Some Articles from LiveMint

Ask Mint | Swap deals are advantageous to both parties Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K Singh 12:11 AM | May 05,2008 There can be no end to financial innovations leading to different kinds of currency swaps
Ask Mint | Interest rate swaps: an exchange of cash flows Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 12:22 AM | April 28,2008 Currency forward contracts involve the exchange of cash on a fixed date whereas interest rate and currency swaps involve exchange of cash flows on several future dates
Ask Mint | Coping with speculative attacks Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K Singh 10:58 PM | April 20,2008 Speculative attacks, like any other financial crisis, survive on the negative expectations of investors
Ask Mint | Speculative attacks thrive on perception Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 01:42 AM | April 14,2008 In the age of interconnected financial markets, speculative attacks, like a contagious virus, can spread from one country to another
Ask Mint | P-E multiple: a common way of judging the worth of a firm’s shares Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K Singh 11:40 PM | April 06,2008 Most commonly, people watch stock market indices such as the Sensex or Nifty to understand whether the market is rising or falling
Cash reserves work like brakes on money supply Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 12:31 AM | March 24,2008 Depositing money in a bank does not lead to either increase or decrease in money supply
Ask Mint | Narrow or broad? There are different ways of measuring money supply Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K Singh 10:58 PM | March 16,2008 I, too, need variety, just like the monetary economists who use different wheels of money supply in the form of M1, M2, M3 and M4.
Margin calls: it’s the time when you have to pay back the piper Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 11:08 PM | March 09,2008 If you do margin trading in the stock market, there comes a time when you get margin calls
What makes guessing yield curves more fun than a game of snakes and ladders? Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 12:00 AM | March 03,2008 The real challenge before you is to guess what this curve will look like in the coming days
Ask Mint | Why governments run up a fiscal deficit Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K Singh 12:33 AM | February 25,2008 We can broadly divide government expenses into two types: revenue expenses and capital expenses
Why necessity is the mother of all taxes Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K Singh 02:30 AM | February 18,2008 A penny of taxes paid is a penny of deficits saved
How did paper money come to be accepted as a medium of exchange? Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K Singh 11:39 PM | February 10,2008 Precious metals such as gold and silver were among the first to be used as a medium of exchange, and they continue to inspire confidence even now
How would we live without money? Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 11:55 PM | February 03,2008 The whole world is now working on what is known as a barter system
Ask Mint | How do firms determine share price for an IPO? Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K Singh 12:08 AM | January 28,2008 The issuer companies have two options for fixing the price, they can either fix the price themselves or they can let the investors determine it
Ask Mint | Leverage gives you extra power Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K Singh 12:00 AM | January 21,2008 Leveraging is all about putting the right force at the right position through a lever Ask Mint | When do central banks assume the role of lenders of last resort? Real Simple | Shailja and Manoj K. Singh 12:17 AM | January 07,2008 Banks work on the assumption that at any given point of time, only a fraction of depositors would turn up to take their money back Ask Mint | What causes credit crunch in financial markets? Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 12:27 AM | December 31,2007 Credit crunch is a situation in which the wheel of lending gets jammed leading to a sudden decline in lending, that is, credit Ask Mint | How do companies raise money through initial public offerings? Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 12:33 AM | December 24,2007 A public company must have a minimum of seven owners but there is no restriction on the maximum number Ask Mint | What are the predominant risks in currency carry trade? Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 12:58 AM | December 17,2007 Currency carry trade has two major risks: the interest rate risk and the exchange rate risk Ask Mint | What is purchasing power parity? Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 01:51 AM | December 10,2007 PPP theory assumes that identical goods and services must have the same price in different markets when measured in a common currency Ask Mint | Arbitrage favours those who can wait and watch Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K Singh 11:48 PM | December 02,2007 Arbitrage takes place if the price of the same asset is different in two or more markets. You buy the asset from one market at a lower price and simultaneously sell it at a higher price in another market Ask Mint | What is net asset value all about? Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 11:45 PM | November 25,2007 The present value of your assets depends upon the present market value of the stocks in which your scheme has invested Ask Mint | If you find the market puzzling, try the mutual fund route Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 01:09 AM | November 19,2007 The main advantage is that you do not have to worry about the day-to-day management of your investment Ask Mint | Demat accounts: making physical shares disappear Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K Singh 11:59 PM | November 11,2007 In dematerialization, physical shares are converted into securities in electronic form, and the value of your holding is credited into your demat account, just like physical money is converted into a deposit in a bank account Ask Mint | ‘Impossible trinity’ is all about problems of choice Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K Singh 12:30 AM | November 05,2007 Of the three options of a fixed exchange rate, free capital movement, and an independent monetary policy, one can choose only two at a time, Ask Mint | What makes interest rates the masters of the universe Real Simple| Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 01:56 AM | October 29,2007 Money is one of the most important factors that enable you to acquire not only the basic necessities, but also exotic luxuries Ask Mint | What determines the exchange rate of one currency against another? Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K Singh 11:04 PM | October 21,2007 There are mainly three kinds of exchange rate regimes that determine how a country manages the exchange rate of its domestic currency against another currency, Jinny tells Johnny Ask Mint | Why we cannot do without the foreign exchange market Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 12:57 AM | October 15,2007 In large foreign exchange transactions, no physical exchange of currencies takes place, Jinny tells Johnny Ask Mint | Derivatives: passing the risk to the dumbest guy in the room? Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 12:33 AM | October 08,2007 The purchaser of an option can always compel the seller to fulfil his obligation, whereas the purchaser himself is totally free of any obligation Ask Mint | Derivatives are based on future value of underlying instruments Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K Singh 01:29 AM | October 01,2007 Derivatives derive their value from some other underlying financial instruments, such as stocks, bonds, or assets and are used for hedging risk Ask Mint | Laundry service: Keeping money, bank accounts clean Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 01:40 AM | September 24,2007 Dirty money, if kept at one place, starts stinking, like dirty socks Ask Mint | The similarity between the call money market and a pizza Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 01:00 AM | September 17,2007 The money market is a market where transactions relating to short-term borrowing and lending of money take place Ask Mint | How do private equity funds raise money for mammoth buyouts? Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 12:11 AM | September 10,2007 PE funds, true to their name, like to do their business privately. This is not because they have some sinister design, but mainly because private businesses provide them better flexibility Ask Mint | How are central banks around the world fighting inflation? Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 12:10 AM | September 10,2007 It is important that the central bank must have full control over important monetary policy instruments Ask Mint | Inflation targeting is a challenging business for central banks Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K Singh 01:00 AM | September 03,2007 If inflation is able to rear its head before you can use your instruments, you are out of the game Ask Mint | Insight into the bond family Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 04:14 PM | August 20,2007 Bonds are of different kinds, but all of them are all debt instruments and pay interest The long road to convertibility Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 12:36 AM | August 13,2007 Building flyovers overnight will not help if your roads continue to have potholes. Our financial system still has many potholes that we need to take care of How no-frills accounts spread the banking habit Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 12:04 PM | August 06,2007 No identity or address proof to open an account, nil or very low minimum balance requirements are some ways banks are reaching out to the masses Why do companies reward employees with sweat equity? Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 01:04 AM | July 23,2007 Esops are not like the monthly salary. They are more like dangling carrots to make employees stay with the company What’s this cross-breed called stagflation? Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 01:35 AM | July 16,2007 The 1970s saw the emergence of a new disease in the world economy. Some ingenious mind named it stagflation -- a cross-breed of stagnation and inflation When it’s raining dollars, how can we deal with the problem of plenty? Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 02:25 AM | July 02,2007 The problem is that management of dollar inflows imposes cost Ask Mint: What does the forex forecast on raining dollars really mean? Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K. Singh 11:41 PM | June 24,2007 In India, dollars are coming like the monsoon deluge. Initially, the inflow was like a drizzle—soothing the starving nerves of the country that had seen scarcity Ask Mint: What are participatory notes all about? Real Simple | Shailaja and Manoj K Singh 03:36 AM | April 16,2007 Participatory notes are instruments used for making investments in the stock markets. However, they aren’t used within the country