Questions for fourth company: RDS.A
1. -How did you decide the quantity (i.e. why did you purchase 5,000 shares instead of 10,000?)?
Since our game is being played for a restricted time, I thought that there was no point to try and save the 10mil $ I was given so every time i bought shares from a company i tried to invest as much as I could into as many shares as possible. This way when the company hopefully goes up I will make even more money on the few companies I invested in, with all the shares i bought.
2. -What made you choose “x” (i.e. what do you know about that product?)?
Gasoline is a material that everyone over the world needs and people will always buy it, so I thought that investing in Shell would be the right company to buy shares from. Shell is the most common one out there and that is why I chose this one and not some other manufacturer.
3. Where is there an abundance of this products main resource and describe that areas political and social climate (i.e. does it come from Africa? Is it located in an area where there is political unrest?)?
You can find large quantities of gasoline in Saudi Arabia. Because of its wealth, this country today is a large threat to developed countries. Many of these go to Saudi Arabia to have their share of the gasoline which creates conflict over power.
4. -Provide a graph showing the market history of stock “x” over the past 20 years (you can use excel for this) and provide a forecast for its future
http://www.google.com/finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&chds=1&chdv=1&chvs=maximized&chdeh=0&chdet=1267477200000&chddm=823446&chls=IntervalBasedLine&q=NYSE:RDS.A&ntsp=0
Even though Shell has been on the red side recently, it was able to recover quickley. I believe
that they will be going back and forth, up and down, for a long time. However when ever it will be
on the plus side it will stay there for a longer time than when negative so it will make more money
than what it will loose.
Questions for third company: LMT
1. -How did you decide the quantity (i.e. why did you purchase 5,000 shares instead of 10,000?)?
Since our game is being played for a restricted time, I thought that there was no point to try and save the 10mil $ I was given so every time i bought shares from a company i tried to invest as much as I could into as many shares as possible. This way when the company hopefully goes up I will make even more money on the few companies I invested in, with all the shares i bought.
2. -What made you choose “x” (i.e. what do you know about that product?)?
I do not know a lot about this company just that it is a global security company that is mainly engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems and products. (http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/LMT/profile)
I have been following the news with my mom and i have heard a little about how the company is doing very well and how experts believe they will keep making profits. Since the experts even say it, why not invest in them?
3. Where is there an abundance of this products main resource and describe that areas political and social climate (i.e. does it come from Africa? Is it located in an area where there is political unrest?)?
The top importer of metals which can be used to build the security services I could find on the internet, was China. They import ore which is a special type of rock containing a common metal that can be used for building. China is a developing country who’s economy is on a steady incline, and I believe that the importation of metals are helping them a lot on this climb.
4. Provide a graph showing the market history of stock “x” over the past 20 years (you can use excel for this) and provide a forecast for its future
http://www.google.com/finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&chds=1&chdv=1&chvs=maximized&chdeh=0&chdet=1267477200000&chddm=999396&chls=IntervalBasedLine&q=NYSE:LMT&ntsp=0
All the experts say that this company is doing very well and that they, as the other companies, will
be making a steady increase. In this case i trust the experts and say that by next month the company
will have made almost double the numbers they have now.
Buying Questions for second company: RCL
1. -How did you decide the quantity (i.e. why did you purchase 5,000 shares instead of 10,000?)?
Since our game is being played for a restricted time, I thought that there was no point to try and save the 10mil $ I was given so every time i bought shares from a company i tried to invest as much as I could into as many shares as possible. This way when the company hopefully goes up I will make even more money on the few companies I invested in, with all the shares i bought.
2. What made you choose “x” (i.e. what do you know about that product?)?
As with ABB, I know from my father and other colleagues I have been able to as advice about companies to invest in, and from the research I have made, the RCL is a very sound investment. After the recent economical crisis, many companies found themselves in a down fall however many naval companies where able to take advantage of this and are now at their top. Since RCL produces large cruise ships i figured it would have to be a sound investment.
3. -Where is there an abundance of this products main resource and describe that areas political and social climate (i.e. does it come from Africa? Is it located in an area where there is political unrest?)?
