Omkumar's blog

This could be received positively in the market. Apple's ability to come up with a major breakthrough in all their products have proven well in the past. Nothing to be blamed that they want to design their own chips that goes into their products. Apple is making use of the time properly. It is easier to negotiate with high quality chip-designers and other candidates in the chip market as we all know about the current job market. To quote from the article: ...In one sign of the new focus, Apple recently hired Raja Koduri, who was formerly the chief technology officer of the graphics products group at chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Mr. Koduri started at Apple this week, following in the footsteps of Bob Drebin, who had held the same title at AMD and is also now working for Apple... If successful the stocks could soar. AAPL closed today at $125.83. Lets watch.

Here comes Dell's answer to Apple's MacBook Air - Dell Adamo (Latin for "To Fall in love with"). - Sleek look and sturdy design. - Edge-to-Edge glass monitor -very cool. They claim the lcd has an inbuilt 1.3 MP web cam. Wonder where that is installed as it looks completely glass. - Keyboard with Backlit keys - for a long time i was wondering when they would come up with backlit keys. Often times you have to turn off all the lights while working with your laptop in your bedroom. This will come in handy. I dont like the protrusion on the bag. Takes me to the older versions of the laptops. Dont know if Dell would have a good market given that Apple had already released Air and it is kinda too late. But price-wise it might be attractive. Here is a detailed review by Walt Mossberg of WSJ.

This is cool. The PRM case studies have become shorter to be more relevant and not exhaustive for students. This is much easier for my preparation. Here is the letter I got from the exam manager... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: PRMIA Member Services [mailto:support@prmia.org] Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 12:21 PM To: Enkannathan, Omkumar Subject: IMPORTANT – Changes to PRM and Associate PRM Case Studies Dear Omkumar, Please be aware that four of the case studies used by both the PRM and the Associate PRM exam material have been changed. These are the case studies for LTCM, Riggs Bank, National Australia Bank and Barings. The previous case studies were very long and disproportionate to the number of relevant exam questions. We have replaced these four with shorter versions in order to make studying easier. Please note that no exam questions have changed and that the answers to all questions are contained in the new material. St

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To those who follow stock markets and trying to stay optimistic: * Consumer confidence slightly stronger than expected - This doesn't matter at all. Home purchases are only *slightly* increasing. Cyclical is catching up. Retail the same. In a broad perspective, this doesn't help revive the big economic slump we are already in. * "Bear Market Still far from bottom" - David Tice, chief Portfolio strategist for bear markets at Federated Investors Inc., talked with Bloomberg's Carol Massor yesterday about the outlook of the stock market. His view is bearish atleast upto mid 2010. The most alarming statement of his is that "We think we can get to 400 on the S&P , which is 55, 60 percent decline [from where we are now]". That is just pretty shocking. * More bailouts - Liaquat Ahamed, hedge-fund advisor and historian, says more bailouts are coming and this time Geithner won't be able to ask for taxpayers' money. Debt holders may try to safeguard the

This is an interesting Book Library website to share your thoughts on books that you read. Check out my book shelf

Yet another sci-fi but this time the aliens try to save our planet. My rating: *** (3 stars)

But why? Isn't this too much intervention of government on private sector? Clearly there is a cover-up. Can't we learn already from the Japanese in the early 90s. Some interesting quotes from the article... [BofA Chairman] Mr. Lewis has told investigators for New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo that in December Mr. Paulson threatened him not to cancel a deal to buy Merrill Lynch. BofA had discovered billions of dollars in undisclosed Merrill losses, and Mr. Lewis was considering invoking his rights under a material adverse condition clause to kill the merger. But Washington decided that America's financial system couldn't withstand a Merrill failure, and that BofA had to risk its own solvency to save it. So then-Treasury Secretary Paulson, who says he was acting at the direction of Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke, told Mr. Lewis that the feds would fire him and his board if they didn't complete the deal And we talk about freedom!

I dont know if this is strange but I am trying to understand why a pandemic such as Swine Flu could affect the markets. Ok, I understand Livestocks getting hit because businesses dealing with porks can be affected. The import of Pork meat from Mexico may be hindered and export companies and mass-production companies may see some hindrance (still this news is to premature to react upon). However, WHO came out and said that it is safe to eat the meat as the strain of the virus cannot survive normal cooking temperature. But why Mexican Peso - that you lost confidence on holding this currency because the country could devalue its currency? What is the reasoning behind this? Why Airlines - because their revenue will be affected? how? People dont want to travel to Mexico? People who already booked tickets to Mexico are either going to travel with caution or loose their ticket (or take up on insurance ). May be you will not book tickets to Mexico, US etc. So it will affect future bookings, d

Hi All, I am here to express my views on things that I come across in my life. I had been using a more private blog in the past. I want to try out something public. About me... I started my career as a software developer (Microsoft) concentrating on developing Financial systems (mainly Risk Management). The domain is very interesting and I learn new stuff everyday. Of course, what times of history can be more appealing than the current economic conditions. Also an avid book reader..