies have established a connection between the impairment of the body’s ability to combat infections (Eliassen & Hopstock, 2011; Friese, 2007). Quality sleep strengthens the immune system and provides the enabling environment for the functioning of the defensive mechanism of the body. Poor sleeping patterns are usually associated with prolonged healing and negative responses to the treatment processes. Patients who fail to get sufficient sleep are also likely to suffer from hallucinations and unstable psychological states. This is because the state of a patient’s mental balance is affected by the kind of pressure and strain that occur during the period of wakefulness. In order for a patient in the ICU to develop the necessary defences, it is necessary to develop a stable sleeping schedule with sufficient time that would allow for the release of the strain and pressure that operate at the mental level. The role of nurses in mitigating the adverse

Franklin Delano Roosevelt FDR :: Biography Biographies Bio

Franklin Delano Roosevelt In March 1933 Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the 32nd president of the United States. During his presidency he was the only president in America's history to hold office for four terms. He led America during the Great Depression and World War II. Franklin Roosevelt was head of the powerful Democratic Party which controlled American politics for thirty years. Roosevelt was a controversial leader in his time, some people admired him and others despised him, but today he is considered to be one of the greatest American presidents. Franklin Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882 in Hyde Park, New York. Franklin's father, James Roosevelt, married Sara Delano (Franklin's mother) in 1880 several years after his first wife had died. Sara had been only 26 at the time of the marriage while James had been 52. They had a happy marriage until James died in 1900. Franklin was treated as an only child when he was born because his half brother was an adult by then. His parents sheltered and spoiled young Franklin. His parents kept him in dresses and long curls until he was five years old. During the summers Franklin went with his parents to Europe, the seaside of New England, or to the Campobello Island off the Coast of New Brunswick. Since he spent many summers by the sea Franklin Roosevelt developed an interest in sailing. Franklin Roosevelt was home schooled by governesses and tutors until he was fourteen years old. He then attended Groton School in Massachusetts between 1896 and 1900. Franklin's academic record was average and he did not excel at sports either. Some of his class mates called him the "feather duster" because he seemed priggish but that was mostly due to the sheltered life he had led. Franklin then went on to attend Harvard until 1904. His academic record was again average but he finished his B.A. in three years. During his fourth year at Harvard he was editor of the college newspaper, Crimson. Franklin was never very motivated about school. Franklin soon became engaged to Eleanor Roosevelt, a fifth cousin who was once removed. They married on March 17, 1905 despite Sara Delano's objections. They had five children, one girl and four boys. All four of the boys would later serve as officers in World War II. They were all also decorated for bravery. Eleanor Roosevelt discovered in 1918 that Franklin was having an affair with her social secretary, Lucy Mercer.

Macbeth: The Struggle Against Evil Essay

Thesis Statement: In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the character Macbeth constantly battles against his evil nature. As the play progresses, Macbeth seems to have become a completely evil tyrant, but he never fully ends his struggle against evil. Introduction I. Macbeth: a noble and virtuous character II. Struggle with temptation and evil A. Witches B. Himself C. Lady Macbeth III. Murder of Duncan A. Before the murder B. Effects of the murder IV. Murder of Banquo V. Murder of Macduff’s family VI. Lasting nobility and signs of conscience Conclusion William Shakespeare’s primary source for Macbeth was Holinshed’s History of Scotland. The fictional character, Macbeth, is based mainly on the actual Macbeth who Holinshed writes about. This Scottish play is, â€Å"Shakespeare’s chief tragic gift to the world at large† (Jonson, Beaumont, Fletcher 279). Although it is his shortest play, it is often considered to be his best. In it he depicts the â€Å"corruption of a soul† in a way that both excites us, yet at the same time brings fear to us (Jonson, Beaumont, Fletcher 279). He is a character with whom, we are strangely able to identify, and whose destruction we cannot watch without feelings of fright and pity (Alden 276). It is a play, which becomes the personal tragedy of Macbeth, a noble character whose flaws cause his downfall. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the character Macbeth constantly battles against his evil nature. As the play progresses, Macbeth seems to have become a completely evil tyrant, but he never fully ends his struggle against evil. Initially, Macbeth is portrayed as a brave, noble, and loyal man. He is well known and praised by many, including Duncan, the King of Scotland, who praises him for his loyalty and successes in battle. Macbeth seems to be the quintessence of nobility. Walter Curry states, â€Å"He knows what it is to be actively loyal to king and country, to accept duty, to promote justice, amity, and piety† (112). Before meeting the witches, he seems to have a â€Å"definite disposition†, to be resolute in his choices, and free from ambiguity (Curry 104). According to Raymond Alden, â€Å"The principle point is that Macbeth is presented to us at the outset in a nobly attractive form and is actually, in some sense, a good man† (276). When he meets the witches, they help instill evil thoughts into his mind. They see, â€Å"what passions drive him and what dark desires await their fostering† (Curry 116). He struggles with these evil thoughts which are already rooted within him. His real temptation begins after hearing Johnson 2 the witches’ predictions saying that he will become king. Curry says that the witches’ prophecy, â€Å"arouses his passions and inflames his imagination to the extent that nothing is but what is not† (78). Realizing his flaws in character and that he wants the kingdom, they feed his strong sense of ambition and self-love. Curry explains that the witches, â€Å"symbolize a secret world of evil spirits that with satanic cunning lie in wait for human souls, conquering the unguarded heart and rejoicing in hurling their victim to the dust of misery and sin†(57). Their purpose is, â€Å"to stimulate Macbeth’s imagination to the point of grasping some underlying emotional, moral, or intellectual content† (Curry 55). Through their temptation, the witches are able to confuse and corrupt his judgement so that he is lead towards choosing the means to reach his desired goal, to become king. After the first appearance of the witches, Macbeth’s pride and ambition begin to overcome him. Evil thoughts of how he could obtain the crown run through his mind. He really begins to go through an internal struggle against evil. Curry says that he is too concerned not with, â€Å"attaining the ultimate good, but of flattering his inordinate love of self† (113). He is incapable of using correct judgement and making a reasonable decision. He knows that to become king, he will have to commit murder. He is very sensible and thinks about what the consequences of his actions would be. He still has a strong sense of conscience; although, his ambition is beginning to overtake him. Alden observes that Macbeth’s evil thoughts are, â€Å"in the making, instead of ready made; and they struggle against that sense of their vileness which we have already observed† (277). Duncan is a good and virtuous king; he is also Macbeth’s cousin. The power of his ambition is demonstrated when he says, â€Å"I have no spur / to prick the sides of Johnson 3 my intent but / vaulting ambition, which oerleaps itself / and falls on th’ other† (1.7.25-28). â€Å"Vaulting ambition† is his chief character flaw and his only reason to kill the king. Edward Dowden points out that, â€Å"Shakespeare does not believe in any sudden transformation of a noble and loyal soul into that of a traitor and murderer† (223). Macbeth’s conscience still bothers him, even though he knows what course of action he should take. After much contemplation, he resolves not to kill Duncan, but his decision doesn’t last long. Evil thoughts overcome him. Lady Macbeth is also seen as an evil with which he struggles against. She understands Macbeth very well and knows exactly how to manipulate him. She knows that he is a good man. This is demonstrated to us when she says, â€Å"Yet I do fear thy nature; / It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness / To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great, / Art not without ambition, but without / the illness