Relationship between Crude Oil Prices and Stock Prices of Alternative Energy Companies with Recent Evidence

This paper examines the recent interactive relationships between crude oil prices and stock performances of alternative energy companies. Oil prices and stock index of alternative energy sector are found independent from each other before late 2006. Contrary to existing studies, however, we find significant interdependence between oil prices and stock index of alternative energy industry in the recent years. Since late 2006, oil prices become significantly responsible for the stock performances of alternative energy companies. This finding suggests that the stock market investors of alternative energy sector incorporate oil price shocks into their trading decisions only recently.Crude oil price; Alternative energy; Oil stock index

Learning Styles of Undergraduate and Graduate Physical Therapy Students in Taiwan

AbstractThe research was conducted to identify the learning styles of undergraduate and graduate physical therapy students in Taiwan and to examine the associations between learning style and academic performance. Basic data and Kolb's Learning Style Inventory were obtained from 52 participants from one university. The most commonly occurring style of learner was assimilator (44%), followed by diverger (23%), accommodator (15%), and converger (17%). There was no significant difference in academic performance among the four different styles of learners. Qualitative analyses provided further understanding of the preferred learning and teaching strategies. The different strategies are recommended to meet students’ learning preferences