Friday, April 8, 2011

INFLATION AND ITS IMPACT ON THE ECONOMY

Image Courtesy: Google Images

Synopsis:

· High inflation rates in the economy: 9-10% during FY 10-11

· RBI increased interest rates 8 times in this FY

· Stock markets have reacted negatively (Sensex is down 10-11%)

Understand how and why:

I know I haven’t written anything since ages, but its better late than never. This one’s about something that affects one and all, some a little more and some a little yes. Yes, you guessed it right; I’m talking about the ugly monster, Inflation, which burns a hole in our pockets!

This financial year has been full of action with prices of everything skyrocketing and RBI constantly making a failed attempt to contain it. Inflation is hovering around 9-10% and the markets have reacted negatively (Sensex down 10-11%), perishing wealth of many. The common man has taken a beating from every corner. Let me explain the impact of high inflation on our daily lives.

Firstly, as we all know, prices of everything have gone up. From basics like onions, which were selling at Rs. 120/kg for some time, to drinking water to petrol to movie tickets, everything is costlier in comparison to the past few years.

Secondly, to contain inflation the Central bank raised interest rates, almost 8 times during this FY. Thus, money itself is expensive!

Some of you might wonder how does increasing interest rate help containing inflation and how effective is it? The answer to the first question is that higher interest rates make borrowing money costlier, because now a borrower needs to pay a higher amount as interest in comparison to earlier. This discourages many borrowers, who now find it expensive to borrow money at such high rates and thus reduces the spending. In short, it reduces demand.

How effective is the policy depends on whether inflation is caused due to supply constraints or excess demand. Supply constraints imply that the companies are not able to produce products at the same rate as the demand of those products. They are not able to produce sufficient quantity in time! Thus, in such a scenario, increasing interest rates is not of much help because it’s not solving the problem, which is of a supply constraint and not of excess demand.

If the inflation is on the rise mostly due to an excessive demand (positive outlook for a particular sector like realty or stock market or the entire economy in general), increasing rates helps to a great extent. However, at no point, any one policy alone is sufficient to control inflation.

Currently in India inflation is caused partially due to supply side constraints and partially due to excess demand. However, supply side bottlenecks are affecting inflation much more than demand factors. For example, a bad crop negatively affected the supply of onions and thus led to a tremendous increase in the prices!

Thirdly, due to high inflation and increased interest rates, stock markets have reacted negatively. Foreign institutional investors have withdrawn money from Indian stock markets due to high interest rates and inflation.

Now you may wonder why? There are several reasons for the same. Let’s take them one by one. One, inflation affects the raw material cost of companies. Cost of producing a good goes up due to an increase in inputs like labour, land, raw material, petrol, transportation, etc. Thus the profit margins of most companies reduce. To cover up for the reduced margin, companies hike prices of the goods they sell. Companies are not always able to pass on the increased cost of production onto the customer and have to thus bear a loss in profit share. This reduces the growth prospects of a company and thus its stock price reacts negatively.

Another reason for the negative reaction in the stock markets is that FII’s have withdrawn money from Indian markets. Their perception of the Asian economy has gone negative due to high inflation in almost every country. Most of the economies are interlinked with heavy dependence on imports and exports. A lot of economies have crumbled and have thus shaken the confidence in the entire region. Everyone is very cautious.

The two reasons combined have led to a negative reaction in the stock markets, due to which a lot of people have lost wealth, further aggravating the situation.

Though the Indian economy has done fairly well in comparison to other world economies, inflation has taken a toll on its growth prospects. What according to you should be done to contain inflation. Suggestions are welcome.

P.S. For those who wish to understand Inflation and it's impact in greater detail, read Manish Chauhan's post: What is Real Return and How Inflation eats your money

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

My Boyfriend’s New Girlfriend


That’s how you’ll say it girl!

Good news for tech lovers and bad news for girlfriends… Yes you read it right. Samsung galaxy is the new toy of every tech lover. The mobile has everything a guy can ask for. It can save you in crisis situation, will never let you get bored and will keep you entertained when your girlfriend is boring you to death with her nonstop shopping, or nonstop chatting…no offence girls, but you’ve got to check it out. I bet even girls, including those like me, who love the looks of a phone more than its features, will fall in love with this latest happening thing. And those who aren’t tech lovers, if your guy’s got this phone, you’re going to be definitely JEALOUS…

Introduction

What does this phone not allow you to do? You can surf the net, call, chat, message, play games, photograph, watch movies, listen to music, use google maps to find your way with GPS, the list is endless! Now you must be wondering that's what most of the phones allow you to do. Well that's true but it’s like you can drive around in a Maruti800 and a Merc too! But the experience of driving a Merc, you know it guys.

