John Steinbeck Essay Example for Free

John Steinbeck Essay John Steinbeck is simply one of Americas finest storytellers. He is an accomplished author and a Nobel Laureate in Literature. However, his road to success was not easy. His earlier novels failed to attract attention, and it took many years before he got the recognition he deserved. Like most writers, his experiences and his hometown were crucial in the creation of his stories. Thus, Steinbecks works were greatly influenced by his life and the environment in which he lived. John Ernst Steinbeck was born on February 27, 1902, in Salinas, California (National Steinbeck Center [NSC], n. d. ). His parents were John Steinbeck, Sr., and Olive Hamilton Steinbeck. His father was a County Treasurer and his mother was a school teacher (NSC, n. d. ). It was his mother who was responsible for his love of reading and writing (â€Å"John Steinbeck,† 2003). His favorite books included Le Morte d Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky and Paradise Lost by John Milton (â€Å"John Steinbeck,† 2003). He usually spent his summer vacations working on ranches and farms (NSC, n. d. ). It is from this experience where he derived his knowledge of the countryside and its people, which he later used in his stories (NSC, n.d. ). Steinbeck graduated from Salinas High School in 1919 (NSC, n. d. ), and proceeded to study marine biology in Stanford University (â€Å"John Steinbeck,† 2003). To pay for his education, he took many jobs, which led him to miss several quarters of school (â€Å"John Steinbeck,† 2003). He was already a writer in college, with several poems and short stories included in university publications as proof (â€Å"John Steinbeck,† 2003). In 1925, Steinbeck left Stanford University and proceeded to New York to start his writing career (NSC, n. d. ). He began his writing career in New York as a reporter for American (â€Å"John Steinbeck,† 2003). Despite this brief writing stint, Steinbeck was still unsuccessful in terms of fiction. He failed to publish any of his written works, forcing him to return to California (NSC, n. d. ). He was still a writer, but he also had other jobs as well. His jobs included fruit picking, painting, surveying, being an estate caretaker and a house watchman (â€Å"John Steinbeck,† 2003). In 1929, Cup of Gold was written when Steinbeck was a house watchman (â€Å"John Steinbeck,† 2003). It failed to return the publishers investment (â€Å"John Steinbeck,† 2003). His next two novels, The Pastures of Heaven and To a God Unknown, were also unsuccessful (NSC, n. d. ). In 1930, Steinbeck married his first wife Carol Henning. The 30s also marked an improvement in his writing career, as his first literary success Tortilla Flat was published in 1935 (â€Å"John Steinbeck,† 2003). Tortilla Flat was later adapted into a movie. Steinbecks success continued, with the release Of Mice and Men in 1937, and The Grapes of Wrath in 1939. Soon after, he won a Pulitzer Prize for The Grapes of Wrath. During the Second World War, he went back to his journalistic roots, as a correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune (NSC, n. d. ). In 1942, Steinbecks relationship with Henning ended (â€Å"John Steinbeck,† 2003). He then married Gwyndolyn Conger, but the marriage did not last (â€Å"John Steinbeck,† 2003). In 1950, he married again, this time to Elaine Scott (â€Å"John Steinbeck,† 2003). It was also in the 50s when he published another great book of his, East of Eden in 1952 (â€Å"John Steinbeck,† 2003). In 1962, Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature (NSC, n. d. ). Four years after, he passed away, in the 20th of December (NSC, n.d. ). Steinbecks literary pieces are filled with references to his own life. The most prominent reference was the setting. Most of his stories, if not all, feature his hometown of Salinas. This is only proof that his hometown was very significant for him, that he refused to exclude it in his works. The Pastures of Heaven is a great example. There is a valley in California, which is located between Salinas and Monterey (Paik, 2006). The name of the valley is Corral de Tierra, but Steinbeck referred to this valley as â€Å"pastures of heaven,† hence the title of his book (Paik, 2006). Moreover, it was also found that since The Pastures of Heaven consists of short stories, Steinbecks intention to unify them may bear a similarity to Miltons Paradise Lost (Meyer, 2007). This is no surprise, since it was one of his favorite books. Tortilla Flat is another Steinbeck novel which referenced his hometown. Tortilla Flat is another town in California, near Monterey. The theme of the story was based on King Arthur and the Round Table (â€Å"John Steinbeck,† 2003). Steinbeck might have derived this idea from another favorite book of his, Le Morte d Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory. In addition, he included the plight of farmers within the story (Pollock, 2006), the inspiration of which was probably taken from his summers as a farmhand. The Log from the Sea of Cortez is another Steinbeck text that, despite having no connection with California, was still a result of his life experiences. When Steinbeck was married to Carol, they lived in Pacific Grove (NSC, n. d. ). It was in Pacific Grove were he met Edward Ricketts, a marine biologist (â€Å"John Steinbeck,† 2003). They quickly became friends, probably because they shared the same interest in biology, which Steinbeck took in college. In 1940, Ricketts and Steinbeck boarded The Western Flyer, a fishing boat they hired for the expedition (Weiss, 1999). Both men explored the Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez (Weiss, 1999). Steinbeck published the book Sea of Cortez, which was re-released as The Log from the Sea of Cortez (Weiss, 1999). Steinbecks maturity as a writer is difficult to trace, simply because he started out as a journalist and later became a fiction writer. News writing and fiction writing are two different fields, both of which are essential parts of Steinbecks career. Nonetheless, regardless of genre, Steinbecks talent is undeniable. Only he could write with a balance of â€Å"realistic naturalism† and â€Å"moral optimism† within his stories (Phillips, 2006). Consequently, Steinbecks writing strength lies on his social commentary, the focus of which was the economic struggles of laborers in the rural areas (Nobel Foundation 1962). His love for the California landscape is also another Steinbeck trademark, which is not always compatible with his straightforward sociological kind of writing (Nobel Foundation, 1962). Despite this, John Steinbeck remains a remarkable author whose legacy will stay for generations. He was one of the many who created literary masterpieces that was extremely influenced by his own life and the surroundings in which he lived. References John Steinbeck (1902-1968). Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://www. kirjasto. sci. fi/johnstei. htm Meyer, M. J. (2007). The Pastures of Heaven. The Literary Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://www. litencyc. com/php/sworks. php? rec=trueUID=7353 National Steinbeck Center (n. d. ). Biography. Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://www. steinbeck. org/Bio. html Nobel Foundation (1962). Biography. Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1962/steinbeck-bio. html Paik, F. (2006). Pastures of heaven. Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://www. forbes. com/2001/11/09/1109how. html Phillips, B. (2006). SparkNote on East of Eden. Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://www. sparknotes. com/lit/eastofeden/context. html Pollock, F. J. (2006). SparkNote on Tortilla Flat. Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://www. sparknotes. com/lit/tortillaflat/context. html Weiss, D. (1999). The log of the sea of Cortez. Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://www. ecotopia. org/about/cortez. html.

