Attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor was an unpredicted military action by the Japanese navy against United States naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941. It is the Hawaii Operation or Operation Z, as it was named by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, which main mission was to neutralize the United States Pacific Fleet from influencing the war that the Japanese was planning against Britain and Netherlands, and protecting their movement into Malaya and Dutch East Indies, in where Japan was seeking access to natural resources such as oil and rubber.The attack was composed of two aerial attack waves consisting of 353 aircraft that was launched from six Japanese aircraft carriers. Japanese have compromised 29 aircraft and 5 submarines, 65 servicemen killed or injured, and one was captured. The United States have lost 4 battleships, 3 cruisers, 3 destroyers, 188 aircraft, which might have been sank, destroyed, or damaged; and, 2,402 personnel killed and 1,282 wounded. The re were a lot of events leading to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Both United States and Japan have a military expansion plans in the Pacific which causes tensions between the two countries during 1930s.Japan was expanding into Manchuria and trying to isolate China so to become independent in terms of natural resources to attain victory on the mainland. Since 1920s, a war between these two countries has been a big possibility which each nation had been aware of, hence they have their own contingency plans. But it did not sprout seriously until Japan’s invasion of Manchuria. In 1940, the United States reserved shipment of airplanes, parts, aviation tool and gasoline, which taken as a threat by the Japanese. The transfer of U. S.Pacific Fleet to its new base in Pearl Harbor was a threat to Japanese military and perceived it as the United States were preparing for the potential conflicts between two countries. The attack of the Japanese military to the United States resulted to a m ajor engagement into World War II. The attack took place before a formal declaration of war by the Japanese, it happened before the â€Å"14-Part Message† had been delivered to the State Department in Washington, D. C. The lack of any formal declaration prior to the attack in Pearl Harbor led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to proclaim â€Å"December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy†.The declaration of war was delivered late; U. S. Government received the information the day after the attack. The main objective of the attack was to destroy American fleet units to prevent them from interfering with Japanese conquest of the Dutch East Indies and Malaya. It was also a part of a military action by the Japanese to buy time so to empower their position and increase their military strength. It’s their objective as well to demoralize the American which might help to discourage them from fighting and will lead them to victory in conquering Southeast Asia w ithout trouble.The Japanese military made the battleships as the main target with intentions of striking at morale, since if the attack have become successful; they were able to destroy prestigious battle ships of the United States. In early 1941, formal planning and training of people for the attack have begun under Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. Planning was on the way, pilots were trained with the equipment and intelligence that they have been adapted and collected. On the other hand, while the training was on progress, the actual approval of Emperor Hirohito has not gained yet.The final authorization and approval of the emperor was given until December 1. The United States Pacific bases were alerted on many occasions, as the war between two countries have expected by others. The United States officials have anticipated that the first target would be the Philippines because of the threats it possess to sea lanes to the south; they thought that Japan was not capable of attacking more t han one major naval operation at a time. They doubted that the Pearl Harbor would be the first main target.The Japanese military approaches in making en route to northwest of Hawaii, sending six aircraft carriers on November 26, 1941. The military departed Japan having the order of battle to launch their aircraft to attack Pearl Harbor. They prepared 408 aircraft for the two attacks as they have planned. The first wave of attacks was the main attack, containing weapons that will destroy high value ships such as battleships and aircraft carriers. The Japanese sent 183 planes to target all aircrafts in Ford Island, Wheeler Field, Hickam Field, Barber’s Point, and Kaneohe.Dive bombers and fighters were instructed to attack ground targets and destroyed all the parked aircrafts to avoid counterattacks. There were scout planes launched to patrol over and report on enemy composition and location. The second wave of attack was to clean out the remaining targets. It is composed of 171 military planes. There was a possible third wave of attack but due to several reasons, Japanese decided to withdraw. The Japanese were able to accomplished their intended objectives, and have won an outstanding tactical victory.The United States caught off guard and defended their bases unprepared; they have limited time in order to maintain the casualties. Though the attack inflicted large-scale destruction on US vessels and aircraft, it did not affect Pearl Harbor's fuel storage, maintenance, submarine, and intelligence facilities. Fortunately, the American aircraft carriers were untouched by the Japanese attacks. The Japanese have undertaken offensive military actions throughout the Pacific area, hence the American take all measures for their defense.Therefore, the United States’ President Roosevelt together with Britain officially declared a war against the Empire of Japan. Nonetheless, the attacks of Japanese military to United States naval base leads to subsequently de claration of war by Nazi Germany and the Kingdom of Italy against the Americans. Therefore, the European and Southeast Asian wars have now became a global conflict with the Axis powers; Japan, Germany and Italy, united against America, Britain, France, and other Allies. It resulted in the United States' entry into World War II united with their allies.

Bill Gates Speech at Harvard

President Bok, former President Rudenstine, incoming President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, parents, and especially, the graduates: I've been waiting more than 30 years to say this: â€Å"Dad, I always told you I'd come back and get my degree. † I want to thank Harvard for this honour. I'll be changing my job next year †¦ and it will be nice to finally have a college degree on my resume. I applaud the graduates today for taking a much more direct route to your degrees. For my part, I'm just happy that the Crimson has called me â€Å"Harvard's most successful dropout. I guess that makes me valedictorian of my own special class †¦ I did the best of everyone who failed. One of my biggest memories of Harvard came in January 1975, when I made a call from Currier House to a company in Albuquerque that had begun making the world's first personal computers. I offered to sell them software. I worried that they would realise I was just a student in a dorm and hang up on me. Instead they said: â€Å"We're not quite ready, come see us in a month,† which was a good thing, because we hadn't written the software yet.From that moment, I worked day and night on this little extra credit project that marked the end of my college education and the beginning of a remarkable journey with Microsoft. Members of the Harvard Family: Here in the Yard is one of the great collections of intellectual talent in the world. For what purpose? There is no question that the faculty, the alumni, the students, and the benefactors of Harvard have used their power to improve the lives of people here and around the world. But can we do more?Can Harvard dedicate its intellect to improving the lives of people who will never even hear its name? Let me make a request of the deans and the professors – the intellectual leaders here at Harvard: As you hire new faculty, award tenure, review curriculum, and determi ne degree requirements, please ask yourselves: Should our best minds be dedicated to solving our biggest problems? Should Harvard encourage its faculty to take on the world's worst inequities? Should Harvard students learn about the depth of global poverty †¦ the prevalence of world hunger †¦ he scarcity of clean water †¦ the girls kept out of school †¦ the children who die from diseases we can cure? My mother, who was filled with pride the day I was admitted here – never stopped pressing me to do more for others.A few days before my wedding, she hosted a bridal event, at which she read aloud a letter about marriage that she had written to Melinda. My mother was very ill with cancer at the time, but she saw one more opportunity to deliver her message, and at the close of the letter she said: â€Å"From those to whom much is given, much is expected. In line with the promise of this age, I want to exhort each of the graduates here to take on an issue â€⠀œ a complex problem, a deep inequity, and become a specialist on it. If you make it the focus of your career, that would be phenomenal. But you don't have to do that to make an impact. For a few hours every week, you can use the growing power of the Internet to get informed, find others with the same interests, see the barriers, and find ways to cut through them. Don't let complexity stop you.Be activists. Take on the big inequities. It will be one of the great experiences of your lives. And I hope you will come back here to Harvard 30 years from now and reflect on what you have done with your talent and your energy. I hope you will judge yourselves not on your professional accomplishments alone, but also on how well you have addressed the world's deepest inequities †¦ on how well you treated people a world away who have nothing in common with you but their humanity.

Bloody Sunday 1972

Bloody Sunday 1972 On the afternoon of Sunday the 30th of January 1972 soldiers from the British Parachute Regiment, one of the fearsome UK militia units fighting the battle in the north of Ireland, attacked a civil rights march in the town of Derry, killing or fatally wounding fourteen civilians and injuring two dozen more in an event the international press quickly to be known as â€Å"Bloody Sunday Massacre†. That same group of soldiers had carried out similar murder spree just months earlier in Belfast, shooting dead eleven people in cold blood, including a local catholic priest, in a two day reign of terror known as the â€Å"Ballymurphy Massacre† of August 1971. Praised by their officers and British politicians for their work in the previous massacre much the same was expected of them in the western Town of Derry and sure enough they delivered on those expectations. However as in Belfast, the war crimes of the Parachute Regiment simply served to increase local support for armed resi stance to Britain’s continued presence in particular for the still Provisional Irish Republican Army,[I.R.A] contributing to making a temporary conflict all but permanent. Bloody Sunday was one of the most Brutal events of the Troubles because a large number of catholic citizens were killed, by forces of the British army, in full view of the public and the press. It was the highest number of people killed in a single shooting during the troubles in Northern Ireland. Bloody Sunday increased Catholic and republican nationalist hostility towards the British Army and increased the conflict. Support for the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) rose and there was a surge of recruitment into the organisation, especially in Derry and Belfast. At 4:07pm, the soldiers were ordered to go through the barriers and arrest the republican protesters. The soldiers, on foot and in armoured vehicles, chased people down Rossville Street and into the Bogside. Two people were hit by the armoured British vehicles. Brigadier MacLellan had ordered that only one set of soldiers be sent through the barriers, on foot, and that they should not chase people down Rossville Street. Colonel Wilford disobeyed this order, which meant there was no separation between republican rioters and marchers. The soldiers disembarked and began arresting people. There were many claims of soldiers beating people, hitting them with rifle butts, firing rubber bullets at them from close range, making threats to kill, and shouting abuse. The Saville Report agreed that soldiers used excessive force when arresting people as well as seriously assaulting them for no good reason while in their custody. A large group of people were chased into the car park of Rossville Flats. This area was like a courtyard, surrounded on three sides by high-rise flats. The soldiers opened fire, killing one civilian and wounding six others. This fatality, Jackie Duddy, was running alongside a priest, Father Edward Daly, when he was shot in the back. Some of those shot were given first aid by civilian volunteers, either on the scene or after being carried into nearby homes. They were then driven to the hospital, either in civilian cars or in ambulances. The first ambulances arrived at 4:28pm. The three boys killed at the rubble barricade were driven to hospital by the British soldiers. Witnesses said paratroopers lifted the bodies by the hands and feet and dumped them in the back of their armoured vehicles, as if they were pieces of meat. The Saville Report agreed that this is an accurate description of what happened. It says the paratroopers might well have felt themselves at risk, but in our view this does not excuse them. In all, 26 people were shot by the British soldiers; 13 died on the day and another died four months later. Most of them were killed in four main areas: the rubble across Rossville Street, the car park of Rossville Flats (on the north side of the flats), the courtyard car park of Glenfada Park, and the forecourt of Rossville Flats (on the south side of the flats). All of the soldiers responsible insisted that they had shot at, and hit, gunmen or bomb-throwers. The Saville Report insisted that all of those shot were unarmed and that none were posing a serious threat. It also concluded that none of the soldiers fired in response to attacks, or threatened attacks, by gunmen or bomb-throwers. Thirteen people were shot and killed, with another man later dying of his wounds. The official army position, backed by the British Home Secretary the next day in the House of Commons, was that the soldiers had reacted to gun and nail bomb attacks from suspected IRA members. Apart from the soldiers, all eyewitnesses including marchers, local residents, and British and Irish journalists present maintain that soldiers fired into an unarmed crowd, or were aiming at fleeing people and those tending the wounded, whereas the soldiers themselves were not fired upon. No British soldier was wounded by gunfire or reported any injuries, nor were any bullets or nail bombs recovered to back up their claims. Although there were many IRA men both Official and Provisional at the protest, it is claimed they were all unarmed, apparently because it was anticipated that the British soldiers would attempt to draw them out. March organiser and MP Ivan Cooper had been promised beforehand that no armed IRA men would be near the march. One soldier who gave evidence at the tribunal testified that they were told by an officer to expect a gunfight and We want some kills. In the event, one man was witnessed by Father Edward Daly and others haphazardly firing a revolver in the direction of the paratroopers. Later identified as a member of the Official IRA, this man was also photographed in the act of drawing his weapon, but was apparently not seen or targeted by the soldiers. Various other claims have been made to the Saville Inquiry about gunmen on the day. This Sunday became known as Bloody Sunday and bloody it was. It was quite unnecessary. It strikes me that the Army ran amok that day and shot without thinking what they were doing. They were shooting innocent people. These people may have been taking part in a march that was banned but that does not justify the troops coming in and firing live rounds indiscriminately. I would say without hesitation that it was sheer, unadulterated murder. It was murder.

