Stocks ka "FUTURE" ???

Hi pals.After a lot of research into this topic,I am now qualified to poke my nose into this complex topic.Before discussing about futures,I would like to write a little about derivatives.According to Mr Warren Buffet derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction.I will give you a slightly more positive version of derivatives.
Futures come under the category of derivatives.Derivatives are financial instruments which are basically ummmm a contract. Let me give you an example.
Let us take the example of Sanju Johnny and Jissy Sanny(Both are good friends of mine and are stock market fanatics).Sanju is a cock seller(Male counterpart of Hens.Just in case some pervert guys are reading the article).Jissy wanted to buy 150 cocks from Sanju an year later.He entered into a contract with Sanju and both of them made an agreement of Rs 100 per cock.
Now let us contemplate on the circumstances an year later.Suppose the market price of a single cock soars to Rs 120.Sanju will have to give away each cock at Rs 100 to Jissy.In this way Sanju makes a loss of Rs 20 per cock.
Similarly if the rate plunges to Rs 80 per piece,Jissy will have to purchase each cock from Sanju at Rs 100 and will thereby incur a loss of Rs 20 per cock.So basically derivatives are a contract similar to those in the given example.
Now let us come to Futures.I will give you another example now.
In the case of general stocks you purchase any number of stocks and have the right to sell it whenever you wish.You don't have any obligation in this case.
As soon as you purchase futures,every hair on your body is succumbed to obligation.Mr Alu(Alabhya) another of my friend did not know a s**t about stock markets.He out of premonition made a debut by trading in futures.He liked a company ABC whose each share was priced at Rs 1000.Alu purchased a future contract of 100 shares.Futures always come in sets.For example one set can comprise of 100 shares.You can purchase any number of sets.Coming back to Alu he got one set of ABC company .His set costed Rs 1 lac(1000*100).But in a future contract you have to pay only 15-20% of the total cost.You can also exit the contract before the deadline .On the first day,the share price rose by Re 1.Alu makes a profit of Rs 100(100 shares*Re1).Next day the share plunged by Rs 20.Rs 2000 get deducted from Alu's account(Rs 20*100 shares).Alu gets a thrashing from his wife and is forced to quit the risky venture.
What we saw from the above story is that you should never tamper with futures unless you have experience in the market otherwise they will ruin your future(pun intended).Futures can prove to be very profitable if you trade smartly.


Moral:Warren Buffet is always right.

S^ocks and Politics

After the big rally on Monday,we saw a lot of volatility in the Indian markets on tuesday.Basically on Monday the markets were driven by large caps.Mid caps and Small caps still had a long way to go.Analysts expected a lot from stocks like GMR as the market was driven more by sentiment than by reform.
On Wednesday we saw a surge in Mid cap stock prices as they were unwilling to stay behind in the big rally.Stocks in the infrastructure sector shot up the most.Cement was one sector which had a "gala" time.Tata Motors was one stock which became dearer by about 10%.But on the other hand stocks like RIL and Bharti were quite disappointing.The trend was due to the already high prices of the large cap stocks due to the rally on Monday.
Stocks like GMR jumped higher and higher and are on the same track today.Right now the stock is trading at about 170 odd levels which is more than three times it's price two months back when the bears had ruined the market.Suzlon Energy ,though a large cap is still looking bullish and is trading at about Rs 95.The same stock was trading at Rs 35 a couple of months ago.
Though Satyam was stubborn like a bull(see the irony) on Monday and did not participate in the rally with it's other pals,today it is soaring and is trading almost at about 49 odd levels.
The banking sector has also done quite well in the past couple of days.One of my favorites is Bank Of Maharashtra which was trading at about 33 odd levels yesterday.This stock had announced real high dividend yields of 15%.On Friday,three days before the "MAGICAL Monday" the same stock was trading at 25 odd levels.
I am expecting a lot from Realty sector as I think the worst is over for it.Though Unitech seemed bullish yesterday,its counterpart DLF was down almost 10%.Unitech after it's Gurgaon Hotel sale seems more and more bullish.
Due to the volatility factor high ,retail investors are quite apprehensive about the course which will be taken by the market. .Though the analysts have predicted SENSEX to oscillate between 12000-16000 in the days to come,people are still refraining from entering the markets out of shear trepidation.I myself ,feel that at some point of time my favorite stocks can also see unexpected correction in their prices.What the retail investor must look out for is a stock which he/she can shell out money and is definitely going to yield good results in a few months time.I do not suggest buying much of those stocks which are already overvalued though they might look very promising.
Ispat industries was another of my favorites which still has scope for improvement.
Coming to currencies,the Rupee is getting stronger(dollar weaker of course) which might prove disappointing for the textile industries as most of their income comes from exports.With the crude price also soaring I feel that the world markets may sooner or a bit later come out of the dark tunnel.NYMEX crude price is about 62$ per barrel.
Inflation is at .61%,lower than last week's .7%.Food prices are still high and a lot is expected from UPA government to counter them.As I have started the topic let me tell you that Mr Pranab Mukherjee is a definite choice for Finance Minister after the party did not approve Mr Montek Singh Ahluwallia for the post as we require a hardcore politician more than a technocrat.P Chidambaram will stick to his Home Minister's "kursi".Kapil Sibbal is likely to get promoted to External Affairs Ministry.This time there is not much hope for allies for the simple reason that the Congress government did not require them much.Jai Ram Ramesh and A.K Antony will continue to hold their ministries of Power and Defence respectively.Let us see what reforms our new government introduces after finally getting rid of the Left's support.

MAGICAL MONDAY MORNING!!!

I had never waited for Monday as eagerly as I waited for this Monday,18 May 09. Usually i hate Mondays as they come too quickly after Fridays. But being a Stock market enthusiast I was so desperate for the clock to strike 9.55 A.M because I was expecting that moment to culminate into something spectacular and which would be regarded as historic.

The Indian Stock markets lost no time in hitting the first circuit(10%) and in few seconds the Second Circuit(15%). As a result the trading had to be halted for 2 hrs as per the stipulations of market regulator SEBI. But were these two hours enough to cool the bulls??? It proved terribly less. When the trading resumed at 11.55 A.M in a few minutes the markets hit the 3 Circuit and hence trading was halted for the whole day. I can't find enough words to describe this meteoric rise which took the markets to levels which were considered distant a few months ago. The SENSEX had breached 14000 mark and NIFTY FIFTY 4000 mark.At the close of the market hours SENSEX was up by 2110 points and NIFTY was up by 651 points.

One of the main reasons for such a rise was Short Covering as those who had bet against Congress were found Naked when the Anti Incumbency tide went away and had to scout for Cover. Indeces were high on wafer thin volumes because of huge demand at higher prices. As usual stocks like Reliance Group stocks,DLF,HDFC,ICICI,SBI,INFY,SUZLON,UNITECH,BHEL,L&T were the frontrunners among large Caps which sent the Indices roaring. Among Midcaps stock like GMR,PRAJ,Tier 2 Banking Stocks led the rally. It seemed that the traders were not getting enough of these stocks. BEARS WERE MAULED RUTHLESSLY by BULLS this time. Who could have imagined that at the time when Sentiments are not that high, an event like General Elections would take markets to such soaring highs.

All this was the aftermath of comprehensive victory of Congress in the General Elections in which it performed beyond wildest of expectations.Congress did exceptionally well in states of UP,West Bengal, Kerala and AP as a result of which now it finds itself in a very comfortable position. All those 2 sided allies are now wooing Congress so that they can get chunk of power at the center like SP,RJD etc. But the biggest reason which made the markets defy Gravity was the way in which LEFT FRONT was crushed. W.B and Kerala which were considered to be Strongholds of Left were taken by Trinamool and Congress respectively. Corporates and Market Analysts feel that with LEFT no longer in equation it would provide Congress much needed room to push for Reforms in Insurance sector, Disinvestment and also look beyond COMMON MINIMUM PROGRAM.

The main responsibility for congress would be reduce the Fiscal Deficit as any further deficit could lead to a ratings downgrade which would make raising DEBT from Global Banks very difficult. Secondly it should keep in mind that it is the COMMON MAN which has voted it again in power and even though LEFT is not there it should make COMMON MAN an inevitable part of its agenda where ever possible.

Congress ki JEET,BJP ki Defeat,Left....NO NEED.

The verdict is finally out....It promised to be a humdinger of a contest but in the end turned out to be a tame encounter. Congress gave its best since days since 1991, BJP delivered what it did in 1991.But it was LEFT which touched nadir.

