Forex Reserves rise to 314 billion USD !

Inflaton, they say, is at 7.82 but it appears to be more.

India's forex reserves rise to 314 billion. India's exports of 07-08 is $ 155 billion. China's is 700.

Another disconcerting factor is the price of Crude above 130 USD. Indian Govt is considering fuel price hike. Diesel will be dearer by 5 rs and petrol by 10 rs.

Indian growth has decelerated and all experts say that 2008 will be a difficult year not only for India, but for the whole world. There are many in US who fear not a recession, but a Great Depression !

Today the Sensex fell by 257 points ! So be careful about investing and speculating in this Bear Market.

Bull & Bear Markets

- By: Anthony Green, 2008-04-23


Simply put, bull markets are movements in the stock market in which prices are rising and the consensus is that prices will continue moving upward. During this time, economic production is high, jobs are plentiful and inflation is low. Bear markets are the opposite stock prices are falling, and the view is that they will continue falling. The economy will slow down, coupled with a rise in unemployment and inflation. In either scenario, people invest as though the trend will continue. Investors who think and act as though the market will continue to rise are bullish, while those who think it will keep falling are bearish.

What Drives Bull and Bear Markets?

What causes bull and bear markets? They are partly a result of the supply and demand for securities. Investor psychology, government involvement in the economy and changes in economic activity also drive the market up or down. These forces combine to make investors bid higher or lower prices for stocks.

To qualify as a bull or bear market, a market must have been moving in its current direction (by about 20% of its value) for a sustained period. Small, short-term movements lasting days do not qualify; they may only indicate corrections or short-lived movements. Bull and bear markets signify long movements of significant proportion.

There are several well-known bulls and bears in American history. The longest-lived bull market in U.S. history is the one that began about 1991 and is still climbing. Other major bulls occurred in the 1920s, the late 1960s and the mid-1980s. However, they all ended in recessions or market crashes.

The best-known bear market in the U.S. was, of course, the Great Depression. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost roughly 90 percent of its value during the first three years of this period. There were also numerous others throughout the twentieth century, including those of 1973-74 and 1981-82.

Predicting Bull and Bear Markets

Investors turn to theories and complex calculations to try to figure out in advance when the market will scream upward or tumble downward. In reality, however, no perfect indicator has been found.

In their attempts to predict the market, economists use technical analysis. Technical analysis is the use of market data to analyze individual stocks and the market as a whole. It is based on the ideas that supply and demand determine stock prices and that prices, in turn, also reflect the moods of investors. One tool commonly used in technical analysis is the advance-decline line, which measures the difference between the number of stocks advancing in price and the number declining in price. Each day a net advance is determined by subtracting total declines from total advances.

This total, when taken over time, comprises the advance-decline line, which analysts use to forecast market trends. Generally, the A/D line moves up or down with the Dow. However, economists have noted that when the line declines while the Dow is moving upward, it indicates that the market is probably going to change direction and decline as well.

Tips to turn $1000 into $1,00,000, articles on stock market trading and investing. To get detail about the stock market and stock trading visit http://www.2stocktrading.com.

MLD to invest $4.5 b in residential projects

- By: John Parker, 2008-04-17

NEW DELHI: Mahindra Lifespace Developers (MLD), the real estate arm of $4.5-billion Mahindra Group, would invest close to Rs 800 crore in its six upcoming residential projects in Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Delhi and NCR over the next 2-3 years.

With the launch of its residential project in Faridabad recently, the company entered the real estate market of North India. The real estate firm is targeting a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore in the next five years against Rs 163 crore in 2006-07.

So far, the company has completed projects in Mumbai, Pune and Chennai and is now entering the northern region. “With the launch of Chloris, the residential project in Faridabad, we made our presence in real estate market of the North.

We are coming up with a similar project in Delhi spread over 17 acres,” said MLD CEO Pawan Malhotra. He added the company is looking at expanding into other areas of the region including Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh.

Asked about funding plans for the projects Mr Malhotra said, “We would be expanding in a phased manner. Initially, the funding would be primarily through internal accruals. It’s only when we go about de-veloping the land further, we may resort to loans and private equity.”

While work on the Faridabad project has already commenced, construction of the project in Delhi is yet to begin. Work on the two projects coming up in Mumbai and one each in Pune and Chennai are also yet to commence. Currently, MLD has a land bank of 3 million square feet for residential projects.

