Think again

What Apple could do with its $100 billion cash?

2012-01-30T23:55:00.002+05:30

http://mashable.com/2012/01/28/apple-100-billion-comic/

Which social network?

2012-01-26T23:20:00.000+05:30

Know these connections

2012-01-25T23:11:00.005+05:30

Typical audio, video connections for conneccting your stereo system to the earphone, tv to the stereo and computer output to the stereo system...

When you know the names of these connections, it will be easier to tell anyone what exactly you want rather than playing pictionary with the other person...

TRS connectors

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Photo-audiojacks.jpg

To know more about the pictured connections,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS_connector

The RCA connectors

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCA_connector

How stress changes the look

2012-01-15T21:29:00.003+05:30

The astonishing pictures show how a tour of Afghanistan transforms the features of these relaxed-looking men and women into careworn, hard-bitten masks.

Even more amazingly, their faces dramatically soften again on their return from their three-month trips.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2086319/Faces-war-The-soldiers-courage-suffering-etched-line.html

Expert views aka Dumb analyst reports

2012-01-12T22:36:00.003+05:30

I have come across many equity research reports which have a target price for a company which is some single digit % downside. But whats shocking is the recommendation of 'hold' next to it. Why should any investor hold on to investments that are not going to grow, but shrink by any number. If the investor sold it and kept the money in the bank, he could earn a single digit positive % return on the amount. The difference between the two scenarios can be a double digit % return.

It is interesting to note that many have instituionalised this kind of stupid thinking by defining the 'hold' range as "+5% to -5% over a year". Why should anyone hold on for an investment for over a year for a maximum of 5%? Isn't a fixed deposit better with higher returns and no equity risks?

Gold Gold Gold

2012-01-08T01:00:00.000+05:30

From: Number Sleuth

Die you shall...

2011-12-25T20:32:00.000+05:30

Die you shall...Live you should...

The wise men

2011-12-18T23:33:00.002+05:30

Once upon a time, some time ago, there were a group of men who were very very rich and owned around 40% of the world's resources. They had land, industries, gold and what not. They were wise and understood how to maintain and grow their wealth throughout time. They very well knew that value is in the thought of the beholder. If the thought of value in something vanishes, the value in the product is zero. To further help themselves, they thought upon an idea to globalise the world to make use and exploit the best of everything. Further, they spread the benefits of globalisation and free market access. At this point of time, they realised that with free markets, value is being interfered by the exchange rates. The group of wise men, decided that they will have to be proactive and move as a group to maintain order and control of the maintenance and growth of their precious valuables in the world. Since they own a substantial part of the world, and markets are never deep enough for them, they could influence the markets with ease. Moreover, they realise the people's psychology and the various govt.'s response to the situations they would create. They start buying into an 'item' initially and start spreading the word how that would be the next 'big' thing in the world. The high risk takers and loyalists start buying it immediately. As the value of the 'item' increases, more people start believing the prophecy and start buying it while all the while the wise men's value increases. After a few years, the wise men believe that they have milked the 'item' to its limit and their value has stopped growing at a fast rate. Further, before someone else calls that the 'item' is overvalued, they start selling the 'item' and buying into another 'item'. And the next prophecy of how this item is undervalued and how it is the next 'big' thing, starts to grow. This cycle keeps repeating over periods of time and the only people who are always in the green are the wise men and the loyalists, while the general public is bled and slaughtered each time when they start buying at the height of the cycle and when the wise men are selling it to the blind public. These "items" could be various currencies, gold, silver, commodities, bonds, houses, land and what not. The frequency with which these wise men are interchanging the 'items' has increased in the recent years. It is not clear whether another set of 'wise men' are on the street trying to call shots on an item which is different from the first set of wise men. This fight between the two sets of wise men having contradictory ideas on some 'items' is probably being seen in the high volatility of the markets. E.g: Crude oil falling by around 6% in a week, INR moving by 1% in a day, gold falling by over 9% in 5 days.

Moral of the story: Besides the all the financial porn being thrown by the media at us and all the talk of finding value, in the end it seems you just have to stick to the side of the 'wise men' if you want to make money/store value. If only, we could easily pinpoint who are these 'wise men' and know their next move.

P.S: This is just one of the hypothesis I have to show that most people have know idea of how the market could be working against you all the time. At times, I feel like one of the little guys who feel like they are born to just get exploited by the 'wise men'.

Genders and colours

2011-12-11T02:51:00.001+05:30

Innovation in dressing

2011-12-10T22:50:00.003+05:30

Goof ups

2011-12-10T19:41:00.002+05:30

In 2011, Blackberry services outage down for 3 days, UBS illegal trades and Billion $ losses, S&P mistakenly downgrades France, NATO bombing Pakistan's guard-posts and Indian govt. accepting a USD 9 billion export error.

Previously, irresponsible statements "We do Gods work" by Goldman Sach's CEO Lloyd Blankfein,

"Its not our fault" by Tony Hayward, then BP CEO.

The frequency of the goof ups are increasing and the scale of it is getting bigger and bigger.

It is for someone to find out why. Could it because of increasing pressures of the jobs & faster deadlines to produce results without having enough quality checks? I believe so. Also, the touhgher environment thanks to the slowdown and recession is causing the extra pressure on growth and profitablity.

Compared to this, is any goof up we do in our daily work really that bad? Everyone screws up. As far as NASA's philosophy is supposed to go, the reason for any screw up is not any person, but the fault of the system. If there are enough checks and balances, screw ups should never happen, atleast of the kind mentioned above. It is time systems are given importance, and not just the profits. It is time systems are held responsible for irresponsibility and not the people on whom ridiculous expectations are held!

Heightened uncertainty

2011-11-27T22:51:00.000+05:30

There was a time, sometime ago, a few years back actually, when things could be predicted "long term". Today, that word if used either tends to show your lack of knowledge on anything, or a surprise that he isnt already perished along with the dinosaurs.

Today, almost nothing can be predicted even for 5 years (or less). Not even govt. bonds. Not sure when a govt will topple and default on all the previous commitments/bonds. The existence of worldwide currencies (e.g:euro) is at stake. Gold, once upon a time long term investment is at peaks and nobody is entirely sure why its rising. Whether it is because it is supposed to be a hedge against inflation (as traditionally "they" say), or against currencies, or against a no growth scenario...?

Oil is also equally uncertain. the volatility in this commodity has been huge despite nowhere near corelation to its demand, which is more or less steady.

During the good olden days, assume maximum fluctuations where near 20% a year, meaning both the crest and the through. Today, just the crest or the through have a minimum movement of 20% a year, irrespective of whether it is currencies, gold or oil (or even interest rates in India).

Are all the companies factoring their worst case scenerios in reality in their business plans? I think not. They should ideally be more conservative and have more cushion for a negative surprise currently, and for the next few years.

What does this entail for investing in particular? Previously, we used to bet for growth alone assuming all the above mentioned factors as constant or with a little movement. But today, these assumptions cannot be taken for granted. They entail enormous effect on the results and each of these are inter-co-related in many different known and unknown ways and levels. The effect of one can either neutralise the effect of the other or compound the effect of the other and this influence can change day to day. Today you need to better analyse more than one variable to get to the base and expected scenario.

There is some opportunity in all this afterall. The high volatility in everything obviously means there is more money to be made with the highs and the lows as there is to lose money also. The question is are you treating this as a cautious opportunity or as a complete threat?

What a conviction!

2011-11-16T16:43:00.003+05:30

Goldman Sachs added Sintex Industries to the India conviction buy list on 6 September 2011 and on 16 November 2011, it has removed the company from this list "based on account of European exposure and FCCB concerns." Weren't these factors present even when the company were added to the list?
Conviction is when you trust something especially at hard times, not backing off and selling it at the sign of the first trouble (share price from ~Rs.150 to ~Rs.93)

Reduce tax on short term profits

2011-11-16T16:21:00.000+05:30

Transactions work in a funny way when taxes are involved. Here's a demonstration:
Here's how to lower your average buy price of a share with tax benefits:
Assume you have bought a share of scrip A @ 700. Now the share has fallen to 600 within a week/month. Assume you buy 1 more share, this time @600 and also sell one share at the same price.
Looking from a layman's/superficial perspective, these 2 transactions are wasteful and costs are involved (brokerage and taxes on the transaction) as no useful purpose has been solved.

Now lets look at this from the tax perspective:
As shares sold is always in FIFO (First in first out) in India, your would have effectively sold the first share at a loss of 100(sell@600- buy@700). This gives rise to a short term loss of 100 which is adjustable against other short term profits. Assume you have made a 100 short term profits in some other transactions. Then, your net tax payable is 15% * (100-100) = 0. So you have effectively saved 15% taxes on the amount of losses if you have profits elsewhere in other transactions. Now, your effective by price of A is also 600 (the price of the second share you bought). The lower buy price will help you break even and make profit faster.

Lets extend the case. Assume that after a year of buying the second share, the price has reached to 630. If the 2 seemingly dummy transactions had been done, then you would have saved 15 in short term taxes by adjusting against other short term profits and when you sell this at 630, you make a long term profit of 30 (Sell@630 - Buy@600). And since long term equity capital gains is taxed at 0%, the total profit/loss you would have made is -100+15+30 = -55.
If these two dummy transactions had not taken place, your buy price would have been 700 and sell price would be 630, meaning a loss of 70. Note that long term losses are not adjustable against anything.
So, you can effectively reduce your losses or taxes and also make more profits by taking an immediate short term loss and entering into a counter transaction by buying an equivalent amount at the same price(assuming you have short term profits).
This is not only applicable for buying and selling at the same price, it is also very much applicable if you bought the second share at at a rate less than the selling of the first share.

