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CNN/MoneyWeb Home Markets & Stocks ADRs AM Market Call Bonds & Rates Commodities Currencies Dow 30 Earnings Earnings Warnings Hot Stocks Investor Research Center IPO Center Most Active Stocks PM Market Call U.S. Stocks Wall Street Research Widely Helds World Markets Track Your Stocks Real Time Quotes Company News Economy World Biz Technology Commentary Personal Finance Mutual Funds Money Magazine Money 101 Portfolio Calculators Real-time Quotes CNN/Money Email newsletters Mobile news Money archives Buy story reprints CNNfn on TV | Web video Buy show videos SPECIAL OFFER --AAABAEAKALAPARASAZBCCACOCTDCDEFLGAHIIAIDILINKSKYLAMAMBMDMEMIMNMOMPMSMTNBNCNDNENFNHNJNMNVNSNTNYONOHOKORPAPEPRQCRISCSDSKTNTXUTVAVIVTWAWIWVWYYT Please do not contact me via e-mail with offers from Time Inc, and CNN/Money Get 11 more issues, totaling 12 for $19.95, if you like MONEY. Or cancel and owe nothing MONEY is published monthly, except for two issues combined periodically into one and occasional extra, expanded, or premium issues. Combined, expanded, and premium issues count as two subscription issues. Rate good in U.S. only. In Canada, 12 issues/$37.00, not including GST, HST, and QST. Subscribers: If the Post Office alerts us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within two years. To read our Privacy Policy, go to http://money.cnn.com/services/privacy/ I agree to the offer details above. 12 issues for $19.95. Privacy Policy Markets & Stocks Stocks rally on optimism Investors encouraged by some positive earnings reports as economy at home takes center stage. April 14, 2003: 1:38 PM EDT By Meghan Collins and Malina Poshtova Zang, CNN/Money Staff Writers NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Stocks rallied into early afternoon trading Monday as investors saw some hope for corporate growth and the economy after a few positive profit reports. Shortly after 1:30 a.m. ET the Dow Jones industrial average (up 105.32 to 8308.73, Charts), the Nasdaq composite (up 19.98 to 1378.83, Charts) and the S&P 500 index (up 11.60 to 879.90, Charts) all rallied to gains of more than 1 percent. Only two of the 30 Dow stocks traded lower. "I think there's a little bit of optimism here today -- you can take one eye off Iraq and start to focus more on the economy and earnings," said James Park, senior trader at Brean Murray & Co. With the war in Iraq de facto over, investors increasingly shifted their focus to matters at home, top of which were the state of the U.S. economy and corporate bottom lines. This week marks the first of the two biggest weeks for posting first-quarter results -- and the first earnings news that came Monday appeared encouraging.

Gap’s History and Mission Statement and Vision Essay

Doris and Don Fisher opened the first Gap store in 1969. Today, Gap Inc. is a leading international specialty retailer with six brands – Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime, Athleta and INTERMIX – about 3300 stores and 134,000 employees. The products include apparel, accessories, and personal care products for men, women, children, and babies. The Company operates in two segments: Stores, which includes the operations of the retail stores for Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic, and Direct, which includes the operations for its online brands, both domestic and international. Company-operated stores: About 3,000 stores across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, China, France, Ireland, Japan and Italy *Fun fact! The first Gap store outside the United States opened in the UK in 1987 Franchise stores:Over 250 stores in locations across Asia, Australia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. At its founding in 1969, and remains deep in Gap’s DNA today are: customer focus, community involvement and integrity. Since today, there are more than 134,000 people around the world – and company culture encourages each one to â€Å"Wear your passion.† Mission Statementâ€Å"Gap, Inc. is a brand-builder. We create emotional connections with customers around the world through inspiring product design, unique store experiences, and compelling marketing.†In addition to its mission statement, The Gap also has a purpose statement, which is designed to guide the daily actions of its employees. â€Å"Our purpose? Simply, to make it easier for you to express your personal style throughout your life. We have more than 150,000 passionate, talented people around the world who help bring this purpose to life for our customers.† Vision : Think: customers first – we consider the needs and value the diversity of thought, experience and perspectives among our customers. Inspire: creativity – we open ourselves to new ideas, tapping into our diversity of perspectives. Do: what’s right – we treat every customer, supplier and employee with respect. Deliver: results – we strive to create an inclusive environment where employees thrive and generate top performance.

