MONEY CENTER - ECONOMIC COMMENTARY

Is FDI in Retail the "fix-all" for the Indain economy

2011-11-29T10:49:00.000+05:30

The cabinet approved 51% FDI in multi-brand retail in the last week. The rumour mongers and spin doctors of the government have started talking as if they have taken a giant step in the direction of development of Indian Economy. Lets take a look at what are the fall outs of 51% FDI in multi brand retail. If the larger retailers really warm up to this idea and invest in or country, who will

ANNA forces a compromise

2011-08-27T22:30:00.005+05:30

The entire episode of Anna and his struggle to bring about the issue of corruption center stage has brought about some key take-aways. 1. The youth and the middle class population of India have become politically aware and they should shed their cynicism and VOTE in the next election. 2. We should not be carried away by tokenism of the politicians: like spending a night at a villager's house (

How to support the fight against Corruption

2011-06-10T15:23:00.003+05:30

Let us all pledge to do our bit to free India from the clutches of Corruption and Black Money by taking these simple but very DIFFICULT STEPS1. Ask for a bill on every purchase and pay the Sales Tax.2. Give Receipts on every sale and pay the VAT/Sales Tax3. Declare the correct amount on every sale or purchase of Land and Flat and Pay the registration tax that is applicable.4. Never demand or pay

wither markets

2011-01-18T21:27:00.003+05:30

Let's look at what's the problem with the markets. Nifty went to about 5650 and bounced back today. I think this is just a small bounce. Nifty is headed towards 5500 before it decides which way to go. In fact, I heard a nice joke the other day. Somebody said that Nifty has made a Ghazini pattern. It forgets where it is going after every fifteen minutes. There is a lot of bad news for the Nifty to

NEWARKED

2010-11-24T10:43:00.004+05:30

Obama visit has triggered off the fall in the markets as expected. If India is to create jobs for Americans we can now coin a word called "newarked".Newarked: means you just lost your job to a Newyorker/ American. you can also say that your job was newarked, meaning it was given off to an American.Antonym of Newarked: Bangalored.Anyway, now that Obama has come and gone, let's get back to business

Stray Thoughts on Financial Ratios

2010-09-02T17:04:00.004+05:30

Whenever we talk of financial ratios, some students of finance who read only text books come up with weird rules and standards. On Monday I was conducting a viva-voce exam for some students. Most of the summer projects were ratio analysis of the company that they had worked in as interns. First of all ratio analysis is not a two month activity, at best it can be a three hour activity or an

Economy is fine says the Economic Advisor.. As usual I beg to disagree..

2010-07-24T12:19:00.003+05:30

The Economic advisor to the prime minister says the economy is doing fine and we can expect a growth rate of 8.5% this year. Good News.As always I am a naysayer and my only grouse is that we have inflation running at an average of 10% for the last four quarters and with nominal interest rates lower than the inflation rates we have already run into negative real interest rate territory for the

Moneycentre sample survey

2010-07-14T10:34:00.001+05:30

"If it isn't broken dont fix it" says RBI

2009-10-28T10:15:00.004+05:30

That seems to be the mantra from our venerable Governor of the RBI. this credit policy is just a tweak with respect to raising the SLR to 25%. All the other rates have been maintained at the same level. RBI's review has pared down the GDP growth outlook of 6%.The stimulation of the economy on the back of the financial crisis in the form of eased liquidity remains nearly constant. The powers that

Annual Credit Policy and its effects.

2009-07-29T12:09:00.007+05:30

The Reserve Bank of India has come out with its annual policy document which we popularly refer to as the credit policy. This time theRBI has maintained the bank rate at 6.0% repo at 4.75% and reverse repo at 3.25%. It has also maintained the CRR at 5% of the net time deposits. The GDP forecast has been pegged at 6% and inflation is being expected to hover at 5%. RBI also expects that the gross

India Budget 2009

2009-07-06T12:56:00.008+05:30

If there can be a perfect example for a damp squib, this is it! my earlier post I had opened a discussion on the role of media in creating a hype about the union budget and had also mentioned what can be realistic expectation of the new regime.I was spot-on, in saying that no fireworks could be expected.Now let see some of the important budget provisions and find out what they mean for you, me

Will the FM deliver?