Published At: Indian Real Estate Blog

John Parker , the author of many articles regarding India Real Estate andIndia Real Estate Buying Selling Tips is a Realestate advisor and giving assistance to the people for indiarealestate and providing information on Real Estate Market in India.

To Make Money in the Stock Market, Follow the Stock Market

- By: Maximilian Sparrowson, 2008-04-17

Big day on the stock market yesterday...

Amid doom and gloom from everyone that can read the business section of a newspaper, International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE/IBM) reported that its earnings in the first quarter of 2008 jumped 26% to $2.32 billion. IBM even raised its earnings forecast for the year.

Another technology company, eBay, Inc. (NASDAQ/EBAY), said that it made 22% more profit in its first quarter. The stock is up 28% since mid-March.

And JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE/JPM) announced Wednesday that it was raising $6.0 billion in its biggest ever sale of preferred stock. Of course, the money will be used to shore up JPMorgan's balance sheet.

With oil prices at a record $115.00 a barrel yesterday... with home foreclosures, personal bankruptcies and defaults on loans all up sharply in the U.S., we have some very big American corporations posting excellent record-breaking profits.

What gives with the stock market?

From 2005 until the end of 2007, until I was blue in the face and until no one else would listen, my interpretation of stock market action was quite negative. While many analysts were bullish on the stock market, I took the contrarian view and was a big bear.

If we look at the S&P 500 today, it is trading at about the same level it did in 2005: An investor would have been better advised not to have invested in the general stock market during that 24-month period.

But an interesting event took place in late 2007. The stock market, and in particular the S&P 500, topped out early in the fourth quarter of 2007. After hitting a peak of 1,576.09 in October 2007, the S&P fell 20% by the first quarter of 2008.

The stock market had spoken: It had declared that the economy would get very difficult in the months ahead. And, as is always the case, the stock market was right. (As I've always said, to make money in the stock market, one needs to only follow the actions of the stock market!)

Today, the stock market is telling a different story. The S&P 500 is up 8.5% since its March lows. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up a huge 1,110 points since its January lows — a gain of 9.6%!

With this action, the stock market, as I have noted before in this column, is telling us that the economy will get better and that the worse may be behind it. And I'm going against the popular opinion again and taking the contrarian view that everything Fed Chief Ben Bernanke has done for the economy will result in the economic turnaround we need.

Yes, we'll hear more about home foreclosures and consumer loan defaults, but the stock market is telling us that the damage has already been done. And when you see record profits by IBM and eBay, when you see JPMorgan easily raising $6.0 billion, you get confirmation of the stock market's positive action and outlook.

To Make Money in the Stock Market, Follow the Stock Market
— by Michael Lombardi, CFP, MBA
Stock Market Investing Advice- Profit Confidential
Investment Newsletter - Profit Confidential

Cell Phone Industry Overview in India

- By: Phanse Ashish, 2008-04-16

A lot of water has flowed under the bridge from the time that mobiles were unheard of in India to the present where they have become almost ubiquitous. Beginning from those days, Indian subscribers paid around Rs. 16.40 for a mobile to mobile call and around Rs 32.80 for a mobile to a landline call. Today, as per recent statistics, customers pay far lesser for calls and occasional text messages that add up to around Rs 300 a month and upwards.

Now that mobiles have moved into the affordable bracket, there is a great demand for additional mobile services such as mobiles, email, stock market quotes, and astrology services, just to name a few.

A recent survey pointed to the fact that for most customers, mobile phones have become an extension of their personality. Many go a step ahead to say that mobile phones define their individuality as well.

In such a scenario, it is worthwhile to compare the growth of the mobile phone industry vis-a-vis the computer industry in India. According to recent statistics, there are nearly 300 million mobile phone subscribers as compared to just around 30 million PC’s in the country. Additionally, around 8 million subscribers are signing up every month for mobile services alone.

For most individuals, mobile phones are becoming a single point of contact for the world surrounding them covering a wide range of utilities like emailing, entertainment, and banking.

More and more people are looking out for more than just talk time on their mobiles. All this is generating a lot of enthusiasm for mobile companies. A number of serious players in this industry are looking at a range of such value added services, which have the capability to boost their bottom line.