Computer Communications & Networks Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Computer Communications & Networks - Lab Report Example In order to test connectivity of the Internet connection, ping command is executed from the command prompt of the operating system. The syntax will be ping (space) (destination address), moreover, in order to review hops and delays in accessing the X stream server, the ‘tracert’ command can be executed from the command prompt. The syntax for this command will be tracert (space) (destination address). The ping command utilized Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) to check the connectivity of the destination by sending ICMP echo request on periodic basis. Moreover, the ‘tracert’ command demonstrates all the hops and delays that are in the way of that particular destination. Likewise, it is not necessary that only routers are involved in the process of establishing and exchanging information from the required host. The Ethernet is the first device that initiates and constructs a request datagram from the home computer, as it is considered to be the most pop ular Local Area Network technology that is implemented globally (Ethernet. 2007). The connectivity of the Ethernet adapter is established by both wired and wireless networks. However, in terms of wired connectivity, twisted pairs of cable are connected in to the Ethernet RJ45 socket. The other end of the wire is terminated to the router, switch or hub. In this scenario, home user will use a DSL router that will connect the home computer with the Internet Service Provider (ISP). Likewise, the Ethernet construct the datagram consisting of six parameters i.e. destination address, source address, preamble, type, CRC and data. The preamble parameter is responsible for clock synchronization of the data packets from the source and destination. Likewise, the addresses... This report approves that home Internet users do not have DNS configured. ISP is responsible to resolve the URL into IP addresses. In order to do so, the request from the home network will terminate on the ISP Network that will resolve the URL and sends the request to the relevant destination accordingly. After resolving the DNS for the URL, the router checks for the shortest and robust path for processing the quest with the help of routing protocol. Some popular routing protocols include Routing Information Protocol, Open Shortest Path First, Border Gateway Protocol. After identifying the most suitable path for the request, the connection to the X stream server will be established. Encapsulation of User datagram protocol, IP and Ethernet takes place before sending it to the router for resolving DNS query. This essay makes a conclusion that the first section covered mandatory requirements as well issues that occur on physical layer connectivity. Likewise, we have discussed the Ethernet packet header along with its purpose in details. The next discussion was about CSMA/CD, as the request needs space to fulfill the execution. Next we have discussed the ARP command along with the discussion of a MAC address packet. Moreover, in the next section we have discussed the network layer connectivity and router functionality. We have also put some light on routing protocols and their functions. Furthermore, in the last section, DNS query construction is discusses along with socket connections by incorporating HTTP, TCP/IP, UDP and ARP for opening the X stream web page on the home user browser.

Target Corporation Supply Chain Managment Research Paper

Target Corporation Supply Chain Managment - Research Paper Example This merchandise is transferred to the regional offices through rail or trucks. The regional offices are responsible for providing merchandise to more than 1700 stores of the company located in different states of US. The effective of Target supply chain is responsible to meet the customers demand, and the company has complete control of its merchandise immediate after the arrival of its shipment (Tirschwell, 2008). Product and Service Specification Product Specification Target being a highest discount retailer is spread in a wide range of products in the utility section. From house hold goods to dry items, from food items to cosmetics there is a big variety of products which Target offers (Target, 2012). Service Specifications Target Corporation being a merger with Associated Merchandising Corporation (AMC) has globalized its service network in discount retail section. In the retail section, Target is divided in three categories of services Target Greatland (shoes and clothing), Tar get stores (utility services) and Super Target (marts). With conventional product line and with advanced value adding methods, Target has retrieved maximum sales potential by such efficient service administration (Target Corporation , 2012). The company has spread in branches where each branch is working as a separate service unit for effective and substantial service management (Target Corporation , 2012). Order Processing and Management Target’s corporation has advanced order processing methods. CMMS (computerized maintenance management system) is applied in distribution and order processing sections. Maximo is the system which identifies orders on CMMS to send them to different vendors. This is how Target connects from one supply chain function (distribution center) to another (vendors) in a cost effective manner. Maximo carries general order information and order notifications to distribution centers to provide real time service to the customer (Target Corporation , 2012) . Value Delivery Options Target being the highest discount retailer is famous on discounts price offers. With valuable discount offerings, Target is able to win customer’s perception in quite extensive manner, as customers get both things quality and service in high discount rates from Target stores. All such open value delivery options for Target Corporation and make its products and services a top priority in the customer’s perception (Target Corporation , 2012). Procurement Procurement is the starting function of a supply chain process. The larger the company is like Target, the broad is its circle of procurement and vendors (Blanchard, 2010). With the application of EDI software on procurement, Target connects with other merchandisers in a cost effective manner. This is to control and management procurement function and to bring right vendors at the right time of reception. Associations like National Minority Supplier Development Council, National Veteran Owned Bus iness Association or US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce supports target to achieve its diversified supplier and procurement goals. This is how Target settles in vendors system of procurement (Target Corporation, 2012). Inventory Management Inventory management comes at the fifth position of

Causes and Effects of Climate Change Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Causes and Effects of Climate Change - Assignment Example According to the research findings, it can, therefore, be said that the stratosphere has been identified as an atmospheric layer which is essential for survival on Earth because it contains ozone gas (O3) which forms the ozone layer protecting the earth from ultraviolet radiations of the Sun. The depletion of this ozone layer can lead to the entry of these harmful radiations into the surface of the earth and these radiations have many harmful effects which range from DNA and RNA damage in humans to the disturbance of even the marine life. Thinning of this layer has been found to be associated with skin cancers, cataracts, and weakening of the immunity. It can damage the ecological balance because it will not only disturb marine life but there is evidence that it might even affect crops. The stratosphere is sensitive to atmospheric pollutants which include chlorofluorocarbons, chlorocarbons, and halon compounds. Because of increased environmental pollution and the emission of these ha rmful compounds into the atmosphere by the industries and other sources which include the emissions from cars, refrigerators, air conditioners and aerosols, the stratospheric ozone has been depleting gradually. The reason behind this is that these gases react with the ozone gas and initiate a cascade which destroys numerous ozone molecules. The greenhouses gases constitute less than one percent of the atmosphere. They include carbon dioxide, ozone, and water vapor. Thirty percent of the solar energy is reflected back before it even enters the last surface of the earth and a significant amount of energy that reaches the earth is also reflected back. This energy is the infrared radiation. This radiation is taken up by the greenhouse gases before it escapes the troposphere thus leading to a warming effect which is known as the greenhouse effect.

Org behavior Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Org behavior - Assignment Example Less-sophisticated technological systems may allow for a flatter, horizontal structure that provides employees with more autonomous function. Employees in the organization may not have the tacit knowledge that some experts in the organization hold and do not always have access to face-to-face interventions with knowledge experts. Therefore, they become dependent on data from technology systems in order to guarantee effective knowledge transfer, such as using enterprise resource planning software to gain valuable real-time data occurring in the organization. For instance, customer service can access software to determine current inventory levels in order to ensure order fulfillment. This knowledge source (CSR) now holds knowledge no other individual in the organization carries from external sources. They can take this technology-driven knowledge to consult with production to temporarily double output in order to meet future demand. Technology maintains â€Å"a crucial role in enabling knowledge-centric practices† (Dataware Technologies, 2008, p.2). Having an understanding of the external market is one competency providing competitive advantage. Many organizations rely on differentiation strategies in order to build a brand that stands out uniquely from competitors. In order to create a more effective service model or product concept, the organization needs to conduct market research on consumer attitudes, behaviors, and needs to align operations and service to deliver these outputs. Another core competency is creating a unified organizational culture, using transformational leadership to gain commitment, loyalty and employee satisfaction (Fairholm, 2009). Human capital development in terms of coaching and training using elements of transformational style can give employees more transferrable knowledge within the organization and attitude that focuses on service excellence and total quality management of outputs. Being

WEEK 8 Problem Statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

WEEK 8 Problem Statement - Essay Example ogy in the world of business has continued to engage the concern of experts who explore the various ways that could be relied upon to provide solutions to the business world. Essentially, the provision of these solutions requires the adoption of information technology tools in specific areas that pose challenges of efficiency and productivity (Gottschalk, 2007). A comprehensive appreciation of the value of information technology in the world of business might begin with some focus on the communication factor in business. Efficient communication saves time and money and helps the organization to meet set goals in an orderly and harmonious manner. Traditional forms of communication involved lengthy periods of time which adversely affected the fiscal targets of business. Generally, the performance of any business is measured within specific time frames. It is therefore important for businesses to develop systems that would ensure efficiency and production within the set time frame. Information technology has supplied tools through the internet technology which lessen the logistical challenges that were usually incurred in the course of running a business (Elliott, 2004). Another factor cited by experts who embrace the adoption of information technology in business is the reduction of stress and burnout at the work place. Naturally, the incorporation of technology in the world of business has the effect of reducing the strain and stress that accompanies manual processes. Related to this is the fact that human error often occurs due to the manual systems that are more susceptible to inaccuracies as compared to systems that utilize information technology. Many studies have shown that the comparative advantage between the two systems favours the adoption of information technology in business processes. The introduction of internet-based computer technology has had the effect of increasing the efficiency of businesses processes. Although the adoption of information

Apple Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Apple - Assignment Example ly, the iPods and the iTunes synchronized with Mac operating system only; however, Jobs thought that it would be in the best interest of the company’s market position to include Windows Operating Systems since it was becoming increasingly popular. This made the iPods and the iTunes the best bet for Apple’s success in the market. The company encompassed multimedia player with access to music downloads from major recording house. The uniqueness of the technology can be analyzed through the Value, Rarity, Inimitable and Organization (VRIO). From its inception, Apple has been making high value goods, hiring top performing executives and also serving high value markets. The iPod and the iTunes supplement apples quest for rare products that revolutionize technology. This is because the idea of two ideal multimedia tools would synchronize together to form a major technological breakthrough. Apples competitive advantage also lies in the inimitable nature of its products. The products, from computers, phones, iPods and software, are not easily copied since hey use Apples exclusive technology. This enables Apple to be the sole maker of the products. Apples initial strategy for the iPhone was disastrous. This was because the market had many other gadgets with higher capabilities that Apple’s iPhone, yet they were selling at relatively low prices. The price for and iPhone was much higher than other brands making sale to stall. Consequently, Apple preferred to make its own distributions with no carrier networks, usually used to subsidize costs. Apple ignored giant retailers ability to cover more market than its own distribution outlets. Another issue that made Apple to change its strategy on the iPhone was the internet access capabilities. At the time, Third Generation (3G) service was the widely used by mobile phone manufacturers. Apple iPhones supported only 2G networks which was relatively slow. A rework on the iPhones was inevitable. The need to catch up with

How Business Works Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

How Business Works - Assignment Example Preparation and filling of the Articles of Association with the secretary of state is the other requirement of registering a corporation. On this note, a fee of $100 is paid for the filing of articles (Legislative Analyst’s Office). Creation of the corporation bylaws is the fourth procedure required in the formation of a corporation though no specific criteria is outlined for the corporations to follow. According to information from the Legislative Analyst’s Office, filling of an information statement with the state secretary is done where a fee of $25 is paid. The filing of this information should be done within ninety days. The next step encompass holding a meeting with the company’s incorporators. This is followed by issuing of stock certificates to the original owners of the corporation. Another important step is to obtain necessary local license needed to run the business. The final step involves determining the tax obligations for the corporation, which marks the end of registration process. The rate of income tax that applies to corporations in California ranges between 8.84% and a flat rate. The corporate fees and taxes in California state is different from those of neigbouring states like Oregon, Nevada, and even Arizona. Information from the Legislative Analyst’s Office indicates that the state of California tops in levying a broad based tax on the corporate profits. Legislative Analyst’s Office. California’s Tax System: A Primer. California’s Nonpartisan Fiscal And Policy Advisor, April 2007. Web. February14, 2013

The sum of all fears Essay Example for Free

The sum of all fears Essay Fear is an emotion that is embedded with in all of us. No one knows the essence of fear, it is what it isintangible. The strongest of men fall to the mercy of fear, consuming the mind, and blocking all rational judgment. Fear lies unawakened in the dark recesses of the soul, only to be awoke by the treacheries of the unknown. Fear manifests itself in many ways, the most common way however, is anger, and I know this manifestation all to well. Anger controls a large portion of my life, I am never alone. I know that anger originates from fear, yet I simply cannot pinpoint the essence of my evil demon, nor the channel of which it comes. All that I can recall, is that it is never ending, a vicious form of hell that is all knowing, and all seeing. Perhaps the reason why I have anger soaring through my body, tearing at my muscles, and throbbing in my mind, is the obvious fact that I have failed to become acquainted with myself, resulting in fear, because if I dont know myself, who does? Ive been known to snap at others, even those closest to me, and for no apparent reason. Yet I know this, fear is some how a way of life, an inevitable feeling that takes control of mind and body, and abandons you when you need it most. For I have come to thrive off of this feeling of hatred for my fellow man, it is possibly what keeps me ready, anticipating the next move of all men and creatures has a certain thrill that you simply cannot imitate, or find anywhere else. As all know, everything has a side kick, Bat man has Robin, the Green Hornet has Kato, and fear has pain. Pain is fears ugly cousin, only rearing its face when fear is at its greatest peak. You know that you should fear when pain becomes pleasure, and fear has already become instinct. Pain is unforgiving, always leaving a sign that it was once there, even if only an emotional wound. I have come to know pain very well, I have had to live with this virus, as we all have, throughout my ________ years of life. No matter how much time passes the pain is relentless, clawing at my soul, and what little confidence I have left. I fear that this is what will be the end of my being, pain, the structure less form. In conclusion, fear and pain are one in the same. Never ending, nor caring who or what it strikes down. The key, I think, is acceptancelearn to accept that fear is inevitable, and pain comes bearing no gifts. So live your life on your own terms, if you dont, fear will live it for you.

