Share Street

Sensex rallies 350 points, closes above 16k-mark

2012-01-10T04:36:00.000-08:00

The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange rallied a solid 350 points, or 2.2 percent, to close above the 16,000 mark, at 16,165, on fresh buying by funds, amid hopes of rate cuts by the Reserve Bank, and rising global markets, on Tuesday. The Nifty at the National Stock Exchange gained 107 points, or 2.3 percent, to 4,850. Stock markets in Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore rose between 0.4 percent and 2.7 percent.

FDI inflows increase 56 per cent

2012-01-10T04:34:00.000-08:00

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country has increased by 56 per cent to reach $2.53 billion in November last year. The improvement in FDI inflows in November comes after two months of declining trend.The country had received $1.62 billion overseas investment in November 2010.

According to the sources the cumulative flows of $22.83 billion for the April-November period have crossed $19.43 billion which came in the full fiscal of 2010-11.Analysts feel that if the trend continues, the FDI in the current financial year would cross $30 billion, a development which will have a positive effect on rupee in the foreign exchange market.

AIR correspondent reports that Mauritius, Singapore, United States of America, UK, the Netherlands, Japan, Germany and the UAE are major sources of FDI for India.

Sectors which attracted the maximum funds include services, construction activities, power, computers and hardware, telecom, housing and real estate.

Indirect tax collection up by over 16 % to 2.85 lakh cr in April-December

2012-01-10T04:32:00.000-08:00

Indirect tax collections have increased by over 16 per cent to 2,85,787 crore rupees during April-December in the country. This is mainly driven by an uptick in service tax collection. Total collection of indirect tax in Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax was 2,46,168 crore rupees in the same period last year.

Chairman, Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) S K Goel told reporters while releasing the data that the indirect tax collection in three quarters of 2011-12 is about 72.7 per cent of the Budget Estimates. Mr Goel further said that Service Tax collection continues to be strong and has shown 48.6 per cent expansion in December to 9,665 crore rupees from the year ago period. The collection has shown a growth despite 36,000 crore rupees revenue on account of customs and excise tax cut on petroleum products.

India's Sovereign Credit Ratings- Fourth Upgrade by Moody's Investor Services

2012-01-10T04:30:00.001-08:00

On 20th December, 2011, Moody`s Investor Services released a credit rating update for India. It upgraded the rating on long-term government bonds denominated in domestic currency from Bal to Baa3 (from speculative to investment grade). The long-term country ceiling on the foreign currency bank deposits was also upgraded from Bal to Baa3 (from speculative to investment grade). Apart from this, Moody`s had upgraded the short-term government bonds denominated in domestic currency from NP(Not Prime) to P-3 (from speculative to investment grade). This short-term rating had been upgraded for the first time since it was newly assigned in1998.

In addition to the three upgrades above, there has been another upgrade by Moody`s with the short —term country ceiling on foreign currency bank deposits increasing from NP (Not Prime) to P-3 (Prime: acceptable ability to repay short-term obligations).

In its Investors Services Global Credit research (released on 20th December, 2011), Moody`s has underlined some of the Government`s efforts at fiscal consolidation by appreciating that the "[Government] eliminated petrol subsidies and changed the way fertilizer subsidies are calculated, which may yield some budgetary savings. There have also been initiatives on the revenue front involving simplification (and hence hoped-for improvements in compliance) of indirect and direct taxes."

Moody`s upgrade follows a positive rating action by Dominion Bond Rating Service (DBRS). It had been rating India`s debt since June 2007. For the first time, in June 2011 they upgraded the trend of India`s Long Term foreign and local currency debt ratings from BBB (low) Negative to Stable outlook.

Similarly, in its June 2011 report, Fitch affirmed the credit ratings issued the year before and appreciated the management of the economy by India. Fitch noted, "India`s medium-term economic growth prospects remain strong, as potential GDP growth remains greater than 8%, well above the `BBB`- range median."

India`s sovereign debt is rated by six international sovereign credit rating agencies namely Standard and Poor`s (S&P), Moody`s Investors Service, Dominion Bond Rating Service (DBRS), Fitch Ratings, Japanese Credit Rating Agency (JCRA) and Rating and Investment Information (R&I). These agencies normally visit the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India before making their credit assessment. DEA will continue to engage rating agencies on regular basis to impress upon them the long-term structural strengths and sound fundamentals of the Indian economy.

Sensex gains 71 pts in afternoon trade

2011-12-02T00:09:00.001-08:00

The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex was trading 71 points up at 16,554 points a short while ago. The 30-share barometer, which gained over 475 points during the past two sessions, had declined by nearly 45 points in the opening trade today.The wide-based National stock Exchange Nifty was also trading 29 points up at 4,966 points.

Sensex dips to over 2-year low; down 365 pts on fund outflow

2011-11-23T04:26:00.001-08:00

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today dropped to more than two-year low, down 365 points, as investors squared positions ahead of the monthly settlement in derivative contracts amid heavy fund outflows and weak global markets.
Sensex, which gained 119 points yesterday, fell 365.45 points to 15,699.97 - level seen on November 3, 2009. It had touched a low of 15,478.69 before the partial recovery. Before yesterday's gain, the market had lost nearly 10 per cent in eight straight sessions. The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty tumbled 105.90 to 4,706.45, after touching 4,640.95.
Brokers said investors sold heavily while clearing pending positions ahead tomorrow's settlement in this month's derivative contracts and weak cues from Asian and European equities markets.
IT, industrial and financial stocks led the slide on weak global trend as the US economy expanded at a rate below market expectations during the third quarter, they added.
The overall market fall was cushioned somewhat as shares of telecom operator RCom and real estate firms DB Realty and Unitech recovered after the Supreme Court granted bail to their executives in the 2G spectrum case.

Rely upon your judgment.Always.

2011-11-14T05:01:00.000-08:00

I changed my mind to buy the share of SAIL when it was trading around Rs.5.I unfortunately watched the analysis of this company on some Television and changed my decision to invest into this stock.I was not aware then about the game behind the game so i followed their advice and missed a life time opportunity to invest into the multi bagger.

All of you who know some basics about share market should rely upon your judgment.Invest in small quantity and always go for credentials.Those companies which has reputation at stake would always be fair in its dealings.And you will get the desired return also.

Do Not Rely Upon Business News Media

2011-11-11T23:39:00.000-08:00

People who invest in stocks by watching Business News Channels are ultimately losers.As is the state of affairs in our Business News Media,you can not expect to get absolutely neutral opinion.The very survival of these media companies depend upon the support of Business houses and they can not afford to antagonise them.You should be able to think objectively and take the decision based on past performance and future projections.These are not rocket science and you can sure be able to do this if you are genuinely interested in the market.

Use your own brain to make money in the share market

2011-11-11T23:27:00.000-08:00

If you use your own brain then you can make money in the share market.But it will not happen overnight.The first thing you should do is to select the Stock.You should always go for solid companies which have built their reputation over the years.These companies will give you the return when the market sentiments improve.But never buy overpriced stock.UCO BANK,DENA BANK,ASHOK LEYLAND are some very promising stocks along with the IDEA CELLULAR.Invest and book profit.Give yourself at least two years for that.

The Perception About Investment In Stock Market

2011-10-27T00:28:00.000-07:00

Invest In Equities If Want To Grow Rich !Financial health of the country affects all of us:sometimes directly ;sometimes indirectly.Those who have invested in equities or mutual funds are rewarded significantly when the stock market is on the roll and the very same investors bear the brunt when the market becomes bearish.All parameters suggest that India's growth momentum will be intact for the coming several years and that will manifest itself through the booming stock market.

These economic nitty-gritties are understood best by educated investors but hundreds and thousands of small investors living across the big and small towns, and in some cases villages also, are invariably caught into the complex web of bulls and bears.Most of them are badly hit and run away, never to return again.Although,no one can time the market but this class of people make horrible decisions of entering the market at its peak and exit as soon as it starts going down.Their exposure to Mutual Fund is almost negligible and they mostly follow the advise of the Trading Terminal Owner.There are also many self-styled stock guru's who have popped up everywhere and advise "best pick" to their clients after charging their fee.These experts mostly advise their clients to buy stocks which are obscure but jump up or down crazily.In the bull run one keeps doubling the investment every week but the moment market becomes bearish,those very stocks become illiquid and the investor is stuck with that.That's why timing to exit the market is as important as timing to enter it.Disciplined approach is the most important and how through that approach ordinary rural folks of Gujrat have been minting money is a topic of case study for investing lessons.

