In an interview with ET Now, Shankar Sharma, Global Trading Strategist, First Global, shares his views on Indian markets vs. regional markets, GDP growth and commodities. Excerpts:
The Indian markets of late have underperformed the regional markets. Do you think the Indian markets for the year have topped out?
Let me start off by making a big contra call and that has no direct sort of nexus with the stock market, but it has a lot of nexus with the state of the country itself. And my biggest contra call right now is that the media and the judiciary and parts of the middle class, who are holding candle light vigils at Gateway of India and India Gate against corruption, are the single biggest reason why India is going to run into trouble. All these people are well meaning, the media, the judiciary and part of the middle class, but they do not understand the long-term damage that they are doing to the business environment and the business confidence of the country.
Everybody has kind of assumed with the financial lynch mob mindset that anybody who has got money, anybody who can be even peripherally accused of some wrong doing irrespective of evidence has to be hanged and that is why you are seeing a procession of people going to jail, based in my view and my reading of the chargesheets on very flimsy evidence. But that is what has become the order of the day. Then people are being completely tried and convicted without their being even a modicum of the lawa of evidence, the laws of logic, the laws of rationality.
To my mind as a business person in India, I would be a very scared person to enter into any contract with the government to try and bid for anything to do with the government simply because in hindsight, two years later, somebody can question the whole process and say that there was influence being exerted at the time the tender was awarded and in hindsight you can question any process whatsoever.
In my view, this is so damaging and I talk to business people every single day and all of them are unanimous that even they will not come out and say this on television. They are unanimous privately that what is happening is so damaging to business confidence that they cannot even begin to talk about it and people like yourselves in the media or the judiciary might think that they are cleansing India. In my view they are laying the seeds of the long-term loss of business confidence in India and that is the single biggest contra call that I have out there at the present moment.
You still can't use people's names in Scrabble — but according to the latest update of one major Scrabble dictionary, words like "Grrl" and "Innit" are just fine.
The publishers of the Collins Official Scrabble Words book have added 3,000 allowed words to the game's vocabulary, including several slang terms, tech jargon and familiar corporate names.
Facebook and Myspace are now legal in some versions of the game, as are Thang (as in "Shake that thang"), Blingy (from bling, which is a way to describe flashy jewelry) and the aforementioned "Innit" (a condensation of "Isn't it?" as in "Boy, that English degree is pretty useless now, innit?").
The Scottish publishers of the dictionary say the additions make this the "most comprehensive Scrabble wordlist ever produced." For U.S. players, though, the changes won't have much of an immediate impact.
The Collins dictionary is not sold widely in the U.S. and Canada, nor is it used in North American tournament play.
So, technically, you can still challenge those words.
So, technically, you can still challenge those words.
But the inclusion overseas means they'll likely be added domestically in the years to come, concedes John Williams, executive director of the National Scrabble Association.
"People seem to forget that language is a living thing, always growing and changing ... The English I speak is different from that of my parents and grandparents, but that doesn't mean that it is incorrect or inferior.”
said Juan Garcia English Teacher, Japan
"I'm sure they'll become acceptable here," he says. "We're still getting complaints about the words that were added last time ... As everything evolves and we get increasingly de-literized, I'm sure they'll find a way in."
Regardless of whether the changes currently apply here, they have divided the game's community. Some fans argue that the inclusion of slang dumbs down Scrabble considerably — and is just one-step shy of including cell phone text jargon such as "LOL" and "IMHO."
"It's sad to see the mass marketization of games defile what was once a highly regarded intellectual pastime," says Stephen Elaschuk, who has been playing board games for 20 years.
Others say the changes are a natural evolution of a game.
"People seem to forget that language is a living thing, always growing and changing," says Juan Garcia, who has been playing the game for 15 years and uses it to teach English to students in Japan. "The English I speak is different from that of my parents and grandparents, but that doesn't mean that it is incorrect or inferior ... There are many words which maybe 50 or 100 years ago were considered slang, but became so popular that young people today don't even realize that the English they grew up speaking isn't correct."
Not all of the Collins additions were quite so controversial. Some, in fact, could cheer up fans, especially those whose tile racks have a "Q" but no "U." Among the newly accepted words are "Qin" (a Chinese zther, with strings stretched across a flat box), which will earn you 12 points, while "Fiqh," an expansion of Islamic sharia law, will add 19 to your score. "Wagyu," a breed of beef cattle, was also added, as was Webzine which will score you a whopping 21 points — even without a double- or triple-word score.
