Investing and the internet - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1292 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Investing and the Internet The pervasive influence of the Internet has had far-reaching implications for both markets and investors around the world. The Internet has allowed individual investors to flood into the marketplace armed with an unprecedented and almost unlimited amount of information. This phenomenon has led to serious changes in how markets operate and respond to new information. Some of these changes have been negative and some have been positive, but this paper will attempt to demonstrate that the overall impact for investors has been for the better. Along with nearly every other aspect of life, the Internet has forced the world of investing to undergo a democratization process that ultimately has proved and will continue to prove beneficial for the individual investor. The Internet has benefited the individual investor with near-instantaneous access to information, a change in the nature of shareholder influence and power, and lowered costs and barriers to entry. With the mindfulness of the som e of the negative aspects of the Internets influence and the wherewithal to exploit the benefits, individuals can work towards financial independence on their own terms. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Investing and the internet" essay for you Create order The first and most obvious benefit of the Internet is the vast amount of information available to investors. What was once an arduous and time-consuming process of requesting financial documents from investor relations departments, now only requires a brief search to reveal not only official financial documents, but also mountains of blog posts, analyses, and minute-by-minute news for a particular company. According to the 2014 Brunswick Investor Use of Digital and Social Media Survey[MD1], investors are increasingly relying on blogs (up 7% year-on-year to 59%) and social media (up 2% year-on-year to 26%) to research the market or individual investments. More importantly, online engagement is having a greater influence on individuals investing decisions (up to 27% investment decisions influenced by blog posts). (2014 Brunswick) This has allowed individual investors to quickly increase their knowledge on companies and the market as a whole. However, investors should be mindful of the potential downfalls of having so much information available. The issue about investors having so much information available depends on the relevance of the information to the decision and on how well-equipped the decisionmaker[sic] is to use the information. (Barber, Odean 46). In fact, an overabundance of information can actually lead inexperienced investors to feel overwhelmed and unable to separate useful analysis from irrelevant or misleading information. In the investing industry, this is widely known as analysis paralysis. Though these points do have merit, the act of being mindful of these biases will help investors overcome them and, over time, investors will become more aware of what useful, relevant information is and what is not. In fact, what is most important and beneficial for individual investors is long-term  nancial planning and asset allocationas opposed to speci c stock or asset selection. (Barber, Odean 4 5) According to Dick Davis, individuals should tune out the overabundance of information. One of the worst things that can happen to a long-term investor is to be instantly and totally informed about his stock. (para 2) Especially for a well-planned portfolio, the medias daily ineptness is of less concern to someone who is truly a long-term investorand maintains that long-term focus even when listening to the daily news. (Davis, para 33) The increased access of information is leading to a paradigm shift in corporate governance of publically traded companies. Scholars have noted that many companies are suffering from falling attendance rates at annual general meetings of shareholders. (Grzybkowski, Wojcik 2) With multinational corporations stretching to every corner of the globe, it is virtually impossible to get every shareholder from various countries together in one place. So, while it is unlikely that the Internet will completely supplant face-to-face meetings for corporate governance, the Internet is supporting the development of a global marketplace for corporate governance. (Grzybkowski, Wojcik 14) Tools must be developed for shareholders to vote in important board decisions, lobby companys investor relations department, and get in touch with other shareholders through electronic means. This new dynamic is changing how executives operate in the boardroom. While it is unlikely that a small, individual investor w ould have a massive impact on the overall course of a company, a cohesive group of investors, brought together through the Internet, could have enough clout to influence corporate policy. (Barber, Odean 53) Just as websites like Kickstarter or Indiegogo are able to rally investors behind a product or a new company, it is feasible that individual shareholders would be able to form groups or coalitions to help influence policy in huge, traditionally structured companies as well. The most beneficial aspect the Internet has had on individual investing by far is the reduction of costs