Local Literature for Entrance Exam Registration Essay

Consistently a huge number of secondary school graduating understudies look for admission to PUP through its College Entrance Test (PUPCET). For the School Year 2008-2009, the Admissions Office recorded roughly 42,000 candidates. During top times of utilization, it takes a few hours to finish this procedure. On occasion candidate needs to come back to PUP to complete the exchange. Time and assets spent by the candidates and by the University could have been utilized to progressively beneficial exercises. In addition, during the period of October and mid-December, the Admissions Office needs to suspend preparing of utilization to allot their assets to the handling of mid-year graduation and to take care of the enlistment for second semester. The current framework doesn't coordinate the information caught by different workplaces engaged with the handling of the PUPCET. The Admissions Office, Accounting Department, Cashier, Guidance and Counseling, Scholarships, Student Services, Academic Units, Research and Development, Human Resources are only a portion of the units who will utilize the data by this framework. Moreover, the University is required to submit information and reports routinely to outside offices, for example, the Commission of Higher Education (CHED), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Congress, and so on. The nonappearance of a coordinated database will in general outcome to information wastefulness, which influences the quality and objectivity of the proposals, choices and plans by the approach making body or managers and different partners. So as to address this issue, PUP iApply (in the past codename â€Å"Project Silangan†) was conceptualized. Candidates profit by the proposed framework when contrasted with the current frameworks, since they can Apply whenever, anyplace whenever the timing is ideal utilizing any PC associated with the Internet, save money on total costs (transportation charge, food, and so forth ), save money on schedule and vitality (transportation, conforming), and confirm status of use anyplace, whenever. These are only a couple of the manners in which PUP iApply can affect the reality and improve the confirmation procedure.

Appeal statement Free Essays

I am writing to claim my scholarly excusal from XXXXX State University. I was not astounded, yet extremely annoyed to get a letter not long ago illuminating me regarding my excusal. I might want to ask you to acknowledge my intrigue to Reversal for Dismissal Action. We will compose a custom exposition test on Request articulation or then again any comparable theme just for you Request Now I concede, I had an extremely troublesome time past two semesters, and my evaluations endured accordingly. I don’t intend to rationalize my poor scholastic presentation, however I might want to clarify the conditions. I realized that enrolling for 10 credit hours in the spring would require a great deal of my exertion, however I expected to gain the hours with the goal that I was on target to graduate on schedule. I figured I could deal with the remaining burden, I despite everything figure I could have, then again, actually my family conditions were destroying and as I was a long way from home and couldn't focus on my course work. While there was money related issues which were pressurized on me to graduate soon. With every one of these Problems I was made to do low maintenance so as to meet my costs and became sick regularly which lead to abnormality of going to classes Needless to state, the hours I used to invested n part energy work cut into my investigation time. In any event, when I was at school, I was occupied with the home circumstance and couldn't concentrate on my homework. I see since I ought to have spoken with my educators (rather than staying away from them), or even disappeared from nonattendance. I figured I could deal with these weights, and I attempted my best, yet I wasn't right. I love XXXXX State University, and it would mean such a great amount to me to graduate with a degree from this school, which would make me the main individual in my family to finish a higher education. On the off chance that I am switched for Dismissal Action, I will concentrate much better on my homework, assume not many acknowledgment hours, As monetarily things are showing signs of improvement at my home I need not do any low maintenance and deal with my time all the more shrewdly by focusing just on course work, plan a calendar of meeting my counsel and educators as often as possible, will retake the courses where I scored low evaluations once more, and show signs of improvement grades. Luckily, I sought a visit to my old neighborhood and I am feeling vastly improved as things are showing signs of improvement at my home and feeling assuaged from my despondencies. Likewise, I will meet my guide when I arrive at Kent, and I will follow her recommendation and will discuss better with my educators starting now and into the foreseeable future. If you don't mind comprehend that my low GPA that prompted my excusal doesn't demonstrate that I am a terrible understudy. Truly, I’m a decent understudy who had one extremely, awful year. I trust you will allow me another opportunity. Much obliged to you for thinking about this intrigue. Earnestly, Step by step instructions to refer to Appeal articulation, Papers

Drug Smuggling in Malaysia Essay -- Legal Issues, Drugs, Drug Mule

Medication pirating cases have made a grave worries in Malaysia. As I experience the â€Å"Special Report : Decline in Drug Mules† 2010 by BERNAMA, I feel induce to talk about further about this issue. In this article, the meaning of medication donkey isn't given. In any case, I have run over a definition from Smith (2010) which expressed that medicate donkeys are individuals whose bodies are utilized to ship medications to another nation. Also, Kusyi (2010) characterized medicate donkey as an expression that alludes to somebody who is willing or hoodwinked to be a dispatch, conveying medications or pirating medications to different nations. So we can reason that tranquilize donkey is an illicit activity that restricts the law all through the nations. As indicated by BERNAMA (2010), it is assessed that 1490 Malaysians are presently moping in outside jails for tranquilize related offenses including drug donkeys. For me, it is a lot to be stressed of. Our nation will encounter a n extraordinary loss of neighborhood energies if the number keeps on developing. Be that as it may, the measurements from Bukit Aman show a lofty decrease in number of Malaysians being confined in remote grounds for conveying drugs in 2010 contrasted with the earlier year (BERNAMA, 2010). As an age of future pioneers, I understand in spite of the way that the cases announced is diminishing, the issue is in fact basic and on the off chance that we remain still from the earliest starting point, I unequivocally trust it could risk our nation’s future. Consequently, we should concentrate on this issue as this article likewise revealed that the individuals from global medication coops are still effectively selecting new blameless casualties of medication donkeys in spite of the fact that in littler numbers. In the first place, this article has accentuated the casualties of the organizations which are recognized to be in the middle of 20s and 30s ... ...hich portrays that they are not scared of the discipline. To summarize, I concur with all variables and proposals featured in this article. I think this report has prevailing with regards to helping me to understand the centrality of this issue and has urged me to impart my insights to assist the legislature with eradicating this danger. Nonetheless, more profound clarifications ought to be incorporated and included so perusers will acquire data about this wrongdoing from all angles. I truly trust that we can give our assistance to battle this threat. Counteraction is superior to fix. Finally, I concur with Kusyi (2010) when she said that assuming prior, guardians stresses when their kids traveled to another country were about halal food, wed an outsider, overlook their causes and their religion or would prefer not to get back, presently guardians need to guarantee one more thing which is don't leave your kid alone a medication donkey!

The Argument About College Student Essay Samples

<h1> The Argument About College Student Essay Samples </h1> <h2> College Student Essay Samples Can Be Fun for Everyone </h2> <p>Whenever you select to approach us for master help, don't stop for a second to address our help directors. A companion or parent will probably not offer you the fair criticism you require. At the point when you're in school, it's critical to your scholarly and public activity that you assign to what extent is promptly accessible for every feature of your experience. </p> <h2> The Fundamentals of College Student Essay Samples Revealed </h2> <p>You need to locate the right assets for your article and persistence when finding the right motivation to compose. Composing help can be found in different structures and tests are just one of the various structures. Paper composing is an opportunity to show your educator what your identity is. It very well may be an overwhelming undertaking. </p> <p>Get your imaginative energies pumping by conceptualizing all the potential thoughts you can envision to deal with your article question. It's alright to place in a touch of silliness to your story. Verbal exchange is commonly the absolute best source ever! </p> <p>Bridget's paper is very solid, yet there keep on being a couple easily overlooked details that could be improved. Plunk down, consider the story you might want to compose. The creator begins with a fairly inside and out story of an occasion or depiction of an individual or spot. </p> <p>As you may know, to acquire a paper, you need to consider numerous fundamental aspects. Much consideration was connected to promise you a comfortable and welcoming vibe at which you could appreciate the great dinner as well as in like manner the valid environment. Since numerous understudies are on a money related or grant program, keeping up their GPA to have the option to stay in school, passing classes, and accepting passing marks are fundamental in school. Other than school advances, there's the pressure of keeping a GPA to place in the college that you long for. </p> <p>Public secondary schools have their own special decent amount of issues and in the occasion the understudy isn't cautious, they could end up in a huge chaos. Individual Achievements Colleges need understudies who have accomplished in some locale of their lives. A few establishments demand an exposition about an understudy's decision of a college or profession. </p> <h2>The Characteristics of College Student Essay Samples </h2> <p>There's few expositions finished by them. At the point when you feel that it is completely completed, you're set up to edit and organize the paper. Or on the other hand you'll have the option to see 18 papers all on a solitary page. Regardless of outstanding evaluations, an ineffectively composed article will give you a helpless name. </p> <p>Some schools additionally need you to compose more than 1 paper, and should you simply expect you get the opportunity to choose from the 3 alternatives when you were really expected to compose three short articles, well that is certainly an issue. Numerous individuals imagine that secondary school entrance papers are preferably more straightforward to compose over school entrance papers, that is the explanation there are less places where you can get help with higher school entrance articles. Secondary school understudies must create papers on various points which from the outset may seem to share nothing practically speaking. </p> <p>Especially when composing a school passage exposition that could represent the moment of truth your chances of getting confirmation. Having an unmistakable and organized arrangement is the establishment for any incredible piece of composing, and a school exposition is the equivalent. Aside from having a remarkable SAT score, you would need to create the absolute best school paper. Since school is a significant serious and different condition, there's heaps of realities which you'll have the option to place in your article to guarantee it is appealing to your perusers. </p> <h2> The Basics of College Student Essay Samples </h2> <p>To achieve this, conceptualize on points that you're energetic about. Contentious articles are additionally alluded to as position papers because of their avocation of the side of the issue they are written on the side of. The paper, for certain candidates, can be among the most distressing bits of the application practice. & lt;/p> <p>A prepared proficient will make a blunder free task immediately and can assist you with boosting your evaluations. Assist schools with picking up something about you they can't find when perusing the rest of your application. Individual schools need to make changes should they wish to keep serious, yet that is just the cost of making our advanced education framework work for everyone. </p>

