America Decline Essay

â€Å"America’s present need is not heroics but healing; not nostrums but normalcy; not revolution but restoration.† This famous sentence pronounced by Warren G. Harding, the 29th President of the United States, at the beginning of his office in 1921, could be, from certain points of view, perfectly adapted today. In fact, America’s situation and future for four decades, has been largly debated. Is she in decline? Is she stil an empire, a power, a hyperpower? Two English professors : Michael Cox and Michael John Williams, both experts in this question, looked into this problem. Professor Cox, first, drew a pessimistic view of America in his essay Is the United States in decline-again? In response to this essay, M.J.Williams wrote The empire writes back where he explains how much Cox’s argument about America’s decline are false. Professor Cox, in his essay Is the United States in decline-again explains his theory about America’s decline. As we can see in the title America would be in decline â€Å"again†. In fact, until 1968 and during two decades the debate about America’s decline was in the air. People were talking about it, people were feeling it, people were reading it. They particularly read the work of Kennedy, an english historian who wrote The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. In his famous book, Kennedy had two major propositions to explain United States’s decline. The first one was based in a realist notion : the fact that all empires has a finite lifepan. The second was empiric : America’s century was simply coming to his end, faster than anyone expected. This decline had differents causes : the defeat in Vietnam, the rising of the national debt, and above all, the â€Å"emergence of a more complex interdependant world† (Cox, 2007, 645), and this new worl d would completely change USA’s place in the world. Yet, in the nineties, things took a totally different turn. In fact, with the Gulf war of 91, the failure of Europe to resolve Yougolslavie’s issue, the economic crisis in Japan and then the Asian economic crisis, USA refound its place of first Power and everybody forgot the decline’s question during one decade. The major point wich changed everything for the USA was the end of the cold war, wich caused the  dissolution of the USSR and consequently the collapse of only one alternative for the world : capitalism. At this moment started a new era, for the USA and for the world : â€Å"The world system had finally been united† (Cox, 2007, 648) The nature of the USA changed with this new era : the USA became a modern empire, a hegemon, a hyperpower. They changed a lot in their forein policy : they set up a massive military lead, an extensive system of global alliances, a massive intelligence gathering and a global culture and economy. Under Clinton’s administration they also started to change the bases of their policy which became more unilateralist : â€Å"always more unilaterally inclined than their multilateral rethoric seemed to imply† (Cox, 2007, 648). The symbol of this unilateralism has been the invasion of Irak and Afghanistan after the events of the nine of eleven. In fact, they decided, against other coutry’s view to start a war, to fulfill their duty in fighting â€Å"the rogues sates† and declaring one each against Irak Afghanistan,Iran, North corea.. They found a new doctrine and it led them to their loss : â€Å"The US comitted one of the most basic of great power errorss : getting stuck into a quagmire in a country it would have been better to leave be† (Cox, 2007, 650). This events had serious consequences, the Third world changed totally his point of view about USA and many of them started to be be hostile towards them. Further, USA ignored the international laws and made huge dammages to the liberal order and to trust between countries. In the same time the other powers in the world are rising : Europe and china are playing more effetively wich â€Å"altere the way international relations are now conducted†. In fact USA are now constently challenged from the euro, from the other competitors as Toyota, even from the other towns as London wich is now the first stock exchange in the world. American start to feel that USA is changing : the majority of the middle and working class are in a sombre mood, the inequalities and the insecurity are increasing and so are their personal debt. To Cox’s point of view, even if USA is stile a refence point, challenging times are now arrived.

The Theme of “A Worn Path”

The Theme of â€Å"A Worn Path† Charlotte Schroeder Ashford University 03/04/2013 ENG 125 Instructor Abby Forster In the short story â€Å"A Worn Path†, the author Eudora Welty, created a strong theme of undying love with an old woman and her grandson. The main character in this story is called Phoenix; she is an old woman that is narrated from the author trying to make a long journey down a worn path to bring her sick grandson medicine. She will not let anything get in her way from completing her mission and will not give up even though she is not a young puppy anymore.She is the last living relative to her young grandson and she keeps strong to fulfill his needs and keep him happy. The author uses great symbolism in the short story throughout the entire story. Religion, racism, and true love all play a key role in the theme of â€Å"A Worn Path†; it has strong literary elements that take this story to higher limits. The story does not tell us where the mother i s, however shows us how strong Phoenix is in her journey with characters making us know how bad racism is and how God is strong with her in her mission.Anyone that has children would not stop at anything to save them; Phoenix’s journey down a worn path proves it. This story is about a grandmother, Phoenix, walking through treacherous woods to get some medicine for her grandson that is sick that may or may not help him. The story is told in the third-person, â€Å"Third-person point of view which occurs when the speaker is not a participant in the story. It has two forms: omniscient point of view and objective point of view. † (Cited in Clugston, 2010) The author uses a narrative approach with the main character; it shows her thoughts and feelings throughout the entire story.She speaks to herself with a single purpose, devotion to her grandson in the doctor’s clinic. She must get to him at no cost since she is poor. The story’s theme is about undying love for a grandmother and grandson; it explains her struggles against aging since she has walked this path since the civil war. The narrative story expresses a lot of symbolic characters, first it starts with the name Phoenix which stands for the mythical creature that rises from its own ashes. â€Å"The use of symbolic characters throughout the story is explained.The author provides a critical interpretation and offers different meaning behind several elements. † (Cited in Clugston, 2010) Phoenix is faced with getting old and losing her mind, she is very afraid of it, but still carries on with the strength of God with her. Religion plays a key role to keeping her mind and strength strong and even beat racism with the characters she met along the way and interacts with. It starts with a cold month in December for the setting that makes you feel compassion for the main character and brings a thought of stagnation and sleeep.The story’s author sets a picture in your head fir st, â€Å"The setting is rural, a cold, early morning in December in the South. † (Cited in Clugston, 2010) The main character is a Negro woman that is an old lady and has been through many life situations. The story uses settings to establish many points for the theme and details of wagon tracks used to tell us she is following a familiar path. â€Å"On she went. The woods were deep and still. The sun made the pine needles almost too bright to look at, up where the wind rocked. The cones dropped as light as feathers.Down in the hollow was morning dove- it was not too late for him. † )Cited in Clugston, 2010, â€Å"A Worn Path†, para. 3) This is the â€Å"easy part† of her new journey since she will face a hunter and a nurse along the way. She meets a white hunter with a dog; they represent external conflicts that she must deal with. The hunter helps her out of a ditch that she has fallen in, however irony is used since he puts a gun in her face that also resembles racism. She compares her bones to weeds springy enough not to have been broken by the fall into the ditch.The hunter speaks down to her since he thinks she is a crazy old black woman trying to go see Santa Clause for presents. She finds a nickel in her pocket, â€Å"God watching me the whole time. I come to stealing,† she knows that she must keep going with god’s help. However, she does not let this get her down since religion played a big role in her life and she has encountered much worse. Next, the author tells how Phoenix is feeling, â€Å"Seem like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far†, this symbolizes chains are like a struggle for her. Cited in Clugston, 2010, â€Å"A Worn Path† para. 10) She is faced with buzzards that symbolize death for her and oak trees that symbolize strength and wisdom since she was strong with life still. â€Å"She passed through the old cotton and went into a field of dead corn†, this showed how devoted her love was to pass through death defying places. (Cited in Clugston, 2010) Also, when she drank water, â€Å"In a ravine she went where a spring was silently flowing through a hollow log. Old Phoenix bent back and drank†, it symbolized a source of life and regeneration. Cited in Clugston, 2010, â€Å"A Worn Path† para. 14) All of these literary elements contributed to the short story and theme. When Phoenix arrives in the city she sees Christmas lights that are red, green, and silver that look like presents, which made religion come to play again. She encounters a nurse when she arrives finally to the doctor’s clinic. The nurse thinks that she is very poor and gives her another nickel to help her. All Phoenix wants is to see her grandson happy so she takes the two nickels and buys him a pinwheel to make him smile.Besides the medicine she has for him, she wanted to make him know he was loved and wanted to give a present. In the end the author made m e feel the undying love that a grandmother can have for her grandson. She took a hard path in spite of her old age to make her grandson get what he needed, medicine, and a smile. Her journey faced racism, religion, and death that she overcame with the love she had in her soul, it would not die even if she got hurt. The medicine did not work in the past for her sick grandson, however she thought it might help to cure him with love.Everyone that has experienced a mother’s love or grandmother’s would know that they will not stop for anything to give their undying love. References A Worn Path, Edora Welty-Introduction. Critism. ED. Anna J. Sheets. Vol. 27 April, 2012 Retrieved from: http://www. enotes. com/worn-path-critcism/worn-path Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into literature. Retrieved from: https://content. ashford. edu Lappin, A. Studia Neophilologic June, 2012, Vol. 84 Issue 1, p33Retrieved from: http://www. ashford. edu/ehost/books

