Essay on the the Secret Book Essay Example for Free

Essay on the the Secret Book Essay According to recent studies, self-help books – non-fiction books that offer advice for behavior modification and make explicit promises for positive change – have doubled as a percentage of all book titles since the 1970s. The increasing popularity of self-help books is an indicator of the modern societys quest to maximize personal happiness through a process of self-discovery. Self-help books are a response to a real and genuine hunger for psychological understanding and self-improvement and are part of the larger market of advice media. Readers buy self-help books seeking self-control – both as a good-faith attempt to increase their self-control and to elicit a temporary sensation that, in fact, the first step toward self-control has already been taken. And of recent years, one of the increasing self-help or spirituality books involve the teachings of New Age-ism. The New Age is a decentralized Western social and spiritual movement that seeks Universal Truth and the attainment of the highest individual human potential. It includes aspects of Occultism, astrology, esotericism, metaphysics, alternative medicine, music, collectivism, sustainability, and nature. New Age spirituality is characterized by an individual approach to spiritual practices and philosophies, and the rejection of religious doctrine and dogma. New Age practices and philosophies sometimes draw inspiration from major world religions: Buddhism, Chinese folk religion, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism; with particularly strong influences from East Asian religions, Gnosticism, Neopaganism, New Thought, Spiritualism, Theosophy, Universalism, and Western esotericism. New Age spirituality has led to a wide array of literature on the subject and an active niche market: books, music, crafts, and services in alternative medicine are available at New Age stores, fairs, and festivals. And one of the most phenomenal publishing successes in the self-help/New Age teachings is a book called The Secret. ABOUT THE SECRET Product Details The English-language 6. 9 x 5. 7 x 0. 9 inches hardcover book is fairly lightweight at 198 pages. It was first published in November 28, 2006 by Atria Books in Australia. In the United States of America, the book is published by Beyond Words and in United Kingdom by Simon Schuster UK. Product Description Fragments of a Great Secret have been found in the oral traditions, in literature, in religions and philosophies throughout the centuries. For the first time, all the pieces of The Secret come together in an incredible revelation that will be life-transforming for all who experience it. In this book, youll learn how to use The Secret in every aspect of your life money, health, relationships, happiness, and in every interaction you have in the world. Youll begin to understand the hidden, untapped power thats within you, and this revelation can bring joy to every aspect of your life. The Secret contains wisdom from modern-day teachers men and women who have used it to achieve health, wealth, and happiness. By applying the knowledge of The Secret, they bring to light compelling stories of eradicating disease, acquiring massive wealth, overcoming obstacles, and achieving what many would regard as impossible. Content of The Secret 1. Foreword 2. Acknowledgements 3. The Secret Revealed 4. The Secret Made Simple 5. How to Use The Secret 6. Powerful Processes 7. The Secret to Money 8. The Secret to Relationships 9. The Secret to Health 10. The Secret to the World 11. The Secret to You 12. The Secret to Life 13. Biographies The Secret Revealed The first thing you need to know is that The Secret isn’t really a secret. The secret is actually â€Å"The Law of Attraction† that asserts what you think creates what you feel, and these feelings flow from your body as magnetic energy waves over vast distances, which then cause the universe around you to vibrate at the same energy level as your feelings. The idea dates back nearly 3,000 years to early Hindu teachings that like attracts like. The law of attraction, which the author Rhonda Byrne says is the most powerful law in the universe, states that people experience the logical manifestations of their predominant thoughts, feelings, and words. This gives people direct control over their lives. A persons thoughts (whether conscious or unconscious) and feelings bring about corresponding positive or negative manifestations. Positive thoughts bring about positive manifestations while negative thoughts bring about negative manifestations. The theory is very simple. Because it is an absolute law, the law of attraction will always respond to your thoughts no matter what they are. Thus your thoughts become things. You are the most powerful power in the universe simply because whatever you think about will come to be. You shape the world that exists around you. You shape your own life and destiny through the power of your mind. To quote some of the teachings in this book are â€Å"Thoughts are sending out that magnetic signal that is drawing the parallel back to you. †Thus there is no such thing as accident or coincidence; it is you, the individual, who brings misery on yourself because of your toxic thinking. But the good news, if you can alter your thoughts, and therefore your feelings, you can actually cause the universe around you to vibrate at a positive energy level and the desires of your heart will come to be realized! All you have to do is Ask — Believe — Receive. You just have to visualize what you want, feel good about it, and then ask the universe — and whatever you can imagine can be yours. It is like having the universe as your catalogue and you flip through it and go, ‘Well I’d like to have this experience and I’d like to have that product and I’d like to have a person like that’ †¦ It is you just placing your order