Here are some of the revered ones in the order they were founded...
500 B.C. University of Nalanda India
1096 A.D. University of OXFORD United Kingdom
1209 University of CAMBRIDGE United Kingdom
1636 HARVARD University United States
1701 YALE University United States
1740 UPENN United States
1746 PRINCETON University United States
1754 COLUMBIA University United States
1764 BROWN University United States
1766 RUTGERS United States
1769 DARTMOUTH College United States
1785 University of GEORGIA United States
1871 Berkeley United States
1885 Stanford United States
1929 BITS Pilani India
1955 UCSD United States
1958 IIT Bombay India
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Equity Risk Management
Valuation
As the great master said "You can lose capital by investing in a good business if you pay a lousy price".
Timing Risk
In capital markets, you can be relatively certain of what will happen, but not when. If you are forced to liquidate your positions to raise capital, that is a recipe for disaster.
Business Moats
Business risk is the potential for loss of value through competition, mismanagement, and financial insolvency.
As the great master said "You can lose capital by investing in a good business if you pay a lousy price".
Timing Risk
In capital markets, you can be relatively certain of what will happen, but not when. If you are forced to liquidate your positions to raise capital, that is a recipe for disaster.
Business Moats
Business risk is the potential for loss of value through competition, mismanagement, and financial insolvency.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Buying Opportunity?
If you look at the market right now it is approaching the 2002 levels. We at IGIR think that it may retest the 2002 low. If it does and holds that it will be an excellent buying opportunity if you want to be in the market for 3-5 years.
Be sure to re-visit, if you want to know more about what sectors may see strength once the market actually starts to turn around
Be sure to re-visit, if you want to know more about what sectors may see strength once the market actually starts to turn around
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
What happened to Lehman Brothers
Glass Steagall Act was repealed
Luigi Zingales
Nell Minow
Banks could lend 10 dollars for every dollar. In 2004 an act in SEC made them lend 40 for every dollar.
Luigi Zingales
Nell Minow
Banks could lend 10 dollars for every dollar. In 2004 an act in SEC made them lend 40 for every dollar.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Finding the good soil
Imagine you are growing a garden, you definitely want to have some good soil. Also, you can expect there to be some rainy days and some sunny ones. Both are needed for a lush green garden. Once a garden starts to grow, don't disturb the plants by uprooting or replanting.
You can compare investing to growing such a garden and the soil to be your portfolio. The portfolio goes through some bear market conditions akin to stormy weather and also through a period of exuberance like the bright sunny days. The key is to know what kind of portfolio you have by knowledge of what you own. Do not buy and sell unnecessarily and keep yourself informed by continuous learning.
You can compare investing to growing such a garden and the soil to be your portfolio. The portfolio goes through some bear market conditions akin to stormy weather and also through a period of exuberance like the bright sunny days. The key is to know what kind of portfolio you have by knowledge of what you own. Do not buy and sell unnecessarily and keep yourself informed by continuous learning.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Learning
Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence - A. Adams
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
What Cara Carleton Fiorina Taught Us
What happens and how does it happen? How do people who are enlightened, optimistic and focused on the future go into a period of fear and uncertainty? How do they come out of it?
All of us are overwhelmed with a lot of information. They key is in filtering a lot of information and figuring out what is truly important and what is merely interesting.
Everybody is afraid of something. What distinguishes who succeeds in life depends on what do you do with your fear.
Courage is not the absence of fear. It is what actions are taken inspite of the presence of fear.
The essence of business is risk taking. Taking a risk is all about trying something new. This is what causes fear in the organization.
The natural momentum of any organization is to preserve the status quo. Why? Because the people who have the positions of power and influence want to keep them. So you have to know that the force that is acting against you when you are tying to get a change is the power of the status quo.
Change is always resisted. Always. In order to get a change you need to overcome people's fear and the power of the status quo.
Management as the production of acceptable or exceptional results within known constraints and conditions. Very important. But management is not leadership.
Leadership is all about changing the existing order of things. There is nothing so difficult or dangerous than to change the existing order of things. That is why only leaders can drive change.
Leadership is about capability, collaboration and character
Capability is very important. Of course we needs skills, experiences all those are important. Sometimes the most important capability you can have is about asking questions and listening to answers.
Every time you go into a new situation, you have to ask questions to understand what is there.
Customers can not always tell you what they want but they will always tell you what is wrong. That is the leading indicator of how well a business is doing.
Everytime they tell you something is wrong, it is an opportunity.
Income statements and balance sheets are lagging indicators very important but lagging indicators. Representation of decisions already made. It is like a rear view mirror.
There are things that tell you where a business is going and that is cust sat, ability to innovate and the ability of taking risks. They are all leading indicators.
If a business stops innovating and risk taking their days may be outnumbered.
It is also about celebrating new ideas and taking initiative to try new things. She insists that a continuous learning process is important to strengthen an entrepreneur's capability.
Every person and every organization reaches a point when the old answers are not good anymore. So that is the time when we need new ideas, innovation, creativity and risk taking.
Other important thing about capability is to keep learning. To learn something every day.
