Refresh Yourself Every Day

"Look upon the evening as the death of the day; and upon the morning as the birth of all things. Let every moment renew your vision. The wise man is he who constantly wonders afresh."

'Fruits of the Earth' ('Les Nourritures Terrestres'. 1917) André Gide (1869-1951)

Misconeption of Insider Trading

An "insider" is any person who possesses at least one of the following:

1. Access to valuable non-public information about a corporation (this makes a company's directors and high-level executives insiders)
2. Ownership of stock that equals more than 10% of a firm's equity
   

A common misconception is that all insider trading is illegal, but there are actually two methods by which insider trading can occur; one is legal, the other is not.

An insider is legally permitted to buy and sell shares of the firm - and any subsidiaries - that employs him or her. These transactions, however, must be properly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and are done with advance filings. You can find details of this type of insider trading on the SEC's EDGAR database.
Waiting for EDGAR Database in India
The more infamous form of insider trading is the illegal use of undisclosed material information for profit. It's
important to remember that this can be done by anyone, including company executives, their friends and relatives or just a regular person on the street, as long as the information is not publicly
known.
For example, suppose that the CEO of a publicly-traded firm inadvertently discloses his/her company's quarterly earnings while getting a haircut. If the hairdresser takes this information and trades on it, that is considered illegal insider trading and the SEC may take action.

The SEC is able to monitor illegal insider trading by looking at the trading volumes of any particular stock. Volumes commonly increase after material news is issued to the public, but when no such information is provided and volumes rise dramatically, this can act as a warning flag. The SEC then investigates to determine precisely who is responsible for the unusual trading and whether or not it was illegal.

Methods of Stocking Pick

Before we look at the differences between top-down and bottom-up investing, let's make clear that these are both approaches for selecting great stocks. Despite the differences in their methods they have the same goal - to ferret out good stocks. Now, let's look at the different ways in which a top-down vs. bottom-down investor approaches selecting companies to invest in.

Top-down investing involves analyzing the "big picture".

• Investors using this approach look at the economy and try to forecast which industry will generate the best returns.
• These investors then look for individual companies within the chosen industry and add the stock to their portfolios.

For example, suppose you believe there will be a drop in interest rates. Using the top-down approach, you might determine that the home-building industry would benefit the most from the macroeconomic changes and then limit your search to the top companies in the industry.

Conversely, a bottom-up investor overlooks broad sector and economic conditions and instead focuses on selecting a stock based on the individual attributes of a company.

• Advocates of the bottom-up approach simply seek strong companies with good prospects regardless of industry or macroeconomic factors.
• What constitutes "good prospects", however, is a matter of opinion.
• Some investors look for earnings growth while others find companies with low P/E ratios attractive.
• A bottom-up investor will compare companies based on these fundamentals as long as the companies are strong, the business cycle or broader industry conditions are of no concern.

http://www.investopedia.com/university/stockpicking/

Ind: ING Vysya Bank posted a net loss of Rs 292 million for 2Q

Continuing with its poor performance streak, ING Vysya Bank, on the back of losses in its treasury income has reported losses for 2QFY05. The bank's core business has, however, shown improvement in the form of growth in net interest income. For 2QFY05, while the bank has reported a 7% rise in the topline, the bottomline has turned negative. Lower provisioning and a tax writeback has ensured that the bank's losses were limited in the September quarter.

(Rs m)	2QFY04	2QFY05	Change
Income from operations	2,210	2,358	6.7%
Other income	919	(457)
Interest expenses	1,619	1,431	-11.6%
Net interest income	592	927	56.7%
Other expenses	840	858	2.2%
Operating profit	(248)	69
Operating profit margin (%)	-11.2%	2.9%
Provisions and contingencies	359	86	-76.0%
Profit before tax	311	(475)
Tax	58	(183)
Profit after tax/(loss)	254	(292)
Net profit margin (%)	11.5%	-12.4%
No. of shares (m)	22.6	22.7
Diluted earnings per share*	44.9	-51.6

Further the Bank has informed that at their Board of Directors Meeting held on October 27, 2004 based on the projected growth plans, it was apprised that capital augmentation up to Rs. 3000 million before the end of the financial year 2004-2005 is considered necessary.

Let us hope that, bank will come out the dark phase which continued from March 2004 onwards..

