Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

The visit of Indian Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> to the US, which had much fanfare around it, has come to an end today. And both India and the US are expecting some humongous results from this visit. 
	 
	The two head of states have discussed various issues spanning across economic, political and cultural arenas. But now, the public at large wants to know what tangible results has this high-profile visit brought back home. BI India lists down a few sectors that may gain substantially from the initiatives discussed during PM Modi’s visit. 
	 
	Infrastructure

	 
	The two-way trade between India and the US has grown five-fold in the past fourteen years to nearly $100 billion. Both India and the US realise that both countries have played pivotal roles in each other’s economic growth. 
	 
	Hence, one of the major developments of this visit has been the setting up of Infrastructure Collaboration Platform. The infrastructure projects have delayed in the country and the decline in the economic growth has only worsened the situation. 
	 
	“They pledged to establish an Infrastructure Collaboration Platform convened by the Ministry of Finance and the Department of Commerce to enhance participation of U.S. companies in infrastructure projects in India,” tellls a joint statement issued after thePrime Minister Modi and President Obama meeting. 
	 
	If reports are to be believed, then several American firms have shown interest in the infrastructure and energy sectors of the country. However, they want clarity and a better understanding of the current scenario in the energy sector following the Supreme Court’s verdict on coal block allocations. 
	 
	Besides, the US has shown keen interest in becoming a partner in development of smart cities in the country. India will welcome two-trade missions in 2015 that will focus on providing US technology and services to meet the country’s infrastructure needs. 
	 
	Capital Markets 
	 
	Since the beginning, India has been heavily dependent on investments by foreign institutional investors. Therefore, the leaders pledged to establish an Indo-U.S. Investment Initiative led by the Ministry of Finance and the Department of Treasury, with special focus on capital market development and financing of infrastructure.

	 Interestingly, <keyword id="214547" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Laurence-D-Fink">Laurence D Fink</keyword>, CEO of the world’s largest investment management firm Blackrock , has promised PM Modi that the firm may invest over $6 billion in India by early next year. In India, the firm is one of the leading mutual funds investment company. Fink, after his meeting with PM Modi will also host the global investors meet in India early next year. 
	 
	Pharmaceuticals 
	 
	There has always been a tussle between the Indian pharma industry and its American counterpart. However, it seems PM Modi has been able to clear apprehensions that most pharma companies in the US have regarding India’s Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) laws. 
	 According to a report, <keyword id="2541954" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kenneth-Frazier">Kenneth Frazier</keyword>, CEO of pharma major <keyword id="2541955" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Merk-Co">Merk &amp; Co</keyword> and Michael Ball of Hospira had raised the issue of India’s IPR laws. In his response, PM Modi explained that he understands that pharma companies in the US spend a huge amount in the research and development of drugs, while India is producing and selling them at a cheaper price. 
	 
	Manufacturing 
	 
	The staggering manufacturing sector in India may get a tremendous boost if it is able to attract investors in the US. In his meeting with the top corporate honchos of the US, Indian PM Modi has managed to convince them to consider investments in the Indian manufacturing sector. 
	 
	Following their meeting, National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership program is expected to engage with its counterpart in India to develop “best practices in manufacturing and work toward greater harmonization of standards” in the sector. 
	 
	The two countries will also hold public-private discussions early next year to facilitate better technology in the manufacturing sector. 
	 
	While, these are just a few sectors that have been discussed here, the US has shown keen interest in other sectors as well including IT and education.

PM Modi’s
Maiden US Visit Over, India To See Investments Pouring In?