Almost every village of any sizable population in Gujrat state of India has a trading terminal,mostly connected to the National Stock Exchange.Villagers are not highly literate but due to their disciplined investment approach,most of them has grown rich.This phenomena has failed to spread other states.Trading terminals have reached every nook and corner of India but the disciplined investing approach have not spread elsewhere.

The perception about investment in Stock Market is still very negative among lower-middle class.Many consider this akin to gambling and surprisingly,many well- read person also subscribe to this view.Thus the thousands of crores made on stock exchanges are not distributed far and wide.A very small percentage of people are getting benefited from it and becoming obscenely rich.They in turn invest some part of that money into reality sector ,propelling that to stratosphere.

Everybody agrees that Indian Economy is on growth curve and that will be reflected through the Stock Market.Sceptics will miss the bus for being perennial sceptics and the market will be touching newer heights again and again.This is time to reap the benefits.Don't remain prejudiced.A sound investment in the market might bring more than expected return.Be positive and start investing steadily and slowly....

India and Malaysia Implement Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (IMCECA)

2011-06-30T05:41:00.001-07:00

The India-Malaysia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) will come into effect on 1 July 2011. India-Malaysia CECA is India’s fourth bilateral Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, after Singapore, South Korea and Japan. The CECA envisages liberalisation of trade in goods, trade in services, investments and other areas of economic cooperation.

Trade between India and Malaysia has reached US$ 10 billion in 2010-11, an increase of 26% from the previous year. It is expected that the implementation of this agreement will boost bilateral trade to US$15 billion by 2015. The trade in goods package under India-Malaysia CECA takes the tariff liberalization beyond the India-ASEAN FTA commitments, which were implemented by both countries on 1 January 2010. Under India-Malaysia CECA, the items on which India has obtained market access from Malaysia include basmati rice, mangoes, eggs, trucks, motorcycles and cotton garments, which are all items of considerable export interest to India. At the same time, adequate protection has been provided by the Indian side for sensitive sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, textiles, chemicals, auto, etc. Under the services agreement of the CECA, India and Malaysia have provided commercially meaningful commitments in sectors and modes of interest to each other which should result in enhanced services trade. The CECA also facilitates the temporary movement of business people including contractual service suppliers, and independent professionals in commercially meaningful sectors including accounting and auditing, architecture, urban planning, engineering services, medical and dental, nursing and pharmacy, Computer and Related Services (CRS), and Management Consulting Services. The India-Malaysia CECA also facilitates cross-border investments between the two countries. It aims to promote investments and create a liberal, facilitative, transparent and competitive investment regime. The CECA creates an attractive operating environment for the business communities of both countries to increase bilateral trade and investment. The full text of India-Malaysia CECA, with details of commitments on goods, services and investment, is available on the websites of the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry at www.commerce.nic.in

How to Invest In the Stock Market ?

2011-06-29T04:46:00.000-07:00

HOW TO BUY SHARES

2011-06-29T04:44:00.001-07:00

How To Buy Stocks Online

2011-06-29T04:43:00.001-07:00

How to get started in the stock market

2011-06-29T04:42:00.000-07:00

How the markets really work

2011-06-29T04:39:00.000-07:00

How the Stock Market Works

2011-06-29T04:37:00.001-07:00

Auction for Sale (Re-Issue) of Government Stocks

2011-06-21T04:19:00.000-07:00

Government of India have announced the sale (re-issue) of (i) “7.59 percent Government Stock 2016” for a notified amount of Rs.3,000 crore (nominal), (ii) “8.08 percent Government Stock 2022” for a notified amount of Rs.6,000 crore (nominal) and (iii) “8.28 percent Government Stock 2032” for a notified amount of Rs.3,000 crore (nominal) through price based auctions. The auctions will be conducted using uniform price method. The auctions will be conducted by the Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai Office, Fort, Mumbai on June 24, 2011 (Friday).

Up to 5% of the notified amount of the sale of the stocks will be allotted to eligible individuals and Institutions as per the Scheme for Non-Competitive Bidding Facility in the Auction of Government Securities.

Both competitive and non-competitive bids for the auction should be submitted in electronic format on the Negotiated Dealing System (NDS) on June 24, 2011. The non-competitive bids should be submitted between 10.30 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. and the competitive bids should be submitted between 10.30 a.m. and 12.30 p.m.

The result of the auctions will be announced June 24, 2011 and payment by successful bidders will be on June 27, 2011 (Monday).

The Stocks will be eligible for “When Issued” trading in accordance with the guidelines on ‘When Issued transactions in Central Government Securities’ issued by the Reserve Bank of India vide circular No. RBI /2006-07/178 dated November 16, 2006 as amended from time to time.

Stock Exchange as gamblers den

2011-06-21T04:15:00.000-07:00

Millions of people in India consider Stock Exchange as gamblers den and keep themselves away from it.There are however hundreds of millions who are enchanted by it and consider it something where they can double there investments within a fortnight.Brokers terminals have now reached in every nook and corner of the country and people unaware of Share Market intricacies are trading in stocks,futures and options.They do it on the basis of information gathered from secondary sources.Most of these investor loose money and left dejected time and again.This time around also the same process is about to begin.Stock Market is in doldrums and those who entered into it considering India's growth stories are likely to gain negative return on their investment.

Never forget that trend is your friend

2011-01-13T23:12:00.000-08:00

Share Market is not for each and everyone because it has its own dynamics and those who try to act smart are looser in the end.This is not the place to think intelligently.If you move along with the trend then you can gain something otherwise you stand no chance.So never forget that trend is your friend.Do what others are doing and have Patience.

Why People Loose Money In Share Market ?

2010-07-02T04:43:00.000-07:00

Why People Loose Money In Share Market ?The answer is simple !They suffer because they do not apply their own mind and act based upon some external guidance.They fail to understand that all these so called market experts are doing their jobs only and they are bothered only for their organisations and their own remuneration.So believing them is committing suicide.
Share Market is a wonderful place to earn huge money in a reactively shorter period of time.The answer is both yes and no.

Share Street: Does market phase indicate portfolio revision?

2010-04-10T23:48:00.000-07:00

Share Street: Does market phase indicate portfolio revision?

Does market phase indicate portfolio revision?

2010-02-02T02:36:00.000-08:00

Stock markets go through phases such as Bullish or Bearish, and as the phase change there are changes in the earnings and stock prices. An investor can capitalize on these phases to revise his portfolio, so that changes that occur in stock markets do not have a greater affect on his earnings. Experts have said that only way to protect yourself is to tilt your portfolio towards shares when there is a bullish trend and towardsfixed income securities such as bonds, debentures etc during bearish phase.

After all this discussion the question is how much to diversify? The answer for this question depends on certain variables which must be decided by theinvestor.

Do decide on whether you are a high risk taking or risk averse or a moderate risk taking investor. It depends on many of the situational and personal factors such as your age, your earnings, status (married or unmarried), disposable income, expertise to analyze the situation etc.

You must not spread your investments too thin over many securities in the market. If you do this, you expose yourself to risk of losses. Averse

Let’s see what will be the effect on your earnings if you falter in diversifying your portfolio. Let’s take an example of three investor friends Ajith, Ramesh and Randev who have invested an amount Rs. 10,000 in stock market and have diversified their portfolio. Ajith is a risk averse investor, Ramesh is an investor with good analytical reasons and moderate risk taker and lastly Randev is an aggressive investor.

Investments	Ajith	Ramesh	Randev
Total investment	10,000	10,000	10,000
Bonds	7000	4000	1000
Shares	3000	6000	9000
Shares of Company. L	3000	4000	3000
Shares of Company. M	0	1000	1000
Shares of Company. N	0	1000	1000
Shares of Company. O	0	0	1000
Shares of Company. P	0	0	1000
Shares of Company. Q	0	0	1000
Shares of Company. R	0	0	1000

Returns from different avenues

Bonds-10%,
Company L-16%,
Company M-10%,
Company N-14%,
Company O-4%,
Company P & Q-Nil,
Company R-8%.

