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<ul><li><keyword id="3855571" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="OMD-Mudramax" source="Orion">OMD Mudramax</keyword>, part of the <keyword id="910338" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ddb-mudra-group" source="Orion">DDB Mudra Group</keyword>, has launched ‘<keyword id="88717" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="bingo" source="Orion">Bingo</keyword>,’ India’s first outcome-based, AI-backed <keyword id="2784447" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Media-Buying-Tool" source="Orion">media buying tool</keyword> focused on emerging brands and enterprise clients. </li><li>Bingo helps marketers achieve their brand and sales goals by identifying platforms and optimising media spends in a transparent and open manner without human intervention.</li></ul>OMD Mudramax, part of the DDB Mudra Group, has launched ‘Bingo’, India’s first outcome-based, AI-backed media buying tool focused on emerging brands and enterprise clients. Bingo helps marketers achieve their brand and sales goals by identifying platforms and optimising media spends in a transparent and open manner without human intervention. Bingo is an <keyword id="13048047" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Agency-Trading-Desk" source="Orion">Agency Trading Desk</keyword> (ATD) that integrates all downstream channels including but not limited to media buying platforms such as Google Ads, Facebook, Yahoo and other DSPs. Like the conductor of an orchestra, Bingo acts as a single control layer that keeps all other buying platforms in sync to deliver media goals. The buying platforms are connected by ready-made marketing APIs through which audience and campaign data flow in. Over a period of time, this historical data is used to optimise campaigns, maximise performance, identify problems and suggest changes to keep the campaign on track for objective delivery. The greatest advantage that Bingo offers marketers is a transparent big picture that delivers the best ROI for a business’ media budget. With this tool, marketers have complete transparency over the buying process with no hidden fees and markups. It offers agnostic buying through a unified platform, solving the problem of having silos for a multichannel approach. Its unbiased KPI-based buying funnels the budget towards a platform solely based on performance data. Campaign optimization recommendations can be implemented from a single dashboard to achieve the desired outcome. <keyword id="2226505" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rammohan-sundaram" source="Orion">Rammohan Sundaram</keyword>, Country Head &amp; Managing Partner – Integrated Media, DDB Mudra Group said, “The ability to buy media in an optimized and agnostic manner by setting clear objectives is what this product intends to achieve. As an advertising agency, we are also looking at acting as technology enablers and partners for our clients. Media optimization and transparency aren’t as esoteric as they sound but require technological intervention. We want to provide those capabilities to clients and marketers in the simplest manner.” Abhishek Sharma, Partner - Digital &amp; Lead Programmatic, DDB Mudra Group added, “Merely talking about transparency in the Ad Tech ecosystem is not enough. The entire demand-supply chain is lopsided towards closed ecosystems, which aren’t exactly built in a manner to facilitate transparency, be that pricing or audience data. It’s time to wrest control and place it exactly where it belongs, with the Advertiser, in a ubiquitous manner. This product is a sincere step in the direction of demand-side innovation and transparency.” Bingo took approximately 18 months from conceptualization to launch. Two patents have been filed in India and under the PCT which are currently under examination.