How to Write a Perfect SAT Writing Essay

<h1>How to Write a Perfect SAT Writing Essay</h1><p>You would be very much encouraged to begin contemplating how to compose an ideal SAT composing exposition before the SAT test day. It is by a wide margin the most significant piece of your school affirmations expositions. Here are a few hints that you can use to make your article far superior to it was before.</p><p></p><p>The first thing you have to do is get familiar with the subject and what kind of exposition you ought to expound on. There are a wide range of kinds of expositions that you can compose on. You ought to settle on which one will be the best for you. With this stated, there are sure things that you should focus on before you begin.</p><p></p><p>One of the most significant pieces of your paper is the utilization of representations. Try not to utilize analogies on the off chance that you don't have the foggiest idea what they mean. Ensure that you compre hend them before you start composing your article. You ought to likewise abstain from utilizing buzzwords and you ought to consistently have a 'why' explanation at the base of your essay.</p><p></p><p>Once you comprehend what sort of exposition you need to compose and how you are going to plot your primary concerns, you should begin glancing through your article. Search for approaches to make it better or even re-compose it totally. There is no reason for investing the energy and exertion composing something that don't satisfy your guidelines. When you discover the points or thoughts that you truly need to discuss, invest a tad of energy expounding on them.</p><p></p><p>Once you have done a little research, you should take the entirety of your thoughts and sum up them with the goal that you can keep everything intelligible. Search for approaches to tie every one of your focuses together. You will need to ensure that the paper is simila rly as clear and brief as possible.</p><p></p><p>Writing can get really substantial now and again and you may need to take a break. A brief break is a smart thought to take in the event that you have an inclination that your fixation is slipping. At the point when you are chipping away at an incredible exposition, you will most likely be unable to see the missteps that you are making.</p><p></p><p>Never ever compose your paper the way that you figure you ought to compose it. A great many people who compose expositions get so got up to speed in what they are doing that they disregard the final product. On the off chance that you abandon your exposition before you get to the closure, it will be very hard to revamp it such that you like.</p><p></p><p>You are currently prepared to begin composing the ideal SAT composing paper. In any case, recall that you don't need to compose your article the way that you believe i s 'right'. With the assistance of an instructor or even a school affirmations advocate, you can think of an arrangement to compose a paper that you know is perfect.</p>

Funny College Essay Topics

<h1>Funny College Essay Topics</h1><p>In request to make your entertaining school article subjects genuinely stick out, you have to adopt a one of a kind strategy. For instance, a clever school article shouldn't be silly or interesting. What it needs to do is be interesting! In any case, since something is interesting doesn't imply that it's fundamentally appropriate.</p><p></p><p>You ought to recall that an exposition should be an impression of you. Thus, while you should feature any interesting stories you may have heard, it's in reality better on the off chance that you abstain from referencing the motivation behind why the narratives were entertaining in any case. The crowd for your diversion is, all things considered, the peruser, not you. You need to attempt to furnish them with a general thought of what your point is about. All things considered, this is the main thing individuals will see about your essay.</p><p></p> <p>While you may not really need to make a 'parody' piece, you can attempt to make your comical exposition as near reality as could reasonably be expected. It is significant that you comprehend that not many individuals can think of a comical theme that fits with the tone of their paper. In the event that you endeavor to miss the point, it won't be extremely complimenting to you and will in all likelihood divert perusers off from your piece.</p><p></p><p>First, you have to comprehend what sorts of subjects will assist you with sticking out. For instance, a conversation of a school noon will be unmistakably more effective than a hilarious anecdote about an outing to a cheap food joint. Correspondingly, expounding on how you snickered when tuning in to a specific melody will be unquestionably more diverting than examining how you felt about the general nature of the music.</p><p></p><p>Lighten things up however much as could reason ably be expected by utilizing a wide range of styles. At the point when you utilize this methodology, the best amusing subjects you'll think of are those that will fit the tone of your paper just as the writer.</p><p></p><p>Comedy will in general make individuals chuckle. This is an incredible spot to begin when you're making entertaining school paper points. For instance, your entertaining school exposition can concentrate on something that made you giggle, for example, a specific theme that the teacher told about. On the other hand, you can likewise utilize entertaining stories that will make perusers chuckle by taking an inside joke that you know and making it funny.</p><p></p><p>You can likewise discover humor in a wide range of subjects including religion, mainstream society, governmental issues, and that's only the tip of the iceberg. While every single one of these points may have explicit comedic viewpoints, you'll despite ever ything locate that a great deal of the silliness originates from the broadness of the subject. That is the reason it is regularly suggested that an author take a particular point and join it into a more extensive or progressively hilarious piece.</p><p></p><p>The last advance is to set aside some effort to make a sense out of cleverness all through your article. This should be possible using humor-instigating circumstances or by taking basic situations and transforming them into humorous stories. In case you're searching for interesting school exposition points, you should attempt a couple of various plans to see which one works best for you. At long last, it is dependent upon you to choose what you need to remember for your work and to then compose it.</p>

LAFAYETTE College Essay Questions - How to Write an Essay?

<h1>LAFAYETTE College Essay Questions - How to Write an Essay?</h1><p>Are you keen on composing an exposition at your Lafayette College? Initially, you should realize that composing a paper is an intense activity. You should be appropriately arranged to set yourself up for the test in front of you.</p><p></p><p>One approach to set yourself up is to ensure that you are completely acquainted with the subject on which you will compose an article. You have to know the nuts and bolts of the subject with the goal that you can completely get a handle on the arrangement of the paper. Additionally, you should be totally mindful of the substance of the exposition. Notwithstanding, you additionally need to observe that an understudy's expertise to understand the fundamental data of the subject being referred to may shift from one individual to another.</p><p></p><p>In request to improve as an article author, you need to ensure th at you won't just be appropriately familiar with the point yet in addition you will have the option to pass on what you truly need to communicate to the peruser of the exposition. In the event that you know about the nuts and bolts of the theme, you will have the option to accurately structure your exposition. You should remember that creating a decent exposition may rely upon your insight as well as on your aptitudes recorded as a hard copy. Here are a portion of the paper composing tips that you may follow:</p><p></p><p>First of all, you have to record the fundamental subject on which you will compose an article. You can begin by posting down all the primary points that are basic to the subject of your paper. At that point, you can proceed onward to picking and sorting out your primary concerns of the paper.</p><p></p><p>Next, you have to start to expound on every one of your central matters of the paper. It is basic that you ought t o be certain that you generally utilize the right and clear language with regards to depicting the purposes of your paper. Moreover, on the off chance that you can expound on your primary concerns in a deliberate way, it would help you alot in building up your own assessment about the theme. For instance, you may jump at the chance to communicate your conclusion about the subject as follows:</p><p></p><p>Your focuses will unquestionably be clarified obviously and even ideally. By and by, it is significant that you don't simply discuss your point without having the option to back it up with an explanation or confirmation. It is additionally significant that you remember some evidence for the finish of your paper. In the event that you can associate your focuses with your confirmation, it would be simpler for you to persuade the reader.</p><p></p><p>Lastly, you ought to figure out how to compose an article well. This will help you record ed as a hard copy a paper appropriately. At the point when you have finished your subject and all the focuses that you have composed, you should keep on forming your paper so that it will even now sound good to the peruser and you will likewise have the option to cause them to comprehend what you are stating to them.</p><p></p><p>You may likewise employ diverse article authors from a working organization to get you out. Beside being an expert exposition author, these essayists will likewise help you by giving you thoughts that you can consolidate in your paper.</p>