The dividends that are paid to shareholders depends on the profits made by the company. In case company doesn’t make profits then it doesn’t pay any dividends as is the case of companies P & Q in this case

Returns of Ajith will be

Returns=3000(16%) + 7000(10%)

=1180 rupees

Returns for Ramesh

Returns=4000(16%)+1000(10%)+1000(14%)+4000(10%)

= 1280 rupees

Returns for Randev

Returns=3000(16%) +1000(10%) +1000(14%) +1000(4%) +1000(0%) +1000(0%) +1000(8%)

=840 rupees

From the above given example it is clear that over diversification and under diversification of investments is harmful. It is always better to diversify your portfolio after the proper analysis of investment avenues.

Portfolio Re-balancing

2010-02-02T02:34:00.000-08:00

This is also called as portfolio evaluation and portfolio revision. Most of the investors must be wondering as to why there is a need for revising the portfolio. For example last year you had invested 75% in shares and 25% in bonds and your portfolio had given you returns of 15%. These figures look good but is it good to continue with the same portfolio…..??? experts say thatinvestor must revise his portfolio. Some of the reasons that are given in support of their view are;

The economic conditions are changing continuously, so the securities that had done well during previous year may or may not do well this year

The changes in the monetary policies, fiscal policies which are revised every now and then have their own implications on the market and which in turn have an effect on earnings of the investor.

The changes that have taken place in the companies can also have an effect on the earning capacity of the company, hence affect earnings.

The phase (Bullish or Bearish) of the markets have an implications on the earnings of a portfolio.

Prices of shares keep changing and there are some phases when the share prices are very low. So to encash on this situation an investor needs to revise his portfolio. For example you are holding 100 shares (price of each share is rupees 90) of company XYZ. Your total investment in this case would be 9000 rupees. Now due to some news or changes in some policies which are not in favor ofmarkets prices of all the stocks fall so is the case with these shares. Suppose the prices of this share falls to 75 rupees. Now same investor with same 9000 rupees can buy more number of shares if he had sold some of shares or thought of revising his portfolio.

Over-diversification and under-diversification

2010-02-02T02:31:00.000-08:00

Overdoing something is bad and under doing is not an exemption. This holds good in case of diversification. Over diversifying and under diversifying can harm your portfolio. Some of the reasons why investors go for over diversification are; They have lot of disposable incomeThey think, more the diversification more will be their earningsInterpreting market conditions in a wrong wayIt is a reason for them to be proud of themselves.Their relative or friend has shares of more companies.

Reasons for under diversification: They are mostly risk averse investorsThey want to play safe in the stock marketWrongly interpreting the market conditions

Disadvantages of diversification

2010-02-02T02:29:00.000-08:00

Disadvantages of diversification :
The first and the most important thing is that by diversifying you will be losing an opportunity to make most of your investment. It’s just a matter of chance that one of companies in which you had invested gave a return of 15% and your portfolio return was 12%.Investing in too many securities means you will have to spend a lot of time to study the company, performance of its stocks. Not only this, you will have to spend a lot of time in order to manage the portfolio

Advantages of diversifying the Portfolio

2010-02-02T02:23:00.000-08:00

Some of the advantages of diversifying your portfolio :
By diversifying you will be able to hedge (evade) the risk (systematic and unsystematic).Even though there are fluctuations in the prices of the stocks in the market, you will have fixed returns.Diversification is very helpful for an investor who is looking out for investing in the companies for a long term. The reason is that he will be having a variety of securities in his portfolio and even if one company is going through a lean patch, other securities will be doing well.Diversification of portfolio helps during the worst times of the market, when the market has crashed.

Stock Investment with Diversified Portfolio.

2010-02-02T02:17:00.000-08:00

If you are a budding investor, got some spare money and thinking of investing in stock markets and for the first time you walk into broker’s office, tell your broker about your interest. The first thing that broker would be telling is “diversification or portfolio construction”. If you know the word its well and good, but if you don’t have any idea about it then you will be puzzled. You would have read that shares of your favorite company (e.g.: Infosys, Reliance or TCS) are trading well, so you tell your broker that you want to put all yourmoney into stocks of that company. For a moment your stock broker will look at you as if you have fallen from sky, it’s because people living at the stock markets believe that if you don’t diversify then there are very less chances of you surviving in the market. Now, is it always necessary to have a diversified portfolio…..??? If yes then how much should an investor diversify? Are there any side effects of this so called diversification?

Being an investor you must have heard this particular word more than thousand times and I’m also sure that you would have read a lot on this topic, but most of the times the investors do not get the full meaning of portfolio diversification. If you ask what’s diversification most of the answers would be “having shares of many companies” or if he is an investor with bit of knowledge he would say “not putting all your eggs in one basket”. I would agree with the second person to some extent, but if asked to elaborate he will switch over to the first definition, which is incomplete. Diversification does not only refer to holding shares of different companies but holding the securities of many companies, fixed income securities, money market instruments etc, in what proportion we allocate or invest in these avenues depends on our risk taking ability, knowledge to analyze the economic conditions, companies etc.

The Concept of EMI.

2009-12-27T07:18:00.000-08:00

EMI stands for Equated Monthly Installment. This is the fixed amount of amount paid by the borrower on each month. This will help you to pay off your debt on an installment basis. Initially, a major part of the EMI goes in paying the interest. As the tenure increases the principal component of the loan increases. In other words, EMI is a fixed amount paid by a borrower to a lender at a specified date in each month. Equated monthly installments are used to pay off both interest and principal each month, so that over a specific number of years, the loan is paid off in full. If you are taking a mortgage loan and repaying it by EMI, you have to pay a fixed amount of money every month. The difference between EMI and other variable payment plan is that your installment amount is fixed in EMI.

Interests are generally calculated on a month or sometimes every three months period. The calculated interest on the principal amount (loan amount) is added with the principal itself and then the repayment amount (EMI) is deducted from this sum to arrive at a balance amount. At the next step, the interest is calculated on the last balance amount and the new reducing balance amount is obtained in the same way. This process is continued iteratively until the balance amount reduces to zero. And thenthe loan is fully repaid.

Balance amount = Previous balance amount + Interest on the balance amount – Repayment amount.

While applying for a home loan you have to answer the following questions

How much loan you want
What is the value of the property
What is the term you are looking for
What’s your gross salary & Net salary

If you miss your home loan EMI

There are many reasons that cause us to fall behind loan repayments. Loss of job, medical expenses, etc can happen to anyone, this will make us to delay the repayment of loans. If you neglect payments ofhome loan EMI, it will hurt your credit rating and many other severe implications could follow. In case you default on your home loan repayments the lenders undertake some measures to recover the amount:

Lenders follow up by sending the collection agents to recover the due amount.
Then the lenders follow up with the person who co-signed the loan documents.
As a consequence of default in payment the borrower might lose possession of the house.

According to the Securitisation Act, housing companies have the right to take over the house property of the defaulting customer. They can classify the asset secured or mortgaged as a non-performing asset and give a 60 day’s notice to the borrower. If the borrower fails to clear off his liability within this period, the lending institution has four options such as;

Take possession of the asset
Take over the management of the asset of the borrower
Appoint any manager to manage the asset

Redressal

If you are planning to seek a remedy after defaulting on your EMI, you have to file an appeal to the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) within 45 days. If the order of Debt Recovery Tribunal is against you, then an appeal has to be filed before the Appellate Tribunal within 30 days of receiving it. If the Appellate Tribunal is finding that the possession of the asset taken by the lender was wrongful, the Tribunal may direct them to return it back to the borrower, along with adequate compensation.

Other options for Redressal

It is not necessary that you have to do a legal battle with your lender, unless the lender initiates legal proceedings against you. Contact him as soon as you know your payments will be overdue. Never ignore the lender’s letters and do not imagine you are in a hopeless situation. Following are some of the steps, which you can take to keep property’s possession with you.

Talk to the lender
Refinance your debt
Balloon repayment scheme
Lower your EMI by changing the payment plan

Talk to the lender

Financiers make money by collecting your principal and interest payments, not by foreclosing on homes. Foreclosing is the process by which mortgaged property enters into the possession of the mortgagee without right of redemption by the mortgagor. If you present your situation to them along with a reasonable plan for temporary relief, they may suggest some plan to help you.

Refinance your debt

There is a possibility that you might build your home when interest rates were high and, therefore, your EMI is high. You can solve this problem by refinancing your debt at a lower interest rate.

Balloon repayment scheme

You also have the option to pay lower EMI in the initial years and a bulk payment in the last installment so that the major burden can be shifted to the later years.

