Napoleon Bonaparte DBQ Essay

The ideals of the French Revolution were â€Å"Equality, Liberty, and Fraternity,† but the methods that were used to fulfill these goals were complicated. During the Reign of Terror, about 40,000 people were guillotined because of Maximilien Robespierre. He thought that “Liberty could not be secured unless criminals lose their heads”. Napoleon Bonaparte, a Revolutionary hero, seized control of the government in France in 1799, he was looking to bring peace to the French people by ending the Revolution. For this to be done, he had to be in complete control like a monarch or a dictator. However, the French people still wanted to have some of the privileges they had during the Revolution. Napoleon Bonaparte stabilized and united French society, yet supported the ideals of French Revolution. Peace came to France with Napoleon’s strong rule. After making himself a consul for life, he re-established the French monarchy, naming himself Emperor Napoleon I in 1804. He centralized French government by appointing new officials, made tax collections more efficient, and created a National Bank. He believed that he was chosen by God to be in power and made others believe it through the Napoleon Catechism. It showed the French people that Napoleon was blessed to get the throne. â€Å"Â…he whom God had raised up under difficult circumstances to re-establish the public worship of the holy religion of our fathers and to be the protector of it† (Document 7). Napoleon brought civil rights back to France through codes and treaties that talk about revolutionary ideals. The Napoleonic Code is an example. It recognized the equality of all citizens before the law, protected property rights, safeguarded employers by outlawing trade unions and strikes, and supported religion. Napoleon also signed the Concordat of 1801 with the Pope to reverse the dechristianization attempts made during the â€Å"Republic of Virtue.† Napoleon was not a religious man, he realized that most people needed to practice their faith. This made the Catholic Church an ally and they retained the power to nominate bishops, in return, the Pope agreed to recognize the accomplishments of the Revolution and to not question the ownership of the land that had been distributed back then. Napoleon wanted to be the emperor of all of Europe. This could be foreseen  in Jacques Louis David’s painting of Napoleon’s Crossing the Alps (Document 4), where he was portrayed with power, strength and an iron fist. He was a short man, but had an extremely large ego. He controlled a strong army and conquered much of Europe. His empire was made up of the Italian and German states, Spain, Western Russia (for a short amount of time), and Switzerland. With all his power, he still did not mistreat the citizens of the newly conquered territories. He abolished feudal rights and the internal trade barriers in Spain with his Imperial Decree at Madrid in 1808. Napoleon’s concern for the inhabitants of Westphalia was expressed in his letter to Jerome Napoleon in 1807: â€Å"I want your subjects to enjoy a higher degree of liberty, equality, and prosperity hitherto unknown to the German people† (Document 7). Napoleon’s monarch rules stabilized and unified French society, as well as supported some of the ideals of the French Revolution but, Napoleon considered himself friendless and Count Mole perceived the thought behind Napoleon’s actions as â€Å"nothing but his own gratification, of magnifying himself and his power without limit and without rest† (Document 2). The middle class, who had fought a bloody revolution to end absolute rulers, tolerate Napoleon’s ways. With Napoleon in charge their ideals and rights were safe, they would accepted more his policies and given up some of their basic civil rights. Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769-1821, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_I_of_France(October 2008)

22 Must-Read Science Fiction Novels For Aspiring Sci-Fi Authors

22 Must-Read Science Fiction Novels For Aspiring Sci-Fi Authors Science fiction is a genre that has evolved in unpredictable and exciting ways. From The Burroughsian Period (named after Edgar Rice Burroughs and beginning in 1901) to todays bestsellers, the genre has moved from hard science to Space Age exploration to a new interest in self-actualization, the dark side of technology, and what it means to be human.If youre an aspiring science fiction writer, here are some novels- both newly published and classic- that you should add to your reading list. In them, youll discover how the genre has evolved and where it is heading, both of which will be invaluable to your writing and planning.Below are some must-read science fiction novels for aspiring sci-fi writers. Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.Newly publishedInfinite Detail by Tim Maughan (March 5, 2019)Infinite Detail is a fast-pasted thriller in which an act of cyberterrorism creates a techno-apocalypse and the Internet crashes, shutting everything as we know it down. Seeking answers for how to live , lost, unplugged souls head to the Croft, an area of Bristol where people who have already unplugged live. The Croft is a digital no-mans-land, without surveillance and Big Data dependence. As a center of creative counterculture, a young woman there named Mary claims she has found other ways of connecting with others without the use of technology. Its the end of the world as we know it, but does the world fare better after the Internets demise?Finder by Suzanne Palmer (April 2, 2019)Finder is an action-packed science fiction caper story that won a Hugo Award and is the debut novel from Suzanne Palmer. Its protagonist is Fergus Ferguson, interstellar repo man and professional finder (a name he prefers to con artist or thief). His latest job entails finding the spacecraft Venetias Sword and stealing it back from an ex-nobleman turned power-hungry trade boss. He finds the ship in the farthest corner of space, in a deep space colon called Cernee. There, he learns that the enemy of my e nemy is my friend, and must navigate a field of space mines, a small army of hostile mercenaries, and an alien species he once through to be only myth. He thought it would be a simple job- like the others- but its becoming more apparent that it isnt.The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch (February 6, 2018)Advertised as Inception meets True Detective, The Gone World follows a NCIS special agent on a murder case that involves the fate of mankind. When tasked with uncovering the truth of the murder of a Navy SEAL and the disappearance of his family, Shannon Moss learns that the missing SEAL was an astronaut aboard the spaceship U.S.S. Libra- a ship assumed lost to the currents of Deep Time. In her search, she encounters Terminus, a mysterious world-destroying event discovered by a top-secret team of government time travelers.In her search for the SEALs missing teenage daughter, Moss travels to the future to explore possible versions of what might be in order to solve the present-day case. There, she witnesses the cataclysmic end of humanity itself and is left to determine how to stop it.The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal (July 3, 2018)In this alternate history science fiction story, The Calculating Stars imagines an alternate history in which a meteorite falls to Earth in 1952, destroying much of the East Coast, including Washington, D.C. Following the event, space exploration becomes a necessity, as the Earth heads at breakneck speed toward becoming uninhabitable due to the events impact on the planets climate. Enter mathematician and World War II pilot Elma York, who sets her sight on flying into the stars to search for humanitys next great hope.Winner 2018 Nebula for Best Novel, Hugo Finalist for Best Novel, 2019 Campbell Memorial Award Finalist, and 2019 Locus Finalist for Best Science Fiction Novel- The Calculating Stars has a long list of accolades and spots on bestselling lists since it was published in 2018.Emily Eternal by M.G. Wheaton (April 23, 2019)Emily Eternal is about Emily, is an A.I. designed by scientists to help people cope with trauma. She has been designed to solve advanced mathematical problems and unlock the deepest secrets of the human mind, including its capacity for empathy. Her work and purpose take on a deeper meaning when it is discovered that the sun will explode 5 billion years before it was originally expected.With the human race at an existential crossroads, she does the unthinkable and determines a way to solve the problem. However, not everyone trusts her intentions, so her servers are destroyed, leaving Emily and her friends with limited hope- but hope nonetheless- that they can race against time and save humanity.Famous Men who Never Lived by K. Chess (March 5, 2019)Noted as a Most Anticipated Book of 2019 at The Verge, Barnes Noble Sci-Fi