A common material to build boats is aluminum which China was the major producer off in 2005 owning one-fifth of the world shares. They import ore which is a special type of rock containing a common metal that can be used for building. China is a developing country who’s economy is on a steady incline, and I believe that the importation of metals are helping them a lot on this climb.
4. Provide a graph showing the market history of stock “x” over the past 20 years (you can use excel for this) and provide a forecast for its future
http://www.google.com/finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&chds=1&chdv=1&chvs=maximized&chdeh=0&chdet=1267477200000&chddm=1173&chls=IntervalBasedLine&q=NYSE:RCL&ntsp=0
After the recent economical crisis naval companies have been making a steady profit, and with all
the new orders for ships I suppose will be made in the near future, I think that the numbers for this
company will go up at a steady pace.
Buying Questions for first company
1. -How did you decide the quantity (i.e. why did you purchase 5,000 shares instead of 10,000?)?
Since our game is being played for a restricted time, I thought that there was no point to try and save the 10mil $ I was given so every time i bought shares from a company i tried to invest as much as I could into as many shares as possible. This way when the company hopefully goes up I will make even more money on the few companies I invested in, with all the shares i bought.
2. -What made you choose “x” (i.e. what do you know about that product?)?
I decided to invest in the ABB company because I know a lot about them. They are a partner in my fathers company who serves electric, water and gas utilities. Having asked advice on what to invest in, my father suggested it would be a wise investment.
3. Where is there an abundance of this products main resource and describe that areas political and social climate (i.e. does it come from Africa? Is it located in an area where there is political unrest?)?
To build their power plants ABB uses a lot of electricity. Some of this electricity is produced by burning coal. China is the major producer of coal in the world. China is a developing country who’s economy is on a steady incline, and I believe that the importation of metals are helping them a lot on this climb. The exportation of coal has helped China boost its economy with 2380.0 tons produced in 2008 alone.
4.-Provide a graph showing the market history of stock “x” over the past 20 years (you can use excel for this) and provide a forecast for its future
http://www.google.com/finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&chds=1&chdv=1&chvs=maximized&chdeh=0&chdet=1267477200000&chddm=886006&chls=IntervalBasedLine&q=NYSE:ABB&ntsp=0
Above is a chart of the past 10 years of company history. Considering the stable up climb
from 2002 to 2008 I believe the company will keep making more and more money every year, thus the numbers will keep rising.
Pre-Project Questions
Being new to stocks, the market and how they work I don’t think I will do so well in this assignment. I don’t know much about stocks and how they work so I will have some trouble knowing what to invest in, when to do so and the selling part of the virtual stocks game. However my dad does have some experience so I hope he will be able to give me some advice so I don’t loose all of my 10,000,000$ in one day. I have been thinking about what I should invest in and the best conclusion so far is: cocoa beans, tea, coffee beans and milk. I have recently heard that cocoa beans and tea leaves will be going up in prices so I hope it will be a good investment. Thinking about what people enjoy as raw material I thought that coffee is something a lot of people enjoy drinking so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to invest in that. The last one is quite unordinary but in a recent conversation with a friend we came to the understanding that milk is something people drink in their everyday life. Other foods, such as cheese, butter, yogurt are all made from milk, so there seems to be no reason to bet against it. This is my plan for now, but i don’t know if i will stick to it or if it will work but all I can do is hope for the best.
China steps up corruption monitoring
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/01/14/china.corruption/index.html
Local media has revealed that families will be monitored to keep from corruption. Corruption in China has brought to domestic crime leading to people increasing drug usage. The fight against corruption is very hard, but officials are working on decreasing it drastically. Last year nine high leveled offices where accused of corruption. These where only small corruptions which brought to bribery and kickbacks in small towns and large cities. Many families send members away with the money they have made so that they will not directly be accused of anything. More and more controls have been made so prevent further corruption and to hopefully put and end to it all in all.
Copenhagen summit urged to take climate change action
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8398510.stm
On December 7th, 2009 there was a huge meeting the the danish capital of Copenhagen were 100 world leaders discussed the on going issue of pollution. The danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said that the meeting is “opportunity the world cannot afford to miss”. Some countries have given complete support in cuts of green house gas emissions while there are still some small islands that are against it as long as there is some legal binding deal which can assure deep cuts. On the meeting it was decided that the more developed countries try to keep the average global temperature to 2 degrees. Some countries think this will be a problem because the drastic change will cause massive climate problems. Also major countries will have a hard time reaching this high goal so it has been suggested to keep it at 1.5 degrees and lower.