London riots - Proof of Deindividuation - "Civil society": An oxymoron phrase

2011-11-09T17:36:00.000+05:30

http://youarenotsosmart.com/2011/02/10/deindividuation/

The London riots just prove that the innermost bad desires are inherent in every person irrespective of whether they are in the developed world or in the developing world, whether in a civil society or not. As a matter of fact, the phrase "civil society" seems to be an oxymoron phrase now. People are civil by intimidation or by force, it just doesn't seem normal. Greed, action, thrill, survival instincts are all part of true human nature. It is only by continuously conditioning that we stop doing it and think twice before burning down other's properties and looting others' things.

P.S: written long ago, but forgot to post it.

Gold & Investment poker

2011-11-09T17:27:00.002+05:30

There is a nice game in town called "Predict the price of gold and win a jackpot". It is well known that a lot of cheap money has gone into commodities over the last few years (perhaps 2 years or so). And that means a lot of speculation has also gone into it. One of them is Gold. There are many theories floating around why Gold is rising and the theories predicting the immediate future of this shining metal. The most traditional theory says "Gold hedges inflation". Meaning, it can store the same value and you can get the same goods worth in gold irrespective of the depreciation of a currency which happens with high inflation. The second and a consequential theory says "Gold is an alternative currency in itself when other major currencies are as volatile as Molotov cocktails". The third theory says "When the world is headed for deflation, gold is a better investment as it will atleast hold value rather than depreciate". Another theory says "Gold is usually measured in USD and as Gold and USD are usually always negatively co-related to each other, hence, Gold prices can be predicted by the prediction in the USD strengthening/weakening against other currencies". The fifth and sixth reasons are speculating based on one of these theories and buying based on hearing the blind calls of others respectively. There is no one clear and present reason for putting money in Gold.
Now, coming to the poker side of things, it gets more interesting/confusing based on how you see it. It is a fact that Gold has run up so much because many people/institutions have bought/speculated loads and loads of it. Some of them have been satisfied with the returns and thought it was in an overbought region/overpriced at around USD 1800+ per troy ounce and had started selling it and realising profits. Now at around USD 1600+, when an organisation/person says it will reach higher, one has to understand if he is saying so to protect his own interest. He can make others buy by saying so while he himself is selling it to you. Without your invaluable buying support, it is very possible that more people would be selling and his realisation of profits would be that much lower. Now, considering all the talk about Gold, are you willing to buy Gold at this highest level? Arent the retail investors falling into the same trap of investing at the very highs and again burning their fingers for the sake of a best case 5 or 10% returns and the worse case of a huge downside? Now, thats a call you have to take. The answer looks simple enough to me, I hope it is for you too.

Its getting worse by the day

2011-11-08T00:23:00.001+05:30

The Govt. of India's or rather India's problems are getting worse by the day. One of them being inflation.

If it was not enough that inflation has been high in double digits for so long is not enough and all the economic govt. authorities (Mr.Kaushik Basu, Chief economic adviser; Mr.Rangarajan, head, Prime Minister Economic Advisory Committee; Mr.Subbarao, Governor, RBI; and Mr.Montek, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman) have been shooting arrows in the dark about when the inflation would come even close to the target rate. They have (including Pranab da, Finance Minister) have been directly and indirectly saying that inflation will come down in the next few months for over a year. And yet, they have all been wrong or have been lying.

To make matters worse, they continue to say the same without looking at the ground realities.

1. Everybody says food inflation is due to supply side problems. Yet. there has been no major policy changes to increase production of goods that are needed. In an ironical step, Minimum Support Prices(MSP) have been raised drastically over the last two years which has increased the overall cost of buying all the grains for everyone. Whats very depressing is that some of the policies that have traditionally caused farmers to increase wheat/rice/pulses by having MSPs, have caused more grains to be grown than can be stored in warehouses leading to huge losses of grains. This subsidies/incentives are skewed in such a way that even if there is demand for vegetables/fruits, many farmers will continue to grow certain grains as it is more profitable because of the subsidies/incentives. Why is the govt. sleeping?

2. There is also a case that the MGNERA has given a lot of money to the villagers and this is increasing demand for goods which previously did not exist. A report I read says that there have been hardly any productivity changes due to the scheme. Meaning, that most work is namesake and no real useful work has been accomplished with so much money being given.

3. Petrol prices are going up continuously and there are indications that even diesel prices may rise. If diesel price rise, the whole of India will undergo another level of price rise as most things in India are transported by trucks. A multiplier effect will increase inflation more.

4. Many coal power plants are running on 4 to 7 day stock of coal (norm:21 days) and are lacking coal. Many power plants in India were designed and viability studies assumed that they would import Indonesia's coal which used to sell it at a discount to international market at large. The recent law in Indonesia to sell its coal at an international rates has made the power plants unviable and the companies are asking the govt. to increase the rate at which they sell the power to the govts.

5. The state electricity boards(SEBs) have run up losses of Rs.80,000 crore (and counting) as they have been inefficient and many have not increased electricity prices for years together. With the power ministry proposing to ask the state govts. to write off all the losses and start the SEBs with a clean slate, where are the state govts. to get so much money? Also, even after this is done, unless the SEBs increase the rates of electricity substantially (many times over in some states), the SEBs will again start going into losses.

6. There is a proposal of a food subsidy bill to be introduced. Where is the money for it? Unless the govt. starts saying things like 2 grains of rice per person per day is enough to fill hunger (like the Rs.32 a day is the Below Poverty Line), where is the money?

7. With the downgrade of the State Bank of India by Moody's, the govt. has shown some hurry to infuse ~8,000 crore into SBI with an overall of ~14,000 crore into all public sector banks, within this year. (Increased from the budgeted 6,000 Cr)

8. Oil prices are still high and any number of reports in the global arena do not predict oil prices to fall to any meaningful lower level in a permanent way. This means India's import bill is only going to rise in the coming years. And the govt. will need more money to buy the imports.

9. Some specific national liabilities like the Air India are contingent liabilities which will need more money in the future from the govt.

All the above imply only two things directly: Prices are going to stay up/rise and govt. is in need for a lot of unplanned money. If the govt. starts borrowing more, rates are further going to go up and would make further investments in new projects unviable (which are supposed to increase supply). The second would only reinforce the price inflation permanently.

Oh, and there is one more thing. Inflation measures prices year-on-year and even if the govt. claims victory over inflation once it reaches a target rate of say 5%, inflation has remained high for so long that these rates are year-on-year. Meaning that the price rises have become permanently embedded. Unless there is a price deflation, things are bad and permanently.

You don't need to be an economist of calibre to predict (wrongly again and again) that inflation is going down. The truth is prices are going to remain high and may further rise, irrespective of whatever the above economists mentioned say/lie. In effect, the Govt. is screwing all its citizens very well.
P.S: The high impact of inflation is given here: http://www.firstpost.com/investing/govt-is-ruining-your-savings-and-the-rbi-shouldnt-let-it-124932.html

Campari calender 2012

2011-11-06T17:12:00.000+05:30

P.S:click on the images to get larger size photos

http://www.rediff.com/getahead/slide-show/slide-show-1-glamour-the-campari-calendar-2012/20111031.htm

The Suicide knot

2011-11-06T04:06:00.002+05:30

Ever wondered the misery of a poor fellow who has decided to commit suicide and on the selected day, at the time when he/she is alone in the room, and with the rope in hand, he/she gets frustrated that he/she is unable to tie the knot - the 'Suicide knot'.
Take an unrelated topic: we all have seen the lasso in many a cartoons and a few cowboy movies. It seems simple, but if I ask you to make me a simple lasso, do you know how to make it?
Ok, can you atleast tie a tie?
It may seem that most of us, the vast majority don't know how to do the first two, but may know the third, but in reality it is not so. It is just that you don't know that you know it already.
Here's the secret: If you know how to tie a tie, you know how to tie both the suicide knot and the lasso. Becaus it is all one and the same.
Lateral thinking...using a solution from one problem to solve another problem.

How to save more by using Credit Cards

2011-10-26T17:07:00.004+05:30

I know how the heading sounds. Like a typical debit/credit card issuing bank. But trust me, this isn't what it seems. I am talking about exploiting your bank/credit card to the limit, the same way the Banks squeeze you off your money. Tit for tat.

The idea of a credit card is that you dont have to pay for the purchase immediately, but after a 'credit' period which is usually 45-50 days at the maximum and 18/20 days at the minimum. This means that you have a minimum of 18/20 days to pay your credit card bill after the purchase (if this purchase happens to be on the billing date of the credit card). And if you make the purchase the very next day of your billing date, your credit period is maximum.

If we assume that you dont really time your purchase and it can occur on any given day of the month, your credit period would vary between 18 to 50 days. The average credit period is (18+50)/2 = 34 days.

For safety measures, I always recommend you to pay your credit card bill 2 days in advance of your last payment date (in case internet is not working, bank holidays, computer maintenance at the bank, etc.; Be careful not to delay the credit card payment even by one day as this will make you pay huge late payment charges and a high interest rate of 24-36% per annum is used for paying the pending amount and the whole idea of bank's trying to exploit you will occur.)