Not only are Indians enthralled, but they started spending a considerable amount on these services too. This figure amounted to around $250 million last year. This figure is expected to reach $1.7 billion by the year 2010. This is a boon in disguise for Indian cellular operators who are seriously looking forward to enhance their revenues. Currently, nearly 80% of the revenues come from services like ring tones and SMS. This makes India the second largest mobile market on earth.

The young mobile savvy generation currently feels less privileged in nearly every sector. And that’s precisely what is fuelling the growth in mobile services across the country. As the market expands but fulfilling the needs of mobile users by providing them attractive services, mobile phones are becoming a new vehicle for reaching out to the mobile generation.

Mobile content providers also visualise a big jump in their services. These include many global companies such as Google, Yahoo and MSN, which have signed up with many Indian operators like Airtel, Bharti, Vodafone, Tata, and Reliance Communications. Together, they offer a host of services based on the local and regional markets in their area of operation.

The Indian mobile scenario seems to be all set for the next stage – expansion and consolidation, but there are a few complications as well. Not all users can afford costlier services beyond messaging and talk time. What is expected is increase in the already growing user base so such services can become affordable to one and all in the long run.

Infibeam.com is an exciting new online destination and community that focuses on selling latest Mobile Phones, cars and bikes at guaranteed lowest price.

The Fastest Growing Economy in the World

- By: Maximilian Sparrowson, 2008-04-16


Surprising analysts, who had expected China's economy to start slowing this year like the economies of other countries, China reported yesterday that its economy grew by 10.6% in the first quarter of 2008.

China's economy has now grown by more than 10% in each of nine consecutive quarters. Many economists predict that 2008 will be the year China surpasses Germany as the world's third largest economy... a big feat for a country whose output per citizen is a mere $2,500 per annum.

Economic growth in China continues to be unprecedented. The country just revised its 2007 GDP, saying that its economy expanded by 11.9% in 2007, which is higher than the 11.4% GDP growth previously announced. As for continued investment, factory and property spending in urban areas shot up 26% in the quarter ended March 31, 2008.

China's economic growth has been so strong that, again yesterday, the country's central bank increased the percentage of deposits that general banks and lenders must set aside as reserves to a new record 16%.

How does China's growth affect us investors here in North America?

To cool the economy in China, the government there will need to raise interest rates further, allowing the country's currency, the yuan, to increase in value against other world currencies -- the U.S. dollar, in particular.

A higher yuan will result in higher prices for Americans buying cheap imported Chinese goods. Will we really see a difference in the prices of electronics and other goods we import from China? Not really. Even as the yuan increases, technological advancements in Chinese factories will make any increase in the cost of imported goods to North American negligible.

The big problem that I see is the continued accumulation of U.S. dollars by China. Time goes by quickly and, not too far down the road, China will be sitting on $2.0 trillion in U.S. dollars. What will it do with that money? Will China at some point want something other than U.S. dollars for the goods its ships to the U.S.?

From an economist's point of view, too much supply and not enough demand brings prices down. And that is exactly what is happening with the U.S. dollar. The long-term trend of a falling U.S. dollar (not just in yuan, but in euros, pounds and gold) is far from over. From a consumer's point of view, a lower priced dollar will make travel outside the U.S. more expensive.

As investors, since 2003, I have been suggesting that there is an opportunity for us to buy shares of quality foreign companies in non-denominated U.S. dollars. That strategy has proved itself well and profitably. I also believe that it still to be a prudent strategy, especially for investors looking at quality foreign gold stocks.

The Fastest Growing Economy in the World
— by Michael Lombardi, CFP, MBA
Stock Market Investing Advice- Profit Confidential
Investment Newsletter - Profit Confidential

Recession, not yet,says Soros !

US not yet in recession, says George Soros.

He advises investors to go short in US & European stocks and go long in China, India and Gulf stocks !

Now gold has declined to $907 per ounce. It is better to buy Gold when it is down and sell it when it is high.

Buy cheap, sell dear !

US not in recession, says Soros

US is not in recession, says George Soros.

Inflation is on the high in both US and India. In India, it has crossed 7% and this has made the Sensex go down by a furthur 500 points. The Sensex is at 15.3 K ! What a fall from the Zenith of 21232 !

Jupiter in Sagittarius is the villain of the piece. He will move only in Dec 9, to Capricorn. So investors, beware !

Sensex crashes 530 points; to 15840 !

Adverse Jupiter strikes again and the Sensex crashes !