Congress cut into Left's share in West Bengal( through Trinamool) and in Bengal which were considered to be the bastions of Communists. Then it also cut BSP and SP's share in UP where it decided to go Solo and delivered beyond even the most optimistic expectations. It only suffered in Bihar but it was due to some really good work by Nitish kumar. Some populist measures in TN led to DMK winning majority of seats despite the Anti Incumbent atmosphere prevalent there( distribution of TV sets, kg rice for Re 1).

Another remarkable fact was the trends which emerged. It clearly shows that the PRO Rural, farmer centric policies of Congress did bear some fruit and LEFT was punished for being too much pushy and still being in old times. Nuclear deal would have hurt them severely. BJP suffered due to its policies and lack and absence of young leaders and its precisely where congress scored by devolution of some responsibilities to leaders like Rahul Gandhi, milind deora, Scindia .BJP also suffered on behalf of Varun Gandhi and due to Jinnah debacle....Surprisingly Varun emerged victorious from his constituency.Rahul Gandhi won by more than 3,00,000 votes.

A low point in these elections was the Turnout percentage...Inspite of never before publicity, campaigns the percentage of people who voted was below expectation. The heartening fact was the indian electorate used a good measure of prudence in casting vote.

Dr. Manmohan Singh is all set to come to power again and it will be only since Nehru himself. But these elections surely brought out the politician in him if see some of comments which he made at opposition which is quite unlike his usual self. This time without left it would be good chance for him and Congress to carry out PRO industry policies.

But congress should be careful and wise enough not to ignore the COMMON MAN since it was the LEFT which used to discipline the congress every now and then. After all it is the COMMON MAN which has brought the congress back to power.
The verdict should receive a good response from the markets when they open on MONDAY considering that markets always desire stability of govt and with LEFT probably out of equation Congress will have more LEGROOM to carry out certain unfinished agendas.

EU Slaps INTEL with more than a Billion Dollar Fine..

After Microsoft it is now turn of INTEL to be sued by EU court of Competence for unlawfully hindering the growth of competition for Chips in which INTEL is the dominant market leader but is facing competition from AMD in some markets....The fine was slapped citing the reasons that INTEL was giving discounts to the PC makers who were using the INTEL chips which included companies like HP, Dell etc....This was done to keep companies like AMD at bay......It was also found that Intel had bribed a retailer for keeping only INTEL chips available......AMD chairman welcomed the move by saying that it would open the market by imposing lawful restrictions on companies which try to go beyond the law to gain market share........

I am sure that AMD would have surely thrown up a big party after this news.........

Some News for Unitech Shareholders.

During the past few days we can see that the market is doing quite well.Realty sector has been one big contributor to it.Ramesh Chandra led Unitech is on cloud nine now as it has sold about 800 flats in the last one month in Gurgaon.Unitech has actually started a project in Chennai where the cost per square foot will be very reasonable.In this way it's volumes will surge up like anything.The Real estate firm had a debt of about Rs 10000 crore from banks .Now it has started clearing it's debt rather quickly.Post QIP(Quallified Institutional Placement)it's debt has reduced to about Rs 8000 crore and in very little time it will be only Rs 5000 crore.Unitech has sold one of it's hotels in Gurgaon and the sale of the other will be finalised soon.It has about 200 acre of land for schools which will be sold in about 2.5 to 3 years time.It's flats in Gurgaon which were earlier sold at about Rs 4500 per sq ft are now being sold at Rs 3000 per sq ft.Seeing this many buyers had rushed to buy the flats resulting in the sale of 800 flats last month.The Chairman of Unitech has finally agreed that it's share was over valued in the good old days of the market.Unitech which is now trading at about 50 odd levels is expected to surge according to analysts.
I feel that more shares of Unitech should be purchased as the Realty sector or to be precise Unitech has seen the worst and is now on the road to recovery.This stock will yield excellent returns after a few years,when the market will come back on track.Unitech's cheapest flat in Gurgaon which costed about Rs 7000000 previously will cost only about Rs 25-30 lacs.So,if you have a bit of cash to spare you can invest in the flats!

Elections and the Market

As you all know that the results of the general elections are going to be out soon,you might be wondering its impact on the stock market.Many analysts have been contemplating on the pros and cons of different parties winning the elections and forming a government.Now you can see that the two major parties-UPA(United progressive Alliance) and NDA(National Democratic Alliance) have started hunting for allies and have forgotten their old foes.Looking at the current scenario,even a chameleon will start feeling insecure(yaar isme bhi insaan aage nikal gaye,humse bhi tez rang badalte hain!!!).The Congress is trying to get hold of Samajwadi Party(just a few days back it had made derogatory remarks about Amar Singh).BJP will surely get support from Shiv Sena and is trying to woo Jailalitha.One thing is clear that no single party will get a clear majority and the two big parties(BJP and Congress)will have to take support from regional parties.Another thing is that no third front or fourth front will come to power.So in a way the markets are spared from what could be a "bear" hug.
Now looking at all the permutations and combinations,the following can be concluded.
If Congress comes to power-
1.The market will see about a 10% rise if it joins hands with 3-4 parties.
2.The market will see a downfall for some time if it joins hands with 8-10 parties.
If the BJP comes to power-
1.The market will be flat for some time as it will take some time for the new government to become active.

The thing which is for us to see is the fate of the market if UPA joins hands with CPM.Please give your views on this article.
"JAI HIND"

An article on scents.

Hmmmmmmm......that's what we all do when we take in the aroma of our famous "eau de toillete"(perfume).All though the money we have to shell out for our marquee brand of our perfume atleast makes it worth for.Today I am going to discuss a few qualities of perfumes and as well as my favorite brand.The earliest perfumes were made by treating rose petals with different oils and were then applied on the entire body.This gave a pleasing aroma to the people back in the day.Soon people started using this funda with their goods as well.
If you ask me,my favorite brand of perfume is the "Curve" brand.Its aroma is like utopia!There are many varieties of this one in different price ranges.This was one perfume which I used very judiciously as it is very costly.Dolce & Gabbana Pour Homm>e

THE FALL OF CHRYSLER,an icon of US Automobile Industry.

The word Chrysler once regarded as a symbol of American Manufacturing prowess, now is name of a BANKRUPT company. Chrysler was founded in 1925 By Walter Chrysler and its journey encompassed Astronomical highs and shameful lows.Not Surprisingly, Chrysler has found itself on verge of Bankruptcy few times ago also.Some of its iconic Brands included DODGE,JEEP,Chrysler,DODGE TRUCK.3 years after its foundation THE CHRYSLER BUILDING(New York) was built which for a brief history of time was tallest building in world. At one time Chrysler along with FORD and GM commanded roughly 75% of US market share for precisely that reason the term BIG THREE OF DETROIT was coined in an editorial.The company's closest encounter with Bankruptcy was in 1980's. The company was then turned around by iconic Chief LEE IACOCA who was later regarded as one of the most Talismanic CEO's along with Jack Welch of GE. Cracks started emerging in 2000's and then it was acquired by DAIMLER AG of Germany. Then in 2007 following poor performance it was sold off to CEREBREUS PE fund for around 7 Billion US Dollars ( Daimler booked LOSS on this deal). Cerebreus acquired 80% stake.
Surviving on Life Support of US govt since past few months finally filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy ( the only plausible option it had) few days ago. The best assets of Chrysler LLC(20%) would now be transferred to an entity which would be headed by FIAT Spa of Italy. Chrysler had to go for Bankruptcy option as talk of Restructuring Debts with bondholders could not go through as they felt that bankrupt Chrysler would provide better chance of Recovery of funds. There were about 45 large secured Lenders to Chrysler which posted 8 Billion US Dollar loss in 2008. Chrysler was not able to do the merger without going for Bankruptcy due to opposition of some of its influential Secured lenders. The merger now would create SIXTH largest car maker of world. The new entity( headed by FIAT,Canadian Govt, US Treasury,Employee association) would bid for Chrysler's assets and liabilities.This new company can hike the stake in Chrysler to 35% after fulfilling some preconditions.

Following this Chrysler would be able to get much needed 4.5 Billion US Dollars. Chrysler earlier also got 4 billion USD along with GM which has received 13 Billion USD till now. But prior to this Chrysler would have to complete Asset Sale to Fiat in 60 days and must win Approval of Auction Rules and any competing bids should be made by 20 May.

