Excel India Trust announced that it has completed an initial public offering of 4.5 million units of the trust at a price of $10 per unit, yielding gross proceeds of $45 million. The units began trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange today under the symbol EXI.UN.
The trust has been designed to provide investors with the exposure of equity securities of Indian companies. It uses an efficient tax structure designed to minimize Indian withholding taxes on capital gains and avoid certain investment restrictions that would otherwise apply to foreign investors investing in India. The Trust's investment objectives are: to provide holders of units with quarterly distributions (initially targeted to be 12.5¢ a unit per quarter or 5% per year based on the offering price of $10 a unit); and long-term capital appreciation.
It seems like an interesting play for those who want to invest in India, but don't have the expertise / information / $ to make direct investmetn in Indian corporations feasible. I know I'll be taking a closer look.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Thoughts on Self Actualization
This blog entry is a personalized summary of an article at Performance Unlimited.
According to Maslow, Self Actualization refers to the desire for achieving what you've got the potential to achieve. Maslow goes on to identify some characteristics of Self Actualizing people, such as Realistic, Detached, Self Accepting, Spontaneous, unconventional, autonomously ethical, and motivated to continual growth. (Holy run on sentence, batman!)
The key takeaway that Maslow says defines an SA person is that the person has a mission in life requiring much energy, as it is his sole reason for existence.
One reason for living? Come on now. I think Maslow is full of shit. There are some merits to that perspective, but who in their right mind lives for only one thing? The thing I live for most is taking care of my family, but I wouldn't say its the only thing I live for.
What Maslow lays out seem to be a set of rules for people to live by and their achieve goals, but its a stretch to say that someone who achieves their potential is Self Actualizing or has all of these traits.
If SA is really a goal based set of rules to live by, then I'll agree with one thing; Maslow says there are two processes necessary for self-actualization: self exploration and action. The deeper the self exploration, the closer one comes to self-actualization. Sort of along the lines of "know thyself".
According to Maslow, Self Actualization refers to the desire for achieving what you've got the potential to achieve. Maslow goes on to identify some characteristics of Self Actualizing people, such as Realistic, Detached, Self Accepting, Spontaneous, unconventional, autonomously ethical, and motivated to continual growth. (Holy run on sentence, batman!)
The key takeaway that Maslow says defines an SA person is that the person has a mission in life requiring much energy, as it is his sole reason for existence.
One reason for living? Come on now. I think Maslow is full of shit. There are some merits to that perspective, but who in their right mind lives for only one thing? The thing I live for most is taking care of my family, but I wouldn't say its the only thing I live for.
What Maslow lays out seem to be a set of rules for people to live by and their achieve goals, but its a stretch to say that someone who achieves their potential is Self Actualizing or has all of these traits.
If SA is really a goal based set of rules to live by, then I'll agree with one thing; Maslow says there are two processes necessary for self-actualization: self exploration and action. The deeper the self exploration, the closer one comes to self-actualization. Sort of along the lines of "know thyself".
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Time Management
So I am standing here in Tim Horton's after having missed the train yet again, and it occurs to me that the key to success has got to be time management. I mean, there are other things that can be considered key, like motivation, aptitude, awareness etc. (I mulled over intellect for a little while, but its not really critical to success). But the real key, is time management.
Proper time management let's me to allocate enough time to work, maximizes time with family, gives me enough time to exercise, and would allow me to act faster on one of my business ideas. At least, I think time management would let me do these things. Let's imagine that a day is all the money I have, budget it, and see if I have enough time.
Budget - $24
------------
Sleep. - $6
Commute - $3
Work - $8
Family - $4
Exercise - $1
---------------
Total. - $22
Surplus. - $2
So that's good news! Now how would this work out in reality on a "good" average day? Let's see...
Wake up 5:30am
Catch 6:37am train
At work by 7:30am
Catch the 5:15pm train home.