Starry night

Vincent Van Gogh Painted named Starry Night was painted with the use of oil mediums in 1889 while he was in Saint Remy seeking treatment in a mental asylum. Although when this piece was painted it was based on his memory. This piece is a symbolic landscape full of movement, energy and light. It is CACM by 92 CM and this painting alongside Mona Lisa is used to decorate more bedrooms around the world than any other image in the history of art. It is one of those iconic images, that have become visual click ©s due to mass production and consequently deserve a closer look to rediscover their power.It was based on a constellation rearrangement that Van Gogh had seen earlier on in the night sky of Provence. Starry night is perhaps one of his most famous artworks ever and is one of the most replicated artworks around the worlds. The night sky depicted by Van Gogh in this painting is full of whirling clouds, shining stars and a bright crescent moon on the far right of the painting. The ele ments ensure fluidity and this piece is not a happy piece nor a dark one as it has different tones throughout the whole piece.The Church and town symbolism unity as they are all together under the beautiful night sky, the dark object in the foreground represents isolation a darkness that is present and the most noticeable shining stars and moon represent hope and peace in dark times. Van Gogh has carefully placed the town in the lower center of the piece because even though it isn't the main focus of the whole artwork it is very carefully huddled around a church which connects into the sky to draw your eye from the flowing lines into the lit up town.The little huddled town creates a sense of seclusion and I would not expect this town to be full of crime or noise. Even if it was, this is not what the artist depicted. What he did depict was a town, some houses with the peace of sleep. Van Gogh lived in a little town Just on the outskirts of Saint Remy and I believe that this town swel l as the cypress tree and stars all relate back to his life pre suicide. I believe that all three are connected and the town symbolizes unity and gives an impression of isolation but also how much we have devolved because in one part we have a creation of man and in the other a creation of nature.There are various interpretations of Starry Night and one is that the canvas depicts pope. It seems that van Gogh was showing that even with a dark night such as this it is still possible to see light in the windows of the houses. Furthermore, with shining stars filling the sky, there is always light to guide you. First, it comes across as a sort of castle, but then you get the impression that it is a plant of some sort that is growing toward sky.As you look closer you realize that the mysterious shape is not made of black lines, but dark green, with hints of blues and blacks in its midst. This object is said to be a cypress tree and they usually symbolism death as they are most molly found in graveyards. It is possible that Vantage intensifies himself with the looming cypress tree in the foreground. The large cypress in Starry Night is arguably the most eye catching but at the same time ambiguous â€Å"thing† in the painting.Mostly because of its size and the way its dark and almost sinister presence contrasts to heavily with the brightly colored stars. I relate Van Gogh with this tree as it seems that even though he was cured of his illness there was no peace, so in death he knew that he would be at piece. Van Gogh was aware that his Starry Night composition was somewhat surreal. Although the features are exaggerated, this is a scene we can all relate to, and also one that most individuals feel comfortable and at ease with.This sky keeps the viewer's eyes moving about the painting, following the curves and creating a visual dot to dot with the stars. This movement keeps the onlooker involved in the painting while the other factors take hold. The rich colors u sed by Van Gogh almost makes it look as through it is smudged but if you zoom in and take a closer look they are Just different textures from thick to thin. This is basically the only light in this painting as t is surrounded by bright stars and the crescent moon.I believe it subsidizes the light that guides everybody through darkness as the cypress tree looms nearby. Also how our world is so beautiful above and sometimes we get caught up in our busy lives that to take time to appreciate a beautiful collation of stars and the sky itself is hard but right inferno of all of us. Beauty is always there among darkness but it's our choice if we choose to appreciate it. It seems that van Gogh was finally being cured of his illness and had essentially found his heaven. He also knew that in death he would be at peace. Starry night Vincent Van Gogh Painted named Starry Night was painted with the use of oil mediums in 1889 while he was in Saint Remy seeking treatment in a mental asylum. Although when this piece was painted it was based on his memory. This piece is a symbolic landscape full of movement, energy and light. It is CACM by 92 CM and this painting alongside Mona Lisa is used to decorate more bedrooms around the world than any other image in the history of art. It is one of those iconic images, that have become visual click ©s due to mass production and consequently deserve a closer look to rediscover their power.It was based on a constellation rearrangement that Van Gogh had seen earlier on in the night sky of Provence. Starry night is perhaps one of his most famous artworks ever and is one of the most replicated artworks around the worlds. The night sky depicted by Van Gogh in this painting is full of whirling clouds, shining stars and a bright crescent moon on the far right of the painting. The ele ments ensure fluidity and this piece is not a happy piece nor a dark one as it has different tones throughout the whole piece.The Church and town symbolism unity as they are all together under the beautiful night sky, the dark object in the foreground represents isolation a darkness that is present and the most noticeable shining stars and moon represent hope and peace in dark times. Van Gogh has carefully placed the town in the lower center of the piece because even though it isn't the main focus of the whole artwork it is very carefully huddled around a church which connects into the sky to draw your eye from the flowing lines into the lit up town.The little huddled town creates a sense of seclusion and I would not expect this town to be full of crime or noise. Even if it was, this is not what the artist depicted. What he did depict was a town, some houses with the peace of sleep. Van Gogh lived in a little town Just on the outskirts of Saint Remy and I believe that this town swel l as the cypress tree and stars all relate back to his life pre suicide. I believe that all three are connected and the town symbolizes unity and gives an impression of isolation but also how much we have devolved because in one part we have a creation of man and in the other a creation of nature.There are various interpretations of Starry Night and one is that the canvas depicts pope. It seems that van Gogh was showing that even with a dark night such as this it is still possible to see light in the windows of the houses. Furthermore, with shining stars filling the sky, there is always light to guide you. First, it comes across as a sort of castle, but then you get the impression that it is a plant of some sort that is growing toward sky.As you look closer you realize that the mysterious shape is not made of black lines, but dark green, with hints of blues and blacks in its midst. This object is said to be a cypress tree and they usually symbolism death as they are most molly found in graveyards. It is possible that Vantage intensifies himself with the looming cypress tree in the foreground. The large cypress in Starry Night is arguably the most eye catching but at the same time ambiguous â€Å"thing† in the painting.Mostly because of its size and the way its dark and almost sinister presence contrasts to heavily with the brightly colored stars. I relate Van Gogh with this tree as it seems that even though he was cured of his illness there was no peace, so in death he knew that he would be at piece. Van Gogh was aware that his Starry Night composition was somewhat surreal. Although the features are exaggerated, this is a scene we can all relate to, and also one that most individuals feel comfortable and at ease with.This sky keeps the viewer's eyes moving about the painting, following the curves and creating a visual dot to dot with the stars. This movement keeps the onlooker involved in the painting while the other factors take hold. The rich colors u sed by Van Gogh almost makes it look as through it is smudged but if you zoom in and take a closer look they are Just different textures from thick to thin. This is basically the only light in this painting as t is surrounded by bright stars and the crescent moon.I believe it subsidizes the light that guides everybody through darkness as the cypress tree looms nearby. Also how our world is so beautiful above and sometimes we get caught up in our busy lives that to take time to appreciate a beautiful collation of stars and the sky itself is hard but right inferno of all of us. Beauty is always there among darkness but it's our choice if we choose to appreciate it. It seems that van Gogh was finally being cured of his illness and had essentially found his heaven. He also knew that in death he would be at peace.

The Holy Spirit in the books of Acts Research Paper

The Holy Spirit in the books of Acts - Research Paper Example Paul’s missionary journey in Rome. For better interpretation of the Acts of Apostles, it is important to note that the Acts of Apostles is the manifestation of the fulfilment of Jesus’ promise to His disciples that He wouldn’t leave them as Orphans, but that He would send them the Holy Spirit who would act as their guide in their mandate to preach the good news (Turner, 2003)1. The book of the Acts of the Apostles, therefore, is an account of how the Holy Spirit led the disciples in establishing the early Church: the Spirit inspired, strengthened, gave directions, gave the power to perform miracles, and guided the apostles in their mandate, given by Jesus Christ, to spread the Gospel to the whole world. That is why the book of the Act of the Apostles is often times aptly referred to as the book of the Holy Spirit (Bruce, 1973)2. This paper investigates the roles of the Holy Spirit, as the main character, in the book of the Acts of the Apostles. At the end of the paper, a conclusion is made based on the salient points elaborated and discussed in the body of the paper. THE PENTECOST The book of the Acts of the Apostles begins with Jesus’ instructing His disciples not to depart from Jerusalem, but to remain there and wait for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Acts, 1: 4-5. The disciples in obedience to their master, Jesus Christ, remained in Jerusalem, in the upper room, patiently waiting and praying for the Holy Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles in the upper room in form of tongues of fire, Acts, 2:3. The Holy Spirit strengthened the apostles and gave them the power to preach the Good News boldly. Prior to the event of the Pentecost, following the death of Jesus Christ, the apostles had gone into hiding for fear that the persecutors of Jesus may decide to look for them and kill them. The descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples, therefore, marks the beginning of the Work of the Holy in t he Acts of the Apostles (Drumwright, 1944)3. Following this outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Jesus Christ on Pentecost day, the work of the Holy Spirit was manifest in many of disciples’’ future works as the missionaries of the Good News. THE HOLY SPIRIT STRENGTHENS THE APOSTLES TO PREACH THE GOSPEL (Acts, 2.) Following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples on Pentecost day, the disciples led by Peter stood to preach the Good News to the People. The Holy Spirit gave them the courage and the boldness to preach without fear. In the preaching, Peter emphasised that Jesus Christ is, indeed, the promised Messiah, and that Jesus Christ, actually, died, was buried, and on the third day He arose again in accordance with the writings of the

Business Analysis Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words - 1

Business Analysis - Case Study Example The process of planning the analysis approach for Green Electrical Store will be designed based on the requirements and objectives of the business. It can be gathered from the given information about the company that their revenues have been on a downward trail since 2003. Apart from this, it was also observed that the resource base and the existing product segment of the company are not streamlined with the existing scenario of the electrical market. The target customer base has also limited the scope of business for Greens despite of having an established brand image and consumer brand perception (R. Gershon & R. A. Gershon, 2008). Considering these factors to be the key issues of the company, the business plan analysis approach has been set with three particular elements namely, decision analysis, structured walkthrough and process modeling. The designed analysis approach for Greens Electrical Store is as follows: The above given diagram reflects the business approach that is to be followed for analyzing the business plan of Greens Electrical Store. The analysis begins by observing the mission and vision of the company in order to set the direction of business development plan. The next step in the process is to identify the key stakeholders associated with the process and thereafter analyze all the functional departments of the company individually in context of their contribution towards the organizational objective. The final business plan will be developed in accordance to the gaps evaluated in all the business departments and hence design models for rectification. With the help of a quarterly review, the business planning process can be constantly monitored and improved. The stakeholder analysis for Greens Electrical store will be conducted by keeping in mind the above drawn model for business plan analysis. The stakeholder analysis will help