Fantasy Blog, and more, K. Chesss debut novel, Famous Men Who Never Lived gives readers a glimpse of an alternate history in which nuclear war sends 156,000 r efugees into modern-day New York City. Among them is Hel, a doctor who has difficulty adapting to the new reality shes facing, so she creates a museum to preserve the memories and stories that would otherwise be forever lost. In the midst of her work to preserve her lost past, she faces anti-immigrant attitudes and hostility. Then, when the only copy of a science fiction story from her world, The Pyronauts, goes missing, she is forced to face what has been lost and determine just how far she should go to recover it.Within a world that is foreign to her, and as she seeks to assimilate while grieving what has been lost, Hels character offers a fresh perspective on what it means to be an immigrant facing the end of ones culture. In this important debut novel, readers will find parallels with todays news in a world that is both different and familiar.Vigilance by Robert Jackson Bennett (January 29, 2019)Robert Jackson Bennetts Vigilance takes readers on a dark and twisting ride in what can only be classified as a science fiction action parable of an America that has accepted gun violence as the norm. Its satire at its best and spins the idea of Hunger Games in an even darker direction.Set in 2030, the story follows the life of executive producer John McDean, who produces Vigilance, a reality game show designed to ensure American citizens remain alert and vigilant to all threats, both foreign and domestic. In the reality game environment, an active shooter is introduced to public spaces and prize money is given to anyone who is armed and ready to take down the shooter. Then, McDean ends up on the other side of the camera, and his whole reasoning for the show is seen through new eyes.Much like the worlds depicted in the stories, the science fiction genre has evolved significantly, from the classics to modern bestsellers. Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.The Classics1984 by George OrwellNominated as one of Americas best-loved novels by PBSs The Great American Read, 1984 is a chilling, dystopian tale that will ring strangely familiar in modern times, despite having been written in 1948. It is the story of Winston Smith, who works for the Ministry of Truth and lives in one of the three totalitarian super-states that rule the world. At first, Winston does what hes told and tows the Party line; however, he begins to see through the lies built around government surveillance, controlled narrative, and serious loss of civil rights. Meanwhile, Big Brother is always watching, so he must hide the fact that he is beginning to think for himself.From revised dictionaries attempting to control human thought through language, to the concept of using perpetual war to keep citizens in their place, this story has become a manual of sorts for describing the course of modern political movements getting dangerously close to the dystopian world that Orwell foretold.Altered Carbon by Richard K. MorganAlthough written in 2003, Altered Carbon has already found its place amon g the classics and has been reimagined into a popular Netflix series, created by Laeta Kalogridis. It shows a world in the 25th century, where humankind lives throughout the galaxy and is monitored by the U.N. There is also an expensive procedure available where one can store his or her consciousness in a cortical stack at the base of the brain, which can then be downloaded into a new body (called a sleeve), thus escaping death itself.The main character is ex-U.N. envoy Takeshi Kovacs, who has been dispatched 180 light-years from his home into another body living in Bay City, in what was once San Francisco. In the shady underbelly of the city, in a decidedly cyberpunk world, he discovers how existence can be bought and sold as he attempts to solve a rich mans murder.Brave New World by Aldous HuxleyWritten in the 1930s and influenced by political fascism, Aldous Huxleys Brave New World offers dystopian world that is both prophetic and terrifying. While addressing 21st-century issues such as the domination of mass-entertainment, technology, medicine and pharmaceuticals, and elitism, it offers a glimpse into a future world where humans are genetically bred and indoctrinated into castes chosen for them before birth by an authoritarian government.With heavy references to Shakespeares work, it is sometimes a biting criticism on capitalism, and often a glimpse of the potential horrors that come with the power of genetic engineering getting into the wrong hands. Its a must-read for anyone wanting to see how modern political movements can inspire classic science fiction bestsellers.A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter MillerFirst published in 1959, A Canticle for Leibowitz is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel depicting a planet ravaged by nuclear war razed the Earth, as its survivors return to a type of dark age where science is hated and books are destroyed. In this setting, a small order of Catholic monks seeks to fight against the ignorance and barbarism that n ow faces humanity. Having won the 1961 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel, it explores the themes of religion and church versus state in a world where civilization has severely decayed.The Children of Men by P. D. JamesAlso released as in a film adaptation, The Children of Men is a dystopian novel published in 1992 set in a time of mass infertility. The story takes place in the United Kingdom, which is under autocratic rule, and explores themes of human frailty in a narrative voice that alternates between first and third person points of view.While the beginning is set in the year 2021, the narrator reveals events that occurred in 1995, which is referred to as Year Omega, where the sperm count of males fell to zero and a feminist civil war broke out, threatening the mass extinction of humanity. There is an elite class known as the Omegas, who are young and the last-born humans on earth, but they are both spoiled and violent. They treat their elders, the non-Omegas, with conte mpt, and live in a world where newborn animals are treated like infants, dressed in infant clothing, and pushed around in strollers.Theo, the protagonist, who is known as a dissident, encounters a revolutionary group known as The Five Fishes, who task him with helping to protect a woman who is an anomaly because she is pregnant. Beautifully written with poignant characterization, Children of Men explores themes of politics and power in times when the fate of humanity is grim.Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. DickFirst published in 1968 and the inspiration for the 1982 film Blade Runner, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is set in a post-apocalyptic San Francisco, where nuclear global war has severely damaged the planet and humanitys way of life. Those who are able have already fled the planet, ravaged by war and pollution, and those who remain exist in a world that is nearly uninhabitable.The protagonist, Rick Deckard, is one of the not-so-fortunate. He makes his living as a government-sanctioned bounty hunter destroying renegade androids, which have been built in the dearth of living creatures (along with realistic animals). The androids are so life-like and sophisticated, that they are indistinguishable from real humans, prompting the Earths government to distrust them. However, Ricks interaction with one android in particular forces him to question what it means to be a human.Dune by Frank HerbertPublished in 1965, Frank Herberts Dune tied with Roger Zelaznys This Immortal for the Hugo Award in 1966 and won the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel. It imagines a feudal interstellar society of planetary fiefs controlled by noble houses and tells the story Paul Atreides, whose family are stewards of the planet Arrakis.Despite the planet being a desert wasteland that is mostly inhospitable, it is the only source of mà ©lange, commonly known as the spice- a drug that enhances mental abilities and can extend life. With themes of politics, re ligion, ecology, and technology, Dune explores common topics within a very uncommon place and is often considered to be one of the best and imaginative science fiction books ever written.Foundation by Isaac AsimovFirst published in 1951 and nominated as one of Americas best-loved novels by PBSs The Great American Read, Foundation contains five interrelated short stories and is often considered to be one of the most important works in hard science fiction. Within the five stories- The Psychohistorians, The Encyclopedists, The Mayors, The Traders, and The Merchant Princes- Asimov reimagines the fall of the Roman Empire taking place on a galactic scale. With themes focusing on economics and history, and a