Topic: Banks and the Economy

For an economy to thrive, there must be a strong banking system. If the banks fail and must be bailed out, it will have an effect on the economy.

If people lose faith in the safety and security of financial institutions, what will happen to the U.S. economy?

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Topic: Annual Reports

All public companies must open their annual reports to the public, which includes lenders and investors. Investors need to know the financial background of an organization before they make the decision to invest their funds. The use of the annual reports will assist them in their decision.

Explain the annual report and the information it contains. Why is the annual report so important to investors? Give two examples and explain the importance of the information.

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Topic: Ratio Analysis

Ratio analysis is important for a company to keep a close eye on what is happening within their organization. It can bring to attention any weaknesses or strengths that may be evolving. It is important when there is a red flag of weakness that it is investigated to determine what must be repaired to bring it back to the positive.

The information used in ratio analysis comes from the financial statements, and if that information is not true to what is really happening, this will result in erroneous ratios being analyzed. When performing a company analysis, you have to assume that the given information is true and correct. If it is not, this could affect the company’s bottom line.

Discuss at least three limitations of ratio analysis.

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Topic: Basic Time Value of Money

It is a common fact that many lottery winners are “broke” sooner rather than later. If you won a $1,000,000 lottery, would you want to collect the lump sum winnings today or receive the monies over time? How does your decision influence the ultimate amount of cash you will collect? Explain the TVM factors you would consider as you make this decision.

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Topic: Annuities and Loans

Treasury bills and Treasury notes are an investment security issued by the U.S. government. A Treasury bill matures within 1 year, and investors typically roll over the matured Treasury bill and purchase another Treasury bill the same day. Treasury notes have maturities of up to 10 years.

You are considering investing $50,000 in a Treasury bill that you will renew every 6 months or a Treasury note that you will hold until maturity. Your investment time frame is 9 years.

Current investment opportunity interest rates are 5% and are expected to increase to 7% in 6 months. Would you invest in the Treasury bill that you can roll over every 6 months and reinvest in, or leave your money in the Treasury note that will mature in 9 years? Discuss your reasoning.

A process recording is a written tool used by field education experience students, field instructors, and faculty to examine the dynamics of social work interactions in time. Process recordings can help in developing and refining interviewing and intervention skills. By conceptualizing and organizing ongoing activities with social work clients, you are able to clarify the purpose of interviews and interventions, identify personal and professional strengths and weaknesses, and improve self-awareness. The process recording is also a useful tool in exploring the interpersonal dynamics and values operating between you and the client system through an analysis of filtering the process used in recording a session.

For this Assignment, you will submit a process recording of your field education experiences specific to this week.

The Assignment: (2–4 pages)

Provide a transcript of what happened during your field education experience, including a dialogue of interaction with a client.

Explain your interpretation of what occurred in the dialogue, including social work practice or theories, and explain how it might relate to engagement covered this week.

Describe your reactions and/or any issues related to your interaction with a client during your field education experience.

Explain how you applied social work practice skills when performing the activities during your process recording.

Assignment 2: Writing Assignment

In this assignment, you will be assessed based on the following Course Outcomes:

MT217-1: Explain how financial markets operate and are essential for a healthy economy and economic growth.

GEL-1.03: Demonstrate college-level communication through the oral delivery of original materials in Standard English.

GEL-6.05: Adapt research skills to discover and sort relevant sources to complete tasks.

Making effective financial decisions is determined by how much information one can gather on different markets and their conditions. By using effective research skills, you will be able to identify how a market operates, and you will be able to forecast the sustainability and strength of the economy.

Read through the whole assignment to understand the topics that must be covered in the selection of your article.

There are three parts to this assignment. Parts 1 and 2 will be written in a Microsoft® Word® document. In Part 1, you will look for a scholarly article from the Purdue Global Library and write about the process you used in locating the article to help with the assignment. For Part 2, you will be assessed on writing a summary of the article focusing on the questions asked. For Part 3, you will do a PowerPoint® presentation with audio. It is important for you to be able to communicate with supervisors or management the details of your research. Using PowerPoint is one way to communicate your information and to show details of the research.

Part 1: Locate a High-Quality Library Article

You will need to locate one or more scholarly articles from the Purdue Global Library that explain how financial markets operate and are essential for a healthy economy and economic growth. The article(s) should provide you with information to answer Part 2 of your assignment. You will write about the process you went through to locate your article(s), thoroughly covering the topics below.