Corporate Social Responsibility and the Law Case Study

Corporate Social Responsibility and the Law - Case Study Example According to the research findings, it can, therefore, be said that there were very good strategies that were applied by Enron Corporation in accounting and this made it be ranked among the top ten largest companies in the United States. From the previous trend that was recorded by the company, it was anticipated that it was to dominate in business transactions it carried out. It had very a milestone in such transactions whereby it had conducted trade in weather preparedness and security, power, and communications. In contrary to many expectations and hopes of the people of the United States and the world at large, it turned to be a legend in failure that is outspoken up-to-date. Policies are a set of principles of action adopted or proposed by an organization. They are tools of management whose absence leads to consequences as severe as the collapse of the organization. Business organizations run on a primary objective of maximizing profitability. However, in doing this it is unders tandable that the organizations exist within the society and must, therefore, operate in accordance with the norms of morality and ethical provisions as set by the society. The organizations interact with the society in their everyday production endeavors, some of the key modes of the organization- society interaction include, the recruitment of personnel. The collapse of the company apart from recording the highest form of bankruptcy has triggered a myriad of unanswered questions and behind the bar scenes that ought to unraveled to help in the implementation of preventive mechanisms incorporations of the same type, to deter the occurrence of such incidences. This historical happening contradicts the code of ethics of the corporation. Most of its ethics were easy to be followed and almost all the employees confirmed to them. In case of misunderstanding and disagreement, the legal committee or the supervisors were to be contacted for clarification. Enron had policies which were imple mented under the supervision of the management board. The policies included the principles that protected human rights. The policies clarified further on the secrets of the company concerning trade businesses and information that was supposed to be censured hence be kept as confidential information. There was also provision of additional information on the penalties of workers who misbehaved. The core values of the company were excellence, communication, integrity and respect. In excellence, their aim was to produce the best and to progressively move from where they have been before. There major purpose in communication was to ensure that there existed smooth flow of information among people. They were supposed worked with people in an open, sincere and faithful way in fulfillment of their integrity. Moreover, the company was supposed to treat everybody within a human way. According to the company’s manual, ruthless treatment, arrogance, abuse and disrespectful handling of pe ople was prohibited. The manual of their codes of conduct that was delivered to all workers stated that; the company was working hard to ensure that all the business transactions are conducted in accordance with both local and international regulations. The section clearly emphasized that the company was to observe the act of free corrupt practices of the United States, but this was not the case. Unfortunately enough, from the findings these codes of conduct and policies were only put only on papers, manuals and booklets to show to the public and the regulating authorities that they are existing in the company.

The Abel Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Abel Corporation - Essay Example Our strong brand name and state of the art development capabilities are committed to providing our customers with the greatest value in power tool performance that is available. Our customers have come depend on our power tools to be there when it counts. They have come to know Able Corporation as the leading innovator in the power tool business. Whether it's home repair or an industrial application, if there's a job to be done, you will find Able doing it. Management Strategy I. Corporate A. One Year 1. Concentrate marketing efforts on most profitable lines a. Expand cordless lines 2. Generate greater communication between departments 3. Seek investors for plant upgrades 4. Concentrate on innovation a. Primarily battery design and hybrid B. Five Year 1. Develop brand recognition 2. Expand retail distribution a. Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes 3. Seek new technology a. Batteries and Hybrid design 4. Complete the renovation and overhaul of manufacturing facilities C. Ten Year 1. Reach global markets 2. Become the recognized leader in power tool innovation 3. Reinvest in expansion II. Operational and Business A. One Year 1. Generate greater control over metrics 2. Set departmental goals 3. Research establishing Strategic Business Units B. Five Year 1. Have all departments working with the same data 2. Reduce costs by improving efficiency 3. Have scheduling systems in place for high volume production 4, Establish SBUs to meet expansion C. Ten Year 1. Integrate global operations 2. Develop employee expertise to approach new markets III. Functional A. One Year 1. Initiate market research a. Find out who is buying our products b. Target their needs 2. Develop a plant renovation/replacement plan 3. Upgrade IT system to facilitate consistent data between departments 4. Legal department strategy for protecting new designs 5. Human Resources develop a plan to stabilize the workforce B. Five Year 1. Target our market a. Enhance branding b. Improve distribution c. Research international potential 2. Concentrate on new product development a. Improved tool design and functionality b. Battery hybrid design 3. Arrange financing for expansion 4. Legal staff to gain international expertise C. Ten Year 1. International marketing campaign 2. Human Resources provides a diverse global workforce a. International sales force Bibliography Clarke, S. (2001). Information systems strategic management : An integrated approach. London UK: Routledge. Lasserre, P. (2002). Global strategic management. Gordonsville, VA: Palgrave Macmillan. Lawrie, G. (Ed.). (2004). Strategic performance management. Bradford, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Scalet, S. (2005, July). Five steps to an effective strategic plan. CSO . Retrieved February 4, 2007, from

In Palm Beach, Old Money Isn't Having a Ball Essay - 1

In Palm Beach, Old Money Isn't Having a Ball - Essay Example The Red Cross Ball in Palm Beach has, for nearly half a century, brought together the island’s upper-crust families to drink, dance, donate money and is easily the most prestigious party for old Palm Beach society. Top socialites, foreign ambassadors, entertainment superstars and occasional royalty from Europe mingle with Palm Beach’s newcomers and hundreds of out-of-town friends that can shell out money to give out and donate as well as pay for their designer tuxedos’ and gowns, flashy jewelries and cars. This has led to a somewhat tolerable â€Å"battle† between old and new money and is holding true to all traditional blue-blood communities in the country. Arguably, new money has surged in the Unite States and has overtaken the older elite in terms of statistics. This is evidenced by the journal documenting that â€Å"the number of the super wealthy in the U.S. has surged with 430,000 households now worth more than $10 million. That’s up from 65,000, adjusted for inflation in 1989. In 2001, the top 1% of Americans ranked by net worth controlled 33% of all personal assets.† (Frank 2005) Increasingly, these clashes between the desire of the nouveaux rich being accepted into high society by buying their way into exclusive clubs and into the stream of the old wealthy and the actual acceptance they receive hasn’t significantly changed. The old rich safely guard and selectively choose which clubs can be joined in. For the nation’s richest, this rapid shift in the composition of the wealthiest Americans is striking. Inherited money is being taken over by entrepreneurial endeavors of businessmen. Case in point is Bill Gates’ $48 billion net worth is more than twice the Rockefeller family’s current fortune. (Frank 2005) This striking difference is never been more evidently felt than in the Palm Beach area where the influx of new money has ignited off disputes over realty values as the status symbols. As

Intercultural public relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Intercultural public relations - Essay Example This has forced the field of public relation to device ways on how to deal with this problem and several theories or ways have been formed as guidelines on dealing with the issue of intercultural public relations1. This paper will try to look into detail how the intercultural public relation problem has been addressed by different theories and how these theories differ and their similarities, it will look at the importance of studying intercultural public relations. One of the theories of intercultural public relations is the cross-cultural adaptation that was brought forward by Robert Park, in this model he identified four steps in this theory that people have to undergo. The first step is the contact step where the individual is exposed to another culture; this is followed by competition where the two different cultures compete against each other. Thirdly, this is where the less dominant culture learns to accommodate the cultural aspects of the dominant one and finally he is assimi lated into the group and he learns to assimilate other members. One of the theories under this is epistemology where an individual acquires communicational skills from the dominant culture and his own way of thinking is transformed in to that of the host2. In another dimension, the public influence model that is mainly practised in countries that are hierarchical in nature such as India and in Africa, however in other countries such as the United States of America it is practised in minimal levels. In this case, public relation is not with respect to the larger community or a group, rather it is with people of a higher social class or those with influence. This is where people with more personal influence are likely to achieve their goals or higher levels of success. Dialogic method is another way in which intercultural public relations can be viewed; this is where the organisation and the public that it is addressing are viewed as equal partners. In this model, all people are broug ht on board in the decisions of the organisation. As the name suggests, it involves dialogue between an organisation and the public without bias or prejudice and it appreciates the opinions and personal worth of every stakeholder of the organisation. This method involves admitting when one party is wrong, empathising and allowing the decisions made collectively to change the way things are done, it aims at building strong and long lasting relationships in the process of doing business. In working with this model a lot of interpersonal and intercultural communication skills are required and a genuine concern for people and it is not dictated by pre mediated rules and regulations. Due to the diversity of individual and stakeholder in different sectors, understanding of their varied and different cultural backgrounds helps in knowing how to deal with them. Genre approach to intercultural public relations in this case helps public relation researcher or theorist to understand the variou s cultural backgrounds and communication styles and not merely trying to feed information that an organisation wants the public to know3. An intercultural public relation expert should engage in six activities that include identifying the special characteristics of the situation or culture, identifying the intended effects on the audience, clarifying the motivational intention of the organisatio

