Why Animal Testing Can Save Our Lives

Many years ago, people follow particular traditions that involves animal sacrifice. According to biblical history, animals were often killed to use as sacrifices to God. In Genesis, Abraham sacrificed a ram after he was stopped by an angel to kill his son as a sign of full obedience to God. Clearly, animal sacrifices has been accepted ever since our ancestors had developed various religions where they believed meat offerings were pleasant to the eyes of their God. As one of the most complicated ethical issues of today, animal testing can be viewed in the same way with the historical animal sacrifices. As humans in past were saved spiritually by offering animals, it is reasonable to conclude that animal testing is a kind of sacrifice that humans must do to save lives physically and emotionally. Why Animal Testing Can Save Our Lives One of the primary reasons why animal testing is considered helpful for the advance of man is the fact that it plays a significant role in the progress of medicine. Newly created drugs are safer to use by humans if they are tested on animals first. Some people believes that it is unethical and improper to use a drug if it has not been tested on animals before (Hayhurst, 20). They argue that it is the best possible way to determine if a drug is safe or not. They clearly have a point in this argument. Apparently, they believe that human lives are much important than animal lives. â€Å"Many people who argue for animal testing agree that it's unfortunate that animals must sometimes suffer, but they feel that the pain is a small price to pay if it advances science and produces new cures for deadly diseases such as cancer and AIDS† (Hayhurst, 21). On the other hand, people who are against animal testing argue that animal lives should also be treated with utmost importance and should not be used as sacrifices to attain something. One of the points of these people are the fact that some cosmetic manufacturers also engage in animal testing to try their products. They believe that such products are â€Å"unnecessary† for animals' health to be sacrificed (Hayhurst, 21). There is the blinding of mice to enable cosmetic manufacturers to produce a new kind of mascara and other. They also argue that animal reactions to drugs can be quite different from that of humans. â€Å"Because of the irreconcilable biological differences between animals and human beings, the results of animal tests cannot be applied to human beings with any degree of confidence† (qtd. in Lovegrove, 14). However, it is the issue of morality and ethics that is enveloping the entire argument against animal testing. Many people on this side believes that animals have the right to live and that humans cannot just treat them in any way just because they can. Apparently, both sides of the issue raises important points that should be considered to achieve a fair and justified treatment of the issue. Clearly, there is a lot at stake here whether in the morality or the medical advancement of human beings but both ways still considers what is good for man. Nevertheless, the problem with some animal rights activists is that, â€Å"there is too much emphasis on ethics and too little emphasis on what they perceive as scientific benefits† (qtd. in Connor). In our present situation where diseases are rampant, it is important that people must be receptive and open-minded enough to consider tough decisions such as supporting animal testing. It is also important that people weigh the circumstances of what animal research could do in the existence and survival of mankind in the future. The problem with some activists is that they focus so much on what is happening today that they tend to forget what could happen in the future. Conclusion Our world today is experiencing so many medical challenges such as the spread of A(H1N1) virus, cancer, AIDS and other diseases; therefore, it is important that we consider sacrificing something today to enable us to prepare for the future. In addition, these animals also benefit from the testing as their future generations also benefits from the medical progress to which they contribute. Hence, it is quite reasonable to conclude that some tough decisions and actions should be made to make this place better and safer for all of us. It is for the greater good that a few must suffer to attain something better in the future.

Recent Trends in Capital Market of Bangladesh Critical Evaluation

RECENT TRENDS IN CAPITAL MARKET OF BANGLADESH: CRITICAL EVALUATION OF REGULATION by Syed Golam Shahjarul Alam A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Professional Master in Banking and Finance Examination Committee: Dr. Sundar Venkatesh (Chairperson) Dr. Winai Wongsurawat Dr. Yuosre Badir Nationality: Previous Degree: Bangladeshi Master of Business Administration University of Dhaka Dhaka, Bangladesh Bangladesh Bank (Central Bank of Bangladesh) Scholarship Donor:Asian Institute of Technology School of Management Thailand May2012 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My greatest Gratitude is given to Dr. Sundar Venkatesh, my project advisor, for his deep insight in capital market, which helped me to accomplish the project paper. His dedication towards teaching, motivating and supervising influenced me greatly, leading to do my project work carefully and seriously. I wish to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to Bangladesh Bank, My office, for granting me a scholarship, to pursue my Masters in banking and finance.I express my gratitude and deepest appreciation to my friend Ms. Senjuti binte rafiq, My Colleagues in Bangladesh Bank and DSE Library staffs who helped me by providing valuable suggestions and necessary data for my analysis. I am very much thankful to Dr. Winai Wongsurawat and Dr. Juthathip Jongwanich for their valuable suggestions regarding my project. I express my gratitude and deepest appreciation to Ms Kluaymai Thongkham, Ms. Farah Nashid Hossain and other AIT staffs for their effort in creating a homely atmosphere amid the difficult time. i ABSTRACT The Capital Market of Bangladesh is passing tough times since December 2010 as high volatility is eroding the capital of Thousands of Investors that might turn into social instability. This fall is caused by many factors that I tried to identify and tried to link up between causal factors of market crash and regulatory failure. Primary issue related problems was faulty list ing methods and IPO overpricing, few numbers of new listings, revaluating assets before company listing, high premium in issuance of right share/Repeat IPO etc. hile secondary market related problems was stock splits and stock price manipulations through block trading, circular trading and insider trading. Investor’s greed and irrational behavior played a big rule to make the stock prices sky rocking as they were crazy to buy shares without judging the company fundamentals. Shares of the companies with closed operations and big accumulated losses were rising constantly due to investors high risk appetite that caused them to loss everything.Government had already taken many steps (including SEC reforms) to stabilize the market but failed as investors confidence is in the bottom level. Government and regulators should work together to identify the main speculators and should brought under proper trial to bring investors back to the market. Regulator should make reforms on Listi ng procedures and other faulty regulatory frameworks to ensure transparency and efficiency in the capital market and also should bring clear guidelines regarding Private Placements, Asset Revaluation, Insider Trading, Dealing with Omnibus Accounts etc. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER TITLE Title Page Acknowledgements Abstract Table of Contents List of Tables List of Figures List of Illustrations 1 Introduction 1. 1 Background 1. 2 Statement of the problems 1. 3 Objectives 1. 3. 1 Overall Objective 1. 3. 2 Specific Objectives 1. 4 Scope Literature Review 2. 1 Terminology 2. 2 Previous research works on this topic Methodology 3. 1 Data Source 3. 2 Methods Recent Trends of Capital Market PAGE i ii iii iv vi vii viii 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 10 14 14 14 15 2 3 4 6 7 8 Factors behind recent Capital market Crash in Bangladesh Conclusions and Recommendations Bibliography/References Appendixes 22 35 39 40 iv LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 2. 1 2. 2 2. 3 5. 2 TITLE Trend of Bombay Stock Exchange-30 (BSE-30) i ndex Trend of DSE General (DGEN) index Trend of SET Index Price Trend of Chittagong Vegetable Oil Ind. Ltd. PAGE 9 9 10 30 v LIST OF TABLES TABLE 2. 1 2. 2 4. 1 4. 2 4. 3 4. 4 4. 5 5. 1 5. 2 5. 3 5. 4 5. 5 5. 6 5. 7 5. 8 5. 9 5. 10 5. 11 5. 12 5. 13 5. 14 5. 15 5. 16 5. 7 TITLE DSE Top five BO Accountholders in 2010 Comparison of DSE volatility with other market Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) activities DSE Highest Records Change in total Number of BO Accounts in two Years Detail information of fresh Issues in the DSE during 2009-11 Inconsistency in regulations regarding Margin Loan Price comparison of companies with different per value Price comparison of Mutual Funds with different per value List of some stock split companies and their Market Capitalization Top 10 NAV-gainer companies after asset revaluationsTop Companies offered Right shares with high premium Top Companies offered preference Shares Companies floated shares through Book Building Method Basic Listing Information of Khu lna Power Company Ltd. Basic Listing Information of Ocean Containers Limited.Top 20 Gainers in 2010 Financial Performance of Chittagong Vegetable Oil Industries Ltd Price trends of the stocks of Chittagong vegetable oil Industries Ltd Paired Samples Test One Sample Test Price sensitive information of Chittagong vegetable oil Industries Regulatory Actions displayed in DSE screen Increase of Market Capitalization and Total Turnover PAGE 5 9 17 17 18 19 20 22 23 24 25 25 26 26 27 27 28 30 31 32 32 32 33 39 viLIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AIT Asian Institute of Technology BB Bangladesh Bank DSE Dhaka Stock Exchange SEC Securities and Exchange Commission CSE Chittagong Stock Exchange Report Ibrahim Khalid Share Probe Report FI Financial Institution ADB Asian Development Bank EII Eligible Institutional Investors IPO Initial Public Offerings PER Price Earnings Ratio DGEN DSE General Index vii viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1. 