OMD Mudramax launches outcome-based, AI-backed Media Buying Tool

<ul><li><keyword id="412367" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="consumer-sentiment" source="Orion">Consumer sentiment</keyword> has improved and Indians are eager to celebrate this <keyword id="36208" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="festive-season" source="Orion">festive season</keyword>, says a survey.</li><li>Consumers are keen to splurge on luxury goods, beauty and personal care products, consumer durables and more.</li><li>With a surge in inquiries, real estate players expect 20% growth in sales this season.</li><li>Online retailers are also expected to see 18-20% in gross merchandise value. </li></ul>Indians are gearing up for the festival season that kicks off with Ganesh Chathurthi this week. As the auspicious months arrive, the real estate sector is upbeat with new launches and more, but the shadow of the monsoons lingers over automobile dealers and jewellers. This season, Indians are not shying away from high-profile purchases this festive season as the real estate sector has reported healthy inquiries – thanks to the high consumer sentiment due to heightened economic activity. “As we approach the festive season, we are already witnessing a surge in inquiries and we are expecting around 20% growth compared to last year’s festive season. This naturally offers a context for consumers to go in for their dream homes as the overall climate is geared towards sustained demand,” said Ramani Sastri, chairman &amp; MD of Sterling Developers. The demand for new homes has been growing and has hit an all-time high, and realtors expect a windfall this season, aided by growth in new launches especially in the mid and luxury categories. Rising homeownership amongst millennials, aided by the higher disposable income and willingness to upgrade to larger, luxurious spaces equipped with better amenities. “Developers are optimistic about the desire for homeownership and anticipate that with attractive schemes and offers, the uptake for homes across cities will be healthy. Further, the unchanged repo rates and the appraisal cycle that coincides with the festive season, will provide a much-needed boost to the residential sales figures in the coming months,” said Kanika Gupta Shori, founder and COO, Square Yards. Consumer goods are also expected to see traction this season, thanks to the underlying need to improve living standards combined with the surge in the need for comfort in households. “People are upgrading to a more premium lifestyle and our products, with their distinct combination of technology, ultra-modern look and cutting-edge features, will continue to find traction. The focus on launching new products, coupled with good deals and enhanced distribution, especially in the tier-2 and tier-3 cities, should help brands during the festive season ahead,” said Parag Kulkarni, senior VP-international and president, A O Smith India, who are known for their water heaters and purifiers. Better than last year The festive mood is also high for other purchases like clothes, luxury goods and more. A survey by global technology company The Trade Desk says that 70% of Indians are ready to spend more this Diwali – that’s a 35% higher than last year. The year of 2022 was one of the first festival seasons which was not masked by fear of Covid-19 in the last few years. This year, sales are expected to be better. “With the broader economy coming back to business-as-usual levels, this festive season is likely to catalyze online consumption demand,” said a report by Redseer. With regards to online shopping, the growth in gross merchandise value (GMV) of sales is expected to be 18-20% higher than what it was in the 2022 festival season – which saw a 10% growth. “The planned increase in consumer spend is led primarily by consumers’ bullish view that their financial situation has improved according to 53%, and consumers’ eagerness to celebrate a lot more this year as per 49%,” The Trade Desk says. A significant majority ie. 84% expressed interest in buying luxury goods and apparel, with 80% on gold, as per Trade Desk survey. Amongst those who plan to spend more, 68% are more likely to spend more on new clothes, the rest on food items, gifts for family and more. Within e-tailing, beauty and personal care products, home and general merchandise, fashion are expected to see high demand – with persistent premiumization. Auto and gold sales rely on rural demand for growth uptick After an upbeat August sales when sales of passenger vehicles and three-wheelers hit an all-time high, the outlook for auto sales too is upbeat. “Based on the performance of last month (August) , we are even more optimistic for demand to pick-up during the festive season, enabled by positive economic outlook and the revival of monsoon after a deficit in August,” said Vinod Aggarwal, the president of industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). Two-wheeler sales, however, remained dull due to subdued rural demand on account of insufficient rainfall that could temper sales growth going ahead, as per experts. Consumer demand in this segment has remained ‘ambivalent’ according to yet another industry body Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA). The monsoons have been in a deficit for most of the season, while a pick-up is expected in September. Without that pick-up, combined with low reservoir levels can have both direct and indirect effect on consumption both in rural and urban areas. Low sowing across two cropping seasons can have a devastating effect on inflation — driving down consumer sentiment across auto and other sectors. “After a prolonged period of stagnation, rural demand is showing signs of a positive resurgence. However, this recovery remains tenuous, contingent on the performance of the final phase of the monsoon season. Such developments would be particularly inopportune as they would coincide with the peak of India's festive season, notably Navratri and Deepawali, traditionally periods of heightened consumer activity,” said FADA. Jewellery sales too could be clouded by inflation, say experts, even as the yellow metal’s prices have been inching down on account of various macro economic factors. “With the start of the festive and wedding season, domestic gold demand is expected to gain impetus. However, higher inflation and weaker rural income on account of a less than ideal monsoon could potentially weigh on demand,” says Ghazal Jain, fund manager, alternative investments at Quantum Mutual Fund. Others, however, feel that consumers would be keen on addition to their physical old portfolio driven by the lower prices. Their prices have come down from a high of ₹61,750 per 10 gm in May to ₹59,000 per 10 gm currently — a healthy 20-25% drop from the recent surge. “Festive seasons have consistently witnessed a surge in physical gold demand, particularly in the realm of ornamental jewellery, as consumers seek the latest and trendiest designs. After a period of subdued festivities, the recent years have seen a resurgence in celebrations, rekindling the enthusiasm for gold,” said Jateen Trivedi, VP-research at LKP Securities. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/over-43-of-indian-employees-are-struggling-with-anxious-depressed-or-isolated/articleshow/103661485.cms">More than half of Indian employees are logging off from work exhausted</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/soap-opera-fmcg-players-kick-off-price-war-to-bring-back-whats-lost/articleshow/103657469.cms">Soap Opera: FMCG players kick off price war to bring back what’s lost</a>

India switches on its shopping mode as festivals approach, sales set to jump 20%

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11955852" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="gas" source="Orion">Gas</keyword> prices are at a record high in the US, with demand outstripping supply.</li><li>Biden authorized the release of 50 million barrels of <keyword id="11896879" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="oil" source="Orion">oil</keyword> from its reserve in a bid to lower prices.</li></ul>The Biden administration is tapping the government's underground oil stockpile to fight soaring gas prices. It still might not be enough to help you at the pump.President Joe Biden on Tuesday authorized the release of 50 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in a bid to combat spiking gas prices."Today, the President is announcing that the Department of Energy will make available releases of 50 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower prices for Americans and address the mismatch between demand exiting the pandemic and supply," the White House said in a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/11/23/president-biden-announces-release-from-the-strategic-petroleum-reserve-as-part-of-ongoing-efforts-to-lower-prices-and-address-lack-of-supply-around-the-world/">Tuesday statement</a>.The reserve — a network of underground oil storage — represents one of the few ways Biden can soften inflation as soaring prices rock the country. Prices surged through October at the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inflation-cpi-october-price-growth-index-supply-chain-crisis-recovery-2021-11">fastest year-over-year pace since 1990</a>, worsening fears that high inflation would become permanent. Much of the jump came from soaring energy prices, with gasoline leaping 6.1% last month alone.The average price for a gallon of gas this month — $3.38 — was the highest since 2013, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/news/gas-prices-are-red-america-may-be-paying-more-n1284300">NBC News reported</a>, citing the Energy Information Administration.The network holds more than 600 million barrels of crude oil, which means the White House can release more oil as it sees fit. Still, relief won't be instant. The reserve stores crude oil, so it will take time for the product to be refined into gasoline. The US also used about 8 million barrels of gasoline a day last year. That indicates the release will be used up in about a week.News of the release did little to calm the oil market. West Texas Intermediate crude futures — the benchmark oil price in the US — rose in Tuesday trading after the White House's announcement.Other countries including China, India, Japan, South Korea, and the UK are also planning to release oil from their reserves, the White House said. The coordinated release hopes to lower gas prices around the world instead of supporting only one market.Emergency releases from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve often take place after unforeseen disruptions to oil supply. In 2017, the Trump administration <a href="https://www.energy.gov/fecm/strategic-petroleum-reserve-9">released 5.2 million barrels of oil</a> after Hurricane Harvey shut down crude-oil deliveries to the US.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-are-gas-prices-so-high-right-now-3-reasons-2021-10?r=US&amp;IR=T">Insider's Andy Kiersz reported</a> the US demand for gas increased as the economy opened and Americans started driving more, while supply remains constricted because of lower US production and overseas oil exporters repeatedly agreeing to only modest increases in production.Last week, Biden <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-gas-energy-comapanies-illegal-conduct-high-prices-ftc-2021-11?r=US&amp;IR=T">asked the Federal Trade Commission</a> to look into the "mounting evidence of anti-consumer behavior by oil and gas companies." He cited soaring gas prices even as fuel costs declined.