notoriously tough read, it is considered to be one of Asimovs best works.Frankenstein by Mary ShelleyPublished in 1823, Frankenstein is one of the earliest examples of science fiction and allegedly was written in a contest of sorts among some of the literary greats of the Romantic per iod to see who could write the most horrific tale. Considered to be a classic in Gothic and Romantic literature, it tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, whose efforts to cheat death lead him to the creation of monstrosities. Its narrative framework consists of letters written by Captain Robert Walton, who details the events taking place at an unspecified time in the 18th century and the story, as told to him by Victor Frankenstein himself.The Handmaids Tale by Margaret AtwoodOriginally published in 1985, The Handmaids Tale is a dystopian novel written by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. It won the 1985 Governor Generals Award and the first Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1987, and was nominated for the 1986 Nebula Award, the 1986 Booker Prize, and the 1987 Prometheus Award. It has also been adapted into a film, an opera, and a TV series on Hulu.Set in the near future the Republic of Gilead, a fundamentalist theocratic state with a low birth rate, the men in charge enslave fertile women known as handmaids and force them to have their children. As a seminal work of feminist literature, it explores the subjugation of women in a patriarchal society, and is told through the point of view of Offred, a handmaid for a Commander who is suspected to be infertile.The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas AdamsPublished in 1979, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy follows the misadventures of the last surviving man, Arthur Dent, after the Earth has been destroyed by a Vogon constructor fleet to make way for a hyperspace bypass. It was first broadcast as a radio series on BBC radio in 1978, and later became known as a trilogy in five parts.The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is absurdist, bombastic, and a lot of fun. It is a wildly imaginative adventure building off multiple science fiction tropes, but retains enough cynicism to be appreciated as a work that is much deeper than it initially appears on the surface. Simply put, it is a must-read for any science fiction ent husiast, and has been adapted into comic books and stage shows, and earned Douglas Adams a spot as Guest of Honour at the 1979 World Science Fiction Convention, held in Brighton, England.Neuromancer by William GibsonPublished in 1984, Neuromancer, one of the best-known works in the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction, was written by American-Canadian writer William Gibson as his debut novel. It was the first novel to win the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Hugo Award.Its protagonist is Henry Case, a washed-up computer hacker and hustler surviving in the dystopian underworld of Chiba City, Japan. The story imagines a world where hackers and cyborgs work together to against massive, nefarious corporations, and is a must-read for fans of the more recent Ready Player One.Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt VonnegutPublished in 1969, Slaughterhouse-Five is a novel containing equal amounts of science fiction and anti-war sentiment. Its protagonist is Billy Pilgrim, a soldier who has become unstuck in time, and bounces back and forth in a nonlinear fashion on his personal timeline in a time-traveling narrative that explores the horrors of war through an unreliable narrator. Billy believes he was held in an alien zoo on the fictional planet Tralfamadore as he experiences post-traumatic stress disorder from his experiences as a soldier. With extensive use of irony, black humor, and didacticism, Vonneguts signature simplistic style of writing makes Slaughterhouse-Five one of his best-loved works.Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. HeinleinWritten in 1961, Stranger in a Strange Land is speculative fiction set in a post-Third World War United States, where organized religions control politics. It tells the story of Valentine Michael Smith, a human who was born on the planet Mars and raised by Martians, only to come to Earth as a young adult. He must learn what it means to be a man, while simultaneously teaching Earthlings about Martian concepts such as grokk ing and water-sharing.It won the 1962 Hugo Award for Best Novel and the 1987 Prometheus Hall of Fame Award.The War of the Worlds by H. G. WellsPublished in 1898 and first serialized in 1897 by Pearsons Magazine in the UK and by Cosmopolitan magazine in the US, The War of the Worlds is a classic tale of alien invasion. As one of the earliest stories depicting conflict between humanity and an extraterrestrial race, it is told via first-person narration by an unknown protagonist living in Surrey, and his younger brother living in London as Martians invade the Southern part of England.The War of the Worlds is a seminal work in the science fiction classic canon, and has been reimagined for feature films, radio, comic books, a television series, and sequels or parallel stories written by other authors.

The Ol Olde Gets Old

The Ol Olde Gets Old The Ol Olde Gets Old The Ol Olde Gets Old By Mark Nichol Writers’ efforts to evoke a folksy or quaint sensibility by using a variation on the word old often fail because they use the wrong form. This post discusses the proper use of the variations. When the intent is to simulate a drawl, the correct version of old is ol’, which follows the common pattern of dropping a word’s final consonant to relax pronunciation, as in, for example, rollin’ in place of rolling. This is the use seen in phrases such as â€Å"good ol’ boy† and in the song title â€Å"Ol’ Man River,† which alludes to the personification of the Mississippi River as an entity oblivious to the cares of the people who travel on it. â€Å"Good ol’ boy† has positive and negative connotations in the American South and other areas; the positive sense is of a humble but well-bred man, though the pejorative sense of an ignorant and intolerant man is dominant. (In one region of England, however, the connotation is simply of a likeable man.) â€Å"Good ol’ boys’ club† or â€Å"good ol’ boys’ network alludes to an excessively insular group of men who discriminate against or ostracize others who are different or not associated with them. (The phrases were inspired by the British English notion of the â€Å"old boy network,† describing men linked by virtue of being alumni of certain prestigious public schools, with a similar but somewhat more elitist subtext.) Ol’ is preferable to ole (not to be confused with olà ©, a Spanish exclamation synonymous with bravo! and, like that word, always punctuated with an exclamation point, which is nevertheless enshrined in the name of the Grand Ole Opry and in Ole Miss, the nickname for the University of Mississippi, as well as in the song title â€Å"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree.† When establishing a reference to a real or imagined medieval sensibility, the archaism olde often appears in such designations as â€Å"Ye Olde Shoppe.† Olde dates back to a time when spelling was more flexible (and may reflect pronunciation during that era) and was revived starting in the mid-nineteenth century to suggest an air of antiquity. Olde is valid, if a bit precious, but the word that often precedes it is misunderstood. Note that ye is not used here as an archaic form of you; it includes a variant of the obsolete English letter thorn, which resembles a mash-up of b and p and represents the soft th sound in the (as opposed to the hard sound in thorn). Therefore, it is correctly pronounced as the. Olden is a variant of the adjective old, unnecessary except to lend a flavor of antiquity (as in the phrase â€Å"in olden times†). Auld, from an earlier pronunciation for old, was preserved in northern England and in Scotland; it’s best known as the first word in the song title â€Å"Auld Lang Syne† (in Scots, literally â€Å"old long since,† meaning â€Å"long ago† or â€Å"old times†). Old itself is often part of a nickname bestowed out of respect; among the recipients of such an epithet are President Andrew â€Å"Old Hickory† Jackson, two naval vessels dubbed Old Ironsides because of their sturdy hulls, and the nursery rhyme character Old Mother Hubbard. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How to Structure A Story: The Eight-Point ArcCannot or Can Not?90 Verbs Starting with â€Å"Ex-†

The Secret Loin and The Rocking Horse Winner Essay