Victorian audience Essay Example for Free

Victorian audience Essay The concept of red herrings is to create a lead or breakthrough in a case for the detective. These have been cleverly devised into the hound of the Baskervilles as there is one clearly visible in London at the beginning. This is the suspecting of Barrymore, Sir Charles butler. The true criminal poses as Barrymore while in London leading Holmes and company to believe that Barrymore is the criminal. Barrymore is later proved to be not guilty. The effects red herrings have on the audience are devastating because it leaves the reader thinking the criminal is going to be harder to catch than the detectives think. We expect to read about a seemingly perfect crime in detective fiction because otherwise it wouldnt be as tension-building or suspense-filling. The seemingly perfect crime in along came a spider is the kidnap of two celebrity kids and the robbery of a million dollar ransom. In hound of the Baskervilles it would be the murder of Sir Henry and Sir Charles Baskerville and announcement that the criminal is an heir to the family fortune his father never received by using an old family curse. The detective genre is being challenged in this book by the gothic genre as the incorporation of a hellhound is less reminiscent of the detective genre. The description of the hell hound backs up a point that it is a more gothic idea as it says, Big, black beast. This refers to the gothic genre as black is heavily associated with the gothic genre and beasts are more reminiscent of darker genres such as the gothic genre. A mysterious atmosphere is essential in a detective novel because it adds tension and suspense. This is through the way it is portrayed as mysterious, very little known and secretive. Conan Doyle uses layer upon layer of description on the moor when Watson first sees it. A tinge of melancholy lay upon the countryside. This quotation evidences his use of description for the moor. He also uses powerful adjectives to describe certain features of the moor such as, Jagged and sinister hills. This quotation conjures a sense of coldness and makes the reader feel unwelcome to the sudden change of scenery. The seemingly perfect crime sees Stapleton as the villain through out the story. However no one suspects him but Holmes and this is revealed when Holmes is found by Watson. Conan Doyle presents Stapleton as a poor yet clever man in the hound of the Baskervilles. The usage of certain words provokes this idea: dressed in a grey suit and a straw hat. He compares, to other villains of the detective genre, very secretive and as unsusceptible as can be. This is shown by the way he hides his past life to everyone, but he only tells them he lost money with the school he had. Other villains would either make themselves known but be hard to catch, or secret but leading the detective towards them and finally slipping up somewhere along the line. It links to the implication of justice always prevailing because in the end the criminal is nearly always caught. The role of miss. Stapleton as an accomplice would have been quite normal to a Victorian audience. This is because women were considered the weaker gender and men bossed around women. Conan Doyle is linking these ideas on the role of women through the use of miss. Stapleton in the book. Miss. Stapleton, when found at the end, is shown to have been beaten if not carrying out orders by Stapleton and left alone if obeying Stapleton. Oh, this villain! See how he has treated me! she shot her arms out from her sleeves, and we saw with horror that they were all mottled with bruises. This is evidence that Stapleton beat his wife. Most detective fiction is expected to be formed around the idea of who dunnit? This is true in along came a spider as Alex Cross tries to find a villain after another villain. However in hound of the Baskervilles it isnt the case as Holmes and Watson are also saving Sir Henry from an untimely death. You would expect the idea of who dunnit? to be the centre theme around the story, creating tension and suspense fitting for it. This makes Holmes seem heroic, Holmes had emptied five barrels of his revolver into the creatures flank. I think the hound of the Baskervilles is very sensational novels within the detective genre because it is where Holmes and Watson meet a foe worthy of there steel. I think the mysterious atmosphere is particularly effective because it creates the tension and suspense it needs to create and it holds secrets, leaving the question in your mind, Whats it hiding? also I think the mysterious atmosphere is effective because of its unique base for the whole of the story. No literary figure has a stronger hold on the public imagination than Sherlock Holmes. This is shown in the essay.

