Smart Desi Blog

App Store Economics - Nice Graphics from GigaOm

2010-01-21T15:14:00.001-08:00

MacHeads Movie Trailer

2008-12-15T18:38:00.000-08:00

Sarah Palin and Hilary Clinton togeather

2008-09-14T16:35:00.000-07:00

Here is a really hilarious video of Sarah Palin and Hilary Clinton.

Is Trichet smarter than Bernanke ?

2008-08-12T11:50:00.001-07:00

Ben Bernanke is the US Federal Reserve Chairman and Jean Claude Trichet is his ECB (European Central bank) counterpart. Over the last one year they have been moving in the opposite direction while Bernanke is cutting interest rates hard and aggressively, Trichet has been busy raising them in Europe. For US the primary concern so far has been the Slowdown in economy while Trichet is busy fighting inflation. Trichet has so far resisted all the political pressure to reduce interest rates in spite of the massive slowdown in Italy and Spain.
But now the slowdown is spreading all over Europe including France and the strongest European economy of Germany. UK is already battling with massive housing mortgage defaults and consumer credit defaults problem which is more grave than that of US. In such a scenario Trichet can no longer increase interest rates and has to cut them from here onwards, which will lead to fall in Euro.
Bernanke's aggressive rate cut program is on hold right now because of the increased inflation. However I don't think there will be any need to raise interest rates as inflation is easing now with reduction in commodity prices.
Only time will tell whether Bernanke's aggressive rate cuts can avoid a US recession or whether Trichet's aggressive push to control inflation is to be blamed for the mounting European recession.

China's Moon landing

2008-08-12T11:47:00.000-07:00

The 2008 Beijing Olympics are significantly important for the communist government of China. Chinese government is all set to impress upon the West and its own people about the significant economic progress made by that country in last 20 years. And the grand Olympics opening ceremony which was held on 08-08-08 was their best chance to showcase that.
This opening ceremony was as important to Chinese government as was the Moon landing to US government in 60s. At that time US wanted to showcase its scientific capabilities and wanted to project itself as the World leader ahead of the Soviets. So they put all their weight (including Hollywood) behind that effort.
Similarly Chinese government wanted to project its economic might and engineering marvel by staging a grand never seen before opening ceremony. It was their equivalent of the Moon landing.
And were they successful in doing that, definitely yes. What a marvelous and amazing opening ceremony was that. I have never seen something like that and I am sure all Western were equally amazed at the marvelous show.
After seeing the Opening ceremony I can say that Chinese have landed successfully on moon.

Is Bollywood ready for Snoop Dogg?

2008-07-30T17:40:00.000-07:00

These days Bollywood music is heavily influenced by American Hip Hop music and every other song seems to have Hip Hop tunes. However there is nothing new in that, I still remember the music from 80s when Bhappi Lahari's songs were so much influenced by Western Disco music and the 70s when music of RD Burman and other composers was influenced by Elvis Presley and others. In those days it never used to be official and those composers never accepted that they got influenced by Western artists.

However now there is a stamp of authenticity to it as American Hip Hop singers are themselves frequently lending their voices to Bollywood songs and even Snoop Dog is singing the title track of movie Singh is King.

As per this interesting article in New York Times, Snoop Dogs has big plans about his bollywood partnership. He wants to capture the mainstream Indian audience for his future albums and wants to do stage shows there.

Statue of Liberty and Immigrants

2008-07-18T12:49:00.000-07:00

Here is a nice observation about statue of Liberty and immigrants, I found somewhere on internet.
The Statue of Liberty which was donated to the US by France, in 1886, still serves as a symbol for immigration in the United States. Some pages of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service web site still contain her picture, as does many immigration related web sites and materials. But the statue is engraved with a poem by Emma Lazarus, which is no longer valid, (I don’t think it ever was valid).

