Louis XIV :: essays research papers

Louis XIV Louis XIV was a good leader for many reasons, some of which will come out in this essay. Louis ruled with an iron fist, he didn't let anyone mess with France, and if they did , he made them suffer. Second, Louis had mercy on those who betrayed him, a trait rarely seen in his day and age. Third most he did his best to bring down the nobles of France, particularly the more richer ones who thought they were above the law. Louis ruled with an iron fist he didn't let anyone mess around with France, if anyone had the guts to even think about challenging his power over the people of France he would do he would go out of his way to make them suffer. (*1) â€Å"At the same time he regarded himself as God's deputy in France and would allow no challenge to his authority, from the Pope or anyone else† Louis got into many wars while he was ruler of France, he was quick to the draw and did not hesitate to start a war. To show the Catholics that he was still a catholic king ,Louis kept mounting pressure on the French Protestants, until 1685 when he revoked Edict of Nantes. Then he forbid anyone to practice Calvinism. To the people of France this showed great strength on the part of Louis, the fact that he could keep he kept everyone in France inline at the same time. everyone in France obeyed him because he was such a grand, rich, fair king. Louis got into many wars with other countries over the stupidest things, when Charles II were to die with no kids, he made he offered to make Louis's grandson the sole beneficiary of the vast inheritance to be left behind, Louis Accepted the the offer out of pure greed, but that dicision meant war with Austria. Although, Louis was already getting half of the money he still greedily accepted the offer, if he had not accepted the offer war could have been avoided, but hey we all make mistakes The second thing about Louis that made him a good leader was that he had Mercy on those who betrayed him which was something rarely seen in that time. Most Rulers just murdered those who betrayed them, but Louis would jail them. In the case of Louis's most important lieutenant, named Mazarin, He was charged with peculation and found guilty then sentenced to banishment from France. Instead of letting the whole ordeal go down Louis intervened and changed Mazarins sentence from banishment to imprisonment for life.

Bank Management Chapter 7

Suggested end-of-Chapter Practice Questions: Chapter Seven Chapter 71, 2, 3, 7, 11, 13, 19, 22, 29, 32, 33, problem similar to HW 1. What is the process of asset transformation performed by a financial institution? Why does this process often lead to the creation of interest rate risk? What is interest rate risk? Asset transformation by an FI involves purchasing primary assets and issuing secondary assets as a source of funds. The primary securities purchased by the FI often have maturity and liquidity characteristics that are different from the secondary securities issued by the FI.For example, a bank buys medium- to long-term bonds and makes medium-term loans with funds raised by issuing short-term deposits. Interest rate risk occurs because the prices and reinvestment income characteristics of long-term assets react differently to changes in market interest rates than the prices and interest expense characteristics of short-term deposits. Interest rate risk is the effect on prices (value) and interim cash flows (interest coupon payment) caused by changes in the level of interest rates during the life of the financial asset. . What is refinancing risk? How is refinancing risk part of interest rate risk? If an FI funds long-term fixed-rate assets with short-term liabilities, what will be the impact on earnings of an increase in the rate of interest? A decrease in the rate of interest? Refinancing risk is the uncertainty of the cost of a new source of funds that are being used to finance a long-term fixed-rate asset. This risk occurs when an FI is holding assets with maturities greater than the maturities of its liabilities.For example, if a bank has a ten-year fixed-rate loan funded by a 2-year time deposit, the bank faces a risk of borrowing new deposits, or refinancing, at a higher rate in two years. Thus, interest rate increases would reduce net interest income. The bank would benefit if the rates fall as the cost of renewing the deposits would decrease, wh ile the earning rate on the assets would not change. In this case, net interest income would increase. 3. What is reinvestment risk? How is reinvestment risk part of interest rate risk?If an FI funds short-term assets with long-term liabilities, what will be the impact on earnings of a decrease in the rate of interest? An increase in the rate of interest? Reinvestment risk is the uncertainty of the earning rate on the redeployment of assets that have matured. This risk occurs when an FI holds assets with maturities that are less than the maturities of its liabilities. For example, if a bank has a two-year loan funded by a ten-year fixed-rate time deposit, the bank faces the risk that it might be forced to lend or reinvest the money at lower rates after two years, perhaps even below the deposit rates.Also, if the bank receives periodic cash flows, such as coupon payments from a bond or monthly payments on a loan, these periodic cash flows will also be reinvested at the new lower (or higher) interest rates. Besides the effect on the income statement, this reinvestment risk may cause the realized yields on the assets to differ from the a priori expected yields. 