RBI has not changed any of the key policy rates. All the rates including the Reverse Repo remain the same. The cash reserve ratio (CRR) has also been left untouched by the RBI.
RBI Policy Snapshots:
RBI keeps bank rate, repo rate, reverse repo rate unchanged
RBI keeps key policy rates unchanged
RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 7.75%
RBI keeps reverse repo rate unchanged at 6%
RBI keeps CRR unchanged at 7.50%
There is no change in any of the rates. The much awaited repo rate has not been cut, it remains at 7.75%. The argument is what all of us expected: Elevated asset prices, expansionary monetary and liquidity conditions - basically pointing to the fact that money supply is at 23% against a target of 17-17.5%.
The big culprit, of course, being the accretion of Forex reserves and consequently higher than projected deposit growth. So, basically too much money in the system can always ignite inflation, and therefore a caution on that area.
Also the RBI Governor refers to elevated asset prices in a couple of places, and the potential rise in food and fuel prices globally. This combination is what seems to have won the day today, and kept the RBI from cutting any of the operational rates. The RBI goes on to point out that there is some moderation in industrial activity. But it says that in the months to come, you are going to see a modest figure because the base is high. It points to arguments that export slowdown and high fuel prices can all impact, but doesn’t seem to be entirely convinced of that argument. In fact, Dr Reddy, the Governor, meanders into smaller areas like they have to look at exploring the slowdown very carefully. It is probably because of sector specific reasons. It wonders why there is a slowdown in private consumption expenditure. I am myself wondering why the RBI should be wondering.
You have to call the stance as neutral. The document itself of the last policy was a bit hawkish. This time the document is not sounding so hawkish, except for pointing out to these inflation threats. The tone is overall definitely not as harsh as it was last quarter. But the policy stance itself is completely confusing. Most of the words are towards what we saw in the previous policy stance - the number of paragraphs has been crunched from four to three. But it doesn’t really give you an idea whether the RBI’s stance has changed. It seems to be in complete neutrality in terms of the policy stance. The moderation in industry that the RBI has noted in several parts is perhaps one idea of dovishness. But otherwise, there is no explicit dovishness. Using the word ‘dovishness’ is a bit difficult. I would just say that it is more neutral than what it was in the previous quarter. You cannot call it a hawkish document for sure.
One of the peculiar paragraphs in this monetary policy stance seemed to be almost an admonishing by the RBI Governor to the banks, pointing out if there is an expansionary liquidity conditions.
As the Governor points out - why haven’t deposit and lending rates fallen? He is asking, at some point time deposit rates are even higher than the repo rates and he is wondering why they have not fallen. He also goes on to say that if there is so much surplus liquidity; which there is - after all deposits have expanded above the projected trajectory - both aggregate deposits and M3 being high, why have banks not increased the credit offtake?
This is a little peculiar since on the previous occasion, he had said that he is uncomfortable with that kind of credit growth. This sentence is - despite comfortable liquidity conditions; banks have not expanded credit proportionately. Instead, banks have proposed to make excess investments in SLRs including MSS issuance. The other sentence is, effective interest rates on time deposits at the margin are currently ruling above the last repo rates. Apparently there has been little or no adverse impact on bank margins.
He goes on to wonder - expansionary liquidity conditions engineered by capital flows have not prompted banks to reduce deposit and lending rates, which have been maintained at elevated levels. So, this is a veiled attempt at asking banks to lower deposit and lending rates and perhaps left to themselves - bankers will be doing it when their high cost deposits decline. But this is peculiar; he has not cut rates but is wondering why banks have not cut rates.
RBI says:
Headline inflation picked up since December 2007
Liquidity management to be priority for policy
Inflation to go up even if fuel prices remain unchanged
Upside risks to inflation to increase going ahead
Flexibility to change reverse repo, repo rates
CRR unchanged on preview of current liquidity situation
Financial markets warrant careful monitoring on large fx flows
Emphasis on price stability, anchoring inflation
Retain inflation aim of 4-4.5% for FY08, 3% in medium-term
To maintain GDP growth target of 8.5% for FY08
Can't exclude likely Forex flows reversal on global sentiment
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Repo, Reverse Repo and RBI
CRR is cash reserve ratio which is portion of the deposits mobilised in a fortnight to be kept with RBI as a statutory requirement.
Repo is the rate at which RBI infuses liquidity through purchase of government securities while reverse repo is the process of absorption of liquidity from the system through sale of government papers . These are tools for open market operations.
Reserve Bank of India may keep interest rates unchanged in the monetary policy to be announced on Tuesday.
Inflation concerns and high money supply will remain the primary concern of the central bank, sources close to the development said.
According to the sources, inflation concerns and high money supply will remain the primary concern of RBI for at least a couple of months more. This means the central bank will wait at least till the next policy review in April before adopting a softer stance on rates.
However, they added that the cash reserve ratio (CRR) may be increased 25 basis points to curb liquidity following the rising interest rate differential between the US and India after the 75 basis point cut in the US Federal Reserve rate.
Sources close to the development said there was an internal view within RBI that the time is perhaps ripe for a 25 basis point cut in the repo rate, since the corridor between the repo and reverse repo has been quite high at 175 basis points as against the conventional 100 basis points.
This can be accompanied by a 25 basis point hike in CRR. This, a section within RBI felt, will help tighten liquidity without the cost of issuing market stabilisation bonds and treasury bills. At the same time it would signal a softer stance on interest rate.
With the cut in the US Federal Reserve rate and expectations of another 25-50 basis point reduction in the January 30 Open market committee meeting, this section felt that a repo rate cut is necessary to stem the deluge of foreign exchange inflows due to the interest rate arbitrage.