Solving the Essay Needs

<h1>Solving the Essay Needs</h1><p>Writing an article isn't care for different types of composing, similar to a short story or a report. All things considered, you need to consider the possible perusers just as the spot you are composing for. Numerous individuals stall out recorded as a hard copy a report or a short story. It is significant that you must be cautious when picking tests of good paper titles for it will give you a thought of how to improve the nature of your essays.</p><p></p><p>Since numerous individuals can't compose well and in this manner decide to give them tests of good exposition titles. This is a smart thought in light of the fact that in that way you get a few thoughts for improving the nature of your composition. What's more, it is significant that you likewise think about the area where you will compose. It is likewise acceptable to pick those examples that are really well known. Since this will help you in improving the nature of your writing.</p><p></p><p>You likewise need to consider how you would clarify your article. In the event that you are composing regarding a matter identified with advertising, you need to consider the numerous kinds of keeping in touch with you can do, including audits, articles, public statements, websites, and so forth. You need to consider how you can offer a composing style that individuals would discover valuable. Furthermore, you can likewise consider tests of good paper titles for your necessities in unraveling the requirements that you have recorded as a hard copy an essay.</p><p></p><p>It is significant that you attempt to understand the particular motivation behind why you have to compose an article. In that manner, you would not be stuck recorded as a hard copy an exposition that isn't applicable. The explanation you have to compose a paper could be because of an incredible need to address or only for having a quality bit of composing that you can utilize. In any case, you need to choose if it is important or not. Be that as it may, before you pick any examples of good paper titles, you need to consider the broadly useful of composing an essay.</p><p></p><p>You need to comprehend what the kind of value you can give through your composition. Plus, you likewise must have at the top of the priority list the watchwords that you should utilize. It is critical to observe the catchphrases that you will use, since they are the keys that you will use in picking the best examples of good exposition titles.</p><p></p><p>There are a few devices that you can use in finding the best examples of good article titles. Truth be told, you ought to pick the correct instrument to pick the best paper title. Also, on the off chance that you can discover the correct apparatuses, you have the affirmation that you can create the most ideal article that is. Along the se lines, it is significant that you ought to deliberately consider the apparatus that you will utilize so you can make the best articles possible.</p><p></p><p>Essay titles are significant when you need to have quality composition for your paper. Accordingly, you need to ensure that you can locate the best examples of good paper titles that are reasonable for your necessities. You need to consider how the paper title can improve the nature of your writing.</p>

The Informational Content Of Ratings Changes Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

