Cricketers up for sale. Did you buy any?
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Yes, the Indian Premier League was out there auctioning cricketers (selling them ... actually) to teams named Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Mohali, Calcutta, Hyderabad, Jaipur etc..etc. One thing is sure - the international players would soon get to know the geography of India; whether they do end up playing well and live up to their reputation, ... err ... their "price tag", needs to be seen.
On the one hand players are getting a chance to get to know their worth in the international market, but on the other it doesn't stop one from wondering whether the $$ they are getting are justified? Is it the talent that was being auctioned at Hilton, Mumbai or was it the integrity of International cricket that was being sold.
MS Dhoni ended up earning $ 1.5 mn/yr and Andrew Symonds - $ 1.3 mn. Now come to think of the effort they have to put up - 6 weeks of 20-20 matches in a year - the price tag seems to be way too high isn't it? Of course there are contracts and bindings but who would have imagined that one day these guys would get an opportunity to break the shackles of domestic cricket, county cricket and come up this way on a new 20-20 format that was non existent a 2-3 years back.
Is this the end of Cricket as many of us are calling it ? Or is for the better? Will have to wait and watch as time progresses but one thing is sure - IPL has caught a lot of attention both domestic and international. And what on earth happened to ICL? Remember this was their idea but the BCCI owned IPL muscled them outta the race? May ICL's soul rest in peace.
On the one hand players are getting a chance to get to know their worth in the international market, but on the other it doesn't stop one from wondering whether the $$ they are getting are justified? Is it the talent that was being auctioned at Hilton, Mumbai or was it the integrity of International cricket that was being sold.
MS Dhoni ended up earning $ 1.5 mn/yr and Andrew Symonds - $ 1.3 mn. Now come to think of the effort they have to put up - 6 weeks of 20-20 matches in a year - the price tag seems to be way too high isn't it? Of course there are contracts and bindings but who would have imagined that one day these guys would get an opportunity to break the shackles of domestic cricket, county cricket and come up this way on a new 20-20 format that was non existent a 2-3 years back.
Is this the end of Cricket as many of us are calling it ? Or is for the better? Will have to wait and watch as time progresses but one thing is sure - IPL has caught a lot of attention both domestic and international. And what on earth happened to ICL? Remember this was their idea but the BCCI owned IPL muscled them outta the race? May ICL's soul rest in peace.
Labels: BCCI, Cricket, Dollar, ICL, India, IPL
Posted by Rajesh @ 10:10 PM; PERMALINK,
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A quarter for a quarter
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
It really didn't matter. Last time I checked, USD was stronger than CAD. Last week though, CAD went on to register a 30 year high beating USD ... and then becoming equal to it. As of today, 1USD = 1 CAD (okay its 1.0031 but the decimals are for ppl trading in billions).
Point is that it didn't matter. It took me a while to realize that; couple of weeks to be exact. The story goes something like this -
The place where I used to stay before, we had a washer dryer in the basement and I didn't have to make occasional trips to the bank and fetch quarter rolls. But out here, I do ... and its not always what you think you got (a roll of quarters i.e). So couple of weeks back I made a trip early SAT morning to the nearest bank to fetch some. Intention - do my Laundry over the Weekend.
Sunday evening I tried to do that but the machine simply wouldn't accept my quarters. Thought that the machine-slots would be filled to the brim with coins and ditched the plan. A week later tried the same thing. Again - same thing !! Frustrated, thought of calling the landlord and requesting him to fetch the deposited coins in the machine, so that I could use it.
Came back to my hut and a closer look reveled that one of the coins was a Canadian qtr. No wonder it didn't get pushed through the machine slot. Sigh !! Adulteration?? Oh yeah, happens quite often and anyone could squeeze in one or two Canadian coins in the roll and chances of him/her getting caught are bleak.
So after struggling for 2 consecutive weekends, I said CAD != USD. But guess what, the very next day (or the day after that ... I can't remember) read that CAD is on a 30 year high and that its equal to the USD. Way to go !! Its not just that, the weakening dollar has made many other currencies stronger; some have shattered the records, some would follow suit soon ......
Point is that it didn't matter. It took me a while to realize that; couple of weeks to be exact. The story goes something like this -
The place where I used to stay before, we had a washer dryer in the basement and I didn't have to make occasional trips to the bank and fetch quarter rolls. But out here, I do ... and its not always what you think you got (a roll of quarters i.e). So couple of weeks back I made a trip early SAT morning to the nearest bank to fetch some. Intention - do my Laundry over the Weekend.