The Secret Loin and The Rocking Horse Winner - Essay Example This paper talkst he first story told about the importance and need to represent myself and my thoughts. Importantly, the second story, guided to avoid being too much greedy because it thrills but it kills in the long run. The second story also guided to think money as a tool of living. The objective of one’s existence should be to enjoy the life because believe it or not humans get only one go around in this world and therefore, it is people’s duty and responsibility to stop worrying about the future and initiate to live in the present. The present moment is what we all got and we can either enjoy it or waste it. In the paper we can find out the description of the first story. The story entitled â€Å"The Secret Loin† discussed two characters, whom were bored with exactitude of the routine. They were basically studying at Junior High School and there they were not permitted to have a conversation with anyone. They were expected to take classes and go home without thinking for a moment during the entire day. The thinking is the process that is the most difficult act for human beings. Most of the humanity wants to execute predetermined stigmata and manage the old routine The story at hand depicted a human urge and need to say what they want to say. This paper says that the second story with the title of â€Å"The Rocking Horse Winner† is written to tell people that unjustified greed and longing for the money is going to kill. The story attributes an anxious mother who wants to make money all the time. Furthermore, she is always worried and has a habit of blaming others for her own troubles. Paul is the name of the abovementioned mother’s son and he is told by her that she is miserable because of his father’s unluckiness. She also told him that luck is important, due to its ability to attract money. Paul in the vague of making a lot of money starts betting on horse races. Finally, with the help of Bassit and Uncle Oscar, Paul initiated to make money big time. But, one day while riding his rocking horse he fell and contracted an incurable brain disease and

How Culture affects Anthropology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

How Culture affects Anthropology - Essay Example Culture and society are different notions. If culture is a system of learned behavior perceptions and patterns, society is a group of interacting beings.   So animals also have societies. Though it is one of the prerogatives of human societies the ability to interact directly or indirectly with each other.   And one human society is distinguished from another one in terms of shared traditions and expectations.Despite the difference between human societies and cultures, they are closely interrelated because culture is created and transmitted to others in a society.   Cultures are not the product of separate individuals.   They are the permanently developing products of people interacting with each other.   Cultural patterns such as language and politics are useless except if they are not engaged in the interaction of people.   If you were the only human on earth, language or government would of no effect (Bernard, 1998, p. 14).The notion "culture" can be interpreted many d ifferent ways.   Some understand it as an opportunity to insight into a high-quality literature, art, music. Each science has its own understanding of culture. Cultural dimensions of logic, values and aesthetics are indeed of a great concern for philosophers. Social workers and people concerned themselves with the practical problems of minority groups also use this notion as a part of their stock in trade. Important research in medicine and in nutrition is oriented in cultural terms. On the other hand for anthropologists the notion "culture".... Cultures are not the product of separate individuals. They are the permanently developing products of people interacting with each other. Cultural patterns such as language and politics are useless except if they are not engaged in the interaction of people. If you were the only human on earth, language or government would of no effect (Bernard, 1998, p. 14). The notion "culture" can be interpreted many different ways. Some understand it as an opportunity to insight into a high-quality literature, art, music. Each science has its own understanding of culture. Cultural dimensions of logic, values and aesthetics are indeed of a great concern for philosophers. Social workers and people concerned themselves with the practical problems of minority groups also use this notion as a part of their stock in trade. Important research in medicine and in nutrition is oriented in cultural terms. On the other hand for anthropologists the notion "culture" generally means the full range of learned human behavior patterns (Bernard, 1998, p. 27). The term was first used in this meaning by the English anthropologist Edward B. Tylor. He defined culture as a complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. Of course, it is possessed and created not only by men but by women as well. The decisive term in this definition is "acquired." This underlines the feature that, as humans, we are not born with culture itself, but with the ability for culture. That is what we learn it, through our interactions and communication with other people in general. We practice the fundamental constituent of this learning in our childhood,

Viruses vs. Windows Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Viruses vs. Windows - Essay Example I would also turn on the windows update option in order to receive security updates for his/her windows. I would recommend my neighbor to install an antivirus application and update it on a regular basis. I would not recommend him/her to use a free version of the above-mentioned antivirus applications because they are sometimes unable to deal with dangerous viruses. Licensed applications provide reliable security to the files stored in any machine. I would recommend my neighbor to use Avast antivirus application because it has eight effective real-time shields that protect the system from viruses, as well as consumes fewer system resources as compared to other antivirus applications. My last recommendation for him/her would be to avoid opening junk emails and suspicious internet links because they are likely to contain viruses. Both of these antivirus applications run very well on the Windows XP. I would also turn on the windows update option in order to receive security updates for his/her windows. I would recommend my neighbor to install an antivirus application and update it on a regular basis. I would not recommend him/her to use a free version of the above-mentioned antivirus applications because they are sometimes unable to deal with dangerous viruses. Licensed applications provide reliable security to the files stored in any machine.

Analysis Of Hedge Fund Performances

Analysis Of Hedge Fund Performances 1. INTRODUTION: Hedge funds are actively managed portfolios that hold positions in publicly traded securities. Gaurav S. Amin and Harry M. Kat (2000) stated on their report that A hedge fund is typically defined as a pooled investment vehicle that is privately organized, administrated by professional investment managers, and not widely available to the public? It charges both a performance fee and a management fee. It allows a flexible investment for a small number of large investors (usually the minimum investment is $1 million) can use high risk techniques. Nowadays it is very clear that in the matter of alternative investment mutual fund is not performing well. As a high absolute returns and typically have features such as hurdle rates and incentive fees with high watermark provision hedge fund gives a better align to the interests of managers and investors. Moreover mutual funds typically use a long-only buy-and-hold type strategy on standard asset classes, which help to capture risk premia asso ciate with equity risk, interest rate risk, default risk etc. However, they are not very helpful in capturing risk premia associate with dynamic trading strategies. That is why hedge fund comes into the picture. This is the year of 2009, which takes the greatest history of the world in the following century. In the year of 2008 the world saw the greatest fall down of the world economy. Lots of people missing their jobs, lots of company were stopped. The world economy faced the highest losses in the history. These all factors are showing only one way to makeover from that greatest downfall that is hedging. 3The last couple of decades have witnessed a rapidly growing in the hedge funds. Relative to traditional investment portfolios hedge funds exhibit some unique characteristics; they are flexible with respect to the types of securities they hold and the type of the position they take. 1 Agarwal, V. and Naik, N. (2000). Multi-period performance persistence analysis of hedge fund s?. The journal of financial and quantitative analysis. Vol. 35, No,3. PP-327. 2 Agarwal, V. and Naik, N. (2004). Risks and portfolio decisions involving hedge funds?. The review of financial studies, Vol. 17, No.1. PP-64. 