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ISSUE - 144 23rd FEBRUARY [THURSDAY] EDITOR’S DESK - POOJA DALAL Just before our campus gets into the ‘all work and no play’ mode, with exams scheduled next week, we bring to you one more refreshing issue of The IBS Times to give you a bird’s eye view of the goings on of our economy and the world at large. The cover story of the week gives a fresh insight into the ‘about to be made’ launch of Apple OS X 10.8. It provides many definite answers to many questions that all the tech enthusiast and mar- ket observers might have had when an ‘early launch’ was announced by the company. To know more, just turn over a leaf! India may be very innovative, but nothing can keep it from the unwanted and disruptive bureauc- racy that pervades the system. And pending certain decisions that need an urgent attention may do irreversible harm to the economy. One such issueGenetically modified foods’ policy is what our writer has discussed and opined upon this week. The recent abundance that the high fashion market has experienced has made it even more diffi- cult for brands and moreover their marketers to grab their fair share of limelight. But cutting through the clutter and coming up really sophisticated is the brand Burberry. And in the brand track section of this week, the writer says- ‘When it rains, it pours-BURBERRY!!’ With the summer heat about to approach, travelers throughout the world search for Exotic lo- cales as a get away. And so do the investors migrate to the ‘Exotic options’ when other avenues of investment ’dry up’. In the Focus of this week, we bring to you Exotic options, its features and other details discussed for the enrichment of investment knowledge of students. And of course there are our regular sections of Fast Track, Quick Bites, Market Watch as well to give you a very brief view of the news around the world and in our own country. Cheers !! Pooja Dalal EDITOR 1 OPINION 5 FOCUS 8 COVER 2 BRAND 6 MARKET 9 FAST-TRACK 3 QUICK BITES 7

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FAST-TRACK EDITOR’S DESK EDITOR ISSUE - 144 Cheers !! Pooja Dalal The cover story of the week gives a fresh insight into the ‘about to be made’ launch of Apple OS X 10.8. It provides many definite answers to many questions that all the tech enthusiast and mar- ket observers might have had when an ‘early launch’ was announced by the company. To know more, just turn over a leaf! - POOJA DALAL

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ISSUE - 144 23rd FEBRUARY [THURSDAY]

EDITOR’S DESK - POOJA DALAL

Just before our campus gets into the ‘all work and no play’ mode, with exams scheduled next

week, we bring to you one more refreshing issue of The IBS Times to give you a bird’s eye view

of the goings on of our economy and the world at large.

The cover story of the week gives a fresh insight into the ‘about to be made’ launch of Apple OS

X 10.8. It provides many definite answers to many questions that all the tech enthusiast and mar-

ket observers might have had when an ‘early launch’ was announced by the company. To know

more, just turn over a leaf!

India may be very innovative, but nothing can keep it from the unwanted and disruptive bureauc-

racy that pervades the system. And pending certain decisions that need an urgent attention may

do irreversible harm to the economy. One such issue– Genetically modified foods’ policy is

what our writer has discussed and opined upon this week.

The recent abundance that the high fashion market has experienced has made it even more diffi-

cult for brands and moreover their marketers to grab their fair share of limelight. But cutting

through the clutter and coming up really sophisticated is the brand Burberry. And in the brand

track section of this week, the writer says- ‘When it rains, it pours-BURBERRY!!’

With the summer heat about to approach, travelers throughout the world search for Exotic lo-

cales as a get away. And so do the investors migrate to the ‘Exotic options’ when other avenues

of investment ’dry up’. In the Focus of this week, we bring to you Exotic options, its features

and other details discussed for the enrichment of investment knowledge of students.

And of course there are our regular sections of Fast Track, Quick Bites, Market Watch as well to

give you a very brief view of the news around the world and in our own country.

Cheers !!

