...Executive summary Table of contents Introduction: Intro of derivatives to SA fin markets The South African futures market started informally on an over the counter basis in 1987 and Rand Merchant Bank fulfilled the clearing house role (Alexander: 1996). According to Alexander, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) together with commercial banks combined to set up a formal futures exchange and the South African Futures Exchange (SAFEX) exchange was eventually formed and opened for business on 30 April 1990. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s equity derivative section began operating in 1990 facilitating the trading of financial derivatives to the open market (Adelegan, 2009). Options’ contract trading was initiated in October 1992 and futures on agricultural commodities were available by 1995. In May 1996 the system of automated trading was fully introduced to the Futures exchange (Adelegan, 2009). The main reasons behind the establishment of the derivative market in South Africa were to increase liquidity, improve level of risk management as well as to allow the local market to tackle challenges arising as a result of globalization (Adelgan, 2009). Two broad categories exist in the derivatives market and these are futures and options and these two categories a variety of instruments can be found which include single stock futures, warrants, financial and commodity futures (Adelegan, 2009). Findings: Warrants Warrants Warrants were first launched in South Africa in 1997...
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...Stewart case: lessons and training 2 HEADING Shares sold in cases of insider trading often come from option exercises or restricted stock vesting. 3 Accounting scandals/fraud intertwined with insider trading. Insider trading cases more interesting to juries and easier for prosecutors to explain. Did the CEO sell stock knowing his company could not make its earnings targets without improperly booking revenue? 4 The SEC detects and prosecutes even small-profit cases. $38,000 in profits by former CFO. 5 Criminal charges are now more likely. Justice Department and local US Attorneys interested in these cases. Ex-Countrywide execs get probation terms for insider trading By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES—November 26, 2007 Three former Countrywide Financial Corp. executives who pleaded guilty to criminal charges of insider trading were sentenced Monday to serve three years probation, the U.S. attorney's office said. They must also serve several hundred hours of community service and pay fines. In their plea agreements earlier this year, the executives admitted they used confidential data showing Countrywide would not meet Wall Street earnings projections for the third quarter of 2004. They then used the information to sell off their shares, to buy put options and, eventually, to short-sell the stock, in efforts to profit from a fall in the stock's price,...
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...Identify issues The main issue in this case is whether or not B.C. Packers should enter into the canned cat food market. If the analysis shows that B.C. Packers should go ahead with this proposition then it must also be determined which segment of the market that they should target. Analysis Market analysis must be performed on the individual markets before any financial analysis can be performed. This is in order to provide adequate information to estimate the various market shares. The first segment to analyze is the Gourmet brand. The Gourmet segment holds the smallest share of the market in grocery stores but it has a significant share of the market in specialty stores. It is seen as having high quality as a result of its higher price and its consumers tend to have higher incomes (see case). The Gourmet market even though it is not the largest has good potential as a result of it higher margins. The National brand segment has the largest share of the market across all retail types, is price sensitive but does have some brand loyalty, and it also has the most competition (see case). Although the most competitive the National market holds a great deal of potential as a result of its overall market share. The Price brand segment does not have a significant share of the market, it is highly price sensitive and has little brand loyalty, it is comprised mainly of no-name and store brands (see case). As a result of it being made up mainly of store brands store...
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...having more money at the start. When purchasing you will have to have a bigger down payment then you would need to have if you were to lease. Purchasing may require the monthly payments to be bigger. Though both are different, they can in turn be the same as a company may have the option to purchase later instead of continuing to lease the property. Debt financing is borrowing money from an outside source that will be returned plus the interest agreed upon. Two examples of debt financing are gaining a line of credit from a bank. This gives a company the funds to make purchases. Another example is real estate. The company would need to find a lender that specializes in commercial lending. Equity financing is selling shares of stock in that specific company. Two examples of equity financing are taking on a partner. This allows for money to come from other investors and help share the load. Another example is venture capitalist. These are people that invest money in promising companies for share of ownership in the company. Depending on the outlook of the company would depend on what would be better way to go. Equity...