1 Background/Rationale for the thesis Sound Capital Market is an indispensi ble part of an Economy.Without sound and efficient capital market, rapid economic development could be hampered as capital market provides long term funds to entrepreneurs. Capital Market of Bangladesh is still highly speculative and lacks transparency due to poor regulatory framework. In Bangladesh, Financial sector was historically driven by banks and capital market had fewer rules to play as people had mixed perception about the risk pattern in capital market that discouraged them mostly to invest there. But in the mid of ninetieths of last century capital market started to show vibrant behavior that make people interested bout the stock exchanges. As the index was rising sharply and everyone was making money, many people started to invest their money to the heated market that made a bigger bubble and finally the bubble bursts. Benchmark index came down to 700 point in November 1997 from its highest 3600 point in November 1996. Thousands of investors lost their money that made th em reluctant to invest in the capital market again. It took one decade for them to forget the history of collapse. After that, regulators had taken many steps to stabilize the market. Hundreds of new issues came to the market.Central depository, circuit breaker, online trading, etc. were introduced in the market to attract investors. As a result, the market started to grow again. Investors started to forget the history of 1996 and started to invest again. This time most investors were new and young with little knowledge about stocks and did not care about market risk. They invested their money and finally lost everything when the bubble started to burst in December, 2010 that had started to grow from the year 2009. This time Benchmark index came down to 3616 points in early February 2012 from its highest point 8918 in December 2010.Millions of investors lost their money and came down to the street. This is the small picture of stock market crashes in Bangladesh. In both cases regula tors had failed to take proactive measures to not grow the bubble and caused losses for millions of investors when the bubbles burst. When analysts were anxious about the bubbles, regulators were ignoring them and even defended the bubbles. The recent volatility of the capital market of Bangladesh is an abnormal phenomenon and such volatility tends to economic instability. I believe it will be interested enough to look into the causes of the problem.As such volatility affects mass people (many investors), it is essential to try to minimize such volatility by identifying the causes (esp. , Regulatory failure) and solving the problems. In my study, I will try to identify the reasons of this volatility and also to recommend some suggestions to minimize such volatility in future. 1. 2 ? Statement of the Problems As recent volatility raises many questions about the regulatory capability of the SEC, I would like to study whether regulator had any rule to worsen the problem or does it had anything to do at all?In my study, I will try to identify the reasons of recent unexpected events of the capital market of Bangladesh and will also try so suggests some ways to avoid same incidences in the future. Another reason to choose this topic is my present job field. I work for the central Bank of Bangladesh that plays a vital rule for economic development as a regulator. So the learning from this study will help me to identify 1 ? ? ? ? ? future risks associated with both money and capital market and also will make me able to make proactive decisions to prevent the economy from such disasters.As no research is made in this important issue, I believe that my research will be very useful for users. I also believe that regulators (e. g. , SEC, DSE, CSE, Bangladesh Bank) might use my study to strengthen the financial system (esp. , capital market) of Bangladesh. It is unknown whether the recent stock market fluctuation is due to regulatory failure or due to irrational behaviors of investors. Irrational behavior of investors might be an important reason for recent stock market bubble. Patterns of investor’s behavior might be covered by the study.In many cases, data availability might hinder to reach on my objectives. Data related to stock manipulations and insider trading are not available and that’s why I have to rely on secondary sources (if there is any) to conduct my study. Objectives of the Research Overall objective The study will try to identify the rule of regulators behind the recent capital market crash and focus on developing a road map for promoting Sustainable capital market regulatory framework in Bangladesh. Specific objectives 1. 3 1. 3. 1 1. 3. 2 The specific objectives of the study will be: ? To analyze and identify the reasons (Esp. regulatory rules. ) for recent stock market crash in Bangladesh. ? To review the existing listing and trading rules in Stock indices in Bangladesh. ? To recommend some guidelines for better regul ations to strengthen the capital market of Bangladesh. 1. 4 Scope This study is focused on the recent trend of the capital market of Bangladesh. The study will explain the regulatory aspects of capital market of Bangladesh on the basis of disclosed regulations and will try to judge the quality of the regulations in terms of its achievement of the goals. This study is basically descriptive in nature.Data is collected from both Primary (Stock Exchange, SEC) and secondary sources like different publications of DSE, Bangladesh Bank, ADB, WB and IMF. Some other research papers in this line will also be used. The areas that will be concentrated are: ? Various aspects of capital market regulations of Bangladesh ? Recent trends of Capital Market ? Bubble creation and Bubble Burst and reasons behind this market collapse 2 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 1 Terminology To establish the conceptual framework for the research, it is important to provide definitions of key terminologies that are gi ven below: 2. 1. 1 Capital MarketA capital market is a market for both debt and equity securities, where business enterprises and governments can raise long-term funds. It is defined as a market in which money is provided for periods longer than a year (Sullivan et. al. , 2003) 2. 1. 2 Money Market Money market is a segment of the financial market in which financial instruments with high liquidity and short maturities (one year or shorter) are traded. Trading in the money markets involves Treasury bills, bankers' acceptances, certificates of deposit, commercial paper, federal funds, and short-lived mortgage- and asset-backed securities.It provides liquidity support to the global financial system (Frank J. Fabozzi et. al. , 2002). Money market of Bangladesh consists Bangladesh Bank (BB) as the central bank, 4 State Owned Commercial Banks (SCB), 5 government owned specialized banks, 30 domestic private banks, 9 foreign banks and 29 non-bank financial institutions. Moreover, MicroCredi t Regulatory Authority (MRA) has given license to more than 300 Micro-credit Organizations. 2. 1. 3 Stock Exchange A stock exchange is a body that provides services to stock brokers and traders to trade stocks, bonds, and other securities.Stock exchanges also provide facilities for issuance and redemption of securities and other financial instruments, capital events including the payment of income and dividends. Securities traded on a stock exchange include shares issued by companies, Mutual funds, unit trusts, derivatives and bonds. The initial public offering (IPO) of securities (stocks and bonds) is done in the primary market and subsequent trading of it is done in the secondary market. A stock exchange is often the most important component of a stock market. The major functions of Stock Exchanges are: 1.Listing of Companies (As per Listing Regulations). 2. Providing the screen based automated trading of listed Securities. 3. Settlement of trading (As per Settlement of Transactio n Regulations). 4. Gifting of share / granting approval to the transaction/transfer of share outside the trading system of the exchange (As per Listing Regulations 42). 5. Market Administration & Control. 6. Market Surveillance. 7. Publication of Monthly Review. 8. Monitoring the activities of listed companies (As per Listing Regulations). 9. Investor’s grievance Cell (Disposal of complaint by laws 1997). 0. Investors Protection Fund (As per investor protection fund Regulations 1999). 3 11. Announcement of Price sensitive or other information about listed companies through online. 2. 1. 6 Demutualization Demutualization of a stock exchange is the process of transforming a non-profit memberowned mutual organization into a profit seeking shareholder Corporation. Exchanges all over the world have been demutualizing due to increasing international competition and technological challenges to traditional modes of securities trading.The change of a stock exchange from a member-owned organization to a for-profit shareholder corporation triggers a number of questions about regulatory oversight. In Bangladesh, Stock indices are directed by the elected body of stock brokers where conflict of interest happens. There is very poor corporate governance in the Stock Indices that is an important reason of recent debacle (Investigation Report by the Committee). In chapter 2 I discussed about benefits of demutualization that are applicable for the capital market of Bangladesh.As stock dealers and brokers are familiar as institutional investors and play a big rule in the capital market mechanism, they should be regulated properly. In Bangladesh, DSE conduct inspection on brokerage houses and DSE is also run by a selected committee of brokerage house, so one cannot expect proper judgment from the DSE. Table 2. 1 DSE Top five BO Accountholders in 2010 Name Total Annual Turnover (Tk. Billion ) Prime Bank Investment Ltd. 676. 73 IDLC Finance Ltd. 555. 58 LankaBangla Securities Ltd. 525. 33 Trust Bank Ltd. 523. 25 AB Investments Ltd. 497. 33 Sl. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.From the table, we find that all the top investors are brokerage houses who are mainly monitored by DSE that creates many conflicts of interests. So, if brokerage houses make any big irregularity, DSE is supposed to hide it as it a member of DSE. In 2010, many positive factors along with regulatory supports (SEC, DSE) inflated the market and finally caused big losses for general investors. In case of irregularities (serial Trading, price manipulation) by brokerage houses/members, DSE had failed to make any proper investigation and also failed to inform it to SEC for regulatory actions and favored members.In case of price bidding under book-building method, some members (associated to underwriter of the company) quoted very high and irrational price and DSE listed the securities of these companies without asking any question that rises about the transparency of the listing methods. Without stock excha nge demutualization such conflict of interests could not be avoided. 2. 1. 7 Stock market Bubble A stock market bubble is one kind of economic bubble that takes place in stock markets when market participants drive stock prices above their value in relation to some system of stock valuation. (Smith et. al. 1988) 4Impact of Bubble: There is debate about the impact of economic bubbles among different schools of economic thoughts. Many of the mainstream economists believe that bubbles cannot be recognized in advance, cannot be prevented from forming and attempts to â€Å"prick† the bubble cause financial crises. Instead of pricking the bubble, authorities should wait for bubbles to burst by their own ways, dealing with the consequences via monetary and fiscal policies (Robert E. Wright, 2010). Other economists believe that bubble have negative impact on the economy as it tends to cause misallocation of resources into non-optimal uses.Robert E. Wright, a political economist argue s that bubbles can be identified ex ante with high confidence. In addition, the crash that is caused by an economic bubble can demolish a large amount of wealth and might cause continuing economic depression; this view is particularly linked to the debt-deflation theory of Irving Fisher and elaborated within PostKeynesian economics. An important aspect of economic bubbles is its impact on spending habits. Market participants with overvalued assets tend to spend more because they â€Å"feel† richer (the wealth effect).Many observers quote the housing market of New Zealand, Spain, United Kingdom, Australia and United States in recent times as an example of this effect. Possible causes of Bubble: Low interest rate policies by the Federal Reserve system are believed to have exacerbated housing and commodities bubbles. The housing bubble popped as subprime mortgages began to default at much higher rates than expected, which also coincided with the rising of the fed funds rate. It has also been variously suggested that bubbles may be intrinsic, rational and contagious.To date, there is no widely accepted theory to explain