should attend it† ( 1.5.16-20). She also knows that he will probably not go through with his plans without her pressuring and influencing him to go through with them. She decides that she must rid of anything that interferes with him becoming king. Macbeth tells her that he has decided not to kill the king and she becomes infuriated. She knows that he is a very proud man, so by questioning his manhood she is able to convince him to kill the king. According to Curry, â€Å"He dares do all that may become a man. And it is precisely this established foundation of his self-esteem that Lady Macbeth assaults. She charges him with unmasculine weakness and contemptible cowardice† (118). She is a very influential force upon him and holds much power. Macbeth succumbs to the temptation and evil of his wife. Even though he has given into the temptation and evil, he continues to have a strong sense of conscience and fears the evil act which he is soon going to commit. Johnson 4 Macbeth goes through a major struggle with his guilt and conscience when he commits his first murder, the murder of Duncan. Wilson Knight observes that, â€Å"He himself is hopelessly at a loss, and has little idea as to why he is going to murder Duncan† (121). Macbeth is nervous and feels very guilty about murdering him. He feels so guilty that he even becomes delusional and starts imagining things. His regretting conscience and struggle against evil is demonstrated to us when directly after murdering him, he hears voices saying, â€Å"Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor / Shall sleep no more: Macbeth shall sleep no more† (2.2.41-42). He is very remorseful and doesn’t want to think about the evil act which he has just committed. His remorse and conscience is shown after killing Duncan when he says, â€Å"This is a sorry sight† (2.2.20). He is very rattled and on edge because of his sins. Beginning after the first murder, there is a dramatic change in the Macbeth’s character. Curry says, â€Å"It is a profound alteration in the state of his personality, an astounding dislocation of the very center of being, which fixes itself immediately in a habit inclining to further crime† (104). After murdering Duncan, it’s as if the good in him begins to diminish. He starts to lose some of his conscience and begins transforming into an almost evil character. Curry quotes Thomas Aquinas in saying, â€Å"when man through one sinful act loses honor, charity, or shame, or anything else that withdraws him from evil, he thereby falls into another sin, the first being the accidental cause of the second† (119). He becomes less concerned with conscience, and more concerned with completing what he has already begun: â€Å"I am in blood stepped so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er† (3.5.37- ). He feels like it is too late for him to turn back now, and that he has nothing left to lose at this point. Johnson 5 It becomes easier for Macbeth to commit the second and third murders. A â€Å"train† of sins and crimes follow the first crime he commits (Curry 120). The second murder is the murder of Banquo. Banquo was one of his close colleagues but his, â€Å"wracking passions, frayed nerves, and inordinate apprehension of the imagination,† have led him to believe that Banquo’s knowledge Could be a possible threat to him (Curry 127). He built it up in his mind that Banquo was the main source of all his problems and a very significant threat to his kingdom. Thinking that doing evil will be easier if he does it quickly, he says, â€Å"The very firstlings of my heart shall be / The firstlings of my hand† (4.1.147-148). Taking this irrational course of action leads to the third murder that Macbeth commits, the murder of Macduff’s family. Macduff is one of the main people who oppose Macbeth and pose a major threat. Without any rational reason, and in a rage of anger, he surprises Macduff’s castle and kills everyone in his family. By this time it seems as if so many of his sins have built up, and that almost all of the goodness which he initially had has left him. He remains an almost completely evil tyrant. Although finally, it seems like there is no goodness and nobility remaining in him, there is. Macbeth never fully allows himself to become entirely evil. There are still lasting signs of conscience and virtue shown in his character. Curry explains, † Macbeth remains essentially human and his conscience continues to witness the diminution of his being. There is still left necessarily some natural good in him; sin cannot completely deprive him of his rational nature, which is the root of his inescapable inclination to virtue†(133). Even when Macbeth is about to die, he demonstrates nobility by not killing himself or giving up. He also did not want to kill Macduff because he felt guilty about spilling so much of his blood already. This shows his Johnson 6 lasting conscience and virtue. Thomas Aquinas is quoted as stating that, â€Å"no human being can become completely evil† (Curry 89). Initially, it is easy to see all of Macbeth’s good virtues, but later after he has committed all of his evil acts, it becomes very difficult. It’s almost as if the evil takes over and becomes second nature to him, but not quite. Doing the evil acts is always difficult for him, and through it all he is able to maintain his conscience and some virtues. He never becomes completely evil because of his conscience, which causes a great deal of mental suffering. The good in him is never fully destroyed, and we hold admiration for him even up to the time of his death: â€Å"Macbeth’s language is the grave utterance of the very heart, conscience-sick, even to the last faintings of moral death† (Jonson, Beaumont, Fletcher 230). Works Cited Alden, Raymond. Shakespeare. New York: Duffield, 1922. Curry, Walter C. Shakespeare’s Philosophical Patterns. Ann Arbor: LSU UP, 1959. Dowden, Edward. Shakespeare: A Critical Study of His Mind and Art. New York: Harper, 1880. Jonson, Ben, Beaumont, and Fletcher. Shakespeare. Liverpool: Howell, 1874. Knight, Wilson. The Wheel of Fire: Interpretations of Shakespearean Tragedy. New York: Meridian, 1957. Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Literature, Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes: The British Tradition. Ed. Ellen Bowler et al. Saddle River, New Jers4ey: Prentice, 1999. 272-361.

Sigificance Of The Apollo 11 Mission - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1773 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2019/08/15 Category Statistics Essay Level High school Tags: Apollo 11 Essay Did you like this example? Apollo 11On May 25, 1961, John F. Kennedy set the goal of landing the first men on the moon. This began project Apollo. The men who served on the project were brave, determined men. The project faced many obstacles including Apollo 1, where every soul was lost. But through all the challenges, mistakes were learned from, making the Apollo 11 mission successful. The men on Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, are examples of true American heroes; alongside the rest of the astronauts. Mission goals  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Apollo 11 was to be the first manned mission to the moon. This, however, was not their only objective. In addition, they would perform scientific exploration, transmit radio waves to earth, place seismic monitors, and collect lunar rock samples (Apollo 11 mission overview). Indeed this mission would not only be a great success, but it would also pave the way for future space travel and more moon landings. The Previous Missions  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Sigificance Of The Apollo 11 Mission" essay for you Create order Apollo 1 was supposed to be the first manned Apollo mission. However, on January 27, 1967, during a preflight test, a fire broke out in the command module. This killed the entire crew (Apollo Missions).   The cause of the casualties was later determined to be from a faulty door that trapped the crew.   Even though this was a tragic accident it possibly saved many future lives. After NASA found the problem, they were able to fix it so it wouldnt happen again.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Apollo 7 was a test of the command module and the service module (Apollo Missions). The crew launched from Kennedy Space Center on October 11, 1968, and they returned on October 22, 1968. The tests ran as planned, except for a few minor bumps. Shortly after takeoff, one of the crew members developed a cold, and the rest of the crew soon caught the cold. This caused some concern with wearing helmets during reentry because the pressure of sneezing might blow out their eardrums.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Apollo 8 was a test of the communication and path correction systems (Apollo Missions). Apollo 8s other objective was to orbit the moon. On the morning of December 21, 1968, Apollo 8 launched. On December 24,   Apollo 8 allowed the first humans to see the dark side of the moon. Then on December 27, Apollo 8 reentered the Earths Atmosphere and was picked up by the USS Yorktown.