In Lake Vänern, Sweden, there is an endemic population of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) that lives its entire life in fresh water. The salmon is hindered from migrating to its natural spawning sites in the northern part of the River Klarälven by nine hydro-electric power plants. None of the hydro-electric power plants have fishways so that salmon migrating upstream or downstream may pass. In the current situation, the upward migrating salmon are caught in a fish trap at the most downstream located power plant in Forshaga. From there, the salmon are driven in a truck, past eight power plants and released a few kilometers upstream of the eighth power plant at Edsforsen.

This paper investigates whether the traditional accrual based trading strategy first documented by Sloan (1996) can be refined using fundamental analysis. Specifically, this is done by implementing the composite signal F_SCORE introduced by Piotroski (2000) to identify financially strong or weak firms. We find that by applying both investment models simultaneously, in a model we call P_KOMB, the mean market-adjusted return earned by an investor exploiting the accrual anomaly can be increased by 14.8% annually. This is achieved by taking a long position in strong firms (as defined by the composite signal) in the lowest accrual portfolio, while an offsetting short position is taken in weak firms in the highest accrual portfolio, repeated annually between 1997 and 2007. Consistent with prior studies, positive market-adjusted returns can be attained through assessment of accruals as well as key value drivers found in historical financial data.

To invest money in funds is increasing rapidly in popularity and one of the biggest reasons is that banks are offering a greater range of funds. Information about funds is always easy to find and it is easy to invest money in a fund because the bank takes care of all the management of the fund.The essay examines two funds from two different countries with an aim to choose the one with best potential yield. The first fund is entirely invested in North America and the second fund invests in Asia, with most of its possessions in companies from China. Both these funds invest in wellknown companies in respective region. The essay is limited to compare these funds with data from 2005 to 2009.Information was collected from Morningstar and Avanza Bank for the quantitative examination.

This study deals with the technical and economic feasibility of replacing the nuclear power plant reactor Ringhals 3 with a biofuel power plant. A technical investigation has been executed to determine which of the systems and components that could be reused and which ones would need to be replaced. The investment costs of the reconstruction have also been estimated. The cost of the electricity production has been calculated as well as the emissions of the new biofuel power plant. Based on the established rate of return, the lowest average spot price of electricity that makes the investment profitable has been calculated.

We acknowledge the lack of empirical studies of the performance of analyst target prices in the Swedish stock market by examining the profitability of target prices for stocks publicly traded on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. We use consensus target prices issued between 2006-2010 and create two different strategies to observe the abnormal returns generated during this period. Going long in the top decile stocks with the best target prices and going short in the bottom decile stocks with the worst target prices generates a statistically significant abnormal buy-and-hold return of 8.9%. An active strategy with daily portfolio rebalancing and a timely response to target price changes generates a less significant monthly alpha of 1.4% against CAPM. The results show to be robust against the size effect discovered by Fama and French.

Background: Investors have several options to choose from when the goal is to achieve the highest yield at the lowest cost and risk. Stocks are a common investment options, but is also associated with risks. Portfolios are usually constructed with several different assets to reduce the unsystematic risk of investment. Funds are similar to composite stock portfolios, the big difference is that they dealt with in their entirety and investors may not affect the fund's content. The problem remains that whether you choose stocks or mutual funds there is still uncertainty as to how the future will unfold.

It is a common view that companies should focus on building brands to increase profitability and stabilize cash flows. However, building and keeping brands alive is costly. Many firms spend large sums on branding only because they are supposed to, without knowing if they will actually gain from it. Up to date, there is limited convincing evidence that branding actually contributes to shareholder value creation. This thesis aims to investigate the relationship between brand strength and profitability and shareholder value.

Syftet med studien är att öka kunskapen om inomeuropeisk migration till den svenska landsbygden. Fokus ligger på nederländare som under 2000-talet flyttat till Klarälvdalen i Värmland och där driver turistföretag. Mot bakgrund av tidigare huvudsakligen kvantitativa studier är syftet att fördjupa kunskapen om inflyttarnas bakgrund och motiv till migrationen och om hur de använder sig av transnationella nätverk i sitt nuvarande liv. Kvalitativ metod används i form av intervjuer med familjer/turistföretagare. Vidare har webbsidor för sjutton turistföretag som drivs av nederländare i området studerats, kompletterat med några webbsidor och en intervju med turistföretagare från ett annat nordeuropeiskt land.

