Non-Oil Sector Stocks in Saudi Arabia Research Paper

Non-Oil Sector Stocks in Saudi Arabia - Research Paper Example Saudi Arabia has proven oil reserves of 264.52 billion barrels of oil (OPEC, 2011) and recently surpassed by Venezuela who claimed their oil reserves had risen to 269.5 billion barrels of oil. In terms of oil production, Saudi Arabia has a quota allocation of just over 30% of production among Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) countries. The Saudi Arabian oil production in 2010 was 9.1 million barrels per day which accounted for 13% of world’s total oil production. Oil is the major driver of economic activity in Saudi Arabia. Oil-related activities accounted for 47% of the GDP in 2010 (MoF, 2011), and petroleum products exports amounted to $193 billion and accounted for 84% (by value) of total exports in Saudi Arabia (OPEC, 2011). Therefore, oil prices play a vital role in the Saudi Arabian economy. However, from the perspective of an investor or an enterprise in Saudi Arabian market, it is also important to know whether oil prices have a major role to pl ay in stock prices of non-oil sector companies too. If there is a high positive correlation between oil prices and non-oil sector stocks, an investor can use these stocks to hedge on their investments in oil. The outcome of this study could, therefore, be very useful for foreign investors and enterprises already present or planning to enter the Saudi Arabian market. Clarification of Terms and Concepts Aggregate Demand: The total demand for goods and services in an economy for a specified time period and at specific price levels is called aggregate demand. It is made up of 4 major components – consumption or consumer spending, investment, government spending and net exports. Correlation: A statistical measure that describes how two variables move together with each other. The coefficient of correlation has the value between -1 and 1. A positive value means the two variables move in the same direction simultaneously. The closer the value is to 0, the lesser relative movement th ey have. Disposable Income: The amount of money that the households in an economy have for spending and saving after taxes have been deducted from their total income. It indirectly measures the potential for consumer spending in the economy. Downstream (oil industry): The downstream activities in oil industry refer to refining and distribution of natural gas and products refined from crude oil. Exchange rates: The rate at which two currencies can be exchanged for each other. Essentially, it is the price at which one country’s currency can be exchanged for another country’s currency. Granger-Causality test: A statistical test used to measure whether the change in one variable causes a change in another variable. Granger-Causality tests relationship between two variables. This methodology is employed to test the causality of each variable for the other and establish which variable causes the change in which variable. The key principle used is that the independent variabl e is better able to predict the dependent variable than when taking only the lagged values of the dependent variable to predict it.

Should Adopted Children Be Allowed To Locate Their Biological Parents? :: essays research papers

Should Adopted Children Be Allowed To Locate Their Biological Parents?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A touchy topic these days is whether or not the option should be open for adopted children to be able to locate their biological parents. There are some many circumstances for each different case that it is hard to know where exactly I stand on this topic. Over all, I do not think that you should locate your biological parents.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many reasons for this. For one thing, learning information on the person who gave you up is a long drawn out process. It can be very emotionally painful, as well. For whatever reason you were given up for adoption; death, financial problems, to young, etc it ¹s private information and should remain that way. The decision was made a long time ago because it was the best one at that time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Think about the birth parents involved. What happens after you spend a few months or more of your life trying to locate these people only to have a door shut in your face? How would you feel if that were to happen? The chances of this happening are pretty good. Yes, there are happy reunions on talk shows that turn out for the better, but that is not always the reality. These people gave up their birth rights many years ago and should not go back on that. They have moved on with their lives and might not want to be reminded what could have been. So many hurt feelings and feelings of guilt could come flying back and then put more of a burden on both of your lives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There is another factor to think about in this situation. How is your family suppose to react to this and how are they supposed to feel? This is the loving family that took you in as there own for all these years, are they

