We investigate if the size of goodwill compared to total assets has any effect on the shareholders return on companies listed on the Swedish Stock market. We put up two different hypotheses with a foundation from previous research and later dismiss one of them. Our evidence does not show any indicators that the size of goodwill have an effect on the shareholders return, which brings us to believe that there, from a share holders point of view, isn?t any need for concern regarding the standards about accounting for goodwill as stated by IFRS. .

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if the stock market reacts differently to accounting information, depending on the stock market climate. The study focuses solely on stocks listed on the OMX Stockholm 30 during each year from 2005 to 2009. By applying the concept of Earnings Response Coefficient we can estimate how the market reacts to accounting information. The dependent variable in the equation is the market reaction on unexpected earnings, in the study described as the abnormal return on stock. For quality purposes we measure this on a ±1,5,10 and 20 days basis.

Title: Have IFRS made the accounting more efficient for investors? ? A study of goodwill-relevance Level: Final assignment for Degree of Master (One Year)Author: Patrik Nygard and Andreas Pettersson       Supervisor: Markku Penttinen            Date: 2010 ? MayAim: The Swedish banks SEB and Swedbank are on the same market but their goodwill is amortized totally differently and its results will be different. We decided to examine the accounts in Sweden and see if they have been more efficient, from a user perspective, after the introduction of IFRS in year 2005Method:  This paper is made from a quantitative and a deductive approach. We have collected data from all companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange between the years 2002-2008 using the computer program Financial Datastream and then made the regression and other analyses and comparisons with the program MinitabResult & Conclusions: We have in this paper demonstrated that how the accounting of goodwill designed is relevant to investors and that this relevance has increased in Sweden after the transition to IFRS. We have also concluded that the goodwill has greater relevance in a rising market than in a downward.Suggestions for future research: In future researches can the aim be to compare other accounting standards changes that occurred in the year 2005 and see if the accounting, from that perspective been more efficient.Contribution of the thesis: We have shown how the account influences investor?s decisions during different accounting systems and in particular how they react on the changed account of goodwill.

The bank market for farmers in Sweden is dominated by Swedbank and Landshypotek. One of the most aggressive challengers is Länsförsäkringar Bank, which in 2009 had seven per cent of the Swedish bank market for farmers, but 57 per cent of all new lending. This paper deals with the problem of new banks to break into the bank market where farmers are slow in terms of change in their attitudes and loyal to their banks. The study has been carried out in cooperation with Länsförsäkringar Gävleborg which is a new actor in the banking market and thus eager to take part in the outcome of the study. This essay thus seeks to examine the attitudes farmers have against bank switching and the factors that influence their choice of bank.

Development and accuracy tests of advanced exchange trading systems require well adjusted tools for testing. Aptness of these tools are probable to have a major impact on identification of bugs and verification of new functionality. Identifying erroneous parts and bottlenecks of the trading system is of outmost importance for the exchange as a whole since stability and correctness are two of the determinant factors its viability is measured by. This paper covers how this test-tool was created and the motivation behind the design choices made. The tool was created with the goal to be broad enough to cover the majority of cases that could arise, fast enough to be able to test the trading systems speed limitations (i.e.

Abstract The internationalisation of a company is enabled by integration of markets. New markets mean new revenues, but also demand capital to finance the expansion. To bring in new capital may offer new possibilities but also higher debt-equity ratios, which affect how external interested parties value the company. This thesis, inspired by previous and mainly US based research, researches the debt-equity ratio of Swedish multinational and domestic companies, sampled from the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The research questions have focused on the impact of certain internationalisation variables on the debt-equity ratio; how does the debt-equity ratio differ between international and domestic companies? Can a difference be explained by the degree of internationalisation? Can a difference be better explained by the presence of international ownership? By measuring the concept internationalisation as both trade and presence, the questions were operationalised into four hypotheses.

This paper treats the question about how the internationally established company, Apple, is affected by intern or extern events when it comes to the trade market. The purpose of the study is to investigate if chosen events create abnormal return on Apples stock market. The chosen research area is Steve Jobs three sick-listings, It-bubble and the purchase of the search engine company Siri. The reason of writing about this is the big interest for the stock market and its function.This study methodological starting position is quantitative done by an event study, with qualitative feature done by an interview with an expertise within this area. When analyzing the empirics, we have used the efficient market theory that says that information should not affect the stock market in the degree that abnormal return creates.

