Summary of 2009 - Financial Aspects

2009 has been a year of lots of financial turmoil and achievements.

My 7 picks of this year are:
Recession: Most of the growing economies including Japan were in recession in 2009. All the economies were either not growing or were growing at much smaller pace.
Loss of jobs/ pay cuts: Lay offs and pay cuts were one of the most common words around. Almost all the countries and all the industries saw layoffs and pay cuts.
Sensex fall and smart recovery: Sensex's free fall began in 2008 and continued till March 2009. In March, after touching 8K levels, it recovered back to 17K in less then 9 months. Whew.
Mutual Funds trading: MF trading saw lots of refinement. Entry loads were completely removed and also now they can be traded on sensex.
Fringe Benefit Tax: This is one of the changes that directly impacts salaried class. FBT has been removed and now more of my package is taxable.
Gold prices are on continuous Upswing: I love buying gold but have not done this since one year. Gold is at all time high price and breaking new upward records every other day. Time to switch to artificial jewellery.
Falling Interest Rates: Same bank's same duration FD last year was returning 10% and this year only 7%. On the other hand, 2009 saw new home loans at 8%.
Direct Tax Code: DTC was proposed.