However, RBI is veering to the view that a status quo is necessary as inflation concerns still remain high.
Besides, Indian economy growth may not be as high as last year; and the forex inflows will be more evenly distributed across all Asian countries. Moreover, if the liquidity management becomes a problem, RBI has all the instruments at its disposal to step in whenever necessary.
There is in fact a liquidity surplus in the system with no substantial increase in credit pick-up and money supply is already ruling much higher at 21-22 per cent above RBI’s forecast of 17-17.5 per cent.
Currently, CRR is maintained at 7.5 per cent after six tranches of hikes since April 2007.
Repo is the rate at which RBI infuses liquidity through purchase of government securities while reverse repo is the process of absorption of liquidity from the system through sale of government papers . These are tools for open market operations.
Reserve Bank of India may keep interest rates unchanged in the monetary policy to be announced on Tuesday.
Inflation concerns and high money supply will remain the primary concern of the central bank, sources close to the development said.
According to the sources, inflation concerns and high money supply will remain the primary concern of RBI for at least a couple of months more. This means the central bank will wait at least till the next policy review in April before adopting a softer stance on rates.
However, they added that the cash reserve ratio (CRR) may be increased 25 basis points to curb liquidity following the rising interest rate differential between the US and India after the 75 basis point cut in the US Federal Reserve rate.
Sources close to the development said there was an internal view within RBI that the time is perhaps ripe for a 25 basis point cut in the repo rate, since the corridor between the repo and reverse repo has been quite high at 175 basis points as against the conventional 100 basis points.
This can be accompanied by a 25 basis point hike in CRR. This, a section within RBI felt, will help tighten liquidity without the cost of issuing market stabilisation bonds and treasury bills. At the same time it would signal a softer stance on interest rate.
With the cut in the US Federal Reserve rate and expectations of another 25-50 basis point reduction in the January 30 Open market committee meeting, this section felt that a repo rate cut is necessary to stem the deluge of foreign exchange inflows due to the interest rate arbitrage.
However, RBI is veering to the view that a status quo is necessary as inflation concerns still remain high.
Besides, Indian economy growth may not be as high as last year; and the forex inflows will be more evenly distributed across all Asian countries. Moreover, if the liquidity management becomes a problem, RBI has all the instruments at its disposal to step in whenever necessary.
There is in fact a liquidity surplus in the system with no substantial increase in credit pick-up and money supply is already ruling much higher at 21-22 per cent above RBI’s forecast of 17-17.5 per cent.
Currently, CRR is maintained at 7.5 per cent after six tranches of hikes since April 2007.
Monkey and Symonds
It seems that the "monkey" has come back to haunt India-Australian cricketing ties yet again.
An intruder, an Australian wearing a black monkey mask not only evaded so-called strict security surveillance on the ground but managed to reach the pitch before he was brought down by the security staff.
It happened in the post tea session when Andrew Symonds was batting on 30 with Brad Hogg in company. It came at the same time when Australia levelled India’s first innings total. Irfan Pathan was the bowler.
When the Indian left-arm seamer was asked about the intrusion, he joked about it saying, "I don’t know whether t was due to a bet or just a joke. It was a bit funny," he said.
Indian crowds and Team India, especially Harbhajan Singh, has been pilloried by Australian press and the team over the "monkey" issue. The press had picked on monkey chants when Australia toured India last October for the One-Day series.
The matter was turned into an issue by the Australian team with much help from touring reporters from Down Under, saying that it was racist and targetted at Andrew Symonds who is the only player of Afro-Caribbean origin.
Indian team manager Chetan Chauhan gave a measured response to the incident saying that, "it seems just as Indians back home treat it like a joke, so do Australians."
Channel Nine, the official broadcaster here, did not show images of the intruder. Interestingly, Australian reporters in the post match conference did not raise the issue with Pathan either.
Meanwhile, sources in the Indian team management say that they will bring this issue up during Harbhajan Singh’s appeal hearing scheduled for January 29. Judge Paul Hansen of New Zealand has arrived in Adelaide for the appeal hearing.
The Australian team had brought up incidents of monkey chants and racist abuse during the last tour when they went to India, especially the incidents during the Baroda and Mumbai One-Dayers
An intruder, an Australian wearing a black monkey mask not only evaded so-called strict security surveillance on the ground but managed to reach the pitch before he was brought down by the security staff.
It happened in the post tea session when Andrew Symonds was batting on 30 with Brad Hogg in company. It came at the same time when Australia levelled India’s first innings total. Irfan Pathan was the bowler.
When the Indian left-arm seamer was asked about the intrusion, he joked about it saying, "I don’t know whether t was due to a bet or just a joke. It was a bit funny," he said.
Indian crowds and Team India, especially Harbhajan Singh, has been pilloried by Australian press and the team over the "monkey" issue. The press had picked on monkey chants when Australia toured India last October for the One-Day series.
The matter was turned into an issue by the Australian team with much help from touring reporters from Down Under, saying that it was racist and targetted at Andrew Symonds who is the only player of Afro-Caribbean origin.
Indian team manager Chetan Chauhan gave a measured response to the incident saying that, "it seems just as Indians back home treat it like a joke, so do Australians."
Channel Nine, the official broadcaster here, did not show images of the intruder. Interestingly, Australian reporters in the post match conference did not raise the issue with Pathan either.
Meanwhile, sources in the Indian team management say that they will bring this issue up during Harbhajan Singh’s appeal hearing scheduled for January 29. Judge Paul Hansen of New Zealand has arrived in Adelaide for the appeal hearing.