So your average credit period is 34-2= 32 days, approximately a month of free credit.

If you spend around 10,000 per month on your credit card bill (groceries, provisions, eating out, air tickets,etc) instead of your debit card or other cash methods, you save around (10,000* 4% p.a/ 12) = Rs.33.33 per month or Rs.400 annually. It may not seem much initially, but that 4% per annum is what you are/were getting on your savings bank account without paying for the purchases immediately using a debit card/cash/netbanking. You would obviously save more if you had more expenditure on your credit card or time your flexible purchase to the day(s) immediately after your billing date.

With RBI deregulating savings bank accounts, and Yes Bank already upping the interest rate on the savings accounts by 2%, it is in the near future that other banks will also increase the rates. In this scenario, your savings from usage of credit cards is going to only increase.

Usually this savings is far more than the reward points one can earn from the credit card company. The reward points are usually some 1.33% for some premium card and the rewards redemption is so calculated that for every 3 or more reward points, you get Rs.1 worth of stuff. So the maximum benefit you can expect is 1.33%/3 or around 0.44%. This is next to nothing compared to the nearly ten times more 4% per annum (or greater) you can get on all the purchases made with the cash lying in the savings bank account and paying the credit card bill just before the last date.
P.S: I have been using this strategy for over 5 years and have faced no problems at all. Financial discipline is necessary to get more out of your money.
Paraphrasing the line in the book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad": Don't work for money, Make the money work for you.

Nothing is impossible

2011-10-26T15:29:00.001+05:30

The last words of people who were executed

2011-10-23T23:36:00.001+05:30

~ Che Guevara

~ John Wayne Gacy, before being executed by lethal injection

~ George Appel, executed by electric chair in 1928

~ Gary Gilmore, executed by firing squad in 1977

~ Robert Erskine Childers, to his firing squad during the Irish Civil War in 1922

~ James W. Rodgers, asked if he had any requests before facing the firing squad

~ Stanley "Tookie" Williams, founder of The Crips, executed by lethal injection. His executioners appeared to be having trouble with the machinery.

~ Edward R. Rulloff, the last man executed by hanging in New York state.

~ Sir Walter Raleigh, to his beheader

~ Carl Panzram, serial killer, hanged in 1930

~ Melchor Ocampo, Mexican politician, when asked to kneel by his executioner

~ Harry Morant, Australian war criminal

~ Joe Hill, after hearing his executioner say: "Ready...aim..."

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mikehayes/the-last-words-of-people-who-were-executed

Lifes' risks in the new world

2011-10-08T00:39:00.002+05:30

Any uncertainty leads to risk. There are many types of Risk. Many are non-financial and related to lifes' uncertainties. In a continously changing and evolving world, new uncertainties arise and the same old uncertainties have more (and seldomly, less) risk than the previous decades/generations. When the old parameters to measure risk are inadequate, inaccurate and inappropriate, how can one measure risk? Risk is always measured with respect to certainty just like dark is defined to the relativeness of light. And when certainty itself (the reference point) cannot be defined/yet to be refined, how do you measure risk? At a macro level, it is possible to say that the risk is more in the new world compared to the old world, but measuring it against another new world situation is impossible. And when risk cannot even be known accurately and measured, how can you successfully hedge the risks? Having huge exposures and open positions may have upsides even in life, but the downside risk is huge and scary.

One unique aspect about each of lifes' risks unlike financial risks are that you cannot be semi-hedged. You are either fully covered or stark naked!

This is ...

2011-09-30T20:45:00.001+05:30

Reinvestment opportunities

2011-09-24T23:09:00.002+05:30

Suppose you have made an investment three years ago at a cost of 100. Today, say the investment is worth 160. Your rate of return for 3 years is 60% and your compounded annual rate of return is (160/100)^(1/3) =16.96% per annum.

Suppose you expect the investment to go upto 165 in another quarter but under some risk that it may also go down, what do you do and what should you do?

At the rate of 165, your profits would be 65 instead of the previous 60, at a new annualised rate of return of 18.16% from the previous ~17%. Should you now go for it?

It sure looks tempting to get a rate of return of 18.16% with a little risk, but this is identical to driving a car looking at the rear mirror. Let me explain. There are two ways to look at the rate of return. One rate of return based on the investment done 3 years ago and one assuming you are investing today. With the old investment, yes, your calculation comes to an attractive 18.16%. But assuming you are investing 160 today, you are expecting a rate of return of a mere 5/160= 3.125%. The truth is that you have already made most of your money till now and your marginal rate of return is only some 3 odd %.

By keeping the investment, the truth is that you are actually wanting to make an investment giving a rate of return of ~3 % in a quarter with the risk of a downside too and not the 18.16% per annum that the calculation shows. The question to be asked is "Is this what you really want when you could have other more worthwhile investments to make which can give you better returns?".

The comfort of previous returns makes people biased to calculating from a historical perspective and make them feel that the investment is good. By doing so, you are indifferent to reinvestment opportunities and are missing real opportunities that will make you more money.

Faith and fraud

2011-09-18T21:10:00.000+05:30

Blind faith and fraud go together. Looking at the below 2 instances (out of many other miracles), I am led to believe what I have thought of many a times. The blind faith in God itself is a fraud perpetuated by our ancestors for personal gains. Separate the people based on religion and ask them to fight your wars. In short, divide and rule. Buy out shops/areas around a religious place, and then spin a story based on that temple and make throngs of people visit it daily and make super-normal profits by selling all things the people need there. In short, create demand where there is none by spinning a story.

Lets look at the two instances:

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/board-admits-makarajyothi-at-sabarimala-is-man-made/1/136300.html

http://www.saibaba-x.org.uk/7/lingam.htm

I am not an atheist, but being an open and logical thinker, I am forced to question my faith in faith.

World's natural resources

2011-09-12T01:04:00.001+05:30

Scheduling emails

2011-08-15T20:01:00.000+05:30

If you are unavailable and cannot access internet for a few days and yet want to send a pre-meditated email to someone (liking wishing someone on their birthday/anniversary) through Gmail, there is a solution at hand. Though gmail is yet to provide this functionality, there is atleast one chrome/firefox app that enables you to do this.

http://www.boomeranggmail.com/download.html

Its simple and fast. I wish the various email providers introduces this feature soon.

Crowdsourcing to the next level

2011-08-15T19:49:00.000+05:30

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Icelanders-hand-in-draft-of-worlds-first-crowdsourced-constitution/articleshow/9419934.cms

A similar idea is being tried in India to form a strong lokpal bill by the civil society to check corruption in the high places and the government is vehemently opposing it as many of their crooked tricks to loot the country will have to be surrendered.

Scrips and their personalities

2011-08-01T23:11:00.003+05:30

Each scrip has a unique character/personality to it. It is defined by both its internal strengths, weaknesses & policies and the external perception of these vis-a-vis other scrips.

Each scrip behaves in a way that is particular of its industry, maturity of the company, liquidity of the shares, segmentation based on capitalisation, debt levels of the company, EPS, expected future growth, dividend policy, stock split/bonus shares, volatility of the stock, seasonality of the sector, overall economic/business cycle, correlation to interest rates, correlation to the historical PE of the industry, correlation to its own historical PE, how the mkt usually treats this stock to each event(excitedly/anxiously with lot of volatility or indifference with hardly any movement), mindshare and brand image it occupies in its investors among many other things.This is something that is not usually taught in the books. Experience in the markets teaches you this. It is important for every short term investor to follow the scrips through the ups and downs and be able to predict how much and how long will the scrip prices rise/fall due to the event, just as one knows and understands a family member's reaction to various life's events. You cannot estimate the right reaction and the depth of the reaction precisely, but you know that the person would be upset or excited to hear it. Since each scrip has a personality of its own, its important to understand them to deal and profit from them.

The idea of dying

2011-07-31T16:41:00.000+05:30

"The idea is to die young as late as possible" - Ashley Montagu

Another conspiracy theory

2011-07-28T12:59:00.000+05:30

One of the most romantic hindi songs was probably actually written and sung to shut up wife/gf "kuch na kaho, kuch bhi na kaho..." :D

How much Sunscreen? SPF?

2011-07-23T02:21:00.000+05:30

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2011/the-sunscreen-smokescreen/

What's your pose?

2011-07-20T00:16:00.000+05:30

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2016104/Leisure-dive-Summer-posers-caught-mid-air-new-photography-craze.html

XXXtreme testing

2011-07-18T23:12:00.000+05:30

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/mobile/07/18/iphone.skydive/index.html?hpt=te_bn2

The ultimate test: "The Skydiving Test!"
If any electronic system can survive this test, it is simply awesome :)

Aerial views

2011-07-18T22:04:00.000+05:30

Try taking a guess what these actually are :)

http://www.businessinsider.com/amazing-aerial-photos-2011-7

Impossible trinities

2011-07-18T21:44:00.000+05:30

wrt Job: Profile, Location & Compensation

wrt Financial economics: Fixed exchange rate, Free capital movement & Independent Monetary policy

wrt Life: Health, Money & Time

Let me explain the last part:

As a kid, you have the time and health to travel the world and enjoy life while no money. When you are working, you have the money and the health, but no time. When you are old, you have the money and the time, but no health.

Unnaturally natural

2011-07-17T22:26:00.001+05:30

We do so many unnatural things that the most natural of things seem unnatural.