Commodity Futures and Markets

Commodity Futures and Markets Chapter 1 Introduction to Commodity Market What is â€Å"Commodity†? Any product that can be used for commerce or an article of commerce which is traded on an authorized commodity exchange is known as commodity. The article should be movable of value, something which is bought or sold and which is produced or used as the subject or barter or sale. In short commodity includes all kinds of goods. Indian Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 1952 defines â€Å"goods† as â€Å"every kind of movable property other than actionable claims, money and securities†. In current situation, all goods and products of agricultural (including plantation), mineral and fossil origin are allowed for commodity trading recognized under the FCRA. The national commodity exchanges, recognized by the Central Government, permits commodities which include precious (gold and silver) and non-ferrous metals, cereals and pulses, ginned and un-ginned cotton, oilseeds, oils and oilcakes, raw jute and jute goods, sugar and gur, potatoes and onions, coffee and tea, rubber and spices. Etc. What is a commodity exchange? A commodity exchange is an association or a company or any other body corporate organizing futures trading in commodities for which license has been granted by regulating authority. What is Commodity Futures? A Commodity futures is an agreement between two parties to buy or sell a specified and standardized quantity of a commodity at a certain time in future at a price agreed upon at the time of entering into the contract on the commodity futures exchange. The need for a futures market arises mainly due to the hedging function that it can perform. Commodity markets, like any other financial instrument, involve risk associated with frequent price volatility. The loss due to price volatility can be attributed to the following reasons: Consumer Preferences: In the short-term, their influence on price volatility is small since it is a slow process permitting manufacturers, dealers and wholesalers to adjust their inventory in advance. Changes in supply: They are abrupt and unpredictable bringing about wild fluctuations in prices. This can especially noticed in agricultural commodities where the weather plays a major role in affecting the fortunes of people involved in this industry. The futures market has evolved to neutralize such risks through a mechanism; namely hedging. The objectives of Commodity futures: * Hedging with the objective of transferring risk related to the possession of physical assets through any adverse moments in price. Liquidity and Price discovery to ensure base minimum volume in trading of a commodity through market information and demand supply factors that facilitates a regular and authentic price discovery mechanism. * Maintaining buffer stock and better allocation of resources as it augments reduction in inventory requirement and thus the exposure to risks related with price fluctuation declines. Resources can thus be diversified for investments. * Price stabilization along with balancing demand and supply position. Futures trading leads to predictability in assessing the domestic prices, which maintains stability, thus safeguarding against any short term adverse price movements. Liquidity in Contracts of the commodities traded also ensures in maintaining the equilibrium between demand and supply. * Flexibility, certainty and transparency in purchasing commodities facilitate bank financing. Predictability in prices of commodity would lead to stability, which in turn would eliminate the risks associated with running the business of trading commodities. This would make funding easier and less stringent for banks to commodity market players. Benefits of Commodity Futures Markets:- The primary objectives of any futures exchange are authentic price discovery and an efficient price risk management. The beneficiaries include those who trade in the commodities being offered in the exchange as well as those who have nothing to do with futures trading. It is because of price discovery and risk management through the existence of futures exchanges that a lot of businesses and services are able to function smoothly. 1. Price Discovery:-Based on inputs regarding specific market information, the demand and supply equilibrium, weather forecasts, expert views and comments, inflation rates, Government policies, market dynamics, hopes and fears, buyers and sellers conduct trading at futures exchanges. This transforms in to continuous price discovery mechanism. The execution of trade between buyers and sellers leads to assessment of fair value of a particular commodity that is immediately disseminated on the trading terminal. 2. Price Risk Management: Hedging is the most common method of price risk management. It is strategy of offering price risk that is inherent in spot market by taking an equal but opposite position in the futures market. Futures markets are used as a mode by hedgers to protect their business from adverse price change. This could dent the profitability of their business. Hedging benefits who are involved in trading of commodities like farmers, processors, merchandisers, manufacturers, exporters, importers etc. 3. Import- Export competitiveness: The exporters can hedge their price risk and improve their competitiveness by making use of futures market. A majority of traders which are involved in physical trade internationally intend to buy forwards. The purchases made from the physical market might expose them to the risk of price risk resulting to losses. The existence of futures market would allow the exporters to hedge their proposed purchase by temporarily substituting for actual purchase till the time is ripe to buy in physical market. In the absence of futures market it will be meticulous, time consuming and costly physical transactions. 4. Predictable Pricing: The demand for certain commodities is highly price elastic. The manufacturers have to ensure that the prices should be stable in order to protect their market share with the free entry of imports. Futures contracts will enable predictability in domestic prices. The manufacturers can, as a result, smooth out the influence of changes in their input prices very easily. With no futures market, the manufacturer can be caught between severe short-term price movements of oils and necessity to maintain price stability, which could only be possible through sufficient financial reserves that could otherwise be utilized for making other profitable investments. 5. Benefits for farmers/Agriculturalists: Price instability has a direct bearing on farmers in the absence of futures market. There would be no need to have large reserves to cover against unfavorable price fluctuations. This would reduce the risk premiums associated with the marketing or processing margins enabling more returns on produce. Storing more and being more active in the markets. The price information accessible to the farmers determines the extent to which traders/processors increase price to them. Since one of the objectives of futures exchange is to make available these prices as far as possible, it is very likely to benefit the farmers. Also, due to the time lag between planning and production, the market-determined price information disseminated by futures exchanges would be crucial for their production decisions. 6. Credit accessibility: The absence of proper risk management tools would attract the marketing and processing of commodities to high-risk exposure making it risky business activity to fund. Even a small movement in prices can eat up a huge proportion of capital owned by traders, at times making it virtually impossible to payback the loan. There is a high degree of reluctance among banks to fund commodity traders, especially those who do not manage price risks. If in case they do, the interest rate is likely to be high and terms and conditions very stringent. This posses a huge obstacle in the smooth functioning and competition of commodities market. Hedging, which is possible through futures markets, would cut down the discount rate in commodity lending. 7. Improved product quality: The existence of warehouses for facilitating delivery with grading facilities along with other related benefits provides a very strong reason to upgrade and enhance the quality of the commodity to grade that is acceptable by the exchange. It ensures uniform standardization of commodity trade, including the terms of quality standard: the quality certificates that are issued by the exchange-certified warehouses have the potential to become the norm for physical trade. Chapter 2 History of Evolution of commodity markets Commodities future trading was evolved from need of assured continuous supply of seasonal agricultural crops. The concept of organized trading in commodities evolved in Chicago, in 1848. But one can trace its roots in Japan. In Japan merchants used to store Rice in warehouses for future use. To raise cash warehouse holders sold receipts against the stored rice. These were known as â€Å"rice tickets†. Eventually, these rice tickets become accepted as a kind of commercial currency. Latter on rules came in to being, to standardize the trading in rice tickets. In 19th century Chicago in United States had emerged as a major commercial hub. So that wheat producers from Mid-west attracted here to sell their produce to dealers distributors. Due to lack of organized storage facilities, absence of uniform weighing grading mechanisms producers often confined to the mercy of dealers discretion. These situations lead to need of establishing a common meeting place for farmers and dealers to transact in spot grain to deliver wheat and receive cash in return. Gradually sellers buyers started making commitments to exchange the produce for cash in future and thus contract for â€Å"futures trading† evolved. Whereby the producer would agree to sell his produce to the buyer at a future delivery date at an agreed upon price. In this way producer was aware of what price he would fetch for his produce and dealer would know about his cost involved, in advance. This kind of agreement proved beneficial to both of them. As if dealer is not interested in taking delivery of the produce, he could sell his contract to someone who needs the same. Similarly producer who not intended to deliver his produce to dealer could pass on the same responsibility to someone else. The price of such contract would dependent on the price movements in the wheat market. Latter on by making some modifications these contracts transformed in to an instrument to protect involved parties against adverse factors such as unexpected price movements and unfavorable climat ic factors. This promoted traders entry in futures market, which had no intentions to buy or sell wheat but would purely speculate on price movements in market to earn profit. Trading of wheat in futures became very profitable which encouraged the entry of other commodities in futures market. This created a platform for establishment of a body to regulate and supervise these contracts. Thats why Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was established in 1848. In 1870 and 1880s the New York Coffee, Cotton and Produce Exchanges were born. Agricultural commodities were mostly traded but as long as there are buyers and sellers, any commodity can be traded. In 1872, a group of Manhattan dairy merchants got together to bring chaotic condition in New York market to a system in terms of storage, pricing, and transfer of agricultural products. In 1933, during the Great Depression, the Commodity Exchange, Inc. was established in New York through the merger of four small exchanges the National Metal Exchange, the Rubber Exchange of New York, the National Raw Silk Exchange, and the New York Hide Exchange. The largest commodity exchange in USA is Chicago Board of Trade, The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the New York Mercantile Exchange, the New York Commodity Exchange and New York Coffee, sugar and cocoa Exchange. Worldwide there are major futures trading exchanges in over twenty countries including Canada, England, India, France, Singapore, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Chapter 3 India and the commodity market History of Commodity Market in India:- The history of organized commodity derivatives in India goes back to the nineteenth century when Cotton Trade Association started futures trading in 1875, about a decade after they started in Chicago. Over the time datives market developed in several commodities in India. Following Cotton, derivatives trading started in oilseed in Bombay (1900), raw jute and jute goods in Calcutta (1912), Wheat in Hapur (1913) and Bullion in Bombay (1920). However many feared that derivatives fuelled unnecessary speculation and were detrimental to the healthy functioning of the market for the underlying commodities, resulting in to banning of commodity options trading and cash settlement of commodities futures after independence in 1952. The parliament passed the Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1952, which regulated contracts in Commodities all over the India. The act prohibited options trading in Goods along with cash settlement of forward trades, rendering a crushing blow to the commodity derivatives market. Under the act only those associations/exchanges, which are granted reorganization from the Government, are allowed to organize forward trading in regulated commodities. The act envisages three tire regulations: (i) Exchange which organizes forward trading in commodities can regulate trading on day-to-day basis; (ii) Forward Markets Commission provides regulatory oversight under the powers delegated to it by the central Govern ment. (iii) The Central Government- Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution- is the ultimate regulatory authority. The commodities future market remained dismantled and remained dormant for about four decades until the new millennium when the Government, in a complete change in a policy, started actively encouraging commodity market. After Liberalization and Globalization in 1990, the Government set up a committee (1993) to examine the role of futures trading. The Committee (headed by Prof. K.N. Kabra) recommended allowing futures trading in 17 commodity groups. It also recommended strengthening Forward Markets Commission, and certain amendments to Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act 1952, particularly allowing option trading in goods and registration of brokers with Forward Markets Commission. The Government accepted most of these recommendations and futures trading was permitted in all recommended commodities. It is timely decision since internationally the commodity cycle is on upswing and the next decade being touched as the decade of Commodities. Commodity exchange in India plays an important role where the prices of any commodity are not fixed, in an organized way. Earlier only the buyer of produce and its seller in the market judged upon the prices. Others never had a say. Today, commodity exchanges are purely speculative in nature. Before discovering the price, they reach to the producers, end-users, and even the retail investors, at a grassroots level. It brings a price transparency and risk management in the vital market. A big difference between a typical auction, where a single auctioneer announces the bids and the Exchange is that people are not only competing to buy but