with the universe. The law of attraction was the power, the author argues, behind geniuses such as Plato, Newton, Beethoven and Einstein. In this book too, she has also gotten quotes, experiences and support from the whos who of the self-help industry, including John Gray, author of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, and Jack Canfield, who wrote Chicken Soup for the Soul. Jack Canfield, provides an excellent example of the ask-believe-receive system where he tells us that he visualized earning $100,000 (even writing the desired amount on a bill worth far less and tacking it to the ceiling above his bed) and focused his mental energy only on the goal of attaining the money. He tells us that he had absolutely no idea how he was going to get the money — he simply focused on believing that he would get the money, somehow. But how? For four weeks he had no breakthrough ideas but then, one day in the shower, he remembered that he had written a book and, if it was published (particularly if he sold 400,000 copies and he made a quarter on each) he just might achieve his financial goals. Of course the book was published, and the results were only a few thousand dollars shy of 100,000 dollars. And this is just one of the many testimonials in this book called The Secret. The Story Behind The Secret It is not a secret now that The Secret is a publishing phenomenon of recent years especially for in the non-fiction self-help category. This small book, with a parchment-brown cover engraved with the image of a red wax seal, debuted in 2006 and since then it has sold over four million copies worldwide and has been translated to 38 different languages. The Secret began as a DVD which came out end of 2004. Rhonda Byrne was a television producer in Australia in 2004 when the death of her father led her to discover ‘the secret’, which is her term for what is commonly known as the law of attraction. Her discovery was mainly caused by the 1910 book The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles. Wattless book struck such a chord with Byrne that she plunged into a crash course in Western, Eastern, ancient and modern thought, devouring hundreds of books and articles in just two and a half weeks. Inspired, she flew to the States in July 2005 and began lining up people to interview; the film was finished six months later and she began trying to find an Australian network to air it. The top-rated Nine Network was intrigued by her proposal, but the finished film struck Len Downs, the program manager, as just a whole range of talking heads giving their basis of the secret of life. It eventually ran in Australia just a few weeks ago, and, says Downs, it didnt do all that well. But armed with the law of attraction, Byrne was confident things would work out. A Web company situated just blocks away from her office in Melbourne had a technology for distributing streaming video over the Internet. In March 2006, her site (http://thesecret. tv) began selling downloads and DVDs, one of which found its way to Cynthia Black, president of the New Age-oriented publishing house Beyond Words saw its potential and by late November the book was in the stores and the rest as they say, is history. PURCHASING THE SECRET The Secret books are available at all major bookstores, online bookstore and through its official website. It is usually placed in the Health, Mind Body - Self Help category or Religion Spirituality - New Age category. At most of these major bookstores, The Secret books are placed most prominently on the shelves. Due to it being constantly on worldwide bestseller lists for non-fiction books thus the title is prominently displayed in the bookstores should the bookstore have a bestsellers display section. Its average retails price for cash carry stores are $23. 95 in the United States; ? 12. 00 in United Kingdom; and MYR79. 90 in Malaysia. While its average retail price for online purchases are $14. 00 and ? 12. 00 in United States and United Kingdom respectively. PROMOTING THE SECRET After the phenomenal success of the The Secret DVD, it made sense for it to be turned into a book and what better way for the marketers to embark on promoting the book than playing up the hype of the movie and using the popular internet marketing tool such as the viral video site YouTube. The book was marketed with an online viral video campaign focusing on wealth enhancement. The short video clips showed testimonials from readers of the book and practitioners of the secret claiming that the technique brought them wealth, cured sickness, and brought about a general life-change. The video clips do not disclose what the secret is, where it originated from or how it can be practiced, but rather pointed viewers to the website for both the book and film. Thus hooking the viewers and made them all the more intrigue by the claims made by the author in the book. As for packaging and promotional material, the book also played into the consumers’ senses by trying to showcase that the secret originates from the cosmos. The cover prominently displayed a parchment-brown cover engraved with the image of a red wax seal (see Appendix 1) to indicate it is somewhat a book from the olden days and in the inside pages, the background design are a field of stars, and various shots of the universe thus adding mystique to the claims and the practice. However, the most savvy and most probably the ultimate gambit of the book is to call it The Secret. To quote Mr Donavin Bennes, a buyer who specializes in metaphysics for Borders Books, We all want to be in on a secret. But to present it as the secret, that was brilliant. † Thus the name evoke a sense of intrigue to readers who are looking for something magical or perhaps easier tool for them to understand and to fully live their lives. Another smart marketing move made by the publisher was to have it endorsed by well-known and highly popular