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Apollo 9 had the final test mission. Its task was to test the lunar lander. To do this, they would maneuver it in space and redock to the command module (Apollo Missions). On March 3, 1969, Apollo 9 launched from Kennedy Space Center.   Schweickart, the crews lunar module pilot, was supposed to have an   EVA, leave the spacecraft to test the external rescue techniques. This was canceled though due to nausea. This luckily was the only dilemma the crew faced on the mission.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Apollo 10 was the last mission before Apollo 11. On May 18, 1969, Apollo 10 launched. The goal was to fully simulate the Apollo 11 mission except for the actual landing (Apollo Missions). Instead of landing they started the decent, but before they touched down, they fired the return rockets and docked to the command module. Scary Moments  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     For Apollo 11, everything went smoothly until the actual landing came. As soon as the lunar lander separated from the command module the problems came. When the LM separated, communications immediately got fuzzy and at times went out. But that wasnt the only problem, during the decent an alarm went off.   The alarm was basically saying that the computer had too much to do, so it would shut down and restart. Back on the ground,   Houston was scrambling to figure the alarm out.   Houston said to go on, but this wasnt the last of their problems (Pyle).   As Armstrong and Aldrin got closer, they realized they had overshot the landing zone and the area around them was full of craters.   Realizing this, Armstrong leveled off and searched for a level place to land.   Armstrong located a level patch, but their fuel was running short. At about 100 ft off the ground,   Houston radioed that they had 60 seconds of fuel left, and abortion was considered.   At about 10 ft they were down to 30 seconds, but finally, the Eagle landed. Even though they had landed their troubles didnt stop. Houston detected a high amount of pressure in the left fuel line. It seemed as though the coldness of the   lunar landscape had seeped in and made an ice blockage (Pyle). As Houston considered what to do, the heat from the engine melted the ice and the problem was solved.   After 3 hours of post landing checks, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were ready to set foot on the moon. They started to depressurize the module.   When the pressure monitor read 0, they tried to open the door.   For some reason the door wouldnt open. The pressure in the cabin was still too much to open.   Aldrin resorted to peeling the door back. Finally they could leave, however as Armstrong was climbing out his backpack snapped off the engine arming switch.   This was fixed by Armstrong who used a ballpoint pen to flip the lever.Accomplishments  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Apollo 11 was obviously the first mission to land on the moon, but that wasnt all they did. While they were there, they collected soil and rock samples.   They also took color photos and planted the American flag. During the 2 ?   hours they were there, they conducted experiments too. These included experiments on the soil, the surface, and the solar winds (Apollo 11). The Astronauts  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Neil A. Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930. At the age of 2,   he developed a fascination with flying after his father took him to the national flying competition in Cincinnati. It grew even more after his first flight (Biographies of the Apollo 11 Astronauts).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   He received a scholarship from the Navy and enrolled at Purdue University. In 1950 he got called into active service, and he became an aviator flying missions off of the USS Essex. After the war, Neil became a test pilot and engineer for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, for 15 years.   Then in 1962, Neil became an astronaut during the second round of the NASA selection process. His first space flight was Gemini 8, the missions leading up to Apollo.   During the mission,   they were supposed to link up to the previous mission.   The link up went okay.   But after the two ships linked, they started to roll out of control. He saved the flight by unlinking and using the retro rockets to correct their course ( biographies of the Apollo 11 Astronauts).  Ã‚   Due to these incidents where he showed leadership, he was chosen to be the commander of Apollo 11 and the first man on the moon. After Neil landed back on Earth,   he was greeted with ticker tape parades a nd the Medal of Freedom, the highest award a civilian can receive.   After he left NASA,   he became a professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Cincinnati.   Then unfortunately on August 25, 2012, he died of complications from a cardiovascular bypass surgery.   Edwin (Buzz) E. Aldrin was born on January 20, 1930. He Attended the US Military Academy at West Point, and he entered the airforce. He was sent to Korea where he flew F-68s (biographies of the Apollo Astronauts).   Then during 1963,   he was selected in the third round pick to become an astronaut. His first mission was on Gemini 12, it was a four day and fifty-nine revolution flight.   He was a key member of the Gemini project because he helped to solve the problem of linking up in space.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Buzz Aldrin was the lunar lander pilot for the Apollo 11 flight. He was the second man on the moon.   Buzz stepped foot on the moons surface 20 minutes after Neil Armstrong. After he left NASA, he returned to the air force for one more year before retiring.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Michael Collins was born on October 30, 1930, in Rome, Italy. Prior to joining NASA, he was a test and fighter pilot at   Edwards Air Force Base, California. He was then selected during the third round of the NASA astronaut selection process.   He piloted the 10 Gemini mission, and he became the third American to perform a space walk (Biographies of the Apollo 11 Astronauts). On the Apollo 11 flight,   he was the command module pilot.   His role would be to remain with the command module in lunar orbit.   In 1970,   he left NASA and became Assistant Secretary of State of Public Affairs.   Later he joined the Smithsonian Institute as the Director of the Air and Space Museum (Biographies of the Apollo 11 Astronauts). Today he is an aerospace consultant and writer.   He has written several books about his experiences and space.   The Legacy  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In 2009, the National Air and Space Museum held a gala in honor of the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11. The speakers included every Apollo 11 astronaut (Redd).   Later when the astronauts offered autographs, the line stretched across the entire museum floor.   President George Bush announced that in honor of the 40th anniversary the U.S.A would go back to the moon; unfortunately we have not yet realized that promise.   Sadly 3 years later Neil Armstrong passed away. Now with the 50th anniversary, semicentennial, approaching in 2019, many special events will take place. The US Mint is preparing a special 50th anniversary coin to mark the occasion.   The National Air and Space Museum is redoing its moon exhibit in honor of this anniversary (Redd). In addition,   for the first time since 1971,   the Columbia Spacecraft, the triangular part that sat atop the command module, is going on tour with stops in Houston, St. Lewis, Pittsburgh, and Seattle. CONCLUSION This year, the remaining astronauts, Buzz and Michael, will turn 88. As astronauts age and pass away,   we must keep their memory and legacy alive. What they did, not only made America the leader in space, but united the world and connected nations. Today there is an International Space Station, where many countries live and work together.   What they did on the moon not only was a great accomplishment, but fulfilled dreams. They helped us find out more about who we are, our place in the universe.   They lead the way for millions who looked up to them and wanted to be just like them, inspiring many to shoot for their stars and be determined to reach their goals. Indeed they were just men and they didnt do it all on their own, but they were brave, determined,   and courageous. They didnt do it for the fame and rewards.  Ã‚   They had a dream and were gutsy enough to get in a rocket, launch themselves up into space, and land on the moon, with no guarantee of being able to mak e it back alive.   These astronauts were heroes who made this country and world proud.   The Apollo 11 mission was the crown jewel of the Space Race and will always be remembered throughout history.