This was the first update of the Collins list since 2007. And while the recent changes might turn heads, there were plenty of previously existing words that baffled people; Let's face it: "telid" and "jupon" are hardly everyday terms.
Hasbro owns the rights to Scrabble in the U.S. and Canada, while a Mattel subsidiary owns them in the rest of the world. Roughly 4 million copies of the game are still sold worldwide each year and it can be found in roughly one-third of American homes. Scrabble, however, has faced increased competition in the last few years from mobile products that mimic its gameplay, such as "Words with Friends."
The additions are just the latest in a series of plays to ensure the game doesn't become overshadowed. Official apps of the game are available in the Apple iTunes store — and a television game show dubbed "Scrabble Showdown" is in the works, set to air on the cable channel "The Hub" later this year.
Ready to pay with your phone? Visa plans to release its smartphone version in the fall of 2011, where customer can bring their credit cards in their smartphones using an app and directly pay with them by entering the user id and password. See video
While commodity and currency markets took the biggest immediate hit from Friday's earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the damage will be felt throughout the world's economy and the US.
A factory building has collapsed in Sukagawa city, Fukushima prefecture, in northern Japan. A massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake shook Japan, unleashing a powerful tsunami that sent ships crashing into the shore and carried cars through the streets of coastal towns.
In addition to the massive human toll, the quake and ensuing tsunami will exact an economic toll on Japan, which is still struggling to shake the detritus of its "lost decade" brought on by economic stagnation.
The price on both fronts is impossible to calculate at this point, but it no doubt will be profound.
"It's going to be of the most expensive disasters in history before it's done," Dennis Gartman, hedge fund manager and author of The Gartman Letter investor bulletin, told CNBC. "This is not just a Japanese circumstance, this is on both sides of the Pacific and the dollars are going to add up very quickly."
Here, then, is a look at five of the main financial effects of the crisis:
1. Ultimately, a Recovery
After Japan copes with its massive human and financial loss, the country will have to focus on rebuilding. That will take billions in private and public funds, a stimulative effort that, grimly ironic though it may be, will generate some level of stimulus and recovery.
"Obviously the human toll is the most important thing," said Nicholas Colas, chief investment strategist at ConvergEx in New York. "Generally afterward you get a big rebound in economic growth. Rebuilding creates a lot of jobs for a lot of people and a lot of new wealth creation."
Those jobs likely will come across a variety of fields, particularly in construction and energy, which sustained heavy damage from the quake.
"There's certainly going to be a lot of resources directed toward rebuilding that part of Japan," said David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities in New York. "It's not all going to come from the government—it's going to come from insurance companies, private companies and private savings to divert resources toward rebuilding a devastated part of the island."
The Bank of Japan meets Monday to discuss monetary policy; Capital Economics in London said a loosening is likely.
2. A Stronger Yen
The widely circulated Japanese currency is going to have to come home to help rebuild the country, meaning that the historically weak yen is going to start rising against its counterparts.
That trend quickly took hold during Friday trading, when the yen gained nearly 1.5 percent against the US dollar and nearly 1 percent against the Swiss franc. It's a trend likely to continue, with some volatility, as the country and its companies bring yen back to the mainland.
"Money is going to be repatriated back to Japan to pay for the damages," Gartman said. "That's going to be required to take care of the impact—the dollar impact, the yen impact—of the (damage) there."
3. Oil Prices Could Drop, But Only Briefly
Energy prices fell sharply Friday, partly in response to a likely drop in demand from Japan and partly from the supposed Day of Rage in Saudi Arabia amounting to less turmoil than anticipated.
How long the trend lower lasts, though, is a matter of debate, as the lull in the Middle East is probably only temporary, speculators continue to scoop up oil contracts at a record pace, and emerging market growth acts to put a floor under any major slides.
A tsunami, tidal wave smashes vehicles and houses at Kesennuma city in Miyagi prefecture, northern Japan.
"Japan is still a very large economy. They import all their oil, they don't have any natural oil reserves," Colas said. "There is less requirement for energy."
4. Less Demand for US Treasurys?
On a normal day, a disaster on the scale of the Japan tragedy might send global investors into the safety of US Treasurys.
Yet yields rose Friday, and while there were multiple explanations—profit taking after a strong week of auctions and some decent economic data—some feared that the third-largest buyer of US debt after the Federal Reserve and China might not have as much money to buy Treasurys.
"It begs the question of whether the Japanese will be able to step in and continue to be big buyers of Treasurys," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, N.J. "You have to believe that they're going to have to use quite a bit of their money towards rebuilding infrastructure."