2009-06-30T10:17:00.007+05:30

If you happen to watch the business channels these days, all of them want to sensationalise and make news of something there is no news about. these news channels survive on sensationalising the banal. That's exactly the thing they are doing with the upcoming budget. they have already labeled it as the "Big B" (The original Big B must be squirming at the thought of this unlikely and banal

New Government Old Politics

2009-06-09T17:32:00.004+05:30

I am writing this after a long time. In the meanwhile as the powers that be changed and exchanged their jobs, me too changed the job (you can find out about it on my profile). The last month has proved it again that as more things change, they remain the same. The Loksabha saw the first skirmish of what was to come in the next five years. DMK and UPA do not seem to see eye to eye on the

TWO CIRCUITS AND A SCAM

2009-05-19T09:44:00.006+05:30

The Indian stock markets hit two circuits and were closed for the day. It was an unprecedented thing that happened.A decisive win for the UPA has brought back the bulls in the market with a long list of wishes.1. Easing of FDI norms for Insurance sector.2. Reform in the banking sector (especially on the labour laws side)3. Disinvestment from public sector undertakings to make up for the deficit

Foot in the mouth disease affects me

2009-05-16T16:14:00.004+05:30

The UPA has won. It just needs either SP or BSP to lend a hand to the HAND. Dr. Singh will be KING again and keep the seat warm for the heir apparent. Now the question shifts to who will handle which portfolio? PC will have to reboot through the Rajya Sabha. Laluji has a strength of TWO so he has no hopes of making it to the cabinet.What about the markets? Nifty will be on a new Government

Waiting to Exhale

2009-05-15T10:00:00.005+05:30

The Great Indian Election Drama of opposing postures is coming to an end tomorrow. All those who thought that the third front and the UPA are different will be in for a rude shock when they will muster all their might to come to power and bury their so called differences under the carpet of secularism.If you notice the election campaign this year, there were four formations.1. The United

The NEMESIS of Technical analysts!

2009-04-17T09:51:00.003+05:30

Technical analysts in the stock markets and other financial markets rely on past data and charts made out of past data. They find patterns in these charts and follow them to such an extent that they believe that these patterns are gospel truth. Actually these charts are a reflection of the "mass psychology" or the collective mind of the players in the stock markets. There is a proliferation of

Have the Bulls come back to pasture?

2009-03-25T11:27:00.004+05:30

There have been considerable amount of articles, views and opinions by the experts, economists and others about the onset of the bull market. Let us examine the economic variables and try to reach a conclusion. Mr. Obama and his team of firefighters are working 24/7 to douse the fire that caused the financial meltdown. Other economies of the world seem to have come to terms with the large scale

WOW what a business model

2009-02-24T15:33:00.002+05:30

US of A the big apple is in the doldrums. Europe has followed it in the same lane.people are losing jobs, have already turned over their houses to mortgages and now are queueing up for doles. Where is growth coming from? India and China. India is growing at 6%+ and is hoping to keep this pace for the next few years. So here is a country where per capita income is growing (slowly and steadily). A

INTERIM... INDIA

2009-02-17T11:47:00.005+05:30

We are living history. This must be the only time in the history of India when we have a minister who is PM, FM and External Affairs Minister-all-rolled-into-one. Of course there is supervision by an extra constitutional authority against whom no one in India has the guts to talk. Are we a democracy? are we not a banana republic? are we not a dictatorship? we need to answer these questions as

DOLE Time in US and VOTE Time in India

2009-02-07T12:23:00.005+05:30

Stimulus packages of the recent times have started to have the "Look and Feel" of socialism. unemployment compensation, food stamps and Subsidized Medical Insurance seem to be from the era of socialistic societies. This further proves the economic management cycle professed earlier. This cycle, as written earlier consists of of "Liberalization, Privatization, Globalization, Nationalization".The

State of the Economy and State of the State

2009-01-24T09:47:00.008+05:30

Inflation inched up to 5.6% in the last week, it was attributed to the truckers strike during the period of study and all the big names in the financial industry are talking about inflation easing to 2-3% in the next three months. On top of this, these big names are calling for further rate cuts and reduction in statutory ratios for banks. India does not have a Glass Steagall Act, but it is

Welcome OBAMA

2009-01-20T15:07:00.004+05:30

Today we brace ourselves to welcome the greatest event in the history of Mankind. A human being of a different colour is being sworn in as the President of a Country ravaged by discrimination on the grounds of colour. This is an unique even for one more reason, the Man who is being anointed as the President of United Sates of America also reflects true internationalism. He is born of an American

SATYAM SWAHA!!

2009-01-07T17:16:00.003+05:30

Mr. B Ramalinga Raju, resigned as the chairman of Satyam and admitted to misreporting the finances of the company. There are reports of Rs.5000 crores missing from the cash and bank balances of the company. How did the auditors price waterhouse certify the balance sheet? Did they verify the bank accounts and find out whether the deposits actually existed on 31st March?Do the auditors actually

Stimulus package completed?

2009-01-06T15:13:00.005+05:30

Remember? I had written about the stimulus package on december 4th. After that I thought that I should take a break in posting data. The entire package came in two stages and now the petrol and diesel prices cut will also come in two phases. Indian polity probably does not believe that the current slowdown is for real therefore the speed of response is that slow.All through Indian contemporary