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="http://pictures.reuters.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&amp;VBID=2C0FCIXMPPRR5&amp;SMLS=1&amp;RW=1577&amp;RH=958#/SearchResult&amp;VBID=2C0FCIXMPPRR5&amp;SMLS=1&amp;RW=1577&amp;RH=958&amp;POPUPPN=26&amp;POPUPIID=2C0408TKT0910">REUTERS/Toru Hanai</a></div></div></div>This week, Business Insider published the inaugural edition of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bi-100-the-creators-business-visionaries-creating-value-for-the-world-2016-6">Business Insider 100: The Creators</a>, celebrating leaders who embody the notion that capitalism can and should be a force for good.You can check out the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/creators">whole Creators series</a> here.We have also launched a series in partnership with public radio's Marketplace, exploring everything from the history of shareholder value to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ibm-corporate-america-history-2016-6">Wall Street's impact on companies like Sears and IBM</a>.We are not alone in being interested in these topics: many big investors and company chief executives have discussed these issues.In February this year, Larry Fink, the chief executive at BlackRock, the world's biggest investor with $4.6 trillion, sent a letter to chief executives at S&amp;P 500 companies and large European corporations. Fink, incidentally, appeared at 23 on the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bi-100-the-creators-business-visionaries-creating-value-for-the-world-2016-6">Business Insider 100: The Creators</a> list.The letter focuses on short-termism both in corporate America and Europe, but also in politics, and asks CEOs to better articulate their plans for the future.Business Insider managed to get a hold of the letter and published it at the time. Given our ongoing work on this topic, we're publishing it in full again below (emphasis ours):Over the past several years, I have written to the CEOs of leading companies urging resistance to the powerful forces of short-termism afflicting corporate behavior. Reducing these pressures and working instead to invest in long-term growth remains an issue of paramount importance for BlackRock's clients, most of whom are saving for retirement and other long-term goals, as well as for the entire global economy.While we've heard strong support from corporate leaders for taking such a long-term view, many companies continue to engage in practices that may undermine their ability to invest for the future. Dividends paid out by S&amp;P 500 companies in 2015 amounted to the highest proportion of their earnings since 2009. As of the end of the third quarter of 2015, buybacks were up 27% over 12 months. We certainly support returning excess cash to shareholders, but not at the expense of value-creating investment. We continue to urge companies to adopt balanced capital plans, appropriate for their respective industries, that support strategies for long-term growth.We also believe that companies have an obligation to be open and transparent about their growth plans so that shareholders can evaluate them and companies' progress in executing on those plans. We are asking that every CEO lay out for shareholders each year a strategic framework for long-term value creation. Additionally, because boards have a critical role to play in strategic planning, we believe CEOs should explicitly affirm that their boards have reviewed those plans. BlackRock's corporate governance team, in their engagement with companies, will be looking for this framework and board review.Annual shareholder letters and other communications to shareholders are too often backwards-looking and don't do enough to articulate management's vision and plans for the future. This perspective on the future, however, is what investors and all stakeholders truly need, including, for example, how the company is navigating the competitive landscape, how it is innovating, how it is adapting to technological disruption or geopolitical events, where it is investing and how it is developing its talent. As part of this effort, companies should work to develop financial metrics, suitable for each company and industry, that support a framework for long-term growth. Components of long-term compensation should be linked to these metrics.We recognize that companies operate in fluid environments and face a challenging mix of external dynamics. Given the right context, long-term shareholders will understand, and even expect, that you will need to pivot in response to the changing environments you are navigating. But one reason for investors' short-term horizons is that companies have not sufficiently educated them about the ecosystems they are operating in, what their competitive threats are and how technology and other innovations are impacting their businesses.Without clearly articulated plans, companies risk losing the faith of long-term investors. Companies also expose themselves to the pressures of investors focused on maximizing near-term profit at the expense of long-term value. Indeed, some short-term investors (and analysts) offer more compelling visions for companies than the companies themselves, allowing these perspectives to fill the void and build support for potentially destabilizing actions.Those activists who focus on long-term value creation sometimes do offer better strategies than management. In those cases, BlackRock's corporate governance team will support activist plans. During the 2015 proxy season, in the 18 largest U.S. proxy contests (as measured by market cap), BlackRock voted with activists 39% of the time.Nonetheless, we believe that companies are usually better served when ideas for value creation are part of an overall framework developed and driven by the company, rather than forced upon them in a proxy fight. With a better understanding of your long-term strategy, the process by which it is determined, and the external factors affecting your business, shareholders can put your annual financial results in the proper context.Over time, as companies do a better job laying out their long-term growth frameworks, the need diminishes for quarterly EPS guidance, and we would urge companies to move away from providing it. Today's culture of quarterly earnings hysteria is totally contrary to the long-term approach we need. To be clear, we do believe companies should still report quarterly results - "long-termism" should not be a substitute for transparency - but CEOs should be more focused in these reports on demonstrating progress against their strategic plans than a one-penny deviation from their EPS targets or analyst consensus estimates.With clearly communicated and understood long-term plans in place, quarterly earnings reports would be transformed from an instrument of incessant short-termism into a building block of long-term behavior. They would serve as a useful "electrocardiogram" for companies, providing information on how companies are performing against the "baseline EKG" of their long-term plan for value creation.We also are proposing that companies explicitly affirm to shareholders that their boards have reviewed their strategic plans. This review should be a rigorous process that provides the board the necessary context and allows for a robust debate. Boards have an obligation to review, understand, discuss and challenge a company's strategy.Generating sustainable returns over time requires a sharper focus not only on governance, but also on environmental and social factors facing companies today. These issues offer both risks and opportunities, but for too long, companies have not considered them core to their business - even when the world's political leaders are increasingly focused on them, as demonstrated by the Paris Climate Accord. Over the long-term, environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues - ranging from climate change to diversity to board effectiveness - have real and quantifiable financial impacts.At companies where ESG issues are handled well, they are often a signal of operational excellence. BlackRock has been undertaking a multi-year effort to integrate ESG considerations into our investment processes, and we expect companies to have strategies to manage these issues. Recent action from the U.S. Department of Labor makes clear that pension fund fiduciaries can include ESG factors in their decision making as well. We recognize that the culture of short-term results is not something that can be solved by CEOs and their boards alone. Investors, the media and public officials all have a role to play. In Washington (and other capitals), long-term is often defined as simply the next election cycle, an attitude that is eroding the economic foundations of our country.Public officials must adopt policies that will support long-term value creation. Companies, for their part, must recognize that while advocating for more infrastructure or comprehensive tax reform may not bear fruit in the next quarter or two, the absence of effective long-term policies in these areas undermines the economic ecosystem in which companies function - and with it, their chances for long-term growth.We note two areas, in particular, where policymakers taking a longer-term perspective could help support the growth of companies and the entire economy:• First, tax policy too often lacks proper incentives for long-term behavior. With capital gains, for example, one year shouldn't qualify as a long-term holding period. As I wrote last year, we need a capital gains regime that rewards long-term investment - with long-term treatment only after three years, and a decreasing tax rate for each year of ownership beyond that (potentially dropping to zero after 10 years).• Second, chronic underinvestment in infrastructure in the U.S. - from roads to sewers to the power grid - will not only cost businesses and consumers $1.8 trillion over the next five years, but clearly represents a threat to the ability of companies to grow. At a time of massive global inequality, investment in infrastructure - and all its benefits, including job creation - is also critical for growth in most emerging markets around the world. Companies and investors must advocate for action to fill the gaping chasm between our massive infrastructure needs and squeezed government funding, including strategies for developing private-sector financing mechanisms.Over the past few years, we've seen more and more discussion around how to foster a long-term mindset. While these discussions are encouraging, we will only achieve our goal by changing practices and policies, and CEOs of America's leading companies have a vital role to play in that debate.Corporate leaders have historically been a source of optimism about the future of our economy. At a time when there is so much anxiety and uncertainty in the capital markets, in our political discourse and across our society more broadly, it is critical that investors in particular hear a forward-looking vision about your own company's prospects and the public policy you need to achieve consistent, sustainable growth. The solutions to these challenges are in our hands, and I ask that you join me in helping to answer them.Sincerely,Laurence D. Fink "The Price of Profits," our series with Marketplace, looks at what happens when profits become a company's product. For more, visit <a href="http://features.marketplace.org/priceofprofits/" target="_blank" data-referer-safe="1" data-referer-original-href="http://priceofprofits.org">priceofprofits.org</a>. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hugh-hefner-son-cooper-playboy-mansion-sale-2016-6">Hugh Hefner's son reacts to the sale of the Playboy Mansion</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="A3aWwwNDE6JhQ99gtsV_5KWDFsTjBJld" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