7. How does the policy of matching the maturities of assets and liabilities work (a) to minimize interest rate risk and (b) against the asset-transformation function for FIs?A policy of maturity matching will allow changes in market interest rates to have approximately the same effect on both interest income and interest expense. An increase in rates will tend to increase both income and expense, and a decrease in rates will tend to decrease both income and expense. The changes in income and expense may not be equal because of different cash flow characteristics of the assets and liabilities. The asset-transformation function of an FI involves investing short-term liabilities into long-term assets.Maturity matching clearly works against successful implementation of this process. 11. A money market mutual f und bought $1,000,000 of two-year Treasury notes six months ago. During this time, the value of the securities has increased, but for tax reasons the mutual fund wants to postpone any sale for two more months. What type of risk does the mutual fund face for the next two months? The mutual fund faces the risk of interest rates rising and the value of the securities falling. 13. What is market risk? How do the results of this risk surface in the operating performance of financial institutions?What actions can be taken by FI management to minimize the effects of this risk? Market risk is the risk of price changes that affects any firm that trades assets and liabilities. The risk can surface because of changes in interest rates, exchange rates, or any other prices of financial assets that are traded rather than held on the balance sheet. Market risk can be minimized by using appropriate hedging techniques such as futures, options, and swaps, and by implementing controls that limit the a mount of exposure taken by market makers. 14.What is credit risk? Which types of FIs are more susceptible to this type of risk? Why? Credit risk is the possibility that promised cash flows may not occur or may only partially occur. FIs that lend money for long periods of time, whether as loans or by buying bonds, are more susceptible to this risk than those FIs that have short investment horizons. For example, life insurance companies and depository institutions generally must wait a longer time for returns to be realized than money market mutual funds and property-casualty insurance companies. 19.What is the difference between technology risk and operational risk? How does internationalizing the payments system among banks increase operational risk? Technology risk refers to the uncertainty surrounding the implementation of new technology in the operations of an FI. For example, if an FI spends millions on upgrading its computer systems but is not able to recapture its costs becaus e its productivity has not increased commensurately or because the technology has already become obsolete, it has invested in a negative NPV investment in technology.Operational risk refers to the failure of the back-room support operations necessary to maintain the smooth functioning of the operation of FIs, including settlement, clearing, and other transaction-related activities. For example, computerized payment systems such as Fedwire, CHIPS, and SWIFT allow modern financial intermediaries to transfer funds, securities, and messages across the world in seconds of real time. This creates the opportunity to engage in global financial transactions over a short term in an extremely cost-efficient manner.However, the interdependence of such transactions also creates settlement risk. Typically, any given transaction leads to other transactions as funds and securities cross the globe. If there is either a transmittal failure or high-tech fraud affecting any one of the intermediate tran sactions, this could cause an unraveling of all subsequent transactions. 22. If you expect the French franc to depreciate in the near future, would a U. S. -based FI in Paris prefer to be net long or net short in its asset positions? Discuss. The U. S.FI would prefer to be net short (liabilities greater than assets) in its asset position. The depreciation of the franc relative to the dollar means that the U. S. FI would pay back the net liability position with fewer dollars. In other words, the decrease in the foreign assets in dollar value after conversion will be less than the decrease in the value of the foreign liabilities in dollar value after conversion. 29. What is country or sovereign risk? What remedy does an FI realistically have in the event of a collapsing country or currency?Country risk involves the interference of a foreign government in the transmission of funds transfer to repay a debt by a foreign borrower. A lender FI has very little recourse in this situation unl ess the FI is able to restructure the debt or demonstrate influence over the future supply of funds to the country in question. This influence likely would involve significant working relationships with the IMF and the World Bank. 32. What is liquidity risk? What routine operating factors allow FIs to deal with this risk in times of normal economic activity?What market reality can create severe financial difficulty for an FI in times of extreme liquidity crises? Liquidity risk is the uncertainty that an FI may need to obtain large amounts of cash to meet the withdrawals of depositors or other liability claimants. In times of normal economic activity, depository FIs meet cash withdrawals by accepting new deposits and borrowing funds in the short-term money markets. However, in times of harsh liquidity crises, the FI may need to sell assets at significant losses in order to generate cash quickly. 