You must follow the following criteria for your research:

· Explain how your search terms were refined.

· Identify your choice of databases (for example: EBSCO or ProQuest ABI/Inform).

· Identify the range of dates used.

· Identify the experts.

· Identify how you sorted the relevant topics.

Locating scholarly articles:

Scholarly articles must be current and of high quality. These include peer-reviewed academic articles, articles published in journals, and other library resources found in the Purdue Global Library.

How to access the ABI/Inform database, selecting peer-reviewed journal articles:

1. Locate the Library link from Academic Tools.

2. Scroll midway down the page and locate “ProQuest ABI/Inform Collection.”

3. Make sure “Full text” and “Peer Reviewed” are checked.

4. Enter your keyword(s) in the search area and select the search button.

5. Under Source Type, select Scholarly Journals.

In Course Resources under Course Documents, you will find an interactive tutorial on “How to Access the ABI/Inform Database” to learn more on how to access and search using the database along with additional resources.

Part 2: Research Financial Markets

Write a summary of the article(s), answering the following questions:

1. Why are financial markets essential for a healthy economy and economic growth?

2. What are financial institutions?

3. Describe each and give an example of who may use them:

a. Investment banks

b. Commercial banks

c. Financial services corporations

d. Pension funds

e. Mutual funds

Note: You may use your textbook as an additional resource; however, the majority of your content must come from your article(s).

Part 3: Research on Markets: PowerPoint Presentation With Audio

It is important to be able to communicate and share with supervisors or management the information received to help determine informed financial decisions. An effective tool to inform and communicate this information is a PowerPoint presentation. Please see the criteria required in the Components section below for the oral delivery of this presentation.

Create your oral presentation by creating a digital recording; some options to record are Screencastify, a  narrated PowerPoint , or a direct computer recording ( PC  or  Mac ).

You will create a PowerPoint presentation with audio covering the following topics:

1. Explain capital transfers.

2. What are the three primary ways in which capital is transferred between savers and borrowers? Describe each one.

3. What is a financial market?

4. Differentiate between the following markets:

a. Physical asset markets versus financial asset markets

b. Spot markets versus futures market

c. Money markets versus capital markets

d. Primary asset markets versus secondary markets

e. Public markets versus private markets

Components

· Part 1 and Part 2 must be submitted in one Microsoft Word document, in APA format, and must include a title page and reference page.

· Part 3 must be submitted as a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation and should be a minimum of 7 slides, in addition to the title slide and reference slide. Each slide is required to also include a script of what is being said in the audio at that point in the presentation. The slides should be easy to read; use Times New Roman in 18-point font.

· Oral delivery requirements: Your narration must use Standard English, proper word choice and oral expressiveness, and a highly developed and sustained viewpoint and purpose, and display exceptional content, organization, and style, while leading the audience to a dynamic and supported conclusion. Your communication must be highly ordered, logical, and unified. You must clearly enunciate, deliver your narration in an academic/professional tone, and minimize background noise.

· All Parts to the assignment must include correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

· Your paper must be written in Standard English and demonstrate exceptional content, organization, style, grammar, and mechanics.

· Your paper should provide a clearly established and sustained viewpoint and purpose.

· Your writing should be well ordered, logical, and unified, as well as original and insightful.

· A separate page at the end of your paper should contain a list of references. Your sources should follow proper current APA formatting. Review APA format found in the Writing Center, accessed through the Academic Success Center within the Academic Tools area of the course.

· Ensure you are properly paraphrasing from your sources. For a refresher on paraphrasing, view this short  video on paraphrasing  and explore the additional resources prior to starting your assignment. You can access tutorials, how-to videos, tutoring services, and more by visiting the Academic Success Center.

· You must use at least one scholarly, high-quality, and current Purdue Global Library source in addition to your course materials. Peer-reviewed academic articles, articles published in journals, textbooks, and library resources found in the “ProQuest ABI/Inform Collection” database from the Library are examples of high-quality resources.

· Review the rubric to ensure you incorporate all the criteria in your assignment.

Directions for Submitting Your Assignment

Compose your assignment as a Microsoft Word document and save it as UsernameMT217-AssignmentUnit#.docx (Example: TAllenMT217-AssignmentUnit1.docx). Submit your file by selecting the Unit 1 Assignment Dropbox by the end of the unit.