Earlier this month, State Bank of India, Indian Bank and Federal Bank increased rates on NRI deposits for various tenures. “Parking money in NRI deposits depends on a lot of factors, including where you live and where you expect to utilise these funds. Given that interest rates in western Europe and the US are at historically low levels, deposits in India can give a higher return than leaving money in a bank in Europe or the US. However, one needs to be aware that by leaving money in rupees, one could be exposing oneself to adverse currency movements if the foreign exchange rates fluctuate and the NRI seeks to take the money out,” said Kartik Verma of iTrust Financial Advisors.
“For most part of 2010, inflows into NRI deposits were 64 per cent higher at $3.474 billion compared with $2.114 billion that came in the same period a year ago. The trend is expected to continue,” said Adhil Shetty, chief executive officer of BankBazaar.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Better deal for NRIs at home as banks raise deposit rates
In an NRE account, funds standing to the credit and the interest earned thereon are remittable outside India in free foreign exchange, without RBI’s permission. The interest income is not subject to Indian income tax. Credits to the account should be in the form of remittance in foreign exchange from outside India, as well as other funds, which are eligible to be remitted outside India in free foreign exchange.
Funds from local sources are not eligible to be credited to these accounts, unless they are otherwise remittable outside India, in terms with existing Exchange Control Regulations.
An FCNR account can be opened in four foreign currencies — pound sterling, US dollar, Japanese yen and euro. For the purpose of opening an account, remittance in foreign exchange, in the same currency, should be received in India. The account can be opened only for fixed deposits with a minimum maturity of one year and a maximum maturity of three years.
Funds from local sources are not eligible to be credited to these accounts, unless they are otherwise remittable outside India, in terms with existing Exchange Control Regulations.
An FCNR account can be opened in four foreign currencies — pound sterling, US dollar, Japanese yen and euro. For the purpose of opening an account, remittance in foreign exchange, in the same currency, should be received in India. The account can be opened only for fixed deposits with a minimum maturity of one year and a maximum maturity of three years.
Monday, December 13, 2010
History of stock exchange
The next few decades saw one of history's greatest financial bubbles. At the center of it were the South Sea Company, set up in 1711 to conduct English trade with South America, and the Mississippi Company, focused on commerce with France's Louisiana colony and touted by transplanted Scottish financier John Law, who was acting in effect as France's central banker. Investors snapped up shares in both, and whatever else was available. In 1720, at the height of the mania, there was even an offering of "a company for carrying out an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is."
By the end of that same year, share prices were collapsing, as it became clear that expectations of imminent wealth from the Americas were overblown. In London, Parliament passed the Bubble Act, which stated that only royally chartered companies could issue public shares. In Paris, Law was stripped of office and fled the country. Stock trading would be more limited and subdued in subsequent decades. Yet the market survived, and by the 1790s shares were being traded in the young United States.
By the end of that same year, share prices were collapsing, as it became clear that expectations of imminent wealth from the Americas were overblown. In London, Parliament passed the Bubble Act, which stated that only royally chartered companies could issue public shares. In Paris, Law was stripped of office and fled the country. Stock trading would be more limited and subdued in subsequent decades. Yet the market survived, and by the 1790s shares were being traded in the young United States.
History of stock exchange
The same year in which de la Vega published also saw an event that would help spread financial techniques and talent from Amsterdam to London. This was the "glorious revolution," in which Dutch-born William of Orange ascended to England's throne. William sought to modernize England's finances to pay for its wars, and thus the kingdom's first government bonds were issued in 1693 and the Bank of England was set up the following year. Soon thereafter, English joint-stock companies began going public.
NASDAQ was the first electronic stock exchange.London's first stockbrokers, however, were barred from the old commercial center known as the Royal Exchange, reportedly because of their rude manners. Instead, the new trade was conducted from coffee houses along Exchange Alley. By 1698, a broker named John Castaing, operating out of Jonathan's Coffee House, was posting regular lists of stock and commodity prices. Those lists mark the beginning of the London Stock Exchange
History of stock exchange
The Dutch West India Company was formed in 1621, bringing a new issuer to the burgeoning securities market. Amsterdam's growth as a financial center survived the tulip mania of the 1630s, in which contracts for the delivery of flower bulbs soared wildly and then crashed. New techniques and instruments proliferated for securities as well as commodities, including early forms of options trading and margin trading.