Lower your EMI by changing the payment plan

If you are not able to pay the existing EMI, by increasing your repayment period you can considerably reduce your monthly installment. If you have taken the loan for 15 years then you can extend it to 20 years. But always remember even though your monthly payment may decrease, you will end up in paying more by way of interest since it will take longer timeto pay off the loan.

How to calculate EMI

Below given is the equation to calculate EMI.

EMI = [(P x r) (1+r)ⁿ]/ [(1+ r)^n-1]

Here

P = Principal Loan Amount

r = Annual Interest Rate / 12

n = Number of Monthly Installments

Click here to calculate EMI

Illustration

The below given illustration will help you in understanding how EMI works. Imagine you are taking a home loan of Rs. 10,00,000 with an interest rate of 10% for a period of 10 years. In this case your EMI will be around Rs. 13,562. Your EMI constitute a certain amount of Principle and Interest. But the amount of interest and principal will change as the time goes.

Here

Loan Amount – 10,00,000

Interest rate – 10%

Tenure - 10 years

EMI – 13562

This table illustrates the amount of interest and principal included in EMI

Year	Interest/month	Principal/month	EMI
1	8333	5229	13562
2	7810	5752	13562
3	7235	6327	13562
4	6603	6959	13562
5	5907	7655	13562
6	5141	8421	13562
7	4299	9263	13562
8	3373	10189	13562
9	2354	11208	13562
10	1233	12329	13562

A combination of interest and Principal makes EMI but. Over a period of 10 years you will pay an amount of Rs.1627440 to the lender. Rs. 1000000 as principal and remaining Rs. 627440 as interest.

Total Interest Amount – 6,27,440

Total Principal Amount – 1000000

Total Paid Amount - 1627440

How to calculate EMI in MS Excel

Microsoft excel has an excellent option to calculate EMI. Below given Steps will help you to calculate the EMI for a fixed rate and term.

Step 1: Open Microsoft Excel.

Step 2: Select 'Insert' and then 'function' in MS Office 2007 we have option called Formulas, select that.

Step 3: Select category as 'financial' and look for PMT in the options displayed.

Step 4: Select PMT. This will open a function argument dialogue box.

Step 5: Enter the rate of Interest against the Rate column (if you are paying monthly installments do not forget to put the % sign after the rate and then /12)

Step 6: In the Nper column insert the number of monthly payments.

Step 7: In the Pv column enter the total amount of loan.

Step 8: Click on Ok and you have your EMI in the excel sheet.

How to calculate the rate of Interest for a given EMI in Excel

Step 1: Open the excel sheet

Step 2: Select 'insert' followed by 'function'

Step 3:Select Rate, this will open a function arguments box will open.

Step 5: Against Nper, put the total no of installments

Step 6: Against Pmt enter the given EMI. (Put a minus (-) sign before the amount)

Step 7: Against Pv enter the Loan amount

ULIPs or Mutual Funds.....! Which is better?

2009-12-10T01:48:00.000-08:00

Everyone likes to see their hard earned money grow quickly. But there are no quick gains. An investment has to be long term in order to be really beneficial. As you make up your mind to invest, make sure you are ready to keep patience. Besides, risk factor is always there to escort your investment. So, you should be absolutely clear in your mind, what you want. Whether it’s Life Insurance Policy, National Savings Certificate or Mutual Funds, all the investment plans have their merits and demerits that you need to consider before you proceed. Unit Linked Insurance Plans are also gaining popularity these days for their investor-friendly profile.

Mutual Fund

Mutual Funds as an investment plan have the potential to reward you richly in the long run. However, fluctuating market graphs would give you sleepless nights. So, it is not really an inviting avenue in the present scenario. Of course, you can’t write it off totally. But one has to take it easy and not rush into any investment plan without educating oneself about it thoroughly. Unit Linked Insurance Plans have come like a ray of sunshine on a gloomy day! Not that it ensures you 100% returns but it definitely does sound promising.

ULIPs

Unit Linked Insurance Policies (ULIPs) as an investment avenue are closest to mutual funds in terms of their structure and functioning. As is the cases with mutual funds, investors in ULIPs are allotted units by the insurance company and a net asset value (NAV) is declared for the same on a daily basis. Likewise ULIPinvestors have the option of investing across various schemes similar to the ones found in the mutual funds domain, i.e. diversified equity funds, balanced funds and debt funds to name a few. Generally speaking, ULIPs can be termed as mutual fund schemes with an insurance component. However it should not be interpreted that except the insurance element there is nothing differentiating mutual funds from ULIPs.

Unit Linked Insurance Plan (ULIP) and Mutual Fund (MF) are the two most preferred choices for a part time investor to invest into equity. But how do we decide which one should we go for. Even if it is very easy to decide, people are likely to confuse themselves most of the time. This article talks about some points that you need to think while making a decision such as which option we want to take, where to invest, etc. Mutual Funds are pure investments but ULIPs offer you a combination of Insurance and Investment. First question that we need to answer while buying ULIP is - Do I need to buy insurance?

· Does the person seeking insurance have any financial liabilities?

· If something happens to the person, is there someone who can be in a financial crisis?

If the answer to the above two question is yes, you need to buy insurance.

Comparison

Now let us compare ULIP and MF based on certain well known facts:

1. Insurance Cover

ULIPs provide you with insurance cover. But MFs don’t provide you with insurance cover. So it is better to prefer ULIPs because in MFs you will get the return only if you contribute during a period.

2. Entry Load

ULIPs generally come with relatively high entry load. For different schemes, this may vary. MFs have a small entry load of a maximum of 2.5%. But now SEBI has banned charging entry load on Mutual Funds. Here MFs have a huge advantage.

3. Maturity

ULIPs normally come with a maturity of 5 to 20 years. That whatever money you put in, most of it will be locked-in till three years. Tax saving MF (Popularly called as Equity Linked Saving Scheme or ELSS) comes with a lock-in period of 3 years. Other MFs don’t have a lock-in period.

ULIPs do allow you to take money out prematurely but they also put penalties on you for doing that.

4. Compulsion of Investing

ULIPs would normally make you pay at least first three premiums. MFs don’t have any compulsion on future investments. If you have invested in a MF this year, and in the next year you don’t have sufficient income or money to do investments you can decide not to make any investments. Also if you notice that the MF that you invested in is not giving good returns as compared to some other Funds scheme, you can choose to invest in some other MF.

5. Tax Saving

ULIP come under 80C and can save you tax. Returns in the both form of investments are tax free. But in MF you don’t have any Tax benefit, only if you are investing in Tax Saving MF you will get the Tax Benefit. But here it has a lock in period of minimum 3 years.

6. Market exposure

ULIPs give you both modest and aggressive exposure to equity market. Debt and Liquid MF let you invest with low risk, but they don’t give you tax benefit. ULIPs need not be aggressive in equity exposure. That is ULIPs need not keep more that 60% of their funds in equity market. ULIPS also allow you to change your equity market exposure. Thus it can help you to time the market and still give you tax savings. If a MF has a less than 60% exposure to equity market the returns from it are not tax free. Thus you don’t get to take a conservative stand on returns.

7. Flexibility of time of redemption

ULIP will get redeemed on maturing. Premature redemption is allowed with some penalty.

In ELSS premature redemption is not allowed. For an open ended scheme one can redeem the MF anytime. This is mainly useful if the market is down at any time. In case of ELSS you can wait till the market comes up again and then redeem them.

In spite of the seemingly comparable structures there are various factors wherein the two differ. In this article we evaluate the two avenues on certain common parameters and find out how they work.

Features of ULIP

1. Medium Term to Long Term Investments

2. Fund Management Expenses will be less (1.5%)

3. Entry load will be high

4. Insurance Maturity Amounts are Tax Free in the hands of the investor (In India)

5. Not much of varieties are available

6. In General ULIP Products has min of 3 years lock in period

7. Value based investment

8. Need to explain the benefits of the investor and make them understand about hidden charges and benefits involved

9. Investor who would like to protect his life / health and also make some money, can invest in ULIP

Features of MF

1. Short Term to Medium Term Investment

2. Fund Management Expenses will be high (2.5%)

3. No entry load

4. No tax benefits on Mutual Fund (Only Equity Mutual Funds has some income tax benefits)

5. Varieties of Mutual funds / Sectoral Funds are available

6. In case of open end mutual funds, investors have high liquidity

7. Growth oriented investment

8. Investor can Easy to understand

9. Investor who can view only Investment can go for Mutual Fund

How ULIPs can make you RICH….!!!

