The Indian Commodity Markets

THE INDIAN COMMODITY MARKETS
The Indian Commodity markets have witnessed a multifold increase interms of the number of commodity wise transactions and commodity wise turnover. This achievement can be attributed to the
Efforts of MCX( Multi Commodity Exchange) , NCDEX (National Commodities & Derivatives Exchange) who have gone all way out to educate the investors about the commodity markets and demystifying the common myths and resurfacing the surprising realities which the commodity markets offer to its investors. An insight into the commodity markets can unleash the advantages and immense profit potential of commodities over stocks and other investment avenues.
MCX and NCDEX are the face of the Indian Commodity Exchanges while the FMC( Forward Markets Commission) is the watchdog which regulates the national and regional exchanges in India.
MCX and NCDEX offer commodity derivatives over a range of commodities which can be classified as follows-
 BULLION : Gold, Silver, Platinum
 BASE METALS : Nickel, Tin, Copper, Zinc, Aluminum, Lead
 FERROUS METALS : Steel Long
 CEREALS : Maize, Barley
 SPICES : Pepper, Red Chilli, Jeera, Turmeric, Cardamom
 ENERGY & GAS : Crude Oil, Brent Crude Oil, Natural Gas
 OIL & OIL SEEDS : Castor Seeds, Soy Seeds, RM Seed, Refined Soya oil, CPO
 FIBRE : Kapas, Cotton
 PULSES : Chana
 PLANTATIONS : Rubber, Jute, Coffee
 OTHERS : Guar Seed, Gur, Guargum, Mentha Oil, Potato

The Commodity Derivatives available in India are Futures and Forwards.
Futures Contracts are exchange traded where as Forward Contracts are over the counter traded. Futures Contracts are standardized in the form of a Fixed Quantity and Quality Specifications , Price movements can be monitored Any deviation from the aforesaid Quality specifications will attract a penalty where as Forwards do not have any standard Quantity and Quality specifications. Futures are safe as far as the promise of delivery and payment is concerned as Future Contracts are exchange traded, Forwards involve plenty of risk in the form of payments default or delivery default.
Future Contracts are financial instruments which help in the price discovery and Price risk management of various commodities.
Ex of Price Discovery - If a Farmer knows that he is going to produce an X crop in the next 3 months, He can enter into a Futures contract promising to sell it at the prices prevailing in the Exchange on the day of entering into the contract. Once he knows that he is going to get a specific price for his produce he can concentrate on cost trimming and thus maximize his profits. If Price of the crop falls later he stands to gain as he has already locked in a price for his produce, If the Price rises he stands to lose .
Ex of Price Risk management- If a trader knows that he needs a metric tonne of a commodity in the next 2 months, He can enter into a Futures Contract to buy that commodity at the prevailing price on the day of buying a futures position. He thus could lock a price for his requirements, If the price of that commodity increases later he stands to gain , If the price of the commodity falls he stands to lose. The advantage of the contract being an assured delivery of the commodity.


The participants of the Commodity Markets can be classified as:
1.Hedgers - Participants who take positions to offset the possible losses or minimize the possible losses.
2.Speculators- Participants who take positions in anticipation of making profits owing to price swings.
3.Arbitrageurs – Participants who try to capitalize the price variations in different markets.
4. Traders (Includes Retail Investors) – Paticipants who take positions in order to meet their business requirements and other commitments.
One needs to be aware of the following terms while dealing in commodities:
Basis – Difference between the Spot Price and the Futures Price at a given point of time. Basis is never the same , it fluctuates in tandem with Contract Expiry date.
Spread – Price Difference between 2 contracts of a particular commodity.
Intercommodity Spread- Price difference between 2 different commodities.
Contango Market – When the current month futures trade less than that of the next month futures, its known as a Contango Market.
Backwardation Market- When the current month futures trade at a premium when compared to the next months futures is known as Backwardation Market.
In the developed Nations, Commodity derivatives account for a higher trade turnover in comparison to Equity Derivatives. There is still a vast scope for commodity markets to perform better in India. Commodity futures offer better prospects than that of equity futures. This can be attributed to the following:
• Lower Margin Requirements in comparison to stocks.
• Lower price volatility in comparison to stocks.
• Probability of price manipulation is nil.
• Longer trading hours.

The Indian Government can perform its share by trying to minimize its interference and lifting its ban on essential commodities including sugar. Commodity prices are purely based on the demand supply dynamics., as commodities are traded world wide, possibility of manipulation is nil. The Govt. can educate the farmers about the commodity markets and help them in optimally utilising the commodity derivatives. Only 2% of the total transactions are converted to delivery which is not a very good indication, This is due to the high carrying costs involved, costs are high as the delivery centres are commodity specific. If the delivery centres are made available through out the nation, The Indian commodity markets will witness a spurt in volumes accompanied by a significant increase in deliverable Quantity. MCX officially confirmed 10000 crore turnover in a single day which is a phenomenal achievement for India. India has got the potential of registering a 40000 crore daily turnover ,if it can breach that levels , India can transform into “A Global Commodity Trading Hub”

Lets Hope for a Commodity Driven India.
The above articls has been penned by me and has been published in the Prometheus E-Newsletter August 2009 Edition.