Invictus Poem Analysis Good Copy Essay

Defiance Human fate, whether predetermined or not, has always been a subject of great debate. Numerous inconclusive arguments have erupted from scientific as well as religious perspectives as to whether or not destiny is controlled by an outside force. Author William Ernest Henley’s poem â€Å"Invictus† is frequently regarded as an eye opening piece of literature that has imitated and facilitated the self reinvention of countless lives. Challenging Christian ideals, Henley elicits a powerful emotional response by supporting the philosophy that man is the sole determinant of his fate. By presenting such a bold and controversial belief, Henley greatly increases the impact of his poem. He titled the poem â€Å"Invictus,† Latin for unbeaten, in order to show that although his spirits were low and mind deterred, they still remained unconquered, demonstrating the retention of control he had over his destiny [Invictus (Meaning of)]. The Christian faith is well known for its belief of having one god who watches over and guides all. Henley begins the poem by thanking â€Å"whatever gods may be† for providing him with his â€Å"unconquerable soul.† Henley purposefully uses the term â€Å"gods† as a passive aggressive challenge to this fundamental Christian belief in monotheism. He also states that his head has remained â€Å"unbowed,† referencing his refusal to submit when times are hard. The â€Å"bludgeonings† that have beat Henley down most surely represents his hardships, while the bowing down represents submission to Christian ideology and to God himself. His refusal to surrender himself to these ideals is representative of his belief that no one but himself can change or affect where he is in life. In a further defiance of Christianity, Henley says â€Å"It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll.† The gate is supposed to be the very same one that leads to Heaven, strait referring to the narrow passage that allows for very little admittance. Meanwhile, the punishments on the scroll reference the metaphorical list of sins that belabor the human soul, challenging the general concept of sin. By invalidating the scale of right and wrong upon which Christianity is so heavily based, Henley attacks the validity of the entire Christian faith.  This assault continues in the poem with the lines â€Å"I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.† The theme of self reliance presented in these lines reinstates Henley’s belief that each person is the only one accountable for their journey, not God or any other omnipresent being. Henley was a strong willed individual that chose to look past his negative experiences in life and continue his journey of personal discovery and self definition. Henley was not the first to come to the belief that man was exclusively responsible for shaping his own destiny. An ancient Korean philosophical idea known as Juche shares this same belief (CITATION). â€Å"The circumstances of one’s birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are† (Mewtwo). It doesn’t matter where a person’s life begins, it doesn’t matter what that person has been told, in the end, everyone’s soul is their own, and only they are responsible for their fate. Works Cited: Henley, William Ernest. â€Å"Invictus [I. M. To R. T. Hamilton Bruce (1846-1899)].† 12 Dec. 2013 â€Å"Invictus (Meaning Of).† Encyclo. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013. â€Å"Juche.† Blue Cottage Taekwon-Do. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013. â€Å"Live by Quotes.† Live by Quotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.