Pooja Dalal

EDITOR 1 OPINION 5 FOCUS 8

COVER 2 BRAND 6 MARKET 9

FAST-TRACK 3 QUICK BITES 7

COVER STORY–MOUNTAIN LION & WINDOWS8– THE WAR CONTINUES… - KRITIKA SETHI Did Apple unveil OS X 10.8 to preempt Windows 8?

Most think it off as Apple's way of keeping the press firmly under its thumb –―Access isn't an

entitlement’ said by many. Some smelled something even more Machiavellian in the announce-

ment - the first time in memory that the press got to test a Mac OS before Apple developers

could.

Apple more typically announces new OS version months before it's made available to anyone,

typically during their Worldwide Developer Conference. But with 10.8 things are different. The

timing allowed Apple to preempt the release of Windows 8 Consumer Preview, which Microsoft

announced in January would be the end of this month.

Was Mountain Lion announced prematurely to take the wind out of Microsoft's sails?

‘Prematurely’ doesn't seem right, given that even if Mountain Lion's release doesn't happen until

the last day of summer, developers will have less time to prepare for it than for any OS X since

Panther in 2003. As John Gruber and John Siracusa pointed out in Friday's The Talk

Show podcast, the new features being added to OS X -messaging, notifications, app synching,

etc. are all about integrating the Mac more tightly with

iCloud.

Released in 2009, both Windows 7 and OS X 10.6 had

almost zero cloud-, mobile-, or cross platform features;

they were both very much ‘PC’ operating systems. This

isn’t to say that it couldn’t add extra functionality

through third-party software, but the out-of-the-box

experience, which the vast majority of users’ experi-

ence was very PC.

If we have to decide who is better-that’s where the con-

fusion arises. It’s clear that Microsoft and Apple have both settled on a post-PC reality — but,

interestingly both companies are converging from completely different directions. Microsoft is

trying to leverage its way into the tablet and phone market by way of its massive Windows user

base. Apple, on the flip side, is trying to get iOS users to pony up for a Mac laptop, Apple TV,

and eventually an Apple iTV.

The problem, of course, is that Windows 8 is a massive, revolutionary gamble that takes Micro-

soft way beyond its comfort zone. For 30 years, Microsoft has been making money on x86 PCs

and servers, and the Office suite of software. With Windows 8, Microsoft is moving to a brand

new architecture, giving away Office for free, doing away with the Start button and menu, and

generally making a huge mess of the Desktop/Explorer side of things. Adding to this, Windows

Phone 7 is limping along and there’s no real indication that Windows drives users to the Xbox

360, and vice versa.

The good news is that Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 are shaping up to being very different

beasts to OS X and iOS. Microsoft won’t have the chance to prove that its path to convergence is

better than Apple’s until they launch, though — and a lot can happen between now and fall. The

iPad 3 and iOS 5.1 are due to be announced any day now, and the Apple iTV should appear be-

fore Windows 8, too.

THE IBS TIMES

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Apple more typically an-

nounces new OS version

months before it's made

available to anyone, typi-

cally during their Worldwide

Developer Conference. But

with 10.8 things are differ-

ent.

With Windows 8, Microsoft

is moving to a brand new

architecture, giving away

Office for free, doing away

with the Start button and

menu, and generally making

a huge mess of the Desktop/

Explorer side of things.

FAST-TRACK NEWS -SAMEER JHANJI

Saffron Team Gives Big Blow to Cong-NCP in BMC Polls Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan suffered a body blow to his prestige on Friday after vot-

ers in the Mumbai and Thane municipal elections opted to extend the Shiv Sena-BJPs 16-year rule

over the two cities, snubbing Chavan’s Congress party and its restive ally, the Nationalist Congress

Party (NCP).Uddhav Thackeray, the heir apparent to Bal Thackeray the Sena chief emerged as the

elections biggest winner.

Economic Census Delayed Yet Again The governments ambitious economic census to create a comprehensive database of the economic

profile of India’s households and businesses has been pushed back again because of lack of personnel.