BlackRock's Larry Fink told CEOs that 'quarterly earnings hysteria' is bad for business - here's the letter he sent them

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="AP Photo/Eric Risberg" title_caption="Oracle CEO Larry Ellison." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5385f3e66bb3f78a6813aa52-960/larry-ellison-77.jpg"></a>AP Photo/Eric RisbergOracle CEO Larry Ellison.</div></div>Average CEO pay at the biggest companies in the U.S. has been increasing at a moderate rate with the majority of wealth concentrated in fewer hands over the past several years, according to <a href="http://graphics.wsj.com/executive-salary-compensation-2014/">a new annual survey by the Wall Street Journal and the Hay Group</a>.
Total annual compensation for the top 301 CEOs in America increased by a median 5.5% to $11.4 million from 2012 to 2013. The top 10% of earners made 23% of the total compensation, according to the report.
Meanwhile, <a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/ceo-pay-rises-moderately-a-few-reap-huge-rewards-1401235102?mod=WSJ_hp_RightTopStories&amp;cb=logged0.8643125495873392">wages and salaries for private sector employees in the U.S. increased by 1.8%</a> during the same period, a growth discrepancy also indicative of <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/ceo-pay-2012-extraordinarily-high/">a trend</a> since the recession.
Notably, none of the CEOs in the top 10 lead companies ranked in the top 10% for performance. Larry Ellison is the highest paid CEO in the U.S., but Oracle ranks as No. 152 in performance. Similarly, Disney CEO Robert Iger is the sixth highest paid, but the company's performance ranks at No. 165.
Total direct compensation consists of salary, annual incentives, stock option grants, restricted stock grants, and performance awards. Most of those in the top 10 made their money from stock options and cash.
Here are the top 20 <a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/ceo-pay-rises-moderately-a-few-reap-huge-rewards-1401235102?mod=WSJ_hp_RightTopStories&amp;cb=logged0.8643125495873392" target="_blank">highest paid CEOs</a>:
<h3>1. Lawrence J. Ellison, Oracle</h3>
2013 Compensation: $76.9M / One-Year Change: -18.7%
<h3>2. Leslie Moonves, CBS</h3>
2013 Compensation: $65.4M / One-Year Change: 11.1%
<h3>3. Michael T. Fries, Liberty Global</h3>
2013 Compensation: $45.4M / One-Year Change: 248.2%
<h3>4. Richard C. Adkerson, Freeport-McMoRan Copper &amp; Gold</h3>
2013 Compensation: $38.9M / One-Year Change: 125.1%
<h3>5. Philippe P. Dauman, Viacom</h3>
2013 Compensation: $36.8M / One-Year Change: 11.0%
<h3>6. Robert A. Iger, Disney</h3>
2013 Compensation: $33.4M / One-Year Change: -8.1%
<h3>7. Jeffrey L. Bewkes, Time Warner</h3>
2013 Compensation: 32.4% / One-Year Change: 26.9%
<h3>8. Mark T. Bertolini, Aetna</h3>
2013 Compensation: $31.2M / One-Year Change: 174.9%
<h3>9. Fabrizio Freda, Estee Lauder</h3>
2013 Compensation: $30.9M / One-Year Change: 140.1%
<h3>10. Jeffrey R. Immelt, General Electric</h3>
2013 Compensation: $28.2M / One-Year Change: 262.1%
<h3>11. Lloyd C. Blankfein, Goldman Sachs</h3>
2013 Compensation: $28.0M / One-Year Change: 16.7%
<h3>12. Rex W. Tillerson, ExxonMobil</h3>
2013 Compensation: $27.6M / One-Year Change: 3.2%
<h3>13. Rupert K. Murdoch, 21st Century Fox</h3>
2013 Compensation: $25.8M / One-Year Change: 16.9%
<h3>14. David N. Farr, Emerson Electric</h3>
2013 Compensation: $24.9M / One-Year Change: 284.5%
<h3>15. Kenneth I. Chenault, American Express</h3>
2013 Compensation: $24.4M / One-Year Change: 10.9%
<h3>16. Laurence D. Fink, BlackRock</h3>
2013 Compensation: $24.0M / One-Year Change: 11.6%
<h3>17. Charles W. Scharf, Visa</h3>
2013 Compensation: $23.4M / One-Year Change: N/A
<h3>18. Brian L. Roberts, Comcast</h3>
2013 Compensation: $22.6M / One-Year Change: 5.7%
<h3>19. Alan Mullaly, Ford Motor</h3>
2013 Compensation: $22.5M / One-Year Change: 11.2%
<h3>20. Trevor Fetter, Tenet Healthcare</h3>
2013 Compensation: $22.4M / One-Year Change: 146.4%
Among the lowest-paid CEOs are company founders John Mackey of Whole Foods Market, Richard Kinder of Kinder Morgan Inc., and Larry Page of Google, who each earned "effectively nothing."
See the Wall Street Journal's <a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/ceo-pay-rises-moderately-a-few-reap-huge-rewards-1401235102?mod=WSJ_hp_RightTopStories&amp;cb=logged0.8643125495873392">full report here</a>.

