Forecasting stock market returns is an interesting topic since more and more Swedes enter and invest in this market. Theory implies, however, that such exercises should be impossible. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the possibility to forecast future stock returns by looking at macroeconomic variables? history. The study is limited to the Swedish market as it is based on the OMXS30-index which represents the 30 most exchanged stocks on Stockholms¬börsen, the Swedish stock exchange.

This thesis treats the development of the European Union asylum- and migration politics and the EU member states transfer of authority to the European Union. The main purpose has been to look closer with the use of the application of theory of neofunctionalism and liberal intergovernmentalism on the European Union case. The focus will be to answer the following questions: How has the political development within EU asylum and migration policy developed through the period of The Single European Act to the ratification of the Stockholm program? And how can the chosen theory explain European countries transfer of national decision regarding asylum policy in favor of a supranational European asylum policy? Based on the available material of European Union programs and harmonization measures for this area I have attempted to understand to what extent the European Union?s development in the area of the asylum and migration politics can be explained through the theories of neofunctionalism and liberal intergovernmentalism. The result of my analysis is confirmation of the European Union development of the area of the asylum and migration policy and also a series of explanations according to the theories regarding the member states transfer of authority to the EU.

This study aims to investigate development and reasons behind sustainability reporting in large Swedish companies. By examining 15 companies? environmental and sustainability reports between the years 2000 and 2008, data was collected on matters such as frequency, scope and design. Identified trends were to a large extent in line with previous studies on international development; sustainability reporting is growing in several aspects. The authors have found one major reason for this development to be increasing requirements and expectations from stakeholders and a need for companies to legitimize their actions.

In relation to the development of IT-products it is very important that the software supplier is aware not only of the target group but also the field of application. Usability should characterize the whole IT-design process as, in relation to this context, design includes more than merely those aspects which are visible to and thus can be interpreted by the naked eye. The study examines the specific qualities and properties that substantiate the usability and the demands that a customer rightfully expects from an IT-product. The user and the customer are highlighted in the same context in order to demonstrate that it is through the customer that an IT-product is defined as being useful. Thus, from this perspective, the user and customer can be considered as being the same person.

 AbstractSystem methodology is in the very heart of system development, it is a crucial part of how you define your work, how you choose to approach the actual problem at hand and how to solve it. Researchers in the system development field has shown that not all methods in theory are in compliance with how it is practiced by the companies who use them. In our thesis we have studied a larger international IT- company and one of their local offices in Sweden, who some years back changed their system development method from a more traditional to an agile one. Our aim of this study has been to establish whether both of these methods has differed between theory and in actual use, and if so, why this has occurred and what the underlying rationality might have been to promote this change. Our questions that we sought to answer were; 1.

Asset management in insurance companies differs from conventional asset management to the extent that respect has to be taken to both assets and the commitments the insurance company has towards its customers. A model that has proven to fit well regarding the matching of assets and liabilities is the Asset Liability Management Model (ALM model). In addition to the matching in the balance sheet, the ALM model can be used in a company's work with strategic portfolio allocation by applying it as a basis for analyzing investment strategies with expected risk and return. From this, the ALM model also becomes relevant for calculating key figures according to the legal framework Solvens II which includes laws and regulations regarding the demands on economical strength (solvens) of insurance companies.Hence, the goal of this masters thesis has been to, on behalf of Bliwa Livförsäkring, create an ALM model to support the asset management department of Bliwa in their work with defining a credible way of analyzing the future risk and return of Bliwa's asset portfolio and insurance undertakings.The ALM model generally consist of four submodels, the scenario model, the liability model, the asset model and the company model, where the scenario model often is named as the core of the ALM model. The course of action has been to develop these submodels individually, with focus on the scenario model.

I am in this essay to find out how to successfully combine new development with preservation of natural values, mainly large scale vegetation and ground formations.This is done by studies of three developments. The first development, Engeltofta backe, lies 7 km northeast of Gävle. The expectations of natural preservation were not fullfilled when this area, after the explotation, did not have any vegetation of value left. The second example, Östra Kvarnskogen in the community of Sollentuna, shows, as far as one can tell at the moment, a sucsessful combination of new development and preserved nature. The third example is a development in the community of Kullön. In this area the ambition of combining preservation and development was fullfilled. After studying vital documentation in each planning process, I made interviews with different actors in each of the three processes. I thereafter compared the different documents and answers from the interviewed persons to find out if there were any significant similarities or differences which could be of importence when natural values is to be preserved in new developments. My conclusion of this study is that it is of great importence to define key expressions often used in the process, such as natural values and preservation.

