Hey! Do you know a yo-yo?
Oh, you could visit the BSE for that...

(column by Asif Ahmed)

Wake me up when June ends, will you?!” That was the oft heard statement of brokers for so many years. Interestingly, this year, the hottest action in the stock markets has been in this very month. While currently the secondary market is redefining what a yo-yo means, the primary market is experiencing a string of enthusiasm and optimism. With some big companies lined up to tap capital markets, some even for the second time, investors are betting to win big-time.

What markets are experiencing right now is a situation in which money is draining from the secondary market to the primary market. Commenting on the volatility in the stock markets, Devesh Kumar, MD, Centrum Broking deliberated, “We have abundant liquidity but lack of confidence. Going forward, a lot of liquidity will be sucked out by the mega IPOs; and therefore, you will have reduced liquidity and lack of confidence.” And now, the CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets study shows that Indian firms may raise a jaw dropping $18-20 billion more through equity issues in 2007.

After a series of flop issues (Fortis, Abhishek Mills and Binani Cement), the maddening response to the recently concluded public issues of DLF, Vishal Mega Mart and ICICI Bank prove that investors have decided to go all the way.

The kind of treatment that these public issues will get on listing will surely set the tone for even the July realty sector IPOs. The only potential threats are possible interest rate or CRR hikes by RBI in the forthcoming monetary policy this June, which could butcher the sentiments of the stock markets, as well as of the economy. Volatility is here to stay, till second quarter results start pouring in from late July. Till that time, remember what we told about yo yos!

(End of Asif Ahmed column)

Robbing Peter to pay Paul...

(column by Gyanendra Kashyap)

The appreciation of rupee against the US dollar is definitely not a welcome sign, as far as exporters are concerned. The rupee against the dollar has appreciated from Rs.46 in July 2006 to Rs.40.63 (as on June 14, 2007), an increase of more than 11%. With more than 60% of the invoices in US dollars, the plight of the top IT companies is all the more severe. It is argued that a 1% change in the value of rupee hits the operating margin of the IT industry by 30-50 basis points. The textile sector is no better off. A survey conducted by FICCI reports that as a result of higher interest rates, the profit margins of leading export sectors have eroded by approximately 11%.

However, if one were to have a close look, Reserve Bank of India deliberately allowed the rupee to appreciate. “The rupee’s appreciation against the dollar has helped to tame inflation,” said C. Rangarajan, Chairman of Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council. It’s quite clear that the Reserve Bank chose inflation and not exports as its top priority and allowed the rupee to appreciate in order to gain control over spiraling inflation. Unfortunately, in the end, it was the exporting community, which had to pay the price for the war against inflation.

(End of Gyanendra Kashyap column)

The power of small!

(column by Devdeep Singh)

The PS3 was supposed to be the biggest console gaming system ever. Rightly so, at twice the size—and price—of its predecessor, Sony had all the rights in this world to pin big hopes on its latest gaming console; the PS3. Interestingly, analysts were quite optimist about the fate of PS3 in the beginning. “Despite the hefty price tag, years of pent up demand and relatively short supply could make the PlayStation 3 the hottest console money can’t buy,” said analyst Dan Costa before the launch of PS3. However, against Sony’s desires and analyst expectations, PS3 has turned out to be a nightmare, with the company’s gaming division posting net losses worth $1.96 billion for the fiscal year 2007.

“This deterioration was primarily the result of the loss arising from the sale of PS3 at strategic price points lower than its production cost during the introductory period, as well as the recording of other charges in association with penetration for the launch of PS3” is how Sony explains its PS3 debacle.

For the uninitiated, despite PS3’s high prices (starting from $500 and above), Sony was incurring loss of $200-$300 on each PS3 console it sold right from the start. Well, the phenomenon of companies initially losing money on console games is not new to this industry as these companies plan to make up for the lost money by selling the game titles. However, this theory of give ‘em the razor and then sell blades forever, did not work out well for Sony. To make matters worse, PS3 saw aggressive competition from Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. With its Xbox 360, Microsoft deployed a similar ‘razor and blade strategy’ like Sony but due to its aggressive pricing (Xbox is priced at $300 as compared to PS3’s $500), Microsoft soon penetrated deeper into the global console gaming industry. However, it was its Japanese counterpart Nintendo, which managed to snatch the limelight away from Sony. Completely discarding Sony’s razorblade strategy, Nintendo decide to keep its prices low and continued to focus more on its game-play interface rather than betting heavily on game titles. And the strategy is working to its core. Not only has Wii beaten all analyst expectations, it is outselling PS3 5 to 1. According to Japanese game magazine publisher Enterbrain, the Wii continues to dominate the Japanese console gaming market, selling 251,794 units compared to 45,321 units of the PS3 in May.

It is evident from respective sales figures that avid console gamers love the fun gaming concept of Nintendo Wii more than the cutting edge gaming technology of Sony PS3. However, the real problems for Sony lie ahead! If it tries to boost up sales of PS3 by dropping its prices (a price cut is already in pipeline), the strategy will have a direct impact on its balance sheet (which doesn’t look good even now). Well, Sony seems to be trapped in its razor and blade strategy and urgently needs to find solutions to make PS3 attractive for the buyers. Unless that happens, this downward spiral, in the world’s greatest electronic firm will continue.

