Dr M Khalid's global village blog

Nov. 20, 2014 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executives sparred with lawmakers over accusations that its aluminum business improperly influenced prices and that the firm’s traders had unfair access to market-moving data. Under fire at a hearing today on whether Wall Street’s ownership of commodities spurs conflicts, Goldman Sachs’s Jacques Gabillon disputed senators’ charges that long wait times for aluminum stockpiles had a direct effect on what companies and consumers pay for the metal. Only a handful of Goldman Sachs employees get information on the aluminum unit and reports are limited to financial performance, he said. Senator Carl Levin, who chairs the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, called the Goldman Sachs transactions “merry-go-round deals” that had little purpose other than moving aluminum around from warehouse to warehouse to influence how much customers paid for storage and financial products tied to the metal. “If you can say there’s no correla...

6 Banks own 60% of the US GDP - Goldman Sach, JPMorgan, CitiGroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo. It seems the bankers are never going to get regulated adequately. Citibank has again made an explosive  combination.of derivative holdings having the potential to cause a catastrophe again. JP Morgan and Goldman are not far behind. Click image to enlarge. It appears they are overconfident about being rescued from any crisis by US taxpayers' money. But how did they become too bi to fail? Click image to enlarge. Ref: Is Citi The Next AIG? http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-05/citi-next-aig-70-trillion-reasons-why-citigroup-and-congress-scrambled-pass-swaps-pu Banksters: Too Big To Fail! http://wallstreet-banksters.com/banksters/meet-the-banksters/

If Saudi Arabia genuinely wants to undercut Iran’s influence in the Middle East, it must acknowledge and address the pain and suffering of marginalised groups across the Middle East. Giving them their rights and bringing them to the negotiating table is the best way to insulate them from Iranian influence. Click on image to enlarge. There had been already a proxy war going on between Saudi Arabia and Iran. As the two countries continue to train, finance and equip rival militants in the Syrian civil war, and to support opposing sides in Iraq, Bahrain, Lebanon and Yemen, fears have been raised about where this now-militarised regional rivalry could go. But talk of a proxy war risks over-estimating the level of power Saudi Arabia and Iran wield, and overlooking the local actors who truly shape the conflicts in question. The Houthi movement has been able to advance across Yemen largely because of its alliance with the ancien régime of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, and be...

Table of Contents Index Section 1: Creating and maintaining a holistic financial Investment plan   Chapter 1: Your finances today   Chapter 2: About financial planning   Chapter 3: Creating a financial plan - Gathering all your financial information   Chapter 4:  Creating a financial plan – Budgeting   Chapter 5: Understanding one’s risk profile   Chapter 6: Creating a financial plan - Goal planning   Chapter 7: Reshuffling present investments   Chapter 8: Protecting your wealth - Creating a financial plan - Insurance planning   Chapter 9: Creating a financial plan - Retirement planning Section 2: Retaining the value of your wealth   Chapter 10: Fighting inflation and capitalizing on compounding Section 3: Growing your wealth   Chapter 11: Equity versus debt   Chapter 12: Property   Chapter 13: Commodities   Chapter 14: Speculation   Chapter 15: Selecting a suitable wealth manager   Chapter ...

This map shows where the world's 3 biggest arms exporters are sending their weapons http://www.businessinsider.in/This-map-shows-where-the-worlds-3-biggest-arms-exporters-are-sending-their-weapons/articleshow/46640741.cms

1. Jump from worksheet to worksheet with Ctrl + PgDn and Ctrl + PgUp 2. Jump to the end of a data range or the next data range with Ctrl + Arrow 3. Add the Shift key to select data 4. Double click to copy down 5. Use shortcuts to quickly format values For a number with two decimal points, use  Ctrl + Shift + ! . For dollars use  Ctrl + Shift + $ . For percentages it's  Ctrl + Shift + % . The last two should be pretty easy to remember: 6. Lock cells with F4 When copying formulas in Excel, sometimes you want your input cells to move with your formulas BUT SOMETIMES YOU DON'T. When you want to lock one of your inputs you need to put dollar signs before the column letter and row number. Typing in the dollar signs is insane and a huge waste of time. Instead, after you select your cell, hit F4 to insert the dollar signs and lock the cell. If you continue to hit the F4 key, it will cycle through different options: lock cell, lock ro w n...

