O’Gara Group IPO

A new IPO is set to hit the Capital Stock Markets very soon. The Initial Public offering or the IPO belongs to The O’Gara Group Incorporated based in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

What is the expected size of the O’Gara Group IPO?
The O’Gara Group IPO is expected to raise around 173 million USD from the initial Public offering.

Where will the fund raised through O’Gara Group IPO be used?
The capital raised through O’Gara Group IPO will be used mainly for aquisitions with an aim to increase its size to 4 times. There are 3 major acquistions planned totalling around 232 million USD. Apart from the 173 million USD IPO, the remaining amount will be a mix of cash raised, stocks and debt.

What are the 3 companies to be acquired by O’Gara Group IPO?
As per the news, O’Gara plans to pay $165 million for Italian company Isoclima, a maker of vehicle armor and transparent glass that generates about $100 million in annual sales. It agreed to pay $36 million for Monterrey, Mexico-based TPS Armoring, which makes vehicle armoring systems and cranked out $30 million in revenue last year. And it will pay $31 million for Freeport, Pa,-based OmniTech, a maker of night-vision weapon sights and other military optical systems that made had $13 million in sales last year and will become part of O’Gara’s sensor systems unit. All three are profitable through the first six months of the year.

What will be the effect of these acquisition by the O’Gara Group ?
The acquisitions will expand O’Gara from a company that had $38 million in revenue last year to a near-$200 million-in-sales company. The combined companies generated $180 million in sales last year and are on pace to top $200 million through the first six months of this year. They also would have made a net profit of $3.7 million through the first half of this year, according to pro forma financial figures included in the filing. That’s a big improvement on O’Gara’s stand-alone results. It lost $1.4 million last year and $1 million through the first half of this year. It hasn’t made a profit since 2005.

What are the business valuations of the O’Gara Group?
The O'Gara Group is a leading provider of advanced security products and training solutions to aid in the global war on terrorism and to enhance customer security. Founded in 2003, current customers include the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and the United States Marine Corps (USMC), the United States Departments of State, and Homeland Security, as well as foreign customers including the Canada Ministry of Defense, the Italian Ministry of Defense, the Taiwan Ministry of Defense, and the U.K. Ministry of Defense, law enforcement agencies, and private corporations and individuals.

Which stock exchange will the shares of O’Gara Group IPO be listed on?
O’Gara Group IPO shares will trade on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol OGAR.

Who are the lead underwriters of the O’Gara Group IPO issue?
O’Gara enlisted Memphis based investment banker Morgan Keegan & Co. as its lead underwriter. BB&T Capital Markets, Oppenheimer & Co., Raymond James & Associates Inc. and Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. are also participating as underwriters in the O’Gara Group IPO issue

Pay, Pension & Salary Calculators for Sixth Pay Commission Government Salary

Since the government came out with the announcement of the Sixth Pay commission recommendations for the hike in the salary, there is a lot of mayhem going on in the government employees. Though this is an election year and the government may have increased the salaries to attract more votes, the hike has been beneficial to the employees.

However, there is a lot of confusion going on in government offices about how much salary hike will an employee receive as new salary, how much arrears will be paid to him/her as a part of the increased salary, when will the salary arrears be paid and by what amount, and finally how much will be the new take home salary be after the Sixth Pay commission recommendations are put in place.

A new initiative by two entrepreneurs has come to the rescue of such employees who are still wondering about how much salary will they receive. GConnect.in is one such initiative which allows government employees to calculate their New Salary Hike online, by just typong in a few details about their grade and their current Salary.

The online calculator on the GConnect website will also show you how much money will you receive in Salary arrears , in the two installments.

For ease of use, here are the direct links to the salary calculators for various pay band after the recommendations of the Sixth pay Commission:

Salary Calculator for Pay band 1 and 2 for Sixth Pay Commission Salary Hike

Salary Calculator for Pay band 3 and above for Sixth Pay Commission Salary Hike

Salary Calculator for Pension calculations for Sixth Pay Commission Salary Hike

Reliance Big TV DTH Service

The news that was awaited by many has finally come true. Reliance DTH or Direct to Home Service has finally launched the BIG TV, a DTH service from Reliance ADAG group, for providing home entertainment and television channels.

