Monday 30 April 2012

Morning Summary- Market Synopsis- 30 April, 2012

Good Morning Everyone,
The Indian equity benchmarks opened the session in the green, supported by positive Asian markets and healthy gains for the US and European markets on Friday. The Sensex was trading at 17304 up 116 points over the previous close. Nifty too was seen trading with a gain of 36 points at 5245 levels. Sectorally, except Auto, all the sectoral indices were trading in the green. The market breadth was positive and two stocks were seen advancing against every single decline.

(Pic. Source- bseindia.com)

BMA Words of Wisdom by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi


Sunday 29 April 2012

News Hour- Nifty ends above 5,200; realty, banks, metals gain

MUMBAI: The Nifty ended the truncated session on a positive note, above 5,200, on low volumes. The special trading session today was held since the NSE was upgrading its futures and options trading system, as reported. The daily mark to market settlement for futures and the premium settlement for options for trades done in the F&O segment will take place on Monday, 30 April 2012. 

The Nifty ended at 5,209, up 18.40 points, or 0.35 percent. It touched an intraday high of 5,216.40 and a low of 5,196.35. 

The Sensex closed at 17,209.47, up 75.22 points, or 0.44 percent. It touched an intraday high of 17,212.36 and a low of 17,125.88. 

The Nifty has been moving in a narrow range for the past few sessions in the absence of participation of foreign institutional investors, analysts said. 

"Sentiment is weak and even the FII flows have been sluggish. Without a turnaround in the FII flows, the markets may continue to drift sideways. At this juncture, we recommend a stock-specific strategy rather than sector-specific. 

Our advice to retail investors would be to accumulate stocks of strong businesses as these stocks will emerge stronger once economic growth revives," said Sanjeev Zarbade, Vice President, Private Client Group Research, Kotak Securities. 

The BSE Midcap Index was up 0.64 percent and the Smallcap Index gained 0.58 percent. 

Among sectoral indices, the BSE Realty Index was up 1.19 percent, the BSE Bankex advanced 0.94 percent, the BSE Metal Index gained 0.85 percent and the BSE Auto Index was up 0.71 percent. 

Sterlite Industries (1.73%), Axis Bank (1.73%), Ranbaxy Laboratories (1.53%), Jindal Steel (1.28%) and Sesa Goa (1.23%) were among the top Nifty gainers. 

Axis Bank reported a standalone net profit of Rs 1,277.27 crore for the quarter ended March 2012. Interest earned stood to Rs 6,060.32 crore for the quarter. 

Jindal Steel & Power posted a standalone net profit of Rs 2,110.65 crore for the year ended March 2012 against Rs 2,064.12 crore a year ago. Net sales rose to Rs 13,270.67 crore for the year against Rs 9,534.89 crore last fiscal. 

Shares of fertiliser companies were in the limelight. Rashtriya Chemicals surged 8.59 percent, National Fertilisers rallied 15.25 percent, Chambal Fertilisers gained 4.79 percent and Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore rose 7.86 percent. 

Siemens (0.93%), Grasim (0.42%), Kotak Bank (0.35%), HCL Tech (0.29%) and Reliance Industries (0.21%) were the losers.

(Source- http://economictimes.indiatimes.com)

Akio Morita- The Man Behind Sony

Akio Morita was born January 26, 1921 in the industrial city of Nagoya, Japan. He was born into a family of sake brewers who have been in the business for 14 generations. His father, Kyuzaemon, groomed Akio from an early age to take over the family business.


His education took him from sitting in on his father's business meetings during high school to graduating as physicist from Osaka Imperial University. At the time of his graduation, Japan was involved in the Pacific war and Akio joined the Navy in 1944.


After the war, Akio was packing his bags to join theTokyo Institute of Technology when he read an article by Ibuka in a newspaper column. He went to talk to him and they ended up founding Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (TTK). They financed the business with a 190000 yen ($530) loan and had approximately 20 employees in their bombed out department store.


While Ibuka was responsible for product development and -research, Morita was responsible for their marketing, globalisation, finance and human resources.


Akio wasn't afraid to stick his neck out when it came to challenging 'acceptable' business practices. This was evident in that several of their early products were licensed from American companies and even the visionary name change to Sony (from sonus in Latin meaning sound and the American slang "sonny") was frowned upon at the time by his Japanese contemporaries.


In 1960, Sony Corporation of America was established and in 1961 Sony became the first Japanese company on the New York Stock Exchange through the issuance of their American Depository Receipts. Morita went so far as to move his whole family to America in 1963 in order to learn about their culture and traditions.