and barriers to entry associated with the buying and selling of securities. The proliferation of online brokerage firms like Scottrade, Fidelity, TD Ameritrade, and others have drastically reduced frictional costs of investing, or to be more exact, retail investors have seen a dramatic decline in the commission rates they pay to trade securities. (Fuhrman) As the rapid expansion of start-up, online brokerage firms suggest, the marginal costs of services such as enabling a customer to review a portfolio or the status of trades are essentially zero, and such services can be provided 24 hours a day, every day. (Barber, Odean 43) The fact that these brokerage firms are available at all hours of the day, no matter what part of the world the investor is in, is hugely attractive to those investors who are stifled by the office hours and regulations of larger, traditional firms. Also, the overhead for these companies is far less than that of huge banks and brokerage firms, so those large companies may not be able to adapt and adjust to woo customers away from online brokerage firms. Subsequently, this forces traditional brokerage firms to lower their prices and scramble to add additional services. For example, as the prices for traditional financial service advice goes down,  nancial advisors [must] provide more servicesfor example, tax planning, tax preparation, estate planning, and insurance planningto differentiate themselves from the on-line providers. (Barber, Odean 45) These services will prove to be an advantage for consumers as financial advisors become more specialized and better able to convey more complicated information that, for an individual investor by themselves, would be difficult to comprehend and implement correctly. So, the Internet still has a major influence on services provided in the real world by traditional financial service compani es. The Internet has fundamentally challenged the status quo in the investment world. Access to greater amounts of information, critical changes in corporate governance and individual shareholder influence, and the dramatic decrease in the cost of trading securities are all intertwined and have both positives and negatives. Though the negatives do have various degrees of merit, the overall impact of the Internet ultimately tips the scale in the individual investors favor. Works Cited Barber, Brad M., and Terrance Odean. The Internet and the Investor. The Journal of Economic Perspectives (2001): 41-54. PDF. 16 Oct. 2014. Brunswick Group. Investor Use of Digital and Social Media Survey. New York, NY: Brunswick Group, New York Office, PPT. 16 Oct. 2014. Davis, Dick. The Stock Market and the Media: Turn It On, But Tune It Out. The American Association of Individual Investors Journal May (2008): 14-16. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. Fuhrmann, Ryan C. How The Internet Has Changed Investing. Investopedia. Investopedia, 6 Feb. 2012. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. Grzybkowski, Michal, and Wojcik, Dariusz. Internet and Corporate Governance. 6th Global Conference on Business and Economics (2006): 1-21. Web. 16 Oct 2014. [MD1]Does this need any formatting, such as italics? Im not sure.

Meursault Is An Absurdism - 1499 Words

In a universe full of chaos and injustice, society imposes an unspoken order in attempt to control the unknown. Everything must have an explanation, whether justified through social, scientific, or religious means. This notion creates expectations for how people should emotionally respond to events around them. However, when one does not conform to these expectations, a complex conflict arises between that individual and the surrounding society. The Stranger, a translated novella by Albert Camus, takes place in the early 1940s and revolves around Meursault, a French Algerian. Developed through a presentation of his own thoughts, it grows clear that Meursault is an absurdist. He believes that his actions lack significance, refuses to†¦show more content†¦The funeral director is the first to discuss this with him, critically stating, â€Å"You don’t have to justify yourself, my dear boy. I’ve read your mother’s file,† (Camus 4). By leaving Maman under the care of the senior home, Meursault should feel guilty for his actions since he was his mother’s â€Å"sole support† (Camus 4). However, he feels no guilt, similar to how he lacks any sentiment of sorrow during the processions. Individuals of society are conditioned to have a specific pattern of emotional responses elicited by inevitable yet critical life events. Regardless of whether genuinely affected or not, all are expecte d to conform to these behaviors. Thus, it is what Meursault does not do that makes his character such a prominent cause of concern in the context of the literary work. The absence of an emotional relationship with Maman develops justification as to why Meursault did not cry at her funeral, nor feel culpability for placing her in the nursing home. Camus develops the social outcast aspect of his character through these instances of defiance to social rituals. It is significant to consider how although Meursault s preoccupations are unusual, he still runs through the motions of cultural norms. He attends the funeral, has a girlfriend, and enjoyed the companionship of his friend Raymond. The real threat of hisShow MoreRelatedCamus Philosophical