Share repurchases in Sweden has since legalization in 2000 gained momentum. Similar to other corporate events, there are studies that examine whether this affects the share price performance. With studies in the U.S. that measured excess returns of approximately 3,5 percent on the announcement day; Swedish buybacks, holding a tighter regulation is of interest to study. The Stockholm Stock Exchange regulation regarding reporting is also similar to the Stock Exchange in Hong Kong.

The purpose of this thesis is to map out and investigate how the banking sector affects a customer?s willingness to change bank, and what the switching costs are for a customer when making these changes. A case study was performed through qualitative and quantitative questionnaires and interviews. The qualitative part was carried out to create hypotheses. The hypotheses was tested in a quantitative survey to be able to either accepted or rejected these them.

The purpose of our study is to find out if insiders in Sweden generate abnormal earnings through insider trades. We want to pinpoint the cause for abnormal earnings by dividing transactions after company market value, size of the trade and type of insider. A quantitative approach using the market model have been used. We have conducted an event study over two short term event windows. We conclude that insiders in Sweden generate positive abnormal earnings for sales and negative for purchases in our ?long? event window.

The environmental issues have during the last decenniums gained an increased role in both the political arena and in the market economy. The society is therefore more knowledgeable about the environment and our impact on it. Through this enlightened state, stakeholders tend to put pressure on the organizations of today. They, more or less willingly, incorporate this responsibility to be a part of their business. Entrepreneurs in the environmental area have seen this rising market as an opportunity to gain market shares and other positive outcomes.

Purpose: To examine how IR-related press releases affect share price for stock companies, and to explore how said companies practice Investor Relations.Methods: The study was conducted using an event study as well as e-interviews. The event study has a quantitative deductive research approach where the market model is used for calculating the abnormal return based on press releases. The e-interviews have a qualitative research approach and follow a semi structured interview guide. The study includes all listed stock companies within the Swedish construction industry and includes press releases from the last decade.Theory: The study is based on the efficient market hypothesis and its semi strong form, theories within Investor Relations and previous research.Results: The event study shows a significant negative abnormal return during a four day period starting the day after the press release event. The negative abnormal return could derive from investor relations being used by companies as damage control, or that the investors? expectations are too high as a result of IR.

In the last decades the Swedish labor market has been characterized by a stereotype perception on women?s role and position on the market. The perception speaks of the characteristics of female leadership as being less qualified causing the gaps between the two genders to transform into a gender segregated society. The historically slow progress has limited the career opportunities for women to reach top management. However the increasing discussions during the 21st century on how to reduce the gender differences in the labor market has made it more acceptable with women on higher positions.

One could argue that the most discussed topic in finance is whether or not it is possible to ?beat the market?. Even though many people claim to do this, there is little evidence to support the idea that one can consistently beat the market over a long period of time. There are indeed several examples of investors who have managed to outperform the market consistently for a long time, but the efforts of these individuals or institutions could by many be considered to be pure luck.One of the many strategies that have been evaluated by several researchers and is said to generate a risk adjusted return greater than that of the market, is one based on the P/E-effect. This strategy is based on the financial ratio P/E ? price divided by earnings ? and used by constructing portfolios consisting of stocks with low P/E ratios.

Background Apartment ownership is a popular and well established type of housing in many countries, such as Norway, Denmark and UK. During spring 2009 the Swedish Parliament passed a new legislation which made it possible for apartment ownerships also in Sweden. But apartment ownership has had a slow start, which partly can be explained by the recent recession.Purpose & methodThe purpose of this paper is to study the market of apartment ownership in Öckerö, Stockholm and Karlstad. The study is a qualitative examination where relevant companies from the submarkets have been interviewed.ResultThe result of this study shows that the interest for apartment ownership is over all high in all three submarkets. It is yet clear the knowledge about apartment ownership is generally poor among the public, and when the banks still misses proper routines for mortgages, it creates uncertainty, and slows down the market.