Joseph de la Vega, also known as Joseph Penso de la Vega and by other variations of his name, was an Amsterdam trader from a Spanish Jewish family and a prolific writer as well as a successful businessman in 17th-century Amsterdam. His 1688 book Confusion of Confusions explained the workings of the city's stock market. It was the earliest book about stock trading, taking the form of a dialogue between a merchant, a shareholder and a philosopher, the book described a market that was sophisticated but also prone to excesses, and de la Vega offered advice to his readers on such topics as the unpredictability of market shifts and the importance of patience in investment
Joseph de la Vega, also known as Joseph Penso de la Vega and by other variations of his name, was an Amsterdam trader from a Spanish Jewish family and a prolific writer as well as a successful businessman in 17th-century Amsterdam. His 1688 book Confusion of Confusions explained the workings of the city's stock market. It was the earliest book about stock trading, taking the form of a dialogue between a merchant, a shareholder and a philosopher, the book described a market that was sophisticated but also prone to excesses, and de la Vega offered advice to his readers on such topics as the unpredictability of market shifts and the importance of patience in investment
History of stock exchange
The Dutch East India Company, formed to build up the spice trade, operated as a colonial ruler in what's now Indonesia and beyond, a purview that included conducting military operations against recalcitrant natives and competing colonial powers. Control of the company was held tightly by its directors, with ordinary shareholders not having much influence on management or even access to the company's accounting statements.
However, shareholders were rewarded well for their investment. The company paid an average dividend of over 16 percent per year from 1602 to 1650. Financial innovation in Amsterdam took many forms. In 1609, investors led by one Isaac Le Maire formed history's first bear syndicate, but their coordinated trading had only a modest impact in driving down share prices, which tended to be robust throughout the 17th century. By the 1620s, the company was expanding its securities issuance with the first use of corporate bonds.
However, shareholders were rewarded well for their investment. The company paid an average dividend of over 16 percent per year from 1602 to 1650. Financial innovation in Amsterdam took many forms. In 1609, investors led by one Isaac Le Maire formed history's first bear syndicate, but their coordinated trading had only a modest impact in driving down share prices, which tended to be robust throughout the 17th century. By the 1620s, the company was expanding its securities issuance with the first use of corporate bonds.
History of stock exchange
The forefront of commercial innovation eventually shifted from Italy to northern Europe. The Hanseatic League, an alliance of mercantile towns such as Bruges and Antwerp, operated counting houses to expedite trade. The term "bourse," which would become synonymous with "stock market," arose in Bruges, either from a sign outside a trading center showing one or a few purses (bursa is Latin for bag) or because merchants gathered at the house of a man named Van der Burse; nobody's quite sure.
By the late 1500s, British merchants were experimenting with joint-stock companies intended to operate on an ongoing basis; one such was the Muscovy Company, which sought to wrest trade with Russia away from Hanseatic dominance. The next big step was in Amsterdam. In 1602, the Dutch East India Company was formed as a joint-stock company with shares that were readily tradable. The stock market had begun.
By the late 1500s, British merchants were experimenting with joint-stock companies intended to operate on an ongoing basis; one such was the Muscovy Company, which sought to wrest trade with Russia away from Hanseatic dominance. The next big step was in Amsterdam. In 1602, the Dutch East India Company was formed as a joint-stock company with shares that were readily tradable. The stock market had begun.
History of stock exchange
War between Venice and Genoa resulted in suspension of prestiti interest payments in the early 1380s, and when the market was restored, it was at a lower interest rate. Venice's bonds traded at steep discounts for decades thereafter. Other blows to financial stability resulted from the Hundred Years War, which caused monarchs of France and England to default on debts to Italian banks, and the Black Death, which ravaged much of Europe. Still, the idea of debt as a tradable investment endured.
