Saturday, November 8, 2008

Tough times!

Tough times call for extreme measures, right? Well, atleast that is what the top honchos of India Inc. seem to be thinking. If the recent salary cuts, massive layoffs and shutdowns are anything to go by, then one should buckle themselves for a rough ride ahead. Already, the slowdown has resulted in companies adopting a "wait-and-watch" approach. Employers are holding off on making offers, deals are taking longer to convert with several clients even refusing to take a perfunctory call!

Salaried people are facing the heat from both sides - while most have seen their main source of income - their salaries - being reduced by as much as 20%, the unlucky few ahve had to face the prospects of layoffs. As if these were not enough the rising prices have done little to aid matters. I certainly don't mean to rant on and on about what is quite an obvious thing, but seriously, we need to think where is this all leading?

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Buzzzz!!

Hey readers, did you see the breaking news today? Barack Obama has won the U.S. Presidential Electiond today - don't know who broke the news first but Google News was prominently displaying the headlines from the major news channels!

On the work front, project deadlines kept me real busy yesterday. A bit more relieved at the moment but got nothing much to write on.

So give me some time to go find a topic on which I can scribble something legible. By the way, I am not renewing my Gold's Gym membership - the current gym is too far from my residence plus given the work timings I maintain, a workout isn't really very high on my list of things to do!

Monday, November 3, 2008

Heights of Localization!

Consider this: Person A, sitting in Mumbai and originally from Calcutta / Rajasthan, dispatches a gift on the account of Person B, working in Pune, currently in Mumbai and originally from Bihar via BlueDart Couriers for Person C, working in Chennai, currently in Delhi and originally from Haryana, through Person D's (working in Mumbai and originally from Calcutta / U.P.) office account!! Now ain't this true localization?

Rest assured guys that this is a true incident - happened last night itself! I am sure you can guess the identity of the 3 of the 4 people involved above! A DVD of 'Horton Hears a Who' for those who can correctly identify Person C - those who know the identity are automayically disqualified!! ;-)

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Realty stocks - trick or treat?

Hey readers, I've been in a flashback sort of a mood for the last couple of days. Looking at the late buying spree witnessed towards the close of yesterday's trading session, my mind went back to the time of last year's Diwali and the two months after that when the market scaled one peak after another. While the rise of the market was stupendous, the fall has been much more sensational. India had the distinction of being the seocnd best market among the emerging economies in 2007; in 2008, it has the distinction of being the third worst performing economy after Russia and South Korea. I guess we just can't shrug off the Russian influence, how hard we may try, can we?

While equities across all sectors have corrected severely, I've been dumbstruck with the correction in the prices of realty stocks. DLF, which touched a high of Rs. 1,250 last year, is now trading just above Rs. 200/-!! Look at Parsvnath Developers - it touched a high of Rs. 598/- in January 2008, yesterday, it closed slightly over Rs. 40/-!! And rest assured, there have not been any stock splits or earth-shattering fundamentally negative news in any of these stocks to make them behave in the manner they have in the recent global meltdown.

I wonder what I would have done if a prophet had whispered in my ears about the upcoming doom of these stocks - I guess I would have probably ignored the call, certifying the poor person as insane! But having the latest carnage, I feel wiser and certainly, much poorer! So much for experience! When investors lose confidence, even the sound fundamentals can't save a vibrant economy like India's! Anyways, the current recovery in the markets should continue given the massive interest rate cuts announced by the RBI today.. I believe a strong gap up opening is on the cards - hope the banks follow these rate cuts with cuts of their own which should reduce the burden on the shoulders of those weighed down by their home loans. I think another rally in the realty stocks is on the cards - now whether it will be sustained or not is entirely your call.

I am off to read Robin Cook's Critical and later catch Horton Hears a Who and Ice Age 2 - purchased the novel and the DVDs of these movies yesterday! Have a great weekend!

--- The SenseXXXational Ride --- Headline Animator

Tracking the market!!