It is not the strongest of the species who survive or the most intelligent but those who are most adaptive to change.
If you do things on the line or at the edge you will get results in the short time. But sooner or later they walk over the line and that is devastating. So stay true to ethics and values.
Values are what guide your behaviour when no one is looking and you know that no one is going to find out.
If leaders can drive change only collaboration empowers change.
It is only when people collaborate really effectively that they come to the best outcomes and best answers.
Simple guidelines to gauge ethics in an organization. She asks entrepreneurs to answer key questions about promotion and performance within the organization.
All of us are overwhelmed with a lot of information. They key is in filtering a lot of information and figuring out what is truly important and what is merely interesting.
Everybody is afraid of something. What distinguishes who succeeds in life depends on what do you do with your fear.
Courage is not the absence of fear. It is what actions are taken inspite of the presence of fear.
The essence of business is risk taking. Taking a risk is all about trying something new. This is what causes fear in the organization.
The natural momentum of any organization is to preserve the status quo. Why? Because the people who have the positions of power and influence want to keep them. So you have to know that the force that is acting against you when you are tying to get a change is the power of the status quo.
Change is always resisted. Always. In order to get a change you need to overcome people's fear and the power of the status quo.
Management as the production of acceptable or exceptional results within known constraints and conditions. Very important. But management is not leadership.
Leadership is all about changing the existing order of things. There is nothing so difficult or dangerous than to change the existing order of things. That is why only leaders can drive change.
Leadership is about capability, collaboration and character
Capability is very important. Of course we needs skills, experiences all those are important. Sometimes the most important capability you can have is about asking questions and listening to answers.
Every time you go into a new situation, you have to ask questions to understand what is there.
Customers can not always tell you what they want but they will always tell you what is wrong. That is the leading indicator of how well a business is doing.
Everytime they tell you something is wrong, it is an opportunity.
Income statements and balance sheets are lagging indicators very important but lagging indicators. Representation of decisions already made. It is like a rear view mirror.
There are things that tell you where a business is going and that is cust sat, ability to innovate and the ability of taking risks. They are all leading indicators.
If a business stops innovating and risk taking their days may be outnumbered.
It is also about celebrating new ideas and taking initiative to try new things. She insists that a continuous learning process is important to strengthen an entrepreneur's capability.
Every person and every organization reaches a point when the old answers are not good anymore. So that is the time when we need new ideas, innovation, creativity and risk taking.
Other important thing about capability is to keep learning. To learn something every day.
It is not the strongest of the species who survive or the most intelligent but those who are most adaptive to change.
If you do things on the line or at the edge you will get results in the short time. But sooner or later they walk over the line and that is devastating. So stay true to ethics and values.
Values are what guide your behaviour when no one is looking and you know that no one is going to find out.
If leaders can drive change only collaboration empowers change.
It is only when people collaborate really effectively that they come to the best outcomes and best answers.
Simple guidelines to gauge ethics in an organization. She asks entrepreneurs to answer key questions about promotion and performance within the organization.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Top Ranked US Universities
With the commencement programs in full flow this time of the year, here is the list of America's Best Universities - 2008
1 Princeton University (NJ)
2 Harvard University (MA)
3 Yale University(CT)
4 Stanford University(CA)
5 University of Pennsylvania
6 California Institute of Technology
7 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
8 Duke University(NC)
9 Columbia University(NY)
10 University of Chicago
11 Dartmouth College(NH)
12 Washington University in St. Louis
13 Cornell University(NY)
14 Brown University(RI)
15 Northwestern University(IL)
16 Johns Hopkins University(MD)
17 Rice University(TX)
18 Emory University(GA)
19 Vanderbilt University(TN)
20 University of Notre Dame(IN)
21 University of California—Berkeley *
22 Carnegie Mellon University(PA)
23 University of Virginia *
24 Georgetown University(DC)
25 University of California—Los Angeles *
26 University of Michigan—Ann Arbor *
27 University of Southern California