What are the claimed advantages of Reliance Big TV DTH Service?
The biggest claim that is being made by Reliance Big TV DTH Service is that it offers the television channel content in the MPEG 4 format, while the exisitng DTH providers like Tata Sky adn Dish TV have it in MPEG 2 format. Hence, this would mean an enhanced picture quality.
There are other interfaces which are claimed to enhance the user interface like:
- 12 Mulitchannel Preview per screen
- 8 Favourite channel list
- Facility to assign personal names to the channel list
- Search feature with the name of actor, director, title keyowrd, etc.
- Offering 32 movie channels compared to 4 to 8 of the Tata Sky adn Dish TV.

What are the price for Reliance Big TV DTH Service subscription?
They seem to have come out with the so called Launch Offers :
Just pay Rs. 1490/-* and get the Reliance BIG DTH service in India

Guaranteed with all Offers
A choice of more then 200 channels
3 months free unlimited access to exclusive BIG Cinema
Monthly Subscription Pack
- 20 Movie channels
- 120 Movies
New Movies every 15 days
Sensational audio entertainment on 10 Audio channels
One Free Regional Pack

Now, there is a * on the price tag of 1490, so there are definitely terms and conditions applicable. Subscribers should enquire about that before signing up.

What are the monthly subscription charges for Reliance Big TV DTH Service?

Monthly Subscriptions for Reliance Big TV DTH Service Starting from Rs 100 upto Rs 450/-

- Choose from more than 200 channels
- Create your own channel pack
- Pay only for the channels you choose
- Choose from various price points
- Choose from Regional Packs with your own language preference
- Enhance your pack any time by an add-on pack/s
- Get access to the world's largest movie library

Again, strings may be attached, so one needs to know what are the exact charges they will end up paying.
The starter pack costs just 100 Rs. per month and comes with 44 channels. But that contains very limited channels and not those which are really popular among the households. Majority of them being the DD channels.

Where can I get more information on Reliance Big TV DTH Service?
For more info, you can contact Reliance Big TV DTH Service at Customer Care 022-3033 8888 or their toll free number 1800-200-9001

Any other information about Reliance Big TV DTH Service?
Relaince is a name which is known to change the entire market for any industry segment. Like they managed to do it for mobile and other businesses. Their entry into the DTH service secotr would definitely send ripples through the other players. However, one needs to be careful about the charges and customer service. There are always issues and concerns with the Reliance Cusstomer Services, be it mobile services, broadband services, etc. The other thing to look out for is the charges which they take.

0 Credit Card: Zero Credit Card

There are a whole lot of Credit Cards available in the credit card market which claim to be 0 Credit Card or Zero Balance Credit Card or Zero Interest Credit Cards. But which card to choose from among all the available 0 Credit Cards is the biggest question that each individual considers.

In this article, we will discuss about some of the points that one must keep in mind while selecting and applying for 0 Credit Cards. A common tactic by credit card companies is to offer people a 0 percent rate on balance transfers. The business of balance transfer works as follows: If you transfer the outstanding balance on your old credit card, the new credit card company will charge you 0 percent interest on the transferred amount.
Though the deal appears to be neat and clean, but there can be a charge for that service and that can be as high as 3% of the balance transferred from your old credit card to the new credit card. And also, this will be taken from you upfront. Otherwise there may be some conditions attached to the balance transfer like you must be required to make purchases worth a certain amount each month.
Then there is a problem with the rate of interest charged on the credit card which may be variable in nature.

Zero percent purchase credit cards are specially suited for credit savvy consumers looking to make free purchases for 12 months or more without having to pay the amount back until the end of the promotional offer period.

With 0 interest purchase credit cards, cardholders accrue no monthly interest charges for purchases they make for the duration of the card's introductory and promotional period, which usually lasts about 12 months (but can vary anywhere from 6 to over 15 months). Each month's minimum statement balance (usually small) still needs to be timely and regularly paid off to avoid any unintended late payment fees or penalties.

As available on various sources on the internet, here is a list of top 10 Credit Cards which claim to Offer Both 0% Purchases And 0% Balance Transfers:
1. Chase Flexible Rewards Platinum Visa - 0% for purchases and balance transfers (both 12 months)

2. Chase Free Cash Rewards Visa - 0% APR for purchases and balance transfers (both up to 12 months)

3. Chase Perfect Card - 0% APR for purchases and balance transfers (both 6 months)

4. Chase Platinum Visa Card - 0% APR for purchases and balance transfers (both 12 months)

5. Citi Diamond Preferred Card - 0% APR for purchases and balance transfers (both 12 months)

6. Citi Platinum Select Card - 0% APR for purchases and balance transfers (both 12 months)

7. Discover More Card - 0% APR for purchases (6 months) and balance transfers (12 months)

8. Discover More Card - Clear - 0% APR for purchases (6 months) and balance transfers (12 months)

9. Discover Open Road Card - 0% APR for purchases (6 months) and balance transfers (12 months)

10. Washington Mutual ESPN Card - Get your free FICO credit score every month. The card also offers 0% APR for both purchases and balance transfers with no balance transfer fee (6 months).

