New sheriff in town - Carlos Slim

Carlos Slim

The Forbes billionaire list has been released charting the world's richest people 2010 list. Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helu topped the list, with $53.5 billion, $500 million ahead of long-time list topper Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who ranked second. Legendary investor Warren Buffet was third with $47 billion.

On the World's Richest People 2009 list, Carlos Slim Helu was in the third place, after Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. Carlos Slim Helu has various telecom holdings. Over the past 12 months, his net worth increased by $18.5 billion as the shares of America Movil rose 35% in one year.

This dramatic increase knocked Bill Gates off his nearly 14 years reign as the world's richest man. Bill Gates' asset also increased by $13 billion as Microsoft's shares rose by 50% over the year.

Investor Warren Buffett saw an increase of $10 billion in net worth in 2010. He now ranks the 3rd on the world's richest people list.

The biggest loser in the world this year was Mukesh Ambani's younger brother Anil Ambani, who lost $32 billion - 76 percent of his fortune - as shares of his Reliance Communications, Reliance Power and Reliance Capital all collapsed, Forbes said on its website. He was last year's biggest gainer.

The Worlds Billionaire's Rank List

1. Carlos Slim Helu .......(53.5)
2. William Gates III........(53.0)
3. Warren Buffett ...........(47.0)
4. Mukesh Ambani..........(29.0)
5. Lakshmi Mittal.............(28.7)
6. Lawrence Ellison........(28.0)
7. Bernard Arnault..........(27.5)
8. Eike Batista................(27.0)
9. Amancio Ortega........(25.0)
10. Karl Albercht..............(23.5)

* all amounts are in $ billion

Punjab – The Final Testing Ground

SINGH IS KING

Cash and Carry retail outfits have chosen Punjab as their final testing ground.

The largest cash and carry experiment in India will take place over the next 5 years in a state that offers no concessions in the form of land and electricity.

For cash-&-carry firms, Punjab offers a stable political climate, good infrastructure and a huge NRI driven consumer base.

The Punjab government wants to create a level playing field in the business of agri-sourcing by amending the APMC act (Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee); which will allow private companies to work directly with farmers for 10 years instead of present 30 months.

Punjab’s fecundity makes available high quality produce at local wholesale prices. Thus the produce could be sold abroad by the retail companies under their private label, which might be traded at higher marks-ups.

Punjab is a market ready for malls. Except few small malls in Ludhiana & Jalandhar, there are no large malls in the state. The state has a large population, including a huge number of non-resident returnees with the exposure to retailing in western countries which understands the dynamics of large malls & offers a receptive clientele.

Punjab has 6 Metros & 6 Walmart stores in the next 5 years. Both companies say that, if their operations fail in Punjab, they will not build business in India. It seems the survival of the cash and carry put to a test. Will this model crash or carry..??

RISING DEMAND FOR COMPACT CARS

India could become a global production hub for hatchbacks as stringent emission norms come into play.

India has attracted the attention of the global automotive industry because of the impressive growth in the sector, particularly in the small car market, and its future potential in the country. Indian governments “Automotive Mission Plan 2006-16” talks about “building India as a small car hub”

2010 is going to be definitive year for Indian motoring. From Nissan to Porsche to our very own TATA Motors, all are lining up new models and variants for the Indian buyers. With new, exotic brands rolling in, the compact segment will see a close race this year.

Analyses show that hatchbacks are largely powered by petrol engines & have small carbon footprints. Hatchbacks can continue to be powered by next-generation internal combustion engine and still meet emission requirements beyond 2015. But bigger cars will need to adopt either hybrid or fully electric-propulsion system by 2015.

Considering all the features that a small car can pack, even those who can afford bigger cars are opting for the small ones. There are other benefits to smallness: less stress in driving and parking, since there is shortage of space on roads and parking areas in cities; less consumption of raw material, which means lesser fuel needed to run cars… etc… etc…

7 Reasons China Will Lead the Global Economic Recovery.

7 Reasons China Will Lead the Global Economic Recovery...

The recent 21% tumble in the Chinese markets had investors around the world bailing out of China. But, this sell-off actually created one of the biggest buying opportunities of a lifetime. Here’s why China is poised to take off – and how to cash in as China leads the global economic recovery.

1. Incredible GDP growth is driving returns

Recently, HSBC China economist Qu Hongbin forecasted that the Chinese economy will expand to 9.5% in 2010. The impressive GDP growth comes not only from China’s massive $586 billion fiscal stimulus package, but from strong growth in consumer demand.

2. China can stimulate its economy without going into debts

With $2.3 trillion dollars in reserves, China has been able to strategically stimulate their economy – without having to deficit-spend to do it. China hasn’t had to go into debt or print trillions of dollars to attempt to stimulate its economy like the U.S. did. This gives China an incredible opportunity to shore up the economy without damaging its future economic prospects.

3. China is funding global growth

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced they were considering issuing $50 billion in bonds to better finance aid to countries struck by the global financial crisis; they turned to China to purchase them.

4. China is moving the world away from US dollar

Not only is China taking advantage of its economic strength to gain leverage in the IMF, it is also pushing for a move away from the U.S. Dollar as the world reserve currency. As the largest holder of U.S. dollar reserves in the world, China has a lot of reasons to be concerned with the value of the U.S. dollar.

5. China is creating a marketplace for its currency

China's central bank has signed bilateral currency swap agreements with six different countries – including Argentina, South Korea and Indonesia – worth $95 billion dollars. The countries that participate in these swap agreements can use Chinese Yuan to buy goods and services in China. With these agreements, China has created a market for its currency without ever having to put it into the open market.

6. China has a room to grow

Annual per-capita income in China is only $6,000 – compared with $47,000 in the U.S. The sheer size of China (1.3 billion people) and its increasing prosperity is an enormous force that can’t be ignored.

7. Global GDP growth is shifting east

As the global markets begin to mend themselves we will see global GDP share move from the west to Asia – led by China. Western economies will decline to just 45% of global economic activity by 2012 – far ahead of the original estimates that predicted the West wouldn’t fall below 50% until 2015. The Shanghai Stock Exchange increased its share of global market cap by 636%. In addition, by 2020 – just 10 years from now – China’s share of global consumption will be equal to that of the United States.