Electronic Media Essay

Electronic media are that utilize electronics or electromechanical energy for the end user (audience) to access the content. This is in contrast to static media (mainly print media), which are most often created electronically, but don’t require electronics to be accessed by the end user in the printed form. The primary electronic media sources familiar to the general public are better known as video recordings, audio recordings, multimedia presentations, slide presentations, CD-ROM and Online Content. Most new media are in the form of digital media. However, electronic media may be in either analog or digital format. Devices such as televisions, computers and cd-roms that make information available to people. Importance In October 2003, the British humanitarian organization Christian Aid released a report that $4 billion in Iraqi funds, which had been earmarked for reconstruction of the country, had disappeared. The Coalition Provision Authority (CPA), the U.S. controlled body that ruled Iraq at the time, was relegated with handling that money. â€Å"An examination of financial records between June 2003 and October 2004 showed poor bookkeeping and investigators â€Å"found indicators of potential fraud,† the report said â€Å"At the time, the CPA vigorously denied the accusations. By June 2004, the amount of money gone missing had more than doubled from four to almost nine billion dollars. This story was reported with minimal coverage when the announcement was first released. As the investigation progressed, the story of the missing billions was reported several times during the summer months of 2004 and again in January 2005. However, it was never given prominence in any news medium. The writers at Faithful Progressive called it the â€Å"biggest and single most under-reported story of the last year†. News Media and Democracy In a democracy an informed public is of critical importance. In matters regarding the self-interests of the citizenry and of the nation as a whole, knowledge is key in making decisions regarding participation in the process of democracy. Indeed, â€Å"failing to report important news, or reporting news shallowly, inaccurately, or unfairly can leave people dangerously  uninformed†. The mass media of today has tremendous power within society. What and how information is distributed can have indelible consequences for individuals and society as a whole. As such, control of media outlets â€Å"is regarded as a valued form of property for those seeking political or economic power†. Among other sources of power, it is important to note that mass media has the ability to: â€Å"attract and directattention to problems, solutions, or people that can favor those with power; it can confer status and confirm legitimacy; it can be a channel for persuasion and mobilization (Graber, 33). This represents an incredible amount of power, and over the past twenty years or so, people have taken control over these outlets for the sole purpose of attaining both political and economic power. International In the United States, there are three twenty-four hour news networks. President Bill Clinton stated it well in a response to the question of the condition of today’s media. He stated, â€Å"The thing I worry about most is that people will have all the information in the world but won’t have any way of evaluating it†¦That’s what I consider to be the most significant challenge presented to all of you by the explosion of media outlets †¦ in the Information Age.† COMPARISON WITH PRINT MEDIA Illiteracy According to United Nations report Pakistan has 55% literacy rate. This makes it 160th country in world. Because of low literacy rate people cannot read the printed news. This gives an edge to electronic media over print media. Media of future Electronic Media has a clear edge over print media even if ‘new media’ (for eg. The Internet) is not included in it. Print media is more of a ‘habit’ with people and still caters to a sizeable population. But electronic media offers a lot of choice to the people, especially to the youth (GEN Y), the largest growing segment of our population and more importantly, has the  ability to maintain the pace at which the preferences and demands of the Gen Y changes. The shrinking readership of the print publications perhaps is testimony to the changing media consumption pattern of the people today. Although we don’t see an immediate threat to the print media, more so because it is a centuries old media, yet we believe it definitely is not the media of the future. Moreover, electronic media is visually more appealing and more effective in not only conveying a message but by virtue of being a frequency medium, is also effective in registering it, thus ensuring high brand recall amongst viewers & potential customers. For the advertisers and advertising agencies, it provides exciting opportunities to experiment with new and innovative ideas which reduces the media’s dependence on traditional source Which is best? It depends on which area you are in. In rural areas, where there is no technology, print is better, but for the urban areas, electronic media are the best. Print media was supposed to have died 10 years ago, but that has not happened. In terms of mobility and cost print media is better than electronic media. But in terms of speed, coverage and reliability, electronic media are the best. Newspaper is no longer essential, while attending the usual morning business, in the toilet. Laptop is the in thing; one can browse as many e-papers as desired. IDENTIFICATION OF THE PROBLEM New technology has many social and educational benefits but caregivers and educators have expressed concern about the dangers young people can be exposed to through these technologies. To respond to this concern, some states and school districts have, for example, established policies about the use of cell phones on school grounds and developed policies to block access to certain websites on school computers. Many teachers and caregivers have taken action individually by spot-checking websites used by young people, such as FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE. This brief focuses on the phenomena of electronic aggression: any kind of aggression perpetrated through technology—any type of harassment or bullying (teasing,telling lies, making fun of someone, making rude or mean comments, spreading rumors, or making threatening or aggressive comments) that occurs through email, a chat room,  instant messaging, a website (including blogs), or text messaging. â€Å"Youth is easily deceived, because it is quick to hope.