Enough of Ambanism!!!

The death of Dhirubhai Ambani saw his wealth being split among his 2 sons Mukesh & Anil respectively, Many eyebrows raised over the sustainability of the legends property . The dramatic split between and the sharing of property pulled down the bellwether stock exchange - Sensex to some extent. Post splitsville the brothers managed to expand their empires respectively and here is what i dont like about the brothers.

As far as Anil is concerned I am happy for him being a graduate of kellogg's , Though i feel the property was not neutrally distributed between him and his elder brother , This guy has made magnificient strides in expanding the ADAG Empire much to the delight of the investors. His concern for his investors being reflected in the form of issuing bonus shares to the shareholders when Reliance Power failed to meet people's expectations of an ideal listing , Though his move might have diluted the price of the shares, Its likely to be worthy in the long run.
But what i dont like about him is his over enthusiasm in exploring and exploiting new ventures , ADAG owned Reliance retail has ventured into Reliance Jewellery, Reliance Footprints, Reliance Fresh, Reliance Toys, Reliance personal care (Grooming), Reliance Electronics, his over ambitious ADLABS films along with its ever expanding ADLAB Theatre which has the dubious distinction of providing the most uncomfortable seating experiences ever.I wonder or for that matter i m just waiting for ADLABS to be closed down. What this gentleman needs to know is that its the profitability of his moves which matter and not mere venturing into different businesses. His expansionary tendencies have already provoked the likes of people who are into those kind of similar business. His personal Grooming centres met with nasty protests of the few estabished barbers nationwide. Its high time the established industrialists like TATA , BIRLA, AMBANIS etc venture into unsought or other unexplored ventures rather than trying to cut the throats of the local kirana merchants, vegetable vendors, local establishments, barbers etc who in most cases happen to be the stakeholders in the Business houses like Reliance,TATA, BIRLA etc.

Ex- I may be an investor in Reliance, But i personally wont like Reliance to come up with a Textile Retail as it might threaten my Textile Outlet in the state. Big Players with their exceptionally vast bargaining power pose a grave threat to the local players.

Believe me there are n no. of businesses which fresh enterpreneurs cannot dare to enter immediately , For example, Reliance could have ventured into an Aviation - MRO ( Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul) venture ,India still doesnt have an MRO Of its own in India , Aviation Manufacturing venture, Ship Building Venture, Power sector still falls short of actual demand, this investment could have used for capacity enhancement. Power through Solar Energy is much more rewarding,It has got a vast potential but yet it has not been implemeted , EMRI - Emergency management research institute which has been widelyspread through out Andhra Pradesh has become a big hit, This can be implemented nation wide.India is still backward in per capita productivity per acre, there is a serious shortage in supply of fertilizers, There is a serious infrastructure gap which is one of the reasons for declining agri trends in India, Big palyers can work on this. Acute shortage of rainfall has affected the crop produce, Cloud seeding programmes can be taken up , Crude constitutes a major chunk of India's import bill more oil exploration abroad can prove beneficial to the nation as a whole. Tourism sector is another safe bet with prospects at its best,Extreme adventure sports is another area where the big players can bank upon to extend their offerings. There are a lot more areas offering vast scope for expansions.

On the other hand I hate Mukesh for his unusually high cost Residential tower gift to his Dear wife. I do understand that each and every person has got their right to come up with what they like , But what i hate is the fact that such a huge investment is not actually necessary for a family of 4-5. The amount could have inturn been invested for the purpose of say A Beggar rehabilitation centre which could have changed the lives of many a beggars or say could have owned up few villages,engage in a village development programs & inturn could have gifted it to his dear wifeand inturn would have revamped the iconic Status of the Ambani Empire and more importantly INDIA.

Alien v/s Predator

This is not about the run away Sci-Fi Blockbuster movie but its about the war between the titans namely Ramoji Rao and Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy who are referred to as Alien and Predator respectively. This is purely about A.P. Politics , mind it!!

Alien was never into politics, He is a business tycoon from AP. He is to Andhra Pradesh what Dhirubhai Ambani is to India , Alien is an ernstwhile enterpreneur who is into many diversified Businesses, He is into Press in the form of Eenadu Group, Media in the form of E-TV network, Finance Business in the form of Margadarsi Group, Film Making in the form of Usha Kiron Movies, Film Distributorship in the form of Mayuri Distributors , Recordings in the form of Mayuri Audio , Instant foods in the form of Priya Pickles, instant mixes etc and last but no the least for his world famous Ramoji Film City which has recently beat Hollywood to emerge as the World's largest Film Studio.

Predator on the other hand is from the land of faction - Pulivendula , Rayalseema, known for his notoriety since his college days where he possessed grenades in his room while doing his medicine ,talks were already rife that he would become the Chief Minister in the future , Predator is a bigtime factionist whose faction records have been made to put to silence, Predator is a staunch supporter of the Congress which during his time was single handedly leading almost most of the states including A.P. until the emergence of Telugu Desam Party (T.D.P) in 1980 which sweeped the polls in early 1980's. Predator's dad Y.S.Raja Reddy was killed in a bomb blast with rumours that it was his son "Predator" who planned the deathblow.