This paper focuses on the informational value of all rating change-announcements made by Fitch, Moodys and Standard Poors in the period between 2002 and 2011 i.e. around the Financial Crisis for Benelux-companies listed on respectively the BEL20-, AEX- and LuxX-index. Both short and long term credit ratings are taken into account. Results show that downgrades are associated with a significant cumulative average abnormal stock price return (CAAR) of -3.72%. Controlling for the anticipation of rating changes and the disclosure of other pricing relevant news around the announcement yields that unanticipated downgrades and downgrades surrounded by concurrent news are accompanied by greater abnormal stock price performances of respectively -7.44% and -7.17%. Other evidence shows that only small capitalized and/or high volatility firms are associated with significant abnormal stock price return of respectively -4.78% and -5.81% around the announcement of a downgrade. In addition, this study emphasizes the impact of prior rating levels and finds that downgrades starting from a level below the investment grade-barrier are associated with a significant CAAR up to -16.48%. Throughout the whole research, upgrades tend to yield only minor and insignificant results. Table of Contents Introduction The three credit rating agencies were key enablers of the financial meltdown. The mortgage-related securities at the heart of the crisis could not have been marketed and sold without their seal of approval. Investors relied on them, often blindly. In some cases, they were obligated to use them, or regulatory capital standards were hinged on them. This crisis could not have happened without the rating agencies. Their ratings helped the market soar and their downgrades through 2007 and 2008 wreaked havoc across markets and firms. (January 2011, The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Final Report) Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) are widely seen as one of the major causers of the recent global Financial Crisis. They are criticized on their core activity; rating the creditworthiness of countries, companies and financial products (e.g. CDOs, RMBS, etc.). By awarding too high ratings CRAs contributed for a large part to the rapidly growing market on subprime mortgages. Without these hi gh rating it is very unlikely that there would have been such a large demand for especially these, party bad, financial products and hence the financial breakdown perhaps could have been avoided. CRAs are originally set in place to reduce the information asymmetry between borrowers and lenders. By rating the creditworthiness of different entities and products, they provide an important piece of information to outside investors. In their presence, information about companies gets disseminated much quicker and investors are spared from having to put very costly and duplicative effort into gathering the information. Thus, CRAs seem to play an essential role in todays financial market making the credit rating industry to grow quite rapidly of the last few decades. This market on credit ratings is dominated by three agencies, namely; Fitch, Moodys and Standard Poors. This study focuses on stock price effects around the announcement of rating changes made by the three CRAs in the peri od surrounding the Financial Crisis  [1]  . The main goal of this research is to get an insight into the informational value  [2]  of these rating revisions and check whether the evidence found in previous literature also applies for the Benelux stock-market. Therefore the main question to be answered in this research is as follows: What is the informational value of rating changes and how does the stock market react to the announcement of such changes? In other words, the main question is whether investors view rating changes as credible pricing relevant signals. If so, they will react accordingly by which stock prices will be affected and hence rating changes convey informational value. In order to be able to formulate a proper answer to this question, the following sub-questions are constructed: What is the difference in stock price effects between the announcement of up- and downgrades and how did the recent global Financial Crisis impact these effects? Does a stand-alone rating change significantly impact the price of a companies stock? Do investors use rating changes as substitute pieces of information if their own supply falls short? The setup and construction of the hypotheses to be tested according to the questions stated above is discussed in Chapter 3. Subsequently the data and methodology used in this research are discussed in Chapter 4. Empirical results from the tested hypotheses will be presented in Chapter 5 from which conclusions and possible grounds for further research are provided in Chapter 6. The contribution of this paper to existing literature can be particularly found in the countries to be studied. As the methodology used and the hypotheses tested largely correspond to earlier studies on the informational value of rating changes, the only difference lies in the fact that this study uses data from (only) the Benelux while others investigate the US, the UK, Spain, Italy, Oceania or the whole of Europe. To my best knowledge, no study fully concentrates on these or other relatively small countries. Literature Review This chapter provides an overview of the evidence presented by earlier studies on the informational value of rating change-announcements. The first three sections discuss evidence on rating changes in general whereas section 2.4 to 2.8 discuss specific types of rating changes (e.g. rating changes for firms which are small or large capitalized, rating changes starting from a level below or above the investment grade-barrier, short and long term rating changes, etc.) in order to get a complete picture on the implications of a rating change-announcement. An overview of all findings in this chapter together with the studies providing the evidence is presented in Appendix (I). Evidence found on the reaction of stock prices to stronger signals  [3]  and empirical results on this are provided in Appendix (II) as the subject is considered to be of less importance in answering the main question of this research. No effects around rating changes As Calderoni et. al. (2009) states: The Information Asymmetry and Signaling Hypothesis (IASH) predicts that credit rating changes are private information-based signals concerning issuers prospects. As a consequence, downgrades should be bad news producing a price reduction, while upgrades should be good news resulting in a price increase. This hypothesis states that CRAs seem to possess private information about a firm and their rating actions should therefore provide the market with new information. If these CRAs actually are in the position of having privileged access to private information, the market should respond to rating changes as these convey information the market does not possess. First of all the market seems to be highly efficient in the sense that it very rapidly reflects new information into stock prices (Fama et. al., 1969). That is, when there is new information available concerning a certain stock, it is already reflected in its price before CRAs modify their cre dit ratings, if needed. Especially the type of information CRAs provide by their rating activities seems to be processed efficiently in the stock market. Hence, rating change-announcements cannot be used to efficiently time the market and provide investors with protection against potential losses (Linciano, 2004). Several other studies agree on this and reject that CRAs provide the market with new information. Examples of these studies are Brookfield and Ormrod (2000) and Kuhner (2001). These studies state that CRAs only provide information which the market already seems to possess and hence this information is already reflected in stock and bond prices before the rating is changed. In agreement with the previous, Linciano (2004) states the following: Overall, rating agencies do not seem to act on the basis of private information. This evidence, although corroborating the hypothesis that rating agencies act in line with the financial market regulation prohibiting selective disclosur e of significant corporate events, supports the argument that the information content of ratings is modest (p.13). In order to confirm the above, extensive research has been done to check whether rating changes affect stock and bond prices. Weinstein (1977) using monthly bond returns, Wakeman (1978) using monthly stock and weekly bond returns and Pinches and Singleton (1978) using monthly stock returns all find no significant reaction of bond or stock prices around the announcement of a rating change. As Weinstein (1977) concludes: There is some evidence of a price change during the period from a half to one-and-a-half years before the rating change. This price change is the result of information which eventually leads to the rating change, rather than the rating change itself (p. 345). Other evidence even suggests that stock and bond prices behave in opposite directions compared to the scope of the revision. They find statistically significant but weak evidence of a return rever sal around rating change-announcements [Pinches and Singleton (1978) and Glascock et. al. (1987)]. A possible explanation for these results is provided by Goh and Ederington (1993) and Kliger and Sarig (2000). Both studies argue that if CRAs foresee that wealth is being transferred from bond- to stockholders due to an increase in leverage, equity (bond) prices rise (fall) around downgrades. By this, bond and equity prices move in opposite directions of each other and therefore the total value of the firm remains unaffected. Asymmetry between up- and downgrades In contrast to the previous section and according to the IASH, many studies claim that CRAs actually do provide the market with new valuable information about a firms future prospects. For example, Holthausen and Leftwich (1986) and Schweitzer et. al. (1992) both conclude that changes in credit ratings are credible information signals and should therefore lead to significant abnormal stock price movements around the announcement. Other, non-US, studies [i.e. Barron et. al. (1997), Elayan et. al. (2003) and Romero and Robles-Fernandez (2007)] find somewhat similar results in respectively the UK, New-Zealand and Spanish stock market. A possible reason for the above results is presented by Holthausen and Leftwich (1986). They argue that CRAs possess inside information about a firm, the rating process usually includes discussions with management, visits to company premises, and forecasts of income statement and balance sheet data provided by the management (p. 61). Other studies [i.e. Griffin and Sanvicente (1982) and Ederington et. al. (1987)] claim that CRAs are used as an instrument to disclose sensitive information to the market. By disclosing this sensible information through rating revisions, rather than through public disclosure, they prevent competitors from getting an informational advantage. Moreover, Ho and Michaely (1988) argue that rating changes merely based on public information could also be informative because of the costs associated with the collection of this information. These costs sometimes exceed the benefit and therefore market prices will probably not reflect all publicly available information. CRAs, which may get access to this information much more efficient, can therefore provide new valuable information to the market through their rating activities. To check whether the informational content of rating change-announcements is already reflected in bond and stock prices, a wide scope of research has been done starting a long time ago. Ex amples of these studies are Griffin and Sanvicente (1982) using stock returns and Ingram et. al. (1983) using bond returns. These studies provide significant evidence of abnormal stock price performance surrounding the rating change. Another study by Katz (1974) even claims that this abnormal performance stays on for a long period  [4]  after the announcement. The above studies, among others, come up with different explanations for the conflicting findings presented in section 2.1 and 2.2. As can be concluded from these studies, the main reason is related to the methodology that is used  [5]  . Most studies investigating the informational content of rating revisions distinguish between up- and downgrades when talking about stock price effects. As predicted by the IASH, both up- and downgrades should be surrounded by significant stock price reactions consistent with the direction of the rating change. Many studies [e.g. Dichev and Piotroski (2001), Vassalou and Xing (2005) and Halek and Eckles (2010)] reject this hypothesis and argue that only downgrades are surrounded by abnormal returns while upgrades only yield insignificant results. The asymmetry seems not only to persist in the US, but also in the UK- (Barron et. al., 1997) and Australian-market (Matolcsy and Lianto, 1995). Recent studies have tried to explain why there seems to be a difference in results between up- and downgrades. Jorion and Zhang (2006) perhaps explain this best by arguing that the asymmetry is caused by different rating levels prior to the announcement. More on this influence of prior rating-levels can be found in section 2.7. Another possible explanation is presented by Dichev and Piotroski (2001). They argue that good and bad news differ from each other as they have different information implications. Their evidence suggests that downgrades suffer from an underreaction; after the initial negative reaction to the bad news, prices keep decreasing. This evidence is consistent with findings presented by Matolcsy and Lianto (1995). They argue that these findings could be consistent with the propositions that good news travels fast compared to bad news, or that equity holders are more concerned with a downgrade than upgrades (p. 901). Another study claims that issuers tend to shift their information releases to only good news. Hence, bad news is rather scarce and downgrades should therefore be a more credible signal to other market participants (Ederington and Goh, 1998). In contrast to the mentioned asymmetry between up- and downgrades, several studies claim that upgrades actually do affect market prices. Past evidence presented by Schweitzer et. al. (1992) already comes up some marginally significant abnormal returns around upgrades