Sunday evening I tried to do that but the machine simply wouldn't accept my quarters. Thought that the machine-slots would be filled to the brim with coins and ditched the plan. A week later tried the same thing. Again - same thing !! Frustrated, thought of calling the landlord and requesting him to fetch the deposited coins in the machine, so that I could use it.
Came back to my hut and a closer look reveled that one of the coins was a Canadian qtr. No wonder it didn't get pushed through the machine slot. Sigh !! Adulteration?? Oh yeah, happens quite often and anyone could squeeze in one or two Canadian coins in the roll and chances of him/her getting caught are bleak.
So after struggling for 2 consecutive weekends, I said CAD != USD. But guess what, the very next day (or the day after that ... I can't remember) read that CAD is on a 30 year high and that its equal to the USD. Way to go !! Its not just that, the weakening dollar has made many other currencies stronger; some have shattered the records, some would follow suit soon ......
Labels: Canada, Dollar, Rupee, US
Posted by Rajesh @ 7:56 PM; PERMALINK,
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Its hot and everyone's sweating
Saturday, August 11, 2007
I
ts hot in NYC, its hot in Europe, hot in Japan and other parts of Asia. The Cause - not summer's not the cause, its because of sub-prime mortgage fears and a panic. In today's economy, a global economy, things that happen out here in US is not just restricted to the US. Fear has spread to Europe n to Asia.
With the market swinging up and down staying putt seems to be the sane thing to do. But maybe not - its a hot oven out there on Wall Street now gripped with Fear and Speculation. Although Feds have intervened pouring some liquidity into the market, some are not happy. The real estate market that took a beating looks real bad and some were hoping for rate cuts. Chairman Ben Bernanke decided to play the waiting game and some folks like Cramer are not quite sure why ...
I totally love his show - Mad Money but don't think I totally agree with him. As people are losing money left and right, losing money invested in Financial companies, Real estate - it has started to affect the Tech stocks which are slipping down amidst all this fear, investments like 401k have also suffered a setback as people wait and watch. Its a waiting game as we go into the next week as the market tries to recover from a huge slide which some say is really bad ;the real estate slump is the worst since the Depression.
The weakening $$ doesn't help either, if at all anyone's gaining from all this its the firms in Asia. Just as an example the $ -Indian Rupee conversion now stands at 1 USD ~ 40 Rs, while it was close to 50 about 5 years back. Companies like Wipro (NYSE:WIT) are buying out US software firms and forging ahead in the IT sector.
What's happening in Boston - It was hot and humid 4 days this week and then a sudden slump to 70s. The car sits there in the parking lot baking in the sun and giving company to a GMC truck. It would have hoped of driving through the narrow streets this WE - but not today. Maybe tomorrow ..... if I'm able to get myself off of the Mac, which (as it would have learned by now) is a big IF :P
The weakening $$ doesn't help either, if at all anyone's gaining from all this its the firms in Asia. Just as an example the $ -Indian Rupee conversion now stands at 1 USD ~ 40 Rs, while it was close to 50 about 5 years back. Companies like Wipro (NYSE:WIT) are buying out US software firms and forging ahead in the IT sector.
What's happening in Boston - It was hot and humid 4 days this week and then a sudden slump to 70s. The car sits there in the parking lot baking in the sun and giving company to a GMC truck. It would have hoped of driving through the narrow streets this WE - but not today. Maybe tomorrow ..... if I'm able to get myself off of the Mac, which (as it would have learned by now) is a big IF :P
Labels: Boston, Dollar, Market, NASDAQ, NYSE, Rupee, Stock, Wipro
Posted by Rajesh @ 9:20 PM; PERMALINK,
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90 dollars please
Saturday, June 09, 2007
I just stared at the official when she said "90 dollars please". I asked her if she said 19 or 90. She re-iterated "90 please". I'm not sure how the state justifies these , they just charged me 90 bucks for an Out of State License conversion. You end up paying as much as you would would for registering your vehicle in the state (what?). And No, its not the same in other parts of the US. Place where I had got mine issued before - they charged me 20 bucks.
"The Spirit of America"
"The Spirit of America"
Posted by Rajesh @ 10:16 AM; PERMALINK,
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