Biden authorizes release of 50 million barrels of oil from US reserve, hoping to combat spike in gas prices

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="1042120" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Uber">Uber</keyword> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-confirms-layoffs-3000-more-job-cuts-offices-close-2020-5">on Monday announced it was cutting 3,000 more jobs,</a> bringing the total layoffs this month to 6,700. </li><li>In an email to staff, CEO <keyword id="1550747" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Dara-Khosrowshahi">Dara Khosrowshahi</keyword> outlined other restructuring efforts, like closing offices and slowing investments.</li><li>Investors cheered the layoffs, sending Uber's stock price up more than 6% in trading Monday. </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>Uber on Monday <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-confirms-layoffs-3000-more-job-cuts-offices-close-2020-5">confirmed Business Insider's reporting that it plans to lay off 3,000 more workers in addition to its previous round of 3,700 job cuts earlier in May.</a>Together, the layoffs represent about a quarter of the company's entire global workforce, which stood at 28,600 at the end of March.In an email to staff obtained by Business Insider, Uber's chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, said he consulted with leaders at other companies to see if there was a better option.Ultimately, however, he said the impact of the <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> pandemic — which has sent ride requests on Uber's app plunging as much as 80% across the board — required direct action to cut costs. He also outlined the severance packages the company will provide to affected employees, and detailed new restructuring efforts designed to further save money. Investors cheered the announcement, which Uber said would save more than $1 billion in planned spending. Uber's stock price gained 6% in trading Monday compared to Friday's close.<h2>Here's Khosrowshahi's full email to staff:</h2>Subject: A very difficult day, and what's nextRead the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-ceo-full-email-to-employees-after-layoffs-job-cuts-2020-5">Business Insider</a>

'I am truly sorry': Read the full email Uber's CEO sent employees after laying off 25% of the company's staff in 2 weeks

The five-letter word ‘Speed’ is as prized a commodity as gold in financial markets across the globe. Faster is access to the market information, faster can one put into action a pre-programmed trading strategy to execute a greater volume of trades, efficiently and swifter than what a single dealer at a trading desk can do. 
 
While much has evolved since the time of Reuters, which used pigeons to disseminate information to its clients about stocks traded in the Paris Stock Exchange faster than the post train, the need for ‘speed’ in the quest for greater profits has continued to remain a constant. 
 
While the open outcry trading in the pit gave way to manual trading using computers, the next inflection in the trading evolution is what we are experiencing today with ‘Algorithms’ that are programmed to release orders and execute trades. 
 
With the advent of low latency trading architecture, ‘speed’ is that deciding factor that separates profits from the ‘BIG’ profits. More importantly, the same can also be attributed to losses as well. Either ways, race to zero latency has gone very far and now is the time to re-evaluate how fast is fast enough. 
 
The more complex a trading system, greater the risk 
 
As much as Algorithmic-based programmed trading can be a boon, in terms of increasing the probability of greater profits, the collateral damage that it can unleash, if implemented without a proper risk management apparatus, can be quite catastrophic. 
 
Organizations such as Deutsche Bank, Knight Capital, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse serve as examples that testify the fact that increasingly complicated trading systems have given rise to an increasing likelihood of inadvertent errors (multi million to multi billion dollars) that cause wealth erosion. 
 
With the evolution of markets and trading systems nature of risk has also come a long way. While systemic risks continue to remain the same for manual rule based traders and mechanized traders, the impact of operational or system related risk is far more pronounced for the latter. 
 Justifiably so, markets regulators and exchanges foresee the looming threat of such evolved trading methodologies and have called for greater circumspection. While the process of periodic audits and existing regulations pertaining to <keyword id="6377626" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Algo-Trading">Algo trading</keyword> such as pre-order checks and monetary penalties for high order to trade ratios are robust enough in India, one should demystify the scope for errors and underscore the need to constantly improve the risk management infrastructure for the overall good of the market participants. 
 
