Bullions of Gold

The good name of the investment bank Goldman Sachs [GS] is arguably the best in the investment banking / financial services industry.
A lot of that is not without reason. After all, the current market trends do favor that argument. We have seen the unfortunate demise of Bear Stearns & Co. [BSC] by its fire sale to J.P. Morgan & Co. [JPM] in a Fed Reserve mid-wifed deal. That was followed by a deja vu style trading of Lehman Brothers Holdings [LEH] that has been seen in previous financial blow-ups of Long-Term Capital Management, The Russian Debt default and the dot.com bubble burst. In most of these cases, if not all, LEH came precariously close to going under/being bought out. Most of those situations could be attributed to the short-selling activism and panic-spreading rumor mongering that seems to plague the beleaguered firm, being one of the smallest bulge-brackets [and at that time, a fairly under-diversified firm] on the street. The rest of the investment banks, Merrill Lynch, UBS, Morgan Stanley, Banc of America Securities, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse et al have largely been left to lick their sore wounds.

Goldman (Sachs) on the other hand has been resiliently defiant of the market trends. It made record profits while all was not honky-dory on the rest of the street. Along with John Paulson of hedge fund Paulson & Co., Goldman Sachs has reaped a wind fall of profits in the misery of the rest of the markets. Not that it is to be blamed for the alleged reckless and risky squandering [I think it was merely over placed riskiness at most in an industry that unfortunately blew in their face] of other investment banks. Or for the astute precision in identifying market trends long before the others probably saw doomsday coming.

That said and done, one cannot possibly ignore the rumors of manipulation that seem to mysteriously [allegedly] start from the firm. Allegations by Alan Schwartz, CEO of the erstwhile Bear Stearns and Dick Fuld of rumor mongering and stock manipulation seem to increasingly growing steam. Goldman was also involved in the Bob Freeman incident during the famous Ivan Boesky/Michael Milken insider trading/stock manipulation scams. While it was the individual employees that indulged in that, the unflinching and unconditional support to Freeman during the incident rather than siding the growing signs of possible wrong-doing left a bad taste in the mouth. Guess the average investor doesn't have the memory of an elephant and incidences such as these are short-lived.

Read an interesting article on Seeking Alpha.

Hope that all rise to their past glory and Wall Street is once again what it was!

Wrong Job

Caught in the job?

A great video on what it means to be caught in the wrong job! Just goes to show that we need to choose the right job and the recruiters need to choose the right people!

Lehman's tryst with Short-Sellers - Déjà Vu

Lehman Brothers has been time and again the subject of short selling and rumours of discount and/or distressed selling that it is indeed not funny! CEO and Chairperson Dick Fuld has probably been through this more than once to realize that it will pass. Yet there is the scare that LEH may go the Bear Stearns & Co. way.

Three reasons why I [and a lot of people] think that LEH cannot go down the BSC way. For one, a run on the bank, if it were to happen, has been taken care of. Capital Reserves are in place and so is the Fed Reserve!

Second, they are far more diversified and have far more friends on the street than Bear. Just look at the timing of the favorable report from Morgan Stanley. Nothing about doubting the integrity of the equity research. It is exactly what the truth is. But the report did help arrest the fall of the stocks.


Finally, and most important, is the presence of Dick. None of the others at Wall Street have been at the helm longer than him. It is not just a function of time. It is the passion he has for a firm that he has nurtured and seen grow. One of the two people on the board who didn't want Lehman to merge with AmEx. It is like a child [or maybe a mother] that he has come to love and nurture. I believe that he will fight tooth and nail to sell it off. He is proud of what The Brothers have achieved.

Here is a nice report in the Financial Times that is good read on the subject.

Lehman Brothers Logo Source: Lehman.com
Dick Fuld Picture Source: Euromoney.com

The fickle Indian supporter

Brownian motion may be described as the random movement of particles suspended in a liquid or gas. The mathematical model of Brownian motion could be used in real-world applications like the fluctuations of the stock market. Another application that is becoming evident is the fluctuations in the Indian Field Hockey team performance and with that the support and attitude of the Indian Hockey team 'supporter'.

