A Student’s Complete Guide to Writing a Religious Studies Research Paper

A Student’s Complete Guide to Writing a Religious Studies Research Paper Research papers may be one of the hardest papers to write. This is true whether you are taking a high school or a college class. However, research papers don’t need to be hard if you know what you are doing. This guide on how to write a religious studies research paper will outline some of the finer points on how to research effectively, how to pick a topic, and how to write an edit a research paper. Let’s get started! Topics and Topic Suggestions for an Amazing Religious Studies Research Paper Picking a topic for a religious studies research paper can be tough, but we’re here to help. Keep in mind that research papers need to be fact-based, not opinion based. Below are some topics with prompts on how you can use them in your own reference paper. You can use any of these topics and prompts for your research paper. How Was the Jewish Faith Changed by the Holocaust? Over six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. Did this change the Jewish religion? How did the average Jewish person relate to religion after this terrible event? Keep the question, â€Å"How could a loving God allow something like this to happen?† It is a question many Jewish people had during and after the war. Is Islam a Peaceful or Violent Religion? Many people see Islam as a violent religion because of the rise of terrorist groups with primarily Muslim members. However, others see Islam as a peaceful religion. Which of these statements are true? Use verses from the Quran to back up your stance. The History of RELIGION OF YOUR CHOICE. Give a brief history of any religion. If this topic is too large to fit your page requirement, then try giving a history of a singular religious event or holiday, like Easter, Passover, or Ramadan, instead. Religious Creation Stories and Mythology Religious books often have creation stories, like of Genesis in the Bible. Mythologies also often have creation stories. Are there any creation stories from religious texts that match up with myths? How do you account for this similarity? Divides in the Church and Why They Happen The Christian church began to split almost in the same instant it was formed. Why were there so many divisions in the church? One of the most famous splits you may want to write about is Martin Luther’s division from the Catholic church, which inadvertently created Lutheranism. Research Tips from Our Academic Writers As the name suggests, research papers are primarily research-based. This means that your research paper should focus on the facts. To focus on the facts, you are first going to need to find out the facts. The best way to do this is through research, but sometimes researching can be difficult and frustrating, so let’s look at some of the ways you can find great information without stressing out. One of the best ways to find reliable sources is to search through your school’s online library website. Most colleges and some high schools have websites like this. If you do not know where to find the website, search through your school’s homepage. There will likely be a link to the library page. Once you find your school’s library page, search for your topic. Usually typing in a few keywords should help to get the job done. From there, you can refine your searches to see books, articles, and web pages. If your school library hosts the content, then there’s a good chance that it is a reliable source. If your school does not have an online library, then you can always use Google to find sources. Type in any questions or main points you want to include in your paper. If you are writing a research paper on a topic, it is likely someone has already posted information on it. The tricky part is knowing whether a source is reliable or not. This article provides some tips to know if a resource is great or bad. Another way to find good sources online is to use Google Scholar, which will always pull up scholarly articles, rather than random articles from anywhere on the web. Writing Tips for Religious Studies Research Papers Now that we’ve looked at how to effectively research, let’s look at what to do with that research. This section will contain various tips that can be used to help organize your information, write each section of your research paper, and edit the paper once you are finished. Pre-Writing Suggestions Making an outline is one of the best things you can do to organize your paper before you even start writing it. An outline can be a highly structured document that states all of your main points and the evidence that you are going to use to back up your main points. If that sounds too complicated for you, writing an outline using the main points or headings that you are going to use is another way to create an outline. In fact, this very article was made with a simple outline. It looked something like this: Introduction Topics Topic Suggestions Research Tips Writing Tips Pre-writing tips Take Notes Research Paper Writing Introduction Body Paragraphs Conclusion Reference Page Post-Writing Tips Conclusion While this outline only states the basic headings used in the article and some headings which are implied, but not actually written, this outline works to organize the article. Even something as simple as an outline like above can help you to organize your paper. A bonus feature of an outline is that it saves time in the long-run. Since all of the headings, main points, and more can be written out ahead of time, you are less likely to get stuck with writer’s block while you are actually writing your paper. Take Notes Another important pre-writing task you can do is to take all of your notes before you even begin writing your paper. Like outlining, this is likely to take up more time in the beginning, but it will save time when you actually work on writing your paper. This is because you will not need to stop writing to look up