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State of the car mart
posted by Vivek Sharma
02 Sep 2008, 22:29
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labels: companiesautomobiles

On the surface, car sales seem to be slowing down further. Maruti’s domestic car sales fell by 10 per cent in August, the steepest fall in 30 months. Tata Motors reported a 6 per cent fall in volumes,...

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New SEBI member, CFA charterholder, takes charge
posted by Vivek Sharma
22 Jul 2008, 22:23
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labels: public sectorgovernmentIndian stock markets

Not many civil servants get to be in positions that match their academic qualifications or specialisations. Many brilliant individuals end up as mere file pushers, even after decades of service. Towar...

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BPCL: Out of the frying pan, into the fire?
posted by Vivek Sharma
19 Jul 2008, 15:45
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labels: public sectorenergy/oilbranding/marketing

Suppose you are managing a business. The times are good for the industry as product prices are at record highs. Your domestic and global competitors are raking in so much profits that politicians are ...

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Deals in times of a crisis and new financiers
posted by Vivek Sharma
16 Jul 2008, 08:04
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labels: companiesmergers/acquisitionschemicals

Dow Chemical’s $18.8 billion acquisition of its domestic rival Rohm & Haas, announced last week, is significant in many ways. It has surprised many that such big ticket deals are indeed happening ...

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Government’s energy priorities
posted by Vivek Sharma
29 Jun 2008, 20:26
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labels: governmentenergy/oil

With oil prices above $140 per barrel, total under-recoveries from retail fuel sales for this financial year is now estimated at Rs.3 lakh crore. If you are wondering why the government is not aggress...

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Ahluwalia remains an optimist
posted by Vivek Sharma
28 Jun 2008, 08:33
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labels: governmentenergy/oilpoliticseconomy

These are tough times and most of us expect it will only get tougher in future. Not so if you are Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Planning Commission deputy chairman. In an interview earlier this week, he ins...

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The Mumbai Sea-Link project saga – III
posted by Vivek Sharma
17 Jun 2008, 20:37
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labels: governmentinfrastructurecompanies


When the Maharashtra government became ‘concerned’ about the very short concession period quoted for the Mumbai Sea Link project by the winning bidder – a consortium led by Reliance Infrastructu...

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Citi writes off Pandit’s recruitment fee
posted by Vivek Sharma
14 Jun 2008, 11:41
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labels: companiesglobal marketsInvesting

Many eyebrows were raised last year when Citigroup bought Old Land Partners, a one-year old hedge fund with around $4 billion under management. The price Citi paid for the purchase was an incredible $...

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Dr. Reddy calls a spade a spade
posted by Vivek Sharma
28 May 2008, 23:15
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labels: governmenteconomy

Until liberalisation in the early nineties, the RBI was perceived as some kind of a minor government department. True to that image, the job of RBI governor was not as high profile as it is now and me...

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Big planemaker – available for free!
posted by Vivek Sharma
27 May 2008, 08:37
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labels: companiesaviation/aerospace

Imagine this. A very high profile industry, worth over $60 billion a year, and a virtual duopoly. New orders and product deliveries are at a record high. Most customers are not at the best of health, ...

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Brother Lakshmi to the rescue
posted by Vivek Sharma
22 May 2008, 21:13
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labels: companiescorporate restructuringmergers/acquisitions

Recently, this blog had detailed how the fortunes of the Mittal brothers of Ispat group have been so divergent. While elder brother Lakshmi became the unrivalled global steel czar and one of the riche...

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Selling off dull businesses
posted by Vivek Sharma
21 May 2008, 16:51
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labels: companiescorporate restructuringmergers/acquisitions

America is selling a piece of its consumer history. If you are old enough to have childhood memories of flipping through American magazines and remember being fascinated by the myriad appliances broug...

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Pushing premium branded petrol
posted by Vivek Sharma
21 May 2008, 16:29
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labels: public sectorgovernmentenergy/oilbranding/marketing

I first saw it in Bangalore, a couple of weeks back. Some of the HPCL outlets had adorned the regular petrol dispensers with shabbily written ‘No Stock’ boards, while the premium branded petrol was re...