and more recent literature by Kliger and Sarig (2000) and Romero and Robles-Fernandez (2007) state that not only downgrades seem to convey new information to the market. Besides actual up- and downgrades, CRAs can add rati ngs to the CreditWatch-list  [6]  . Micu et. al. (2006) investigate whether these additions to the CreditWatch-list also impact share prices and come up with evidence suggesting that all types of rating change-announcements, thus also reviews, significantly impact market prices. Recent studies agree on this but argue that not actual downgrades but only reviews for downgrade cause stock prices to change significantly [Linciano (2004) and Norden and Weber (2004)]. The latter study claims that within a combined analysis  [7]  actual downgrades experience no significant abnormal returns, whereas reviews for downgrade still do. They also argue that these reviews are anticipated much earlier  [8]  , whereas for actual downgrades most reactions seem to appear close before the event. More on this anticipation can be found in section 2.4. Elayan et. al. (2003) agrees on the above evidence but concludes that not only reviews for downgrade but also reviews for upgrade significantly impact market prices. Their evidence is consistent with an earlier study by Barron et. al. (1997) who investigates the UK-stock market and states that also placements on the CreditWatch-list for positive reasons are surrounded by significant positive abnormal stock price performances. Decline of trust after the Financial Crisis As discussed in the previous section, CRAs are important players in todays markets. They tend to have access to private information which they gained through their rating-activities. Therefore, theoretically, they can be seen as institutions helping to get rid of information asymmetries between security issuers and other stock market-participants (Kuhner, 2001). Other studies (e.g. Wakeman, 1981) argue that CRAs do not merely act as information intermediaries, but also play the role of reputable auditor  [9]  . When CRAs are not able to fulfill this role properly anymore, for whatever reason, confidence in their work will decline and it will obviously lead to weaker stock price effects around the announcement of a rating change. Why CRAs may be taken less seriously today is best explained by Calderoni et. al. (2009), who states the following: The recent financial turmoil has highlighted a severe decline in the confidence that investors are giving to the activity performed by Cr edit Rating Agencies. The harsh debate followed to the recent bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers that remained investment-graded until the day it asked protection under Chapter 11 has cast serious doubts about the role that these Agencies can perform in modern financial markets (p. 2). Pre-announcement stock returns As can be concluded from section 2.1, market prices do not seem to react to rating changes. This should either imply investors do not care about rating revisions or they already anticipated the rating change. This early anticipation could be a result of rating changes from which the informational content  [10]  is already known to the market upfront and hence is already reflected in stock price returns before the actual rating change is announced. Several studies find no significant stock price reaction prior to rating change-announcements [e.g. Linciano (2004) and Romero and Robles-Fernandez (2007)]. The study by Linciano (2004) argues that the absence of pre-announcement abnormal returns, even for the contaminated subsample, however, might be an indirect evidence of a timely action of the rating agencies when they move on the basis of a news which is already in the public domain (p. 14). This absence of anticipation by investors leads to stronger effects according to Gropp an d Richards (2001). Hand et. al. (1992) adds to this statement by arguing that this reaction is only present for unanticipated downgrades, while for upgrades no significant excess returns are observed. In contrast to the above, other studies claim that there actually is evidence of abnormal performance in the period preceding the rating change [Steiner and Heinke (2001) and Hull et. al. (2004)]. Other studies test this statement and present evidence of significant positive (negative) abnormal returns around upgrades (downgrades) preceded by abnormal returns in line with the direction  [11]  of the rating change [Wansley and Clauretie (1985) and Goh and Ederington (1999)]. Norden and Weber (2004) argue that this anticipation starts approximately 90-60 days before the event. In addition to this, Goh and Ederington (1999) conclude that the market reaction is also stronger if the firm has experienced negative pre-downgrade abnormal returns. (p. 101). They do not find this evidence re garding upgrades. Concurrent news disclosures Other evidence presented in section 2.1 shows that the market very rapidly adjusts to new information and hence it will be reflected in stock prices rather quickly (Fama et. al. 1969). So if new information about a certain company becomes public and is processed into its stock price before the actual rating change is announced, CRAs can only add value  [12]  to this and hence the stock price will not change significantly. Rating revisions seem to follow information releases which are already publicly known and therefore CRAs do not provide the market with new information and no abnormal returns will be observed around these rating change-announcements [Weinstein (1977) and Wakeman (1978)]. Several studies agree on this by stating it in a somewhat different way. As Linciano (2004) proves; the abnormal returns present in periods surrounding rating changes are a reaction to concurrent news disclosures rather than to rating change-announcements. So rating changes per se do not a bnormally influence stock prices. Other studies by Hand et. al. (1992) and Galil and Soffer (2011) provide evidence of abnormal returns indeed disappearing around downgrades, but abnormal returns around upgrades seem to persist (Galil and Soffer, 2011) or even become more positive (Pinches and Singleton, 1978) when controlling for concurrent news disclosures. Schweitzer et. al. (1992) disagrees on the above by first stating that downgrades experience significant negative abnormal returns while upgrades are associated with positive but insignificant abnormal returns. Next they conclude that the results hold even when observations with potentially confounding events are removed from the sample (p. 249). This indicates that concurrent news disclosures around rating change-announcements do not impact effects associated with these rating revisions. Degree of publicly known information As can be concluded from the previous evidence presented by several studies, stock price effects around rating change-announcements depend largely upon the information eventually leading to the rating revision. The question here is if this information is already incorporated into stock prices by the market before CRAs revise a certain companies credit rating. When this is not the case, stock prices will logically become more affected by the announcement compared to rating changes which are already expected by the market. Hsueh and Liu (1992) and Schweitzer et. al. (1992) provide evidence of this statement by concluding that stock price effects around rating changes are only present in markets were little information about securities is available. Since fewer analysts are interested in small firms and hence they are less followed  [13]  , the market is generally in greater need of information about these firms. A companies credit rating is one piece of information which is avail able at all times and hence changes for small firms will logically be associated with greater abnormal stock price performances. Many recent studies [e.g. Dichev and Piotroski (2001), Elayan et. al. (2003) and Calderoni et. al. (2009)] provide somewhat similar evidence, but argue that the reason for the outperformance is different. For example, Dichev and Piotroski (2001) claim that small firms are low-graded more often than big firms. Therefore  [14]  prior rating-levels could explain why small firms experience greater abnormal returns around credit rating-revisions. Matolcsy and Lianto (1995) investigated the Australian market on stock price effects around rating change-announcements and provide a somewhat contrasting conclusion by stating that there seems to be no difference between small and big markets. They provide evidence consistent with studies investigating the much bigger U.S. market and therefore it can be concluded that it is not clear that credit rating research in smaller markets will generate different results (Elayan et. al., 2003, p. 338). Other markets where participants are in greater need of information are markets where conditions are less certain (i.e. markets where high levels of volatility are observed). When conditions are less certain rating change announcements are less likely to be anticipated, and hence convey more information when the market as a whole is in greater need of information (Hsueh and Liu, 1992, p. 225). Their study further investigates the subject matter and comes up with proof of significant stock price effects around rating changes only for firms which experience high levels of volatility. Prior rating-levels Several studies presented above state that stock price effects around rating changes depend upon the rating-level prior to the announcement. Jorion and Zhang (2006) claim that prior ratings actually are the most important variables needed to analyze abnormal returns around rating revisions. Along the same line with other studies [i.e. Kliger and Sarig (2000) and Dichev and Piotroski (2001)] they conclude that lower prior rating-levels are generally associated with larger abnormal returns. As they claim these effects are present for upgrades as well as downgrades, Dichev and Piotroski (2001) present evidence of greater effects of low-rated debt only around downgrades. Furthermore, Jorion and Zhang (2006) claim that when prior rating-levels are taken into account, the investment grade-barrier  [15]  -effect seems to disappear, as results become insignificant. After stating that the prior rating-level needs to be taken into account while analyzing stock price effects around rating changes, the question why this prior rating is so important can be answered according to a theoretical explanation. In their paper, Jorion and Zhang (2006) best explain this as follows: For example, a downgrade from AA- to A+ should have much less information content than a downgrade from BB- to B+. In the former case, the probability of default is very small and is hardly affected. The second case, however, represents a much larger increase in default probability, is reflected in larger changes in bond yield spreads, and should have a larger impact on stock prices. Accordingly, if downgrades more often start from lower ratings than upgrades, it is not surprising to observe an overall stronger stock price effects for downgrades (p. 4). In addition they find that their sample distribution of prior rating-levels for up- and downgrades differs. When controlling for these prior ratings, also upgrades tend to be associated with significant results. These findings therefore largely expla in the earlier described asymmetry of stock price effects between up- and downgrades. Short and long term credit ratings Generally, studies investigating announcement effects around rating changes pay little attention to rating revisions regarding short term credit ratings. Still there are some studies investigating short term rating revisions and provide evidence of their importance. First, Nayar and Rozeff (1994) find that there are actually no differences between abnormal returns around short and long term credit ratings. They argue that downgrades are associated with significant negative abnormal returns while upgrades seem to give no reaction, which is consistent with evidence presented in section 2.2. A later study by Barron et. al. (1997) states that if any effects are observed concerning changes in short term credit ratings, they are counter-intuitive and insignificant. This would imply that insignificant positive abnormal returns are associated with downgrades while insignificant negative abnormal returns are associated with upgrades, which contradicts earlier findings. Hypotheses Previous chapter reviewed literature on the effect of several rating change-announcements on stock prices of different companies. This chapter will discuss and create hypotheses to check statements in that review. The first section presents two hypotheses constructed to test whether rating changes are associated with abnormal returns around the announcement and the difference in results between revisions occurring before and after the Financial Crisis. But as the main question arising from existing literature is if the rating change-announcements per se provide the market with new valuable information, section 3.2 will discuss three hypotheses constructed to test the informational content of rating changes. The last section discusses the hypothesis constructed to check if the earlier explained reason for the asymmetry between up- and downgrades, presented by Jorion and Zhang (2006) and described in section 2.7, also holds in this study. Rating changes and the Financial Crisis Different studies, whether recent or some time ago, come up with rather mixed results regarding announcement effects around changes in credit ratings. Some studies argue that rating changes do not abnormally influence stock prices while others argue that CRAs actually do provide the market with new valuable information and hence stock prices will be affected. Furthermore, there are studies that provide evidence of an asymmetry in results between up- and downgrades. They argue that downgrades seem to be associated with abnormal stock price returns while no significant effects can be observed around upgrades. To check whether rating changes indeed are surrounded by abnormal returns and if the asymmetry between up- and downgrades also applies for Benelux-stocks, the first hypothesis to be tested will be as follows: Downgrades, compared to upgrades, are associated with greater abnormal stock price returns surrounding the announcement. Also placements on the CreditWatch-list are considered to be rating changes as can be concluded from section 2.2. The first hypothesis will also be tested in