33.Why can insolvency risk be classified as a consequence or outcome of any or all of the other types of risks? Insolvency risk is the risk that an FI may not have enough capital to offset a sudden decline in the value of its assets. This risk involves the shortfall of capital in times when the operating performance of the institution generates accounting losses. These losses may be the result of one or more of interest rate, market, credit, liquidity, sovereign, foreign exchange, technological, and off-balance-sheet risks. 34. Discuss the interrelationships among the different sources of FI risk exposure.Why would the construction of an FI’s risk management model to measure and manage only one type of risk be incomplete? Measuring each source of FI risk exposure individually creates the false impression that they are independent of each other. For example, the interest rate risk exposure of an FI could be reduced by requiring customers to take on more interest rate risk exposure through the use of floating rate products. However, this reduction in FI risk may be obtained only at the possible expense of increased credit risk. That is, customers experiencing osses resulting from unanticipated interest rate changes may be forced into insolvency, thereby increasing the FI’s default risk. Similarly, off-balance sheet risk encompasses several risks since off-balance sheet contingent contracts typically have credit risk and interest rate risk as well as currency risk. Moreover, the failure of collection and payment systems may lead corporate customers into bankruptcy. Thus, technology risk may influence the credit risk of FIs. As a result of these interdependencies, FIs have focused on developing sophisticated models that attempt to measure all of the risks faced by the FI at any point in time.Practice 1. A bank has the following balance sheet structure: AssetsLiabilities and Equity Cash$10,000Certificate of Deposit$90,000 Bond$90,000Equity $10,000 Total Assets$100,000Total Liabilities and Equity$100,000 The bond is a Eurobond; it has a te n-year maturity and a fixed-rate coupon of 6 percent. The certificate of deposit has a one-year maturity and a 4 percent fixed rate of interest. The FI expects no additional asset growth. a. What will be the net interest income (NII) at the end of the first year? Note: Net interest income equals interest income minus interest expense. b.If at the end of year 1, market interest rates have increased 100 basis points (1 percent), what will be the net interest income for the second year? Is the change in NII caused by reinvestment risk or refinancing risk? c. Assuming that market interest rates increase 1 percent. (i) What will be the market value of the bond? (ii) What will be the market value of equity? (Assume that all of the NII in part (a) is used to cover operating expenses or is distributed as dividends, so that there is no addition to retained earnings. ) a. What will be the net interest income (NII) at the end of the first year?Note: Net interest income equals interest income m inus interest expense. Interest income$5,400$90,000 x 0. 06 Interest expense 3,600$90,000 x 0. 04 Net interest income (NII)$1,800 b. If at the end of year 1, market interest rates have increased 100 basis points (1 percent), what will be the net interest income for the second year? Interest income$5,400$90,000 x 0. 06 Interest expense 4,500$90,000 x 0. 05 Net interest income (NII)$900 The decrease in net interest income is caused by the increase in financing cost without a corresponding increase in the earnings rate.The increase in market interest rates does not affect the interest income because the bond has a fixed-rate coupon for ten years. Note: this answer makes no assumption about reinvesting the first year’s interest income at the new higher rate. c. Assuming that market interest rates increase 1 percent. (i) What will be the market value of the bond? (ii) What will be the market value of equity? (Assume that all of the NII in part (a) is used to cover operating expens es or is distributed as dividends, so that there is no addition to retained earnings. Note: market value of equity falls due to lower market value of the bond If the coupon rate is 6%, yield to maturity = 7%, then using our financial calculator, N = 9 (only 9 years left), PMT = 540, I = 7%, FV = 90,000. Compute PV; find PV = -84,136. 29. Hence the market value of the bond fell from $90,000 to $84,136. 29 (a decrease of $5,863. 71). Since the interest rate on the CD has risen (it had only a one year maturity; so it gets a new interest rate when it is re-issued), the market value of the CD is $90,000 (interest rate = coupon rate on the CD).Consequently, it is the market value of equity that will decline. If the bank must sell the bond, it will sell it at the lower market value and realize the loss. The book value of equity has remained at #10,000, but the market value of equity has fallen by the amount of the decrease in the value of the bonds. This was a problem faced by banks in 200 8, when the market value of the mortgage debt and mortgage backed securities and CDOs (collateralized debt obligations) fell; some of them had negative equity in market value terms.