Imperative for traders and software programmers to be on the same page 
 
Algo trading entails strategies formulated by traders but eventually executed by software programmers. Coming from disparate fields, the lack of common knowledge or cross functionality is one of the biggest challenges to overcome. Uploading the wrong trading modules in the Complex Event Processing (CEP) engines by the software programmer can lead to adverse consequences on the trading front. Thorough stress testing of the Algo is imperative before it gets live in a market. 
 
<keyword id="3128662" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Secondary-Risk-Management-Systems">Secondary Risk Management Systems</keyword> (SRMS) 
 
Primary risk management systems are typically integrated within the trading platforms and may fail to spot the programming gaps, stale data or any other corner scenarios. To ensure proper functioning of the automated trading system, different technological components including risk management must function well in real time. 
 
With so many changes happening within the trading system to optimize latency, enhanced algos logic changes, it may not be possible to validate performance of risk management in live markets comprehensively. And sometimes it does so happen that risk management system may fail without even the algo trader being aware of it. 
 
The flow of a single trading and risk management system is as shown below. Same software is used for trading and risk engine. This works well in 99.99% cases but in rare cases, it fails and algos can go haywire and cause market disruptions. 
 
 
 
To address this problem, a Secondary Risk Management System (SRMS) can be very useful by acting as a second line of defense to safeguard against issues in primary system. This workflow is elaborated below. 
 
 
 
Such offline system will not reduce the latency of live trading. All the orders, trades, modifications etc. will be captured in the offline risk management system which could be used to do the following, 
 
- Do all the risk checks primary system is meant to be doing. Act as a second line of defense and provide alerts within microseconds. Such a system for example could have saved Knight capital’s $400mn loss in 2012 as it had taken them 45 minutes to realize what went wrong and rectify it. A secondary risk management system could have caught it within seconds. 
 
- Perform more comprehensive risk checks over and above the exchange/regulator mandated checks like Greeks’ exposure (gamma, vega, theta, etc.) for options, margins utilized, and various other risk parameters. 
 
- Aggregate the risk checks across the servers, various algo trading software (including FPGA driven), etc., as depicted below. This will lead to a firm wide risk management, which is not possible today otherwise. The aggregation process is depicted in the image below. 
 
 
 
 
SRMS when implemented in the existing set up can go a long way in instilling confidence among all market participants. After all, one develops the confidence of stepping on the accelerator of a car only if the safety measures are in place, brakes are fool proof and the back up hand bake is there too. 
 
Time for India to accelerate. 
 
(Kunal Nandwani is Founder and CEO of uTrade Solutions) 
 
(Image: bankers-anonymous.com)

Why participants in the Indian financial market need to adopt secondary risk management systems

<ul><li>One of India’s top bullion and forex advisors <keyword id="219634" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jamal-Mecklai" source="Orion">Jamal Mecklai</keyword> has released a note explaining how a bank has been overcharging in a <keyword id="113706" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="currency-swap" source="Orion">currency swap</keyword> deal.</li><li>The spread on the loan as per what the bank was charging is 45%.</li><li>It would help if RBI were to at least highlight this kind of malpractice and ask for more disclosures, says Mecklai.</li></ul>Jamal Mecklai of <keyword id="579573" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mecklai-Financial" source="Orion">Mecklai Financial</keyword> has a suggestion for the <keyword id="6354335" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="reserve-bank-of-india" source="Orion">Reserve Bank of India</keyword>, following a complex currency swap transaction it advised a client on. The CEO of Mecklai Financial, a treasury and foreign currency risk advisor, has written a detailed note on one of its clients that engaged a global investment bank for its currency swap requirements. A currency swap is nothing but a transaction involving trading principal and interest in one currency for the same in another. A $1.5-bn company engaged Mecklai Financial to help it unwind a currency swap transaction it had entered into with a global bank. Currency swaps are taken by companies that have exposure in foreign currency payouts and may be receiving payments in some other currency. Mecklai explains the terms of the transaction and how it perhaps lacked transparency since India does not have a very deep currency derivative market yet. In this note he says, “We were called in recently to advise a large (about $1.5 bn) company on whether and at what rate to unwind a swap it had taken. The company had a $22 million loan at 3.57% fixed, and significant receipts in EUR and, in 2020 their bank – a large international player – had advised it, appropriately in our view, to enter into a EUR/USD currency swap to where its EUR flows could be paid directly to the bank who, in turn, would pay the company USD to settle its underlying loan.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Squaring off the swap" comment="subhead" text="Squaring off the swap">Squaring off the swap</cmsannotation> As the Euro has fallen since the company entered into this arrangement, the swap was beneficial to the client and the bank asked the company whether it would be interested in squaring it off and pocketing more than $1 million in gains. Since the company also had receipts in USD, which it could use to naturally hedge its loan payments, this sounded like a good idea (to us as well). Jamal Mecklai writes in his note that he asked for the loan cash flows and the date of the original swap. “We were horrified to discover that back in September 2020, the bank had charged them a swap rate of 3.65% – this meant that the company would have to pay the bank a fixed amount of EUR every six months with interest at 3.65% and the bank would pay the company a fixed amount of USD with interest at 3.57%. The issue was that in 2020 the interest rate differential between EUR and USD was around 0.75-1.0% so the swap rate looked outrageously high,” he explains. A currency swap works in two stages. In the first stage, the two entities exchange the principal amount at an agreed exchange rate, which is based on spot rates. Alternatively, a forward rate can also be set but it has to be agreed to in advance. This is done to arrive at the principal value. Once this is done then the entities agree on the interest rate, fixed or floating, the client has to pay on this currency swap instrument. In this case Mecklai Financial found that the interest rates were outrageously high. Currency swaps do come with risks to the bank like credit risk and capital requirements that are different across jurisdictions. Even with these elements priced in, the spread was too high. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The client was unaware of the spread" comment="subhead" text="The client was unaware of the spread">The client was unaware of the spread</cmsannotation> The client, he says, was unaware of the spread on the loan, was happy to reverse the swap and brought him in for negotiations. The bank offered them $1.9 million to reverse the swap while as per his calculations $2.6 million. After negotiations, the payout was brought up to $2.3 million – but the bank still made a handsome profit of over $200,000 in addition to the ‘extravagant spread’ and the amount earned at the start of the swap. “This example simply illustrates the obvious fact that treasury corporate desks are trained to maximize revenue by lying to their customers. But banks overcharging customers is nothing new; Reserve Bank has long been aware of this problem and, about six to eight years ago, had CCIL set up the <keyword id="7811908" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="fx-retail" source="Orion">FX Retail</keyword> platform for spot FX on which anyone can get close to market rates,” said Mecklai. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/these-are-the-best-and-worst-performing-nifty-indices-in-2022-so-far/articleshow/94149156.cms">These are the best and worst performing Nifty indices in 2022 so far</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/ed-allows-wazirx-to-use-bank-accounts-frozen-after-raids/articleshow/94147873.cms">ED allows WazirX to use bank accounts frozen after raids</a>