ULIP can be a very good instrument to invest in, if you are willing to stick to it for a long period of time — in the range of 10 to 20 years. If you have a short span of time at your disposal, it is better to invest in Mutual Funds and buy term plans to take care of your insurance coverage.

The main difference between ULIP and Mutual Funds is variation in expenses — administrative charges, mortality charges and, of course, fund management fees. We are going to compare ULIP and Mutual Fund to suggest that, over a longish period, ULIP's expenses work out to be lower than that of an equity Mutual Fund, and so you end up getting more of your money to work for you.

Since insurance companies charge high selling expenses in the first year's premium, short-term investors stand to lose. But, if one were to analyse the benefits of ULIPs over mutual funds, all else being equal, there may be reason to look at ULIPs, purely because of the lower expense ratio: The Fund management charge (FMC) of insurance companies is 1.5%, whereas in the case of mutual funds it is around 2.5%. Therefore, in the longer term, when the funds of individual investors under management become large, the difference of 1% matters a lot. It counterbalances the higher charges taken by insurance companies during the earlier period of the fund. From the below given illustration you can clearly understand the performance of both ULIP and Mutual Fund.

Some of the Best Performing ULIPs in the Industry

Below given table will show you the returns of some of the best performing ULIPs in the market for the last three years.

Company	Fund	1 Year	2 Year	3 Year
Birla Sun Life	Creator	27.1%	17.2%	18.5%
Birla Sun Life	Balancer	23.5%	15.4%	14.4%
ICICI Prudential Life	Balancer II	12.8%	9.8%	12.8%
HDFC Life	Balanced Managed	11.5%	7.4%	12.1%
Birla Sun Life	Enhancer	15.5%	9.8%	11.7%

Some of the Best Performing MFs in the Industry

Below given table will show you the returns of some of the best performing MFs in the market for the last three years.

Plan Name	1 Year	2 Year	3 Year
Can Robeco Equity TaxSaver (G)	19.1%	6.4%	19.0%
UTI Opportunities Fund (G)	16.6%	10.5%	14.9%
Birla SL Dividend Yield (G)	19.0%	4.1%	13.2%
Reliance MIP (G)	25.2%	14.1%	12.2%
Birla SL MIP II-Savings 5 (G)	19.8%	14.8%	12.4%

Below given example will help you to understand the growth of money in both ULIP and Mutual Funds. In this example we are assuming that you are investing Rs. 10000 every year in MF and ULIP. We have assumed the return on ULIP and MF as 14%. In ULIP, Fund Management Charge (FMC) is 1.5% but in MF it is 2.5%. Apart from that ULIPs will charge a Premium Allocation Charge on your investments; it differs from plan to plan. In this example we have considered it as 10% for the first and 2% thereafter.

Returns from ULIPs

This table will provide you information about the growth of money invested in ULIP during a period of 20 years. Provided you are making an investment of Rs.10000 every year.

Assumptions:

· Annual Investment – Rs.10000

· Rate of Return – 14%

· Fund Management Charges (FMC) – 1.5%

· Premium Allocation Charges:

§ 1^st year -10%

§ 2^nd year onwards – 2%

· Return after 5^th year = 68885.11

· Return after 10^th year = 193292.28

· Return after 15^th year = 415393.45

· Return after 20^th year = 811905.36

Return from Mutual Fund

Below given table will help you to understand the return on investments from Mutual Funds over a period of 20 years, provided you are investing an amount of Rs.10000 every year.

Assumptions:

· Annual Investment – Rs.10000

· Rate of Return – 14%

· Fund Management Charges (FMC) – 2.5%

· Premium Allocation Charges – 0%

· Return after 5^th year = 69428.83

· Return after 10^th year = 187213.06

· Return after 15^th year = 387031

· Return after 20^th year = 726017.05

Analysis of Return

Category	5^th Year	10^th Year	15^th Year	20^th Year
ULIP	68885.11	193292.28	415393.45	811905.36
Mutual Fund	69428.83	187213.06	387031	726017.05
Difference	543.72	6079.22	28362.45	85888.31

According to the illustration given above, in 5^th year MF has generated Rs. 543.72 more than ULIPs. But from 7^th year onwards ULIPs will give you more returns. In the 10^th year ULIPs will give you Rs. 6079.22 more than MFs. In the 15^th year it is Rs. 28362 more and in 20^th year it is Rs. 85888.31 more than FD.

Graphical representation of Returns on ULIPs and Mutual Funds

From the below given graph you can clearly understand the performance of ULIP and Mutual Fund over a period of 20 years.

Now you might have a doubt that charges are more in ULIPs then how ULIP can generate more return than Mutual Fund. Only Fund Management charges are less in ULIP (ULIP – 1.5%, MF – 2.5%). But this is the point where people get misguided. The difference of 1% in FMC makes huge change in the return. ULIPs charges Premium allocation charge of 10% in the first year and 2% from second year onwards. But remember Premium allocation charge is levied only on your premium, not on the entire fund value. For example, if you are investing Rs. 10000 every year, in the first year Premium allocation charge will be Rs. 1000 (10% of 10000) and from the second year onwards it will be Rs. 200. But Fund Management charge is levied on the entire fund value. For example, if your fund value is Rs. 1000000 at the end of ninth year, during the tenth year MF will charge Rs. 25000 (2.5% of 1000000) as FMC. But ULIPs charges you only Rs. 15000 (1.5% of 1000000). Because of this reason ULIPs are able to generate more returns in the long run.

Cash Dividend,Stock Dividend,Right Issue/ Stock Rights

2009-12-05T22:29:00.000-08:00

Cash Dividend

Sometimes companies declare cash dividend to its share holders. Cash Dividend is a dividend given to shareholders in the form of cash. Apart fromcapital gains it is another form of revenue for an investor. Cash dividend is declared on the face value of the share. It is computed by multiplying the number of shares held by a person by the cash dividend rate declared.

For example; Mr. Arjun is holding 1000 shares of “X” company and the company is declared a dividend of 20% on its face value. Face value of the share is Rs. 10/-. In this case Mr. Arjun will receive a dividend of Rs. 2/- on each share (10 x 20% = 2) so total cash dividend of Mr. Arjun is Rs. 2000/- (1000 x 2 = 2000). Below given is a simple formula to find out the total dividend on the number of shares held.

Dividend = (Dividend Rate x Face Value of share) x No. of shares

Stock Dividend

Stock Dividend is a dividend given to shareholders in the form of additional stocks. It works similar to cash dividend, instead of cash, stocks will be issued to share holders. It is computed by multiplying the number of shares held by the percentage of the stock dividend declared.

Stock Dividend = No. of shares held x percentage of the stock dividend declared

Right Issue/ Stock Rights

Right issue is the option given to the existing shareholders of a company to buy additional shares of the company at a price lower than its market price. In other words when the company goes for further issue, it gives the first preference to the employees and the present share holders this is called right issue. Right issue helps in getting the shares at reduced price.

Capital Gains

2009-12-05T22:23:00.000-08:00

Capital Gains are profits made due to an increase in the market price of a stock from the buying price. Market price of a stock/share will keep on changing each moment. There is no guarantee that you can sell the shares at the same price you have bought or for a higher price. If you are able to sell the share for a higher price than its purchase price, you have madecapital gain. For example; think you have bought the share of Reliance Industries for Rs. 1900 after few days you sold it for Rs. 2100. Here you have made acapital gain of Rs. 200 (i.e. 2100-1900=200).

There is a possibility of making capital loss also. If there is a decrease in stock price from the purchase price, it will lead to capital loss. For example; if you have bought the shares of Reliance industries at Rs. 1900 and after few days you sold it for 1700, you have to face a capital loss of Rs. 200 (i.e. 1900-1700=200)

Dividend payout ratio

2009-12-01T02:23:00.000-08:00

Dividend payout ratio

This ratio is calculated by dividing annual dividends per share by earnings per share.

DPR= Dividends per share/ earnings per share

For example: if company X paid 10 Rs per share as dividend and had 15 in EPS then the DPR would be 66%.

The percentage that is good and bad is subject to interpretation. Growing companies usually retain more profits for business expansion and pay lower dividends.