Wooden churches in Eastern Europe Essay Example for Free

Wooden churches in Eastern Europe Essay Wooden churches in Eastern Europe represent distinctive feature of regional cultural heritage and are probably the most valuable contribution of this land to the world art treasury. In this research we will make an attempt to make in-depth analysis of relationships between architecture and design of these historical constructions in the light of local traditions and lifestyle. The study is divided into two parts illustrating materials and techniques used to create these fascinating buildings and key design principles tightly associated with regional culture. Construction materials and techniques. In Slavic world wooden constructions were dominant until mid-1950s. Vast territories covered with forest provided cheap, solid, and easy-to-access building material used for domestic, industrial, economic, defensive, public, and religious units. Most ancient architectural monuments of that area trace their roots back to early 10th century which is also recorded in chronicles and modern ethnographic materials. Traditionally architects recognize three styles of Eastern European wooden churches including Hutsul style (originated from the name of ethnical group in Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains), Gothic style, and Baroque churches adopted from western civilization . Hutsul churches have brought to us the oldest manner of Eastern European church building based on the principle of trinity – a church has three parts, three sections, and three towers. A Baroque tower gave name to 22 Baroque churches in this area. Churches with high spires and turrets represent the famous Gothic style in local communities. All wooden sacred monuments are based on log construction allowing various solutions in terms of horizontal planning and exterior design. Apart from quadrate frame, unique polygonal constructional forms are observed here especially in altar rooms. Fir, spruce, and pine were widely used in constructing non-load-bearing parts of the building while oak, red spruce, and yew were applied while creating bearers and ribbands for the construction. Typically, buildings were placed on strong foundation stones joined together by clay, lime, and sand. Older generations remember seeing eggs, bull’s blood, and breast milk combined together as an admixture for making the building stronger and more resistant to rains and storms . Initially for religious reasons no nail was used to make timber works and other constructional elements firm. This practice was very common to many wooden churches throughout entire region and some parts of Russia where this architectural phenomenon was present. Numerous conducted studies and artifacts found show that no-nail technique undoubtedly has to do with associations with crucifixion. To solve this problem local craftsmen were trying to create climate-friendly unions to keep construction in one piece. Their invention of unique blazes on assembling unions made it possible to start building churches without iron nails with decreasing use of even oak wedges. Unlike Slavs, German tribes preferred pole and light-frame constructions. This type of wooden temples can be encountered in England and Northern Europe including Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Similar architectural style has spread in Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, and Poland. The second biggest heritage of wooden temples is possessed by Norway and has strong historical roots directly connected with era of Vikings and their friendly relationships with Slavs . Exterior and interior design. One of the most distinctive features of monumental architecture is triple design symbolizing Trinity. Significant number of wooden churches consist of three parts emphasized by three towers. The middle log of the temple is the biggest construction with square shape which has altar room inside. The front part is a shorter copy of the middle log and serves as an assembly hall for nuns. The back part behind the altar room is the highest one and since it is always facing east as the beginning of a new day and life it has become a landmark for many travelers. Traditionally, location of all three parts corresponds to laws of symmetry which means that horizontal axis of the wooden church intersects with its vertical axis in the very middle of the building . In Middle Ages this so-called â€Å"triple style† was popular throughout entire territory of Kyiv Rus being applied on concrete churches as well. Irrelevant of construction material or religion practiced in the church Slavs would always build their churches on top of a hill or in some remote area. Only rare spiritual architectural monuments are located in the village downtown. People from Eastern European community still believe that both wooden and concrete churches are too sacred to be situated somewhere close to the city downtown full of noise and turmoil. Sacral buildings in Eastern Europe (primarily east of Slovakia and west of Ukraine) frequently had pronounced decorations on shingles. Wood carving ornaments covered approximately two thirds of the entire exterior design of the church. Rich decorations were stipulated by great number of carpenters and craftsmen who polished their talents on regular basis due to never-ending forests in the area. Many are still fascinated by remarkable iconostasis as a key and most valuable part of any church interior design. In wooden churches iconostasis is placed in altar room separating it from back part of the building. Iconostasis is a wall picturing sacred paintings decorated with gold. Together these paintings represent iconography which requires strict observance of holy rules and selection of topics. Typical iconostasis in wooden churches have three exits. The main one is located in the middle and is designed especially for the main priest. Two other ones house secondary priests and deacons which are not allowed to use the main exit decorated with carved vermeil. Many wooden temples in modern Slovakia, Poland, and Ukraine preserved ornamental conical, A-line, and pyramidal domes. Impacted by baroque, quadrangular roofs acquired four more corners turning into octagonal domes. Regardless of refusal from iron nails metal was still used to create additional functional details including crosses, gates, and window ironwork. Metal crosses placed on the top of each dome embodied creativity and talent of local artists. Apart from esthetic purposes, exterior and interior designs of wooden temples performed educational function as well. Artists painted walls using simple tools to educate people with Old and New Testaments. To do that they chose the finest wall of the temple with no windows or doors. Then using simple paint and brushes to make foliated lines on the wall they pictured Jesus, Maria, prophets, disciples, and evangelists. Interestingly enough, non-religious episodes were also portrayed on those walls which corresponded to feelings and thoughts of people at that time rather than specific sacral motives. Some icon illustrations were linked to specific life situations and peculiarities of local community which perceived some saints as guarantors for their existence and prosperity. Most frequent images included St. George who based on local beliefs was helping farmers, St. Nicholas who protected houses from fire and guaranteed well-being for carpenters, St. Michael as a sky warrior, and many other religious spirits. Such icons are marked with particularly exuberant ornament and thoroughly selected colors . Some of wooden temples in eastern part of Europe were not saved due to weather impacts and other negative influences. This is especially concerned World War I and World War II. Also active migration of local communities had negative effect on architectural monuments in general. However, once the church was built by permanent local community it was being taken care of appropriately. Experts in the field of sacred architecture say, Eastern Europeans created design and architecture for their religious buildings that would remind them of closeness with nature and necessity to enrich inner world on regular basis. This is the reason why interior design alongside with its iconostasis and paintings are so exuberant and rich. Unlike Latin churches, wooden temples in this part of the world fascinate by its perfect combination with surrounding environment. Color scheme here plays one of the most important parts since green forests and deep brown represent perfect match . Because of the painful losses in local wooden architecture the cultural value of each saved church has considerably increased and all wooden churches constructed in traditional manner are to be protected irrespective of age. In conclusion it would be appropriately to note that wooden churches in Eastern Europe symbolize peculiarities of local communities including religious beliefs, lifestyles, and geographical location. They represent special interest in comparison to other highlands such as the Alps which offer no architectural contribution whatsoever. Educative function of wooden temples remains very valuable even today since wall paintings provide better view of historical reality. Due to its geographical location eastern regions of Europe have been equally influenced by neighboring cultures but still managed to preserve their own architectural identity. Works Cited Bragg, Rick. Wooden Churches: A Celebration. New York: Algonquin Books, 1999. Patterson, Joby. Wooden Churches of the Carpathians: A Comparative Study. Bratislava: East European Monographs, 2001. Sopoliga, Miroslav. Pearls of Folk Architecture. London: Brand House, 1996

Stages of Child Development for Home Childcare

Stages of Child Development for Home Childcare Serving as a home- based child care provider is an important job, one that requires hard work, creativity, flexibility, and genuine concern for children and their families. In California, there are several types of home based child care settings, including family, friend, and neighbour care that does not require a license; Family child care homes licensed by the state; and licensed settings that are also accredited by the national association for family child care. Whether you operate a licensed family child care home, care for your grandchildren, or are a provider accredited by a national organization, you have an opportunity to make a positive and lasting impact on the lives of the children and families in your care. As you read guidelines for early learning in child care home settings, you may want to think about why you are a home based child care provider. Perhaps you think the home offers the best setting for working with young children. Maybe you want to use your teaching skills in a setting that allows you to work at home and care for your own children. Or you may want to help a family member or neighbour by caring for their children. Regardless of the reasons you became a home based provider, the guidelines in this book were developed to help improve your service to children and their families and to improve the quality of your work life. The guideline will help Provide learning experiences for preschool children, infants, and toddlers in mixed age group settings that are common in home based care. Promote meaningful with children, develop their vocabularies, and encourage their interest in books and stories. Interest children in daily home activity that involve problem solving, measuring, sorting, classifying, and other skills that serve as building blocks for future learning in math and science. Include children with disabilities and other special needs in your home based setting and get help for those children when needed. Show respect and appreciation for the home languages and cultures of children and their families whose backgrounds differ from yours. One of the strengths of home based child care in that it enhances the opportunity to get to know children in the context of their families. By understanding and respecting the primary role of the family in the lives of young children, and by supporting the family in times of celebration as well as stress, you strengthen a child’s social and emotional development. Explain to families how on a daily basis you promote language development and thinking skills in a natural home setting by talking with children, preparing their meals, and playing with them . Communicate with parents and other family members and learn how to involve them in home based learning and care activities. Working as a home based child care provider is a demanding job. Whether you are a licensed family child care provider or an exempt provider, you may wish you had more interaction with other providers and other adults help with business practices, and additional training or education. www.cde.ca.gov Babies and children not only grow bigger in size but also usually go through what are known as stages of development from birth, how babies look and what they can do change enormously. Growth is about the body growing and getting bigger in size and weight; for example, children grow taller and their feet get bigger. Growth happens naturally if children are healthy and well cared for. Development is about learning new skills, such as children learning to kick a ball or hop on one foot. Children need lots of different activities and the support of adults to develop new skills. Babies from birth to three months. Physical development -sleeps for around 18 hours each day, feeds every two to three hours during the day and will need to be fed less often during the night. Intellectual D -begins to use senses to hear, smell and see what is going on around. Language D at first a baby is only able to cry, but quickly learns to make cooing and gurgling sounds. Emotional D -a baby will cry when in pain, hungry or uncomfortable, such as when they have a wet nappy or feel too hot or cold. Social D -a new baby will try and look at faces, especially when they are being fed, by the age of three months a baby may copy an adults smile. Three to six months Physical D feeds three to five times every day, the baby can control head and arm movements, such as grasping a toy or rolling over on a play mat. Intellectual D -greater development of senses, a baby will turn towards a sound, and learn who different people are by listening to their voice or looking at their face. Language D -a baby at this age will make many different sounds such as babbling and cooing when they are enjoying a bath, or grunting and crying when they are unhappy or tired. Emotional D – enjoys being cuddled and rocked. Social development- knows the difference between family members, usually enjoys contact with family members, such as when feedind and being bathed. Six to 12 months Physical D –eats three meals and two snacks every day, sleeps for around 12 hours every night and may have two naps every day. Begins to control the body and hands by moving objects or pulling things towards them. At around eight months, a baby will begin to sit without support and may start to crawl. Intellectual D enjoys playing moves toys and objects from one place to another so that by the time the bady is 12 months old, they are able to stack one brick onto another. Babies enjoy looking at bright colours. Emotional D – babies may become clingy to family members because they are now more aware of strangers. Social D – gives and takes objects or toys, may wave bye-bye by 12 month babies have learned to look when someone calls their name. and might understand some simple requests. One to two years Physical D – stands without support and begins to walk, can climb up stairs so needs to be watched, by the age of two years a child can run, throw and kick a ball. Intellectual D- begins to make lines on paper with crayons or paints. By the age of two years a child may enjoy building a tower of two bricks and pushing them over. Language D – children begin to repeat a few words and understand some instructions such as coat on come here understands about 50 words at two years of age. Emotional D – a child may be interested in looking at themselves in the mirror such as when clapping or pulling faces. Social D – enjoys simple clapping games such as pat a cake enjoys feeding themselves. Two to three years Physical D – learns to jump off a low step and may ride a tricycle, uses a spoon and fork properly when feeding themselves. May take an interest in using the toilet or potty. Intellectual D – user crayons to draw in circular movements and make simple shapes, children may enjoy dough and messy activities. Language D – a child will put three or four more words together to make sentences for example me do that mummy or little dog barking. Children will learn lots of new words and enjoy looking at picture books and listening to stories. Emotional D – a child may be worried when family members leave them the child may cry when starting nursery or if the parent goes out for the evening leaving the child with a babysitter. Social D – uses I , me , and, you , copies actions such as when singing rhymes at nursery, copies adult, actions by pretending to clean the car or stir food in a pan. Can dislike sharing with others children at this age may enjoy playing next to other children but may not play with them. Three to four years Physical D – stands on one leg jumps up and down, enjoys climbing and cam change direction quickly when running in the play area. may now be able to take responsibility for their own toileting. Intellectual D – draws circles with more control and may add lines for arms and legs or dots for eyes. Can count up to ten and begins to learn the names of colours and shapes. Language D – understands over 1,000 words and makes sentences of four or five words, children now enjoy listening to longer stories and will often choose the same story over and over again. Emotional D – shows a sense of humour may tell jokes and make funny faces or do silly walks. Likes to spend time playing alone but also enjoys playing with other children. May enjoy hugs and cuddles with family and friends. Social D – gives orders enjoys playing with children and will leave the main carer more easily such as when going to nursery. Four to five years Physical D- can open and close fastenings can dress and undress for a PE lesson. Can use scissors to cut out shapes and pictures, skips with a rope, runs quickly and safely around the playground without bumping into other children. Intellectual D- can copy letters and numbers and can write their own name, draws pictures of trees, houses, people and animals. Language D – children at this age know up to 2,000 words and use proper sentences, children often talk clearly and will enjoy telling stories about themselves. Emotional D- enjoys caring for pets, shows concern when a friend is hurt, children will like to make choices for themselves, such as deciding which clothes to wear or what book to look at. Social D – children are more able to do things for themselves such as wiping up spilled juice, they may also like to help other children, such as helping a younger child to complete a jigsaw. www.hoddereducation.co.uk Children are curious and love to investigate. This can lead to all kinds of situations that could result in accidents occurring. As an early years practitioner, you need to have a thorough understanding of child development and children’s capabilities. You need to be able to select equipment, toys and play materials that are suitable for children’s age and stage of development. A wide range of safety equipment and other resources are available to help practitioners to keep children safe indoors, outdoors and on outings away from setting. The choice of safety equipment used will depend on a variety of factors, including the age and stage od development of the children . the type of setting and the nature of the potential risks involved. For example, safety gate, socket covers and fireguards make the home environment safer for toddlers, while playground surfaces, secure fencing and CCTV cameras help to maintain a safer environment for children in group care. All equipment used with babies and children, such as toys and play materials, electrical items and outdoor equipment, needs to meet the relevant health and safety standards. These items should display a product safety logo, such as the CE mark to show that they meet European health and safety standards. Educationscotland.gov.uk Trips and outings should support the development and learning that takes place within the centre. Outings provide important opportunities for learning and are an essential part of a child’s experience. When taking the children out of the centre ground staff must ensure their safety at all the times. It is the head of centres responsibility to give permission for outings to take place, having first checked all arrangements and completed formal risk assessment forms. The day care coordinator can give permission for local outings to take place. practitioner must be sensitive to children’s religious beliefs in selecting places to visit. any volunteers or staff that are not police checked must remain with a permanent member of staff a first aid kit must be taken a mobile phone must be taken and the number left at the centre for ease of contact in an emergency a register must be taken on the trip this must include all emergency contact details and details of any allergies medical conditions and dietary requirements and name and number of child s doctor a level 3 qualified member of staff must always accompany the children on outings extra items that might be needed for outings toilet rolls, tissues, sick bags, refuse sacks, disposable gloves, sun cream and hats, refreshments practitioners must always accompany a child into public toilets all children must have badges attached to them giving the centres name and telephone number. For reasons of safety a child s name must never be displayed on the badge. The head of centre is responsible for knowing the whereabouts of every child and all staff involved in the trip. Clear arrangements must be in place should any child become separated from the group. The practitioner must take responsibility for specific children, preferably for those for whom they are the key worker. Changes to this must be explicitly acknowledged by the staff concerned. The practitioner must refer to the child registration forms to ensure that parents cares have. www.millfields.hackney.sch.uk