their occurrence. Recent computergenerated agency models suggest that excessive leverage could be a key factor in causing financial bubbles. Some of the causes of economic bubble are given below: Liquidity: One of the possible causes of bubbles is the presence of excessive liquidity in the financial system that induces aggressive lending banks that make asset markets vulnerable. Economic bubbles often occur when too much money is chasing too few assets, causing both good and bad assets to appreciate excessively beyond their intrinsic value to an unacceptable level.Greater fool theory: Greater fool theory says that bubbles are driven by the behavior of highly optimistic market participants (the fools) who buy overpriced assets in anticipation of selling it to other speculators (the greater fools) at a higher price. According to this unsupport ed explanation, the bubbles continue as long as the fools can find greater fools to pay up for the overpriced assets. The bubbles will be ended only when the greater fool becomes the greatest fool who pays the highest price for the overpriced asset and no longer finds another buyer to pay for it at a higher price (Levine et. al. 007) Extrapolation: Extrapolation is the process of projecting historical data into the future on the same basis. If price of an asset have increased at a certain rate in the past, they are supposed to continue to rise at that rate perpetually. It says that investors tend to extrapolate past abnormal returns on investment of certain assets into the future, causing them to overbid those risky assets in order to attempt to capture the same rates of return 5 again. Overbidding on certain assets will at a point of time results uneconomic rates of return for investors and then the asset price starts to shrink (Buchanan and Mark, 2008).Herding: Investors tend to b uy or sell an asset in the direction of the market trend. This is sometimes supported by technical analysis that tries to identify those trends and follow them that creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. Investment managers are compensated and retained in part due to their performance relative to their industry peers. Taking a conservative or contrarian position as a bubble builds results in performance unfavorable to peers that might cause customers to go to competitors and might affect the investment manager's employment and compensation.Moral hazard: Moral hazard is the prospect that a party insulated from risk may behave differently from the way it would behave if it were fully exposed to the risk. A person's belief that they are responsible for the consequences of their own actions is an important aspect of rational behavior. An investor must balance the possibility of making a return on their investment with the risk of making a loss – the risk-return relationship. A moral hazard can occur when this relationship is interfered with, often via government policy.A recent example is the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), signed into law by U. S. President George W. Bush on October 3, 2008 to provide a Government bailout for many financial and non-financial institutions who speculated in high-risk financial instruments during the housing boom condemned by a 2005 story in The Economist titled â€Å"The worldwide rise in house prices is the biggest bubble in history†. Manipulation: Manipulation could be a very important reason of economic bubble. Especially, stock market bubble could be created through stock manipulations.In many developed and developing countries, big investors (Both individuals and Institutional) might manipulate the stock price and could create a bubble. Recent stock market bubble in Bangladesh is mostly caused by manipulations (Ibrahim Khalid stock market probe Report, 2011) Insider Trading: Insider trading also might be a cau se of economic bubble, esp. , in the capital market. Insiders can use the hidden information to take advantage of the undisclosed news from the market and can make the stock price higher than its intrinsic value (Ronald R et. al. 993) Other possible causes of Economic Bubble: Some regard bubbles as related to inflation and thus believe that the causes of inflation are also the causes of bubbles. Others think that bubbles represent an increase over that â€Å"fundamental value† of an asset, which finally return to that fundamental value. Finally, others regard bubbles as necessary consequences of illogically valuing assets solely based upon their returns in the recent past without resorting to a rigorous analysis based on their underlying â€Å"fundamentals†. 2. 1. 8 Omnibus Account Omnibus account is a type of account between two futures merchants (brokers).Transaction of individual accounts is combined in this type of account that allows easier management of portfolio by the futures merchant. But this type of account could be used to manipulate stock as many individual transactions are kept hidden over there. 6 In a recent investigation, it was found that many speculative deals were made through Omnibus accounts of Merchant Banks. Report showed that each Omnibus account consists of 3000-10000 individual accounts and big market players/manipulators used Omnibus Accounts to make speculate stock prices.Even high SEC and Government Officials used the help of Omnibus account to buy and sell share though its prohibited for them to involve invest in the stock market. (Ibrahim Khalid Committee Report) In this case Merchant Bank did not comply with SEC and Bangladesh Bank rules. As per central Bank law, shares of Banks cannot be bought in unidentified accounts but Merchant banks did so in many cases. But SEC never raised any question about such accounts and never made any investigations to dig out irregularities that indicate poor regulations. . 1. 9 Sto ck market crash A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic fall of stock prices across a significant crosssection of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper assets. Crashes are driven by panic as much as by underlying economic factors. They often follow speculative stock market bubbles. Stock market crashes are social phenomena where external economic events combine with crowd behavior and psychology in a positive feedback loop where selling by some market participants drives more market participants to sell.Generally speaking, crashes usually occur under the following conditions, a prolonged period of rising stock prices and excessive economic optimism, a market where P/E ratios exceed long-term averages, and extensive use of margin debt and leverage by market participants (Galbraith, The Great Crash 1929, 1988). There is no numerically specific definition of a stock market crash but the term commonly applies to steep double-digit percentage losses in a stock market index over a period of several days. Crashes are often distinguished from bear markets by panic selling and abrupt, dramatic price declines.Bear markets are periods of declining stock market prices that are measured in months or years. While crashes are often associated with bear markets, they do not necessarily go hand in hand. The crash of 1987, for example, did not lead to a bear market. Likewise, the Japanese Nikkei bear market of the 1990s occurred over several years without any notable crashes. 2. 2 Comparison of recent stock market volatility of DSE with other markets As any sudden dramatic and persistent stock price fall is treated as stock market crash, I believe the recent price fall of Dhaka stock exchange should be called a crash.Recent price fall in DSE was sudden and persistent that caused significant loss of paper wealth and was abnormal in nature compared to other stock markets. If I compare the price trends of Dhaka Stock exchange with other stock exchange I find t he price movement of DSE is absolutely different from other stock markets. Table-22: Comparison of DSE volatility with other market Name of the Index Index Return Std. Dev of index return (Dec’10-Jan’12) (Dec’10-Jan’12) DSE (50%) 11% BSE-30 (14%) 7. 8% SET 55. 62% 5. 84% 7 From the table 2. , we find that during December 2011 to January 2012 Bombay Stock Exchange selected index (BSE-30) felled by 14% while SET index of Thailand increased by 55. 62% during the period while Dhaka Stock Exchange general Index (DGEN) felled by more than 50% during that period, i. e. , DGEN lose its value by 50% during the period that says that this is not simple volatility and it can be defined as a collapse. On the other hand, Standard deviation of index return (a measure of volatility) for BSE-30 and SET index was respective 7. 8% and 5. 4%. But for DSE, the standard deviation of index return was 11% that was much higher than other two indices. DSE index felled sharply duri ng the period from 8200 point (approx. ) to 4000 point (approx. ) and the fall was persisted over a long period. Graph 2. 1 Trend of Bombay Stock Exchange-30 (BSE-30) index Graph 2. 2 Trend of DSE General (DGEN) index Graph 2. 3 Trend of SET Index 8 From the graph 2. 1 we find that BSE-30 index fluctuating over the period in the range of 10000 to 20000 points and showing an increasing trend now.As a result the standard deviation of the index return was 7. 8%. But the BSE-30 index fluctuation is much lower than the DSE general index (Graph-2. 2). Graph 2. 3 gives the trend of SET Index of Thailand that is growing fast and crossed 1000 points from 600 points during the period. Standard deviation of SET index was 5. 84% that is much lower than that of DSE general index (11%). Graph 2. 2 gives the highly volatile and sharply falling index trend of DSE general Index that started to increase from 2600 points in January 2009 and crossed its zenith price of 8600 in December 2010.After climb ing the highest point it started to fall sharply and came down below 4000 in January 2012 less than half of the highest point. From the above analysis we can conclude that DSE index movement was not normal and the fall was so abrupt that it caused huge loss for investors. Especially investors who invested with margin loan lost everything as the index loss was more than 50%. Both BSE30 and SET are facing regular rise and fall while DSE is facing regular and sharp that indicates that the fall was like a stock market collapse and in the later part of the study I will identify this as a stock market collapse. 2. Previous research on this topic Many studies are done around the world to find the reasons of stock market crash and linked with regulatory issues. Recent economic crunch and stock market crash in US motivated economists to conduct in-depth research on it. In Bangladesh many analysts expressed their view regarding the capital market crash but no comprehensive research work is st ill done on it. Government had formed an enquiry team headed by Mr. Ibrahim Khalid, former deputy Governor of the Central Bank to make a probe into the recent activity and to identify the culprits that submitted their report to the government.I am going to discuss the causes of recent Credit Crisis of 2007-2009 and â€Å"Ibrahim Khalid stock probe report† regarding the stock market of Bangladesh in this chapter. 2. 3. 