a fact or figure. When you are taking notes, make sure to write down anything you might want to include in your paper. Whether you think you will come back to the source or not, it is also best to write down all of the information for your source so you can easily find it again if you need it. Even if you don’t need it, writing down all of the important information (title, author, page number(s), etc.) can help you to write your citation so you don’t need to look up the information to write your citation later. Even better, write your sources directly into your page to save even more time. Research Paper Writing: Steps to Follow Once your outline is written and all of your research is done, all that is left to do is write the actual paper. While it may sound difficult, your writing should be able to flow smoothly if you already have all of your notes by your side. There are four basic components to every term paper: the introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion, and reference page. In this section, we will take a look at how to write each of these sections well. Introduction The introduction is often one of the hardest parts of a research paper for students to write. Perhaps this is because you are expected to introduce a paper you haven’t written yet. Some students find it useful to skip this section and return to it once they have written the rest of their paper. One of the most important aspects to include in an introduction is the thesis statement. A thesis statement is usually one-sentence long and contains the main point(s) of the paper. A good thesis statement will be specific and clear. Basically, if a stranger (or your teacher) were to read your thesis statement, they should have a good idea on what your paper is about. If you read your own thesis statement and it doesnt meet that one goal, then you should rewrite your thesis statement. Body Paragraphs In most essays and research papers, there are usually at least three body paragraphs per paper. Depending on the page length requirement set by your teacher or professor, you may have more than three body paragraphs. Body paragraphs are important, not only because they make up the bulk of your research paper, but because they support your main statement which was written in your thesis statement. Each body paragraph should begin with the main point of its own that helps to back up your thesis statement. For example, if your research paper is about the history of Christianity, some of the topics of your body paragraphs could include the birth of Jesus, his death, and events like the Council of Nicea. Each body paragraph needs to have a distinct topic that relates to the main point of your research essay. Begin each body paragraph with its own introduction, introducing the main point of the paragraphs. The next few sentences should contain evidence to back up the statement made in the first sentence of the paragraph. The last sentence should be a conclusion that wraps up the body paragraph nicely. Conclusion After writing all of your body paragraphs, it’s finally time to move on to the conclusion of your research paper. This paragraph should be easy enough to write. However, some students may find it difficult to sum up their whole paper in one paragraph, especially if their research paper was rather lengthy. One of the best ways to begin your conclusion is to restate your thesis statement. Do not quote yourself directly, but instead rephrase or summarize your thesis statement. Next, try to sum up each of your body paragraphs with one sentence each. If you have more than three or four body paragraphs, then you may want to only summarize a few of your most important body paragraphs. Lastly, sum up your conclusion paragraph with a short one-sentence conclusion of its own. Reference Page Once you have all of your writing down, it’s time to write up your reference page. Most religious studies classes are likely to require you to use MLA or APA formatting. When making a reference page, always make sure to arrange your citations so that they are in alphabetical order. Below are some examples of a source we used for this article in both MLA and APA formatting so you can get an idea of how it’s done. APA Thomson, D. (2014, October 2). â€Å"10 Research Tips of Finding Answers Online.† Retrieved from https://blog.ted.com/10-research-tips-for-finding-answers-that-elude-you/ MLA Thomson, Danielle. â€Å"10 Research Tips for Finding Answers Online.† TED Blog, TED Conferences, LLC, 2 Oct. 2014, blog.ted.com/10-research-tips-for-finding-answers-that-elude-you/. Post-Writing How to Get Over It Quickly Once you are done writing your research, it’s time to do some editing! While editing isn’t fun, it is effective. By editing, you can catch all of your mistakes (and fix them) before your teacher catches them and marks your grade down for it. There are a few basic steps that can help you to edit your research paper quickly. The first thing to do is to simply read over your paper to see if you can catch any mistakes. You can also have a friend read over your paper, as it never hurts to have an extra pair of eyes look over your work. Next, run your paper through a grammar and spelling checker. While most word processors, like Microsoft Word and Google Docs, have grammar and spelling checkers of their own, they don’t always catch every single mistake. Using an online checker, like Grammarly, can help you catch additional mistakes. Finally, make sure you run your research paper through a plagiarism checker. The last thing you want is to put in hard work on a research paper, only to fail because you had a bit of accidental plagiarism. To avoid this fate, use an online plagiarism checker, like Turnitin. We hope that these tips and tricks can help you to write an A+ research paper. Keep this article as a reference to use whenever you need to write a research paper, whether it be for your religious studies class or for another class. Good luck with your paper!

