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BCFA Mission

We are a student-run organization established to inform

BC students of all of the opportunities available to them

in the financial industries. In an effort to bring the

academic and business worlds closer together, we

organize a number of events and trips throughout the

year. Current financial news, career planning and 

 potential job placement are popular topics at each event.

By encouraging students to take advantage of these

opportunities, our organization serves as a valuable

source of general information, advice and networking.

this issue 

This Week in Markets

Term of the WeekThis Week in Business

What to Watch For 

Contact Us

See our website  for more

information! If you have

any questions,

comments, or concerns, feel free to contact us via

email at 

bc.bcfa@gmail.com , or 

write to us in the

Feedback section of the

website.

 Also, follow us on

Twitter!

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Boston College Finance AcademyWeekly UpdateSeptember 13-24, 2010

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This Week in BusinessWeb Start-Up Values Soar 

Despite the Nasdaq Composite Index being

relatively flat for the year, the valuations for 

closely held web firms are rapidly rising, as

venture capitalists have been competing with

each other to invest in web start-ups, and 

therefore bidding up their valuations to levelsreminiscent of the 1990s dot-com boom. Many 

of the companies they are targeting have no

revenue and are in the early stage of product 

development. Consequently, the valuations for 

these companies are often abstract. For 

example, the mobile technology company 

Foursquare has had its valuation increased from

$6mm last year to $95mm recently, as it 

completed a $20mm round of financing. Upstart 

web companies are not new, but the speed at 

which they are reaching the market is rapidly 

increasing, as many companies are quickly able

to attract consumers.

However, this type of guesswork valuation is

dangerous, and these lofty numbers can

 possibly create false hope for positive company 

 performance, which can put an undue burden

on the web start-ups to live up to their high

expectations. Moreover, the threat of 

another dot-com bubble also looms large,

which can potentially have a significant 

impact on the economy.

-Parin Shah

Read This Article 

Gold Settles at Record High 

 Amid a weakening dollar, gold futures posted 

record highs on the New York Mercantile

Exchange. Gold is often purchased as a "safe

asset" or hedge against economic uncertainty 

and volatile markets.

Read This Article 

Southwest Airlines to

Acquire AirTran 

Southwest Airlines, the largest U.S. carrier 

of domestic passengers, announced 

Monday that it plans to buy rival discount 

 Airline AirTran Holdings for $1.4 billion.

This deal is the first between major U.S.

low-cost carriers. As of the announcement 

on Monday, AirTran shares were up 60% at 

$7.28, Southwest was up 9.5% at $13.44

and rival discount carrier delta was down

2.5% at $11.41. Southwest claims the

merger will allow it to expand to new 

areas around the country, such as Atlanta,

where AirTran currently competes with

Delta Airlines. The integration is expected 

to take two years, in order to gain

shareholder and regulatory approval, as

well as work out issues such as union

contracts.

- Charlie Witmer 

Read This Article 

Terms of the Week

THIS WEEK IN MARKETS

Crude Oil Futures Increase

The price of crude oil futures increased 

to its highest level in two weeks due to

the drop of the dollar against the

Euro. German business confidence

reached a three year high recently as

the dollar has reached $1.3485 per 

year, the lowest value since April. Com-

modities rallied as the dollar 

dropped. Gold reached a record high

and silver a 30 year high.

-Andrew Steichen

Read This Article 

THIS WEEK IN MARKETS

US Stocks Rally

With todays success in the Dow Jones

and Nasdaq, its a great sign to see the

U.S. stocks reach the fourth consecutive

week in the green. Its also good to see

that the Dow is up by 8.9% this month,

making it contend for the best earnings

 for a month since September 1939. This

article talks about some contributing

 factors for the recent gains, such as

Germany's IFO index increasing and 

sending positive signs for the recovery 

of the EU, along with the rise of the

value of the dollar.

-Riley Wilson

Read This Article 

Investment Bank 

A financial institution that deals chiefly with the underwrit-ing of new securities.

Underwriting

The process by which investment banks raise capital for cor-

porations, such as in a company’s Initial Public Offering. The

underwriter generally assumes a portion of the risk involved

in marketing the securities.

-Patrick Ryan

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This Week in Markets

September 13-17; September 20-24

Over the 2 week trading period starting Sep-

tember 13th and ending September 24th, both

the DOW Industrial Average and NASDAQComposite indices posted modest gains. Prom-

ising tech earnings helped offset investor wari-

ness amid news of the Federal Reserve belief 

that inflation is too low. Gold soared as the

U.S. dollar weakened against its rivals.

Indian Firms Scramble for IPO’s

Ahead of Jumbo Offers

 A significant number of Indian companies are

looking to pull the trigger on backlogged IPOs.

In addition to markets trading at 32-month

highs, jumbo state-run IPOs, which are ex-

 pected to price in the next few months, areworking as a catalyst to pressure smaller com-

 panies to issue shares now. If markets remain

strong, it is predicted that another 20 -25 In-

dian IPOs valued near $15b could hit the mar-

kets by year end.

Read this Article 

DOW Gains 328.92 (3.1%) 

NASDAQ Gains 112.99 (4.9%) 

»Weekly Gain: [10,531.38 to 10,860.26]

»Weekly Gain: [2,268.23 to 2,381.22]

Ryan Crowe

-Steven Schmitt

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Summer Newsletter

Available Online

Please see bc.edu/bcfa 

 for new updates and ad-

ditional resources added 

weekly.

Freshman Board 

Positions— Apply 

Online , Due Friday, Oct 1

Weekly Newsletter

September 2010

On Monday, October 4th from 7:00-8:30 in McGuinn 121, Professor Barry will be discussing a number of topics of interest to

those pursuing finance—from career opportunities to academic preparation. This is the first of the BCFA faculty speaker series.

Intro to Finance Night with Professor Barry

Upcoming Information Sessions 

SNS Financial Group SNS Financial Group LLC will be holding an investment strategies work-

shop in Merkert 130 on October 12 at 7:30pm. The event will give students an overview of 

modern portfolio theory, market timing strategies, average returns vs. geometric returns,

and an explanation of how options can be used to hedge

risk. This is a great way to brush up before full-time and

summer internship interviews.

Investment Strategies Workshop — Tuesday, October 12

Upcoming Events

Boston College Finance Academy

Linda Vital

Secretar

www.bc.edu/bcf

More This Week—Credit Unions Bailed Out Two years after the peak of the financial crisis, regulators have announced a rescue of the nation's

wholesale credit unions. This includes seizing Three unions. Officials say it won't cost taxpayers any 

money. The government plans to reign in risk taking at America's wholesale credit unions as Five of 

twenty-seven have had to close their doors since March of 2009. Debbie Matz, chairman of the

National Credit Union Administration went as far as to call the move, "resolving the problem".

Read This Article 

Wall Street Trek Sign-Ups Available Now

The Graduate Finance Academy of Boston College is leading a trip to Wall Street on Friday, October 29th, during which they’ll  

be visiting with Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. Sign-ups are available through the BCFA website and are due on Sunday, Octo-

ber 3rd. Juniors and seniors especially are encouraged to attend.