This will make way for further support by Canadian Govt. and total funding would touch around 8 Billion US Dollars and Chrysler will not only survive but also thrive after Bankruptcy provided it should clear all the hurdles and time Frames.
This would be Fifth Largest Bankruptcy in history of America according to BloomsBerg.

What remains to be seen is fate of GM. Will it also go to grounds?? Seeing the fate of Chrysler YES is the most probable possibility...free search engine submissiongoogleb45516a28d6817ba.html

Some financial fundas

P/E ratio-The Price to Earnings ratio of a company is an important parameter which can determine the future price of a stock and it must be studied very carefully before any stock purchase.It can be calculated by dividing the current stock price of the company by the earnings per share over the last four quarters.Basically it shows the number of dollars an investor is ready to pay per dollar of earning of the company.For example if the P/E of a company is 25,that means an investor is ready to pay 25$ for 1$ earnings of the company.A high P/E ratio indicates that the company is earning at a high rate.But for Indian companies a P/E above 12 can be dangerous.

Price to book ratio-This can be calculated as the price of a stock
in the market divided by the deserved price.It shows whether a stock is underrated or overrated .If the ratio is less than 1,it indicates that the stock is undervalued .Such stocks seem attractive as their value is expected to increase.But a lower value of the ratio also indicates that the company is not fundamentally sound.There should be a thorough study of this factor before any investment..

Today's Poll

Why do I use black color for my blog?

Many might have a doubt about the weird background color of our blog.Today I decided to clear all doubts and will also be presenting a good fact.A totally white web-site or blog takes about 74W to display and a totally black one takes only about 58W.In this way we can save a lot of energy .Today the world is threatened by global warming,so we must all try and save energy in any way we can.Though otherwise I am very reader friendly,any requests regarding a change of background color will be politely ignored(very frank and sentimental).Moreover I also request the readers to use the energy saving version of google for all their searches.The energy saving version is called"Blackle".This would save a lot of energy as well as dollars.I don't feel that I have the authority to advice my other blogger friends to change the background on their blogs,though if anyone does it,I will consider it an achievement for myself.This step taken by us can be a very good example of sustainable development.Thank you for your attention and cooperation.

Monday Magic

As I picked up my copy of Economic times on Monday morning and saw the predicted levels of Indian benchmark equity indices in investor guide,I assumed it would be a mixed kind of week in which the tussle between bulls and bears might get more fierce.Market might run out of steam after huge rally on wednesday last week.Then I went through the daily course of life and by the time I was on the breakfast table,it was 9:55,I switched on the T.V and browsed through various channels and finally settled on NDTV profit.To my surprise,the bulls had mauled the bears on the second consecutive day.Buyers didn't seem to get enough of heavy weights like HDFC,ICICI,TCS,RIL,SAIL and numerous other stocks.But the most remarkable thing was the way bulls were able to hold on to the gains,infact further extend it by the end of the market hours.But I feel that many retail investors like me have missed on buying dirt cheap stocks which could have yielded a fortune in the near future.The Sensex which breached the psychological 12000 mark was 6.51% higher,while Nifty was 180.05 points higher.The stocks rose about 10% today with metals going 8% up with heavy buying in Sterlite,Hindalco and Tata Steel.There was huge buying in Banking and IT sectors also.Let us hope that the Sensex picks up speed in the future so that we can rescue some of our stocks which had badly been beaten by the bears.

Satyam Fraud:"A great piece of art".

According to Mr M.Damodaran,former SEBI(Securities and Exchange Board of India,which is an Indian equivalent of SEC)chief has described the Satyam scam as a great "piece of art".We have to admit that Mr Raju was very adept in cooking up the books and that too for a period of nine long years!Mr Raju had very cleverly sold the stocks of the company when in the year 2000 the stock price had rocketed due to his manipulations.Mr Raju had been exaggerating his assets and understating his liabilities which helped him earn the faith of shareholders all these years.
Mr Damodaran said that Satyam scam should be studied to check future scams of the similar nature.Satyam,which is called India's Enron was the 4th largest IT company of India hitherto.Studying the nature of this scam will be very useful for management institutes.Mr Raju is right now under custody along with his loyal CFO.Though companies like Infosys have refused to do any sort of business with Satyam,Tech Mahindra acquired it recently.This company has great potential and the scam can prove to be a boon for those shareholders who bought it at dirt cheap prices,right after Mr Raju pleaded guilty.Mr Raju can be a great help to people who want to save for their daughter's dowry( Just like Dhirubhai Ambani!!!)

Something about New Pension System(NPS)

NPS is a new kind of investment cum retirement pension scheme where individuals during their work life would pool funds so as to provide financial security to them at the time after their retirement. The account holders would get a Permanent Retirement Account which can be accessed online or from Point of Presence(PoP's). A Central record keeping agency would maintain all the accounts as like a depository maintains demat accounts.
These funds would be divided into 3 Assets Classes viz. Equity(E),government securities(G) and Credit Risk(C) including corporate bonds and Fixed deposits that entail some risk. The motive behind is that these assets would provide long term capital appreciation. The govt. has appointed 6 Fund managers who will be able to access the resources for handling: SBI,ICICI Prudential.,UTI,Reliance Capital,IDFC and Kotak Mahindra.

For opening account one has to go to PoP which will be there at banks like SBI,South Indian Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank,LIC,IDBI,Kotak Mahindra, OBC,Allahabad Bank and NBFC's like Reliance Capital,LIC,UTI AMC and IL&FS. One can keep the same account at time of switching of jobs or changing residence. Fund managers can also be changed. The equity component of the investment has been capped at a 50% of total savings.

Eligibilty- 18 to 55 years of age.

Contributions- Minimum of Rupees 6000 in one year and not more than rupees 500 at any time.

Payback options: If the subscriber is between age 60 to 70 then he or she will get 60% in lump sum or installments and remaining 40% has to be shifted to annuity. If the subscriber exits before 60 then he can take 1/5 in lump sum and rest has to be converted to Annuity( periodical pension payments) by shifting the money to Life Insurer.

Investment Options: For a person below 35 years of age half the investment would go to Equity since risk appetite is more. 1/5 into asset class G and rest into C. Above the age of 35 the default equity component decreases simultaneously. For age of 60 and above only 10% can be in equities and other 10% in corporate bonds while remaining 80% in govt. or State bonds.

Returns: Last year NPS was launched for IAS officers. The annual returns were around 14%

Tax Implications: At present NPS is coming under EET regime which means Tax Exempt at time of contribution, Exempt at time of Accumulation and taxable at time of withdrawal. But this did not go well with Pension Regulatory Authority and it has taken up the matter with Finance Ministry to provide equal status viz a viz investments like PPF, Post office schemes. Still the annuity portion is tax exempt.

Allocation Charges and other charges: Allocation charges are very low around .0009%. other costs like account opening, address change, Fund Manager Charges are around 400.

comparing it with MF its biggest advantage is low allocation charges and ability to choose various fund managers in same scheme.

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Bharti and Alcatel to form JV

Sunil Mittal owned Bharti Airtel and Paris headquartered Alcatel are forming a joint venture with Alcatel owning 74% of the equity share and Bharti having 26%.Bharti C.E.O Manoj Kohli said that the joint venture will fulfill the country's dream of having 20 million broad band customers soon.The joint venture is worth 500 million dollars.
Alcatel-Lucent C.E.O Ben Vawaayen said that the joint venture will bring the two similar companies together.The J.V will have about 4000 employees with some guys from the outsourcing firm.According to Wall Street Journal's survey,Bharti is the most innovative Indian company.

Word Power

Try guessing the meanings of the following(All r's)

1.reek-
2.ratification-
3.rapacious-
4.redolent-
5.ramparts-
6.rampant-
7.raucous-
8.ravishing-
9.rebuke-

Sugar Millers in dilemma

with the sugarcane production in India lagging behind and demand increasing continuously it is disadvantage sugar milling companies in india. Sugar in India is an issue which holds the potential to be thorn in flesh of government. sugar in India is subsidized and as a result the Millers are forced to sell the sugar at artificially low prices whereas they have to give high prices to farmers for the sugarcane procurement. This is bound to affect the profitability of sugar millers in India. Also they can't hold stocks as stipulated by govt. of India fearing that hoarding of stocks could lead to ballooning of sugar prices.