Winning Ideas to Create Research Articles

Winning Ideas to Create Research Articles Winning Ideas to Create Research Articles Research articles are made up of results achieved from conducting original research. These results can be obtained through either primary or secondary analysis.   Fundamental research involves collecting and capturing information directly from the source. Secondary research includes obtaining information from the previous researches done by others and recording it. The essential requirement of a research paper is to look for information relating to the topic, taking a stand/side on the issue and providing evidence for the position taken in an organized manner. The objective of the paper is the essence of a research paper.    A good research paper shows the findings of the research in a clear and concise manner without being mixed up by the wordplay of the author. A cook follows a written recipe to prepare a delicious meal. It is also the same with the author. There is a guideline/recipe that an author should use for him/her to have an interesting research paper. The following is a guideline to writing a good research paper. Selecting the Topic Choosing your topic is the first and the most crucial step in a research project. Before choosing a research topic, a student/author should ask himself/herself such questions: Has this topic been researched upon extensively? Is this topic unique and timely? Is it coherent with my career choice? A student should always choose a topic that he/she is interested. Whenever possible, the author needs to choose a topic that he/she is passionate about. For example, if you are interested in Business Management, write things that involve business issues or evolution of businesses. Do not deviate from your topic. Always consult with your friends and teachers about your chosen topic to get new ideas. If you realize that the topic you chose is not right for you, do not hesitate change. Researching the Topic After selecting a topic suitable for you, you should now start researching. Research can be done using several resources such as journal articles, web pages, books, posts on various blogs, interviews, newsletters, and magazines. You can also apply different online research methods that are well-known these days. Do not rely on one or two sources rather, use at least five sources. Books should be your primary tools to use when researching. Reading as much as you can will help you understand and connect things clearly. You will have the ability to see and seal any loopholes in your research. Analyze and Plan Every type of writing has its own approach. If your research becomes complicated for you, you can prepare a flowchart so that you can know all the stages in a sequence and prepare for them. Print out the research you have gathered online, highlight the key areas in the books you have read and read your research again. Identify if your research paper is argumentative or analytic. An argumentative research paper involves the author taking a side and arguing from that perspective. An analytic paper is prepared when the author freshly reviews an important issue. Lastly, the author should know his/her audience. If you are writing to people who are conversant with topic, you need not explain your ideas using theories. Preparing the Draft of a Research Article Organize your outline. Include in-text citations at the end of an important point. Depending on your paper requirements, follow the formatting guidelines in every part of your paper. You should acknowledge authors by citing your research paper. This is always mandatory. Inserting your citations properly will reduce the chances of your paper being rejected. Preparing the Final Draft Put aside your draft for a day before revising it for you to see any gaps. Rethink your ideas and organize again your paragraphs and sentences when revising. Read your paper out loud or have someone read it for you. Put it all together using the format authorized by your institution. Some universities have their unique way of formatting papers. Your supervisor should assist you by ensuring that the format is correct and the citations well placed before submission. To summarize, there are ten stages that experts go through to ensure that their research article is lovely and entertaining to their readers. The ten steps will help you in creating a hypothesis, testing your ideas and presenting your findings: First, always choose a topic that is right for you. You should enjoy studying and researching it. Secondly, plan your dissertation by creating an outline to organize and reasonably present ideas. Third, make use of transitions. This communicates to the readers that you are moving from one topic to another. Also separate your ideas using paragraphs. Two different ideas should not be put in one section instead, create a new paragraph for a different idea. Direct quotes should be included in your dissertation. They act as pieces of evidence from your sources. The direct quote should prove a point for your topic. Sixth, your paper should be formatted correctly with the help of your supervisor. Continue to write your draft so that it is error free. Ensure your research article has citations that are well placed. All sources should be cited. Create a desirable title for your article. Your topic should go hand in hand with your hypothesis. Lastly, form a memorable conclusion that should prove your point. At our service, we are committed to providing students with expert research paper writing help on different topics and disciplines.