The census department is right now busy with the survey to enumerate people below poverty line and

feels a simultaneous economic survey will stretch its resources undermining the data quality.

Triple blasts in Bangkok,2 Iranians held Triple explosions rocked Bangkok in a bizarre sequence of events on Tuesday two of them on the

street and one in a house leading to the arrest of two men, both allegedly Iranians. Four people were

hurt in the blasts which Israel said showed again that Iran continued to perpetrate terror. Saed Mo-

radi,one of the men involved,was arrested when an explosive he threw bounced back and blew off his

own legs

New telecom norms: Spectrum limit hiked, but pricing undecided The government on Wednesday unveiled new telecom norms that propose to delink licences from

spectrum ,which is unlikely to come for free, besides easing merger and acquisition (M&A ) rules and

ensuring a uniform revenue-sharing regime. Also, against the current prescribed limit of 6.2 MHz,

they will now get 2x8 MHz in all circles other than Delhi and Mumbai.

Indian IT companies employ 100000 people in US: Nirupama Rao According to Nirupama Rao, The Indian Ambassador to US, Indian companies are now contributing

strongly to local State economies in the US with a presence in 43 states and having invested over

$26 billion in the last five years in several key areas of the economy, in manufacturing as also in ser-

vices. According to her estimates, Indian IT companies employ over 100,000 people in the US and the

Indian IT industry supports over 280,000 jobs indirectly out of which about 200,000 are with US resi-

dents.

SENSEX continues its upward sprint for the 7th straight week Extending the gaining streak for the seventh week in a row, the BSE benchmark Sensex gained nearly

541 points to end the week at over six-month high of 18,289.35 on hopes of cut in key policy rates by

RBI after fall in overall inflation coupled with furious capital inflows. The BSE benchmark Sensex

crossed its 18K mark after a gap of 6-1/2 month before ending the week at 18,289.35, showing a gain

of 540.66 points or 3.05 per cent from its last weekend's level.

NGO Telecom Watchdog moves SC for transfer of its plea on telecom sector An NGO, which filed a petition in the Delhi High Court seeking cancellation of allocation of 2G spec-

trum beyond 2x4.5 MHz for Metros and 2x4.4 MHz for other circles to telecom companies without

charging additional fee, has moved the Supreme Court pleading its case be shifted to the apex court.

The NGO, Telecom Watchdog, has filed the petition pleading that its case, filed in 2008, be trans-

Full Ratchet -Full-ratchet anti-dilution protection allows an investor to have his or her percentage ownership re-

main the same as the initial investment.

THE IBS TIMES

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

ferred to the apex court which is hearing a similar matter.

RBI buys bonds worth INR 9857.42 Crores under open market operations. As part of its programme to infuse liquidity, the Reserve Bank has bought bonds worth Rs 9,857.42

crores through open market operations (OMO) against a target of Rs 10,000 crores. Four securities

were on offer for OMO conducted yesterday and RBI subscribed to all of them, the central bank said

in a statement. With this, the central bank has infused nearly Rs 92,000 crores into the financial sys-

tem in ten tranches in the last two months.

FM Keeps Fingers Crossed as Jan Inflation Dips to 6.55% Inflation fell to its lowest in more than two years in January, raising hopes of a rate cut by the Re-

serve Bank in its policy review due next month. The wholesale price index (WPI) inflation, the most

widely watched gauge of prices, softened to 6.55% from 7.47% in December, triggered by a decline

in the rate of price rise in manufactured and food products, data released by commerce ministry

showed on Tuesday.

KF Air Q3 loss widens by 75% The crisis at debt laden Kingfisher has worsened with the airline reporting a net loss of Rs 444 crore

in the quarter ending December 31,2011, and auditors qualifying the airlines stand of preparing the

financial statements on a going concern basis. The Q3 loss is 74.8% higher compared to Rs 254

crore in the same period last year, due to a combination of factors which include high fuel cost,

weaker rupee, competition and reduced flights

Airtel fined in Africa over quality of service standards African subsidiary of India's largest telecom firm Bharti Airtel and its two competitors have been

penalised for not meeting quality of service standards by sector regulator ARCEP in west African

country Burkina Faso. ARCEP has imposed penalty of around 2.7 billion CFA (Rs 27 crore approxi-

mately) on Airtel, Telmob and Telecel. Maximum penalty of 1.08 billion CFA (Rs 10.8 crore) has

been imposed on Telmob.

People’s Bank of China cuts banks reserve ratios by 50 bps.

China’s Central Bank cut the amount of cash that commercial lenders must hold as reserves on Sat-

urday for the second time in nearly three months, the latest step to shore up the slowing economy.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is on the course of gentle policy easing to cushion the world's

second-largest economy against stiff global headwinds, although it has been treading warily.

Roddick ousted from SAP open by Istomin. Hobbled by a fresh right ankle sprain and a troublesome hamstring that forced his retirement from

last month's Australian Open, Roddick lost every point in his first service game and never regained

his rhythm. He finally received a defeat of 6-2, 6-4 by Denis Istomin on Friday in the quarterfinals

of the SAP Open.

Sri Lanka demolished Australia in 6th ODI Of ongoing CB series. A rejuvenated Sri Lanka excelled with the ball and in the field to cut down Australia's batting and

then raced impudently to their rain-reduced target for an eight-wicket victory and a bonus point in a

lopsided encounter at the SCG.

'Wrap Account'- An account in which a broker manages an investor's portfolio for a flat quarterly or annual fee.

This fee covers all administrative, commission, and management expenses. Sometimes this also includes funds of

funds. The advantage of a wrap is that it protects you from overtrading.

THE IBS TIMES

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OPINION FORUM– MODIFYING POLICIES FOR GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD –ATREYEE SENGUPTA

Let me take my readers to a panoramic view of a happy Indian – healthy, wealthy and wise all

accelerated by a simple indispensable crazy little word called food. Shun it or love it you simply

can’t leave it. The so called fellow ‘food’ shares its birthday with mankind so the complete

credit of experimentation goes to him. Wait did I say experimentation!

Well it all started with the realization of a concept that, ‘nothing lasts forever’ so needless to say

scientists and researchers locked themselves up into their big think tanks and came up with ge-

netically modified version of food so that earth could easily bear the burden of its bulging

tummy. GM food are those which are developed on the basis of genetic engineering to derive the

required traits such as increased resistant to herbicides and high nutritional content with great

accuracy. However the verdict still waits to be passed on the credibility of this research. On one

side it’s an answer to the never ending problem of malnutrition India whereas the ‘shining India’

complains of health and environmental issues. So who takes the final call here State, Centre or

the republicans? Not to forget the corporate managers

over here are- ‘farmers’.

The poor farmer, like a conservative investor takes just

one side of the story- ‘greater returns on lesser risk’. So

when neighboring countries like Bangladesh and Paki-

stan are talking of Bt Brinjal and biotech corn, our food

growers have already started pinning on the fundamen-

tals of careful borrowing schemes. Oh yes it has always

been there mushrooming right under the nose of our

wise policy makers and why won’t it happen when

even they fear about the threatening competition and

economic downturns. Here the cue has been taken from

Brazil where smuggling of GM crops had risen tremendously owing to Government restrictions.

But how far does it suit India to borrow or smuggle something which was originated in India for

Indians. So all said and done agriculture doesn’t understand bureaucracy and politics but the

smell of money alone. Hence chances are that when West Bengal and Bihar will see their Bang-

ladeshi cousins making more money from the same acre of land, GM crops will surely sneak in.

So a more practical approach on the part of the Government would be to legalize it just like it

had to do for Bt cotton and Super Basmati in Punjab when things went completely out of their

hands.

Let’s not forget that like science even technology has entered the farming zone. So thanks to

facebook, twitter, mobile phones and agricultural tourism information sharing and exchange of

ideas among the agronomists have all the more increased to improve farm inputs and business.

Therefore a small eye-opener over here is that policy makers and bureaucrats need to drive the

seed laws at a faster pace to keep the sustainable development intact.

Questioning the unknown is sensational but ignoring the known can be hideous. Hence in few

months when GM crops would happily breathe in our neighbors lands can India afford to stay far

behind…?

Cannibalise – It happens that a superior new product destroys the market for existing products. In this environ-

ment, the best course of action for successful firms that want to avoid losing their market to a rival with an innovation

may be to carry out the creative destruction (close their own business) themselves.

THE IBS TIMES

GM food are those which

are developed on the basis of

genetic engineering to derive

the required traits such as

increased resistant to herbi-

cides and high nutritional

content with great accuracy.

However the verdict still

waits to be passed on the

credibility of this research.

Agriculture doesn’t under-

stand bureaucracy and

politics but the smell of

money alone. Hence

chances are that when West

Bengal and Bihar will see

their Bangladeshi cousins

making more money from

the same acre of land, GM

crops will surely sneak in.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

BRAND TRACK—WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS-BURBERRY!! -AVLEEN KAUR SARNA

I believe nothing says love more than a gift from Burberry and apart from the fact that I person-

ally love Burberry, it has been considered as one of the most reputable fashion brands in the in-

dustry over the years. Its distinctive tartan pattern has become one of its most widely copied

trademarks. Although Burberry has been its original name, but then the company soon switched

over to using the name Burberrys, after many customers from around the world began calling it

Burberrys of London. This name is still visible on many of the older Burberry products. They are

most known for their iconic trench coats and tartan pattern that they feature on everything from

clothing to accessories.

Burberry Group, is a British luxury fashion house manufacturing clothing, fragrance and fashion

accessories. It was founded in 1856 when Thomas Burberry, a former draper’s apprentice opened

his own store in Hampshire, England. By 1870 the business had established itself by focusing on

the development of outdoors attire. By 1880, Burberry introduced in his brand the gabardine, a

hardwearing, water-resistant yet breathable fabric in which the yarn is waterproofed before weav-

ing. In 1891, Burberry also opened a shop in the Haymarket, London,

which still exists and until recently was the site of Burberry’s corporate

headquarters and it was in 1901, the Burberry Equestrian Knight Logo

was developed containing the Latin word "Prorsum", meaning forwards,

and was registered as a trademark. Its focus has always been on investing

in under-penetrated markets. For Burberry, these consist of both devel-

oped markets like the United States and emerging markets including

China, India and the Middle East. All distribution channels and a variety

of business models are used to optimize these opportunities.

Later in 1914 Burberry was commissioned by the War Office to adapt its

officer's coat to suit the conditions of contemporary warfare, resulting in

the "trench coat". After the war, the trench coat had become popular with the civilians. The iconic

Burberry check was created in the 1920s and used as a lining in its trench coats thereafter. Apart

from all this, Burberry also specially designed aviation garments whereby A. E. Clouston and

Mrs Betsy Kirby Green made the fastest flying time to Cape Town from London in 1937 and

were sponsored by Burberry. Burberry operates under 4 brands. Firstly its, Burberry Prorsum -

the most expensive of the brands and this is their luxurious, high end, runway brand. Second one

is Burberry London - the dressed up, more formal brand and its cuts are usually slim while the

quality is a bit more well worked. Third shall be the Burberry Brit - the most known brand of

them all and this is the brand that Burberry is built upon while its cuts vary from slim and formal

to more loose and classic. Lastly its, Burberry Sport - A sport inspired brand and is pointed more

towards the youth customer.

Moreover, Burberry was an independent company until it was taken over by Great Universal

Stores (GUS) in 1955. Burberry Group plc was initially floated on the London Stock Exchange in

July 2002. Thereafter in 2006, Rose Marie Bravo who as a Chief Executive had led Burberry to

mass market success had retired and was replaced by current CEO Angela Ahrendts. It also first

began selling online in the US, followed by the UK in October 2006 and the rest of the EU in

2007. Furthermore it has intensified and focused on the under-penetrated non-apparel categories

to leverage further the Burberry design and merchandising expertise and also the iconic branding

through investment in product development, marketing and supply chain. Thus, a continued focus

and investment in operational excellence has driven improvements across all business functions

and has been a key enabler for front-end innovation for Burberry.

Hence, Burberry continues to pursue its goal to be recognised as much for operational expertise

as for product and marketing excellence.

THE IBS TIMES

Burberry Brit - the most

known brand of them all and

this is the brand that Bur-

berry is built upon while its

cuts vary from slim and

formal to more loose and

classic.

Burberrys are most known

for their iconic trench coats

and tartan pattern that they

feature on everything from

clothing to accessories ! It

is a British luxury fashion

house manufacturing cloth-

ing, fragrance and fashion

accessories.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

QUICK BITES- NEWS THAT CAN’T BE MISSED ! - ANKIT SHARMA

Big Shots…

Kingfisher cuts more flights, DGCA contemplates action.

Greece sets date for €200bn debt swap.

Company Talks…

SBI to decide on cutting lending rates for students and small businessmen on Tuesday.

Indian Bank introduces account portability facility.

Somany Ceramics eyes Rs 1,250 crore revenue in FY 13.

Govt to issue notice to RIL on fall in gas output from KG-D6.

Reliance Industries gets over 70 bids for CBM gas.

Lanco to invest Rs 22,000 crore on three thermal projects.

Welspun Energy to invest Rs 15,000 crore in renewable projects.

Toshiba to expand elevator business in India.

Government invites applications for MMTC top posts.

NALCO to invest Rs 900 crore in nuclear power business by 2012-13.

Hitachi to up Hyderabad GDC headcount to 4000 engineers.

Microsoft, Amazon among top recruiters in IIM-C laterals.

Economy Speaks…

Economic census delayed again due to lack of personnel.

RBI to wait for Budget 2012 proposals before cutting interest rates.

Budget 2012: Tax rebate on 3-year bank FDs likely.

Govt to allocate unutilized FII limit in infra bonds on Feb 29.

No new taxes proposed in Rs 1.45 lakh- crore AP Budget.

Forex reserves fall to $293.384 billion: RBI.

Iran to pay rupee for India imports in two weeks: Export body chief

India seeks lower duty on carpet exports to China.

India, Rwanda sign pacts; to ramp up business ties.

Finance Ministry to decide on allowing Pakistani investments.

Government hopeful of achieving road projects target for FY12.

Budget 2012: $ 120 billion investment likely in road sector in the 12th Plan.

Rs 1,250 cr World Bank aid for irrigation schemes in Bengal.

Centre to reduce gaps in cold chain infrastructure.

World Bank to assist Bengal in minor irrigation work.

2011/12 wheat output to top government forecast.

The Captains of the Ships..

Founder of Prime focus editing studios- Namit Malhotra

Indian born Biologist – Kamal Bawa

THE IBS TIMES

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

FOCUS OF THE WEEK– EXOTIC OPTIONS -POOJA DALAL

'Anti-Dilution Provision'- A provision in an option or a convertible security. It protects an investor from dilution

resulting from later issues of stock at a lower price than the investor originally paid. Also known as an "anti-

dilution clause".

THE IBS TIMES

A financial derivative that represents a contract sold by one party (option writer) to another party

(option holder) is called an option. It is known as an ‘option’ as this contract offers the buyer the right,

but not the obligation, to buy (call) or sell (put) a security or other financial asset at an agreed-upon

price (the strike price) during a certain period of time or on a specific date (exercise date). Call options

give the option to buy at certain price, so the buyer would want the stock to go up. Put options give the

option to sell at a certain price, so the buyer would want the stock to go down. As an option is a deriva-

tive instrument, its value is derived by subtracting reference price from the price of the underlying asset

(that is usually a stock, a bond, a currency or a futures contract). Options can be of two types:

Exchange traded: Here the writer of the option makes a standardized option that can then be traded

among general public on an exchange.

Over the counter (OTC): The options that are specially tailored according to the needs of the investor

and are written (usually) by an investment bank. These cannot be traded on exchanges and are usu-

ally settled on or before maturity date over-the-counter.

When these options are restricted to the standard practices such as calculating the premium on value of

the underlying security on the maturity date, these are straight call or put options. But there are certain

more complex options that follow certain peculiar premium calculation and other norms. The main fea-

tures of exotic options are:

The payoff at maturity depends not just on the value of the

underlying index at maturity, but on its value at numerous times

during the contract's life (it could be an Asian option depending

on some average, a lookback option depending on the maximum

or minimum, a barrier option which ceases to exist if a certain

level is reached or not reached by the underlying, a digital op-

tion, peroni options, range options, etc.)

It could depend on more than one index (eg. a basket op-

tions, Himalaya options, Peroni options, or other mountain range

options, outperformance options, etc.)

There can be ‘callability’ and ‘putability’ rights.

It could engage foreign exchange rates in a variety of ways, such as a quanto or composite option.

But if these instruments as we said are very complex in nature and cannot be priced easily, why do in-

vestors still prefer writing and buying them. It is because; these instruments are usually traded over the

counter and hence are highly customised. Had they not been made into ‘options’ it would have taken

some complex financial engineering to craft it into a financial instrument. Thus ‘exotic options’ are

very flexible in that sense.

But if an investor does not understand this complex nature of the instrument, it can go against him mak-

ing him to loose in the deal. For example, traditional options can be easily priced using a widely ac-

cepted Black-Scholes option pricing formula. But that simplicity and transparency is not available in

exotic options. This can result into mispricing of the option. Another problem with exotic options is that

they bear an illiquidity risk. These options are usually not standard and thus are not traded on ex-

changes. This makes them less liquid. Again there are some options in which the transaction is purely

dual party and even their names are mentioned in the contract, thus making them very illiquid. Complex

pricing of these derivatives may give rise to arbitrage, which can provide great opportunity to sophisti-

cated quantitative investors. But again an incompetent or unaware investor would not be able to take

advantage of any such opportunity.

As an option is a derivative

instrument, its value is

derived by subtracting refer-

ence price from the price of

the underlying asset (that is

usually a stock, a bond,

a currency or a futures con-

tract).

Traditional options can be

easily priced using a widely

accepted Black-Scholes

option pricing formula. But

that simplicity and trans-

parency is not available in

exotic options.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

MARKET WATCH - SWATI VERMA

Positive global sentiments have infused liquidity and increased the risk appetite of the investors.

Bulls continued to rule the Indian equity market this week. The Sensex rose 540 points and the Nifty

added 183 points this week. The Indian stock markets were up by 3% during the week. This was the

seventh straight weekly positive close for the markets with Sensex mustering gains to the extent of

18% during the course of the year. The Nifty touched 5600 in early trade before witnessing some

volatility ahead of the long weekend but still closed up more than 3% for the week.

India's January Inflation came in at a 26-month low at 6.5 per cent. Finance Minister said that infla-

tion will moderate further. Economists believe that the environment is conducive to a rate cut but the

RBI is likely to wait until the fiscal roadmap is clear.

The current week saw key announcements in the telecom and power sector. This coupled with strong global cues saw markets rallying for the

seventh consecutive week. However, with budget just around the corner it would be interesting to see whether it pleases India Inc (reform issues

need to be addressed) or not as that would ascertain which way the Indian stock markets would head from here on.

The Movers & Shakers of the Week

It was a big relief for the power sector when the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) directed Coal India to sign fuel supply agreements with power

producers to ensure 80 per cent supply for next 20 years for projects commissioned before March 2015. The government announced the much

awaited new telecom policy. Spectrum will be delinked from licenses, M&A norms are eased to encourage consolidation and auction roadmap

will be announced soon. Output from Reliance Industries' KG D6 is set to fall sharply to 27 million units from April, raising worries about gas

production shortfall. All eyes are now on the GoM meet on gas allocation on February 24. In order to boost petrol car sales, India's leading pas-

senger car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki has increased margins for its dealers. The move has come at a time when the company's share in the

domestic market has fallen below 40% for the first time ever. Maruti will pay Rs 1,000 more to its dealers to sell small cars, such as the

WagonR, Estilo and Alto.

Global Cues: While emerging markets with the exception of China registered a strong rally of .20% rise, the developed markets too closed the week with

modest gains. The rally was fuelled by positive cues emanating from the US economy and on the speculation that Greece would secure a second

bailout. While Asian stock markets including India and Brazil were up by 3% and 3.4 %,respectively, China was relatively flat as investors were

skeptical about the policies adopted by Beijing authorities to restore the slowing economic growth.

SURGES %Change DOWNFALLS %Change LANCO INFRATECH 41.4% CIPLA 8.7%

HDIL

36.3% EDUCOMP SOLUTIONS

7.1%

IFCI 34.6% MMTC LTD 6.2%

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MARKET WATCH

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Disclaimer- This newsletter is just a compilation of news from various sources. Thus, readers are expected to cross-check the facts before

relying upon them. Though much care has been taken to present the facts without error, still if errors creep in, necessary feed

back will be always welcomed. Editors will not be responsible for any undertakings. The newsletter is not meant for sale and

hence, no part of the newsletter should be used without the prior permission of the editorial team.

Sources- The Economics Times, The Hindu Business Line, Times of India, Business Standard, Financial Ex-press, Financial Times,

Business Week, Business World, The Economist, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, Moneycontrol.com, Vccircle.com,

yahoofinance.com, Business Today, India Today, Investopedia.com, Wikipedia.com, DNA, The Deccan Chronicle, The Hindu,

The Tele-graph.

EDITORIAL TEAM-

ANKIT SHARMA, ATREYEE SENGUPTA, AVLEEN KAUR SARNA, KRITIKA SETHI, POOJA DALAL, SAMEER JHANJI, SWATI VERMA, VARUN BANSAL

BUSINESS JARGONS BY– VARUN BANSAL

13 FEBRUARY 14 FEBRUARY 15 FEBRUARY 16 FEBRUARY 17 FEBRUARY

Sensex 17,772.84 17,848.57 18,202.41 18,153.99 18,289.35

Nifty 5,390.20

5,416.05

5,531.95

5,521.95

5,564.30

DJIA 12,874.04 12,878.28 12,780.95 12,904.08 12,949.87

HangSeng 20,887.40 20,917.83 21,365.23

21,277.28 21,491.62

FTSE100 5,905.70

5,899.87 5,892.16 5,885.38 5,905.07

Gold ($/oz.) 1716.80 1724.40 1721.70 1732.10 1723.80

Crude($/bl) 117.19 116.63 117.95 118.13 *

INR v/s USD 49.59 49.63 49.67 49.63 49.81

INR v/s EURO 65.43 65.69 65.35 65.14 64.96

Catch-up effect - In any period, the economies of countries that start off poor generally grow faster than the econo-

mies of countries that start off rich. As a result, the NATIONAL INCOME of poor countries usually catches up with the

national income of rich countries. New technology may even allow DEVELOPING COUNTRIES to leap-frog over in-

dustrialized countries with older technology.

THE IBS TIMES

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* FIGURES NOT AVAILABLE