worldwide celebrities. The book got its first break in the US when Ellen DeGeneres featured it on her show. And when Oprah Winfrey decided to run a show on it, although it was already a big success, the sales ballooned up much more. Oprah Winfrey first featured it on Feb. 8 2007 and according to Nielsen BookScan, the book had sold 18,000 copies the week before. During the week of the show, sales rocketed to 101,000 and when the show did a follow-up on Feb. 16 2007, the sales that week reached 190,000. With the success of the book, the publishers decided to create more spin-off titles, which they call The Secret tools. There are now The Secret to Teen Power (see Appendix 2), The Secret Daily Teachings (see Appendix 3) and The Secret Gratitude Book (see Appendix 4). Not only that, at its official website there are also ‘gifts’ for the readers such as visualization tools, The Secret memory game, wallpapers, ebook and blank checks (see Appendix 5) which goes hand-in-hand with the teachings of the book. THE SECRET S. W. O. T ANALYSIS Strengths 1. The intriguing title. As elaborated above, the title play a major role in inciting readers’ interest in the book. 2. The cover design. Alongside its intriguing title, the odd-shaped book with its olden-days personification invoke a sense of mystery that is definitely eye-catching and surely pique a person’s interest while browsing the shelves at a bookstore. 3. The content is an easy read with its simple language and peppered with inspiring testimonials from many men women who has experienced the use of the secret plus personal experience quotations from the the whos who of the self-help industry. 4. The savvy marketing ideas of the publishers that has created the hype that constantly raise awareness of the book. 5. Endorsement by high-profile influential personalities that are recognized world-wide certainly helped boosted its sale internationally. 6. Constant high-placing in best-selling charts, most probably due to the savvy marketing ideas of the publisher and as the  long-term effect of the celebrity associated to the book especially Oprah Winfrey. Weaknesses 1. The selling price in Malaysia of RM79. 90 is definitely a setback to potential buyers as the price is rather steep for many people especially for books in the self-help category. 2. The book is not available in paperback form thus some book buyers are not keen on buying hardback cover books due to its steeper price or its slightly heavy weight. 3. The content is not something that is unique and there are many similar teachings that one can get in many other books thus it does lack a little originality. 4. As typical with many New Age teachings, the content of the book has garnered much criticism which try to debunked the book’s teaching as merely hype, mumbo-jumbo or just plain illogical. 5. The book has to complete with many other form of self-help books available that are cheaper, more accessible and from much more renowned authors (Paulo Coelho, Eckhart Tolle, Anthony Robbins) Opportunities 1. Publishers could promote to younger readers especially The Secret for Teens book first and therefore will garner their interest in the main book The Secret. 2. Use the The Secret movie to lure potential readers as there are those who would like to have to book in hand as a way to look back or do revision which is harder to do with the dvd. 3. Offer a cheaper paperback form, thus the book is able to be sold at a cheaper price and therefore garner many more readers. Threats 1. With the easy access to internet, potential readers might decide to check out what the book is about online and thus stumbling on the many critics that the book has garnered. This in turn can make them believe the critics before actually reading the book, thus will result in loss of sales. 2. Like many other things in life, people are apt to stumble upon a new idea for a book or a belief that could help the world, thus there will be brand new books in the future that will probably come with a much more savvy marketing approach and thus will affect the interest of the people about The Secret! THE SECRET CONCLUSION The Secret is a phenomenon and it is likely to become one of the best-selling self-help books of all time. Venture into your local bookstore or look around you while waiting at an airport, and youre bound to see people reading it and absorbing it. They will not just be people who consult astrologers and who listen to Tony Robbins tapes, but normal, average people like the ones who live next door to you. There are almost 1400 reviews of the book printed at Amazon with an average rating of 3. 5 out of 5. The breakdown of those scores is interesting: fifty-two percent of them are 5-star, thirteen percent are 4-star and twenty-one percent are 1-star. This means that the majority of people, the great majority even, believe in at least some aspects of the books premise and teaching. They believe in the law of attraction. The one problem that The Secret poses is that it simplifies and speculates way too much and there are a quite a significant level of moral defects, the lack of scientific backing, and the various philosophical shortcomings, how is it that a significant number of people still believe there’s something to The Law of Attraction? Part of the reason must certainly be the powerful testimonials coming from celebrity figures such as Oprah Winfrey, a woman who attributes her success to her mighty powers of attraction. Of course, thats a long way from the simple model of Ask-Believe-Receive. In most peoples lives, positive thought leads to success only through the transforming medium of action. But as the author Rhonda said in an interview, she just wants to bring happiness to everybody. Thats the reason it all began. And to her credit, she does bring happiness to many people worldwide and surely there is nothing, in principle, wrong with thinking about what makes you happy.