The Australian team had brought up incidents of monkey chants and racist abuse during the last tour when they went to India, especially the incidents during the Baroda and Mumbai One-Dayers
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Stock Market Crash: Jan 2008...Important lessons learnt
A very goood post from Moneycontrol by none other than Udyan Mukherjee
"The thing about life is that one makes mistakes. Many mistakes were made in the second half of 2007 and those sins have to be washed away by blood, such is the way of financial markets. Some participants will go down under and never be able to get back to the market again but most will survive. The pain will linger for many months, maybe years but lessons have to be learnt. Every such debacle has lessons for us and the sooner we forget them the more we suffer.
The first lesson is not to let stock price performance become the sole reason for buying, a mistake which was made in abundance in the last 3 months. What couldn't be explained by fundamentals was credited to liquidity. The present lost all relevance as people chose to focus on the distant future, perhaps simply because the present could never justify those ticker prices; only a hazy dream of the future could. Traders and investors had no time for fundamental analysts, in many cases they were labelled "cribbing fools". Chartists became the most celebrated tribe on the street as only they could see and predict the one way run to glory for many of the hot stocks even as fundamental watchers cringed at valuations....till the music stopped. Don't get me wrong, charts do work in trending markets but once stock prices veer away completely from fundamental value, people need to get careful. But they never are. Now that the blinkers are off, people should ask themselves why stocks like RNRL, Ispat, RPL, Essar oil and Nagarjuna fertilisers have lost 50-70% of their value. It is simply because their stock prices had snapped all connection with underlying business fundamentals, earnings and value. Their stock prices became the only reasons for buying them which works for a while but not forever.
The other big lesson, one which should have been driven in earlier in May 2006, is the danger of overextending oneself in the futures market. The lure of stock futures is easy to understand. Put in some margin, take a big exposure on a fast moving stock, make a killing when prices shoot up. Repeat exercise. Just that people forgot that prices may also come down and at a pace which noone can even imagine, maybe their friendly stockbrokers forgot to tell them that part of the story. The result : unbridled speculation that ran into lakhs of crores, excesses that we are paying for today. Even this fall will not cure investors of their love for futures speculation but if at least some amount of caution is injected it would have been a worthwhile learning. Futures are not toys for amateurs, they are time bombs in the hands of inexpert and inexperienced traders, it's only a matter of when the fuse runs out.
The other learning which I hope will play out in the future, as it has in the past, is that it pays to be brave in times of panic such as these. If I was allowed to invest myself , which I am not, I would have no hesitation in deploying serious money into the market today, knowing fully well that prices may fall more tomorrow. And I would be standing there tomorrow to buy more of the same, till my money ran out. India is going to be a terrific stock market story for many years to come, even an intermediate bearish patch cannot shake that conviction of mine. At best, one will have to wait a bit for the returns to follow. That's alright. You are happy to put money in a bank FD and then wait for one full year to collect that measly 8%, aren't you? Then why does the stock market need to give you 20% every month? In the last one year, I haven't seen so many good stocks trade at such mouth watering levels. Forget trading, avoid the duds which were fuelled up by operators, just go out and buy those bluechips. They will deliver, even if there is a global market meltdown for a while, and if you are a bit patient you will be rewarded. But do remember January 2008, as history will repeat itself again in the future. Just that our memories tend to be too short and our greed too much"
"The thing about life is that one makes mistakes. Many mistakes were made in the second half of 2007 and those sins have to be washed away by blood, such is the way of financial markets. Some participants will go down under and never be able to get back to the market again but most will survive. The pain will linger for many months, maybe years but lessons have to be learnt. Every such debacle has lessons for us and the sooner we forget them the more we suffer.
The first lesson is not to let stock price performance become the sole reason for buying, a mistake which was made in abundance in the last 3 months. What couldn't be explained by fundamentals was credited to liquidity. The present lost all relevance as people chose to focus on the distant future, perhaps simply because the present could never justify those ticker prices; only a hazy dream of the future could. Traders and investors had no time for fundamental analysts, in many cases they were labelled "cribbing fools". Chartists became the most celebrated tribe on the street as only they could see and predict the one way run to glory for many of the hot stocks even as fundamental watchers cringed at valuations....till the music stopped. Don't get me wrong, charts do work in trending markets but once stock prices veer away completely from fundamental value, people need to get careful. But they never are. Now that the blinkers are off, people should ask themselves why stocks like RNRL, Ispat, RPL, Essar oil and Nagarjuna fertilisers have lost 50-70% of their value. It is simply because their stock prices had snapped all connection with underlying business fundamentals, earnings and value. Their stock prices became the only reasons for buying them which works for a while but not forever.
The other big lesson, one which should have been driven in earlier in May 2006, is the danger of overextending oneself in the futures market. The lure of stock futures is easy to understand. Put in some margin, take a big exposure on a fast moving stock, make a killing when prices shoot up. Repeat exercise. Just that people forgot that prices may also come down and at a pace which noone can even imagine, maybe their friendly stockbrokers forgot to tell them that part of the story. The result : unbridled speculation that ran into lakhs of crores, excesses that we are paying for today. Even this fall will not cure investors of their love for futures speculation but if at least some amount of caution is injected it would have been a worthwhile learning. Futures are not toys for amateurs, they are time bombs in the hands of inexpert and inexperienced traders, it's only a matter of when the fuse runs out.