Amazon Database Essay Example for Free

Amazon Database Essay Amazon.com is developing a system to gather and keep massive amounts of intimate information about its millions of shoppers, including their religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity and income. The database, which would combine information disclosed voluntarily by customers with facts gleaned from public databases, conceivably would give Amazon a larger or more detailed profile of its customers than any other retailer. The Seattle-based company, with 59 million active customers, said it has no immediate plan to implement such a program. Its ability to do so emerged in a detailed patent application with the U. S. Patent Trademark Office, disclosed Thursday. A privacy expert said customers should be wary about Amazon having the capability to gather such a large amount of detailed information. She said the data could end up in the hands of the myriad retailers that do business with the company, or with government officials or hackers. Amazon never ceases to amaze me, said Lillie Coney, associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C. If they create this database, it will be used for other purposes. They are really creating something worth a great deal of value that will help their company. The patent disclosure comes at a time of heightened awareness over online security and a rash of recent security breaches. AOL recently published a list of more than 650,000 user queries that revealed names, addresses and Social Security numbers, and the company this week apologized and removed the data, but its unknown how many copies of the sensitive information were made. Amazons pending patent, which would bar competitors from replicating the companys process for gathering information, details how it could compile data from customers to create a profile of products that a person might want to buy. Such a database would include the gender, date of birth, interests, occupation, education, income level, residence, race and ethnicity of customers for Amazons gift clustering program. Customers already willingly disclose some personal information on the site to create a wish list of desired products, for example. The larger potential database would go beyond that. Even if a customer does not know demographic information or interests of a possible recipient, the system may be able to access such informatio n from a user profile for the recipient, from past ordering patterns of the recipient, or from publicly accessible databases, the patent application said. Company spokeswoman Patty Smith said Amazon.com has no current plans to implement such a system. Not every company uses a patent it has in its name, but it may have a patent in portfolio, Smith said. Who knows 10 years down the road or five years down the road? It might be good to implement. We want to protect our intellectual property. Smith said the document released Thursday is an addendum to a patent Amazon sought in October 2000 and received in February of this year. She said much of what was in the original patent was also disclosed Thursday, but she didnt have details on what was new. Smith said that six years ago Amazon was trying to figure out ways to make it easier for customers to find information on the companys wish list feature for gifts. Amazon is always careful how it uses customer data so the customer experience will be as good as it can be, she said. The system described in the patent would give shoppers, with the click of a mouse, additional detailed information at the discretion of the gift recipient. Amazon already groups or clusters gifts, such as camping items or back-to-school goods, and then suggests them to buyers based on generic factors such as price, the relationship between the giver and receiver or the recipients age or gender. The patent disclosure also comes at a time when Amazon, originally an online bookseller in 1995, is moving into new ventures to boost profits. The companys stock took a huge hit last month after Amazon reported disappointing second-quarter earnings and company executives said there would be continual heavy spending on technology. Amazon recently started its own toy and food stores. The patent application, filed Dec. 9, 2005, by Amazon inventor Amit Agarwal but made public Thursday, could take years to be approved, according to Brigid Quinn, a Patent Trademark Office spokeswoman. Quinn said theres a backlog of more than 700,000 patent applications, and the agency reviews about 300,000 a year. Its in the early stages. Its not even on an examiners desk yet, Quinn said. But they could use it without it being patented. The patent only prevents others from using it. Greg Linden, a former technology team leader at Amazon, said it sounds to him like Amazon is just protecting its wish list feature. Linden, founder of Findory.com, an online news site, also warned not to read too much into a patent application because lawyers throw in everything they can think of to keep competitors from copying an idea. Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Amazon-database-would-put-shoppers-intimate-1211419.php#ixzz24rlGoBic http://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/amazon-oracle/ AWS Case Study: Amazon.com Oracle DB Backup to Amazon S3 Amazon.com is the world’s largest online retailer. In 2011, Amazon.com switched from tape backup to using Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) for backing up the majority of its Oracle databases. This strategy reduces complexity and capital expenditures, provides faster backup and restore performance, eliminates tape capacity planning for backup and archive, and frees up administrative staff for higher value operations. They were able to replace their backup tape infrastructure with Cloud-based Amazon S3 storage, eliminate backup software, and experienced a 12X performance improvement, reducing restore time from around 15 hours to 2.5 hours in select scenarios. The Business Challenges As Amazon.com grows larger, the sizes of their Oracle databases continue to grow, and so does the sheer number of databases they maintain. This has caused growing pains related to backing up legacy Oracle databases to tape and led to the consideration of alternate strategies including the use of Cloud services of Amazon Web Services (AWS), a subsidiary of Amazon.com. Some of the business challenges Amazon.com faced included: Utilization and capacity planning is complex, and time and capital expense budget are at a premium. Significant capital expenditures were required over the years for tape hardware, data center space for this hardware, and enterprise licensing fees for tape software. During that time, managing tape infrastructure required highly skilled staff to spend time with setup, certification and engineering archive planning instead of on higher value projects. And at the end of every fiscal year, projecting future capacity requirements required time consuming audits, forecasting, and budgeting. The cost of backup software required to support multiple tape devices sneaks up on you. Tape robots provide basic read/write capability, but in order to fully utilize them, you must invest in proprietary tape backup software. For Amazon.com, the cost of the software had been high, and added significantly to overall backup costs. The cost of this software was an ongoing budgeting pain point, but one that was difficult to address as long as backups needed to be written to tape devices. Maintaining reliable backups and being fast and efficient when retrieving data requires a lot of time and effort with tape. When data needs to be durably stored on tape, multiple copies are required. When everything is working correctly, and there is minimal contention for tape resources, the tape robots and backup software can easily find the required data. However, if there is a hardware failure, human intervention is necessary to restore from tape. Contention for tape drives resulting from multiple users’ tape requests slows down restore processes even more. This adds to the recovery time objective (RTO) and makes achieving it more challenging compared to backing up to Cloud storage. Advantages with Amazon Web Services Amazon.com initiated the evaluation of Amazon S3 for economic and performance improvements related to data backup. As part of that evaluation, they considered security, availability, and performance aspects of Amazon S3 backups. Amazon.com also executed a cost-benefit analysis to ensure that a migration to Amazon S3 would be financially worthwhile. That cost benefit analysis included the following elements: Performance advantage and cost competitiveness. It was important that the overall costs of the backups did not increase. At the same time, Amazon.com required faster backup and recovery performance. The time and effort required for backup and for recovery operations proved to be a significant improvement over tape, with restoring from Amazon S3 running from two to twelve times faster than a similar restore from tape. Amazon.com required any new backup medium to provide improved performance while maintaining or reducing overall costs. Backing up to on-premises disk based storage would have improved performance, but missed on cost competitiveness. Amazon S3 Cloud based storage met both criteria. Greater durability and availability. Amazon S3 is designed to provide 99.999999999% durability and 99.99% availability of objects over a given year. Amazon.com compared these figures with those observed from their tape infrastructure, and determined that Amazon S3 offered significant improvement. Less operational friction. Amazon.com DBAs had to evaluate whether Amazon S3 backups would be viable for their database backups. They determined that using Amazon S3 for backups was easy to implement because it worked seamlessly with Oracle RMAN. Strong data security. Amazon.com found that AWS met all of their requirements for physical security, security accreditations, and security processes, protecting data in flight, data at rest, and utilizing suitable encryption standards. The Business Benefits With the migration to Amazon S3 well along the way to completion, Amazon.com has realized several benefits, including: Elimination of complex and time-consuming tape capacity planning. Amazon.com is growing larger and more dynamic each year, both organically and as a result of acquisitions. AWS has enabled Amazon.com to keep pace with this rapid expansion, and to do so seamlessly. Historically, Amazon.com business groups have had to write annual backup plans, quantifying the amount of tape storage that they plan to use for the year and the frequency with which they will use the tape resources. These plans are then used to charge each organization for their tape usage, spreading the cost among many teams. With Amazon S3, teams simply pay for what they use, and are billed for their usage as they go. There are virtually no upper limits as to how much data can be stored in Amazon S3, and so there are no worries about running out of resources. For teams adopting Amazon S3 backups, the need for formal planning has been all but eliminated. Reduced capital expenditures. Amazon.com no longer needs to acquire tape robots, tape drives, tape inventory, data center space, networking gear, enterprise backup software, or predict future tape consumption. This eliminates the burden of budgeting for capital equipment well in advance as well as the capital expense. Immediate availability of data for restoring – no need to locate or retrieve physical tapes. Whenever a DBA needs to restore data from tape, they face delays. The tape backup software needs to read the tape catalog to find the correct files to restore, locate the correct tape, mount the tape, and read the data from it. In almost all cases the data is spread across multiple tapes, resulting in further delays. This, combined with contention for tape drives resulting from multiple users’ tape requests, slows the process down even more. This is especially severe during critical events such as a data center outage, when many databases must be restored simultaneously and as soon as possible. None of these problems occur with Amazon S3. Data restores can begin immediately, with no waiting or tape queuing – and that means the database can be recovered much faster. Backing up a database to Amazon S3 can be two to twelve times faster than with tape drives. As one example, in a benchmark test a DBA was able to restore 3.8 terabytes in 2.5 hours over gigabit Ethernet. This amounts to 25 gigabytes per minute, or 422MB per second. In addition, since Amazon.com uses RMAN data compression, the effective restore rate was 3.37 gigabytes per second. This 2.5 hours compares to, conservatively, 10-15 hours that would be required to restore from tape. Easy implementation of Oracle RMAN backups to Amazon S3. The DBAs found it easy to start backing up their databases to Amazon S3. Directing Oracle RMAN backups to Amazon S3 requires only a configuration of the Oracle Secure Backup Cloud (SBC) module. The effort required to configure the Oracle SBC module amounted to an hour or less per database. After this one-time setup, the database backups were transparently redirected to Amazon S3. Durable data storage provided by Amazon S3, which is designed for 11 nines durability. On occasion, Amazon.com has experienced hardware failures with tape infrastructure – tapes that break, tape drives that fail, and robotic components that fail. Sometimes this happens when a DBA is trying to restore a database, and dramatically increases the mean time to recover (MTTR). With the durability and availability of Amazon S3, these issues are no longe r a concern. Freeing up valuable human resources. With tape infrastructure, Amazon.com had to seek out engineers who were experienced with very large tape backup installations – a specialized, vendor-specific skill set that is difficult to find. They also needed to hire data center technicians and dedicate them to problem-solving and troubleshooting hardware issues – replacing drives, shuffling tapes around, shipping and tracking tapes, and so on. Amazon S3 allowed them to free up these specialists from day-to-day operations so that they can work on more valuable, business-critical engineering tasks. Elimination of physical tape transport to off-site location. Any company that has been storing Oracle backup data offsite should take a hard look at the costs involved in transporting, securing and storing their tapes offsite – these costs can be reduced or possibly eliminated by storing the data in Amazon S3. As the world’s largest online retailer, Amazon.com continuously innovates in order to provide improved customer experience and offer products at the lowest possible prices. One such innovation has been to replace tape with Amazon S3 storage for database backups. This innovation is one that can be easily replicated by other organizations that back up their Oracle databases to tape.