10 most thrilling airport landings

2011-07-05T21:29:00.001+05:30

http://www.businessinsider.com/thrilling-airports-2011-6#

Life insurance isn't everything

2011-07-05T20:58:00.001+05:30

One usually thinks that getting life insurance is a great way to cover for your life and to provide for your family 'Zindagi ke baad bhi'. I am sure at least it is portrayed that way and many more believe it so. Till, you go through the 'fine' print.

Forget, about dying doing dangerous stuff like sky-diving or adventure sports and getting yourself killed.

Whats shocking is that a lot of risks are just not covered in the policies.

Being a victim of a terrorist attack on the way home need not necessarily be covered in your life insurance. My document clearly mentions "War, invasion, hostilities (whether war is declared or not), civil war, rebellion, revolution or taking part in a riot or civil commotion are excluded". This means that tomorrow if a neighbouring country bombs some city and people die, then life insurance won't cover you.

Imagine being part of a peaceful protest and suddenly police starts lathi charging you and some commotion occurs. The insurance may mostly deny your claim.

What's worse is that certain accidents are also not covered. Especially nuclear contamination. I find this highly ridiculous. Why cant all these risks be covered as riders. I believe a price can be put on any risk. If you believe its impossible or too difficult to measure such a risk, stop being in the life insurance business because you are no longer insuring lives.

Whats the point of having a life insurance when all it effectively covers is just road accidents and we need to depend on the govt. money for decades together after a disaster like the Bhopal tragedy.

The worst part is life insurance is it makes me stupid even if I am smart enough to buy life insurance. Thats the real irony of it.

Organisation charts

2011-06-30T22:55:00.000+05:30

Sorry, dear friend!

2011-06-25T14:52:00.000+05:30

My policy of unfriending: If I cannot remember one conversation I have had with you, you are going to be unfriended right away...unless of course, you are one of those whose posts are interesting and fresh.

Levels of connectivity

2011-06-25T14:36:00.000+05:30

A solution to the Govt.'s Agency problem

2011-06-01T21:56:00.000+05:30

Almost all govts. in the world are not working in the most efficient way they possibly can. One of the major reasons is the internal looting of the govt by way of corruption (lobbyists influencing policies in a way that the govt and its people suffer), internal fighting among many others. All govt jobs have fixed pay and perks. The motivation to not harm the organisation they are working for is not much (excepting Patriotism and Morality).

One of the possible solutions for solving the agency problem of the govt officials can be possibly found in the concept of capital markets. (Related post disecting the problem: http://ajitjagan.blogspot.com/2011/04/aligning-interest-of-govt-and-its.html) Capital Markets are inherently more efficient and way faster in doing things.

One solution I am proposing is to have the concept of stock markets with the very govt. itself being treated as a company. Lets take the one market which is most open to accepting free market concept - USA. So USA could be a stock which is freely traded by the citizens in the country just like its sovereign treasury securities.

Source of capital:

Now, lets assume 5 or 10% of all the govt officials salaries are given in the form of the employee stock options with the stock of USA.

Concept of Returns:

As a stock price indicates the problems of the entity and the future potential of the entity, investors will make money if they work in such a way that the country's future is better. They would like to see higher prices of all their 5-10% of their salaries in pensions to not greatly affected. This has the potential to stop the govt. official to work harder, not do things that will harm the country. Similar to how a employee stock option feels for an employee. A sense of ownership is created. These people will be willing to work harder and make better policies as they now have a stake. Once a critical mass is attained in any organisation, the peer pressure will make the others also work more efficiently and effectively.

Valuation of Stock:

This is the most tricky part. Unlike companies where future earnings is the most important parameter to be considered (if today's company abides by rules and destroys the environment, so be it. The investors dont care). But, in case of the country as a whole, there are many subjective parameters to be considered. National Security, Environment, Sustainability of natural resources, mortality rate, quality of the govt officials making decisions, etc

Maybe an earnings index can be calculated based on the other indices. Take for example the Transparency Index the topic it relates to which is corruption and ease of doing business. Say, Corruption is given a weightage in the earnings as 10% and Ease of doing business as 5%. Next, if the country comes in the top 5 countries where corruption is least, it is given a full score of 10 points= full weightage; Top 10, 9 points; top 20, 7 points; so on and so forth.

So this will enable the country to come to a number based on the current ratings of Indices. As valuation is always subjective and depends on the uncertain future, different investors will predict different ratings and better/worse situation of the country on various parameters. This will make the people govt understand what is it that people want. If they dont do as per the wants of all their citizens, they get a lesser share of their pay/pension. If they manage to reduce crime, increase efficiency, etc, people will be happier and the govt officials will get more money. This also prevents petty politics in the country, which is nothing but a drain on national resources.

Foreign entities as investors:

Once foreign entities buys these stocks, there is an opportunity for the country to get someone who is interested in the well being of the country and get more favourable responses to various initiatives.

Concept of Holding company:

Since USA is made of various states and states resources/financials actually have a major role to play in the countries well being, state govts. should also give their employees the shares of their states.

Today, the govt. officials can play petty politics and get all their money in cash in priority. If the people can have a indirect say in what they think about the decision everyday instead of once in 5/6 years, I am sure better wiser decisions will be made by the govt. officials.

Live a well-lived life

2011-05-17T22:34:00.000+05:30

http://blogs.hbr.org/haque/2011/05/is_a_well_lived_live_worth_anything.html?cm_sp=most_widget-_-blog_posts-_-Is%20a%20Well-Lived%20Life%20Worth%20Anything%3F

Useless Debates

2011-05-17T17:52:00.002+05:30

The debates we take part in in schools are unrealistic and non-practical. The world doesn't and can't function from an extreme point of view. Maybe these debates may play a part in a students' narrow thought process by not accepting the whole picture or talking about things he/she doesn't believe in. Why should kids at a young age take stands on issues where the best solution in the real world is usually the middle ground.

If indeed the students' thought process has to be evaluated, his vocabulary and speaking skills have to be tested, let there be a competition of how should certain problems be solved instead of blind arguing as in a debate.

Let big or small or technical problems be thrown to this non-brainwashed people to come up with maybe some very innovative solutions.

How should India tackle the China threat? Or what kind of new design will you make for machine that has to clean up mines. What kind of mobile games would be a hit with adults or children?

Why not make the students really think, discuss and speak about it?

Guess what, Nokia went to kids around the world and asked them to draw what they would like their mobile to look like with what features. And, this is how even big companies get ideas for the future.

Lets make tomorrow's future think about the future rather than make them recite about the past and argue about the present.

Extreme product development/marketing

2011-05-09T21:09:00.002+05:30

Look at the two pictures:

What did you think it was? Liquid chocolate and strawberry syrup? You would be forgiven to think that. That is what I thought it was when I first saw this. Coloured shapely bottles with pictures of two tweens on it. I opened and smelled it and found the smell of chocolate and strawberry syrups respectively. But what was surprising was the brand name on it: Parachute advansed. Parachute brand is the most popular cocunut oil brand which is mainly used as a hair oil(and also for cooking). Ok, so I assumed Parachute has entered the edible eateries segment with syrups. But advansed is like a technology used for refining the hair products for specific use. Just to be sure, I read what the product actually was. Turns out it was shampoo.

Almost 99% of the people would have thought it to be something other than a shampoo(with the word shampoo written in such small words on the bottle)

Lets look at the consequences: How will a parent convince a three or four year old that the product the kid is demanding to eat is not an eatable in the first place. It looks like a delicious eatable, smells like one too. Big trouble ahead for parents!

What suppose the parent adds this 'syrup' on a home made cake or on an icecream/milkshake and gives it to the kid? I wonder if the company is going to get sued for making kids ill...

Since the marketers are "always" "trying" to make things "easy" and "convenient" for the consumers, why not they come up with a product which can be used for multiple purposes? Say you get up, and brush your teeth with this product as a toothpaste, then squeeze out some more of this stuff and use it as a soap, wash off and then apply some more on the body and let it dry working as a moisturiser. Then scoop some more and apply onto the bread and enjoy a delicious sandwich on way to the office. Won't such a many-in-one product "delight" customers?

Consumers can then need not have to remember so many things to buy when they go to a supermarket. Things will be more easily manageble. From cleaning the shelf of the bathroom that has on the average 3 to 5 or more different products to not throwing away unused product since it has reached the expiry data as it will be used frequently. A frequent traveller can slip in one of these many-in-one products into the travel bag and not have to worry to find the many things as used currently running across the house to just pack a bag. Maybe consolidation of products is the next level/generation of marketing and product development in particular for the marketers. The irony of this game is that fewer marketers would be required when this is done. A true revolution!

5 reasons why US is going to go downhill

2011-05-08T17:51:00.005+05:30

Frequent International Interferences

The frequency with which US is involved in fighting other countries since 2001 is very high. Iraq, Afganistan, Pakistan and now Libya. The costs are huge, but the benefits in terms of oil is greater for USA. But the skepticism of the world on its activities is increasing all the while. The conspiracy theory on the attack on the pentagon, the non-provability of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, Contradicting claims of the US and North Korea on the torpedo that sunk the South Korean ship, Doubts if Osama Bin Laden was actually killed by a US raid,etc are helping build the skepticism on what US says.