also to sell. By Exchange rules and by law, no one can bid under a higher bid, and no one can offer to sell higher than someone elses lower offer. That keeps the market as efficient as possible, and keeps the traders on their toes to make sure no one gets the purchase or sale before they do. Since 2002, the commodities future market in India has experienced an unexpected boom in terms of modern exchanges, number of commodities allowed for derivatives trading as well as the value of futures trading in commodities, which crossed $ 1 trillion mark in 2006. Since 1952 till 2002 commo dity datives market was virtually non- existent, except some negligible activities on OTC basis. In India there are 25 recognized future exchanges, of which there are three national level multi-commodity exchanges. After a gap of almost three decades, Government of India has allowed forward transactions in commodities through Online Commodity Exchanges, a modification of traditional business known as Adhat and Vayda Vyapar to facilitate better risk coverage and delivery of commodities. The three exchanges are: National Commodity Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) Mumbai, Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (MCX) Mumbai and National Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Limited (NMCEIL) Ahmedabad.There are other regional commodity exchanges situated in different parts of India. Legal framework for regulating commodity futures in India:- The commodity futures traded in commodity exchanges are regulated by the Government under the Forward Contracts Regulations Act, 1952 and the Rules framed there under. The regulator for the commodities trading is the Forward Markets Commission, situated at Mumbai, which comes under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs Food and Public Distribution Forward Markets Commission (FMC):- It is statutory institution set up in 1953 under Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1952. Commission consists of minimum two and maximum four members appointed by Central Govt. Out of these members there is one nominated chairman. All the exchanges have been set up under overall control of Forward Market Commission (FMC) of Government of India. National Commodities Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) National Commodities Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) promoted by ICICI Bank Limited (ICICI Bank), Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSC). Punjab National Bank (PNB), Credit Ratting Information Service of India Limited (CRISIL), Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), Canara Bank and Goldman Sachs by subscribing to the equity shares have joined the promoters as a share holder of exchange. NCDEX is the only Commodity Exchange in the country promoted by national level institutions. NCDEX is a public limited company incorporated on 23 April 2003. NCDEX is a national level technology driven on line Commodity Exchange with an independent Board of Directors and professionals not having any vested interest in Commodity Markets. It is committed to provide a world class commodity exchange platform for market participants to trade in a wide spectrum of commodity derivatives driven by best global practices, professionalism and transparency. NCDEX is regulated by Forward Markets Commission (FMC). NCDEX is also subjected to the various laws of land like the Companies Act, Stamp Act, Contracts Act, Forward Contracts Regulation Act and various other legislations. NCDEX is located in Mumbai and offers facilities to its members in more than 550 centers through out India. NCDEX currently facilitates trading of 57 commodities. Commodities Traded at NCDEX:-  · Bullion:- Gold KG, Silver, Brent  · Minerals:- Electrolytic Copper Cathode, Aluminum Ingot, Nickel Cathode, Zinc Metal Ingot, Mild steel Ingots  · Oil and Oil seeds:- Cotton seed, Oil cake, Crude Palm Oil, Groundnut (in shell), Groundnut expeller Oil, Cotton, Mentha oil, RBD Pamolein, RM seed oil cake, Refined soya oil, Rape seeds, Mustard seeds, Caster seed, Yellow soybean, Meal  · Pulses:- Urad, Yellow peas, Chana, Tur, Masoor,  · Grain:- Wheat, Indian Pusa Basmati Rice, Indian parboiled Rice (IR- 36/IR-64), Indian raw Rice (ParmalPR-106), Barley, Yellow red maize  · Spices:- Jeera, Turmeric, Pepper  · Plantation:- Cashew, Coffee Arabica, Coffee Robusta  · Fibers and other:- Guar Gum, Guar seeds, Guar, Jute sacking bags, Indian 28 mm cotton, Indian 31mm cotton, Lemon, Grain Bold, Medium Staple, Mulberry, Green Cottons, , , Potato, Raw Jute, Mulberry raw Silk, V-797 Kapas, Sugar, Chilli LCA334  · Energy:- Crude Oil, Furnace oil, Thermal Coal, Brent Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Gasoline, Heating Oil Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (MCX) Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (MCX) is an independent and de-mutulized exchange with permanent reorganization from Government of India, having Head Quarter in Mumbai. Key share holders of MCX are Financial Technologies (India) Limited, State Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Corporation Bank of India, Bank of India and Cnnara Bank. MCX facilitates online trading, clearing and settlement operations for commodity futures market across the country. MCX started of trade in Nov 2003 and has built strategic alliance with Bombay Bullion Association, Bombay Metal Exchange, Solvent Extractors Association of India, pulses Importers Association and Shetkari Sanghatana. MCX deals wit about 100 commodities. Commodities Traded at MCX:-  · Bullion:- Gold, Silver, Silver Coins,  · Minerals:- Aluminum, Copper, Nickel, Iron/steel, Tin, Zinc, Lead  · Oil and Oil seeds:- Castor oil/castor seeds, Crude Palm oil/ RBD Pamolein, Groundnut oil, Mustard/ Rapeseed oil, Soy seeds/Soy meal/Refined Soy Oil, Coconut Oil Cake, Copra, Sunflower oil, Sunflower Oil cake, Tamarind seed oil,  · Pulses:- Chana, Masur, Tur, Urad, Yellow peas  · Grains:- Rice/ Basmati Rice, Wheat, Maize, Bajara, Barley,  · Spices:- Pepper, Red Chili, Jeera, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Clove, Ginger,  · Plantation:- Cashew Kernel, Rubber, Areca nut, Betel nuts, Coconut, Coffee,  · Fiber and others:- Kapas, Kapas Khalli, Cotton (long staple, medium staple, short staple), Cotton Cloth, Cotton Yarn, Gaur seed and Guargum, Gur and Sugar, Khandsari, Mentha Oil, Potato, Art Silk Yarn, Chara or Berseem, Raw Jute, Jute Goods, Jute Sacking,  · Petrochemicals:- High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Polypropylene (PP), Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC)  · Energy:- Brent Crude Oil, Crude Oil, Furnace Oil, Middle East Sour Crude Oil, Natural Gas  · Whether:- Carbon (CER), Carbon (CFI) National Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (NMCEIL) National Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (NMCEIL) is the first de-mutualised Electronic Multi Commodity Exchange in India. On 25th July 2001 it was granted approval by Government to organize trading in edible oil complex. It is being supported by Central warehousing Corporation Limited, Gujarat State Agricultural Marketing Board and Neptune Overseas Limited. It got reorganization in Oct 2002. NMCEIL Head Quarter is at Ahmedabad. Chapter 4 INTERNATIONAL COMMODITY EXCHANGES Futures trading is a result of solution to a problem related to the maintenance of a year round supply of commodities/ products that are seasonal as is the case of agricultural produce. The United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia, Singapore are homes to leading commodity futures exchanges in the world. The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX):- The New York Mercantile Exchange is the worlds biggest exchange for trading in physical commodity futures. It is a primary trading forum for energy products and precious metals. The exchange is in existence since last 132 years and performs trades trough two divisions, the NYMEX division, which deals in energy and platinum and the COMEX division, which trades in all the other metals. Commodities traded: Light sweet crude oil, Natural Gas, Heating Oil, Gasoline, RBOB Gasoline, Electricity Propane, Gold, Silver, Copper, Aluminum, Platinum, Palladium, etc. London Metal Exchange:- The London Metal Exchange (LME) is the worlds premier non-ferrous market, with highly liquid contracts. The exchange was formed in 1877 as a direct consequence of the industrial revolution witnessed in the 19th century. The primary focus of LME is in providing a market for participants from non-ferrous based metals related industry to safeguard against risk due to movement in base metal prices and also arrive at a price that sets the benchmark globally. The exchange trades 24 hours a day through an inter office telephone market and also through a electronic trading platform. It is famous for its open-outcry trading between ring dealing members that takes place on the market floor. Commodities traded:- Aluminum, Copper, Nickel, Lead, Tin, Zinc, Aluminum Alloy, North American Special Aluminum Alloy (NASAAC), Polypropylene, Linear Low Density Polyethylene, etc. The Chicago Board of Trade:- The first commodity exchange established in the world was the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) during 1848 by group of Chicago merchants who were keen to establish a central market place for trade. Presently, the Chicago Board of Trade is one of the leading exchanges in the world for trading futures and options. More than 50 contracts on futures and options are being offered by CBOT currently through open outcry and/or electronically. CBOT initially dealt only in Agricultural commodities like corn, wheat, non storable agricultural commodities and non-agricultural products like gold and silver. Commodities Traded: Corn, Soybean, Oil, Soybean meal, Wheat, Oats, Ethanol, Rough Rice, Gold, Silver etc. Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM):- The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) is the second largest commodity futures exchange in the world. It trades in to metals and energy contracts. It has made rapid advancement in commodity trading globally since its inception 20 years back. One of the biggest reasons for that is the initiative TOCOM took towards establishing Asia as the benchmark for price discovery and risk management in commodities like the Middle East Crude Oil. TOCOMs recent tie up with the MCX to explore cooperation and business opportunities is seen as one of the steps towards providing platform for futures price discovery in Asia for Asian players in Crude Oil since the demand-supply situation in U.S. that drives NYMEX is different from demand-supply situation in Asia. In Jan 2003, in a major overhaul of its computerized trading system, TOCOM fortified its clearing system in June by being first commodity exchange in Japan to introduce an in-house clearing system. TOCOM launched options on gold futures, the firs t option contract in Japanese market, in May 2004. Commodities traded: Gasoline, Kerosene, Crude Oil, Gold, Silver, Platinum, Aluminum, Rubber, etc Chicago Mercantile Exchange:- The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is the largest futures exchange in the US and the largest futures clearing house in the world for futures and options trading. Formed in 1898 primarily to trade in Agricultural commodities, the CME introduced the worlds first financial futures more than 30 years ago. Today it trades heavily in interest rates futures, stock indices and foreign exchange futures. Its products often serves as a financial benchmark and witnesses the largest open interest in futures profile of CME consists of livestock, dairy and forest products and enables small family farms to large Agri-business to manage their price risks. Trading in CME can be done either through pit trading or electronically. Commodities Traded: Butter milk, Diammonium phosphate, Feeder cattle, frozen pork bellies, Lean Hogs, Live cattle, Non-fat Dry Milk, Urea, Urea Ammonium Nitrate, etc Chapter 5 How Commodity market works? There are two kinds of trades in commodities. The first is the spot trade, in which one pays cash and carries away the goods. The second is futures trade. The underpinning for futures is the warehouse receipt. A person deposits certain amount of say, good X in a ware house and gets a warehouse receipt. Which allows him to ask for physical delivery of the good from the warehouse. But some one trading in commodity futures need not necessarily posses such a receipt to strike a deal. A person can buy or sale a commodity future on an exchange based on his expectation of where the price will go. Futures have something called an expiry date, by when the buyer or seller either closes (square off) his account or give/take delivery of the commodity. The broker maintains an account of all dealing parties in which the daily profit or loss due to changes in the futures price is recorded. Squiring off is done by taking an opposite contract so that the net outstanding is nil. For commodity futures to work, the seller should be able to deposit the commodity at warehouse nearest to him and collect the warehouse receipt. The buyer should be able to take physical delivery at a location of his choice on presenting the warehouse receipt. But at present in India very few warehouses provide delivery for specific commodities. Following diagram gives a fair idea about working of the Commodity market. Today Commodity trading system is fully computerized. Traders need not visit a commodity market to speculate. With online commodity trading they could sit in the confines of their home or office and call the shots. The commodity trading system consists of certain prescribed steps or stages as follows: I. Trading: At this stage the following is the system implemented- Order receiving Execution Matching Reporting Surveillance Price limits Position limits II. Clearing: This stage has following system in place- Matching Registration Clearing Clearing limits Notation Margining Price limits Position limits Clearing house. III. Settlement: This stage has following system followed as follows- Marking to market Receipts and payments Reporting Delivery upon expiration or maturity. Chapter 6 Investments in Commodities How to invest in a Commodities? With whom investor can transact a business? An investor can transact a business with the approved clearing member of previously mentioned Commodity Exchanges. The investor can ask for the details from the Commodity Exchanges about the list of approved members. What is Identity Proof? When investor approaches Clearing Member, the member will ask for identity proof. For which Xerox copy of any one of the following can be given a) PAN card Number b) Driving License c) Vote ID d) Passport What statements should be given for Bank Proof? The front page of Bank Pass Book and a canceled cheque of a concerned bank. Otherwise the Bank Statement containing details can be given. What are the particulars to be given for address proof? In order to ascertain the address of investor, the clearing member will insist on Xerox copy of Ration card or the Pass Book/ Bank Statement where the address of investor is given. What are the other forms to be signed by the investor? The clearing member will ask the client to sign a) Know your client form b) Risk Discloser Document The above things are only procedure in character and the risk involved and only after understanding the business, he wants to transact business. What aspects should be conside