Evolution of Investment Banking

Evolution of Investment Banking INTRODUCTION At a very macro level, ‘Investment Banking as term suggests, is concerned with the primary function of assisting the capital market in its function of capital intermediation, i.e., the movement of financial resources from those who have them (the Investors), to those who need to make use of them for generating GDP (the Issuers). Banking and financial institution on the one hand and the capital market on the other are the two broad platforms of institutional that investment for capital flows in economy. Therefore, it could be inferred that investment banks are those institutions that are counterparts of banks in the capital markets in the function of intermediation in the resource allocation. Nevertheless, it would be unfair to conclude so, as that would confine investment banking to very narrow sphere of its activities in the modern world of high finance. Over the decades, backed by evolution and also fuelled by recent technologies developments, an investment banking has transf ormed repeatedly to suit the needs of the finance community and thus become one of the most vibrant and exciting segment of financial services. Investment bankers have always enjoyed celebrity status, but at times, they have paid the price for the price for excessive flamboyance as well. To continue from the above words of John F. Marshall and M.E. Eills, ‘investment banking is what investment banks do . This definition can be explained in the context of how investment banks have evolved in their functionality and how history and regulatory intervention have shaped such an evolution. Much of investment banking in its present form, thus owes its origins to the financial markets in USA, due o which, American investment banks have banks have been leaders in the American and Euro markets as well. Therefore, the term ‘investment banking can arguably be said to be of American origin. Their counterparts in UK were termed as ‘merchants banks since they had confined themselves to capital market intermediation until the US investments banks entered the UK and European markets and extended the scope of such businesses. Investment banks help companies and governments and their agencies to raise money by issuing and selling acquisitions and other types of financial transactions. Investment banks also act as intermediaries in trading for clients. Investment banks differ from stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. However some firms operate as both brokerages and investment banks; this includes some of the best known financial services firms in the world. More commonly used today to characterize what was traditionally termed† investment banking† is â€Å"sells side. This is trading securities for cash or securities (i.e., facilitating transactions, market-making), or the promotion of securities (i.e. underwriting,research, etc.). The buy side constitutes the hedge funds, and the investing public who consume the products and services of the sell-side in order to maximize their return on investment. Many firms have both buy and sell side components. Definition An individual or institution, which acts as an underwriter or agent for corporations and municipalities issuing securities. Most also maintain broker/dealer operations, maintain markets for previously issued securities, and offer advisory services to investors. Investment banks also have a large role in facilitating mergers and acquisitions, private equity placements and corporate restructuring. Unlike traditional banks, investment banks do not accept deposits from and provide loans to individuals. Also called investment banker. Who needs an Investment Bank? Any firm contemplating a significant transaction can benefit from the advice of an investment bank. Although large corporations often have sophisticated finance and corporate development departments provide objectivity, a valuable contact network, allows for efficient use of client personnel, and is vitally interested in seeing the transaction close. Most small to medium sized companies do not have a large in-house staff, and in a financial transaction may be at a disadvantage versus larger competitors. A quality investment banking firm can provide the services required to initiate and execute a major transaction, thereby empowering small to medium sized companies with financial and transaction experience without the addition of permanent overhead, an investment bank provides objectivity, a valuable contact network, allows for efficient use of client personnel, and is vitally interested in seeing the transaction close. Most small to medium sized companies do not have a large in-house staff, and in a financial transaction may be at a disadvantage versus larger competitors. A quality investment-banking firm can provide the services The main activities and units The primary function of an investment bank is buying and selling products both on behalf of the banks clients and also for the bank itself. Banks undertake risk through proprietary trading, done by a special set of traders who do not interface with clients and through Principal Risk, risk undertaken by a trader after he or she buys or sells a product to a client and does not hedge his or her total exposure. Banks seek to maximize profitability for a given amount of risk on their balance sheet An investment bank is split into the so-called Front Office Middle Office and Back Office. The individual activities are described below: Front Office Investment Banking is the traditional aspect of investment banks which involves helping customers raise Corporate Finance (often pronounced corpfin). mutual funds) . Research and Structuring. Sales desks then communicate their clients orders to the appropriate trading desks, which can price and execute trades, or structure new products that fit a specific need. Research is the division which reviews companies and writes reports about their prospects, often with buy or sell ratings. While the research division generates no revenue, its resources are used to assist traders in trading, the sales force in suggesting ideas to customers, and investment bankers by covering their clients. In recent years the relationship between investment banking and research has become highly regulated, reducing its importance to the investment bank. Structuring has been a relatively recent division as derivatives have come into play, with highly technical and numerate employees working on creating complex structured products which typically offer much greater margins and returns than underlying cash securities. Middle Office * operational risk and the assurance Middle Offices provide now include measures to address this risk. When this assurance is not in place, market and credit risk analysis can be unreliable and open to deliberate manipulation. Back Office Operations involve data-checking trades that have been conducted, ensuring that they are not erroneous, and transacting the required transfers. While it provides the greatest job security of the divisions within an investment bank, it is a critical part of the bank that involves managing the financial information of the bank and ensures efficient capital markets through the financial reporting function. The staff in these areas are often highly qualified and need to understand in depth the deals and transactions that occur across all the divisions of the bank. New products Investment banking is one of the most global industries and is hence continuously challenged to respond to new developments and innovation in the global financial markets. Throughout the history of investment banking, many have theorized that all investment banking products and services would be copyrighted, they are very often copied quickly by competing banks, pushing down trading margins. For example, OTC contract has to be uniquely structured and could involve complex pay-off and risk profiles. Listed option contracts are traded through major exchanges, such as the CBOE, and are almost as commoditized as general equity securities. In addition, while many products have been commoditized, an increasing amount of profit within investment banks has come from proprietary trading, where size creates a positive network benefit (since the more trades an investment bank does, the more it knows about the market flow, allowing it to theoretically make better trades and pass on better guidance to clients). Potential conflicts of interest may arise between different parts of a bank, creating the potential for financial movements that could be market manipulation. Authorities that regulate investment banking (the Chinese wall which prohibits communication between investment banking on one side and research and equities on the other. Some of the conflicts of interest that can be found in investment banking are listed here: Historically, equity research firms were founded and owned by investment banks. One common practice is for equity analysts to initiate coverage on a company in order to develop relationships that lead to highly profitable investment banking business. In the 1990s, many equity researchers allegedly traded positive stock ratings directly for investment banking business. On the flip side of the coin: companies would threaten to divert investment banking business to competitors unless their stock was rated favorably. Politicians acted to pass laws to criminalize such acts. Increased pressure from regulators and a series of lawsuits, settlements, and prosecutions curbed this business to a large extent following the 2001 stock market tumble Many investment banks also own retail brokerages. Also during the 1990s, some retail brokerages sold consumers securities which did not meet their stated risk profile. This behavior may have led to investment banking business or even sales of surplus shares during a public offering to keep public perception of the stock favorable. Since investment banks engage heavily in trading for their own account, there is always the temptation or possibility that they might engage in some form of front running. Types of investment banks underwrite (guarantee the sale of) stock and bond issues, trade for their own accounts, make markets, and advise corporations on capital markets activities such as mergers and acquisitions Merchant banks were traditionally banks which engaged in trade financing. The modern definition, however, refers to banks which provide capital to firms in the form of shares rather than loans. Unlike Venture ca pital firms, they tend not to invest in new companies. Investment banks provide four primary types of services: Raising capital, advising in mergers and acquisitions, executing securities sales and trading, and performing general advisory services. Most of the major Wall Street firms are active in each of these categories. Smaller investment banks may specialize in two or three of these categories. Raising Capital An investment bank can assist a firm in raising funds to achieve a variety of objectives, such as to acquire another company, reduce its debt load, expand existing operations, or for specific project financing. Capital can include some combination of debt, common equity, preferred equity, and hybrid securities such as convertible debt or debt with warrants. Although many people associate raising capital with public stock offerings, a great deal of capital is actually raised through private placements with institutions, specialized investment funds, and private individuals. The investment bank will work with the client to structure the transaction to meet specific objectives while being attractive to investors. Mergers and Acquisitions Investment banks often represent firms in mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. Example projects include the acquisition of a specific firm, the sale of a company or a subsidiary of the company, and assistance in identifying, structuring, and executing a merger or joint venture. In each case, the investment bank should provide a thorough analysis of the entity bought or sold, as well as a valuation range and recommended structure. Sales and Trading These services are primarily relevant only to publicly traded firms, or firms, which plan to go public in the near future. Specific functions include making a market in a stock, placing new offerings, and publishing research reports. General Advisory Services: Advisory services include assignments such as strategic planning, business valuations, assisting in financial restructurings, and providing an opinion as to the fairness of a proposed transaction. Terms Related To Investment Bank Buying and Selling Buying Deciding on the proper time to purchase a security that you would like to add to your holdings can be a daunting task. If the price drops immediately after you buy, it may seem as if you missed out on a better buying opportunity. If the price jumps right before you make your move, you may feel as if you paid too much. As it turns out, you should not let these small fluctuations influence your decision too much. As long as the fundamentals that led you to decide on the purchase have not changed, a few points in either direction should not have a large impact on the long-term value of your investment. Similarly, the fact that an investment has been increasing in value of late is not a sufficient reason for you to purchase it. Momentum can be very fickle, and recent movement is not necessarily an indicator of future movement. Therefore, buying decisions should be based on sound and thorough research geared toward discerning the future value of a security relative to its current price. This analysis will probably not touch upon price movement in the very recent past. As you learn more about investing youll get better at deciding when to buy, but most experts recommend that beginners avoid trying to time the market, and just get in as soon as they can and stay in for the long haul. The proper time to buy a security is quite simply when it is available for less than its actual value. These undervalued securities are actually not as rare as they sound. However, the problem is simply that they are never sure bets. The value of a security includes estimates of the future performance of factors underlying the value of the security. For stocks, these factors include things like earnings growth and market share. Changes can be predicted to a degree, but they are subject to fluctuation due to forces both within and beyond the control of the company. The overall economic