“Laugh as Much as you Breathe…and Love as Long as you Live”…..Anonymous

“Nothing Shows a Man’s Character more than what he laughs at “…J W Von Goethe 

“God is a Comedian,playing to an audience too afraid to laugh “…Voltaire

” Perhaps I know Best why it is Man alone who laughs;he alone suffers so deeply that he had to invent laughter “….Friedrich Nietzsche

Akruti City is probably the most relatively expensive real estate company in India.

 At Current Share Price of Rs 840  and an Equity of Rs 66.70 crs (Face Value of Rs 10) the Market Capitalisation is Rs 5600 crores. At March 31, 2008 the Networth was just under Rs 800 crores and Debt was Rs 626 crores. On Sales of Rs 441 crores it earned a net of Rs 295 crs registering an EPS of Rs 44. That’ s a P/E of 19… Even in the three months at June 30, 2008 the Net is Rs 171 crs… Company also pays taxes and dividends

 So what’s the Achtung ! for ?

 The Promoters, Shahs, hold a near 90% stake and sources state that there is fresh aggressive borrowing at high  24% to 30% pa interest rates pledging 200% value of the Akruti shares and Loans have shot up to around Rs 1000 crs.

 Akruti is also the only real estate stock quoting at 100% higher share price compared to a year ago.

 It’s now also in Derivative play and with a low floating stock it will be easy to manipulate and keep the listed price of the stock artificially high….. this will give added leverage to promoters to keep pledging their shares to raise finance.Reportedly Sales are also being booked for Properties pledged for Loans  

 Any guess what the endgame could be in 6 months to 1 year when the loans come up for repayment?

Wasn’t Mr S A Dave the Chairman of UTI in the 1990′s when it subscribed to the controversial preferential allotment of Equity Shares of over Rs 700 crs made by Reliance Industries.

It was controversial for several reasons…striking reasons  were that the shares were locked in and were subscribed to at higher than market price !…clearly the Investment decision was not based on Fundamental Analysis…clearly directions from Delhi !

I recall Mr Dave lamely defending the Investment in a media interview stating that Call rates were just 2 % to 3% and UTI had no other outlet at the time to deploy Large Funds !

Well isn’t it an Irony is that SEBI has just announced a 15 Member panel to be headed by Mr Dave which will advise it on issues related to the Mutual Fund Industry ?

Senior Counsel, Mahesh Jethmalani deserves to be complimented.

Says he, “There’s a crisis of Character in our Country”

He has taken a stand against senior counsels, R K Anand and Prosecuter I U Khan who were held guilty by the Delhi High Court for obstructing administration of justice while trying to influence an eye witness in the high profile BMW Hit and Run Case. Both were exposed to all of India in a sting operation by a TV Channel and had very little defense.

Both Anand and Khan escaped with relatively light punishment of being suspended for just four months from appearing before the High Court as Counsel and a recommendation that the Bar Council strip them of their Senior Advocate Designations

Jethmalani has called for more stringent action against the two and urged the Bar Council to expel the two for what amounts to malpractice 

You can check it out in today’s edition of DNA at

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1185293 

Both our daughters are in the same house and class in School and I recall during the last Olympics in Athens when their class had hosted an Olympics Quiz where Parents were asked to participate too, Mahesh Jethmalani very graciously pushed me forward to accept the Winners Cup as I had answered most of the questions put forth to us.

Am getting an uncanny feeling that Sensex will correct towards 12000 once the Beijing Olympics come to a close !

Higher Inflation figure of 12.63% for week ended August 9,2008 was released today …..the Sensex corrected nearly 3% ,by 435 points, to fall to 14244….volumes are low…sentiment and interest is unexciting.  

And no, it was not this bearish thought that kept me from posting a blog for nearly a week…I was just unwinding for a few days…getting recharged…..even the seven newspapers I subscribe too have passed on to “Pasti” in unread condition…”deleted” without reading

Personally I’m waiting for such a fall to really get some bargain values to buy into…in fact have readied a list of Twenty Five + Scrips across sectors and what should be their bargain buying range….yet to release it to clients as buying ranges have yet to come…prices did tease into this range for a fleeting day or two,sometime ago but the excitement did not last as Sensex surged again to tease 15500 last week…and then once again the Sensex has reversed…We’re not playing the Sensex…the Sensex is playing Us !  

Fantastic ! just seconds ago our Boxer,Akhil Kumar beat the World Champion,Sergey Vodopyanov in the Round of 16 in the 54 kgs Bantamweight Bout at the Beijing Olympics

The score was tied at 9 all in the four rounds of two minutes each and Akhil Kumar never lead in the bout…Judges ruled him the Winner and the Russian could not believe it…was desolate…was crying….refused to shake hands…it was a phenomenal bout and felt like 1.1 billion Indians were punching the Russian…Akhil Kumar had stated that Dreams are not those that we get when we sleep…but those that don’t let us sleep !

Four Years ago at the Athens Olympics,Akhil Kumar had come in 17th in the Flyweight Category 

Come on Akhil Kumar !…now you’re in the round of 8…just one more win and your’e atleast assured of a Bronze !…I know you are Going For Gold ! We could see that Intensity in your Eyes in today’s Bout…Go Get It ! 

Check my header on the Home Page ! The Title of this Blog is also on it .

This Morning was reading the Lifestyle supplement of a Morning Newspaper, which keeps on proclaiming they will never compromise on the Truth…..Came across a Page 3 “ Industrialist” describing how beautiful his Family Holiday in a Greek Island had been.…At whose cost !?…This Guy had to find political support to save his skin as he and his group and associates have defaulted on Hundreds of Crores and are battling Legal Cases

My clients and I have been his victim too and perhaps that’s the bias of this Blog

Still holding some of the worthless shares of his four listed companies which are no longer listed !