The story of a currency swap that showed the shockingly high spreads, commissions and omissions by an international bank

Good morning.
Dave Lutz of Stifel, Nicolaus breaks down the top stories that traders are talking about today.
We summarize in bullets.
<ul>
<li>Markets off a little bit in Europe and the US.</li>
<li>Aussie dollar and the Kiwi up a bit on good economic data.</li>
<li>Uh-oh: WSJ reports that short-interest in stocks is collapsing.</li>
<li>Reserve Bank of India cut rates.</li>
<li>Goldman sells $1 billion worth of stock in Chinese bank ICBC.</li>
<li>Iran cuts off oil and gas sales to Europe.</li>
<li>Billions flowing back into Eurozone peripheral countries.</li>
<li>Mining companies dealing with lower profits.</li>
<li>"Core" bond rates (UK, Germany, US) on the rise.</li>
<li>There's a rally in bank bonds.</li>
</ul>
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/opening-bell-29-2013-1">For more on what's going on today, see 10 things you need to know before the opening bell &gt;</a>

On Wall Street Trading Desks, Here's What They're Talking About Right Now

<ul class="summary-list"><li>US <keyword id="6354298" type="DEFINITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Stocks">stocks</keyword> traded mixed after the $900 billion stimulus bill was passed in Congress, and European stocks recovered losses caused by a new <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> strain.</li><li>The emergence of the relief package along with a government funding bill "proved just too juicy a morsel for the dip-buying FOMO herd to ignore," a market analyst said.</li><li>Restrictions designed to curb the spread of a more transmissible variant of the virus from the UK led to fresh travel bans, hitting stocks in both US and Europe on Monday.</li><li>"While the vaccines are arriving, the road to the exit remains dark and bumpy," according to Rabobank analysts.</li></ul>US stocks traded mixed on Tuesday after <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stimulus-deal-passed-house-democrats-direct-checks-unemployment-mcconnell-senate-2020-12">lawmakers approved a $900 billion stimulus plan</a>, while European stocks recovered losses related to the emergence of a new strain of <keyword id="8763838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="covid-19">COVID-19</keyword>. Futures tied to the <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/s&amp;p_500_500">S&amp;P 500</a>, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/nasdaq_100">Nasdaq</a>, and <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/dow_jones">Dow Jones</a> swayed between gains and losses of about 0.3%.The rescue package was sanctioned along with a $1.4 trillion regular government funding omnibus bill, which <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-in-government-funding-deal-approved-with-stimulus-bill-2020-12">includes a wide range of provisions</a>. The emergence of two bills "proved just too juicy a morsel for the dip-buying FOMO herd to ignore," said Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst at OANDA.The legislation has been sent to Trump's desk for signing. But before he can do so, it must be <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/531093-do-not-publish-pre-write-trump-signs-bill-extending-government">printed on parchment paper</a>, physically delivered to the White House, and evaluated by lawyers. In Europe, <keyword id="31671" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="markets">markets</keyword> recovered previous day losses after the emergence of a new, more contagious strain of coronavirus in Britain triggered a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/covid-19-multiple-countries-close-borders-uk-fearing-new-strain-2020-12">wave of bans on travellers from the UK</a>. At least 40 countries, mostly in Europe, but also India and Hong Kong among others, have issued, or are considering issuing, bans on UK arrivals. As countries close their borders to the UK, global economic growth is facing another threat from the slower rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, according to Rabobank analysts. "While the vaccines are arriving, the road to the exit remains dark and bumpy," they said.Read More: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stocks-to-buy-top-pick-in-each-sp500-sector-bofa-2020-12">Bank of America unveils its top stock pick in each of the 11 S&amp;P 500 sectors and explains why they're poised to dominate in the year ahead</a>Even without this new strain of the virus, the possibility of a no-deal Brexit was already raising questions over the UK's import supplies. The two sides still disagree on the exact quota of the share of fish caught by EU vessels in British waters."The sound of wet fish being thrown around in Brussels is deafening," said Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, adding that it's best to assume December 30 is the last possible moment for an EU-UK divorce agreement.London's <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/ftse_100">FTSE 100</a> was among one of the weaker performing indices in Europe, with a rise of just 0.3%, compared with the <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/euro_stoxx_50">Euro Stoxx 50</a>, which rose 1.2%, or <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/dax">Frankfurt's DAX</a>, which gained 1.2%.Oil prices continued to fall, extending losses triggered by concern over the mutated strain of the virus. <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price?type=brent">Brent crude futures</a> fell 1.4%, to $50.17, and <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price?type=wti">West Texas Intermediate</a> fell 1.5%, to $47.22.Negative market sentiment over the new virus strain in England and South Africa led Asian stocks lower, outweighing positive vaccine news and the passage of the fiscal stimulus package in the US Congress, UBS said.China's <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/shanghai_composite">Shanghai Composite</a> fell 1.8%, Tokyo's <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/nikkei_225">Nikkei</a> fell 1%, and Hong Kong's <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/hang_seng">Hang Seng</a> fell 0.7%.As the Federal Reserve recently <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/federal-reserve-economic-outlook-us-recovery-gdp-unemployment-fomc-meeting-2020-12">upgraded its outlook for US GDP</a> next year, chairman Jerome Powell's view underlines the argument that, despite the recent equity market rally, there is still further upside, said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management. "We recommend diversifying for the next leg up in equities, positioning for dollar weakness, taking advantage of volatility, and protecting against the downside," he said.Read More: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/investing-strategy-stock-market-barry-norris-tips-rolls-royce-argonaut-2020-12">Investing veteran Barry Norris is beating 95% of his peers by betting against the market's riskiest companies. He warns investors against the 'siren call' to own value stocks - and explains why he's now bearish on Rolls-Royce.</a>