Online Shopping: Risks and Benefits

There has long been a need for the consumer to purchase goods without ever having to leave their home. The industry started with mail order catalogs such as Sears Roebuck that offered consumers the convenience to order goods without having to travel a long distance to see what was available. The catalog offered everything from clothing to toys, and even farming equipment that made it easier for early American families to purchase goods without having to travel to a city possibly hundreds of miles away. The industry has come a long way since the golden years of the Sears catalog. When the personal computer was invented in 1976 people were astonished at its power. After later development and the PC went on the market for all Americans to purchase, it couldn’t do much more than word processing and simplified record keeping, but when the PC was connected to the World Wide Web in 1989, the personal computer began to become a household item. The World Wide Web or better known simply as the internet, allowed users to access files, information, pictures, video, shop online, and much more. The internet connects a personal computer to servers which connect computers from all around the world. Despite danger, the benefits of online shopping can outweigh the risks. Ever since the invention of the personal computer and the World Wide Web, consumers have become more and more eager to shop online. Shopping online can give a great advantage to many people. Shopping online also has many risks and disadvantages that could arguably equal or outweigh the benefits. When parents spoke of going shopping 20 years ago, it meant get ready and get in the car. Today, it can mean either to get ready to go somewhere or go to the computer and get your credit card ready. Most people shop online for the convenience. Customers never have to leave their home and can do all of their shopping from the living room couch, which eliminates crowds, stress and the forsaken checkout line. Another convenience is that a website cannot turn out its lights and lock the door. Online stores in the US and Canada are also always open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The customer never has to worry about getting to a store before it closes, or waiting for it to open. This makes online shopping, to most people, the most convenient form of shopping (Hobbs). Another advantage of shopping online is that it allows customers to shop or browse through many different categories of items. The internet also allows people to shop from places located hundreds of miles away and even around the world. If someone needs something from across the country that is not available in their area, it is more efficient to order online rather than traveling a great distance to purchase the item (Hobbs). Shopping online is also faster and simpler than using a mail order catalog. It is easy to find just about anything you want to buy online versus getting in a car and driving to numerous stores while having to worry about things like finding a parking spot, burning fuel, and navigating through traffic only to look at items you may or may not be interested in at a brick and mortar store (Fabiola). Online shoppers are also less susceptible to impulse items. Every item found in a retail store is strategically placed to maximize sales in that particular store (Romeo). For example, at home watching television and all of the sudden the screen goes black because the dog just chewed the cable to the TV. A trip to the nearest retail store is required just to purchase a replacement cable. Retailers often strategically place items with enticing prices which could easily lead to the customer coming home with a new TV and not a replacement cable that would have fixed your old one. This is a good example of impulse shopping. This is what retail stores want customers to do. They fill end caps and stack-bases with products they know customers will buy if they are visible but are not a planned purchase. Shopping online takes most of that away. There aren’t shelves to place impulse items on for customers to see on their way in or way out of the door. The customer can click on what they need, purchase it, and be finished. When customers shop online, it is far easier to compare prices at different online stores than it is to compare prices of retail stores. When shopping online one can browse seamlessly site after site and even tab between different online stores with just the press of a button. When comparing prices from retail and outlet stores, it means looking at sales papers and going from store to store to hunt down that great deal which can consume a great deal of time (Hobbs). Many people have been skeptical about shopping online. With its benefits, also come great risks and disadvantages. One of the most common problems with shopping online is security. When purchasing an item off the internet, it is important to know that the site is secure (Snowdon). Personal information such as credit card numbers, addresses, and even personal computers need to be protected from any type of threat. There are sites that are built specifically just to phish information like email addresses, usernames, and passwords; therefore, when consumers want to make a purchase online, they really have to trust the site and know it is secure and that their information is not at risk. Another disadvantage of shopping online is that it is not a hands-on purchase. Customers like to see and hold what they are buying in person. When shopping online, there is an image of the product, but the box cannot be opened to be sure it isn’t damaged. When there is a picture of the item, it’s more than likely not the exact one you will receive (Jessica). For example, when purchasing a scented candle or even a bottle of perfume online, it is impossible to test the scent. Some sites offer sample scent cards that can be sent through the mail to be sure you like what you are ordering, but they don’t usually offer that unless you are making a large purchase. Frequent online shoppers know all about expedited shipping. This is one of the most dreaded downfalls of online shopping. When purchasing an item at a retail store, it goes with the customer when the transaction is complete. The clerk puts the purchase in a bag and the customer walks out the door and goes home. When shopping online, there is almost never an instance where one can get the purchase the same day unless there is in-store pickup from a major retail store that’s nearby with the item already in stock. Prices are usually cheaper online, but shipping cost always has to be factored in to the total. Sometimes online merchants offer free shipping on items over a certain amount, but most likely the customer will have to pay some sort of shipping cost. Then, there is always the wait. Depending on shipping specifications, delivery could be the next day if you pay extra, but usually shipping takes one to four weeks depending on the size of the item and the company who delivers it (Chits). I believe that online shopping will grow for years to come. It is getting safer and harder for hackers to break into online sites. Shopping online is more convenient for some items like electronics, car parts, office supplies, and other items that may just inconvenience someone to go out for or for and item that may not be available in your area, but I also believe that shopping online will never replace the old fashioned retail store. Customers will always want to try on their jeans to make sure they fit before they purchase them, and see what is new on the market every time they go out. People love to go out and shop. They love the experience, even though some people would disagree. But, how would you feel if you did all of your shopping online? Never going to a store and never and seeing the actual item they are buying. You would get tired of sending things back and not getting what you thought you were buying. Online shopping is definitely a great shopping tool but all that glitters is not gold.

President Obama visit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

President Obama visit - Essay Example This would be of great help especially to the people with low incomes, since they would be reduced of the burden of having to repay the loan in full. The president also wanted to get to the students’ voting alliance that was responsible for his winning back in 2008, and told them that he needed their votes again in 2012 elections. The officials of the White House alleged that those students who had one or more federal loans would be allowed to merge their debts, which would reduce interest rates by half of the percentage point. Obama said that this plan was supposed to get rid of those federal subsidies that were taken to the private banks after the loans are merged, and this would help in improving the economy. He believed that if a big percentage of people’s paycheck is used to repay the loans instead of doing other things, it would affect the economy. This would be a great burden especially to those families who are in the middle-class; since their source of income is mainly from the salaries they get from their jobs. A big percentage of people’s income should help people to improve their businesses, so that the business can grow, and this would help improve the country’s economy. This would ensure that the future generations did not suffer economically due to insufficient funds. The president questioned Republicans who were in the congress for having blocked the job bill he had put in place. He said that those individuals who were jobless weren’t supposed to be deserted, and he would try to help them out even if the congress did not help him. He told the students’ things he planned to do, and he would do them single-handedly if the congress did not back him up. He said that he would ensure that each individual had an access to acquiring college education. This showed that the president was concerned about the future generation who are the next leaders of America, and by giving