Japan held $882 billion of Treasurys at the end of 2010, a number that had been steadily increasing since June. China remains the top foreign buyer of US debt, with $1.16 trillion on its books.
5. A Modest Hit to Stocks
Global equity markets languished Friday, with Asian stocks losing as much as 5 percent soon after the earthquake news hit.
But by the time US investors had to digest the situation, focus seemed to drift elsewhere as the market mainly looked at the balance between a consumer trying to rebound, a higher trade deficit and surging gasoline prices.
As a result, stock prices actually were edging higher heading into afternoon trading.
"There have been a lot of catalysts recently that could have taken this market a lot lower. Look at all that's come down recently," said James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis. "I'm not sure this one is doing to do it any more than the rest of them."
Industries within the market—insurers in particular—may take a hit. But more broadly speaking the effects from Japan most likely will take firmer root elsewhere, despite anticipation for just such an exogenous effect that might trigger a pullback from the two-year rally.
"I don't think this is the event that would create fear and uncertainty in the market," said Todd Horwitz, chief strategist for the Adam Mesh Trading Group in New York. "It's a natural event, an earthquake. They'll recover."
Yahoo shares fell as much as 8.6 percent Wednesday after the controller of Alibaba Group, which includes China's largest e-commerce company Alibaba.com, took full control of Alipay, a Chinese online payment business.
Yahoo holds a 43 percent stake in Alibaba Group, which is considered one of Yahoo's most valuable assets.
Yahoo disclosed in a government filing Tuesday that Alibaba Group's online payment business, Alipay, was restructured so that all its outstanding shares are will now be held by Jack Ma.
Ma is the chief executive of Alibaba Group.
"Alipay is a valuable asset, in our view," Stifel Nicolaus analyst Jordan Rohan wrote in a research note. "Investors valuing Yahoo! on its sum of the parts will have to remove Alipay from the equation."
Two strong earthquakes in Spain, major damages and two death !!
The quake struck the Sierra de Tercia area in Murcia. Television images showed collapsed old buildings, including a clocktower, in the town of Lorca.
Cracks in highways and roads, and a possible damage in a tunnel have caused a massive traffic jam.
150 emergency workers are out assessing damage and assisting victims. Officials told NBC News that they feared more could be trapped under collapsed buildings.
The larger quake was registered at 6:47 p.m. (1647 GMT), following a 4.4- magnitude quake at 5:05 p.m. (1505 GMT).
Shares of Renren Inc ( NYSE: RENN) was down another 10 % today after yesterday's 7% fall, as investors were keep dumping the shares. As we announced yesterday that after the valuation and pricing announcements of LinkedIn shares,Valuation of Renren nc was not justified as company was way over valued than LinkedIn see our news report on story........
Previous story
Renren Inc shares were slipped below its issue price and trading $13.19. One can't believe that before a week when it was listed on NYSE last Wednesday, It was traded above $20 and touched even $24. Stock has loose more than 40 % in a week and still loosing as investors taking more cautious view on pricing of the shares.
Smokefree innotec( PINK: SFIO) was continuously on our radar since last friday April 6 2011. As we have recommended to trade and invest in this penny stock with very high returns at very low risk. Yesterday, we declared a technical breakout with increasing volumes as stock is trading since friday. Volumes are exceptionally high and today it has exploded more than 132% and still in a positive uptrend. Traders and investors might take a position for small gains because stock has already shown 500 % upmove since our last alert on friday !
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Wanna read more recommendations? Choose from below links
Companies have started adding the ability to communicate wirelessly to an increasing range of devices, like tablet computers, cars and refrigerators.
E-cigarettes with sensors will let users know when other e-smokers are nearby.
Now they are doing it with cigarettes.
Blu, the maker of electronic cigarettes that release a nicotine-laden vapor instead of smoke, has developed packs of e-cigarettes with sensors that will let users know when other e-smokers are nearby.
Think of it as social smoking for the social networking era.
“You’ll meet more people than ever, just because of the wow factor,” said Jason Healy, the founder of Blu, who did not appear to be making friends as he exhaled the odorless vapor of an e-cigarette at a coffee shop in Midtown Manhattan recently. “It’s like with any new technology.”
E-cigarettes have several obvious advantages to their traditional counterparts. They allow users to avoid bans on smoking in public places because they release only water vapor. Mr. Healy and other e-cigarette manufacturers also claim that they have practically no negative health effects — an assertion that draws skepticism in many quarters. But the devices are also, in their own way, gadgets.
