A Stock Market is a public entity for the trading of a company's shares and derivatives at an agreed price. Many companies allow the public to buy part of its company through selling shares. A share is a piece of paper stating that you own part of a company. The amount you buy is usually an extremely small amount, usually about a thousandths percent of the total company. After saving up money to buy a share you go to a broker and see how much of the company you could buy with however much money you have. Than the broker will tell you how many shares you can buy for "x" amount of money. When a broker buys a stock for you he sends a message to someone who is working down on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange; this person is called the " Floor Broker." A Floor Broker is the actual person who buys the stock for you. Now this person goes to the part of the Stock Exchange that is allotted to this particular stock. Here there are companies that specialize in the particular stock. This means that they will usually, if not always, buy and sell from people at the normal price. The floor broker then buys your shares from one of these people, reports his trade through the hundreds of computers on the floor, then reports to his colleagues back at the brokerage house that he bought the stock. The broker keeps a record that you own that stock, rather than sending you the actual paper stock certificates. If you ever want to sell them, your broker will sell them, deduct his commission, and then give you the money. And that is how a Stock Market works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnJCOof2HJk

Let me tell you an amazing story about my dear friend, Lucia of Syracuse. I remember our time together like it was just yesterday. Lucia and I were born in AD 283 and we grew up together as best friends. We lived together in the town of Syracuse in Sicily. Lucia’s father died when she was just a baby, and was raised by her mother Eutychia, a pious and devoted Christian. Our parents were Christians, even though many people at the time were still pagans, who worshipped other gods. The ruler of the country was also a pagan and made it illegal to be a Christian. However, our parents loved Jesus very much, so they were Christians and taught us about Christ. One day, Lucia shared a beautiful secret with me, but she made me promise not to tell anyone. Lucia said that she loved Jesus so much that she wanted to give her whole life to Him. Out of her love for Christ, she offered her virginity to God and she also made a vow that she would remain unmarried. We kept Lucia’s vow a secret because it would cause her to be in danger since being a Christian was illegal.

One afternoon, Lucia came to my house with tears running down her cheeks; and told me that her mother, not knowing about her vow, promised a rich young man of Syracuse that Lucia would marry him. Lucia tried to persuade her mother that she did not want to marry anyone. She avoided seeing the man as often as she could, but this only made her mother and the young man very angry. Regardless, we still kept her secret and did not tell them of her vow. Lucia prayed, asking God for help, so that she would not have to marry the man.                         

Lucia’s mother became ill and was very weak with a hemorrhage. She reminded her mother about the story in the Gospels of the woman who was cured of a hemorrhage by touching Christ’s cloak. Lucia was very worried about her mother and she suggested that we make a pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint Agatha to pray for her ill mother to be healed. While we were at the tomb, Lucia’s mother, Eutychia, was miraculously healed! The next morning, Lucia came to me and told me something unexplainable! She said, Saint Agatha appeared to her in a dream and told her that she would be martyred for Christ’s sake. Lucia then told her mother of her vow and how she prayed for some way to change her mother’s mind. Grateful for being healed, Eutychia allowed Lucia to follow her vow.

Now that Lucia’s mother agreed she could keep her vow to God and did not have to marry, the rich young man became very angry. He turned over Lucia to the governor of the region as a Christian. When my dear friend, Lucia, was found guilty a judge ordered that she would be sold into slavery. He thought this would make Lucia change her mind about being a Christian. Soldiers came to take her away, but no matter how hard they tried, Lucia stood as if rooted to the ground. The soldiers were scared by this, a small young woman as un-moveable as a mountain! Then the soldiers poured oil on her head and tried to set her on fire. I was terrified and could not bear to watch my dear friend burn. Then I heard a soldier shout out “How was she not harmed?” I looked back at the scene to see Lucia still standing. It was miraculous! Lucia told the soldiers she was not harmed because the power of the Lord protected her. I began to cry with joy when I realized that Lucia really was protected by the Lord.

Despite this miraculous moment, my dear friend, Lucia was dragged away to prison even after surviving the flames of fire. In prison, Lucia plucked out her own eyes to stay chaste to the Lord. This was a great sacrifice to God. She was then beaten, tortured and stabbed in the throat. Lucia died in AD 304 and was received into Heaven. My dear friend died a horrible and painful death, but she will always be remembered for her bravery and dedication to Christ.

I will never forget Lucia. In my eyes, Lucia was truly a saint. She had always helped me when I was scared or afraid. She gave me the courage and bravery to concur the challenges of life. I truly believe she is still with me today, in my heart still helping me through any of life’s problems. I will always admire Lucia’s strength and bravery to overcome any obstacle in order to remain true to her vow. Lucia’s message to me was always to be strong and have courage in the worst of times. My dear friend, Lucia, also told me that if you want something, go for it and never give up because the Lord will always be there to listen to your prayers. Saint Lucia of Syracuse is my hero; she will remain in my heart forever.

The picture at the right in the middle shows a picture of Saint Lucia of Syracuse. She is holding a plate with two eyes on it in this picture because she was known for getting her eyes pierced out, after devoting herself to God, which was against the law at that time.I chose St. Lucia of Syracuse for my confirmation name after learning that she is the patron saint of eye aliments. I discovered the story of St. Lucia shortly after leaving the doctor’s office for an eye infection. Since I was nervous about my eye not healing properly, my mom purchased the St. Lucia pray card for me, so I could pray to her for help. In addition, to asking St. Lucia’s help with my eye infection which did completely heal, Lucia was also the name of my great-great grandmother. Lastly, the feast day for St. Lucia is during the month of December, which is the month I was born and I want to honor her for her bravery forever.

The Millennium Development Goals provide some benchmarks for tackling excessive poverty in many places. They also provide work for the entire international community to work together towards an end to this. If these goals are achieved, world poverty will be reduced, millions of lives will be saved, and more people will have the opportunity to benefit from the economy.

The Eight Millennium Development Goals want to help end extreme poverty and world hunger. They  also want to achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality and empower women. The Millennium Development Goals are as well trying to reduce child mortality. They are trying to improve maternal health and cure diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, etc. It also wants to ensure environmental sustainability. The eighth goal is to develop a Global Partnership for Development.

Progress has been made on the fifth Millennium Development Goal. The goal is to improve maternal health; this has been improved by now increasing care during pregnancy and childbirth. Another progress in this goal is in low and middle income countries, childbirth is now performed by skilled assistants.

To learn more about the fifth Millennium Development Goal go to: http://www.un.org/en/mdg/summit2010/