The other learning which I hope will play out in the future, as it has in the past, is that it pays to be brave in times of panic such as these. If I was allowed to invest myself , which I am not, I would have no hesitation in deploying serious money into the market today, knowing fully well that prices may fall more tomorrow. And I would be standing there tomorrow to buy more of the same, till my money ran out. India is going to be a terrific stock market story for many years to come, even an intermediate bearish patch cannot shake that conviction of mine. At best, one will have to wait a bit for the returns to follow. That's alright. You are happy to put money in a bank FD and then wait for one full year to collect that measly 8%, aren't you? Then why does the stock market need to give you 20% every month? In the last one year, I haven't seen so many good stocks trade at such mouth watering levels. Forget trading, avoid the duds which were fuelled up by operators, just go out and buy those bluechips. They will deliver, even if there is a global market meltdown for a while, and if you are a bit patient you will be rewarded. But do remember January 2008, as history will repeat itself again in the future. Just that our memories tend to be too short and our greed too much"
Monday, January 21, 2008
Stock Market Crash and Me
It was a Chilly morning.Wifey asked me to hurry up and drop her 4 her training. My thoughts were fixed on how would i recover the 26000 loss in the stock market on friday..."Jaldi Karo"....and i was shaken...
I hurriedly got up and got ready...
Reached office in a hurry to beat the parking rush...reached just in time to get a parking...
Heard a few ppl discussing the reliance power IPO subsrciption levels in the lift..had avery good feeling that i applied in time....
reached my seat...powered my laptop...n the there it was....the losses had increased to 34000..could not muster the courage to sell....discussed it with a frnd...said forget it...n then there it was....i was having ..n news flashed that Sensex had dropped a whopping 1200 points....a sense of fear ran through my spine...and the constant question...how much i must be losing now..and i sense of regret..why did i not selll it earlier...
by the time markets closed...i was lsoing 60000...
A bad day @ office indeed!!!
I hurriedly got up and got ready...
Reached office in a hurry to beat the parking rush...reached just in time to get a parking...
Heard a few ppl discussing the reliance power IPO subsrciption levels in the lift..had avery good feeling that i applied in time....
reached my seat...powered my laptop...n the there it was....the losses had increased to 34000..could not muster the courage to sell....discussed it with a frnd...said forget it...n then there it was....i was having ..n news flashed that Sensex had dropped a whopping 1200 points....a sense of fear ran through my spine...and the constant question...how much i must be losing now..and i sense of regret..why did i not selll it earlier...
by the time markets closed...i was lsoing 60000...
A bad day @ office indeed!!!
Friday, January 20, 2006
How good is Ricky Ponting as a leader
Ricky Ponting and Leadership
· To envision a goal and to inspire and motivate the group towards achieving it
· Aggressiveness and dynamism.
o Apart from being unorthodox, he does not hesitate to go into the uncharted territory that was aptly demonstrated by his unorthodox fielding positions and bowling changes, just to try to unsettle the rthym of the batsmen. His pre and post match media briefings specifically aimed at the opponents to have a mental edge over them demonstrate his astute and aggressive mind at work.
o Nicknamed “Punter” for his love for gambling in races, he has a inherent risk taking ability.
· It also includes taking the lead and setting precedents
o He has the ability to lead from the front with his consistent performances. Disregarding some occasional failures, he has been amongst the top batsmen for the last three to four years and has set numerous examples for his team
· Sharing knowledge with the group
o Another aspect that I admire about Ricky is his meticulous planning before getting set to work. He along with his team always plans a strategy for outsmarting the opponents before taking on to the field and keeps a plan B ready in case a plan A fails.
· Backing the team members and taking blame on behalf of the group in case of a fiasco.
o Most distinctive feature about Ricky is his support to his team members, in times of distress. Be it Shane Warne for the drug abuse case or Mathew Hayden for his poor form in Ashes series, Ricky has never buckled up under pressure and extended his full support to his team members. This, I believe, makes him a natural leader
· Learns from his failures
o Ponting had off-field problems tormented his cricket during the early parts of his career. Ponting was known to get into fights at clubs and had to publicly admit it once. Though dumped from the test side for this in 1997, he fought back his alcohol problem and was back in the test side in 1999 when Ian Healy retired.
Undoubtedly he is one of the best leaders alive in the cricketing arena.
· To envision a goal and to inspire and motivate the group towards achieving it
· Aggressiveness and dynamism.
o Apart from being unorthodox, he does not hesitate to go into the uncharted territory that was aptly demonstrated by his unorthodox fielding positions and bowling changes, just to try to unsettle the rthym of the batsmen. His pre and post match media briefings specifically aimed at the opponents to have a mental edge over them demonstrate his astute and aggressive mind at work.
o Nicknamed “Punter” for his love for gambling in races, he has a inherent risk taking ability.
· It also includes taking the lead and setting precedents
o He has the ability to lead from the front with his consistent performances. Disregarding some occasional failures, he has been amongst the top batsmen for the last three to four years and has set numerous examples for his team
· Sharing knowledge with the group
o Another aspect that I admire about Ricky is his meticulous planning before getting set to work. He along with his team always plans a strategy for outsmarting the opponents before taking on to the field and keeps a plan B ready in case a plan A fails.
· Backing the team members and taking blame on behalf of the group in case of a fiasco.
o Most distinctive feature about Ricky is his support to his team members, in times of distress. Be it Shane Warne for the drug abuse case or Mathew Hayden for his poor form in Ashes series, Ricky has never buckled up under pressure and extended his full support to his team members. This, I believe, makes him a natural leader
· Learns from his failures
o Ponting had off-field problems tormented his cricket during the early parts of his career. Ponting was known to get into fights at clubs and had to publicly admit it once. Though dumped from the test side for this in 1997, he fought back his alcohol problem and was back in the test side in 1999 when Ian Healy retired.