Capital Punishment Essay - Death Penalty and the Clash of Moral Ideolog

The Death Penalty and the Clash of Moral Ideologies      Ã‚     "Capital punishment is a term which indicates muddled thinking." George Bernard Shaw  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The "muddled thinking" that Shaw speaks of is the thinking that perpetuates the controversy over capital punishment in the United States today.   The impractical concurrence of a theoretical, moral argument and definite, legal application has left all sides in this controversy dissatisfied with the ultimate handling of the issue.   There are legitimate ethical and empirical considerations that stand on both the side that favors and on the side that opposes the death penalty.   The general incompatibility of these considerations renders them irreconcilable.   It is within this condition of irreconcilability that the government must initiate and implement its policies regarding capital punishment.   This fixed condition has led to the necessity for and creation of comprises between both sites of this debate, attempting to synthesize the considerations of the t wo. The contentious issue of the capital punishment was rekindled in the 1970s when, in 1976, the Supreme reinstated the practice after a four-year hiatus.   The arguments that comprise much of the legal debate on the issue stem from the eighth and fourteenth amendments to the United States Constitution.   The eighth reads, "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." 1       The final clause of the first section of the fourteenth amendment explains, "nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." 2     The 1976 ruling of Gregg v.... ... sides, regardless of personal conviction.   The inherent incompatibility of the arguments prevents any solution from meeting the expectations and satisfying the moral obligations of all parties.   This paradox leads to the need for compromise, in place of reconciliation, in death penalty legislation.   The status quo of the American legal system allows legislators to weigh the considerations of each side and come to some practical conclusion for the impractical clash of moral ideologies.    1  Ã‚  Ã‚   "Amendment VIII".   Constitution of the United States. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚   "Amendment XIV".   Constitution of the United States. 3   Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976). United States Supreme Court.   Pp. 168-187. 4  Ã‚   "Leviticus".   The Soncino Chumash.   Pp. 760. 5  Ã‚   "Capital Punishment 1996".   Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin.   December 1997.   Pp. 3.         

The True Confession of Charlotte Doyle

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle June 4, 2012 Ann Lee 8D â€Å"The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle† by Avi is about a thirteen-year-old girl, Charlotte Doyle, traveling from England to America, where her family was living. After the ship had left, she realized that she was the only female passenger on the ship, which was called Seahawk. Charlotte was an upper class and educated girl, unlike many of the sailors on the ship. Despite the fact that one of the sailors warned Charlotte about Captain Jaggery’s true side, Charlotte didn’t believe him and became friends with Captain Jaggery, who seemed like a gentleman to her.However, she realized that the captain was using her to get information and he was cruel to the sailors. Charlotte decided to join the rebels. The rebels wanted to kill the captain, who was cruel and mean to them, and Captain Jaggery was trying to prevent the sailors from rebelling against him. Clearly, there was a conflict between the reb els and Captain Jaggery. The climax of the story was when Captain Jaggery died by falling off the ship, and the conflict was also resolved, since the war between the rebels and Captain Jaggery was over. The main theme of this novel is the change of identity.Before her journey, she was just a rich, upper class girl, who was educated. But when she was on the ship with other sailors, she had to be one of them. She wore dirty clothes that she wasn’t allowed to wear at home and didn’t care about her manners and behaviors. Her parents always told her to behave like a lady, but her identity has changed when she was on the ship; she was acting like a different person. Clearly, change of identity took place in this novel. I like how this book was written in the perspective of a teenage girl, who is about my age. I could understand the character better, and read the book from her perspective.

