Negative rates again, this is starting to get too common

I have written about them before here and here, and they are back...negative repo rates in US Treasuries.
Supply demand one thing, this monetary experimentation in US is causing a lot of issues for the whole world.

Waking up to the Insider trading reality

There are certain markets where insider trading laws are strong. There are some where such laws are strictly enforced. I was uncertain that India was one of either or had a chance of getting there anytime soon, however SEBI's suo moto action of probing for possible breach of insider trading rules or hammering by a bear cartel of the SKS shares last week is a ray of hope.

There was a steep plunge of 20% in SKS Microfinance shares, hours ahead of its fourth quarter results on Friday. Any casual market observer would have guessed that it cannot happen without some form of bear cartel hammering due to confirmed news anticipation of news of its losses.

Ofcourse, the mere fact that it is being probed is not even a indication that the guilty will be bought to book, but the fact that the probe started so quickly gives hope, especially since it is SEBI. Lets keep our fingers crossed

Many scams, not enough anger

I was looking at the Corruption Perceptions ranking of countries
published by Transparency International. Guess where India is? right below Morocco...Not kidding. We have Albania, Liberia and Jamaica to give us company at rank 87 and places like Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, Romania, Cuba, Slovakia, Namibia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Bhutan and United Arab Emirates (in reverse order) are ranked better than us.

Since childhood I have been hearing and experiencing corruption in India. The thing is, it is accepted as part of life here to such an extent that it sometimes makes me wonder where did we go so horribly wrong.

Corruption, like a terrible infection, if not treated in time will lead to damage to all vital organs and eventual death. No other place stands so much a testimony to this fact as Russia. Mind you this was a country that put the first man in space, and was at the cutting edge of technology. Such a great power to be humbled to such an extent that, by some estimates, more than 50% of the women in the country have to resort to prostitution for a living is a testimony of how vital it is to protect our institutions from corruption.

We as Indians need to search within us as to why we accept corruption? why don't we have a civil unrest in a country where 35% of the population lives below poverty line and top 3% throw money away on out sized houses? I thought we as a people were enlightened enough to understand that beyond a point hoarding more money is pointless, then why scams of such mammoth proportions? where did we go wrong?

Defaulting Central Bank

I am planning a trip to Moscow soon and hence was running through the news wires of russia and some others. Came across this interesting report by a paper in Belarus. Apparently, central banks, like any other bank, are at a risk of a bank run.

April 15, National Bank of Belarus has suspended the sale of bars of precious metals (gold, silver, platinum) for Belarusian rubles. The National Bank has explained that currently the precious metals can only be bought for dollars. At the same time, the redemption of bars is made in Belarusian rubles.

so in effect a central bank induced slow-dollarisation. Interesting.....