Undoubtedly he is one of the best leaders alive in the cricketing arena.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Cricketing controversies-Zimbabwe
The Zimbabwe saga
Zimbabwe suspend themselves from Tests
January 18, 2006
The interim board that is currently in charge of Zimbabwe cricket has chosen to suspend the national team from Test cricket until early next year.
The decision, which was announced at a meeting in Harare on Wednesday, means that Zimbabwe's two-Test tour of the Caribbean, scheduled for April and May, will now not take place, despite earlier assurances to the contrary from Peter Chingoka, the chairman.
Given that Chingoka met with the ICC chairman and chief executive, Ehsan Mani and Malcolm Speed, last week, it is inconceivable that this course of action was not discussed. As was the case when Zimbabwe excused themselves from Test cricket in 2004, it is likely to have been done with the ICC's blessing and been welcomed at their headquarters in Dubai.
Though they are to sit out of Test cricket for the foreseeable future, Zimbabwe Cricket remains hopeful that the five-match one-day leg of their Caribbean tour will go ahead as planned. The news, however, will not go down well with the West Indies board who less than a week ago were assured by Chingoka the full tour was on.
"While the side goes through the programme to prepare it adequately for the rigours of Test cricket, ZC has no doubt that the team will be competitive in its ODI commitments under the Future Tours Programme," added Chingoka, who hoped that the team would resume its Test status on the tour to Sri Lanka in February 2007.
According to a ZC press release, the decision to suspend its participation in Test matches was reached after consideration of the recent performances by the national and A teams. "The young teams remain full of potential and hopes abound for their development into a strong and competitive performer on the Test arena.
"ZC is now putting in place a programme to galvanize the development of the Zimbabwe squads," the release concluded. "It will work with other Test nations and the ICC itself to realize this objective."
Comments on this issue:
· The first sensible move that it has made in a long time
· The brains behind today's announcement was not Peter Chingoka, the board's increasingly isolated and discredited chairman. It was the ICC pairing of Ehsan Mani and Malcolm Speed. Mani and Speed held private talks with Chingoka in Karachi in Mid January.
· It was unlikely that Zimbabwe could have raised a side to tour the Caribbean capable of taking a Test match beyond two days
· It is quite possible that other boards added to the pressure by making it clear that playing Zimbabwe was a financial disaster in the making they would no longer entertain
· By continuing to play one-day cricket, Zimbabwe will keep themselves in the shop window - albeit, in a dusty corner of it - and allow their players the international exposure they have to have to be encouraged to continue
Supporting comments
Last Test series that Zimbabwe played was versus New Zealand in Aug 2005
Results
1st Test
Harare
New Zealand won by an innings and 294 runs
2nd Test
Bulawayo
New Zealand won by an innings and 46 runs
Before that Zimbabwe played India and lost the series 2-0 to India. Both were comprehensive wins.
Zimbabwe has also been plagued by White players rebellion and only white player playing is Heath Streak. Team has been in tatters after both the flower brothers retired and Henry olanga left for England.
Zimbabwe suspend themselves from Tests
January 18, 2006
The interim board that is currently in charge of Zimbabwe cricket has chosen to suspend the national team from Test cricket until early next year.
The decision, which was announced at a meeting in Harare on Wednesday, means that Zimbabwe's two-Test tour of the Caribbean, scheduled for April and May, will now not take place, despite earlier assurances to the contrary from Peter Chingoka, the chairman.
Given that Chingoka met with the ICC chairman and chief executive, Ehsan Mani and Malcolm Speed, last week, it is inconceivable that this course of action was not discussed. As was the case when Zimbabwe excused themselves from Test cricket in 2004, it is likely to have been done with the ICC's blessing and been welcomed at their headquarters in Dubai.
Though they are to sit out of Test cricket for the foreseeable future, Zimbabwe Cricket remains hopeful that the five-match one-day leg of their Caribbean tour will go ahead as planned. The news, however, will not go down well with the West Indies board who less than a week ago were assured by Chingoka the full tour was on.
"While the side goes through the programme to prepare it adequately for the rigours of Test cricket, ZC has no doubt that the team will be competitive in its ODI commitments under the Future Tours Programme," added Chingoka, who hoped that the team would resume its Test status on the tour to Sri Lanka in February 2007.
According to a ZC press release, the decision to suspend its participation in Test matches was reached after consideration of the recent performances by the national and A teams. "The young teams remain full of potential and hopes abound for their development into a strong and competitive performer on the Test arena.
"ZC is now putting in place a programme to galvanize the development of the Zimbabwe squads," the release concluded. "It will work with other Test nations and the ICC itself to realize this objective."
Comments on this issue:
· The first sensible move that it has made in a long time
· The brains behind today's announcement was not Peter Chingoka, the board's increasingly isolated and discredited chairman. It was the ICC pairing of Ehsan Mani and Malcolm Speed. Mani and Speed held private talks with Chingoka in Karachi in Mid January.
· It was unlikely that Zimbabwe could have raised a side to tour the Caribbean capable of taking a Test match beyond two days
· It is quite possible that other boards added to the pressure by making it clear that playing Zimbabwe was a financial disaster in the making they would no longer entertain
· By continuing to play one-day cricket, Zimbabwe will keep themselves in the shop window - albeit, in a dusty corner of it - and allow their players the international exposure they have to have to be encouraged to continue
Supporting comments
Last Test series that Zimbabwe played was versus New Zealand in Aug 2005
Results
1st Test
Harare
New Zealand won by an innings and 294 runs
2nd Test
Bulawayo
New Zealand won by an innings and 46 runs
Before that Zimbabwe played India and lost the series 2-0 to India. Both were comprehensive wins.