KOTAK BANK excel due to strong lending operations and Branch Banking. Bank has shown the strong operation excellence of capturing low cost deposit and high advances through strong corporate banking activities.

Kotak Bank is the first to participate in Asset Reconstruction which reinforces that, bank believes in their strength of decreasing NPA by NPA and loan restructuring.

The Bank currently operates 23 full-fledged branches across 16 cities in India and plans to have 75 to 100 branches by March 2008 across 30 - 40 cities.

Consolidated financial highlights
· Consolidated advances were up 48% to Rs. 5,573 crore as on September 30, 2004 (Rs. 3,768 crore as on September 30, 2003).
· Consolidated net NPAs as on September 30, 2004 were 0.3% of net advances.
· Consolidated book value per share as on September 30, 2004 was Rs. 108.

Total advances of the Bank stood at Rs. 2,708 crore as on September 30, 2004, up 75% from Rs. 1,551 crore as on September 30, 2003.

The consolidated total income for the quarter was up 22% to Rs. 317.74 crore as compared to Rs. 259.40 crore (quarter ended September 30, 2003).

Proportion of fee income and insurance premium to total income increased to 38% for Q2 FY05 compared to 29% in Q2FY04.

Consolidated Net Interest Income (NII) was up 29% to Rs. 110.75 crore as against Rs. 85.85 crore (quarter ended September 30, 2003). Consolidated profit after tax for the quarter was Rs. 32.50 crore as compared to Rs. 38.94 crore (quarter ended September 30, 2003).

NII of Kotak Mahindra Bank, on a stand-alone basis, was up 50% at Rs. 54.74 crore for the quarter as compared to Rs. 36.51 crore (quarter ended September 30, 2003).

The profit after tax of the Bank for the quarter was up 4% at Rs. 20.65 crore as against Rs. 19.84 crore (quarter ended September 30, 2003).

Business highlights

· Assets Under Management (AUM) of Kotak Mutual Fund stood at Rs. 5,518 crore as on September 30, 2004.
· Kotak Life insurance recorded 130% growth in gross premium income in Q2 FY05 to Rs. 47.70 crore as compared to Rs. 20.68 crore Q2 FY04.
· Launched a private equity fund with a target corpus of Rs. 400-450 crore.

Anti-money laundering dilemma for IT heads

While fraudsters and money launderers have been innovative in adapting their techniques over the years, the technology approaches by banks have unfortunately not been as innovative. These approaches have often been limited to manual inspection of records or programming systems to flag out transactions above a certain amount - a fact borne out during interviews with regional banks.

One industry player, who requested to remain anonymous for fear of losing the trust of his banking clients, expressed a fundamental dilemma impeding banks: “When you have projects like CRM, which deliver returns on investment…. if the regulators are not going to penalize you (for system deficiencies in detecting laundering), you won’t rush off to do compliance first.”

Many monitoring systems across banks in the region continue to utilize a rule-based approach, engineered to detect fraudulent activities rather than suspicious patterns of behaviour.

Asian banks are under the spotlight today. Three out of the six “non-cooperative countries and territories” identified by Financial Action Task Force, an inter-governmental body against money laundering and terrorist financing, are in Asia – Indonesia, Philippines and Myanmar. Generally, Asian banks have not had a good track record in money laundering, thanks in part to the fact that they have not faced the same sanctions as European and North American banks do for negligence in this area.

Factiva, leveraging its archives of news reports, today provides a product called ‘public figures and associates’, a database which the company claims includes 350,000 politically exposed persons, and a further 100,000 of their relatives, friends or close aides. The database also includes a black list of 4,600 individuals that financial institutions are barred from doing business with, under the advice of national regulators or international bodies.

Alterman adds: “When you look back over the last year or so, some of the biggest money laundering scandals have involved political figures.”

Success for CIO in Shrink Wrap Mode

Top 10 Rules for Running a Successful IT Organization from the New Sun CIO — Bill Vass

Ayn Rand's Objectivism

I see lot of parallel thoughts of Ayn Rand with Hinduism and Christianty.

