Posted: February 28th, 2007 | Author: saldarji | Filed under: music | No Comments »
After two investing-related posts I thought I’d talk about something more interesting.
I remember seeing the Faint upstairs at the Middle East a long time ago. It was definitely before they achieved rock star status because I think there was about 20 people in the audience.
According to Pitchfork, they have a handful of upcoming shows scheduled. They play on March 12th in Minneapolis at First Avenue. First Avenue is a legendary rock club for those of you reading this outside of the Midwest. Prince started out there. For my 2 readers in Minneapolis, go check them out!
Unfortunately, I will be stuck in Arkansas doing some consulting work for a major retailer for the indefinite future. Happy Happy Joy Joy.
On the bright side, the Bon Savants are playing at the 400 bar this Saturday. I believe Thom, from the Bon Savants, is dating my friend Emily. Oh, they have the obligatory MySpace page here.
Posted: February 28th, 2007 | Author: saldarji | Filed under: business | No Comments »
As everyone has read in the papers, there was a small drop in the global equity markets, which was triggered by a drop in the Shanghai composite index. My sense is that this is the beginning of a much larger correction in the Chinese equities market.
The situation reminds me of the
Nikkei Bubble of the 80s. The speculation then was fueled by an expectation of hypergrowth, which is similar to the expectations in China. In addition, the Japanese had an unusual brokerage system, where brokers basically guaranteed their clients that the prices of stocks would continue to rise. In effect, it propped up the stock market far longer than it should have. This is similar to the Chinese market, only in China it is the government propping up the price.
The Chinese government is also a huge factor here. The government closely monitors the stock market. A large majority of listed companies are state-owned. The state also controls the brokerages and the biggest institutional investors. So naturally, the government has an incentive to prop up the market, and to prevent steep sell offs. – link
The interesting thing about bubbles is that there is often an assumption that the inevitable crash (and recovery) is quick. The stock market crash in 1929 actually occured over a week timespan and resulted in the Great Depression. Japan is still challenged economically by the excesses of the 1980s.
One concern right now is the fact that the Chinese are highly invested in US Treasuries. The unwinding of those positions could have some serious consequences for the dollar. Central banks are already cutting their holdings of the US dollar, in anticipation of an adjustment.
Posted: February 27th, 2007 | Author: saldarji | Filed under: business | No Comments »
I recently finished reading Diamond. Also, I visited Antwerp, which is where the majority of diamonds are cut and polished. On a side note, Gujurat (where my parents are from), is the other major diamond polishing/cutting center. Between my reading and my travels, I have become really interested in the “value” aspect of the industry.
There really is no logical or economic reason why diamonds and other precious stones should hold the value that they hold. There is a fascinating Atlantic article on this topic. I can’t summarize all the information from these sources, but basically there is enough of a supply of diamonds to meet the demand of the jewelry and commercial industries that diamonds should not be that expensive. The value that we place in diamonds and other precious gems is mostly artificial, based on the power of the diamond cartel and our own perceptions.
After visiting the Diamond Museum and walking through the diamond district in Antwerp, I was left with two thoughts. The first is that the industry is filled with sleazy people who are engaged in a rat race to empty your wallet. This isn’t much of a surprise I guess, and the world is now aware of blood diamonds.
The second thought I have is that there is an incredible amount of value placed on the materials, but not nearly enough value in the art. Since Tracey is a jeweler, I see a lot of jewelry and am learning a lot more about that industry. It seems to me that “poor” people obsess over the value of the stones and the materials, while “rich” people are more focused on the design and beauty of the objects. This is why Boucheron and other high-end jewelers can survive – they cater strictly to those people who are willing to pay for art.
The diamond industry definitely has something to worry about if people start making synthetic diamonds. In fact, using modern processes, the synthetic diamonds are impossible to tell apart with the naked eye or even a microscope. This new technology puts the industry very close to disaster. From a value perspective, it is foolish to invest in a diamond.
Posted: February 26th, 2007 | Author: saldarji | Filed under: travel | 1 Comment »
I apologize if I have not written lately. I did not get enough sleep because I was out on Saturday night with Tracey and the “Paris Crew”.
I flew back yesterday, and it was quite an ordeal. I was awake through my entire 8.5 hour flight. I was hoping to catch an earlier connection to Minneapolis, but I then had to endure a 5 hour layover. I collapsed when I got home.
