On
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Smoking Ban up in smoke?
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Some facts on grids!!!
A cluster is a type of parallel and distributed system, which consists of a collection of inter-connected stand-alone computers working together as a single integrated computing resource.
A Grid is a type of parallel and distributed system that enables the sharing, selection, and aggregation of geographically distributed ‘autonomous’ resources dynamically at runtime depending on their availability, capability, performance, cost, and users' quality-of-service requirements.
A Cloud is a type of parallel and distributed system consisting of a collection of inter-connected and virtualized computers that are dynamically provisioned and presented as one or more unified computing resources based on service-level agreements established through negotiation between the service provider and consumers.
At a cursory glance, Clouds appear to be a combination of clusters and Grids. However, this is not the case.
Clouds are clearly next-generation data centers with nodes “virtualized” through hyper visor technologies such as VMs, dynamically “provisioned” on demand as a personalized resource collection to meet a specific service-level agreement, which is established through a “negotiation” and accessible as a composable service via Web Service technologies such as SOAP and REST.
Buffett’s first and last biography
For a tribe that calls itself ‘Value Investors’, this is nothing but an investing world equivalent of ‘Harry Potter’. Infact, on second thoughts, this could be even bigger because while the wand wielding child wizard had more than a few tomes dedicated to his histrionics, this is probably the first and the last authorized biography of arguably the biggest financial wizard of our times.
We are referring to one Mr. Warren Buffett and his first authorised biography (The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life) that hit the stands yesterday. And like with most of his other endeavors, especially of the investing types, the timing could not have been more impeccable here as well. With the
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Japanese Banks in the lime Light
Ironically, while the excesses of the 1980s made the Japanese banks flounder, consequently taking them considerable time to recover from the same, it is this very fact that has more or less insulated them from the subprime malaise which has badly afflicted US and European banks. During the boom, Japan received a lot of flak for making acquisitions in the US at inflated prices, which over a period of time the Japanese banks found difficult to digest.
But the US financial system at that time was robust. The scenario has reversed now. While the credit crisis has helped Japanese banks acquire stakes in US banks at attractive prices, the health of the US financial sector is now in question. Therefore, how the Japanese banks will integrate these acquisitions assumes considerable importance given that cultures in both the countries are like chalk and cheese and the fact that the financial sector in Japan is just beginning to witness signs of revival.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
TARP falls into a trap
The US House of Representatives (Lower House of Parliament) has rejected TARP or 'Troubled Assets Relief Program' of the
Warren Buffett had recently proclaimed that the financial crisis in the
Monday, September 15, 2008
Halloween
Halloween is traditionally celebrated on October 31st. Its roots lie in the Celtic tradition of celebrating the harvest and trying to ward of the dangers of the impending winter. The evil spirits, it was feared, would disease the crops and the cattle and harm the ability of people to survive winter.
To ward of the evil spirits, it was tradition to keep a hollowed out pumpkin with a candle inside. The evil spirits, it was believed, would stay away from this lighted pumpkin. In modern days in modern homes the children go around the neighbourhood dressed to scare and say, “Boo - Trick or Treat?”
Well, Halloween has come early this year.
The evil spirits of greed and excess have made some pretty loud “Boo!” sounds and the global financial markets are in a complete state of panic.
Bear Stearns had to be rescued.
Lehman has filed a USD 631 billion bankruptcy protection.
Freddie and Fannie – owners of 30% of the total home loans in
AIG – the world’s largest insurance company – has just been given a rescue package by the
Thursday, September 11, 2008
September 11
Today, seven years ago to this date, is the day when the terrorists brought their war on American soil.
As the TV cameras telecast the visuals of the
It was, they argued, appropriate to celebrate: The Great Satan had been inflicted a body blow. It serves them right, said the sympathizers of the Taliban, as they danced in the streets. The Yankees have caused enough harm in many parts of the world and it is time that they were taught a lesson. The Yankees must leave the
One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.
An eye for an eye, said the great Mahatma, will merely make the whole world blind.
American policy has indeed been harmful in many instances. Many of us in
Well, there is a new world order now.
For decades we had a "uni-polar" world.