Since the emergence of TDP, Alien had been a long time follower of the TDP and its allies courtesy - Magnificient turn around in the state developmet due to a worthy candidate ruling the state, Prior to the ruling of TDP , AP was reeling under lack of development, goons ruling the streets for maamools, law and order problems, unreasonbly high number of thefts, Security collapse literally getting AP at the brink of destruction, After TDP took its positions, the development was remarkable. Eenadu group at that time was single handedly the largest circulated telugu daily in Andhra Pradesh , Viewers got an opportunity to face the realities that have been changes due to a change in leadership. Eenadu Daily acted as a weapon to showcase the effective reforms, massive developments , reinvented joy and confidence among the people and resultantly TDP ruled the state till 2004.

Predator who had been through this era know how Alien used the press and media to put TDP to favour , After an election stunt in the form of "PadaYatra" , Predator could successfully make it to the CM post of Andhra Pradesh.

Since then Predator wanted to trigger a collapse of the Alien Empire, He started off by introducing Mr. Vundavalli Arun Kumar to raise a legal glitch by stating that Margadarsi( which was doing brisk business with not even a single default in payment by it to its customers) is not entitled to accept the deposits of the public.That matter had been doing rounds almost for a yer or two , After predator failed to trigger a collapse of the empire , He asked his son Y.S.Jagan to use the same weapon which Alien used to showcase TDP's developments - Press and Media , Within no time emerged a new brand - "Saakshi" Daily news Paper which dramatically achieved an overwhelming success in the form of viewership , an achievement which no telugu daily had been able to!, If u red this newspaper, you wont find even a single word which is anti congress , even if Congressmen commit a mistake or fault, it will be reflected as a mistake of fact or that its a act of the opposition! Saakshi soon entered the Media too in the form of Saakshi T.V. and has been able to achieve a good TRP ratings too!

The war was likely to intensify post 2009 elections, If TDP could have won then Alien could have waged another grand offensive against the predator, But with Congress winning the elections and forming the government, We are waiting for the next moves of the Predator , Lets witness the whole battle and Lets see who's gonna win the war - Alien or Predator?

The Day Of The Jackals!!!!!!!

Come April, Come Elections!!! This is the scenario in India, The typical Indian Politicians - who were under cover from the last elections have resurfaced in the scorching sun to woo their so called dear voters , I was actually surprised to know that few Political parties have promised colour televisions to the voters, while few have promised sarees, money and the magical potion called "Liquor". Few others have made illegal distribution of cricket kits to children of rural areas as a prerequisite for a vote , The Regional parties have marched ahead in the form of luring Film actors to encash upon their popularity , Parties which were foes previously have suddenly turned friends as they want to "Work together for a cause".
The Politicians ventured into every street possible cajoling the innocent elderly people and people of the slums, Politicians helping the construction labourers, helping the barber in cutting the hair, sweeping the roads, hugging the poor, washing clothes of the poor for the sake of a photograph was a common sight, Its high time the innocent people realise that they are only falling prey to the cruel Jackals.

I wonder whether the anti-defection law is really relevant in the Indian Context, How many politicians have not switched the parties post elections? Not to forget is the provisions of law which states that Person with a criminal background is not entitled to participate in an election, Nobody questions Sanjay Dutt, Shibu Soren, Laloo Prasad Yadav , Y.S.Rajasekhar reddy - CM Of A.P.etc. Uddhav thackeray -the brainchild behind the anti-north Indian massacres in Mumbai is nowhere questioned.

The biggest innovation in campaigning has been the " Blame Game Politics" with the use of all the forms of media to corner the opponents , They have optimally utilised technology and usage of animation to imitate & interpret the opponent's ill motives.
Its high time the politicians realise that the people do not want colour televisions or sarees from politicians but they need a true politician who can make sense to the nation. A couple of months prior to the elections, India witnessed a multifold increase in cash flow, which inturn was attributed to the shelling out of unaccounted money of the politicians.

A Hope ushers to change the mindset of the unscrupulous politicians but only in vain.

A Breather for Mother Nature.