1 Research on Capital Market crash in Bangladesh After the recent catastrophe of capital market of Bangladesh, Government of Peoples republic of Bangladesh had formed a high-powered committee in 2011 to investigate the issue and to give a report to the government within two months. The committee was headed by the ex-deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank, Mr. Khondoker Ibrahim 9 Khaled and the committee was named â€Å"Ibrahim Khaled share market probe Committee†.The committee published a report that was initially kept undisclosed to the general people but la ter on it was disclosed as investors groups and civil society was creating pressure over the government for disclosing it. I will try to summarize the findings of the report in this chapter. Reasons behind the Market Failure: Committee identify following broad factors that caused the capital market disaster recently: a) Primary Issue related Problems: ? Direct listing in Primary issue ? Abuse of Book Building Method of IPO ? High premium for stock listing ? Illegal Private placement market ?Asset Revaluation of Companies before listing to charge higher premium. b) Secondary market related problems: ? Circular trading in Secondary market ? Block trading ? Stock Price Manipulation through Omnibus Accounts ? Most of the market players are identified in the report c) Irregularities in issuance of Right Share/Preference Share/Repeat IPO etc. d) Recommendation of Stock Dividend by companies against unrealized Profits e) Regulatory Failure ? Inconsistency in regulatory activities ? Support ing and legalization of unethical activities of Big Investors ?Irresponsible Behavior/Weakness in many areas ? Formulating policies to support market Players (Manipulators) ? Lack of Due Diligence ? Lack of Co-ordination between SEC and Stock exchanges ? Allowing Financial Institutions to invest in capital market aggressively ? SEC Failed to take measure against manipulation of Financial statements Report says that the burden of this failure should be carried by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Recommendations by the Committee The Committee has recommended some suggestions to the Government to recover the Capital Market from the depression.Major points of their recommendations are given below: a) Restructuring of SEC ? Termination of SEC chief and some other corrupt members ? Comprehensive inspection of their corruption and necessary legal actions ? Recruiting qualified accountants/financial analysts/experts/Talents for SEC ? Increase the remuneration of SEC staff to attrac t talents ? Ensuring integrity of SEC personnel b) Stock Exchange Demutualization: ? Form Committee within DSE to give report regarding demutualization process within 3 months 10 c) d) e) f) g) h) i) j) k) l) m) If DSE fails to give report on time, Government should take steps after 3 months ? Government can take advisory supports from World Bank or any other international organization ? Government can employ an â€Å"Administrator† to DSE to implement the demutualization process. Co-ordination between SEC and stock exchanges for better regulation Capital Market financing by Financial Institutions (FI’s) ? Formulate policy for capital market investment by FI’s in the line of such policies in India and Pakistan ? Take measures against FI’s who are involved with the recent stock market manipulation ?Central Bank should monitor FI’s aggressive stock investment very strictly Formulate clear policy for Pre-IPO placement Ensure transparency in dealing wi th Omnibus Accounts Prohibit share trading by some Government Officials (e. g. , SEC, DSE, CSE, Bangladesh bank , Commercial bank officials) Asset Revaluation by companies should be reviewed by SEC Review the Book-Building Method of IPO Make uniform face-value of all companies Take legal actions against market players/manipulators Government should be more aware about the capital market and they should be free from influence of top market players ( Salman F.Rahman, Rakibur Rahman etc. ) SEC should Open Investors advisory support services to avoid rumor-based trading Conclusion: Committee has made a study on the capital market issues. They specially focused on individual manipulations and regulatory system failure and provided some clear-cut recommendations for the government. I will conduct empirical study on some of the factors to test whether the volatility was due regulatory failure or not. 11 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3. 1 Data Source This study is basically descriptive in nature.Da ta is collected from both Primary (Stock Exchange, SEC) and secondary sources like different publications of DSE, Bangladesh Bank, ADB, WB and IMF. Some other research papers in this line will also be used. 3. 2 Analysis Technique/method 3. 2. 1 Qualitative analysis: As my study will try to examine the regulatory aspect in the capital market of Bangladesh, I will focus more qualitative analysis techniques. Quantitative Analysis: In my study, I will also use quantitative techniques to analyze data. Software’s like SPSS, Excel might be helpful for me. 3. 2. 2 12CHAPTER 4 Recent Trends of Capital Market Over the last few years, the capital market of Bangladesh has witnessed a super-normal growth which is not in line of development of real sector of the country. Progress in capital market development has been made possible by, among other things, the central depository system and the automated trading system, a substantial increase in the minimum capital requirement of banks and nonbank financial institutions, lower interest rates on long-term government savings instruments, and an increase in overseas workers’ remittances (Bangladesh Bank, 2011).Increased investors' participation and demand for stocks are fueling price hikes in the market. Other indicators of the capital market also recorded significant growth. Market capitalization of DSE remarkably increased during last three years as reflected in the ratios of market capitalization to the country's GDP at current market price. Market capitalization stood at Taka 2700. 7 billion at the end of FY10 increased by 190. 1 percent from Taka 931. 0 billion of end FY08. The ratio of market capitalization of DSE to GDP rose to 39. percent in end FY10 from 5. 2 percent in FY06 and from 2. 3 percent of FY00. Except for the 13. 1 percent bubble in 1996, the ratio was almost flat at below 3 percent up to FY04. After the 1996's bubble and bust, the market returned to sunny days in the beginning of last quarter FY04 by crossing the index 1100 marked point. After ten years of a flat capital market, the DSE General Index (DGEN) crossed 3000 marked point in December 2007 for the second time. Since the third quarter of FY09, the DGEN gained sharply and it jumped to 8918. 1 in December 2010 increased by 5908. 51 points or 197 percent from the index of end June 2009(3010 points). When the recent past global recession adversely affected the world capital market, sustained rise of price index and daily average turnover of Bangladesh capital market could be seen as a positive sign for the Bangladesh economy. Investment by foreigners in DSE increased during last three years. In FY10, the foreign trade turnover was Taka 18. 7 billion (0. 7 percent of total turnover in DSE) which was 57. 9 percent higher than previous year.Foreign trade was Taka 9. 9 billion (6. 0 percent of total turnover) in FY07 and was Taka 3. 4 billion (9. 7 percent of total turnover) in FY97 (Bangladesh Bank, 2011) Nonetheless, long-term prospects for capital market development are mixed. Although, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Bangladesh has tried to correct the abnormal behavior observed in the market, very often it is argued that lack of proper and firm decisions from the regulator’s side has contributed to make the market more unstable rather than stabilizing it.At the beginning of recent Bull Run, Bangladesh capital market was fairly underpriced in terms of Price Earnings Ratio. The market weighted PER of DSE was 11 to 18 during FY04-FY07. PER became to bigger from beginning of FY09 as the acceleration of price index. The PER reached to its peak level at 30. 6 in February 2010 from 18. 4 of end June 2009. The high PER indicates that the market is highly overpriced and overheated. The strong demand from the retail investors, not matched by a corresponding increase in supply of stocks, has caused the PER to rise beyond rational levels.In terms of any measure, Bangladesh capital market is overheated during last couple of years as supply shocks (Bangladesh bank, 2011). 13 The capital market developments and its sustainability depend on market fundamentals at least in the medium term, and the fundamental strength of the market essentially comes from financial strength of the listed companies. Also, strong regulatory environment created and maintained by the regulatory bodies and participation of institutional investors and professional market analysts help orderly market operations.The market witnessed that last few years many fundamental companies with strong financial strength have been listed in the market. The main regulatory body SEC and the Government of Bangladesh and others related regulatory authorities have continued their all efforts to develop the Bangladesh capital market that reflected in the market trends. But growth of market demand for stock was much then that of supply that inflated the market in recent years and made the market most volatil e one in the region.The recent vibrant nature of the capital market also might be due to the increased interest in the market by a large number of individual investors which has been influenced by the government’s decision to reduce the bank interest rates for its different types of savings instrument. Some basic information regarding Dhaka stock Exchange is given below: Table 4. 1 Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) activities FY08 FY09 FY10 378 443 450 No. of listed securities 284. 4 457. 9 607. 3 Issued equity and debt (billion Taka) 1044. 80 1903 3508. 0 Market capitalization (billion Taka) 4309. 46 9327. 153 17831. 37 Turnover in value (million Taka) 2795. 00 4535. 30 8290. 50 DSE General Index* ? Year-end close Price, Source-Dhaka Stock exchange FY11 459 618. 51 2616 5598. 52 5257. 50 Table 4. 2 DSE Highest Records Total Number of Trades Total Trade Volume Total Traded Value in Taka(mn) Total Market Capital in Taka(mn) DSI Index Values 389310 242856735 32495. 756 3680714. 195 73 83. 93657 8918. 51346 Date 05-12-2010 21-07-2011 05-12-2010 05-12-2010 05-12-2010 05-12-2010From Table 4. 1, we find that DSE general index, Daily trade value and market capitalization of DSE increased substantially during last 4 years. But number of listed securities remained almost the same during the period that implies that supply side response was less relative to demand side response and market capitalization and index increased due to increased demand for securities and scarcity of good securities. Nature of Investors: At the end of 2010, total number Beneficiary Owner (BO) Account stood at 3. Million (DSE Data). Out of that a big number of investors did not have sufficient knowledge about securities trading and most of them were relying on rumors spread by big investors. Information of BO accounts of last 3 years are given below: Table 4. 3 Change in total Number of BO Accounts in two Years Date 01. 01. 2009 30. 06. 2009 31. 12. 2009 Total No. of BO A/C 14,68,500 14,19,019 1 9,20,602 Change (+/-) -(49481) 5,01,583 14 30. 06. 2010 31. 01. 2011 25,70,654 33,79,719 6,50,052 8,09,065From the table we find that most of the BO accounts were opened during June ’2009 to January ’2011 that indicated that more than half of the investors could be treated as new investors. During 2009, stock exchanges, Institutional investors and SEC make many campaigns within and outside the country to attract new investor that seems to be successful as the BO accountholders was doubled in last two years that might be treated as a potential for market development. But due to scarcity of new securities market price increased substantially.This demand-supply mismatch along with inadequate investor’s knowledge made the stock prices in a new height and finally turned into a big depression that is still going on. Recently listed Companies with financial information: Twenty three companies (including three direct listing companies) raised new equity of Taka 18. 2 bi llion in the capital market in FY10, higher than the Taka 5. 