Real turns Old : Go Virtual

Do you have a natural flair for games? Are just an abecedarian who makes a good pastime gaming? Have you made easy on the Q3DM17 Hardcore levels of Quake 3? Whoever you are, its time to start thinking futuristic.

Its just a week i have been introduced to this superb concept of virtual life with gaming. Woww!! The things you can play here is just limited by your imagination. You can live a new life doing everything you can do in this real world. Wanna make a Chinese friend, create your own Las Vegas lotto machines, play a concert to the whole world, invest in land and earn money for people sitting out there!! Concepts like Real Cash Economy in which the gaming currencies can be redeemed back to real world funds!! An Asteroid Space Resort that was sold out for $100,000 US Dollars!! My goodness, Sounds awesome, aint it?

Yeppie, Welcome to the Virtual Universe, The Online Digital World of Gaming imagined, created and owned by its residents. Games that make footprints beyond your imagination : Second Life(http://secondlife.com/), Entropia Universe(http://www.entropiauniverse.com/), Cyberpark(http://www.dotsoul.net/). What are you waiting for? Go there, download and experience the next-gen virtual economy.

Are you an Adsenser???

AdSense!! Marking a new epoch in revenue generation!! Are you part of it?

Adsense is a feature offered by Google to make money online with no investment. You just need a site to begin with, the site may be a blogsite too. You register for Free with this Adsense program, provide a sitename for Google to crawl through, and start writing your contents. Once Google gets sufficient substance in your site, it starts displaying Ads based on the site-content.

Once people start visiting your site and clicking on these Ads, Google automatically credits your account based on many factors(who cares..). A very simple way to generate money, this is really worth a try.

A good example is what you see in red in the right hand side, and in the bottom of this site. So before leaving this page, it would be great if you could make a click on these Ads. Giving a penny for this blog :-) Thanks dude, You are making me richer!!!

Online Trading : How to go about it!!

Stock markets zooming like hell..Infy Results creating bullish energies in the market trend..So are you ready for the race?

Wait! Think before you proceed!! Trading as opposed to investing is watching intensively at the stock market day-in and day-out, studying the trends in the stocks as they move up or down, and squaring up positions to end your day in net loss or gain. Trading also has several flavours. You may trade in stocks, options, commodities, hedge on funds, go short or long, or even take your 10$ profit from Dow Jones too..Lots of options to watch out for, but are they really worth your money.

If you are really crazy about trading or about stock market, or you are a person already there for around 10 years, please click on the Close button and exit, because this is just a start-on tips session and also I am no person here to convince that you are doing anything wrong. But if you are in a dilemma to invest in stocks/options, here is my advice rather experiences that can place you in the driver's seat.

Online Trading is very easy..Its all about registering with a reliable broker and choosing your right stocks to invest. First, analyze different alternatives by getting brochures from different brokers like KotakSecurities, ICICI Trading, Angel broking, HSBC Securities, etc.. Ok!! What are the things to look out for?

First, watch out for the Brokerage rates..This is very very important. This affects your everyday transaction, and would turn costly if you dont select the right one. Ask the broker if he has any corporate offers(Kotaksec has it, I am with Kotak-so i can give more info on this), then check the Intra-Day and Inter-Day Brokerage rates. My dad took an ICICI Trading account, and for the high brokerage rates it provides, even the small profits he makes turns into severe
losses due to brokerage. Kotaksecurities is pretty descent(0.05 paise/Rs.100 for Intra-Day and 0.45 paise/Rs.100 for Inter-Day trading).

Second, ask him the Startup charges and monthly/annual rates for a demat account. These days, when you start an online account for trading, brokers provide options to hold a 3-in-1 account(Bank a/c + Demat a/c + Trading a/c). Now for starting a demat a/c, there may be options like Rs.30 per month or Rs.750 per year. Kotak provides the former in one of its plans. Then the startup criterias. A trading account in Kotak requires you to have a minimum of Rs.1000 to start with, the bank account to have a min of Rs.2500. Now after all this, and lots of other formal procedures, you will get a Welcome Kit after two weeks.

Third, and really important, check out the Services the broker provides. Services include daily recommendations by SMS that cover both intra-day and inter-day investments, Call-and-Trade facilities, etc.. While asking you to start an account, he says they provide you good regular recommendations to buy a particular stock, etc. But Kotak really Sucks!!! I have never received a recommendation till now and it sure drives you crazy. They have Call-and-Trade facilities like 20 free Trading calls per month but the service Kotak provides, I am fed up with it.

Ok!! Now having opened an account, the next big step is choosing the right stock. Thats completely in your hands. If you are going for a long-term investment, I would suggest you invest in biggies like Infy and they are sure to give you returns. But if you want to play with the market, and go for Intra-Day trading, thats where you need to very very careful.