Well, I’m not going to talk in technical terms. common guys, you can search the features anywhere. I’m going to give you a review from a user perspective. So let’s see how this one will give you the pleasure of driving a merc rather than an 800.

Let’s have a look at the unique features which set it apart from others -

Looks:

Okay not so great for girls, but for guys, 10/10. Yep, it’s sleek and got a nice big screen with wide AMOLED capacitive touch screen, which is spell bounding! It has a size of 320 x 480 pixels, 3.2 inches which makes it a pleasure to surf the net. It also has the Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate, which basically means if you rotate your phone, the screen will change accordingly. A Horizontal display gives much better view to that movie and gives a feel of typing on a computer.

It fits well into the pocket and hand, doesn't slip, the structure is smooth and the buttons are nice. Guys are going to love it and it fits every personality, so even if your a funky dude, it’s still cool to carry this sophisticated model :)

P.S. You just have to use the phone once in front of the girl you’re trying to impress, to have the real AXE effect!!! ;)

Operating System:

It’s got Google Android, an operating system for phones which rocks!!! It allows you to download a hell lot of applications like the best task manager Asterid to awesome games like Paper Toss and some of the most addictive games I have ever come across like Word Up where you have to make minimum three alphabet words from a jumble of words… I’ll warn you in advance it’s reallly addictive and good for your vocab. It also has other useful features like seesmic for twitter. You can download applications like Google track, which basically tracks your travel while jogging, walking, trekking, etc. GPRS and Google Maps, it seems are made for this phone!!! What clear navigation! No matter where you are, you’ll find your way and never get lost. GPS rocks!!!

Speed:

Speed which this phone offers, will put any high speed net connection to shame. Test the same net connection in any other mobile and Samsung Galaxy, and I promise you’ll be surprised, this phone runs better than a marathon runner! The high speed makes chatting a fun experience. You can check your email, use twitter, google, check facebook, connect with friends, use Google maps to find your way, all in no time.

Video/Audio:

Its the only android based phone which can play divx or xvid, so you can watch dvd quality movies anytime, anywhere. You have to see a movie in this phone to know what I’m talking about. Here’s the review my friend gave for the picture quality, “Jessica alba never looked so sexy....”. Lol :D

The sound is good, clear and the phone has really high volume speakers. It has already replaced the cd player in the car! The speakerphone has a 3.5 mm audio jack and a DNSe (Digital Natural Sound Engine).

Memory:

It has 180 MB internal storage. You get a 2GB memory card free and the memory can be extended upto 32GB with the MicroSD card slot. This gives you a enough space to store a lot of music, images and movies.

Other Features:

When you scroll through the phonebook, you can scroll through it by alphabets, A-Z and stop at whichever one you were looking for. It’s easy and saves time in finding a name which is like Shez, which comes towards the end of the list in “S”. This phone will never stop to surprise you, because of the amount of stuff you can do on it.

Typing messages may take you some time to get accustomed. Since its a touch screen, there are a lot of chances you press the wrong alphabet, but that's where the smartness of the phone comes into picture. It has awesome word suggestions feature, which will actually soon make typing messages or chats, an easier task. Long chatting sessions increases the keyboard response times. It also remembers on it’s own when to use caps, even if the suggestion is in all small caps. Smart isn't it?

It connects to any device via USB!

A few Shortcomings:

It has Android 1.5 whereas the latest version is 2.1. Although an upgrade has been officially announced in Germany.

It has No FM radio. Typing messages may take some time to get used to it, like mentioned earlier.

GPRS charges will make your phone bill go through the roof! But it’s totally worth it. It’s worth every penny you spend on it. You don’t need any other net connection, if you’ve got this one.

It doesn’t have many racing games.

It has No Flash in the camera. It yet takes good pictures!!! Trust me on that. Before buying this phone, my friend had read a review which said that the camera doesn’t have flash, yet takes good pics. It proved to be correct. Have a look at some pics taken at night:
Btw, he’s a BSc. in Photograhy, yet he couldn’t resist buying this phone because the other features are too tempting to be ignored for this small li’l flaw.

You can't transfer files via bluetooth. Hmmm here’s a bit of a problem. You can’t transfer anything from this mobile to another and that’s quite sad. But on the positive side, it connects to any device vis USB. Another catch, you gotta carry your wire everywhere :( Yet the phone rocks!!!