US futures trade mixed after House passes $900 billion stimulus plan, while European stocks recover losses from virus strain

<ul><li>The <keyword id="36208" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="festive-season" source="Orion">festive season</keyword> has always been important to brands, especially to e-commerce players who line up big bumper discounts, look for more retail brands to partner and ramp up their product offerings.</li><li>This festive season, e-commerce platforms are focusing on bringing more personalisation and curation to customers shopping online through greater tech and marketing integration.</li><li>More and more e-commerce platforms are also exploring social commerce, turning their apps into super apps by bringing content, products and trends under one roof for consumers to watch and shop at once.</li><li>With increasing internet penetration, e-commerce players are expecting new growth from Tier II, III and beyond this festive, which will cumulatively contribute to $150 billion of e-commerce as per RedSeer Consulting’s report.</li><li>We speak to India’s leading e-commerce players to find out more about their festive plans and revival expectations.</li></ul>The year 2020 accelerated e-commerce industry, perhaps by a decade, revolutionising the way brands operate, run, and grow their businesses, as well as how consumers choose to shop and pay. In the initial months of the lockdown, businesses witnessed a clear shift in consumer behaviour. Historically offline shoppers also came online due to convenience and safety. Consumers are still hesitant to return to in-store shopping completely and audiences from Tier II and Tier III are also preferring to shop online. The pandemic has evidently caused an inflection point for e-commerce in the country. With the second-largest internet user base, India has emerged as one of the most prominent markets globally. Around 480 million people in India have access to the internet out of which 90 million are online shoppers, according to estimates from management consultancy RedSeer. Shoppers from India’s small towns and cities will cumulatively contribute to $150 billion of e-commerce GMV in the coming decade, until 2030, revealed RedSeer. <div type="image" title="redseer - ecomm report" msid="85901903" hostid="261"></div> After spending a glum year and a half, consumers are excited to celebrate the festive season with upcoming shopping sales for Diwali, Dussehra and Christmas. IPL and ICC T-20 World Cup will further improve consumer sentiment this year. According to a survey conducted by The Trade Desk and YouGov, 82% of consumers shopped online at least once a month in the past six months, and nearly one in four made online purchases several times a week or more often. Titled ‘<a href="https://pages.thetradedesk.com/rs/527-INM-364/images/TheFestiveSeasonPulse2021.pdf">The Festive Season Pulse 2021</a>,’ it further said that 91% of Indian consumers are planning a purchase during the upcoming festive season and six in 10 are interested in learning about new brands during festive season sales. To leverage this uptick in consumer sentiment, the e-commerce category is all set to begin its festive marketing blitz and is preparing to line up big discounts for the season in a few weeks. For this 30-day period leading up to the festive season, leading fashion e-commerce platform <keyword id="319719" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="myntra" source="Orion">Myntra</keyword> has planned ‘Big Fashion Festival,’ which will be followed up with Myntra Diwali Sale, with a focus on ethnic wear. It will also be focusing on emerging categories like Beauty and Personal care, kidswear and categories such as innerwear and essentials which have experienced tailwinds post-Covid. Myntra’s Chief Business Officer, Ayyappan Rajagopal said, “We are expecting this festive season to be bigger than last year with more customers using online channels to make their purchases. Demand usually peaks in the 30 days leading to Diwali and we expect this year to be no different. In fact, the demand in the 2 months leading to the festive season is expected to be far more than last time (because people have learnt with time to adapt to a pandemic world). We expect high demand from across geographies and markets - metros, Tier 1, Tier 2, T3 cities and beyond. To cater to that, we have built the right ethnic wear, beauty, and home selection, and have partnered with brands on best deals. Hence, to leverage this demand and provide best value to our customers, we are organizing Big Fashion Festival and Myntra Diwali Sale to make this season a resounding success.” Right on the heels of the festive season, Myntra ramped up its marketing game by onboarding Hrithik Roshan, Vijay Deverakonda and Dulquer Salmaan as its newest brand ambassadors, alongside the existing celebrity ambassadors Kiara Advani, and Samantha Akkineni. Now, it is hoping to double its customer base and cater to Gen-Z shoppers with its high-decibel marketing. “With the optimism coming from recovery from Covid and revival in shopping sentiments along with the habitualisation of digital foray across all customer segments, we see a lot of new customers shopping during this festive season. We have also seen trends in Metro/T1 markets where Myntra has been traditionally strong, pointing towards such a revival. With a positive overall sentiment, we will be looking at doubling our customer base during this period. There will also be an added focus towards expanding our footprint in southern markets, deeper penetration into Tier 2 / 3 towns and exploring customer addition through emerging categories like Kids wear, Inner wear, fashion accessories, Beauty and persona care, etc. The greatest focus will be on Gen-Z cohort of shoppers,” shared Rajagopal. E-commerce platforms are also focusing on bringing more personalisation and curation to customers shopping online through greater tech and marketing integration. More and more e-retailers are exploring social commerce, turning their apps into super