On the bright side, I finished a book, Diamond, on the flight. And I just picked up Guns, Germs and Steel to read on the way home. So, I may diversify this blog when I am less jetlagged and write a few reviews of those.
Posted: February 23rd, 2007 | Author: saldarji | Filed under: travel | No Comments »
Yesterday we went to the Louvre. It was an overwhelming experience. The building itself was crowded around the “famous” pieces. But there were entire galleries that were deserted.
The behavior of the crowd was terrible. We witnessed a tour group run at full speed through the galleries. Also, tourists don’t seem to understand that it is not good for the paintings to be exposed to camera flash. We saw some American tourists take 5 or 6 photographs (with flash) of Vermeer’s masterpiece – the Lacemaker. First off, there are only 35 or 36 existing Vermeers. There is only one Lacemaker. Why in the world would you want to ruin these for future generations, when you can get an awesome picture off of www.louvre.fr ?
After our museum outing, we went out with Tracey’s friend from Boucheron. We went to a Portugese restaurant, and the food was very good. In particular, I liked the cured smoked meats. Which is one thing that Europe has over America. The FDA does not allow any “real” smoked or cured meats into the US. In fact, in the US you even have to be worried that the meat flavor comes from a smoky chemical, and not from smoke.
I’ve been trying to eat as much of the smoked meats as possible. The picture above is some smoked meat at the Monoprix. Notice the automated pricing tags…much more efficient than hiring an army of union workers to change prices all day long!
Posted: February 22nd, 2007 | Author: saldarji | Filed under: travel | No Comments »
Yesterday we decided to go check out Versailles since the weather was so beautiful. It was my first time going there, as far as I can remember. I visited Paris once when I was young, and the only thing I can remember from that trip is the Eiffel Tower.
Versailles is beautiful. The Hall of Battles was closed, but I did get to see half of the Hall of Mirrors. The other half was closed for renovation. The Hall of Mirrors is, of course, where the Treaty of Versailles was signed after World War I. The other thing I found out is that Lakshmi Mittal’s daughter was married for 60 million dollars at Versailles.
The picture above is the empty hallway next to the Hall of Battles. The picture below is outside looking over the gardens.
After Versailles, we took the RER train to the Eiffel Tower. That too is incredibly beautiful. We went to the top of the tower after dusk, and we saw the “super freakout” twice. The super freakout is what Tracey calls the sparkling flash bulbs that go off every night on the hour.
Posted: February 21st, 2007 | Author: saldarji | Filed under: travel | No Comments »
A beautiful thing about Paris, for a coffee addict, is the number of cafes and bars across the city. There are on every street corner, and they usually serve crêpes. Crêpes and coffee are a perfect combo, if you ask me.
Despite the number of coffee shops, the French are obsessed with Nespresso. Nespresso is Nestle’s entry into coffee brewing systems. They sell specialized machines, plastic coffee cartridges, and other accessories. There are a few stores in Paris, and the lines for the cartridges are insane.
The Nespresso system is really based around espresso, which is a more “european” style of coffee. But I’m sure their machines and cartridges could be easily adjusted for American tastes. Even though Starbucks has been labeled as being “Fritalian,” it definitely would not pass as the real thing here in Europe. In fact, I haven’t seen a single Starbucks here yet.
Something funny – the Nespresso spokesperson is George Clooney. So, it is fun to see all their advertising, even if you don’t get a chance to try their product. There is a Michel Gondry commercial, starring George Clooney, here. We have a Nespresso machine in our apartment, and the coffee is really very good.
Nespresso seems like a very successful combination of several good investing ideas. First, it is an addictive product. Secondly, it is a good retailing play because it can be sold in many channels. Lastly, it locks the user into the cartridges and other accessories.
One of my first “to-do” items once I hit the states is to do some research on Nestle S.A. The other good thing is that you can stay away from the weak dollar and get into the Swiss Franc – a very stable currency.
Posted: February 20th, 2007 | Author: saldarji | Filed under: travel | No Comments »
I have spent the last few days in Paris walking around and taking in all the culture. I have spent far too much time at coffeeshops eating crepes and drinking “cafes.” Today we went to go see the Musée des arts Décoratifs. I went with Tracey and Henry N. Jackson (a friend of Tracey’s, and now mine). It was an experience seeing it with two phenomenal craftsmen/artists.