9 billion raised by the sixteen companies in FY09. Of the new equity issued, Taka 5. 3 billion raised through private placements and Taka 12. 9 billion raised through public placements against Taka 0. billion raised through private placements and Taka 5. 0 billion through initial public offerings (IPO) in FY09. The volume of public offerings in FY10 was oversubscribed more than nine times indicating the high demand of new securities in the primary market. Bonus shares valued at Taka 27. 6 billion were issued in FY10 by one hundred and twenty one companies against retained profits, higher than the Taka 16. 2 billion issued in FY09 by ninety one companies. Currently 493 securities (Debt and Equity securities) are being traded in Dhaka stock exchange. Few numbers of companies are making fresh issue every year. 3, 18 and 10 companies listed their securities respectively in 2009, 2010 and 2011(up to July). Traditionally DSE use d fixed price method for flotation of new companies. But fixed price method does not attract good companies always. So, to attract new companies, SEC decided to introduce Book building method that is a globally acceptable method for IPO. But in Bangladesh, Book Building method is handled very roughly that caused loss for millions of investors. Detail information of securities floated in the market for last 3 years are given in table 4. 4. 15 Table 4. Detail information of fresh Issues in the DSE during 2009-11 Book Value 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 10 10 10 10 100 100 10 10 10 100 10 10 10 100 100 10 10 10 100 100 100 10 Issue Price 111. 6 127 10 10 10 60 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 25 100 10 10 10 48 120 100 10 10 10 100 10 20 70 100 100 10 90 10 100 100 250 10 Opening Price 134 145 12. 7 10 10. 2 73 68 10. 8 9. 5 74 9. 6 136 9. 3 10. 9 12. 6 11. 4 89. 2 89 235 12. 7 12. 9 16. 5 208 799 514 28. 6 23. 5 27 559 25 57 177 462 261 63. 1 325 35. 5 1955 405 784 71. 6 1st day return 20. 07 14. 7 27. 00 0. 00 2. 00 21. 67 580. 00 8. 00 -5. 00 640. 00 -4. 00 1260. 00 -7. 00 9. 00 26. 00 14. 00 792. 00 256. 00 135. 00 27. 00 29. 00 65. 00 333. 33 565. 83 414. 00 186. 00 135. 00 170. 00 459. 00 150. 00 185. 00 152. 86 362. 00 161. 00 531. 00 261. 11 255. 00 1855. 00 305. 00 213. 60 616. 00 1st Month close Price 140 190 10. 5 9. 2 8. 5 65 48 9. 5 9. 8 61 9. 5 130 10. 2 10 11. 4 10. 5 85. 2 85 620 12. 4 12. 7 16 170 740 506 24. 2 20. 6 20 619 27 60 171 511 180 59 451 31. 5 1667 470 762 46. 9 1st Month return 25. 45 49. 61 5. 00 -8. 00 -15. 00 8. 33 380. 00 -5. 00 -2. 0 510. 00 -5. 00 1200. 00 2. 00 0. 00 14. 00 5. 00 752. 00 240. 00 520. 00 24. 00 27. 00 60. 00 254. 17 516. 67 406. 00 142. 00 106. 00 100. 00 519. 00 170. 00 200. 00 144. 29 411. 00 80. 00 490. 00 401. 11 215. 00 1567. 00 370. 00 204. 80 369. 00 1st year close price 70 71. 9 8. 3 8. 6 8. 7 35. 1 23. 5 7. 7 9. 5 29. 3 5. 4 77 7. 2 7. 4 8. 1 7. 4 41 70 510 8. 7 9. 4 14 103 2 646 1197 16. 1 17. 5 17 800 17 102 245 604 156 73. 1 672 17. 5 2497 838. 5 1721 29. 8 Yearly return -37. 28* -43. 39* -17* -14* -13* -41. 5* 135* -23 -5 193 -46 670 -28 -26 -19 -26 310 180 410 -13 -6 40 114. 8 2105 1097 61 75 70 700 70 410 250 504 56 631 646. 67 75 2397 738. 5 588. 4 198 year 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 Issue Name M. I. Cement MJL BD Ltd. Reliance MF EBL NRB MF SEBL 1st MF Barkatullah Electrodes Salvo chemicals MBL MF AIBL MF Deshbandhu polymer PHP MF Active Fine Chemicals IFIL MF Popular MF Janata MF Green delta MF Beacon Pharma Malek Spinning United Air ICB 3rd MF Phoenix MF IFIC MF RAK Ceramic Dhaka Insurance R.N. Spinning DBH 1st MF Prime Bank 1st Icb MF Trust Bank MF Provati Insurance ICB employees MF Goldenson (RPO) Grameen Phone Ltd. Islami Insurance ICB AMCL MF Dacca Dying MARICO BD L td. EBL 1st MF Rupali Life insurance Asia Insurace Bay Leasing Prime Finance 1st MF From the table it was found that many of the new issues were overvalued and lost value in fast few month that are contrary to traditional ideas regarding IPO.Most of such losing stocks were listed through Book building method where it was assumed that premium value for new stock was much higher than the intrinsic value and after listing in the market these stocks reached on their fundamental value. Actually this is an example of overpricing of IPOs in Bangladesh that caused bubble in the market. 16 CHAPTER 5 Empirical examination of three problems identified by Ibrahim Khalid committee In recent years, Bangladesh capital market witnessed both bullish and bearish trends caused by irregular fluctuation in the indices due to various reasons.In this chapter, I will try to identify some reasons/factor that caused such irregular cycles or stock market crash in Bangladesh. 5. 1 Changes in Face Value (Stock Split) of Securities: There are several theories that explain the reasons of stock split by companies. The most common reasons are to achieve an optimal price range for liquidity, to achieve an optimal tick size and to signal the confidence of managements’ in the future stock price. Various studies on stock split and market behavior shows that there are stock price might lead increase in stock price and trade volume in the short term (Aduda and Caroline. 2010).Copeland (1979) noted that a stock split changes stock prices to a more optimal price, which in turn increased demand for the stock. Their hypothesis of the optimal price range stated that there was a price range within which trading was most liquid for stocks of a company. Baker and Powell (1993) noted that the main motivation for the executives to split stock was toward improved liquidity. High-priced stocks found to be illiquid due to the psychological reasons and transaction costs. Therefore, when the prices climbs up to a certain level, the executive splits the stock to lower prices which facilitates trading and enhance liquidity.Benartzi et al. (2005) argued that management splits their stocks only if it considers the current level of stock price and earnings to be persistent. In Bangladesh, price of small face value (Tk. 10) securities are relatively higher then big face value (Tk. 100) securities where other things remain the same. By May 2010, SEC instructed all companies to convert the face value of securities to Tk. 10 from various per values that increased price level of Tk. 10 share substantially that inflated both the individual stock price and indices. During the period of 2009-2010, 62 companies had changed their face value.Some of the examples are given below with pairs: Table 5. 1 Price comparison of companies with same fundamentals but different per value Items EPS-2009 (Tk. ) NAV-2009 (Tk. ) (floating share (%)) Dividend-2009 Price-30/12/09 Price-30/12/10 1. Union Capital (Par value- 2. BIFC (Par value- Differences(1-2) 10) 100) 3. 90(39. 00) 34. 35 15. 60(156) 153 417. 5 Million (21%) 359. 0 Million (22%) 30%B 10%C, 12%B 116. 50(1165) 323. 00 246. 80(2468) 1117. 00 Market Return (31/12/09-31/12/10) -4. 65 +3 +58. 50 +8% TK. 842 (+360%) TK. 1351 (+221%) 82% Table 5. 2 Price comparison of Mutual Funds with different per value Items EPS-2009 (Tk. NAV-2009 (Tk. ) Paid Up capital 1. AIMS MF (Par 2. GrameenMF(Par value-1) value-10) 0. 19(1. 9) 3. 45 1. 91(19. 1) 34. 65 168. 0 Million 170. 0 Million Differences (1-2) -1. 55 -15. 55 -2 17 Dividend-2009 Price-30/12/09(TK) Price-30/12/10 (TK) No dividend was declared that year due to pending case with the court. 13. 83(138. 30) 78. 48 +59. 52(176%) 11. 85(118. 50) 104. 17 +14. 33(114%) From the both table given above that with similar financial condition or weaker financial conditions lower face value companies were overvalued relative to higher face value companies in same industries.This situation was persisting for many years and regulator failed to identify the face value of all listed companies that created some overvalued securities in the market. Investors were eager to buy the securities of these companies that were going to change face and before split price of these were jumping. As an example, National Bank Ltd (NBL) spits its share from Tk. 100 par value to Tk. 10 at 22/09/2010. At that day, the price of those securities was Tk. 823. 00(82. 30) only. But after just two months, price of the securities stood at Tk. 40 (22/11/2011) without any significant change in the company fundamentals. Another example is Prime finance and Investment Companies Ltd. that split the stock in 25 July 2010 when the stock price was Tk. 331. But just after two month (26 July 2010) stock price rose to Tk. 472 and the increase during this two month is almost 43%. So, we might say that change in face value (stock Split) inflated the market and caused an unanticipated bubble in the market. List of some sto ck split companies and their market capitalization are given below: Table 5. List of some stock split companies and their Market Capitalization(Tk. ) Market Capitalization Market Capitalization Change Market Millions Name of the Company (as on 02. 07. 2009) (as on 05. 12. 2010) (%) Adjusted Return (%) NBL Pubali Bank UCBL Uttara Bank ICB Islamic Bank Ltd Eastern Bank Uttara Finance Al-Arafah Islami Bank Prime Bank Southeast Bank Dhaka Bank NCCBL Social Islami Bank MIDAS Finance Standard Bank EXIM Bank People’s Leasing Prime Finance Jamuna Bank Shahjalal Islami Bank Premier Bank Ltd. BD Finance Phoenix Finance First Security Bank Ltd. Automobile Aftab 17093. 5 16979. 24 9544. 65 20777. 12 7946. 52 2475. 00 2475. 00 6687. 61 15747. 27 10584. 51 7324. 53 7511. 61 6762. 96 1560. 80 6953. 95 12498. 38 10172. 48 10172. 48 5100. 82 7583. 21 6889. 42 2039. 68 1059. 30 2768. 4 2768. 41 18 77256. 42 57735. 13 765099. 54 43391. 15 13958. 75 39460. 16 21859. 2 32413. 54 57186. 03 45708. 89 21250. 18 37404. 66 16044. 57 12483. 34 22424. 52 42838. 33 33180. 05 43690. 10 17602. 83 309117. 03 20200. 744 20200. 75 12199. 52 12963. 72 24360. 48 351. 96 240. 03 7916. 0 0 108. 84 75. 65 1494. 3 5 783. 2 384. 68 263. 14 331. 84 190. 12 397. 95 137. 24 699. 0 222. 47 242. 75 226. 17 329. 49 245. 09 3976. 3 3 193. 21 890. 38 1051. 6 5 368. 27 779. 94 2. 5 (30) Not traded in 2009 (150) (147) 4 240 101 (30) (77) (55) (54) (76) 228 (23. 8) (153) 612 263 (103) 45 (62) 273 225 (65) 70 From the table we find that market capitalization of stock split companies increased substantially during that period. Market adjusted returns of these companies were mixed as dividends, Right share issues are not considered here. Stock denomination fixation and Regulatory rules: From the table 4. 5 we find how stock split companies’ shares increased substantially.But such behavior is considered as normal in terms of other markets and cannot be treated as market failure and regulator cannot st op stock split in a stock market. 5. 2 Asset Revaluation: Chainirun and Narktabtee (2008) argued that firms revalue their assets to signal the firms’ growth prospect and liquidity improvement in order to decrease information asymmetry. Sharpe and Walker (2007) revealed that announcements of asset revaluation were associated with substantial upward movement in stock price and these shift in stock price generally sustains in later months.In Bangladesh, companies revalued their assets (Land and other Fixed Assets) that increased their asset value substantially as price of land and all other assets increased sharply that caused increased stock prices in the market. Many factors influenced companies to revalue their fixed assets. Some of these factors are to increase Stock price, to get more credit under NAV-based margin rules, to get higher ratings, to strengthen financial statement and to attain investors confident etc. sample of the companies of top value gainers are listed bel ow: Table 5. Top 10 NAV-gainer companies after asset revaluations Stock Price DGEN the NAV per Share(Tk. ) NAV Before Asset Revaluation After Asset Revaluation Name of Company Change (%) Change during Jan’2009Dec’2010 (%) Change Jan’2009Dec’2010(%) Market Adjusted return (%) Libra Infusions Ltd. 438 15,667 Sonali Ansh Ltd. 297 2,157 Rahim Textile Ltd. 127 785 BD Thai Aluminum 142 566 Ltd. Infusions Ltd. Orion 20 101 Ocean Containers 13 50 Shinepukur 12 26 ceramics Prime Textile 300 633 Eastern Insurance 151 309 BD welding 20 39 electrodesthe company was listed in 2010. As 3472 626 518 298 413 296 120 110 104 95 355 767 641 185 357 Not Applicable* 212% 21 572 162 1001 143 555 429 (27) 145 —(191) 360 (50) 789 From the Table 5. 