Schott Solar IPO Germany

A new IPO of initial Public offering is set to hit the German Markets very soon by this year end. The IPO belong to German Schott Group's Solar business unit called Schott Solar, which is expected to enter the capital markets by this year end.

What is the estimated size of the Schott Solar IPO?
The Schott Solar IPO is expected to collect around 500 million Eurors (equivalent of 744 million USD) through its Schott Solar IPO.

When is the Schott Solar IPO open date and listing date?
Though there are no confirm dated of Schott Solar IPO issue, but it is expected to hit the markets later this year.

Where will the fund raised from Schott Solar IPO be used?
The capital raied from Schott Solar IPO will be usedto fund further expansion and strengthen its capital base.

What are the financial results of Schott Solar Company Germany?
Schott Solar employs 1,449 staff in Germany, Spain, the United States and Czech Republic.

The company had a 310 percent profit in third-quarter earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to 22.6 million euros on sales of 147.9 million euros, up 96 percent.

How about the competitor information for Schott Solar Germany?
The Competitor firm to Schott Solar Germany is SolarWorld (SWVG.DE) as if offers a similar product base. It reported operating earnings of 75.7 million euros for the three months to end-June on sales of 259.6 million euros.

Who are the book running lead managers for the Schott Solar IPO issue?
Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan and Commerzbank are joint bookrunners for the IPO and LBBW acts as co-lead manager.


What are the business valuations of Schott Solar IPO?
Schott Solar is an integrated solar energy company, which manufactures solar cells and panels. Its joint-venture with chemicals group Wacker Chemie delivers solar wafers and secures the supply of solar-grade silicon. They offer a wide range of future-oriented products and solutions for almost all photovoltaic and solar thermal applications. SCHOTT Solar is among the world´s leading fully integrated manufacturers of PV wafers, cells and modules. Schott Solar is an integrated solar energy company, which manufactures solar cells and panels. Its joint-venture with chemicals group Wacker Chemie delivers solar wafers and secures the supply of solar-grade silicon. They offer a wide range of future-oriented products and solutions for almost all photovoltaic and solar thermal applications. SCHOTT Solar is among the world´s leading fully integrated manufacturers of PV wafers, cells and modules.

Largest Stock Exchanges of the World

Here is a nice list of the World's Largest Stock Exchanges, in terms of the amount of money that is traded on them. Though the list covers only the top 8 stock exchanges of the world, many more can be put in the list. Please post the remaining in the comments section:

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE): $21.79 trillion share trades that occur on this NYSE stock exchange makes it the biggest stock exchange of the world. That's why it is also nick named as the Big Board.

(NASDAQ: National Association of Stock Dealers and Quotation: With $11.81 trillion share trades, this is the second largest stock exchange of the world.

London Stock Exchange: With $7.57 trillion share trades, the London Stock Exchange is the third largest stock exchange of the world. At present, it is situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. One of the largest stock exchanges in the world, LSE was founded in 1801.

Tokyo Stock Exchange TSE: With $5.82 trillion share trades, the Japanese Stock Exhcange called the Tokyo Stock Exchange is the fourth largest stock exchange of the world.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange, or TSE, located in Tokyo, Japan, is the second largest stock exchange in the world by market value, second to the New York Stock Exchange, but 4th in terms of worth of shares traded. It currently lists 2,271 domestic companies and 31 foreign companies.

Euronext: With over $3.85 trillion share trade, the Euronext N.V. is a pan-European stock exchange based in Paris with subsidiaries in Belgium, France, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Portugal and the United Kingdom. In addition to equities and derivatives markets, the Euronext group provides clearing and information services.

Deutsche Borse: Another European Stock exchange with over $2.74 trillion share trades. The Borsa Italiana S.p. A., based in Milan, is Italy's main stock exchange. It was privatised in 1997, and was acquired by the London Stock Exchange in October 2007. Borsa Italiana has managing responsibility for Italy's derivatives markets and its fixed income market.

Borsa Italiana: With $1.59 trillion share trades, the Italian Stock Exchange holds the 7th position in the list of the top stock exchanges of the world.

