The Hindu Business Line : Charting and cricket

Investing or trading in the stock market without any knowledge of technical charts and chart patterns is akin to facing the very first ball of a match without any protective gear like helmet, pads, gloves, etc., says Ashwani Gujral in ‘How to Make Money Trading with Charts’ ( www.visionbooksindia.com ). With protective gear, even if you are out in the first over, you will not hurt yourself, he adds.

Since technical analysis makes the assumption that history repeats itself, any trading method or system that works well on a broad sample of historical data may have validity when applied to future trading environments, the author explains. A note of caution, however, is that markets being dynamic, forces that trigger price movements and the market participants may change.

Charting, for starters, is all about pictorial representation of a stock’s demand and supply over a period of time. A chart has three parameters, viz. time, price, and the resultant pattern, Gujral elucidates. He assures that a good trader can use charts to make forecasts of the future trend.

Prescribed read.

Edgy concepts needed

In a period of dematerialisation, of service industries and product fatigue, of globalisation, environmental concerns, and dwindling supplies of raw materials and energy, only the innovative manufacturers will be able to successfully navigate, foresee Kaj Grichnik and Conrad Winkler in ‘Make or Break: How Manufacturers Can Leap from Decline to Revitalization’ ( www.tatamcgrawhill.com ).

They anticipate the need for ‘a variety of remarkable technologies, ideas, and shifts in attitude’ if the boundaries of conventional practices are to be broken. “Edgy concepts such as instant manufacturing, industrial origami, and biomimicry (fabrication based on principles derived from nature) must be tested and adopted where appropriate.”

Grichnik and Winkler exhort companies to go beyond direct connections between shop-floor employees and customers, and transform the old fossilised plant footprints into nimble networks, retrofitting stolid and aging factories to become showcases of lean manufacturing.

“Confrontational labour relationships must evolve into constellations of joint interests; outmoded supply chains must be transformed into clearly defined, mutually beneficial partnerships; fabrication techniques must be revitalised through the use of new materials and machinery.”

Clarion call!

Sustainability shift

The role of companies has rapidly moved from a defensive approach – denying the existence of environmental threats like global warming – to a more mature and responsible attitude toward sustainability, says Stefano Pogutz in one of the essays included in ‘Corporate Accountability and Sustainable Development,’ edited by Peter Utting and Jennifer Clapp ( www.oup.com ).

The shift is evident from the associations and networks formed by large corporations ‘to communicate with institutions, develop and implement sustainability strategies, innovate products and processes, and circulate best practices.’ For example, the WBCSD (World Business Council for Sustainable Development) brings together 180 international companies, from more than 30 countries and 20 industries.

Worth an in-depth study.

Three Ps of mining

With the mining industry well into the midst of a commodities super-cycle, the strain on resources to support the industry is one of the most critical issues facing mining companies today, observes PricewaterhouseCoopers in ‘Mine: As good as it gets?’ ( www.pwc.com ). “In the rush to capitalise on soaring mineral prices, companies are rapidly expanding existing locations, revitalising mothballed locations, and aggressively looking to acquire producing assets.”

The 3 Ps affecting the industry are people, power, and procurement, notes the publication.

For instance, there is a shortage of metallurgists and mining engineers. Interestingly, a recent cross-border response to the manpower problem is the 12-month Masters of Engineering Program, with a Chinese International Option, offered by the University of British Columbia in Canada.

Addressing the lifestyle issues associated with a career in mining, the industry has been continually improving benefit packages. So much so, “the mining industry is currently seen as one of the most innovative industries in terms of facilitating employment arrangements and schedules, which applies equally to skilled and unskilled workers.”

Packed with key insights.

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D. Murali

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