apps by bringing content, products and trends under one roof for consumers to watch and shop at once. D2C fashion platform Bewakoof.com that recently raised Rs 60 crore in an investment round led by InvestCorp, IvyCap and Spring Marketing Capital, is expecting to Rs 120 crore in brand sales this quarter. It recently rolled out celebrity-led digital campaigns with Rajkummar Rao, Sanya Malhotra and Farhan Akhtar. It plans to further build its market presence by signing more A-list celebrities to its roster and launch a 360-degree campaign by October. On the technology side, the company intends to launch a gamification-led loyalty program as it upgrades its Bewakoof Tribe with new and exclusive launches for the club members. Sharing the platform’s festive plans further, Prabhkiran Singh, Founder CEO, Bewakoof.com said, “Post pandemic, we saw a strong recovery and growth in certain categories like casual wear and leisurewear because of customers staying at home and with the pandemic slowing down, we expect a strong recovery in categories like ethnic wear, bags, accessories, etc in the festive season ahead. We’re also looking to capitalise on winter wear more this year than usual with winter around the corner and have put in investments accordingly. We expect our brand sales to be Rs 120 crore for the festive quarter.” For Bewakoof, the northern and western markets see the highest demand, followed by West Bengal and Assam because of Durga Puja. Currently, over 6 million customers visit Bewakoof.com every month. Singh told us that the festive season serves as a crucial window in the year for new customer acquisition and bringing back customers that haven’t shopped again for a while. The platform is also planning on increasing its marketing spends this festive. “For this year, 15% of our total marketing budget will be spent for the upcoming festive season.” We’re in the process of rebranding Bewakoof in the next 1-2 months and we’ll have a new look, logo, tagline along with a new set of celebrities that will endorse Bewakoof so we’re excited to roll this out and create buzz around it along with backing it up with top-funnel marketing investments. We plan to go heavy on top-funnel marketing investments starting October,” said Singh. E-retail platform OLX has upped its UI to woo its customers, digitising the entire process of online retailing, including verification of all its premium items. OLX Autos launched a verified inventory of cars with a new interface, which provides a detailed history of the car right from the ownership period all the way up to the service history of the car, and access to a host of financing options and after-sales products like insurance and warranty. As a result, OLX has witnessed a surge in demand for pre-owned cars. Sapna Arora, CMO, OLX India said, “Green shoots are already visible in the used car retail segment. The demand for pre-owned cars has been 25% higher than the pre-Covid levels while there has been an 82% plus growth in demand for pre-owned smartphones. Our goods category has also witnessed a strong rebound, as demand and supply have gone up by an average of 68% and 25%, respectively, compared to pre-Covid levels. The upcoming festival season is important for us as we expect the gap to be narrowing down between pre and post-Covid levels. There has been a strong uptake of e-commerce across regions, especially in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, with consumers there making the greatest shift to online shopping. We will continue to focus on the pre-owned auto segment and are expecting to surpass the demand this festive season.” At an industry level, Arora told us that e-commerce players are leveraging on hyper-personalisation to create individualised experiences on the platform and AI-powered chatbots are being implemented by the online retailers to bring customers close to an offline retail experience with a high engagement rate. Sharing OLX’s plan, Arora added, “This festive season we plan to use innovative solutions via relevant messaging at different levels of the retail journey. Our consumer base is growing organically. During this year’s lockdown, a lot of people moved online and we saw growth, about 30% more daily active users (DAUs) from our previous pre-Covid peak. In the festive season, our huge inventories across segments will contribute to increasing the DAU’s on the platform.” As per Nielsen India’s E-commerce Consumer Panel (E-Analytics Solution), there was a double-digit increase in average spend of online shoppers for electronics and accessories (39%), mobile and accessories (12%), and fashion, including apparel, footwear, and accessories (10%) after the pandemic. Appliances (e.g.TV, WM, refrigerators, etc.) also saw notable shopper spending increase at 9%. E-commerce giant Amazon is also ramping up its product range for the festive season. “Together with thousands of small &amp; medium business and brand partners, we continue to offer our customers the widest selection, convenience, and fast delivery. We are humbled by how millions of Indian customers have made us a part of their daily lives. Also, customers continue to believe that online shopping is the safest way to shop which has been reflecting in all the recent events of Amazon like Prime Day 2021, Great Freedom Festival, Rakhi Store, Onam store and so on. This festive season is not a normal one for reasons we all know and our success metric would be focused on how we can make our sellers successful. Customers can look forward to shopping from a wide selection of products across categories like Home &amp; Kitchen, Fashion &amp; Beauty, Appliances and Smartphones, Grocery essentials and more from the comfort and safety of their homes," said an Amazon India spokesperson. This growth trajectory of e-commerce platforms in India testifies how customers are increasingly recognising the importance of comfort shopping within closed doors, and after seeing their businesses take a plunge in the first three months of the lockdown, more and more sellers are also coming online.