Reality and Illusion in Death of a Salesman :: Arthur Millers play Death of a Salesman

Reality and Illusion in Death of a Salesman In Arthur Miller's play, Death of a Salesman, the major theme as well as the main source of conflict is Willy's inability to distinguish between reality and illusion. Willy has created a fantasy world for himself and his family, a world in which he and his sons are great men who "have what it takes" to make it in the context of business and free enterprise. In reality, none of them can achieve greatness until they confront and deal with this illusion. Willy's most prominent illusion is that success is dependant upon popularity and personal attractiveness. Willy builds his entire life around this idea and teaches it to his children.   When Willy was young, he had met a man named Dave Singleman who was so well-liked that he was able to make a living simply by staying in his hotel room and telephoning buyers. When Dave Singleman died, buyers and salesmen from all over the country came to his funeral. This is what Willy has been trying to emulate his entire life. Willy's need to feel well-liked is so strong that he often makes up lies about his popularity and success. At times, Willy even believes these lies himself. At one point in the play, Willy tells his family of how well-liked he is in all of his towns and how vital he is to New England. Later, however, he tells Linda that no one remembers him and that the people laugh at him behind his back. As this demonstrates, Willy's need to feel well-liked also causes him to become inten sely paranoid. When his son, Biff, for example, is trying to explain why he cannot become successful, Willy believes that Biff is just trying to spite him. Unfortunately, Willy never realizes that his values are flawed. As Biff points out at the end of the play, "he had the wrong dreams." In many ways Biff is similar to his father. In the beginning of the play we see that Biff shares many of the same ideas as Willy. He values being well-liked above everything else and sees little value in being smart or honest. One of Biff's main flaws is his tendency to steal. Early in the play we learn that he has stolen a football from the school locker. When Willy finds out about this, instead of disciplining Biff, he says that the coach will probably congratulate him on his initiative.

Psychotherapy for Anorexia Nervosa Essay -- Health Disorders Weight Lo

Psychotherapy for Anorexia Nervosa What is anorexia? Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that consists of self-regulated food restriction in which the person strives for thinness and also involves distortion of the way the person sees his or her own body. An anorexic person weighs less than 85% of their ideal body weight. The prevalence of eating disorders is between .5-1% of women aged 15-40 and about 1/20 of this number occurs in men. Anorexia affects all aspects of an affected person's life including emotional health, physical health, and relationships with others (Shekter-Wolfson et al 5-6). A study completed in 1996 showed that anorexics also tend to possess traits that are obsessive in nature and carry heavy emotional reliance on other people (Herpertz-Dahlmann et al 461). Dependency, self-directed hostility, and assertiveness did not correlate highly with anorexia nervosa as assumed (Rogers and Petrie 138). In addition, anorexics tend to require constant hospitalization which incur personal and systematic costs (Shekter-Wolfs on et al 6-7). Methods of Clinical Assessment In order for a person to be diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, they must possess the two essential psychological symptoms of the drive for thinness and the body image distortion problem. According to the DSM-IV, anorexics are categorized into two categories, restricting and binge-eating/purging types. Another assessment device is the Eating Attitudes Test and the Eating Disorders Inventory. The evaluation of an affected person should be multidimensional and comprehensive because of the severity of this problem (Shekter-Wolfson et al 10). After this has taken place, a formal interview with the client is conducted. This interview consists... ...9: 101-105. Herpertz-Dahlmann, B., Wewetzer, C., Hennighausen, K., and Remschmidt, H. (1996). Outcome, Psychosocial Functioning, and Prognostic Factors in Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa as Determined by Prospective Follow-up Assessment. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 25: 455-465. Rogers, Rebecca L., and Petrie, Trent A. (1996). Personality Correlates of Anorexic Symptomatology in Female Undergraduates. Journal of Counseling and Development. 75: 138-141. Shekter-Wolfson, Lorie F., Woodside, D. Blake, and Lackstrom, Jan D. (1997). Social Work Treatment of Anorexia and Bulimia: Guidelines for Practice. Research on Social Work Practice. 7: 5-20. White, Mark B. (1997). How Good is Family Therapy? A Reassessment. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. 23: 93-94. Yager, Joel (1994). Psychosocial Treatments for Eating Disorders. Psychiatry. 57: 153-168.

The Distinct Epic Format of Ovids Metamorphoses Essay -- Ovid Metamor

The Distinct Epic Format of Ovid's Metamorphoses Ovid's "Metamorphoses" is sometimes argued as a non-epic as well as a true epic. It is mainly viewed as a non-epic because Ovid's subject matter is far from the heroic themes of the "Illiad", "Odyssey", and the "Aeneid" (Keith 237). Ovid was different and was motivated to push the epic beyond its previous boundaries (Ovid). Perhaps in hopes to confirm the structure of his work, Ovid declares that he will undertake "one continuous song in many thousands of verses" (Keith 238-239). Ovid's wording here is a self-conscious declaration that he is going to write in the epic mode. Ovid consciously wants his style to be different, however still contained in the epic form. So, Ovid purposely inserts himself within the epic tradition. First Ovid composes "Metamorphoses" in hexameters, which is "the right metre for epic," according to Aristotle (Ovid). The method of hexameters was considered to be the meter in which epic poems were composed in classical antiquity (Keith 236). Ovid knew how to convince the people of his day of his intende...

PHI – Employee Health Information

Employees of an organization should expect for their health information to remain private. Just as the government has found it necessary to create laws to protect employees from discrimination, they have had to create laws to safeguard an employee’s protected health information (PHI). These laws include: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHAct). While each law explicitly protects employee health information, it also allows employers to use certain PHI to meet certain requirements of each law and to ensure the safety of employees. What is Protected Health Information? What is protected health information? According to Davis and Salver-Malyska, protected health information is defined as individually identified health information transmitted electronically or maintained or stored on any electronic media (2003, p. 31-32). In the United States the HIPAA Privacy Rule allows employers if acting as Plan Administrator to obtain certain PHI. There is no way around this, because the administrator must ask the employee’s doctor to complete certifications and provide back the employers. Companies that have an HMO and also have Workman Compensation, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Short-term and Long term Disability plans will require the doctor or the employee to provide medical certifications that support the need for the employee to be on leave or restricted duty. Under the FMLA, companies are required to also get PHI for an employee’s family member is the leave is requested to take care of a sick or injured family member. Other types of PHI collected by employers include, pre-employee physical information, drug testing prior to employment and random testing. This information is required as part of the hiring process or company liability coverage depending on the nature of the business or job. According to Cascio, the employer is required to indicate if a leave is FMLA and the reason for the leave (2010, p. 9). Ethical and Trust Issues At issue with each type of PHI collected or reviewed there is the potential of the employee’s privacy being compromised? If companies to not set standard, required policies and procedures for those employees requesting and handling the PHI, then there could be major breaches. Once the breach as occurred, an employee’s trust is eroded. Managers and supervisors should be provided training, as most of the information for Workman Comp, FMLA or STD claims is already provided to the employee’s management. But even still, employers cannot directly ask health care providers the nature of an employee’s situation unless the employee has provided or agreed to release the information. According to Colquitt, Lepine and Wesson, trust by an employee is their implied and explicit agreement to allow themselves to be vulnerable to a trustee (2009, p. 219). Just the thought of PHI being made accessible to individuals who may not be trustworthy creates considerable distress by the employee. An example, of distressed trust, would be an employee who is HIV positive, who is required to take a pre-employment physical. While in theory and supposed practice, an employer is not to request a pre-employment physical until after the offer I made. Nonetheless the employee would still have feelings of reluctance to allow the testing just to get a job. Another example includes the employee who is covered by the ADA, where a company must make reasonable accommodations for the employee’s disability. Which means management and HR must ask the question and place into service, the items or accommodations they employee need to meet the projected expectations. In January 2009, the Bush administration published updated FMLA regulations. One key section clarifies the rules regarding who may request additional information about an employee’s FMLA certification—and how it should be sought†. Recommendations In my experience as a manger, I refrain from asking employees PHI regarding them or their families. When you have employees who have small children, elderly parents and a disabled spouse, managers must ensure that they never ask an employee â€Å"what is wrong†? Not only should HR provide training on basic requirements for Workman Comp and HIPAA. Each manager must put safeguards in place to ensure employee records are not compromised. My company has established a process that removes the need to certify or review medical information for return to work instances. Employees submit items directly to an HR professional and not to the manager or supervisor. By doing this it removes the possibility of deliberate or unconscious violation of the employee’s privacy rights. References Colquitt, J. A., Lepine, J. A., & Wesson, M. J. (2009). Organizational Behavior;Improving Performance and Committment in the Workplace. New York: McGraw Hill. Cascio, W. F. (2010). Managing Human Resources: Productivity, Quality of Work Life, Profits. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Davis, V., & Silver-Malyska, T. (2003). Employers Liability for Use and Disclosure of Individual Health Information: HIPAA Privacy and Employer Functions. Benefits Law Journal, 16(2), 29-46.

Martin Luther King and Henry DavidThoreau Essay

However with different motives; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau were both admirable men that strived for a better government. As respected spokesmen they served as rebels against what they thought to be bad one’s stopping at nothing. Not even jail. Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. were both brilliant men. Thoreau’s â€Å"Civil Obedience† and Dr. King’s â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail† are perfect examples of their intellect. Looking at these documents and observing the tactics they use while attempting to move their audience toward their ultimate goal, one can see the finesse that both men possessed. Thoreau and Dr. King lived during two different centuries. So being that they were vocalist and activist on the current issues it’s almost certain that they would have a different motive. Even though their motive was ‘poles apart’, differing in many ways, both Thoreau and Dr. King wrote with the aspiration of obtaining a new form of government presumably resembling the republican one we exercise today. Although awfully controversial, to do so both men felt nonverbal actions such as breaking the laws was the only effective way. In spite of the fact that it’s relatively ironic, they viewed going to jail in order to make a mockery of an immoral or impractical laws put in place by the government was â€Å"the very highest respect for law (King para. 5).†Henry David Thoreau motive for rebelling against the government was to make it more of a democratic one. He had no respect for the way it was being ran. His proclaimed problem basically summed up to be that he felt the government was being ran like a monarchy, or in other words by a selective few and not an entire society as it should. It simply wasn’t up to par according to his standards; for he stated this â€Å"I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government (para. 4).†Unlike Henry David Thoreau, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an African American during the times of segregation. This alone is a critical manipulating variable in the equation of why the two’s motive wasn’t the same. Dr. King was all about helping America move towards a desegregated future. He had zeal towards annihilating all unjust laws which he stated to be â€Å"a code inflicted upon a minority which that minority had no part in enacting or creating†¦ (para. 4),† but for the most part he had an overall respect for the government. In conclusion, it’s safe to say that other than race and motive Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. were pretty similar. They both were men of their own opinion that could be classified as moralized radicals. As spokesmen of their time they were both good at what they did. Through the form of speeches, protest, letters, and etcetera they both exemplified â€Å"Civil Disobedience (Thoreau). â€Å"Thoreau, Henry D. Civil Disobedience. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1849. 263-287. King Jr., Dr. Martin L. â€Å"Letter from Birmingham City Jail.† 16 Apr.-May 1963. Birmingham: Charles Moore, 1963. 1.