3 Journal of banking and finance 32(2008) 741-753- Hedge Fund Pricing and Model Uncertainty? by Spyridan D. Vrontos, Ioannis D. Vrontos, Daniel Giomouridies. 4The number of FOHFs increase by 40% between 2001 and 2003, and now comprised almost two third of the $650 billion invested in the USAs hedge fund market. Due to its nature it is difficult to estimate the current size of hedge fund industry. 5Van Hedge Fund Advisors estimates that by the end of 1998 there were 5380 hedge fund managing $311 in capital, with between $800 billion and $1 trillion in total assets, which indicates the higher number of recent new entries. So far, hedge fund is based on American phenomena. About 90% hedge fund managers are based in the US, 9% in Europe and 1% in Asia and elsewhere. Now a days around 5883 hedge funds are trading around the world. (*Barclay Hedge database) 4 Financial times, 29th October, 2003. www.vanhedge.com http://www.barclayhedge.com/products/hedge-fund-directory.html 1.1 Categories of Hedge fund investment objectives: Event Driven: Distressed securities- manager focuses on securities of companies in reorganization and bankruptcy, ranging from senior secured debt to the common stock of the company. Risk arbitrage- manager simultaneously buys stock in a company being acquired and sells stock in its acquirers. Global: International- manager pays attention to economic change around the world (except the United States) but more bottom-up oriented in that managers tend to be stock-pickers in markets they like. Uses index derivatives to a much lesser extent than macro managers. Emerging- Manager invests in less mature financial markets of the world, e.g. Hong Kong, Singapore, Pakistan, India. Because shorting is not permitted in many emerging markets, managers must go to cash or other markets when valuations make being long unattractive. Regional- Manager focuses on specific regions of the world, example- Latin America, Asia, and Europe. Global macro: Opportunistic trading manager that profits from changes in global economies typically based in major interest rate shifts. Uses leverage and derivatives. Market neutral: Long/short stocks- half long/half short. Manager attempts to lock-out or neutralize market risk. Convertible arbitrage- Manager goes long convertible securities and shorts the underlying equities. Stock index arbitrage- Manager buys a basket of stocks and sells short stock index futures, or the reverse. Fixed income arbitrage- Manager buys T-bonds and sells short index futures or the reverse. Short sales: Manager takes a position that stock prices will go down. Used as a hedge for long only portfolios and by those who feel market is approaching a bearish trend. U.S Opportunistic: Value â€Å" Manager focuses on assets, cash flow, book value, out-of-favor stocks. Growth â€Å" Manager invests in growth stocks, revenues, earnings, and growth potential are keys. Short term â€Å" Manager holds positions for a short time frame. Fund of fund: Capital is allocated among a number of hedge funds, providing investors with access to managers they might not be able to discover or evaluate in their own. Usually has a lower minimum than a hedge fund. Source: Carl Ackermann, Richard McEnally, and David Ravenscraft, The performance of hedge funds: Risk, Return and Incentives,? Journal of finance 54, no.3 (June 1999) figure 1, page-843. Reproduced from a hedge fund database firm named Managed Account Report (MAR) Inc, and distributed through LaPorte Asset Allocation System. 2. Literature review: Despite the increasing interest and recent development, few studies have been carried out on hedge funds comparing to other investment tools like mutual funds. An analysis of Hedge Fund performance 1984-2000? by Capocci Daniel using one of the greatest hedge fund database ever used on his working paper (2796 individual funds including 801 dissolved), to investigate hedge funds performance using various asset-pricing models, including an extension from of Carharts (1997) model combined with Fama and French (1998), Agarwal and Naik (2000) models that take into account the fact that some hedge funds invest in emerging market bond. At the end they found that their model does a better job describing hedge funds behaviour. That appears particularly good for the Event Driven, Global Macro, US Opportunistic, Equity non-Hedge and Sector funds. Since the early 1990s, when around 2000 hedge funds were managing assets totalling capital of $60 billion, the subsequent growth in the number and asset base of hedge funds has never really been refuted. The industry only suffered from a relative slowdown in 1998, but since then has enjoyed a renewed vitality with an estimated total of 10,000funds managing more than a trillion US dollars by the end of 2006. The growing trend of the sector remained remarkably sustained during the stock market collapse that started in March 2000, when the NASDAQ composite Index reached an all-time high of 5,132 and finished three years later with a floor level of 1,253. In the meantime, the global met asset value (NAV) of hedge funds continued to grow at a steady rate of 10.6% (Van Hedge Funds Advisors International, 2002), contrasting with a decrease of 2.7% in the worldwide mutual fund industry ( Investment Company Institute, 2003). In 2001, Capocci and Hubner(2004) estimated that there were 6,000 he dge fund managing around $400 billion. In 2007, Capocci, Duquenne and Hubner (2007) estimated that there were 10,000 hedge funds managing around $1 trillion. This is a growth of 11% in the number of funds and 26% in assets over six years (6PhD thesis paper by Daniel P.J. Capocci). Other studies from practitioners Hennessee (1994), and Oberuc (1994) also showed an evidence of superior performance in the case of hedge funds. Ackernann and Al. (1999) and Liang (1999) who compared the performance of hedge funds to mutual funds and several indices, found that hedge funds constantly obtained better performance than mutual funds. Their performance was not better than the performance of the market indices considered. They also indicated that the returns in hedge funds were more unstable than both the returns of mutual funds and those of market indices. According to Brown and Al. (1997) hedge funds showing good performance in the first part of the year reduce the volatility of their portfolio in the second half of the year (Capocci Daniel- An analysis of hedge fund performance 1984-2000). Taking all these results into account hedge funds seems a good investment tool. 6 PhD thesis paper by Daniel P.J. Capocci. Electronic copy available at: http//ssrn.com/abstract=1008319. 3. Research design and Methodology: In this section I would like to describe the empirical methodology to be used to measure the performance of hedge fund as well as the performance of FTSE 100 and SP 500. My aim is to identify which will give the better return for an investor. To investigate hedge funds performance and performance of FTSE 100 and SP 500 my study will follow some models like 4-factor model from of Carharts (1997) model, the 3-factor model from Fama and French (1993) models, the Sharpe ratio (1966) and Jensens alpha (1968) and CAPM. I divide my research into three sections. First section will analyse the performance of hedge funds, FTSE 100 and SP 500. This section sets out the models of performance measurement I will use. Second section will made correlation between Hedge fund vs. FTSE 100 and Hedge fund vs. SP 500 to find out the better portfolio. Third section will exposes a discussion as well as a description of my database and finally concludes the paper. 