each of the following hypotheses (i.e. hypotheses II to VI) where the difference in effects between up- and downgrades will be discussed. According to many critics, CRAs played an important role in the recent global Financial Crisis by assigning incorrect ratings to a variety of financial products. Because of their bad work, it may be that nowadays investors have less confidence in these CRAs and hence do not react to rating changes to the same degree as they did before the turmoil. To test whether this loss of confidence is reflected in abnormal stock price performances around the announcement of rating changes, the following hypothesis is constructed: Rating changes occurring after the Financial Crisis experience a smaller abnormal stock price performance around the announcement. Together, the two hypotheses above should give a clear insight into the impact of rating change-announcements on company stock prices and whether the Financial Crisis changed the credibility investors attribute to the work done by CRAs. Results will be presented and discussed in section 5.1. The informational content of rating changes As it is possible that rating changes are anticipated by the market, stock prices prior to the announcement could follow a pattern according to the direction of the rating change. Some studies do find this abnormal stock price performance prior to the revision while others argue that this cannot be observed. If this pre-announcement pattern is present the possibility exists that the market already incorporated the information eventually leading to the rating change into the stock price and hence this price will not abnormally be affected anymore by the announcement per se. To test this latter statement the following hypothesis is constructed: Rating change-announcements preceded by abnormal stock returns in line with the direction of the rating change experience smaller announcement effects. Other evidence presented in the previous chapter suggests that abnormal returns might be caused by other events rather than due to the rating change itself. When news-announcements contain pricing relevant information and they are disclosed closely around the announcement of a rating change, it could be that these concurrent news disclosures create abnormal returns while the rating change per se does not influence the price of a stock. To check whether rating change-announcements in themselves abnormally impact the price of a stock, the next hypothesis to be tested will be as follows: Concurrent news-disclosures occurring in the period from two days before till two days after the announcement of a rating change weaken results concerning the abnormal stock price performance. Next, section 2.6 shows that if rating changes are associated with abnormal returns around the announcement it depends largely upon the degree of information available to the market about the particular stock (Hsueh and Liu, 1992). Stocks for which the market is in greater need of information (i.e. stocks of small and/or high volatility firms) should be accompanied by greater price movements around the announcement of a rating change. To test whether small and/or high volatility firms indeed are associated with greater abnormal returns, the following hypothesis is constructed: Firms which are small capitalized and/or experience low levels of volatility are associated with greater abnormal stock price returns around the announcement of a rating change. The above described hypotheses together should give a good understanding about the informational value of rating change-announcements. Results regarding these hypotheses according to the tests presented in the next chapter will be discussed in section 5.2. Asymmetry and prior rating-levels From section 2.7 it can be concluded that the rating level prior to the rating change is a variable that needs to be included while analyzing the abnormal performance of a stock price around the announcement. On top of that, Jorion and Zhang (2006) claim that it is even the single, most important variable and that it significantly changes the outcomes of their study when controlling for these prior rating-levels. They claim that a lower level of prior rating is associated with a greater abnormal stock price performance because of greater increases (decreases) in default probabilities to upgrades (downgrades) starting from a lower level. This evidence could explain why there seems to be an asymmetry between up- and downgrades. If, for example, downgrades more often start from a low rating-level  [16]  results will be influenced and presented evidence is contaminated. To test whether a low-start indeed is associated with a greater abnormal stock price performance around the annou ncement of a rating change, the following hypothesis is constructed: A rating change starting from a level below the investment grade-barrier is associated with a greater abnormal stock price return around the announcement. Results regarding this last hypothesis will be presented and discussed in section 5.3. The next chapter discusses the construction of the dataset and the methodology used to check the correctness of the hypotheses presented above. Data and Methodology In order to be able to test the previous presented hypotheses a dataset is constructed. Which data is included and how these are gathered will be explained in the first section. Section 4.2 will explain the event study-methodology that is chosen to check the correctness of the hypotheses. Dataset construction Rating changes used in this research are gathered from the Bloomberg-database. All rating changes made by the three major CRAs for Benelux-companies listed on respectively the BEL20-, AEX-, and LuxX-index during the period between January 2002 and December 2011 are collected. If a certain company is listed during, for example, the years 2002 to 2005 but delisted afterwards, the changes in credit rating made after delisting are excluded from the sample. Both long and short term credit ratings  [17]  are considered in this research. A list of all rating types included in the dataset can be found in Appendix (III). Ratings which are issued, withdrawn or remain stable (i.e. implying no real change in credit rating can be observed) are not considered rating changes and hence they are excluded from the sample. Changes from and to CreditWatch (e.g. from AA+ *- to AA+) are also considered rating changes as can be implied from the evidence presented in section 2.2. The first hypothes is to be tested leaves the dataset unchanged, only the lines for which the CAAR (-1,+1) cannot be calculated  [18]  are deleted from the sample. How this CAAR (-1,+1) is calculated will further be explained in section 4.2. In order to test the second hypotheses the column Crisis is added and presents whether the rating change occurred before or after the date considered to be the beginning of the Financial Crisis, which is January the 1st of 2008. For the third hypothesis the column In Line is added to the dataset and shows whether the rating change-announcement is preceded by abnormal returns in line with the direction of the rating change. These preceding abnormal returns are calculated in a window from 29 to two days before the announcement (i.e. the period between the event and estimation window as can be inferred from figure 1). A further explanation of calculations concerning abnormal returns will also be provided in the next section. The fourth hypothesis needs concurrent news-disclosures which are gathered from www.FD.nl  [19]  and screened on their importance regarding a companies stock price. The column that reads the name News shows whether an article disclosed in the period between two days before and two days after the rating change is announced contains pricing relevant information. A list with a sample of news-announcements which are considered to be of importance for a companies stock price can be found in Appendix (IV). Next, whether a company is small or large capitalized and whether it experiences low or high levels of volatility is presented in the seventh and eight column as is presented in Appendix (V) that shows a sample of the total dataset used. Market capitalization and level of volatility are needed for hypothesis V and are extracted from Datastream. Dividing lines used to the determine levels of capitalization and volatility are respectively a market capitalization of 10 million and an average annual stock price volatility o f 30%. The last column shows whether a company is considered to have low-graded debt before the rating is changed which is needed for hypothesis VI. The investment grade-barrier is used as a dividing line here. All together, a final dataset of 368 unique rating changes  [20]  is constructed. Table 1 below shows descriptive statistics concerning the sample distributions. Table 1: Sample descriptive statistics This table shows the number of up- and downgrades present in each subsample for the different hypotheses presented in chapter 3 consisting of all rating changes made by Fitch, Moodys and SP in the period between 2002 and 2011 for Benelux-companies listed on respectively the BEL20-, AEX- and LuxX-index (A further explanation of sample-names presented below can be found in section 4.1) Sample Upgrades Downgrades Total Before Crisis 89 88 177 After Crisis 50 123 173 In Line 78 138 216 Not in Line 61 73 134 With News 58 110 168 Without News 81 101 182 Small Cap 65 141 206 Large Cap 65 60 125 Low Volatility 62 80 142 High Volatility 55 113 168 Low Start 53 33 86 High Start 87 187 274 Total Unique  [21] 139 211 350 Event study methodology The methodology used in this research follows the event study methodology described by De Jong and De Goeij (2011). In their handout they identify three steps in conducting an event study. This study will divide step three into two steps and hence a fourth step will be added. These four steps are: Identifying the event. Specifying a benchmark to calculate normal returns. Calculating abnormal returns for the event window. Analyzing abnormal returns by testing their significance. In the remainder of this section the above steps will be discussed separately in the order showed above. Results arising from the calculations of step three and four are presented and discussed in chapter 5. Step I: Indentifying the event The first step in conducting an event study concerns the identification of the specific event. It would not be wise to use the actual date of the rating change as the event because the rating change often is announced much earlier and hence market reactions take place long before the actual rating is changed. Therefore the date on which a rating change is announced is considered to be the event in this study. These events  [22]  are extracted from the Bloomberg-database where both short and long term credit ratings are taken into account. Step II: Specifying a benchmark The second step concerns the specification of a benchmark for estimating normal returns. Figure 1 below shows the time line around the event. The second and third step in conducting the event study will be discussed according to this figure. Figure 1: Time line used in event study This figure shows the windows for estimating normal (T1,T2) and abnormal (t1,t2) returns around the event (t=0) the event T1 T2 t1 (t=0) t2 Estimation Window Event Window For specifying normal returns, De Jong and De Goeij (2011) present three methods. First they introduce the mean-adjusted return model. This model uses the average stock price return over the estimation window as a benchmark return. In this study, events occur within days from each other and therefore the estimation window of one rating change could include the announcement of another revision which clearly contaminates the results. Another disadvantage of the model is that it does not take the market return into account, i.e. it does not control for the fact that stock returns might include abnormal performance due to the whole market being in an up or down state. For both reasons, the mean-adjusted return model will not be used in this research. The second method mentioned is the market -adjusted return model. In this model the return on the market is used as a benchmark and hence it clearly controls for the state of the market. But as this second method assumes the beta of each stock is equal to one, which clearly is incorrect, a third method is presented. This method, the market model residuals, is used in this research and defines normal returns as follows: (1) Where the normal returns are calculated by taking the corresponding market returns (Rmt) from the event window and by deriving Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimators and from following the regression coefficients: (2) Where estimators and are calculated by using the following formula: (3) (4) In equation (2) to (4), Rit and Rmt are returns from respectively the specific stock and the market index in the period between 90 to 30 days (i.e. the estimation period) before the announcement of a rating change. MSCI indices are used as a market index in this research. For Belgium this is the MSCI Belgium index, for the Netherlands the MSCI Netherlands index and for Luxembourg the MSCI Small Country index as the MSCI Luxembourg index is not available for the years 2002 to 2011. All returns on the above indices are obtained from Datastream and calculated using the following formula: (5) Step III: Calculating abnormal returns In the third step the abnormal performance of a specific event is estimated. The abnormal returns (ARit) from the day before until the day after the event (i.e. the event window from t1 to t2) are calculated by using the following formula: (6) Next the abnormal returns for a specific firm at a specific point in time are aggregated over the period covering the event window. The formula to calculate these cumulative abnormal returns (CARi) is defined as follows: (7) As De Jong and De Goeij (2011) state: In order to study stock price changes around events, each firms return data could be analysed separately. However, this is not very i nformative because a lot of stock price movements are caused by information unrelated to the event under study. The informativeness of the analysis is greatly improved by averaging the information over a number of firms (p.7). So in order to be able to test CARs on their significance, these CARs are aggregated over the cross-section of events to get a cumulative average abnormal return (CAAR). The formula used to calculate this CAAR is defined