The Dow dropped on 28th, as a profit warning from J C Penney raised concerns about slowing consumer spending. Credit related problems plagued the US markets.

In India, ICAI asked companies to disclose losses incurred due to derivatives trade, in order to make the new accounting standard - the AS 30 - mandatory from 1 Apr 2011. This may hit the FY2008 of Indian firms.

IT pivotals took a beating, on fears that the recesion in the US may affect their performance. Infy lost 6.74% and slumped to 1423, Satyam to 391, Wipro to 440 and TCS to 814 !

Banking scrips also declined. ICICI Bank slumped to 790, HDFC Bank to 1316 and SBI to 1628.

Asian markets were trading lower today. Hang Seng declined to 22840, Nikkei to 12525 and Shanghai Composite to 3586 !

Cairns India net loss at 25 cr. Infy falls to 1425. Cairns to 215. HCL Tech to 257. HDFC Bank to 1337.

Jupiter moves to Capricorn on 9th December. So investors, beware !

Recession in US till mid 2009 !

Last recession in the US was in 1980 and it lasted for 16 months.

History repeats itself and this recession ( Warren Buffet says we are already in Recession ) may last till mid 2009.

As per Bell's interconnectedness theorem, all parts are interconnected in Physics. Same Law when applied to markets, means that all markets are interconnected. More so in a globalising scenario.

Now the Impulse Phase appears to be Bearish and the Corrective Phase appears to be the pullback in the Bear Phase. People make money during the Impulse Phase and lose it during the Corrective Phase. ( Yesterday I met a man who made 300,000 rupees during Boom. He did not sell and held on and all his profit had been wiped out now ).

If Dow Jones Theory is true, then this Downtide can have serious repercussions. All markets will be affected.

Inflation in US and India is alarming.

Oil and Gold are up. Real Estate has been affected in US but is booming in India, at the moment.

So let us brace ourselves for Recession. A global recession. Let us hope that this will not be a global Depression !

Homo Animal Irrationale ! ( Man is an Irrational Animal )

Man is an irrational animal - said Russell. How correct he was ! Look at the stock markets. Dont they exhibit irrational behaviour.?

Secondary markets taken in isolation and as a closed system is basically a zero sum game. That is, if you buy ten stocks, you make profit in five and loss in five and the ledger shows zero profit !

Now human beings, as defined by Russel, are irrational. It is human being who is responsible for the Uptide of the Dow and the Sensex. Bullish sentiment drives the market up. Look at the Sensex. It moved from 2900 to 21232 ! Now it is the Downtide.

A boom means that the economy has extended itself, and a recession becomes due in order to restore it to its original balance. During boom, all people look at the market through rose-tainted glasses, thinking that the boom will last forever. They forget that

If Spring comes, can Winter be far behind !

It is the Uptide, triggered by a good GDP, FII investment, improving forex reserves ( now at $ 300 billion ) which catapulted the Sensex to 21232 ! As per the Dow Jones Theory, higher levels cannot be sustained. Winter cannot be far behind !

During boom, all sorts of bullish news reach the market. Once recession starts, bearing news shall start pouring in. Like ICICI making a 1000 crore loss and L & T incurring a 92 crore loss. These are major scrips and well, you can imagine the investor sentiment on hearing these news. Added to such news are the subprime crisis in the US, the US economy moving towards recession & the oil price almost $ 110 per barrel !

So, let us face it, we are now witnessing a Downtide. The market is sentimental, not fundamental. Irrational beings drove the Sensex upto 21232 ! Let us see to which level they will pull the Sensex down !

The Dow Jones Theory states that the Primary Movement is all important. The Impulse Phase is now bearish. People make money during the Impulse Phase and lose it during the Corrective Phase.

Our advice is to lie low, and take the 9% bank interest. This is not the ideal time to invest in the Shock Market !

Bear Strategies -

By: Jonathan Swift, 2008-03-21

Bear Strategies



Many people believe that US will inevitably fall into recession levels; that basically means that no matter which stocks you own, they will probably go down, as it has happened over the last 3 months.

Bear Strategies

Many people believe that US will inevitably fall into recession levels; that basically means that no matter which stocks you own, they will probably go down, as it has happened over the last 3 months.

Microsoft, the software giant, has fallen 30%. Google, decreased its value from 747 to 430, almost 50%! In general, the Dow Jones Index, Nasdaq and S&P deceased an average of 30% in only three months.