Democracy and Religion in Developing Countries Essay

Democracy and Religion in Developing Countries - Essay Example In the Muslim world, particularly developing countries issues concerning political democracy are raised with special force because of the strength of the Islamic resurgence and the intensity of the demands in recent years which demand better political processes. Before examining the application of democracy in Islamic countries, there is a need to analyze the significance of Islam in politics. Islamic politics according to modern Islamic movements and what history tells us is a combination of religion and politics for the reason that medieval Islamic civilization of the Umayyads and the Abbasids followed non-state structures based on the grounds of religious faith and action (Esposito & Voll: 4). This indicates that the true implication of democracy in the Muslim era was followed by the belief that the most pious person among the society was supposed to be selected by civilians as well as by his followers. The current political culture of liberal secular societies never concern about God and never weighs God's approval or disapproval of their policies or behaviour. For this reason one can see that even religious political struggles and negotiations differ a lot when compared to those of the past. This clearly indicates that today's liberal democratic governments pursue people's happiness to the exclusion of God's approval (Sadri & Sadri: 122). Democratic Political Systems The concept of democracy followed in Islamic countries encompasses Islamic activist movements that challenge government while supporting others. What usually happens in this era is that in the political interests of Islamic revivalist groups, revolutionary opposition takes place which leads them either to ruling governments, or such movements may participate in the ruling political system as opposition movements. Many times it is seen that such religious movements are based as they are crucial part of the government or are themselves the ruling force in the political system. Such a perspective of democracy is based on a broad spectrum that gives us an overview of different situations within which Islamic democratization exists. Therefore such situations are: (1) revolutionary democracy to the ruling political government (2) legal or cooperating democracy that works within the boundaries of political system (3) active participation as a democratic government alliance which works wit h other political forces and (4) the system that controls and leads the existing political system. The above situations as practiced by most of the Islamic countries shapes the nature of emerging democratic ideals in the Islamic world as well as the developing and influenced new political orders in Islam. Democracy in the Middle East As far as Islamic law and order is concerned, it is severely implemented in the region except for the positive peace in the Middle East. Countries like Iraq, Iran and Israel are pervaded with armed conflicts in various types and forms like regional conflicts, resource wars, separatist and nationalist conflicts and irredentist conflicts. However some countries are influenced by other ethnic, religious and tribal struggles to the extent where their democratic power is heavily influenced under revolutionary and fundamentalist struggles. The peoples and governments throughout the Middle East are thus confronting pro-democracy anti-colonial struggles. Middle Eastern democratic trend follows violent conflicts and does not fulfil the criteria of positive peace in the region which is the utmost ground for building a democratic

Alexander Graham Bell 1847-1922 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Alexander Graham Bell 1847-1922 - Essay Example On 3rd March 1847, in the town of Edinburgh, Scotland, Eliza Grace Symonds and Professor Alexander Melville Bell were blessed with a son, Alexander Bell. His father, Professor Alexander Melville Bell, was a famous speech expert or elocutionist and teacher of deaf people. Alexander had two other brothers namely, Edward Charles Bell and Melville James Bell. However, both of them later passed on after ailing from Tuberculosis. Interestingly, the name ‘Graham’ was only added when he was 11 years of age after he made a request to equally have a middle name as the rest of his siblings. Most of his childhood years were spent in Scotland with his father acting as a personal tutor. Evidently, Alexander made his first innovation at the age of 12 by inventing a machine that had the capacity to remove the husks of wheat grains and clean them at the same time. The dehusking machine was composed of revolving paddles and pairs of nailbrushes. The machine was adopted by many mill compan ies since it assisted in speeding up of wheat processing. At age 15, he enrolled at Royal High School but left after only four semesters. At the age of 16, Alexander attained a job at the Weston House Academy in Elgin Scotland. His job description was as a part time teacher and pupil of music and speech. Incidentally, his father was against the idea of him pursuing any career within the department of science. However, Alexander maintained his pursuit of science as he wanted to emulate both his grandfather and father. At the Weston House, Alexander took up some Greek and Latin courses and later became a teacher of the same. His charges for remuneration of services rendered were boarding and accommodation at the institution and 10 pounds per lesson. Alexander later attended the University of Edinburg at the age of 17. Incidentally, his brother Edward was enrolled at the same University before his untimely demise on May, 1870. On April of 1871, Alexander relocated to Boston,

Analysis of the Play Beauty and the Beast Essay -- Musicals Plays Beau

Analysis of the Play Beauty and the Beast Beauty and the Beast was an amazing musical, many say it was much better than the movie. Just like the movie. It starts off in a faraway land, with the Young Prince who lived in a shining castled. The prince was spoiled, selfish and unkind. An old beggar woman came to the castle and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold. Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the Prince sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away. The old woman warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is to be found within. And when he sent her away again, the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress. The Prince tried to apologise, but it was too late. As punishment, she transformed him into a hideous beast and placed a powerful spell on the castle and all who lived there. The Rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose. If he could learn to love another and earn their love in return before the last petal fell, the spell would be br oken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a Beast for all time. In a little town, a young girl by the name of belle arrives. The Towns people despite their admiration for Belle's beauties think of Belle as odd and peculiar because of her favourite thing to do is to read. Gaston, a handsome, skilful hunter who has fallen in love with Belle. Gaston is obsessed with belle marrying him and will not give up. Meanwhile, Belle slips away and goes home to...