The 20 Highest-Paid CEOs In America

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image">Jonathan Ernst/Reuters</div></div></div>
Today, the CEOs of New York City's 200 leading companies - all members of the <a href="http://pfnyc.org/">Partnership for New York City</a> - sent an urgent letter to House Republican Leadership asking them "to quickly pass the Terrorism Risk Insurance Reauthorization Act (TRIA)."
TRIA was originally passed in 2002 in the wake of 9/11, and exists to "provide a federal backstop for insurance coverage in the event of catastrophic losses from terrorist attacks." In other words, the bill was designed to help employers and insurers to appropriately manage terrorism risk. As it stands, TRIA is set to expire in December 2014.
On July 17, the Senate passed a version of a TRIA reauthorization 93-4 in a display of overwhelming support from both sides of the aisle. The Senate's renewal bill extends TRIA for an additional seven years, and was first brought to the floor by Sen. Schumer (NY) in April. The House currently has its own version of the TRIA extension, which only proposes to extend the bill for five years. 
The Partnership for New York City's letter cites the U.S.'s "vulnerab[ility] to international terrorism" and urges the House to "act swiftly to pass a bill that maintains a program structure that has proven effective and has had no cost to the federal taxpayer." It was signed by executives from a wide array of industries including. Some of the signatories included: fashion designer Tory Burch, media mogul Barry Diller, American Express CEO Kenneth I. Chenault, Viacom Inc. President and CEO Philippe Dauman, and billionaire John Catsimatidis. 
The House is set to vote on the Senate's version of the bill in coming weeks.
Here is the full text of the letter:
July 22, 2014
Honorable John Boehner (R-OH) Speaker of the House Honorable Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) Majority Whip Honorable Steve Scalise (R-LA) Majority Whip-Elect Dear Representatives Boehner, McCarthy, and Scalise, We write to urge the House of Representatives to quickly pass the Terrorism Risk Insurance Reauthorization Act (TRIA). America remains vulnerable to international terrorism. "TRIA" is one of the 21st Century tools that we rely upon to protect American jobs and allow investment to continue, despite the risk of terrorism. With the sunset of this federal program coming up in December, it is already difficult to renew insurance along the lines required by employers and property owners in urban centers. 
The bill that passed in the Senate last week with overwhelming, bipartisan support provides the federal backstop necessary to allow insurers, employers, and property owners to continue to manage terrorism risk. It is important to the business community in New York City and across the nation that the House act swiftly to pass a bill that maintains a program structure that has proven effective and has had no cost to the federal taxpayer. We want to continue to work with you to keep our economy growing. TRIA is one of the public-private partnership arrangements that makes continued growth possible. 
Sincerely- Lee S. Ainslie, III, Managing Partner, Maverick Capital Ajay S. Banga, President &amp; CEO, MasterCard David Barger, President &amp; CEO, JetBlue Airways Corporation Candace K. Beinecke, Chair, First Eagle Fund &amp; Chair, Hughes Hubbard &amp; Reed LLP Frank A. Bennack, Jr., Executive Vice Chairman of the Board &amp; Chairman, Executive Committee, Hearst Corporation Stephen Berger, Chairman, Odyssey Investment Partners, LLC William H. Berkman, Managing Partner, Associated Partners, LP Mark T. Bertolini, Chairman, CEO &amp; President, Aetna Inc. Michael W. Blair, Presiding Partner, Debevoise &amp; Plimpton LLP Jeff T. Blau, Chief Executive Officer, The Related Companies, L.P. Kathy Bloomgarden, Chief Executive Officer, Ruder Finn, Inc. Adam M. Blumenthal, Managing Partner, Blue Wolf Capital Management Michael C. Bodson, President &amp; CEO, The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation Frank Branchini, Chairman &amp; CEO, EmblemHealth Services LLC Jacques Brand, Chief Executive Officer, North America, Deutsche Bank Americas Tory Burch, Chief Executive Officer, Tory Burch LLC Ursula M. Burns, Chairman &amp; CEO, Xerox Corporation Michael A. Carpenter, Chief Executive Officer, Ally Financial Inc. Gregory C. Case, Chief Executive Officer, Aon plc Dominic J. Casserley, Chief Executive Officer, Willis Group Holdings, Plc John Catsimatidis, Chairman &amp; CEO, Red Apple Group, Inc. Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman &amp; CEO, American Express Company Richard B. Clark, Chairman &amp; Global Head of Real Estate, Brookfield Office Properties Inc. H. Rodgin Cohen, Senior Chairman, Sullivan &amp; Cromwell LLP Creighton Condon, Senior Partner, Shearman &amp; Sterling Philippe P. Dauman, President and CEO, Viacom Inc. Anthony J. de Nicola, Co-President, Welsh, Carson, Anderson &amp; Stowe Todd C. DeGarmo, Chief Executive Officer, STUDIOS Architecture Barry Diller, Chairman &amp; Senior Executive, IAC Daniel L. Doctoroff, President &amp; CEO, Bloomberg L.P. Irene M. Dorner, President &amp; CEO, HSBC Bank USA Douglas Durst, Chairman, Durst Organization Inc. Richard W. Edelman, President &amp; CEO, Edelman Joel S. Ehrenkranz, Senior Partner, Ehrenkranz Partners L.P. Andrew Farkas, Chairman &amp; CEO, Island Capital Group LLC Roger W. Ferguson, President &amp; CEO, TIAA-CREF Joseph R. Ficalora, President &amp; CEO, New York Community Bancorp, Inc. Laurence D. Fink, Chairman &amp; CEO, BlackRock, Inc. Alan H. Fishman, Chairman, Ladder Capital Finance LLC William E. Ford, Chief Executive Officer, General Atlantic LLC Edward C. Forst, President &amp; CEO, Cushman &amp; Wakefield, Inc. Russell P. Fradin, Chief Executive Officer, SunGard Eric J. Friedman, Managing Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher &amp; Flom LLP Mark T. Gallogly, Managing Principal, Centerbridge Partners MaryAnne Gilmartin, President &amp; CEO, Forest City Ratner Companies Barry M. Gosin, Chief Executive Officer, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank Jonathan N. Grayer, President &amp; CEO, Weld North LLC James H. Herbert, II, Chairman &amp; CEO (Founding), First Republic Bank Marc Holliday, President &amp; CEO, SL Green Realty Corp. Brian T. Horey, President, Aurelian Management Frederick J. Iseman, Chairman &amp; CEO, CI Capital Partners LLC Brad S. Karp, Chair, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton &amp; Garrison LLP Jeffrey Katz, President &amp; CEO, Sherwood Equities Inc. Klaus Kleinfeld, Chairman &amp; CEO, Alcoa Inc. Henry R. Kravis, Co-Chairman &amp; Co-CEO, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts &amp; Co. William P. Lauder, Executive Chairman, The Estée Lauder Companies, Inc. Rochelle B. Lazarus, Chairman Emeritus, Ogilvy &amp; Mather Worldwide Joseph M. Leccese, Chairman, Proskauer Richard S. LeFrak, Chairman &amp; CEO, The LeFrak Organization Jeffrey E. Levine, Chairman, Douglaston Development Pamela Liebman, President &amp; CEO, The Corcoran Group, Inc. Martin Lipton, Senior Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen &amp; Katz Terry J. Lundgren, Chairman, President &amp; CEO, Macy's, Inc. Bridget A. Macaskill, President &amp; CEO, First Eagle Investment Management, LLC Peter L. Malkin, Chairman Emeritus, Empire State Realty Trust Joel S. Marcus, Chairman, CEO &amp; Founder, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. Donald B. Marron, Chairman, Lightyear Capital Peter W. May, President &amp; Founding Partner, Trian Partners John McAvoy, Chairman, President &amp; CEO, Con Edison Sherilyn McCoy, Chief Executive Officer, Avon Products, Inc. Raymond W. McDaniel, Jr., President &amp; CEO, Moody's Investors Service Mitchell Modell, Chief Executive Officer, Modell's Sporting Goods Kenneth D. Moelis, Chief Executive Officer, Moelis &amp; Company Holdings LP Robert E. Moritz, Chairman &amp; Senior Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP Atsushi Nakajima, President &amp; CEO, Rockefeller Group International, Inc. Richard D. Parsons, Senior Advisor, Providence Equity Partners Douglas L. Peterson, President &amp; CEO, McGraw Hill Financial Charles E. Phillips, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, Infor Ian C. Read, Chairman of the Board &amp; CEO, Pfizer Inc. Scott H. Rechler, Chairman &amp; CEO, RXR Realty LLC Thomas J. Reid, Managing Partner, Davis Polk &amp; Wardwell LLP Daniel W. Riordan, Chief Executive Officer, Global Corporate, North America, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd James D. Robinson, III, Co-Founder &amp; General Partner, RRE Ventures Julio E. Rojas, Chief Executive Officer, Americas, Standard Chartered Bank Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., Chairman &amp; CEO, WL Ross &amp; Co. LLC Michael I. Roth, Chairman &amp; CEO, Interpublic Group Steven Roth, Chairman &amp; CEO, Vornado Realty Trust Howard J. Rubenstein, President, Rubenstein Associates, Inc. William C. Rudin, Vice Chairman &amp; CEO, Rudin Management Company, Inc. Kevin P. Ryan, Chairman &amp; Founder, Gilt Alexander Saint-Amand, Chief Executive Officer, GLG Alan D. Schwartz, Executive Chairman, Guggenheim Partners, LLC Frank J. Sciame, Chairman &amp; CEO, F.J. Sciame Construction Co., Inc. Michael C. Slocum, President, Commercial Banking, Capital One Bank Tad Smith, President &amp; CEO, The Madison Square Garden Company James C. Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Thomson Reuters J. Eric Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Swiss Re Americas Jerry I. Speyer, Chairman &amp; Co-CEO, Tishman Speyer Arthur P. Steinmetz, President &amp; CEO, OppenheimerFunds, Inc. Mark Thompson, President &amp; CEO, The New York Times Company Mary Ann Tighe, Chief Executive Officer, NY Tri-State Region, CBRE, Inc. James S. Tisch, President &amp; CEO, Loews Corporation John B. Veihmeyer, Chairman &amp; CEO, KPMG LLP George H. Walker, Chairman &amp; CEO, Neuberger Berman Group LLC Charles Weinstein, Chief Executive Officer, EisnerAmper LLP Christopher J. Williams, Chairman &amp; CEO, The Williams Capital Group, L.P. Robert Wolf, Chief Executive Officer, 32 Advisors, LLC Douglas M. Woodham, President, Americas, Christie's Kathryn S. Wylde, President &amp; CEO, Partnership for New York City Tim Zagat, Co-Chair, Zagat Survey LLC Strauss Zelnick, Chief Executive Officer, ZelnickMedia Corporation Mortimer B. Zuckerman, Chairman &amp; Editor-in-Chief, USNews &amp; World Report; Chairman &amp; Publisher, NY Daily News; Chairman, Boston Properties

