Can't C Me

Are You An Unhappy Rat?

2010-01-25T20:58:00.003-05:00

Is being "ambitious" with respect to one's career akin to being perpetually unhappy? I think it is, at least to some degree. We all want the promotion. We all want the next level or title. We all want recognition for our hard work. We all want the bonus we deserve. We all want a BlackBerry. To do all this, We put in the extra hours in the office. We sacrifice our personal life. We are

My "New" Lenovo Laptop

2010-01-15T19:27:00.000-05:00

Dear Readers, On December 27th, 2009, I purchased a Lenovo IdeaPad Y550. On the same day I received the following message: Thank you for your purchase from Lenovo. Your order has been received and is processed. On January 10th, 2010, I received the following message: Dear valued Lenovo customer, We thank you for your recent IdeaPad Y550 purchase. Due to the overwhelming popularity

5 Things I Did While Searching for a Job in a Recession

2009-12-15T23:38:00.001-05:00

Searching for a job in the biggest recession since the Great Depression of 1930's was no mean task. I did everything possible to get a job after I voluntarily resigned from my very stable job in the Banking industry. Some people called me a fool, but that was the best thing I ever did. This was in September 2008. After that I travelled in India for four months, the highlight being my visit

Stock Options

2009-09-06T11:35:00.000-04:00

I've just discovered the world of stock options. It's an excellent way to make money in the stock market. My first trade was writing (i.e. selling) a covered call on some shares that I own. I'm finding that my philosophy regarding the capital markets has also changed. I will write more on that later.

Begin with the end in mind

2009-08-29T13:00:00.000-04:00

The following is an excerpt from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey. In your mind's eye, see yourself going to the funeral of a loved one. Picture yourself driving to the funeral parlor or chapel, parking the car, and getting out. As you walk inside the building, you notice the flowers, the soft organ music. You see the faces of friends and family you pass along the

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

2009-08-24T07:00:00.003-04:00

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a book by Stephen R. Covey. So, what are the seven habits? 1. Be Proactive- Being proactive means "as human beings, we are responsible for our own lives."- "Our behaviour is a function of our decisions, not our conditions. We can subordinate feelings to values. We have the initiative and the responsibility to make things happen." 2. Begin with the end in

Disclosure of Executive Compensation

2009-08-23T07:00:00.002-04:00

Is it a good idea for companies to disclose their CEO's compensation package? Many decades ago, the United States' Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) made it mandatory for companies to disclose what they were paying to their Chief Executive Officer (CEO). This was done in the interest of the shareholders, who collectively, are the silent owners of the company. The SEC rightly contemplated

Mark-to-Market Rules

2009-08-20T20:12:00.001-04:00

In April 2009, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) eased the mark-to-market (MTM) rules, which required companies to report on their balance sheets all their investments (financial instruments, real estate) valued at the current market price (and not the price at which they were bought, or the price at which the company hopes to sell in the future).The MTM rules have been blamed for

Sell Sensex!

2009-05-18T17:08:00.005-04:00

India's benchmark stock index, SENSEX, created history on Monday, May 18th, 2009, by shooting up 17% in a single day after the re-election of the Congress party to power.I don't think this rise is sustainable; we will see a big correction within a day or two when investors and speculators alike will start to book profits. I think it's best to sell all Indian stocks at this point; there will be

Equity Markets: Good News & Bad News

2009-05-07T19:35:00.007-04:00

I think the recession is coming to an end. Most global stock indices have rallied over 20% since bottoming out in early March. Stock markets are leading indicators of the economy and they rally well before we get confirmation that the recession is indeed over. Similarly, the markets had started dropping well before we knew we were in a recession.Among the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China)

New US Currency

2009-02-27T18:08:00.002-05:00

Given the state of the American economy, the United States Mint has issued this new one dollar bill:

Quixtar: A Multi-Level Marketing Scam

2008-09-02T19:00:00.008-04:00

After learning that one of my acquaintance was running his own business, I asked about the kind of business he was running -- just out of curiosity. I was in for a surprise. I was expecting a short-and-sweet to-the-point answer, but what I got was an hour long "information session" on Quixtar (supposedly an online shopping company). He claimed it was the solution for gaining my financial

Made In America: The "Credit Crunch"

2008-08-01T00:00:00.010-04:00

A lot has been said about the volatility of stock markets due to the "sub-prime" mortgage woes in America and the so-called "credit crunch". This has been going on for almost a year now. This is a 100% 'Made in America' problem that is affecting everyone worldwide - finally something that is not 'Made in China'!It took me a while to understand how the sub-prime loans and the credit crunch were

Bring in the Bears!