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...J.P. Morgan Asset Management Long-term Capital Market Return Assumptions 2012 Edition For institutional an d proFEssional invEstor usE only | not For rEtail usE or distribution J.P. Morgan Asset Management Long-term Capital Market Return Assumptions Expected 10–15 year annualized compound returns (%)1,2 u.s. Economic indicators Inflation Core Inflation Real GDP U.S. Cash U.S. Intermediate Treasury3 U.S. Long Treasury4 U.S. TIPS U.S. Aggregate U.S. Short Duration Gov’t/Credit U.S. Long Duration Gov’t/Credit U.S. Investment Grade Corporate U.S. Long Corporate U.S. High Yield U.S. Leveraged Loan World Government Bond (local) World ex-U.S. Government Bond (local) World ex-U.S. Government Bond Emerging Market Sovereign Debt Emerging Market Local Currency Sovereign Debt Emerging Market Corporate Debt U.S. Municipal U.S. Large Cap U.S. Large Cap EPS Growth U.S. Large Cap Dividend Yield U.S. Large Cap P/E Return Impact U.S. Mid Cap U.S. Small Cap U.S. Large Cap Value U.S. Large Cap Growth Europe ex-U.K. Large Cap (local) Japan Large Cap (local) U.K. Large Cap (local) EAFE Equity (local) EAFE Equity Emerging Market Equity Asia ex-Japan Equity Global Equity U.S. Private Equity5,6 U.S. Direct Real Estate (unlevered)5,6 U.S. Value Added Real Estate (unlevered)5,6 European Real Estate (unlevered, local)5,6 U.S. REITs Global Infrastructure5,6 Hedge Fund—Diversified5,6 Hedge Fund—Event Driven5,6 Hedge Fund—Long Bias5,6 Hedge Fund—Relative Value5,6 Hedge Fund—Macro5,6 Commodities...
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...Preferred Shares (Stock) The words such as stock and securities are currently used not only by business-related I have chosen to research preferred stock for this individual project. At first, from an accounting stand point, capital stock (stock) is a part of shareholders’ equity as the later is composed of capital stock and retained earnings and represents the amount by which a company is financed through common and preferred shares. The definition of stock varies across the dictionaries. However, most dictionaries agree that stock (also referred to as shares or equity) is a share in the ownership of a company: “a type of security that signifies ownership in a corporation and represents a claim on part of the corporation’s assets and earnings” (<http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/stock.asp#axzz1dhYoEz9a >) “entitling the stockholder to dividends and to other rights of ownership, such as voting rights” (<http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Stocker>). The stock original capital is paid into or invested in the business by its founders and is divided into multiple shares, the total of which is stated at the time of business formation. Additional paid in capital of the stock is raised through the sale of shares. As one acquires more stock, their ownership stake in the company becomes greater. There are two main types of stock: common and preferred. Preferred stock, as well as common stock, additional paid-in-capital, retained earnings, and treasury stock are all reported...
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...6053 BAUSAE Personal Finance Portfolio Report on Trading Investment Strategy Oct-Nov 2012 Nicola Kirk-420355 Word count-2870 Contents Justification of Strategy 3-4 EMH Portfolio Performance 5-9 Taxation Calculations Evaluation of portfolio performance 10-11 Jensen Treynor Sharpe Appendix 12 Bibliography 13 Justification of strategy After receiving the inheritance of £100,000 the first major financial decision was to select an account to invest the total amount in. I placed it in an instant access account with Derbyshire Building Society with an annual interest rate of 2.5% AER which included a 1% bonus for the first year. This allowed unlimited free withdrawals and a minimum balance of £1(after the initial opening balance of £1,000). This is a very low risk investment, as the first £85,000 would be protected also giving a small but constant and reliable income from the interest. In addition to this the account can be very easily liquidated when required. Hargreaves Lansdown was the stockbroker chosen for all trading as they offered competitive rates. They charge £11.95 for 0-9 transactions, £8.95 for 10-19 transactions and £5.95 for 20+ transactions. When deciding what assets to invest in I decided not to invest in currency, as they are extremely volatile, unpredictable and wouldn’t give as significant a return due...