The new “smart packs,” which will go on sale next month for $80 for five e-cigarettes, are equipped with devices that emit and search for the radio signals of other packs. When they get within 50 feet of one another, the packs vibrate and flash a blue light.
The reusable packs, which serve as a charger for the cigarettes, can be set to exchange information about their owners, like contact information on social networking sites, that can be downloaded onto personal computers.
The packs also conveniently vibrate when a smoker nears a retail outlet that sells Blu cigarettes.
Later versions will be tethered to a smartphone through an app, allowing more options for real-time communication, Mr. Healy said. The company also plans to develop a system through which the packs will monitor how much people are smoking and report back to them — or to their doctors.
Marketers think people want more devices to link to each other. More than 105 million adult Americans have at least two types of connected devices, and 37 million have five or more, according to Forrester Research.
Nintendo’s new hand-held gaming systems, the 3DS, communicate with one another when brought into close proximity. A smartphone app called Color allows users to take photographs that are then automatically shared with anyone nearby who has also downloaded the app. It recently raised $41 million from venture capitalists.
But Charles S. Golvin, an analyst at Forrester Research who has studied connected devices, said that ideas like Blu’s connected cigarettes or Color show that digital connections can get ahead of the reasons for doing so.
“The way that groups of affinity are conferred just by physical proximity makes a bit of sense,” he said. “If someone walks by with a Nintendo, great, I share a common interest. The fact that I walk by a smoker? Seems like a weak link.”
Mr. Healy says he thinks the connected packs would be most useful in nightclubs, where people are interested in striking up conversations and want to smoke without being forced outside.
Adam Alfandary, 24, a Brooklyn resident who works for a technology start-up, was skeptical. He said that the social aspects of smoking were a part of the reason he continued to light up, but he scoffed at the idea of a cigarette that would do the social part for him. “I think that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in my life,” he said.
“And I’m saying that in full acknowledgment that smoking is one of the dumbest things I can do.”
( Source: the NY Times )
( Source: the NY Times )
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| Daily Digest Stockinvestips |
1) Harmony Gold ( NYSE: HMY) upgraded from underweight to neutral by HSBC Securities
2) Invesco Mortgage Capital ( NYSE:IVR) upgraded from hold to buy by Stifel Nicolaus.
3) Learning Tree ( NASDAQ:LTRE) upgraded from hold to buy by Stifel Nicolaus.
4) NetApp ( NASDAQ: NTAP) upgraded from sector perform to outperform by RBC Capital Mkts.
5) Rovi ( NASDAQ:ROVI) upgraded from hold to buy by Maxim Group.
6) Ventas ( NYSE:VTR) upgraded from hold to buy by Stifel Nicolaus.
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Downgrades for May 11 2011 Wednesday:
1) Allos Therapeutics ( NSADAQ: ALTH ) downgraded from buy to hold Needham.
2) Atheros Communications ( NASDAQ: ATHR) downgraded from outperform to market perform by FBR Capital.
3) Beacon Power ( NASDAQ: BCON) downgraded from accumulate to hold by Ardour Capital.
4) Ener1 ( NASDAQ:HEV ) downgraded from hold to sell by Wunderlich
5) IdaCorp ( NYSE:IDA) downgraded from buy to hold by KeyBanc Capital Mkts.
6) Kimco Realty ( NYSE: KIM) downgraded from buy to neutral by UBS.
7) National Semi ( NYSE: NSM) downgraded from outperform to Mkt Perform by FBR Capital.
8) Sun Hydraulics ( NASDAQ:SNHY ) downgraded from outperform to neutral by Robert W. Baird
9) Sunpower ( NASDAQ: SPWRA ) downgraded from buy to hold by Brigantine.
10) Warner Music Group ( NYSE: WMG ) downgraded from buy to hold by Needham
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Coverage Initiated for May 11 2011 Wednesday:
1) BRE Properties ( NYSE: BRE) coverage initiated with buy by Wunderlich.
2) Colonial Properties ( NYSE: CLP) coverage initiated with hold by Wunderlich.
3) Home Properties ( NYSE: HME ) coverage initiated with Buy by Wunderlich.
4) Post Properties ( NYSE: PPS ) coverage initiated with hold by Wunderlich.
5) Preferred Apt. Communities ( AMEX: APTS) coverage initiated with Buy by Wunderlich.
6) Tesoro Logistics LP ( NYSE: TLLP ) coverage initiated with Outperform by Oppenheimer.
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