as follows: (8) Where N is the number of firms that are included in the specific sample and for which the CAR could be calculated. There are also other ways to calculate this CAAR (e.g. by aggregating average abnormal returns over time), but for simplicity these will not be explained. Step IV: Testing abnormal performance The fourth and final step in conducting the event study concerns the testing of the abnormal performance around the event date. To test the significance of this abnormal performance the following null hypothesis is c onstructed: (9) This hypothesis is constructed to test whether the cumulative abnormal returns are significantly different from zero (i.e. an announcement effect is present). To check whether this actually is the case, the calculated CAAR needs to be tested on its significance and therefore the t-test is defined as follows: (10) Where s is the standard deviation of CAAR, calculated by using the following formula: (11) The t-test presented in equation (10) assumes that abnormal returns of the different events are uncorrelated. But as mentioned earlier, events tend to be clustered  [23]  and hence there is a potential for correlation between the cross section of abnormal returns. In that case, the variance of the average of N abnormal returns is no longer equal to 1/N times the variance of a single return, but larger (if the correlation is positive, as it typically is). As a consequence, the usual variance estimator underestimates the variance of the average abno rmal returns, the usual t-statistics are biased upwards, and the null hypothesis is rejected too often [De Jong and De Goeij (2011), p.13]. To correct for this cross-sectional dependence, Brown and Warner (1980) introduce the so called crude dependence adjustment-method (hereafter called CDA). This method calculates a new variance directly estimated from the time series of observations of average abnormal returns in the estimation period. The corresponding test statistic for this method is calculated by using the following formula: (12) Where T is equal to T2 T1 + 1, which is equal to the number of trading days within the estimation window, and is the newly obtained standard deviation calculated by using the following formula: (13) Where the average abnormal return (AARt) and the sample average AR* are calculated as follows: (14) (15) Results of equations (8), (10) and (12) will be presented and discussed in the next chapter. Empirical Results The tables in this chapter show Cumulative Average Abnormal Returns (CAAR), their significance levels and CDA-test results over the period from one day before till one day after the announcement of a rating change. Statistics added with a (*) are significant at the 5% level  [24]  . Conclusions that can be drawn from these results are presented in the next chapter. Announcement effects: Rating changes and the Financial Crisis This section covers the results regarding hypothesis I and II. Table 2 and 3 present these results and subsequent a discussion will be provided. Table 2: Results hypothesis I This table shows CAARs, T-Statistics and CDA Test-Results for the sample consisting of only upgrades and the one consisting of only downgrades extracted from the sample consisting of all rating changes made by Fitch, Moodys and SP in the period between 2002 and 2011 for Benelux-companies listed on respectively the BEL20-, AEX- and LuxX-index. CAAR (-1,+1) Upgrades Downgrades -0.0041 -0.0372 Significance Level Upgrades Downgrades -0.7233 (*) -3.2807 Crude Dependence Upgrades Downgrades -0.1800 (*) -2.0144 Results in table 2 present evidence of a highly significant abnormal return (i.e. -3.72%) around the announcement of a downgrade while there seems to be no evidence on this for upgrades. Even when correcting for possible cross-sectional correlation these results seem to hold. This evidence is consistent with earlier studies by Schweitzer et. al. (1992) for the US, Barron et. al. (1997) for the UK and Romero and Robles-Fernandez (2007) for Spain, who all conclude that rating change-announcement do convey new valuable information to the stock market and hence stock prices will abnormally be affected. Furthermore, the above evidence implies that the earlier explained asymmetry between up- and downgrades, presented by Dichev and Piotroski (2001), Vassalou and Xing (2005) and Halek and Eckles (2010), also seems to hold for Benelux-stocks. Table 3: Results hypothesis II This table shows CAARs, T-Statistics and CDA Test-Results for all up- and downgrades present in the sample with rating changes occurring before and the sample with rating changes occurring after the Financial Crisis extracted from the sample consisting of all rating changes made by Fitch, Moodys and SP in the period between 2002 and 2011 for Benelux-companies listed on respectively the BEL20-, AEX- and LuxX-index. CAAR (-1,+1) Upgrades Downgrades Before Crisis 0.0036 -0.0446 After Crisis -0.0178 -0.0319 Significance Level Upgrades Downgrades Before Crisis 0.7645 (*) -1.9438 After Crisis -1.3273 (*) -3.0369 Crude Dependence Upgrades Downgrades Before Crisis 0.1179 -1.5623 After Crisis -0.3629 -1.2742 Table 3 presents results regarding announcement effects for both up- and downgrades present in the sample consisting of rating changes occurring before and the sample with rating changes occurring after the Financial Crisis. While upgrades do not yield any significant results both before and after the crisis, downgrades are associated with significant announcement effects of respectively -4.46% and -3.19%. This significance seems to disappear when correcting for cross-sectional dependence. As the above findings indicate, the abnormal stock price performance around the announcement of a downgrade differs considerably when comparing the two samples. After the Financial Crisis, investors seem to react less to the announcement of a downgrade which can be inferred from the announcement effect being reduced by 1.27%. These findings are in line with earlier presented evidence by Calderoni et. al. (2009) althoug h it indicates that Benelux-investors still react considerably. Announcement effects: The informational content of rating changes This section discusses results regarding the hypothesis III to V which are constructed to test the informational content of rating changes. Subsequent to every table a discussion of the results is provided. Table 4: Results hypothesis III This table shows CAARs, T-Statistics and CDA Test-Results for all up- and downgrades present in the sample with rating changes that experience pre-announcement abnormal stock returns in line with the direction of the rating change and the sample without these pre-announcement returns extracted from the sample consisting of all rating changes made by Fitch, Moodys and SP in the period between 2002 and 2011 for Benelux-companies listed on respectively the BEL20-, AEX- and LuxX-index. CAAR (-1,+1) Upgrades Downgrades In Line -0.0044 -0.0086 Not in Line -0.0240 -0.0744 Significance Level Upgrades Downgrades In Line -0.5222 -1.5982 Not in Line -1.2162 (*) -2.7061 Crude Dependence Upgrades Downgrades In Line -0.1250 -0.3400 Not in Line -0.6955 (*) -2.3372 Table 4 presents results for up- and downgrades present in the sample with and the sample without rating changes that experience pre-announcement abnormal stock returns in line with the direction of the rating change. The results indicate that both up- and downgrades with these pre-announcement returns experience minor and insignificant abnormal returns in a three-day-window around the announcement of a rating change. When these pre-announcement abnormal returns cannot be observed, the abnormal returns become greater and more significant for both up- and downgrades. While downgrades experience a highly significant (even when controlling for cross-sectional dependence) announcement return of -7.44%, the abnormal return around upgrades seems to remain insignificant. The above evidence contradicts findings by Goh and Ederington (1999) who conclude that announcement effects are greater with negative pre-announ cement abnormal returns in case of downgrades. While they conclude that the market reacts more heavily to these downgrades because of a more credible signal, this study presents evidence of a significant reaction only to downgrades that come as a surprise which is consistent with evidence presented by Gropp and Richards (2001). Both Goh and Ederington (1999) and this study do not find any significant evidence regarding upgrades. Table 5: Results hypothesis IV This table shows CAARs, T-Statistics and CDA Test-Results for all up- and downgrades present in the sample with concurrent news disclosed in the period from two days before till two days after the announcement of a rating change the sample without these concurrent news-disclosures extracted from the sample consisting of all rating changes made by Fitch, Moodys and SP in the period between 2002 and 2011 for Benelux-companies listed on respectively the BEL20-, AEX- and LuxX-index. CAAR (-1,+1) Upgrades Downgrades With News -0.0074 -0.0717 Without News -0.0018 0.0004 Significance Level Upgrades Downgrades With News -0.5800 (*) -3.4739 Without News -0.4905 -0.0680 Crude Dependence Upgrades Downgrades With News -0.1510 (*) -2.7079 Without News -0.0791 -0.0131 Table 5 provides evidence of a cumulative average abnormal return of -7.17% around downgrades for announcements which are surrounded by the disclosure of other concurrent news. Because the sample without these disclosures does not yield any significant returns, this result implies that investors in the Benelux do not view a standalone downgrade-announcement as a credible pricing relevant signal. Even when controlling for the correlation between the cross section of stock returns, the results remain significant which can be inferred from a test statistic of -2.7079. Because the variable News is not created by whether the disclosure has positive or negative effects on the companies stock price, one cannot conclude that rating changes invigorated by a similar pricing relevant news-announcement is considered a more credible signal by the market. Again, for upgrades no evidence is found. The above findings a re very similar to the ones presented by Linciano (2004) who states that rating changes per se do not abnormally influence the price of a companies stock. Other studies by Hand et. al. (1992) and Galil and Soffer (2011) confirm this result but also conclude that announcement effects around upgrades tend to become more positive when no concurrent news disclosures can be observed around the announcement of rating change. This cannot be concluded in this research as can be derived from table 5. Table 6: Results hypothesis V(1) This table shows CAARs, T-Statistics and CDA Test-Results for all up- and downgrades present in the sample with small and the sample with large capitalized firms extracted from the sample consisting of all rating changes made by Fitch, Moodys and SP in the period between 2002 and 2011 for Benelux-companies listed on respectively the BEL20-, AEX- and LuxX-index. CAAR (-1,+1) Upgrades Downgrades Small Cap -0.0118 -0.0478 Large Cap -0.0023 0.0007 Significance Level Upgrades Downgrades Small Cap -1.1435 (*) -3.2074 Large Cap -0.5876 0.0584 Crude Dependence Upgrades Downgrades Small Cap -0.2325 (*) -2.0525 Large Cap -0.1385 0.0251 Table 6 presents results regarding a sample consisting of firms which are small and a sample of firms which are large capitalized where each sample is divided into up- and downgrades. From the table it can be concluded that only small capitalized firms experience significant announcement effects of -4.78% around downgrades while for large firms results are even slightly positive but greatly insignificant at the 95% confidence level. Executing the CDA-test reduces the test statistic considerably but still shows a significance level of -2.0525. Upgrade-results are counter-intuitive  [25]  but again insignificant, hence no conclusions can be drawn from these results. The above results claim that small firms experience greater abnormal stock price performance around the announcement of a downgrade. This conclusion is rather logical as small firms tend to be less followed and hence the market is in greater n eed of information about these stocks. When CRAs provide new information to the market through their rating activities, market participants will act accordingly and hence stock prices will be affected. The evidence above is in line with earlier presented literature by Dichev and Piotroski (2001), Vassalou and Xing (2005) and Elayan et. al. (2003), outside the fact that the latter study does find evidence of small firms being associated with significant abnormal stock price performances around the announcement of upgrades. Table 7: Results hypothesis V(2) This table shows CAARs, T-Statistics and CDA Test-Results for all up- and downgrades present in the sample with firms that experience low and the sample with firms that experience high levels of stock price volatility extracted from the sample consisting of all rating changes made by Fitch, Moodys and SP in the period between 2002 and 2011 for Benelux-companies listed on respectively the BEL20-, AEX- and LuxX-index. CAAR (-1,+1) Upgrades Downgrades Low Volatility 0.0026 0.0001 High Volatility -0.0176 -0.0581 Significance Level Upgrades Downgrades Low Volatility 0.9799 0.0138 High Volatility -1.4101 (*) -3.1357 Crude Dependence Upgrades Downgrades Low Volatility 0.2219 0.0066 High Volatility -0.2967 (*) -1.8427 Table 7 shows that only firms which experience high levels of annual stock price volatility face significant abnormal stock price performances around downgrades amounting to -5.81%. Even when correcting for potential cross sectional dependence this result remains significant at the 95% confidence level. Low volatility firms seem to experience no abnormal return around the announcement of a downgrade, but as the significance level is rather close to zero nothing can be concluded here. Upgrades tend to yield somewhat same results, relatively speaking (i.e. small effects for low volatility firms and greater effects for firms which experience high levels of volatility). But as can be derived from the table these results are again insignificant. Hsueh and Liu (1992) provide somewhat same evidence in their study by stating that rating changes only yield significant announcement effects when market condi tions are less certain and hence the market is in greater need of information. But, as this stu