If you think the worst hasn´t yet arrive, the following are excellent options for making money in bear markets.

1- ETF´s that replicate the inverse of some sectors

• SKF, ultra short financials, seeks for results that are as twice as the inverse of the Dow Jones US Financial Index

• QID, ultrashort against nasdaq 100

• DOG, ultrashort against Dow Jones

• REW, ultrashort against the tech sector

My personal favorites are SKF and REW, since recession generally affects in a deeper way to financials and tech stocks. Nevertheless, they are subject to intense volatility.

2- Depreciation of the Dollar and Commodities
• FXE, reflects the price of the euro. If the dollar depreciates against the euro, this index will gain
• FXF, swiss franc versus dollar
• FXY, yen versus dollar
• DIG, ultra oil and gas, gains value as natural gas and oil increase its value
• GLD, simillar to DIG but with Gold
The first three belong to the world bonds family, as they are known, and are non-diversified.

Recession generally involves that commodities decrease it´s values, so this isn´t the best choice for it. But they function very well because investors tend to place their money in commodities replacing stocks. Besides, if the FED continues to lower the rates, it is very likely for the past world bonds to gain value.

3- Finally, between my favorite bear strategies, but less aggressive than the previous options, buying anti-cyclical stocks is a valid option. These tend to be the beverage, health, pharmaceutical and consumer sector.

• JNJ. Johnson & Johnson is a very solid company, with net cash (more cash than debts), increasing dividends and excellent management.

• KO. Coca Cola, has a very good past performance, with similar characteristics to JNJ. Both of them are some on the options that guru Warren Buffet, actually the richest man on Earth, decided to invest in.

• PHG. Philips, has an incredible PER of just 6,5 and is growing fastly.
There are some more examples, but I stated only three nice anticyclical stocks.
Therefore, investors should know that they can make many no matter if we are in a bear or bull market.

Bear Strategies Quick Stock Analysis

What Is A Mutual Fund? Reduce Risk And Maximize Returns

- By: Noel Swanson, 2008-03-18

Trust me, you will do much worse if your not investing in a mutual fund. It certainly will not make you the next Warren Buffet, but if you are looking for a safe investment, you have selected the right investment vehicle. More importantly, once you know what a mutual fund is, you will earn greater returns as you position yourself to diversify your investment portfolio.

Gaining Popularity

Mutual funds have gained popularity in the recent past as more novice investors are familiarizing themselves with what is a mutual fund. Today, most investors who know just about anything about investing have made investments in mutual funds because it is easy and you really do not need to be an expert on as to what is a mutual fund to invest your money wisely.

In learning what a mutual fund is, you will discover it has four advantages. They allow you to professional manage you money, they provide liquidity, they minimize risk through diversification, and the fees for investing are low.

When you start learning about mutual funds you will realize that professional fund managers manage the funds. Their objectives are to keep investing your money to yield the greatest return. What's more, you will realize that paying for such professional expert is expensive and you are getting the advise at very low fees. More importantly, mutual funds will offer you liquidity. You will be able to sell and buy anytime you want, as long as the stock market is open. That, is could you imagine selling a peace of real estate? How liquid is that?

As you learn more about what a mutual fund is, you will be excited at the level of diversification involved. Mutual funds are well diversified because they are invested in hundreds of stocks, money markets, and bonds. As you can well imagine, how could one person invest in all of this to achieve the level of diversification. You can't hence, the reason mutual funds are a great investment vehicle. Furthermore, because mutual funds get the advantage of large scale investments, their fees are low and range between two and three percent.

Before you invest in mutual funds, make sure you check John Caldwell's excellent free articles on advantages of mutual funds

Advantages Of Mutual Funds: You Must Know Them

- By: Noel Swanson, 2008-03-18


If you are wondering why this funds are increasing in popularity, the simply answer is investors are understanding the advantages of mutual funds. There are numerous advantages and this article will focus on five advantages.

Diversification

What is diversification? Simply, it is mixing different investments within one investment portfolio. More over, by investing in stocks in different markets and offsetting them with bonds and money market instruments , you can considerably minimize the performance risk of any security within your investment portfolio.

