War On Currency Officially Begins: ECB Ends Production Of €500 Bill

Following the denial in February that this action is in any way about reducing cash, The ECB has made its decision on the EUR500 Bill:

• *ECB ENDS PRODUCTION AND ISSUANCE OF €500 BANKNOTE
• *ECB SAYS ISSUANCE OF EU500 NOTE TO STOP AROUND THE END OF 2018
• *ECB SAYS OTHER EURO BANKNOTES WILL STAY IN PLACE
• *ECB: EU500 CAN BE EXCHANGED AT CEN BANKS FOR UNLIMITED TIME

And just like that the second highest denominated European bank note in circulation (after the CHF1000 Bill) is dead...

And so now, everyone rushes into the CHF 1000 note.

So what, big deal, eliminate it. The people will still have 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 euro bills right.

As we wrote previously, the answer is not that simple at all. Recall that the €500 note is the second highest currency denomination in G10, after the CHF1,000 note. More importantly, the total value of €500 notes in circulation amounts to €306.8bn and has been rising as shown in this BofA chart:

Read more at http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-05-04/war-paper-currency-officially-begins-ecb-ends-productionissuance-eu500-bill

Market outlook

Daily charts
- trend is down
- reversal level 8000
- today advance decline was negative, VIX flat
- so far this looks like a healthy correction
- correction likely to be limited to 7500 levels

Death By a Thousand Cuts

In the U.S., over $13 trillion of institutional capital relies on consultants for advice on which funds to invest in. Pensions, endowments, foundations and other large pools of money utilize consultants for a range of services, most notably picking different outside money managers to invest in on their behalf.

Research shows that investment consultants as a group add no value through their selection of investment managers. They chase past performance and make far too many unnecessary changes. Data also shows that the managers consultants fired have gone on to perform better than the ones they hire.

The paradox here is that these non-profit institutions need outside advice in most cases. The majority don’t have the time or resources to monitor their portfolios or pick and choose new investments.

That’s a full-time job and many of these funds can’t hire full-time investment staff. The problem is they’re paying for the wrong kind of advice.

Warren Buffett seems to agree with me. Here are his thoughts from the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting last weekend:

Read more at http://awealthofcommonsense.com/2016/05/death-by-a-thousand-cuts/

BANK NIFTY Fibonacci retracement levels

NIFTY Fibonacci retracement levels

Market outlook

Daily charts
- trend is down on daily charts
- reversal level 8000
- expecting a limited correction to max 7500
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Warren Buffet on investment consultants

“Supposedly sophisticated people, generally richer people, hire consultants, and no consultant in the world is going to tell you ‘just buy an S&P index fund and sit for the next 50 years.’ You don’t get to be a consultant that way. And you certainly don’t get an annual fee that way. So the consultant has every motivation in the world to tell you, ‘this year I think we should concentrate more on international stocks,’ or ‘this manager is particularly good on the short side,’ and so they come in and they talk for hours, and you pay them a large fee, and they always suggest something other than just sitting on your rear end and participating in the American business without cost. And then those consultants, after they get their fees, they in turn recommend to you other people who charge fees, which… cumulatively eat up capital like crazy.”

“And the consultants always change their recommendations a little bit from year to year. They can’t change them 100% because then it would look like they didn’t know what they were doing the year before. So they tweak them from year to year and they come in and they have lots of charts and PowerPoint presentations and they recommend people who are in turn going to charge a lot of money and they say, ‘well you can only get the best talent by paying 2-and-20,’ or something of the sort, and the flow of money from the ‘hyperactive’ to what I call the ‘helpers’ is dramatic.”

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2016/05/02/warren-buffetts-epic-rant-against-wall-street

Warren Buffett’s Epic Rant Against Wall Street

The “Oracle of Omaha” went on an epic rant against Wall Street this weekend.

Just before lunch at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on Saturday, Warren Buffett unloaded what he called a “sermon” about hedge funds and investment consultants, arguing that they are usually a “huge minus” for anyone who follows their advice.

The Berkshire chairman has long argued that most investors are better off sticking their money in a low-fee S&P 500 index fund instead of trying to beat the market by employing professional stockpickers. He used the annual meeting to update the tens of thousands in attendance—and others watching via a webcast–about his multi-year bet with hedge fund Protege Partners. The bet, initiated by the New York fund back in 2006, was that over a decade, the cumulative returns of five fund-of-funds picked by Protege would outperform a Vanguard S&P 500 index fund, even when including fees.