Sony introduced various innovative products to America and the world. The famous 'Walkman' has even become part of the standard lexicon (language) of the English world. One of a ton of other products that Sony also introduced that stands out is the VCR, or video cassette recorder.


Akio Morita is remembered in the contribution of Sony. Yet, he contributed in many more ways. He was also chairman of the Japan-U.S. Economic relations Group (or Wise Men's Group) and was up to accept appointment as chairman of the Keidanren (Japan Federation of Economic Organizations) on the day he had a stroke. His stroke prompted him to resign as active chairman of Sony in 1994.


Akio Morita died on Sunday, October 3, 1999 at the age of 78. His wife Yoshiko, his sons Hideo and Masao and his daughter Naoko survive him. He was fiercely strong Japanese businessman who recognized that Sony had to be, and indeed was, made in America.

Saturday 28 April 2012

The first Credit Card

The story began in 1949 when a man named Frank McNamara had a business dinner in New York's Major's Cabin Grill. When the bill arrived, Frank realized he'd forgotten his wallet. He managed to find his way out of the pickle, but he decided there should be an alternative to cash. McNamara and his partner, Ralph Schneider, returned to Major's Cabin Grill in February of 1950 and paid the bill with a small, cardboard card. Coined the Diners Club Card and used mainly for travel and entertainment purposes, it claims the title of the first credit card in widespread use.
(Source- http://www.creditcards.com)

BMA Wealth Creators Ek Paisa Offer


News Hour- US, India to sign $8 billion defence deals: Envoy

NEW DELHI: US companies are poised to sign defence deals totalling $8 billion with India, US Ambassador Nancy Powell said on Friday at her first public speech since arriving in New Delhi this month. 

Powell did not specify which companies she was talking about or when the deals would be signed, but embassy officials said she was referring to negotiations that include about a dozen Apache helicopters along with engines for Indian jets. 

"We are poised to sign an additional $8 billion in direct commercial and foreign military sales," Powell said. "As we share more common equipment, our bilateral defence ties will become stronger." 

India is the world's largest arms importer and plans to spend close to about $100 billion over the next 10 years to upgrade its largely Soviet-era equipment. 

US companies including Boeing Co, Lockheed Martin Corp and Raytheon Co are some of the contractors looking to grab a share of India's planned military spending. 

Industrial conglomerate Honeywell International Inc. is offering engines for the Indian Airforce's Jaguar fighter aircraft. 

Powell said improving bilateral trade and investment was her main objective as ambassador, mentioning US concerns about tariff and non-tariff barriers and a new retroactive tax law as obstacles in the relationship. 

Hoping to get a bigger slice in the pie of massive Indian defence modernisation efforts, the US has said the level of its willingness to share defence technologies with India has never been higher than it is now. 

"The level of our willingness to share technology with India has never been higher," Andrew Shapiro, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, said.

(Source- http://economictimes.indiatimes.com)

Market Heatmap- 27 April 2012

On the sectoral front, the indices closed mixed. Consumer Durables and IT indices closed as the major gainers with gains of over a percentage point each, whereas, PSU, FMCG, Metal and Realty indices closed as major losers with losses of over half a percentage point each. Further, the market breadth closed negative as only two stocks were seen advancing for every three declines. Find out more at :http://www.facebook.com/bmawealth?sk=app_206541889369118

Closing Summary- Market Synopsis- 27 April, 2012

It was yet another lackluster day for the Indian equity markets. The session started on a positive note but ended on a flat to negative note. Consolidation continued on Dalal Street for a fourth straight trading session as investors continue to tread cautiously amid persistent headwinds for the domestic economy and partly due to continued uncertainty over the proposed GAAR regulations. The GAAR issue coupled with the controversial Vodafone tax case have prompted FIIs to scale down their activity in local markets after three straight months of strong inflows. This led the midcap and the small-cap counters to close flat to positive.
(Pic. Source- bseindia.com)

What does the dollar sign($) represent?

The dollar sign is an abbreviation for "pesos." The Spanish dollar, also known as the "peso de 8 reales", was the principal coin in circulation in the U.S. up until 1794, when US began minting their own dollars. In handwriting, "pesos" was usually abbreviated lowercase "ps," with S above and to the right of the P and with the hook on the latter written with one or two deep strokes. As time went on, the P and the S tended to get mashed together and the result was $.

The dollar sign and the PS abbreviation were used interchangeably from around 1775 until the end of the century, after which the latter faded from view.

