Rebateables

The Rakesh Jhunjhunwala Household

Deepak Shenoy — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:55:00 +0000

A story about the (almost) billionaire talks about all of the stuff beyond the trading room. His children, an 18,000 sq. ft. holiday home, how his wife had to be on total bed-rest for three months before delivering their daughter, the Mumbai blue-bloods who tried to make it difficult for the middle-class rooted tycoon buying into their society and the best part – that he has no customer, no clients except Rekha, his wife, who’s a captive customer. Very impressive, and very inspiring.

The latest Forbes India rich list counts 49-year-old Jhunjhunwala as the 58th richest man in the country, with a fortune of $915 million (Rs 4,209 crore). “I have far less than people think, far more than I need. My wealth fluctuates by 5 per cent every week,” he says. But even an amateur guesstimate of listed and unlisted investments, private equity interests and cash holdings safely puts the former chartered accountant’s net worth at over a billion dollars. “Whatever is known publicly is underestimated,” says a source close to him.

On a different note, This is an interview I’m sure he appreciated:

<\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt="">

Links: Lehman, ICICI, Billionaires, IIP and Sugar

Deepak Shenoy — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:31:00 +0000

WSJ: Lehman Torpedoed Lehman – A bankruptcy court examiner investigates and finds that senior Lehman executives fudged its balance sheet, kept the board uninformed and bumped up asset values.
ICICI Bank stops giving out free lifetime cards. What’s happening in there? They recently sold their CEO’s house. Insiders have started selling – two of them, including an ED, have sold between 70-100% of their holding in the last week. Building up fee income and clearing out assets? The stock has been doing amazingly well, up over 15% in the last month.
The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data for Jan 2010 shows a 16.7% increase since Jan 2009. The data is unreliable, because the revisions are huge. Example: The December release last month showed an index value of 331.7 – it has been revised to 334. Similar revisions on the downside happen all the time. Better, perhaps to look at seasonally adjusted figures, available online through Ajay Shah’s blog, will probably get updated with Jan figures next week. In December the headline was over 16%, but the SAAR was 11%.
Sugar seems to be in the news, and for a change because prices are going down. Perceptions of scarcity are changing, it seems, with ex-mill prices falling to Rs. 34 from Rs. 40. Sugar is a highly political industry and Maharashtra/UP are the big players. Sugar companies make money – 3-4 rupees a kg – from by-products like mollasses or co-generated power, but both have political controls like how much you can store, who gets paid for excess power etc. Global prices are also on the way down, but nowhere near the cycle lows.
China might increase rates, from accelerating inflation, says Bloomberg. Inflation in China has reached 3.5%, which to India will seem like a fantastically low figure for a country growing, er, faster than us. But the fudging in China is of gargantuan proportions – when the data is bad, the response is usually to keep data hidden, or massage it appropriately. Yes, everyone’s doing it nowadays but China is the master of the art.
Forbes releases the list of worldwide billionaires, and Marketfolly highlights the “hedgies” (fund managers) on the list.

Why a Credit Union Might Be the Ideal Place to Start Your Kids’ Savings Accounts

Rebate Credit Card — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:57:45 +0000

Many people have a credit union through their work, associations or locality. When you join, you secure partial ownership in the credit union.

Online Free Credit Report

Rebate Credit Card — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:32:34 +0000

To help people be more aware of how their credits are standing, a lot of websites are now offering services such as providing online free credit reports. This service has been made available to Americans by the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Using My Free Credit Report

Rebate Credit Card — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:31:46 +0000

There is something that you can do to help protect your credit. It is fast, easy and free. Many people are already requesting their free credit report and you can too.

Avoid Unnecessary Bank Charges With Proper Planning

Rebate Credit Card — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:39:15 +0000

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about banking is the fact that making a variety of simple mistakes in our banking habits may result in bank charges that could easily have been avoided. With proper planning of your finances, these bank charges will be a thing of the past.

What to Know About Bad Credit?

Rebate Credit Card — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:21:09 +0000

A secured loan requires to put up property such as an individual's home or any of their possessions, like a car, as collateral. This serves to lower the interest rate, compared with unsecured loans, and make the lender more comfortable in giving people funds.

Educating Teenagers on Credit Cards For Students’ Usage

Rebate Credit Card — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:52:43 +0000

Virtually 90% of college students are applying for credit cards for students in their freshman year. The reality is that most students do not possess a checking account and have very little finance management skills.

Why You Should Consider Living Frugally

Rebate Credit Card — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:48:00 +0000

With this past recession many people have considered or been forced to live life more frugally. If you weren't forced then you might have made a choice to so that you could save and be prepared for the worse. If you are still considering it then let me help persuade you.

What is Your FICA Score?

Rebate Credit Card — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:59:40 +0000

Surprisingly a lot of people do not know what their FICA score is. This is a number derived from the mayor loan companies that state your credit worthiness. If you are planning to obtain a loan than this numeric number is very important to know because companies will decide if they will approve your loan application based on that number.