But in some mature industries there is very little room for growth and they pay higher dividends so as to stay ahead in the market.

Return on Equity or return on net worth or return on ordinary Shareholder’s fund

It is the rate of return on shareholder’s equity. It indicates the firm’s or company’s efficiency of generating profits from shareholders equity. ROE is calculated by dividing net profit after tax by shareholders equity.

ROE= Net earnings after tax/shareholders equity.

Here net earnings of fiscal year are calculated after deducting preference shareholders’ dividends but not common stock dividends.

ROE is a very useful tool of fundamental analysis and it is widely used. But all companies with high ROE are best and good to invest. For certain industries ROE is high because they require no assets E.g.: consulting company and certain industries have low ROE just because they require large infrastructure so just on this basis of this one cannot come to the conclusion that consulting industry is better to invest than large refineries and iron and steel industry. So ROE works better for the comparison of companies belonging to same industry. And the company with higher ROE is better to invest.

ROE can be split into three components and is equal to net margin multiplied by asset turn over and financial leverage.

ROE= Net margin x Asset turnover x Financial leverage.

ROE is split into parts to clearly understand the changes that happen in the same. For example if the net margin hikes then every sale increases and the net income resulting in increase is overall ROE. If the assets turnover ratio increases, it means that the company is generating more income on every unit of asset it owns which in turn means increase in ROE. Financial leverage of the company indicates the capital structure of the company and by higher financial leverage it means more proportion of debt financing than equity financing. This increase in financial leverage is beneficial for any company as interest on debt is tax deductible but not dividends on equity. So a higher debt financing means higher ROE but increase in debt financing positively contributes to ROE only if the firm’s return on assets is more than interest on debt.

Price to earning ratio-P/E

P/E relates to the stock price and the earnings of the company. And it is one of the most popular tools of stock analysis used in fundamental analysis.

P/E calculated by dividing share price by earning per share of the company.

P/E = stock price/EPS

Assume that company X has EPS of 5 and its share value is 50 so the P/E ratio is 10.

Some investors think that high P/E means over priced stock and it also indicates the high hopes on the stock’s future. And it also means that investor is paying more money for every unit of net income of the company which indicates stock is expensive.

By using the price per share and earnings per share one can easily evaluate the stocks of different companies. Stocks with higher forecast of the growth of earnings will usually have higher P/E, and stocks with lower forecast of earnings growth rate will usually have lower P/E.

PEG ratio-Price/earnings to growth ratio

PEGratio takes into consideration the projected growth in earnings. It is calculated by dividing P/E ratio by projected growth in earnings.

PEG=P/E / Projected growth of earnings.

Example: consider a company has a P/E ratio of 50 and its projected growth in earnings is 10% then the PEG value becomes 5.

In technical language PEG indicates how much you are going to pay per each unit of future earnings growth, the lower the value of PEG is the lesser would be the amount you are going to pay per each unit of future growth of earnings.

So if the PEG ratio is higher (close to P/E value) this makes sense that projected growth in earnings is lower, so kind of stocks are usually neglected by stock market.

If the PEG ratio is smaller (much smaller when compared to P/E value) then that means that projected growth in earnings is higher and the stock is said to be fundamentally strong.

Now that you have read this article, we believe that this would help you to know the value of the company and to choose the best company to invest and earn adequate profits in this highly volatile market. For more information feel free to contact IndianMoney.com.

Earnings per share-EPS

2009-12-01T02:22:00.000-08:00

Earnings per share-EPS

Earnings per share- EPS are very important tool of fundamental analysis and it is the primary focus of every investor.

EPS = Net earnings of the company/ Outstanding shares.

One cannot decide which company shares to buy depending only on the basis of earnings.

For example: Company X earns 5 lakh and company Y earns Rs 10 lakh, but company X has 10000 outstanding shares whereas company Y has 100000 outstanding shares.

Let’s calculate EPS for both companies.

For Company X:

EPS = 500000/10000=50

For company Y:

EPS=1000000/100000=10

In fundamental analysis, earnings is not the only consideration, and one cannot decide which company shares to buy only on the basis of earnings.

In the above example company Y has higher earnings of 10 Lakhs and company X has 5 lakhs, both companies may be good but primary focus of investment is making profit. So along with earnings, total outstanding shares are also taken into consideration. In the above example company X has EPS of 50, but company Y has EPS of 10 despite earning more profit so company X shares will give more profit to investors.

Price to sales-P/S

It is the share price relative to the sales per share. This can be calculated by dividing market capitalization of the share by total revenue of the company or it can also be calculated by dividing share price by sales per share.

P/S= Share price/sales per share

Fundamental analysis in stock market

2009-12-01T02:18:00.000-08:00

Fundamental analysis is a kind of stock evaluation method. This method involves the analysis of fundamental information such as financial reports of the company, demand for the product produced by the company, position of the company in the industry, changes that happens in the economy and in the government policies.

Fundamentals deal with financial characteristics of the company. In the process of fundamental analysis a detailed study of the financial statements of the company is carried out in order to find out the level of profitability, investments, turn over, amount of cash in hand, return on equity, return on assets and return on investments etc.

The main purpose of the fundamental analysis is to find out answers for many important questions like; is it worth investing on this company? What are the chances that this business is going to suffer losses or profits? How can I be certain that this stock will continue to pay dividends? What would be the position of this company in the market?

Analysis is all about earnings and the basic objective is to find out probability of getting profit from a company. The bottom line is to calculate how much money a company is making and how much is it going to make in the future.

Profits are called earnings. It’s difficult to calculate the earnings of a company but one has to do this home work before investing and that’s what buying a company is all about. Higher earnings always lead to increase in stock price and sometimes regular dividends. But when the earnings go down then definitely stock prices will fall.

Some of the widely used tools of fundamental analysis are

Earnings per share-EPS
Price to sales-P/S
Dividend payout ratio
Return on equity
Price to earning ratio-P/E

Criteria for choosing the Stock

2009-11-25T21:52:00.001-08:00

While selecting a stock to invest you should check the P/E, P/S, P/B ratios of the stock. This ratio differs according to the type of investment (i.e. value or growth). In other words we can tell that the ratios suitable for a value investor might not suit for a Growth investor. Below given table will help you in identifying the required rate of ratios.

Ratio	Value Investment	Growth Investment
P/E	Less than 15	More than 20
P/S	Less than 2.5	More than 3
P/B	Less than 3	More than 5

Stocks with valuations in the gaps between the value and growth definitions, say, a P/E of 18 and a P/B of 4 could be in either category, depending on the circumstances. Your research should not end with these ratios, figuring out whether a stock is worth buying is not an easy task. These ratios can help you understand whether acompany's shares are cheap or expensive. If they are cheap and underpriced these are the best stocks to buy.

How to Valuate Stocks

2009-11-25T21:44:00.000-08:00

There are different methods for valuating a stock. Valuation ratios can help you to a great extend in finding the stock that is most suitable for investment. The most commonly used valuation ratios are;Price-to-earnings (P/E) ,Price-to-sales (P/S) andPrice-to-book (P/B) .
Price-to-Earnings (P/E) is calculated by dividing company's stock price by earnings-per-share, or EPS (EPS means how much a company earns per share over 12 months). The EPS used will be always the most recent 12 months' earnings. P/E ratio shows current investor demand for acompany’s share.
P/E Ratio = Price per Share / Annual Earnings per Share
Price-to-Sales (P/S) A company's stock price divided by the most recent 12 months' sales-per-share will give you the P/S ratio. Some investors depend more on P/S than P/E because sales don’t vary as much as earnings from quarter to quarter. Another advantage of P/S is that you can calculate it when acompany loses money in a quarterly or annual reporting period but you cannot calculate P/E in such case.
P/S Ratio = Price per Share / Annual sales per Share
Price-to-book (P/B) is also known as book value, this is a company's assets minus its liabilities. P/B ratio is calculated by dividing a company's stock price by its book value per share. Value investors tend to favor P/B.
P/B Ratio = Price per Share / Book Value per Share

Minting Money By Cherry Picking Undervalued Stocks

2009-11-08T19:51:00.000-08:00

Stock Market,the world over is dependent on the prevailing economic scenario .But trend is such dominant factor that sometimes the raise and fall of some stocks makes no sense.
All the analyst went wrong during the Internet euphoria.The same was repeated lately.But apart from the noise and hectic trading volume there are many stocks which remain undervalued until some punter pick them up and start frenzy buying or selling .
An informed investor should keep acquiring these kind of stocks gradually.The underlying strength of that stock will be recognised some day and will return tremendous amount of money.Those who are impatient in the market are always looser.Be patient and get rewarded beyond expectation.