Once a glorious winner, India now sees itself at the sidelines as teams like the Netherlands, Germany and Australia have fast outpaced the warriors of the yore. Indian Hockey has gone through various ups and downs in the recent past. The downs have been the dismal performance of the team and its scarring [it was about time it came though] absence from the Beijing 2008 Olympics. That speaks for various other perfomance over the past decade. The only upside seen is the ouster of the IHF [Indian Hockey Federation] chief KPS Gill and his deputy Jothikumaran. The IOA [Indian Olympic Association] in a landmark decision chose to dissolve the IHF board and appoint veteran Olympians to head the sport in the country.

KPS Gill was the true narcissist. Adamant and hot-headed, he clinged onto the IHF like a leech. He blamed everyone [but the IHF management of course] for India's hockey slide. His views on player contracts, compensation, junior leagues were draconian and abysmal. At one instance, he actually sacked a whole bunch of players for asking better [decent and reasonable would be the right word] pay packages after winning the Asian games in 1998. After not qualifying for the Olympics for the first time ever, Gill said, “We will prepare for the 2010 World Cup. Hockey is not instant coffee.” True, it is not instant coffee. But, it does NOT take 18 years to brew any kind of coffee. Maybe he meant 18 years aged single malt scotch whisky.

Following his ouster and with the new management with the veteran olympians in place, Indian hockey looks to ressurect itself from the dead. The first competitive tournament for the selected team was the Azlan Shah Hockey tournament in Ipoh, Malaysia. With defending champions Australia are not playing this time, there are four teams bound for Beijing which are trying to make their mark: Pakistan, Canada, Belgium and New Zealand. Besides these, hosts Malaysia and Argentina make up a strong line-up of teams.

The Indian team and hockey in India was ridiculed by one and all after the Olypmic qualifier debacle in Chile. As usual, the Indian fans were extremely of the loss of the team [understandably so]. However, it is a pity to see the manner in which hockey is always compared to cricket in the country. Most people believe that hockey is a poor cousin of cricket in India and they are not far off from the target when they say that. Nevertheless, comparisons are not entirely justified. For one, cricket has been well managed and marketed in the country. Second, there is little glamour in the game of hockey in India. This is particularly sad given the fast paced nature of the game that can even put a popular sport like soccer to shame. The media is also to blame as hockey news is relegated to a corner story [unless it is a negative story like the olympics qualifier].

Let us see how the fickle Indian deals with all of this...

The Democrat quagmire

Everyone seems to be in a quagmire offlate. Sen. Hillary Clinton [NY] is a mystery in many ways. The sense that once gets is that she is a very polarising factor. People either love her or they hate her. There seems to be no indifferent option or one of moderation.

Sen. Barack 'Change' Obama [IL] seems to be a similar figure. However, he is polarizing to a lesser degree. It seems that diehard Change supporters are the ones who hate Hillary and for obvious reasons. It seems the tussle will go right down to the wire, though many believe that this not good for the party.

Lets see how things work out!

Goa in a quagmire

We dont need a KPS Gill to set things right in Goa. We need a Manohar Parrikar to set things right. I am not a big fan of the BJP. But, Goa has seen 'enough' in the hands of the Congress. Luizinho Faleiro, Ravi Naik and PratapSinh Rane have attempted to run the state... right into the open gutters in Margao and elsewhere.

It is a pity that the common (wo)man of Goa believes that Parrikar is the right choice, yet the BJP is not. Divisive politics is the reason and a fair one too. But the fact remains that the Congress is no stranger to divisive politics itself.

It was the Israelis and now it seems to be the British and the Russians. Goans are nice and quiet people who could almost not hurt a fly. Yet, there seem to be more 'outsiders' in Goa than Goans themselves. The concept of 'outsider' that I vision isn't one that is not of goan origin. Rather, it is someone who is not engrained in / has not embraced the goan culture, be it a person of goan origin or otherwise. I have many friends who are gujratis or marwaris who are as goan as one could possibly get.

It is time for Goa to standup and be counted. It is time for Goa to get back on it's feet. If it is Parrikar, so be it. If its someone else, so be her!