Instead of saying:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

It should say:
Give us your money and wait forever
Before you can breathe free
Do the wretched jobs that we won’t do
And we will debate about whether to let you in
Whether to let you live our dream

Bears everywhere on stock Market

2008-07-17T20:08:00.000-07:00

In the few one month we have been seeing Stock Markets around the world loosing enormous wealth. Sensex is at 2 year low now and so is Dow Jones. Chinese mainland stocks have fallen almost 50% from their peeks this year and are at almost on par now with their Hong Kong counterparts.
After the unprecedented bull run that we have been witnessing in the emerging markets everybody was expecting a correction. But I am sure no one could have imagine a correction of this magnitude and that Markets will slip into Bear territories altogether.
Clearly Indian stock market is over-sold right now and their will be some kind of relief rally that will happen. But one should not put big hopes on that because we are still in a Bear market and each rally will be followed by a bigger correction.
Having said that, I think most of the down side damage has already been done, particularly with crude prices retreating now and I don’t see Sensex going down below 12,200 now. But a move to upward levels is also not possible as long Inflation is in double digits. Don’t expect any major Bull market rally uptill the end of this year, what we are going to see till the year end is relief rallies and Corrections.

Tribute to Sam Manekshaw

2008-07-01T17:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a Link to an interesting obituary published in New york Times for Sam Manekshaw India’s first field marshal.

Check out glassdoor.com

2008-06-27T13:55:00.001-07:00

The other day I came across this cool site glassdoor.com. Here you can see the Review of companies by their own employees and also the salaries that they are paying to these employees at various positions. Its just like Eopinions for companies. But to see these you need to give your own salary and review of your company which they promise to keep as anonymous. A very simple but powerful concept.
So now I could see what my company’s competitors are paying to their employees.

Social networking is the future of internet

2008-06-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

According to a recent BusinessWeek article, 11.2 percent of online adults in the U.S. publish content on a blog at least once a month, 24.8 percent read blog content and 13.7 percent comment on it. And the younger the demographic, the higher the number. The days of mainstream media monopolizing information is long gone, with certain blogs attracting millions of visitors each month as people seek out a more personal spin on information.

Here are few things that are happening currently that I think will change the internet that we know of.

Monetization of Social Networks
Rather than relying on traditional forms of marketing, Samsung has created brand and product pages on the leading social networking platforms such as MySpace, Facebook and Bebo and has launched a campaign that places the role of marketing the product squarely in the hands of their current (and potential) customers. The company is asking them to record songs and upload them to a community that Samsung has created where others vote for the ones they like best; the four winning songs will be featured in a national radio and online ad campaign.
We are going to see more and more companies advertising in creative ways on these social networking sites.

Social Networking in enterprise is a new fad now
The other day one guy from BEA was in my office to give training on BEA Products. He showed his own Webpgae on BEA internal site. It was really cool the way they have used Social Networking concept for enterprise use. You can update your status on the stuff you are working on and thing that you have worked on in past and provides tags and links to that. If someone is searching on information on some Topic on intranet and you have worked on that that topic then your Web page will come as a search result and that person can contact you. Just one of the way enterprises are going to use social networking

Google’s Open Social and Friend Connect Frameworks
The other day I was listening to this podcast about google’s Open Social and Friend Connect initiatives. As per Google, Social networking is the future of internet. They have created these Open Social and Friend Connect framework to integrate different Social networking sites. So that Instead of going to these social networking sites you can bring these Social networks with you wherever you go on internet. You can display all your myspace, facebook or Orkut buddies on your webpage or blog site. You go to ebay and see which of the Sellers is reviewed by and which product is bought by any of your Friends from any Social networking site. Same thing when you are watching a Video or reading a news google will bring all your friends from social networks there to share it with them.

An Indian Tycoon

2008-06-16T14:07:00.000-07:00

NewYork Times ran an interesting article on Mukesh Ambani this weekend. I really liked the article.
Here is an interesting quote from Nandan Nilkani about Mukesh Ambani which I liked most “When we talk about Rockefeller and Carnegie and all these guys, they really each changed one industry,” said Mr. Nilekani, the Infosys co-chairman. “But if you look at what he’s doing, he’s really changing three or four industries.”

Here is the link to this article.