By purchasing a mutual fund you are directly diversifying your assets portfolio without having to commit lots of money to reach diversification

Economies of Scale

What is economies of scale? Simply put, the more of one item you by at a store the cheaper it becomes per unit. For example, if you were to buy one bottled water at a dispensing machine, it would cost you more if your were to buy a dozen bottled water at the super market. The same hold true when buying securities. For this reason, Mutual Fund companies are able to purchase large amount of securities, hence reducing their transaction costs. This results in a much cheaper transaction cost for the investor when buying mutual funds.

Divisibility

As an investor, it is quite hard for me to buy a lot of stocks with a couple hundred dollars. Because mutual funds come in smaller denominations, it is easier for me to start investing with minimum amount of money.

Liquidity

This one is easy, your are able to buy and sell your mutual funds as fast as you want, as long as the stock markets are open. Could you imagine trying to sell your real estate property quickly? I can't. Buying and selling your mutual funds is fast.

Professional Management

Mutual funds are managed by professional money managers. These professionals possess lots of experience and someone has done considerable research on the fund you are about to invest in. As a result, you do not have to invest any time in the research. More over, these professionals are here to ensure you are maximizing your return while minimizing your risk.

Conclusion

The advantages of mutual funds make this investment vehicle an attractive one, hence the reason they have increased in popularity. Novice to expert investors should consider including mutual fund investment as part of their investment portfolio. This will ensure you are well diversified and will minimize your risk.

The more you can learn about mutual funds the greater your understanding will grasp the advantages of mutual funds. Focus on mutual funds and you will see a steady growth in your investment portfolio.

Before you invest in mutual funds, make sure you check John Caldwell's excellent free articles on mutual funds basics

Sensex below 15 K, as it crashes 700 points !

We were talking about being washed away by the Downtide and how correct we were.

The Sensex is below 15 K and this has jolted many.

Our advice is this. This is the Downtide of Dow Jones Theory.

The Impulse Phase was bullish so far, as the Sensex touched 21 K. Not it is the Downtide or rather the Impulse Phase is now the Bear Phase.

There may be pullbacks and if the Sensex goes up by more than 1000 points, sell off and lie low for the time being !

Middle class in India has arrived

July 02, 2005


The middle class in India has the sense that it is coming into its own; that it has acquired the numerical strength (300 million and more, if you use a fairly loose definition) to make the Indian market matter even in a global context; and to demand that their issues be addressed when elections come round.

The cacophony on television, the visible shift in focus of the general newspapers (out with coverage of city slums, in with coverage of shopping malls), the rush to start new airlines and the obvious international interest in India, all say the same thing: the middle class in India has arrived.

Didn't Indian airline companies account for close to half of all the new Airbuses ordered at the Paris air show? QED.

Is it that open and shut, or is there room for doubt? Looking at how the political system does not respond to the need for basics (like clean water and reliable power) would straightaway belie the claim that the middle class has political clout, but what of the other posers?

As always, the NCAER (or National Council of Applied Economic Research) survey of households gives us interesting answers to these vital questions.

It is a shock to discover, for instance, that despite the evident emergence of a strong middle class, barely 10 per cent of all households have life insurance cover--traditionally the first form of savings for anyone with a reliable income flow and with dependants.

And medical insurance is available for barely 1 per cent of all households!

There is worse to come. Only 2 per cent of households have credit cards (so much, then, for the vaunted advent of plastic money). Even that basic item in a middle-class household, the refrigerator, exists in only a sixth of all households in the country (probably because only a third of rural households have a domestic electric connection!).

It might be as much of a surprise to know that half of all the TV sets sold in the country are either black and white, or small (i.e. 14-inch) colour sets.

The only items of truly mass consumption remain daily consumables like cooking oil and washing and toilet soaps (which should really be classified as necessities, not options), followed some way behind by shampoos.

Among consumer durables, the ones used most often are not the stuff of contemporary middle class legend, and are either table/ceiling fans or bicycles. The first category sells about 37 million each year, the second about 25 million.

In other words, what appears a normal lifestyle to the average city youngster working in an office is completely abnormal for the majority, in both towns and cities (just as it is completely abnormal to speak and write in English -- only about 6 per cent do that).

From this, it is a short leap to yielding to the obvious appeal of CK Prahalad's thesis, that your "fortune lies at the bottom of the pyramid"; in other words, if you want to make big bucks in the Indian market, you had better serve customers with really low-cost goods and services.