Big Name NYC CEOs Urge Congress To Pass Terrorism Insurance Bill 

The stock market is at an all-time high. <keyword id="6358815" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="tech">Tech</keyword> startups with no revenue have billion-dollar valuations. And engineers are demanding Tesla sports cars just to show up at work.
Here's the evidence that we're in a new tech bubble, heading for a crash, just like the dot com bust of 1999.
<h3>Interest rates are effectively at 0%.</h3>
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image"><a title_source="Fred / Think Progress" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/527412fbeab8ea105e5941a4-960/fred_funds_rate_1970_now_line-e1364000016225.png"></a><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/03/23/1765481/how-fed-policy-could-leave-the-country-at-the-mercy-of-another-recession/">Fred / Think Progress</a></div></div>Before we get into specific evidence that the tech sector is inflated, it's worth restating the macro-economic context: Interest rates are basically at zero and have been for some time. When borrowers are paying close to zero interest on loans, that makes money cheap to get. This chart shows the Fed's target rate for interest since 1970.
People with money generally have a choice: save it in interest-paying, risk-free bank accounts or invest it in riskier assets that may pay more money over time. When interest is at zero, virtually any other kind of investment is likely to pay more because the risk-free alternative is so lousy. So investment asset bubbles get created. Stocks tend to go up.
<h3>The stock market is at a peak, which is exactly what you'd expect in a zero-interest environment.</h3>
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image"><a title_source="Yahoo Finance / Jim Edwards" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5274174d6bb3f7614ec39d5b-960/screen_shot_2013-11-01_at_4.56.32_pm.jpg"></a>Yahoo Finance / Jim Edwards</div></div>We've had five years of solid growth in stocks. People who have invested in stocks in the last five years now feel very, very rich. What could possibly go wrong? 
The market moves up and down, in cycles, as this chart of the S&amp;P 500 stocks shows.
We're due for a downturn.
(BlackRock CEO <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-29/blackrock-s-fink-says-there-are-bubble-like-markets-again-1-.html">Laurence D. Fink, whose company manages $4.1 trillion in assets, agrees that the Federal Reserve is creating "bubble-like markets."</a>)
<h3>In the tech sector specifically, there has been a recent run-up in deal prices.</h3>
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image"><a title_source="Thomson Reuters / PricewaterhouseCoopers" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5274208f69bedd3d14afe9b8-960/screen%20shot%202013-11-01%20at%205.42.18%20pm.png"></a><a href="http://www.pwc.com/en_US/us/transaction-services/publications/assets/technology-insights-q3-2013.pdf">Thomson Reuters / PricewaterhouseCoopers</a></div></div>This chart was <a href="http://www.pwc.com/en_US/us/transaction-services/publications/assets/technology-insights-q3-2013.pdf">published by PriceWaterhouseCoopers</a>, which tracks merger and acquisition activity in the tech sector.
It notes that "software deal volume tripled that of the second quarter."
The driving force?
High stock prices and corporate giants who are rich with cash and need to invest it, PwC says. 
<h3>It's not just tech asset prices that are high. Salaries are high, too. </h3>
While unemployment generally may be high, in the tech sector it is very low.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image"><a title_source="REUTERS/Edgar Su " title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5272231869bedd46187d3d08-960/rtx14tt1.jpg"></a>REUTERS/Edgar Su </div></div>Tech companies, led by Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook, are lobbying Congress to relax immigration rules so they can hire more foreign talent because they believe domestic talent has gotten too scarce and too expensive. It's driving up wages bills like crazy. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vmove">Matt Allen, a tech recruiter at Vertical Move</a>, told me recently:
We're experiencing first hand greater insanity than the dot-com days when Interwoven Software was pulling out BMW Z3's for engineers who joined. Instead, we're seeing sign-on bonuses for individuals five-years out of school in the $60,000 range. Candidates queuing-up six, eight or more offers and haggling over a few thousand-dollar differences among the offers. Engineers accepting offers and then fifteen minutes before they're supposed to start on a Monday, emailing (not calling) to explain they found something better elsewhere.
That suggests that wages in tech are in a bubble.
Want an example?
<h3>Twitter svp/technology Chris Fry got a $10 million pay packet. He only joined the company last year.</h3>
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-engineering-pay-chris-fry-2013-10"><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Twitter" title_caption="Twitter's Chris Fry comes with a high price." class="zoomin" href="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/52741e2b69bedd580cafe9a5-960/chris-fry-3.jpeg"></a><a href="https://twitter.com/chfry">Twitter</a>Twitter's Chris Fry comes with a high price.</div></div>Fry is paid more in annual compensation that Jack Dorsey</a>, the chairman of Twitter's board and the founder of the company.
That's how much the price of wages has risen in the tech world. Fry is not a one-off event. Facebook's vp/engineering, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/software-engineers-are-making-money-like-professional-athletes-2013-10">Mike Schroepfer, got $24.4 million</a> in 2011, Reuters noted:
One start-up offered a coveted engineer a year's lease on a Tesla sedan, which costs in the neighborhood of $1,000 a month, said venture capitalist Venky Ganesan. He declined to identify the company, which his firm has invested in.
<h3>It's not just wages that are expensive. Company valuations are rising too. </h3>
<a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303376904579136873973130670">Supercell, the game company, just raised $1.5 billion</a> in new funding at a valuation of $3 billion. Supercell has real revenue - $178 million in Q1 alone. But you've got to question the logic of the people doing the deal: Investor Masayoshi Son, the founder of Softbank, believes he has a "300-year vision" of the future.
Even the <a href="http://www.supercell.net/blog/view/one-step-closer">CEO of Supercell thought he was joking</a> when he first heard about it.
<h3>Companies with broken business models are highly valued.</h3>
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Jason / Goldberg / Facebook" title_caption="Fab CEO Jason Goldberg" class="zoomin" href="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/52742f70eab8ea5e1c5941a8-960/jason-goldberg-17.jpg"></a>Jason / Goldberg / FacebookFab CEO Jason Goldberg</div></div>Fab.com, the design retailer, recently raised $165 million in new investment this year, for a total of $336 million in all venture funding. It did so despite <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/at-fab-where-they-used-to-joke-about-being-fired-workers-arrive-this-morning-after-100-lost-their-jobs-2013-10">laying off 440 employees</a> after deciding that the flash sales model - in which customers are asked to suddenly purchase a daily deal - doesn't work. It was Fab's second business model "pivot" - the company started life as a gay community site.
We're not saying Fab is going out of business. We're saying that Fab's backers have been fabulously generous. 
<h3>Companies without meaningful revenue are highly valued. </h3>
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image"><a title_source="Natasha Foote / Pinterest" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/50116acc69bedda227000008-960/pinterest%20cats.jpg"></a><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/265782815478517428/">Natasha Foote / Pinterest</a></div></div><a href="http://allthingsd.com/20131023/pinterest-does-another-massive-funding-225-million-at-3-8-billion-valuation/">Pinterest just raised $225 million</a> in new investment funding, a stake that values the company at $3.8 billion. That valuation is fictional, of course. It's based on the notion that the company could be sold or go public at that price. That price is 10 times what investors have actually plowed into the company.
To be clear, Pinterest is showing every sign of turning into a great company. It has already solidified a role for itself as a key referrer of online retail and e-commerce traffic.
But still, this is a company that currently is <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/jjcolao/2013/05/08/why-is-pinterest-a-2-5-billion-company-an-early-investor-explains/">rumored to make only between $9 million and $45 million</a> in revenue.
<h3>Companies with no revenue at all are highly valued.</h3>
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Snapchat / Apple iTunes" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5204596d69bedd0013000010-960/snapchat-6.jpg"><a href="http://allthingsd.com/20131025/snapchat-is-mulling-another-huge-round-at-a-3-5-billion-valuation/?mod=atdtweet"></a>Snapchat / Apple iTunes</a></div></div>Snapchat is rumored to be raising a new round of funding that values the company at $3.6 billion on paper.
This company has zero revenues.
Zero.
And it's not easy to see how it might make money: It's defining product deletes itself after just a few seconds.
The last time we saw companies with no revenue receiving high valuations from investors was right before the 1999/2000 dot com crash.
<h3>Yahoo is again paying top dollar for companies with no meaningful revenue, just like it did in 1999.</h3>
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Wikimedia, CC" title_caption="Tumblr's David Karp and Yahoo's Marissa Mayer" class="zoomin" href="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/51965d366bb3f73814000020-960/untitled-1-617.jpg"></a>Wikimedia, CCTumblr's David Karp and Yahoo's Marissa Mayer</div></div>Yahoo recently paid $1.1 billion to acquire Tumblr, the social blog network. Tumblr's revenues are so small Yahoo isn't required to mention them in its financial statements - they just don't move the needle.
Again, to be clear, <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20130521/how-many-users-does-tumblr-really-have/">Tumblr is actually an excellent product with 50 million users</a>. But for Yahoo to make money on this deal Tumblr will have to generate profits after sales of greater than $1.1 billion.
My sources tell me that with the right adtech, Tumblr could generate several hundred million in ad sales revenue over the years. But they don't believe Yahoo will ever get its money back on the deal.
This is significant because Yahoo does not have a good track record when it comes to buying in a bubble. In 1999, right before the last tech crash, it bought Broadcast.com for $5.9 billion in stock and GeoCities for $3.57 billion. Neither business had meaningful revenue and both have since been shuttered.
<h3>Companies are making dumb decisions: This startup chose beef jerky over a 401 (k) plan.</h3>
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="waitscm | Flickr" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/4fe1da39eab8ea8c20000002-960/6000602472_8e50029011_b.jpg"></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chriswaits/6000602472/sizes/l/in/photostream/">waitscm | Flickr</a></div></div>The <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/10/14/131014fa_fact_heller">New Yorker recently wrote</a>:
Hunter Walk, an entrepreneur who recently co-founded an early-phase venture firm called Homebrew, told me about a startup where he'd previously worked. The company had needed to figure out whether to spend its limited budget on beef jerky to keep around the office or 401k plans for the staff. "We put it to a vote: 'Do you want a 401k or jerky?' " he explained. "The vote was unanimously for jerky. The thought was that well-fed developers could create value better than the stock market."
<h3>Serious investors are beginning to suspect a tech bubble has formed, and that a crash is coming.</h3>
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="UBS" title_caption="Art Cashin" class="zoomin" href="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/52742d1469bedd5929afe9ad-960/art-cashin-4.png"></a><a href="http://www.ubs.com/us/en/wealth/misc/artcashin/_jcr_content/par/columncontrol_8550/col1/textimage_3f87.1655589281.file/dGV4dD0vY29udGVudC9kYW0vdWJzX21hbnVhbF9taWcvV01BL2RvY3VtZW50cy9CaW9fQ2FzaGluLnBkZg==/Bio_Cashin.pdf">UBS</a>Art Cashin</div></div>Art Cashin, the the director of floor operations for UBS Financial Services, has been around the block. He recently worried that he he was seeing things that <a href="%20http://www.businessinsider.com/art-cashin-reminded-of-dotcom-bubble-2013-10">reminded him of 1999</a>:
"I do worry a little bit that we're beginning to hear things that are reminiscent of the 1999-2000 period-the number of hits, the number of eyeballs," said Cashin, ...
"I think if we hold to the old tried-and-true-how many dollars are coming in-then we might be better served," Cashin said. " But people are extrapolating, in some way, in a manner similar to the way they did in 1999-2000." 
"For an old fogy like me," the trend of extrapolating future earnings based on users and viewers "gets the warning flags flying," Cashin said.
<h3>Andreessen Horowitz is pulling up the ladder.</h3>
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge" style="width:400px"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Flickr / coltera " title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/4f857b2769beddc714000000-960/ladder-2.jpg"></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/christianspenceranderson/3302906137/in/photostream/">Flickr / coltera </a></div></div>Andreessen Horowitz is is the sine qua non of Silicon Valley investor groups. It had stakes in Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Groupon and Zynga. Now it is saying it will <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/10/10/weary-of-fruit-fly-consumer-startups-andreessen-horowitz-raises-series-a-bar/">no longer invest in early stage consumer-oriented startups</a>.
They're done.
Andreessen is interested more in later stage and business-to-business-oriented companies. Companies with actual prospects of real revenue, in other words.
This, arguably, is the kind of "flight to quality" you often see when asset prices and stocks start falling. What does Andreessen know that we don't?
<h3>One of the most legendary tech investors, Tim Draper, thinks we're at the end of the curve.</h3>
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="youtube/2millionminutes" title_caption="Tim Draper" class="zoomin" href="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5006c7b169bedd0e5d000021-960/tim%20draper.jpg"></a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xB9yyd5AdE&amp;feature=related">youtube/2millionminutes</a>Tim Draper</div></div></div>
Timothy Draper is the founder of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, a venture capital outfit that has invested in dozens of tech startups. He's been around since the days when Hotmail was the big new thing. He recently told The New Yorker that he believed <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/10/14/131014fa_fact_heller">tech venture capital may have reached the top of its cycle</a>:
"I'll draw you the cycle," he said, taking my notepad and pen. He scrawled a large zigzag across the page. "This is a weird shark's tooth that I kind of came up with. We'll call it the Emotional Market of Venture Capital, or the Draper Wave." He labeled all the valleys of the zigzag with the approximate years of low markets and recessions: 1957, 1968, 1974, 1983, and on. The lower teeth he labeled alternately "PE," for private equity, and "VC," for venture capital. Draper's theory is that venture booms always follow private-equity crashes. "After a recession, people lose their jobs, and start thinking, Well, I can do better than they did. Why don't I start a company? So then they start companies, and interesting things start happening, and then there's a boom." Eventually, though, venture capitalists get "sloppy"-they assume that anything they touch will turn to gold-and the venture market crashes. Then private-equity people streamline the system, and the cycle starts again. Right now, Draper suggested, we're on a venture-market upswing. He circled the last zigzag on his diagram: the line rose and then abruptly ended.
"Abruptly ended"?
Let's hope he's wrong.

You Searched For "Laurence D Fink" and got 5 results

PM Modi’s Maiden US Visit Over, India To See Investments Pouring In?

Purba Das

BlackRock's Larry Fink told CEOs that 'quarterly earnings hysteria' is bad for business - here's the letter he sent them

Matt Turner

The 20 Highest-Paid CEOs In America

Richard Feloni

Big Name NYC CEOs Urge Congress To Pass Terrorism Insurance Bill

Julia Cannon

Here's The Evidence That The Tech Sector Is In A Massive Bubble

Jim Edwards

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides