A tax-free exploitation of the turn-of-the-month effect: C.R.E.F.

By applying knowledge of the “turn-of-the-month” effect investors will improve the risk-adjusted performance of their retirement accounts by using a simple and easily implemented “switching” strategy. Our exploitation of the turn-of-the-month anomaly achieves a 17.7 percent average annual rate of return by switching between a money market account and a broad market indexed stock account. This is compared to a 15.6 percent average annual rate achieved by simply buying and holding the stock account, or a 5.8 percent rate on the money market account. Additionally, volatility is cut in half and there are no tax consequences or transactions fees when the switching strategy is used within a retirement account. Our results suggests that this strategy might be successfully implemented, under current tax laws, in qualified retirement plans and in variable annuities.     

V. E. Gamborg

Abstract

A glance at the numerous papers dealing with the influence of the rate of interest on the value of premiums will show that most authors aim at computing annuity values for a new rate of interest without first re-calculating the commutation columns, It is only in exceptional cases that they derive premiums or policy-values directly, i.e. without first finding annuity values.² Apart from the fact, that both premiums and policyvalues are implicitly given by a set of annuity values, the reason for the usual procedure lies in the type of calculations which is contemplated, since they cannot conveniently be applied to such ratios as premiums and policy-values. In the following lines we show how the method developed by A. J. Lotka ³ for the calculation of the rate of increase of a stable population is capable of generalisation and of successful application to our problem; thus the detour via the calculation of annuity values can be avoided.     

In search of E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Company: the perils of archival research

The purpose of this paper is to describe the pitfalls of archival research into the bookkeeping records of a specific firm, E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., and how it may lead to misinterpretation and misdirection. Traditionally, the bookkeeping records of an individual or organization have provided a great deal of information to researchers who use the records for many different research projects. Such research is costly, however. The researcher is concerned with the analytical techniques of the historian, or even the detective; the time-consuming, methodical routine of familiarization with the records; and the analysis and interpretation of the significance of the techniques and trends evident in the data base. The sources for this traditional archival research project were many, varied, and often contradictory. For the record books of the DuPont Company, an early 19th century gunpowder manufactory, the process of understanding, interpreting, and validating the record keeping led to a number of misleading, confusing, and time-consuming issues which had to be resolved. These issues may have implications for other accounting historians since the need to search for the 'story' behind a particular research project will in all likelihood be encountered in the course of other research. Researchers must understand that they are able to rely on secondary sources, when they exist, only as long as they remain circumspect when depending on the secondary interpretation of primary sources, and that even the primary sources themselves may lead the researcher astray.     

英汉新词语的形成因素探源

社会的变革，人们思维方式与思想观念的改变以及新事物的大量涌现，促进了英汉新词语的迅速发展。新词语作为语言现象的融合体，它的产生和发展不仅具有内在的社会原因，而且蕴含着特定的思想化意义。本分析了新词语产生的社会背景，形成方式，并进过英治语言字结构形态的差异对英汉语言的异质性进行深入探讨。     

A P.D.E. approach to Asian options: analytical and numerical evidence

We first derive a one-state-variable partial differential equation, easy to implement, which characterizes the price of a European type Asian option. This result is explained and related to previous literature. We then derive new results on the hedging of an Asian option and propose analytical and numerical analysis on the comparison between Asian and European options. Our methodology which applies to “fixed-strike” Asian options as well as to “floating-strike” Asian options completes and clarifies various results in the literature. In this paper we focus on “backward-starting” Asian options. Our approach is quite general however, and we explain how to adapt our main results to the case of “forward-starting” Asian options.     

英汉习语的文化差异溯源

不同民族的化不仅生成语言的特殊语义成分，而且对语言的构词组句 产生重要影响。可以从英汉习语表达的辩证观念、价值观念差异，发掘出民族化个性特征的历史积淀的英汉习语的结构形式、音韵特点、修辞方法、语义引申诸方面映射的化轨迹。     

预算的W＋W＋H

又到一年预算时,谈起每年四季度开始的下一年度预算,CFO们往往开始了诉苦大会:领导不重视,各部门不配合,预算不准确,考核有意见……预算管理似乎是一个永远解不开的难题.     

我有一个梦想

金融在现代经济中扮演着十分重要的角色,同样,金融危机对经济秩序的破坏,也是毁灭性的,建立一个完善的现代金融体系,抵御一切金融危机是每一代金融人士的梦想。文章对此有精彩论述。     

Sense and reliability. A conversation with celebrated psychologist Karl E. Weick. Interview by Diane L. Coutu

Most of us see the organizations we operate in--our schools or companies, for instance--as monolithic and predictable, subjecting us to deadening routines and demanding dehumanizing conformity. But companies are more unpredictable and more alive than we imagine, according to Karl Weick, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan and an expert on organizational behavior. Weick says executives can learn a lot about managing the unexpected from organizations that can't afford surprises in the workplace--nuclear plants, firefighting units, or emergency rooms, for instance. In this conversation with HBR senior editor Diane Coutu, Weick examines the characteristics of these high-reliability organizations (HROs) and suggests ways that other organizations can implement their practices and philosophies. The key difference between high-reliability organizations and other companies is the mindfulness with which people in most HROs react to even very weak signs that some kind of change or danger is approaching. For instance, nuclear-plant workers Weick has studied immediately readjust dials and system commands when an automated system doesn't respond as expected. Weick contrasts this with Ford's inability to pick up on weak signs in the 1970s that there were lethal problems with the design of the Pinto gas tank. HROs are fixated on failure. They eschew plans and blueprints, looking instead for the details that might be missing. And they refuse to simplify reality, Weick says. Indeed, by cultivating broad work experiences and enlarging their repertoires, generalist executives can avoid getting paralyzed by "cosmology episodes"--events that make people feel as though the universe is no longer a rational, orderly system.