Factors Affecting The Arbitrage Pricing Theory Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 11 Words: 3368 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? Capital Markets play a vital role in the financial sector of each economy. The primary role of the capital market is to raise long-term funds for governments, banks, and corporations while providing a platform for the trading of securities. An efficient capital market can promote economic growth by attracting domestic and foreign capital. 1.1.2 Karachi Stock Exchange and its profile The Karachi Stock Exchange is an example of a capital market which is the biggest and most liquid exchange in Pakistan. It was declared the Best Performing Stock Market of the World for the year 2002. A total of 650 companies were listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) as of endÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ March 2010, with paid up capital of Rs. 894.2 billion. Aggregate market capitalization as at end March, stood at Rs. 2,890 billion (US$ 35 billion). (Source: Economic Survey of Pakistan) Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Factors Affecting The Arbitrage Pricing Theory Finance Essay" essay for you Create order 1.1.3 KSE- 100 INDEX The primary objective of the KSE100 index is to have a benchmark by which the stock price performance can be compared to over a period of time. In particular, the KSE 100 is designed to provide investors with a sense of how the Pakistan equity market is performing. The KSE-100 Index was introduced in November 1999 with base value of 1,000 points. The Index comprises of 100 companies selected on the basis of sector representation and highest market capitalization, which captures over 80% of the total market capitalization of the companies listed on the Exchange. Out 35 Sectors, 34 companies are selected i.e. one company from each sector (excluding Open-End Mutual Fund Sector) on the basis of the largest market capitalization and the remaining 66 companies are selected on the basis of largest market capitalization in descending order. This is a total return index i.e. dividend, bonus and rights are adjusted. The formula for calculating the KSE- 100 Index is: [(Sum of Shares Outstanding x Current Price) / Base Period Value] x 1000 Or (Market Capitalization / Base Divisor) x 1000 1.1.4 Top 30 KSE 100 Index Companies The following is a list of 30 companies with the highest market capitalization volume and their respective weightages in the index and account for over 80% of the KSE index as of February 20, 2008: Number Company Name Weightage (%) Market Capitalization (PKR) 1 OGDCL 14.14 550,948,930,000 2 MCB 7.17 279,583,150,000 3 National Bank of Pakistan 5.43 211,726,900,000 4 Pakistan Petroleum 5.06 197,201,080,000 5 Standard Chartered Bank 4.41 171,704,800,000 6 PTCL 4.28 166,810,800,000 7 United Bank Limited 4.13 161,025,160,000 8 Jahangir Siddiqui Company 2.66 103,600,000,000 9 Pakistan State Oil 2.08 81,034,440,000 10 Allied Bank Limited 2.01 78,371,670,000 11 Nestlà © Pakistan 1.93 75,280,250,000 12 Pakistan Oilfields 1.71 66,824,220,000 13 Fauji Fertilizer Company 1.68 65,607,390,000 14 ABN AMRO 1.63 63,666, 370,000. 15 Engro Chemical 1.45 56,492,990,000 16 Arif Habib Securities 1.40 54,660,000,000 17 NIB Bank 1.27 49,320,250,000 18 Kot Addu Power Company 1.19 46,565,400,000 19 EFU General Insurance 1.16 45,300,000,000 20 Bank of Punjab 1.13 43,869,030,000 21 Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim 1.06 41,474,480,000 22 Bank Alfalah 1.03 39,975,000,000 23 Adamjee Insurance 1.01 39,258,300,000 24 Pakistan Tobacco Company 0.99 38,707,280,000 25 Sui Northern Gas Pipelines 0.98 38,300,100,000 26 Hub Power Company 0.98 38,128,240,000 27 Dawood Hercules Chemicals 0.91 35,549,620,000 28 Habib Metropolitan Bank 0.91 35,354,280,000 29 EFU Life Assurance 0.89 34,750,000,000 30 Lucky Cement 0.86 33,593,480,000 Relevance of the Topic and Research Title This research aims to identify what extra market factors should be considered as likely candidates when investigating stock market volatility and in that lies this research titles relevance. The APT model is dependent on many variable factors and there are various adverse factors in Pakistan which affects stocks returns in the KSE like political tensions, law and order situation, water shortage, floods, earthquakes and flood and energy crisis. So this thesis paper will help to identify the factors which have a positive, negative or no correlation with stock returns. Impact of 2008 Economic/ Political Crisis on KSE 100 Index The KSE 100 Index had many swings during the fiscal year 2008 and the key factors affecting it were as follows: May 23: High inflation in the month of May, 2008 resulted in the unexpected increase in the interest rates by State Bank of Pakistan which eventually resulted in sharp fall in Karachi Stock Exchange and its indexes. July 16: KSE-100 Index dropped one-third from an all-time high hit in April, 2008 as rising pressure on Pakistans government to tackle Taliban militants worsens concern about the countrys economic woes. July 17: Angry investors attacked the Karachi Stock Exchange in protest at plunging Pakistani share prices which further led to a decrease in share prices. August 18: KSE 100 Index rose more than 4% after the announcement of the resignation of President Pervez Musharraf. So the chain of events/ facts shows how different incidents/ factors can affect the share prices in Pakistan and that is what this research paper will aim at. Background information and Evolution Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) The capital asset pricing model states that the price of a stock is related to two variables; the time value of money and the risk of the stock.   