Business and Media

There may be a financial crisis, but in Vienna, the entire world’s still a stage and the houses are full. In a survey of leading galleries, museums, theatres, concert halls and operas, the picture seems, on the whole, to be one of business as usual. Locals and tourists both continue to flood the ticket offices. Only in the area of sponsorships, report local presenters, have the economic contractions taken a noticeable toll.

At the Konzerthaus, for example, audience numbers are actually up:

In Orson Scott Card’s classic science fiction fantasy Ender’s Game, the protagonist Ender Wiggin sits absorbed at a digital “desk”: a flat display-based computer connected to an intergalactic network, featuring access to the internets, interactive games and endless amounts of content for the young geniuses stationed at the “Battle School” space-station. Although the novel first appeared in 1977 and came to the screen in 1985, the real thing – if it is the real thing – made its first appearance this Jan. 27, when that Steve Jobs and Apple presented the iPad.

In the previous episodes we have highlighted the aspects of portfolio diversification, long term investments, short term trading and sector analysis.

This is Richie Rich with this Weeks focus on basic stock evaluation.

Although sentiment is slightly more positively tuned than six months back, Financial Markets for 2010 are expected to continue their volatility as 2009 comes to an end. There are various stocks in the various economic sectors that are undervalued and offer excellent returns for 2010.

When the 39-year-old farmer’s son Wolfgang Kulturer took over as managing director of the Carinthian Hypo Bank, he formulated the bank’s destiny as follows: “Expand or die.” In order for the institution with 220 employees and total assets of €1.9 billion to balance the books, the Carinthian regional government had to take over. Three employees were put in charge of foreign business transactions. This was on Nov. 1, 1992.

André Kostolany one of the most famous Stock Experts of the 20th Century once said, “Buy the stocks you like and go to sleep for 10 years, when you wake up, you will be rich”.

This certainly was the right investment style in the 20th Century and beginning of the 21st Century, however is this still valid advice in modern times? This is Richie Rich in volatility. Opinions are diverse regarding investment styles.

Some investors are long term, some are short term, others are a mix of both, the main question is who gains the most?

Down a side street off Gumpendorferstrasse in the hip 6th District, in the sort of elegantly faded structure Vienna seems to specialize in (and which developers in London or New York can only dream of), I enter a huge hall with swish music and 600 of Vienna’s beautiful people. It’s late October and the smart suits have turned out in force to hear the future marketing strategy for Vienna up to 2015.

Germany was furious. Magna was not happy either. And the Russian Sberbank also lost a remarkable deal.

“We are very shocked and surprised at the sudden decision of General Motors”, said Peter Hofer of Human Resources at Magna International Austria. “We invested a lot of time and money in order for this deal to happen,” Hofer continued.

Markets are receiving headwinds after racing ahead of fundamentals once again. In the meantime, Obama is struggling to keep the cork on the bonus bottle, limiting payments to top bank executives. The system is starting to get scary. Happy Halloween.

“Deposit Your Trust” is our topic this month. Which banks are still trustworthy? Where should you deposit your cash, besides your mattress? What alternatives can a savvy investor consider? Is there a solution?

The American business model has collapsed. During recent years, the United States borrowed gigantic sums of money from the rest of the word. Net capital imports exceeded $800 billion in 2008 alone. The money came largely from selling mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations, claims against claims against American homeowners (or to be precise, only against the homes themselves, as the owners were protected by the non-recourse nature of loans).

While many continue to blame the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US for the financial crisis, it is becoming increasingly obvious that tax havens play a contributing role. These havens, especially in Austria, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, and Switzerland foster the availability – and protection – of hidden ‘Treuhand’ accounts. These are a special form of trusts created in tax havens that operate under very different rules than other forms of custodial accounts.