COMMENT: I think that Lars Loekke Rasmussen was right when the said that this meeting was an “opportunity the world cannot afford to miss”. With global warming become such a major world issue something needs to be done to avoid it. The first step is to have a big meeting to try to find a solution, the second is to follow it through. The solution found i think is very reasonable but still very hard to conquer. The major countries that have a high rate of green house gases will find it very hard to reach this goal and if they to reach it the impact will be so strong that the world wont be able to cope with this and create even bigger environmental problems. I think we all need to work to find a solution to save our world and not keep destroying it like we are now.
Facebook board aims to keep kids safe
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/07/facebook.security/index.html
With over 350 million users, Facebook has decided to increase security. The social network has joined forces with 5 other Internet sites to make sure that the kids are safe. Within the site each user can choose who can visit their profile and look at their pictures, but now they can even choose who reads their posts and statuses. To make sure there is a stable board that can ensure these safety regulations, the Common Sense Media, ConnectSafely, WiredSafety, Childnet International and the Family Online Safety Institute have joined Facebook to work on this project. The VP of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, will be sending a message to all Facebook users with information on how to receive more information about the new security policies. The letter will have information on how to activate it and it seems to be a very easy procedure.
Being a very active user of Facebook I am glad to know that the site will have more security than it did before. I think the site is already very safe knowing that you can choose who to accept as a friend, and only after the acceptance, will they be able to visit your profile. Knowing that the already safe social network will reinforce this, I feel a lot better about using the site. You never know who could be on the other side of a monitor that is following you, now you have even more control over it giving you less worries. The Internet is a dangerous place, but with more and more safety regulations there are always less worries.
Response to Lorenzo’s bolg
Link:http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/11/19/janet-jackson-was-shocked-by-michaels-propofol-use/
Summary:
This article reflects the drug addiction of Michael Jackson, King of Pop. Many people new that MJ was on drugs, either pharmaceutical or just normal drugs. However it was found that MJ took high doses of Propofol, a hypnotic agent which is used in medicine to sedate. This was probably used primarily to relieve physical pain and then it proably became an addiction. His sister, Janet Jackson, said that the Jackson family was aware of Michael’s drug habit but did not know he used popofol. The article also states that the Jackson family and many others blame his death on this use and the man that provided him with it, Dr. Conrad Murray. He is the main suspect of this “homicide” however no charges have been pressed so far.
Reflections:
I think that Michael initially had a good reason to use the drug as he underwent various surgical procedures which were pretty painful. After months of treatment he probably became ‘hooked’ and could not stop. I have to blame the dumb-ass doctor continued on dosing him with more drugs. Other things I would like to say is that Janet Jackson looks exactly like MJ and it’s starting to freak me A LOT. It’s like his ghost is back in its original form. SCARY.
MY RESPONSE: i think lorenzo is right when he says that its not MJ’s fault directly but that his decisions then caused his death now. His doctor whom should be careful and know what is best for MJ, didn’t tell him when it was going to far, but kept giving him more useless drugs. His doctor should so pay for that!
and yes, the way they are so similar to each other is REALLY scary!
China mine blast death toll hits 87
In Beijing, China, 87 miners died in a explosion. Its not sure yet, but it is believed to be a gas explosion. This happened at 2.30 a.m. At 7 a.m, local time, 21 workers where still missing. 530 miners where at work when the blast occurred. This all happened at 23.00 GMT.
This article is possibly the shortest article ever. In a normal article you will find the lead, body and conclusion, this one seems to have only the lead. This introduction is so short its hard to even write a six sentence summary on it. The author could have included interviews from survivors or from people in the area asking what they think might have happened. When reading about news happening on the other side of the world you want to picture the event perfectly, but with this you cant even begin making an idea for your self. You can find news all over the internet from anywhere in the world and since you aren’t on the place you can’t know what happened, and that is why you can find yourself lengthy articles on the net.
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