The movie industry

The movie industry has already established its roots in this lifetime, and probably even in the next. Hollywood itself is a historical entity; it has its own life, its own people, and its own followers and worshippers. It is like a cult that creates a huge amount of money every single day. It has invaded not only the big screen, but our televisions and music players as well. In fact, the three categories of entertainment have often intertwined and exchanged characters. We obsess over the movies that we feel like we can relate to. Maybe it’s because of the theme, or the ending of the story that has really touched our lives.Or it was a favorite book that we have read a million times that can now live outside our imaginations and can visually please us on the big screen. Or we watch a movie simply because we adore the actors in it, so much so that we know what they ate for breakfast for the whole week. We have been following the movie industry for a long time now. We praise and w orship those who make the biggest money on its opening week and almost not mention those who do not even make it to the big screen and directly to DVDs. Money is the ultimate cause and end of this industry. And it is said that money is also the reason why the ratings exist.Almost all movies have a rating by the MPAA. However, the accuracy and the legitimacy of these ratings are being questioned not only by the film industry players, but mostly by the people the MPAA swore to exist for, the American parents and their innocent children. The issue that exists now is not whether or not parents should allow their children to watch movies that have been labeled as restricted for them, but the integrity of the ratings itself is questionable. The controversies surrounding the ratings of Hollywood movies cloud over the fact that the principal reason for the existence of the ratings is responsibility and sensibility.Their goal as an association is to be of assistance to the American parents t o help them guide their children in restricting and choosing which movies to watch. As it was stated by Jack Valenti, former MPAA president, in an article that he wrote, â€Å"To offer to parents some advance information about movies so that parents can decide what movies they want their children to see or not to see (Valenti). † But several critiques and hullabaloos have been shed in lieu of the existence of this ratings organization.Some say that the board members are biased towards the producers and directors that they have come to love. Some say that the members of this board abhor movies that targets issues that they are sensitive about. It seems that the existence of such an organization cannot really protect anybody, if that is what they are really for. If I was a parent, and I was asked if I should allow my children to watch movies that were labeled unsuitable for them by a group of people that have questionable goals and motives, I would say yes, I will definitely al low them.I would advocate allowing children to watch restricted stamped movies because I know that even if the ratings do not exist, the parents will be responsible enough to discuss issues with their children firsthand. The parents have the discretion when it comes to watching these movies with their children. Parents exist for guidance and support, for explanation and for realization. Some parents are willing to be open and discuss important life changing issue with their children and do not encounter any problems with it.Some parents shy away from the issue because they think their children would not understand. But this is not true. School-aged children are old and mature enough to try to understand issues. According to Erik Erikson’s theory of developmental tasks, school-aged children are already curious as to how and why things operate the way they do. Their intense curiosities may be able to teach them a lot already, especially if someone they trust, like their parents , will be delivering the information to them firsthand (Kaplan). There is nothing wrong with a child knowing some sensitive topics at such a young age.In fact, children today are very aware of global issues and how these things affect them. The MPAA can stamp their ratings on movies as long as they want and they could, but they really could not stop any parent from allowing their children to watch movies. Secondly, I deem it unnecessary for a ratings board such as the MPAA to exist. Ratings are arbitrary and subjective; the people who stamp these ratings on movies are people just like us, human beings that can be subjected to persuasions and influences. Some filmmakers are making their case against the MPAA heard.According to Scoot Bowles of USA Today, Harvey Weinstein’s movie Grindhouse was in the brink of being rated NC-17, a rating that cannot only lower your sales, but can totally cross out your movie from existence. So Weinstein’s game plan was to make Quentin Tar antino, infamous creator the Kill Bill series, which also happens to be the director of Grindhouse, face the debate with the MPAA (Bowles). Apparently, the board loves Tarantino, and instead of giving the Grindhouse an NC-17 rating, they got an R with little trimming in the horror exploitation film. Also, rating is even voluntary (The Classification and Rating Administration).Film makers can opt not to get their movies rated, this is a freedom of choice. However if this is the case, why is it that almost all films are getting ratings when it isn’t really a requirement? There are issues surrounding this statement. Some are saying that it is a taboo when a film is not rated, or unrated, mostly because unrated films are foreign films, obscure independent films, direct-to-video films, pornographic films, made-for-TV films, large format (IMAX) films, or documentaries that are not expected to play outside the art house market, films that are not going to hit the top ten box office sales any time soon (Medved).In addition to that, when a film is unrated, some cinemas of DVD stores do not sell them anymore, which is equal to lesser revenues (Bowles). Films rated NC-17 are also almost unable to sell, hence when a film gets this rating, the makers usually plea for a change in rating. The film makers and the MPAA members agree on a new rating, with a compromise. There would be more cuts and whatever else the MPAA board decides to do. This in itself is questionable. When a rating is made, the rating should stick.How can the organization prove to the parents their worthy is they accept negotiations? Ratings should be given and they should be final. The NC-17 rating is most dreaded because not only will this cut your market in half, but will also make an impression already before it can be given the chance to be seen and heard. There are currently five categories of MPAA ratings. First is the G rating, which means General Audiences-All Ages Admitted, the PG rating, P arental Guidance Suggested.Some Material May Not Be Suitable For Children, PG-13 is Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some Material May Be Inappropriate For Children Under 13, next is the R rating, or Restricted, Under 17 Requires Accompanying Parent Or Adult Guardian and finally the NC-17 or No One 17 And Under Admitted rating (Valenti). Regardless of rating, children should be allowed to see works of art. Movie making is creativity at its best, for a targeted audience. I believe that movie makers should be given this freedom to express their art and their visions, how they see the world.And as their audience, people should be given the chance to see it and appreciate it, give the applause it deserves. Unfortunately, movie making has become a money making industry. Some independent films are really worthy of the exposure, but because they are being crushed by the bigger movie moguls, they cannot compete with it. The MPAA is even said to be biased towards the movie moguls in the industry (Medved). Eventually it will all boil down to choice. It is the movie maker’s choice to heed the advice of the MPAA and accept their ratings.It is the MPAA board’s choice to give a rating to the movie. Most importantly, it is the audience’s choice whether or not to see the film, whether or not to allow their children to watch it. Restrictions are just guidance, a reminder that there may be some issue or graphic scenes that the MPAA deem not suitable for such an audience, but it is still up to the parents to assert their final decision. Responsible parenthood can immediately and automatically turn down the tables for the MPAA or the movie industry itself.Nobody really has to be told about their morals, for it is subjective, it depends on the individual. The system at how movies are rated is questionable, no doubt, but the way parents discipline their children is not. They can opt to allow their child to see R rated movies, and the consequences of such an act, may it be good or bad, is theirs for the taking. Works Cited: Kaplan. The Basics. New York: Kaplan Publishing, 2007. Medved, Michael. â€Å"R-Rated Movies Not A Good Investment For Hollywood. † 2000. Texas A&M University. 10 December 2008 . â€Å"Questions & Answers: Everything You Always Wanted To Know About The Movie Rating System. † 2000. The Classification and Rating Administration. 10 December 2008 . Bowles, Scott. â€Å"Debating the MPAA's mission. † 2007. USA Today. 10 December 2008 . Valenti, Jack. â€Å"How it all began. † 2000. MPA. 10 December 2008 .