Marvel Case

MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT GROUP Bankruptcy and restructuring Introduction Marvel entertainment group was started by Martin Goodman in 1939. It originally was a comic book business, known as Marvel Comics now. We have no way to forget the images of X-men, Spider-Man, and Thor. Marvel Entertainment Group has had a glorious history, and a dominant position in the comic market. However, this glorious empire regretfully elapsed in the end. The historical rise and fall influences not only comic fans’ life, but most importantly to its investors and the financial market.Here we discuss in detail about the reason Marvel file for bankruptcy, the evaluation of the restructuring plan, equity worth per share under restructuring plan, its influence on the debt rising ability to other firms in the group, and why the portfolio managers choose to sell their zero coupon bonds. Part 1 Analyzing problems: why did Marvel file for Chapter 11? Were the problems caused by bad luck, bad strategy, or bad ex ecution? After taking a deep look into its performance of a six-year period, we reached the conclusion that the fall of this comic star is mainly caused by bad strategy it adopted, especially the one to acquire Skybox.Though the first two issuance of debt did bring along good operating results, Marvel’s core business began to falter shortly after the third issuance. The sales of three major business lines: Sports and Entertainment Cards, Children’s Activity Stickers, and Published comic books all decline significantly after 1993. The main reason for this decline can be explained by the fact that child entertainment is becoming more diversified, with alternatives appearing such as video games. Besides that, collectors’ declining willingness to invest in comic books drive the sales down dramatically.However, these reasons have little things to do with luck: because a successful and experienced entertainment company like Marvel should have the ability to notice thi s kind of demand change. What is more, sufficient market research should also be done when deciding long-term business strategies. But the creator of Spider man really disappointed us by heading for a totally wrong direction at the turning point of this industry. To be qualified as a bad strategy adopter, Marvel decided to acquire Skybox in 1995. At that time, Marvel has a leverage ratio as high as 52%, which made it hard to pay back the huge debt when revenues are declining.Moreover, the declining demand for entertainment cards will make this expansion unlikely to boost its revenues. We can see more clearly from its operating and financing ratios that this acquisition resulted in worse performance of the whole Marvel group. Marvel’s operating and leverage ratios 1991 Operating Ratios Sales Cost of Sales Cost of Sales/Sales SG&A SG&A/Sales Net Income Net Income/Sales Leverage Ratios Total Debt Shares Outstanding Share Price Market Value of Equity Debt/D+E EBITDA EBITDA/Sales Interest Expenses EBITDA/Interest $115. 10 58. 50. 57% 21. 4 18. 59% 16. 1 13. 99% 1992 $223. 80 112. 6 50. 31% 43. 4 19. 39% 32. 6 14. 57% 355. 3 98. 6 12 1183. 2 23. 09% 67. 8 30. 29% 6. 5 10. 43 1993 $415. 20 215. 3 51. 86% 85. 3 20. 54% 56 13. 49% 324. 7 102. 6 26 2667. 6 10. 85% 114. 6 27. 60% 14. 6 7. 85 1994 $514. 80 275. 3 53. 48% 119. 7 23. 25% 61. 8 12. 00% 585. 7 103. 7 16 1659. 2 26. 09% 119. 8 23. 27% 16. 5 7. 26 1995 $829. 30 538. 3 64. 91% 231. 3 27. 89% -48. 4 -5. 83% 934. 8 101. 3 12 1215. 6 43. 47% 34. 7 4. 18% 43. 2 0. 80 1996 $581. 20 372. 4 64. 07% 168 28. 90% -27. 9 -4. 0% 977 101. 8 4 407. 2 70. 58% 40. 8 7. 02% 42. 7 0. 96 97. 7 5 488. 5 35. 5 30. 84% 3. 5 10. 14 As we can see from the number facts above, both operating and leverage ratios show that bad performance of the company became even worse after the acquisition. On one hand, during this six-year period, Marvel’s operating ratios decreased greatly: Net Income/ Sales dropped from 13. 99% of 1991 to -4. 80% of 1996. Besides, the cost of Sales/Sales rose significantly from 50. 57% to 64. 07%. At the same time, SG&A/Sales also increased from 18. 6% to 28. 9%.On the other hand, the leverage ratios also showed that the leverage is already quite high before it made the acquisition decision. During the period from 1991 to 1995, the operating results were not satisfying and leverage coverage kept falling. Based on this situation, Marvel’s decision makers still expanded further, resulting in a worse situation: after the acquisition, its interest coverage ratio dropped rapidly to only 0. 96; the EBITDA/Sales ratio also declined to 7. 