Further more sugarcane prices are quite high due to demand from Jaggery producers who are getting almost 100 percent profits on sale to Liquor firms who use the molasses for processing of liquors. And in India an Indian man can't let go of his bottle as much as housewives will have to readjust their sugar budgets...

but what i think is that govt. must take a step forward and annul the subsidy on Sugar as it is not that much an essential commodity and also this would help in making people healthier as for sure consumption would reduce somewhat even though we all know that indians have sweet tooth.

please share your views on above article...

Blogging in syllabus!

It is very good to learn that schools in England have also included blogging in their syllabus along with exposing the kids to other social networking sites.Along with that the kids will also be made to use sites like wikipedia.Students are also likely to get grades based on the quality of blogs they make!!!All this can help children earn their own money at a very young age .This will instill in them qualities of entrepreneurship.
I feel that in the near future every kid will have atleast one blog.
But according to some parochial groups,there is no need to expose school-going kids to all this.According to them students will gradually become mouse-potatoes and will fritter their time in front of the screen in the name of doing their homework.
But I approve of such a step taken by the authorities,provided the students use their time effectively.I await the day when such assignments will be given in Indian schools.
All this is sure to make the coming generation tech savvy and smart.Blogging will be a good medium for kids to express their views .

b-awarencreative: Some english for CAT freaks.

b-awarencreative: Some english for CAT freaks.

Some english for CAT freaks.

By now all of you will surely have started slogging for the coming exam in November.Just to make it a bit easier ,i have a nice plan !As you know that english is a major part of the exam,we can start developing our english together on this blog.We can start quizzing on tough words through comments and also share some good CAT questions with each other.But we must insure that we carry this out regularly in order to obtain maximum benefits.This sort of learning will prove to be interesting as from now on we will not have to slog with huge word lists which become really monotonous after some time.

***BEST OF LUCK***

How to calculate the value of an index on a particular day??

We often say things like -"The SENSEX opened at 15000 points",though not in today's bear market!The question is-"How to calculate the value of Sensex,Nifty or any other index on a particular day"??
For this you need to know about market capitalization.Market capitalization is a factor which determines the vastness of a company.It is the product of the total number of shares which are out and the current share price of that company.
For eg RIL,had a market-cap of about Rs 200000 crore,which is a big amount.Basically it is that amount,which one will have to spend in order to purchase all the shares of a company.
After the market-cap,we have something called asthe index factor.The index factor remains constant at a particular time for each index.Like Sensex will have a different index factor than Nifty.

After you get the market cap of all the companies listed in a particular index,simply add them up.Divide that value by the index factor.Now you have the value of that index right in front of you!

Are the rate cuts really low?

With the FY 10, monetary policy being already announced by RBI governor D.Subbarao a few days ago all eyes are now on financial service players as to how they respond to the signals clearly given by Guv.

RBI has never been so quick to react to the situation and be proactive...but in past 7-8 months it has reacted in symphony with the situations and has reduced the key interest ratios by substantial margins viz. CRR,RR,RRR. As a consequence the onus now is on bankers to take the cues and reduce interest rates as also deposit rates and this is precisely what Mr. Subbarao clearly hinted at during the recent Monetary Police announcement.

Though the absolute interest rates have been reduced by the bankers in range of 75 bps to 2 bps by few players(notably the PSU majors like SBI,PNB). But most of private sectors have been reluctant to prune down the rates.
But if one goes by Actual interest rate figures (Interest rates - Inflation) then the interest rates are still on higher side.The bankers argue by saying that the cost of money is still high and they have to maintain their NIM's(Net interest Margins).Another argument is that those people who have taken Fixed deposits will continue earning same interest rates till expiry but the loan takers will have to pay less everytime the interest rates and PLR's are reduced by banks.So while they have to keep paying same interest rates to the lenders they will be able to earn less interest from borrowers.

Also seeing the environment and what has happened in past year or so has made bankers cautious in extending the credit to people.Though India has been relatively insulated from the lending crisis but still if NPA's rise then again the bankers would be taken by sticks as no body knows who might go bust the next day. Even biggest of corporates have openly admitted of the tight credit situation.

Though the situation is expected to improve with all the rate cuts playing their way through the economy in coming days.
What do you think?? Are we moving towards ZIRP regime???

Fundas of Dividend!!!

Dividend,It is just like a "BANDAGE" when markets are bleeding red.

Thats how i see a dividend cheque of a company which has consistent yields and dividend policy.What better than a cheque when everything is going down.It is at this very moment one feels the importance of Dividend paying stocks in Portfolio.

Dividend is a share of profit which company distributes among its share holders. It is done to reward the shareholders for their investments, good will and also to keep shareholders intact. Sometimes special dividends are given like Silver jubilee, extraordinary performance etc.

Dividend yield is obtained by dividing the value of dividend received, in rupees by the Current Market price of the stock.
In India the picture of giving dividends has not been too encouraging as compared to counterparts in emerging economies like China, Hong kong and developed economies like US.There is hardly any NIFTY company which has a dividend yield of around 5%.Tata Motors is one of the good dividend paying companies in Nifty( 4%), HCL Tech., Ambuja Cements etc.
In midcaps the name include Varun shipping , HCL infosystems, BRPL, vijaya Bank, Wockhardt, Castrol, Syndicate Bank.

But one should not only buy dividend paying stocks just because they pay dividends, as sometimes in tough conditions it becomes impossible for a company which does not have sound fundamentals to keep distributing Dividend cheques year after year.So investment decisions should be based on a mix of company performance, profits, dividends, nature of business, sector etc.

An article i read in ET provided the statistical side of benefits of Dividend which can take care of retirement life in a respectable manner::
The portfolio comprised of around 20 stocks across diversified sectors like defensives, cyclical stock with proven track record of past 10 years in paying dividends with equal weightage to each stock.
The calculations have been done from 2002-2003 bear markets when dividend yields improved due to falling Stock prices.( denominator reduces) so it is better to invest in bear markets.
Rupees 30000 invested in 1994 would have given 4300 Rupees till 2008.
But if you have invested since 2002( prior to 03 bear market) the dividend by 2008 would have been around 15000 !See it is almost 3 times the previous case.This has happened as Dividend receipts have jumped in past years .In fact it is even more than capital appreciation in few cases.

For the portfolio selected the dividend CAGR was around 21%.I would say NOT BAD!

But now lets see what happens if the dividends are reinvested for 20 years in a deposit like PPF ( 8% p.a)-
The scale of investment we are taking here is Rupees 200000( 2 lacs). It seems big but what comes out would be even bigger!

Suppose the dividend receipts continue to grow at same rate of 21%, in the first year the payout if around 7000,the yield works out to be around 3.5%,But over 20 years at same rate of growth it works out to be Rupees 3.2 lacs.

But wait,be prepared for the dividend magic along with PPF.

Over 20 years at PPF's rate of 8% investment this net investment of Dividends reinvested in PPF works out to be Rupees 25 Lacs.Whopping 25 lacs in fact!!!
Seeing this figure could make one even forget that this is the Dividend income and it is over and above the capital returns.

This is all for investment benifits,other benefits like TAX FREE INCOME ( both PPF and dividends)are also other lagniappe's.


So this is the time to take note of good dividend paying stocks, see the history and start planning.Equities should not be looked down upon only as trader instruments.

Young entrepreneurs to lead the change!

After all the hardwork done by our worn out politicians to make India into a corruption hub,now it is the turn of the educated young entrepreneurs to change the system and make India a much better place to live in.One such example is Sarath Babu,a slum kid who made it to IIM-A and started his own catering services.This 31 year bloke runs Rs 7-crore Food King in Chennai.Babu is now going to set his foot in the so called "gutter" of politics with the slogan"Let's change now".He is going to stand from the South Chennai constituency as an independent candidate to Lok Sabha.
Similarly Capt Gopinath is contesting from the Bangalore South constituency.According to him an entrepreneur can change the world in politics too.
Similarly Umendra Bharat an IIT Kanpur Graduate has filed his nomination from the Kanpur -4 contituency.
If such elite citizens get to govern us,then it may turn out to be a boon for the entire country.Now it is for us to wait and watch the coming of an Indian Osama ohh sorry....I meant Obama!!

New chairman for Coca Cola

(Kent and Isdell)

Muhtar Kent the chief executive of Coca Cola was elected as the new Chairman by the board of directors as the former chairman Neville Isdell retired following the companies annual meeting in Atlanta.Kent had also been the chief executive of Efes beverage group which is a major shareholder of Coca Cola Icecek.Under him the revenues of the company tripled and the market capitalisation increased by 250%.He became the CEO of Coca Cola on July 1,2008 after Neville Isdell became the chairman.