One used to sell Chickens ! and rumour has it he used to barter these chickens with a Leading Hotel Chain to finally settle his dues for all the  parties he hosted !…The Capital Markets and the Pharma Companies do not even exist at their registered address !…and in the Flagship Company that was supposed to be”Flying High” this guy quietly and quickly sold off his promoter stake to another and quickly collected the Cheque and literally orphaned his “Baby”  and all his shareholders who trusted him  

Shareholders in all his companies have seen complete erosion of their Wealth and this guy simply put his hands up and is now working for someone else!His Community trusted him and looked upon him as a shepherd who will tend to his flock..they say he turned out to be a Black Sheep 

“Damn” him…..It’s not just a Pun !…He must remember that Page 3 is not just for Celebrities…It’s for Crime too…you’ve sucked us all big time !

Mera Bharat Mahaan !

Get up on Swiss Time…Shave with Gillette…..bathe with an English Soap…..have a Kellogs Breakfast..with English Tea in Chinese Cups….Macdonalds for Lunch with Coca Cola….View Beijing Olympics and the American Swimmer Michael Phelps win a record Sixth Gold on a Korean TV…Communicate on a Nokia Mobile from Finland…….Wear Levis  and Arrow ….depend on Funds from USA to revive our Stock Markets…..Blog from a Japanese Laptop…… 

But at Heart and Soul and Mind always a Proud and Patriotic Indian …. Sang Patriotic Songs loudly on karaoke after Midnight at a “huge Family Do”…..Recited Indian Religious Mantras and Prayed to Indian Gods….tucked in a very hearty Indian Spread that included Vegetable Biryani,Paneer Makhanwala,Shrikhand and Batawada…. celebrated “Raksha Bandhan” too at the “do” where Sisters and Cousin Sisters tied “Rakhi’s” on my wrist and I promised to protect them…….Needed the Morning dose of “Lage Raho Munnabhai ” and Gandhigiri being broadcast on Television 

Mera Bharat Mahaan !

India celeberates it’s 61st Independence Day today… wishing all a Truly Great Independence Day

Yet could not help wondering how we Indians create Icons….. there are so many unheralded Indians who are quietly doing their work to lift our Poor…. living away in the Interiors with Villagers and Tribals for years, away from Urban Life

It was therefore with great warmth when I read, in todays edition of the Times of India, about the Ramon Magsaysay Award Winners for Community Leadership, Prakash and Mandakini Amte.

What is truly heartwarming is that this doctor couple has now spend nearly 35 years with the  Madia Gond Tribe around Hemalkasia Village in Maharashtra’s underprivileged Gadchiroli district

Says Mandakini Amte, ” India still lacks the real passion for social work”

Their children studied with the tribals…the Village had no electricity and no phones… after moving away for higher education, the children have joined their parents in their work 

We salute all of you

I strongly echo the strong words of Mrs Isaac,the Principal of Cathedral School at Speech Day where Honours Students were awarded their Certificates and Prizes… she strongly urged students to disregard and ignore what was trivial and farcical and that which had no depth… strongly against the ease and tendency of all of us creating  “Celebrity” Icons.. especially of Film Stars

Just the other night my associate and me were at a upscale Chinese Eatery at Bandra,Mumbai having a quiet dinner after an Important Meeting which ended very late at night…. In walked a hot young film star and his star parents… all part of one of India’s Big “Filmy” Family …. they were surely making their presence felt…. This new kid on the block is already a super star earning in crores even though his first Film was a flop… his second film releases today !… nothing against him though ! he’s confident and has got that “ada”…probably in his genes …just that we tend to make him an icon too soon….. I asked my Twelve year Old Daughter early next morning at 6 am,  when I was sweet talked by her into dropping seven of her Team for Football practise, whether she would have liked me to get the autograph of this young new Film star… “Whatever for !? ” she replied.. Atta Girl !  

Glanced at an article in today’s Economic Times where the Macquarie Group has disclosed that it had invested  US $ 200 million in Indian operations.It is Increasing Headcount and is already in the top five Institutional Brokerage Houses in India 

Could not help wondering if such Investments could be viewed as Monies being reinvested from part of Huge Profits (in all probability totally tax free) in Equity Investments in our Secondary Markets in India on Mumbai Stock Exchanges made by Macquarie as a Foreign Instituitional Investor (FII) registered with SEBI

Have a look at the four FII registrations of Macquarie with SEBI as of date

Sensex is 14852 at 2 pm now on Thursday,August 14,2008

Macquarie entered India in 2005 as a FII and has registered a seperate FII every single Year since then

Clearly Macquarie should have had a great run as a FII in 2005 rolling into 2006 and 2007 too…If FIIs brought in @ US 35 $ Billion in 2005-2007 Period as an Active and Aggressive Investor Macquarie too would have had a sound share of this Quantum and it’s Gains (Probably Tax Free) from Investments in Indian Equities would have easily crossed half a billion dollars …possibly over a Billion

So in a sense it’s made Huge Tax Free Gains in India as an Equity Investor and is re-routing back only a small  part of such Gains into Indian Operations as a Broker,Wealth Manager and a Non Banking Finance Company…all within a space of three to four years

Can you look at it this way ?…India is welcoming it’s Own Money in as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) !

Draw a parallel…Indian Promoters of Companies declare Huge Tax Exempt (In their Hands) Dividends and re-route the same back into the Company as  Preferential Equity allotment to Promoters at Low Price and increase their stake too in the process

Kya Baat Hai !