Ganesh Sastri

China, The Yuan and U.S. Indebtedness

Instead of fretting and fuming over the safety of debt from US, China should simply ask that its debt be denominated in YUAN. China will be protected if the value of Yuan stays or goes up. If the value of Yuan goes down, it has to blame only itself.
US needs to move from being the LARGEST DEBTOR. It should RAISE interest rates and encourage savings both at the micro level and national level if it means busines..

Is Monsanto a Template for Agribusiness?

Instead of saying "Monsanto delivered net earnings of $1.97 per share in its second quarter" why not say "Monsanto delivered ..... for quarter ended Feb 09". How many people know what is the year ending of a company?

The Great U.S. Ponzi Scheme: Sell U.S. Treasury Bonds

The FED buying debt issued by Treasuries is an accounting gimmick. The FED & the Treasury should be treated as one entity for consolidation purposes. One entity cannot borrow and lend to itself. It is truly PRINTING OF DOLLAR BILLS and showering them from HELICOPTER.
There is a real danger that notwithstanding the recent strength of the US dollar, it can fall from a cliff.
Imagine Gold at $ 4000. By the end of this decade you need not imagine.

The Fed Must Be Crazy

It is high time the US as a nation encourages THRIFT. Why encourage borrowing to spend on consumables? Instead Americans should spend if they have money in their pocket and not from somebody else's. That should mean increasing the rates of interest. There will be short term pain but gain in the long run.
At any rate FED's actions will ensure that interest rates skyrocket possibly into double digits.

U.S. Records Huge Trade Deficit: Obama's Broken Promise

Why not mandate that all imports from China into US be invoiced in Chinese Yuan? This way Americans can dictate the exchange rate for USD / Yuan. Since the trade deficit with China is a large negative, the higher demand for Yuan will cause its value to rise and over a period of time will cause US imports from China to decline.

Dollar Could Be Headed to 13 Year Low Against the Yen

If you keep printing new currency you cannot expect its value to be stable. Experience with other nations has shown that currencies which have expanded and expanded or had trade deficits year after year have fallen by significant amounts. The recent rise in value of USD is surprising. I will not be surprised if the value of dollar suddenly collapses by 80% against stronger currencies in the world like JPY or precious metals whose supply is not as elastic as USD. USD at 20 JPY? Possible in the not too distant future.

Indian Markets: It Can Get More Frightening

The heading and the conclusion are CONTRADICTORY. Somebody should read the article and then give appropriate title.

America's Falling Status: What Are Its Next Steps?

The US needs to repay its debts to the rest of the world. US residents need to save more. US Government needs to incent savings and reduce incentives for borrowings. Interest rate needs to go up to double digits if the economy is to survive in the long run.

Say It Ain't So: Barclays to Allow Default of Lehman ETNs?

SEC should ban the issue of ETNs. It is not in the interest of investors to be an unsecured creditor to any of the issuers since any of them may default in the present scenario or even in the distant future.

10 Closed-End Funds Trading at Large Discounts

Watch out for high expense ratios.
Eg. EQS has 8.62% expense ratio and Management fees. Why would any body pay that kind of expense. You come after Fund expense if any thing is left.

MSP's discount is nowhere near 88%. It is just 12%. Expense ratio + management fee is 1.7%.

Bank of America vs. Banco Santander: Whose Dividend Is Secure?

It is a FUNDAMENTAL flaw to base any decision on dividend yield. Instead work out E/P %. This is the inverse of PE ratio expressed as a %. Just assume that all of the net income belongs to the shareholders and work out the E/P %. For BAC based on estimated EPS of $ 2.42 for year 2008 and market price of $ 23.5 this works out to 10.3%. That is the yield. If dividend exceeds EPS, the excess is just return of money and NOT return ON money. Obviously if the estimated EPS is less, the E/P % will be lower.

Foreign-Owned Assets in the U.S. Top $20 Trillion

The foreign investment will continue to pile while confidence in US lasts. When the confidence is US is punctured, most of it will disappear and with that the value of USD will also disappear.

Dividend Yield as a Tool to Find Bargains

Look further than E/P %. It is the inverse of P/E expressed as a percentage.
When dividend yield is more than E/P %, the excess is a return OF your money and NOT return on money.
If the E/P % is much higher than average, it is usually an indicator that the E ( earnings) likely to decline bringing the E/P % to market levels.

The Budget Deficit and Declining Dollar

1. The article says: am in no way saying the US will default on its debt soon as Russia did in 90’s. In the short run, that outcome is virtually impossible
The US is already defaulting. Look at the billions being writtne off by UBS, Barclays, RBS, BNP, Credit Suisee etc etc.
2. Why nobody is talking of budget SURPLUS? In the late nineties, Clinton ran a few years with surpluses and stopped borrowing on Long Bond.
3. If you want to reduce trade deficit you need to increase per person PRODUCTIVITY or reduce wages in US. Lowering the exchange rate of US dollar does that. If you don't want to reduce exchange rates be willing to increase interest rates and / or reduce wages.