As always,expectations are high from Mr Kent and is speculated that CC goes to new heights with him as the boss.

Indian Hotels to aquire Sea Rock Hotels

IHCL seems to be in negotiations aquire Mumbai based Sea Rock Hotels for an estimated Rs 650-700 crore.The aquisition will take place from Delhi base Claridges group which had bought the hotel in 2005.The hotel had been closed since 1993 when it had been blown up by the Bombay blasts until Claridges decided to buy it out.As Sea Rock is just across the road from Taj Land's end,post deal an integrated complexis planned.The resulting site may be similar to Taj Mahal palace at the gate way of India.The hotel is said to posess about 400rooms.If the deal is successful Taj will have four properties in Mumbai.This is a very confident step by Taj as it is already involved in the renovation of the property damaged by the current blasts which took place in Mumbai.This step will also add another luxury site to Mumbai where swaths of foreigners are found at all times of the year.

Rains wash away TRPs in SA

The new venue for IPL this year does not look like an exciting one as niether the crowd nor the advertisers seem to enjoy the sport which is evident from the low scoring games and bashed up TRPs.The icing on the cake is "RAIN" which is also playing spoilt sport.SET max which had saved about 15% of its advertising inventory to sell at a premium at 30-40% profit later is now in an awkward situation.All this drives us to contemplate the fate of IPL if it had been played in India.Though elections and the terrorist attacks in a way daunted the authorities ,but cricket in India is always a hit especially when it is IPL season.On the contrary if a terror attack would have struck then India would not have visiting teams for a long time.I feel that the right venue for IPL is India else the season can be utilised to play some other form of the game.As the topic raised is very debatable ,i seek many comments from the blog readers.

Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp to star in Shantaram

Johnny Depp has evinced interest in working in the movie Shantaram based on the novel by Gregory David Roberts.The movie will be directed by Mira Nair and will be distributed by Warner Bros.The movie is about the life of a convict who escapes from an Australian jail and beciomes a slum dweller in Mumbai.The movie will have scenes from the Leopold Cafe which was blown up by hte blasts on 26th Nov,08.

Renault's India plans on hold

French automaker Renault has put its plans on hold to infuse its cars in the Indian market owing due to the global meltdown.The plant had been set up in Chennai.The company had stopped hiring for its production activities in Chennai.Though according to an indian employee the production plans will be defrozen according to the companie's wish without any delay.

Tata Motors Strikes again!!!

After the Nano,Tata Motors is coming up with its new brand of World Trucks.The trucks are expected to come out in the market in the month of June.The new variety of trucks will be costlier than the ordinary and will replace its 180-200 hp engines with the 200-500 engine range.The trucks will be designed by Tata Motors and its subsidiary Daewoo Commercial Motors.These superior quality trucks will be competition for other brands like Volvo and Mercedes.The companies tie up with Daewoo emboldened it to come up with its own variety of wold trucks.the trucks are expected to come out simultaneously in India as well as Korea.

The launch of this brand exemplifies the companies love for innovation and giving its consumers something new each time.Tata Motors with its easily affordable Nano is aleady expected to revolutionise the lives of millions who had never dreamt of a car in their lives.Similaly the new variety of trucks will prove to be a boon for many businesses which earlier depended on the stereotype Indian trucks,though unlike Nano this variety will be costlier than the rest.Though the exact price is not out(Tata policy!!) we can guess the price right here.

GM CEO Ric Wagoner shown the way

US president took a harsh step by asking Rick wagoner, CEO of GM to quit from his job citing his inability to negotiate with bond holders to reduce the Debt which GM is under burden of.......This was necessary to get more aid from US Govt. after GM already got assurance for 13.4 billion USD......
Also Chrysler has been given 30 days warning to explore merger with Fiat SpA italy..for better synergies then only itwould get more help from US govt.....

All this signals send the stock markets crashing globally....GM is now under serious threat of bankruptcy......

Will the RALLY last??

Last week was extremely positive for majority of Global Indices ..Fuelled by unexpected positive numbers from US like housing data and rise in consumer demand for consumer durables was one of the main reason which buoyed the DOW which catapulted the indices world over....
Effects wer felt i n Asia also with apna SENSEX breaching the psychologieclly important 10000 mark and more importantly sustaining it ......Similary the broader Nifty also closed around 3100....

But analysts world over are questioning the rationale behind this rally and for how long will it last??
They are saying it as a BMR( BEar market rally) rather than a Bull market rally....but according to many Bear market rally is the fastest way to make money...indian indices gained around 10-12 % this week led by some buoyant performance by Big boys like Reliance, infy, HDFC twins etc.....

With earning season around the corner it remains to be seen whether this rally is sustainable or not?? One thing is for sure...the earnings visisbily of corporate india would improve as compared to Q3 but still it would be mroe on laclusture side......The two year holiday from Fair Accounting practice in Book keeping aka MTM accounting will somewhat nullify the effect caused by volatile Rupee which caused many corporates to suffer FOREX Loss ...

Car sales number have looke frigid till march 25 with not much growth....but for certainly the liquidity situation has improved due to slew of measrues taken by Banks and carrot and stick policy of RBI...still more can be done and Corporate india would be hoping for that in RBI's forthcoming Monetary policy outlook....

many attribut ths week rally to Short Covering ...it truly was a factor but we can't say that markets surged only due to this....FII"s were net buyers well in excess of sold data by III's....

The POWER ful question???

The countdown has already begun...talks of mega alliances, fractured politics are already in air.parties are going out of their way to woo their prospective partners.....But onething is clear this time..it will not be ordinary Coalition elections but will be one huge drama of indian politics......

The two old doyens of indian politics...BJP and INC are both fallig short of partners to form alliance..Secession has creeped within UPA and NDA......For UPA parties like NCP is a dilemma and for BJP it is Shiv Sena.....

UPA has also suffered a major blow in heartland of indian politics..i.e in UP and Bihar which send 120 MP's to parliament......Blame games have begun and Ex M.P CM Mr. Digvijay Singh is being held questionable for tarnishing the prospects of forming pre poll alliance between Congress and SP...Smilarly in Bihar LPY and RVP have joined hands

For BJP the Orissa's CM's party BJD ( Naveen patnaik) has taken a separate route.....

IN Tamil Nadu ....PMK has broken ranks with congress as has Jayalalita's AIADMK.....

The picture is foggy as of yet....There is emergence of THIRD FRONT also..although it remains to be seen for how long parties like BSP , CPI and others can hold the fort together??

For me it should be the Congress? and in Congress the calm SMS ...

please share your opinions??

india scripts Test Win in Newzeland after 33 years

Whts the future of SUN?

will IBM acquire Sun or would it let go of it?? please post your comments...........

Why no Nobel for mathematics?????

Ever wondered ,why there is no Nobel Prize for math???The answer is really weird.It is because Alfred Nobel(the founder of the prize) was really hurt when he found out that his wife ran away with a mathematician!!Very sad!!!!!

L&T..hands tied over Styam

The financial investors in Larsen and Toubro the indian pioneer in engineering is facing some restraints from its financial investorsl ike LIC, GIC who have said that L&T should not bid too hight above the offer price for Satyam Bid...Satyam's simple moving average price over last one week is around 46.54 and it is expected that the floor price for bidding could be around 50......L&T hs some room but if the bidding turns into a full fledged bidding war then L&T could have to say that grapes were sour...

UBS set to have nw CEO

UBS, Swiss Banking powerhouse is set to have new CEO in form of Oswal J. Gruebel....he was earlier with Credit Suisse....

RIL-RPL , Sequel

The Directors of RIL would meet on 2 march to consider Amalgamation of RPL in RIL......This could well be the repeat of 2002 when Reliance petroleum limited of that time was merged with RIL.....