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Mumbai Trans-Harbour project gets more curious
posted by Vivek Sharma
17 May 2008, 15:19
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labels: governmentinfrastructurecompanies

The ambitious Rs6,000 crore Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link project is now bound to attract even more controversy. The project was awarded to a consortium led by Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Energy, now ...

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Stopping the IPO gravy train
posted by Vivek Sharma
14 May 2008, 22:30
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labels: Indian stock marketsInvesting

Back in the nineties, heavily oversubscribed IPO’s were a highly profitable proposition for issuers. From application to allotment or refunds, the entire IPO process took a very long time and investor...

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Tata Motors puts the luxury pieces together
posted by Vivek Sharma
11 May 2008, 00:29
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labels: companiesmergers/acquisitionsautomobiles

When Tata Motors acquired Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford, the biggest concern among analysts was how prepared is the company to manage the luxury brands. Tata Motors had absolutely no experience i...

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Buffett hit by weapons of mass destruction
posted by Vivek Sharma
07 May 2008, 08:17
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labels: companiesglobal marketsInvesting

It was not so long ago when the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett described derivatives as ‘financial weapons of mass destruction’ and warned against the extraordinarily high risks hidden in those in...

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Bharti set for a big African foray?
posted by Vivek Sharma
03 May 2008, 22:32
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labels: companiestelecommergers/acquisitions

Mobile telecom companies in India added more than 10 million new subscribers in just one month, in April. That is the most ever and way, way above the subscriber additions in other major markets. C...

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Kerkorian and Buffet open their wallets
posted by Vivek Sharma
02 May 2008, 22:32
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labels: companiescorporate restructuringmergers/acquisitionsInvesting

It takes real nerves to invest in American automobile stocks these days. The big three American manufacturers have been struggling for many years now and their combined losses run into tens of bill...

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Making hay while your customers suffer
posted by Vivek Sharma
29 Apr 2008, 21:49
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labels: companiescorporate restructuringaviation/aerospacemergers/acquisitions

Bottom lines of airline companies the world over have been bleeding for the last many quarters. Just as world economic growth is slowing down and may lead to some decline in business travel, fuel p...

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Invest with us, we are below par!
posted by Vivek Sharma
25 Apr 2008, 06:21
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labels: Indian stock marketsInvestinginsurance

Every few months, I go through a phase of ‘financial heartburn’ when I become acutely conscious of the rather precarious state of my financial position. Over the years, I have subjected my balance ...

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The Other Mittals
posted by Vivek Sharma
24 Apr 2008, 21:02
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labels: companiescorporate governance

The story of the Mittal brothers of Ispat group is quite riveting, to say the least. The eldest, Lakshmi, was sent by the patriarch to Indonesia to manage a small steel mill. Through a combination ...

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The mobile phone sales slowdown
posted by Vivek Sharma
19 Apr 2008, 21:14
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labels: companiestelecombranding/marketingeconomyeconomic behaviour

I was a bit startled a few months back when I read somewhere that Infosys CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan changes his mobile phone almost every week. That magazine article also mentioned that he shares this h...

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Testosterone and trading success
posted by Vivek Sharma
17 Apr 2008, 19:44
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labels: global marketsIndian stock marketsacademic researcheconomic behaviourtrading

Those who are familiar with, or have at least heard about, the extreme high-pressure trading room environment at investment banks and hedge funds know for a fact that the most successful traders ar...

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The true oil subsidy burden
posted by Vivek Sharma
16 Apr 2008, 20:13
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labels: public sectorgovernmentenergy/oileconomy

Rs640 crore a day, or Rs2,33,600 crore a year – that is what our state owned oil companies will burn in under-recoveries, if crude oil prices remain at the current levels and retail fuel prices are...

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Brokerages facing rough weather
posted by Vivek Sharma
16 Apr 2008, 20:07
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labels: companiesIndian stock markets

Stock broking companies were on a roll last year. Business was good as the indices broke record highs almost every other day. They expanded their branch network at a furious pace, even in small tow...

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Windfall opportunities for airlines
posted by Vivek Sharma
15 Apr 2008, 17:43
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labels: companiesaviation/aerospace

These are not quite the best of times for airlines, anywhere in the world. Except for the few well established carriers with an army of extremely loyal customers, most other airline companies are blee...