2008-07-02T23:01:00.006-04:00

I'm getting excited about the capital markets these days. I look forward to oil prices hitting new records and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping triple-digit points. The valuations are becoming increasingly attractive - especially the non-US financial institutions.All of this is possible thanks to some smart investment bankers and incompetent ratings' agencies (like Moody's), risk

Truth About Corn-Based Ethanol

2008-04-20T19:38:00.006-04:00

One of the arguments supporting the use of corn-based ethanol as fuel is that when it is used as an automotive fuel, either by itself or in an ethanol-gasoline blend, the result is less carbon monoxide and lower emissions of hydrocarbons into the air.However, the major flaw with corn-based ethanol is that the production process requires buring of 1L of petroleum to make 1L of ethanol! Thus, any

My Take on Investing and Life

2008-03-12T20:59:00.008-04:00

On Technical Analysis (TA):Nothing but mumbo-jumbo. Makes enough sense that it is easy to fall prey for it - the lure of fast money, after all, is too much for most people. I myself have tried it and failed miserably. I learned my lesson. I think if you live by TA, then you will die by TA. TA is an art, rather than a skill. Most people cannot expect to make any money using TA. See A Tale of the

Daylight Saving Time

2008-03-09T20:18:00.003-04:00

Does the environment really benefit from Daylight Saving Time? In theory, an extra hour of daylight will replace an hour of electrical light. However, for all practical purposes, more energy is conserved by moving the clock forward by one hour. Energy-hungry air-conditioners are used an hour longer by adding an extra hour of sunlight to evenings. Most of the energy comes by burning

CFA

2008-01-24T19:36:00.004-05:00

After several anxious weeks, I finally found out yesterday that I've passed the CFA Level 1 examination - in my first attempt. It feels good, especially after knowing that only 39% of all candidates who wrote the exam passed it!To the uninitiated, CFA - Chartered Financial Analyst - is a worldwide recognized designation conferred by the CFA Institute (http://www.cfainstitute.com/). It is earned

TSX-MX Merger Freebee

2007-12-10T19:32:00.002-05:00

The Toronto Stock Exchange (TMX) and Montreal Exchange (MX) announced today that they are merging to form Toronto Montreal Exchange (TMX).I had purchased shares of MX a few months ago in anticipation of this event. Given the consolidation in the world exchanges (e.g. NYSE Euronext), it was plain to me that this merger was inevitable.I thought MX would either merge with TSX or get taken over by

We're Going to America!

2007-06-28T21:37:00.002-04:00

In the US, people line up to be the "first" to get an iPhone, a Play Station 3, movie tickets of the latest installment of Star Wars or just to get into a store on Boxing Day.In Developing Nations, people line up to get food, drinking water and even their daily wages.No wonder everyone wants to come to America!

Mr. Hyde of Business

2007-06-17T11:48:00.002-04:00

The Indian government and Indian companies need to stop exploiting India's poor and vulnerable!Recently, Tata Motors announced plans to build a new factory in West Bengal. The factory is to be built on farmland. The company purchased farmland from farmers for an agreed upon amount. The poor, and mostly uneducated, farmers now believe they were cheated in the transaction (i.e., not given a fair

Full Disclosure

2007-06-15T20:17:00.001-04:00

Here are the securities that I currently hold, or have held in the past, in my personal investing portfolio as at Friday, June 15th, 2007.Company NameCountryTotal Dividend Return (%)Total Unrealized Return (%)Annualized Return (%)Canadian Imperial Bank of CommerceCanada7.0147.7318.38China Petroleum & Chemical CorporationChina6.95165.7653.23ICICI Bank Ltd.India1.57104.49103.30Telefonos de

Executive Compensation

2007-03-01T23:09:00.000-05:00

Ever wonder why most companies pay executives (i.e. CEO, CFO, COO etc.) in stock options rather than cash?The annual base salary of a CEO of a large U.S. company could be $800,000 "only", but he may end up receiving stock options worth $10,000,000! The companies normally state that the stock options are an incentive to the executives to work well (since the stock options are not exercisable until

Can't C Me is Still Alive!

2006-12-31T02:04:00.000-05:00

Haven't posted anything in a while now. Will post something soon! I'm happy to say that my annualized rate of return so far has been over 45%. I only made a couple of purchases in 2006 and no sales. Simply holding on and getting the dividends. Value investing is, no doubt, working. Remember, don't gamble your money in the stock market - invest it.Happy New Year! Happy investing in 2007!

Balance Sheet Analysis: A Better Approach to Investing

2006-07-02T21:23:00.003-04:00

In my previous post I talk about all the things that are wrong with using Technical Analysis for making investments. In this post I will talk about what I strongly feel is a better approach to investing - investing based on Balance Sheet analysis. A key difference between Technical Analysis and Balance Sheet analysis is that the former uses the past performance of the share price to determine