Indira Nooyi

Vagaries of the "HEAD"

For those who believe only grey cells set apart leaders from the rest, there is another hair raising observation among corporate America that most of the successful CEOs including Pepsico's Indra Nooyi part their hair to the left, says US business magazine Fortune.
Legendary investor and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon of investment bank J P Morgan Chase are among the others joining Nooyi in the club of highly efficient CEOs who comb their hair to the left side.
In recent years, a pseudoscience has emerged around the theory that left-partedness signals leadership potential, while parting on the right suggest something a little off-kilter, Fortune said in a report published in its May 5 issue.
The magazine quotes John Walter, a systems engineer at New York City's Marymount Manhattan College as saying, its difficult for right-parters to be leaders.
Interestingly, a cursory look at the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies reveals only three among them of top 50 firms, part their hair on their right side. They are General Motors Rick Wagoner, AT&Ts Randall Stephenson and Sears interim CEO Bruce Johnson.
According to the magazine, Walter is credited with the theory (of parting hair to left) three decades ago, after he discovered that only a few American presidents parted their hair on the right.
Meanwhile, in the Fortune 500 there are highly successful chief executives who neither part their hair to the left or right. Such names include General Electrics Jeff Immlet, Goldman Sachs Lloyd Blankfein and Exxon Mobils Rex Tillerson.
In the report, the magazine said going by the theory, left-parters attract attention to the left side of their face, which conveys left-brain functions like logic, while right-parters come across as creative but also mysterious.
Describing Buffet as Americas richest man, the report said that he comes across as the classic left-brainer: rational and assertive.
As CEO of the $39-billion consumer giant, the leftie ranks No.1 on Fortunes Most Powerful Women in Business List, the magazine said.
Pointing out that no-parters-often-bald rarely reach the top, Fortune said that those who do, like Immlet, tend to take balanced approaches.
However, the magazine asserted that Walter-nomics is by no means a perfect tool for financial analysis and added that the world is better off with right-parters in it.
Fortune said that GEs founder, Thomas Edison, was one and so are Melinda Gates, Xerox CEO Anne Mulchaly, and John Donahoe, Meg Whitmans successor at eBay.
Hair-part aficionados are abuzz over whether right-parter John McCain stands a chance of winning the 2008 presidential race, the report noted.
(Source-FORTUNE magazine)

A homeless "JAP"(Victim of recession?)

Amereca's way of handeling the crisis!

Anybody who doubts that the global economy is facing its most serious downturn since the 1930s should take a squint at the latest trade figures from Japan. Exports in January were 46 per cent lower in January than they were a year ago — a phenomenal drop for a country that is so heavily dependent on sales of its industrial products overseas.
Japan has got used to economic setbacks over the past two decades: it has been in and out of recession on a regular basis. But make no mistake, this drop in exports does not mean recession: it means depression.
In the circumstances, comments by analysts that the data was “not good” and “seriously bad” were somewhat otiose. The Office for National Statistics confirmed on Wednesday that the U.K. economy shrank by 1.5 per cent in the final three months of 2008 and is on course for an annual decline in GDP this year of between 2.5 per cent and 3 per cent. But in Japan, things are much, much worse. Maya Bhandar at Lombard Street Research, says that the economy is contracting at an annualised rate of 14-15 per cent in the current quarter. Strong exports have tended to disguise the weakness of Japanese domestic consumption in recent years: now that prop has been kicked away, growth is plummeting.
Why is this happening? Quite simply, the great engine of globalisation has gone into reverse. During the long boom, the U.S. acted as the consumer of last resort: it sucked in exports from China and Japan. As China industrialised, it needed high-grade investment goods from Germany, and as prosperity spread in the world’s most populous country, there was strong demand for Japanese electronics, cars and consumer gizmos. Now that America has stopped spending, Chinese factories have closed. The knock-on effects of that are being felt in Tokyo and Hamburg.
In Japan, all the main industries are reporting decreases in exports of more than 40 per cent. The big car companies — Toyota, Nissan and Honda — are really feeling the pinch: overseas sales by the transport equipment sector were down almost 54 per cent a year ago. What’s more, car sales are slumping everywhere: Japanese exports to North America, Europe and the rest of Asia were all down by more than 50 per cent.
The assumption, since the financial crisis began in the summer of 2007, has been that lessons have been learnt from the Japanese experience in the 1990s. Much comfort was taken from the fact that Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, had produced an erudite paper on how to avoid the deflationary problems suffered by the world’s second biggest economy.
As things stand, that optimism is starting to look a tad misplaced. It is not just that the generalised falls in industrial production over the past few months has been far worse than anything experienced by Japan in the 1990s; it is also that policymakers — including Bernanke — do not seem to have fully assimilated the lessons of the Japanese experience.
Japan’s problem in the 1990s was not that the government failed to act: there were any number of emergency packages and bail-outs for the stricken banks. But nothing Tokyo did got to the heart of the crisis, which was that land prices continued to fall year after year, creating fresh losses for the financial system as quickly as the last batch of toxic waste was cleared up.
Something similar is happening now to Wall Street banks. With real estate prices in freefall, the losses just continue to mount and the pressure on the banks remains acute.

(Source:THE HINDU)

Some more news from Satyam

Market regulator Sebi is likely to approve the Satyam Board-formulated framework to induct a strategic investor.
"In this case (Satyam), once the framework is finalised by the government-appointed board in consultation with the Company Law Board (CLB), Sebi is unlikely to change the proposal,'' a top Sebi source told PTI here on Friday.
The Sataym Board is understood to have finalised the roadmap to conduct the bidding process for the beleaguered IT major at its board meeting yesterday and is expected to submit the proposal to Sebi soon for getting regulatory clearances.
With a view to facilitate the takeover process, Sebi recently amended the takeover rules for companies having a government-appointed board, besides making the preferential issue norms more flexible.

(Source-Google)

Some literary fundas from"THE HINDU"

1.What is the opposite of comedian?
The opposite of comedian is "tragedian" which is a person who perfoms sad roles on screen-eg Dilip Kumar.An actress who perfoms tragic roles is called "tragidienne" just like "comedienne".
2.What is the meaning of the phrase"Handsome is as handsome does"?
The phrase is a very old one and emphasises the greatness of inner beauty over outer beauty.Similarly the phrase "Pretty is as pretty does" can also be used.
3.Did you really breakfast on idlis?
We can use the following sentences in relation to meals-
Ram and shyam breakfasted together.
I lunched on fresh chapatis.
I snacked on popcorn.

But we cannot use a sentence like-
"I dinnered in Taj Majestic".

Coca cola for SRK in KKR IPL

Cocal Cola woos SRK for KKR sponsorship in IPL after APepsi said that it would not renew the contradt with SRK keeping in mind its YOUNGISTAAN IMAGE>..SRK has also expressed that he did not like the way in which PEPSI cancelled the contract.....

BCCI pulls Sony's pony

BCCI demands compensation from Sony by quoting a loss of 137 crores as BIG Tv annulled its ground rights sponsorship due to the fact that Airtel was offered on Air Slots by Sony, The broadcaster for IPL....

R&D for Indian Auto companies t prove csotly

The indian Govt. is planning to reduced the Funding it givest ot Auto companies from 100% to 50%. The govt. will instead fully fund the Research and development costs of small Auto part makers . Govt. rationale behind this move is that Big Auto co's like Maruti, Tata etc have capability to fund a part of R&D but small co's can't do that...Accoring to GVt. this move would move more equitable spending on Research and development by including smaller players also......

CAsh -strapped realty major Emaar MGF may turn out to be the first major beneficiary of a government package in the real estate sector,
thanks to its partnership with Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for the 2010 Commonwealth Games village project in east Delhi. The government had already facilitated a nine-month deferment of its Rs 50-crore instalment to State Bank of India (SBI), and has now further asked DDA to prepare a report on buying out flats at a negotiated price, a government official told SundayET. In fact, Emaar MGF could turn out to be the lone beneficiary in a downturn where all major real estate companies, including DLF and Unitech, are affected and witnessing a sharp erosion of their bottomlines. The government has so far refused to give any concession to the real estate sector and is asking for a price correction. While talking to SundayET, urban development secretary M Ramanchandran said he had asked DDA to prepare a report on the issue and suggest possible solutions. “Emaar MGF has already got nine months extra to repay its Rs 50-crore instalment to SBI. We are assessing the situation. If the need arises DDA would either give them a loan or buy flats at a negotiated price. Also, PSUs may buy in bulk,” he said.

satyam gets some relief

satyam gets 60 0crore ..from IDBI and Bank of Baroda...for working capital requirements

Karnik named as Satyam Chairman

Satyam appointed board member Kiran Karnik as the new Chairman.