Spill Out of Crises

The European debt crises in Ireland, Greece and expected crises in Portugal and Spain have brought the attention of the economists to the debt amounts of the countries and see a realistic picture of US debt. They have started questioning the assumptions and no longer see it as rational in blindly justifying US debt as something godly and always safe. The US crisis itself has forced the US economists to relook at the US debt and justify themselves being called rational. S&P's negative outlook on US sovereign debt is just the beginning of being rational. Faith of and on the dollar has diminished and is expected to further diminish. No one has yet able to think a perfect currency/thing which can be used to measure against all other currencies. The only possible solution that seems close to come to place in a few years time maybe the equivalent of the SDR(Special Drawing Right) of the IMF. It is equivalent to the basket of freely convertible currrencies. But in the coming scenario, Yuan may be added to this basket sometime in the current decade when China allows complete convertibility. The complete faith on the US Dollar is going to come down. The draw down of the US Dollar forex reserves is also going to play a major role in the downhill of US.

Internet

More internet availability and accessibility in the world in helping others know of the torture faced by US victims in Guatemala and the killing of two unarmed Pakistanis by a CIA contractor. Not to mention, the widespread news of wikileaks and videos of violent human rights violations by US soldiers in Iraq is there for all to see. Add to this, the ease and fastness with which conspiracy theories are spread.

Weapons Technology

One of the main strengths of US has been its military muscle. The world's dependency on that is reducing. China is growing rapidly in weapons technology with the development of the anti-satellite missile, the anti-aircraft carrier ballistic missile, the stealth aircraft and of course, their own aircraft carriers. Japan has initiated developing its own fighter aircrafts and it is expected to reach the market in the coming years. India is planning on ICBMs(Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles) and the Brahmos is world's leading cruise missile. The FGFA program with the Russians for the development of the fifth generation fighter aircraft is also supposed to be leading edge. With money always acting as a crunch to all the countries, most of these countries will be willing to sell the products to 'their' allies. The market share of US is going to go down. Compared to the other countries, US cannot fight on price too.

Rising Developing Countries

The rise of the BRICS countries and their collective power to say 'No' to US to bulldoze its way in trade agreements and climate change conferences at the cost of others shows reduced US ability to force others. The recent mention of British PM David Cameroon wanting the next IMF head to be from Asia also shows the way things are going in the world.

Strange relationship

2011-05-05T23:06:00.002+05:30

There are many situations one comes across in life where you have a strange relationship with the other person. One category of them consists of meeting people with whom potential relationships are possible but is not yet converted into a formal relationship.For e.g., interacting with a potential tenant, a potential in-law, etc. Sometimes, the relationship cannot even be defined as a 'potential relationship' category.

What about a tenant, showing the house to a potential new buyer of the place who is going to kick out the guy showing the house. What relationship could this possibly be called? It is just a strange relationship...

Dance moves

2011-05-04T23:43:00.000+05:30

Decode your present and your future

2011-05-03T23:17:00.000+05:30

http://swapnikaramu.blogspot.com/2011/04/gene-reading-decode-your-future-with.html

A real Optimist

2011-05-01T17:13:00.001+05:30

An optimist is not one who sees the glass half full, but one who sees a glass half empty and asks for a refill

Improving your Personal IT productivity

2011-04-30T23:11:00.003+05:30

1. Customise and refine your gmail account:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/quickiearticleshow/8094947.cms

2. Install wordweb software for offline instant access for dictionary meanings and alternative words while writing documents

3. Install Adobe Flash plugin, Quicktime and Microsoft Silverlight plugins for non-prohibitive access to all webpages.

4. Preset webpages to be loaded when you open a new browser using the settings in the browser.

5. Block pop-ups from the browser settings with exceptions to certain sites.

6. Have a handy searchbox (google/bing/yahoo) in the browser.

Aligning the interest of govt. and its people

2011-04-12T18:46:00.002+05:30

There is a serious lack of alignment in the interests of the government and the collective of the people ruled. How else can anyone explain the future government's intention to liquidate the state/country in the name of helping the poor people.

Take the example of Tamilnadu. The DMK government came to power promising a television for each household (along with )if they win the election. They won the elections and this time upped the ante. Now, they want to give grinder or mixie to all the women. Plus, a laptop to all the students studying in govt. and govt aided colleges. The opposition party, AIADMK, is desperate to win and is playing the DMK's card even better. If they win the election, they promise to give grinder, mixie & a fan to all the women. Students of govt, govt aided and private colleges will get a laptop each and even class 11 and 12 students.

One question that begs to be asked here is: at whose cost? Is it at the leader's personal cost? Of course not. It is with OPM. Other People's Money. In this case, the very people they will rule.

This problem is occuring and re-occuring due to two different reasons. One, the politicians and the government say that the ultimate test is people's vote and thats all that counts. Easy for them to say. After all, they have no stake or interest in the common people and it is the people who are going to suffer in the medium to long term.

They are no KPI (Key performance Indicators) that their bosses(the common people) or an independent arm of the government have setup or are monitoring. And there is no reward/punishment for the government and its officials based on these KPIs. The KPIs are usually used as a passive parameter to compare the policy initiatives with the effect on the ground by statistical organisations and is used more for academics and deciding policy directives. They are not currently being used as a strict performance measure of the government based on which its rewards are based.

Two, the government is able to exploit the differences between the poor and the others (working middle class and rich). The non-poor have televisions, fan, can afford spending on gold in marriage, etc. The poor on the other hand cant think of months or years ahead when they are focussed on earning their next meal to survive another day. This difference in interests gives the government ample leverage to play the pro-poor populists game while ignoring the long term impact of the decisions. This is equivalent to selling the family silver to get some income to dispose off immediately. I am not against poor, but providing televisions to all of them doesnt serve the purpose of taking them out of poverty. Where will they keep the television? Whats the use of the TV if the government doesnt have enough money to setup power plants and hence doesnt provide electricity to run the TV.

This problem of differed interests in similar that of secured and unsecured lenders in case of a distressed company. While the secured lenders would like a restructuring to happen and turn around the company, the unsecured lenders would like to see the company liquidated. The secured lenders have nothing much to lose as they have security cover over what whatever amounts have been lent. On the other hand, the unsecured lenders have some amount of money to get out of liquidation and if the restructuring doesnt turn the company around, they lose everything. One of the solutions used to align the interests of the secured and unsecured creditors is the concept of strips. Here, all the debt(secured and unsecured) is pooled up and stripped into equivalent pieces. So now, each creditor has both secured and unsecured portions in his 'strip'. Once, these strips are there, all the lenders can come to the best effective way to solve the problem (restructuring or liquidation) based on the business risks involved.

A similar approach needs to be planned and used to align the interests of the poor and the non-poor so that the government doesn't play the divide and rule game with its people. I am yet to figure out how to make the 'strips'.

Value

2011-04-12T15:59:00.001+05:30

"Value lies in the mind of the Beholder"

Congizant India: another Enron/Satyam?

2011-04-10T18:46:00.001+05:30

Congizant Technology Solutions has come a long way from being a mid size player to a heel behind the third largest IT company (Wipro) and will soon overtake it. The growth it has seen in the last three years has not been even matched by one of the peers and is far ahead of the peers(TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Tech,etc). I have a few friends in this company who have been lucky to get 200% bonuses (never ever heard of in IT companies). I asked a few of them, what is the reason for this tremendous growth in topline and profits? All of them say "I really dont know." Nobody I talked to clearly is able to tell me what magic they have done in getting new businesses and maintaining margins.

This answer sounds similar to a few earlier cases. The magic of Enron seemed to be accounting. Satyam was not far behind, though they used magic to just show the industry growth level.

The lack of clear insight and understanding of what CTS did to get the outperformance even from their rivals is whats startling.

I just hope it is not one of the Enrons' or Satyams'.

Procrastination

2011-04-03T20:21:00.002+05:30

An excellent article on Procrastination (long but worth it)
http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/10/27/procrastination/

Chocolate Bonds

2011-03-26T19:13:00.000+05:30

Financial innovation and returns have never been sweeter and more delicious (literally, really) :D

The company has issued bonds for which the coupons are not paid out in cash, but in chocolates :)

http://www.springwise.com/retail/chocolatebond/

mmm....mmmm....

Funny business quotes

2011-03-26T14:28:00.002+05:30

Early to bed and early to rise probably indicates unskilled labor. John Ciardi
The problem with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat. Lilly Tomlin
Don’t piss on my back and tell me it’s raining. Old West quote
When you assume, you make an “ass” out of “u” and “me.”
The successful man is the one who finds out what is the matter with his business before his competitors do. Roy L. Smith
Eagles soar, but weasels don’t get sucked into jet engines.
Every employee rises to the level of his own incompetence. The Peter Principle
Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. Cyril Northcote Parkinson/Parkinson’s Law.
The light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off due to budget cuts.
A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him. David Brinkley
A meeting is an event at which the minutes are kept and the hours are lost.
She should go far. The sooner she starts, the better.
The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of its behind. Joseph Stilwell
Success in almost any field depends more on energy and drive than it does on intelligence. This explains why we have so many stupid leaders. Sloan Wilson
The wheels are turning, but the hamsters are all dead.
Make it idiot-proof and someone will make a better idiot.
I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig, you get dirty; and besides, the pig likes it. George Bernard Shaw
If you give him a penny for his thoughts, you’ll get change.
There’s no secret about success. Did you ever know a successful man who didn’t tell you about it? Kin Hubbard
If work is so terrific, why do they have to pay you to do it?
There’s an enormous number of managers who have retired on the job. Peter Drucker
By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be boss and work twelve hours a day. Robert Frost
Accomplishing the impossible means only the boss will add it to your regular duties. Doug Larson
Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. Winston Churchill
A budget tells us what we can’t afford, but it doesn’t keep us from buying it. William Feather
The worst part of success is to try to find someone who is happy for you. Bette Midler
Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. TS Eliot
If you would like to know the value of money, try to borrow some. Benjamin Franklin
Don’t stay in bed, unless you can make money in bed. George Burns
If not controlled, work will flow to the competent man until he submerges.
If you don’t know what to do with many of the papers piled on your desk, stick a dozen colleagues initials on them and pass them along. When in doubt, route. Malcolm S. Forbes quotes
It is better to spend money like there’s no tomorrow than to spend tonight like there’s no money. PJ O’Rourke
Never invest in anything that eats or needs repairing. Billy Rose
It’s hard to lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse. Adlai Stevenson
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There’s no point in being a damn fool about it. WC Fields
Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings, they did it by killing all those who opposed them.
If at first you don’t succeed, failure may be your style. Quentin Crisp
Never put off until tomorrow what you can avoid altogether.
A clean desk is a sign of a cluttered desk drawer.
All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure. Mark Twain
If at first you don’t succeed, try management.
Indecision is the key to flexibility.
If at first you don’t succeed, take the tax loss. Kirk Kirkpatrick
Aim low, reach your goals, and avoid disappointment. Scott Adams/Dilbert
Life is like a dogsled team. If you ain’t the lead dog, the scenery never changes. Lewis Grizzard
The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one. Oscar Wilde
In the early days all I hoped was to make a living out of what I did best. But, since there’s no real market for masturbation I had to fall back on my bass playing abilities. Les Claypool
Do not underestimate your abilities. That is your boss’s job.
Right now, this is a job. If I advance any higher, this would be my career. And if this were my career, I’d have to throw myself in front of a train. Jim Halpert/The Office
Success is simply a matter of luck. Ask any failure. Earl Wilson
Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake. Napoleon Bonaparte
There’s nothing so improves the mood of the Party as the imminent execution of a senior colleague. Alan Clark
A consultant is someone who takes the watch off your wrist and tells you the time.
An expert is someone called in at the last minute to share the blame.
Speak the truth, but leave immediately after.
For maximum attention, nothing beats a good mistake.
One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important. Bertrand Russell
http://www.businesspundit.com/100-funny-business-quotes/

What motivates people?

2011-03-21T00:42:00.003+05:30

In diagrams

2011-03-21T00:28:00.000+05:30

Src: www.thisisindexed.com

How to Steal and get Rich

2011-03-19T17:24:00.001+05:30

A good article on how many of the inventions we owe to someone is actually someone else's.
http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2011/01/how-to-steal-and-get-rich/

The chemical revolution effects

2011-03-19T17:20:00.001+05:30

http://www.thehalsreport.com/2011/01/is-something-wrong-with-the-sexual-development-of-human-males/

Lift kara de

2011-03-12T23:25:00.000+05:30

I overheard a very interesting conversation while in a lift. I heard one guy saying: The lift takes more energy to take a person going down than a person going up. The logic is that the lifts usually have a big counter-balance attached to it. The counter-balance always goes in the opposite direction of the lift. If the lift goes up, the counter-balancing weight goes down and vice-versa. So while you and the lift has to go down, the heavy counter-balance has to be lifted and hence is very energy intensive. So the next time, walk down and go up in lift to save some electricity.

Marketing ideas

2011-02-28T21:06:00.001+05:30

I think I have a couple of marketing ideas for the FMCG segment and for opticians which are yet to hit the market (atleast in India)

Considering the fact that around 70% of Indians eat non-veg, I think non-veg flavoured chips will do great business in India. Think Butter Chicken chips, Prawn chips and various fish flavoured chips.

Instead of Fish & Chips, one can now have Fish In Chips :D

Considering that foreign markets have non-veg flavoured chips, I wonder what is taking the Indian market so long. I think the time will come soon.

One more idea I have been thinking which is yet to hit the market is spectacles for which the frames /sides can be changed based on the occasion/dress colour. Something of the plug the frame/side and wear type.

Hello marketing people, are you alive?

ABS required on Indian bikes

2011-02-17T18:53:00.002+05:30

Disk brakes are not useful on bikes unless the bike it is accompanied with ABS(Anti-Lock Braking System). The sudden and powerful use of disc brake to prevent a collision causes the tyre to lock and the reduced traction between the tyre and the surface along with the forward momentum the bike has, causes the bike to skid. If the bike is not brought into control and stabilised in a fraction of a second, the bike loses control and you have gone skidding right into the thing you were trying to avoid skidding into. Else, you have skidded into something else.

When will ABS be available on Indian Bikes?

Next pending innovation in the Indian Bike market!!!

Update April 2011: Honda is launching its CBR250R with CBS(combined braking system) and ABS(anti-lock braking system). CBS controls the ratio of the brake torque applied in the front & the back wheel for best braking without losing control.

Liquid Armour

2011-02-08T21:18:00.000+05:30

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1346877/Bullet-proof-custard-British-soldiers-wearing-revolutionary-new-liquid-body-armour-years.html

The complexity of investing

2011-01-25T00:45:00.006+05:30

Recently, somone asked the Oracle of Omaha (Warren Buffet), what was his opinion on Gold?

He replied in his usual characteristic simple way: "You could take all the gold that's ever been mined, and it would fill a cube 67 feet in each direction. For what that's worth at current gold prices, you could buy all -- not some -- all of the farmland in the United States. Plus, you could buy 10 Exxon Mobils, plus have $1 trillion of walking-around money. Or you could have a big cube of metal. Which would you take? Which is going to produce more value?"

This is the ultimate dilemma of investing and human life. How do you value anything? What we value today highly can be totally disregarded another day. Remember how a baby takes so much interest in a colourful spinning plastic "thingy" atop its cradle? Or how much we appreciate the 100 or 1000 bucks which was the first salary and later that amount just doesnt even excite us years later. How we value the last few minutes of the death bed of a loved one but never valued the hours we spent during the lifetime knowing very well that everyone will pass away someday.

All value is relative in life, and humans need to value millions of things in their life. Coming back to investing, most of the things in investing is based on what you believe and what you value. On the other hand of Buffet, we have another equally great stud, Mr.Jim Rogers, who has always believed in commodities and will always lobby for buying commodities. That is because he believes and he has his reasons to believe in it.

So at the beginning (and probably the end) of the day, what are you going to believe?

The Paradox of Choices

2011-01-22T22:12:00.002+05:30

Our needs and the understanding of our needs tends to be poles apart when it comes to choices. We get to choose from tens of flavours for a face wash (Does it really matter whether it was a peach flavoured one or an apricot) and keep changing them but when the big important things come, we hardly have much chance to change the choice (which city to settle, who to marry, which house to buy, which career line to choose). Not impossible but very difficult. Such are the forces the humankind is forced to.

Mumbai is Happening!

2011-01-16T19:59:00.005+05:30

Ever wondered what to do in Mumbai and not knowing what to do?
Ever wanted to try something new?
Want to just get out of boredom?
Wanted to meet new people sharing your interests and passions?
Mumbai provides you so many opportunities and at nominal prices.
All that is required from you is some effort to get off the couch and do something about it...

http://www.mumbaireadyreckoner.com/
http://www.thecityguide.in/Mumbai
http://www.mumbaihikers.org/
http://www.ignitemumbai.com/
http://mumbai.metblogs.com/2008/12/16/100-things-to-do-in-bombay/
http://www.couchsurfing.org/
http://www.mumbaikar.com/en
http://www.thecomedystore.in/
http://www.meetup.com/cities/in/mumbai/
http://www.mumbaifoodie.com/
http://www.mumbairestaurantmenus.info/
http://www.fullcontactchampionship.com/home.html
http://www.snmcpn.in/index.php
http://www.wtcmumbai.org/wtcmumbai/Venues_Exibitions.aspx
Races at Mahalaxmi race course

Many a people say Mumbai is a happening place, now you know why!
If any of you know of more things, please do comment on this post.

Cameras - What really matters

2011-01-14T17:08:00.000+05:30

An excellent article on what actually matters while buying cameras is here

Necessity to Change

2011-01-07T01:18:00.000+05:30

It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory. ~W. Edwards Deming

WTF!

2011-01-07T00:30:00.003+05:30

Choosing a demat and trading account

2011-01-06T23:50:00.005+05:30

There is a lot of confusion between a trading account and a demat account to a person new to the field of investing. The charges corresponding to them is even more confusing and many hidden(by marketers).

Let me first give a brief difference between the two and then explain the corresponding charges they have. Next, give a list of key criteria to consider which demat and/or trading account one should go for.

A demat account is like a savings bank account. It keeps your shares or rather the count of the shares of each scrip (A scrip is a company name whos shares you own!) you own. Just like your bank account keeps your money or rather a count of the amount of money you own.
A trading account is required for you to buy or sell shares.

The explanation of the charges is given here:

The key criteria for selecting these accounts are:

1. Your purpose/usage. In short, how frequently are you going to buy/sell and is it intraday or delivery based. Choose the Broker whose charges are lowest according to your transaction style.

