Venkat's Weblog

Yahoo's Kickstart

Social Networking has now got itself a new dimension, called the social job site. This new venture of Yahoo is called as 'kickstart' and is much much different from an ordinary job portal. Kickstart helps to find college students their 'in' jobs or companies they are interested in and connects them to the alumini in that particular company. Of course Kickstart requires the members to put in their photograph and add a short resume in the webpage. Also the page contains some information on the company that the student is interested in.

The idea is definitely social networking but the mission is to get the jobs for college students which they desire. The second part is something similar to facebook, and is called as the university page. Here the students get to have their bulletins, discussions etc.

Now anyone who are dreaming of their 'in' job get connected to you alumini, who know, your 'in' might be waiting for you!

A bio degradable laptop!

This is what is called as green revolution, or better still a green company. Fujitso has joined the bandwagon of 'Green company' by being manufactureres of Laptop chasis which is made of corn starch rather than petroleum, you throw away the chasis and it would blend or degrade with the environment in months time, rather than decades which a PVC takes. Fujitsu has already used corn starch to manufacture cell phones and point of sale terminals. Of course this has been bought out by Fujitsu in Japan, this would be shortly followed by US and other European companies. The manufacturing of the corn starch plastic itself causes less of carbon emission that that of manufacturing other plastics.

According to Cnet's News blog, cereplast and Archer Daniels midland production might take this to a new level and this in turn would reduce the cost of production and hence the price of the product itself.

Guess this change should be bought about immediately the world over, especially with the results of the Greenland's Glacier melting and the carbon content in the atmosphere getting higher, it is time we especially U.S.A and other Europe countries act fast and bring about this revolutionary change.

To know more do visit Cnet News Blog.

Post Celebrations

Most of us would have utilised 15th August as a day to relax, to hang out with friends or just watch television. In other words enjoyed the freedom which our forefathers had earned for us. Yes it was a long struggle then, it is the fruits of that struggle that we are able to enjoy right now! What do we do now so that our future generations could enjoy the fruits in some time from now....what else give a secure, comfortable and a well equipped society. For this each of us must be responsible for our own action and think about the consequence it would have. It is also required that each of us is responsible for at least one of our less priveledged brother and strive to make his future generation a well equipped one.

Each of us as an educated, free citizen of India, has the responsibility to strive for a prosperous society that inturn would strive to give equal opportunity for all. Believe me equal oppoprtunity and education for all is the only answer to have a prosperous and developed India. India is already on the path of being a 'developed' nation, but it should not stop at the point of GDP or growth percentage alone, we need to set an example for one of nations that believe in equal opportunity for one and all irrespective of any differenciation, and this could start only with us as responsible citizens of this great country.

Take a moment and think!

I might be writing this a little belatedly as the 'event' took place on August 5th 2007, but I wanted to put my heart and soul into this and had hence taken my time.

5th of August, Sunday, was a great day for me, and it all started while I was having my shower (dont smirk, this is serious), fortunately I did not jump out crying 'Eureka' but was almost close to it! If you are thinking what happened? well an Idea hit me and the next thing I knew was that I was expressing it to my wife Viji, who was as excited as I was upon hearing the same. Ok Ok I will come to the subject.

Just think, not a day goes without us expressing displeasure or criticising the system or Government, like hygeine, Bureaucracy etc. But "have we taken the initative and done somehting about this"? The most probable answer is 'No'. This two letter word does make a lot of differnce!

At the same time I remembered our ex-president Mr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam and wondered who would take his legacy forward, a sudden surge of energy hit me like lightening. The thought process had already begun in me and I decided that instead of waiting for things to change, or for some one to bring about a change, why not initiate it myself.

In continuation of this I called around thirty of my friends and asked them to spare an hour of thier Sunday. All I said was that I needed them for a good cause, to my surprise every single one of them turned up and this lifted my spirit. They all had either cancelled or postponed their Sunday appointments for me!
This single act alone showed THE POSTIVE ATTITUDE IN TODAYS GENERATION BUT THE LACK OF MEANS TO EXPRESS THE SAME. Their presence itself provided me the drive to start this revolution. A revolution which is neutral to religion, place and time.