Curbing the emissions of the green house gases has been the utmost priority of the Industrially advanced nations, Be it the Kyoto Protocol or the G-8 Summits, Nations worldwide have been striving hard to reduce the global emission levels.
The Beijing olympics had been a major break through in achieving a short term achievement in curbing the emissions as highly polluting industries were shutdown for a period of 6 months during the olympics and prior to the olympics , during which a significant improvement in the quality of air was reported.
Economic downturn can inturn be a blessing in Disguise for "Mother Nature". The recessionary trends have resulted in causing huge dips in sales of many companies forcing most of them to shutdown. The coupling theory effect has resulted in further aggravating the situation of manufacturers in developed, developing and underdeveloped economies which were much "Export Oriented". These economies have depended upon their sales overseas to sustain their existence. Be it China, who depend much on the exports than the domestic demand or Iceland whose major source of Contribution to their GDP is the Income from Fishing, Owing to its Manufacturing Hub Image, Firms worldwide have zeroed in on China as their manufacturing Destination, Owing to the global slowdown, Many Industries have been shut down, with domestic demand failing to meet the Producer expectations , many Industries like the Steel Sector, Cement Sector, Manufacturing Sector have been facing the wrath of the slowdown.
With recession round the corner,The Aviation Industry worldwide has been witnessing excess capacity issues forcing most of the players to either reduce the frequency or flights for the same destination, The Ship Breaking Industry considered to be one of the biggest environmental disasters has witnessed a vast number of outsourcing to underdeveloped and developing economies like Bangladesh and India respectively. The Automobile Industry in the US saw the death of 3 Major Players namely Ford,GM and Chrysler , This itself is the aftermath of slump in automobile sales including the sales of the heavy weights ,followed by unforeseen increase in inventories.
The concept of carpooling has already taken centrestage in few of the developed economies providing ample growth potential for the novelty concept, If these concept can be implemented successfully worldwide, the success of carpooling can be assured owing to its economic factors, the other side of it being the scope to reduce the pollution levels drastically.
Hope the global green house gas emissions reduce drastically paving way for a greener tomorrow, Moreover Tech Firms like IBM,Philips have started to evolve the Think Green concept, Global Energy Giants like Areva of France have started to unleash the potential of renewable resources of energy like Wind,Water and Solar Energy. Emergence of Nuclear fuel as a "Pro-mankind" source of energy is evident.The emegence of Euro-IV for cars worldwide and Bharat-IV for the Indian cars is well appreciated.Quest for alternative sources of fuel is still unconquered,The concept of Carbon credits is yet to enter the Indian Terrain, Its been a big hit overseas. On & On Recession may be bad for you and me, but it is likely a "Breather for Mother Nature".

AJIT JAIN- Another Indian at the helm!

Finally,Ajit jain, who had been touted to head Berckshire Hathaway has been officially declared the successor of Mr. Warren Buffet. .Mr. Ajit is an alumni of IIT, Kharagpur. It is a remarkable achievement for Ajit, an even more remarkable achievement for India.

Mr, Jain currently heads the Insurance Business of Berckshire Hathaway.Jain placed ads in industry publications, offering to take on risk from corporations and insurers for $1 million or more in annual premiums. The cash he has amassed -- $1.7 billion a year on average since 1998 -- has helped make Jain a leading candidate among investors to be Buffett's successor.

Ajit could pull it of successfully from his competitors Joseph Brandon, who runs reinsurer General Re Corp.;Tony Nicely, chief of auto insurer Geico Corp.; Rich Santulli, who runs NetJets Inc., a specialist in business charter flights; and David Sokol, who leads utility owner MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co.

Hope Ajit amasses much more wealth for the Value Investment guru- Warren Buffet.

The Indian Warren Buffet!

Not Every Indian knows about him, India too has its own Warren Buffet - Rakesh Jhunjhunwala - Who started of as a retail investor, now owns an investment company named RARE Enterprise. First two letters of his name and the first two letters of his wife's name - Rekha have been coined together to name it as RARE Enterprises. He made it big during all the rallies, However he too witnessed the various downturns of the Indian stock Markets, The year 2006 which saw the Sensex zooming from 6000 levels to 12600 levels in a year witnessed a downturn where his portfolio became poorer by around 700 crores. There is not much news about his current portfolio especially after the deathblow of sensex post january 2008.
He is the poster boy of the Indian Stock market who successfully survived the Harshad Mehta scam and the Ketan parekh Scam which hit the stock markets on the early nineties and in the early twentieth century respectively. Like Warren Buffet he too believes in Value Investing and very long term investing. Lets wait and watch as to what's in store for him in the future.

Balanced US Dollar favoured!

A WEAK dollar policy won't help revive the US economy, and currency fluctuations are best left up to the marketplace, the head of a top American business lobby said on Friday.

The dollar has sunk to a 13-year low recently against the Japanese yen, trading at below 90 yen, a decline that could help US exporters by boosting their competitiveness in world markets. A weak dollar makes American products cheaper overseas.

Mr Thomas Donohue, president and chief executive of the US Chamber of Commerce, said that view was one-sided.

A weak dollar can hurt other parts of the economy in discouraging capital inflows and eroding the purchasing power of American businesses.

'If you leave it to the market, it goes up and down,' he told reporters, adding that governments and central banks don't need to intervene. 'If you start to manage currencies, it creates more difficulties than it creates benefits.'

Mr Donohue's visit to Japan is part of a trip to Asia, including China and South Korea, to exchange views with political and business leaders on the global recession, the fight against protectionism and efforts to boost world trade.

He said he will urge Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso to make sure Japan, along with alliance partner the US, does its part with stimulus packages and efforts to open trade to battle the downturn.

Striking an optimistic note, Mr Donohue said the US economy will begin to rebound by the middle of the year and a recovery can be expected by 2010, although it will contract through the first quarter. Source - ST.