News Hour- Reduce petrol tax by Rs 6 per litre: Oil Ministry

NEW DELHI: The oil ministry has asked for a tax cut of Rs 6 per litre on petrol to help avoid a sharp rise in retail price of the fuel, but the finance ministry, which has already surrendered Rs 49,000 crore by reducing various levies of fuels last year, is reluctant to forgo more revenue.

The oil ministry's request follows demands by state-run oil marketing companies to either cut taxes or allow them raise petrol prices by Rs 8 per litre.

"The petroleum ministry wants the special additional excise duty ( Rs 6/litre on petrol) to be removed so that price increase can be kept as low as possible," a government official told ET. Total central levies on petrol are Rs 14.78 a litre, including education cess.

The finance ministry is reluctant to cut duties that would reduce its revenues and jeopardize its fiscal consolidation plans. The finance ministry had already sacrificed Rs 49,000 crore revenue through duties cuts on petroleum products in 2011-12, officials said.

Economists say that shielding consumer from market realities only encourages irrational consumption. "Consumption should not be incentivised. A comprehensive policy needs to be put in place to ensure transmission of global prices to consumers," said D K Joshi, chief economist, Crisil.

Unable to raise petrol prices due to pressure from the oil ministry Indian Oil, Bharat Petroluem and Hindustan Petroleum have demanded that either the government should reduce duties or formally control petrol price again.

"The company is awaiting for government's response to its requests and should no relief come forward, it will have no option but to effect the aforesaid increase in MS (petrol) prices," IOC said in a statement issued last week. The company said it would raise petrol prices by Rs 8.04 a litre exclusive of local levies.

The cabinet has granted state oil firms the freedom to raise or cut petrol prices but the oil ministry, which controls these companies, has informally enforced a price freeze since Dec 1 despite the steep rise in crude oil costs. Since the fuel has been technically dectontrolled, oil firms are not entitled to any compensation from the government for below-market sales.

Indian Oil Corp, India's biggest fuel retailer by volume, had said last week that the companies could not meet country's fuel demand if they continue to sell petrol below market rates.

"Continuation of such pricing will only impede the ability of the company to import crude oil and may affect product supply-demand balance; or else the company increase the price of petrol by Rs 8.04 per litre (excluding state levies) with immediate effect," IOC said. If the price were raised, with taxes, petrol would become costlier by 9.65 a litre in New Delhi.

IOC, BPCL and HPCL last exercised their pricing freedom on December 1 when they reduced it Rs 0.65 paise. But the oil ministry, which has tacit control over pricing of petrol, did not allow companies to raise prices when international crude prices soared to avoid its political fallouts.

State oil companies are incurring about Rs 49 crore revenue loss on petrol every day due to surging high oil prices, which averaged at $119 a barrel in April. The government needs to revise fuel prices in line with cost of imported fuel to depress demand, which is a major reason for the high current account deficit that is pegged at excess of 3.6% of GDP, an economist said.

State oil retailers have requested the government to "declare petrol a regulated product temporarily and provide 100% cash compensation to OMCs, or reduce the excise duty on petrol from Rs 14.78/lt by an amount equivalent to the under-recoveries on petrol and simultaneously advise the states to reduce the rates of sales tax, which vary from 15% to 33%. States taxes are ranging between Rs 10.30 per litre and to Rs 18.74 per litre on petrol.

(Source- http://economictimes.indiatimes.com)

BMA Gyaan- What is Auction System?


Friday 27 April 2012

Morning Summary- Market Synopsis- 27 April, 2012

Good Morning Everyone,
As anticipated, the frontline Indian equity benchmarks gave a positive opening and is trading flat since then. The forecast of a normal monsoon for a third year in a row and a newspaper report indicating that the Government could dilute the proposed GAAR norms aimed at checking misuse of tax treaties is acting as a support in the otherwise indecisive market. Meanwhile, midcap and the small-cap counters are trading positive by over half a percentage point each. On the sectoral front, except for Healthcare and Oil&Gas indices, all the other indices are trading in green. Further, the market breadth is positive as two stocks are seen advancing for every one decline.