2. Look at a complete solution and not just one individual product like a demat account. After all, the money in the savings account will be linked to your trading account for buying/selling shares and the trading account will be linked to your demat account for storing the shares. Suppose you have a Savings account with Financial group 1, and the trading account with financial group 2 and group2 trading account does not have a partnering arrangement with group 1, you will be forced to open a new savings account with Group 2 itself. Similar with the relationship between the trading account and the demat account. Usually, most non-bank brokerages have tie-ups with the popular banks for savings bank accounts and demat accounts, but brokerages in a banking group company may have only the same bank as its partner.

3. Internet based trading: Some of the brokerages try to make their websites very fancy and use hi-fi new web technologies(typical example is Flash on websites) or need some installation of their trading application on the user's side. But they don’t understand is that your company's internet browser may not be technologically enabled (say, no flash is installed) and you are not allowed to install softwares in the office. Then the whole point of getting a trading account and associated demat accounts/bank account linkages,etc are pretty much useless. Not totally useless as most/all brokerages have a trading desk that you can call and order them to buy/sell. Sometimes, your call can be on hold when opportunities emerge in the markets for minutes only (Remember gains to be made on IPO listing when the price starts dropping after hitting a high).

4. Think long term. In case you have got yourself a demat account and you have existing shares in it and you want to move to another demat account, transfer of shares is not cheap. One of the demat accounts I checked was charging Rs.50 per company scrip that is to be transferred. If I have 20 companies, it is going to cost me 50*20=Rs.1000. Others may charge differently, based on number of shares or amount worth or anything. Please find out what this amount is, in case you are ever tired of useless service and you want to change the demat account. These transfer rates are never mentioned anywhere. Buyers beware!

5. Opening one of these: Bank account, Demat Account, trading account is not easy anymore. One needs address proof, identity proof, registered mobile number for instant authorisation, etc. Gone are the days when you can walk to a new city and get one of these as if you were getting a cup of coffee in a shop. Think about the long term implications before closing any of these. Can you ever open another one without much effort?

Happy account creations! :)

People power

2010-12-28T22:48:00.002+05:30

Crowd-sourcing has reached tipping point with this event.

DJs, promoters, label reps and 'professional party people' from the Netherlands have persuaded Dutch airline KLM to add an extra flight to its roster. In a new twist on crowd-buying, the initiators of Fly2Miami made a bet with KLM on Twitter to organize a non-stop flight from Amsterdam to Miami.

The True Meaning of HDTV

2010-12-28T22:08:00.002+05:30

http://www.businesspundit.com/the-true-meaning-of-hdtv/

Genetically engineered exterminations

2010-12-24T01:15:00.003+05:30

I have wondered for long at times how to totally destroy some species like cockroaches or mosquitoes. At times and at some places, they are so enormous and they cost humans a lot (think about the dengue scare at the start of 2010 in Delhi).

One of the best strategies is to be implant a virus/disease in the species which spreads for a few months/years among the whole species across generations and then like a ticking time bomb goes off all on one very fine day. Entire affected species gone! Boom!

But unfortunately, the only problem is that all viruses/diseases harm/kill the victim after a cycle that starts when it enters the organism. So the universal "all in one boom" cant happen at a particular day as such.

Now, scientists have finally got half the solution of the perfect genocide.

Enter the GM mosquitoes!

Scientists have created infertile males which they will release in dengue affected areas. Females won’t produce offspring with these guys, even after mating with them. Studies have found that dengue-infected populations fell by 80%. The males are engineered to die off naturally, and females only mate within their species, so the GM traits are self-limiting.

http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2010/11/gm_mosquitoes_wipe_out_dengue.html

Taking this one step further, the ideal solution is to have sexually transmitted infertility. Then we obtain Success. As this species is not monogamous, the infertility will spread and make the whole species infertile with no heirs whatsoever!

Welcome to the new age of genetically engineered totalitarian obliteration!

On the same lines, I just hope AIDS is not some kind of extermination planned by some aliens/external forces...

25 Promising products for 2011

2010-12-24T00:57:00.000+05:30

3D is coming big! In multiple forms....from tv to thin monitors to camcorders...

What else?
* A "sensational" device that will send vibrations through your body via the chest which will let you feel gunshot wounds and T-Rex footfalls while watching movies/playing games.
*Then there is the technologically advanced solar panels in wrappable & rollable form and almost as thick as a plastic sheet.

* The carbon nanomotor
* Mobile Fuel cells
* Genetically modified Mosquitoes
* And then a car :)
See the full list and descriptions at http://www.businesspundit.com/25-most-promising-products-for-2011/

Stop losing yourself

2010-12-19T18:55:00.001+05:30

Here is what former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh has written in one of his sharpest blog comments on his association with Mulayam Singh Yadav: “I used to think that the most painful thing in life is losing the one you value the most. But I have realised the most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of valuing someone who is so non-deserving. My love to all my erstwhile non-deserving friends for setting me free from their all kinds of burdens and responsibilities. May God give them sense”.

3d illusions

2010-12-11T20:55:00.000+05:30

All this and many more 3D illusions here:
http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2010/09/mind-bending-optical-illusions.html

The omnipresence

2010-12-11T20:14:00.000+05:30

Oh boy! Do I love that suprised question: "How do you know this? Where did you get this?" and they keep wondering and thinking... :P

Twice this week: one with a friend and another with my cousin.

Giving people information about their near and dear ones that they didnt know is indeed very amusing and interesting :)

Indian mobile handset market

2010-12-11T19:48:00.000+05:30

Nokia, Blackberry, Apple, Motorala, Philips, Panasonic, Sony Erricsson, Microsoft, Samsung, LG, HTC, Palm, Micromax, G'Five, Spice, Karbonn, iNQ, Zen, Lava, Lemon, Alcatel, Fly mobile, Olive.....If competition is not enough now there is Dell, Victor, AKAI, Sansui and Sharp mobile handsets are also entering the heavily congested Indian mobile handset market. And there is still more to come....Jaipan, Kokatta based Supertonics, Weston and Microtek are going to be next entrants. With each newbie company projecting a market share of 5% in the intial year itself and being in top 10 players in a few years and the biggies projecting higher market shares in the coming years, I wonder who is being realistic. How long will this mania last? Is this growth external or for the next 10/15 years? Finally, has the mobile handset degraded from a white goods consumer electronic product to an FMCG (Fast Mover Consumer Goods) product like shampoo/toothpaste?

What's surprising is that each newbie plans to enter the market with 10 handsets by the end of the year. All of them outsource all the manufacturing to China and have similar business models, similar features, similar distribution (here or there) and similar price ranges. I dont think any of these newbies have any real vision or to be in the handset market for the next 2 or 3 decades.

Blog tips

2010-12-11T19:45:00.003+05:30

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/caroline-hagood/ten-tips-to-feed-your-ali_b_781585.html

Printing a blog
http://www.pcworld.com/article/210170/how_to_print_a_blog_page.html

The relationship between beauty and employment

2010-12-09T22:26:00.001+05:30

Are good-looking people more likely to get jobs? That depends whether you’re talking about men or women, according to a new working paper. From the abstract:

"Job applicants in Europe and in Israel increasingly imbed a headshot of themselves in the top corner of their CVs. We sent 5,312 CVs in pairs to 2,656 advertised job openings. In each pair, one CV was without a picture while the second, otherwise almost identical CV contained a picture of either an attractive male/female or a plain-looking male/female.Employer callbacks to attractive men are significantly higher than to men with no picture and to plain-looking men, nearly doubling the latter group. Strikingly, attractive women do not enjoy the same beauty premium. In fact, women with no picture have a significantly higher rate of callbacks than attractive or plain-looking women. We explore a number of explanations and provide evidence that female jealousy of attractive women in the workplace is a primary reason for the punishment of attractive women."

Previous research, however, has found that good-looking female workers receive higher raises than their plain or ugly counterparts.

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/are-attractive-people-more-employable/?ref=business

Ear fitting Earphones

2010-12-06T23:04:00.001+05:30

I have constantly got a little iritated by the ill-fitting APPLE white round earphones. The circumference of these kinds of earphones are much bigger than most ear holes of people I know. Over the last few years a few comfortable (somewhat!) earphones have been developed. Like this rubber ended earphones that will flex itself to the shape of the earhole (My suggestion: this should be more conical for fitting perfectly to any ear).

Here are a few innovative/fashionable/stylish earphones I found on the net:

Some more of such earphones can be found here:

http://oddyfunny.blogspot.com/2010/09/weirdest-headphones-for-arduous.html

But what I want is some odd shaped earphones that will fit my earhole perfectly and not just pop out if I move my head:

Digital Name hijackers

2010-12-05T16:35:00.001+05:30

There is only a very limited number of common names and english words in this world. And the first movers (that is our generation) is lucky to get a name for ourselves so easily. Say an email account of your precise name you want or the blog site or the website with the right words to describe your blog. Some in our generation aren't all that lucky also. I also am a victim of Digital name hijacking. After quite some time of thinking when I started my blog, I wanted my blog site to be named "thinkdifferent.blogspot.com", as I felt it was appropriate at that point of time. But that name was already occupied. Being occupied is not hijacking, but the creator of that blog just had one or two blogposts in all for years together. And thats what I call Name Hijacking. No use for anybody and still permanently occupied not allowing anyone else to use it either.
The same has been used as a great business model to make money by several people. Domain name sitters/hijackers get all the probable names of upcoming companies/organisations or organisations that don't have an online presence till now registered and then demand a ransom to let go of these names to the companies. There is good amount of money to be made in this business and knowledge of SEO(search engine optimisation) can only help this business model further. All this business model needs is some students with idle time and some pocket money with some imagination. Well, I guess this post is a rant starting somewhere and ending somewhere else(probably due to the background songs and simultaneous chatting).