The time value here is represented by the risk free rate of interest. The CAPM model keeps into account the overall stock market risk and that is the only factor which it incorporates, something which became dubious when this asset pricing model was used in earlier times. Later, researchers figured out that there were other factors as well which would affect stock returns so a new model for pricing was needed. Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) The APT states that each stocks return to the investor is influenced by several independent factors. It is given by the following formulae: Expected Return = RF + B1 x (factor 1) + B2 x (factor 2) + + Bn x (factor n) Where: RF = the risk free interest rate is the interest rate the investor would expect to receive from a risk free investment. b = the sensitivity of the stock to each factor. Factor = the risk premium associated with each factor. There are no specific factors for this model as theory doesnt suggest any, because the stock returns could vary as one stock might be more sensitive to one factor than another. For example the price of crude oil might be sensitive to the share of OGDCL but not to the share of MCB. There are other various macroeconomic variables which affect the arbitrage pricing model which includes Inflation, GNP, Shifts in Yield Curve and Investor Confidence. Characteristics of the Arbitrage Pricing Model Arbitrage Pricing Model considers the following risk factors: Company specific risk. Interest rate (time horizon risk). Inflation risk. Confidence risk. A multi factor or multi variable model best describes the arbitrage pricing model. It does not specify its risk factors. Timely and accurate information of the variables is required. The relationship should be theoretically justifiable on economic grounds. It works better for individual stocks rather than for a group of stocks. It is used less than the Build-up model, CAPM model or the Discounted Cash Flow model. 1.3.4 Difference between CAPM and APT model The difference between CAPM and arbitrage pricing theory is that CAPM has a single non-company factor and a single beta, whereas arbitrage pricing theory separates out non-company factors into as many as proves necessary to be included. Each of these requires a separate beta. The beta of each factor is the sensitivity of the price of the security to that factor. 1.3.5 Advantages and limitations of the APT model Following are the advantages of the APT model: It is not as restrictive as the CAPM in its requirement about individual portfolios and with respect to the information structure it allows. It allows multiple sources of risk which provides an explanation of what moves stock returns. Limitation of the APT model: APT expects investors to assume or perceive the risk sources. 1.3.6 Assumptions of the Arbitrage Pricing Theory Capital Markets are perfectly competitive. Investors always prefer more wealth to less wealth. Perfect competition prevails and there is no transaction cost in the market: frictionless market. Managerial Concerns pertaining to Research Decisions are made by managers every day. And in order to make fruitful decisions one needs to have firm knowledge over the issue or need to research and know about it to master at whatever they want to do. So the more important the decisions and their impact, the more important the research becomes. If decisions are made randomly then their consequences would be resulting in considerable harm to a large number of people related to it. Hence the research should be refined so that managers can use them to apply the theory and findings to their daily life. From this research, managers can get to know which factors affect their companys stock prices so they would devise policies with regard to that in the favor of their companies to avoid losses. Academic Concerns pertaining to Research Students and researchers might find it important to consult the research paper in order to understand the underlying concept of the topic researched on. It could be of vital importance if they want to derive on to something related to the topic. Also the research can be used to see how analysis is carried out in the case of stock returns and its factors and which factors affect the stock returns. Keywords and Definitions Arbitrage: It is the process of earning profits by taking advantage of differential pricing for the same asset. Arbitrage Pricing Theory: The theory focuses to calculate the returns in absence of arbitrage-condition of artificially overpricing or underpricing a product. It applies to economies that are regulated by the Law of One Price which states that two identical goods cant be sold at the same price. Arbitrage Pricing Model: An asset pricing model which predicts a relationship between the returns of a  portfolio and the returns of a single asset through a linear combination of many independent macro-economic variables. Stock Market: It is the market in which  shares are issued and traded either through exchanges or  over-the-counter markets. Also known as the equity market, it is one of the most vital areas of a market economy as it provides companies with access to capital and investors with a slice of ownership in the company and  the potential of gains based on  the companys  future performance. Multifactor Model: A multifactor model is an alternative to a single risk based model. It can either be from an Arbitrage pricing theory or from a multi-beta CAPM perspective incorporating multiple factors which are responsible for the asset returns. Study Objectives To find out which factors have a linkage with stock prices in general and with respect to Karachi Stock Exchange. To find out which factors have a positive, negative or no correlation with stock prices in the stock market. Chapter 2: Literature Review Various literatures were consulted for this research paper and it was found that the level of return achieved or expected from an investment is dependent on a variety of factors. The single index model or the CAPM was developed by Sharpe (1963) which was unsuccessful as its main shortcoming was that it used only the market return as a single factor to determine security return. This led way to the multifactor model or APT model developed by Ross (1976) which incorporated other variables affecting stock returns. 