A Market Survey
Students of Agri-Business [07-09] carried out a Market Study covering six states of India between 22nd Sept. and 30th Sept. 2008. An extensive study was conducted on the crop of sesame and groundnut seeds in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka by a nine groups of extremely dedicated and hardworking students. They covered more than 12000 kms and interviewed roughly 500 farmers and 100 traders over the course of this massive study. The students went to various APMCs, government institutions and research centers operating in the area to submit a most comprehensive and full fledged report on the topic.
Market research by MBA-AB students for IOPEA [Indian Oil seeds & Produce Exporters Association], Mumbai.
The students of SIIB have been assigned the vital task of conducting Market Research by the Indian Oil Seeds & Produce Exporters Association [Export Promotion Council] for the second year running. This job was conferred upon the students as the Association was greatly satisfied and impressed with the performance of our students at a presentation in the “Trade Meet” which was conducted at Mahabaleshwar on 13th October, 2008. The presentation on a study report was aimed at estimation of production, yield, quality and analysis of the impact of weather aberrations, pesticide use and irrigation facilities was done in a most professional manner and backed with extensive factual data and figures. The students caught the eye of all the three hundred people attending the conference which included seasoned traders, exporters and experts in the field.
How Many Stocks Are Required For a Well-Diversified Portfolio?
“Don’t put all eggs in one basket” may sound old fashioned, but it still remains sound advice in investing. Diversification is perhaps one of the most important tools available to investors to reduce the overall risk within their portfolio. Diversification means creating an investment portfolio that contains different types of investment-stocks bonds and cash equivalents. Diversification isn’t just about increasing the sheer number of your investments. It’s about striking a balance among various investments in the portfolio to reduce the exposure to risk and take advantage of the full range of opportunities in the market. The research intends to determine when this balance is achieved.
Crude Oil Speculation
The behavior of Crude Oil prices is similar to any other commodity with wide price swings especially in the times of shortage or oversupply. The crude oil price cycle may extend over several years responding to changes in demand as well as OPEC and non-OPEC supply. As unexpected, the beginning of low prices of the crude impacts the global system as severely as the record highs. The uncertainty about the cause of such variation is very hard to be attributed to only one of the factor. There are series of factors which interact with each other & bring about this undesirable change.
This paper “Crude Oil Speculation” puts forth the qualitative analysis of the macro economic factors which have been affecting the oil prices and the effect of fluctuations in Oil prices on economic and geopolitical situations. This research paper also shows the quantitative relationship between the different economic factors related to trading of crude oil in international market. These include relationships between Spot Price & Global Oil supply, Futures Contract Price & Global Oil supply, Spot Price & Futures of crude oil and the impact of Oil prices on US Dollar. The research also predicts the future spot prices of crude oil on the basis of monthly past data of spot prices for a period of 18 years since January 1990. The forecasting methodologies used are correlation and regression analysis along with single variable and two variable exponential smoothening.
This research can be helpful for those who want to know the impact of the aforesaid factors on either Oil supply or its spot price.
Fixed income market–A Study
The secondary debt market in India is practically non-existent. This research paper argues that with the recent economic reforms, an efficient and active debt market, particularly in long-term private debt instruments, is essential for the country to realize the full benefits of the reform process and to achieve its potential. It is further argued that the presence of small investors is critical to this process, given the limitations of the institutional investors. The essential conditions for a well-functioning debt market are identified from a study of the U.S. and European markets, and an assessment made of their presence in India. Specific concerns of small investors in the Indian context are described, and suggestions made as to how these can be addressed.
Microfinance
Microfinance is a $2 billion business in India and has a potential of easily growing to a size ranging from $10 billion to $30 billion. It has a lot of relevance in the developing countries like India where huge population is below poverty line. Microfinance is a very effective tool in raising the standard of living of the poor people and benefiting the country’s economy as a whole. However the challenge lies in expanding microfinance to the places where it is needed, so that the microfinancial instruments become accessible to the most needy people i.e. the rural poor of our country to meet their credit, savings and insurance needs. This research paper establishes the awareness, usage and attitude of the users and nonusers of microfinance instruments in villages of Pune. Also, it studies the scope of expansion of microfinance in villages of Pune.
Carbon Credit
Burning of fossil fuels is a major source of industrial greenhouse gas emissions, especially for power, cement, steel, textile, fertilizer and many other industries which rely on fossil fuels. Carbon credits are a key component of national and international emissions trading schemes that have been implemented to mitigate global warming. They provide a way to reduce greenhouse effect emissions on an industrial scale by capping total annual emissions and letting the market assign a monetary value to any shortfall through trading. Credits are awarded to countries or groups that have reduced their green house gases below their emission quota. Credits can be exchanged between businesses or bought and sold in international markets at the prevailing market price. Credits can be used to finance carbon reduction schemes between trading partners and around the world. Climate exchanges have been established to provide a spot market in allowances, as well as futures and options market to help discover a market price and maintain liquidity. Managing emissions is one of the fastest-growing segments in financial services in the world, a market now worth about €30 billion, but which could grow to €1 trillion within a decade.
Youth Consumerism
India has undergone a consistent demographic change in its population distribution. Over the past decade the share of Youth in the overall population has grown to 70%. The youth are driving major businesses in the Indian economy and business owners have realised this fact which is apparent in the changing marketing practices being employed. It is this fact that prompted us to undertake a research on youth consumerism.
The youth represents a unique culture and now occupies a central position in Indian society. A common characteristic exhibited is that everyone spends time in some place or the other almost every day in the course of the day. These places are classified as “Hangouts” and they address a wide variety of the youth’s needs. These may be college canteens, malls, multiplexes, restaurants, bars, etc. Some go to eat, some go to shop, some go out for entertainment but mostly, the youth goes out to “hangout”, i.e. just spend some time with friends, relax and have a nice time to break free of the day’s activities.
However, through personal experience and by observation over many years, we realise that the youth has a vast variety of needs and that no one hangout type comes even close to addressing a majority of these needs.
This led us to take this opportunity to find out about the motivation of the youth behind going to hangouts so frequently. These motivations will naturally vary from person to person, but we hope to identify the common reasons among the youth to feel the market pulse.
These hangouts represent a huge business. Several million people throughout our country spend money every day at these places. Moreover, these places have tremendous potential for promotion campaigns and can be of great interest to marketers.
Our interest also lies in identifying hidden motivations and understanding the needs of the youth with respect to their places of hangout in order to evaluate the business potential represented by unconventional hangouts which incorporate a vast variety of the youth’s needs.