Samsung Vs Apple

Just when we were hoping that the existing war between Apple and Samsung would dissipate, if not get done completely, by the end of this year; there's news about the battle escalating in Germany. A Reuters report confirms that Samsung has freshly accused Apple of infringing on four of its patents pertaining to the use of emoticons, among other things. This only means that Samsung now has an escalated battle with Apple in Germany (the two have been battling it out over infringments pertaining to telecommunications standard technology WCDMA for 3G mobile handsets owned by Samsung). 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is dead

Kim Jong Il, North Korea's mercurial and enigmatic leader, has died. He was 69. Kim's death was announced today by state television from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.

Kim is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008 but appeared relatively vigorous in photos and video from recent trips to China and Russia and in numerous trips around the country carefully documented by state media. The leader, reputed to have had a taste for cigars, cognac and gourmet cuisine, was believed to have had diabetes and heart disease.

The news came as North Korea prepared for a hereditary succession. Kim Jong Il inherited power after his father, revered North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, died in 1994. In September 2010, Kim Jong Il unveiled his third son, the twenty-something Kim Jong Un, as his successor, putting him in high-ranking posts.

Nifty closes below 4700 for 1st time since 2009

It was a dire situation for the market on Friday despite RBI's policy on expected lines and flat global cues. The Nifty closed below the psychological 4700-mark for the first time since November 3, 2009 while theSensex shed 345.12 points. Looking at the sharp sell-off in index heavyweights, it seems investors cut some of their exposure in the second half of trade.

The Sensex closed at 15,491.4, after shedding more than 560 points from day's high of 16,068.90. The Nifty dropped 94.75 points, to end at 4,651.60; it touched the 4800 mark in an intra-day trade.

Sanjay Sinha, Founder of Citrus Advisors listed out the points, which spoiled the mood of markets. According to him, first is global problem, second is currency, third is government policies and fourth is interest rates.

For the week, the Sensex and Nifty fell over 4.5%.

Experts feel the mid quarter review of monetary policy announced by the RBI was on expected lines, so it was completely non-event for the market. Breaking of technical level of 4700 amid huge volumes may be the reason that traders opted to short selling.

"Today’s fall is definitely a little more unexpected because the RBI policy didn’t have anything that would spook the market," He feels this is some bout of concentrated selling.

The Reserve Bank of India kept CRR unchanged at 6% (the money banks have to necessarily park with the RBI), SLR at 24% (money which every bank has to maintain in the form of cash, gold or approved securities), repo rate (at which banks borrow money from RBI) at 8.5%, and even reverse repo rate (at which RBI borrow money from banks) remains unchanged at 7.5%.

The central bank insisted that downside risks to growth have clearly increased and inflation is still above comfort level. But it relieved some tension by saying further rate hikes may not be warranted. "Further monetary policy is likely to reverse cycle."

There was another ray of optimism, which is appreciation in the rupee after central bank's intervention. To control speculation in the currency, the Reserve Bank imposed restrictions with immediate effect on forward trading in the local currency by FIIs and traders and capped banks exposure to the forex market.

The Indian rupee moved up 1.5% or by 82 paise to 52.82 a dollar, which is quite better from record low of 54.29 touched yesterday. It was down by 80 paise to 68.85 an euro.

Shares of capital goods companies hit quite badly as experts feel the thrid quarter earnings would be very bad due to low order book and overall slowdown. The respective index fell 4.4%; L&T was down 5.33% and BHEL tanked 3.9%.

The BSE Bank, Realty, Power, Metal and Oil & Gas indices were down 2-3%. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries plunged 3.43%, to close at Rs 723 a share.

Rupee hits all time low; trading at 54.23

The rupee breached the 54 mark to open at 54.20 against a dollar. The rupee had closed at 53.71 yesterday. Currently it is trading at 54.23.

Analysing the trend, Sanju Verma said there were enough signals about the rupee weakening. The general sense is that the RBI does not want to throw good money after bad. The RBI data suggests that on two days in November, the Reserve Bank of India had intervened, but that had not help the rupee. The RBI’s ability to do anything is very much limited. The rupee is playting spoil-sport and on the exchange rate front, one will need to be prepared for the worst. 

According to Ssharad D Pawaar, SPFX INDIA: "The rupee is expected to slide further as the safe haven demand for the dollar continues. Investors converting holdings into dollar towards year-end is also pushing the greenback higher. Weak equity markets cues may also weigh on sentiment. The range for the day is seen between 53.75-54/$."

HTC sues Citi in Taiwan after share price fall

HTC Corp , the world's No.4 smartphone maker, has filed a criminal complaint against Citigroup Inc's Taiwan unit, alleging the bank published false information that led to a fall in HTC's share price, a Taiwan prosecutor said on Tuesday.

HTC, whose rapid rise in the cut-throat handset industry had made it an investor darling until early this year, has lost much of its lustre in recent weeks as its models struggle to compete with Apple Inc's iPhone and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's Galaxy range.

Its shares have tumbled from a high of more than TUSD 1,200 in April to as low as TUSD 403 earlier this month. HTC has twice cut its earnings forecast recently, stoking investor concern over future profits.

"HTC submitted its case in August and we have been in the process of handling it," said Huang Mou-hsin, deputy chief prosecutor at the Taipei Prosecution Office. "HTC sued Citi Global Markets for violating stock transaction law," he said, declining to elaborate further.

HTC declined to confirm or deny the action, saying it did not comment on legal cases. Citi Global Markets Taiwan officials had no immediate comment.

Taiwan newspapers reported on Tuesday that HTC and Citi had run out of time for a settlement, so prosecutors had stepped in.

"HTC is using the lawsuit as a gesture to say its outlook is not as bad as the research report indicated and to ask foreign analysts to keep quiet or at least to stay a bit low-profile," said K.H. Lin, vice president at the fund unit of Yuanta Financial Holding Co Ltd.

"For long-term investors, however, HTC is probably not a good buy. We are very worried about the future of HTC due to its patent war with Apple and others. The lack of a powerful pool of patents is the most vulnerable part for HTC and other Taiwan companies."

HTC is fighting legal battles on several fronts and faces a crucial ruling in the United States on Wednesday in a patent case with arch-rival Apple that could result in a ban on HTC's handsets being sold in the United States.

The suit is seen as a proxy for the larger fight for market share between Google Inc's Android cellphones and tablets, many of which HTC makes, and Apple's product line.

Samsung, which also makes Android products, is locked in similar court fights with Apple.

The International Trade Commission, a US trade panel that investigates patent infringement involving imported goods, will deliver its ruling on Wednesday.

HTC shares were up 2.5USD  in early Tuesday trading at TUSD 426.50.

"The rise is because the current share price is too low and valuations are way under," said KGI Securities analyst Richard Ko in Taipei. "The price already reflects the risk of future court judgements."