2.1 Evidence from Stock Markets 2.1.1 Evidence from the Japanese Stock Market A.A Azeez and Yasuhiro investigated the evidence of pricing of macroeconomic factors in the Japanese stock market during the bubble period using the Arbitrage Pricing Theory model. They also examined the pre and post bubble periods in order to compare the robustness of prices factors over the bubble period. The main objective of their study is to analyze empirically the asset pricing mechanism of Japanese stock market during the bubble economy by the use of macroeconomic based APT. The data is divided into the three bubble categories in order to analyze the results and in each period there are four factors which carry risk premiums in the Japanese stock market; money supply, inflation, exchange rate and industrial production. In choosing the variables special consideration is given to any economic announcements which will affect stock price movements if the new information revealed by announcements affects either expectations of future dividends or discount rates or both.  [1] 2.1.2 Evidence from Turkish Stock Exchange Ahmet gave evidence of effects from Turkish Stock Exchange stating seven macroeconomic variables (consumer price index, money market interest rate, gold price, industrial production growth index, oil price, foreign exchange rate and money supply) affecting the Istanbul stock Exchange Index- 100. He designed a multiple regression model and concluded saying that interest rate, industrial production index, oil price and foreign exchange rate have negative effect on ISE-100 index while money supply has a positive one. On the contrary inflation rate and gold price does not have any significant effect on the dependent variable. 2.1.3 Evidence from Indian Stock Exchange Aman from India has carried out a research based on literature review and has concluded the relevance of macroeconomic factor for stock markets. According to his findings stock markets are affected by macroeconomic factors which may be local or international. Key variables mentioned by him affecting in the longer run are industrial production, inflation, foreign exchange rate, interest rate and money supply. 2.1.4 Evidence from Italian Stock Market Arduino Cagnetti did an empirical study in the Italian Stock Market by comparing the APT and CAPM models and found that APT performs better than the CAPM in all aspects. Many of the factors that he found significant were inflation, interest rates, money variables, market indices, production indices and international trade variables. 2.1.5 Evidence from Karachi Stock Market Babar, Kashif, Aslam and Nadeem documented the results by examining the stock returns variations to specific economic variables by applying a multi factor model in context of Karachi Stock Exchange. The 32 firms for which data was taken were related from the two most important industries of Pakistan: Banking and Textile Industry which were the top performers at KSE-100 index. They incorporated variables like market index, consumer price index, risk free rate of return, exchange rate, industrial production growth rate, money supply and individual industrial production to run analysis using the GARCH model. Javed Iqbal and Aziz Haider provide evidence from the Karachi Stock Exchange by carrying out the exploratory factor analysis by breaking the sample for stability testing. They chose sixteen macroeconomic variables out of which some were interest rate, money market rate, long term interest rate yield and regional market. 2.2 Joint estimation of factor sensitivities and risk premia for the APT In this study Edwin and Marjorie maintained a linear factor model and used both measured and unmeasured factors to estimate a LFM, the APT, and a CAPM. They found that the January effect is an important determinant of expected returns. The existence of a January effect that is not explained by this set of factors is evident, but, it would be trivial to add a portfolio that exhibits a strong January effect and hence represents a January factor. 2.3 The Conditional relation between Beta and Returns In this paper, Glenn, Sridhar and Ike find a consistent and highly significant relationship between beta and cross-sectional portfolio returns. The key distinction between the tests is the recognition that the positive relationship between returns and beta predicted by the Sharpe-Lintner-Black model which is based on expected rather than realized returns. In periods where excess market returns are negative, an inverse relationship between beta and portfolio returns should exist. 2.4 Explaining the cross section of returns via a multi factor APT model This paper by Jianping uses an autoregressive approach to test a multi-factor model with time-varying risk premiums. A quasi-differencing approach is used to eliminate the unobservable factors in the model. It is found that the model is capable of capturing the size effect and the dividend yield effect, but is incapable of explaining the book-to-market effect and the earnings-price ratio effect. Thus, it is concluded that a constant-beta multi-factor model will not be able to explain the cross-sectional variation in expected returns. 