3.1. Performance measure models: The 4-factor model from Carhart (1997) Carharts (1997) 4-factor model is an extension of the Fama and French (1993) factor model. It not only takes into account the size of the firms, the book to market ratio, but there is an additional factor for the momentum effect. Grinblatt, Titman and Wermers (1995) define this effect as buying stocks that were past winners and selling past losers. This model is estimated with the following regressions: Rpt-Rft=ÃŽÂ ±p+ÃŽÂ ²pi (Rmt â€Å"Rft) + ÃŽÂ ²p2 SMBt +ÃŽÂ ²p3 HMLt + ÃŽÂ ²p4 PR1YRt + ept t= 1,2,,T Where SMBt= the factor mimicking portfolios for size; HMLt= the factor mimicking portfolio for book to market equity; PR1YRt= the factor mimicking portfolio for the momentum effect7 7 for a description of the construction of PR1YR see Carhart (1997). As stressed by Daniel et al. (1997), this model, which is effectively a four factor Jensen measure, assumes that betas with respect to the returns of four zero investment factor mimicking portfolios, are appropriate measures of multidimensional systematic risk. According to this model, in the absence of stock selection or timing abilities, the expected return for a fund is the sum of the risk free return and the products of the betas with the factor risk premium, which are simply the expected returns of each of these zero investment portfolios. The Carhart (1997) approach identifies a matching passive portfolio return for each fund return. This passive return, which is subtracted from the fund return to generate ÃŽÂ ±p, is a weighted average of the returns of the Carhart factor portfolios and the return of a one month T-bill (Capocci Daniel 2001, Journal- European Private Bankers, Nov, 2001). The 3-factor model from Fama and French (1993): Fama and French (1993) 3 factor model is estimated from an expected form of the CAPM regression. It takes the size and the book to market ratio of the firm into account. It uses the time series approach from Black, Jensen, and Scholles (1972) in the sense that the monthly returns on stocks are regressed on the returns to a market portfolio of stocks and mimicking portfolios for size and book to market. It is estimated from the following extension of the CAPM regression: Rpt-Rft=ÃŽÂ ±p+ÃŽÂ ²pi (Rmt â€Å"Rft) + ÃŽÂ ²p2 SMBt +ÃŽÂ ²p3 HMLt + ept t= 1,2,,T Where, SMBt= the factor mimicking portfolios for size, and HMLt= the factor mimicking portfolio for book to market equity. SMLt which comes from small minus big meant to mimic the risk factor in returns related to size, and HMLt which comes from high minus low meant to mimic the risk factor in returns related to book to market equity8. HML (respectively SMB) is neutral relative to the size effect (respectively to the book to market). This means that these factors do a good job isolating the firm-specific components of returns (Fama and French 1993, 1995, 1996 and 2000). 8 See Fama and French (1993) for a precise description of the construction of SMBt and HMLt. The Sharp Ratio (1966): The Sharp ratios (1966) calculate the ratio of the average excess return and the return standard deviation of the fund that is being evaluated. As such it measures the excess return per unit of risk. Assuming all asset returns to be normally distributed, the CAPM tells us that in equilibrium the highest attainable Sharpe ratio is that of the market index. In more general terms, the market indexs sharp ratio represents the set of return distributions that is obtained when statically combining the market index with cash. With the market index being highly diversified, these distributions offer the highest achievable expected return for every possible standard deviation (Gaurav S. Amin and Harry M.Kat (2002), Hedge fund performance 1990-2000). Jensens Alpha (1968): Jensens alpha was introduced in Jensen (1968) and equals the intercept of the regression: (Rh-Rf)= ÃŽÂ ± + ÃŽÂ ² (Ri- Rf) + eh, Where Rh is the fund return, Rf is the risk free rate and Ri is the total return on the market index. Like the Sharpe ratio, Jensens alpha is rooted in the CAPM. According to the CAPM, in equilibrium all (portfolios of) assets with the same beta will offer the same expected return, any positive deviation therefore indicates superior performance (Gaurav S. Amin and Harry M.Kat (2002), Hedge fund performance 1990-2000). Capital Asset Pricing Model: The first performance model that will be used is a capital asset pricing based single index model (CAPM). This model developed by Sharpe (1964) and Linter (1965) is the oldest performance evaluation model. Its formula is the following: Rpt â€Å" Rft = ÃŽÂ ±p + ÃŽÂ ²p (Rmt-Rft) + ept t= 1,2,, T Where, Rpt= return of fund p in month t, Rft= risk free return on month t, Rmt= return of the market portfolio on month t, ept= the error term, ÃŽÂ ±p and ÃŽÂ ²p= the intercept and the slope of the regression estimated. The intercept of this equation, ÃŽÂ ±p commonly called Jensens alpha (1968) is usually interpreted as a measure of out or under performance relative to the market proxy used. There are several extension of this model have been developed like- the Breeden (1979) intertemporal CAPM or the Ferson and Schadt (1996) CAPM that allows time variation in the expected returns and the risk (Capocci Daniel 2001, An analysis of hedge fund performance 1984- 2000). 4. Data Preparation: For data preparation my first step will be to collect the monthly data of the hedge fund index, FTSE 100 and SP 500. For my data collection I will use some sources like- Credit Suisse/ Tremont Hedge Fund Index (CSTHFI hereafter) which is an appropriate representative of the entire hedge fund industry, there are three biggest database of hedge fund in the world these are Managed Account Reports (MAR), Hedge Fund Research, Inc (HFR) and TASS Management (TASS). These databases were the most used in academic and commercial hedge fund studies. For the FTSE 100 and SP 500 I will use yahoo finance. 4.1. Bias in Hedge fund data: According to Ackermann et al. (1999) and to Fung and Hsieh (2000), two upward biases exist in the case of hedge funds. They do not exist in the case of mutual funds, and they both have an opposite impact to the survivorship bias. Survivorship bias is an important issue in mutual funds performance studies (see Carhart and al. 2000). This bias is present when a database contains only funds that have data for the whole period studies. In this case, there is a risk of overestimating the mean performance because the funds that would have ceased to exist because of their bad performance would not be taken into account. The two upward biases exist because, since hedge funds are not allowed to advertise, they consider inclusion in a database primarily as a marketing tool. The first phenomenon stressed by Ackermann and al. (1999) and called the self-selection bias is present because funds that realize good performance have less incentive to report their performance to data providers in order to attract new investors. The second point called instant history bias or backfilled bias (Fung and Hsieh 2000) occurs because after inclusion a funds performance history is backfilled. This may cause an upward bias because funds with less satisfactory performance history are less likely to apply for inclusion than funds with good performance history (Capocci Daniel 2001, An analysis of hedge fund performance 1984- 2000). To avoid these biases I will try to take all funds both living and dissolved into account. Once I have collected all the data that I need I will use SPSS to test the correlation between my two benchmarks FTSE 100 and SP 500. 5. Contingency Plan: To make my research effective I made a well constructed plan. I have drafted a project plan (Appendix A) with scheduled dates for when I intend to complete sections for submission. After completing my final exam I will jump in to this field. Advises from previous students who completed their dissertation, I made my project plan flexible to keep some things in mind like supervisors holiday and any unforeseen events such as my illness. I will try to keep a good communication with my supervisor for checking that I am in right track. I plan to make some formal meetings with my supervisor to discuss my progress and I will try to inform him about the state of my work. It is hard to spending too much time over one task and going off track, I hope I will manage this if there is no rush at the very last minute. Another worry is the collecting and analysing the data, that is why I plan to collect the data early June once I have finished my research design. If I face any kind of difficulties I will inform him and make a cut-off point where I should stop searching the board data and start my own primary data. As I do all SPSS classes and briefly touched about this, I think it will be easy to analyze the data but I need to increase a bit of use of control on it by practicing more. So I will set aside time for collecting data and practice more SPSS for regression analysis. I hope if all these go well, I will make my dissertation very effectively. Analysis Of Hedge Fund Performances Analysis Of Hedge Fund Performances 1. INTRODUTION: Hedge funds are actively managed portfolios that hold positions in publicly traded securities. Gaurav S. Amin and Harry M. Kat (2000) stated on their report that A hedge fund is typically defined as a pooled investment vehicle that is privately organized, administrated by professional investment managers, and not widely available to the public? It charges both a performance fee and a management fee. It allows a flexible investment for a small number of large investors (usually the minimum investment is $1 million) can use high risk techniques. Nowadays it is very clear that in the matter of alternative investment mutual fund is not performing well. As a high absolute returns and typically have features such as hurdle rates and incentive fees with high watermark provision hedge fund gives a better align to the interests of managers and investors. Moreover mutual funds typically use a long-only buy-and-hold type strategy on standard asset classes, which help to capture risk premia asso ciate with equity risk, interest rate risk, default risk etc. However, they are not very helpful in capturing risk premia associate with dynamic trading strategies. That is why hedge fund comes into the picture. This is the year of 2009, which takes the greatest history of the world in the following century. In the year of 2008 the world saw the greatest fall down of the world economy. Lots of people missing their jobs, lots of company were stopped. The world economy faced the highest losses in the history. These all factors are showing only one way to makeover from that greatest downfall that is hedging. 