There is a large section of concert going rasikAs – especially youth of my age group (ahem) – who opine carnatic music is that and only that which comes out of the mouths of five or six popular artists of our times. The rest is rust. Such popular subjectivity has been around, perhaps since a kutcheri structure was created for popularizing the art form. Unfortunately, critics, that unbiased creed who could critique (criticise for progress), also take sides. A section of those critics, who write in popular media, propagate what they feel subjectively about carnatic music and promote their favourite musicians, avoiding possible objective evaluation.

Art anyway is subjective and more so, its appreciation. However, enough objective norms exist through which one can evaluate the calibre of a Carnatic musician, vocalist or instrumentalist, male or female, and importantly, popular in a region or not. In a contemporary artist name-list, prepared through such objective evaluation of excellence, those five or six popular artists may still be featured (after all, they should have some basic talent in the art for becoming popular). But the list is bound to include some not so familiar names. Like Manda Sudharani.

Such a saccharine build-up may even make you pragmatic and wonder about my objectivity. Firstly, I am not a paid (either from the artist or form the media) music critic. Secondly, listen to her swara-kalpanai at vArijapathE varadhE tArakamAm thatvapathE for nIrajAkshi kAmAkshi song and judge an aspect of her talent for yourself.

The violin accompaniment is Dr. M. S. Narmadha, arguably the only female in that age group capable of such speed and reasonable precision of swaras. The mridangam vidwAn is V. V. Ramanamurthy, possibly having a Chennai-based guru for learning the craft. It was the third song in Sudharani’s music academy morning concert attended by musicians of the calibre of Chengalpat Renganathan, Rama Ravi, Vijay Siva, several young female musicians who are yet to make a name and a few others who have only a name.

Now, the immediate crib an objective critic will spew on the above swara kalpanai is (as one tried with me), nIrajAkshi is a soothing vilamba kAla (slow tempo) song. Does it allow such fast paced gymnastics? Two counter arguments. Pick the one that suits your mood. (1) As if, every one of those contemporary musicians who get ticketed slots in our sabhas can do what has been done in the above audio clip and ONLY because the moods of the songs they sing in their lifetime are so soothing they avoid such exertions. (2) Manda Sudharani actually finished the entire kirthanA in vilamba kAlam and then, only then, she did a neraval and swara kalpanai, that too, only in vilamba kalam for most parts (not included in the above audio clip). Fireworks began and ended, when it was required.

Manda Sudharani then proposed to sing the well known kunthalavarAli rAgam krithi bOgindra sAyinam with a slight layam variation in the charanams. First listen to those appropriate parts and see if you can spot her variations.

As she explained at the end, the lyrics of the song in each charanam line allow the first part to be sung in kanda nadai and the later part in chathushra nadai, while maintaining the tAlam same. It was an interesting and acute observation and she had a clever, humble way of pulling it off on a possibly conservative stage, with a note of apology. Such improvisations make her one of the few thinking contemporary musicians who can also deliver on stage.

I have listened to Manda Sudharani five to six times in the past few years. Each time the experience was different. How can I forget the triple rAga RTP set in chathushra ata tAlam, the kAntAmani rAgam elaboration followed by a tyAgarAja krithi, the full version (with 3 charanams) of telisi rAma chinthanathO in pUrnachandrikA and the only time I ventured enough miles out of Chennai city to listen to her singing. Today, her vocal range was limited in the upper octaves due to possible throat problems. Thankfully, innate talent, years of practice and sahithya sensitivity with her Telugu nativity doesn’t suffer with the throat (there are exceptions in this, who lose confidence once throat troubles, and bulb a concert). Aware of her limitation, she was still able to deliver a good concert that was breathtaking and tranquil for equal proportions, had enough experimentation couched in competent classical singing and enough sweat that hopefully is not lost on the several vacant chairs.

The main rAgam for the day was bilahari and the song is the well known dorakuna of tyAgarAja. One should listen to these songs delivered only by those who are good in Telugu diction and meaning – like Sudharani – to understand why it is sundara telugu. Aware of the time constraint, the krithi was not elaborated with a neraval and swara kalpanai at the end. The mridangist in anticipation was playing for one more Avarthanam in laghu, until prompted by the vocalist to end.