On a side note, the picture below is one of Henry’s haute-couture gowns. So if you are looking for a high-end gown or wedding dress, you should contact him in Paris.
I have a lot of blog entries in my mind on a range of topics, so I think I will try to catch up over the next month. Most of them are on mundane subjects that are interesting to me, so keep reading!
After spending the last two weeks here in Europe, I have noticed some things about French and Belgium TV. First off, Tracey wants me to write that there are lots of boobies. We spent a half hour watching the French version of the Naked News.
Also, the advertising here isn’t as frequent as the commercials on American TV. It seems like the commercials are run every half hour, but last a little bit longer than what we’re used to on our broadcast channels. I wonder which one brings in a higher return for the channels. It seems as if there is less total advertising time in France or Belgium. Tracey thinks there are less car/product ads and there are more publicity ads than the US.
Lastly, I finally got to watch a half hour of Al-Jazeera (English). The depth of the coverage and the video that accompanies it seems a lot more effective than CNN. Atleast, that is the impression I got after a half hour of watching. It may be the un-PC thing to say, but if I had a choice of watching CNN or watching Al-Jazeera, I’d pick the latter. Tracey said it best – on the day they had the mideast peace talks, CNN covered Anna Nicole Smith’s death and aired Larry King’s show on American Idol auditions.
Posted: February 19th, 2007 | Author: saldarji | Filed under: travel | No Comments »
Lazy Ass Tracey has started to post some pictures of our trip and her travel log on her blog, so you should check that out. Also, Kelly Murphy (a.k.a. Tracey’s flatmate) also has some interesting stuff on her blog that is France-related.
The first thing you notice about Bruges when you get out of the train station is the bicycles. Because the streets are narrow and they wind around, everyone bikes everywhere. I am assuming that people commute from the train station, so there are a ton of bikes parked there. Noone locks their bikes either. Which makes me wonder if there are mixups and if people take the wrong bike sometime.
Bruges has a very picturesque beauty, which makes it a favorite vacation spot for tourists. A lot of Brits come across the channel to take a few days off and relax.
There are a lot of canals and the architecture in the town center is old and beautiful. There is some modern architecture, but it always blends in very nicely. I imagine that during the height of tourist season it must be pretty unbearable and stinky. We were lucky to be there in the offseason.
There are a few windmills that are on the eastern edge of town, and they are very beautiful.
We ate Belgian waffles, of course. We had the most amazing Flemish Beef Stew with dates. Also, we had Broodjes while in Brugge. A broodje is a sandwich made with a french baguette. It reminded me of a Bahn Mi sandwich. Which gave me an idea that it’d be cool to open an “International Sandwich” place…as the French baguette is so versatile.
Posted: February 18th, 2007 | Author: saldarji | Filed under: travel | No Comments »
I’ve spent the last two nights in Paris, and I’m a bit behind on the blog entries. However, I will try to catch up by Wednesday.
Antwerp rules. Tracey and I stayed in an interesting B&B on the eastern edge of town. Hotel rooms are in short supply, so the B&B industry is booming. The city is a hub for fashion – one of the other guests worked as a rep for an Italian fashion house.
Once again, they have a Grote Markt in the middle of the city. The train station is located a bit east of the center of town. The museums, fashion school, arts, entertainment, etc. is located south of the city.
Unfortunately, it was raining for our two days in Antwerp. There is still a lot to do, and there is a ton of great restaurants. Everyone spoke English, and we met a lot of interesting people. We ran into an actor on the train who was telling us about his travels overseas. Everyone seemed to be involved with either the arts or culture in some way.
The public transportation was interesting. They never really checked for our tickets, and noone seemed to pay their fare unless inspectors boarded the train. The inspectors didn’t even check tickets.
Of course, everyone biked everywhere. Some of the streets have bicycle lanes on the sidewalk, which makes it tough to walk because you have to watch for bicycles, cars, trains, and humans.
We noticed that near the center of town there was a ton of pita/shwarma places. We were wondering why that was, so we decided to eat at one. Their shwarmas are made with fried gyro meat and served with frites. It turns out that the Belgians are crazy about pitas, and they eat it late at night after the clubs close, along with some beer.