(Pic. Source- bseindia.com)

BMA Words of Wisdom by Henry Kissinger


News Hour- Boeing profit up on stronger airliner sales

REUTERS - Boeing Co turned in a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday as the company was able to ramp up production to meet rising demand.
Shares of Boeing, which makes commercial airplanes and military products, gained more than 3.8 percent to $76.02 after the company raised its earnings forecast for the year.
Boeing raked in orders while accelerating production on all its commercial airplane programs. The achievements helped erase concerns in the industry about Boeing's credibility, which was tarnished in the last decade by problems bringing the long-overdue 787 Dreamliner to market.
"Investor confidence is with the company," said Alex Hamilton, managing director of EarlyBirdCapital. "So right now, the street is pretty much starting to buy into the story that they're going to be able to do it. Personally, I would argue that is a huge sea change for Boeing."
Hamilton noted, in particular, a recent production rate increase for the 787 Dreamliner to 3.5 per month from 2.5 per month as evidence that the company can hit a target of 10 787s per month by the end of next year.
Some aerospace experts, including Hamilton, have said that target is ambitious, given the past glitches in the sprawling global supply chain that feeds that program.
Boeing's first-quarter net profit rose to $923 million, or $1.22 per share, from $586 million, or 78 cents per share, a year earlier.
Boeing's earnings in the quarter and going forward were helped when a California appeals court threw out Pendrell Corp's potentially $775 million victory against Boeing in a lawsuit over launch and satellite contracts between the companies.
Boeing had been setting money aside in case of an unfavorable ruling. The outcome made this provision unnecessary. Excluding a gain related to that, earnings were $1.11 per share, beating the analysts' average estimate of 94 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The company, which competes with EADS unit Airbus for orders, said revenue rose 30 percent to $19.4 billion, topping expectations for $18.4 billion. Boeing said its order backlog at the end of the quarter was $380 billion, up from $356 billion at the beginning of the year.
Boeing raised the upper end of its 2012 profit forecast to $4.35 a share from $4.25 while keeping the low end at $4.15. Its revenue outlook of $78 billion to $80 billion was unchanged.
Revenue at the commercial unit increased 54 percent to $10.9 billion on higher delivery volume and an improved mix of the planes it delivered. The company's shares typically track commercial orders and deliveries.
At the defense business, revenue increased 8 percent to $8.2 billion. Sales of military aircraft rose 27 percent to $4.3 billion. Boeing faces pressure from constrained government defense budgets.
Chief Executive Officer Jim McNerney said in a statement that the company's outlook remained positive and Boeing was focused on its production ramp-up.
"We are working closely with our supplier partners to ensure successful production rate increases," he said on a conference call with reporters and analysts.
STRONG ORDER OUTLOOK
Boeing, which gets paid for its airplanes when customers receive them, has said it delivered 137 commercial airplanes in the first quarter, up 32 percent from a year earlier.
Boeing logged orders for 805 commercial airplanes in 2011, adjusted for cancellations. As a result, it lost the race to Airbus, which had orders for 1,419. Boeing has pledged to strike back in 2012 with sales of its revamped narrowbody, the 737 MAX, which features a new, fuel-efficient engine.
The company booked 412 net orders for commercial planes in the quarter, including 301 firm orders for the MAX. The MAX competes with the Airbus A320neo, which also has new engines.
"Going forward we believe it is going to be 'up and away' as orders continue to pick up for its new commercial product lines and as production continues to be ramped up for both narrow-body and wide-body type aircrafts," said Ray Neidl, an aerospace analyst with Maxim Group.
Boeing aims to raise production on the 737 to 42 per month in 2014 from the current rate of 35 per month.
Since April 14, Boeing has been assessing the impact on its operations resulting from a tornado that disrupted production and deliveries from a key supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, the Wichita company that makes the fuselage for Boeing's 737 and parts of other planes. Spirit restarted production this week.
McNerney said the disruption has not had significant impact on Boeing's operations and that any impact would be manageable.
Boeing's efforts to raise production on its 787 to 10 per month has been questioned in the industry. The first delivery of the new carbon-composite aircraft came last year after three years of delays.
The rate target appeared to be even less realistic in February after Boeing found a flaw on as many as 55 Dreamliners that needed to be corrected before it could deliver the airplanes.
Boeing said previously that the glitch had resulted in signs of "delamination" on a support structure in the rear fuselage. Delamination occurs when repeated stress causes laminated composite materials to begin to separate.
McNerney said the company has fixed the problem on 14 or 15 planes and that it will not affect Boeing's delivery schedule for the year.

Market Heatmap- 26 April 2012

On the sectoral front, IT, FMCG, Teck and Metals ended the day in the positive. Power was the major loser losing over one percentage points. The overall market breadth ended negative. Two shares were seen advancing against every three declines. Find out more at :http://www.facebook.com/bmawealth?sk=app_206541889369118

Closing Summary- Market Synopsis- 26 April, 2012

Triggered by strong global cues, the bourses started trade on a positive note today.However, amidst volatility, the indices kept pacing alternatively above and below the equator. The markets finally ended in the red on April month F&O Expiry. Sensex closed at 17131 with a loss of 21 points while Nifty ended the day at 5189 shedding 13 points.
(Pic. Source- bseindia.com)

Equity Research: Result Update, Wipro Limited

Result Highlights
Net Sales Growth: India's third largest IT bellwether, Wipro Ltd reported a marginal sequential de-growth of 1% in its consolidated net sales to Rs 9836.3 crores. Both volume and pricing for the company saw a sequential increase of +0.8% and +0.7% respectively. On a YoY basis, revenues increased by 18.85%. For the year ended March 2012, revenues grew by 20.67% to Rs 37404.4 crore from Rs 30998.0 crore in FY11.


Operating Margin: The operating margin narrowed slightly to 17.3% vs 17.9% observed in the same quarter of the previous year. The Operating margin for IT Services was 20.7% for the quarter while the ratio was 4.7% for IT products segment. The Consumer Care and Lighting segment registered an operating margin of 12.5% for the quarter.


Bottom-Line Growth: The company's fourth-quarter consolidated net profit rose 8% YoY to Rs 1480.9 crore from a year ago. The net profit posted a sequential rise of a muted 1.68%. For the year ended 2012, the company reported a rise in the profit levels by 5.2% to Rs 5573 crore from Rs 5297.7 crore of the corresponding year.


Future Outlook: For Q1FY13, revenue in its mainstay information technology services business is pegged at $1.52 to $1.55 billion indicating that the outlook remains unpredictable for IT companies. Out of the three Offshore IT service companies that provide quarterly guidance, Wipro is now the second company (after Infosys) to warn of a slow June quarter. Further, the company also expects a slowdown in India business which has grown well in the fourth quarter.


Developments: The IT Services segment saw an increase of 13,535 employees in the year. The company added 41 new customers for the quarter and 173 new customers during the year. One new client was added in the >US$100mn bucket and two in the >US$75mn bucket in the current quarter. Attrition was seen at 17.5%.


Snapshot (Consolidated)

Outlook
Performance Movers & Shakers:
Wipro’s, IT services business grew 2% sequentially for the march quarter to $1.54 billion (Rs. 7590 crores). This was primarily because of weaker volumes which grew a meager 0.8% sequentially. On the flip side, this was supported by better than expected improvement in realization with pricing improving 0.7% QoQ (0.4% QoQ onsite and 1.4% QoQ offshore). Lower than expected IT services revenues were offset to a certain extent by strong growth in Consumer care business (up 25% YoY in Rupee terms). Geographically, Revenue from the Americas, which accounts for over half of sales, rose 1.1 percent, compensating for an 18.4 percent plunge in Japan sales. Growth in Europe was muted at 0.2% QoQ, while strong growth was seen in Asia and the Middle East (+7.6% QoQ) and other emerging markets (+10.5% QoQ).


Conclusion:
Global economic uncertainty has cast a shadow over India's outsourcing sector, which also faces political headwinds in the United States, its largest market. The industry has proven resilient in times of economic trouble, but with each downturn, outsourcing companies must fight harder to maintain prices, win new deals and speed up decision making. Although results for the Mar-12 quarter for Wipro, were in line with estimates, the tough macro environment could make it difficult for Wipro going forward. Further, the muted guidance for the June quarter by the management indicates that the near-term outlook remains challenging for the company. The positives of strong pipeline, improved client metrics, client satisfaction and stabilizing attrition keep us positive about the long term structural improvement at Wipro. Nonetheless, the slower near term demand environment as also evident in quarterly guidance by larger peer Infosys makes us concerned about the near term performance of the sector. Wipro’s stock has seen a good run over the past six months and is now trading at a valuation premium to Infosys. This will be difficult to justify given the Jun-12 quarter guidance and the inherent execution risks with the company. Given the volatile macro environment and the execution risks associated with the company, we remain neutral on the company in the near term till the macro-economic headwinds get resolved.


Financial Overview (Consolidated)

Tips for creating a stronger Password

Passwords provide the first line of defense against unauthorized access to your computer. The stronger your password, the more protected your computer will be from hackers and malicious software. You should make sure you have strong passwords for all accounts on your computer. If you're using a corporate network, your network administrator might require you to use a strong password.

What makes a password strong (or weak)?

A strong password:

• Is at least eight characters long.