Zimbabwe has also been plagued by White players rebellion and only white player playing is Heath Streak. Team has been in tatters after both the flower brothers retired and Henry olanga left for England.
Monday, January 09, 2006
XAT 2006 time analysis
Here is an article regarding XAT 2006 analysis by time
XAT2006 Analysis
Students who thought the era of difficult papers got over with CAT would have been in for a very nasty surprise. XAT 2006 was one of the most difficult XAT papers of all times, and is definitely the most difficult paper of this season.
Even before opening the paper, students would have started worrying because the instructions very clearly stated that there is progressive negative marking. It is one-third for every wrong answer up to 5 incorrect answers per section. Beyond that it is half the marks for the question. This meant that students could not afford to guess too many answers.
Verbal Ability
This section had 40 questions – 16 in VA and 24 in RC. VA questions included questions on para-formation, selecting the correct/ incorrect replacement, and 4 questions on LR. Since many of the answers had “none of the above” as a choice, one could not be too sure of the answers. There were 5 passages in RC, each between 500 and 700 words in length, and one of these was a dialogue between a Japanese executive and an American executive. The questions were mostly inference based.
A good score in this section would be anything above 12-13 marks while the cutoff is likely to be around 9 marks.
Quant
For the first time, there were questions on Integration and Differentiation (1 each). There were also the usual share of questions from Probability, Functions & Graphs, Numbers, and Series. There were a few easy questions too but it was not too easy to locate them. Questions in DS were also clubbed with Quant.
Expected cutoff in this section is 6+/-1 and only very good students would have managed to score more than 10.
DI & Logical Ability
There were 43 questions in this section. There was 1 easy set in DI which was basically a table giving details of political parties, seats won by them, and alliances formed. The other sets talked of economic parameters and the representations included pie-charts, line-graph, and tables .
The sets of questions in LA were mostly difficult, and there were too many conditions in every set. The questions also were of the kind “which of the following must be true/ cannot be true” and this made it even more difficult to be sure of the answer.
The cutoff is likely to be around 7 marks.
Overall cutoff for XLRI: 33+/-1 for BM, 30+/-1 for PMIR
Cutoffs for other institutes:
XIMB: 27-28
BIM: 25-26
MICA: 23-24
GIM: 21-22
GOOD LUCK for FMS!
XAT2006 Analysis
Students who thought the era of difficult papers got over with CAT would have been in for a very nasty surprise. XAT 2006 was one of the most difficult XAT papers of all times, and is definitely the most difficult paper of this season.
Even before opening the paper, students would have started worrying because the instructions very clearly stated that there is progressive negative marking. It is one-third for every wrong answer up to 5 incorrect answers per section. Beyond that it is half the marks for the question. This meant that students could not afford to guess too many answers.
Verbal Ability
This section had 40 questions – 16 in VA and 24 in RC. VA questions included questions on para-formation, selecting the correct/ incorrect replacement, and 4 questions on LR. Since many of the answers had “none of the above” as a choice, one could not be too sure of the answers. There were 5 passages in RC, each between 500 and 700 words in length, and one of these was a dialogue between a Japanese executive and an American executive. The questions were mostly inference based.
A good score in this section would be anything above 12-13 marks while the cutoff is likely to be around 9 marks.
Quant
For the first time, there were questions on Integration and Differentiation (1 each). There were also the usual share of questions from Probability, Functions & Graphs, Numbers, and Series. There were a few easy questions too but it was not too easy to locate them. Questions in DS were also clubbed with Quant.
Expected cutoff in this section is 6+/-1 and only very good students would have managed to score more than 10.
DI & Logical Ability
There were 43 questions in this section. There was 1 easy set in DI which was basically a table giving details of political parties, seats won by them, and alliances formed. The other sets talked of economic parameters and the representations included pie-charts, line-graph, and tables .
The sets of questions in LA were mostly difficult, and there were too many conditions in every set. The questions also were of the kind “which of the following must be true/ cannot be true” and this made it even more difficult to be sure of the answer.
The cutoff is likely to be around 7 marks.
Overall cutoff for XLRI: 33+/-1 for BM, 30+/-1 for PMIR
Cutoffs for other institutes:
XIMB: 27-28
BIM: 25-26
MICA: 23-24
GIM: 21-22
GOOD LUCK for FMS!
Friday, January 06, 2006
Buzzing stocks in indian equity market
The indian equity markets have given a fabulous run and made a new high. Looking at the liquidity and the foreign inflows nothing looks like a concern on the horizon. Having said that, the outlook on sectors like two wheelers, capital goods, MNC pharma and Oil refining companies looks very positive.
Stocks like Bajaj Auto, BPCL, HPCL, Aventis, Glaxo can be looked at from the current levels for long term investments.
Auto sector is booming
Tata motors is my pick of the day. I recommend a buy on it.
It can reach Rs. 700 levels within a month from its present Rs. 650 levels.
Stocks like Bajaj Auto, BPCL, HPCL, Aventis, Glaxo can be looked at from the current levels for long term investments.
Auto sector is booming
Tata motors is my pick of the day. I recommend a buy on it.
It can reach Rs. 700 levels within a month from its present Rs. 650 levels.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
6 stock recommendations for coming week
The following counters are looiking good.
Investing in these stocks for a period of 1 month can give handsome returns of 10%
1. Suzlon Energy
2. Tata Motors
3. Dena Bank
4. Ambuja Cement
5. Bharti Televentures
6. Reliance industries
Investing in these stocks for a period of 1 month can give handsome returns of 10%
1. Suzlon Energy
2. Tata Motors
3. Dena Bank
4. Ambuja Cement
5. Bharti Televentures
6. Reliance industries
CAT percentiles to be out today
The much hyped MBA enterance test CAT's result will be declared today by IIM lucknow.
About 1.75 lac students appeared for the exam out of which only 1200 will be slected finally.
The IIM call results have already been declared
About 1.75 lac students appeared for the exam out of which only 1200 will be slected finally.
The IIM call results have already been declared
This is an article published on ndtvprofit.com on 05.01.06
It is bullish on the indian market makinghuge strides
Markets close weak
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Puneet Wadhwa
Thursday, January 5, 2006 (Mumbai):
The markets snapped two-day winning streak and closed in the red. The benchmark index ended at 9617 levels.
In the broader markets, the Nifty, slipped 0.2 per cent to end the day at 2899 levels.
"I am bullish on the markets. The Sensex can touch 10200 levels by February. However, there can be a sharp correction after that," said Ashu Kakkar, Tech Analyst, Skypowerfinancialservices.com.
Leading the pack of losers at the Sensex were Satyam Computer and Tata Motors. Both the counters slipped 1.8 per cent each. ICICI Bank, Wipro, TCS, ITC Limited and NTPC also ended weak.
Grasim Industries at Rs 1,477 levels however gained ground. The stock firmed up 2.6 per cent or Rs 38. SBI, BHEL, Hero Honda, Maruti Udyog and Bajaj Auto were the other gainers.
Mid-caps firm up
The CNX mid-cap index at 4176 levels gained 0.7 per cent or 29 points. Andhra Bank was the biggest gainer that firmed up 9.2 per cent. Bongaigaon Refinery, BEML, EIH Limited and Monsanto India also ended in the green.
Bucking the trend was Bombay Dyeing. The counter slipped 3.4 per cent. Aban Lloyd Chiles (down 3.1 per cent), HCL-Infosystems (down 2.4 per cent), Amtek Auto (down 2.3 per cent) and Gillette India (down 2.1 per cent) were the other losers.
Banking stocks flare
The banking index, BANKEX, at 5320 levels was the biggest gainer among sectoral indices. Andhra Bank (up 9.2 per cent) was the key gainer. Indian Overseas Bank (up 7.5 per cent), Bank of India (up 6.9 per cent), Vijaya Bank (up 6.6 per cent) logged gains.
ICICI Bank was the only counter that slipped. It ended the day at Rs 604 levels, down 1.6 per cent.
On firm foundation
Fresh buying was witnessed in select cement counters. Grasim Industries (up 2.6 per cent), Ultratech Cemco (up 2.2 per cent), Dalmia Cement (up 0.5 per cent) and ACC (up 0.3 per cent) were the top gainers.
Metal stocks also gained ground. Hindustan Zinc (up 10.4 per cent), Sterlite Industries (up 3.2 per cent) and Jindal Saw (up 1.4 per cent) ended the day in positive turf.
It is bullish on the indian market makinghuge strides
Markets close weak
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Puneet Wadhwa
Thursday, January 5, 2006 (Mumbai):
The markets snapped two-day winning streak and closed in the red. The benchmark index ended at 9617 levels.
In the broader markets, the Nifty, slipped 0.2 per cent to end the day at 2899 levels.
"I am bullish on the markets. The Sensex can touch 10200 levels by February. However, there can be a sharp correction after that," said Ashu Kakkar, Tech Analyst, Skypowerfinancialservices.com.
Leading the pack of losers at the Sensex were Satyam Computer and Tata Motors. Both the counters slipped 1.8 per cent each. ICICI Bank, Wipro, TCS, ITC Limited and NTPC also ended weak.
Grasim Industries at Rs 1,477 levels however gained ground. The stock firmed up 2.6 per cent or Rs 38. SBI, BHEL, Hero Honda, Maruti Udyog and Bajaj Auto were the other gainers.
Mid-caps firm up
The CNX mid-cap index at 4176 levels gained 0.7 per cent or 29 points. Andhra Bank was the biggest gainer that firmed up 9.2 per cent. Bongaigaon Refinery, BEML, EIH Limited and Monsanto India also ended in the green.
Bucking the trend was Bombay Dyeing. The counter slipped 3.4 per cent. Aban Lloyd Chiles (down 3.1 per cent), HCL-Infosystems (down 2.4 per cent), Amtek Auto (down 2.3 per cent) and Gillette India (down 2.1 per cent) were the other losers.
Banking stocks flare
The banking index, BANKEX, at 5320 levels was the biggest gainer among sectoral indices. Andhra Bank (up 9.2 per cent) was the key gainer. Indian Overseas Bank (up 7.5 per cent), Bank of India (up 6.9 per cent), Vijaya Bank (up 6.6 per cent) logged gains.
ICICI Bank was the only counter that slipped. It ended the day at Rs 604 levels, down 1.6 per cent.
On firm foundation
Fresh buying was witnessed in select cement counters. Grasim Industries (up 2.6 per cent), Ultratech Cemco (up 2.2 per cent), Dalmia Cement (up 0.5 per cent) and ACC (up 0.3 per cent) were the top gainers.
Metal stocks also gained ground. Hindustan Zinc (up 10.4 per cent), Sterlite Industries (up 3.2 per cent) and Jindal Saw (up 1.4 per cent) ended the day in positive turf.