Next came a pace maker. Just as any other iconoclastic youth, I was of the opinion a Yngwie Malmsteen or John McLaughlin was the fastest in an instrument (guitar) until I listened to the live shows of Mandolin Srinivas. Just as the next recalcitrant youth, I have started with Deep Purple, Led Zep and moved on to Iron Maiden, Metallica, Dream Theater etc. literally brining my house down with the ‘energy’ those bands generated. I thought head banging rock music was possible only in head banging rock shows. And Lars Ulrich was the fastest drummer this side of my youth. Until I listened to a Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer or G N Balasubramanian performance with an M. S. Gopalakrishnan and Palghat Mani as accompaniment. A Little Richards (only) can do what he can do with his Tuttie Frootie or Hound Dog. But a Manakkal Rengarajan can also electrify you with his thrillers. As the hyperbole of the youth goes, he can also simply blow you away (to his next concert in the next city).

If you are new to Carnatic music or even averse of it, with doubts about my above opinions, listen to the next piece by Sudharani (with seeming throat problems). Fasten your seatbelts and hold on to your chairs. Here is saravanabava in rAgam pasupathipriyA, a creation of harikEsanallur muthiah bAgavathar.

Speed in melody is possible in our own backyard.

That is just a contemporary sample, with Sudharani not at her best vocals and breath. If I say I have listened to a speedier rendition with swara-kalpanai of the above song by T. N. Seshagopalan two decades back, you may even believe me.

All right, that is for speed, what about sowkiyam? Adding to her earlier bilahari rendition in this regard, Sudharani next delivered an RTP in four rAgams: shankarAbharanam, kalyAni, valaji and kAnadA. Listen to her brief AlApanai of shankarAbharanam.

Short and hence didn’t explore more possibilities of the rAgam. Then, it is a prelude to an RTP with four rAgams. Not the best ever, but certainly one of the better shankarAbharanam AlApanais this season.

Should digress here briefly. Few concerts back, a popular artist sang shankarAbharanam with similar, if not worsened, throat conditions as that of Sudharani. I received SMS about how the popular artist climbed over voice problems to provide a shankarAbharanam that was a triumph of will and vidwat over sore throat. If I say the above Sudharani AlApanai is better in content and ideas even with voice limitations than that of the popular artist, it is an understated evaluation of both the versions. Read the first paragraph of this article, in this context. Such is popularity. I can only direct the SMSers – who are anyway absent in Sudharani’s concert – to archival records of stellar shankarAbharanam AlApanais.

The subsequent thAnam section of Sudharani’s concert was well structured, rendered in reverse order of the rAgams, so that kAnadA continued from AlApanai to thAnam without a mood swing for the listener. Here is a sample of the thAnam section that ends kAnadA, continues with valaji and ends with the beginning phrases of kalyAni.

Every Carnatic music enthusiast worth her salt would have listened to the Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar’s Tamil masterpiece pallavi shankarAbharananai azhaithOdi vAdi kalyAni, darbArukku. I deliberately leave out the translation, not to spoil the beauty and craftiness of the pallavi embedding the four rAgams with alternate meanings. Tough luck, if you don’t know Tamil.

Sudharani’s pallavi attempt is similar in style, if not in the classic stature. The pallavi she had composed in Telugu was shankarAbharanavEni, kamalanayani kalyAni, valaji vachina ramani, kAnadA rasikamani and was set in Adi tAlam but two full Avarthanams (2 rAgams per Avarthanam).

Here is a short audio clip of the pallavi delivery.

[Disclaimer: These short audio clips are provided here only in the hope of enticing more audience for Carnatic music. From earlier interactions, I know Manda Sudharani wouldn't mind. No personal commercial gain is sought or thought.]

Dr. Narmadha excelled herself in most of the rAgams (except perhaps for ordinary passages of hindhOlam and kalyAni AlApanais) and was brilliant in her support in neraval and swara kalpanais throughout the concert. Only, her bowing remains harsher and in fast brikkAs, the swarasthAna punches slide more often on the surface. I hasten to add, playing such speeds is difficult and requires enormous training and practice, which she has. Only, we keep expecting her to match the speed-with-sweetness of MSG every time (As my friend mused in good faith: Parur Sundaram Iyer seems to have been a harsher taskmaster than MSG). Good show Dr. Narmadha.