climate, changes in the industry or even bad decisions by management can all cause a security poised to ascend in value to become an under performer. Therefore, it is essential to practice your analysis before putting your money into action. Make some mock purchases based on your personal analysis technique and track the results. Not all of your decisions will lead to the results you were expecting, but if most of your choices turn out to be good and there are mitigating factors that you can learn from to explain your missteps, then you may be ready to put your analysis technique and investing strategy into action. At this point, the need to continuously monitor your investments does not disappear. Both under performers and overachievers should be studied carefully to fine-tune your strategy. You should also regularly look at your securities to make sure that the fundamentals for success that led you to buy in the first place are intact. If not, you may need to prepare to cash in and start looking for the next opportunity. One way to avoid the hassles of deciding when to buy altogether is to practice dollar-cost averaging. This strategy advocates investing a fixed dollar amount at regular intervals. The price when you first invest is relatively unimportant (as long as the fundamentals are sound) because you will be purchasing shares at a different price each time you buy. The success of your investment then lies not with short-term fluctuations, but with the long-term movement of the value of the security. Selling: There comes a time when investments must be liquidated and converted back into cash. In a perfect world, selling would only be necessary when investment goals have been reached or time horizons have expired, but, in reality, decisions about selling can be much more difficult. For one thing, it can be just as hard to decide when to sell as it can be to decide when to buy. No one wishes to miss out on gains by selling too soon, but, at the same time, no one wishes to watch an investment peak in value and then begin to decline. Investors often seek to sell investments that have dropped in value in the short-term. However, if conditions have not changed significantly, drops in price may actually represent an opportunity to buy at a better price. If the initial research, which led to the purchase, was sound, a temporary decline does not preclude the success that was originally predicted. Of course, things change, and if the security no longer meets the criteria that led to its purchase, selling may in fact be the best option. Selling may also become necessary if investment goals change over time. You may need to reduce the amount of risk in your portfolio or you may have the opportunity to seek out greater returns. Additionally, a security may have increased in value to the point that it is overvalued. This creates an excellent opportunity to cash in and seek out new undervalued investments. Often you will need to make this type of sale in the course of rebalancing a portfolio necessitated by gains and losses in different areas. Selling can be especially difficult when an under performing stock must be dumped. Some investors let their emotions dictate their actions and hold on to stocks that have fallen in value rather than to sell, thinking that selling at a loss is like admitting that they made a mistake. However, realizing the loss and moving on to better investments is often preferable to continuing to hold onto a loser in the hopes that it will somehow rebound. When considering any sale, you must factor in the costs of the sale itself. Fees and taxes will eat into profits, so they must be subtracted from any increases in value to understand the true impact of the transaction. Capital gains taxes are higher for gains on investments held less than one year, so its often wise to invest for the long term rather than to buy and sell quickly. On the other hand, it can be dangerous to hold an investment longer than you want to, simply to reduce the tax burden. It is essential to remember that just because an investment increases in value after it has been sold does not necessarily mean that it was sold prematurely. Managing risk and diversification are often more important than capitalizing on short-term gains in a particular security. Keeping in mind the initial goals for the investment and adjusting them to fit your present goals will allow you to make smarter decisions about selling. Principles of Investing 1. Start Investing Now We say this not just to discourage procrastination, but because an early start can make all the difference. In general, every six years you wait doubles the required monthly savings to reach the same level of retirement income. Another motivational statistic: If you contributed some amount each month for the next nine years, and then nothing afterwards, or if you contributed nothing for the first nine years, then contributed the same amount each month for the next 41 years, you would have about the same amount. Compounding is a beautiful thing. 2. Know Yourself The right course of action depends on your current situation, your future goals, and your personality. If you dont take a close look at these, and make them explicit, you might be headed in the wrong direction. Current Situation: How healthy are you, financially? Whats your net worth right now? Whats your monthly income? What are your expenses (and where could they be reduced)? How much debt are you carrying? At what rate of interest? How much are you saving? How are you investing it? What are your returns? What are your expenses? Goals: What are your financial goals? How much will you need to achieve them? Are you on the right track? Risk Tolerance: How much risk are you willing and able to accept in pursuit of your objectives? The appropriate level of risk is determined by your personality, age, job security, health, net worth, amount of cash you have to cover emergencies, and the length of your investing horizon. 3. Get Your Financial House In Order Even though investing may be more fun than personal finance, it makes more sense to get started on them in the reverse order. If you dont know where the money goes each month, you shouldnt be thinking about investing yet. Tracking your spending habits is the first step toward improving them. If youre carrying debt at a high rate of interest (especially credit card debt), you should unburden yourself before you begin investing. If you dont know how much you save each month and how much youll need to save to reach your goals, theres no way to know what investments are right for you. If youve transitioned from a debt situation to paycheck-to-paycheck situation to a saving some money every month situation, youre ready to begin investing what you save. You should start by amassing enough to cover three to six months of expenses, and keep this money in a very safe investment like a money market account, so youre prepared in the event of an emergency. Once youve saved up this emergency reserve, you can progress to higher risk (and higher return) investments: bonds for money that you expect to need in the next few years, and stocks or stock mutual funds for the rest. Use dollar cost averaging, by investing about the same amount each month. This is always a good idea, but even more so with the dramatic fluctuations in the market in the past 10 years. Dollar cost averaging will make it easier to stomach the inevitable dips. And remember; never invest in anything you dont understand. 4. Develop A Long Term Plan Now that you know your current situation, goals, and personality, you should have a pretty good idea of what your long-term plan should be. It should detail where the money will go: cars, houses, college, and retirement. It should also detail where the money will come from. Hopefully the numbers will be about the same. Dont try to time the market. Get in and stay in. We dont know what direction the next 10% move will be, but we do know what direction the next100% move will be. Review your plan periodically, and whenever your needs or circumstances change. If you are not confident that your plan makes sense, talk to an investment advisor or someone you trust. 5. Buy Stocks Now that youve got a long term view, you can more safely invest in riskier investments, which the market rewards (in general). This requires patience and discipline, but it increases returns. This approach reduces the entire universe of investment vehicles to two choices: stocks and stock mutual funds. In the long run, theyre the winners: In this century, stocks beat bonds 8 out of 9 decades, and theyre well in the lead again. According to Ibbotsons Stocks, Bonds, Bills and Inflation 1995 Yearbook, here are the average annual returns from 1926 to 1994 (before inflation): Stocks: 10.2% (and small company stocks were 12.1%) Intermediate term treasury bonds: 5.1% 30-day T-bills: 3.7% But is it really worth the additional risk just for a few percentage points? The answer is yes. 10% a year for 20 years is 570%, but 7% a year for 20 years is only 280%. Compounding is Gods gift to long-term planners. If you buy outstanding companies, and hold them through the markets gyrations, you will be rewarded. If you arent good at selecting stocks, select some mutual funds. If you arent good at selecting mutual funds, go with an index fund (like the Vanguard SP 500). 6. Investigate Before You Invest Always do your homework. The more you know, the better off you are. This requires that you keep learning, and pay attention to events that might affect you. Understand personal finance matters that could affect you (for example, proposed tax changes). Understand how each of your investments fits in with the rest of your portfolio and with your overall strategy. Understand the risks associated with each investment. Gather unbiased, objective information. Get a second opinion, a third opinion, etc. Be cautious when evaluating the advice of anyone with a vested interest. If youre going to invest in stocks, learn as much as you can about the companies youre considering. Understand before you invest. Research, research, Read books. Consider joining an investment club or an organization like the American Association of Individual Investors. Experiment with various strategies before you put your own money on the line. Examine historical data or participate in a stock market simulation. Try a momentum portfolio, a technical analysis portfolio, a bottom fisher portfolio, a dividend portfolio, a price/earnings growth portfolio, an intuition portfolio, a mega trends portfolio, and any others you think of. In the process youll find out which ones work best for you. Learn from your own mistakes, and learn from the mistakes of others. If you dont have time for all this work consider mutual funds, especially index funds. 7. Develop the Right Attitude The following personality traits will help you achieve financial success: Discipline: Develop a plan, and stick with it. As you continue to learn, youll become more confident that youre on the right track. Alter your asset allocation based on changes in your personal situation, not because of some short-term market fluctuation. Confidence: Let your intelligence, not your emotions; make your decisions for you. Understand that you will make mistakes and take losses; even the best investors do. Re-evaluate your strategy from time to time, but dont second-guess it. Patience: Dont let your emotions be ruled by todays performance. In most cases, you shouldnt even be watching the day-to-day performance, unless you like to. Also, dont ever feel like its now or never. Dont be pressured into an investment you dont yet understand or feel comfortable with. The following personality traits will hurt your chances of financial success: Fear: If you are unwilling to take any risk, you will be stuck with investments that barely beat inflation. Greed: As an investment class, get rich quick schemes have the worst returns. If your expectations are unrealistically high, youll go for the big scores, which usually dont work. It is generally a good idea to avoid making financial decisions based on emotional factors. 8. Get Help If You Need It The do-it-yourself approach isnt for everyone. If you try it and its not working, or youre afraid to try it at all, or you just dont have the time or desire, theres nothing wrong with seeking professional assistance. If you want others to handle your financial affairs for you, you will nevertheless want to remain involved to some degree, to make sure your money is being spent wisely. Initial Public Offerings Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) are the first time a company sells its stock to the public. Sometimes IPOs are associated with huge first-day gains; other times, when the market is cold, they flop. Its often difficult for an individual investor to realize the huge gains, since in most cases only institutional investors have access to the stock at the offering price. By the time the general public can trade the stock, most of its first-day gains have already been made. However, a savvy and informed investor should still watch the IPO market, because this is the first opportunity to buy these stocks. Reasons for an IPO When a privately held corporation needs to raise additional capital, it can either take on debt or sell partial ownership. If the corporation chooses to sell ownership to the public, it engages in an IPO. Corporations choose to go public instead of issuing debt securities for several reasons. The most common reason is that capital raised through an IPO does not have to be repaid, whereas debt securities such as bonds must be repaid with interest. Despite this apparent benefit, there are also many drawbacks to an IPO. A large drawback to going public is that the current owners of the privately held corporation lose a part of their ownership. Corporations weigh the costs and benefits of an IPO carefully before performing an IPO. Going Public If a corporation decides that it is going to perform an IPO, it will first hire an investment bank to facilitate the sale of its shares to the public. This process is commonly called underwriting; the banks role as the underwriter varies according to the method of underwriting agreed upon, but its primary function remains the same. In accordance with the Securities Act of 1933, the corporation will file a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The registration statement must fully disclose all material information to the SEC, including a description of the corporation, detailed financial statements, biographical information on insiders, and the number of shares owned by each insider. After filing, the corporation must wait for the SEC to investigate the registration statement and approve of the full disclosure. During this period while the SEC investigates the corporations filings, the underwriter will try to increase demand for the corporations stock. Many investment banks will print tombstone advertisements that offer bare-bones information to prospective investors. The underwriter will also issue a preliminary prospectus, or red herring, to potential investors. These red herrings include much of the information contained in the registration statement, but are incomplete and subject to change. An official summary of the corporation, or prospectus, must be issued either before or along with the actual stock offering. After the SEC approves of the corporations full disclosure, the corporation and the underwriter decide on the price and date of the IPO; the IPO is then conducted on the determined date. IPOs are sometimes postponed or even withdrawn in poor market conditions. Performance The aftermarket performance of an IPO is how the stock price behaves after the day of its offering on the secondary market (such as the NYSE or the NASDAQ). Investors can use this information to judge the likelihood that an IPO in a specific industry or from a specific lead underwriter will perform well in the days (or months) following its offering. The first-day gains of some IPOs have made investors all too aware of the money to be had in IPO investing. Unfortunately, for the small individual investor, realizing those much-publicized gains is nearly impossible. The crux of the problem is that individual investors are just too small to get in on the IPO market before the jump. Those large first-day returns are made over the offering price of the stock, at which only large, institutional investors can buy in. The system is one o