SATYAM FIASCO- ITS LIKELY IMPLICATIONS ON INDIA!

The Satyam fiasco has unwinded a new chapter in the History of Corporate fraud in India, doubting the effectiveness of the watchdog of the Indian Stock markets- SEBI- The Official regulator of the Indian Stock markets.
SEBI(Securities & Exchange Board of India) which was formed in 1992 to check the scandals and to prevent the likelyhood of further scandals came up with Corporate Governance to improve the transparency and the investor confidence. The intensity of the fraud was such that Satyam;s market cap shred from 12000 crore to 2705 crore thus shredding off 9295 crore of investor wealth in a single trading session.
The incident is likely to worsen the investor sentiments, jeopardising the lives of 53000 employees of Satyam,Affecting INDIA Inc Financially, The FII's will like to play even more safer now, With no direct bad news- Sensex shed around 60% of its all time high, If news like this evolves, Sensex will have to breach its all time low, The recessionary tendencies might end up paving way for Depressionary tendencies, Any Job Loss will affect the economy as a whole,Prominent clientelle of IT Cos. might end up hunting for a safer haven, This incident might provoke SEBI to go on a investigation spree of various companies, where there is a probability of similar frauds paving in, Satyam might end up being aquired at a dirt-cheap Price thus further ruining Investor Wealth.NSE has already confirmed dat SATYAM shall be delisted w.e.f. 12th Jan. All these events will end up leaving an Indelible patch on India Inc. nationally and Internationally.
All and All the sentiments will be very weak and Investors will be over-Cautious to observe the likelyhood of further events.

2008 - The Year that wasn't.

The Year 2008 had been an year of agony and sorrow for the Investors worldwide-An Year which was characterised by over projected growth estimates,Galloping inflation, High stock market volatility, Housing Bubble burst, global financial Meltdown , death of many organisations,Burgeoning Unemployment rate, economic slowdow, recessionary tendencies and the steep slip of the Giant economies.Its time for Fortune magazine to replace its "Fortune-500" with "MISFORTUNE-500" as most of its so called Fortune 500 companies have been the ones highly affected by the Crisis Storm.Companies like Lehmann Brothers, CITI Group, GM, Ford, Daimler Chrysler, Fannie Mae,Freddie Mac, AIG,Wachovia Corp,Bank of America, Washington Mutual ,Bear Stearns, Bank of Newyork, Goldman Sachs etc had been victims of the Crisis.Chapter-11 has been the most heard buzz word in the recent times.
Terrorism,Madoff scam,Credit card Crisis,Floods & Hurricanes, The never ending israel-palestinian Crisis, Tensed Borders of Ind-Pak,Automobile Industry Debacle, Aviation sector slowdown have been other matters of concern in 2008.
One significant event being the emergence of Barack Obama as the President of America. Though Governments of various countries have come up with stimulus packages to fight the recessionary pressures, The World is awaiting for the moves of Barack Obama to help the world from the clutches of Recession.
From the Indian Perspective, the Year 2008 started off on a high note with Sensex touching 21K in Mid-Jan, Reliance Power going for an IPO , with news round the corner that Sensex is likely to reach 25K by the end of the Year. However all those who were a part of this frenzy had to eat a humble pie when sensex started to fall as if its time to pack up. Sensex reached an all year low of around 7800 points losing almost 60% of its all time high, Research houses have come up with projections of slight decline in India's economic growth due to the global slowdown, IT and Realty sector are the worst hit due to the recession.RBI had been taking all the possible steps to muster confidence in the minds of the investors.

Hope 2009 reverses the downtrends of 2008 and paves way for an Year Full of prosperity for the investors and the country.

MADOFF - HIS "MADE-OFF SCAM".

Bernard Madoff was a former chairman and director of the NASDAQ in 1990.Prior to that he started his own investment company Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in 1960. Madoff was a person of Jewish origin.His Jewish origin had resulted in Jewish Community investing huge amounts in his firm.

Bernard Madoff "made-off" with a $50 Billion scam. The scam was claimed to have taken place due to the loss suffered by Madoff's hedging operations through Eurpoean counterparties.He claims to have suffered losses due to bad trade, But investors haven't found any records as such.In order to meet with the redemption demands of clientele , he started collecting money from the people promising to pay an attractive interest rate. The investors received an attractive rate of interest on their investments which led them to invest more money in his firm. The scam was that he collected money from one person to clear his debt and then borrowed money from the 2nd person to clear the debt of the 3rd person and so on.

Ex- XYZ Bank approached Mr. Madoff for redemption of the amount which the Bank lent to him, Madoff who din't have cash started collecting money from people. If Mr. A paid 100$ to Madoff, Madoff inturn paid 200$ to Mr.A after few days by collecting money from B, Similarly He paid B 400$ by borrowing money from C&D, in order to pay C&D he again borrowed from E&F. This transactions occurred regularly & finally he had to hang up his boots.