Dick’s Sporting Goods, Equity Valuation and Analysis

Table of Contents Executive Summary2 Company Overview2 Economic Analysis GDP Growth3 Inflation3 Interest Rates3 Housing5 Consumer Spending5 Sovereign Debt6 Unemployment6 US Dollar7 Impact of Sporting Goods Stores Industry7 Industry Analysis8 Porter’s 5 Forces8 Big Four Analysis11 Industry Life Cycle13 Dick’s Sporting Goods Analysis Review of Annual Report16 Company SWOT Analysis18 Trend Ratio Analysis20 Cross Sectional Ratio Analysis22 Analyst Analysis/Estimates24 DuPont Ratio Analysis25 Valuation P/E Multiplier26 Valuation FCF to Equity27 Summary of Analyst Reports28Beta Analysis29 Technical Analysis29 Conclusions31 Executive Summary After analyzing Dick’s Sporting Goods and taking into account both positive and negative aspects associated with the stock, I am giving the stock a Moderate Buy Recommendation, with a target price of $46. 50. The recommendation took into account DKS’s recent earnings report, improving financial health, growth estimates, and i ndustry outlook. In this report I will evaluate the current overall economic conditions and how they affect the Sporting Goods Stores industry and the Retail sector in general.The report then focuses on Dick’s Sporting Goods’ key measure of financial health, profitability, and growth compared to historical levels and competitors. A P/E Multiple analysis and a Free Cash Flow to Equity valuation approach was then used to derive an intrinsic value of the stock. Company Overview Dick’s Sporting Goods is the largest Sporting Goods Store in the United States, selling sports equipment, exercise and fitness equipment, apparel and footwear along with outdoor sports equipment and accessories.Dick’s was founded in 1948 and operates 455 stores in 42 states primarily in the eastern part of the United States. Dick’s Sporting Goods controls 13. 4% of the market share within the industry and has the largest market cap at $4. 75 billion. When the most recent fiscal year ended in January of 2011 (FY 2010), Dick’s Sporting Goods generated over $4. 8 billion in sales and had Net Income of just over $182 million. Currently Dick’s Sporting Goods has 120. 72 million shares outstanding. Economic Analysis GDP Growth Recently GDP grew at an annualized rate of 1. % and 2% in the second and third quarters of 2011 respectively. Consumer Spending is one of the key drivers and is a large portion of the US economy and with consumer confidence still below healthy levels. Combined with low consumer spending current monetary and fiscal policy have prevented GDP from getting above the aforementioned growth levels for an extended amount of time. Also contributing to low GDP is the traditionally higher unemployment as of late, lack of confidence in the US government, and low home values as a result of the housing crisis.The low growth in GDP will more than likely continue in the near future as the economy will work out of the recent recession and wi ll therefore keep interest and inflation rates. Once the economy starts to strengthen and expand however, GDP growth rates will increase from their current bleak levels. Inflation Inflation expectations have remained low recently, showing trust in the Red to monitor/control inflation rates when the economy begins to start expanding.With Ben Bernacke and the Fed’s commitment to keep interest rates at their historically low levels, it seems that monetary policy is following a trend of attempting to prevent any policy from causing further struggle to the U. S. economy. In the short term there seems to be no immediate threat/fear of inflation rising in the US. According to an article from Reuters, the Fed wants to keep inflation around its 2% target in order confirm the Federal Reserve’s ability to keep control over inflation levels. Interest RatesInterest rates set by the US Federal Reserve within its over-arching monetary policy are very important in terms of the world e conomy. Recently the Fed pledged to keep the federal funds rate close to zero through mid year 2013. Operation Twist, a plan to buy long-term U. S. debt and sell short-term debt, which will result in a flattening of the yield curve and a drop in long-term debt yields, is a part of the expected future according to the Fed. This means that the historical lows in interest rates that we are seeing will continue in the short run.In the long run however, there looks to be a divergence from that short-run trend. Consumers and businesses in the long-run will get away from the de-leveraging process that we are seeing in the recent past and currently and begin to build up cash that will circulate more unreservedly. This will cause the Fed to set interest rates at higher levels in order to combat against the rise in inflation in the post-deleveraging period. Housing Post-housing/financial crisis of 2007-2009, the housing market seems to be showing signs of improvement after great downturn.With the downturn in housing prices, many homeowners did not have enough equity to avoid taking a loss on the sale of their homes so they are sitting with home loans based off of higher-than-current mortgages. However, in November the National Association of Home Builders’ sentiment index jumped to 20, which is the highest reading in over a year. Demand for mortgages has also seemed to pick up a bit according to the Fed’s 4th quarter loan survey. Construction remains at historically low levels but has increased as of late, and the number of foreclosures has increased this quarter also.These trends do seem to be geared to a more short-term thought process and many analysts believe that in the long run, the housing market will improve and strengthen along with the strengthening of the US economy. Consumer Spending In October personal income increased $48. 1 billion and disposable personal income increased $30. 2 billion according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In additi on, personal consumption expenditures increased $8. 2 billion. With consumer spending representing about 70% of total GDP increases in the different income categories translates into more consumer spending.Analysts believe that with continued increasing we can start to return to pre-recession levels of spending. This increase is a positive sign for retailers because there is more disposable income to purchase their products than recently as we continue to move away from recessionary levels. From the chart below you can see the upward trend from the 2008 lows in personal consumption spending. The chart on the next page does a good job portraying the recent trends in consumer spending. Sovereign Debt Foreign currencies have been seen weakening relative to the US dollar due to many debt issues in countries abroad.This has caused investors to flock towards the safest reserve currency, which is the US dollar. Fear in Europe stems from economies that are much too large to be bailed out or allowed to completely default on their debt and the means for a solution have not come about as of yet. Greece, Italy, and Spain are among those countries that are seeing investor fear and are also causing investors to be cautious to the other European economies, even ones that have proved to be more reliable (Germany and France). There have been austerity measures that are aimed at reducing the debt levels of the countries in fear of defaulting however oliticians in the near future must discuss the outlook of the European Union and whether or not there is a need for countries to break apart. These threats significantly reduce the expected growth in forecasted GDP and spending, which could be harmful to worldwide markets that depend on Europe. Unemployment The unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons have remained stagnant through October ranging around 9%-9. 2% and 13. 9 million respectively. Within retail trade, employment increased in general merchandise stores and the industry has added 156,000 jobs over the past 12 months.The unemployment rate is forecasted to decline as the economy starts to strengthen and pull its way out of recessionary levels. This obviously affects consumer spending and consumer confidence in general. Higher unemployment rates tend to mean less disposable income, which would affect the pricing point of retailers and would hurt big ticket items such as different luxury goods. With dropping unemployment rates predicted for the future, consumer confidence will ultimately increase and consumer spending, therefore benefitting the retail sector. Value of the US DollarAs mentioned before with the fear of default and crisis abroad foreign currencies have weakened in relation to the dollar. Also this chaos in Europe helps support against the loose monetary policy of late, limited growth see in GDP, and large trade deficits, which would otherwise weaken the dollars position. Investors favor the safety that the US dollar provides . This strengthening in comparison to other currencies also gives sentiment to the fact that investors are becoming more and more confident in the US market again and thus moving more and more capital back into it.In the near future I believe that the dollar will remain strong relative to other foreign currencies and that investor confidence from abroad will continue as a direct relation to a strong future currency. Impact on Industry Many of the indicators listed in the Economic Analysis greatly affect the Retail Sector and Sporting Goods Stores Industry as a whole. The most obvious one is the gradual rise in consumer spending and therefore GDP. Both of these are positive signs for the retail sector, who’s profits are directly linked to variations in consumer spending.Consumer spending will also increase when consumer deleveraging process begins to slow down in the next few years. Due to low consumer confidence as a result of the financial crisis people were paying down more debt in order to be more financially healthy (deleveraging. ) As confidence increases consumers will use more disposable income towards consumption and less towards paying down debt. The high unemployment rates that we are currently seeing have negative effects on disposable income and therefore negatively affect the retail sector.However, with the forecast of adding jobs and a declining unemployment rate, the result will be increases in disposable income and therefore increases in consumer spending. The strong dollar in relation to foreign currencies makes US goods more expensive, however this does not have an adverse effect on Dick’s Sporting Goods because it generates the vast majority of its sales domestically. Industry Analysis Dick’s Sporting Goods operates in the Sporting Goods Stores Industry within the Retail Sector.Companies in this industry retail new sporting goods including sports equipment and apparel, exercise and fitness equipment, footwear and other s porting goods and accessories. Dick’s Sporting Goods also owns 81 Golf Galaxy stores in 30 states. DKS operates in off-mall locations and feature an interactive store-within-a-store environment. Revenue growth for the past five years in the industry has been volatile due to drivers such as high volatility in disposable income. Average annual revenue growth over the past five years was just 0. 3% and the forward five years are forecasted for average annual revenue growth of 2. % Porter Five Forces Barriers to Entry The most dominant barrier to potential entrants into the industry has to do with the large start-up costs associated with firms. The initial cost of establishing a retail outlet or acquiring a retail outlet with sufficient inventory to supply customers is a great inhibitor to new entrants. High marketing and advertising costs are also important cost barriers to be dealt with in order to become competitive in the industry. This expenditure increased in the five years to 2011, which was a directly from rises in competition.This has caused massive investment in brand promotion and promotional campaigns in attempts to increase store traffic and differentiate. This is another capital barrier to entry for possible entrants. In addition, the present and well-established channels of distribution between suppliers and the major players of the industry can be a major deterrence. In order to achieve success new entrants would have to need to somehow establish strong relationships with the upstream manufacturers and wholesalers in order to obtain high quality, low-priced stock. CompetitionDespite their low market shares individually the concentration in the Sporting Goods Stores industry is increasing due to increases in M&A as of late. This trend along with the growth in the number of outlets operated by the larger players of the industry create high levels of difficulty for the smaller and specialty firms within the industry. These smaller firms have be en forced to reduce product margins in order to remain competitive. In addition, IBISWorld estimates that through 2016 the number of enterprises within the industry will grow at an average rate of 0. 9%, further intensifying competition.There has been recent competition from department stores and other mass merchandisers and IBISWorld predicts that this will be the single biggest threat to the industry in the years to 2016. Because of their great size and buying power, these competitors are able to offer merchandise at considerably lower prices and in bulk quantities. From there department stores and mass merchandisers are able to pass cost savings onto the consumers via lower prices, while still maintaining margins. Large chains like Walmart and Target can also lower prices more readily making it harder to compete on price.This has caused larger Sporting Goods Store Chains to open â€Å"superstores† that allows them to compete more effectively on price with department stores . Substitutes/Compliments In terms of sports equipment, which is the largest product segment in the industry, market share has declined since 2000 and can be attributed to the growth in the rental market. With declining disposable income levels, it became more cost effective for consumers to rent sports equipment then purchasing it outright. Sale of sports equipment by external competitors like department stores has also accounted for this loss in market share.Other substitutes that affect this industry have to do with how people spend their leisure time and competition with products such as toys, crafts, fashion, and music related items exist because of this factor. Home entertainment products also directly compete with sporting and recreational goods depending on how consumers spend their leisure time. With advances in technology the competition for these substitutes increases, which holds true in advances in video game systems, computer games, and online resources to spend leisur e time.Buyer Power Buyer power can be seen mostly through the affects that disposable income takes on industry sales. The products that Sporting Goods Stores would not be generally viewed as necessities and therefore sales are hurt when consumer spending takes a downturn due to tightening of disposable income. Fluctuations in income levels among consumers also alters price levels of goods purchased. In continuing with price, price remains the single largest basis of competition between firms within the industry.Consumers are price conscious and will ensure that they purchase goods at the best possible price. Therefore, buyers have the power to shift pricing points of firms and facilitate competition based on those pricing points. Along with price comes quality and the demand for popular branded items by consumers. Consumer preferences can determine the range of merchandise carried by companies and also the brands that stock the shelves. Therefore changes in consumer preferences grea tly affects the products offered to public by consumers and the quality of products offered. Supplier PowerSupplier power within the industry has come mostly in retailers seeking exclusive contracts with them in the hopes that those retailers gain an advantage over rivals with the types of products they are able to offer. For example, Foot Locker, which is more of a sports apparel retailer but nonetheless, has secured specific partnerships with Adidas and Reebok for the back-to-school period. With the partnership Foot Locker became the exclusive retailer of new-release Adidas and Reebok shoe products. This trend of seeking exclusive contracts with suppliers is forecasted to ontinue in the future in hopes of increasing industry revenue. However, this also gives more power to suppliers in terms of which companies they competitively position themselves with. Big Four Analysis Demographics Sports participation rates by age have a pretty solid effect on industry revenue. Children aged 5 to 17 years old are estimated to represent the key market for the industry, comprising of about 53 million individuals. This age group also has the highest participation rates in sports, thus driving sales for this age demographic.The problem is that as this age group gets older there is a trend of decreases in sports participation in order to focus attention on activities other than sports. The relative size of this market in the five years to 2016 is expected to decrease by 9% because of this changing of activities. Also, as people live longer they want to maintain healthy lifestyles, which is why the aging baby boomers are expected to lead to higher sports participation rates among people 64 years and older. This will have a very favorable effect on the industry given the vast number of individuals that fall within this category.Sporting Goods Stores are also found to greatly position themselves in areas of the United States most densely populated. The industry is largely concent rated in the Southeast and West regions, which account for 24. [email  protected] and 17. 