02%. Therefore, we can see clearly that the bad strategy Marvel adopted is the main reason for its bankruptcy.When facing with both an internal problem—financial distress, and external threats—declining demand for cards, Marvel should absolutely seek growth within existing business rather than impudently expand through acquiring Skyb ox. Part 2 Evaluation of the proposed restructuring plan: will it solve the problems that caused Marvel to file Chapter 11? As Carl Icahn, the largest unsecured debt holder, would you vote for the proposed restructuring plan? Why or why not? In early 1996, Perelman announced a restructuring plan in order to bail out.According to the plan, $365 million would be invested in Marvel in exchange for 427 million new Marvel shares to maintain the 80% ownership; Marvel would acquire Toy Biz, using its revenue to serve Marvel’s debt and offset Marvel’s NOLs; debt with a face value of $894. 1 million would shift into equity. In our perspective, this new plan can only solve part of Marvel’s recent problems, while it would be helpless to completely help the company out. The proposed restructuring plan is supposed both to relief Marvel’s debt burden and to increase the liquidity. To achieve this goal, Marvel planned to increase equity investment, and retire 894. milli on of debt, whose interest would be secured by 77. 3 million of Marvel’s shares. In these cases, Marvel would acquire new financing support without giving away part of its ownership, which is vital for the tax and NOLs purpose of the company. Besides, the leverage ratio would decrease sharply as a large proportion of debt would turn into equity, given that the market price of stock would not decline significantly. As a result, the plan could solve the liquidity problem of Marvel, as well as solve the problem that led Marvel to violate specific bank loan covenants.However, the company misemployed the newly acquired liquidity in the wrong place. Rather than transforming its original business strategy, which is problematic, into newly emerging industries such as video games to increase revenue, Marvel would maintain its original business lines, majority of which face downturns in the market. At the meantime, Marvel would continue to expand its current business by acquiring remai ning shares of Toy Biz. As what was mentioned previous in this report, the main reason why Marvel filed Chapter 11 was that it mistakenly bought business that produces non-demanded products.S&P downgraded the company’s debt by noting that Marvel’s earnings â€Å"have fallen while it has added debt to make acquisitions†. To acquire Toy Biz, an estimated $361. 5 million would be paid in cash by Marvel. Though Marvel believed that the acquisition would help generate sustainable cash flow to the company, we consider the revenue of Toy Biz, a company which is closely related to Marvel’s current business lines, is far from guaranteed as a foreseeable downturn in traditional entertainment industry. It means that the relieved debt burden could be ultimately offset by the prudent acquisition.Marvel would be inevitable in crisis. Furthermore, the debt holders, debt of whom would be transformed into equity, would not be fully paid off. After the restructuring plan w as announced, the stock price of Marvel plummeted. From what was shown in Exhibit 3, Marvel’s stock price continued to decline afterwards. Under the downward pressure of share price, the value of the collateral shares for the bonds are now much lower than it used to be at the time of the bonds being issued. In other words, the new shares could now only cover partially the face value of original bonds.For Carl Icahn, the largest unsecured debt holder who would have to invest in the highly discounted share once the restructuring plan is passed, whether or not its investment could be paid back would be doubtful. Though Bear Stearns, a company who prepared financial projections for Marvel’s acquisition of Toy Biz, predicted modest growth for Marvel and significant growth for Toy Biz, and that Marvel was valued more as a going concern, the argument of Bear Stearns is questionable and hard to be guaranteed. Therefore, as Carl Icahn, we would not vote for he proposed restruct uring plan. Part 3 Evaluation of Marvel’s equity: how much is Marvel’s equity worth per share under the proposed restructuring plan assuming it acquires Toy Biz as planned? What is your assessment of the pro forma financial projections and liquidation assumptions? We proceed to estimate equity worth per share by employing the capital cash flow method. Capital cash flow valuation incorporates mainly two approaches: starting with NI or starting with EBIT. Concerning the difficulty of reaching for such items as EBIT, we prefer the NI method particularly.Then the whole valuation process could be divided into two parts: calculation of PV (CCF) and number of shares. Part 1: PV (CCF) How to determine the discount rate is crucial for PV (equity value). This valuation uses data from Exhibit 10. Marvel entertainment group asset beta Risk-free rate Risk premium Pre-tax WACC Note: Pre-tax WACC = Rf + ? a * risk premium We use the five-year yields on US treasury bills, notes, and b onds for correspondence with our estimation time range starting from 1997 and ending in 2001. It gives us the pretax WACC as 11. 