Seasonal Trends in Lithuanian Stock Market

Purpose of the article is to disentangle different calendar effects which leave efficiency holes in Lithuanian market. This paper presents and tests if commonly described seasonal patterns exist in Lithuanian stock market. Analysis of three different sections: period-of-the-year; week-of-the-month and day-of-the-week, suggests that calendar effects do exist in this market. The multitude of explanations for the seasonal effect leaves the reader confused about its primary cause(s): is it tax-loss selling, window dressing, information, bid-ask bounce, or a combination of these causes? The confusion arises, in part, because evidence has generally been presented in support of a particular hypothesis though the same evidence may be consistent with another hypothesis. Methodology/methods are logical and systemic analysis of research literature based on the comparative and generalization methods as well as statistical methods. Scientific aim of the article is the lack of arguments questioning if market prices operating system is fully effective. Novelty of the paper is to the answer to the question what seasonal anomalies are also present in the stock market of new open economy countries. Findings show that using this modified strategy investor could achieve 20.7% compounded annual growth rate versus 7.8% achieved using simply holding stocks throughout. The hypothesis asserts that returns generally will be greater following the “January effect”. There is limited amount of data for constructing robust seasonal strategies so we modified Buy and Hold strategy with simple rules of using best and worst months to show how they influence OMXV index performance. In the conclusions, empirical results using stock index returns for 2000 - 2010 support the hypothesis in Lithuaian stock market. Abnormal activity of OMXV index’s performance is found in the end of summer and throughout autumn. August is best performer of the year while October is performing worst

Testing and evaluation of light gauge steel frame / 9.5 mm csp wood panel shear walls

The use of light gauge steel framing elements sheathed with wood plywood or oriented strand board are becoming more common in the construction of structural shear walls for low-rise platform frame structural systems in Canada. Canadian standards and codes do not currently outline design methods for this type of wall system. Therefore, research at McGill University is underway to help develop design parameters for seismic and wind loading that can be used in conjunction with the 2005 National Building Code of Canada for this type of shear wall system. The research is based on the monotonic and reversed cyclic testing of full-scale wall specimens. This report presents design capacity and stiffness parameters for walls with 9.5 mm (3/8”) Canadian softwood plywood sheathing for various screw spacing configurations, based on the analysis of results from 25 full-scale wall tests following the equivalent energy elastic-plastic (EEEP) method. The results of the test specimens constructed with spruce based plywood sheathing were found to represent the lower bound for shear wall strength and stiffness. Wall specimens constructed with sheathing panels of this species make-up were used to develop the final recommended design parameters. This research concludes that a resistance factor (f) of 0.7 should be used for limit states design calculations for walls subjected to wind or seismic loading as determined from the 2005 NBCC. It was determined that an overstrength factor of 1.2 should be used for capacity design calculations of all non-fuse elements that are part of the seismic force resisting system. It was found that a ductility-related force modification factor (Rd) of 2.5 and an overstrength-related force modification factor (Ro) of 1.7 should be used for the calculation of seismic design forces using the 2005 NBCC. Yield strength (Fy) and elastic stiffness design values for various wall configurations are presented in this report

Issues in Transactions within Groups of Companies: A Greek and European Law Perspective

A traditional subject matter falling under the general heading of our Article is related to the Greek and European legislators\u27 reaction towards the negative consequences and unfair practices in which intragroup transactions may result. Such transactions may result in detriment to shareholders, employees, and creditors, as well as of the state\u27s interests regarding taxation policies. Currently, these considerations are not fully addressed by the traditional legal regime in Greece; as a result, discussion is still in progress. At an EU level, the recent legislative initiatives-in particular Directive 2002/87/EC on the supplementary supervision of credit institutions, insurance undertakings, and investment firms in a financial conglomerate-seek to introduce specific prudential legislation for financial conglomerates. These directives also take the first steps to align the legislation on the European level with national laws concerning financial groups and financial conglomerates in the same sector, thus ensuring a minimum level of equal treatment of these groups throughout the European Union. The main objective, however, of the new EU regime is to ensure that separate state regulators-who typically focus on one sector in order to ensure capital adequacy of the entities under their supervision-are not hindered because of the existence of cross-sector financial conglomerates. This requires specific measures which will prevent situations, for example, where capital is used at the same time as a buffer against risk in two or more entities belonging in the same financial conglomerate ( multiple gearing ) and situations where a parent company issues debt and directs the proceeds as equity to its regulated subsidiaries ( excessive leverage ). [CONT

Antennal transcriptome profiles of anopheline mosquitoes reveal human host olfactory specialization in Anopheles gambiae

BACKGROUND: Two sibling members of the Anopheles gambiae species complex display notable differences in female blood meal preferences. An. gambiae s.s. has a well-documented preference for feeding upon human hosts, whereas An. quadriannulatus feeds on vertebrate/mammalian hosts, with only opportunistic feeding upon humans. Because mosquito host-seeking behaviors are largely driven by the sensory modality of olfaction, we hypothesized that hallmarks of these divergent host seeking phenotypes will be in evidence within the transcriptome profiles of the antennae, the mosquito's principal chemosensory appendage. RESULTS: To test this hypothesis, we have sequenced antennal mRNA of non-bloodfed females from each species and observed a number of distinct quantitative and qualitative differences in their chemosensory gene repertoires. In both species, these gene families show higher rates of sequence polymorphisms than the overall rates in their respective transcriptomes, with potentially important divergences between the two species. Moreover, quantitative differences in odorant receptor transcript abundances have been used to model potential distinctions in volatile odor receptivity between the two sibling species of anophelines. CONCLUSION: This analysis suggests that the anthropophagic behavior of An. gambiae s.s. reflects the differential distribution of olfactory receptors in the antenna, likely resulting from a co-option and refinement of molecular components common to both species. This study improves our understanding of the molecular evolution of chemoreceptors in closely related anophelines and suggests possible mechanisms that underlie the behavioral distinctions in host seeking that, in part, account for the differential vectorial capacity of these mosquitoes