As with bonds, the concept of stock developed gradually. Some scholars place its origins as far back as ancient Rome. Partnership agreements dividing ownership into shares date back at least to the 13th century, again with Italian city-states in the vanguard. Such arrangements, however, typically extended only to a handful of people and were of limited duration, as with shipping partnerships that applied only to a single sea voyage.
As with bonds, the concept of stock developed gradually. Some scholars place its origins as far back as ancient Rome. Partnership agreements dividing ownership into shares date back at least to the 13th century, again with Italian city-states in the vanguard. Such arrangements, however, typically extended only to a handful of people and were of limited duration, as with shipping partnerships that applied only to a single sea voyage.
History of stock exchange
Tradable bonds as a commonly used type of security were a more recent innovation, spearheaded by the Italian city-states of the late medieval and early Renaissance periods.
In 1171, the authorities of the Republic of Venice, concerned about their war-depleted treasury, drew a forced loan from the citizenry. Such debt, known as prestiti, paid 5 percent interest per year and had an indefinite maturity date. Initially regarded with suspicion, it came to be seen as a valuable investment that could be bought and sold. The bond market had begun.
From 1262 to 1379, Venice never missed an interest payment, solidifying the credibility of the new instruments. Other Italian city-states such as Florence and Genoa became bond issuers as well, often as a means of paying for warfare. Bonds were traded widely in Italy and beyond, a business facilitated by bankers such as the Medicis.
In 1171, the authorities of the Republic of Venice, concerned about their war-depleted treasury, drew a forced loan from the citizenry. Such debt, known as prestiti, paid 5 percent interest per year and had an indefinite maturity date. Initially regarded with suspicion, it came to be seen as a valuable investment that could be bought and sold. The bond market had begun.
From 1262 to 1379, Venice never missed an interest payment, solidifying the credibility of the new instruments. Other Italian city-states such as Florence and Genoa became bond issuers as well, often as a means of paying for warfare. Bonds were traded widely in Italy and beyond, a business facilitated by bankers such as the Medicis.
History of stock exchange
In the Roman Republic, which existed for centuries before the Empire was founded, there were societas publicanorum, organizations of contractors or leaseholders who performed temple-building and other services for the government. One such service was the feeding of geese on the Capitoline Hill as a reward to the birds after their honking warned of a Gallic invasion in 390 B.C. Participants in such organizations had partes or shares, a concept mentioned various times by the statesman and orator Cicero. In one speech, Cicero mentions "shares that had a very high price at the time." Such evidence, in Malmendier's view, suggests the instruments were tradable, with fluctuating values based on an organization's success. The societas declined into obscurity in the time of the emperors, as most of their services were taken over by direct agents of the state.
History of stock exchange
Securities markets took centuries to develop. The idea of debt dates back to the ancient world, as evidenced for example by ancient Mesopotamian clay tablets recording interest-bearing loans. There is little consensus among scholars as to when corporate stock was first traded. Some see the key event as the Dutch East India Company's founding in 1602, while others point to earlier developments. Economist Ulrike Malmendier of the University of California at Berkeley argues that a share market existed as far back as ancient Rome.
What is Stock Exchange
The initial offering of stocks and bonds to investors is by definition done in the primary market and subsequent trading is done in the secondary market. A stock exchange is often the most important component of a stock market. Supply and demand in stock markets is driven by various factors which, as in all free markets, affect the price of stocks (see stock valuation).
There is usually no compulsion to issue stock via the stock exchange itself, nor must stock be subsequently traded on the exchange. Such trading is said to be off exchange or over-the-counter. This is the usual way that derivatives and bonds are traded. Increasingly, stock exchanges are part of a global market for securities.
There is usually no compulsion to issue stock via the stock exchange itself, nor must stock be subsequently traded on the exchange. Such trading is said to be off exchange or over-the-counter. This is the usual way that derivatives and bonds are traded. Increasingly, stock exchanges are part of a global market for securities.
What is Stock Exchange
A stock exchange is an entity which provides "trading" facilities for stock brokers and traders, to trade stocks, bonds and other securities. Stock exchanges also provide facilities for the issue and redemption of securities as well as other financial instruments and capital events including the payment of income and dividends. The securities traded on a stock exchange include shares issued by companies, unit trusts, derivatives, pooled investment products and bonds.