35%, used as our discount rate in the case. Then we proceed to the next section of CCF, based on information on Exhibit 9. Table 3. 1 has all the calculations shown in explicit steps with our desired result as equity value = 435. 99. Part 2: number of shares outstanding Up till now, equity value per share is only one step away with the missing number of shares, which is presented directly underneath Exhibit 6, as 528. 8 Therefore, we can come straightforward to the final calculation as: Equity value per share = 435. 99/528. 8 = 0. 2 What makes this case special is that distressed M&A could offer substantial corporate strategy opportunities in the troubled economic times ahead, while at the same time, the value of such opportunities could often be hidden amidst the confusion and distress of bankruptcy, such as the one listed as follows. Liquidation value is presented in table 3. 2. 0. 65 6. 36% 7. 5% 11. 235% Part 4 Will it be difficult for Marvel or other companies in the MacAndrews and Forbes holding company to issue debt in the future? Yes. It will become much harder for other companies in the MacAndrews and Forbes holding company o issue debt in the future, under the influence of Marvel’s bankruptcy. In 1995, S&P and Moody’s downgraded the holding companies’ debt from B to B-. Again, in 1996, Moody’s downgraded Marvel’s public debt once more. After the huge volume debt of Marvel downgraded by two rating agencies, Marvel had announced that it would violate specific bank loan covenants due to decreasing revenues and profits. Because downgrading of debt increases the chance of default, and the default probability would surely bring difficulties to other companies in the MacAndrews and Forbes holding company to issue new debt.This would happen step by step. First, the low credit rating indicates a hi gh risk of defaulting on a loan and, hence leads to high interest rates or the refusal of a loan by the creditor. Then, Investors realize this risk and therefore would require a higher default premium to compensate the risk. After that, increased default premiums would raise the cost of capital for the holding company. Given the increased risk premium and default possibilities, Marvel and other companies in the MacAndrews and Forbes holding group would having more difficulties issuing new debt in the future.Some difficulties would be generated from Perelman, because debt holders and creditors where raising questions about the integrity on the judgment decisions from Perelman. Judge Balick approved Marvel did not discriminate unfairly against non-affecting creditor classes and provided it was fair and equitable to all classes. In reaction, a lawyer challenged the Bearn Stern’s conclusions and insinuated Bearn Sterns had multiple levels of conflicts due to the contingency fee p rovided by Perelman. In the end even the Vice-Chairman of the Andrew group had to come with a statement to overcome all the negative sounds in the market.Anyhow it looks like Perelman’s reputation was damaged already. Also, this would influence the whole company’s reputation and the credibility of issuing new debt. Part 5 Why did the price of Marvel’s zero-coupon bonds drop on Tuesday, November 12, 1996? Why did portfolio managers at Fidelity and Putnam sell their bonds on Friday, November 8, 1996? On Nov 12, 1996, Marvel’s zero-coupon bonds fell by more than 50% when the spokesman for the Andrews Group announced the details of the proposed restructuring plan. According to he announcement, Perelman was to purchase, through Perelman-related entities, 410 million shares of newly-issued Marvel common for $0. 85 per share, 81% discount to the then prevailing market price of $4. 625. After Marvel met the managers of Fidelity and Putnam, those two institutional investors sold their Marvel bonds on hand immediately in response of the meeting before the announcement of the restructuring plan. Public holders predict Fidelity and Putnam should have the insider information about the restructuring plan.Their action made the public holder feels the restructuring plan is not favor to the bond holder and therefore sold it to avoid a greater loss. Apart from that, Marvel’s zero-coupon bonds were secured by its equity, rather than the company’s assets or operating cash flows. Due to the problem Marvel suffered, their share price dropped. Once the stock price dropped below $11. 6 per share, the collateral would not be sufficient to cover the debts. The public debt holders might consider that these bonds were no longer worthy to be held to maturity while the credit risk soared. Therefore they sold the bonds in arge quantity under the deteriorated signals in the market. As a result, the bond price plunged. Due to the restructuring plan, t he prices of Marvel’s shares and bonds dropped 41% and 50% respectively. On Nov 8, 1996, Howard Gittis, vice chairman of Andrews Group, called Fidelity Investments and Putnam Investments, two of the largest institutional holders of Marvel’s public debt, and asked them what they would like to see in are structuring plan. Portfolio managers at Fidelity and Putnam decided to sell more that $70 million of Marvel bonds at a price of $0. 37 per dollar of face value on the next day.Perhaps, during this conversation, they got some detail information of the plan which proved the present value of Marvel’s bonds was overvalued. It gave the chance for them to avoid tens huge losses in diminished value that would have followed and suffer the time they continued to hold the bonds already existing facts were revealed. To explain the portfolio managers at Fidelity and Putnam sell their bonds on Friday, November 8, 1996, we can compare the value of the bond value at the market a nd the expected equity value belong to the public holders after restructuring, Bond value on November 8, 1996, Face value of $894mn X 0. 37per dollar of face value = $ 330mn Equity value belong to the public holders after restructuring, $ 77mn shares X $0. 49 (our projected equity worth per share) = $ 38mn We found that the market value of the Marvel bond is far higher than the value of the future equity worth belongs to the bondholders. So, the bond selling price of Fidelity and Putnam is relatively much attractive rather than the converted equity value after the restructuring plan. ConclusionIn the above analysis, we reached at the conclusion that Marvel’s bankruptcy mainly resulted from its bad strategy and management problems. First, it chose to expand in a wrong time and to a wrong direction. Second, its restructuring decision can only solve its liquidity problem temporarily, and Carl Icahn should veto the restructuring plan. Third, Marvel Entertainment Group in this cas e will have bad influence on other companies and make it hard for them to issue new debt in the future. We also use the capital cash flow method to calculate the equity worth under the restructuring plan.Generally speaking, it does sound that attractive and only resulted in investors’ chagrin. Table 3. 1 (millions) Net (loss) income + depreciation or amortization – change in working capital – capital expenditure + amortization of goodwill – equity in net (loss) income in unconsolidated subsidiaries + minority interest in Toy Biz + provision for deferred taxes +Interest Capital cash flow Growth rate of each year Geometric growth rate Discount rate Present value of CCF Sum of Present value Debt value of Sept. 996 Equity value ? ? ? Terminal cash flow = CCF2001 * (1+g)/(r-g) We use geometric average here because of the rule of thumb: the more volatile the return stream, the more important it uses geometric average Because the market value and book value of d ebt are nearly the same, we directly subtract the debt value from Sum of PV (CCF) to get the final equity value. -7. 12% 11. 235% 248. 21 1412. 99 977. 0 435. 99 192. 3 91. 04 162. 12 118. 67 600. 52 1997 (35. 7) 34. 5 75. 4 83. 0 30. 5 0. 1 3. 0 9. 8 71. 0 271. 6 1998 17. 5 43. 4 11. 5 67. 4 21. 8 0. 2 -8. 3 68. 0 238. 1 (12. 33%) 1999 (12. 1) 44. 1 (44. 3) 47. 4 21. 5 (2. 2) -6. 3 64. 6 125. 3 (47. 38%) 2000 27. 6 44. 8 42. 0 46. 7 21. 2 (3. 2) -8. 1 61. 0 248. 2 98. 08% 2001 33. 6 45. 9 (2. 0) 45. 1 21. 5 (4. 4) -5. 8 56. 6 202. 1 (18. 57%) 1022. 67 Terminal CF 1022. 67 Table 3. Liquidation value Cash Accounts receivable Inventory Deferred income tax Income tax receivable Prepaid expenses and other current assets Current assets PP&E (net) Goodwill and other intangibles (net) Investment in subsidiaries Deferred charges and other assets Total assets Accounts payable Accrued expenses and other current liabilities Short-term borrowings Current portion of long-term debt Current liabil ities Long-term debt Other long-term liabilities Total liabilities Minority interest in Toy Biz Liquidation value Sep-96 35. 9 257. 2 99. 1 32. 5 18. 2 58. 2 501. 1 87. 7 595. 3. 2 72. 7 1260. 4 95. 8 170. 1 28. 7 625. 8 920. 4 0 56. 6 977. 0 102. 9 180. 5 Millions adjustment % 100 85 50 0 100 0 value 35. 9 218. 6 49. 6 0 18. 2 0 322. 3 Note s 1L 2L 3L 4L 50 50 0 0 43. 9 297. 9 0 0 664. 0 5L 6L 7L 7L 90 90 0 0 86. 2 153. 1 0 0 239. 3 8L 8L 9L 9L 0 0 0 0 239. 3 9L 10L 0 0 424. 7 11L 12L Note: all adjustments are based on our group’s estimations, prepared from the 1996 standpoint. ? The second entry accounts receivable is adjusted downward to 85%, based on the â€Å"rule of thumb† of liquidation situations, note (2L), (5L), and (8L) are done likewise.To make it more precise, expert appraisers are needed for specific consultation. ? Notes (3L), (4L), (7L), (9L), (10L) and (11L) identify the items written down to zero if liquidized. ? Note (6L) were written down to 50% bec ause of the perceived value of Marvel’s character portfolio (Spiderman and X-man did enable them steal the thunder), while we still need someone expertise for more accurate estimation. ? Lastly, subtracting liabilities from assets in Table 3. 2 gives us the liquidation valuation of $424. 7 million

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