Generating and Pitching Story Ideas

Generating and Pitching Story Ideas With the ubiquitous presence of the Internet, coming up with story pitches and finding out where to pitch them has never been easier. There are publications for just about any hobby, industry, quirk, fetish, subculture and subject you could possibly think of. And resources abound for reaching them.Unlike assignments, with pitches you get to propose writing about something you choose. So think about what you would like to write about- stamp collecting? Minorities in the construction industry? Your personal experience with heartbreak? Whatever the subject is, you should be ready to research it, interview people about it and spend a lot of time thinking about it.Nothing new under the sunOf course, whatever it is youve thought of pitching, chances are its been written about before. So you have to find out where and how. Lexis-Nexis, usually available at the local library, is an excellent way to research articles on a certain subject. Google searches on the Web or archive searches on regi stered websites for major publications (which is usually free, although pulling up the archived stories in full may not be) can also give you a reasonable body of material. And plenty of websites with articles on that subject will pop up for free. Also check for organizations that relate to that topic, because they often list articles as well.Shape your pitch with a new angleYou dont have to search for every story written on the subject since the dawn of time. Lets say its a pitch about women in the construction industry. Dont worry about the articles written on this subject that date back more than five years ago. Thats ancient history in the world of publications. Youll probably find a good selection of stories written in major dailies and small weeklies within the past five years, but thats where the next tip comes in.Lets say you find that the New York Times has published a story about the struggles of women to succeed in the construction industry. Does that mean your pitch is a lready taken? Absolutely not. What it means is that you read the story, get a sense of what it did cover, and shape your pitch so that it will cover a whole new angle or idea that the Times story didnt. Did the Times story talk about women who faced discrimination and went on to own their own firms? Then think about interviewing women who dont own their own firms, but who operate cranes or weld iron. Youll look for women whose stories werent told by the Times. Even if the issue of discrimination is the same, every individuals story is different. Just as good literature offers new twists to old plots, so you can offer new twists to subjects of articles.Also, consider localizing a story for a local publication. Journalists for smaller hometown newspapers often take a story of national interest and apply it to their hometown readers. For example, the Atkins Diet is a nation-wide trend, but you could interview local bakeries about whether theyre losing business, and pitch the story to t he editor of a local publication.Now you have to find publications to pitch your great idea to. Fortunately, its not nearly as tough as pitching your book to publishers. I pitched several stories successfully to the New York Times Money Business section via e-mail. This was made possible by nothing more than having the right name and e-mail address. A colleague had the email and name of the Money Business editor. I sent the guy an email with a story proposal that he accepted.Editors, especially at dailies, will be typically harried and easily distracted from strange e-mails. So you have to get straight to the point, while still being polite. Make it clear in the header that you are pitching a story about thus-and-so. Dont ramble on in the body; if the editor wants to know more about your credentials or history, he or she will ask for it. Just pitch the story, emphasizing why it would be something the publications audience will eat up with their coffee or lunch. I believe this topi c/angle/knowledge would be of great interest to your readers because†¦. Attaching your resume wouldnt hurt, and you can offer to send examples of your writing if the editor wants to follow up.You can also, of course, use snail mail. Be aware, though, that particularly busy editors may take more time to plow through stacks of envelopes than to browse their email inboxes.If there is a particular publication you want to work for, call their main number and ask for editorial. You should be able to find out fairly quickly whether they are accepting freelance articles or not. Checking the website for that publication may also answer the question.An excellent online resource for insider tips on pitching to specific publications is at mediabistro.com. It does require a paid membership, though registration to access job listings that may include freelance opportunities is free. The pitch tips feature a specific publication each day and tell you what the deal is.Take the time to read thr ough a particular publication to get a sense of what kind of stories it wants. Editors find it very irritating to receive unsolicited pitches that arent appropriate for their publication. Dont assume! For example, I edit transportation stories for a weekly construction magazine. I look for stories about building major highways, bridges, rail systems and airports. If somebody sends me a pitch about manufacturing the next generation of clean-air buses, that means they didnt take them to glance through the magazine and realize that we dont cover that industry. The pitcher only saw the title transportation editor and made an assumption.That writer, however, could probably do a bit more research and find out that there are indeed several magazines that cater to the suppliers, builders and users of clean-air buses. The writer could also check out publications whose main audiences consists of concerned users- i.e. environmentalists- and pitch the story with emissions in mind. It will be a slightly different pitch to the publication who caters to transit agency officials who buy the buses.When you show that youve taken the time to find out a little bit about a given publication and thus pitch it a story that would work for its readership, youre inherently advertising that youre a good journalist and writer who does your homework.