1. Reality exists as an objective absolute—facts are facts, independent of man's feelings, wishes, hopes or fears.
   
2. Reason (the faculty which identifies and integrates the material provided by man's senses) is man's only means of perceiving reality, his only source of knowledge, his only guide to action, and his basic means of survival.
3. Man—every man—is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life.
4. The ideal political-economic system is laissez-faire capitalism. It is a system where men deal with one another, not as victims and executioners, nor as masters and slaves, but as traders, by free, voluntary exchange to mutual benefit. It is a system where no man may obtain any values from others by resorting to physical force, and no man may initiate the use of physical force against others. The government acts only as a policeman that protects man's rights; it uses physical force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use, such as criminals or foreign invaders. In a system of full capitalism, there should be (but, historically, has not yet been) a complete separation of state and economics, in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of state and church.

Program Management

Hi, I have become member of Program Management Forum -
Forum takes advantage of Blogger and creates network of common interest group to share their ideas.

Twin Edge Sword for Investment

Hi guys,
It's good to invest money in Securities. Those who feel it dark pit are right but, till the point u don't see it in the light of fact that, u get credit from broker for trading with high cash in your kitty. To make it simple, U have 10,000 INR or USD ( in any form either cash in bank cheque or securities for mortgage), RISK MANAGEMENT of Brokeing house calculates LEVERAGE AMOUNT (like Overdraft Limit on your acount) which can be used for trading.

Sounds good to all fast trackers but, it's mean edge is also gives u suffering like CREDIT CARD WOES. U use more and win or lose more. It's exciting but, also sad for novice investors.

What:
A margin account is an account offered by brokerages that allows investors to borrow money to buy securities. In a simplified example, an investor might put down 50% of the value of a purchase and borrow the rest from the broker. For the right to borrow money, the broker charges the investor interest and uses the securities as collateral.

How it Avalances:
The important thing to understand about margin is its consequences. Margin is leverage, which means that both your gains and losses are amplified. Margin is great when your investments are going up in value, but the double-edged sword of leverage really hurts when your portfolio heads south.
Because margin exposes you to extra risks, it's not advisable for beginners to use it.
Margin can be a useful tool for experienced investors, but until you get to that point, play it safe.

Numbers from Warren E. Buffett

"Managers that always promise to 'make the numbers' will at some point be tempted to make up the numbers."

Why we need Days and Nights

"Look upon the evening as the death of the day; and upon the morning as the birth of all things. Let every moment renew your vision. The wise man is he who constantly wonders afresh."
'Fruits of the Earth' ('Les Nourritures Terrestres'. 1917) by André Gide (1869-1951)

1 Min Guide for Cooking Accounting Funda.....

Every company, to a certain extent, games the numbers to achieve budget and get bonuses. It has been this way for a long time. But, two things make the here and now different for us. First, our money is the issue (history is always about other people's money). Second, these are BIG numbers.

Enron, Aldelphia and WorldCom, however, are extreme examples. They are the few bad apples that get all the headlines. I believe that people with better ethics run the majority of companies. They may bend the rules, but few take the process to the extremes of Enron or WorldCom. If this wasn't true, we'd all be investing in government bonds.

What can investors do to protect themselves? You need to learn some of the basic signs that will alert you about possible earnings manipulation. While the details are even hidden from the accountants, learning these signs will help make you a better investor.
Outlined below are some of the fundamental ways companies can create earnings:

Accelerating Revenues
1. One way to accelerate revenue is booking lump-sum payment as current sales when services will be provided over a number of years. For example, a software service provider receives up-front payment for four-year service contract but records the full payment as sales of only the period that the payment is received. The correct, more accurate way is to amortize the revenue over the life of the service contract.

2. A second tactic is call “loading the pipeline.” Here, a manufacturer makes a large shipment to a distributor at the end of a quarter and records the shipment as sales; however, the distributor has the right to return any unsold merchandise. Because the goods can be returned, and are not guaranteed as a sale, the manufacturer should keep the products classified as a type of inventory until the distributor has sold the product.

Delaying expenses
AOL got in trouble for this in the early 1990s when they capitalized the costs of making and distributing their CDs. AOL viewed this marketing campaign as a long-term investment and capitalized the expense. This transferred the costs from the income statement to the balance sheet where it was going to be expensed over a period of years. The more conservative (and appropriate) treatment is to expense the cost in the period the CDs were shipped.

Accelerating Expenses Preceding an Acquisition
This may sound a little counterintuitive, but bear with me. Before a merger is completed, the company that is being acquired will pay, possibly prepay, as many expenses as possible. Then, after the merger, the EPS growth rate of the combined entity will be easily boosted when compared to past quarters; furthermore, the company will have already booked the expense in the previous period.