Investigation On Lastminute Coms Ipo And Subsequent Performance Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 21 Words: 6155 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Cause and effect essay Did you like this example? The short-run underpricing and long-run underperformance of initial public offerings (IPOs) are the best documented anomalies in finance. This paper investigates if these anomalies exist in the aftermarket performance of the IPO of an internet-based company, Lastminute.com plc. Further analyses are then carried out to explain the performance results. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Investigation On Lastminute Coms Ipo And Subsequent Performance Finance Essay" essay for you Create order Evidence are presented that the companys IPO exhibits positive abnormal returns on the first day of trading. There are several theories of underpricing do not apply in explaining the short-run performance of the company. The long-run underperformance of IPO, which found in previous research, is not supported by the evidence of this study. The main problem of the long-run performance investigation is the difficulty of justifying systematic long-run underperformance in a reliable manner, especially during the bubble period. Numerous studies have documented two well-known anomalies in initial public offerings (IPOs). One is that the IPOs provide large positive abnormal returns in the initial days of trading (Ritter, 1987; Levis 1990). This anomaly has been observed in almost every finance markets of the world. The other puzzle is IPOs appear to be overpriced in the long run. For example, Ritter (1991) provides evidence that US IPOs significantly underperform in the 3 years following the offering. However, the international evidence on the long-run performance of IPOs are less extensive and unanimously conclusive than the one on underpricing. The purpose of this study is to investigate the short-run as well as the long-run performance of an internet-based company, Lastminute.com plc which floated before dot-com bubble burst by using the event study methodology on IPOs. Besides, this clinical study provides further analyses and possible explanations for the observed results of the analysed firm based on the theoretical models in academic literature. I use market adjusted abnormal returns (MAARs) to measure short-run performance and the intercept from Fama-French (1993) three-factor model, i.e. Jensens alpha ( to measure average monthly abnormal return for different periods in the long run. These returns are adjusted by different benchmarks. Moreover, buy-and-hold abnormal returns (BHARs) are computed as a complementary analysis for the results from the Fama-French three factor model. To summarize the empirical findings of this paper, first, the results provide evidence supporting the general robustness of the prior finding with regard to the short-run underpricing of the Lastminute.coms IPO. There is significant and abnormally high first day return for the studied firm regardless the selection of benchmark. The short-run performance appears to be best explained by the high speculation level over the issue. The Rock (1986) model, the signalling hypothesis and the underwriter prestigious hypothesis are not the appropriate elucidations for the abnormal initial return results. Second, unlike previous research, the interesting finding is an inverse relationship between the periods after the firm floated and its poor post-IPO performance. The results from Fama-French three-factor model are not consistent with the initial prediction based on the academic literature. I find that Lastminute.com outperforms the market indices in the long run in spite of the signs of underperformance in the first year of trading. Results also show that the company performs better than other technology companies when the period tested is longer than 1 year. These results, nevertheless, are all statistically insignificant and therefore it concludes that the company of interest does not exhibit abnormal performance in the long run. Furthermore, the earnings management analysis does not indicate that there are accounting manipulations in the firm prior to the flotation. The dot-com bubble period, 1999-2000 period is extraordinary for the simple fact that both valuations and underpricing of firms simultaneously skyrocketed. It is important to note that Ljungvist and Wilhelm Jr. (2002) provide some evidence for the unique firm characteristics and aberrant pricing behaviour during the period. This paper, however, does not intend to examine the effect of the bubble on asset pricing and investor behaviour. I leave this for other researchers. The rest of my paper is arranged as follows. Section 2 provides the background for the studied firm. Section 3 reviews the IPO academic literature on short-run underpricing and long-run underperformance. Section 4 describes the data, methodology and hypothesis used in the investigation. Section 5 set out the short-run results and analysis. Section 6 set out the long-run results and analysis. Section 7 discusses the limitations and possible future research for the paper. Section 8 concludes the paper. 2. Background of the clinical study The company under investigation, Lastminute.com plc is an online travel agency and e-tailer which specialises in selling inventory such as package holidays, flights and consumer products at cut-rate prices to website customers. It was founded by Martha Lane Fox and Brent Hoberman in 1998. The site became an instant hit with internet travelers, garnering enough business and rapid growth to allow the company to offer stock on the London Stock Exchange in March 2000. The purpose of the offering, according to its prospectus, was to raise approximately 113.5 million. Half of the amount would be used to increase sales and marketing activities, and the remaining for product development and expansion such as broadening supplier base, potential acquisition in UK and internationally. In addition, the company acknowledged in the prospectus that it was not profitable and expected to incur future losses. The major risk factors were reliance on third parties, intense competition and e-commerce uncertainties. Lane Fox and Hoberman became the icon of UK internet business entrepreneurs during the British dot-com boom. The company timed its launch to perfection and floated at the peak of the internet bubble. The issues received high interest of public and the share price spiralled as high as 555p from the offer price 380p on the first day of trading. Following the bubble burst, subsequently, Lastminute.coms stock sank and lost nearly half of its value within three weeks. Lastminute.com, however, unlike hundreds of other first-wave internet companies, it survived the bubble burst and stock market clash in 2001. Moreover, it continues to thrive and grow through expansion and shows reducing loss in its financial accounts. Lastminute.com is still considered as one of the few successful internet-based businesses in the relatively unstable world of internet. 3. Literature review 3.1. Empirical evidence and theories of short-run IPO underpricing A number of studies indicate the mispricing of IPOs which tend to yield substantial returns in the days immediately following issue. Stoll and Curley (1970) are the avant-garde to show the systematic abnormal first-day returns of IPOs. Substantial international evidence show that IPO underpricing has become a worldwide phenomenon. For British IPOs, the studies of Dimson (1979), Buckland, Herbert and Yeomans (1981), the Bank of England (1990), Jenkinson and Mayer (1988) and Levis (1993) exhibit average first day returns ranging from 8.6% to 17%. Ritter (1987), Welch (1989), Ibbotson, Sindelar and Ritter (1994) and Rajan and Servaes (1997) provide evidence suggesting that the existence of average initial returns of up to 16% has been a regular feature of the US new issue market. Lee, Taylor and Walter (1994), Jacquillat (1986), Kaneko and Pettway (1994) and Ljungqvist (1997) among others provide evidence of abnormal returns of up to 14% in the developed markets of the world such as Aus tralia, France, Japan and Germany. The literature abounds with a variety of conjectures that purport to explain the observed underpricing in IPOs based on the economic realities in the marketplace. Rock (1986) model provide a fundamental and convincing explanation for IPO performance by applying winners curse hypothesis to the new issue market. The model classifies investors as either informed or uninformed. The former are those who spend to assess the potential performance of the new issue, whereas the latter do not spend resources on the evaluation of the stock. Informed investors tend to crowd out uninformed investors for the underpriced and possibly lucrative issues. Consequently, uninformed investors hold a disproportionately large amount of overpriced IPOs, as informed investors may not subscribe. Uninformed investors would leave the market as they would systematically make losses. In order to keep the uninformed investors in the IPO market and to compensate their expected losses, the investment bankers have to offer the securities at discounts from their expected after-market prices. The studies by Koh and Walter (1989), Keloharju (1993), and Levis (1990) produce results that are consistent with and thus add further weight to the Rock model. Some theories propose the underpricing as a signalling mechanism of the firm quality. Allen and Faulhaber (1989) conclude that IPO underpricing is a credible indication of a firms post issue prospects. It is assumed that the underpricing in the firms initial offering is an immediate loss to the initial owners and companies with favourable position and performance in the after-market will be able to recoup the loss. These good companies underprice their IPO, because by doing so they direct investors to a favourable subsequent dividend results. Nevertheless, the assumption that company directors are willing to accept the initial loss on the IPO and renounce larger potential funding is doubtful in practical realities of market. Ritter (1984) suggested that gross underpricing may be a result of the monopsony power of the investment bankers in underwriting common stocks of small speculative firms. These investment bankers intentionally underprice the securities and only are allocated to favoured large customers who regularly buy