Family time 6:30pm
Exercise / work on business 10:30pm
Sleep midnight (6 hours)
Hmmm..... Something's not adding up... The reality is that If you count the minutes from when I wake up til when I get home, its a total of 13 hours rather than the 11 implied in my above example, which basically kills any "spare" time that I have. The reality is also that I am spending (in my above example) ~9.5 hours at work rather than the 8 allocated in my "budget". So since I'm spending more time at work, my only two options are less time with family (not a preferred choice, I have two little kids!), or using some of my working time for personal business. I don't exactly think my employer would appreciate this, but as my hours extend beyond the typical day, does this give me the moral right to spend some of that time on my personal business (meaning more than the average bill pay and personal call that the average person does). What do you think? Let me know by leaving a comment below.
Proper time management let's me to allocate enough time to work, maximizes time with family, gives me enough time to exercise, and would allow me to act faster on one of my business ideas. At least, I think time management would let me do these things. Let's imagine that a day is all the money I have, budget it, and see if I have enough time.
Budget - $24
------------
Sleep. - $6
Commute - $3
Work - $8
Family - $4
Exercise - $1
---------------
Total. - $22
Surplus. - $2
So that's good news! Now how would this work out in reality on a "good" average day? Let's see...
Wake up 5:30am
Catch 6:37am train
At work by 7:30am
Catch the 5:15pm train home.
Family time 6:30pm
Exercise / work on business 10:30pm
Sleep midnight (6 hours)
Hmmm..... Something's not adding up... The reality is that If you count the minutes from when I wake up til when I get home, its a total of 13 hours rather than the 11 implied in my above example, which basically kills any "spare" time that I have. The reality is also that I am spending (in my above example) ~9.5 hours at work rather than the 8 allocated in my "budget". So since I'm spending more time at work, my only two options are less time with family (not a preferred choice, I have two little kids!), or using some of my working time for personal business. I don't exactly think my employer would appreciate this, but as my hours extend beyond the typical day, does this give me the moral right to spend some of that time on my personal business (meaning more than the average bill pay and personal call that the average person does). What do you think? Let me know by leaving a comment below.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Business Idea
I've thought about launching an online retail (etailing) business for some time. I've had a number of different ideas. Here are a few.
1. A premium site dedicated to selling high end chess sets, and variations of chess (e.g. the Japanese game of Go, Chinese chess, Korean chess, etc.) sourced from around the world, organized by country of origin. I was ridiculed for this idea, with detractors saying it would never work. Well lo and behold, there are tons of sites on the web that sell nothing but chess sets. I still like the idea, though, and may still do this.
2. A premium site dedicated to selling art (canvas, sculpture, carvings), ethnic delicacies, and novelty items from around the world. I'd differentiate the site through service, quality of product, and by providing information about the cultures of each country, the character of the land, and the symbolism of each product, to help people gain better perspective behind what they are buying.
3. A robust version of blackpages.com for the Canadian space.
For now I will focus on another opportunity though, but may come back to one of these in some way.
1. A premium site dedicated to selling high end chess sets, and variations of chess (e.g. the Japanese game of Go, Chinese chess, Korean chess, etc.) sourced from around the world, organized by country of origin. I was ridiculed for this idea, with detractors saying it would never work. Well lo and behold, there are tons of sites on the web that sell nothing but chess sets. I still like the idea, though, and may still do this.
2. A premium site dedicated to selling art (canvas, sculpture, carvings), ethnic delicacies, and novelty items from around the world. I'd differentiate the site through service, quality of product, and by providing information about the cultures of each country, the character of the land, and the symbolism of each product, to help people gain better perspective behind what they are buying.
3. A robust version of blackpages.com for the Canadian space.
For now I will focus on another opportunity though, but may come back to one of these in some way.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Starbucks Cookies, ECA and the 407 ETR
This paragraph is a 407 ETR rant. If not interested, please skip to paragraph 2. Just got off the phone with Christine from the 407. I can't remember having worse multiple customer service experiences than I have with this one. I swear, they must hire based on incompetence. I can see the job requirements now: "Are you useless, conceited, and looking for a job where the ultimate in job satisfaction is how many customers you can piss off in a day? Have you been turned down by other call centre hiring managers? Well, do we have the job for you...". . That's the trouble when dealing with virtual monopolies. Serves me right for always being in a hurry.
Did you know Starbucks chocolate cookies have 450 Calories? Although if you were insane enough to shell out $2.50 or so for a single cookie, then maybe the calories wouldn't really be a deterrent...