“Non-recurring” Expenses
(An oxymoron if ever there was one.) These one-time charges, by accounting for extraordinary events, were meant to help us to better analyze ongoing operating results. It seems, however, that companies take one of these each year. Then a few quarters later, they “discover” they reserved too much and are able to put something back into income (see next item).

Other Income or Expense
This category can house a multitude of “sins.” Here companies book any “excess” reserves from prior charges (non-recurring or otherwise). This is also the place where companies can hide other expenses by netting them against other newfound income. Sources of other income include selling equipment or investments (a la Amazon.com).

Pension Plans
If a company has a defined benefit plan, it can use some special techniques to smooth earnings. During a bull market, the company can improve earnings by reducing its pension expense--or even record revenues--if the investments in the plan grow faster than the company's assumptions. During the late 1990s, this was done by a number of large firms, some of them blue chips.

Off-Balance-Sheet Items
A company can create separate legal entities that can “house” liabilities or incur expenses that the parent company does not want to have on their financial statements. Because the subsidiaries are separate legal entities, which are not wholly owned by the parent, they do not have to be recorded on the parent's financial statements and are thus “hidden” from investors.

Synthetic Leases
A synthetic lease can be used to keep the cost of new building from appearing on a company's balance sheet. The lease is a long-term (five to ten year) agreement under which a company will pay a fixed lease expense to be in a new headquarters. At the end of the lease, the company is obligated to buy the building, but because of the nature of the lease, this liability is not included on the balance sheet! (Who said accountants were boring and uncreative?) At the time the lease was made, the company may have been in fine financial shape and the economy may have been booming; however, the ability of the company to meet this huge obligation is hard to determine until shortly before maturity (one to two years).

Gayatri Mantra

Appluse to True World Citizen (The God of Small Things)

Hi,
I admire Mr. David Icke for true listing which has no bias towards caste, religion and most importantly acknoledge it as true Universal nature. David all kudos to you. Thanks for showing to world that, Internet can be good media to spread such secularity and humanity.

I request all of you to visit the link to get best meaning of Gayatri Mantra.

Dussehra

Mythological Significance:

Dussehra is the day when, Sri Ram killed the great demon Ravana, who had abducted Sri Ram's wife Sita to his kingdom of Lanka. Sri Ram was a great believer in the powers of Goddesss Durga, and He prayed to Her for nine days before Shri Rama himself entered the battlefield on the 10th day.

It is believed that Ravan had 10 faces. They are probably symbolic of the 10 evil facets of his character.

In Bengal, kingdom of Durga and her devotees, the occassion is celebrated as the day on which Durga Ma killed the terrible demon Mahishasur.

Word means lot:

The word Dussehra comes from the word 'Dus' meaning 'Ten' and 'Hara', meaning 'annihilated'. So Dussehra is the day in which the 10 facets of Evil were destroyed.

Meta-philosophical Meaning of Dussehra:

One must not forget that Ravana was a great scholar and a tremendous worshipper of Lord Shiva. His weakness 'that of wanting to possess Sita' destroyed him. But you will be surprised to learn that His enmity and therefore obsession with Sri Ram fetched him Liberation. Hindu Scriptures claim that you may think of the Lord in whichever way you please, you may pray to Him, complain to Him, talk to Him, Fight with Him...Your obsession with Him will make you a candidate for a Release from the Wheel of Life and Death. It is clearly mentioned in the Scriptures that Sri Ram Himself could not wound Ravana while the latter had his mind fixed on Sri Ram. Ravana's destruction came in, the moment that his concentration was distracted.

The essence is the same--the festival is celebrated all over India as a symbol of victory over evil.

Below is commentary based on Darshan Shastra about Dussehra and Navaratri:

Below is small interpretation of our great hindu philosophy with support from darshan shastra. It might happen that, after few years, we might forget such deep understandings as provided by our shapta rishi.

Dussehra is day followed after Navaratri (Nine Nights). As per scriptures, Navaratri is time for all worshippers of Maa or Shakti to re-assure their faith and devotion in her spiritiual power.

Navarari’s Nine days are divided in to Three equal parts.

1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd Day are for devotion to Maa Saraswati – Represents Gyan or Knowledge. Earthen pot in the shape of Kalash (Represents the human body) is painted with colors and symbols. Every day Lamp is lighted in it representing that, human body has divine source of worshiping and gets energy or Shakti from Maa Saraswati. It reflects that, devotees acknowledge her power and bestowed by knowledge of divine’s existence from her.

4^th, 5^th and 6^th Day are for devotion to Maa Laxmi – Represents wealth. Earthen pot in the shape of Kalash (Represents the human body) is painted with colors and symbols. Every day Lamp is lighted in it representing that, human body has divine source of worshiping and gets energy or Shakti from Maa Laxmi.

Laxmi is suppose to be considered as evil and adviced to avoid touching it also but it is mis conception. Wealth not utilized for right deeds as well as not earned with pious way creates all evils. This three days of Navaratri are interpret and console the meaning in our heart and soul.

7^th, 8^th and 9^th Day are for devotion of Maa Durga – Represents Divine Shakti that is prevailing as Life Blood in all beings in this universe. It is lethal power for human to fight against evil forces, which corrupts the knowledge and wealth bestowed on devotee.

We need to understand that, ignorance comes once we acquire wealth and knowledge. Human feels that, he is greater than divine. Human gets vulnerable to wealth and knolwedge’s power. Ravana represents the same. Shri Rama’s life teaches of adarash Purusha (Not Ideal) to rescue from such evil feelings by becoming devotee of Durga. Worship her to remove such evil senses and utilize the knowledge and wealth for meaningful deeds.

Let me share parallel with Chinese Philosophy of Ninza’s. Ninza are the warriors tought power of Three – Sword (Knowledge), Air (Wealth or Pureness) and Mirror (Self Knowledge). Ninza’s are tought to use mirror to view themselves before using any of the other power. Mirror gives them that wisdom of respectful use of their power. Questioning themselves about the outcome.

Once devotee worship’s the above Nine Nights ( Nights signifies Darkness or ignorance that, we have in ourself, using earthen pot with lamp is symbol of Gayatri Mantra) then, Dussehra – Day of wining over the evil comes in devotees life.

Let us start lighting lamp of Devotion(Shrradha) in all of us by chanting Gayatri Mantra.

Technical V/s Fundamental

When I travelled in Local trains of Mumbai, I wondered all time stock brokers and their dealers travelling in train pondering over news paper with stock pricing. Discussing about company's stock perofrmance.

Before Harshad Mehta and Ketan Parekh scam, allmost every third commerce student bunks college for afternoon session and heads for Stock Market. Guys are "Share Khans" ( I wonder SSKI has thought of it in same manner) talk about Tata Steel and Reliance in single breath. I use to take them as god of "MOvers and Shakers".

Circa 2004, I know about Reuters, BloomBerg and basic differences of NYSE and NASDAQ (Atleast at attribute levels) :>)
I understand the power of TEchnology. Their comes "TECHNICAL ANALYSIS". Visit Website of BSE/NSE or online stock broker. Login and download the Java applet fully loaded with trendline graph of SENSEX. Apply complex analysis and bingo. ALT TAB and make your stock purchase. Wait for your profit. Impressed of Warren Buffet's approach of Value investing.

But, after my MBA subjects on ECONOMICS and Financial accounting, I read Balance Sheet of company with same interest as Sunday Tabloid - of course sipping Italian blend Coffee. I juggle with Operating margin, PBDIT, PAT and understand Top line and bottom line impacts same as Warne or Murli's Spin and line. I understand biggies call it as "FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS".

I feel best approach is mix of Both just as Coffee and Milk in Cuppocino in Barishta. I consider my childhood heros "Share Khan" living in Q Culture. They hunt the Quote using technical analysis and add speculations.

Let us seek freedom from such Q Culture and start our journey to V Culture or Value Culture. But before we start, I feel it is better to understand the territory that is going to remain strong i.e. TEchnical Analysis. I come across www.equis.com 's education portion on technical Analysis. Few glimpse of same is as given below.

he term "technical analysis" is a complicated sounding name for a very basic approach to investing. Simply put, technical analysis is the study of prices, with charts being the primary tool.

The roots of modern-day technical analysis stem from the Dow Theory, developed around 1900 by Charles Dow. Stemming either directly or indirectly from the Dow Theory, these roots include such principles as the trending nature of prices, prices discounting all known information, confirmation and divergence, volume mirroring changes in price, and support/resistance. And of course, the widely followed Dow Jones Industrial Average is a direct offspring of the Dow Theory.