4 given above, we find that some company gained up-to 1000% after asset revaluations during the period of 2009-10. As there is a clear and direct relationship between asset revaluation gain and stock price growth, I can say tha t revaluation might help the market to grow up faster and also caused much volatility. Many of the company directors sold their shares when the price went to the peak in 2010.But such phenomenon is supported by study and cannot be treated as regulatory failure. 19 5. 3 Issuance of Right/Preference Shares: Companies offer right shares to increase capital base or to meet regulatory capitals. In 2010, 22 companies proposed right shares to existing shareholders valuing 24720 million Taka that almost 17 times than that of 2009 figure which was only 1450 Million taka. Most of the right proposals of 2010 were with a premium price that differed on a range of 10% to 600%. Table 5. 5 Top Companies offered Right shares with high premium Company Name Confidence Cement Co.Ltd. Bay Leasing & Finance Eastern Insurance Co. Ltd. The City Bank Ltd. Phoenix Finance Asia Insurance *Close Price of 1st Trading day Premium Value (Tk. ) 600 250 200 100 100 100 Stock Price on 01/01/2009 (Tk. ) 323. 00 784. 75* 562. 25 432. 50 440. 50 404. 30* From table 5. 5 we find that in January 2009, price of confidence cement co. ltd. was only Tk. 323 but just after one year its right offer price was Tk. 700 (including Tk. 600 Premium) that was approved by the SEC which is a classic example of regulatory silence toward manipulation. Table 5. Top Companies offered preference Shares Company Name Value of Preference Share (Tk. Million) Private Placement Beximco Pharma 4100 63% Sumit Power 3000 69% Aftab Automobile 1800 82% Peoples Leasing 1200 58% BD Thai Aluminum 750 77% In case of preference share, most of them are distributed through private placement where there was no transparency of allocation. Another interesting thing is that, stock price of most of the companies mentioned above increased substantially just after the offerings that increased the greed of investors to make profit through buying right/preference shares of these companies. . 4 Faulty listing methods: In the year 2010, regulator introduced Book building method to attract new companies to the market. Some companies abused this opportunity to exploit maximum benefits from listing that inflated the market. SEC allows companies to float securities through IPO (Fixed Price and Book Building method), Direct Listing and Repeat IPO where Book building method is used mostly in the year 2010. In Bangladesh, following companies used book building method for listing in the capital market: 20 Table 5. Companies floated shares through Book Building Method Name of Company Premium Offer Collected capital value price (Million Tk. ) MJL Bangladesh Ltd. MI cement Ltd. Khulna power company Ltd. Ocean containers Ltd. (OCL) RAK Ceramics Ltd. 142. 40 101. 60 184. 25 135 38 152. 40 111. 60 194. 25 145 48 5690 3050 9600 1600 1310 Market Price (02/02/12) 68. 10 65. 20 43. 20 46. 20 54. 07 From the Table 5. 7 we find that first four companies charged very high premium for its share where and withdrawn huge amount of capital from mar ket.When these companies asked for very high price, shares of other companies of same industry tends to rise on an expectation that it is highly undervalued that increases the general price index. As per the local expert, local media and committee report, Book building method is the most important factor behind the recent stock market volatility in Bangladesh. So we need to study this factor deeply to reach on a conclusion. I would like to describe the implication of price discovery method followed to discover the price of KPCL and OCL here. Khulna Power Company Ltd: Khulna Power Company Ltd. s a power generation company under private ownership that sells supply electricity to consumers through national distribution system. Its security was first traded in 18April, 2010 and price of the securities is being discovered by eligible institutional investors through Book Building system. The company was registered in 15 October, 1997. Its NAV was 17. 09 and 18. 53 respectively for the yea r 2008 and 2009 while EPS was 0. 97 and 2. 79 respectively for the year 2008 and 2009. Other listing related information regarding the company is given below: Table 5. Basic Listing Information of Khulna Power Company Ltd. Khulna Power Company Ltd. Name of the Item Sl. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Face Value Indicative price Offer Price NAV (As of 2009) EPS(As of 2009) Salable Shares Paid Up capital(As of 2009) First day Trade Price(18/04/2010) Trade price after 7 days Trade price after 30 days Trade Price After 1 year Lowest trade price Highest Trade Price(18/04/2010) Taka Tk. 10 Tk. 162 TK. 194 Tk. 18. 53 Tk. 2. 97 5,21,48,250 TK. 208,593,0000 Tk. 273. 60 TK. 270 TK. 207 Tk. 90. 60 TK. 55. 00 Tk. 341 21 Net Asset Value of KPCL was TK. 18. 3 and indicative price was Tk. 162 that is Ten times higher than the asset value of the company. EPS of the company was TK. 2. 79 and before the listing P/E of the security stood at almost 60 that is unusual in respect of other company. Ocean Containers Limited: It is the pioneer for Inland Container Depot (ICD) and Container Freight Stations (CFS) and is the largest privately owned land container port (Off-dock) in Bangladesh. It is located at Patenga Industrial Area of Chittagong on the International Airport road, which is only 6 km from the country’s largest seaport, Chittagong Port.It was listed with DSE in 2010 through book building method. Other listing related information regarding the company is given below: Table 5. 9 Basic Listing Information of Ocean Containers Limited. Sl. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Ocean Containers Limited. Name of the Item Face Value Offer price NAV (As of 2009) EPS(As of 2009) First day Trade Price (04/03/2910) Trade price after 7 days Trade price after 30 days Trade Price After 1 year Lowest trade price Highest Trade Price (04/03/2910) Taka Tk. 10 Tk. 145 Tk. 55 Tk. 3. 73 Tk. 297 TK. 79 TK. 258 Tk. 96. 60 TK. 62 Tk. 2254 From these figures, we find that the maximum price of the stock was Tk. 2254 and minimum price was Tk. 69 only against face value of Tk. 10. The lowest price of the securities was half of the offer price of the securities that indicates that many shareholders caused huge losses out of this security. In both cases discussed above most benefit goes to the owners of the company and both the company are owned by same people. Few institutional investors benefited directly from these two securities.Book Building method for price discovery gives various massages to the market. Some of these are follows: 1. Investors will feel that market is undervalued and they will select instruments that are already in the peak but relatively undervalued if compared to KPCL/OCL. 2. Companies of same industry of which KPCL is operating should go up. 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The Suicide tourist - Essay Example In countries such as Switzerland, legally operated clinics such as ‘Dignitas’ offer suicide assistance to patients who face an inevitably long and painful death in the not so distant future. The moral question that have been raised so far, revolve around the right for persons to end their own lives. This is evident in situations when death is imminent due to terminal illness. Moreover, the assisted suicide procedure has elicited controversial issues concerning the respect for personal rights and desires versus the threat for abuse. At the heart of this controversy is Dignitas and its patients seeking assisted suicide services. Evidently, Switzerland is the only country that permits foreigners to come and seek the services of assisted suicide. To this end, this paper will seek to establish the moral basis and acceptance of the right to end one’s life as an act preventing further suffering. Consequently, an innate understanding of Craig Ewert’s case in Ã¢â‚¬Ë œThe Suicide Tourist’ will provide insight into judging the morality of his actions. The Suicide Tourist is a compelling and moving documentary that narrates the last days and eventual assisted suicide of Craig Ewert. The documentary raised pertinent questions about the quality of life and the moral precinct of ending one’s life (Fuchs, 2010). To this end, Craig articulately posed strong and logical arguments regarding his decision to end his life. Craig was a 59 year old American citizen who relocated to England with his wife. As a professor of Computer Science, and his wife enrolled for a PhD in Law, things were going quite well until Craig was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as ALS ( Fuchs, 2010). The condition was a neurological terminal disease that would rapidly waste away his motor functions. To this end, he was given at most five years to live. However, 6 months after the diagnosis, Craig’s health had rapidly deteriorated to the po int that he could not walk, swallow food or breathe on his own without a ventilator. At this point, Craig decided to end his life and avoid a prolonged painful suffering and inevitable death. Upon discussion with his family, they came to accept that he was suffering and acknowledged that his death was imminent. Ultimately, Craig family supported his wishes to end his life. To this end, Craig sought the services of Dignitas clinic in Switzerland. The clinic offered suicide assistance to terminally ill patients that were faced with an inevitable death after prolonged pain and suffering. At this point, it is important to note the facts that led Craig’s decision in choosing to end his life rather than wait for his inevitable death. In his own words, Craig noted that his degenerative state would render him paralyzed without any functions of his motor functions. He knew that he would be essentially trapped in his own body without the luxury of being able to communicate or even move any part of his body. Consequently, he was aware that he would be trapped in his own body just waiting for death. To this end, time was of the essence since he had to solely partake the lethal dosage that would ultimately end his life. Furthermore, Craig asserted that he was not tired of living but was tired of the disease. In addition Craig delved in the moral concern raised over assisted suicide and its judgement based on

Natural gas & Geothermal energy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Natural gas & Geothermal energy - Essay Example Such energy is recovered as the natural gas. However, natural gas represents nonrenewable energy source because of the inability to replenish such energy. Geothermal energy depicts the heat, which is obtained from the earth. Such heat generates a sustainable and clean energy. The resources of geothermal energy vary from deep hot rock in the ground to shallow hot water. These resources contribute in generation of energy, which does not contribute in emission of greenhouse gases. Further, geothermal energy has few chemical pollutants, minimal waste and it is renewable. Rankine cycle depicts a model, which is used in the process of predicting steam turbine systems performance. The system, which is a thermodynamic cycle, changes heat into mechanical work (Stanley, 2010). The supply of the heat is on the external closed loop whereby the working fluid is water. As such, the Rankine Cycle is a form of the steam engine, which has the potential of generating