Multi-functional Belts

2010-12-05T15:18:00.001+05:30

Emergency Toolkit Belt

A bottle/beer opener belt

The first is available for $40 http://www.besportier.com/archives/snow-toolbelt-686-will-keep-you-stylish-and-prepared.html#more

The second belt is available for $30 http://www.besportier.com/archives/ride-opener-belt-buckle.html

A guide to following the little birdie

2010-11-29T22:59:00.000+05:30

Love - An irresistible desire

2010-11-28T02:41:00.001+05:30

"Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired." -- Robert Frost

Apple school

2010-11-21T02:41:00.000+05:30

Ad seen on a Breach Candy bus stop:

A great differentiator indeed! But is it secretly selecting only rich kids? Can an Apple enabled learner be better at studies?

Irrationality?

2010-11-21T01:47:00.000+05:30

http://news.oneindia.in/2010/11/18/i-will-not-denotify-lands-illegally-again-bsy.html

According to this logic, I can kill someone or do any crime I want and then promise to not do it again if I am forgiven. WTH?

On a slightly different note, after reading an account on the 26/11 terrorist who got overwhelmed by the spaciousness of the Taj Hotel while he was to put it on fire(as per commands of his commander), I was wondering the following scenario. Suppose say the fellow calls for a negotiation with the government and asks for a lawyer and demands that all his crimes to be irrevocably pardoned and he be given a posh permanent residence in the country in lieu of not harming anyone anymore and giving all details about his crime. Is this 1. Rational, 2. Justifiable to the govt for an agreeable settlement, 3. Govt's response tenable in the court of law ?

What do you think?

Passing it over

2010-11-19T00:00:00.001+05:30

Has it ever happened in a cricket test match that a team has passed its innings?

Let me explain with an example. In the current test match between West Indies and Sri Lanka in Galle, WI batted first and scored 580-9 declared. In response, Sri Lanka batted and finished with 378 all out, just 4 runs short of avoiding a follow-on. If Sri Lanka had scored 4 or slightly more runs and got all out and if the WI felt that the remaining excess runs is enough along with the time available to not bat at all, but pass the second innings and make Sri Lanka bat again, is this possible? Has anything of this type of confidence/arrogance/necessity ever happened before?

Being Computer savvy

2010-11-14T01:32:00.001+05:30

Being computer savvy means being able to do all the regular things and even some irregular things given some time on the computer. The key trick to being computer savvy is just two things. One, having some computer savvy friends and the other, having a good searching skill (in short googling). The first involves taking about your problems with your savvy friend and the his/her telling you of a similar problem they or someone they know faced and how they resolved it. It also involves enthusiatically discussing you about the latest happenings/developments/updates/new softwares/new functionalities - basically arming yourself with knowledge.

The second part, "googling", seems simple for a newbie, but an experienced person knows how difficult it is to get when you are looking at a particular thing from a particular view. That is the art of searching. One needs to think like the code or the machine on what keywords it would have stored for the searches and with which keywords would you hit the right link/topic. Yes, it is a kind of trial and error, more appropriately put, it is an educated and calculated guess. Being creative helps. Giving alternative keywords, adding descriptions, country location, authors name, popular news sites, etc are all the right moves/filters to get the thing you need. Somehow, this is a skill that is not taught or even recognised by anyone despite its needs being immense. Only a manager/friend will know the benefits of having a person who is super fast in getting you the right information immediately by "simple" googling.

Fantastica

2010-11-05T21:35:00.000+05:30

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1323581/Antony-Spencers-Corfe-Castle-view-wins-Landscape-Photographer-Year-award.html

Generating Alpha - Indian Mutual fund Industry

2010-11-04T20:38:00.003+05:30

I am surprised that so many mutual funds know so much about the industry they work in and have enough good relationships with the companies' management to give them accurate information about their financing and profit numbers, not to mention where their industry is heading, what their competition is doing and what are the risks they are facing. The research reports I see are really good to read and understand too. But why is it that such informed fund managers not able to produce an alpha (Alpha is a risk-adjusted measure of the so-called active return on an investment. In short, the higher the Alpha, the better the fund managers stock picking skills). The Indian mutual fund industry has missed out on two good rallies one in 2009 and one this year. I see a systemic problem here. They never seem to know when the tide is coming and are constantly caught unawares. The current Indian mutual funds work mostly in a bottom-up approach (I am not refering to the top-down or bottom-up way with respect to sectors and the indian economy, but the bottom I am refering to is the Indian economy and sectors and stocks while the top refers to the global economy). Despite the fact and the characteristic of the Indian stock market that the majority of the investors's money comes from abroad, the mutual fund managers do not give enough importance to the money flow from abroad. They just believe in buying the right stocks and wait till the tide comes and the stocks rise. Though they the mutual funds talk about foreign money and majorly do secondary reasearch on international research reports, I dont think they are talking to foreign portfolio managers and FIIs who are putting and pulling money out of the Indian markets. If the fund managers understand the FIIs concerns and understanding and get the pulse of their investing mood/climate, they can buy stocks just before the tide is going to come and get out before the tide goes back, generating alpha for the investors.

Justify anything a.k.a/via Contradictory proverbs

2010-10-28T22:28:00.008+05:30

Its real funny, surprising and amusing that you can always reason out why you want to do something or why others should do something. Like for example: if you prefer to do something patiently and with a lot of thought and carefulness, and somebody asks you why are you doing it so slowly, you answer back "slow and steady wins the race". On the other hand if we were the other person getting bugged by the slowness, we argue "time and tide wait for none".

It is surprising that almost every proverb we know has an opposite proverb matching it.

Once we see the other side of things and appreciate the logic, you will come to the only conclusion "There is no real one right thing for anything"

Go ahead, read these contradictory proverbs:

All good things come to those who wait BUT Time and tide wait for no man.

The pen is mightier than the sword BUT Actions speak louder than words.

Wise men think alike BUT Fools seldom differ.

The best things in life are free things BUT There's no such thing as a free lunch.

Slow and steady wins the race BUT Time waits for no man.

Look before you leap BUT Strike while the iron is hot.

Do it well, or not at all BUT Half a loaf is better than none.

Birds of a feather flock together BUT Opposites attract.

Don't cross your bridges before you come to them BUT Forewarned is forearmed.

Doubt is the beginning of wisdom BUT Faith will move mountains.

Great starts make great finishes BUT It ain't over 'till it's over.

Practice makes perfect BUT All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

Silence is golden BUT The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

You're never too old to learn BUT You can't teach an old dog new tricks

What's good for the goose is good for the gander BUT One man's food is another man's poison.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder BUT Out of sight, out of mind.

Too many cooks spoil the broth BUT Many hands make light work.

Hold fast to the words of your ancestors BUT Wise men make proverbs and fools repeat them.

Sharing files

2010-10-27T23:56:00.000+05:30

In case you want to transfer files over the internet without having to upload anything, here are a couple of softwares (I have not transferred anything yet though)

www.kkloud.com - enables people to send files directly from your browser.

www.dushare.com - Real time peer to peer file transfers

The Time Machines

2010-10-25T23:59:00.007+05:30

A facebook message:

"Memories, Dreams, and Love .... I believe they are all 'time-machines' in essence.....don't you think so?

Memories take us back in time.

Dreams propel us ahead of time.

And Love, well, ... it freezes the time :) "

Changing the Life insurance game in India in one masterstroke

2010-10-24T02:32:00.002+05:30

There is a great big market opportunity for one of the life insurance players in India to become get a good big market share pie and tap the untapped markets. They need to unsettle the market just as Tata Docomo radicalised the telecom market with the 1paise/second plan. Everyone knows that there is a huge market for life insurance in India but none of the existing insurance players are taking the strategy of large volumes and lower commisions as in the best and purest form of life insurance called term insurance. Today when people talk of life insurance, people's first recall is LIC or rather LIC is the synonym of investments and life insurance together. The company which is willing to go the term insurance path can show that the benefit of low insurance costs for huge amounts of sums insured and can easily attract people. As many Indians are too stuck up with the idea of getting something back, they can show an advertisement of how somebody buys a car/bike insurance without a second thought for saving his/her bike, but when it comes to their own life, they dont seem to be concerned about the family in case of the loss of the earning member. The potent combination of low premium costs and likening it to auto insurance can get the middle class out of the rut of LIC's highly agent driven (read brainwashing) customers.

Now, only if someone out there is listening!

Whacky insurance policies

2010-10-20T20:35:00.001+05:30

Whacky insurance policies go beyond insuring one's precious backside for millions of $$$.

Here are some really exotic insurance policies taken.

Immaculate Conception: Three Scottish virgins were so convinced that God might impregnate them that they took out a policy that would pay them $1.5 million if it happened.

Chest Hair: An unknown celebrity asked an insurance company to insure his manly chest rug for $7 million. Alas, he never took out the policy.

Giant Crab: When the Birmingham Sea Life aquarium took possession of a gigantic Japanese spider crab measuring 10-feet across, they assured the public wasn't dangerous-then took out a $1.5 million policy against visitor death or dismemberment.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/wackiest-insurance-policies-ever/article1-602461.aspx