It may not have been a fair "umpire" though.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
The Great Indian Growth Story
Better jobs and increased salaries have improved the standard of living of people and changed the way they view things.
And the transformation is there for everybody to see..
Computers are penetrating the middle class Indian population at an astonishing rate and PC sales are at an all-time high. Air-conditioners are now considered a necessity rather than luxury.
There are large malls everywhere ...consisting of restaurants offering international cuisines, multistoried bookstores, showrooms for expensive furniture, whole shops for electronic gadgets, jewels, high-end clothing apparel, sports goods and what not.
The number of people owning cars and houses has also gone up dramatically in the last 3 years.
Nowadays, if people feel that spending money on something will make their lives more enjoyable, they do it without having second thoughts. They have extra money to spend at their discretion now!
And how has this new economic environment benefited Indian companies?
Obviously yes, that over the last 10 years, the sales and profits of BSE-30 companies has grown by about 8 times.
It is a remarkable achievement indeed.
But There Is Also A Downside To This Growth...
While the recent economic growth has been great for
Sure, economic development has generated more jobs and transformed the lives of millions.
But to meet the demands of the ever-expanding population and sustain this growth in the long run,
And this is where the problem lies.
Look...
Any person would be satisfied if he has enough power to light a bulb for reading, cooking some hot food, keeping his home cool in summer and doing other small things that electricity can do.
But even this is not happening in
What is happening actually is...
- Frequent power outages are bringing people's lives to a complete standstill.
- People can hardly plan work, meetings or any other activity anymore.
- Dinner parties are completely ruled out, so even their social life has also been affected severely.
- Students can't study after they come from school due to lack of power.
- Shopkeepers are forced to close shop early because of the late evening power cuts.
And these are just a few.
Imagine the plight of industries and factories which are totally dependent on electricity for their functioning.
To be frank, the problem is so bad I could go on with this forever.
You and I may live in a city where the problem is not so severe. That doesn't mean the problem does not exist.
This problem does exist and it's as real as it can get.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Earn attractive returns from stocks without taking big risks
Are you the kind of person who loves to earn attractive returns from stocks without taking big risks?
If yes, then you’ll definitely want to hear what I’ve got to say.
You see, I recently identified a remarkable investment opportunity in the Power sector - one that could deliver returns in excess of 100% over the next few years.
There’s huge demand in this sector, and it’s literally growing up by the day. So it’s a great opportunity for you to make money.
Additionally, the stock prices of companies best placed to benefit from this demand have crashed. So if you act quickly, you can also get these "Blue-chip" stocks for dirt-cheap.
Millions of Indians across
This is only the beginning. The worst is yet to come.
You see,
According to a report,
Meeting this demand will require a huge investment...which means this is a great opportunity for you to make money.
Yes! A lot of money is going to be spent in this sector in the coming years.
To begin with, a spending of a couple hundred billion dollars has been proposed to improve the infrastructure in the power sector, in areas ranging from setting up power plants to delivering this power to the people properly.
There are only a handful of companies that are big enough to take on this kind of work and benefit directly from the increase in spending.
These are all well-managed companies which have been doing well... and in my view will continue to do well over the long-term.
When shares of such companies are available at attractive prices, why take unnecessary risks to earn extraordinary returns?
Buy these stocks and earn attractive returns easily without taking big risks. So try to grab them at the earliest.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Rupee ?
Influenced by the rising strength of the dollar, the Indian rupee has been on a depreciating trend since the start of the year. Infact, the rupee fell to 44.88 a dollar, the lowest level in almost 21 months on speculation that oil importers were buying dollars as crude fell toward US$ 100 a barrel. Also contributing to the Indian currency’s decline has been the weakness in the stock market, as foreign investors choose to exit from the same on concerns of a global meltdown.
Interestingly, as per reports in a leading business daily, exporters who were trying to sell dollars at 40/US$ have chosen to stay on the sidelines when the rupee is just a hair’s breadth away from breaching the 45/US$ mark. The RBI, which actively intervenes in the forex market, has been subdued so far. Unless the fundamentals, which have led to a weakening rupee, drastically change, the RBI is unlikely to favour a stronger rupee.