Apart from a gamut of Tamil Nadu musicians who performed at the music academy this year, sample this: R. K. Srikantan, Rudrappattnam Brothers, Dr. Omanakutty (although she couldn’t come), Srivalson Menon, Nedanuri Krishnamurthy, Dr. Pantula Rama and now Sudharani. One must certainly thank the present organizers of the Music Academy for showcasing the talents from various parts of Southern India subsuming the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. A region of different languages and even culture, and which originally nurtured Carnatic music in all its kaleidoscopic glory.

To dovetail with the above appreciation, I should also add my concern. Subjectivity – as in, I like certain musicians and music for no apparent reason and don’t have to justify – is perhaps our birthright as a listener. But as an objective critic or a seasoned open-minded music listener, one needs to elevate above subjective biases to appreciate any art-form for what it is. Only then one would be able to appreciate excellence without any pedestrian (like not-invented-here syndrome) personal bias.

In such an Utopia, even possibly Madras, artists like Manda Sudharani will get their due popularity.

Welcome to the voip help blog. This is my first blog so it may or may not be upto the mark.

When I was working for a company dealing with voip minutes/devices, I had to configure lots of voip adapters and IP phones. Some of them were difficult with confusing web interface and some of them were too easy with friendly interface. It took me 2 days to figure out how to start and where to start. This is the reason why I decided to create a blog and help others so that they do not have to work a lot on it.

I have worked on the following voip adapters/gateways, ip phones:

• Linksys PAP2 NA
• Sipura
• Grandstream
• Snom 360 Phones
• Azacall
• Cisco ATA and couple of other phones.

I will show you how to configure voip devices so that you can easily register them using SIP protocol with a SIP proxy server. My next post will contain a brief about voip.

I hope you will find this useful. Please do leave a comment.

I have earlier listened to Ragam Thanam Pallavis set in two or three ragams in “live” live and “recorded” live concerts from masters of this genre like Balamuralikrishna and Seshagopalan. Similarly, I look forward to be treated with RTPs in rare or not commonly heard ragams and generously offer my patience and praise even if such attempts falls short of expectations. As a listener, if we can’t have patience and support artists when they try something different, we will be provided with what we deserve – the drab standard fare of a ten-song-safety-first-sangeetham-next concerts.

This music season 2009 I listened to RTPs in both the above genres – the one set in multiple ragams and the one set in a rare ragam.

First, the multiple raga pallavi by Pantula Rama.

With vocal range sweeping three octaves with ease, vocal training flashing breathtaking brikkas when necessary, sahithya sensitivity originating from her telugu nativity and vidwat also succeeding inside ivory towers, Dr. Pantula Rama is definitely a promising star of the present generation of female carnatic music performers. I have listened to her once earlier this year and was dissatisfied. But the concert I attended now was much better.

Before the RTP, I listened to her kEdAra gowlai, bhairavi (main item) and few pace makers. The bhairavi AlApanai started off very well and explored the manthra sthayis with amazing felicity of vocals. Until now I was convinced that only M. S. Subbulakshmi could reach down to such manthra sthayi panchamams and remain audible and sensible. Pantula Rama could traverse there too and revel. Particularly in bhairavi, where such manthra sthayi vocal sancharams evoke the feeling of the rAgam and sets one nicely for what is to follow – the moving, lilting swarajathi. However one was convinced Pantula Rama didn’t explore her vocals in full range, at least in Bhairavi alapanai. May be an off-color day.

Her violin accompaniment, M.S.N. Murthy also rendered a good bhairavi alapanai.

The kAmAkshi swarajathi was rendered with poise and sahithya sensitivity. There was a neraval on the syAmakrishnasahOdari line.

After one pace maker filler came the RTP, identified as the grahabeda pallavi by Pantula Rama. It was set in three ragams, mOhanam, hindhOlam and brindAvanasArangA.

A short explanation for the curious. MOhanam is a pentatonic (5 note) rAgam with swarams sa, ri, ga, pa, da, SA and is identified as a janya (child or derivative) rAgam of shankarAbharanam with notes almost equal to the Western major scale (although the way it is sung, shankarabharanam is completely different from the well tempered major scale). When one traverses mOhanam from ga to ga, one gets hindhOlam, another pentatonic rAgam although a janya of the natural minor scale. hindhOlam has the notes sa, ga, ma, dha, ni SA. Setting mOhanam ga as sa and singing the notes of mOhanam scale would sound as hindhOlam due to the similarity in the gaps between the respective notes of these rAgAs. This can be easily shown if while singing mOhanam, the reference sa of the accompanying shruthi box is suddenly shifted up to ga (henceforth as sa) or raised 3 more kattais. Similarly, if one were to sing mOhanam from ri to ri one ends up with brindAvana sArangA, another pentatonic rAgam. Enough polemics.

What is clever of Pantula Rama is to choose brindAvanasAranga instead of madhyamAvathi, which has almost same swaras – notes – as that of b.sArangA but requires more gamakam in singing, which is not present in the original swaras of mOhanam.

The AlApanai for mOhanam, with amazing brikkAs and swarA swoops, was my best. I doubt any local (Chennai based) contemporary female artist of comparable age group could sing mOhanam in such spree. Yes, a Sudha Raghunathan could do it in her prime. The least appealing of Pantula Rama’s AlApanai effort was that of brindAvanasArangA, nevertheless blemish free. M. S. N. Murthy on the violin, scored in this rAgam and in hindhOlam too. Even the vocalist appreciated.

The pallavi was set in chathushra jAthi ata tAlam. Since it is ata tAlam, the beats are structured as X, X, 2, 2, and since it is chathushra jAthi (four beat split), X = 4. So the tAlam goes 4, 4, 2, 2, which when the 2s are added provided equal duration for singing parts of the pallavi in each rAgam. The pallavi line, again cleverly crafted for ready mass appeal and recognition, is: nanupAlimpa vamma, sAmagAna vinOdhini, rangapuravihArini each phrase separated by a comma sung in mOhanam, hindhOlam and brindavanasArangA respectively.

Here is a short audio clip of the pallavi I could manage.

Here is another short audio clip of the swarams at the end of the pallavi. Listen to the three rAgams starting with mOhanam and also the well thought out kOrvai at the end mingling the three rAgams intelligently. Also, special mention to the moharsing player malaikOttai Dheenadayalu who gave good rhythmic support (hear him at the back, in the above clip during the violin parts) and was proficient on the thani Avarthanam.

[Disclaimer: These short audio clips are provided here only in the hope of enticing more audience for Carnatic music. No personal commercial gain is sought or thought.]

Pantula Rama’s (Ph. D.?) Thesis is titled Shaping of an Ideal Carnatic Musician through Sadhana, published by Gyan Publishing house and is available for Rs. 750 in music stores. I was surprised to see a Thesis could be ’sold’ and curiosity got the better of me. Browsing through a copy I purchased, the objective of her thesis is to understand and explain what constitutes an ideal musician. She has interviewed around 20 carnatic music stalwarts, performers and teachers of the last century including Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, T. R. Subramanyam and N. Ramani. The work offers interesting perspectives, but that is for a separate essay and discussion.

Hope to listen to her concerts more in the coming years.

***

The next RTP I listened to that was different was by Sowmya. The RTP was set in a not often heard rAgam vardhani or vardhini. I am hearing this rAgam sung and exposited for this long for the first time. Even before I write more, I say it: if you happen to wear one, hats off to Sowmya. Good show.

Before the RTP, the concert of Sowmya had several nice moments and few bearable non-aesthetics. For the initial phase of the concert I was at the canteen and so didn’t get to listen properly to her karaharapriyA AlApanai. From the snatches I could overhear over the din, I thought I have heard better efforts (more classical, with good punch – all subjective, of course) starting from Vedavalli down to even Sowmya, elsewhere.

When I entered the hall, Sowmya was singing a film song, if I remember right. Yes, gnAna sabhayil in sArangA ragam set to misra chApu, composed by pApanAsam sivan originally for the Tamil movie sivakAmi. The movie was shelved, I gather.

She then began suruti rAga AlApanai. I liked the reasonably off-beat rAga selection and the AlApanai. A nice effort barring brief ßoaring into the sublime accompanied by plummeting into the ridiculous” moments. But I don’t mind. Who is treating me with a competent surutti AlApanai these days. Overall, I liked the AlApanai.

The kirthanai AngArakam ashrayAmi, was obvious for the day, even as the rAga AlApanai began. In the charanam somewhere around the phrase beginning with dhinarakshaka I thought she unnecessarily raised the swarams which sounded un-surutti like. She kept doing it thrice, so it stuck. May be the swarams are still surutti but such phrases could be avoided. She would know better.

The pace maker filler was in kApi rAgam followed by the RTP. Two music seasons ago, I have criticised Sowmya for providing the standard fare (in a Tamil essay) and not venturing into uncharted waters that she is very much capable of. Of course, only out of well meant angst, if such a juxtaposition is possible. In this concert Sowmya provided her RTP in a rare rAgam called vardhani or vardhini.

As I mentioned earlier, I am hearing this rAgam for a long duration for the first time. So no (pseudo-) expert opinions from me. It first sounded like sudhadhanyAsi in the ArOhanam (ascend) and had shades of goWrimanOhari. Kept hearing these two rAgams for a while before it blended into vardhani. Sowmya also announced the rAgam midway in the AlApanai and sang the scale for rasikAs appreciation.

Vardhani is structured as sa, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni, SA in the ascend and SA, nI, dhA, pa, ma, ga, sa in the descend, all in the melodic minor scale (No wonder it sounded sudhadhanyasi-ish at times).

Here is the audio clip of the vardhani rAgam AlApanai by Sowmya.

R. K. Shriramkumar on the violin also had a good grip of the ragam and played well.

The thAnam section by Sowmya needs special mention. Commendable with good earnest open throated akaram singing, it was enriched with several swara pattern ideas. The vocalist should have put good effort in practice.

The pallavi line is pAhimAm sadA dharma samvardhani, paramAnandha vivardhini with the rAgam word embedded. it is set in kandA jAthi triputai tAlam, a standard tAlam for RTP pallavis.

For the curious: Since it is triputai tAlam, it is X, 2, 2 and since it is kanda jAthi, X = 5, (tisra is 3, 4 chathushra is 4, kanda is 5, misra is 7, sankeerna is 9. No 8 as it is 2 x 4, which is already chathusram; similarly, no 6, which is 2 x 3, which is tisram or trisram). So, kanda jAthi triputai tAlam is structured as 5, 2, 2, over which the pallavi line would be sung. Other tAlams and more pallavi intricacies like 4 kalai or 2 kalai and eduppu, I leave out for now. More on anulOmam, prathilOmam and vilOmam at an introductory level is available in my Tamil essay. Back to Sowmya’s RTP.

Here is the minute and few seconds long audio clip of the pallavi

[Disclaimer: The short audio clips in this note are provided only in the hope of enticing more audience for Carnatic music. No personal commercial gain is sought or thought.]

At the end of trikalam singing of the pallavi and vardhini swara kalpanai for the RTP, Sowmya provided a rAgamAlika swara section in ragams with vardhani in their names: kAmavardhini, rAgavardhini, vivardhini and dhAtuvardhini. Of which, my 300 year old friend could spot all but dhAtuvardhini. Sowmya rescued my composure with her announcements of the rAgA names.

On the mridangam, pUngulam subramanian seemed to imitate Trichy Shankaran’s style of playing. For most parts of the concert – in particular, while playing for surutti kirthanai – it clicked. But a major drawback is his repeated intrusion into upapakavAdhyam (moharsing) territory. Prof. Shankaran is known for his generosity during concerts, a necessary trait for concert mridangist to be imbibed along with his vidwat. Payyanur Govindaprasad on the mOharsing raised brows – including that of Sowmya – with his play.

Definitely one of the better concerts of Sowmya that I listened to in recent years. Good show Sowmya.

Markets in Asia were higher.

The Nikkei did not trade due to the holiday.

The Hang Seng rose 1.1% to 21323. China Life (NYSE:LFC) rose sharply.

The Shanghai Composite was up .8% to 3,074.

At the open, the was up .5% to 5,354 and Rio Tinto (NYSE:RTP) rose. the Dax was up .5% to 5,976. The CAC 40 rose .4% to 3,914.

Data from Reuters and MarketWatch.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Reuters:   Merger activity will grow slowly in 2010.

Reuters:   Bank of America’s new CEO said he would focus on execution.

Reuters:   Profits at RIM (NASDAQ:RIMM) topped forecasts.

Reuters:   Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) posed a surprise rise in sales.

Reuters:   Kraft (NYSE:KFT) lender Barclays (NYSE:BCS) suspended research coverage of Cadbury (NYSE:CBY)

Reuters:   Fedex’s (NYSE:FDX) forecast disappointed Wall St.

WSJ:   Regulators are fighting over control of the banking industry.

WSJ:   Infighting about TARP came to the surface as Citigroup (NYSE:C) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) left the program.

WSJ:   Palm (NASDAQ:PALM) posted a loss.

WSJ:   TV makers like Sony (NYSE:SNE) are gambling on 3D TV in the home.

WSJ:   News Corp (NYSE:NWS) is fighting Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC) to get fees for carrying channels like Fox.

WSJ:   Take-Two’s (NASDAQ:TTWO) loss widened and Icahn took and 11% stake.

WSJ:   The number of homes that had electricity shut off due to non-payment rose this year.

WSJ:   Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) will release new chips that will pressure AMD ((NYSE:AMD) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA).

WSJ:   China stores are avoiding sharp holiday discounts.

WSJ:   China said a link-up of the iron ore operations of Rio Tinto (NYSE:RTP) and BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) would threaten to raise steel prices.

WSJ:   GM is in better shape than the government expected.

WSJ:   OPEC will keep production steady.

WSJ:   Securities regulators are investigating private dissemination of Wall St. research.

WSJ:   Meredith Whitney cut earnings forecasts for Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS).

NYT:   Foreign investors trying to buy US industrial assets are facing blocks from the government.

NYT:   Mobile phones are becoming essential for holiday shopping.

NYT:   Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) may buy Yelp which reviews local businesses.

FT:   Activists are targeting CEO succession.

FT:   Ryainair cut off talks with Boeing (NYSE:BA) about buying 200 planes.

Bloomberg:   Pimco is increasing its cash holdings to highest level since Lehman collapse.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Markets in Asia fell.

The Nikkei was off .2% to 10,083.

The Hang Seng fell 1.2% to 21,814.

The Shanghai Composite was off .9% to 3,274.

At the open in Europe, The FTSE was up .2% to 5,327. Rio Tinto (NYSE:RTP) rose. The Dax was up .4% to 5,827. The CAC 40 rose .3% to 3,841.

Data from MarketWatch and Reuters.

Douglas A. McIntrye

Markets in Asia were higher.

The Nikkei rose 2.5% to 10,108.

The Hang Seng rose .9% to 21,902.

The Shanghai Composite was down .2% to 3,247.

At the open in Europe, the FTSE was up .6% to 5,277. BHP Billiton (NASDAQ:BHP) and Rio Tinto (NYSE:RTP) rose. The Dax was up .8% to 5,755. The CAC 40 moved higher by .4% to 3,815.

Data from Reuters and MarketWatch.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Markets in Asia were sharply higher.

The Nikkei rose 2.9% to 9,346. Mitsubishi UFJ (NYSE:MTU) fell.

The Hang Seng rose 3.3% to 21,822. HSBC (NYSE:HBC) rose.

The Shanghai Composite was up 3.2% to 3,195.

At the open, the FTSE rose and Rio Tinto (NYSE:RTP) and BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) were both higher. The Dax was up .5% to 5,174 nnd the CAC 40 rose .1% to 3,725.

Data from MarketWatch and Reuters

Douglas A. McIntyre

A Antena 3 celebra 15 anos, com 15 prémios que distinguem 15 personalidades/instituições.
Os ouvintes da estação, tinham a opção de acompanhar todo o espectáculo através da rádio, ou a partir da internet, com 3 planos televisivos diferentes, que davam perspectivas diferentes das várias áreas do espectáculo.

Fotografias do evento e lista de vencedores em:
Blog Antena 3: 15 anos

Markets in Asia fell.

The Nikkei was off .6% to 9,383.

The Hang Seng fell 1.8% to 22,210.

The Shanghai Composite was down 3.6% to 3,171.

At the open in Europe, the FTSE fell .7% to 5,327. The Dax was off .8% to 5,757. The CAC 40 fell .9% to 3,776. Rio Tinto (NYSE:RTP) and Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) fell sharply.

Data from Reuters and MarketWatch

Douglas A. McIntyre

Updated throughout the day.

GE (NYSE:GE) and Vivendi are at odds over the NBCU valuation  (FT)

IBM (NYSE:IBM) is taking advantage of the delay in the Sun (NASDAQ:JAVA) deal to be bought by Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL)  (TheStreet)

The joint venture between Rio Tinto (NYSE:RTP) and BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) may lead to a merger. (various)

Ferrero may want to buy Cadbury’s gum and candy division.  (NYTimes)

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) investors want the firm to cut down the size of bonuses to be paid at the end of the year (various)

Douglas A. McIntyre

These are Friday morning’s top 10 analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations we have seen early this morning in Wall Street research calls:

AFLAC (NYSE: AFL) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) Started as Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.
Dillard’s (NYSE: DDS) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Dominion (NYSE: D) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) Started as Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.
Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL) Started as Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.
Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) Removed from Conviction Buy List (still Buy rated) at Goldman Sachs.
RioTinto (NYSE: RTP) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Suntech Power (NYSE: STP) Raised to Hold at Soleil.
Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) Started as Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.

You can join our open email distribution list to hear more news on key analyst calls, top day trader alerts, mergers and acquisitions, Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG
NOVEMBER 20, 2009

Reuters:   The Senate is near its first vote on healthcare.

Reuters:   Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) is betting on corporate spending for its recovery.

Reuters:   Time Warner’s (NYSE:TWX) AOL showed that the worst is not over for media job cuts.

Reuters:   China cyber-spying against the US will probably grow.

Reuters:   Oprah will end her talk show in September 2011.

WSJ:   Large shareholders are asking Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) to cut bonuses.

Reuters:   GE (NYSE:GE) and Vivendi are $1 billion apart on the value of NBCU.

Reuters:   Ferrero may want the Cadbury gum and candy unit.

Reuters:   The bank bill is delayed in the House and the Senate is divided over the legislation.

Reuters:   The Fed sees little risk in inflation in a weak economy.

Reuters:   Chrysler may close another 100 dealerships.

Reuters:   PricewaterhouseCoopers says corporate accounting fraud is rising around the world.

WSJ:   Gap’s (NYSE:GPS) profits rose 25%.

WSJ:   Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) says Windows 7 is selling well.

WSJ:   VW’s board approved its merger with Porsche.

WSJ:   The chairman of GM is pushing for higher quality cars.

WSJ:   Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) announced plans for its Chrome operating system.

WSJ:   The Administration’s estimate of stimulus job gains is being attacked.

WSJ:   GE (NYSE:GE) is focusing on industrial and infrastructure businesses.

WSJ:   Retailers are cutting prices on the Palm (NASDAQ:PALM) Pixi.

WSJ:   China Mobile (NASDAQ:CHL) is counting on 3G for growth.

WSJ:   Sony (NASDAQ:SNE) will focus more on moving its businesses online.

WSJ:   More homeowners are falling behind in mortgage payments.

WSJ:   Private equity firm Carlyle will put money into three Chinese high growth firms.

WSJ:   The EU is speeding up an antitrust investigation into the McGraw-Hill (NYSE:MHP) S&P group.

WSJ:   Harbinger cut its stock holdings in The New York Times (NYSE:NYT).

WSJ:   A joint venture between BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) and Rio Tinto (NYSE:RTP) makes a merger more likely.

WSJ:   Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) is falling behind rivals in sales.

WSJ:   Sears (NASDAQ:SHLD) cut its losses with cost controls.

NYT:   An FHA effort to prop up mortgages is putting taxpayers at risk.

NYT:   Private equity firms are trying to raise money in China.

NYT:   Geithner hope to end the TARP program.

NYT:   The Treasury will auction off some of the warrants it received as part of the bank bailout

NYT:   The OECD was cautious on its forecast for the global economy.

NYT:   France may issue $52 billion in bonds.

NYT:   JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) will buy the part of its British banking partner that it does not own.

FT:   US short-term interest rates are turning negative as banks move toward safer investments.

FT:   Many retailers are pushing smartphone products for the holidays.

FT:   The difference in the value that GE and Vivendi put on NBCU could kill a merger with Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA).

Bloomberg:   Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) says China stocks could rise 30% on liquidity and valuations.

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Douglas A. McIntyre