28 University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill *
29 Tufts University(MA)
30 Wake Forest University(NC)
31 Lehigh University(PA)
32 Brandeis University(MA)
33 College of William and Mary(VA) *
34 New York University
35 University of Rochester(NY)
36 Georgia Institute of Technology *
37 Boston College
38 University of Wisconsin—Madison *
39 University of California—San Diego *
40 University of Illinois—Urbana - Champaign *
41 Case Western Reserve University(OH)
42 University of Washington *
43 University of California—Davis *
44 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute(NY)
45 University of Texas—Austin *
46 University of California—Santa Barbara *
47 University of California—Irvine *
48 Pennsylvania State University—University Park *
49 University of Florida *
50 Syracuse University(NY)
51 Tulane University(LA)
52 Yeshiva University(NY)
53 University of Miami(FL)
54 Pepperdine University(CA)
55 George Washington University(DC)
56 University of Maryland—College Park *
57 Ohio State University—Columbus *
58 Boston University
59 Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey—New Brunswick(NJ) *
60 University of Pittsburgh *
61 University of Georgia *
62 Texas A&M University—College Station *
63 Worcester Polytechnic Institute(MA)
64 University of Connecticut *
65 Purdue University—West Lafayette(IN) *
66 University of Iowa *
67 Fordham University(NY)
68 Miami University—Oxford(OH) *
69 Clemson University(SC) *
70 Southern Methodist University(TX)
71 University of Minnesota—Twin Cities *
72 Virginia Tech *
73 University of Delaware *
74 Michigan State University *
75 Stevens Institute of Technology(NJ)
76 Baylor University(TX)
77 Colorado School of Mines 11 *
78 Indiana University—Bloomington *
79 Brigham Young University—Provo(UT)
80 University of California—Santa Cruz *
81 University of Colorado—Boulder *
82 St. Louis University
83 SUNY—Binghamton *
84 Marquette University(WI)
85 SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry *
86 North Carolina State University—Raleigh *
87 University of Denver
88 American University(DC)
89 Iowa State University *
90 University of Kansas *
91 University of Alabama *
92 University of Missouri—Columbia *
93 University of Nebraska—Lincoln *
94 University of Tulsa(OK)
95 Clark University(MA)
96 Auburn University(AL) *
97 SUNY—Stony Brook *
98 University of Tennessee *
99 University of Vermont *
100 University of Arizona *
101 University of the Pacific(CA)
102 University of California—Riverside *
103 Howard University(DC)
104 Illinois Institute of Technology
105 Northeastern University(MA)
106 University of Massachusetts—Amherst *
107 University of San Diego
108 University of New Hampshire *
109 Texas Christian University
110 Drexel University(PA)
111 University of Oklahoma *
112 University of South Carolina—Columbia *
113 University of Oregon *
114 Loyola University Chicago
115 University of Dayton(OH)
116 Florida State University *
117 Ohio University *
118 University of Missouri—Rolla *
119 Samford University(AL) 11
120 Washington State University *
121 University at Buffalo—SUNY *
122 University of Kentucky *
123 Catholic University of America(DC)
124 New Jersey Institute of Technology *
125 Clarkson University(NY)
126 Colorado State University *
127 University of Arkansas *
128 Michigan Technological University *
129 Kansas State University *
130 Arizona State University *
Source : US News
Louisiana Median
District of Columbia Median
New Mexico Median
Arizona High
Oregon High
Wisconsin High
Tennessee HIgh
Indiana High
Missouri High
Connecticut Average
Minnesota Average
Georgia Above Avg
Colorado Above Avg
Michigan Above Avg
Washington 15K
Florida 16k
North Carolina 18k
Ohio 19k
Virginia 20k
Illinois 21k
New Jersey 21k
Pennsylvania 26k
Maryland 27k
Massachusetts 28k
Texas 30,000
New York 41k
California 76k
1 Princeton University (NJ)
2 Harvard University (MA)
3 Yale University(CT)
4 Stanford University(CA)
5 University of Pennsylvania
6 California Institute of Technology
7 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
8 Duke University(NC)
9 Columbia University(NY)
10 University of Chicago
11 Dartmouth College(NH)
12 Washington University in St. Louis
13 Cornell University(NY)
14 Brown University(RI)
15 Northwestern University(IL)
16 Johns Hopkins University(MD)
17 Rice University(TX)
18 Emory University(GA)
19 Vanderbilt University(TN)
20 University of Notre Dame(IN)
21 University of California—Berkeley *
22 Carnegie Mellon University(PA)
23 University of Virginia *
24 Georgetown University(DC)
25 University of California—Los Angeles *
26 University of Michigan—Ann Arbor *
27 University of Southern California
28 University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill *
29 Tufts University(MA)
30 Wake Forest University(NC)
31 Lehigh University(PA)
32 Brandeis University(MA)
33 College of William and Mary(VA) *
34 New York University
35 University of Rochester(NY)
36 Georgia Institute of Technology *
37 Boston College
38 University of Wisconsin—Madison *
39 University of California—San Diego *
40 University of Illinois—Urbana - Champaign *
41 Case Western Reserve University(OH)
42 University of Washington *
43 University of California—Davis *