Commodity Futures and Markets Commodity Futures and Markets Chapter 1 Introduction to Commodity Market What is â€Å"Commodity†? Any product that can be used for commerce or an article of commerce which is traded on an authorized commodity exchange is known as commodity. The article should be movable of value, something which is bought or sold and which is produced or used as the subject or barter or sale. In short commodity includes all kinds of goods. Indian Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 1952 defines â€Å"goods† as â€Å"every kind of movable property other than actionable claims, money and securities†. In current situation, all goods and products of agricultural (including plantation), mineral and fossil origin are allowed for commodity trading recognized under the FCRA. The national commodity exchanges, recognized by the Central Government, permits commodities which include precious (gold and silver) and non-ferrous metals, cereals and pulses, ginned and un-ginned cotton, oilseeds, oils and oilcakes, raw jute and jute goods, sugar and gur, potatoes and onions, coffee and tea, rubber and spices. Etc. What is a commodity exchange? A commodity exchange is an association or a company or any other body corporate organizing futures trading in commodities for which license has been granted by regulating authority. What is Commodity Futures? A Commodity futures is an agreement between two parties to buy or sell a specified and standardized quantity of a commodity at a certain time in future at a price agreed upon at the time of entering into the contract on the commodity futures exchange. The need for a futures market arises mainly due to the hedging function that it can perform. Commodity markets, like any other financial instrument, involve risk associated with frequent price volatility. The loss due to price volatility can be attributed to the following reasons: Consumer Preferences: In the short-term, their influence on price volatility is small since it is a slow process permitting manufacturers, dealers and wholesalers to adjust their inventory in advance. Changes in supply: They are abrupt and unpredictable bringing about wild fluctuations in prices. This can especially noticed in agricultural commodities where the weather plays a major role in affecting the fortunes of people involved in this industry. The futures market has evolved to neutralize such risks through a mechanism; namely hedging. The objectives of Commodity futures: * Hedging with the objective of transferring risk related to the possession of physical assets through any adverse moments in price. Liquidity and Price discovery to ensure base minimum volume in trading of a commodity through market information and demand supply factors that facilitates a regular and authentic price discovery mechanism. * Maintaining buffer stock and better allocation of resources as it augments reduction in inventory requirement and thus the exposure to risks related with price fluctuation declines. Resources can thus be diversified for investments. * Price stabilization along with balancing demand and supply position. Futures trading leads to predictability in assessing the domestic prices, which maintains stability, thus safeguarding against any short term adverse price movements. Liquidity in Contracts of the commodities traded also ensures in maintaining the equilibrium between demand and supply. * Flexibility, certainty and transparency in purchasing commodities facilitate bank financing. Predictability in prices of commodity would lead to stability, which in turn would eliminate the risks associated with running the business of trading commodities. This would make funding easier and less stringent for banks to commodity market players. Benefits of Commodity Futures Markets:- The primary objectives of any futures exchange are authentic price discovery and an efficient price risk management. The beneficiaries include those who trade in the commodities being offered in the exchange as well as those who have nothing to do with futures trading. It is because of price discovery and risk management through the existence of futures exchanges that a lot of businesses and services are able to function smoothly. 1. Price Discovery:-Based on inputs regarding specific market information, the demand and supply equilibrium, weather forecasts, expert views and comments, inflation rates, Government policies, market dynamics, hopes and fears, buyers and sellers conduct trading at futures exchanges. This transforms in to continuous price discovery mechanism. The execution of trade between buyers and sellers leads to assessment of fair value of a particular commodity that is immediately disseminated on the trading terminal. 2. Price Risk Management: Hedging is the most common method of price risk management. It is strategy of offering price risk that is inherent in spot market by taking an equal but opposite position in the futures market. Futures markets are used as a mode by hedgers to protect their business from adverse price change. This could dent the profitability of their business. Hedging benefits who are involved in trading of commodities like farmers, processors, merchandisers, manufacturers, exporters, importers etc. 3. Import- Export competitiveness: The exporters can hedge their price risk and improve their competitiveness by making use of futures market. A majority of traders which are involved in physical trade internationally intend to buy forwards. The purchases made from the physical market might expose them to the risk of price risk resulting to losses. The existence of futures market would allow the exporters to hedge their proposed purchase by temporarily substituting for actual purchase till the time is ripe to buy in physical market. In the absence of futures market it will be meticulous, time consuming and costly physical transactions. 4. Predictable Pricing: The demand for certain commodities is highly price elastic. The manufacturers have to ensure that the prices should be stable in order to protect their market share with the free entry of imports. Futures contracts will enable predictability in domestic prices. The manufacturers can, as a result, smooth out the influence of changes in their input prices very easily. With no futures market, the manufacturer can be caught between severe short-term price movements of oils and necessity to maintain price stability, which could only be possible through sufficient financial reserves that could otherwise be utilized for making other profitable investments. 5. Benefits for farmers/Agriculturalists: Price instability has a direct bearing on farmers in the absence of futures market. There would be no need to have large reserves to cover against unfavorable price fluctuations. This would reduce the risk premiums associated with the marketing or processing margins enabling more returns on produce. Storing more and being more active in the markets. The price information accessible to the farmers determines the extent to which traders/processors increase price to them. Since one of the objectives of futures exchange is to make available these prices as far as possible, it is very likely to benefit the farmers. Also, due to the time lag between planning and production, the market-determined price information disseminated by futures exchanges would be crucial for their production decisions. 6. Credit accessibility: The absence of proper risk management tools would attract the marketing and processing of commodities to high-risk exposure making it risky business activity to fund. Even a small movement in prices can eat up a huge proportion of capital owned by traders, at times making it virtually impossible to payback the loan. There is a high degree of reluctance among banks to fund commodity traders, especially those who do not manage price risks. If in case they do, the interest rate is likely to be high and terms and conditions very stringent. This posses a huge obstacle in the smooth functioning and competition of commodities market. Hedging, which is possible through futures markets, would cut down the discount rate in commodity lending. 7. Improved product quality: The existence of warehouses for facilitating delivery with grading facilities along with other related benefits provides a very strong reason to upgrade and enhance the quality of the commodity to grade that is acceptable by the exchange. It ensures uniform standardization of commodity trade, including the terms of quality standard: the quality certificates that are issued by the exchange-certified warehouses have the potential to become the norm for physical trade. Chapter 2 History of Evolution of commodity markets Commodities future trading was evolved from need of assured continuous supply of seasonal agricultural crops. The concept of organized trading in commodities evolved in Chicago, in 1848. But one can trace its roots in Japan. In Japan merchants used to store Rice in warehouses for future use. To raise cash warehouse holders sold receipts against the stored rice. These were known as â€Å"rice tickets†. Eventually, these rice tickets become accepted as a kind of commercial currency. Latter on rules came in to being, to standardize the trading in rice tickets. In 19th century Chicago in United States had emerged as a major commercial hub. So that wheat producers from Mid-west attracted here to sell their produce to dealers distributors. Due to lack of organized storage facilities, absence of uniform weighing grading mechanisms producers often confined to the mercy of dealers discretion. These situations lead to need of establishing a common meeting place for farmers and dealers to transact in spot grain to deliver wheat and receive cash in return. Gradually sellers buyers started making commitments to exchange the produce for cash in future and thus contract for â€Å"futures trading† evolved. Whereby the producer would agree to sell his produce to the buyer at a future delivery date at an agreed upon price. In this way producer was aware of what price he would fetch for his produce and dealer would know about his cost involved, in advance. This kind of agreement proved beneficial to both of them. As if dealer is not interested in taking delivery of the produce, he could sell his contract to someone who needs the same. Similarly producer who not intended to deliver his produce to dealer could pass on the same responsibility to someone else. The price of such contract would dependent on the price movements in the wheat market. Latter on by making some modifications these contracts transformed in to an instrument to protect involved parties against adverse factors such as unexpected price movements and unfavorable climat ic factors. This promoted traders entry in futures market, which had no intentions to buy or sell wheat but would purely speculate on price movements in market to earn profit. Trading of wheat in futures became very profitable which encouraged the entry of other commodities in futures market. This created a platform for establishment of a body to regulate and supervise these contracts. Thats why Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was established in 1848. In 1870 and 1880s the New York Coffee, Cotton and Produce Exchanges were born. Agricultural commodities were mostly traded but as long as there are buyers and sellers, any commodity can be traded. In 1872, a group of Manhattan dairy merchants got together to bring chaotic condition in New York market to a system in terms of storage, pricing, and transfer of agricultural products. In 1933, during the Great Depression, the Commodity Exchange, Inc. was established in New York through the merger of four small exchanges the National Metal Exchange, the Rubber Exchange of New York, the National Raw Silk Exchange, and the New York Hide Exchange. The largest commodity exchange in USA is Chicago Board of Trade, The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the New York Mercantile Exchange, the New York Commodity Exchange and New York Coffee, sugar and cocoa Exchange. Worldwide there are major futures trading exchanges in over twenty countries including Canada, England, India, France, Singapore, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Chapter 3 India and the commodity market History of Commodity Market in India:- The history of organized commodity derivatives in India goes back to the nineteenth century when Cotton Trade Association started futures trading in 1875, about a decade after they started in Chicago. Over the time datives market developed in several commodities in India. Following Cotton, derivatives trading started in oilseed in Bombay (1900), raw jute and jute goods in Calcutta (1912), Wheat in Hapur (1913) and Bullion in Bombay (1920). However many feared that derivatives fuelled unnecessary speculation and were detrimental to the healthy functioning of the market for the underlying commodities, resulting in to banning of commodity options trading and cash settlement of commodities futures after independence in 1952. The parliament passed the Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1952, which regulated contracts in Commodities all over the India. The act prohibited options trading in Goods along with cash settlement of forward trades, rendering a crushing blow to the commodity derivatives market. Under the act only those associations/exchanges, which are granted reorganization from the Government, are allowed to organize forward trading in regulated commodities. The act envisages three tire regulations: (i) Exchange which organizes forward trading in commodities can regulate trading on day-to-day basis; (ii) Forward Markets Commission provides regulatory oversight under the powers delegated to it by the central Govern ment. (iii) The Central Government- Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution- is the ultimate regulatory authority. The commodities future market remained dismantled and remained dormant for about four decades until the new millennium when the Government, in a complete change in a policy, started actively encouraging commodity market. After Liberalization and Globalization in 1990, the Government set up a committee (1993) to examine the role of futures trading. The Committee (headed by Prof. K.N. Kabra) recommended allowing futures trading in 17 commodity groups. It also recommended strengthening Forward Markets Commission, and certain amendments to Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act 1952, particularly allowing option trading in goods and registration of brokers with Forward Markets Commission. The Government accepted most of these recommendations and futures trading was permitted in all recommended commodities. It is timely decision since internationally the commodity cycle is on upswing and the next decade being touched as the decade of Commodities. Commodity exchange in India plays an important role where the prices of any commodity are not fixed, in an organized way. Earlier only the buyer of produce and its seller in the market judged upon the prices. Others never had a say. Today, commodity exchanges are purely speculative in nature. Before discovering the price, they reach to the producers, end-users, and even the retail investors, at a grassroots level. It brings a price transparency and risk management in the vital market. A big difference between a typical auction, where a single auctioneer announces the bids and the Exchange is that people are not only competing to buy but