3The last couple of decades have witnessed a rapidly growing in the hedge funds. Relative to traditional investment portfolios hedge funds exhibit some unique characteristics; they are flexible with respect to the types of securities they hold and the type of the position they take. 1 Agarwal, V. and Naik, N. (2000). Multi-period performance persistence analysis of hedge fund s?. The journal of financial and quantitative analysis. Vol. 35, No,3. PP-327. 2 Agarwal, V. and Naik, N. (2004). Risks and portfolio decisions involving hedge funds?. The review of financial studies, Vol. 17, No.1. PP-64. 3 Journal of banking and finance 32(2008) 741-753- Hedge Fund Pricing and Model Uncertainty? by Spyridan D. Vrontos, Ioannis D. Vrontos, Daniel Giomouridies. 4The number of FOHFs increase by 40% between 2001 and 2003, and now comprised almost two third of the $650 billion invested in the USAs hedge fund market. Due to its nature it is difficult to estimate the current size of hedge fund industry. 5Van Hedge Fund Advisors estimates that by the end of 1998 there were 5380 hedge fund managing $311 in capital, with between $800 billion and $1 trillion in total assets, which indicates the higher number of recent new entries. So far, hedge fund is based on American phenomena. About 90% hedge fund managers are based in the US, 9% in Europe and 1% in Asia and elsewhere. Now a days around 5883 hedge funds are trading around the world. (*Barclay Hedge database) 4 Financial times, 29th October, 2003. www.vanhedge.com http://www.barclayhedge.com/products/hedge-fund-directory.html 1.1 Categories of Hedge fund investment objectives: Event Driven: Distressed securities- manager focuses on securities of companies in reorganization and bankruptcy, ranging from senior secured debt to the common stock of the company. Risk arbitrage- manager simultaneously buys stock in a company being acquired and sells stock in its acquirers. Global: International- manager pays attention to economic change around the world (except the United States) but more bottom-up oriented in that managers tend to be stock-pickers in markets they like. Uses index derivatives to a much lesser extent than macro managers. Emerging- Manager invests in less mature financial markets of the world, e.g. Hong Kong, Singapore, Pakistan, India. Because shorting is not permitted in many emerging markets, managers must go to cash or other markets when valuations make being long unattractive. Regional- Manager focuses on specific regions of the world, example- Latin America, Asia, and Europe. Global macro: Opportunistic trading manager that profits from changes in global economies typically based in major interest rate shifts. Uses leverage and derivatives. Market neutral: Long/short stocks- half long/half short. Manager attempts to lock-out or neutralize market risk. Convertible arbitrage- Manager goes long convertible securities and shorts the underlying equities. Stock index arbitrage- Manager buys a basket of stocks and sells short stock index futures, or the reverse. Fixed income arbitrage- Manager buys T-bonds and sells short index futures or the reverse. Short sales: Manager takes a position that stock prices will go down. Used as a hedge for long only portfolios and by those who feel market is approaching a bearish trend. U.S Opportunistic: Value â€Å" Manager focuses on assets, cash flow, book value, out-of-favor stocks. Growth â€Å" Manager invests in growth stocks, revenues, earnings, and growth potential are keys. Short term â€Å" Manager holds positions for a short time frame. Fund of fund: Capital is allocated among a number of hedge funds, providing investors with access to managers they might not be able to discover or evaluate in their own. Usually has a lower minimum than a hedge fund. Source: Carl Ackermann, Richard McEnally, and David Ravenscraft, The performance of hedge funds: Risk, Return and Incentives,? Journal of finance 54, no.3 (June 1999) figure 1, page-843. Reproduced from a hedge fund database firm named Managed Account Report (MAR) Inc, and distributed through LaPorte Asset Allocation System. 2. Literature review: Despite the increasing interest and recent development, few studies have been carried out on hedge funds comparing to other investment tools like mutual funds. An analysis of Hedge Fund performance 1984-2000? by Capocci Daniel using one of the greatest hedge fund database ever used on his working paper (2796 individual funds including 801 dissolved), to investigate hedge funds performance using various asset-pricing models, including an extension from of Carharts (1997) model combined with Fama and French (1998), Agarwal and Naik (2000) models that take into account the fact that some hedge funds invest in emerging market bond. At the end they found that their model does a better job describing hedge funds behaviour. That appears particularly good for the Event Driven, Global Macro, US Opportunistic, Equity non-Hedge and Sector funds. Since the early 1990s, when around 2000 hedge funds were managing assets totalling capital of $60 billion, the subsequent growth in the number and asset base of hedge funds has never really been refuted. The industry only suffered from a relative slowdown in 1998, but since then has enjoyed a renewed vitality with an estimated total of 10,000funds managing more than a trillion US dollars by the end of 2006. The growing trend of the sector remained remarkably sustained during the stock market collapse that started in March 2000, when the NASDAQ composite Index reached an all-time high of 5,132 and finished three years later with a floor level of 1,253. In the meantime, the global met asset value (NAV) of hedge funds continued to grow at a steady rate of 10.6% (Van Hedge Funds Advisors International, 2002), contrasting with a decrease of 2.7% in the worldwide mutual fund industry ( Investment Company Institute, 2003). In 2001, Capocci and Hubner(2004) estimated that there were 6,000 he dge fund managing around $400 billion. In 2007, Capocci, Duquenne and Hubner (2007) estimated that there were 10,000 hedge funds managing around $1 trillion. This is a growth of 11% in the number of funds and 26% in assets over six years (6PhD thesis paper by Daniel P.J. Capocci). Other studies from practitioners Hennessee (1994), and Oberuc (1994) also showed an evidence of superior performance in the case of hedge funds. Ackernann and Al. (1999) and Liang (1999) who compared the performance of hedge funds to mutual funds and several indices, found that hedge funds constantly obtained better performance than mutual funds. Their performance was not better than the performance of the market indices considered. They also indicated that the returns in hedge funds were more unstable than both the returns of mutual funds and those of market indices. According to Brown and Al. (1997) hedge funds showing good performance in the first part of the year reduce the volatility of their portfolio in the second half of the year (Capocci Daniel- An analysis of hedge fund performance 1984-2000). Taking all these results into account hedge funds seems a good investment tool. 6 PhD thesis paper by Daniel P.J. Capocci. Electronic copy available at: http//ssrn.com/abstract=1008319. 3. Research design and Methodology: In this section I would like to describe the empirical methodology to be used to measure the performance of hedge fund as well as the performance of FTSE 100 and SP 500. My aim is to identify which will give the better return for an investor. To investigate hedge funds performance and performance of FTSE 100 and SP 500 my study will follow some models like 4-factor model from of Carharts (1997) model, the 3-factor model from Fama and French (1993) models, the Sharpe ratio (1966) and Jensens alpha (1968) and CAPM. I divide my research into three sections. First section will analyse the performance of hedge funds, FTSE 100 and SP 500. This section sets out the models of performance measurement I will use. Second section will made correlation between Hedge fund vs. FTSE 100 and Hedge fund vs. SP 500 to find out the better portfolio. Third section will exposes a discussion as well as a description of my database and finally concludes the paper. 