Certainly, the evidence of the mobile phone industry and of cable TV bears this out; both expect their customers to pay no more than a few hundred rupees every month, for a fairy nominal cost, and they add enormously to the quality of life and to productivity.

The NCAER projections till the end of the decade do show, however, that for almost any category of product the market will double in terms of annual sales.

Some will do even better, while others will grow slowly. So most businesses can be said to have a good future if they can find their customers. That means more airports, more flights, many more cars. . . the full works.

That's because the size of the middle class itself will grow sharply in the coming years. But while there will be plenty of reason to celebrate the Indian party, the NCAER projections show that even in 2009-10 the middle class will be an island in a larger ocean of non-consuming classes.

Time we got a little impatient with the pace of change and economic reform?

Article Source : Rediff.com

The Downtide washes away all !

DLF has come down to 600 !

As we have remarked in our columns, the Downtide is as fierce as the Uptide !

The Bear Phase, the Downtide, has already started in the Indian stock markets. Investors and speculators should exercise caution and prudence while investing.

Remember, the Recession Phase is followed by a Contraction Phase.

The Dow is well below the 12 K mark. More than 200,000 houses are up for sale in US. This may signal a global recession.

All Asian indices are down.

The Downtide is dangerous indeed !

Dow Jones Theory is not wrong !

The Boom is likened to an Uptide.
The Recession is the Downtide.

Now the Sensex has fallen from a high of 21232 and it now a Downtide. The subprime in the US, the rising price of crude, India's deceleration, the rising rupee - all these are factors that led to the Downtide.

The Downtide is very dangerous. Look at Suzlon, which was languishing at 1300. Now it is less than 300 ! Look at the investors who did not sell L&T at 4200 ! Now it is at 2700, a loss of 1500 points. Or ICICI Bank, which went upto 1300. Now it is 870 odd !

One can be washed away by the Downtide. So please exercise prudence and restraint, while investing.

The Dow opened today 120 points down and is now less than 12 K.

Americans are not worried about a Recession, they are worried about a Depression !

Sensex crashes 700 points !

Bankex, Realtex, Gasex, Capital Goods ex all are down, as fears of a global recesssion following a recession in US, takes its toll of the bourses!

We were right to caution our readers about the recessionary phase gripping the market now. The reasons are not far to seek. Astrologically, it is 6th Jupiter. Financially the price of crude and the subprime crisis in the US. Over 200,000 houses are up for sale in US.

Hope the real estate market in other countries is not affected by this slowdown in the US.

Stock Market: Can You Invest Direct and General Utilities

- By: Sibusiso%20m. Maseko, 2008-03-12


If you have a favorite company, like the Walt Disney Company, Coca Cola or other brand names in the United State you may be able to implement a Direct Stock Plan to purchase stocks on a regular basis. You can review the list of stocks in your local library or check out the company you are interested in by accessing the company web site.

One advantage of a company that allows a private investor to purchase stocks directly this would allow you to set up a pay check withdrawal each pay period for the purposes of the stock plan. There are various advisory services that can assist you in locating companies that offer this direct stock purchase plan. I would suggest that you find companies you are interested in a make an inquiry with investor relations.

It will astound you the number of very good companies that will allow you to buy stocks direct by setting up a plan. The ranges of possibilities include; utility companies, fast food stocks, entertainment and retail stocks.

Utility investments

Some utility companies employ a combination of energy producing resources. Some rely on coal, hydro electrical plants and the occasional nuclear plant. Many rely on their natural gas reserves and electricity contracts with their producers to provide power to their customers. In effect the utility is a reseller of power sources.

AEG is a 17.7 billion dollar market cap company. It has been a consistent performer for over 30 years and its major institutional investors read like a who's who on Wall Street. It is better than 93 percent of all stocks listed on the S& P 500. The stock is a consistent performer and sells in the range of $40 to $51 for the last year. In November, 2006 the price was in the high $30 range, but has moved to the $40 ranges in recent months. It consistently issues a small dividend. It currently sells for $44.48 a share and should rise to its first target of $49 with ease.

Two good diversified utility companies are Integrys Energy Group stock ticker TEG and Alliant Energy that trades under the ticker LNT. There is a price difference in the companies, but both utilities are multi-billion dollar companies. Both have the blue ribbon groups of institutional investors.

Let's access more guidelines on starting a business and other business related issues through this link Business Information Guide