SWX Swiss Exchange: $1.40 trillion share trades

Debt Consolidation: Debt Consolidation Loan

People love to take loans. "Live in today, forget about tomorrow", that seems to be the mantra for the younger generation. So people take loans. Loans for house, loans for buying accessories, loans for shopping, loans for everything. However, one cannot ignore the dangers of such irresponsible decisions, once they are caught in the grip of the recursive loan repayment. At that time, the so called Debt Consolidation or "Debt Consolidation Loans", appear to be one of the available options.

Wnat more explaination on Debt Consolidation? Let's take an example:
Nick has taken a house loan from Bank of America. He has to repay that loan to the Bank by making a monthly payment of 5,000 per month. He also has an Auto Loan for buying his car, for which he is paying 300 per month. Then, his family shopping exceeded the budget last month, and he used his credit card to pay for the bills. Here, he has to make a payment of 150 per month for his credit card arrears.

Now comes the most important part. Nick's Home loan lender charges him 5% interest rate, while the Auto loan lender charges him 7% interest rate. The credit card company is a bit bad, and it charges Nick a high amount of 15% interest rate.
Also, the tenure for all these loan repayment varies. House loan may be repaid in 10 years, Auto loan in 5 years, and credit card debt in 8 months.

So what can Nick do to get rid of all these varying interest rate loans and varying duration. Here comes the concept of Debt Consolidation.

What is Debt Consolidation Loan?
Debt consolidation loan allows taking out one loan to pay off many others. This is often done to secure a lower interest rate, secure a fixed interest rate or for the convenience of servicing only one loan.
In case of Nick, it would mean that a bank or a financial services company can offer a single loan to him as a Debt Consolidation Loan, and it will make the early payments for all the 3 loans for Nick. After taking the Debt Consolidation Loan, Nick will be left over with only one loan to be repayed, and that will be the Debt Consolidation Loan.


So what is Debt Consolidation?
Debt consolidation can simply be from a number of unsecured loans into another unsecured loan, but more often it involves a secured loan against an asset that serves as collateral, most commonly a house. In the case of Nick, a mortgage is secured against the house. The collateralization of the loan allows a lower interest rate than without it, because by collateralizing, the asset owner agrees to allow the forced sale (foreclosure) of the asset to pay back the loan. The risk to the lender is reduced so the interest rate offered is lower.

How should one apply for Debt Consolidation Loan?
The biggest concern here while going for a Debt Consolidation Loan is with your financial position. Since as an individual, Nick already has 3 big loans to take care of, it indicates that he is in financial trouble. If he had been financially sound, why would he look for a Debt Consolidation Loan.

Therefore, debt consolidation companies offering Debt Consolidation Loan can discount the amount of the loan, i.e. offer less loan amount then required. When the individual is in danger of bankruptcy, the debt consolidator will buy the loan at a discount. Hence, it is important that you as a careful prudent debtor should shop around for consolidators who will pass along some of the savings. Consolidation can affect the ability of the debtor to discharge debts in bankruptcy, so the decision to consolidate must be weighed carefully.

When does it make sense to go for Debt Consolidation Loan?
If you believe that you are having big bills to pay with high interest rates, then you must seriously consider the Debt Consolidation. An example may be paying high interest rate of 18% on credit card bills, when a Debt Consolidation Loan may be available to you only for 9%. That will mean making a saving of 50% on the interest payment.
Another example can be when you have a old loan for which you are paying high interest rate, say of 12%, while due to the new market developments, the interest rate for Debt Consolidation Loan may be available for just 6%. Again, going for Debt Consolidation will help you save money.

What are the risks involved in Debt Consolidation?
It depends upon many factors:
- Have you done all the calculations for the savings that you will make if you are going for Debt Consolidation? Is that saving significant?
- Will you be charged an early pre-payment penalty by your existing loan? If yes, how much will it be? Will the Debt Consolidation Loan calculation be beneficial after discounting this calculation?
- Is the Debt Consolidation Agency offering low interst rate but charging high amount of money for the Debt Consolidation Service? If yes, will it be meaningful to go for a Debt Consolidation Loan after taking into account these charges?
- Act now, dont wait for the interest repayments to pile up and leave you in a state where you have no option to survive, but to go for a Debt Consolidation Loan, at the terms and conditions of the company. In some cases the situation is that the client does not have enough time to shop for another lender with lower fees and may not even be fully aware of them. This practice is known as predatory lending. Certainly many, if not most, debt consolidation transactions do not involve predatory lending