Country Risk Assessment on Japanese Imports of Drugs :: Economics Politics

Country Risk Assessment on Japanese Imports of Drugs History Japan, being the world’s most dynamically competitive nation, is facing an ironic balance in trade with the U.S. The Japanese economy relies too heavily on exports, especially to the U.S., causing increasing trade surpluses. They have been in a repetitive cycle for the last 25 years in which the government allows the yen to fall against the dollar to boost exports and restrict domestic growth to dampen imports. The Japanese government has set too many trade restrictions on U.S. imports, trying to compete against and keep out American imports. This all began during the postwar period when Japan imposed heavy import barriers. Virtually all products were subject to government quotas, many faced high tariffs, and the Ministry of International and Trade Industry (MITI) had authority over the allocation of foreign exchange that companies needed to pay for any import. These policies were justified at the time by the weakened position of the Japanese industry and the country’s chronic trade deficits. By the late 1950’s, however, they had regained balance and could not justify their payment system. Despite Japan's rather good record on tariffs and quotas, it continued to be the target of complaints and pressure from its trading partners during the 1980s. These complaints revolved around non-tariff barriers other than quotas, which included standards, testing procedures, government procurement, and other policies that were be used to restrain imports. Import Policies In 1984 the United States government initiated intensive talks with Japan on four product areas: forest products, telecommunications equipment and services, electronics, and pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. The Market Oriented Sector Selective (MOSS) talks were aimed at routing out all overt and informal barriers to imports in these areas. The negotiations lasted throughout 1985 and achieved modest success. Supporting the view that Japanese markets remained difficult to penetrate, statistics showed that the level of manufactured imports in Japan as a share of the gross national product was still far below the level in other developed countries during the 1980s. Frustration with the modest results of the MOSS process and similar factors led to provisions in the United States Trade Act of 1988 aimed at Japan. Under the "Super 301" provision, nations were to be named as unfair trading partners and specific products chosen for negotiation, as appropriate, with retaliation against the exports of these nations should negotiations fail to provide satisfactory results.

Essay --

American Author, Edgar Allan Poe, wrote short stories that were completely different than any of the other stories you would hear during the nineteenth century. They did in fact though, have a great impact on people’s lives. Poe’s stories were mysterious, dark and sinister. People credit Poe with the invention of Science Fiction and Mystery genres. Poe had an impact on not only American Literature, but also on many writers through the years and even singers today. Those are some reasons why Poe should and is included in a school’s curriculum. It is said that Poe’s stories and poems were filled with terror, fear, death, murder, insanity, torture and the unknown because Poe experienced a large amount of tragedy in his life. His father was an alcoholic and left Edgar when he was young. Poe’s mother was also out of the picture at a young age due to dying of tuberculosis. His foster mother and his wife also died. Poe was born into poverty, he lived in poverty and he died in poverty. Poe wrote things that other writers found wicked. He wrote stories about human emotions in ways other than just being happy or in love. An example is â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart.† It was considered â€Å"too vulgar† by many, but it was a true problem with people that he had no problem talking about it. â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart,† is an emotional description of a furious narrator who had heard a man’s persistent heartbeat, still beating, after he had killed him. It is a horror story told from a first-person point of view. This story is famous for showing that a short story can produce such an effect on the reader. Poe always believed that any great literature must create a union of effect on the reader. It has to tell truth and suggest emotions. â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† re... ... too. Poe influenced artists such as The Beatles, Bauhaus, The Alan Parsons Project, The Cure and even Panic at the Disco! Poe was on the cover of The Beatles Sgt, Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The Bauhaus have always had a dark tip to everything and anything they do. It is said that they definitely read â€Å"The Raven† in school. The Alan Parsons Project released a full album called, â€Å"Tales of Mystery and Imagination.† It was based off of Poe’s short stories and his poems. The Cure have always imparted a gothic romanticism in their music, they certainly took pages from Poe’s stories. Finally, Panic At The Disco may be very pop, punk, dance-dandy guys, but the way they dressed just screamed Edgar Allan Poe. For an author to be in a school curriculum, you do not have to just influence other writers. It is good to be able to inspire and influence all kind of people.

Analysis of Cadburys Essay -- Business Management Companies Essays

Analysis of Cadbury's Background to business The Cadbury’s company started manufacturing chocolate in Birmingham in 1824. It was set up by Mr. John Cadbury. In the year 1847 the company changed when John and his brother Benjamin became partners and the company became known as the Cadbury Brothers of Birmingham. A year later the retail side of the business, which was allocated in Bull Street was passed to nephew, Richard Cadbury Barrow. In February 1854 the company received their first Royal warrant as ‘manufacturers of cocoa and chocolate to Queen Victoria. The company still holds the royal warrants of appointment. In 1861 both Richard and George Cadbury took over the business when their father retired. The Cadbury brothers were dissatisfied with the quality of cocoa products that were being produced by manufacturers including their own, for this reason the brothers wished to improve the quality of Cadbury cocoa products as to help the business to survive and prosper. The brother visited to the Van Houten Factory in Holland, after the visited the Cadbury brothers, started using a new processing technique. The Cadbury brothers introduced this new process for pressing cocoa butter from cocoa beans, the process made a more palatable cocoa essence. The company remained in Birmingham for 32 years and by then the factory had become too small for the worker force. The brothers decided that they had to move the factory to larger premises. The source of the quote below is cadburys.co.uk site. "Why should an industrial area be squalid and depressing?" Both brothers asked. "Why should not the industrial worker enjoy country air and occupations without being separated from his work?" "If the country is a good place to live in, why not to work in?" In 1878 the company was move to Bournville. After the death of Richard Cadbury in 1899, the Cadbury business became a private limited company: Cadbury Brothers Limited. George Cadbury became the Chairman of the Company’s new Board. The other directors were Barrow and William A. Cadbury (sons of Richard) and George’s own two sons, Edward and George Cadbury Junior. The Bournville factory site became a 'series of factories within a factory', as everything needed for the business was produced on site, with tin box pressing plants, carton making units, a design studio and pri... ...ain quality to their chocolate. PRICE Cadburys price their products competitively with their competitors. Cadburys products can be found in most local corner shops, Cadburys chocolates are price at the same price as their competitor: Example; Cadbury whole nut would cost 35 pence, while a Mars bar and Galaxy bar could also cost 35 pence. PLACE Cadbury sells anywhere where there is a demand for their products, special if there many customers that want to buy their products. Cadbury would sell their products to shops (business) that deals with beverages and confectionery like (Iceland, Sainsbury, Kwick Save, Tesco, Asda, Safeway) and also in post offices and newsagents and in vending machines. PROMOTION Through Cadburys promotional activities it can be clearly seen that they have been guided by their promotional and marketing objectives of "maximising profit† and also â€Å"to increase the sales†. Achievement of these objectives enables the business to meet the business objectives of being â€Å"Number one product in a given market†. Cadburys Company are the number one seller of chocolate confectionary product on the market, in the Europe and world-wide. Analysis of Cadbury's Essay -- Business Management Companies Essays Analysis of Cadbury's Background to business The Cadbury’s company started manufacturing chocolate in Birmingham in 1824. It was set up by Mr. John Cadbury. In the year 1847 the company changed when John and his brother Benjamin became partners and the company became known as the Cadbury Brothers of Birmingham. A year later the retail side of the business, which was allocated in Bull Street was passed to nephew, Richard Cadbury Barrow. In February 1854 the company received their first Royal warrant as ‘manufacturers of cocoa and chocolate to Queen Victoria. The company still holds the royal warrants of appointment. In 1861 both Richard and George Cadbury took over the business when their father retired. The Cadbury brothers were dissatisfied with the quality of cocoa products that were being produced by manufacturers including their own, for this reason the brothers wished to improve the quality of Cadbury cocoa products as to help the business to survive and prosper. The brother visited to the Van Houten Factory in Holland, after the visited the Cadbury brothers, started using a new processing technique. The Cadbury brothers introduced this new process for pressing cocoa butter from cocoa beans, the process made a more palatable cocoa essence. The company remained in Birmingham for 32 years and by then the factory had become too small for the worker force. The brothers decided that they had to move the factory to larger premises. The source of the quote below is cadburys.co.uk site. "Why should an industrial area be squalid and depressing?" Both brothers asked. "Why should not the industrial worker enjoy country air and occupations without being separated from his work?" "If the country is a good place to live in, why not to work in?" In 1878 the company was move to Bournville. After the death of Richard Cadbury in 1899, the Cadbury business became a private limited company: Cadbury Brothers Limited. George Cadbury became the Chairman of the Company’s new Board. The other directors were Barrow and William A. Cadbury (sons of Richard) and George’s own two sons, Edward and George Cadbury Junior. The Bournville factory site became a 'series of factories within a factory', as everything needed for the business was produced on site, with tin box pressing plants, carton making units, a design studio and pri... ...ain quality to their chocolate. PRICE Cadburys price their products competitively with their competitors. Cadburys products can be found in most local corner shops, Cadburys chocolates are price at the same price as their competitor: Example; Cadbury whole nut would cost 35 pence, while a Mars bar and Galaxy bar could also cost 35 pence. PLACE Cadbury sells anywhere where there is a demand for their products, special if there many customers that want to buy their products. Cadbury would sell their products to shops (business) that deals with beverages and confectionery like (Iceland, Sainsbury, Kwick Save, Tesco, Asda, Safeway) and also in post offices and newsagents and in vending machines. PROMOTION Through Cadburys promotional activities it can be clearly seen that they have been guided by their promotional and marketing objectives of "maximising profit† and also â€Å"to increase the sales†. Achievement of these objectives enables the business to meet the business objectives of being â€Å"Number one product in a given market†. Cadburys Company are the number one seller of chocolate confectionary product on the market, in the Europe and world-wide.