Choose one topic in the attachment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Choose one topic in the attachment - Essay Example The saying on regret mentioned above is the best way to sum up or describe the plot and story of this movie. In this movie, every person is related or their story is linked and connected with the other person. Therefore, every scene and story of every individual in the movie consists of complex situations which get along very well with each other. "Magnolia" is a film of sadness and loss, of lifelong bitterness, of children harmed and adults destroying themselves. (Magnolia Movie Review & Film Summary (1999) | Roger Ebert) It is said that Magnolia is not one of those movies which could be understood by every viewer. Even when Magnolia was released worldwide in 1999, there were many viewers and those who reviewed the movie, their responses were quite conventional regarding it. They believe that it is a representation of emotional vulnerability. Therefore, due to these reasons, this movie can be looked through various aspects, perspectives, and prism as it includes a religious world an d dimension. After releasing the first trailer of this movie, it demonstrates that the movie about love which is either lost, gained, given, or withheld according to different situations. Basically, the religious aspect which is given in this movie shows the action of trapping the conflicted sinners and miscreants due to their wrongdoings in past relationships of reprobating. As it is clearly shown that this movie does not really have a plot but it conveys a very strong message as well as some great views and points. As this movie is about the lives and doings of 9 to 11 individuals, it is really hard to have a specific plot on which a movie had to be directed but the least a good movie can do is to motivate and spread out a strong message to its viewers. Not only the movie brings forward the shortcomings and fear but also sexual and emotional abuse. It is said that the people and viewers who call this movie exemplary are â€Å"actively dodging the social gravity, the psychological resonance, and the emotional poignancy of the conflicts mined in the film’s sensitive writing and talented ensemble acting. Most of the Magnolia’s characters have hit a crisis point at the start of the story. (Lane, 2) Anderson’s (the director) only philosophy was that bigger is better which was proven right with the help of this movie. However there are certain points in the movie where the director has shown inability to create a good film. It would be one thing if Magnolia offered multiple points of view, but Anderson is really only concerned with his own: a heavy-handed, self-pitying indictment of bad parenting and its sorry effects. Anderson expands his timeworn theme with a motif about chance and destiny (MAGNOLIA) As this movie is basically based on 9 to 11 people’s lives who are faced with regrets, his biggest failure in this movie is technical failing. As from every person to the stories and scenes, everything is linked and correlated. Therefore , switching the stories and making right decision at the right time is a difficult task. Therefore, the narration and writing of this movie is very complex. He has not perfected it yet that the way he crosscuts and switches from one scene to another which eventually is not the match of temporal relationships. For instance, there was a scene where a couple breaks up at one second, and the next moment the whole movie is switched Stanley who was the genius boy, deciding to put a stop at playing the tawdry game show. Even

The Article Religious Groups and Work Values Essay

The Article Religious Groups and Work Values - Essay Example This follows the fact that an employee will feel more motivated to work if the employer identifies with his religion and understands it to the extent of knowing what is allowed, and what is illegal. This is, addition to the surrounding people, for a company, is not only built by the staff but also the community in which is located. Therefore, a company is more likely to be successful by respecting its religion, and religion can only be respected if the employees together with the employers know the pros and cons of the religion. The authors go about this by focusing on the major religions of the world to determine how these specific groups affect the work values. This is after many pieces of research carried out indicating a significant contribution of religion to work values. The authors assert that the importance of this recognition is being influenced by globalization that is on a rapid increase. Therefore, the importance of religion comes in when multinationals want to venture into places that are distant (Parboteeah 58). This means that the places are of different geographical positions as well as cultural differences in terms of core values of the communities, and the religion they hold close to the heart. They also acknowledge the need for understanding this link of religion to work values because the technology has led into a globalised village where different people of different religions search for jobs anywhere that fit their specifications. The authors assert that there are two work values that a re affected by religion, and these are extrinsic and intrinsic values. Therefore given the fact that these values are socially expressed these work values can, thus, be derived from motivation (Parboteeah 55).  The authors, therefore, determine this relationship by relating the religion to principles that enable the living of people which is directly connected to the foundations of human society.  

Put the best subject you fell its good Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Put the best subject you fell its good - Essay Example This may involve the frequency with which earthquakes are experienced in certain regions. In addition, seismicity may refer to the type of earthquake as well as the size of the earthquake experienced in certain regions. Earthquakes are characterized by the shaking of the earth surface, leading to deaths, destruction of properties as well as changes in the physical features of the landscape. Earthquakes can manifest in several fault types. These include the reverse fault, the normal fault as well as the strike-slip faults (Sinvhal, 2010). Each type of fault is associated with a range of earthquake magnitude. Earthquakes majorly occur in volcanic regions. In such regions, tectonic faults as well as magma movements mostly cause them. It is of crucial significance to note that earthquakes are measured through the use of seismometers. These instruments are quite beneficial in measuring the intensity of the earthquake whenever they occur in any region. In addition, the seismometers are also beneficial in measuring other aspects of earthquakes relating to the magnitude of such an earthquake (Sinvhal, 2010). The earthquakes of very low magnitudes are measured using special instruments specifically adapted for such earthquakes of lower magnitudes. One of these instruments for measuring low magnitude earthquakes is called Ritcher scale, which is a part of the seismometer. It is of crucial significance to note that earthquakes occur when the rocks underground break and move under intense pressure and stress. The vibrations associated with the earthquakes makes the rocks underground to break. This leads to release of lots of energy from beneath the ground. This energy is very strong and is capable of causing massive destructions to the landscape itself, infrastructure, structures as well as property (Brumbaugh, 2010). Moreover, the energy released from the underground following the incidences of

Swot Analysis and Weaknesses Essay Example for Free

Swot Analysis and Weaknesses Essay SWOT Analysis is an effective way of identifying your Strengths and Weaknesses, and of examining the Opportunities and Threats you face. How to use tool: To carry out a SWOT Analysis, write down answers to the following questions. Where appropriate, use similar questions: Strengths: * What advantages do you have? * What do you do well? * What relevant resources do you have access to? * What do other people see as your strengths? Consider this from your own point of view and from the point of view of the people you deal with. Dont be modest. Be realistic. If you are having any difficulty with this, try writing down a list of your characteristics. Some of these will hopefully be strengths! In looking at your strengths, think about them in relation to your competitors for example, if all your competitors provide high quality products, then a high quality production process is not strength in the market, it is a necessity. Weaknesses: * What could you improve? * What do you do badly? * What should you avoid? Again, consider this from an internal and external basis: Do other people seem to perceive weaknesses that you do not see? Are your competitors doing any better than you? It is best to be realistic now, and face any unpleasant truths as soon as possible. Opportunities: * Where are the good opportunities facing you? * What are the interesting trends you are aware of? Useful opportunities can come from such things as: * Changes in technology and markets on both a broad and narrow scale * Changes in government policy related to your field * Changes in social patterns, population profiles, lifestyle changes, etc. * Local Events A useful approach to looking at opportunities is to look at your strengths and ask yourself whether these open up any opportunities. Alternatively, look at your weaknesses and ask yourself whether you could open up opportunities by eliminating them. Threats: * What obstacles do you face? * What is your competition doing? * Are the required specifications for your job, products or services changing? * Is changing technology threatening your position? * Do you have bad debt or cash-flow problems? * Could any of your weaknesses seriously threaten your business? Carrying out this analysis will often be illuminating both in terms of pointing out what needs to be done, and in putting problems into perspective. You can also apply SWOT analysis to your competitors. This may produce some interesting insights! Example: A start-up small consultancy business might carry out the following SWOT analysis: Strengths: * We are able to respond very quickly as we have no red tape, no need for higher management approval, etc. * We are able to give really good customer care, as the current small amount of work means we have plenty of time to devote to customers * Our lead consultant has strong reputation within the market * We can change direction quickly if we find that our marketing is not working * We have little overhead, so can offer good value to customers Weaknesses: * Our company has no market presence or reputation * We have a small staff with a shallow skills base in many areas * We are vulnerable to vital staff being sick, leaving, etc. * Our cash flow will be unreliable in the early stages Opportunities: * Our business sector is expanding, with many future opportunities for success * Our local council wants to encourage local businesses with work where possible * Our competitors may be slow to adopt new technologies Threats: * Will developments in technology change this market beyond our ability to adapt? * A small change in focus of a large competitor might wipe out any market position we achieve The consultancy might therefore decide to specialize in rapid response, good value services to local businesses. Marketing would be