The F.I.U. College Essay Prompt

<h1>The F.I.U. School Essay Prompt</h1><p>An F.I.U. school article brief can be a genuine advantage for your munititions stockpile. In the event that you are an undergrad searching for school composing tips, the F.I.U. school article brief is certainly an unquestionable requirement have. The brief is a little piece of a school composing course and is very useful to all understudies who need to find out about composition from the study hall. So right away, here are a few things that the brief can accomplish for you.</p><p></p><p>You need not stress over thinking a lot about school expositions or some other topic in the event that you exploit the brief. There are no class hours included, which implies you can focus on the current venture without stressing over the remainder of the class time. The brief likewise permits you to work at your own pace so you won't end up with a surged composing effort.</p><p></p><p>You ought to comprehend that the brief can just furnish you with thoughts and data so it is altogether up to you how you go about with the venture. In the event that you are slanted towards a common school paper position, at that point you can either compose your whole article in the brief or use it as a rule to begin your scholarly undertakings. Much the same as the brief, you can take the prompts thoughts and transform them into your own thoughts and musings. Since it is an unstructured work of paper, you can openly communicate as long as you consider beneficial things to say.</p><p></p><p>The brief gives you enough direction to keep things on target. There is nothing more regrettable than losing all sense of direction all the while in case you're utilizing a guide. By including a cutoff time, you can all the more likely spotlight on the job needing to be done and accomplish a passing mark. At the point when you know there is a cutoff time, it will likewise be simpl er to write.</p><p></p><p>The brief gives you an opportunity to discuss the theory of the paper. On the off chance that you need to build up a decent contention for the theme that you are going to address, the brief will support you. The brief contains a few testing addresses which give you enough material to work with. When you feel that you have a decent handle on the point, you can take advantage of the brief and work towards building up a solid argument.</p><p></p><p>If you are an understudy who needs to win a passing mark by your next test, the brief will be incredible assistance. So whether you are as yet an amateur or you as of now have a decent lot of information about school expositions, this brief can even now be of incredible assistance to you.</p><p></p><p>By exploiting the brief, you can rehearse great composing propensities. In the event that you need to figure out how to compose an all around orga nized paper, the brief can surely be of extraordinary assistance. Recollect that the brief is just a guide, and that you can generally enhance it in the event that you need to.</p>

Video Game Argumentative Essay Topics

<h1>Video Game Argumentative Essay Topics</h1><p>Video game pugnacious paper themes make incredible factious papers. In the event that you are not kidding about composing a powerful paper, you should utilize a few procedures that can help you recorded as a hard copy great contentions. The most significant thing is that you should know the nuts and bolts of composing and your crowd. This implies realizing what your intended interest group is and furthermore knowing their interests.</p><p></p><p>Writing a pugnacious exposition won't be simple for somebody who is new to composing. It is a lot simpler on the off chance that you read a great deal of writing before you begin composing. Peruse some work of art and contemporary books and short stories that had been made into motion pictures and watch a few motion pictures too. Peruse a great deal and you will locate the correct sort of information to begin with your factious essay.</p><p> </p><p>Writing an enticing exposition is definitely not a subject that you might want to turn out to be excessively acquainted with. There are numerous incredible contentions out there that you might have the option to use in your paper. Notwithstanding, this doesn't imply that you should utilize them without ensuring that you get the setting right. You should investigate the particular issue you are expounding on and afterward center around the specific focuses that you have to feature in your contention. On the off chance that you can figure out how to get over the point without appearing to be excessively enthusiastic or excessively dry, you can do as such without being obvious.</p><p></p><p>Keep as a primary concern that there are a few abilities that you should know about before you compose your article. For instance, you should have an away from of what your crowd is searching for. In the event that you need to have individuals to peruse you r exposition, you ought to have the option to pass on to them in a manner that is reasonable. Individuals perusing expositions are for the most part searching for where they can relate to and afterward they can identify with it. At the end of the day, they are searching for what the subject is all about.</p><p></p><p>When you compose a paper, you should know about the nature of your composition. Numerous individuals accept that the utilization of certain expressions will improve the nature of your composition however this isn't the situation. For instance, you ought not utilize 'I'me' in your composing except if it is required with regards to the sentence.</p><p></p><p>When you are composing a powerful article, you have to have a solid handle of the world you are discussing. This implies you should ensure that you comprehend the subject well indeed. This doesn't imply that you should ace each part of the subject. Truth be told, it is a smart thought to keep your insight into the subject minimal.</p><p></p><p>Writing a factious exposition ought to be as compact as could be expected under the circumstances. At the point when you can sum up the primary concerns in a short section, you are progressing nicely. You should remember that the peruser will be exceptionally occupied and will just have the opportunity to skim through the whole article. So you should just furnish the peruser with the basic data. Subsequently, you have to keep this area brief and to the point.</p><p></p><p>Video game factious paper themes make for an extraordinary subject since they are so famous and have been utilized as discussion by a few people previously. The primary concern to recollect when you pick the correct game factious article themes is that you should utilize a decent contention and never get too eager to even consider convincing the peruser of your point. You can make your contenti on convincing and intriguing and you can likewise cause the point as clear as conceivable to but then stay unclear enough that the peruser can at present clutch the point that you made.</p>

Five Different English 103 Research Paper Topics

Five Different English 103 Research Paper TopicsWhen it comes to composing an English 103 research paper, there are a couple of various things that you have to know before you start. Only one out of every odd theme will be like each other point. You have to have a general comprehension of what kind of things you will expound on. The following is a rundown of five unique subjects that you might need to investigate at.First, the primary English theme is the historical backdrop of one's nation. This is a great thought for somebody who needs to expound on the historical backdrop of their nation. This is additionally a decent theme to expound on the off chance that you are expounding on a nation that you are keen on. For instance, on the off chance that you were examining antiquated China or old Greece. The historical backdrop of one's nation is an incredible subject to compose about.Second, the subsequent point to take a gander at is the administration of a nation. It will be an extraord inary theme to investigate in the event that you are attempting to discover data on a nation's administration. You should locate an extraordinary asset that has data on the legislature of a nation and see what it says about that country.Third, the third subject to take a gander at is the physical sciences. There are numerous science handle that fall under the physical sciences. These are some incredible points to take a gander at. On the off chance that you are hoping to find out about a specific physical science, at that point this is an extraordinary theme to look at.Fourth, the fourth subject to take a gander at is political way of thinking. Political way of thinking is an extremely wide subject. On the off chance that you are hoping to find out about political way of thinking, at that point this is an extraordinary theme to take a gander at. This is on the grounds that most political thinkers will talk about political ways of thinking in a wide assortment of topics.Fifth, the 6t h theme to take a gander at is an intriguing article point. As I referenced above, political way of thinking can be extremely wide. On the off chance that you are keen on finding out about a specific government official's political way of thinking, at that point this is an incredible subject to look at.As you can see, there are a wide range of paper themes that you can browse. The key is to make sense of what subject is directly for you. Fortunately you can take a gander at a considerable lot of these subjects online.Thanks to the Internet, you currently approach numerous online assets that will assist you with your English 101 and English 103 research paper themes. The principal thing that you ought to do is to investigate a portion of the extraordinary assets that you can utilize on the web. By doing this, you will immediately turn out to be better at the English language and composed correspondence.

A Review Of Another Article Is A Great Way To Get Paid

<h1>A Review Of Another Article Is A Great Way To Get Paid</h1><p>If you are one of the numerous individuals who are searching for some additional cash to stay aware of the Jones' at work, you ought to think about taking a composing task or composing an article audit. The last is an incredible method to bring in cash as you are required to compose an outline or assessment of another article. It's a brilliant method to do online articles on the off chance that you have an enthusiasm for aiding others.</p><p></p><p>You may have just seen that article audits or composing a paper can assist you with finding a vocation. In the event that you are beginning with no understanding, at that point you will be happy to realize that you can discover a lot of independent work on the Internet, as long as you have enough abilities and experience. Simultaneously, in case you're as of now doing independent composition and you're keen on getting more tasks for cash, at that point an audit of another articles is a decent idea.</p><p></p><p>Some individuals would state that composing an exposition is anything but an awesome method to acquire cash, since it won't intrigue anybody at the workplace. In any case, you ought to likewise recall that composing a survey article is something that you can do from your home. You don't have to invest any energy altering or editing your work, and the composing task you compose will just take a couple of moments to complete.</p><p></p><p>Writing a paper is additionally extremely requesting. You are relied upon to think around a few things about the article that you are auditing, similar to what is being said about it in the article. You are likewise expected to do an exploration on the foundation of the writer, the subject of the article, and different variables that will influence the general adequacy of the composed product.</p><p></p>< ;p>So, on the off chance that you are an accomplished author, at that point an expert paper essayist is presumably the best decision. They will likewise furnish you with all the tips and counsel you should be fruitful with the composing task and furthermore with taking an independent composing job.</p><p></p><p>If you are new to composing, you can generally search out a book or magazine that offers you the chance to take an interest in an article audit. This implies you will get the opportunity to hear a few thoughts from perusers. You may be amazed by the suppositions they offer, and you might have the option to get more by offering your own.</p><p></p><p>Writing a paper is fun, and it can likewise bring in cash for you. On the off chance that you are keen on composing and need to get paid for it, an article audit is an incredible method to get started.</p>