† Aristotle The youth is getting the wrong path by the use of this E-Media. Our main aim is to protect our youth from the dangerous effects of E-Media. In E-media we will target specifically the TV media which is accessible by the whole family especially the youth. Further in youth TV is mostly watched by the women of the family. These effects are either caused intentionally or by the negligence of E-media personals. Intentional effects are either for the promotion of their channels. The E-Media personals are displaying the unethical dramas, either the stories are distracting the youth or the scenes of the drama are disturbing and unethical. They provoke the female and male relationships which are considered unethical in our society. Most of the dramas and soaps are based on love stories and relations of married women with young guys. Some TV shows are provoking aggressiveness in our youth. We will mention a program of ARY MUSIK named LIVING ON THE EDGE. This program consists of unethical, immoral and non islamic dares given to the youth of Pakistan. That is done to provoke aggressiveness and to bring our youth to the level of the unethical youths of western countries. He is trying to copy the programs like FEAR FACTOR, RHOADIES etc. Similarly the E-Media personals are provoking nudity. Either that nudity is in full form or half nudity. We use the term half nudity for the scenes in which women or men are wearing inislamic clothes. Wearing sleeveless, wearing Capri, uncovered hair, uncovered belly etc is completely inislamic. Hereby we will mention some channels that have bought the licenses of western movie channels and are showing scenes containing kisses and some other unethical scenes. Channels are ARY DIGITAL who has recently bought license of HBO. Plus there are our cable operators who are showing unethical channels at midnight and at day time. Smoking scenes also provoke the drug addiction in youth. Previously the ads of cigarettes were banned in order to decrease the percentage of people converting to addiction. But now these smoking scenes are consistently being shown in many dramas and shows. When a youngster watches  his favorite actor smoking in a TV drama and performing stunts or having lots of girlfriends because of that cigarette then that youngster follows him. Same is the case with scenes containing alcohol and beer. Violent footages are also disturbing for the youth. We see many Indian movies which are showing scenes of fights which are followed by the youngsters. Same is happening here these days all the boys are found to be fighting with each other. They think they are living in their ideal movie and they are the heroes. Wrestling and cartoons are watched by the children and they try to implement that in their real life often damaging either themselves or some other member of family. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROBLEM Before examining the state of the news media in today’s society, it is important to define what good reporting of news should be. Doris A. Graber, in her book Media Power in Politics, thinks it important to distinguish between news and truth. â€Å"The function of news is to signalize an event. The function of truth is to bring to light the hidden facts, to set them into relation with each other, and make a picture of reality upon which men can act† (Graber, 41). News dissemination, whether through radio broadcast, newspaper articles, or a web site posting, should perform both functions in order to truly inform. Good news can affect society in positive ways. Determined, sweepingcoverage of important topics can improve local communities, rid government of improper public officials, save lives, and so many other things. Reporting events and uncovering truths is critical for the news media to perform its function. Media is the pillar of a society. Television is a vital source from which most people receive information. News and media delegates on television have abused their powers over society through the airing of appealing news shows that misinform the public. Through literary research and experimentation, it has been proven that people’s perception of reality has been altered by the information they receive from such programs. Manipulation, misinterpretation, word arrangement, picture placement and timing are all  factors and tricks that play a major role in the case. Research, experimentation, and actual media coverage has pinpointed actual methods used for deceptive advertising. Television influences society in many ways. People are easily swayed to accept a belief that they may not normally have unless expressed on television, since many people think that everything they hear on television is true. This, however, is not always the case. It has been observed that over the past twenty to thirty years, normal social behavior, even actual life roles of men and women and media, regulatory policies have all been altered. Media has changed with time, along with quality and respectability. Many people receive and accept false information that is merely used as an attention grabber that better the show’s ratings and popularity. This involves sensationalizing a story to make it more interesting, therefore increasing the interest of the audience. People often know that these shows aim to deceive them, but still accept the information as truth. The E-media has severely damaged our youth and provided them with altered and incorrect information. Thus one whole youth of Pakistan is having incorrect information and has inaccurate knowledge which not only is damage for them but for the whole generations which are to come. Following quotes represent the significance of youth; â€Å"Youth is the trustee of prosperity.

Application of Act-Utilitarianism in Whistle-blowing Free Essay Example, 1500 words

Every company or business normally desires honesty from its employees. The presence of sincerity allows for absolute dedication to the mission and success of an organization. By encouraging the culture of whistleblowing, an organization ensures the promotion of a transparent structure and efficient, clear communication. More notably, whistleblowing can help protect the clients of an organization. For instance, if a healthcare unit employs many negligent staff members, staff members would need to present such issues to the health care unit s attention, thereby protecting the unit from severe mishaps resulting in client s demise or possible lawsuits. Whistleblowing, however, can challenge trust; can lead to trust breakdown (Lewis, 46). Organizations normally have a preference that employees use systems of internal communication when they are uncomfortable with actions taking place in their departments or the organization. This offers an organization an opportunity to monitor itself wi thin before the worker decides to go somewhere else. If trust breaks between employees and managers, tension and efficient operational relationships amid employees become difficult. Additionally, whistleblowers may face resentment and hostility from superiors and peers. Despite the fact that the government provides protection to whistleblowers, they may still face resentment from their colleagues. We will write a custom essay sample on Application of Act-Utilitarianism in Whistle-blowing or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page The ethical theory can therefore apply to the context of whistleblowing.