Navin worked with major European Financial Services market participants like Euroclear, SIS, SWIFT, LCH etc in the enterprise software division since he graduated summa cum laude in Computer Science Engineering.
He soon got bored of life mainly due to the amount of rain & snow in London that made him stay put at home and away from Tennis. He shifted to US Financial services clients but that left him no better although he learnt a fair bit about "investing" during his time with these firms.
He returned to India and is a budding venture capitalist. He likes "Bottom of the Pyramid" ventures.
Suresh Jayanthi , appreciate your points.
It sounds more like a cultural thing. Europeans are more laid back when compared to the US and hence walking and cycling ? 🙂
Swiss has fantasic trains and trams though.
I havent travelled to the Nordic yet.
Hi,
While studying/working in EU, I always used bicycle. If i try and think about it, I guess it was mainly because –
1. Germany and Netherlands have special roads for bicycle or at least part of roads reserved for cycles. City centers specially don’t allow any vehicles. Forcing many people to walk or use bus etc.
2. Students almost get bicycles free from colleges or some student organizations.
3. The culture promotes it. The college and company trips used to mostly include hiking.
4. Everything else is very costly. A same city bus trip costs $2-$3/mile.
Also, Netherlands has highest rate of bicycle thefts. You would often see just tyres chained to stands (and the cycle body missing).
Deepak, I totally agree with you that India should prosper and we should see many Bombays and B’lores here. Thats a very positive attitude.
Oil will certainly become passe if there is “alternative fuel” available in market at a cheaper price. So either more wells would be hunted out to reduce the oil price or there would be a simple migration to other fuels like – solar,LPG/CNG,compressed air,hydrogen,electricity (may other that might be in its nemesis). So I dont see Oil prices going beyond tolerance.
Navin, I wish this chart contained data for India, China and Japan too. Can you please analyze the source further to see if more data is available.
Thanks in advance
–Ashish Kanak
Navin, thanks mate – You give me more credit than I am worth. The world of open markets is littered with the graves of predictions such as mine 🙂
My problem is simple – when oil was at $70 the general opinion was it wouldn’t make it to $100, it was too way off and such. When it hit $90 the opinion went to 100 is ok, but not much more. At a $120 price I’m seeing opinion swing the other way – that $200 is no big deal, it’s just around the corner, and nearly everyone seems to nod their head.
In all my studies of financial markets, it has usually been this point that is the beginning of the end. The .com bust happened when the bears had been beaten to death. The 1992 scam and resulting bust in India happened after the bull run broke the back of a bear cartel. And that happened in 1929 and 30 as well.
When the knowledgeable “give up” on the fundamentals, and say that you know what, maybe it’ll keep going up – that’s traditionally been the turning point.
Where do I see oil? There is a last sigh, an exhilarating ride to the top, that’s still left (or so I think). But it’s all downhill from there, barring a few rallies; that is, if the future reflects the past.
Deepak, I have the highest respect for your viewpoints but your take on oil is oversimplified
One of the most successful commodities trader in london quipped “Some of the numbers on Chinese oil import projections are scary, and it is in those circumstances that peak-ish oil could result in the $200/bbl “