44 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute(NY)
45 University of Texas—Austin *
46 University of California—Santa Barbara *
47 University of California—Irvine *
48 Pennsylvania State University—University Park *
49 University of Florida *
50 Syracuse University(NY)
51 Tulane University(LA)
52 Yeshiva University(NY)
53 University of Miami(FL)
54 Pepperdine University(CA)
55 George Washington University(DC)
56 University of Maryland—College Park *
57 Ohio State University—Columbus *
58 Boston University
59 Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey—New Brunswick(NJ) *
60 University of Pittsburgh *
61 University of Georgia *
62 Texas A&M University—College Station *
63 Worcester Polytechnic Institute(MA)
64 University of Connecticut *
65 Purdue University—West Lafayette(IN) *
66 University of Iowa *
67 Fordham University(NY)
68 Miami University—Oxford(OH) *
69 Clemson University(SC) *
70 Southern Methodist University(TX)
71 University of Minnesota—Twin Cities *
72 Virginia Tech *
73 University of Delaware *
74 Michigan State University *
75 Stevens Institute of Technology(NJ)
76 Baylor University(TX)
77 Colorado School of Mines 11 *
78 Indiana University—Bloomington *
79 Brigham Young University—Provo(UT)
80 University of California—Santa Cruz *
81 University of Colorado—Boulder *
82 St. Louis University
83 SUNY—Binghamton *
84 Marquette University(WI)
85 SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry *
86 North Carolina State University—Raleigh *
87 University of Denver
88 American University(DC)
89 Iowa State University *
90 University of Kansas *
91 University of Alabama *
92 University of Missouri—Columbia *
93 University of Nebraska—Lincoln *
94 University of Tulsa(OK)
95 Clark University(MA)
96 Auburn University(AL) *
97 SUNY—Stony Brook *
98 University of Tennessee *
99 University of Vermont *
100 University of Arizona *
101 University of the Pacific(CA)
102 University of California—Riverside *
103 Howard University(DC)
104 Illinois Institute of Technology
105 Northeastern University(MA)
106 University of Massachusetts—Amherst *
107 University of San Diego
108 University of New Hampshire *
109 Texas Christian University
110 Drexel University(PA)
111 University of Oklahoma *
112 University of South Carolina—Columbia *
113 University of Oregon *
114 Loyola University Chicago
115 University of Dayton(OH)
116 Florida State University *
117 Ohio University *
118 University of Missouri—Rolla *
119 Samford University(AL) 11
120 Washington State University *
121 University at Buffalo—SUNY *
122 University of Kentucky *
123 Catholic University of America(DC)
124 New Jersey Institute of Technology *
125 Clarkson University(NY)
126 Colorado State University *
127 University of Arkansas *
128 Michigan Technological University *
129 Kansas State University *
130 Arizona State University *
Source : US News
Louisiana Median
District of Columbia Median
New Mexico Median
Arizona High
Oregon High
Wisconsin High
Tennessee HIgh
Indiana High
Missouri High
Connecticut Average
Minnesota Average
Georgia Above Avg
Colorado Above Avg
Michigan Above Avg
Washington 15K
Florida 16k
North Carolina 18k
Ohio 19k
Virginia 20k
Illinois 21k
New Jersey 21k
Pennsylvania 26k
Maryland 27k
Massachusetts 28k
Texas 30,000
New York 41k
California 76k
Bear Stearns Deal Simplified
Here is a summary of what the deal meant for the US Tax Payer
1. Bear had illiquid assets that JPM did not want to touch. This portfolio consisted mainly of mortgage-backed securities and other mortgage-related assets.
2. Now the Fed will lend $29 billion to a Delaware limited-liability company(DLLC). DLLC will hold a portfolio of illiquid Bear Stearns assets, which Bear Stearns valued at $30 billion on March 14. JPMorgan Chase & Co., which completed its purchase of Bear Stearns this month, will lend DLLC $1 billion and absorb the first $1 billion of any losses. The Fed is on the hook for the rest.
3. Fed Hired, BlackRock Inc., to manage the sale of the assets over the next 10 years. The proceeds will go back to the Fed and then, if anything is left over, to JPMorgan after the Fed is paid.
4. Fed(Timothy Geithner, the New York Fed bank's chief executive) has said it will disclose the fair value of the Bear Stearns portfolio on a quarterly basis.
1. Bear had illiquid assets that JPM did not want to touch. This portfolio consisted mainly of mortgage-backed securities and other mortgage-related assets.
2. Now the Fed will lend $29 billion to a Delaware limited-liability company(DLLC). DLLC will hold a portfolio of illiquid Bear Stearns assets, which Bear Stearns valued at $30 billion on March 14. JPMorgan Chase & Co., which completed its purchase of Bear Stearns this month, will lend DLLC $1 billion and absorb the first $1 billion of any losses. The Fed is on the hook for the rest.
3. Fed Hired, BlackRock Inc., to manage the sale of the assets over the next 10 years. The proceeds will go back to the Fed and then, if anything is left over, to JPMorgan after the Fed is paid.
4. Fed(Timothy Geithner, the New York Fed bank's chief executive) has said it will disclose the fair value of the Bear Stearns portfolio on a quarterly basis.
How to manage Multiple Positions ?