Reaction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reaction - Essay Example According to Dr. Audrey Young, the type of training and experiences that are taught in medical school skip basic elements that facilitate communication and understandability of the patients. The book bases its initial principles on the fact that medicine originates from the patient. The ability for a doctor to listen to the feelings and perceptions of the [patient is a step towards the healing and recovery process. However, medical school has taught doctors to have a minimum interaction with the patient. Particular emphasis is laid on disease diagnosis through research and treatment as opposed to the soothing and communicative nature doctors must possess in order to reassure their patients of a quick recovery of the various types of diseases that they may be experiencing (Young, 2009). Communication and maintain a good rapport with the patients is the foundation of medicine. Great lessons in a career such as what Dr. Audrey Young is pursuing teach the professionals to be humble and sympathetic. It also should teach them to be tolerant and brave since there are many instances that will require them to have a lion’s heart in order to deal with them. According to my evaluation of the experiences that Young passed through during her years in Medial school, I view medicine to be a calling rather than a profession (Young, 2009). It requires a great initiative by the individual to acquire knowledge about the facts of the course and knowledge on how to blend into different cultures and people’s lifestyles in pursuit to give treatment and better health care. It was therefore prudent for the curriculum of the institution to expose the students to different environments with people of various beliefs, ailments and origins. Dr. Young worked from the regions of Seattle in the United States of America, Swaziland, Pocatello and Idaho. She encountered patients with

Employment and Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Employment and Society - Essay Example According to the Meaning of Work Survey, there are five principal aspects of life – work, family, community, religion and leisure. Respondents asked to rank the five according to their importance to them indicated in the majority that family came first then work second. However, a good number – accounting for slightly over one-fourth of all respondents – chose work above all, even family. The perspective implicitly assumed by the Survey is that the five aspects the respondents were asked to rank were different and mutually exclusive from each other, and that their apparent meanings are the basis upon which they were ranked.Studies have shown, however, that there are multiple dimensions from which to approach the meaning of work, that explains why individuals would consider it more important than some (or all) of the other aspects of life. The meaning and context of â€Å"Work† Overell (2009) what is obvious to all – that occupational work is importa nt because joblessness is not an economically feasible option. Where remunerated work is viewed as scarce, therefore, the value of having a job rises dramatically. Other than this, however, work provides people with their self-identity, a structure to their time and activities, and a means of self-expression as much as a means to an economic end. Work is not a monolithic whole, however, but has many shades and implications. A study was conducted on three non-economic aspects of the work environment: job demands, job discretion, and job social relationships. According to Karasek (1976), a lack of discretion over the contents of a job tends to make the worker either passive in leisure and community associations or experience mental strain. On the other hand, work that is psychologically demanding does not always lead to deleterious effects, as long as the level of job discretion is not low. When job discretion is high, work that is psychologically demanding tends to make the worker mo re socially active in leisure and in community participation. In a more recent study, Knowles and Taylor (1990) identified two dimensions, each with two â€Å"poles†, that cut across work, family and leisure activities in general. For the first dimension, its positive pole involved activities viewed as challenging, creative and under the individual’s control, and were viewed as enjoyable – communicating with people, creating new business, and finding solutions – whether done at work or at home. Its negative pole involves the routine and mundane activities over which the individual exercises little control, such as completing paperwork, doing the shopping or general administration or housework, which are seen as necessary but stressful. In the second dimension, one pole involved socialization and moral obligation and included settling disputes, attending meetings, and doing things as a family. The other pole involved activities done alone, without any soci al or moral obligation, such as most leisure activities. It was found that whether the respondents chose work or home as preferable over the other, it usually involved pursuit of a lifestyle that was perceived as non-stressful, challenging, and enjoyable, and wherein they are free to exercise their freedom of choice and personal control. Frames of reference: Challenges to the traditional concept of work vs life There is a social context to work that is beside the concept of individual undertaking. In seeking to understand challenges to the traditional sexual/gender paradigm of â€Å"work-life balance† (WLB), it must be noted that a greater emphasis must be devoted to understanding the allocation of the burden of responsibilities discharged by adult members of a household, both as to size and composition. Another important consideration is the quality of recreational activity. WLB decisions take into account the normative expectations linked to gender roles, the regularities a nd patterns with which people meet these expectations, and the lifestyles and consumption habits that result