• Does not contain your user name, real name, or company name.

• Does not contain a complete word.

• Is significantly different from previous passwords.

• Contains characters from each of the following four categories:

Character category
Examples:

Uppercase letters- A, B, C

Lowercase letters- a, b, c

Numbers- 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Symbols found on the keyboard (all keyboard characters not defined as letters or numerals) and spaces

` ~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _ - + = { } [ ] \ | : ; " ' < > , . ? /

A password might meet all the criteria above and still be a weak password. For example, Hello2U! meets all the criteria for a strong password listed above, but is still weak because it contains a complete word. H3ll0 2 U! is a stronger alternative because it replaces some of the letters in the complete word with numbers and also includes spaces.

Help yourself remember your strong password by following these tips:

Create an acronym from an easy-to-remember piece of information. For example, pick a phrase that is meaningful to you, such as My son's birthday is 12 December, 2004. Using that phrase as your guide, you might use Msbi12/Dec,4 for your password.

Substitute numbers, symbols, and misspellings for letters or words in an easy-to-remember phrase. For example, My son's birthday is 12 December, 2004 could become Mi$un's Brthd8iz 12124 (it's OK to use spaces in your password).

Relate your password to a favorite hobby or sport. For example, I love to play badminton could become ILuv2PlayB@dm1nt()n.

(Source- http://windows.microsoft.com)

News Hour- Indian companies help drive innovation, education and employment in the US

NEW DELHI: Indian companies have often been accused of taking benefits form the US, while not creating either jobs there. The technology services companies have been particularly blamed for flight of jobs from the US to India.

Now a 2012 India Business Forum (IBF) survey, released by the Confederation of Indian industry (CII) seeks to put the record straight: Indian companies have a significant economic and social impact on American communities in which they operate, says the survey.

The survey respondents comprising 36 Indian companies represent sectors including education, financial services, healthcare pharmaceuticals and life sciences, information technology, manufacturing, media and telecommunications. The companies' deep and established roots are particularly remarkable, given that their average age in the US market is about 18 years.

Here are the key findings of the survey:

Surveyed companies operate in 40 states and the District of Columbia, and 70% have increased the number of employees since 2005, despite the US economic downturn.

More than 34% of the surveyed companies have established manufacturing facilities in the US, investing more than $820 million in those facilities.

Since 2005, the surveyed companies have collectively conducted 72 mergers and acquisitions in the US, saving, creating and sustaining thousands of jobs.

Projected research and development investments of the surveyed companies are estimated to be over $190 million in 2012 alone; and

Nearly 65% of companies surveyed engage in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, including programs that support 27 universities, community colleges and high schools in developing curriculum, establishing training programs and encouraging Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics (STEM) education.

"The rapidly expanding India-US trade and economic engagement provides a key underpinning to the strategic partnership between our two countries. Of crucial significance is the pivotal role played by Indian industry in infusing bilateral commercial ties with great dynamism," said Nirupama Rao, India's ambassador to the US.

"The continuous growth of Indian investments across different states in the US, in a range of areas of economic cooperation including manufacturing, services, distribution etc. are inspiring examples of value based partnerships between our two countries," she added.

Acknowledging the impact of Indian companies' investments in the US, Senator John Cornyn , co-founder and co-chair of the senate India Caucus said, "I welcome the fact that Indian companies are investing substantial capital in the US, which has already yielded tangible results in Texas and across the US. It is my hope that the US-India partnership will continue to grow and provide even greater opportunities for the people of both nations."



Congressman Ed Royce, co-chair of the House Caucus on Indian and Indian Americans said, "Indian companies are going global. This CII report shows how Indian investment is a real plus for the US economy, especially California."

Sandhya Satwadi, Director and Head, CII added,"Our aim, through the India Business Forum (IBF), is to highlight the range and depth of Indian investments in the US and also to try and dispel some of the misconceptions associated with Indian companies. Indian companies are significantly increasing their footprints in the US, in terms of investments, job creation and engagement with local communities, and are thus positively impacting the US economy and society."

CII unveiled the IBF survey results, entitled Indian Roots, American Soil: Adding Value to US Economy and Society,at a reception on Capitol Hill, which featured representatives from more than 25 Indian companies; nearly 20 members of Congress including the four co-chairs of the India Caucus Senator John Cornyn, Senator Mark Warner, Congressman Joseph Crowley and Congressman Ed Royce; Ambassador Rao; and other business and policy leaders.

(Source- http://economictimes.indiatimes.com)

BMA Gyaan- What is Account Trading?


Thursday 26 April 2012

Morning Summary- Market Synopsis- 26 April, 2012

Good Morning Everyone,
The frontline equity benchmarks started the session on a flat note, a day after ratings agency S&P revised its growth outlook on India to negative. Indecisive Asian markets and F&O expiry further added to the uncertainty in early morning trade. Sensex was seen trading at 17145 while Nifty trading at 5197, both flat as compared to yesterdays close. Sectorally, the picture was mixed with half of the indices trading with minor losses and other half trading above the equator with minor gains. The market breadth was almost neutral.

(Pic. Source- bseindia.com)

BMA Words of Wisdom by Richard Branson


Rupee - The Way Ahead

Market Heatmap- 25 April 2012

Sectorally, most of the indices closed in the red with FMCG, Auto and Healthcare being the only gainers. The market breadth was weak and two stocks were seen advancing against every five declines. Find out more at :http://www.facebook.com/bmawealth?sk=app_206541889369118

Closing Summary- Market Synopsis- 25 April, 2012

Dalal Street, today, witnessed a dull session with a bout of volatility. Heavy selling was seen across sectors and the gauges slipped into intraday lows after S&P revised its outlook for India to negative from stable. However, the indices managed to recover somewthat thereafter and closed with minor losses. Sensex ended at 17151, down 56 points from the previous close while Nifty, ended the day at 5202, lower by 21 points. 
(Pic. Source- bseindia.com)

News Hour- Coal India mulls 15 mln T imports: suppliers


LONDON (Reuters) - The world's largest coal miner, Coal India(CIL) , has been discussing importing up to 15 million tonnes of thermal coal with suppliers, but there are numerous obstacles to overcome before a tender can be issued, supplier sources said.
"Coal India is clearly under a lot of pressure to make up the shortfall in its own output but a lot needs to be covered before they can import," one Delhi-based source said.
CIL would have to revise the terms and conditions of its previous, cancelled tenders, because these were unacceptably imbalanced in its favour, potential suppliers said.
CIL is looking at a tender which would require suppliers to offer to individual power plants on a delivered to plant basis, a requirement likely to dissuade some large coal producers, suppliers said.
"Previous tender documents were onerous and one-sided," one supplier familiar with CIL's cancelled tender said.
Producers including Peabody and Xstrata did offer into CIL's cancelled tender but more may be tempted if the terms and conditions are more attractive.
India has been plagued by power shortages due to a lack of fuel, because it has not been able to produce enough of its own coal or import at target levels.
Coal India is being pressured to import coal at international prices but supply it at far lower domestic prices. The majority state-owned miner has been unable to supply tonnages contracted with domestic utilities and industries.
CIL wants to pass on the higher costs of international coal to its customers, the sources said.
By the time the company and the government clarify which of them will bear the brunt of higher coal costs and CIL settles contract terms acceptable to international suppliers, which could be many months, other Indian state importing entities are likely to have come to the market for speedy purchases, suppliers and Indian traders said.
"Coal India is a miner, not a trader or importer so why don't MMTC or NTPC come to the market and buy what is needed, they have the experience of doing so," one major Indian trader said.

News Hour- Pranab Mukherjee confident India's growth rate would bounce back

WASHINGTON: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjeeon Sunday sought to allay concerns over a slowdown in India's economic growth rate, exuding confidence that the Indian economy would ride on its strong fundamentals and resilence to take a higher growth trajectory. 

Mukherjee pointed out that even though the latest figures reflect that India's growth rate has come down, the country still remains the second fastest growing economy in the G-20, next only to China. 

"In 2008-09 our GDP came down to 6.9 per cent but very quickly we recovered in next two years and it was 8. 4 per cent. Again it has come down to 6.9 per cent, but the resilience, basic fundamentals of Indian economy, which everybody recognise; high rate of savings, substantial investment coming from the domestic savings itself. 

"Therefore these two basic fundamentals and resilience of the economy clearly demonstrates that Indian economy will grow at a faster pace. Moreover there is important factor, a huge market, growing purchasing power, growing middle class, the domestic demand driven factors to provide the stimulus to the growth elements in Indian economy is very strong. Therefore I do feel Indian economy would grow faster," Mukherjee said. 

Mukherjee was addressing a press conference at the end of his Washington visit to attend the annual Spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Referring to his meetings here, Mukherjee said they shared their perception on the recovery of the world economy. 