The Indigo Spell Chapter Seven

I MIGHT HAVE BEEN DETERMINED to find Marcus, but I certainly wasn't going to argue against a gun. I raised my hands in the air and slowly stood up, keeping my back to the newcomer. Just as carefully, I stepped away from Marcus and set the vial on the floor. Fumes still wafted out of it, but the reaction would burn itself out soon. Then I dared a peek behind me. When I saw the girl who stood there, I could barely believe my eyes. â€Å"Are you okay?† she asked Marcus. He was unsteadily getting to his feet. â€Å"I left as soon as you called.† â€Å"You!† I couldn't quite manage anything more articulate. The girl standing before me was close to my age, with long, tangled blond hair. She still had the gun on me, but a small smile appeared on her face. â€Å"Nice to see you again.† The feeling wasn't mutual. I'd last seen this girl when I faced down the Warriors in their arena. She'd been toting a gun there as well and had had a perpetual snarl on her face. She'd pushed me around and threatened me, making no secret of how heretical she thought my defense of Sonya was. Although she seemed much calmer now than she had with those fanatics, I still couldn't dismiss what she was – or what the implications were. I turned to Marcus in disbelief. He was cradling the wrist I'd nailed with my elbow. â€Å"You . . . you're one of them! One of the Warriors of Light!† I don't think I'd ever been so let down in my life. I'd had so many hopes pinned on Marcus. He'd become larger than life in my mind, some rebel savior who was going to tell me all the secrets of the world and free me from being another cog in the machine of the Alchemists. But it was all a lie. Clarence had mentioned Marcus had convinced the Warriors to leave him alone. I'd assumed it was because Marcus had some incredible leverage he could use against the Warriors, but apparently, the key to his influence was that he was one of them. He looked up from his wrist. â€Å"What? Those nuts? Hell, no.† I almost pointed at the girl but decided it would be best not to make any sudden moves. I settled for a nod in her direction and noticed all the locks on the door had been undone. I'd been so caught up in the struggle with Marcus that I hadn't heard them. â€Å"Really? Then how come one of them just saved you?† â€Å"I'm not really one of them.† She spoke almost casually, but the gun contradicted her tone. â€Å"I mean, I guess I kind of am. . . .† â€Å"Sabrina's a spy,† explained Marcus. He looked much more at ease too, now that I wasn't assaulting him. â€Å"A lovely one. She's been undercover with them for over a year. She's also the one who told me about you.† Once again, it was hard knowing how to respond to that. I also wasn't sure if I bought this spy story. â€Å"What exactly did you tell him?† He shot me a movie star smile. His teeth were so white that I wondered if he had veneers. It seemed out of character for a rogue who lived on the run, but nothing about this day was really turning out like I'd expected. â€Å"She told me about this Alchemist girl who defended a Moroi and then helped lead a dhampir raiding party.† Lead? Hardly. No one – notably Stanton – had felt the need to enlighten me about that raid until I was in the middle of it. I didn't want to tip my hand too early though. â€Å"The Alchemists sanctioned that raid,† I said. â€Å"I saw the way you spoke,† said Sabrina. Her eyes flicked between Marcus and me, fierce for me and admiring for him. â€Å"It was inspiring. And we watched you for a while, you know. You spent an awful lot of time with the Moroi and dhampirs in Palm Springs.† â€Å"It's my job,† I said. She hadn't really seemed inspired at the time. Mostly she'd looked disappointed at not having a chance to use the gun on me. Marcus's smile turned knowing. â€Å"From what I heard, you and those Moroi almost looked like friends. And then, here you are, looking for me. You're definitely the dissident we'd hoped for.† No, this was not turning out at all like I'd planned. In fact, it was pretty much the opposite of what I'd planned. I'd been so proud of my ability to track down Marcus, little knowing that he'd been watching me already. I didn't like that. It made me feel vulnerable, even if they were saying some of things I'd hoped to hear. Needing to feel like I was in control, I tried to play it cool and tough. â€Å"Maybe there are other Alchemists about to show up,† I said. â€Å"They would've been here already† he said, calling my bluff. â€Å"They wouldn't have sent you alone . . . though I did panic when I first saw you. I didn't realize who you were and thought there were others right behind you.† He paused, and that cocky attitude turned sheepish. â€Å"Sorry about, um, punching you. If it makes you feel better, you did something pretty serious to my wrist.† Sabrina's face filled with concern. â€Å"Oh, Marcus. Do you need to see a doctor?† He tested the movement of his wrist and then shook his head. â€Å"You know we can't. Never know who might be watching at a hospital. Those places are too easy to monitor.† â€Å"You really are hiding from the Alchemists,† I said in amazement. His nodded, almost looking proud. â€Å"You doubted? I figured you'd know that.† â€Å"I suspected, but I didn't hear it from them. They deny you exist.† He seemed to find that funny. In fact, he seemed to find everything funny, which I found slightly irritating. â€Å"Yup. That's what I've heard from the others.† â€Å"What others?† â€Å"Others like you.† Those blue eyes held me for a moment, like they could see all my secrets. â€Å"Other Alchemists wanting to break free of the fold.† I knew my own eyes were wide. â€Å"There . . . there are others?† Marcus settled on the floor, leaning against the wall and still cradling his wrist. â€Å"Let's get comfortable. Sabrina, put the gun away. I don't think Sydney's going to give us any trouble.† Sabrina didn't look so sure of that, but after several moments, she complied. She joined him on the floor, positioning herself protectively next to him. â€Å"I'd rather stand,† I told them. No way would I willingly sit on that filth. After rolling around with Marcus, I wanted to go bathe myself in hand sanitizer. He shrugged. â€Å"Suit yourself. You want some answers? You give me some first. Why'd you come looking for me off the Alchemist clock?† I didn't like being interrogated, but what was the point of being here if I wasn't going to engage in a dialogue? â€Å"Clarence told me about you,† I said at last. â€Å"He showed me your picture, and I saw how you'd tattooed over the lily. I didn't even know that was possible.† The tattoo never faded. â€Å"Clarence Donahue?† Marcus looked genuinely pleased. â€Å"He's a good guy. I suppose you'd be friends with him if you're in Palm Springs, huh?† I started to say we weren't friends but then reconsidered. What else were we? â€Å"Getting this isn't easy,† added Marcus, tapping the blue tattoo. â€Å"You'll have to do a lot of work if you want to do it.† I stepped backward. â€Å"Whoa, I never said that's what I wanted. And why in the world would I do it anyway?† â€Å"Because it'll free you,† he said simply. â€Å"It prevents you from discussing vampire affairs, right? You don't think that's all it does, do you? Think. What stops it from exerting other control?† I pretty much had to just give up on any expectations for this conversation because every topic was crazier than the last. â€Å"I've never heard of anything like that. I've never felt anything like that. Aside from it protecting vampire information, I'm in control.† He nodded. â€Å"Probably. The initial tattoo usually only has the talking compulsion in it. They only start adding other components with re-inks if they've got a reason to worry about you. People can sometimes fight through those and if they do . . . well, then it's off to re-education.† His words sent a chill through me, and I rested a hand on my cheek as I flashbacked to the meeting I'd had when I was given the Palm Springs assignment. â€Å"I was re-inked recently . . . but it was routine.† Routine. Normal. Nothing like what he was suggesting. â€Å"Maybe.† He tilted his head and gave me another piercing look. â€Å"You do anything bad before that, love?† Like helping a dhampir fugitive? â€Å"Depends on your definition of bad.† Both of them laughed. Marcus's laugh was loud and rollicking and actually pretty infectious – but the situation was far too dire for me to join in. â€Å"They may have reinforced your group loyalty then,† he said, still chuckling. â€Å"But it either wasn't very strong or else you fought through it – otherwise you wouldn't be here.† He glanced over at Sabrina. â€Å"What do you think?† Sabrina studied me with a critical eye. I still had a hard time believing her role in all of this. â€Å"I think she'd be a good addition. And since she's still in, she could help us with that . . . other matter.† â€Å"I think so too,† he said. I crossed my arms over my chest. I didn't like being discussed as though I weren't there. â€Å"A good addition to what?† â€Å"Our group.† To Sabrina, he said, â€Å"We really need a name for it, you know.† She snorted, and he returned his attention to me. â€Å"We're a mix. Some are former Warriors or double agents like Sabrina. Some are ex-Alchemists.† â€Å"And what do you do?† I gestured around us. â€Å"This doesn't exactly look like a high-tech base of operation for some covert team.