Black Friday for Walls Street

2008-06-06T13:42:00.000-07:00

It was really a bad day on stock market today. Dow Jones went down 400 points.
A few weeks back when Sensex went under 17,000 points I have posted a blog here saying that Dow Jones may touch 12,000 and Sensex may touch 15,000 soon. Both my predictions are coming out to be true.
I covered most of my short positions today in the market but I still see market going down more. Here are some more bold predictions that I am expecting in coming few months
Dow Jones May touch 11, 800 in coming weeks
Sensex Range bound between 14,500 to 16,500
$ / Ruppee 43.50
Crude oil Should go down to $115 in a month

Warnie the magician win it big

2008-06-01T13:50:00.000-07:00

What a spectacular last ball win for the Royals. And what a great final match to finish a hugely successful competition. The Captain cool MS Dhoni almost pull it off for the CSK but it was Warnie the magician who prevailed in the end.
Incase you missed the grand closing ceremony. Here is the link to watch the highlights.

Indian media's obesession with twin murders in Noida

2008-05-29T20:21:00.000-07:00

It looks like Indian media these days is obsessed by the twin murders of the teenage girl and her servant happened in Noida. Talwar family is being followed everywhere and their family videos are being shown on news channels very much like the western media.
Time magazine is calling it India's JonBenet Ramsey Case.

But as per this interesting story in Hindustan Times this looks like an open and shut case to me.Here is the link.

Bobby Jindal for Vice President

2008-05-29T16:50:00.000-07:00

There have been reports in media recently that John McCain might choose Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal as his running mate. Radio show host Rush Limbaugh has pitched for Jindal calling him the only True Conservative Republican Politician. I am not sure how many people outside Louisiana have heard about Bobby Jindal but I do know Rush Limbaugh is a very popular Radio talk host and lot of people listen to him.

Bobby Jindal can help McCain get he much needed conservative votes and also counter his age factor. In many ways I see lot of similarities between Bobby Jindal and Barack obama. Both are young, colored, Intelligent, hardworking, shrewd and very cunning politicians. Both of them knew right from the day 1 they enter Politics that some day they are going to run for President. So every public appearance, every statement and every Congress/Senate Vote for them was a calculated move for their Presidential goal. That’s why their rivals will always find it very difficult to challenge their clean political record.

Even if Jindal becomes the Vice-President there is nothing for India to cheer about. Apart from his desi roots there is nothing desi about him. He was born as a Hindu in Los Angeles but converted to Evangelical born-again Christianity. His voting record in congress suggests an Anti-India bias.

Netflix's Roku device is finally here

2008-05-21T13:42:00.000-07:00

Netflix's Roku device is finally out. This is something I was eagerly waiting for. You can use this device to watch Movies and Televison shows from the Netflix's Online collection of 10,000 titles directly on your TV without using any computer or laptop.
Now this is one solid reason for me to get rid of money eating Comcast cable connection. I usually watch Local channels and Movies on Comcast. Since Local channel are anyway available for free and this device will let me watch Unlimited Movies for just $10 a month so who will need Comcast now.

Can Carl Icahn save Microsoft Yahoo Deal

2008-05-15T13:15:00.000-07:00

Finally some good news for the prospect of a Microsoft Yahoo deal. Carl Icahn has got involved and he disclosed yesterday that he has been buying stake in Yahoo. He aims to get into a Proxy fight with the Yahoo Board and force Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang to get onto the negotiation table with Microsoft. This is certainly a good news for deal because If Carl Icahn wants something then generally he gets it.

If you are wondering who the hell is Carl Icahn then keep on reading. Carl Icahn is a billionaire investor just like legendary Warren Buffet. However his modus operandi is opposite of Buffet. Buffet invest in good fundamental companies with sound management team while Icahn invest in companies that are not doing good and have lousy management. Icahn buy enough stake in these companies to put his own men into the Board of Directors of these companies. Then he force the management to change policies, cut costs, lay-off employees and if the management doesn't oblige him he gets rid of the CEO and place his own man in his position. By the time he sells his stake in the company, stock price is already 2 times or 3 times, creating wealth for shareholders and for him in the process.