(End of Devdeep Singh column)

Fidgeting to fitness?
It is still to be blamed on the genes...

(column by Pooja Priyadarshini)

For all those pot-bellied husbands unsure of how to lose fat, we use the ‘F’ word! Relax… The word’s ‘Fidget’, what with American and German researchers finding out that there exists a specific genome code that, if present in any person, ‘genetically’ predisposes the body to the act of ‘fidgeting’, which (as the internationally respected journal ‘Cell Metabolism’ now authenticates) consequently eats away more calories, thus ensuring the subject ends up fit as a fiddle... a fidgety fiddle!

But wait! Before you go bonkers and rejoice, allow us to mention this little nagging point that the research was done on mice and has not been tested on humans (BBC side-splittingly reports how mice with the code “are more likely to be primed athletic beasts, while those without, lazing around getting fat”). And if you still plan to aggressively grab a visibly nervous and fidgety street mouse to request the nearest friendly neighbourhood bio-technician to shuffle up your genetic code with that of the mouse, we should mention, it’s not all that simple!

But of course, the next time your supermodel of a wife nags you for the million and thirty fourth time about being a twiddle twitch and a fidgety fret, you could tell her it’s all for the better! Twitch away pal. Conditions apply though . . .

Unforgivable...
… just became forgettable!

More than a score of titles to its credit and a million worshippers to its name, if there’s anything that’s haute in ‘high’ society, it’s Rohypnol – a sedative better known as the Baptist Communion, the forget-me-pill (or simply, ‘forget it’), roofie, rib or roach! About 20-30 times stronger than a normal sedative, Rohypnol has gained a reputation as never before… Right from Marilyn Monroe’s demise (with an overdose of Rohypnol) back then to a series of the very recent rape cases in Australia, the US, Europe and India, Rohypnol has indeed come up as an important aide in such crimes. In such cases of ‘date-rape’ that are increasingly common in party circuits, rapists use the drug to spike drinks of their targets that causes sleepiness, muscle relaxation and a complete loss of upto 10 hours of memory with immediate effect. Says Dr. Rakesh Gupta, Senior Consultant, Internal Medicine, Apollo- Indraprastha Hospital, “In India, the circulation of this drug without prescription is a legal offence… But, where 90% of the pharmacists are illiterate, this law too, like every other, is openly flouted.” So while the Americas and Europe strive to make their laws more stringent, we’re probably still waiting for innocent victims to lose more than mere memory!

(End of Pooja Priyadarshini column)

A woman’s best friend, is also pals with men!

For men who appreciate suavé style with smooth-n-shiny accessories, Bvlgari has unleashed their latest collection of money clips, key chains and other personal and office accessories and gift items. With the trademark charm and design of Bvlgari combined with the richness of the materials used – like silver, gold, enamel, resin and rubber (and the most precious models enriched with diamonds!), surely, the cash spent won’t burn a hole in your pocket when you see the spark of delight in your man’s eyes. Price on request.

Connecting people… in all possible ways!

The Nokia N76 might just make you chuck that laptop and desktop at home as it’s both smaller and more economical. With facilities like email, internet surfing, viewing Microsoft office application files, PDFs, zip files, FM Radio and music players like Real Audio, viewing and editing photos and videos will never be the same again! Not only this, the mini giant also boasts of a long battery life, providing a talk time of 2 hours and 45 minutes and a standby of 3 hours 20 minutes... And all of this at just Rs.23,000 onwards!

An eye for perfection!

With Sony, the world is getting smaller… and lighter! The new High Definition Handycam & Cyber-shot models combining the best of technological advancements and designs, added to its brigade, four HD camcorders - the HDR-CX7K (Memory Stick format), the HDR-HC5 (DV tape format), the HDRUX5 (DVD format) and HDRSR5 (Hard Disk) starting from Rs.59,990 to Rs.69,990 and three Cyber-shot digital cameras – DSC-W200, DSC-T100 and DSC-H9 from Rs.24,990 to Rs.29,990. Pricing wouldn’t really hurt the ‘shooters’!

Let there be light… concentrated light!

When the world leader in Swiss Army Knives, Victorinox, announces an innovation, better believe it to be the best! Launching world’s smallest and the best available laser pointer (with a 3.3 mm laser diode) it’s designed to generate a red point visible from a distance. The Brass optics holder, the gold plated contacts & a price tag of just Rs. 4500, it’ll surely help you put a point across!

Add a twinkle to those eyes!

When it comes to the best and the grandest gift ideas, even the most pernickety ones would blindly trust crystals. And when it is polished and carved by Swarovski, it indeed surpasses the superlatives! Adding a dash of class to your evening and a little more than just glitz-n-glamour to the party table, these little bubble like crystals rolled into the slim stem of the glass make the perfect present for the most memorable occasions of one’s life! And the amount spent (Rs 17,461 per pair) would surely be worth a lifetime of praise!