Isabella Löwengrips karriär tog fart genom att hon 2005 startade en blogg där hon delgav omvärlden delar av sitt liv som tonåring. Hennes blogg växte snabbt till en av Sveriges mest lästa bloggar och hon gjorde sig känd under namnet Blondinbella. Isabellas personliga varumärke har under de senaste sex åren genomgått en ompositionering på marknaden från att ha varit en ytlig skönhetsbloggare till att idag vara en av landets främsta unga entreprenörer. Den här studien avser en fördjupning i ompositioneringsprocessen och en jämförelse av hur Isabella framställde sig själv i sin blogg 2006 respektive 2012. Studien baseras på material från Isabellas blogg och analyseras genom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Analysprocessen sker i två steg, först en beskrivande analys av det manifesta innehållet i materialet och därefter en tolkande analys av det latenta innehållet.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to test for the existence of Capital Structure Arbitrage oppertunities in the equity-credit markets. Methodology: The mispricing of Credit Default Swap contracts are calculated and used as input in an Equity-Credit market trading strategy. The returns are then evaluated with a modified Value-at-Risk simulation. Theoretical perspectives: A Merton-based structural model, CreditGrades, is used for credit pricing and a mispricing-convergence trading-strategy between the credit and equity markets is implemented. Empirical foundation: Daily quotes for the Credit Default Swap spread of 37 European firms were collected for a period of two years, as well as equity-prices for the same period and the previous two years, used for model calibration.

Background: Investors have several options to choose from when the goal is to achieve the highest yield at the lowest cost and risk. Stocks are a common investment options, but is also associated with risks. Portfolios are usually constructed with several different assets to reduce the unsystematic risk of investment. Funds are similar to composite stock portfolios, the big difference is that they dealt with in their entirety and investors may not affect the fund's content. The problem remains that whether you choose stocks or mutual funds there is still uncertainty as to how the future will unfold.

This study examines how and why organizations evaluate training and development within the organizations. The study has a qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews, with office and organization development managers. The purpose of the study is to contribute with knowledge about how three large Swedish organizations evaluates training and development programs for staff members. Another purpose is to describe why the organizations evaluate training and development programs and to research if there is a further need to develop the organization evaluation methods. Therefore the research questions are Why and how do organizations evaluate training programs? What further need is there to develop organizations evaluation methods?The conclusion of this study shows that evaluation of the training and development programs are not a high priority among the selected organizations.

Undersökningen bygger på åtta kvalitativa intervjuer. Respondenterna är komvuxelever med utländsk bakgrund som har kommit till Sverige av olika anledningar. Syftet med intervjuerna har varit att undersöka hur eleverna funderar kring sina framtidsplaner och hur de upplever att befinna sig i två kulturer. Vidare har vi undersökt deras erfarenheter av studie- och yrkesvägledning. Vi har också utgått från teorier om kriser, migration, kultur, identitet och vägledning.

It is estimated that 22 000 contaminated areas exist in Sweden today. In order to classify the risk of contaminant migration from these areas and to prioritize which of these contaminated areas should first be treated, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has designed a method, for the investigation of contaminated areas (MIFO). One of these contaminated areas is the landfill Gräsötippen outside Köping. The landfill has been used by both Yara AB and the Köping municipality between the years 1945 and 1975, and both industrial and household waste have been deposited there. The aim of this report is to survey which contaminants that can be found in the soil and water in the landfill Gräsötippen and to evaluate the migration of these contaminants.

The Catholic Church launched several crusades during the medieval ages in order to regainthe holy lands and spread the word of God. Their main enemy, the Muslims had grownstronger and needed to be suppressed. This common enemy united Europe under the banner ofthe Catholic Church. In order to fund these crusades the church turned to the wealthyEuropean kings and lords and asked for funding. In return the kings received an indulgenceletter, and also greater respect from their subjects because of their new appreciation from thepope.