Satyam Fiasco:ESOP's sold at hefty prices by " BUSINESS LEADERS"

Insider trading per se is not illegal. Sale or purchase of shares by people privy to price-sensitive information, before it is intimated to the regulator and the stock markets, is, however, a crime. However, Board Chairman Kiran Karnik, and Member Deepak Parekh said they were aware of such transactions but found nothing illegal.
Yet, a close look at the filings by the company with the National Stock Exchange since September 2004 is interesting. They reveal that many of those identified as ‘Business Leaders’ by erstwhile Chairman of Satyam B. Ramalinga Raju sold the employee stock options (ESOPs) at regular intervals.
What’s more, Mr. Murty sold the shares frequently since October 2004. If Srinivas Vadlamani, the jailed CFO, sold in all 3.65 lakh shares, the highest by any employee in the last four-and-a-half years, Mr. Murty sold the second largest number of shares — 3.14 lakh shares.
Company president Ram Mynampati exercised 1.83 lakh stock options in the Indian stock market and 56,250 American Depository Shares (ADS) in the U.S. during the last few years. Manish Mehta and T. R. Anand too figured among those who sold more than a lakh of shares each, closely followed by Keshab Panda, who exercised over 90,000 stock options.
Most of these shares were sold between mid-2006 and mid-2008 when the Satyam’s scrip ruled high between Rs. 350 and Rs. 480, fetching fat sums. For instance, Mr. Murty sold 17,000 shares on March 29, 2007, and 30,000 shares in just another week, on April 4, the same year. The sale on April 4 alone fetched him about Rs. 1.38 crore considering that the stock opened at Rs. 465 on the BSE on that day.
Of course, “it cannot be proved whether Mr. Murty is aware of the price sensitive decision of the company’s move to acquire Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties when he sold the shares in December, as he is not on the then board,” said Ambareesh Baliga, Vice-President, Karvy Broking. None could stop a shareholder from selling the stocks as the ESOPs were meant for sale. Surely, some senior employees must have been aware that “every thing was not hunky dory with the company,” he said.

IPL acutions..

English players Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Peterson became the most valuable players in IPSL..when they were valued at 1.55 million Dollars apiece....KP was snatched by BangaloreRoyal chanllengers.....Flintoff was tekn by Chennai kings...

2 days after auctions were announced...England was bundled out for 51 against West indies in their 2 innings conceding a defeat by innings and 19 runs to Windies.......This sure will reaise some questions about spending huge moolah on KP and Flintoff.....

CEOofRBS

Stephen hester..is new CEO of RBS.....

P&G looking to sell its pharma business

P&G, one of the rworld's largest cosnumer goods company, with rbrands like Gilletter razor and Crest toothpaste is looking to sell off its Phrma business....its CEo A.G Lafley said.....this comes after last dyear decision to stop spneinding on new moecule research....its pharma buisness has revenues of $ 2 billion annually.....

BoE cuts rates

Bank of England slashed interest key rates by futher 50 BPS to 1% which is lowest ever.......while ECB( european central bank) kept ther rates unchanged.....

thought questions wer raised regarding BoE's move as the inflation is at around 3% but BoE's target is 2%......so reducing rates is conunter to that....but BoE has said that fall in taxes and food articles price would itself drag inflation down......

New CEO for Satyam

AS Murty has been appointed the new CEO of the Fraud hit Satyam com.He is a Satyam veteran working since 15 years in the company......

Where have all the "BULLS" gone?

In the current period of recession,it is very difficult to spot any bulls and the market seems 2 b bearish 4ever.The question of prime importance is whether stocks like Satyam ,Unitech ,Aptech and many others will b anywhere near even 1/3rd their highs after the market stabilises a bit.

Promising Stocks

PLease post the names of some good stocks that u think are indeed very promising and can fetch excellant returns.I feel Unitech and UCO bank are 2 such stocks.

Just BOOKS

Hey guys?Post the name of a good book that u have read recently....also try to post the epitomy of the book.

I recently read "Stay Hungry,Stay Foolish" by Rashmi Bansal,an alumini fromIIMA.Its a book about the success story of 25 IIMA aluminis who went out to start their own business. .

Any "SCAVENGERS" out here??????

Are u a scavenger feeding on the beleaguered Satyam???If yes,then post ur profits till this day since u bought the shares.I got many shares for Rs 18 and am anticipating the price to go up till about 70 from 55 on Friday.........................though the co-founder, Manrag has sold his shares and is sitting on "FAT" profit!

recruitement blues.....trun of IITS

The placements across IITs are on...but thsi year its a kind of preposterous situtation.......normally the season is ove by march ..but this time it is expected to go to june..........Currently 60% of students across IITs are waiting to get job offers.......jsut killing itme........IIT Kharagpur invited 2000 companis but till nwo only 230 have come...., IIT kanpur till now has placed only 46$ of its students......IIT madras 1000students are still to ge tany offers.........The experts say that it s all because of ongoing turmokil in global economy and financial crises and slackging demand ...cost cutting...

Q3 rsults shadow of Crises

Q3 rsults of majority of India Inc. is in line with expectations....falling topline along with weak bottomline is a harbindger of things to come......except of ffw corporates like Bharti, Ril , SBI others have been mere shasdow oftheir last YoY results.......
Economists are saying ths would contintue for long into 09 .......

job cuts

arond 1 lack jobs were lost in pst week......as per reports of vafious companies dcaring reduction in heandcounts on account of falling demand and tightening credit conditions....

Toyota's Camry plans

Toyota may produce Camry in India....It is expected that Toyota is planning to bring production of Camry to india...Thsi would mean a reduction or price of Camry by 4-5 lacs if entier benefit is passed to customer....

at presetn Camry is Toyota's premium band and comptes with lieks of Mercedes C class, Skoda Superb...having market of 500 units per annum.....

if its price is reduced it would fight with Accord by Honda, Skoda's Laura, whi hc form part of 2500 units per annum EXEC car market.......

Race for Fidelity's captive 'bPO unit

infosys, india's second largest company IT in terms of revenues and US giant, IBM are locked in a tight battle to acquire captive BPO oarm of Fidelity, the world' largest MF company....The deal is valued at around 150-180 milion USD ...in return for assured business outsourcing contract.......other bidders involved were Captgemini, BCG, HP-EDS.....IBM offered 150 million USD to which infosys conter by saying 180 million USD.........

I' Gate also was in fray but later backed out due to stiff condtiosn laid by Fidelity......

some think that IBM has advantage over infy inspite of its less bid price because of IBM's old relations with Fidelity, Fidelity and IBM had come toghether to form Fidelity employers services company, around 15-20 years ago...... 2 such deals have already been stuck earlier..
1. Aviva solding out to WNS holdings for $228 Million fotr its captive backoffice operations for assured 1 bilion USd business spread over 8 yeras,
2.TCS acquired CITI 's BPO fo $505 million inretrum for assured busines of 2.5 bilioj USD over 9 yerars...
3. citi's captvi ujit by Wipreo( CITOS) citigroup technology servies, for assured business of $1 Billion over 6 yerars....wipro paid 127m ilion $....

Apple delights::::records highest ever quarterly revenue

Apple, the iconic US IT brand has posted its highest ever Quarterly revenues, $10.17 Billion on bakc of recored I Phone and I pod sales as wellas robust Macintaosh computer sales......The company sold a recored number of 22.72 million i pods and 4.36 million I phones......

L&T hikes stake in Satyamto 12%

L&T, thel argest capital company in india, has hiked its stake in satyam thru its subsidiary L&T capital services to 12%.......in an intervies with TV channel AM naik, CEO of Group said that the stake was hike to reduce the cost of eqrlier acquisistion of 4 % stake.......Althought L&T has admitted that it would like to acuiqre Satyam once legal issues become clear...As of now it seems that stake hike was to average the cost of acqusition of earlier stake....L&T has made clear that it does not want to interfere with the board at this stage and is not much eager to have a representative on teh board of Satyam......

What does new Amerian Administratin mean to India??