also to sell. By Exchange rules and by law, no one can bid under a higher bid, and no one can offer to sell higher than someone elses lower offer. That keeps the market as efficient as possible, and keeps the traders on their toes to make sure no one gets the purchase or sale before they do. Since 2002, the commodities future market in India has experienced an unexpected boom in terms of modern exchanges, number of commodities allowed for derivatives trading as well as the value of futures trading in commodities, which crossed $ 1 trillion mark in 2006. Since 1952 till 2002 commo dity datives market was virtually non- existent, except some negligible activities on OTC basis. In India there are 25 recognized future exchanges, of which there are three national level multi-commodity exchanges. After a gap of almost three decades, Government of India has allowed forward transactions in commodities through Online Commodity Exchanges, a modification of traditional business known as Adhat and Vayda Vyapar to facilitate better risk coverage and delivery of commodities. The three exchanges are: National Commodity Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) Mumbai, Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (MCX) Mumbai and National Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Limited (NMCEIL) Ahmedabad.There are other regional commodity exchanges situated in different parts of India. Legal framework for regulating commodity futures in India:- The commodity futures traded in commodity exchanges are regulated by the Government under the Forward Contracts Regulations Act, 1952 and the Rules framed there under. The regulator for the commodities trading is the Forward Markets Commission, situated at Mumbai, which comes under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs Food and Public Distribution Forward Markets Commission (FMC):- It is statutory institution set up in 1953 under Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1952. Commission consists of minimum two and maximum four members appointed by Central Govt. Out of these members there is one nominated chairman. All the exchanges have been set up under overall control of Forward Market Commission (FMC) of Government of India. National Commodities Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) National Commodities Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) promoted by ICICI Bank Limited (ICICI Bank), Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSC). Punjab National Bank (PNB), Credit Ratting Information Service of India Limited (CRISIL), Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), Canara Bank and Goldman Sachs by subscribing to the equity shares have joined the promoters as a share holder of exchange. NCDEX is the only Commodity Exchange in the country promoted by national level institutions. NCDEX is a public limited company incorporated on 23 April 2003. NCDEX is a national level technology driven on line Commodity Exchange with an independent Board of Directors and professionals not having any vested interest in Commodity Markets. It is committed to provide a world class commodity exchange platform for market participants to trade in a wide spectrum of commodity derivatives driven by best global practices, professionalism and transparency. NCDEX is regulated by Forward Markets Commission (FMC). NCDEX is also subjected to the various laws of land like the Companies Act, Stamp Act, Contracts Act, Forward Contracts Regulation Act and various other legislations. NCDEX is located in Mumbai and offers facilities to its members in more than 550 centers through out India. NCDEX currently facilitates trading of 57 commodities. Commodities Traded at NCDEX:-  · Bullion:- Gold KG, Silver, Brent  · Minerals:- Electrolytic Copper Cathode, Aluminum Ingot, Nickel Cathode, Zinc Metal Ingot, Mild steel Ingots  · Oil and Oil seeds:- Cotton seed, Oil cake, Crude Palm Oil, Groundnut (in shell), Groundnut expeller Oil, Cotton, Mentha oil, RBD Pamolein, RM seed oil cake, Refined soya oil, Rape seeds, Mustard seeds, Caster seed, Yellow soybean, Meal  · Pulses:- Urad, Yellow peas, Chana, Tur, Masoor,  · Grain:- Wheat, Indian Pusa Basmati Rice, Indian parboiled Rice (IR- 36/IR-64), Indian raw Rice (ParmalPR-106), Barley, Yellow red maize  · Spices:- Jeera, Turmeric, Pepper  · Plantation:- Cashew, Coffee Arabica, Coffee Robusta  · Fibers and other:- Guar Gum, Guar seeds, Guar, Jute sacking bags, Indian 28 mm cotton, Indian 31mm cotton, Lemon, Grain Bold, Medium Staple, Mulberry, Green Cottons, , , Potato, Raw Jute, Mulberry raw Silk, V-797 Kapas, Sugar, Chilli LCA334  · Energy:- Crude Oil, Furnace oil, Thermal Coal, Brent Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Gasoline, Heating Oil Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (MCX) Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (MCX) is an independent and de-mutulized exchange with permanent reorganization from Government of India, having Head Quarter in Mumbai. Key share holders of MCX are Financial Technologies (India) Limited, State Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Corporation Bank of India, Bank of India and Cnnara Bank. MCX facilitates online trading, clearing and settlement operations for commodity futures market across the country. MCX started of trade in Nov 2003 and has built strategic alliance with Bombay Bullion Association, Bombay Metal Exchange, Solvent Extractors Association of India, pulses Importers Association and Shetkari Sanghatana. MCX deals wit about 100 commodities. Commodities Traded at MCX:-  · Bullion:- Gold, Silver, Silver Coins,  · Minerals:- Aluminum, Copper, Nickel, Iron/steel, Tin, Zinc, Lead  · Oil and Oil seeds:- Castor oil/castor seeds, Crude Palm oil/ RBD Pamolein, Groundnut oil, Mustard/ Rapeseed oil, Soy seeds/Soy meal/Refined Soy Oil, Coconut Oil Cake, Copra, Sunflower oil, Sunflower Oil cake, Tamarind seed oil,  · Pulses:- Chana, Masur, Tur, Urad, Yellow peas  · Grains:- Rice/ Basmati Rice, Wheat, Maize, Bajara, Barley,  · Spices:- Pepper, Red Chili, Jeera, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Clove, Ginger,  · Plantation:- Cashew Kernel, Rubber, Areca nut, Betel nuts, Coconut, Coffee,  · Fiber and others:- Kapas, Kapas Khalli, Cotton (long staple, medium staple, short staple), Cotton Cloth, Cotton Yarn, Gaur seed and Guargum, Gur and Sugar, Khandsari, Mentha Oil, Potato, Art Silk Yarn, Chara or Berseem, Raw Jute, Jute Goods, Jute Sacking,  · Petrochemicals:- High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Polypropylene (PP), Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC)  · Energy:- Brent Crude Oil, Crude Oil, Furnace Oil, Middle East Sour Crude Oil, Natural Gas  · Whether:- Carbon (CER), Carbon (CFI) National Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (NMCEIL) National Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (NMCEIL) is the first de-mutualised Electronic Multi Commodity Exchange in India. On 25th July 2001 it was granted approval by Government to organize trading in edible oil complex. It is being supported by Central warehousing Corporation Limited, Gujarat State Agricultural Marketing Board and Neptune Overseas Limited. It got reorganization in Oct 2002. NMCEIL Head Quarter is at Ahmedabad. Chapter 4 INTERNATIONAL COMMODITY EXCHANGES Futures trading is a result of solution to a problem related to the maintenance of a year round supply of commodities/ products that are seasonal as is the case of agricultural produce. The United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia, Singapore are homes to leading commodity futures exchanges in the world. The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX):- The New York Mercantile Exchange is the worlds biggest exchange for trading in physical commodity futures. It is a primary trading forum for energy products and precious metals. The exchange is in existence since last 132 years and performs trades trough two divisions, the NYMEX division, which deals in energy and platinum and the COMEX division, which trades in all the other metals. Commodities traded: Light sweet crude oil, Natural Gas, Heating Oil, Gasoline, RBOB Gasoline, Electricity Propane, Gold, Silver, Copper, Aluminum, Platinum, Palladium, etc. London Metal Exchange:- The London Metal Exchange (LME) is the worlds premier non-ferrous market, with highly liquid contracts. The exchange was formed in 1877 as a direct consequence of the industrial revolution witnessed in the 19th century. The primary focus of LME is in providing a market for participants from non-ferrous based metals related industry to safeguard against risk due to movement in base metal prices and also arrive at a price that sets the benchmark globally. The exchange trades 24 hours a day through an inter office telephone market and also through a electronic trading platform. It is famous for its open-outcry trading between ring dealing members that takes place on the market floor. Commodities traded:- Aluminum, Copper, Nickel, Lead, Tin, Zinc, Aluminum Alloy, North American Special Aluminum Alloy (NASAAC), Polypropylene, Linear Low Density Polyethylene, etc. The Chicago Board of Trade:- The first commodity exchange established in the world was the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) during 1848 by group of Chicago merchants who were keen to establish a central market place for trade. Presently, the Chicago Board of Trade is one of the leading exchanges in the world for trading futures and options. More than 50 contracts on futures and options are being offered by CBOT currently through open outcry and/or electronically. CBOT initially dealt only in Agricultural commodities like corn, wheat, non storable agricultural commodities and non-agricultural products like gold and silver. Commodities Traded: Corn, Soybean, Oil, Soybean meal, Wheat, Oats, Ethanol, Rough Rice, Gold, Silver etc. Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM):- The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) is the second largest commodity futures exchange in the world. It trades in to metals and energy contracts. It has made rapid advancement in commodity trading globally since its inception 20 years back. One of the biggest reasons for that is the initiative TOCOM took towards establishing Asia as the benchmark for price discovery and risk management in commodities like the Middle East Crude Oil. TOCOMs recent tie up with the MCX to explore cooperation and business opportunities is seen as one of the steps towards providing platform for futures price discovery in Asia for Asian players in Crude Oil since the demand-supply situation in U.S. that drives NYMEX is different from demand-supply situation in Asia. In Jan 2003, in a major overhaul of its computerized trading system, TOCOM fortified its clearing system in June by being first commodity exchange in Japan to introduce an in-house clearing system. TOCOM launched options on gold futures, the firs t option contract in Japanese market, in May 2004. Commodities traded: Gasoline, Kerosene, Crude Oil, Gold, Silver, Platinum, Aluminum, Rubber, etc Chicago Mercantile Exchange:- The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is the largest futures exchange in the US and the largest futures clearing house in the world for futures and options trading. Formed in 1898 primarily to trade in Agricultural commodities, the CME introduced the worlds first financial futures more than 30 years ago. Today it trades heavily in interest rates futures, stock indices and foreign exchange futures. Its products often serves as a financial benchmark and witnesses the largest open interest in futures profile of CME consists of livestock, dairy and forest products and enables small family farms to large Agri-business to manage their price risks. Trading in CME can be done either through pit trading or electronically. Commodities Traded: Butter milk, Diammonium phosphate, Feeder cattle, frozen pork bellies, Lean Hogs, Live cattle, Non-fat Dry Milk, Urea, Urea Ammonium Nitrate, etc Chapter 5 How Commodity market works? There are two kinds of trades in commodities. The first is the spot trade, in which one pays cash and carries away the goods. The second is futures trade. The underpinning for futures is the warehouse receipt. A person deposits certain amount of say, good X in a ware house and gets a warehouse receipt. Which allows him to ask for physical delivery of the good from the warehouse. But some one trading in commodity futures need not necessarily posses such a receipt to strike a deal. A person can buy or sale a commodity future on an exchange based on his expectation of where the price will go. Futures have something called an expiry date, by when the buyer or seller either closes (square off) his account or give/take delivery of the commodity. The broker maintains an account of all dealing parties in which the daily profit or loss due to changes in the futures price is recorded. Squiring off is done by taking an opposite contract so that the net outstanding is nil. For commodity futures to work, the seller should be able to deposit the commodity at warehouse nearest to him and collect the warehouse receipt. The buyer should be able to take physical delivery at a location of his choice on presenting the warehouse receipt. But at present in India very few warehouses provide delivery for specific commodities. Following diagram gives a fair idea about working of the Commodity market. Today Commodity trading system is fully computerized. Traders need not visit a commodity market to speculate. With online commodity trading they could sit in the confines of their home or office and call the shots. The commodity trading system consists of certain prescribed steps or stages as follows: I. Trading: At this stage the following is the system implemented- Order receiving Execution Matching Reporting Surveillance Price limits Position limits II. Clearing: This stage has following system in place- Matching Registration Clearing Clearing limits Notation Margining Price limits Position limits Clearing house. III. Settlement: This stage has following system followed as follows- Marking to market Receipts and payments Reporting Delivery upon expiration or maturity. Chapter 6 Investments in Commodities How to invest in a Commodities? With whom investor can transact a business? An investor can transact a business with the approved clearing member of previously mentioned Commodity Exchanges. The investor can ask for the details from the Commodity Exchanges about the list of approved members. What is Identity Proof? When investor approaches Clearing Member, the member will ask for identity proof. For which Xerox copy of any one of the following can be given a) PAN card Number b) Driving License c) Vote ID d) Passport What statements should be given for Bank Proof? The front page of Bank Pass Book and a canceled cheque of a concerned bank. Otherwise the Bank Statement containing details can be given. What are the particulars to be given for address proof? In order to ascertain the address of investor, the clearing member will insist on Xerox copy of Ration card or the Pass Book/ Bank Statement where the address of investor is given. What are the other forms to be signed by the investor? The clearing member will ask the client to sign a) Know your client form b) Risk Discloser Document The above things are only procedure in character and the risk involved and only after understanding the business, he wants to transact business. What aspects should be conside