Cover Story

WTO: The Cancun Fallout

-- D Satish

The recent Cancun breakdown exposes the great divide between developed and developing world on trade related issues. The inability to compromise and reach a consensus among nations could jeopardize the future of the multilateral trade system. Some of the developments in the global trade arena where countries are pursuing aggressive bilateral trade talks at the expense of the WTO agenda is a worrying sign. The article talks about the developments and lessons from Cancun and its implications on the future of WTO.

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Financial Markets

Currency Options: Indian debut

--Swati Gulati

The recent move by the RBI to introduce currency options would go a long way in providing the banks and corporates with an effective hedging tool against currency risk.

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Covered Warrents : Global experience

--Anupama Chowdary

Sebi is planning to allow institutional players like banks, financial institutions, mutual funds and insurance companies to write covered warrants (third party warrants) on stocks they hold in their portfolios. How will the Indian markets respond to such a move? What has been the international experience?

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Financial Services

US Mutual Funds Industry : Mutual disadvantage

-- Nidhi Joshi

The current probe by the SEC suggests that the US mutual funds industry is no longer scandal free. This calls for remedial measures to eliminate market timers' advantage.

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Indian Insurance : Customizing for the rural

--K B S Kumar

The liberalization of Indian insurance sector has brought about a sea change in the urban insurance scenario. The insurers now are taking special interest in rural India which is being received well by the rural populace.

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Global Financial Services : The next turn

-- Ramakrishna Neti

To get back their past glory, financial services firms are trying out various strategic options, presaging a prosperous decade.The slump in the international financial markets during the late 1990s and the early 2000s had slowed down the pace of growth of the financial services industry. The last half of the 1990s as such had seen both ups and downs as the financial services industry rose to its peak and then slided down

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Indian Insurance : Rural roadblocks

-- Dr. K C Mishra

Thanks to its near million agency force and range of products to fit all wallets, LIC has reached rural India, says Dr. K C Mishra, Director, NIA, Pune.

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Corporate Strategy

Sun Microsystems: A new Dawn?

-- Amit Singh Sisodiya

With its new software strategy, the tech giant promises not just to stay afloat but change the entire software landscape.Sun Microsystems, Inc., well-known for its Java software, announced on September 29, this year, that it expected a larger loss in the current first quarter than market had expected.

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Retailer Brands : Manufacturers' Nightmare

-- C S V Ratna

What do manufacturers do when their distributors turn into competitors?

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Anti-Virus software : Microsoft's new window

--Geethika Sangra

Microsoft cannot afford to carry on with its `poor security' image. It's diversifying its business and is opening another business unit, anti-virus software."Enabling people in businesses around the world to realize their full potential" is the mission statement of Microsoft. The history is repeating again, but this time the attack is not on the browser market as it happened in 1990s but is in anti-virus market.

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Handset makers : A bird's-eye view

-- Nidhi Joshi

With cellular subscriber base growing, the handset manufacturers are focusing on introducing latest and cheapest phones. The latest to join the bandwagon is the Chinese manufacturer, Bird International.

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Industry

Silver Market : Back from the brink?

-- N Janardhan Rao

After gold, silver has been touted as the next big thing in global markets, so why is it still undervalued? Will it meet the expectations?Throughout history, silver has been a versatile asset. Since thousands of years, men and women have been captivated by silver. For the ancient citizens, silver was an object of amazing beauty, instilled with the mystic qualities of the moon, whose dark and mysterious nature it seemed to mirror. Silver has played an important role in individuals' lives for centuries by serving as a medium of exchange and becoming an essential metal in today's world of high-tech consumer goods.

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Silver Market : Weighing against gold

Presently, the paper markets are much larger and more powerful than physical silver availability and they have neutralized the normal laws of supply and demand, says Douglas Kanarowski, Silver Advisor, California, US.

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Television Broadcasters : Value-chain migration

-- Nikhil Pareek

Competition in the industry is rising, resulting in major structural changes on all fronts. None of the broadcasters want to lose in this battle where content with quality distribution will decide their fate.

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Business Environment

Indian Economy : IMF's prescription

-- N Janardhan Rao and KBS Kumar

After the roller coaster of boom and bust, Indian economy seems to have attained a grip on the development mode. However, the country must pay attention to its ballooning public debt and inflating high fiscal deficit.

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China Inc. : Products to brands

-- N Janardhan Rao

The mainland companies' ambition to go globetrotting has raised a few hackles. Does it enhance the manufacturing prowess?

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Research Summary

The Twin Effects Of Globalization

-- Priyanka Sugandhi

Employees of 'globalized' firms face a riskier,but potenially more rewarding, menu of labor market outcomes. On one hand,they face a more uncertain stream of earnings and riskier employment prospects.On the other,they enjoy a more rapid carer and/or have more oppurtunities to train and upgrade their skills

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Book Review

Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists

--A Sowdeepthi

Free markets and especially free financial markets are the single most important tools to eliminate poverty and spread oppurtunity. The authors make a case for free markets through financial markets. They argue that greatest threat the capitalism now faces is from capitalists. While capitalism is not moving towards extinction, it may not reach its ideal form. The authors suggest a way to unleash the power of financial markets to benefit everyone from struggling third world countries to mature economies.

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Spotlight

GE Buys universal

-- Swati Gulati

The merger of GE's NBC and Vivendi Universal would create an exceptional media conglomerate. This deal would bring it closer to the ranks of global titans like Walt Disney and Viacom.

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