Ref: http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/maps/world-map-countries-with-largest-nuclear-weapons.jpg

Forbes ranked Putin as the world most powerful person for the second consecutive year. This year he is followed by US president Obama was (rank 2), Xi Jinping of China (rank 3), Pope Fancis (rank 4) and Angela Merkel (rank 5). He is heading Russia as the president or the prime minister since 1999. He has run the country largest by land mass for 15 years. During that time USA has seen three presidents change. American president has to face resistance in his decisions from the congress while the Russian system allows Putin to take big decisions without an opposition. This year, Putin has displayed his power remarkably in annexing Crimea,  starting a proxy war in Ukraine and entering into a $70 billion deal with China for a gas pipeline which is the world's largest construction project. He indirectly influences Europe by controlling the flow of an essential energy commodity, gas to Europe through its ally Hungary(member of NATO but helping Russia). Putin has made c...

Realistic Holographic show at Dubai Mall https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjIPOKMTY5o How does a Hologram actually work? - Sci Guide (Ep 3) - Head Squeeze: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCx1ntBsJqE Next-Level Virtual Reality Technology: Microsoft Introduces Windows Holographic! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLEBrZHNP3w 3D Holographic Power Point Presentation at ASE 2013 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLavoahAfv8

Apple Cider Vinegar Everyone likes to keep cut flowers around as long as possible, and there are several good methods. One way is to mix 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar and 2 tablespoons sugar with the vase water before adding the flowers. Be sure to change the water (with more vinegar and sugar, of course) every few days to enhance your flowers' longevity.  Read more:  http://www.rd.com/slideshows/how-to-make-flowers-last-longer/#ixzz3V1PW092U Sugar Vinegar Make your own preservative to keep cut flowers fresh longer. Dissolve 3 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons white vinegar per quart (liter) of warm water. When you fill the vase, make sure the cut stems are covered by 3-4 inches (7-10 centimeters) of the prepared water. The sugar nourishes the plants, while the vinegar inhibits bacterial growth. You'll be surprised how long the arrangement stays fresh!  Read more:  http://www.rd.com/slideshows/how-to-make-flowers-last-longer/#ixzz3V1PBKM9R

9 Oct 2014:  Christine Lagarde , the head of the International Monetary Fund, has warned that the eurozone is displaying the symptoms of Japan’s longstanding economic problems and needs fresh moves to avert the threat of recession. With the IMF’s annual meeting in Washington likely to be dominated by the failure of Europe to emerge from the financial crisis of six years ago, Lagarde dropped a broad hint that she wanted  Germany  to run down its budget surplus to boost growth. She said there was a “serious risk” of a recession in the eurozone if nothing was done to avert a new downturn. Her comments came after bad economic news from Germany and as the UK chancellor, George Osborne, said the stalling of the eurozone economy was already having an adverse impact on Britain. Asked if the eurozone was the new Japan, a country that has never fully recovered from the financial crash at the end of the 1980s, Lagarde said: “We have alerted to the risks of persistently ...

MAR 17 2015 IMF chief Lagarde flags currency, Fed policy risks for India The appreciation of the US dollar is putting pressure on balance sheets of banks, firms and households that borrow in dollars, Lagarde highlighted  A normalization of monetary policy in the US and the recent rise of the dollar could pose challenges to emerging economies such as India, Christine Lagarde, managing director of International Monetary Fund (IMF), said while speaking at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday. “India’s corporate sector, which has borrowed heavily in foreign currency, is not immune to this vulnerability. Corporate sector debt has risen very rapidly, nearly doubling in the last five years to about $120 billion,” she said. Read more at:  http://www.livemint.com/Money/jQ2PPmmmefsJESB7AmBQuO/Christine-Lagarde-cautions-on-spillover-from-unconventional.html

Fisher asks 15 Scuttlebutt Questions to Corning The following answers to Fisher’s 15 points with respect to Corning (GLW) was written by Joakim Aske. He sent me an 11 page investment thesis on Corning which he plans to submit to Value Investors Club and has graciously allowed me to post it. I will break it up in to several pieces and post it to make it easier to read. It really is excellent so I’m glad that he was kind enough to send it to me. Plus, if you have an investment idea or article you wish to share, send it to me and I’ll be more than happy to post quality content. Fisher Asks 15 Questions about Corning (GLW) 1. Does the company have the products or services with sufficient market potential to make possible a sizable increase in sales for at least several years? Glass for screens (LCD/OLED/AMOLED) are likely to be in high demand for the foreseeable future. Tablets, computers, TVs, cars, glass for architectural uses are all markets for Corning’s Glass. The wor...