To be able to trade a security on a certain stock exchange, it has to be listed there. Usually there is a central location at least for record keeping, but trade is less and less linked to such a physical place, as modern markets are electronic networks, which gives them advantages of increased speed and reduced cost of transactions. Trade on an exchange is by members only
To be able to trade a security on a certain stock exchange, it has to be listed there. Usually there is a central location at least for record keeping, but trade is less and less linked to such a physical place, as modern markets are electronic networks, which gives them advantages of increased speed and reduced cost of transactions. Trade on an exchange is by members only
Todays Karachi Stock Market
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Sunday, December 12, 2010
Popcorn Memories
Q I went to the old Public School 6, at Madison and 85th, and we used to go to the Trans-Lux Theater across the street. Is there a photograph of it? ... Jeannie Kligman, Rye Brook, N.Y.
A Reproduced here is a photograph of the theater from 1937, showing the Tennessee marble facade and stainless steel trim.
The building was designed by the theater architect Thomas Lamb in a severe moderne style. According to Warren G. Harris, the theater historian, the 85th Street Trans-Lux opened on Nov. 1, 1937, with 586 seats. The small auditorium was typical of the Trans-Lux operation, offering short subjects and newsreels like “The March of Time.”
The Trans-Lux was a significant element in a little urban scrapbook of random architecture. On one side of it was an 1892 apartment house designed by John H. Duncan, matched to a row of houses stretching down to the 84th Street corner. In 1929 the architect Frank S. Parker remodeled the front and installed oval show windows on the second floor, just visible in the photograph.
A Reproduced here is a photograph of the theater from 1937, showing the Tennessee marble facade and stainless steel trim.
The building was designed by the theater architect Thomas Lamb in a severe moderne style. According to Warren G. Harris, the theater historian, the 85th Street Trans-Lux opened on Nov. 1, 1937, with 586 seats. The small auditorium was typical of the Trans-Lux operation, offering short subjects and newsreels like “The March of Time.”
The Trans-Lux was a significant element in a little urban scrapbook of random architecture. On one side of it was an 1892 apartment house designed by John H. Duncan, matched to a row of houses stretching down to the 84th Street corner. In 1929 the architect Frank S. Parker remodeled the front and installed oval show windows on the second floor, just visible in the photograph.
When Stocks Came in From the Cold
A group of Curb regulars formed a real estate company and hired the architects Starrett & Van Vleck to design an exchange building, which opened in 1921 on Trinity Place, reaching back to Greenwich Street. Severe and classical, it might have been an opera house or a public library.
In 1931, as the New York Curb Exchange, the group rebuilt the Trinity Place side to more or less its present appearance. But it neglected to redo the Greenwich Street front, which still carries the old legend, New York Curb Market. In 1953 the Curb, long off the street, changed its name to the American Stock Exchange; it was acquired in 2008 by NYSE Amex Equities, a successor to the New York Stock Exchange.
In 1931, as the New York Curb Exchange, the group rebuilt the Trinity Place side to more or less its present appearance. But it neglected to redo the Greenwich Street front, which still carries the old legend, New York Curb Market. In 1953 the Curb, long off the street, changed its name to the American Stock Exchange; it was acquired in 2008 by NYSE Amex Equities, a successor to the New York Stock Exchange.
When Stocks Came in From the Cold
The racket made by buyers and sellers, often shouting orders to colleagues hanging out of windows, brought repeated attempts to have the Curb shut down. By about 1910 an informal group, the Curb Association, had begun to weed out the undesirables, deciding that a move indoors was the only way. Thus Mr. Hill wrote in 1920 that the Curb “is getting measured for a frock coat, and is contemplating a silk hat.”
When Stocks Came in From the Cold
In 1920, the journalist Edwin C. Hill described the Curb Market, then operating on lower Broad Street, as “a roaring, swirling whirlpool” in an article in Munsey’s Magazine.
“It tears control of a gold-mine from an unlucky operator,” he wrote, “then pauses to auction a puppy-dog. It is like nothing else under the astonishing sky that is its only roof.”
Mr. Hill was not kidding about the puppy-dog, having witnessed a man offering 40 shares of a cocker spaniel at 10 cents a share. After the animal’s price rose to 23 cents per share, he handed it over for $9.20 to a gas specialist.
“It tears control of a gold-mine from an unlucky operator,” he wrote, “then pauses to auction a puppy-dog. It is like nothing else under the astonishing sky that is its only roof.”
Mr. Hill was not kidding about the puppy-dog, having witnessed a man offering 40 shares of a cocker spaniel at 10 cents a share. After the animal’s price rose to 23 cents per share, he handed it over for $9.20 to a gas specialist.
When Stocks Came in From the Cold
A The Greenwich Street structure is the western half of the old American Stock Exchange building, at 86 Trinity Place. The Curb Market, later the Curb Exchange, sold stocks that did not meet the requirements of the New York Stock Exchange, and for half a century they were indeed traded on the curb, that is, through a network of brokers actually out on the streets.
Established in the mid-19th century and completely unregulated in its earliest years, the Curb Market was fertile ground for shady operations, where mining and other stocks were introduced and bid up through false sales, and then dumped when the originators had taken their profits.
Established in the mid-19th century and completely unregulated in its earliest years, the Curb Market was fertile ground for shady operations, where mining and other stocks were introduced and bid up through false sales, and then dumped when the originators had taken their profits.
Paul Kolton, Leader of Major Exchange, Dies at 87
He ended up outliving the stock exchange whose independence he had defended. The Amex was acquired by NYSE Euronext in 2008.
Mr. Kolton was born Paul Komisaruk on June 1, 1923, in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. He served as a sergeant in the Army in World War II and later graduated from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Returning to New York City, he wrote mystery stories for magazines and changed his last name to Kolton because, his daughter said, he liked it as a pen name. He joined the public relations staff at the New York Stock Exchange in 1955 and rose to vice president. He left in 1962 to become executive vice president at the Amex, the stock exchange’s No. 2 position.
Mr. Kolton was born Paul Komisaruk on June 1, 1923, in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. He served as a sergeant in the Army in World War II and later graduated from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Returning to New York City, he wrote mystery stories for magazines and changed his last name to Kolton because, his daughter said, he liked it as a pen name. He joined the public relations staff at the New York Stock Exchange in 1955 and rose to vice president. He left in 1962 to become executive vice president at the Amex, the stock exchange’s No. 2 position.
Paul Kolton, Leader of Major Exchange, Dies at 87
Mr. Kolton’s tenure at the Amex was spent fending off the idea that the exchange should merge with the New York Stock Exchange. “Two independent, viable exchanges are much more likely to be responsive to new pressures and public needs than a single institution,” he said at the beginning of his presidency.
During his tenure, the Amex, to great fanfare, introduced options trading in 1975, two years after the founding of the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
After retiring from the Amex in 1977, Mr. Kolton was chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council and a director of several companies, including Standard Brands and Caldor.
During his tenure, the Amex, to great fanfare, introduced options trading in 1975, two years after the founding of the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
After retiring from the Amex in 1977, Mr. Kolton was chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council and a director of several companies, including Standard Brands and Caldor.
Paul Kolton, Leader of Major Exchange, Dies at 87
The cause was lymphoma, his daughter, Shelley Kolton, said.
When Mr. Kolton was named president of the Amex in 1971, it was the first time an in-house employee, rather than a leading figure from the financial world, was put atop one of the major securities exchanges. He was elevated to chairman, a newly created post, a year later after the Amex’s board was reorganized.
Mr. Kolton reached that position without ever having served as a stockbroker. A former reporter for The New York Journal of Commerce and a mystery writer, he landed his first Wall Street job working in public relations for the Amex’s bigger rival, the New York stock exchange.
When Mr. Kolton was named president of the Amex in 1971, it was the first time an in-house employee, rather than a leading figure from the financial world, was put atop one of the major securities exchanges. He was elevated to chairman, a newly created post, a year later after the Amex’s board was reorganized.
Mr. Kolton reached that position without ever having served as a stockbroker. A former reporter for The New York Journal of Commerce and a mystery writer, he landed his first Wall Street job working in public relations for the Amex’s bigger rival, the New York stock exchange.
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