1. Make sure the organization understands what the various portfolios are.
2. Each portfolio manager must be able to focus on his/her own portfolio
3. Have enough "back fill" for people who move on to new portfolios
4. Make sure the portfolio is in line with the organization's long/short term strategy
5. Make the overall manager responsible for success and failure of each portfolio
6. Is the scope, quality,budget under control
7. Communicating to each team member the big picture and their role
8. Maintain small time frame goals 3-6 months
9. Organize - divide large portfolios into smaller, possibly a portfolio hierachy.
10. Prioritize: Organize your work, put a time-frame and try to achieve it. Also, prioritize each activity.
11. Delegate certain aspect of work to subordinates efficiently.
12. Effectively capture and track each activity of each portfolio.
13. Learn to say no.
14. Manage expectations of line control by making them aware of the facts.
2. Each portfolio manager must be able to focus on his/her own portfolio
3. Have enough "back fill" for people who move on to new portfolios
4. Make sure the portfolio is in line with the organization's long/short term strategy
5. Make the overall manager responsible for success and failure of each portfolio
6. Is the scope, quality,budget under control
7. Communicating to each team member the big picture and their role
8. Maintain small time frame goals 3-6 months
9. Organize - divide large portfolios into smaller, possibly a portfolio hierachy.
10. Prioritize: Organize your work, put a time-frame and try to achieve it. Also, prioritize each activity.
11. Delegate certain aspect of work to subordinates efficiently.
12. Effectively capture and track each activity of each portfolio.
13. Learn to say no.
14. Manage expectations of line control by making them aware of the facts.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
We Eating Our Own Cooking
As the great master himself said in one of his reports "We eat our own cooking". I wanted to remind us how important it is for a Manager to have his own wealth riding along with yours.
At IGIR, we strongly believe in this idea. We have a part of our net-worth tied to yours. We consider ourselves as managing partners rather than money managers.
So go ahead and ask yourselves, how is my money manager doing? How much of his net worth is riding along with yours? Just something to consider before making a choice about who to partner and trust your money with.
Morningstar has recently released insider ownership data on thousands of funds. What the fund-tracking company found was surprising — and a bit disheartening, too. Almost half the managers of U.S. stock funds have none of their own money at stake. It's worse for international offerings: 61% of those managers decided all of their money was better served elsewhere. With the exception of a few caveats discussed below, "I can't think of why anyone should invest in a fund that its own manager doesn't invest in," says Russel Kinnel, Morningstar's director of mutual fund research.
Here is the link to the reference
At IGIR, we strongly believe in this idea. We have a part of our net-worth tied to yours. We consider ourselves as managing partners rather than money managers.
So go ahead and ask yourselves, how is my money manager doing? How much of his net worth is riding along with yours? Just something to consider before making a choice about who to partner and trust your money with.
Morningstar has recently released insider ownership data on thousands of funds. What the fund-tracking company found was surprising — and a bit disheartening, too. Almost half the managers of U.S. stock funds have none of their own money at stake. It's worse for international offerings: 61% of those managers decided all of their money was better served elsewhere. With the exception of a few caveats discussed below, "I can't think of why anyone should invest in a fund that its own manager doesn't invest in," says Russel Kinnel, Morningstar's director of mutual fund research.
Here is the link to the reference
Monday, June 16, 2008
Personal Computers per 1000 people in 2004
India 12
China 40
Turkey 51
Iran 105
Brazil 107
Russia 132
Italy 317
SaudiArabia 340
Austria 421
Japan 542
Germany 561
UnitedKingdom 604
Australia 689
Canada 705
United States 741
Source : Encyclopedia
China 40
Turkey 51
Iran 105
Brazil 107
Russia 132
Italy 317
SaudiArabia 340
Austria 421
Japan 542
Germany 561
UnitedKingdom 604
Australia 689
Canada 705
United States 741
Source : Encyclopedia
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Earnings vs PE
Here you can see the earnings for the S&P over the last quarters and how the earnings have increased over the last 24 quarters. Looking at the PE it does seem like the PE is still at an average value which means there might be room for S&P to go up in the next coming years.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
CellPhone users per 1000 people in 2004
India 44
Iran 62
China 255
Brazil 363
Saudi Arabia 368
Canada 472
Turkey 480
Russia 516
United States 610
Japan 716
Australia 826
Germany 864
Austria 984
United Kingdom 1028
Italy 1094
Source: Encyclopedia
It is interesting to note that in 2006 India jumped to 145 and US went to 766 per 1000.
Iran 62
China 255
Brazil 363
Saudi Arabia 368
Canada 472
Turkey 480
Russia 516
United States 610
Japan 716
Australia 826
Germany 864
Austria 984
United Kingdom 1028
Italy 1094
Source: Encyclopedia
It is interesting to note that in 2006 India jumped to 145 and US went to 766 per 1000.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Speculation vs Investing
"An investment operation is one which, upon thorough analysis promisises safety of principal and an adequate return. Operations not meeting these requirements are speculative" - Graham
Note that investing according to Graham consists of three things
1. You must thoroughly analyze the soundness of the business
2. You must be able to protect yourself against serious losses and
3. You must at least aim for an "adequate" return.
A speculator on the other hand buys a stock because he thinks someone else will buy it at a higher price. An investor guages an investment based on the standard of its value and a speculator based on the price.
Note that investing according to Graham consists of three things
1. You must thoroughly analyze the soundness of the business
2. You must be able to protect yourself against serious losses and
3. You must at least aim for an "adequate" return.
A speculator on the other hand buys a stock because he thinks someone else will buy it at a higher price. An investor guages an investment based on the standard of its value and a speculator based on the price.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Short Interest in the Market
Following NYSE's Announcement yesterday Here are the numbers for you for the companies we follow.
20080606 Total Companies short = 95
20080606 Average Short as a Percent of Float = 4.40
20080606 Average Number of days to cover these short positions (Short Ratio) = 3.56 Days
20080606 Total Companies short = 95
20080606 Average Short as a Percent of Float = 4.40
20080606 Average Number of days to cover these short positions (Short Ratio) = 3.56 Days
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Speculation in Oil
In one of the hearings at the US Senate Committees on Commerce, Science & Transportation, the billionaire investor George Soros said that the craze in getting into oil and commodities based funds and indices reminds him of the craze in dynamic hedging that was so common in 1987 which some say led to the crash of the stock market in October 1987.
His idea is as follows
If the institutions are piling in on one side of the market(long or short), they have sufficient weight due to speculators to balance that. Now if the trend were reversed and the institutions as a group headed for the exit, there would be a crash.
His idea is as follows
If the institutions are piling in on one side of the market(long or short), they have sufficient weight due to speculators to balance that. Now if the trend were reversed and the institutions as a group headed for the exit, there would be a crash.
What is in a name - Google based Phone, GPhone, Android Based Phone
I am sure you must have had a look at the following presentation by Steve Horowitz. The main features that set it apart from the iPhone (2G version) are :
Security. Presents the user with a simple way to run your finger over the screen in a predetermined pattern to unlock it.
More Workspace. It has three home screens. You can drag your finger to the left (or right) of the main screen for more space and can also add icons.
Street View. You get to see what the actual buildings look like as if you are standing in the street. But instead of having to navigate, the GPhone also had a built-in compass that actually knows the direction you're pointed and moves along with you. Very Very Cool!!!
Google Maps. For devices having built-in GPS, Google Maps will be part of the online direction system.
Competitor Phones
Garmin NuviPhone
RIM Blackberry Bold and Thunder,
Samsung Instinct and
SonyEricsson Xperia.
Security. Presents the user with a simple way to run your finger over the screen in a predetermined pattern to unlock it.
More Workspace. It has three home screens. You can drag your finger to the left (or right) of the main screen for more space and can also add icons.
Street View. You get to see what the actual buildings look like as if you are standing in the street. But instead of having to navigate, the GPhone also had a built-in compass that actually knows the direction you're pointed and moves along with you. Very Very Cool!!!
Google Maps. For devices having built-in GPS, Google Maps will be part of the online direction system.
Competitor Phones
Garmin NuviPhone
RIM Blackberry Bold and Thunder,
Samsung Instinct and
SonyEricsson Xperia.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility
Economics tells us that as the supply of a commodity shrinks the value it brings is more. This is the law of marginal utility. It also explains us a lot of the demand side of the famous supply-demand curve. I was reading about the 1976-77 drought in the Marin County here in California and how the residents had to cut back on the water usage by as much as 65%. This made me think that at times we take our water supplies for granted.
Marin Municipal Water District
California Drought Preparedness
Marin Municipal Water District
California Drought Preparedness
Saturday, May 31, 2008
20th Century US Economic History
1907 - Bank failures
1913 - Fed Created
1916 - US Farmers feed two continents by increasing production
1919 - WWI Ends
1921 - The US Farmers have a hard time as the recession starts
1925 - Banks start lending recklessly
1927 - Stock markets start to rally crazy
1929 - President Herbert Hoover could not help much in preventing the Great Depression
1932 - FDR comes to power and starts a series of fireside talks
1933 - Keynes tells govt. to start spending to stimulate the economy
1934 - FDR Signs a new deal and Bank holiday etc
1942 - Fed buys treasury bonds and pumps money in the system for WWII
1946 - Employment act guarantees that govt will take care of citizen jobs
1950 - Treasury and Fed at loggerheads
1951 - Fed given a more autonomous role in monetary policy
1953 - Eisenhower era with big spending
1960 - JFK to power
1962 - Minor Tax cuts
1963 - JFK Murdered
1964 - President Lyndon Johnson makes a 10 Billion tax cut
1965 - Inflation grows due to war production
1966 - Fed controls the inflation quite well
1970 - Inflation set fire due to the vietnam war
1972 - 4% inflation and then the crop failures
1973 - 8.5% inflation and now the Oil Embargo
1974 - In Aug inflation at 13% annual rate. This was due to food and oil supply shocks
1975 - Stagflation
1913 - Fed Created
1916 - US Farmers feed two continents by increasing production
1919 - WWI Ends
1921 - The US Farmers have a hard time as the recession starts
1925 - Banks start lending recklessly
1927 - Stock markets start to rally crazy
1929 - President Herbert Hoover could not help much in preventing the Great Depression
1932 - FDR comes to power and starts a series of fireside talks
1933 - Keynes tells govt. to start spending to stimulate the economy
1934 - FDR Signs a new deal and Bank holiday etc
1942 - Fed buys treasury bonds and pumps money in the system for WWII
1946 - Employment act guarantees that govt will take care of citizen jobs
1950 - Treasury and Fed at loggerheads
1951 - Fed given a more autonomous role in monetary policy
1953 - Eisenhower era with big spending
1960 - JFK to power
1962 - Minor Tax cuts
1963 - JFK Murdered
1964 - President Lyndon Johnson makes a 10 Billion tax cut
1965 - Inflation grows due to war production
1966 - Fed controls the inflation quite well
1970 - Inflation set fire due to the vietnam war
1972 - 4% inflation and then the crop failures
1973 - 8.5% inflation and now the Oil Embargo
1974 - In Aug inflation at 13% annual rate. This was due to food and oil supply shocks
1975 - Stagflation
Why Federal Reserve failed to prevent 1929 Depression
* In 1907 the bank failures start with Knickerbocker Trust Company(KTC)
* JP Morgan does not entertain to save KTC
* This starts a whole wave of bank failures threatening JP Morgan's own assets also.
* A need to have a bank for all the banks is sought by one and all
* In 1913, Federal Reserve is commissioned as a 12 member bank system
* They had certain tools to use for monetary policy like increase discount rate etc.
* In 1929, the banks start to fail again. Foreigners start leaving US with their gold
* Fed is panicky and starts raising discount rate to avoid gold outflow
* This has a spiral effect of worsening the money supply and more bank failures result
* So you could say that the Fed failed in its very first assignment
* However it gave the Fed more insight on how to prevent such runs later.
* May be the Bear Stearns bank failure in 2008 was prevented from becoming a 1929 kind of disaster by the Fed. Who knows?
* JP Morgan does not entertain to save KTC
* This starts a whole wave of bank failures threatening JP Morgan's own assets also.
* A need to have a bank for all the banks is sought by one and all
* In 1913, Federal Reserve is commissioned as a 12 member bank system
* They had certain tools to use for monetary policy like increase discount rate etc.
* In 1929, the banks start to fail again. Foreigners start leaving US with their gold
* Fed is panicky and starts raising discount rate to avoid gold outflow
* This has a spiral effect of worsening the money supply and more bank failures result
* So you could say that the Fed failed in its very first assignment
* However it gave the Fed more insight on how to prevent such runs later.
* May be the Bear Stearns bank failure in 2008 was prevented from becoming a 1929 kind of disaster by the Fed. Who knows?
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Words of wisdom
These are some of the things we tell our clients.
1. Start saving before investing. At least 8% of your income should be left alone.
2. If you want moderate returns with less headache, simply buy no-load index funds.
3. Invest long-term: Market-timing is like gambling particularly if you don't follow the markets.
4. Get a job that you love to do and you will be happy.
5. Cut your losses early so you can count your gains instead of your losses.
1. Start saving before investing. At least 8% of your income should be left alone.
2. If you want moderate returns with less headache, simply buy no-load index funds.
3. Invest long-term: Market-timing is like gambling particularly if you don't follow the markets.
4. Get a job that you love to do and you will be happy.
5. Cut your losses early so you can count your gains instead of your losses.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Top of the Class
Can you point out the similarities in the people below?
Ray Ozzie, Microsoft chief software architect
John Chambers, Cisco CEO
Steve Jobs, Apple CEO
Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman
Barry West, Sprint CTO
Carly Fiorina, former HP CEO
Larry Ellison, Oracle CEO
Paul Otellini, Intel CEO
Marc Benioff, Salesforce.com CEO
Padmasree Warrior, Cisco CTO
Arun Sarin (Vodaphone)
Now what about these?
Jonathan Schwartz (Sun Microsystems)
Matt Szulik (Red Hat)
Sam Palmisano (IBM)
Mark Hurd (Hewlett-Packard)
Michael Dell (Dell)
Linus Torvalds (Linux founder)
Hector Ruiz (AMD)
Eric Schmidt (Google)
Ray Ozzie, Microsoft chief software architect
John Chambers, Cisco CEO
Steve Jobs, Apple CEO
Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman
Barry West, Sprint CTO
Carly Fiorina, former HP CEO
Larry Ellison, Oracle CEO
Paul Otellini, Intel CEO
Marc Benioff, Salesforce.com CEO
Padmasree Warrior, Cisco CTO
Arun Sarin (Vodaphone)
Now what about these?
Jonathan Schwartz (Sun Microsystems)
Matt Szulik (Red Hat)
Sam Palmisano (IBM)
Mark Hurd (Hewlett-Packard)
Michael Dell (Dell)
Linus Torvalds (Linux founder)
Hector Ruiz (AMD)
Eric Schmidt (Google)
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
What happened at Bear Stearns
June 2007
Collapse of the twin Funds
The first fund, the Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Fund — the one bailed out yesterday — was started in 2004 and had done well, posting 41 months of positive returns of about 1 percent to 1.5 percent a month. But investors were clamoring for even higher yields, which would require more aggressive bets on riskier mortgage-related securities and significantly higher levels of borrowed money, or leverage, to bolster returns.
The firm clearly had the expertise — it was a leader in underwriting and trading bonds and esoteric securities backed by mortgages. In addition, Ralph R. Cioffi, who ran the funds, had played a major role in building the Bear Stearns mortgage business.