View Of Absurdism In Meursaults The Stranger1175 Words   |  5 Pagescharacter Meursault. No opening sentences of the novel and body somersaults absurdist outlook on life, his emotional indifference and detachment to people, and his passive be quiet alienation from the rest of society. he doesnt even know which day his mother died and to him it, ‘doesnt mean anything’ anyway. Throughout this novel camus explains to us through the actions of his main character, what he meant by the game. Along with that, Camus portrayal of the philosophical view of absurdism, and lastlyRead MoreThe Topic of Defiance of Societal Rules in The Stranger Through Absurdism1018 Words   |  5 Pageswhat extent does the topic of defiance of societal rules in The Stranger convey the theme of Absurdism in the novel? The sub-themes of femininity, individuality, and isolation connect to the overarching theme of absurdism as an acceptable way to live life. Albert Camus conveys the idea of Absurdism throughout the novel through the main characters. The Stranger is written from the perspective of Meursault, a young male with an absurdist mind-set. From the beginning of the novel his indifference toRead MoreThe Death Of A Free Man1454 Words   |  6 PagesAfter committing murder, Meursault was arrested and put in jail. While in jail, he had to see the magistrate a few times, and in those visits he found himself being irritated because of the heat. As Meursault was being questioned, he felt the air â€Å"getting hotter and hotter† (Camus 69), and it creates a mood of irritation. He did not want to hear anymore of the imposing tirade given by the magistrate. Then Meursault stated that he â€Å"could see the red sand and feel the burning of the sun on [his] forehead†Read MoreLiterary Analysis: How Meursault Is Indifferent in the Stranger, by Albert Camus874 Words   |  4 PagesLiterary analysis: How Meursault is indifferent in The Stranger, by Albert Camus Although Meursault is the title character and narrator of Albert Camus’ short novel The Stranger, he is also a somewhat flat character. His apparent indifferent demeanor may be a convenience to Camus, who mainly wanted to display his ideas of absurdism. And as a flat character, Meursault is not fully delineated: he lacks deep thought and significant change. His purpose is that of a first-person narrator whose actionsRead MoreExistentialism And Absurdism In Jean Paul Camuss The Stranger1389 Words   |  6 PagesCamus’ novel The Stranger exemplifies his philosophy of absurdism. At first glance, it appears to be similar, if not the same, to Jean Paul Sartre’s philosophy of existentialism. However, the two are, in fact, significantly different in thought. While existentialism suggests that a person can create their own meaning in life, absurdism states that the search for significance is foolish because there is none to begin with, but people should still accept (an d indirectly reject) what life has to offerRead MoreAlberts Aimless Absurdity898 Words   |  4 PagesIn Albert Camus’ novella, The Stranger, he exposes his beliefs on absurdism through the narration of Meursault. Camus’ definition of absurdism is a philosophy based on the belief that the universe is illogical and meaningless. Camus, founder of absurdism and French Nobel Prize winning author, sends the reader his underlying theme that life is meaningless and has no ulti-mate significance. This underlying theme of life’s absurdity is extremely personal to Camus through his own individual experiencesRead MoreAbsurdism In Albert Camuss The Myth Of Sisyphus1051 Words   |  5 PagesMyth of Sisyphus, Camus). Absurdism asserts that the world is complex and chaotic and that searching for meaning of any kind is futile. This suggests that life itself is meaningless given the indifference of the universe towards human existence. To understand absurdism, one must, as Cam us does, reject all notions of god and allow that the significance of human life is only understood through acceptance of human mortality. This is reflected in the main character, Meursault, as the change in his consciousnessRead MoreAnalysis Of Meursault A Stranger To Society1026 Words   |  5 PagesMeursault, a man living in Algiers, takes a bus to Marengo to attend his mother’s funeral after receiving a telegram. After the funeral, he seems unaffected by her death and he briefly describes his outing with Marie, his co-worker. Later on, he meets Raymond, an abuser of women, and agrees to go with him to his friend’s beach house. There, he gets entangled in a ruthless murder, and is ultimately sentenced to death. During his last hours, Meursault realizes how meaningless and pointless life isRead MoreThe Stranger - Meursaults Trial Essay1020 Words   |  5 PagesAfter only a few days of trial, the jury in The Stranger declares that the main character, Meursault, is t o be executed by guillotine in the town square. The trial and its verdict are one of the important parts of the novel, as Albert Camus uses them as a metaphor to summarize the two main tenets of absurdism. Camus uses the trial and persecution of Meursault to express his belief that the justice system is flawed because of his absurdist ideals that truth does not exist, and human life is preciousRead MoreAnalysis Of The Absurd 1184 Words   |  5 PagesThe Absurd It is safe to say the idea of absurdism can be linked to meaningless, and other such words that express a destination without the means to there and vice versa. In Camus’ famous fictional novel, he shows how one’s perception of life can be effected when faced with death. The Stranger reflects Camus’ philosophical stance on absurdism. There is no truth, no certainty, or any unwavering, non-relative laws in life. There is no sense in pursuing impossibilities. But if life is in a sense pointless