5% of industry establishments. These two regions also account for the largest share of US population at 25. 2% and 17. 0% respectively. Lifestyle Increases in consumer awareness regarding living healthy lifestyles and incorporating regular exercise into their daily lives is a positive factor for the industry.This lifestyle thus boosts sports participation rates resulting in increasing revenue for industry players. There has also been recent rise in popularity for sports activities that strengthen the mind-body spiritual connection, which also has a positive effect on the industry. Another key driving factor that has positive results for the Sporting Goods Stores Industry is the national culture of the United States. Sports are a very important part of our nation’s culture whether it be via the professional sports exposure or the team sport participation driven by association with secon dary and tertiary schools.The exposure and the vast amount that sports are imbedded within our every day life create continued positive figures in terms of sports participation. Legal/Regulatory Sports retailers that sell firearms must comply with the Federal Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, requiring retailers to perform presale background checks of consumers who want to purchase hunting rifles. Each background check generates a specific transaction number that is recorded on Form 4473 of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and retained for 20 years for auditing purposes.In addition retailers must hold a federal firearms license. Retailers are not exposed to tariffs on goods supplied but do have a range of organizations that provide guidance and support to them. Some key examples of such organizations include the National Retail Federation, the American Apparel and Footwear Association, and the National Sporting Goods Association. Technology Some technological advanc es that have made firms more competitive in the industry include, point of sale systems, bar-code scanning and electronic data interchange.These enable firms to control merchandising, distribution, sales, and markdowns. Increases in labor productivity have also been a direct result of such technological advances. Establishments of online means of shopping also have given retailers another channel of product distribution and have created further competition. Some technological threats to the industry have to do with shifts in consumer preferences as far as how they spend their leisure time. Wii Sports for Nintendo is an example of this as consumers have shifted to digital games as opposed to physical sports.The Wii series also offers additions such as Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus Yoga, which shows the ways in which consumers view sports participation has altered. Technological advances in video and computer games have enhanced the quality, affordability, and experience of undertaking the se leisure activities and continued growth in those areas has a drastically negative effect on traditional sporting activities and the Sporting Goods Stores Industry as a whole. Industry Life Cycle The Sporting Goods Stores Industry is currently in the mature stage of their ife cycle, with growth rates failing to outpace the overall economy, the consolidation of the industries players, and the lack of product innovation significant enough to change the industry’s landscape. Maturity in the industry has been supported by competition from department stores and the lack of change in the key buyers and sellers of sporting goods along with a slowdown in the rate of technological advances. Department store competition has caused contraction within the industry, which is typical of a mature industry.While more affluent firms have been the primary targets for consolidation, the industry also experienced a decline in the number of non-employing operators, such as the small â€Å"mom and pop† stores. Finally, while manufacturers look to continue enhancing product designs and functionality to make products faster, lightweight, more durable, and more versatile, these types of product advancements generally have little impact on the overall growth of the industry. These product advances aren’t the catalyst that can propel this industry into a growth phase.Sporting Goods Stores as % of GDP (in millions) Year| 2006| 2007| 2008| 2009| 2010| Industry Sales| 38,132. 60| 39,980. 40| 39,826. 80| 39,000. 00| 38,385. 70| Sales Growth| -| 4. 8%| -0. 4%| -2. 1%| -1. 6%| Nominal GDP| 13,398,800| 14,061,800| 14,369,100| 14,119,000| 14,582,400| GDP Growth| -| 4. 95%| 2. 19%| -1. 18%| 3. 28%| Sales as % of GDP| . 285%| . 283%| . 271%| . 272%| . 265%| The industry sales chart that is shown above includes all companies that operate within the Sporting Goods Stores Industry, from major players to small and specialty stores.From the data above we can see that revenue gro wth for the industry has lagged behind Nominal GDP growth. Supporting the notion that the industry is in the mature stage. This was most likely caused by the fact that growth in the industry over the previous five years was hit hard by declines in consumer spending and consumer deleveraging. Declines in consumer confidence and consumption levels seemed to affect Industry revenue than Nominal GDP as a whole. Sporting Goods Stores Companies with over $250 million in Sales as % of GDP (in millions) Year| 2006| 2007| 2008| 2009| 2010|Industry Sales| 9,705. 20| 11,404. 40| 11,881. 10| 12,265. 80| 12,838. 50| Sales Growth| -| 17. 5%| 4. 18%| 3. 24%| 4. 67%| Nominal GDP| 13,398,800| 14,061,800| 14,369,100| 14,119,000| 14,582,400| GDP Growth| -| 4. 95%| 2. 19%| -1. 18%| 3. 28%| Sales as % of GDP| . 00072%| . 00081%| . 00083%| . 00087%| . 00088%| The second chart is the same breakdown as the one before, however it is a make up of only the 7 firms in the industry that receive revenue over $25 0 million on an annual basis (Sports Authority is included but is privately held so only basic revenue data was able to be retrieved).What we see now is quite a different story, with industry revenue growth outpacing Nominal GDP growth in all years of the historical breakdown. This suggests that the large cap firms within the industry are not as mature in nature as the broad industry and have ample room for growth in the future. This would suggest that based on the forecasts of increased consumer spending/consumption in the future as the economy strengthens and consumer confidence returns, growth figures for these large cap firms will be even higher. Dick’s Sporting Goods Analysis Review of Annual Report Key Risk FactorsThe following are some of the risk factors presented from management as their biggest threats in terms of influencing sales. : * Economic and financial downturn causes declines in consumer spending, which will adversely affect the company’s operations. * The business is very seasonal and is highly dependent on the success of the 4th quarter. * The industry is very sensitive to general macroeconomic changes that would affect either consumer sentiment or consumer spending. * The terms of their senior secured revolving credit facility impose certain restrictions that may impair their ability of available capital. The lack of acceptable retail store sites on terms acceptable to Dick’s Sporting Goods, rising real estate prices and other costs related to new store openings could limit expansion plans. * Private brand offerings, which are being emphasized more and more, expose DKS to many other risks than more popular brands. * If inflation were to increase it would greatly affect Dick’s Sporting Goods’ operating results unless DKS was able to fully pass on the increases in costs to the consumer via price. Legal Proceedings In 2011 Dick’s Sporting Goods has 14 cases ongoing in litigation, which is down from 20 10 when there was 39.One of the cases that received a lot of notoriety recently was Tamara Barrus vs. Dick’s Sporting Goods in 2010. Barrus was a former employee who was suing her former company on claims that DKS failed to pay her wages and failed to compensate her for overtime. The reason this case got so much attention was because as the case drew on, additional claims were added to the case from 35 other states with the same allegations. The settlement ended up being for approximately $10. 8 million before taxes in favor of Barrus and the other defendants.What is important to note is the potential vast negative effect this could have had on DKS’s reputation as well as the losses they had to pay in court. Off Balance Sheet Arrangements The off balance sheet arrangements for Dick’s Sporting Goods relate to operating leases, future minimum guaranteed contractual payments, and letters of credit. In the annual report, Dick’s Sporting Goods holds a firm sta nce that these off balance sheet items do not have any material effect on the financial condition of the company, revenues or expenses, results of operation, liquidity, capital expenditures, or other resources.When looking at the figures however there seem to be a different story. DKS lists $3,717,112,000 in total contractual obligations and $21,527,000 in total other commercial commitments that are not listed on their balance sheets. This would definitely seem to affect their operations and liquidity when looking at the magnitude of those numbers. In addition, DKS lists over $200 million in goodwill on its financial statements but its largest subsidiary Golf Galaxy was determined to have their goodwill unit fully impaired upon further investigation, which calls into question the size of the goodwill figure.DKS lists $130,496,000 in financing leases and $9,524,000 in capital leases, the financing leases do not have to be listed in financial statements but as you can see carry a very large amount. Finally, Dick’s Sporting Goods agreed to new terms on its Credit Agreement that allow DKS to incur unlimited capital lease obligations and indebtedness to finance the acquisition or improvement of any fixed capital assets. The new agreement also allows Dick’s to increase their ability to incur up to $200 million of unsecured indebtedness. ManagementIn examining the upper management of Dick’s Sporting Goods there are only a few things that I would like to point out. Edward Stack, whose father founded Dick's, has served as chairman and CEO since 1984. One area for concern is the board's staggered terms and the firm's dual-class common stock structure, which includes Class B shares with super-voting rights. Stack owns about 26% of the outstanding shares (including 23 million Class B shares) and controls 66% of the voting power. This drastically limits the control of minority shareholders.Dick's also has takeover defenses in place to prevent potential suitors from acquiring the firm. Executive compensation is weighted toward Stack, who received more than $7 million in total compensation over the past two years while the other top four officers received between $3. 8 and $1. 2 million. Salaries, all less than $1 million, are relatively small in the executive compensation system, but stock awards and stock options have been generously given and have consistently increased share counts. The dealings of the CEO and his family are also means for concern.Company SWOT Analysis Strengths Store-within-a-store merchandising concept With this type of merchandising model Dick’s Sporting Goods is able to gain advantages as a large store as well as that of a specialty store. Each of DKS’s large 50,000-75,000 square foot buildings it has specialty stores including: Golf Pro Shops, Footwear Centers, Fitness Centers, Outdoor Centers, and Team Sports. Deep product selection and knowledgeable staff are two advantages that DKS is able to provide with these specialty shops.These stores focus on specific categories and carry very deep products selections within each area of interest. The area that hurts specialty stores is competing on price but since DKS is also a mass merchandiser it is able to be competitive on price in that aspect. The combination of these two types of stores increases the average spend, customer satisfaction, price competitiveness, and product selection. Leading Market Position Garnered from Competitive Pricing Dick’s Sporting Goods is the leader in market share in the industry capturing about 13. 4%.The small number of large cap firms in the industry create an attractive competitive dynamic for these companies, as they have better bargaining power and can pass on the benefits of this large scale to customers in the forms of lower prices and higher quality merchandise. At the end of fiscal year 2011 DKS operated 486 stores and has growth plans set in the motion to increase that number at a staggering rate. A key aspect that has fueled its market position is its price positioning. DKS maintains a policy of matching competitor’s advertised prices and maintains the notion of providing value at each price point.Weaknesses Strained Relationship with the Employees Dick’s Sporting Goods has been involved with labor issue lawsuits over the past few years. Claims by former employees of failing to pay wages and overtime wages and various class action lawsuits. These not only deteriorate the relationships between corporate and lower level employees but also result in financial loss and gives a hit to the company’s overall reputation. Opportunities Increased Health Consciousness As mentioned in the lifestyle section, the health and wellness trend is expected to gain tons of momentum in the coming years.Industry analysis shows that yoga, aerobics, tennis, hiking, and running/jogging were the top five sporting activities that people were involved in 2010. Growing participation in these areas can be attributed to growing public awareness and emphasis on the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. In order to take advantage of this DKS can push its exercise/fitness equipment areas and fitness apparel lines, which would directly benefit in sales from higher participation in those five sporting areas mentioned. Offering Merchandise with Higher Margins in order to Enhance Profitability DKS has been ontinually improving profitability by offering higher margin merchandise such as apparel and footwear. In 2010, DKS incorporated Nike Field House shops at its retail outlets and plans to open 100 Nike Field House shops at its stores by the end of 2011. By partnering with manufacturers who are trying to push these types of products, DKS stands to benefit by way of product differentiation and product exclusivity as it is Nike’s key strategic apparel partner. More initiatives such as this will stand to boost profitability for DKS and will increase its return on investments. Threats Lower Participation in GolfPrimarily due to the economic slowdown there has been a decline in golf participation in the last few years as club members have not been able to afford the high fees charged by golf clubs. According to estimates participation is down 11. 5% from the year before, which has led to sluggish sales growth in that area for DKS. Gold equipment related purchases decreased 14% industry wide last year, which is a threat to Dick’s Sporting Goods as the revenue from the sale of golf equipment forms an important part of DKS’s total revenue. It also hurts the sales revenue of the 81 Golf Galaxy stores that are owned by Dick’s Sporting Goods.Non-replicable Characteristic of Products Demand for particular sporting goods equipment depends heavily on the region of the United States and DKS has limited scope in terms of replicating its products across all of its stores because of this. Climate changes play a significa nt role as well in the merchandising mix to be offered in regions and demands changes in the seasonality of certain products. With these obstacles to deal with, it limits DKS’s ability to have huge gains on inventory even though it is a large retailer. Trend Ratio Analysis Key Growth Ratios, YOY| 2007-01| 2008-01| 2009-01| 2010-01| 2011-01| Revenue %| 18. %| 24. 9%| 6. 2%| 6. 8%| 10. 4%| Net Income %| 3. 6%| 3. 9%| (1. 0%)| 3. 1%| 3. 7%| Dick’s Sporting Goods has had positive growth each of the last five years in terms of revenue, and has had positive growth four of the last five years in terms of their bottom line. This can be attributed to its strong position with the industry in terms of market share and its ability to compete on price as a mass merchandiser and be profitable in terms of its specialty stores. Growth looks to continue in the future for DKS with analysts predicting around 8% growth in fiscal year 2012 and low double digit growth in 2013.Liquidity/Fina ncial Health| 2007-01| 2008-01| 2009-01| 2010-01| 2011-01| Current Ratio| 1. 5x| 1. 4x| 1. 7x| 1. 5x| 1. 8x| Quick Ratio| 0. 3x| 0. 1x| 0. 2x| 0. 3x| 0. 7x| Cash Conversion Cycle| 59. 5| 66. 8| 71. 4| 62. 5| 51. 3| Receivables Turnover| 90. 2x| 76. 5x| 68. 9x| 94. 7x| 138. 4x| Inventory Turnover| 3. 8x| 3. 6x| 3. 4x| 3. 7x| 3. 8x| Dick’s Sporting Goods’ liquidity ratios seem pretty stable over the past five years. However, the quick ratio is very lower compared to the current ratio because inventory represents such a large part of DKS’s current assets.Despite this the quick ratio has been increasing over the past four years of operation. DKS’s cash conversion cycle has declined in recent years after extreme growth in the beginning of the last five years. Inventory turnover has been pretty stagnant for Dick’s Sporting Goods and DKS should look to improve this number in order to reduce inventory costs and storage costs. Finally the receivables turnov er of Dick’s Sporting Goods has seen great growth in the past five years meaning that it has been doing a better job of collecting on its accounts receivable.Profitability| 2007-01| 2008-01| 2009-01| 2010-01| 2011-01| Asset Turnover| 2. 