This festive season, e-commerce platforms are betting big on Tier II and III markets, which are likely to contribute $150 million to e-commerce growth this year

New Delhi, Nov 24 () To enhance their geo-strategic reach, India's public sector enterprises should bid for international projects as a consortium, work with the government to design WTO-smart subsidies and enhance exports, according to a report.
 The CII report, titled 'Can the Indian PSEs enhance their Geo-strategic reach', presents a roadmap to expand exports and geo-strategic reach of public sector enterprises (PSEs) by 2022.
 It also points out several domestic and external barriers which are inhibiting the PSEs' ability to enhance exports. Lack of autonomy, multiple procedures and management gaps, among others, lead to loss of potential business opportunities, it pointed out.
 "Setting up a High-Level Export Strategy Committee will implement the five-point agenda set out by the Prime Minister for enhancing the competitiveness of Indian PSEs by 2022.
 "A short-term (5 years) and long-term (10 years) roadmap for the PSEs, clearly laying down exports and growth targets, is the order of the day to enhance their geo-strategic reach," said Chandrajit Banerjee, Director-General, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
 The report recommends public sector enterprises bid for international projects as a consortium, leveraging each other's mutual competence, experiences and strengths. They should also leverage regional and bilateral trade agreements in sectors where they have a comparative advantage.
 Long-term political strategy and planning is needed for the success of PSEs as they often invest in strategic and long-term projects abroad. Each nodal ministry should have an international desk, it said.
 Most PSEs have been exporting and/or have an international presence. As per the report, they now have presence in over 80 countries across diverse regions with the majority concentrated in the South Asian region.
 A number of them are moving away from their traditional markets to new markets, such as Africa and Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV).
 The chamber has suggested a well-defined process for sharing of information between the Indian embassies, nodal ministries, PSEs and their associations. RSN SR ABM
ABM

India's PSUs should bid for international projects as consortium: Report

Indian <keyword id="407821" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="software-firms">software firms</keyword> are doing a commendable job as the total valuation of the nation’s top 30 <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=enterprise+software+product+companies+">enterprise software product companies</a> has touched $10.25 billion. 
 
The total valuation is pushing up the value of an index compiled by software products think tank iSpirt by 20%. 
 
The number of employees in these companies has also grown by nearly 18% to over 21,200 employees, according to the report, based on an index called iSPIxB2B, comprising top 30 software product companies in India and their valuations. 
 
Not only that, there has been a notable increase in the enterprise value per employee, showcasing shift from services heavy to product-heavy offerings. 
 "We see a steady growth in this space and we expect it to continue to grow nicely. The data tells us that the ecosystem is accelerating," said <keyword id="2590447" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Dev-Khare">Dev Khare</keyword>, managing director at Lightspeed India Partners Advisors, who helped put together the report for iSpirt. 
 
Companies from Delhi dominate the index followed by Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, <a href="file:///C:/Users/gunja.d/Documents/Septemeber%202015/Mumbai">Mumbai</a> and other cities. Nearly 40% of the companies in the index sell products across different enterprises but the rest are focussed on financial services, retail, media and travel. 
 
What are the reasons for this growth? Khare is of the view that the growth in the number of enterprise software companies is due to three key reasons: 
1. The growing domestic market, 
2. Easier access to global customers via the internet, and 
3. A growing breed of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=entrepreneurs+">entrepreneurs</a> who have deeper understanding of software products and industries. 
4. 
Khare said there is a new class of entrepreneurs coming in with a very close finger on the pulse of the needs today and creating solutions for that. 
 An overwhelming majority of the companies (80%) including the likes of cloud telephony company Knowlarity, customer support software maker Fresh desk and ad tech company <keyword id="164941" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="inMobi">InMobi</keyword> are focused on the global market while the rest are looking to tap into the Indian market. 
 
About 67% of the companies are domiciled in India but since 2009, majority of Indian B2B companies have started incorporating in the US and Singapore, the report noted. "The government is trying to introduce policies which make it more conducive for companies to remain domiciled in India," said Khare. In June, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Sebi">India's market regulator Sebi</a> said it will launch an alternative trading platform for internet startups with relaxed norms for listing. 
 
Most of the companies in the index have bootstrapped themselves without institutional financing in the early stage. 
 The report also said that about 43% were bootstrapped and most institutionally-funded companies got growth financing, rather than early-stage <keyword id="6357097" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="venture-capital">venture capital</keyword> financing. 
 
 (Image: Indiatimes)

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