† â€Å"Look at you. Pretty and funny,† he said, looking delighted. â€Å"We do what you do – or what you want to do. We like the Moroi. We want to help them – on our own terms. The Alchemists theoretically want to help them too, but we all know that's based on a core of fear and dislike – not to mention a strict control of its members. So, we work in secret, seeing as the Alchemists aren't fans of those who break from the fold. They really aren't fans of me, which is why I end up in places like this.† â€Å"We keep an eye on the Warriors too,† said Sabrina. She scowled. â€Å"I hate being around those nuts, having to play along with them. They claim they only want to destroy the Strigoi – but, well, the things I've heard them say against the Moroi too . . .† I thought back to one of my more disturbing memories of the Warrior arena. I'd heard one of them make a mysterious comment about how someday, they'd deal with the Moroi too. â€Å"But what do you guys actually do?† Talking about rebellions and covert operations was one thing, but actually effecting change was another. I'd visited my sister Carly at her college and seen a number of student groups who wanted to change the world. Most of them sat around drinking coffee, talking a lot and doing little. Marcus and Sabrina exchanged glances. â€Å"I can't quite get into our operations,† he said. â€Å"Not until I know you're on board with breaking your tattoo.† Breaking your tattoo. There was something sinister – not to mention permanent – about those words, and I suddenly wondered what I was doing here. Who were these people, really? Why was I even humoring them? Then another, almost terrifying thought hit me: Am I doubting them because of the tattoo's control? Is it making me skeptical around anyone who questions the Alchemists? Is Marcus telling the truth? â€Å"I don't really understand that either,† I told them. â€Å"What it means to ‘break' the tattoo. Do you just mean putting ink over it?† Marcus stood up. â€Å"All in good time. Right now, we've got to get out of here. Even if you were discreet, I assume you used Alchemist resources to find me?† I hesitated. Even if these guys were legitimate and had good intentions toward the Moroi, I certainly wasn't going to reveal my involvement with magic. â€Å"Something like that.† â€Å"I'm sure you're good, but we can't take the chance. This place has been compromised.† He cast a wistful glance around the studio. Honestly, I thought he should be grateful I'd given him a reason to leave. Sabrina rose as well, her face hardening. â€Å"I'll make sure the secondary location is ready.† â€Å"You're an angel, as always,† he told her. â€Å"Hey, how did you know I was coming?† I asked. â€Å"You had time to hide and call her.† What I really wanted to know was how he'd seen me through the invisibility spell. I'd felt the magic fill me. I was certain I'd cast the spell correctly, but he'd discovered me. The spell wouldn't work if someone knew to look for you, so maybe he'd happened to glance out the window when I was scaling the fire escape? Worst timing ever. â€Å"Tony warned me.† Marcus flashed me another of those dazzling grins. I think he was trying to make me smile back. â€Å"Good kid.† Tony? Then I knew. The boy in the parking lot. He'd pretended to help me and then sold me out. He must have spoken to Marcus while I climbed the fire escape. Maybe Marcus only answered to some secret knock. At least I had the comfort of knowing I'd cast the spell correctly. It simply hadn't worked because Marcus had advance warning that some girl was coming after him. He began packing up his meager belongings into a backpack. â€Å"The Catcher in the Rye is a great book, by the way.† He winked. â€Å"Maybe someday we'll have a literary discussion.† I wasn't interested in that. Watching him, I saw that he kept favoring his uninjured wrist. I couldn't believe I'd caused damage like that and felt a little guilty, despite everything that had happened. â€Å"You should get that taken care of,† I said. Sabrina nodded in agreement. He sighed. â€Å"I can't. At least, not through conventional means. The Alchemists have eyes everywhere.† Conventional means. â€Å"I, uh, might be able to help you get it healed through unconventional means,† I said. â€Å"You know some off-the-grid doctor?† asked Sabrina hopefully. â€Å"No. But I know a Moroi spirit user.† Marcus froze, and I kind of liked that I'd thrown him off guard. â€Å"Seriously? We've heard of them but never met one. That woman they had – Sonya? She was one, right? She was gone before we could find out more.† Talking about Adrian made me nervous, but Sabrina probably already knew he existed if they'd been watching me. â€Å"Yeah, she was one, and there's another in Palm Springs. I could take you to him and let him heal you.† Excitement lit Marcus's features. Sabrina looked at him in horror. â€Å"You can't just go off with her.† Was that concern or jealousy in her voice? â€Å"Why not?† he asked. â€Å"She's taking a leap of faith with us. We can't do any less. Besides, I'm dying to meet a spirit user. The safe house isn't that far from Palm Springs. You make sure everything's in order and then come pick me up later.† Sabrina didn't like that, not at all. Maybe I didn't understand the dynamics of their group yet, but it was obvious she regarded him as a leader and was insanely protective. In fact, I suspected her feelings for him were more than professional. They went back and forth on whether he'd be safe or not, and I listened without a word. All the while, I wondered if I'd be safe heading off with some unknown guy. Clarence trusted him, I reminded myself. And he's pretty paranoid. Besides, with Marcus's wrist out of commission, I could probably take him. He finally convinced Sabrina to let him go but not before she snarled, â€Å"If anything happens to him, I'm coming after you.† Apparently her hard-core character in the arena hadn't been entirely faked. We parted ways from her, and before long, Marcus and I were on the road to Palm Springs. I tried to get more information out of him, but he wouldn't bite. Instead, he kept complimenting me and saying things that were only one step away from pickup lines. Judging from the way he'd bantered with Sabrina too, I didn't think there was anything particularly special about me. I thought he was just used to women fawning all over him. He was cute, I'd give him that, but it took a lot more than that to win me over. It was sunset when we pulled up to Adrian's apartment, and I belatedly wondered if I should've given him some advance warning. Too late now. We walked up to the door, and I knocked three times. â€Å"It's open,† a voice called from within. I stepped inside, and Marcus followed. Adrian was working on an abstract painting of what looked like a crystalline building from some fantasy world. â€Å"Unexpected treat,† he said. His eyes fell on Marcus and widened. â€Å"I'll be damned. You found him.† â€Å"Thanks to you,† I said. Adrian glanced over at me. A smile started to form – and then instantly dried up. â€Å"What happened to your face?† â€Å"Oh.† I lightly touched the swollen spot. It still smarted but wasn't as painful as it had been earlier. I spoke my next words without thinking. â€Å"Marcus hit me.† I'd never seen Adrian move so fast. Marcus had no chance to react, probably because he was exhausted from our earlier encounter. Adrian shoved Marcus up against a wall and – to my complete and utter astonishment – punched Marcus. Adrian had once joked that he never dirtied his hands, so this was something I never could have prepared myself for. In fact, if Adrian was going to attack someone, I would've expected something magical and spirit-driven. Yet . . . as I watched him, I could see that anything as thoughtful as magic was far from Adrian's mind. He had kicked into primal mode. See a threat. Go after it. It was yet another surprising – yet fascinating – side of the enigma that was Adrian Ivashkov. Marcus quickly got his bearings and responded in kind. He pushed Adrian back, wincing a little. Even with his injury he was still strong. â€Å"What the hell? Who are you?† â€Å"The guy that's going to kick your ass for hurting her,† said Adrian. He tried another punch, but Marcus dodged and managed to land a hit that knocked Adrian back into one of his easels. When Marcus swung again, Adrian eluded him with a maneuver that was straight out of Wolfe's class. I would've applauded him if I wasn't so appalled by the situation. I knew some girls thought it was sexy to have men fight over them. Not me. â€Å"You guys, stop!† I cried. â€Å"No one's going to throw you around and get away with it,† said Adrian. â€Å"What happened with us has nothing to do with you,† retorted Marcus. â€Å"Everything about her has to do with me.† The two circled around each other, waiting for the other to pounce. â€Å"Adrian,† I exclaimed. â€Å"It was an accident.† â€Å"Doesn't look like an accident,† he replied, never taking his eyes off Marcus. â€Å"You should listen to her,† growled Marcus. The easygoing guy I'd met earlier was gone, but I guess being attacked would do that to you. â€Å"It might save you from getting your pretty face wrecked. How much styling did you have to do to get your hair like that?† â€Å"At least I brush my hair,† said Adrian. Marcus lunged forward – but not directly at Adrian. He grabbed a painting off an easel and used it as a weapon. Adrian again managed a dodge, but the painting didn't fare so well. The canvas tore, and Marcus tossed it aside, ready for the next advance. Adrian spared the canvas a brief glance. â€Å"Now you've really pissed me off.