Sold 500 shares of ECA today. I like the long term prospects of the stock, but feel that the recent run up is unwarranted, and that there will likely be a pullback in the stock within the next couple of weeks. I will likely pick up BNS in the interim.
Did you know Starbucks chocolate cookies have 450 Calories? Although if you were insane enough to shell out $2.50 or so for a single cookie, then maybe the calories wouldn't really be a deterrent...
Sold 500 shares of ECA today. I like the long term prospects of the stock, but feel that the recent run up is unwarranted, and that there will likely be a pullback in the stock within the next couple of weeks. I will likely pick up BNS in the interim.
Friday, March 23, 2007
ECA
ECA has had a decent short term run up of 7%. I like the stock, but don't think the current rally is sustainable, as it is based on two primary market factors, and 3 primary technical factors.
1. the US Fed decision not to raise interest rates
2. The capture of 15 British sailors and marines by Iran.
The Fed decision not to raise rates is good for oil, but part of the rally appears to have been based on speculation of future rate cuts. This is probably not enough to make for a sustainable oil rally.
The capture of the Brits appears to have been a legitimate move by Iran (the Brits were in Iranian waters), but after the initial posturing I'm sure they'll be released without incident. Especially in light of already existing international pressure to impose sanctions on Iran because of their nuclear program. Could capturing these soldiers put Iran in a better position when negotiating with the UN? Or will it simply add fuel to the fire?
1. The 20 and 50 day moving averages indicate that ECA may be in a bearish trend. (20 day moving average is below the 50 day moving average).
2. ECA is trading at its upper Bollinger band. This means that the stock price is high relative to the action over the last 20 days.
3. Volume appears to be lower than normal (later in the day will give a better sense, but with 30% of the trading day gone, we've only seen 27% of volumes, and that includes market open which is typically volume peak).
I will decide later today but will likely hold off on selling until Monday, in the hope that ECA breaks through the $58 barrier at least temporarily.
1. the US Fed decision not to raise interest rates
2. The capture of 15 British sailors and marines by Iran.
The Fed decision not to raise rates is good for oil, but part of the rally appears to have been based on speculation of future rate cuts. This is probably not enough to make for a sustainable oil rally.
The capture of the Brits appears to have been a legitimate move by Iran (the Brits were in Iranian waters), but after the initial posturing I'm sure they'll be released without incident. Especially in light of already existing international pressure to impose sanctions on Iran because of their nuclear program. Could capturing these soldiers put Iran in a better position when negotiating with the UN? Or will it simply add fuel to the fire?
1. The 20 and 50 day moving averages indicate that ECA may be in a bearish trend. (20 day moving average is below the 50 day moving average).
2. ECA is trading at its upper Bollinger band. This means that the stock price is high relative to the action over the last 20 days.
3. Volume appears to be lower than normal (later in the day will give a better sense, but with 30% of the trading day gone, we've only seen 27% of volumes, and that includes market open which is typically volume peak).
I will decide later today but will likely hold off on selling until Monday, in the hope that ECA breaks through the $58 barrier at least temporarily.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered.
That's my thought for the day.
Prof. Steve Rogers was the first person I heard use this saying. I thought (and still do think) it was pretty deep. Not in a Dante Alighieri what-the-hell-does-that-mean kind of way, but you know, in a meaningful, don't-be-too-greedy-you-idiot kind of way.
Not surprising that I hadn't heard the saying before b-school. We don't have such creative witticisms up here in Canada (not that I am aware of anyhow), and I haven't been exposed to too many real Americans (I don't consider tv land to be real Americana, is that wrong?).
Prof. Steve Rogers was the first person I heard use this saying. I thought (and still do think) it was pretty deep. Not in a Dante Alighieri what-the-hell-does-that-mean kind of way, but you know, in a meaningful, don't-be-too-greedy-you-idiot kind of way.
Not surprising that I hadn't heard the saying before b-school. We don't have such creative witticisms up here in Canada (not that I am aware of anyhow), and I haven't been exposed to too many real Americans (I don't consider tv land to be real Americana, is that wrong?).
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