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Its Summer Time!

Traditionally First weekend of May is start of summer movies and this time it started with a bang with Avengers breaking all records and becoming first ever movie to cross $200M mark for one Friday to Sunday collections @ Boxoffice. It broke the record by over $31 million held by last installment of Harry Potter. Myself, Yash and Guts saw it yesterday and looking at crowds, it was very apparent that this was going to break records. Regarding movie, for an action film, it was good. Main star was of course Robert Downy (aka Ironman). It would be interesting to see if Chris Nolan directed last Batman movie (which opens in mid-July) breaks this record!

May is also start of another round of European roller-coaster. With two key elections wrapping up today, most likely direction of European policy would change. France is becoming socialist and Greeks are venting their anger on two main parties. It would not be surprising if Greeks had to face another election later this year. Would May 6, 2012 be remembered as start of end of Euro? There is small but certain possibility of this happening. It all depends on how new Governments in Greece, France, Spain and possibly Netherlands address growth vs unemployment vs austerity (as demanded by Germans). For student of history and economics, events in Europe are as interesting (only for academic purpose) as summer blockbuster movie!

Today saw first show of Aamir Khan's Satyamev Jayate - great to see Aamir Khan making all indians aware of social issues facing India.

Getting ready for Facebook IPO? To entice more folks and create buzz, FB bankers set valuation under $100Billion. However most likely FB shares would be valued at $35 to $40. Should one buy on first day?
Given the buzz and long-term prospects, I would say YES for price under $50. If you can get hold of FB shares below $40, go for it. Above $40, it starts becoming "overvalued" but since we are in Instabubble 2.0, who cares? Bubbles can inflate for a while before they are bust! Just make sure that you know when to get out.

Have a great week!
/Shyam

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