Read more at http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2016/05/02/warren-buffetts-epic-rant-against-wall-street

REC LTD trading near long term supports (145 - monthly charts)

UPL up 10% today, closes at lifetime high (weekly chart)

SRTRANSFIN up 15% today

SMSLISIZU up 7% today... hitting strong resistance

SKSMICRO at 2 year high

MARICO very strong 2 years... making new lifetime highs

BAJAJFINSV breakout

Stock approaching / retesting lifetime highs.

SL 1800

*KMILES... buy signal near resistance

The Salaries Of Top Fund Managers In Mutual Funds

The new rules framed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) mandating that Mutual Funds disclose the remuneration paid to the fund managers and other top brass has not gone down well with the mandarins of the mutual funds.

Sundeep Sikka, the head honcho of Reliance Mutual Fund, voiced the irritation of the mandarins when he tweeted “Too frequent & disruptive regulatory changes for MF distributors can have a very negative impact on growth of AMC industry itself.”

....

Peerless Mutual Fund is sailing in the same boat as PPFAS with Rajiv Shastri, its CEO, and Vilas Solanki, the Head of Ops, taking home salaries of Rs. 1.20 crore and Rs. 30 lakh respectively.

In contrast, Prashant Jain, the whiz-kid fund manager with HDFC Mutual Fund, pockets a fortune of Rs. 22.62 crore. However, even he is second place because Milind Barve, the MD of the Fund, rules the roost with a pay package of Rs. 26.21 crore.

The other fund managers of HDFC MF pocket salaries ranging from Rs. 13 crore to Rs. 5 crore. As many as 38 persons receive remuneration in excess of Rs. 1 crore.

Prima facie, the remuneration levels appear to depend on the AUM of the Mutual Fund and the celebrity status of the fund manager. The performance of the fund may also have a bearing.

Read more at http://rakesh-jhunjhunwala.in/check-out-the-salaries-of-top-fund-managers-in-mutual-funds

Rajan Emboldens India Bond Bulls by Switching on the Money Pumps

Bond investors in India are turning more bullish as central bank Governor Raghuram Rajan shows them the money.

Ten-year notes capped a third monthly gain on Friday, with the yield dropping 34 basis points since Jan. 31 to 7.44 percent. It’s seen declining to 7.30 percent by Dec. 31 in the latest Bloomberg survey, down from 7.50 percent predicted in a March poll. The optimism is stemming from the Reserve Bank of India’s commitment to provide more cash to the financial system and expectations that adequate monsoon rains will keep inflation in check.

Read more at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-01/rajan-emboldens-india-bond-bulls-by-switching-on-the-money-pumps

Sell in May and go away... some links

Search Results

Sell In May And Go Away Definition | Investopedia

www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sell-in-may-and-go-away.asp

What does 'Sell In May And Go Away' mean. Sell in May and go away is a well-known trading adage that warns investors to sell their stock holdings in May to avoid a seasonal decline in equity markets. ... This strategy is based on the historical underperformance of stocks in the six ...

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In the news

'Sell in May and go away' might be the right strategy on Dalal Street too, say analysts

Economic Times‎ - 6 hours ago

MUMBAI: 'Sell in May and go away' this old Wall Street adage that recommends investors to ...

'Sell in May and go away' sounds stupid — but it's good advice

CNBC‎ - 2 days ago

Index Outlook: Sell in May and go away?

Hindu Business Line‎ - 1 day ago

More news for sell in may and go away

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It sounds crazy, but 'sell in May and go away' is good advice

www.cnbc.com/.../it-sounds-crazy-but-sell-in-may-and-go-away-is-good...

2 days ago - Rhyming couplets can rarely be expected to serve as sound investment advice. But "sell in May and go away" may be a prominent exception.

Sell in May - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sell_in_May

Sell in May and go away is an investment strategy for stocks based on a theory that the period from November to April inclusive has significantly stronger growth ...

‎Cause of the effect - ‎Academic response - ‎See also - ‎References

Maharashtra pays 40% of India's Income Tax - infographic