3.1. Performance measure models: The 4-factor model from Carhart (1997) Carharts (1997) 4-factor model is an extension of the Fama and French (1993) factor model. It not only takes into account the size of the firms, the book to market ratio, but there is an additional factor for the momentum effect. Grinblatt, Titman and Wermers (1995) define this effect as buying stocks that were past winners and selling past losers. This model is estimated with the following regressions: Rpt-Rft=ÃŽÂ ±p+ÃŽÂ ²pi (Rmt â€Å"Rft) + ÃŽÂ ²p2 SMBt +ÃŽÂ ²p3 HMLt + ÃŽÂ ²p4 PR1YRt + ept t= 1,2,,T Where SMBt= the factor mimicking portfolios for size; HMLt= the factor mimicking portfolio for book to market equity; PR1YRt= the factor mimicking portfolio for the momentum effect7 7 for a description of the construction of PR1YR see Carhart (1997). As stressed by Daniel et al. (1997), this model, which is effectively a four factor Jensen measure, assumes that betas with respect to the returns of four zero investment factor mimicking portfolios, are appropriate measures of multidimensional systematic risk. According to this model, in the absence of stock selection or timing abilities, the expected return for a fund is the sum of the risk free return and the products of the betas with the factor risk premium, which are simply the expected returns of each of these zero investment portfolios. The Carhart (1997) approach identifies a matching passive portfolio return for each fund return. This passive return, which is subtracted from the fund return to generate ÃŽÂ ±p, is a weighted average of the returns of the Carhart factor portfolios and the return of a one month T-bill (Capocci Daniel 2001, Journal- European Private Bankers, Nov, 2001). The 3-factor model from Fama and French (1993): Fama and French (1993) 3 factor model is estimated from an expected form of the CAPM regression. It takes the size and the book to market ratio of the firm into account. It uses the time series approach from Black, Jensen, and Scholles (1972) in the sense that the monthly returns on stocks are regressed on the returns to a market portfolio of stocks and mimicking portfolios for size and book to market. It is estimated from the following extension of the CAPM regression: Rpt-Rft=ÃŽÂ ±p+ÃŽÂ ²pi (Rmt â€Å"Rft) + ÃŽÂ ²p2 SMBt +ÃŽÂ ²p3 HMLt + ept t= 1,2,,T Where, SMBt= the factor mimicking portfolios for size, and HMLt= the factor mimicking portfolio for book to market equity. SMLt which comes from small minus big meant to mimic the risk factor in returns related to size, and HMLt which comes from high minus low meant to mimic the risk factor in returns related to book to market equity8. HML (respectively SMB) is neutral relative to the size effect (respectively to the book to market). This means that these factors do a good job isolating the firm-specific components of returns (Fama and French 1993, 1995, 1996 and 2000). 8 See Fama and French (1993) for a precise description of the construction of SMBt and HMLt. The Sharp Ratio (1966): The Sharp ratios (1966) calculate the ratio of the average excess return and the return standard deviation of the fund that is being evaluated. As such it measures the excess return per unit of risk. Assuming all asset returns to be normally distributed, the CAPM tells us that in equilibrium the highest attainable Sharpe ratio is that of the market index. In more general terms, the market indexs sharp ratio represents the set of return distributions that is obtained when statically combining the market index with cash. With the market index being highly diversified, these distributions offer the highest achievable expected return for every possible standard deviation (Gaurav S. Amin and Harry M.Kat (2002), Hedge fund performance 1990-2000). Jensens Alpha (1968): Jensens alpha was introduced in Jensen (1968) and equals the intercept of the regression: (Rh-Rf)= ÃŽÂ ± + ÃŽÂ ² (Ri- Rf) + eh, Where Rh is the fund return, Rf is the risk free rate and Ri is the total return on the market index. Like the Sharpe ratio, Jensens alpha is rooted in the CAPM. According to the CAPM, in equilibrium all (portfolios of) assets with the same beta will offer the same expected return, any positive deviation therefore indicates superior performance (Gaurav S. Amin and Harry M.Kat (2002), Hedge fund performance 1990-2000). Capital Asset Pricing Model: The first performance model that will be used is a capital asset pricing based single index model (CAPM). This model developed by Sharpe (1964) and Linter (1965) is the oldest performance evaluation model. Its formula is the following: Rpt â€Å" Rft = ÃŽÂ ±p + ÃŽÂ ²p (Rmt-Rft) + ept t= 1,2,, T Where, Rpt= return of fund p in month t, Rft= risk free return on month t, Rmt= return of the market portfolio on month t, ept= the error term, ÃŽÂ ±p and ÃŽÂ ²p= the intercept and the slope of the regression estimated. The intercept of this equation, ÃŽÂ ±p commonly called Jensens alpha (1968) is usually interpreted as a measure of out or under performance relative to the market proxy used. There are several extension of this model have been developed like- the Breeden (1979) intertemporal CAPM or the Ferson and Schadt (1996) CAPM that allows time variation in the expected returns and the risk (Capocci Daniel 2001, An analysis of hedge fund performance 1984- 2000). 4. Data Preparation: For data preparation my first step will be to collect the monthly data of the hedge fund index, FTSE 100 and SP 500. For my data collection I will use some sources like- Credit Suisse/ Tremont Hedge Fund Index (CSTHFI hereafter) which is an appropriate representative of the entire hedge fund industry, there are three biggest database of hedge fund in the world these are Managed Account Reports (MAR), Hedge Fund Research, Inc (HFR) and TASS Management (TASS). These databases were the most used in academic and commercial hedge fund studies. For the FTSE 100 and SP 500 I will use yahoo finance. 4.1. Bias in Hedge fund data: According to Ackermann et al. (1999) and to Fung and Hsieh (2000), two upward biases exist in the case of hedge funds. They do not exist in the case of mutual funds, and they both have an opposite impact to the survivorship bias. Survivorship bias is an important issue in mutual funds performance studies (see Carhart and al. 2000). This bias is present when a database contains only funds that have data for the whole period studies. In this case, there is a risk of overestimating the mean performance because the funds that would have ceased to exist because of their bad performance would not be taken into account. The two upward biases exist because, since hedge funds are not allowed to advertise, they consider inclusion in a database primarily as a marketing tool. The first phenomenon stressed by Ackermann and al. (1999) and called the self-selection bias is present because funds that realize good performance have less incentive to report their performance to data providers in order to attract new investors. The second point called instant history bias or backfilled bias (Fung and Hsieh 2000) occurs because after inclusion a funds performance history is backfilled. This may cause an upward bias because funds with less satisfactory performance history are less likely to apply for inclusion than funds with good performance history (Capocci Daniel 2001, An analysis of hedge fund performance 1984- 2000). To avoid these biases I will try to take all funds both living and dissolved into account. Once I have collected all the data that I need I will use SPSS to test the correlation between my two benchmarks FTSE 100 and SP 500. 5. Contingency Plan: To make my research effective I made a well constructed plan. I have drafted a project plan (Appendix A) with scheduled dates for when I intend to complete sections for submission. After completing my final exam I will jump in to this field. Advises from previous students who completed their dissertation, I made my project plan flexible to keep some things in mind like supervisors holiday and any unforeseen events such as my illness. I will try to keep a good communication with my supervisor for checking that I am in right track. I plan to make some formal meetings with my supervisor to discuss my progress and I will try to inform him about the state of my work. It is hard to spending too much time over one task and going off track, I hope I will manage this if there is no rush at the very last minute. Another worry is the collecting and analysing the data, that is why I plan to collect the data early June once I have finished my research design. If I face any kind of difficulties I will inform him and make a cut-off point where I should stop searching the board data and start my own primary data. As I do all SPSS classes and briefly touched about this, I think it will be easy to analyze the data but I need to increase a bit of use of control on it by practicing more. So I will set aside time for collecting data and practice more SPSS for regression analysis. I hope if all these go well, I will make my dissertation very effectively.