Mumbai: Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd founder Dilip S. Shanghvi on Wednesday overtook Reliance Industries Ltd’s Mukesh Ambani as India’s richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Shanghvi has a net worth of $21.7 billion, while Ambani, who’s been India’s wealthiest man since the inception of the Bloomberg index in March 2012, has a $21.6 billion fortune. Shanghvi, a first generation entrepreneur, is also chairman and managing director of Sun Pharma Advanced Research Co Ltd, and chairman of the Shantilal Shanghvi Foundation. He holds a B.Com degree from Kolkata University. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index is a daily ranking. The index is a dynamic measure of the world’s wealthy based on changes in markets, the economy and Bloomberg reporting. Stakes in publicly traded companies are valued using the share’s most recent closing price. Valuations are converted to US dollars at current exchange rates. “It comes as no surprise to see an enterprising Gujarati like ...

How Many Mutual Funds Routinely Rout the Market? Zero The bull market in stocks turned six last Monday, and despite some rocky stretches — like last week, when the market fell — it has generally been a very pleasant time for money managers, who have often posted good numbers. Look more closely at those gaudy returns, however, and you may see something startling. The truth is that very few professional investors have actually managed to outperform the rising market consistently over those years. In fact, based on the updated findings and definitions of a particular study, it appears that no  mutual fund  managers have. I wrote about the initial findings of that study last summer . It is called “Does Past Performance Matter? The Persistence Scorecard,” and it is conducted by S.&P. Dow Jones Indices twice a year. The edition of the study that I focused on began in March 2009, the start of the bull market. It included 2,862 broad, actively managed domestic stock mutua...

Click to image to enlarge. As you might guess, Integrity Research has interacted with many buy-side investors who either have already started a “big data” initiative or who are considering implementing one in the near-term.  So, what issues should buy-side investors be aware of as they plan to develop a “big data” effort to enhance their current investment research processes? Volume:  Consistent with the term “big data” one of the obvious characteristics of any big data initiative is the volume of data that investors must be prepared to collect and analyze.  As you can see from the slide above, 2.3 trillion gigabytes of data are created every day, with estimates suggesting that 43 trillion gigabytes of data will be created by 2020.  Consequently, buy-side investors looking to develop a big data strategy must be prepared to warehouse and analyze huge amounts of data – considerably more than they have ever worked with in the past. Velocity:  Not on...

Leaving behind India's more traditional business centres such as Mumbai and Bangalore, the city of pearls Hyderabadis the best city to live in the country, says a global survey. According to consultancy firm Mercer's 'Quality of Living Report-2015', notwithstanding its top rank among Indian cities, Hyderabad globally ranks at 138th position in a list of 230 cities around the world in terms of standard of living. The list is topped by Vienna for the second consecutive year. Besides Hyderabad, the list figures seven other Indian cities -- Pune (145), Bangalore (146), Chennai (151), Mumbai (152), New Delhi (154) and Kolkata (160). "Over time, Hyderabad has emerged as a city of choice due to factors such as improved options for international schools and a fine choice of reputable English speaking schools,"Mercer said. "Additionally, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport is located 22 kms from the city and offers a good range of international flights, which impro...

Why Exxon's boss believes oil prices will stay low for years NEW YORK -- Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson expects the price of oil to remain low over the next two years because of ample global supplies and relatively weak economic growth. Speaking at the company's annual investor meeting in New York, Tillerson cautioned that geopolitical turmoil could unexpectedly send prices higher. But he said that if tensions calm, much more oil is ready to hit the market -- a market that is already flush with crude oil. Exxon's presentation to investors outlining its business plans through 2017 assumes a price of $55 a barrel for global crude. That's $5 below where Brent crude, the most important global benchmark, traded on Wednesday. It's about half of what Brent averaged between 2011 and the middle of last year. Ref:  http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/why-exxon-s-boss-believes-oil-prices-will-stay-low-for-years-1.2263613 ---- The chief of  Exxon Mobil ,  Rex W. Til...