Remember, 90% of people have lost huge amounts of money in Intra-Day trading. But I went for it to be in the other 10%, but it ultimately turned the other way. Profits came for me in termed of tens and hundreds, and losses in thousands and thousands. I have stopped trading now to take a break i would say, but I am no way quitting it. Who are those bloody idiots to take away my hard earned money. He who quits fails. I will return to conquer.
So if you have lots of time, and wanna gain lots but with huge risk, go for Intra-Day trading. Else i would say Invest!! Thats my mantra now.

My Tips:

1. Invest only that money which you are ready to spare with. Understand your risk portfolio.
2. Dont buy in one exchange and sell in the other. It can go for a Short-Sell.
3. Never short-sell unless you are sure the stock is moving down. You can go Long any time, but once you short-sell, you have to sqaure-off the same day, and if not, stocks will go for Auctions.
4. Never be in a position to give your stocks for Auctions. Big losses can accrue if your shares go for it.
5. If you have no other option but your shares need to be auctioned, discuss with your broker and try to avoid it by transferring some of your friends/relatives shares to your account.
6. Never go for Options/Derivates/Investing in Commodities unless you are very sure about it.

In spite of all these, I would still say I had a very good experience in the Stock-Market. After all, this is what is ruling the Indian economy now. Whatever be the result, its nice to have experienced that, because every moment in our life triggers our understanding to live better. Happy Investing!!

Chennai Real Estates : The Best Investment

Skyrocketing!! Thats the word frequently used to describe this business. The investment thats going to make an Aandi-Arasan tranformation..So can you just blindly jump into this sea without knowing its depths..Definitely a big Nooo!!

First of all, it depends on what kind of portfolio you are looking out for. Are you going to buy Stones or Mud..If you are settling for stones, are you looking for a new one or a resale. And moreover, is it going to be a flat in a 10-floor apartment, a semi-independent or an independent duplex house. Oops!! Lot to think about..

Lets take the case of buying a Land. I would state some figures that are currently prevalent in the market.(Disclaimer:Prices quoted here by experience of author. Can be used just as reference values but should reconsider while taking individual decisions).

S No	Chennai’s Hot Areas	Price per ground(2400 sq.ft) in lakhs
1	T Nagar, Nungambakkam, Mylapore, Adyar	100-300
2	Velachery	45-125
3	Mahindra City near (SP Koil, Guduvanchery, Maraimalai nagar, Urapakkam)	6-17
4	Sriperambadur(near Nokia and Saint Gobain)	4-9
5	Pallikaranai, Medavakkam, Chitlapakkam, Ponmar	4-40

My Take: For investments anywhere between 2-12L, places from Perungalathur till Chengalpet like SP Koil, Guduvanchery, Urapakkam, Maraimalai Nagar is a very good buy. Its sure to appreciate very good. Between 10-35L, places like East Tambaram, Palikaranai, or acres near Mahindra city and Sriperambadur is a good option. Above 35L(not sure how many will go for this), you have lots to choose. Its your choice :-).

Now before buying a plot or a house, think hard and evaluate all its alternatives. Remember, this is a life time investment. First, have a look at the area, the surroundings, the situation there whenever there is rain(if you are ready to hire a boat, then its fine), the legal issues, abutting roads, CMDA/MMDA approval, processed patta, the history of the seller, the price-differences in that area and value-for-money(near road corner plots are good) investments. Moreover, for legal issues, double check with good lawyers, and get clarified for anything weird that may happen. If you going for a private seller rather than a reputed real estate agent, be careful about double-dealings also(heard that there are lots happening in areas like Pallikaranai).

Now after you buy a plot(if u building a house, then no problem), maintenance is very very important. You may think I buy a plot, leave it alone for 2 years, and then sell it off at double/triple the rate. Uhh!! Big mistake!! After 2 years, you return to your plot and see a whole colony living there. Regular maintenance of your land is really essential. Once a month, just have a view of your land, fence it just after your buy and have a local person in chennai to constantly monitor. That would bring down the risk of your investment.

But the other side(i would not say this as a disadvantage for the retuns you get) of investment in land, you get Zero Tax Benefit which is not the case when you buy a new house/get a resale flat. So the decision to invest in this business should be highly planned and executed, and I am sure you will reap tremendous benefits for the little risks you take. So my 2 paisa for Investments at Chennai!!

A Role Model for Telecom industry!!

A simple man to go with, cheers on his face always speaking of his confidence to acheive and explore new arenas, asking lots of 'why-nots' questions, and a real modest person. He is one of the Telcordia Impact Players, a Telcordia Fellow who has 16 patents in his name. I happened to meet this lively person personally in one of the presentations held today about 'Converged Application Portal Demo'.

Darek Smyk, with more than 20 years of service at Telcordia, has always another 'why-not' to answer. He is the Director of Telcordia's Services Incubator and Systems Engineering portfolio, his photography etched in one of the sites of Telcordia. I was stunned hearing this one. Transforming people's lives to a futuristic arena making life easier, I am sure he deserves this blog!!