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.

The White Good Allowance!

ONGC- Oil & natural Gas Commission initiated this innovation recently, It is aimed at retaining the employees! Its a benefit where in an employee is offered between a lac and 4 lacs depending on his rank. The product purchased through the loan will belong to the company. The employee would be required to pay 0.10 % of the purchase value as monthly hiring charge to the company. he needs to make this payment for seven consecutive years after which he compulsorily buys it back at depreciated value and becomes eligible for the benefit again.
For Ex- Assume a Person buys a Car worth 4 Lacs, Whose life is 10 Years and its scrap value is 20000/- then Depreciation= 400000-20000= 380000/10= 38000 Per Annum.Assuming a straight line Method, His benefits will be as follows-

Year BOY Value Depreciation EOY VALUE
1 400000 38000 362000

2 362000 38000 324000

3 324000 38000 286000
4 286000 38000 248000
5 248000 38000 210000
6 210000 38000 172000
7 172000 38000 134000

So at the end of the 7th year the vale of 4 Lac car is 134000/- Rs.
The emplyee was also paying the hire charges for 7 Years. Hire Charges= 0.10% of 400000= 400 Per Month.
for 7 Years,charges = 84*400 = 33600/-
Total Cost= 33600 + 134000 = 167600/-
Net benefit = 400000-167600= 232400.
This is how the White good benefit is Calculated.BOY= Beginning of Year. EOY= Ending of Year.

The Great Depression 0f 1929- How it Occurred and why it Occurred!

The stock market crash of 1929, usually cited as the beginning of the Great Depression, was preceded by the Roaring '20s, a period when the American public discovered the stock market and dove in head first. The crash wiped out many people's investments and the public confidence was at an astonishing low. When bank failures erased the savings of those who weren't even invested in the stock market, people were shattered. Although the market crash was unavoidable, the bank failures could have been prevented with better regulation. In the crash of 1929, the Fed resorted cutting the money supply by nearly a third, thus choking off hopes of a recovery. Consequently, many banks suffering liquidity problems simply went under. The Fed's harsh reaction, while difficult to understand, may have occurred because it wished to give Wall Street some tough love by refusing to bail out careless banks.
Economist feel that by increasing the money supply and keeping interest rates low during the roaring twenties, the Fed triggered the rapid expansion that preceded the collapse. In some ways, it set up the market bubble leading to the crash and then kicked the economy when it was down.
Milton Friedman( Nobel Prize Winner for Economics) rightly suggested that the Fed's mismanagement of the economic situation greatly contributed to the Great Depression, there still would probably have been a minor recession regardless of government involvement. The government soon came to regret the freedom it had granted the Federal Reserve as it stood by during the crash of 1929 and refused to prevent the Great Depression that followed. Even now, it is hotly debated whether the Fed could have stopped the depression, but there is little doubt that it could have done more to soften and shorten it by providing lower interest rates to allow farmers to keep planting and businesses to keep producing. The high interest rates may even have been responsible for the unplanted fields that turned into dust bowls. By restricting the money supply at a bad time, the Fed starved out many individuals and businesses that might otherwise have survived.The RecoveryIt was World War II, not the Federal Reserve, that lifted the economy out of the depression. The war benefited the Federal Reserve as well by expanding its power and the amount of capital it was called on to control for the Allies. After the war, the Fed was able to erase some of the bad memories from the depression by keeping interest rates low as the U.S. economy went on a bull run that was virtually uninterrupted until the '60s.