Heard in the Studio

For some, there was a breather, while for others, the chickens came home to roost. However, all of this provided a lot of fodder for the folks at The Studio to chew on and talk about. Here's some of the banter we heard in the week gone by:

Diya: Korean steel major POSCO can breathe a little easy. Its long-in-the-works mega plans in Orissa finally received the much-coveted Jairam nod.

Ashwin: Yes, but with a lot of strings attached! Also, there could still be many a mile to go, with protestors planning to block routes to the proposed site.

Diya: Someone who sure seems to have hit a dead end is former telecom minister A Raja. But is his arrest really a case of too little, too late, as the Opposition alleges?

Ashwin: Depends on how the saga finally culminates. For Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak though, too late may just translate into too little. Guess, he needs to heed the loud calls, cut his losses and move on, quick and fast.

Diya: The lingering turmoil in Egypt is clearly not helping anybody. Oil, already on a boil, breached the $100 mark. With this, the cup of woes overfloweth for our oil marketing companies.

Ashwin: You bet. Now, only after the government has sanctioned an additional Rs 8,000 crore, will they go ahead and announce their Q3 results next week. They had postponed their result announcements, remember?

Diya: Oh yes. And this is not a new phenomenon. Hand-to-mouth, I say.

Ashwin: Talking of results, with companies steadily filing in their Q3 report cards, it's been a mixed bag so far. While earlier in the season, the biggies managed profit growth despite cost pressures, this week saw blue chips like Bharti Airtel, Maruti and Hero Honda post profit declines. Blame it mostly on adverse forex movements and rising raw material costs.

Diya: The markets too seem quite unsure about which way to go. Early in the week, it seemed like the falling knife phenomenon from the week before was all set to continue. But the pullback on Thursday left market pundits guessing. Only to be followed by the carnage on Friday!

Ashwin: It was not so long ago, when “high-growth” emerging markets like India were the darlings of money mavens from foreign shores. Now, with prospects looking up in their home countries, FIIs seem to be rooting for the comfort of the familiar. Fickle Instititutional Investors, methinks.

Diya: Hey, don't blame market participants for being opportunistic. That one attribute could well define whether they come out trumps or are consigned to the history books.

Ashwin: Guess, change is the only constant. Talking of which the new Chairman at SEBI, U.K. Sinha has big boots to fill. Retiring chief Bhave leaves behind a formidable legacy of investor protection.

Diya: One void though which India may find almost impossible to fill is that of ace defence strategist Mr K Subrahmanyam, who passed away last week. RIP, sir.

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