Aggression Nature/Innate Factors Free Essays

There is no simple or single entity which we can call aggression† (Stainton Rogers et al. 1995, p. 169). We will write a custom essay sample on Aggression Nature/Innate Factors or any similar topic only for you Order Now What does this statement mean and what are the implications for Psychological theories which attempt to explain aggression?   Aggression is part of every person’s personality. For each individual at some point of our lives, we tend to be aggressive towards another person or towards the situation. There is no simple or single entity which we can call aggression† (Stainton Rogers et al. 1995, p. 169). There are several psychological theories which explains aggression these can be a result of nature, environmental factors and social factors.   Nature/Innate Factors:   Sigmund Freud is the father of psychoanalysis. In his early theory, Freud asserts that human behaviors are motivated by sexual and instinctive drives known as the libido, which is energy derived from the Eros, or life instinct . Thus, the repression of such libidinal urges is displayed as aggression (Alexandra K. Smith, 1999 http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro99/web3/Smith.html) In the Oedipus complex, a boy is fixated on his mother and competes with his father for maternal attention. The opposite, the attraction of a girl to her father and rivalry with her mother, is sometimes called the Electra complex. (changingminds.org) Freud came to the conclusion that humans have not one but two primary instincts. He called the life-favoring instinct Eros, one of the Greek words for â€Å"love,† and the death instinct Thanatos, the Greek word for â€Å"death.† (Beyond the Pleasure Principle. New York: Norton, 1960). Another theory about aggression is Konrad Lorenz’s instinctual aggression. Lorenz examined herring gulls and other territorial birds. They defend their territory( their food breeding source ) by aggression using fixed action patterns, elicited by sign stimuli. The build up of internal forces did not seem to play a role in the theory. Aggression is an instinct, serving territoriality, elicited by biologically relevant signs, is automatic, and difficult to inhibit out with certain biologically based sign inhibitors (www.psy.gla.ac.uk, p. 2). Environmental Factors: Identification with the aggressor which is defined as   version of introjection that focuses on the adoption, not of general or positive traits, but of negative or feared traits. If you are afraid of someone, you can partially conquer that fear by becoming more like them (Dr. C. George Boeree, 1997 http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/freud.html). To cite an example is the Stockholm Syndrome. A woman named Patty Hearst was capture by a small group of self -proclaimed revolutionaries called the Symbionese Liberation Army. She was kept in closets, mistreated and even raped. Yet she decided to join her captors , making little propaganda videos for them and even waving a machine gun around during a bank robbery. When she was later tried, psychologists strongly suggested she was a victim, not a criminal. She was nevertheless convicted of bank robbery and sentenced to 7 years in prison. Her sentence was commuted by President Carter after 2 years ( (Dr. C. George Boeree, 1997 http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/freud.html).   Citing this example we can relate that aggression is caused by the environmental factor that the aggressor created. The most well known drive theory of aggression is the frustration-aggression hypothesis proposed by a group of researchers at Yale led by John Dollard. He and his colleagues define frustration as â€Å"an interference with the occurrence of an instigated goal-response at its proper time in the behavioral sequence.†(Dollard, et. al. 1939, p.7) In this theory, frustration and aggression are linked in a cause and effect relationship. Frustration is the cause of aggression and aggression is the result of frustration.( Alexandra K. Smith,1999). The prison cell setting can be an example of this theory since inmates who are extremely frustrated can be more aggressive or commit more crimes.   Social Factors: Social learning theory focuses on the learning that occurs within a social context. It considers that people learn from one another, including such concepts as observational learning, imitation, and modeling. Among others Albert Bandura is considered the leading proponent of this theory (Ormrod, J.E. (1999). General principles of social learning theory follows: 1. People can learn by observing the behavior is of others and the outcomes of those behaviors. 2. Learning can occur without a change in behavior. Behaviorists say that learning has to be represented by a permanent change in behavior, in contrast social learning theorists say that because people can learn through observation alone, their learning may not necessarily be shown in their performance. Learning may or may not result in a behavior change. 