Madoff was arrested by federal authorities on Dec. 11 and charged with securities fraud for allegedly running a Ponzi scheme - paying one set of investors with money from another.In other words a "Ponzi" scheme is a scheme in which a person pays early investors with the money put in by later ones.

The scam was named Ponzi as an Italian by name Charles Ponzi was the first person who resorted to "Get Rich Quick" scam in 1920. From then onwards any similar kind of fraud was referred to as "Ponzi" Scam.

Reknown Director Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks Animation chief executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, South California's Jewish community lost to the extent of 600 $Million , Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance lost to the extent of $3Million HSBC Bank, Royal Bank Of Scotland,United Kingdom firms have lost hundreds of millions of pounds, Major charity bodies too lost their funds.

Critics claim that the US SEC( Securities & Exchange Commission) failed to realise the threat which they could have avoided ten years ago. This scam which comes during a slump in the economy has further aggravated the financial scenario . The SEC is still investigating and estimating the extent of the actual loss suffered by the investors in this regard. Hope these kind of frauds are eliminated in order to safeguard the interests of the investors.

Indigo Airlines rallies past Kingfisher .

Low-cost carrier IndiGo is keeping its impressive track record intact. It has displaced Kingfisher Airlines from the third position as the third largest passenger carrier, and in the process has also overhauled Kingfisher Red as the largest low cost carrier.
IndiGo has notched up a market share of 14.7 per cent, closely followed by Kingfisher Red at 13.3 per cent with Kingfisher tumbling two notches to the fifth position at 11.6 per cent. This alters positions from October when Kingfisher was the third largest passenger carrier followed by Kingfisher Red and IndiGo at fourth and fifth positions respectively.
IndiGo's increased market share reflects a substantial jump in its load factor, which has climbed to 73 per cent from 66 per cent in the October-November period. Disregarding Paramount and MDLR, which operate smaller aircraft, IndiGo now has the highest load factor of 73 per cent as compared t an industry average of 63.55 per cent.
The LCC's also garnered a larger share of the market from the Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher, who dominate the first three spots.
As for other statistics, domestic traffic declined by a whopping 21 per cent in November as compared to the year-ago period. For the 11 months ended November this year, domestic traffic has declined by 3.9 per cent, from 39.1 million to 37.6 million.
LCCs also garnered a larger market share with SpiceJet share moving up from 9.5 per cent in October to 10.8 per cent in November even as its load factor jumped from 61 per cent to around 65 per cent. However, JetLite saw its share dip somewhat from 8.1 per cent in October to 7.7 per cent in November.

Source- (Bdomain.)

IS COMMUNISM A SOLUTION TO GLOBAL CALAMITIES?

Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation, Foreign Direct Investment, Foreign Institutional Investors, Bulls, Bears, Speculation, Hedging, Equity, Growth, Profits,Inflation, Recession, Depression, Risk,Joint Ventures, mergers, terror,Aquisitions etc all these terms have evolved post capitalistic Economies.

Karl Marx in his Books- Communist Manifesto and Das Capital had constantly focussed on the domination of Communism in Asia and rest of the world. His vision was to see a World full of Communism. Communism mainly aimed at establishing a society characterised by equal distribution of Income where the disparities between the rich and poor does not exist paving way for "Zero- Tragedy" Society- A society where events like Financial Meltdown, Recession, Depression, Retrenchments, lay offs, Unemployment, Foreclosures, Liquidity crunch , rate cuts etc does not arise . These kind of economies were left far behind by the capitalistic economies which were sailing along the Economic growth tide paving way for the creation of "Enterpreneurship" whose main aim was to screw the customer to the maximum extent possible( In harsh terms). the Profit bug had driven the enterpreneurs to indulge in series of acts like Innovation , artificially creating a need and want for the people to exercise, The multiplier effect of many such events had over a period of time resulted in so called" Development, Progress, Growth,Standard of Living".

I am not against the benefits which Capitalism had resulted in , but i am Against the innumerable aftermaths of a Capitalistic Economy. History reveals that the passion to Growth and Development has resulted in Countries like France, UK, USA exploring countries like India etc and making them their colonies giving rise to Imperialism in their quest to assert supremacy over the other nations. US resorting to wars against countries like Japan, Afghanistan, Syria,Iraq,Russia( Cold War) resulting in irrepairable damage to mankind and loss of Property, Nobody can ignore the role of the US in the disintegration of the USSR,World Wars had been a constant threat, Everyone heaved a sigh of relief when UNO was formed on the 24th of October, 1945 with US enjoying the VETO Power by becoming a permanent member of UNO. But UN over a period of time had become a puppet in the hands of the US as it(UNO) turned a deaf ear to the the attacks of the US on the other countries, UNO itself has been a mute spectator to the sufferings of the African Nations like Egypt,Uganda,Somalia,Kenya, Angola,Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Congo,Sudan,Zimbabwe etc. Countries like Sierra leonne has the highest number of People whose deaths are due to Poverty law & Order crisis. Most of the african nations are known for their Massive killings, Law & Order problems, Lunacracy( I think dis is the apt word)- Govt run by lunatics, poverty, Unemployment, Child Massacres, Kidnaps, Ruling by armed forces, drug peddling, Smuggling of weapons and what not. Not to forget is the race for the nuclear arms, Country like India spends billions of dollars on purchase of arms and ammunition , India spends a whopping $20 Billion dollar on defence and remember its a developing nation, How many times hadn't terrorism striked the world, How many times haven't people lost billions of their fortunes in the Stock market mayhem?