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...Define the issues Infosys is facing. 1. Productivity Infosys’ productivity seems to be competitive compared to U.S. companies on a productivity measurement based on operating profit. Nevertheless, the company performs far behind when looking at revenue per employee. This phenomenon occurs to the whole country, causing the wage differential between India and the United States to be quite significant. [pic] [pic] The solution for Infosys’ performance improvement is to move up the “value chain” of software development in order to remain competitive on a global basis. Refer to Exhibit 6, the company plans to move up from software development to project management with higher margin. To implement this strategy successfully, Infosys had to accomplish the following objectives. a) Increase customer penetration b) Increase brand equity c) Increase the amount of fixed price contracts 2. Globalization As a result of different productivity from Indian and American employees, growth of Infosys is not as favorable as of U.S. companies. Infosys is one of those aiming to be more global and is facing constraint causing by productivity of its employees. 3. Hiring and retaining employees Infosys is planning to grow in rapid pace which demands more responsibility from existing employees. The company is facing a challenge to maintain the spirit of its employees while being able to offer and implant the same spirit...
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...Companies issue shares of stock to raise funds for their business. The investor buys stock with the hope that it pays dividends, or earnings. The investor also hopes the price of the stock will increase in value. There is no guarantee that there will be dividends or the price will go up. Investors buy and sell shares in the stock market. This is called a secondary market. The money changing hands does not go to the company. A company is worth whatever the total of it's stock is currently worth. So the company has to show that it has good products and services and that they are earning revenue and profits. If the company is not growing properly then people want to sell the stock and the traded price goes down. If the company is doing well then more people want the stock and the price goes. What do you mean by both titles. There are so many companies that offer stock. There are several exchanges or stock markets. The New York Stock Exchange. Since there are so many companies someone invested the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Certain companies are in it and the Dow Jones company has a formula for determining the number. If the number goes up the companies in the DJIA are more valuable. When you hold stock that is an asset. You paid cash for it. When you sell it is when you realize the value. Companies and government also sell bonds to raise money for there organization. You buy the bond and when matures you hopefully get your money back with interest. You can trade...
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...Chapter 1 The Goals and Functions of Financial Management Discussion Questions |1-1. |How did the recession of 2007–2009 compare with other recessions since the Great Depression in terms of length? | | | | | |It was the longest | | | | |1-2. |What effect did the recession of 2007–2009 have on government regulation? | | | | | |It was greatly increased. | | | | |1-3. |What advantages does a sole proprietorship offer? What is a major drawback of this type of organization? | | | ...
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...I. Background Best Buy (“BBY”) sells consumer electronics such as computers, computer software, video games, music, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, mobile phones, digital camera, car stereos and video cameras, as well as home appliances (washing machines, dryers, and refrigerators). Salespersons are hired on a non-commissioned basis. Each store also includes a department for audio/visual equipment for automobiles, offering on-site installation services, as well as the Geek Squad "precinct" for computer repair and warranty service and accidental service plans. As of February 27, 2011, there are 1,069 BBY stores, 74 BBY Mobile stand-alone stores, 35 Pacific Sales showrooms, eight Magnolia Audio Video stores and six Geek Squad stand-alone stores in the U.S. BBY also operated 887 Carphone Warehouse and 1,566 The Phone House Stores in Europe, 64 Canada BBY stores, 144 Future Shop stores in Canada, 158 Five Star stores in China, six BBY China stores, five BBY Mexico stores and one BBY Turkey store. (Best Buy). BBY stores in the US average approximately 39,000 retail square feet, and offer products in six revenue categories: consumer electronics (39% of FY 10 (Feb.) revenues), home office (34%), entertainment soft- ware (16%), appliances (4%), services (6%), and other (1%). BBY's largest category, consumer electronics, includes products such as televisions, digital cameras and accessories, digital camcorders and accessories, e-readers, DVD players, MP3 players and accessories, musical...