2.5 Economic Forces and the Stock Market This paper tests whether innovations in macroeconomic variables are risks that are rewarded in the stock market. Financial theory suggests that the following macroeconomic variables should systematically affect stock market returns: the spread between long and short interest rates, expected and unexpected inflation, industrial production, and the spread between high and low grade bonds. It is found that these sources of risk are significantly priced. Furthermore, neither the market portfolio nor aggregate consumption is priced separately. Also the oil price risk is not separately rewarded in the stock market. 2.6 Macroeconomic factors do influence aggregate stock returns This paper helps to find that the stock market returns are significantly correlated with inflation and money growth. The impact of real macroeconomic variables on aggregate equity returns has been difficult to establish, perhaps because their effects are neither linear nor time invariant. GARCH model of daily equity returns is used for estimation, where realized returns and their conditional volatility depend on 17 macro series announcements. Six factors are used: three nominal (CPI, PPI, and a Monetary Aggregate) and three real (Balance of Trade, Employment Report, and Housing Starts). Popular measures of overall economic activity, such as Industrial Production or GNP are not used. Chapter 3: Methodology and Analytical Choices 3.1 Framework of Analysis Dependent Variable: KSE 100 index Independent Variables (Factors): Consumer Price Index (measure of inflation) Money supply Interest Rates Exchange Rates Gross Domestic Product (measure of output) Potential Factors which havent been incorporated: Business cycle/ Time Horizon Regional Market Return Political Events (corruption, Assassinations, law and order situation) Natural Disasters/ Calamities Gold Price Industrial Production Growth Rate Oil Price Shifts in yield curves Default risk premiums for bonds(measures investor confidence) Private placements January effect Bank mergers Announcement effects (mergers, monetary policy) 3.2 Statement of Research Hypothesis Hypothesis 1: Ho: Consumer Price Index has a significant impact on KSE 100 index. H1: Consumer Price Index does not have a significant impact on KSE 100 index. Hypothesis 2: Ho: Money supply has a significant impact on KSE 100 index. H1: Money supply does not have a significant impact on KSE 100 index. Hypothesis 3: Ho: Interest Rates have a significant impact on KSE 100 index. H1: Interest Rates do not have a significant impact on KSE 100 index. Hypothesis 4: Ho: Exchange rates have a significant impact on KSE 100 index. H1: Exchange rates do not have a significant impact on KSE 100 index. Hypothesis 5: Ho: GDP have a significant impact on KSE 100 index. H1: GDP do not have a significant impact on KSE 100 index. 3.3 Elements of Research Design Type of Research: Exploratory research as the problem has not been clearly defined and the problem has multiple sensitivities attached to it. Study Setting: Natural as the data will be derived without any intervention from the natural environment. Nature of Data: Time Series Data. Data Collection Preferences Data is to be calculated for a period of 10 years so that there is no potential bias due to time horizon. Variable Definition Sources KSE 100 index It is a stock index acting as a benchmark to compare prices on the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) over a period of time State Bank of Pakistan Consumer Price Index It measures changes through time in the price level of consumer goods and services purchased by households Federal Bureau of Statistics Gross Domestic Product It is the market value of all final goods and services made within the borders of a country in a year CIA World Fact book Money Supply Money and quasi money comprise the sum of currency outside banks, demand deposits other than those of the central government, and the time, savings, and foreign currency deposits of resident sectors other than the central government. This definition is frequently called M2 International Financial Statistics Interest Rate It is the money ma rket interest rate. State Bank of Pakistan Exchange Rate This entry provides the official value of a countrys monetary unit at a given date or over a given period of time, as expressed in units of local currency per US dollar CIA World Fact book 3.5 Data Collection and Related Procedures Exploratory research often relies on secondary sources such as reviewing available literature or data so secondary sources will be used to collect data. That includes research papers and literature reviews taken online from various electronic journals and databases and course books for theory purposes. 3.6 Statement of Analytical Approach and Methodology Descriptive Statistics will be used initially and then covariance of dependent and independent variables will be seen to check for variables. When variables will be finalized, autocorrelation will be done to check for stationarity and then econometric modeling will be done by using multi regression model using the OLS to find out the hypothesis results. 3.7 Limitations With Arbitrage Pricing Model it is difficult to identify the appropriate relevant factors as theory does not suggest any specific ones. Monthly data was not available for all variables so yearly had to be taken into account which might affect the analysis results.