3. Cognition plays a role in learning. Over the last 30 years social learning theory has become increasingly cognitive in its interpretation of human learning. Awareness and expectations of future reinforcements or punishments can have a major effect on the behaviors that people exhibit 4. Social learning theory can be considered a bridge or a transition between behaviorist learning theories and cognitive learning theories. (Ormrod, J.E. (1999).   The conclusion of this school of thought on aggression has been summed up: â€Å"Human aggression is a learned conduct that, like other forms of social behavior, is under stimulus, reinforcement, and cognitive control.†Ã‚   Bandura, Albert. The Social Learning Theory of Aggression. In R. A. Falk and S. S. Kim, (Eds.), The War System: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1980, p.146.    How the environment reinforces and punishes modeling: People are often reinforced for modeling the behavior of others. Bandura suggested that the environment also reinforces modeling. This is in several possible ways: 1. The observer is reinforced by the model. For example a student who changes dress to fit in with a certain group of students has a strong likelihood of being accepted and thus reinforced by that group. 2. The observer is reinforced by a third person. The observer might be modeling the actions of someone else, for example, an outstanding class leader or student. The teacher notices this and compliments and praises the observer for modeling such behavior thus reinforcing that behavior. 3. The imitated behavior itself leads to reinforcing consequences. Many behaviors that we learn from others produce satisfying or reinforcing results. For example, a student in my multimedia class could observe how the extra work a classmate does is fun. This student in turn would do the same extra work and also receive enjoyment. 4. Consequences of the model’s behavior affect the observers behavior vicariously. This is known as vicarious reinforcement. This is where in the model is reinforced for a response and then the observer shows an increase in that same response. Bandura illustrated this by having students watch a film of a model hitting a inflated clown doll. One group of children saw the model being praised for such action. Without being reinforced, the group of children began to also hit the doll . Contemporary social learning perspective of reinforcement and punishment: 1. Contemporary theory proposes that both reinforcement and punishment have indirect effects on learning. They are not the sole or main cause. 2. Reinforcement and punishment influence the extent to which an individual exhibits a behavior that has been learned. 3. The expectation of reinforcement influences cognitive processes that promote learning. Therefore attention pays a critical role in learning. And attention is influenced by the expectation of reinforcement. An example would be, where the teacher tells a group of students that what they will study next is not on the test. Students will not pay attention, because they do not expect to know the information for a test. Cognitive factors in social learning: Social learning theory has cognitive factors as well as behaviorist factors (actually operant factors). 1. Learning without performance: Bandura makes a distinction between learning through observation and the actual imitation of what has been learned. 2.Cognitive processing during learning: Social learning theorists contend that attention is a critical factor in learning. 3. Expectations: As a result of being reinforced, people form expectations about the consequences that future behaviors are likely to bring. They expect certain behaviors to bring reinforcements and others to bring punishment. The learner needs to be aware however, of the response reinforcements and response punishment. Reinforcement increases a response only when the learner is aware of that connection. 4. Reciprocal causation: Bandura proposed that behavior can influence both the environment and the person. In fact each of these three variables, the person, the behavior, and the environment can have an influence on each other. 5. Modeling: There are different types of models. There is the live model, and actual person demonstrating the behavior. There can also be a symbolic model, which can be a person or action portrayed in some other medium, , such as television, videotape, computer programs. Ormrod, J.E. (1999). Given the three concepts on how aggression can be associated with, I have considered that we cannot conclude that one factor is the strongest among the three. Our lives are interrelated one way or another, our innate drives, environment, and social learning can be associated on how we respond to situations that can unleash aggression. References: Books: Beyond the Pleasure Principle. New York: Norton, 1960. Ormrod, J.E. ,1999. R. A. Falk and S. S. Kim, (Eds.), The War System: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1980, p.146. Stainton Rogers et al. 1995 p. 169 Journal Articles: Dr. C. George Boeree, 1997 http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/freud.html Alexandra K. Smith, 1999 http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro99/web3/Smith.html How to cite Aggression Nature/Innate Factors, Papers