a variety of investment services from the investment bank and thus pay unusually high brokerage fees. Tinic (1988), however, found evidence that the monopsony power hypothesis is not adequate for explaining underpricing behaviour. Johnson and Miller (1988) advance another explanation for underpricing. They analyse the prestige of underwriters and the level of underpricing. The finding is that the greater the underwriter prestige, the lower the degree of underpricing and it also works in the opposite way. This suggests the more prestigious banks require less underpricing to attract investor interest because they deal with lower risk issues. Beatty and Welch (1996) challenge the underwriter prestige hypothesis and show the inverse relation recently reversed for small firms. Muscarella and Vetsuypens (1989) find that investment banks themselves that go public are underpriced as well. The speculative bubble hypothesis claims that large excess returns of the IPOs are attributed to the investors who could not get allocations of the oversubscribed new issues from the underwriters at the offering prices. The speculative appetites of these investors then speculate temporarily inflating the price of the new issues in the aftermarket. When speculative demand diminishes, this speculative bubble should burst and negative excess returns are expected on the post-IPO share. Tests on aftermarket returns by Ritter (1984) and Tinic (1988) could find no evidence supportive of this hypothesis. Tinic (1988) and Hughes and Thakor (1992) argue that IPO underpricing used as a form of insurance to reduce legal liability by both issuers and underwriters. This theory implies that a greater degree of underpricing occur to prevent investors experiencing significant losses on IPOs, as a result they are willing to neglect small errors such as omission of data, inadequate nature of data supplied for the disclosure requirement and thus not led to legal actions. However, Drake and Vetsuypens (1993) criticize and reject this hypothesis by showing evidence that underpriced IPOs are just as likely to be sued as overpriced IPOs and that there is no significant difference in underpricing between sued and non-sued firms. 3.2 Empirical evidence and theories of long-run underperformance The long-run underperformance of IPOs is a well-known perplexity in IPO literature and has attracted much attention from either investors or academic researchers in recent years. From an investors viewpoint, the existence of price patterns may present opportunities for superior returns using active trading strategies. A finding of non-zero market performance would also call into question the informational efficiency of the IPO market which proposes after-market stock price should appropriately reflect the shares intrinsic value. Several authors have examined the returns on IPOs during the three years after going public for a number of countries. The international evidence of long-run underperformance is summarized in Table 1. Table 1 International Evidence on Long-run IPO Overpricing Country Reference Sample size Time period Total abnormal return Australia Lee, Taylor Walter (1996) 266 1976-89 -46.5% Austria Aussenegg (1997) 57 1965-93 -27.3% Brazil Aggarwal, Leal Hernandez (1993) 62 1980-90 -47.0% Canada Jog and Srivistava (1994) 216 1972-93 -17.9% Chile Aggarwal, Leal Hernandez (1993) 28 1982-90 -23.7% Finland Keloharju (1993) 79 1984-89 -21.1% Germany Ljungqvist (1997) 145 1970-90 -12.1% Japan Cai Wei (1997) 172 1971-90 -27.0% Korea Kim, Krinsky Lee (1992) 99 1985-88 +2.0% Singapore Hin Mahmood (1993) 45 1976-84 -9.2% Sweden Loughran, Ritter Rydqvist (1994) 162 1980-90 +1.2% United Kingdom Levis (1993) 712 1980-88 -8.1% United States Loughran Ritter (1995) 4,753 1970-90 -20.0% Sources: Ritter (1998) and various studies cited Notes: Total abnormal returns are measured as , where is the average total return (where a 50% return is measured as 0.5) on the IPOs from the market price shortly after trading commences until the earlier of the delisting date or 3 years; is the average of either the market return or matching-firm returns over the same interval. Theoretical explanations for the long-run underperformance of IPOs are less plenteous compared with IPO underpricing. Miller (1977) provides behavioural and expectation based explanation for the underperformance of new issues. He advances the divergence of opinion hypothesis and suggests that investors who are most optimistic about an IPO will be the buyers. If there is great uncertainty about the value of an IPO, the valuations of optimistic investors will be much higher than those of pessimistic investors. Over time, as the variance of opinions decreases, investors amend their initial share valuations downwards and the price will fall. In tune with this theory, Rajan Servaes (1997) shows that investors gain from initial underpricing suffer poor aftermarket performance. The difficulty of measuring the divergence of opinion, however, resulted in a number of criticisms of this theory. Jain and Kini (1994) provide explanation for the poor long-run performance using the agency costs hypothesis. They investigate the relation between the ownership structure and the long-run performance of IPO and conclude that new issues with greater equity retention by the original shareholders yield better long-run performance. Mikkelson, Partch and Shah (1997), however, show that post-IPO operating performance is not related to the ownership structure. Despite their opposing results, both studies demonstrate that long-run return performance is accompanied by poor financial accounting performance after IPO relative to pre-IPO performance. Teoh, Welch, and Wong (1998) document that IPOs underperformance is attributable to the unusually high discretionary accounting accruals in the IPO-year. They suggest that firms manage their earnings to look good when they conduct their IPO. However, firms find it hard to maintain such accounting manipulations for long periods because accruals reversed over the long run because sum of earnings must equal the sum of cash flows in the long term. Consequently, any higher-than-normal accruals in one period must be reversed. When pre-issue earnings levels not maintained in post- issue periods, the market revises its valuation down and cause a decline in post-issue returns. Risk-measurement hypothesis explains that underperformance caused by the failure to adjust returns for time-varying systematic risk. One of the problems is the choice of benchmark. Dimson and Marsh (1986), Ritter (1991), and Fama and French (1996) and others demonstrated that the measurement of the long-run performance of the IPOs is sensitive to the benchmark employed. These imply that imperfect benchmarking affect the possibility of long-run returns. Brav (1997), Barber and Lyon (1997) and Kothari and Warner (1997) point out that statistical inference conducted using traditional testing methods, such as t-tests is mis-specified. This is a problem for long horizon event studies. Brav (2000) attributes the misspecification to the potentially important violations of the underlying statistical assumptions.[1]A statistical approach to solve this problem is calendar time approach which has been advocated by Fama (1998) and other researchers. Meanwhile, Barber and Lyon (1997) and Brav (2000) and others support the characteristic-based matching approach and address this measurement bias by using size/book-to-market value matched portfolio as their benchmarks. 4. Data, methodology and hypothesis development 4.1 Data The main source of data for the study is the Datastream service. I obtain total return index for calculating the daily returns and month returns of the analysed company in this clinical study, the FTSE All-Share Index, and the FTSE techMARK All-Share Index from this database. Thomson ONE Banker is used to get the lists of historical constituents of FTSE All-Share Index and their respective market value. Besides, annual reports and prospectus of the company under consideration are also obtained from here. Information, news and press reports about the analysed company are generally retrieved from Factiva website. I also analyse the information such as the offer price, the underwriter and the amount raised on the issues from the London Stock Exchange statistical fact sheets.[2]Monthly Fama-French factors data in UK by Gregory, Tharyan and Huang (2009) are used to carry out the analysis of performance. 4.2. Selection of benchmarks There are some benchmarks selected to adjust the returns in tests. The main market index used is the FTSE All-Share Index, which should best represent the performance of London Stock Exchange market and it is used in many UK IPO studies. Furthermore, the FTSE techMARK All-share Index is chosen as the second market index to represent the performance of innovative and technology companies which are similar to the studied company.[3] A reference portfolio matched by size is chosen as the additional benchmark and it is selected from the main market. The reference portfolio selected from the FTSE techMark was attempted but abandoned due to the unavailability of data before April 2001. A matched stock will not be chosen because there is likely to be a large error in any one application (the variation of actual returns around expected returns is typically very large) and therefore it is not appropriate in this clinical study (Strong 1992). I obtain the constituent list of FTSE All-Share Index on the day of the IPO occurred and reconstruct the index by excluding those firms which delisted before the trading day exactly one year from the IPO. Moreover, I exclude the company of interest from the index. (reason?) As in Fama and French (1993), the June market value of common equity (shares outstanding multiplied by June closing price) is measured as the firm size in each year. Size rankings based on market value of equity in year t are then used from year t through year t + 1. Companies without the market capitalization data in June of year t are deleted from the analysis.