India to grow at 7.7% in FY07: BankAm
This is a report published on rediff.com, india's premier website
Booming manufacturing and services sector is likely to push up India's GDP growth to 7.7 per cent in 2006-07, but inflationary pressure may lead to hike in interest rates, Bank of America said on Thursday.
However, Bank of America warned that cutting fiscal deficit as per FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management) Act is likely to remain a challenge in the absence of further budgetary reforms.
"In India, GDP growth is likely to remain in high gear at 7.7 per cent in 2006-67, as economic activity continues to transit from the public to private sector," Bank of America chief economist Mickey Levy said in the report 'Global Outlook for 2006'.
Growth is likely to be more evenly distributed among varying sectors, with the manufacturing and services sectors maintaining forward momentum and agriculture benefiting from a normal rainfall.
Rising income levels will see inflationary pressure mounting in addition to the effect of the gradual pass-through of higher fuel prices in 2005.
"Wholesale Price Inflation is projected to average higher at 5.1 per cent in 2006-07 compared to 4.6 per cent in 2005-06 in part due to a low base this year," Levy's said.
Policy rates (repo and reverse repo) will remain on an uptrend because managing the build-up of inflationary expectation continues to be an over-riding concern for Reserve Bank of India.
Though privatisation of state-owned companies in a smaller scale will relieve fiscal pressure in the near term, achieving commitments under the Fiscal Responsibility Act will be difficult in the next fiscal in the absence of further budgetary reform.
The current account deficit of the country may pose a challenge in 2006-07, the report said.
The strong investment cycle, low real interest rates and the credit boom will continue to exert significant upward pressure on the trade imbalance.
"Import growth will outpace export growth, although we see the current account deficit staying at a manageable 2.5 per cent of GDP, up from around two per cent in 2005," Levy said.
The present shift away from state domination is likely to continue to proceed with a further ease in the regulatory environment, which will keep India at the forefront of destinations for foreign direct investment.
The steady stream of FDI projects and incremental investment liberalisation is likely to trigger a significant improvement in long-term investment flows in 2006.
There is likely to be improvement in long-term capital inflows, together with an expected stable flow of overseas borrowing and equity inflows, and the overall balance should remain in surplus with rising foreign reserves.
Booming manufacturing and services sector is likely to push up India's GDP growth to 7.7 per cent in 2006-07, but inflationary pressure may lead to hike in interest rates, Bank of America said on Thursday.
However, Bank of America warned that cutting fiscal deficit as per FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management) Act is likely to remain a challenge in the absence of further budgetary reforms.
"In India, GDP growth is likely to remain in high gear at 7.7 per cent in 2006-67, as economic activity continues to transit from the public to private sector," Bank of America chief economist Mickey Levy said in the report 'Global Outlook for 2006'.
Growth is likely to be more evenly distributed among varying sectors, with the manufacturing and services sectors maintaining forward momentum and agriculture benefiting from a normal rainfall.
Rising income levels will see inflationary pressure mounting in addition to the effect of the gradual pass-through of higher fuel prices in 2005.
"Wholesale Price Inflation is projected to average higher at 5.1 per cent in 2006-07 compared to 4.6 per cent in 2005-06 in part due to a low base this year," Levy's said.
Policy rates (repo and reverse repo) will remain on an uptrend because managing the build-up of inflationary expectation continues to be an over-riding concern for Reserve Bank of India.
Though privatisation of state-owned companies in a smaller scale will relieve fiscal pressure in the near term, achieving commitments under the Fiscal Responsibility Act will be difficult in the next fiscal in the absence of further budgetary reform.
The current account deficit of the country may pose a challenge in 2006-07, the report said.
The strong investment cycle, low real interest rates and the credit boom will continue to exert significant upward pressure on the trade imbalance.
"Import growth will outpace export growth, although we see the current account deficit staying at a manageable 2.5 per cent of GDP, up from around two per cent in 2005," Levy said.
The present shift away from state domination is likely to continue to proceed with a further ease in the regulatory environment, which will keep India at the forefront of destinations for foreign direct investment.
The steady stream of FDI projects and incremental investment liberalisation is likely to trigger a significant improvement in long-term investment flows in 2006.
There is likely to be improvement in long-term capital inflows, together with an expected stable flow of overseas borrowing and equity inflows, and the overall balance should remain in surplus with rising foreign reserves.
Indian makets on a roll
The indian Equity markets are on a roll although the Sensex(Indian index) is volatile today
The sensex has jumped from 6000 levels in early 2005 to 9600 now.
The heavyweights leading the rally are Reliance industries, ONGC and tata motors.
FII and mutual funds have pumped in a huge amount of money and have made India a attractive economy to look at.
The sensex has jumped from 6000 levels in early 2005 to 9600 now.
The heavyweights leading the rally are Reliance industries, ONGC and tata motors.
FII and mutual funds have pumped in a huge amount of money and have made India a attractive economy to look at.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Did not make it to IIM C
it is very sad for me that after a agonising long wait for results, i have been rejected by IIM C.
Going to sleep now
Really heart broken.
Going to sleep now
Really heart broken.
Nervousness before a major result
It has often been see that people get nervous before a major result.
i am nervous before checking out my CAT result tonite
God pls. help me
i am nervous before checking out my CAT result tonite
God pls. help me
CAT Results to be out on 02.01.2005 midnight
An indian news channel NDTV reported that the results for CAT 2005 enterance examination conducted for admission into India's most prestigious MBA universities will be out by 02.01.2006 midnight.
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