Dont u think, capitalism & Its add ons are the root cause for all these problems? Communism On the other hand aimed at making the world a better place to live. As a human being irrespective of Capitalism or Communism, I believe in" Live and Let live", what's ur call?

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE P.M.

"IT CAN'T GET BETTER THAN THIS"- mark my words friends, this article is a true eye opener, it was published in Mint on 10th December, This was authored by an IAS Officer- Its an outspokenly frank opinion of his.Here it goes....

Mr. Prime Minister, you were selected, not elected by the people, for just one reason, that you posed no threat to anyone in the Congress party. You were not selected for your excellent PhD or for your integrity; not even for your competence as a civil servant. You were considered the least of all evils.
Yet, the educated middle class, including I, celebrated your appointment for we all respected your integrity, credibility and competence, and thought you would bring these to bear on your new job.
Today, after four years in office and after India has witnessed an act of war on its own soil, your government has lost all credibility with the people, and the buck stops with you. You are scared to even name Pakistan in your speeches in spite of the so-called irrefutable evidence you claim to have; nay, in fact, each time you say something publicly about this now, it sounds like a condolence message, not something that inspires confidence. Economic reforms stopped long ago, for your allies didn’t want them; there are many ministers in your cabinet who have perfected Wal-Mart’s cashand-carry model and you can’t do a damn about it. You have failed on all counts as a leader. So, at least now, when India is under attack on its own soil, please act. And if you can’t act, please get out of the way and allow someone more effective to run the country.
In any district, where there is any act of violence, normally the district magistrate and the superintendent of police get shifted out. As PM, can you not sack or transfer your national security adviser, the Intelligence Bureau chief, the Coast Guard director general, the navy chief—can you or can you not get rid of your entire top brass and send a signal down the line? The signal you are now sending with your inaction is: don’t bother doing your job, for even if the country gets attacked, we won’t touch you.
You have personally demonstrated integrity, but what use is that alone, when almost every key minister in your cabinet is treating every file as an opportunity for cash flows? Are you telling us you don’t know that your telecom, environment and shipping ministries are the home of organized mafias looting the exchequer? What use is it telling us, “Look, I am personally honest, but I’m presiding over a band of dacoits, murderers and thugs. I am only the prime minister and can’t do anything about it”?
What use is it to head a government, Mr PM, when you can’t even protect your citizens from terror, which is the first function of any government? When you can’t act against incompetence or organized corruption in your own cabinet? Is the PM’s job so important beyond the call of your conscience that you want to hang on to it at any cost? Sir, may I remind you that you are holding a trust, not just an office.
Rashid Ahmed, a prominent minister under Pervez Musharraf and Nawaz Sharif, boasted on Pakistan TV just a few weeks ago that he ran camps to train fighters. Our actors and assorted builders all seem perfectly capable of accessing Dawood Ibrahim at will, yet we don’t have the guts to take him out.
Your home minister kept combing his hair and did nothing more as India reeled under attacks and you tolerated him because loyalty to a family was more important than the blood of innocent people.
Scores of journalists have published details of the terror network including names and addresses and every time, the Pakistani government has brazenly denied them. Don’t forget it denied the existence of its nuclear programme, too, for years. How can you expect it to suddenly confess, when for most of the previous two decades, ISI and Pakistan’s army have nurtured jihadis to fight its proxy wars in Kashmir and Afghanistan? Today, the monster is so big that ISI can’t control it even if it wants to.
Even with the most sophisticated intelligence and security systems, history suggests that you cannot stop an indoctrinated suicide bomber. But that doesn’t mean we don’t put those systems in place, at least to serve as deterrents to many more who would otherwise be tempted to take a shot. Convince the nation, give us one good reason to believe that such an attack won’t happen again.
We don’t need a Rambo today, so please don’t attack Pakistan in the heat of the moment, for we all know the limits of hard power after the US misadventure in Iraq. Can you not pour money into technology and arm our security agencies (the Chinese spent $6 billion on security during the Olympics alone), invest in setting up a highly sophisticated counter-intelligence agency, get the Mossad to train our commandos, step up the diplomatic offensive at every forum to isolate Pakistan and, most importantly, come down heavily on corruption at all levels, starting with your cabinet? Can you not ensure simple reforms in the criminal justice system (which scores of committees such as Malimath have outlined) to ensure certainty of punishment for any offence from pickpocketery to terror? Can you not lead legislation to keep criminals out of politics and try to stem the flow of illegal money into campaign funding?
If not, then what use is it being a prime minister if, even after reaching the very top, you can’t do a damn in an hour of national crisis? Soon, all this will be forgotten and it will be back to business as usual.
But then, history will judge you. If you have some conscience left, please do something. Don’t forget, “mind without heart, intelligence without conduct, cleverness without goodness are all tools, but only for mischief”.