Carl Ichan is one of the most feared men on Walls Street, the CEOs are scared of him. Once he gets into fight with any management he generally gets his way in by one way or another. He might be bad for the Management and employees of the companies but he is very good news for the shareholders. The moment he discloses he has acquired stake in a company, gives its stock a lift what they on Walls Street calls ‘The Carl Icahn Lift’. He has created more wealth for shareholders than Warren Buffet.
He always reminds me of the character that Michael Douglas played in the Hollywood movie ‘Walls Street’.

Which teams will make to the IPL semifinals

2008-05-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

I will put my money on Rajasthan Royals, King’s XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings to reach semi finals for sure in that order. Delhi Dare Devils, Mumbai Indians and Kolkatta Knight Riders will have to fight it out for the 4th place. Others I don’t think have any chance to make to the semi finals.

Who is to be blamed for Global Food Crisis US or India

2008-05-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

US president George Bush recently blamed India for the Global Food Crisis, citing that Indian Middle class is getting more affluent and is consuming lot more food causing the food shortage globally.
But is it really true. Actually George Bush’s push for Ethanol and his subsisdies to bio-fuels is causing the global food shortage The United States uses — or throws away — 3,770 calories a person each day, according to data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization collected in 2001-3, compared with 2,440 calories per person in India.

Asian Age an Indian newspaper, argued in an editorial last week that Mr. Bush’s “ignorance on most matters is widely known and openly acknowledged by his own countrymen,” and that he must not be allowed to “get away” with an effort to “divert global attention from the truth by passing the buck on to India.”

Here is data from New York Times on who is consuming what and how much. See for yourself.

Has Sensex slipped into Bear territory yet again

2008-05-10T14:12:00.000-07:00

The short but smart Bull run in the Indian Stock Market is over and Sensex closed yet again under 17,000 this Friday. This brings out the question is Indian Stock Market is under the control of Bears and if yes how long is this Bear run going to last.

Well someone has said that Stock market is nothing but a glorified casino and its always hard to predict which way the market is going to go but it doesn’t deter people like us to test the waters and make our own predictions one way or the other, does it.

Here is what I think, In the long term while the Indian story is still intact but in the short run I won’t be surprised to see Sensex under 16,000 or touching 15,000 for that matter by next month. The US economy isn’t going to get any better and we are heading towards Dow Jones touching 12,000 by this month end. Inflation in India is at multi year high and elections are coming next year, so one can expect some slowdown in Indian economy as well.
I would expect Sensex to remain range bound between 16,000 to 18,000 in coming few months.

Can IPL be as big as NFL Super Ball

2008-05-09T14:16:00.001-07:00

SO Indian Premier League (IPL) in its inaugural run has become a big hit in India. IPL has achieved what it set for Full capacity crowd in every match, high TRP Ratings and advertisement money flowing in from all direction. IPL is perhaps the smartest thing that BCCI bosses have ever done. They made some right decisions like Franchise Team formats, multi million dollar auction of players , Adding Bollywood spice (read Sharukh Khan) to mix, Prime time Match schedule, American Cheer leaders etc. Looks like Lalit Modi can not do anything wrong these days.

But questions is how big IPL can really become. Can it become as big as American league based sports like NFL, NBA etc. Lalit Modi is saying IPL will make Cricketers richer than any other Sports players in the world. He is talking about 15-20 million$ contract for players.

Well considering the large middle class Indian population and the buying power that they have these days anything is possible. Perhaps you can expect people in India lining outside the stores to buy 50 inch HD TVs before the start of the IPL tournament to watch their favorite league, something which is common before NFL Super Ball in America. You can expect to see people wearing IPL League T Shirts and Caps everywhere you go on buses, trains etc. something similar to Chicago Bulls, Patriots, Astros, SF Giants etc. in America. And you can expect a Bilion $ valuation for the Delhi Dare devils or Kings XI Punjab clubs and IPO of Knight Riders and a super duper listing at the Bombay Stock Exchange

I will say all this is very much possible in coming years.