[4]The companies are then ranked based on their June market capitalization and 10 deciles of equal number of companies are created. In other words, tenth of those companies in the index with lowest market capitalisation are categorised into first decile, the second decile is the next tenth of companies with lowest market capitalization and so forth. The decile portfolio to which studied company would have belonged based on its size in June of the year is selected as its size reference portfolio. This size reference portfolio is changed every year using the same method; i.e. a new reference portfolio is reselected at the trading day exactly one year from the IPO based on the June market value of equity of the year. The monthly return of the size reference portfolio is calculated by averaging the monthly returns across all securities in a particular size decile. The calculation of the size-benchmark return is equivalent to a strategy of investing in an equally weighted size decile portfolio with monthly rebalancing. (Barber and Lyon 1997) 4.3. Short-run performance measurement The initial post-IPO abnormal returns will be calculated as in Khurshed and Mudambi (1999). Firstly, the daily returns of analysed companys stock () and of its benchmarks () are calculated based on their daily total return index (RI) as: ; Where and are the total return index of companys stock and of its benchmarks on the tth day of trading, and are the total return index of companys stock and of its benchmarks on the t 1th day of trading respectively. Using these two returns, the market adjusted abnormal return for the IPO on tth day of trading is computed as: The measure of MAAR does not take into account of the systematic risk associated with the issue. It assumes the systematic risk of the IPO under consideration is the same as that of the benchmark, i.e. beta of the IPO average to unity. Therefore, if the beta of the new listed firm is not equal to one, MAAR is a upward-biased estimate of the IPOs initial performance. However, Khurshed and Mudambi (1999) state that the assumption is unlikely to affect the essence of the results. 4.4. Long-run performance measurement The monthly returns of analysed company and its benchmarks are computed in an analogous manner stated, based on monthly total return index. Cross-dependence problem, as mentioned in Section 3 is considered before the long-run test is carried out. The Fama-French three factor model that will be employed, is a Jensen-alpha approach which is immune to the bias because of the use of calendar-time portfolios. 4.4.1. The Fama-French three factor model The long-run event study tests will be carried out with the use of three-factor model developed by Fama and French (1993). The model is applied by regressing the post-event monthly excess returns for the company of interest on a market factor, a size factor, and a book-to-market factor: Where is the monthly return on the stock of IPO firm, is the one month return on UK Treasury Bills, is the return on the value weighted market index.[5]is the return on a value-weighted portfolio of small stocks less the return on a value-weighted portfolio of big stocks, is the return on a value-weighted portfolio of high book-to-market stocks less the return on a value-weighted portfolio of low book-to-market stocks.[6] Parameter estimates of , , , are obtained using regression analysis, represents the error term in the regression. The parameter of interest is the intercept, (Jensens alpha) which signifies the average monthly abnormal return of the firm over the period. In other words, a positive intercept indicates that the firm has performed better than expected after controlling for market, size and book-to-market factors. Inferences about the abnormal performance are on the basis of the estimated and its statistical significance. 4.4.2. Buy-and-hold abnormal returns (BHARs) Despite the succinctness and the popularity in event studies, Fama-French three factor model is not without weakness. First, Ritter and Welch (2002) point out that the Fama-French three factors are contaminated especially in periods of high IPO issuing, which is the period of this clinical studies. Second, the regression approach assumes that a firms market, size and book-to-market characteristics are stable over time. In contrary, matching portfolio approach allows a firms portfolio assignment to be changed once every year. The method of buy-and-hold abnormal returns in Barber and Lyon (1997) will be adopted as a complementary analysis of the abnormal performance of the company of interest. The return is calculated as the difference between the return on a buy-and-hold investment in the firm under consideration and the return on a buy-and-hold investment in the benchmark with an appropriate expected return: The BHAR approach is more corresponding to the regular investor behaviour. It represents the return of investing in the company under analysis compared to the benchmark stated. Nonetheless, when this approach is used in clinical studies, i.e. a single analysed company only, the statistical significance cannot be tested because the underlying distribution is not clear. Ergo, the results will only be interpreted without statistical test. 4.4.3. Earnings Management Analysis The earning management analysis will be computed as in Toniato (2007) to investigate the earnings management of the company of interest prior to and after the year of IPO. The total accruals for a firm in year t ( comprise of non-discretionary and discretionary portions, it can be derived using the formula: The expectations model for total accruals to control for changes in the economic circumstances of the firm is: Where = change in revenue from year t-1 to year t; = gross property plant and equipment in year t for firm; = total assets in year t-1 for firm; and = residual term in year t for firm. The level of accruals in year t is calculated using the ordinary least squares (OLS) estimates from the regression above as: Knowing that , the prediction error from the OLS regression denotes the level of discretionary accruals for the company. It also represents the proxy for the level of earning management of the company in certain period. 4.5. Hypothesis development There are 2 hypotheses to be tested for the performance of company in relation to the IPO anomalies. First, based on the evidence in section 3 that IPOs are on average underpriced, and the dot.com bubble exacerbates the effect, I test whether the studied companys IPO is underpriced and it performs significantly better than the benchmarks on the first day of issue. The null Hypothesis 1 states that the MAAR of the IPO company is equal or below zero on the 1st day of trading. Second, consider that some business news report that the studied company is a relatively successful internet business, but numerous international evidence demonstrate the long-run underperformance of IPOs, I will study whether the company under analysis over perform or underperform the market within the period of first, second and three years of trading. In other words, I test if there are significant abnormal returns generated over or below those captured by the three factors. The null Hypothesis 2 posits that there is no abnormal performance and the intercept (average monthly abnormal return) is zero. In addition, I expect that the BHAR will be directly related to the results in Fama-French model. However, this method does not allow for a suitable statistical test in clinical study. Therefore, it is merely a supplementary result for the analysis of long-run performance. 4.6. Test statistics To test the null hypothesis that the 1st day MAAR of the IPO firm is equal to zero, I employ the Patell Standardised Residual (PSR) Test by Patell (1976). The parameters are estimated from the observations outside the testing period, i.e. estimation period (EP).[7]The abnormal returns are prediction errors rather than true residuals and should be standardised. A Student t-statistic is calculated using the following formula: Where is an estimate of the variance of the residuals during the EP; reflects the increase in variance due to prediction outside the EP; T = the number of observations in the EP; and The test statistics used in the regression analysis in Fama-French three factor model is based on the time-series variability of the portfolio return residuals and this is obtained from the output of regression test. 5. Short-run results The results of short-run analysis, using measure of 1st day MAAR against different benchmarks are presented in Table 2. Table 2 Short-run performance results Benchmark selection FTSE All-Share Index FTSE techMARK All-Share Index Size Refrence Portfolio (%) 28.00 (4.30)* 28.48 (4.38)* 28.17 (4.33)* t-statistics are presented in parentheses. * Significant at 1%, using a one-tailed test The analysed IPO company, Lastminute.com produces return of about 28% adjusted by all benchmarks in the first trading day. These results are significant at the 1% confidence level. The firm outperforms FTSE techMark All-Share Index slightly higher than the size reference portfolio and FTSE All-Share Index. Overall, the numerical agreements among the 3 sets of results are close and thus the use of different benchmarks does not lead to significant differences in the returns. I conclude that Lastminute.com IPO exhibits positive significant abnormal return on the first day of trading and the return is robust to the choice of benchmarks 5.1 Analysis and discussions for short-run results The results verify the firms IPO underpricing and null Hypothesis 1 is rejected. This implies that Lastminute.com generates substantial returns to its new issue buyer on the first day of listing. Furthermore, we can get different perceptions of the results based on the theoretical models. This single firm example, however, exhibits a quite contradictory result to the Rock (1986) model. As stated in its own prospectus, Lastminute.com has limited operational history and it is difficult for investors to evaluate its business and future prospect.[8]Hence, it is less possible for an informed investor relatively to acquire more information than an uninformed investor. In the absence of the information differential between investors, the firm should have shown a less impressive initial over-performance. The signalling theory provides a mixed support in this study. The firm which experienced underpricing in its new issues, had poor financial and share price performance afterwards. It made millions of losses in following years and its share has never regained the first day high in London Stock Exchange market. Nonetheless, Lastminute.com managed to survive the internet bubble burst and global downturn in the tourism market in 2001 due to the terrorist attack. The company is indeed a successful internet business in the post-bubble period. The Lastminute.com new issues underwriter, Morgan Stanley, is an investment bank which has occupied a leading role in high-quality securities underwriting in the years since the Securities Act of 1933 and garners the highest Carter-Manaster rank of nine.