Concept Of Margin Trading

2009-10-08T02:20:00.000-07:00

Normally to buy and sell shares, you need to have the money to pay for your purchase and shares in your demat account to deliver for your sale. However as you do not have the full amount to make good for your purchases or shares to deliver for your sale you have to cover (square) your purchase/sale transaction by a sale/purchase transaction before the close of the settlement cycle. In case the price during the course of the settlement cycle moves in your favor (risen in case of purchase done earlier and fallen in case of a sale done earlier) you will make a profit and you receive the payment from the exchange. In case the price movement is adverse, you will make a loss and you will have to make the payment to the exchange. Margins are thus collected to safeguard against any adverse price movement. Margins are quoted as a percentage of the value of the transaction.

Going Short

2009-10-08T02:19:00.000-07:00

If you do not have shares and you sell them it is known as going short on a stock. Generally a trader will go short if he expects the price to decline. In a rolling settlement cycle you will have to cover by end of the day on which you had gone short.

Stocks traded under demat

2009-10-08T02:17:00.000-07:00

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has already specified for settlement only in the dematerialized form in for 761 particular scripts. Investors interested in these stocks receive shares only in demat form without any instruction to your broker. While SEBI has instructed the institutional investors to sell 421 scripts only in the demat form. The shares by non institutional investors can be sold in both physical and demat form. As there is a mix of both form of stocks, it is possible if you have purchased a stock in this category, you may get delivery of both physical and demat shares.

Procedure to dematerialize your share certificates

2009-10-08T02:16:00.000-07:00

Fill up a dematerialization request form, which is available with your DP. Submit your share certificates along with the form; (write "surrendered for demat" on the face of the certificate before submitting it for demat) Receive credit for the dematerialized shares into your account within 15 days.
In case of directly purchasing dematerialized shares from the broker, instruct your broker to purchase the dematerialized shares from the stock exchanges linked to the depositories. Once the order is executed, you have to instruct your DP to receive securities from your broker's clearing account. You have to ensure that your broker also gives a matching instruction to his DP to transfer the shares purchased on your behalf into your depository account. You should also ensure that your broker transfers the shares purchased from his clearing account to your depository account, before the book closure/record date to avail the benefits of corporate action.

Procedure of opening a demat account

2009-10-08T02:15:00.000-07:00

Opening a depository account is as simple as opening a bank account. You can open a depository account with any DP convenient to you by following these steps:
Fill up the account opening form, which is available with the DP. Sign the DP-client agreement, which defines the rights and duties of the DP and the person wishing to open the account. Receive your client account number (client ID). This client id along with your DP id gives you a unique identification in the depository system.
There is no restriction on the number of depository accounts you can open. However, if your existing physical shares are in joint names, be sure to open the account in the same order of names before you submit your share certificates for demat

Advantages of a depository services :

2009-10-08T02:13:00.000-07:00

Trading in demat segment completely eliminates the risk of bad deliveries. In case of transfer of electronic shares, you save 0.5% in stamp duty. Avoids the cost of courier/ notarization/ the need for further follow-up with your broker for shares returned for company objection No loss of certificates in transit and saves substantial expenses involved in obtaining duplicate certificates, when the original share certificates become mutilated or misplaced. Increasing liquidity of securities due to immediate transfer & registration Reduction in brokerage for trading in dematerialized shares Receive bonuses and rights into the depository account as a direct credit, thus eliminating risk of loss in transit. Lower interest charge for loans taken against demat shares as compared to the interest for loan against physical shares. RBI has increased the limit of loans availed against dematerialized securities as collateral to Rs 20 lakh per borrower as against Rs 10 lakh per borrower in case of loans against physical securities. RBI has also reduced the minimum margin to 25% for loans against dematerialized securities, as against 50% for loans against physical securities. Fill up the account opening form, which is available with the DP. Sign the DP-client agreement, which defines the rights and duties of the DP and the person wishing to open the account. Receive your client account number (client ID). This client id along with your DP id gives you a unique identification in the depository system. Fill up a dematerialization request form, which is available with your DP. Submit your share certificates along with the form; (write "surrendered for demat" on the face of the certificate before submitting it for demat) Receive credit for the dematerialized shares into your account within 15 days.

What Is Dematerialization?

2009-10-08T02:12:00.000-07:00

Dematerialization in short called as 'demat is the process by which an investor can get physical certificates converted into electronic form maintained in an account with the Depository Participant. The investors can dematerialize only those share certificates that are already registered in their name and belong to the list of securities admitted for dematerialization at the depositories.
Depository : The organization responsible to maintain investor's securities in the electronic form is called the depository. In other words, a depository can therefore be conceived of as a "Bank" for securities. In India there are two such organizations viz. NSDL and CDSL. The depository concept is similar to the Banking system with the exception that banks handle funds whereas a depository handles securities of the investors. An investor wishing to utilize the services offered by a depository has to open an account with the depository through a Depository Participant.
Depository Participant : The market intermediary through whom the depository services can be availed by the investors is called a Depository Participant (DP). As per SEBI regulations, DP could be organizations involved in the business of providing financial services like banks, brokers, custodians and financial institutions. This system of using the existing distribution channel (mainly constituting DPs) helps the depository to reach a wide cross section of investors spread across a large geographical area at a minimum cost. The admission of the DPs involve a detailed evaluation by the depository of their capability to meet with the strict service standards and a further evaluation and approval from SEBI. Realizing the potential, all the custodians in India and a number of banks, financial institutions and major brokers have already joined as DPs to provide services in a number of cities.

Concept Of Buying Limit

2009-09-30T03:11:00.000-07:00

Suppose you have sold some shares on NSE and are trying to figure out that if you can use the money to buy shares on NSE in a different settlement cycle or say on BSE. To simplify things for ICICI Direct customers, we have introduced the concept of Buying Limit (BL). Buying Limit simply tells the customer what is his limit for a given settlement for the desired exchange. Assume that you have enrolled for a ICICI Direct account, which requires 100% of the money required to fund the purchase, be available. Suppose you have Rs 1,00,000 in your Bank A/C and you set aside Rs 50,000 for which you would like to make some purchase. Your Buying Limit is Rs 50,000. Assume that you sell shares worth Rs 1,00,000 on the NSE on Monday. The BL therefore for the NSE at that point of time goes upto Rs 1,50,000. This means you can buy shares upto Rs 1,50,000 on NSE or BSE. If you buy shares worth Rs 75,000 on Tuesday on NSE your BL will naturally reduce to Rs 75,000. Hence your BL is simply the amount set aside by you from your bank account and the amount realized from the sale of any shares you have made less any purchases you have made.
Your BL of Rs 50,000, which is the amount set aside by you from your Bank account for purchase is available for BSE and NSE. As you have made the sale of shares on NSE for Rs.100000, the BL for NSE & BSE rises to 1,50,000. The amount from sale of shares in NSE will also be available for purchase on BSE. ICICI Direct makes it very easy for its customers to know their BL on the click of a mouse. You just have to specify the Exchange and settlement cycle and on a click of your mouse, the BL will be known to you.

Rolling Settlement Cycle

2009-09-30T03:10:00.000-07:00

In a rolling settlement, each trading day is considered as a trading period and trades executed during the day are settled based on the net obligations for the day. At NSE and BSE, trades in rolling settlement are settled on a T+2 basis i.e. on the 2nd working day. For arriving at the settlement day all intervening holidays, which include bank holidays, NSE/BSE holidays, Saturdays and Sundays are excluded. Typically trades taking place on Monday are settled on Wednesday, Tuesday's trades settled on Thursday and so on.

Indian Stock Market Overview.

