The Hindu Business Line : Investment quiz

1. The Bombay Stock Exchange recently converted itself into a company and is now known as BSE Ltd. It also plans an initial public offering of equity over the next year. This is a watershed in a journey that began on a modest note more than 125 years ago. When it was formed, the exchange was known as ...

2. On January 31, 2006, Mr Alan Greenspan will demit office as Chairman of the US Federal Reserve after his fifth term in office. Even if the US President wants to nominate him for another term, it would not be possible. Why?

3. This company started operations in October 1987 under the name of Manz Wear Private Ltd. Its business focus was marketing of branded garments. It became a listed company in 1992 and acquired its present name in 1999. Over the past two years, it has been one of the more coveted stocks in India. Which company are we referring to?

4. VSNL has been on an acquisition binge in the global market for telecom networks. Name the two companies that it has acquired over the past 18 months.

5. Which is the latest index product on which the NSE offers futures and options contracts?

6. Almost a hundred years ago, Oscar Kjellberg invented the welding electrode and acquired a patent. The company that he founded is now a world leader in welding and cutting tools with a rich product pipeline and a presence in several geographies. Its Indian arm, too, has over the past two years overcome several difficult years and is now on a robust growth path. Name the company.

7. Kospi is the bellwether index of which emerging market?

8. Investing: The Last Liberal Art is a book on investment philosophy. The author is Mr Robert G. Hagstrom. Who is the famous investor whose ideas are at the core of the book?

9. Rare is the personality who is an actor and an innovator at the cutting edge of technology. But the person in the photograph managed to combine the two deftly. She socialised with Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Her first husband was so obsessed with her that he never let her go out of his sight. She escaped him and the Nazi world by moving to London. She soon starred in movies in England and later shifted to Hollywood. With composer George Antheil, she invented the "Secret Communication System". They did not derive any monetary benefit out of this invention that has found application in the military and is now at the core of the wireless communication as `spread spectrum'. The likes of Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Vodafone, Bharti Tele-Ventures and Cingular, to a name a few, owe much of their success to this invention. In 2003, Boeing featured her in an ad campaign as a woman of science. Name this multi-faceted personality?

10 A sitter to end this edition of investment quiz: Name the stock that was listed during the past week with gains of over 100 per cent on the offer price.

Answers

1. The Native Share & Stock Brokers Association.

2. A member of Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve can enjoy a term of 14 years. If you are appointed as a replacement mid-way for another person, you can also hold the office for the unexpired term of that member. This is why Mr Alan Greenspan has been able to remain a member for a period that is just eight months short of 20 years.

3. Pantaloon Retail

4. Tyco Global and Teleglobe

5. Bank Nifty - a contract on the CNX Bank Index - that was launched in June this year.

6. Esab

7. South Korea

8. Mr Charlie Munger, Vice-Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, who is widely considered the closest ally of Mr Warren Buffett and an investor of eminence in his own right.

9. Hedy Lamarr, born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler.

10. Sasken Technologies.

Compiled by S. Vaidya Nathan

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page