What Is Fundamental Analysis? Company's Intrinsic vs Market value?

5 weeks left to complete this term ---> Winter 2012 term. Hope Spring 2012 brings freshness and hope for the MBA students of our batch!

There are 5 weeks left to complete this term. It is not too bad at the moment, for me. Just a bunch of assignments left. Need to go through the grind. Have a bunch of presentations remaining, as well. Need to go through the motions - there, as well. Easy does it.

After 5 weeks, we shall have 3 to 4 weeks time off. Until early to mid May. By which time, I should have landed a decent internship. Most of this batch shall complete the academics this term. I shall have just 1 more course left after April 2012. And then, I shall be done with this MBA.

And then, it shall be adios graduate student life, hello job life / hello career-rat-race all over again! But hopefully, armed with an MBA, this new career shall be a step above my previous one.

Spring shall be here soon. And Spring shall bring new beginnings to the lives of this batch of MBA students :)

Gerry.

MBA students probably NEED smart phones to function efficiently. There, I said it! (Laptops are a MUST - that goes without saying, anyways)

I was wondering about the importance of Smart Phones in the lives of MBA students. And as is usual, I did an online search for the topic to see if there is anything about the topic already there. And I did find an interesting post by another MBA student from Texas.

See, how we MBA students think and feel alike ? :)

Here is that post:
http://blogs.mccombs.utexas.edu/mba-students/2011/09/05/to-smart-or-not-to-smart/

Smart phones are incredibly useful for MBA students. They are not (just) status symbols, but everyday necessities that modern executives (that MBAs shall perhaps naturally progress to, someday) need. As a proud Canadian, guess which Canadian brand I endorse & use? You guessed it, a BlackBerry. I love my BlackBerry (No, I am NOT an Apple fan and I do not use any Apple products - none, nada, zero. No, its not a boycott, its just that I never got started on that path - ever. And hence, did not pursue that path).

So, what do I use my darling Blackberry for? Here you go:

• Calendar - An MBA student can not survive without an online calendar.
• Facebook - to stay current with posts on my MBA Class group
• Twitter - An occasional tweet to reach out to any intelligent person that I come across - and I LOVE intelligent people. I wish I was friends with ALL the intelligent people on this planet :)
• Emails (from at least 5 email accounts of mine) - University emails - a lot of them are useful and a lot are not, he he :) . Personal emails from family and friends. And most importantly, MBA team / group work emails - to keep connected with group assignments - and I have mentioned in the past - MBA students have a LOT of group activity - helps in team building exercises and learn skills of leadership / team effort etc
• LinkedIn - to respond to requests or check the updates (via email).
• Temperature - Canada is a country where it can get realllly cold. Hell yeah! Only yesterday night, the temperature was - 15 deg C (kin  ya frikkin' believe that, huh!). Every time I need to go out and need to get dressed for the outing - I NEED to know what temperature it is outside and I need to dress accordingly. I use a free App for that.
• TTC bus timings - There is an App to help know the timings of TTC (Toronto Transit) buses. No need to worry about the subway - there is one every 5 minutes. God, I love our TTC subways. God bless TTC. And I defend TTC aggressively, every time some one says anything against MY TTC.
• SMS - Text messaging is staple to reach out to classmates in various situations.
• Camera - to take pictures of interesting things that help for presentations. Can even email them or post on Twitter / FB.
• Video recorder - can be useful to record class presentations.
• Address book - what would one do without the email directory -- the Blackberry does it automatically - scans all my email accounts and makes a list automatically.
• Phone calls - And of course, good old phone calls.
• Tungle - Another online calendar
• Alarm - to wake you up for classes :)
• Reminders - to remind you of assignments :)
• WhatsApp - Free app to connect to people across different smartphone platforms
• Maps - for times when you are in uncertain parts of town and need to find your way.
• Internet - Online access to info. I use Google news once in a while. Watch YouTube videos once in a while. Surf for some urgent info when you have a brain wave or a thought / idea. Does this happpen to you? I'm sure it does :)
• Blackberry Messenger - An inexpensive way to keep in touch with other Blackberry users.
• Other Free Apps - like World clock
• Games - I am not fond of games - that is just me. They are a waste of time. I have better things to do - like learn MBA concepts, for example :)
• More - I must have missed out a few more points - will add when I can recall 'em!

So, there, Smart phones make the lives of MBA students much easier :)

Would I switch from my Blackberry to an Android phone? Who knows? Perhaps, some day. But as it stands now, I am loyal to the BlackBerry brand. Been a Blackberry addict since 2006 and LOVE it. And oh, my service provider is Wind Mobile and I am extremely happy with the service of Wind Mobile Canada (I don't care what people say about Wind. I am loyal to the brands I endorse, ha ha :)

Cheers!

Gerry Som.
Blogger @ www.gerry.in

Useful skills for new graduates to succeed in their careers ---> Here is a list of 8 useful qualities to cultivate!

From the link: http://career-advice.monster.ca/salary-benefits/salary-information/high-paying-jobs-for-generalists/article.aspx?WT.mc_n=Ycanada_YToday

Qualities to Cultivate
So, with your brand-new degree, what qualities will make you the most marketable for an entry-level position? Here's a partial listing of soft skills Don Straits, CEO of Corporate Warriors, suggests you develop:

• Initiative.
• Self-Confidence.
• Leadership.
• Compatibility with others.
• Positive Attitude.
• Social skills / Interests / Involvement.
• Integrity.
• Communication skills.

Richest 1% in USA make 93% of gains & remaining 99% make 7% of gains from the recovery after the recent recession ---> Smart Money / Smart Brains / First Mover Advantage at work?

Date:  5^th March, 2012

Title: Richest 1% Account For Nearly All Of U.S. Recovery's Gains: Report.

Reference: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/05/1-percent-income-inequality_n_1321008.html?ref=canada&ir=Canada

Summary:  Technically, the economy has been in recovery since a few years. But it turns out the rich have been doing most of the recovering. In 2010, the top 1 % of earners took in a full 93 % of all the income gains that year, leaving the other 7 % of gains to be sprinkled among the vast majority of society. Those numbers come courtesy of Emmanuel Saez, the Berkeley economist who co-created a resource known as the World Top Incomes Database.

My quick Interpretation: The rich 1% have the financial knowledge to invest in appreciating assets. Perhaps, they had a diverse portfolio in the first place and did not lose much money. Perhaps they shifted their money during the crash to more secure assets. They probably have have brilliant financial advisers. Perhaps they do vulture investing, buying up stocks, property or businesses when they are under-valued. Perhaps they are smarter with their taxes. Perhaps economies of scale helps in snapping up large investments for even more profitable deals then usual. Perhaps they have inside information at times / or are among the first to get useful information. These are just my speculations.