3x| 2. 2x| 2. 1x| 2. 1x| 2. 0x| ROA| 9. 1%| 9. 4%| 7. 5%| 7. 0%| 8. 3%| ROE| 21. 8%| 20. 0%| (4. 5%)| 13. 7%| 14. 9%| ROIC| 17. 7%| 18. 0%| 14. 0%| 12. 8%| 14. 7%| Dick’s Sporting Goods’ profitability ratios are down from their beginning levels in this recent five-year period. These are unfavorable trends in terms of investor confidence. Return on Equity is lower than the beginning of the period by 6. 9% and Return on Invested Capital is at 3% lower than fiscal year 2006 levels.The good note is that all the ratios are improving from the previous year in attempts to return to levels prior to the recession. These ratios will hopefully increase as consumption increases and consumer confidence returns to pre-recessionary levels. Leve rage Ratios| 2007-01| 2008-01| 2009-01| 2010-01| 2011-01| Debt/Equity| 29. 2%| 20. 4%| 20. 3%| 13. 1%| 10. 3%| Long-term Debt/Equity| 29. 1%| 20. 4%| 20. 2%| 13. 0%| 10. 3%| Interest Coverage| 18. 2x| 13. 2x| 13. 7x| 51. 9x| 22. 8x| Financial Leverage| 0. 29| 0. 20| 0. 20| 0. 13| 0. 10| Dick’s Sporting Gods has approximately $. 3 of liabilities for every $1 of assets. Dick’s has also done a very good job of reducing its long-term debt relative to equity in addition to reducing its debt relative to equity. In addition DKS currently covers its interest expenses 22. 8 times with earnings. This is a significant drop from the previous year but it is an overall increase from the beginning of the five years leading to fiscal year 2010. Cross Sectional Ratio Analysis I chose to compare Dick’s Sporting Goods with Cabela’s Inc. and Big 5 Sporting Goods, which are its two biggest publicly owned rivals in the industry.All three are industry leaders in many statistica l and ratio categories. For comparison sake I will use the most recent fiscal year (2010) for the cross sectional ratio analysis of the three firms. Key Growth Ratios, YOY| DKS| CAB| BGFV| Revenue %| 10. 4%| 4. 3%| 0. 1%| Net Income %| 3. 7%| 5. 0%| 2. 3%| In looking at the year-over-year key growth ratios, Dick’s Sporting Goods’ revenue is more than double above Cabela’s and substantially higher than Big 5 in the most recent fiscal year. DKS is only second however in year-over-year net income, losing out to its closest industry competitor Cabela’s Inc.Liquidity/Financial Health| DKS| CAB| BGFV| Current Ratio| 1. 8x| 2. 0x| 1. 8x| Quick Ratio| 0. 7x| 1. 6x| 0. 1x| Cash Conversion Cycle| 51. 3x| 76. 4x| 100. 3x| Receivables Turnover| 138. 4x| 61. 0x| 63. 2x| Inventory Turnover| 3. 8x| 3. 3x| 2. 5x| The current ratios for the industry leaders are pretty similar across the board and CAB is the leader of the three in terms of quick ratio with DKS in second. I n terms of receivables turnover, Dick’s Sporting Goods is much more efficient in collecting on its accounts receivable than either CAB or BGFV, however DKS is last of the three in its average cash conversion cycle.Finally, DKS is has the best inventory turnover among the top three public players of the industry meaning that it is more efficient in reducing its inventory costs and DKS does a better job of getting its products off the shelves and into the customer’s hands. Profitability| DKS| CAB| BGFV| ROA | 8. 3%| 3. 4%| 5. 9%| ROE| 14. 9%| 11. 2%| 14. 6%| ROIC| 14. 7%| 5. 1%| 11. 3%| Profitability measures of the industry’s three largest players shows that Dick’s Sporting Goods earns greater income off of their equity relative to its two competitors.Return on Assets and Return on Invested Capital also favor DKS in comparison to its peers. Leverage Ratios| DKS| CAB| BGFV| Debt/Equity| 10. 3%| 227. 4%| 34. 4%| Long-Term Debt/Equity| 10. 3%| 120. 8%| 33. 1% | Interest Coverage| 22. 8x| 9. 5x| 25. 8x| Financial Leverage| 0. 10| 4. 42| 2. 60| As you can see Dick’s Sporting Goods is a much less levered company in comparison to its two largest competitors. It has drastically lower debt to equity ratios and a dramatically lower financial leverage statistic. This make Dick’s Sporting Goods a less risky company in comparison to Cabela’s Inc. and Big 5 Sporting Goods Inc.However, DKS’s beta is slightly greater than one; around 1. 24, which means that its is riskier than the market. Analyst Analysis/Estimates A key factor in DKS’s merchandising strategy is strong vendor relationships. Most mass merchants and specialty retailers have limited access to sports equipment because they can’t offer the high level of service that manufacturers demand from the firms they supply to. The store-within-a-store layout however Dick’s Sporting Goods provides that high level of service through experienced profess ionals, value-added repairs, maintenance, and assembly services.There is also an interactive shopping experience for customers with them being able to try products out before purchase, which most competitors don’t match. Dick’s has a great opportunity to expand nationwide in terms of number of storefronts and overall market share. Management has identified the potential for at least 900 DKS stores in the US before it nears saturation, which means that as of right now Dick’s is only halfway to its ultimate goal in terms of store base. It’s estimated that Dick’s Sporting Goods will open on average 36 new stores per year in the near future, suggesting a mid/high single digit square footage growth rate.In the long run, analysts expect more M&A similar to the acquisition of Golf Galaxy in order to provide immediate market penetration into several new markets. These types of acquisitions will also give DKS a better understanding of local markets, which w ill allow for DKS to adjust for regional preferences as discussed earlier. Dick’s Sporting Good’s category-leading inventory turns and high profitability within the industry will likely produce enough cash to fund its store growth initiatives in the near future.This will prevent DKS from having to turn to capital markets or the use of levering up. This will allow the firm to remain one of the industry’s healthiest companies financially. Analysts give Dick’s Sporting Goods a Fair Value Estimate of $41 per share, which is an increase from prior estimates based off of longer term operating margin assumptions. In terms of comparable ratios for valuation, analysts’ fair value estimate implies 22 times forward earnings, 9 times enterprise value to EBITDA, and 3% free cash flow yield.In terms of operating margin, analysts estimate that it will be on average between 8%-9%, which is a conservative estimate compared to company estimates of double-digit margi ns in the next three to five years. The model that the Morningstar analysts are using takes into account the growth plans that Dick’s Sporting Goods has in the future in terms of store openings at an average of 35 per year and that the chain reaches a total store count of more than 800 in the next 10 years at the end of the forecast.For fiscal year 2012, the model gives just under 8% growth in revenues, continued leverage of operating margins are to reach 8% on both gross margin improvement and SGA leverage. In 2013, analysts project low double-digit growth on a faster store-opening rate and slightly improved same-store sales along with flat operating margins as percentage of revenue. DuPont Ratio Analysis Over the most recent five-year period, Dick’s Sporting Goods saw drastic decreases in Return on Equity and moderate decreases in Return on Assets.By breaking down these ratios into the Dupont formula we can see what played a part in these decreases. Return of Assets= Net Income/Total Assets= Profit Margin*Asset Turnover | 2007-01| 2008-01| 2009-01| 2010-01| 2011-01| ROA=NI/TA| 9. 1 %| 9. 4 %| 7. 5%| 7. 0%| 8. 3%| Profit Margin= NI/Sales| 20. 93%| 20. 68%| 15. 75%| 14. 7%| 16. 6%| Asset Turnover= Sales/TA| 2. 3| 2. 2| 2. 1| 2. 1| 2. 0| From dissecting Return on Assets further we see that the main contributor to the decreasing ROA was the decreases in profit margin from the beginning of the most recent five-year period.Profit margins were cut because due to decreases in consumer spending during recessionary periods, Dick’s Sporting Goods was forced to cut its prices while input costs remained high, thus narrowing margins. Asset turnover was reduced during this five year period but not at a significant enough rate to be a major contributing factor to the massive decreases in Return on Assets. We now look at the Return on Equity based on the Return on Assets computations. | 2007-01| 2008-01| 2009-01| 2010-01| 2011-01| ROE= ROA*TA/EQ| 21. 8%| 20. 0%| (4. 5%)| 13. 7%| 14. 9%| Fin. Lev= TA/EQ| 0. 29| 0. 0| 0. 20| 0. 13| 0. 10| With the financial leverage decreasing because of there being less equity in the market as the recession continued after 2007, in order for Return on Equity to increase the ROA needed to offset that decrease in financial leverage. As we saw before, due to the drastic drops in profit margin over the period the Return on Equity suffered also. Therefore, variability in ROE can be attributed to volatility in the Return on Assets of Dick’s Sporting Goods. (Some of the values are not exact because of miscalculations in on the part of the Capital IQ database).Valuation P/E Multiplier The current P/E for Dick’s Sporting Goods is 20. 1. Since the economic outlook calls for expansion I will use the average annual growth of earnings from 2002-2007, which was deemed an economic expansion era. The average annual earnings growth rate over this time period is 24. 084%. This is a realistic estimation because if the economic forecast proves correct the we would experience a similar type of growth as we did post Internet bubble crisis, which is right around the beginning of 2002. Dick’s Sporting Good’s current earnings per share is $1. 92.Therefore, in order to get estimated earnings you take the current earnings per share and multiply it by the average annual growth rate of earnings during economic expansionary times. This gives us estimated earnings of $1. 92*(1. 24084)= $2. 3824. From there we multiply expected earnings per share times the current price to earnings ratio in order to get the intrinsic value based on this valuation model. Therefore we take 20. 1*$2. 3824 to get an intrinsic value of $47. 886. The current stock price of DKS is $38. 53 (as of 11/29/11). This would suggest that the market undervalues DKS by about 19. 54%.Free Cash Flow to Equity Approach In using the free cash flow to equity approach there are many inputs in which you need to identify and defend their use. Here are some of those inputs: * WACC=11. 64%; This was based off of a WACC calculator in which total debt and total equity were extracted from the most recent financial statements, corporate tax was 38. 8% based on public information, cost of debt was 7. 0% based on analyst information, and cost of equity was found using CAPM. For risk free rate the 3 year treasury rate was used of . 4% and for market return the 3 year return on the Russell Midcap Growth Index of 10. 8% was used because that is the style of stock DKS is and 3 years after analyst growth estimates for 2012 and 2013 is when we expect economic expansion. * 2012 growth rate is 8% based on analyst estimates and 2013 growth is 11% based on analyst estimates. * From 2014 until 2016 we expect there to be growth but at a decreasing rate of about 1. 5% per annum until after 2016 when we expect growth to mimic economic expansion from 2002-2007 in which the average annual growth rate was 6. 31%. Calculatio n of Intrinsic Value on Following Page Year| FCF/Share| 2002| . 3902| 2003| . 3168| 2004| . 0283| 005| . 3412| 2006| . 0541| 2007| . 7692| 2008| -. 5089| 2009| 2. 2119| 2010| 1. 8934| 2011| 2. 032| 2012| 2. 19456| 8% growth| 2013| 2. 43596| 11% growth| 2014| 2. 66737| 9. 5% growth| 2015| 2. 88077| 8% growth| 2016| 3. 06802| 6. 5% growth| Perpetuity| 61. 1934| 6. 31% growth| Intrinsic Value| $41. 0685| The current stock price is $38. 53 (as of 11/29/11), and based on the intrinsic value this suggests that the market undervalues DKS by about 6. 18%. Summary of Analyst Reports According to Morningstar Investment Research Center, the fair value estimate for Dick’s Sporting Goods is $41. 0. In addition, analysts recommend to consider buying the stock at $24. 60 and consider selling the stock at $63. 60. Morningstar also gives Dick’s Sporting Goods a three star rating. In looking at YahooFinance the mean target for the stock based on analyst estimates is $46. 50 with a high target of $50. 00 and a low target of $36. 00. Accordingly, this month there are 10 Strong Buy recommendations, 7 Buy recommendations, 9 Hold recommendations, and 1 Underperform recommendation. Beta Coefficient Dick’s Sporting Goods has a Beta coefficient of 1. 4, indicating that it is generally more risky than the general market. This risk factor is most likely determined by the high revenue volatility that the industry is exposed to as a direct result of consumer spending and also due to the industry’s mature state. Technical Analysis In examining Dick’s Sporting Goods using technical analysis I chose to pick a few popular technical analysis indicators and use them to assess DKS. First we look at Bollinger Bands, which are variable width bands that become narrower during less volatile periods and wider during more volatile periods.In examining the Bollinger Bands for DKS we can see that as of right now there seems to be low levels of volatility in pricing espe cially compared to August where there was much volatility in pricing for DKS along with the overall market. The recent lower volatility would suggest stable pricing trends to continue in the near future. Next I looked at the Relative Strength Index. The RSI is a calculation where average up and average down are calculated using a simple average method for the initial observation. Subsequent values are computed using these initial values in conjunction with a damping factor to smooth out extreme points.An RSI indicator falling below a value of 30 indicates an oversold condition. A buy signal is triggered when the indicator crosses 30 from below. Similarly, an RSI value greater than 70 indicates an overbought condition. A sell signal is triggered when the indicator crosses 70 from above. If you look at the bottom half of this picture you can see the Relative Strength Index for the current year. In going with the description on the previous page, it seems that in late August/early Sept ember the RSI crossed 30 from below, which would have signaled a buying situation at the time.In looking at other technical analysis trends, financial visualizations or FINVIZ. com, gives distance from simple moving average statistics. The SMA50, or the distance from the 50 day simple moving average is 3. 25%, which according to the site is a favorable statistic. In addition it states that the SMA200 or the distance from the 200 day simple moving average is 2. 28%, which is once again a favorable statistic according to the site. Conclusions * Dick’s Sporting Goods has the leading market share in a mature Sporting Goods Stores industry that’s marked by high levels of pricing competition. The industry is very dependent on consumer spending and disposable income per capita. Decreases in these along with consumer confidence pose huge threats to the industry as we saw with the extremely marginal average annual growth from 2006 to 2011. * DKS is the leader in the golf indust ry with its acquisition of Golf Galaxy and its us of the store-within-a-store model for specialty golf stores. * The industry is seeing decreases in sports participation among children in lieu of other avenues to fulfill leisure time that could put restraints upon growth within the industry. Dick’s Sporting Goods’ high lease expense represents off-balance-sheet financing and means the company is more leveraged than investors realize. * DKS has benefitted from its ability to compete on price as a mass merchandiser and from offering deep product selection and higher margin items within it’s specialty stores. * Management has store expansion plans that on average would open up about 35 new stores per year and would put Dick’s Sporting Goods over 800 stores within the 10 year forecast, which is just under the estimate for number of stores until saturation. ————————————— —- [ 1 ]. Zumbrun, Joshua. â€Å"Fed Says Economy Has Picked Up While Still Detecting ‘Significant’ Risks. † Bloomberg – Business & Financial News, Breaking News Headlines. Bloomberg, 2 Nov. 2011. Web. [ 2 ]. EVANS, KELLY. â€Å"Housing Market May Be Nearing a Bottom. † Business News & Financial News – The Wall Street Journal – Wsj. com. Wall Street Journal, 21 Nov. 2011. Web. [ 3 ]. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Personal Income and Outlays: October 2011. Accessed 11/27/11. [ 4 ]. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Real Personal Consumption Expenditures.Accessed 11/27/11 [ 5 ]. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment Situation Summary. October 2011. [ 6 ]. IBISWorld Market Research Industry Report. Sporting Goods Stores. Accessed 11/21/11 [ 7 ]. BizMiner [ 8 ]. Bureau of Economic Analysis [ 9 ]. BizMiner [ 10 ]. Bureau of Economic Analysis [ 11 ]. â€Å"Capital IQ. † Financial Records: DKS. Accessed 11/30/11 [ 12 ]. â€Å"Capita l IQ. † Financial Statements: DKS, CAB, BGFV. Accessed 11/30/11. [ 13 ]. Morningstar Investment Research Center. Swinand, Paul. Analyst Research: DKS. Accessed 11/21/11. [ 14 ]. â€Å"Capital IQ. † Financial Statements: DKS. Accessed 11/30/11.