[9]It was expected that a less significant initial return results to be yielded when a top prestigious investment banker would not underprice IPO too much. The high underpricing observed is therefore, inconsistent with the underwriter prestigious hypothesis. The results of underpricing, seems like to be more associated with the level of speculation over the issue in internet bubble period. The interesting finding is the underwriter prestigious hypothesis and the Rock (1986) model work reversely in my studied company. Significant pricing exists even the underwriter is considerably prestigious. The firm with less operational history and therefore less informational differential between informed and uninformed investors generates impressively substantial underpricing instead. It could be best explained by the uncertainty and high level of speculations inflate the share price of the IPO firm. 6. Long-run results Table 3 reports the results of the Fama-French (1993) three-factor time-series regressions. It shows the average monthly abnormal returns of Lastminute.com in 1, 2 and 3 years following its issue. Table 3 Fama-French (1993) Three-factor Time-series Regressions Market Index 1: FTSE All-Share Index 12 months observations -0.09 (-0.81) 3.44 (1.35) 3.49 (1.07) 0.92 (0.40) 0.15 24 months observations -0.01 (-0.15) 2.80 (1.64)** 3.19 (1.77)** 0.20 (0.14) 0.33 36 months observations 0.04 (0.82) 1.20 (1.39) 2.67 (2.16)* -0.87 (-0.90) 0.26 Market Index 2: FTSE techMARK All-Share Index 12 months observations -0.12 (-1.12) 2.95 (1.96)** 4.90 (1.57)** 3.00 (1.17) 0.30 24 months observations 0.004 (0.05) 1.17 (1.25) 3.78 (2.11)* 0.15 (0.11) 0.30 36 months observations 0.05 (0.85) 0.59 (0.99) 2.82 (2.26)* -0.86 (-0.87) 0.24 t-statistics are presented in parentheses. * Significant at 5%, using two-tailed test ** Significant at 10%, using two-tailed test Notes: The 12 months testing period is from April 2000 to March 2001; the 24 months testing period is from April 2000 to March 2002 and the 36 months testing period is from April 2000 to March 2003, using 12, 24 and 36 observations respectively. The intercepts reported in Table 2 are measures of abnormal performance. An intercept of 12 months observations, -0.09 is minus 9 basis points per month, or about -1.11% per year. This implies that Lastminute.coms underperform both All-Share Index and techMark Index about -1.11% and -1.41% respectively in the 12-months period. The company continue to show underperformance nearly at 0.27% against main market index but outperform other technology companies about 0.10% in the first 24-months of trading. Although evidence mentioned in section 3.2 show that IPOs are generally underpriced in the long-run period, an interesting finding is that when the longer period is considered, i.e. 36 months after IPO, the company performs better than both indices from 1.52% to 1.66%. Based on the t-statistics, however, all of the average monthly abnormal returns are not statistically significant. The abnormal returns are well adjusted and captured by those 3 factors, and a statistically significant SMB beta is observed for 12 and 24-months period. Hence, it is not appropriate to say that Lastminute.com shows significant underperformance or outperforms over the market in the long run. The adjusted R-squared for all regressions which are ranging from 15 to 30% also infer tolerably high explanatory power of these tests. Table 4 shows the abnormal return results computed by BHAR approach as complementary information to the Lastminute.com long-run performance results, Table 4 Buy-and-hold Abnormal Returns Benchmark Selection FTSE All-Share Index FTSE techMARK All-Share Index Size Reference Portfolio 12-month BHAR (%) -76.74 -47.37 -92.35 24-month BHAR (%) -71.03 -24.82 -31.75 36-month BHAR (%) -37.85 0.04 -12.28 In the absence of factor adjustments, the Lastminute.coms BHARs represent greater abnormal performance. All results underperformed 2 indices and its size reference portfolio except there is over-performance against techMark Index in 36-months period. The general trend observed is the companys performance against all benchmarks are improving as time goes on, this is consistent with the finding from Fama-French (1993) three-factor model. These results, however, cannot be analysed statistically. Besides, this measure ignores the risk of investment. 6.1. Analysis and discussions for long-run results The reverse results showed in the longer period of trading generally object the prediction of long-run underperformance albeit I obtain evidence of underperformance in the first year of trading. Nonetheless, the statistical significance of these results are inadequate to make the rejection of the null Hypothesis 2 that no underperformance or over-performance exist in the company under analysis in the long-run period. The divergence of opinion hypothesis by Miller (1977) does not offer explanation in this clinical study. Given no prior trading history and limited financial information, investors tend to hold different beliefs in the IPO value of firm with limited operational history like Lastminute.com and therefore the divergence of opinions is large. As time goes on, the company does not demonstrate larger underperformance. Earnings management analysis results summarize in Table 5 provide an opposing result to the accounting manipulation explanations by Teoh, Welch and Wong (1998). Lastminute.com exhibits positive discretionary accruals (DAs) in the IPO year but continue to present three years of positive DAs after that. The accounting accruals in the company do not reverse themselves in later periods as expected. Table 5 Earnings management analysis results Yearly Discretionary Accruals 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 -0.19 (-0.25) -0.15 (-0.10) -1.82 (-3.69) 0.89 -1.29 0.38 0.38 0.27 0.27 Discretionary accruals are computed as the ordinary least square (OLS) regression residuals, t-statistics are presented in parentheses. 7. Limitations and further research This study attempts to investigate and provide explanations for the observed results in the analysed company based on the theoretical models. Nonetheless, these explanations do not carry statistical significance. The signalling test proposed by Allen Faulhaber (1989) was considered but foregone due to the time and resources constraints. The test requires a sample of all companies that have floated in the London Stock Exchange market and the SEO issues for each company. Besides, the inaccessibility of issuer allocation process makes the winners curse test by Rock (1986) becomes impractical. The Fama-French three-factor model (1993) which employed to test the long-run performance of the company of interest has its limitation. The portfolio factor loadings, which are assumed constant, are likely to vary through time. Ritter and Welch (2002) point out that the asset-pricing literature itself has failed to provide an accepted model of risk-adjusted performance against which one can measure post-IPO performance, it still remains unclear how abnormal post-IPO performance is. They also point out that this model can produce very odd results for internet bubble burst period.[10] The BHARs and characteristic-matched portfolio approaches have been attempted in this study. The statistical test, however, cannot be carried out on BHAR results because there is only one analysed company. Thus, future research could be expanded to a large sample of IPO firms and separating them into technology and non-technology companies to investigate if the same performance behaviour applies to other technology companies and make comparisons of different sectors. The aberrant pricing and trading behaviour in the internet bubble has made it clear that even if there is systematic long-run underperformance, it is difficult or impossible to justify it in a reliable manner (Ritter and Welch, 2002). Still, further work is needed to tell us the appropriate way to assess the post-IPO performance of companies around that period, both in the United Kingdom and in other countries. 8. Summary and conclusions This paper empirically investigates and analyses the Lastminute.coms IPO in year 2000 from both short-run and long-run perspectives. It involves the examination of short-run and long-run performance of the company and the analysis of the theoretical models in academic literature to explain the performance behaviour. The results obtained confirm the IPO underpricing in Lastminute.com. Its initial return of the first trading day is ranging from 28% to 28.48% and exceeds all of the benchmarks selected. The high initial prices on the first day of listing may be due to the speculative bubble by investors which inflate the price of the internet company stocks. However, several other theories of IPO underpricing do not imply a prediction that fits into the companys short-run performance. The long-run performance results provide evidence that Lastminute.com does not perform as the international evidence on the long-run performance of IPOs indicate. Even though statistical insignificant results are found that the company performs better than market when longer period is considered, Lastminute.com does not underperform nor outperform the market in the long run. In addition, there is no evidence shows that the company manipulate earnings prior to IPO. The findings provide argument to the market efficiency hypothesis which is unlikely to explain the first-day returns of 28 percent. These results also challenge some theories which are widely accepted to explain IPO underpricing. Besides, share allocation has an impact on IPO underpricing and the lack of micro-level data on share allocation has limited the research field in finance. Long-run performance is the most controversial area of IPO research. The main caveat is that it is hard to exploit systematic long-run underperformance reliably in the bubble period. The results obtained from this study can provide important for the prospective investors in new issues of technology companies. This study, however, also suggests that long-term investors should always be cautious to analyse IPO firms.