† â€Å"Enough!† Something told me they weren't going to listen to reason. This required direct intervention. I stalked across the room and pushed myself between them. â€Å"Sydney, get out of the way,† ordered Adrian. â€Å"Yeah,† agreed Marcus. â€Å"For once he's got something worthwhile to say.† â€Å"No!† I held out my hands to separate them. â€Å"Both of you back off – now!† My voice rang through the apartment, and I refused to budge. â€Å"Back. Off,† I repeated. â€Å"Sydney. . . .† Adrian's voice was a little more uncertain than when he'd told me to get out of the way. I looked back and forth between them, giving each guy a healthy glare. â€Å"Adrian, it really was an accident. Marcus, this is the guy who's going to help you, so show some respect.† This, more than anything, seemed to derail them. â€Å"Wait,† said Adrian. â€Å"Did you say ‘help'?† Marcus was equally flabbergasted. â€Å"This asshole is the spirit user?† â€Å"You're both acting like idiots,† I scolded. The next time I had nothing to do, I'd have to get a book on testosterone-driven behavior. This was out of my league. â€Å"Adrian, can we talk somewhere in private? Like the bedroom?† Adrian agreed, but not before giving Marcus one last menacing look. I told Marcus to stay where he was and hoped he wouldn't take off or call in someone else with a gun. Adrian followed me to his bedroom and shut the door behind us. â€Å"You know,† he said, â€Å"under normal circumstances, you inviting me to the bedroom would be the highlight of my day.† I crossed my arms and sat on the bed. I did so out of simple fatigue, but a moment later, I was struck by what I was doing. This is where Adrian sleeps. I'm touching the covers he's wrapped in every night. What does he wear? Does he wear anything? I jumped up. â€Å"It really was an accident,† I told him. â€Å"Marcus thought I was there to abduct him.† Adrian, having no such hang-ups with the bed, sat down. He winced, probably from the blow to the stomach. â€Å"If someone like you showed up to abduct me, I'd let you.† Even when he was in pain, it never stopped with him. â€Å"I'm serious. It was just instinct, and he apologized over and over in the car once he realized who I was.† That got his attention. â€Å"He knew you?† I gave him a recap of my day in Santa Barbara. He listened avidly, nodding along, his expression shifting back and forth between intrigue and surprise. â€Å"I didn't realize when I brought him back here that you'd inflict more damage,† I said, once I'd finished the story. â€Å"I was defending your honor.† Adrian gave me that devil-may-care smile that always managed to both infuriate and captivate me. â€Å"Pretty manly, huh?† â€Å"Very,† I said dryly. I didn't like violence, but him doing something so out of character for me actually was kind of incredible. Not that I'd ever tell him that. â€Å"You did Wolfe proud. Do you think you can manage not to have any more ‘manly' displays while he's here? Please?† Adrian shook his head, still smiling. â€Å"I've said over and over, I'd do anything for you. I just keep hoping it'll be something like, ‘Adrian, let's go hot tubbing' or Adrian, take me out for fondue.'† â€Å"Well, sometimes we have to – did you say fondue?† Sometimes it was impossible to follow Adrian's train of thought. â€Å"Why in the world would I ever say that?† He shrugged. â€Å"I like fondue.† I didn't even know what to say about that. This whole day was getting more and more exhausting. â€Å"I'm sorry I'm not asking for something as glamorous as melted cheese. But for now, I need to find out about Marcus and his group – and the tattoo.† Adrian recognized the situation's severity. He stood up and gently touched the lily on my cheek. â€Å"I don't trust him. He could be using you. But then . . . I don't like the idea of this controlling you either.† â€Å"That makes two of us,† I admitted, losing some of my earlier toughness. He traced the line of my cheek for a few breathless moments and then dropped his hand. â€Å"It might be worth helping him to get some answers.† â€Å"Will you promise not to get in any more fights? Please?† â€Å"I promise,† he said. â€Å"So long as he doesn't start one.† â€Å"I'll have him promise too.† I just hoped their â€Å"manly† natures wouldn't get the better of them. As I ruminated on this, something I'd nearly forgotten about tumbled to the forefront of my mind. â€Å"Oh . . . Adrian, I've got one more favor to ask you. A big one.† â€Å"Fondue?† he asked hopefully. â€Å"No. It's about Ms. Terwilliger's sister. . . .† I told him what I'd learned. The amusement in his face faded and turned to disbelief. â€Å"You just mention this now?† he exclaimed when I finished. â€Å"That some soul-sucking witch might be after you?† â€Å"She doesn't know I exist.† I felt surprisingly defensive. â€Å"And I'm the only one who can help, at least according to Ms. Terwilliger. She thinks I'm some super-investigator.† â€Å"Well, you do have that Sherlock Holmes thing going for you,† he said. His joking didn't last; he was too upset. â€Å"But you still should've told me! You could've called.† â€Å"I was kind of busy with Marcus.† â€Å"Then your priorities are off. This is a lot more important than his band of Merry Men. If we need to take out some evil sorceress before she gets to you, then of course I'll help.† He hesitated. â€Å"With one condition.† I eyed him warily. â€Å"What's that?† â€Å"Let me heal you too.† I jerked backward, almost more shocked than if he'd suggested hitting me again. â€Å"No! Absolutely not! I don't need it. I'm in better shape than him.† â€Å"You want to go back to Amberwood with that on your face? You're not going to be able to hide that, Sage. And if Castile sees it, he really will come after Marcus.† Adrian crossed his arms defiantly. â€Å"That's my price.† He was bluffing, and I knew it. Maybe it was egotistical, but I knew he wasn't going to let me go into a dangerous situation without him. He did, however, have a point. I still hadn't seen the mark Marcus had left, but I didn't want to explain it back at school. And yes, there was a good chance Eddie would want to hunt down my assailant. Being beat up by an avenging dhampir might make working with Marcus difficult. Yet . . . how could I agree? At least the magic I used was on my terms. And although my tattoo had trace amounts of vampire magic, I took comfort in knowing it was tied to the â€Å"normal† four elements, the ones we understood. Spirit was still an unknown entity, with abilities that continually surprised us. How could I subject myself to rogue vampire magic? Guessing my inner turmoil, Adrian's face softened. â€Å"I do this all the time. It's an easy spell. No surprises.† â€Å"Maybe,† I said reluctantly. â€Å"But each time you use spirit, you're more likely to go crazy.† â€Å"Already crazy about you, Sage.† At least this was familiar territory. â€Å"You said you wouldn't bring that up.† He simply regarded me without comment. Finally, I threw my arms up. â€Å"Fine,† I said, with more boldness than I felt. â€Å"Just get it over with.† Adrian didn't waste any time. Stepping forward, he reached out and rested his hand on my cheek once more. My breath caught and my heart rate went up. It would be so, so easy for him to pull me to him and kiss me again. A tingling warmth spread over my skin, and for a moment, I thought it was just my normal reaction to him. No, I realized. It was the magic. His eyes locked onto mine, and for the space of a heartbeat, we were suspended in time. Then he removed his hand and stepped away. â€Å"Done,† he said. â€Å"Was that so bad?† No, it hadn't been bad at all. The throbbing pain was gone. All that was left was the constant inner voice nagging me that what had just happened was wrong. That same voice tried to tell me that Adrian had left a taint behind . . . but that was hard to believe from him. I released the breath I'd been holding. â€Å"Thank you,† I said. â€Å"You didn't have to do that.† He gave me one of those small smiles. â€Å"Oh, believe me, I did.† A moment of awkward silence hung between us. I cleared my throat. â€Å"Well. We should get back out to Marcus. Maybe we'll have time for dinner before Sabrina shows up, and you guys can patch things over.† â€Å"I doubt even a moonlight stroll would fix things between us.† His words reminded me of something else I'd meant to bring up when he got back to town, something that had taken a very low priority. â€Å"Your coat – you never took it back after the wedding. It's in my car.† He waved dismissively â€Å"Keep it. I've got others.† â€Å"What am I going to do with a wool coat?† I asked. â€Å"Especially here in Palm Springs?† â€Å"Sleep with it,† he suggested. â€Å"Think of me.† I put my hands on my hips and tried to stare him down, which wasn't easy since he was so tall. That, and because his words suddenly returned me to the disorienting feeling I'd had sitting on his bed. â€Å"You said you weren't going to bring up any romantic stuff around me.† â€Å"Was that romantic?† he asked. â€Å"I was just making the suggestion, since the coat's so heavy and warm. I figured you'd think of me since it was such a nice gesture. And yet, once again, you're the one who finds romantic subtext in everything I say.† â€Å"I do not. You know that's not what I meant.† He shook his head in mock sympathy. â€Å"I tell you, Sage. Sometimes I think I'm the one who needs to take out the restraining order on you.† â€Å"Adrian!† But he was already out the door, knowing laughter echoing behind him.