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In Orchid's quest
posted by Vivek Sharma
15 Apr 2008, 17:37
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labels: companiescorporate restructuringmergers/acquisitionschemicals

This is not the first time Orchid Chemicals is in the eye of a takeover speculation storm, and it is not surprising either. It is one of the best managed among tier-II Indian companies. With revenues ...

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$1 trillion in sub-prime losses, anyone?
posted by Vivek Sharma
10 Apr 2008, 20:26
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labels: global markets

It is often said that the sure sign of a market bubble about to burst is when you hear incredible index forecasts from otherwise sensible analysts. Like last year, when we got a few forecasts of Se...

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Learn from the Brazilians
posted by Vivek Sharma
10 Apr 2008, 20:24
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labels: public sectordefenceaviation/aerospace

If you have been to Bangalore recently, you must have seen hoardings put up by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) proclaiming its proud status as a Navratna company. The premier aerospace manufact...

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Expat labour rights
posted by Vivek Sharma
09 Apr 2008, 18:37
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labels: politicslabour

When you don’t have many options, you will be willing to suffer more than a bit of injustice and rights violations to earn a living. This fundamental vulnerability exposes all labourers to some form o...

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Towards a communist growth trajectory
posted by Vivek Sharma
01 Apr 2008, 16:27
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labels: politicseconomy

No longer able to question the absolute economic growth that is happening in this country, without appearing stupid, the left is now concerned about the ‘nature and trajectory of growth’. CPM gener...

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Death of a brand
posted by Vivek Sharma
01 Apr 2008, 16:23
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labels: companiesbranding/marketingaviation/aerospace

Brands can mean different things to different people. But successful brands escape this tentative existence with well-defined identities. In fact, the reverse is true. It is the unambiguous charact...

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Corporate proxy wars in parliament
posted by Vivek Sharma
28 Mar 2008, 14:10
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labels: governmentcompaniescorporate governancecorruption

There is nothing wrong in members of parliament raising questions about the activities of publicly owned companies. In fact, they should do so more frequently in the interest of improving corporate...

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Moto-Split
posted by Vivek Sharma
28 Mar 2008, 14:02
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labels: companiescorporate restructuringtelecom

There you go. Yet another, once-mighty, company is being split up. Motorola, once a dominant name in telecom and assorted technology-related businesses, is being split into two. Its telecom equipme...

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Oil back above $100, but why?
posted by Vivek Sharma
23 Feb 2008, 07:50
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labels: energy/oilglobal markets

When oil prices first hit the $100 per barrel mark during the first week of January, most oil analysts said the three digit level was unsustainable. Prices promptly corrected to less than $90, as t...

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Yet another curious Ambani vs Ambani battle
posted by Vivek Sharma
22 Feb 2008, 05:42
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labels: infrastructurecompanies

There were only two bidders in the final round for the prestigious Mumbai trans-harbour link project, which will undoubtedly become a major landmark for the city. One was Reliance Energy, the power...

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Is the IPO market back on track?
posted by Vivek Sharma
21 Feb 2008, 00:47
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labels: Indian stock markets

Earlier this month, the market for new share issues seemed to have gone completely comatose. After the weak Reliance IPO listing, demand for new issues just evaporated. Two high profile issues, Ema...

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Bank nationalisation back in vogue?
posted by Vivek Sharma
18 Feb 2008, 18:08
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labels: public sectorbanking

How could they? Just how could the government of a modern, supposedly free market economy even think of nationalising a bank? That was the reaction from free-market believers, when UK’s Labour gove...

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Defence opportunities
posted by Vivek Sharma
15 Feb 2008, 19:45
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labels: defence

India is now one of the biggest markets for defence equipment manufacturers and is likely to remain so for many more years. The country will spend tens of billions of dollars over the next decade t...

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Charging customers for nation-building?
posted by Vivek Sharma
13 Feb 2008, 20:40
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labels: public sector

Think of a private engineering company like L&T building a small passenger aircraft at a total development cost of $2 billion. The international market for such aircrafts is highly competitive and...

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