The study sheds light on pupils individual plans of development and portfolios from the perspective of children. It has an ethnographic standpoint. It was carried out on children and pupils in pre-school, pre-school class and third grade. By further investigating how children and pupils use their individual development plans and portfolios, in which settings and to whom they communicate them, this study is able to grasp the discourse that is created around the instrument itself. This study is also interested in and aims to find the theoretical frame, in essence, which envelops both the construction of childhood and children?s own activities within the limitations and opportunities that this structure offers.

Our modern society is in many ways built with and dependent on fossil fuels, which are used for energy production as well as for transporting humans and goods. Without the oil, many of the things we take for granted would not be possible. During the last century, the use of oil has increased steadily and will probably keep increasing as the world population and the economic well-being for many people increase. Since the oil is a finite resource, we will have to find other fuels that can replace it if we want to keep the same rate of development in the future as the availability of petrol fuels will decrease with rising prices as a result. Furthermore, fossil fuels have the disadvantage that they produce harmful emissions when combusted and thus affect the climate and air quality locally and globally.

Transcending sound design is possible. There are unseen possibilities and a great potential for improvement and development in sound and music design ? but there is a great difficulty penetrating the obstacles that lies in the way for such development to take place and to exist. The difficulties in being negotiable and productive lies more within the limits of the audience it has to gain, than in itself. It is as though music and sound design has to evolve very slowly, in an almost evolutionary style; one step at a time, to be accepted.

This master thesis, which has been carried out in collaboration with Fairtrade,investigates how sustainable development can be integrated in the mathematicaldiscipline in the Swedish upper secondary school. The study includedfindings on design and disposition, with sustainability themes relatedto Fairtrade. This since Fairtrade is going to use the study as a basis forthe development of an educational material. The results of the study areof interest to teachers and organizations that want to develop educationalmaterial that integrate sustainable development in mathematics education.The main focus of the study has been the teachers? preferences on dispositionand design.Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven mathematics teachersin the Stockholm area.

All inclusive travel has become a popular way to travel abroad. When tourists pay for everything in advance their need for contact with the local people will be reduced. The consequences of this can be dissatisfaction from the local people as they are left out and do not share the financial benefits created by tourism. During the purchasing cycle of an all inclusive travel, it is possible that the tour operator can influence a sustainable development.The aim of this paper is to compare how a large and a small tour operator in their purchase of all inclusive holidays interacts with local players to create sustainable development, thereby creating a surplus value to the customer. The hypothesis is that the amount of knowledge and application of this knowledge regarding sustainable development differs in the purchase process between large and small tour operators.This paper was carried out as a case study.

To be able to read and write is necessary to manage well in life. It is important to get a good start in one´s reading and writing development. My purpose in this study was to find out how to teach children to read and write. Obtain knowledge about how to best help children during the early years of reading and writing development, and what is required to teach good reading and writing skills.I wanted to find out how the pedagogues work in the schools, and if they use ant special methods in their teaching. This is something that I, as a future pedagogue didn´t have much knowledge about, which is very important for my future pupils.My research method was qualitative where I interviewed three pedagogues who work whit teaching reading and writing in the early years.

This report describes a master thesis performed at SICS (Swedish Institute of Computer Science) and KTH (The Royal Institute of Technology) in Stockholm.Ajax stands for "Asynchronous JavaScript and XML" and it's not a programming language, but a suite of technologies used to develop web applications with more interactivity than the traditional web pages.Ajax applications can be adapted for mobile and constrained devices. This has been called Mobile Ajax. While the technique is the same, Mobile Ajax generally is considered to be a special case of Ajax, because it deals with problems specific to the mobile market.The purpose of this thesis has been to examine which possibilities and disadvantages has the Mobile Ajax from developers and users perspective. In addition we compare Mobile Ajax with Java Micro Edition (Java ME) and Flash Lite.This has been done through literature studies and development of a databased chat client (MAIM -Mobile Ajax Instant Messenger). The application sends and receives direct messages in real time between differently mobile devices.

A large proportion of the energy consumption is in the building industry and a large part goes to heating our homes and premises. In the developing countries' development now threatens the large consumption of energy in our earth's climate. It is in the West world that we must be good role models in terms of energy efficiency. One solution to reduce energy consumption for heating of buildings may be to continue to build low energy houses and passive houses, but it is also about rebuilding the buildings that currently have high energy consumption such as the old Million program Houses. These buildings will be standing many years and their energy consumption will not diminish over time by itself and energy prices will certainly not diminish in the future.