So, in August, the Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Enhanced Leveraged Fund — the second fund that eventually had huge losses — was started with $600 million in investments, mostly from wealthy individual clients of Bear Stearns, and at least $6 billion in money borrowed from banks and brokerage firms. Bear Stearns and a handful of its top executives invested a mere $40 million in both funds.
The timing could not have been worse.
Internal Cleanup
Bear Stearns moved quickly yesterday to replace a senior executive whose unit ran two hedge funds that nearly collapsed this month because of aggressive bets on mortgage securities.
The executive, Richard A. Marin, was succeeded as chairman and chief executive of Bear Stearns Asset Management by Jeffrey B. Lane, a vice chairman at Lehman Brothers and a Wall Street veteran known for his administrative skills.
Bear Stearns said Mr. Marin would remain as a special adviser to Mr. Lane. Through a spokesman, Mr. Marin declined to comment.
In addition to Mr. Marin, questions have arisen about Ralph R. Cioffi, the manager of the two hedge funds that had borrowed more than $10 billion to invest in complex securities that trade infrequently and are hard to value.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Mr. Lane said that Mr. Cioffi was still with the firm and working with Thomas Marano, the head of the firm’s mortgage business and a respected trader, to help unwind the two funds in an orderly manner.
Mar 2008
JPM and Fed come in to rescue BSC and provide money.
Collapse of the twin Funds
The first fund, the Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Fund — the one bailed out yesterday — was started in 2004 and had done well, posting 41 months of positive returns of about 1 percent to 1.5 percent a month. But investors were clamoring for even higher yields, which would require more aggressive bets on riskier mortgage-related securities and significantly higher levels of borrowed money, or leverage, to bolster returns.
The firm clearly had the expertise — it was a leader in underwriting and trading bonds and esoteric securities backed by mortgages. In addition, Ralph R. Cioffi, who ran the funds, had played a major role in building the Bear Stearns mortgage business.
So, in August, the Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Enhanced Leveraged Fund — the second fund that eventually had huge losses — was started with $600 million in investments, mostly from wealthy individual clients of Bear Stearns, and at least $6 billion in money borrowed from banks and brokerage firms. Bear Stearns and a handful of its top executives invested a mere $40 million in both funds.
The timing could not have been worse.
Internal Cleanup
Bear Stearns moved quickly yesterday to replace a senior executive whose unit ran two hedge funds that nearly collapsed this month because of aggressive bets on mortgage securities.
The executive, Richard A. Marin, was succeeded as chairman and chief executive of Bear Stearns Asset Management by Jeffrey B. Lane, a vice chairman at Lehman Brothers and a Wall Street veteran known for his administrative skills.
Bear Stearns said Mr. Marin would remain as a special adviser to Mr. Lane. Through a spokesman, Mr. Marin declined to comment.
In addition to Mr. Marin, questions have arisen about Ralph R. Cioffi, the manager of the two hedge funds that had borrowed more than $10 billion to invest in complex securities that trade infrequently and are hard to value.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Mr. Lane said that Mr. Cioffi was still with the firm and working with Thomas Marano, the head of the firm’s mortgage business and a respected trader, to help unwind the two funds in an orderly manner.
Mar 2008
JPM and Fed come in to rescue BSC and provide money.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Solving Non Linear Equations in Finance
Here are some good videos that helps you understand two important methods.
Newton Raphson(NR) Method
BiSection Method
Newton Raphson(NR) Method
BiSection Method
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Mozart and Investing
At last year's Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting, Munger told a story of composing great Wolfgang Mozart. It goes something like this:
A young man, around 25 years old, goes to Mozart and asks him for advice on writing symphonies. Mozart suggests to him that he is too young to write symphonies. The young man gets confused and reminds Mozart that Mozart himself had been writing symphonies since he was 10 years old. Mozart responds, "Yes, but I wasn't asking anyone for advice."
Humbling, isn't it? More importantly, this story can easily be related to the world of investing.
It's important to remember exactly what we're doing when we invest: We're purchasing an ownership stake in a company. That said, successful investing requires a breadth of knowledge about all sorts of things: the industry, management, consumers, the economy -- and that's just to gauge the prospects of the company. On top of that, in order to ensure you bag your investments at an attractive price, you'll need to grapple with the world of valuation -- which will require knowledge of everything from free cash flow to net present value.
Link to Source
A young man, around 25 years old, goes to Mozart and asks him for advice on writing symphonies. Mozart suggests to him that he is too young to write symphonies. The young man gets confused and reminds Mozart that Mozart himself had been writing symphonies since he was 10 years old. Mozart responds, "Yes, but I wasn't asking anyone for advice."
Humbling, isn't it? More importantly, this story can easily be related to the world of investing.
It's important to remember exactly what we're doing when we invest: We're purchasing an ownership stake in a company. That said, successful investing requires a breadth of knowledge about all sorts of things: the industry, management, consumers, the economy -- and that's just to gauge the prospects of the company. On top of that, in order to ensure you bag your investments at an attractive price, you'll need to grapple with the world of valuation -- which will require knowledge of everything from free cash flow to net present value.
Link to Source
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