"The US economy is recovering. There are some signs of recovery of Europe, but there has been some downward projection of emerging market economies. But it is expected that 2012 would be comparatively better," the Finance Minister said in his opening remarks. 

Major consideration this time, both in G-20 and IMF, was how to mobilise the resources to enhance the fire power of the IMF to intervene in the crisis situation, he said, adding it has been agreed that this would be USD 430 billion.

(Source- http://economictimes.indiatimes.com)

BMA Gyaan- What Is Inflation?


Wednesday 25 April 2012

Morning Summary- Market Synopsis- 25 April, 2012

Good Morning Everyone,
The markets started off to trade flat with the benchmark indices moving around their previous closing values.The Sensex was seen trading at 17206 and the Nifty was trading at 5223 levels. Sectorally, Technology stocks dropped on the back of some unwinding of long positions after yesterday's sharp rally. Realty too was seen trading in the red. All the other indices were trading with modest gains. The market breadth was positive and five stocks were seen advancing against every eight declines.

(Pic. Source- bseindia.com)

BMA Words of Wisdom by Charlie Chaplin


News Hour- Wipro expected to have one of the fastest growth rates in IT industry

BANGALORE: Software services firm Wipro, which will announce its earnings on Wednesday, is expected to have one of the fastest growth rates in the industry in the March quarter, giving conclusive proof that the firm's turnaround strategy is working. 

The company, which has undergone a dramatic makeover since chairman Azim Premji dismantled the co-chief executive model in 2011, has been showing signs of a comeback in the past two quarters and a third quarter of good growth will be taken as a sure sign of vitality returning to the company. 

Unlike its peers, Wipro had given a relatively bullish forecast for the January to March quarter guiding for 1-3% growth. Analysts expect a 2-3% growth in dollar terms, over the previous three months, between $1,535-$1,545 million in the quarter. Peer Infosys missed its March quarter forecast with a 2% fall in revenues. 

Analysts expect Wipro to forecast 2-4% growth for the June quarter. Infosys has a flattish forecast of 0-1% growth. On the profitability front, analysts expect Wipro to do better than competition. 

While rupee appreciation is expected to be a headwind, higher proportion of fresher hiring over the past few months is expected to help keep costs under control. Operating profit margins are expected to remain flat at around 21% for the IT services business. 

"Wipro's composition of freshers addition to total gross addition in FY12F (YTD) has improved to almost 60% versus 40-45% in FY11. It expects this ratio to be maintained in FY13. In our view this change will lead to material margin improvement starting fiscal 2013," RBS analysts Sandeep Shah and Srinivas Sheshadri wrote in a report last month. "Secondly, despite regaining the efficiencies within fixed price projects to normal levels in 3QFY12, Wipro is still hopeful of pulling out further efficiencies within fixed price projects going forward," they added. 

Wipro's strong performance is primarily led by the renewed focus on its sales and delivery engines. In the past few months it has streamlined its structure and changed the compensation model for employees, linking it more closely to client satisfaction and attrition, among other parameters. 

From just one $100 million client at the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2011, Wipro has grown it to six clients at the end of the December quarter of just concluded fiscal. That was the first sign of revival at Wipro, which have been criticised in the past for its inability to increase wallet-share in key client accounts and winning large deals. 

Employee attrition levels also dropped significantly at the end of the December quarter when it beat its revenue growth guidance in constant currency terms with growth of over 4%. 

Wipro, which lost the position of the third largest Indian IT firm in terms of quarterly revenues to Cognizant in FY12, brought on board TK Kurien as the new chief executive who collapsed overlapping business units, service lines and geographic operations into fewer divisions headed by 'mini CEO-like' leaders. Apart from empowering a new set of leaders, Wipro also made strategic acquisitions that are beginning to pay off. 

"Phase 1 of realignment and refocusing of the organisation on the 137 focus accounts, momentum verticals, and momentum geographies, as well as on standardising delivery is largely done," analysts Mitali Ghosh, Pratish Krishnan and Kunal Tayal of Bank of America-Merrill Lynch wrote to clients in a recent report. "Phase 2 has kicked off in terms of sharp focus on differentiating at the front end and standardising at the back end through senior hires and investments in IP in areas like cloud, big data, analytics, mobility." 

Despite stabilising economies in the US and Europe though the environment for Indian information technology services firms still remains tough as clients delay taking decisions around technology spending. Research firm Gartner has said worldwide IT spending will increase 2.5% in 2012 to $3.7 trillion, revising it down from a previous forecast of 3.7% growth for 2012.

(Source- http://economictimes.indiatimes.com)