in selected local publications, to get the greatest possible market presence for a set advertising budget. The consultancy should keep up-to-date with changes in technology where possible. Key points: SWOT analysis is a framework for analyzing your strengths and weaknesses, and the opportunities and threats you face. Â  This will help you to focus on your strengths, minimize weaknesses, and take the greatest possible advantage of opportunities available. SWOT analysis becomes a USELESS exercise if it is not extended TOWS where * the strengths are used to capitalize on opportunities and to counter threats, * the weaknesses are minimized using opportunities and both weaknesses and threats are avioided Carrying out a personal SWOT Analysis is an important step in finding life and career direction. Case Study-SWOT Analysis Wal-Mart Strengths * Wal-Mart is a powerful retail brand. It has a reputation for value for money, convenience and a wide range of products all in one store. * Wal-Mart has grown substantially over recent years, and has experienced global expansion (for example its purchase of the United Kingdom based retailer ASDA). * The company has a core competence involving its use of information technology to support its international logistics system. For example, it can see how individual products are performing country-wide, store-by-store at a glance. IT also supports Wal-Marts efficient procurement. * A focused strategy is in place for human resource management and development. People are key to Wal-Marts business and it invests time and money in training people, and retaining a developing them. Weaknesses * Wal-Mart is the Worlds largest grocery retailer and control of its empire, despite its IT advantages, could leave it weak in some areas due to the huge span of control. * Since Wal-Mart sell products across many sectors (such as clothing, food, or stationary), it may not have the flexibility of some of its more focused competitors. * The company is global, but has has a presence in relatively few countries Worldwide. Opportunities * To take over, merge with, or form strategic alliances with other global retailers, focusing on specific markets such as Europe or the Greater China Region. * The stores are currently only trade in a relatively small number of countries. Therefore there are tremendous opportunities for future business in expanding consumer markets, such as China and India. * New locations and store types offer Wal-Mart opportunities to exploit market development. They diversified from large super centers, to local and mall-based sites. * Opportunities exist for Wal-Mart to continue with its current strategy of large, super centers. Threats * Being number one means that you are the target of competition, locally and globally. * Being a global retailer means that you are exposed to political problems in the countries that you operate in. * The cost of producing many consumer products tends to have fallen because of lower manufacturing costs. Manufacturing cost has fallen due to outsourcing to low-cost regions of the World. This has lead to price competition, resulting in price deflation in some ranges. Intense price competition is a threat. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is the worlds largest retailer, with $256.3 billion in sales in the fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 2004. The company employs 1.6 million associates worldwide through more than 3,600 facilities in the United States and more than 1,570 units . . . Case Study-SWOT Analysis Starbucks Strengths * Starbucks Corporation is a very profitable organization, earning in excess of $600 million in 2004.The company generated revenue of more than $5000 million in the same year. * It is a global coffee brand built upon a reputation for fine products and services. It has almost 9000 cafes in almost 40 countries. * Starbucks was one of the Fortune Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2005. The company is a respected employer that values its workforce. * The organization has strong ethical values and an ethical mission statement as follows, Starbucks is committed to a role of environmental leadership in all facets of our business. Weaknesses * Starbucks has a reputation for new product development and creativity. However, they remain vulnerable to the possibility that their innovation may falter over time. * The organization has a strong presence in the United States of America with more than three quarters of their cafes located in the home market. It is often argued that they need to look for a portfolio of countries, in order to spread business risk. * The organization is dependant on a main competitive advantage, the retail of coffee. This could make them slow to diversify into other sectors should the need arise. Opportunities * Starbucks are very good at taking advantage of opportunities. * In 2004 the company created a CD-burning service in their Santa Monica (California USA) cafe with Hewlett Packard, where customers create their own music CD. * New products and services that can be retailed in their cafes, such as Fair Trade products. * The company has the opportunity to expand its global operations. New markets for coffee such as India and the Pacific Rim nations are beginning to emerge. * Co-branding with other manufacturers of food and drink, and brand franchising to manufacturers of other goods and services both have potential. Threats * Who knows if the market for coffee will grow and stay in favor with customers, or whether another type of beverage or leisure activity will replace coffee in the future? * Starbucks are exposed to rises in the cost of coffee and dairy products. * Since its conception in Pine Place Park, Seattle in 1971, Starbucks success has lead to the market entry of many competitors and copy cat brands that pose potential threats. Starbucks mission statement is Establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles while we grow. Understanding TOWS Matrix Why use the tool? TOWS Analysis is an effective way of combining a) internal strengths with external opportunities and threats, and b) internal weaknesses with external opportunities and threats to develop a strategy. How to use tool: To carry out a TOWS Analysis, consider the following combinations: Strengths/Opportunities: Consider all strengths one by one listed in the SWOT Analysis with each opportunity to determine how each internal strength can help you capitalize on each external opportunity. Strength/Threats: Consider all strengths one by one listed in the SWOT Analysis with each threat to determine how each internal strength can help you avoid every external threat. Weaknesses/Opportunities: Consider all weaknesses one by one listed in the SWOT Analysis with each opportunity to determine how each internal weakness can be eliminated by using each external opportunity. Weaknesses/Threats: Consider all weaknesses one by one listed in the SWOT Analysis with each threat to determine both can be avoided. Case Study- Application of the TOWS Matrix to Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW) was chosen because it demonstrates how a successful company experienced great difficulties in the early 1970s, but then developed a strategy that resulted in an excellent market position in the late 1970s. The TOWS Matrix shown in Figure 1 will focus on the crucial period from late 1973 to early 1975. The external threats and opportunities pertain mostly to the situation VW faced in the United States, but a similar situation prevailed in Europe at that time. Weaknesses and Threats (WT) A company with great weaknesses often has to resort to a survival strategy. VW could have seriously considered the option of a joint operation with Chrysler or American Motors. Another alternative would have been to withdraw from the American market altogether. Although in difficulties VW did not have to resort to a survival strategy because the company still had much strength. Consequently, a more appropriate strategy was to attempt to overcome the weaknesses and develop them into strengths. In other words, the direction was toward the strength-opportunity position (SO) in the matrix shown as Figure 1. Specifically, the strategy was to reduce the competitive threat by developing a more flexible new product line that would accommodate the needs and desires of the car-buying public. Weaknesses and Opportunities (WO) The growing affluence of customers has resulted in trading up to more luxurious cars. Yet, VW had essentially followed a one-model policy which presented a problem when the design of the Beetle became obsolete A new model line had to be introduced to reach a wider spectrum of buyers. In order to minimize the additional costs of a multi product line, the building block principle was employed in the design of the new cars. This allowed using the same parts for different models that ranged from the relatively low-priced Rabbit to the higher priced Audi line. Another weakness at VW was the rising costs in Germany. For example, in 1973 wages and salaries rose 19 per cent over the previous year. Similarly, increased fuel costs made the shipping of cars to the United States more costly. This situation favored setting up an assembly plant in the United States. However, this also created some problems for VW because it had no experience in dealing with American organized labor. To overcome this weakness, VWs tactic was to recruit managers from Detroit who were capable of establishing good union relations. Strengths and Threats (ST) One of the greatest threats to VW was the continuing appreciation of the Deutsche Mark against the dollar. For example, from October 1972 to November 1973 the mark appreciated 35 percent. This meant higher prices for the buyer. The result, of course, was a less competitive posture. Japanese and American automakers obtained an increasingly larger share of the small-car market. To reduce the threats of competition and the effects of the unfavorable exchange rate, VW was forced to build an assembly plant in the United States. Another strategy for meeting competitive pressures was to build on VWs strengths by developing a car based on advanced-design technology. The result of this effort was the Rabbit, a model with features later adopted by many other car manufacturers. The oil crisis in 1973-1974 not only caused a fuel shortage, but also price rises, a trend that has continued. To meet this threat, VW used its technological capabilities not only to improve its engines (through the use of fuel injection, for examples), but also to develop the very fuel-efficient Diesel engine. This tactic, which was congruent with its general strategy, helped improve the firm’s market position. Strengths and Opportunities (SO) In general, successful firms build on their strengths to take advantage of opportunities. VW is no exception. Throughout this discussion VWs strengths in research, development, engineering, and its experience m production technology became evident. These strengths, under the leadership of Rudolf Leiding, enabled the company to develop a product line that met market demands for an economical car (the Rabbit, successor to the Beetle), as well as the tastes for more luxurious cars with many available options (Scirocco and the Audi line). Eventually the same companys strengths enabled VW to plan and build the assembly facility in New Stanton, Pennsylvania. Thus, YW could benefit from substantial concessions granted by the state government to attract VW which, in turn, provided many employment opportunities. In another tactical move, VW manufactured and sold small engines to Chrysler and American Motors. These companies urgently needed small engines for installation in their own cars and revenues from these sales improved the financial position of VW.