As tBarack obama starts his course of leading US the exuberence of his being elected president which was felt in Indian diaspora in India would slowly start fading when the Realties, complexities limits of excercising poswers beging to manifest itself on Obama Administartion:.......in a recent policy document there was no meniotion of India which raised quite a few eyebrows especialy after India US rlations entered a New Trajectory after N.Deal.....in a campaigh spceech obama even related kashmir issue to solfing terrorism in Afghanistand.....now waht does obama administartion mean to india

1. US wil want every help from china to take steps to help US to shove away recession......at the time of Bush US was helping india so as to Cuonter China in India......now obama's priority twil be to stop erosion of US economy and fight aling with china to counter REcession...
2. Due to Afghan Pakistan would be persistent Ally of US as also Pakistan would put pressure on American for support over kashmir issue by ensuring support on fighting terrorism in Afthan..
3. Obama Admin would discourage outsourcing and this would mean few rer American jobs outsourcee in idnia..whic would ofcourse not please INdia INC.
4. Intention to pursue with CTBT, FMCT( Fissile material Cut Off) would open old wounds .......Democrats havealways been supporterso f Non Proliferation and CTBT......
All

NIMBUPANI byPEPSI

Pepsi is all set to launch Nimbupani at the advent of comint summers......Incidentally this coincides with CEO Indra Nooyi's visiontohave a balanced portfolio on in india....she has lways chmapioned the cause of helath drinks in idia....calling them as good for people or better for people and calling Snacks and Colas as Fun foods............It will again set a war between biggest Rival Colc Caola which has also announced of launching similar type of helath drinds...Health drink industry is growing at rae of 20-30% in indai...wiht brands alike Tropicana( PEPSICO) and REal(DABUR).......But since Tropicana is a premium juice brand so in ordre to fill the milddle market pepsi decided to launch nimbupani and also due to Stagnating sales in Soda segment......

Raju Admists money being diverted to REal Esatate

R. Raju, the estranged CEO of in trouble Software Giant, Satyam Computers has admitted that the money from SAtyam was diverted into real estate ...in order to make big in booming real Estate market......these transactiosn were done trhu Benami A/C's...........Raju admitted when he was interrogated by CID....

Lessons to be learnt and implemented from THE GREAT CONTEMPORARY CRISIS

for most of us this would be the biggest Financial crises of their lives ( except for Octogenarians and Nonagenarians)..........The crises started from Wall Street and spread to Main Street and whole world is now reeling under its effect ...with signs of recovery as of now inspite of Gargantuan Bailout packages by Economies across the Globe........But there are few lessons to be learnt from this crises ............in order to avert any such kind of Disaster once we recover...

1. it should be understood that if few institutiosn are so Big or Crucial or Important for a Country that those should be Bailed Out from the MESS into which they ahve landed themselves using TAXPAYWERS money then it becomes absolutely necessary that these institutions should come under lens of REgulatory bodies and not allowed to spin out of Control....

2. The Role of Credit Agencies needs to be reviewed. Sometimes same Credit Agencies also functions as Advisories to Corporates...So they give good ratings to Corporates in order to get Advisory Business from them......even though the Corporates are not eligible for high Credit Ratings........The mistake becomes even more painful when in hassle to make amends these RATING Agencies publicly threaten to downgrade thee Companies....further deteriorating their hances of raising money in this Confidence lacking lending Conditions....

3. But the biggest factor which still is denied b many in West is vast amound of Trade Deficits and CAD's which Amerca is running and correspondintly China is running huge amounts of Surpluses............

America should not allow Dollar To appreciate as thsi would make the exports incompetent and China should increase its self consumptions and stop dumping products in America..........it should not allow its Renminbi to Depreciate so much.............

The present environment is a very different situation and synchronised efforts of natinos and govt. , banks is required to pass thru these tought times and set example for future generations........

SAIL sails...abd saves,,,

It is expected that the Indian Steel Major PSU, Sail can save upto 26000 Crores on expansion plans........at the begining ofthis year it was expected that the cost would be around 80K crore due to Over booked Ezuipment makers in Europe.....but due to meltdown or slowdown it is expected that CAPEX would be completed by 54000 Crores only.....A PSU official told on condition of anonymity....

Getting Bored???Do the following exercise.

1.Lord-Thaw
2.Avow-Crap
3.Same-Font

Convert the words on the LHS to the words on the Rhs by changing a single letter each time to make a proper word and keep getting closer to the word on the RHS.u can use any number of words to complete the exercise


NOTE:Solutions will be posted soon.

Ur opinion on Slum Dod Millionaire??????????

U guys might have seen the movie....There r some parochial opinions according 2 which this movie is meant 2 criticise India and show the poverty which exists in our country.Its time 4 u 2 comment whether as an Indian ur feelings were hurt during or after watching the movie.All opinions will b taken in good spirit.

TAX SAVING SEASON arrives:

hello....
most of us indians who have to pay Tax will be trugning their minds these days over various plans and ways to invest into Tax Saving Instruments.....so lets take a viw of various options available in market....

1. Provident Funds- these offer a return of 8.5%......annually..the there is also tax exemptino on interest earlened....
2. NSC- Nationals Saving Certificates..- interest earned is taxable...
3. ELSS- Equit linked Saving instruments---These are certain type of instruemtns which invest your jomoney in equity markets and also provided benefit under section 80/C of Indian Govt.
4. Then there are of course varioius insurance plans availble.......ULIPS and tohers......may be pension plans...also...
5. Bonds issued by IDBI and NABARD.....

please address if there is any other option available...comments are most welcome and wanted.........

Restructuring of CITI

Citi gropu posted a qauarterly loss of around 8 Bilion dollars......on account of high risk securities and abad loans...Citi has taken diecision to split its business into tw o gropus.....Citiholdings and CitiCorp...Citi holdings will take care of riskier business while citicorp would be taking care of Banking.....

New CEO of Yahoo inc.

C.Bartz will be the new CEO of Yahoo......he is a veteran of Silicon Valley and i s known to be quite clear acut and focussed ......

Character comes out in crisis(A small article by ur humble servant)

character comes out incrisis-it has been an adage that "to test the purity of gold,u have 2 plunge it in fire.this is analogous to humans ,"greedy corporates" and "almost all indian politicians".it is in nature of hte human biengs to perform a misdeed in their worst of crisis to somehow rise above their situation.the satyam ceo mr r.raju has left for an exemplary situation for us to admire.he did something which was adhoc and would have got him out of his woes if it would not have been the unlucky knife hanging on his head.it was the time of crisis htat disturbed mr rajus conscience and digestion. on the other ahnd ,we see that in the time of crisis some mentally tough ppl exhibit abold charaacter and come out of the crisis by sticking to their principles and not violating any rules of the government and to displease their near and dear ones.such ppl are the one who have a true identity and will not let go of their self esteem whatsoever.eg mr singh and the nuclear deal(though we are still not clear whether that was a boon or a boondoggle!).but the determination shown by mr singh was incredible.similarly taking ratan tata,a man of his class could have easily snatched away the land from mamta"banter-jee",but he did not transcend the law and quickly found shelter in mr modis illaka.the above lines justify the close relation between character and crisis.

Who is this legend?

WORD POWER

Give the meanings of the following words(BE HONEST)
1.Regicide
2.obstreperous
3.sycophant
4.termagant
5.carte blanch
6.parsimony
7.adroit
8.nave
9.duress
10.juxtaposed NOTE:Answers will be posted in due course of time.

Accounting section at IIM-A

BIZ QUIZ

1.Amitabh Bachchan,Aishwarya Rai and Raj Babbar are Directors of which same business entity?
2.J.Sainsburry is whatkind of a brand?
3.Allan Border was the brand ambassador of which Indian brand?
4.In 1996,the entire West Indies team was the brand ambassador of a brand.Name it.
5.Which company made the logo"LABOUR IS NOT WORKING"?


Try answering these questions.Answers will be posted in due course of time.

BEST OF LUCK

Once in a "blue moon" creatures!

How did u fair in CAT awareness freaks??

All u smarties post ur CAT percentiles and let all know to which IIM u belong!!!!!!(Those who dint make it can also post!)Those who got calls from B-schools,watch out on the blog for tips 4 cracking the GD and personal interview.Best of luck for the exams ahead!

objectives of this blog-

sup guys!!welcome to the blog.the main reason i have made this blog is 2 get all aware and creative ppl under one roof.here we r going 2 discuss the current issues like-current affairs,stock market,brands,real estate,sports,B-schools,technical instis,movies ,novels,magazines and individual ideas and opinions.i want 2 share ideas and big-thoughts with an intelligent audience .the opinions v make after reading the news paper daily will b most welcome on the blog.basically info about the latest stuff going around in the world is awaited.ppl posting their enterprising ideas is what this blog seeks.
on the other hand v will have quizes and play word games in order 2 develope our grey matter!learning of different words will b promoted on this blog and discussions and debates will b most welcome though without creating a dissension of some sort.so.....lets start of with our journey to awareness and creativity!



NOTE:pls pardon grammatical and spelling mistakes.