Finance Minister of India, Pranab Mukherjee, outlined various plans for 2010. Let’s have a quick look at the highlights of his speech. According to Pranab, India’s first challenge is to arrive again at 9% GDP growth rate as soon as possible. Internal development of the country highly overlooked, and hence, the finance minister wants to deepen and broaden the agenda. He sees signs of improvement in domestic investment and foreign investors are being active again. However, he thinks it’s too early to say that the worst is gone. Hence, the country’s economy can be depended on the stimulus package, if things seem wavering again. A major concern, however, the country faces is the oil price. Due to its inability to get domestic prices down to world level, India has to import around 75% of its total oil consumption, which is definitely not a good sign. Therefore, as an immediate  [...]

After a bitter debate, the European antitrust administrators and Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) agreed to provide a ballet screen that will give European population an opportunity to download and use any internet browser, all of them Microsoft Internet Explorer’s rivals. The gang of rivals ready to compete includes Safari (AAPL), Google Chrome (GOOG), Opera and Firefox. The page will contain, by next week, links to download any of the available browsers. However, the order of list will change every time the user refreshes the page. According to the antitrust administrators of Europe, this is probably the best way to make people aware about the other available browsers. The static page browserchoice.eu runs Javascript, which keeps of track of jumbled lists and automatically rearranges itself. Microsoft isn’t definitely doing itself any favor. In fact, this ballet page seems to  [...]

The cyclic nature of our market, bullish and bearish, is currently replaced, or rather pulled, by other sources it seems. Essentially dominated by fundamentals, the market is now run by technicals. The market is not reacting to any astonishing news, good or bad, and is operating independently. This is nothing but an outcome of technicians-run-market. It is like a boat sailing on the sea, ignoring the signals of the radar. And obviously, this trend wouldn’t last long. However, such market behavior is affecting investor’s profit. People generally buy before good news and expect good returns. Or inversely, they sell before a bad news is publicly declared to reduce their loss. But they get nothing more than being deceived. Hence, here are few things that you can do when such situation prevails. Focus on your long term goals Changing your goals with every uncertain movement in  [...]

Among all other expenses, food is the most flexible one. We can save enormous amount by using few simple tips. It’s wise to stock basic stuff in bulk. This will save considerable amount of money. However, don’t try to stock perishable goods. Keep a track of stores that offer great benefits to customers through discounts and coupons. Keep a track of food stuffs that you regularly buy in small quantities. Get them in large quantities whenever possible. Don’t forget that for additional discount you can use a manufacturer’s coupon along with store coupon. Consider grocery shopping as a business deal. Next time you go the nearby grocery store, try to maximize your profit. Don’t forget to have a goal. Don’t shop daily. Do it twice a month or once in a week. Don’t go for food shopping when you are tired, hungry, stressed, or depressed. Plan your shopping when you  [...]

Although Apple (AAPL) is launching extremely interesting products, most of them useful for every individual, the stock seems to be on the verge of violating the upward movement. AAPL is almost ready to hit the 52 week low mark. No, I ain’t a pessimist. The products, especially iPad, are very useful but they can defy the law of market. In the next few months, we will definitely see a plunge in the stock price. And there are many reasons that compel me to say this. The market in which apple is operating is crammed with competitors and it’s tougher than ever to derive maximum revenue. iTunes is a convenient way to purchase MP3. However, the same business model has been adopted by many companies, which is quijte similar to the Apple ones. Moreover, the content, music that is, isn’t Apple’s production. You will get the same content all over the web. Though iPhone is an incredibly  [...]

My inbox is full with emails of investors asking about Forex trading, its working, its strategies; in short, the basics. Hence, I decided to post few articles that can be quite informative and helpful for beginners. Initially, when investors know about Forex market, they are quite excited to trade in. However, it’s important to realize that this market is very intricate and can take away your shirt. Hence, learning is most significant aspect before investing even a penny in Foreign Exchange market. You will have to hire a broking service to invest money in Forex. But don’t fret because there are numerous brokers waiting for you to approach them. However, you need to conduct some research before selecting any of them. Spreads The commission a broker gets is based on spreads. Alright, let’s first learn what spread is. The difference between buying and selling price of any currency  [...]

The Chinese government seems to be out of control as its trying quite desperately to hold the economy. And frankly, it was expected. The administration pumped in a considerable amount as a stimulus package, which comprised 14% of the recently reported GDP. The base of the economy was already quite wavering, and if you dump in so much in relatively short term, you witness bubbles, in fact, superbubbles. However, it isn’t only the recent actions that’s disturbing Chinese economy. We will have to turn back and explore the last decade to known the factual reasons. To boost the economy, the Chinese government, around a decade ago, kept the value of its currency extremely low. Hence, the cheap goods produced by China seemed to be even cheaper in the international market. They targeted growth, at any cost. Finding the goods quite inexpensive, the demand for Chinese products in the US market  [...]

Many averages witnessed a substantial rise in volumes traded during the day due to the encouraging and healthy economic data revealed by the government. However, the market also witnessed another round of sale in tech industry, swathing all the companies red. The report said the US economy grew by 5.7% and the Emplyment Cost Index (ECI) grew by 0.5%; better than the experts prediction of 4.7% and 0.4% respectively. Because the data was released an hour before the market opened, all major averages started with a rise. Before the investors could tag it as an opportunity to sell their holdings, the market started tumbling, mostly due to tech stocks. Opening quite higher at $30, Microsoft (MSFT) later saw a plunge of 4.5% and closed at $27.62. The quarter earnings for giant software maker were much better than their anticipation; however, the CFO mentioned quite clearly that the 2010 IT spending  [...]