No good free PDF viewer. Well you can always buy one! Not such a big thing, PDF viewers are available in the market for around… and am sure if you need it, you can invest in it a bit.

Comparison & Pricing

I have used other Samsung phones like Corby, the touch screen sucks; Samsung Star 2G 5233, My Samsung:

Well even I use a Samsung phone, which is for around 8K with 3G. Quite not worth it! What’s the use of 3G when there are a very limited options of viewing gmail, etc.? You can’t chat, can’t forward messages with images, can’t view mails with images because there is no option of load images, is very slow, etc. It basically provides you with net connection in your mobile but spoils the experience. Like I said in the beginning, the difference between driving a Maruti800 and a Merc. Hey, no offence to M800, but guys there’s for sure a huge difference between the comfort of the two cars. Of course I know you have to pay a heavy price for Merc, but thats where our little secret lies.

Guess what, you don’t really have to sell everything to own this master piece! It’s very reasonably priced. You get for only Rs. 13K, inclusive of taxes. Surrrprised??? I know you’re getting a hell lot for that much and it’s worth every rupee you spend on it.

Conclusion

In short, if you had any plans to buy a new laptop, after using this phone, you’ll put your plans to rest in peace. Its a chalta phirta (almost as good as a) mini laptop and a very good one too. My next phone is definitely going to be Samsung Galaxy.

Hey, another use of the phone, if a Boy forgets his girl’s important work or some important date, fortunately Astrid is there to help him keep tasks on track and with in timeline!!! Yohooo for all you forgetful men…

So all you girls and ladies wanting to gift something to your guy, wanting to make him love you forever, then this is the one!

And for girls who want to rock and bowl over others, this is a perfect one. I’ll give a diva quotient of 10 for girls who carry this smart phone and manage everything online, onmobile.

So did you get the point, it doesn’t really matter whether you’re a girl or a guy, buying this phone is a Must and the Best. Whether you buy it for yourself or as a gift for your guy/girl, it will never let you down. So go for it and enjoy the experience of being online, 24X7.

Friday, January 29, 2010

HOW TO SPOT GREAT COMPANIES?

I know I took really long in coming up with my next post...but better late than never! Anyways, this one is not about a company, but how to find a great company. I realised that investors face difficulty in searching for good investment worthy companies.

I'm sharing my way of looking for companies. Hope it helps you also and as and when it does, do share it with me. Click here to read the post.

Enjoy :)

Sunday, November 22, 2009

HANUNG TOYS & TEXTILES LTD (HTTL) – Bringing Smile to the World


Are you also fond of soft toys??? I am and I’m sure someone or the other you know also loves soft toys ;) Age is no bar when it comes to these cute cuddly toys. The smiles that flash across the face the moment you see them is just so beautiful.

Ever realized the company behind these wonderful smiles? Yes, I’m talking about HANUNG TOYS & TEXTILES LTD (HTTL), the company which produces the cuddly toys you buy from most of the popular stores. It is already present in over 3,000 stores, including chains such as Archies Gallery, Lifestyle, Shoppers' Stop and Pantaloons. It also has licensees for Walt Disney characters.

Set up in 1990, HANUNG TOYS & TEXTILES LTD (HTTL) proudly claims to be India’s largest Manufacturer and Exporter of Soft Toys Decorative Cushions & Children’s Room Furnishings.

To read the entire article, click here.


Tuesday, September 22, 2009

JUST JOCKEYING – PAGE INDUSTRIES LTD.

JUST JOCKEYING – PAGE INDUSTRIES LTD.



Just jaw-key-ing. There, that’s how you’d say it. An expression of comfort that reflects your change of urge to be crazy, uninhibited, carefree, un-posey, cheeky even. We’re all for it. Go ahead, easier said than done.

A “BRIEF” ABOUT THE COMPANY

Just jockeying ;) Sounds and feels familiar na? Well yes, I’m talking about one of India’s very popular brand for Innerwear/Leisurewear for Men and Women. The company behind getting the world renowned brand “JOCKEY®” to India, Page Industries Ltd. was set up in 1994 by Genomal family.


The family had then been associated with JOCKEY International Inc. for 44 years as their sole licensee in the Philippines. Page Industries became a public company in March 2007 and is quoted in the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India.

To read the entire article, click here.









I would love to hear views from experts and anyone interested in the company.

REFERENCES

® http://www.moneyworks4me.com

® http://www.jockeyindia.com