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...Article Review: - The Greed Cycle, by John Cassidy The article by Thomas Cassidy, points out the instrumental role that greed plays in the modern corporation. Modern Economists have always seen greed as not only a necessary element in the corporate environment, but as also a vital part of the successful evolution of a public company. As the article points out, “Economists from Adam Smith to Milton Friedman have seen greed as an inevitable and, in some ways, desirable feature of capitalism. In a well regulated and well balanced economy, greed helps to keep the system expanding”. In the early public companies, greed was not seen as a danger, as the implicit trust that managers would not slack off, and would run the company in the interest of the stockholders and stakeholders was not undermined. Economist was the first to identify the issue of managers not acting in the interest of the shareholders, and instead being motivated by greed, and “self-enrichment”. Public Companies, evolved as a way to create financing for large industry, where in the owners agreed to relinquish day to day control and operation of a company to mangers, who in turn would act in their interest, and maximize revenues. As the article points out, in the beginning, “most of the professional managers were content to collect generous salaries and pensions rather than habitually attempt to rob the stockholders and bondholders. It is a strong proof of the marvelous growth in recent times of a spirit...
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...some cases the exchange transaction will be excluded under IRC Section 1031. Problem 10-47 On April 18, 2010, Jane Juniper purchased 30 shares of Bryan Corp. stock for $210, and on September 29, 2010, she purchased 90 additional shares for $900. On November 28, 2010, she sold 48 shares, which could not be specifically identified, for $576 and on December 8, 2010, she sold another 25 shares for $188. What is her recognized gain or loss? $210/30=$7 per share - April 18, 2010 $900/90=$10 per share - September 29, 2010 I will use FIFO to calculate the recognized gain or loss: November 28, 2010 – Sold 48 shares for $576, the cost basis was $390 (30*$7 plus 18*$10) therefore the total gain was $186.00 December 8, 2010 - Sold 25for $188, cost basis was $250 (25*$10) therefore the total loss was $62. Jane Juniper had an overall gain for the year of 2010 of $124.00 Problem 11-40 Debbie Davis and Elizabeth Engels exchanged like-kind property. Debbie had an adjusted basis of $12,000 in her property (fair market value is $15,000). Elizabeth’s property had adjusted bases of $9,000 and a fair market value of $ 10,500, and Elizabeth gave Debbie $4,500 in cash. Determine Debbie’s and Elizabeth’s realized gain or loss, recognized gain or loss, and the basis in their new property. Debbie...
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...CHAPTER 16 2. Baruk Industries has no cash and a debt obligation of $36 million that is now due. The market value of Baruk’s assets is $81 million, and the firm has no other liabilities. Assume perfect capital markets. a. Suppose Baruk has 10 million shares outstanding. What is Baruk’s current share price? Assets – debt / shares 81-36/10 = 4.5 $4.50 per share b. How many new shares must Baruk issue to raise the capital needed to pay its debt obligation? Debt / share price 36/4.5 = 8 million shares c. After repaying the debt, what will Baruk’s share price be? Share price would still be the same $4.50 7. You have received two job offers. Firm A offers to pay you $85,000 per year for two years. Firm B offers to pay you $90,000 for two years. Both jobs are equivalent. Suppose that firm A’s contract is certain, but that firm B has a 50% chance of going bankrupt at the end of the year. In that event, it will cancel your contract and pay you the lowest amount possible for you to not quit. If you did quit, you expect you could find a new job paying $85,000 per year, but you would be unemployed for 3 months while you search for it. a. Say you took the job at firm B, what is the least firm B can pay you next year in order to match what you would earn if you quit? You can earn $85,000 per year, however you would be unemployed for 3 months, so in reality, you would only work for 9 months and make $63.75 thousand. b. Given your answer to part (b), and assuming your cost...
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...Benchmark Indices Section 6. Summary Section 1. Objective and Strategy Introduction The JMYJ Equity Fund (the “Fund” or the “portfolio”) is an equity fund with an initial capitalization of $100,000. The Fund is managed by a group of four xxxxxx Graduate School of Business students. The Fund made its first investments on September 12, 2010. This report covers the period from September 12, 2010 until November 8, 2010. Throughout this report we refer to this period as the “investment period”. Investment Objective The Fund is allocated so that it may accomplish three objectives: growth of capital and the conservation both principal and current income. Investment Strategies The Fund invests primarily in common stocks. Selection of the Fund’s assets was based on a top-down investment approach. Based on our macro analysis, we decided to invest approximately 75% of the fund in equity securities issued by companies domiciled in North America and 25%...
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