AVIATION SECTOR PARADOX!

The entire nation was taken by surprise when Kingfisher was to collaborate with its arch rival Jet Airways, This alliance was formed mainly to cut down their operational costs, excess capacity & sharing Codeshare agreements. The Aviation sector was badly hit by the burgeoning Crude prices resulting in a loss of 4000 Crore to the Indian Aviation Sector. The Crude at present is trading in the $40 per barrell , However recessionary pressures owing to the global financial meltdown have led to a steep decline in the flow of passengers to and from abroad which inturn had been a matter of concern to the Indian Aviation Sector. All these factors have resulted in most of the Aviation Sector players hanging their boots as far as recruitments are concerned, Interestingly Indigo Airlines is going on a hiring spree when the giants like Kingfisher and jet Airways are cooling their hiring heels. Lets look at the factors which resulted to this behaviour.

KingFisher Airlines mainly caters to 3 different classes of customers namely- Business, premium and Lowfare. lowfare services are provided by Kingfisher Red( Formerly Air Deccan). Kingfisher Spends a lot on its Ambience, pays a very high salary to its Chic Air Hostesses, Its Therapeutic Massage seats too come at an expensive price, all these factors adding up to their costs. The fleet size of Kingfisher is 86 ( Each Flight costs no less than $50 Million on the lower side), For 86 Aircrafts they spent $4,300 million. They have a standing order of further 164 Aircrafts tantamounting to $9,840 million. They cover 69 local destinations and 1 International Destination. They will be soon operating international flights to Singapore, Hongkong, Bangkok, Colombo, Dhaka, Dubai, Male and chittagong. They are already operating Flights to London. Owing to their Vision of catering to the international markets they went on an expansion spree in the past. They operate 218 flights a day. Moreover Kingfisher picked up a 26% stake in Air Deccan for 550 crores. Thus their stake in Air Deccan and the heavy capital expenditure in the purchase of aircrafts has resultied in a very high leverage ratio( Ratio of Debt to Capital) for Kingfisher Airlines, Standing payments to the placed order of 164 aircrafts has further starined their leverage, Excess capacity( Ex- If seat Capacity is 150 , only 50 tickets may be booked meaning an excess capacity of 100 seats) has been one of their concern. As Kingfisher is a premium segment player, they come at a high price which is resulting people to opt for other low cost carriers. The Expenditur on Advertising and promotion by Kingfisher is also a factor of high costs incurred.

Jet Airways which was formed in 1993, took over Air Sahara few years back for a whopping 1450 Crores. It has a fleet size of 85 Aircrafts, operating 357 flights daily to 42 local destinations and 17 International Destinations. Its Investments on Aircrafts is around $5100 million. Its standing orders for purchase of Aircrafts has not been disclosed. It employs around 14,000 employees. Jet Airways too is a premium segment Aviation Sector player paving way for passengers to opt for low cost carriers. t has to pay for all the International Codesharing agreements too along with the domestic codesharing costs.

Fuel Suppliers IOC, HPCL and ONGC have been forcing them to pay the outstanding amounts immediately as they(Fuel Suppliers) were also wrecked by the high fuel prices.All the above factors have led to very high leverage ratio for Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways thus forcing them to cut their operational costs by resorting to layoffs and other techniques.

More over the Govt. Charges a surcharge of around 2000 rs for every ticket making the travel more dearer to the travellers. Global Financial meltdown has already resulted in a steep decline in the flow of passengers to and from abroad , Recent Terror strikes in Mumbai has already resulted in the cancellation of trips by the foreigners and is likelt to affect the prospects of Indian Tourism thus aggravating the woes of the Giant Airlines.

On the Otherhand Indigo Airlines is a comparatively a new entrant in the field of Aviation (established in Mid 2006). It has a fleet size of 19. It owns only Airbus A 320's with a seating capacity of 180 . It being the most preferred low cost carrier, the issue of excess capacity is not much a matter of concern. It covers across 38 cities leaving it ample scope for exploring new markets and improving its market share of 11%. It is mainly a domestic carrier and does not cater to any international destinations. As it owns a small fleet size and as it did not have any takeover commitments, its leverage ratio is relatively superior compared to the Giants( Kingfisher and Jet) thus allowing them to optimally utilise the availability of low cost skilled labour in the current market conditions. The global financial meltdown and the Mumbai terror attack has not greatly affected the domestic passenger turnover. In economic terms law of increasing returns to scale is being witnesses in this Airline due to the relatively high efficiency of the work force.The Expenditure on advertising and promotion by Indigo Airlines is very meagre too thus leaving it a favourable leverage ratio.

In terms of Product Life Cycle, Indigo Airlines is in the growth stage unlike the Giants who are in a stage of maturity and are poised for a decline if the International crisis does not cease. The Global Phenomenon has been the main cause of the untoward shaping of the Giants of the Indian Aviation Industry who together account for 60% of market share.