Charles Dow's contribution to modern-day technical analysis cannot be understated. His focus on the basics of security price movement gave rise to a completely new method of analyzing the markets.

For more please read at http://www.equis.com/Education/TAAZ/

Happy Investing......

To

hi, guys I come across article from CSO newsletter. Pray that my accountants are not like one and started thinking on reference checks I made all this years for my hires.

It reminded me of Steve Mitnicks Social Engineering incidents that he has shared in his book.

Anatomy Of A Fraud

Most fraud victims clam up. In this check-tampering case, the victim-a small-business owner-decided to speak out. The resulting cautionary tale offers a rare, detailed look into the mechanics and psychology of fraud. And its aftermath. Unfortunately, this time the perpetrator wasn't the only one who wound up in court.

Visit CSO link for full thrill packed story

Indian Music (Bolloywood to Gazals)

hi, I come across Good Sites having good Collections of MP3 Songs.

1. MAG4YOU: http://www.mag4you.com/music/ - It requires Registration for downloading the files Free.
2. IndiaMP3: http://www.indiamp3.com/ - It has pointers to various mp3 sites. Good one
3. For fans of Lata Manageskar: http://www.indianscreen.com/ - Nicely classificed with details of Movie Name, Music Director, Release Year.

Guys who has nose for NAPSTERs and anti IPR rights please avoid it.

all2ponder

I put my grey cell on lot of questions that I come across while interacting with pepole, technology and enviornment. I might have not come to any conclusions or observations but thought it might be worht to be logged. I thrieve to reach to the mind rather than skin of any thing I come across. BLOG found to be the best way to accumlate such knowledge, thus "all2ponder" is extention of my mind space.
Pardon me, if some of my blogs are boaring but, I feel Internet provides freedom of thinking wide and loud. I don't take ownership of any outcomes of reading, thining and acting on it.

Who You are ?? Carrots, Eggs, and Coffee Beans!

Carrots, Eggs, and Coffee Beans!

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen where she filled three pots with water. She placed carrots in the first, eggs in the second, and ground coffee beans in the third. She let them boil without saying a word. In about 20 minutes, she turned off the burners. She fished out the carrots and placed them in a bowl. She pulled out the eggs and placed them in a second bowl. She laddled the coffee into a third bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?"
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," the daughter replied."

The mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. The daughter did and noted they were soft. Next, she had her daughter take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she had her daughter sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.

The daughter then asked, "What's the point, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity - boiling water - but each reacted differently.
>> The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting, but after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile, its thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior. After sitting in the boiling water, its inside became hardened.
The ground coffee beans were unique. After they were in the boiling water, they changed the water.
"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean."
Think of this: Which am I?
Am I the carrot, that seems strong but with pain and adversity I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg, that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my outer shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee been?
The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor.

If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate to another level?
This is Rex Barker, C.S. (Cooking Specialist) asking you how do you handle adversity?

I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.
-Albert Einstein

The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid

The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid
By C.K. Prahalad and Stuart L. Hart

Low-income markets present a prodigious opportunity for the world’s wealthiest companies — to seek their fortunes and bring prosperity to the aspiring poor.

Read more on http://www.strategy-business.com/

"Pardon me if it's not clear to viewer"

Indian Stock MArket on October 18,2004

"The markets are absolutely rangebound and we need some kind of development for the momentum to gather further,"
Markets rangebound

The markets are absolutely rangebound and we need some kind of development for the momentum to gather further. Last week we had the Infosys results, and we saw the market move up. Now, after the Maharashtra elections, the opening is fairly good, but we need something else for the market to break out of this orbit where it's stuck in between 1790-1825 levels.

On midcaps

The last two weeks, the midcap market was subdued. In the frontline stocks in technology, auto, cement, and everywhere else, there was action. But then, it is typical when the frontline stocks are waiting for something to happen, and waiting for momentum to gather, then you see a lot of activity in the midcaps because there are players who have to be active in the market, and who have to be doing something.

I feel there are positive stories that are emerging in the midcap sector, but it is primarily a lacklustre thing in the frontline stocks which has shifted the activity to the midcaps.