The Relationship Between Love And Hate In Othello Essay

The Relationship Between Love and Hate in Othello A.C. Bradley describes Othello as by far the most romantic figure among Shakespeares heroes(Shakespearean Tragedy, 1). This is an unusual description of a man who murders his own wife. However, Othellos feelings of hate for Desdemona started as an overwhelming love for her when their relationship began. This transformation from love to hate also inflicted the characters Iago and Roderigo and like Othello their hatred resulted in the murder of innocent people. Roderigos love for Desdemona was transformed into hate towards any man that he thought was loved by her. Iagos love for his job and his wife, Emilia changed into a destructive hatred of Cassio and Othello. As a result of†¦show more content†¦Roderigo pays Iago for this false hope that he will be with Desdemona (1162). When he believes he is getting closer to being with her, however, Iago tells him that it might not happen because Desdemona is in love with Cassio (1169-70). Roderigo is greatly angered by this and resolves to do what it takes to stop Cassio from getting Desdemona even if it means taking his life. His attempt to kill Cassio, however, is unsuccessful, and instead he is the one injured (1175). Roderigo is no longer consumed with thoughts of being with Desdemona. Instead he is consumed with feelings of hatred toward those who might have her love and attention. Othello had a deep love for Desdemona in the beginning of the play. In Act II Scene I he tells her, It gives me wonder great as my content to see you here before me. O my souls joy! and If it were now to die, ‘Twere now to be most happy (Shakespeare 1168-69). Othello implies that his life was in chaos before he met Desdemona (1186). Othello, however, is also very insecure of Desdemonas love for him (Mabillard 1). He doesnt understand why she would go against her father and her society by marrying a man that is black (1). The only reason that he can come up with is that she married him for his courageous journeys (1). In Act I scene iii he explains to the Duke, She lovd me for the dangers I had passd (Shakespeare 1157). In Act III scene ii he tries to put his doubts to restShow MoreRelatedEssay on Jealousy in Shakespeares Othello649 Words   |  3 PagesJealousy in Othello The tragedy of Othello is the story of jealousy. It is Othellos public insecurity that makes him jealous of Cassio and allows him to believe that Cassio has slept with Desdemona. Also, it is Iagos jealousy of Othello that drives him to destroy both Othello and Desdemona. What is fascinating about Shakespeares Othello is the way in which jealousy between the major characters is sexualized. Perhaps what makes Othello so disturbing is how quickly this sexualized jealousyRead MoreSedgwick s Homosocial Continuum Of William Shakespeare s Othello849 Words   |  4 PagesShakespeare’s Othello Where does it end? Where did it begin? On a continuum, it is impossible to distinguish. Eve Sedgwick coined the idea of the â€Å"Homosocial continuum.† Her argument involves gender, class, and hierarchical relationships. In William Shakespeare’s, Othello, many character pairings can be analyzed in relation to Sedgwick’s theories. The relationships that most interestingly relate to the homosocial continuum are Desdemona and Emilia, Iago and Roderigo, and Iago and Othello. FirstRead MoreEssay on Conflict in Othello877 Words   |  4 PagesOthello is a play which contains many conflicts between the characters. The main conflicts in ‘Othello’ are between friends and foes. Othello’s inner conflict, cultural and racial differences which lead to racial judgement and discrimination, to express these conflicts; Shakespeare uses many techniques such as soliloquies, dramatic irony, imagery foreshadowing and symbolism. Amongst the main characters there are many conflicts, however the main reason for most of the conflict if Iago and ShakespeareRead MoreOthello : Vulnerability Destroys Virtues Of A Great Leader1601 Words   |  7 PagesOthello: Vulnerability Destroys Virtues Of A Great Leader Thesis: Even though Othello considers to be vulnerable is a weakness, his temperance and prudence should never come in conflict with his leadership principles because Iago despises Othello and manipulates him therefore, Othello becomes vulnerable resulting in his death. 1. Othello believes that being vulnerable is a sign of weakness. A. Othello will not expunge himself from his race and ethnicity, for he knows glorifying his heritageRead MoreThemes Of William Shakespeare s Othello956 Words   |  4 Pagesinclude jealousy, love, disloyalty, and hate. By including such motifs within a writing piece, these topics will become more prominent over others in the story and will act to greatly affect the plot and highlight a possible theme. William Shakespeare uses motifs in order to receive this outcome in his drama Othello. In Shakespeare’s drama, motifs such as jealousy, revenge, and ignorance both drive the plot of the story and lead to the utter demise of characters, including Iago, Othello, and DesdemonaRead MoreJealousy: The Green-Eyed Monster1576 Words   |  6 Pagesiii.165-167). Othello: The Moor of Venice is a play by Shakespeare that presents the theme of human relationship: jealousy. Jealousy often has no real basis, usually the loved one is faithful, but the lover interprets all evidence in the sense of being cheated. The protagonist Othello is the general of the armies of Venice respe cted by all those around him. In the first act a dispute between Desdemona and her father, Brabanzio the Venetian senator, arises because she marries Othello without consultingRead MoreLove in Othello Essay734 Words   |  3 PagesLove in Othello However strong the emotional attitude of prejudices may be in Othello, Love is the most powerful emotion and ironically the emotion that leads to the most vulnerability. Loves of all kinds are tested in the tragedy and ultimately all fail to rectify the horrible situation. Marital love for Othello and Desdemona serve as both a heaven and a hell on earth. As Othello portrays by saying, If I were now to die Twere now to be most happy; for I fear My soul hath her contentRead MoreThemes in Shakespeares Othello Essay1155 Words   |  5 PagesOthello was written by Jacobean playwright William Shakespeare in 1603. It proved a huge success when first performed in 1604, in front of a huge audience. The story is one of Shakespeare’s great tragedy themed plays. Othello is the black protagonist and highly esteemed Venetian general. Iago is the ambitious but scheming villain of the play. When Othello promotes a man called Michael Cassio over Iago, he is furious and launches a malicious campaign against Othello. Meanwhile, Othello has marriedRead MoreA Malevolent Villain Essay1086 Words   |  5 Pagesvillain in one of William Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, Othello. In this play Iago sets out to destroy Othello for multiple reasons, most of which are unsubstantiated imaginings. Iago’s role as a malicious villain is evidenced by his misogynist, racist, and manipulative behaviors. The first evidence of Iago’s malicious villainy is his misogyny. Iago hates women and repeatedly debases sex. He is cruel to his wife and does not show her love. Henry L. Warnken discusses Iago’s hatred for women sayingRead MoreOthello, By William Shakespeare1454 Words   |  6 PagesShakespeare wrote Othello during a time of great racial tension in England. In the drama, he introduces Othello, a military general who works for the state of Venice but is by origin a Moor (a black Arab). This gives him the unique position of being one of the most important men in Venice, while simultaneously being seen as an outsider. In writing such a character for a seventeenth century English audience, the author is clearly attempting to send a message. This tension between human desire and