Coming to the meeting, it started well and on-time(a rarity in today's circumstances). The small confernece room at INXS prooved to be a comfortable zone for all my friends( I also knew that some thought the entire meeting was for a multilevel marketing that I required, but they were all in for a sweet surprise).

Well with this small group, the motive was established, a motive to bring about awareness in every Indian about the division between haves and haves not (believe me even today this gap is still huge as much as it was few years ago when we learnt about it in our civic lessons!) and to bridge this gap. The only means to bridge this gap is through education and education for all. I put forth the same to my group and reiterated that everyone who had to ability to contibute should do so but not necessarily in the form of money,as it might not be practical and justifiable. Instead he/she could pick up one kid in his close surroundings, be it his/her maid's or drivers child, should take the responsibility of the Kid as his own and do everything in his strength to see that he/she gets good education and all the means for achieving same. This problem (lack of education) might not be solved immediately by the group but would definetly make a difference over a period of time. Hence 'VISION 2010 INDIA' was formed in the small conference room of INXS.

This group would operate from the net. I am sure youngsters who spend major part of their day on social networking can afford to spend one hour of their time to a noble cause and to their community, to this site
-this is one way of spreading this awareness program, and I am sure many in the group have their own concept and idea of spreading awareness.

One led to the other, and we decided that the members of the community should start disciplining themselves first and try to preach others to become disciplined citizens of this country which is but a simple task. I

If there is a community or forum, there are bound to be rules, the rules I requested the group to follow were something on these lines:

- To put the garbage in the garbage cans (not around it!)
- To obey traffic rules
- To save trees
-Say no to corruption (in any form)

Imagine a situation where would have 2 million members over a period of time and all the members follow the rule of educating one kid! I am sure it will be the start of a great revoilution.

I am sure everyone of you reading this blog will help in building this 'responsible citizen community'. I require all your support.

Very shortly I should be posting the site ID to all of you...Look out for the same!

Market Watch

The article "Four on Four: Decoupling from Dow" by Joanna Osinger of Market beat analyses the trend last week and of Monday. It reports that Investors were little cautious on Monday after the major sell off that the market witnessed on Friday, but the gains eventually took off. Dow gained around 287 points on Monday. The S&P 500 added around 35 points on Monday. The one index that seemed to have lagged behind is that of Nasdaq as it was able to do only 36 out of the 65 points.

The two things that bother the economy are that of Labour and that of 'corporate defaulters'. The article says that as far as the hiring continues, it might be good for the economy, but as caroline of Bloomeberg (as cited in the article) says that demand for goods and hiring are related, and obviously hiring would increase only if there is demand. I agree by that completely.

The article goes on to say that investors are fast loosing confidence in corporates as the number of defaulters are increasing and Moody's reasearch only points that the percentage of defaulters have grown from 1.5% to 3.5% in July 2008 and anything above it is really bad. Well only a good policy in place can aid them.

Wish I was there....

Where? In Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in United States, where Airventure-the largest airshow in United States was held. AirVentre is the place where both manufacturers and enthusiast get together for the biggest Air Show and also for 'Air-market', yes along with exhibition selling is done too!

Coming to the entertaining part, the various Aircrafts that were showcased and sold, let me enlist them one by one. E flight Initiative's Sonex Aircraft and Aero conversion products, Elights aim was to develop alternate energy uses for airline industry, this was shown in their prototype of electric plane. The other
major seller was the 'Cessna Skycatcher' which sold at $109,500. Of course the major attraction were Cessna's and 'Airborne XT' but the heavyduty ones did not lag behind, the major appealer was C-5B of U.S. Airforce and the U-2 Spy plane which were used during the pre-satellite, cold war period. The Beechcraft celebrated the 75th Anniversay during the show (could not have chosen a better venue)

Among these were concerts and party, which bought together enthusiast, buyers, antique lovers, historians and the party animals together! Man that must have been quite a party...I really wish I was there, but again I was bound to my duty!

Well then how did I get the news, thanks to CNet which along with beautiful photos has bought live the entire show through their article!

Market Watch

30th June proved to be a day of relief after the stocks bounced around for about a week. On 3oth the indexes rebounded partially. The reason for this rebound was General Motors Financing Division, whose results helped in the indexes to perform partly well! This might be quite surprising in the wake of the Subprime Lending rates being the cause of concern.

Other than GM, there were smaller deals which helped the market to bounce back atleast partially.

Greenspan’s Impact.

His last speech might have left many speechless, after he commented on ‘China Economy’. But now he has tracked the path of the present liquid situation in the market, to the saving habit of the ‘developing nations’. He was talking to “Building owners and Manager Association’s International Conference in New York. Adding to the reason for liquidity Greenspan has reiterated the fact that it’s reflective of a one shot thing, and that we are only half-way through the same.
Craig Torres and Anthony Massucci’s article in Bloomberg.com reports on Greenspan’s views on various topics from the liquidity in the market to oil. Greenspan goes on to say that the market will have to confront the gradual decline in foreign savings flow. Though the dollar has dropped about 4.5% against the Euro, this drop has not dampened the spirit of investment in U.S. Securities. Citing the case of China which has emerged as one of the major exporter in the world, the U.S Dollars earned by the economy was ploughed back into the U.S itself in terms of securities, but again with increased income, consumption would increase in China and the outflow would gradually decline.
Reiterating the fact that U.S has to reduce its dependency on oil, Greenspan goes on to say that the only way to reduce the consumption is to increase the price and this seems to be happening right now!
This article really gave an insight into the flow of the fund and the reason for the markets ‘doing well’ in spite of the dollars “doing not so well”

Impressive Numbers!

Robert Holmes article on " The Dow closes Above 14,000 for the First Time" gives a detailed report on the Numbers. On Thursday, the Dow finished above 14,000 for the first time rising to 82.19 points. Nasdaq was also on a high on Thursday, its best in six years time. Quoting Art Hogan (Chief Market Analyst, Jeffereis) "Finishing above 14,000 on the Dow is not necessarily a breakthrough in Technical Terms although it is an important psychoogical one". Another very important aspect was that about 3.26 billion shares changed hands in the New York Stock Exchange.

During the Federal Open Committee Meeting, the rate was left unchanged at 5.25%. The Fed seems to have decided to keep the rate unchanged (therby squashing any hope of reduced rate!) and the panel are also having a watchful eye on Inflation. The concern voiced during the meet was about the housing sector downturn and that it might persist for a longer period of time.

I feel that the Fed's stand might be the same on the rate for some time, but the housing sector has become a major concern for all, along with Inflation. If the downturn in the housing sector persists for a longer period it is bound to affect the economy, and the Fed's better take measures on the same.

The Influence of Net on the Stock Market

Heard of Erick Jackson, if no, then you are not connected! Yes Erick Jackson is one of the few Investors who has identified the power of the net and has launched a campaign to outset the underperforming heads of corporate. His credentials are quite impressive; his last campaign had resulted in the resignation of Yahoo’s former CEO Terry Semel. How did he do it, well this is exactly what Dana Cimilluca of ‘Deal Journal’-WSJ has observed in his post “ A New Thorn in Motorola’s side”, the Post is based on Li Yuan (Deal Journal) report.

According to the blog Erick Jackson has been defined as among the “new breed of investors who are savvy about grass-root power of the internet and make activism no longer a game reserved for the wealthy….”
When Erick launched the campaign against Terry Semel he had only 96 shares but his aggressive blog posts, you tube videos got him the attention he wanted and about 100 Yahoo shareholders pledged about 2 million shares for this campaign and this resulted in the outset of Semel and some of the board members!

What is new now, well Erick has already started campaigning against Ed Zander CEO of Motorola. In this case he owns about 130 shares of Motorola stocks, and has launched a campaign against Ed both in his blog and you tube. According to the ‘Deal Journal’ about 47000 shares have already been pledged by 20 fellow Motorola share holders, all this in less than 24 hours of launching the campaign! Well the pledging has only begun and is giving a hard time for Ed.

Now the underperformers better start taking cue. I guess it must have dawned on the corporate giants that it is not the wealthy few who matter but each and every stock holder! Stock Markets have a new element to take into consideration; the new breed of tech savvy, aggressive investors who think that every single shareholder has the right to demand performance from the companies! The dawn of web 2.0- social network culture has only made the corporate get into more pressure for performance!