2009-09-30T03:08:00.000-07:00

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE) are the two primary exchanges in India. In addition, there are 22 Regional Stock Exchanges. However, the BSE and NSE have established themselves as the two leading exchanges and account for about 80 per cent of the equity volume traded in India. The NSE and BSE are equal in size in terms of daily traded volume. The average daily turnover at the exchanges has increased from Rs 851 crore in 1997-98 to Rs 1,284 crore in 1998-99 and further to Rs 2,273 crore in 1999-2000 (April - August 1999). NSE has around 1500 shares listed with a total market capitalization of around Rs 9,21,500 crore (Rs 9215-bln). The BSE has over 6000 stocks listed and has a market capitalization of around Rs 9,68,000 crore (Rs 9680-bln). Most key stocks are traded on both the exchanges and hence the investor could buy them on either exchange. Both exchanges have a different settlement cycle, which allows investors to shift their positions on the bourses. The primary index of BSE is BSE Sensex comprising 30 stocks. NSE has the S&P NSE 50 Index (Nifty) which consists of fifty stocks. The BSE Sensex is the older and more widely followed index. Both these indices are calculated on the basis of market capitalization and contain the heavily traded shares from key sectors. The markets are closed on Saturdays and Sundays. Both the exchanges have switched over from the open outcry trading system to a fully automated computerized mode of trading known as BOLT (BSE On Line Trading) and NEAT (National Exchange Automated Trading) System. It facilitates more efficient processing, automatic order matching, faster execution of trades and transparency. The scrips traded on the BSE have been classified into 'A', 'B1', 'B2', 'C', 'F' and 'Z' groups. The 'A' group shares represent those, which are in the carry forward system (Badla). The 'F' group represents the debt market (fixed income securities) segment. The 'Z' group scrips are the blacklisted companies. The 'C' group covers the odd lot securities in 'A', 'B1' & 'B2' groups and Rights renunciations. The key regulator governing Stock Exchanges, Brokers, Depositories, Depository participants, Mutual Funds, FIIs and other participants in Indian secondary and primary market is the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Ltd.

Working of a stock market

2009-09-30T03:06:00.000-07:00

To learn more about how you can earn on the stock market, one has to understand how it works. A person desirous of buying/selling shares in the market has to first place his order with a broker. When the buy order of the shares is communicated to the broker he routes the order through his system to the exchange. The order stays in the queue exchange's systems and gets executed when the order logs on to the system within buy limit that has been specified. The shares purchased will be sent to the purchaser by the broker either in physical or demat format

Why Invest In Equities ?

2009-09-30T03:02:00.000-07:00

Many investors go about their investing in an irrational way:
1. They are tipped of a 'news'/'rumor' in a 'hot stock' from their broker.
2. They impulsively buy the scrip.
3. And after the purchase wonder why they bought the stock.
He is a fool to act in such an irrational manner. We suggest a three-step approach to investing in equities.

The moment you get a tip on any stock, get the first hand news immediately. You'll find information on the following sites:
www.icicidirect.com
www.nse-index.com
www.bseindex.com

The news, if any, will be on the sites. Be it announcements earnings, dividend payoffs, corporate move to buy another company, flight of top management to another company, these sites should be your first stop.

Do some number crunching. Check out the growth rate of the stock's earnings, as shown in a percentage and analyze those graphs shown on your broker’s site. You will learn to do it in Chapter II of our learning center under the module named ‘Technical tutorials’. Learn more about the P/E ratio (price-to-earnings ratio), earning per share (EPS), market capitalization to sales ratio, projected earnings growth for the next quarter and some historical data, which will tell what the company has done in the past. Get the current status of the stock movement such as real-time quote, average trades per day, total number of shares outstanding, dividend, high and low for the day and for the last 52 weeks. This information should give you an indication of the nature of the company’s performance and stock movement. Also its ideal that you be aware of the following terms:-
High (high) : The highest price for the stock in the trading day.
Low (low) : The lowest price for the stock in the trading day.
Close (close) : The price of the stock at the time the stock market closes for the day.
Chg (Change) : The difference between two successive days' closing price of the stock.
Yld (Yield) : Dividend divided by price
Bid and Ask (Offer) Price

When you enter an order to buy or sell a stock, you will essentially see the “Bid” and “Ask” for a stock and some numbers. What does this mean?

The ‘Bid’ is the buyer’s price. It is this price that you need to know when you have to sell a stock. Bid is the rate/price at which there is a ready buyer for the stock, which you intend to sell.

The ‘Ask’ (or offer) is what you need to know when you're buying i.e. this is the rate/ price at which there is seller ready to sell his stock. The seller will sell his stock if he gets the quoted “Ask’ price.

Bid size and Ask (Offer) size

If an investor looks at a computer screen for a quote on the stock of say ABC Ltd, it might look something like this:
Bid Price : 3550
Offer Price : 3595
Bid Qty : 40T
Offer Qty : 20T
What this means is that there is total demand for 40,000 shares of company ABC at Rs 3550 per share. Whereas the supply is only of 20,000 shares, which are available for sale at a price of Rs 3595 per share. The law of demand and supply is a major factor, which will determine which way the stock is headed.

Armed with this information, you've got a great chance to pick up a winning stock. Again don’t be in a hurry, ferret out some more facts, try to find out as to who is picking up the stock (FIIs, mutual funds, big industrial houses? The significance of which you will learn in section II of our learning center). Watch for the daily volume in a day: is it more/less than the average daily volume? If it's more, maybe some fund is accumulating the stock.

Next time you hear or read a 'hot tip': do some research; try to know all you can about the stock and then shoot your investing power into the stock. With practice, you'll be hitting a bull’s eye more often than not.

ICICIDirect recommends investors to be aware of the technical tools of measuring stock performances before investing. Learn to identify the signals that the market emits. The Chapter II of the learning center of ICICI Direct will help you in this effort.

Different investment options and their current market rate of returns.

2009-08-31T03:50:00.000-07:00

The investment options before you are many. Pick the right investment tool based on the risk profile, circumstance, time zone available etc. If you feel market volatility is something which you can live with then buy stocks. If you do not want to risk the volatility and simply desire some income, then you should consider fixed income securities. However, remember that risk and returns are directly proportional to each other. Higher the risk, higher the returns. A brief preview of different investment options is given below:

Equities: Investment in shares of companies is investing in equities. Stocks can be bought/sold from the exchanges (secondary market) or via IPOs – Initial Public Offerings (primary market). Stocks are the best long-term investment options wherein the market volatility and the resultant risk of losses, if given enough time, is mitigated by the general upward momentum of the economy. There are two streams of revenue generation from this form of investment.

1. Dividend: Periodic payments made out of the company's profits are termed as dividends.

2. Growth: The price of a stock appreciates commensurate to the growth posted by the company resulting in capital appreciation.

On an average an investment in equities in India has a return of 25%. Good portfolio management, precise timing may ensure a return of 40% or more. Picking the right stock at the right time would guarantee that your capital gains i.e. growth in market value of your stock possessions, will rise.

Catch ICICIDirect’s ‘Tips for Stock Picks’ and ‘Portfolio Management’ Chapter II / Module 9 & 10 respectively.

Bonds: It is a fixed income(debt) instrument issued for a period of more than one year with the purpose of raising capital. The central or state government, corporations and similar institutions sell bonds. A bond is generally a promise to repay the principal along with fixed rate of interest on a specified date, called as the maturity date. Other fixed income instruments include bank fixed deposits, debentures, preference shares etc.

The average rate of return on bonds and securities in India has been around 10 - 12 % p.a.

Certificate of Deposits : These are short - to-medium-term interest bearing, debt instruments offered by banks. These are low-risk, low-return instruments. There is usually an early withdrawal penalty. Savings account, fixed deposits, recurring deposits etc are some of them. Average rate of return is usually between 4-8 %, depending on which instrument you park your funds in. Minimum required investment is Rs. 1,00,000.

Mutual Fund : These are open and close ended funds operated by an investment company which raises money from the public and invests in a group of assets, in accordance with a stated set of objectives. It’s a substitute for those who are unable to invest directly in equities or debt because of resource, time or knowledge constraints. Benefits include diversification and professional money management. Shares are issued and redeemed on demand, based on the fund's net asset value, which is determined at the end of each trading session. The average rate of return as a combination of all mutual funds put together is not fixed but is generally more than what earn in fixed deposits. However, each mutual fund will have its own average rate of return based on several schemes that they have floated. In the recent past, MFs have given a return of 18 – 30 %.

Cash Equivalents: These are highly liquid and safe instruments which can be easily converted into cash, treasury bills and money market funds are a couple of examples for cash equivalents.

Others : There are also other saving and investment vehicles such as gold, real estate, commodities, art and crafts, antiques, foreign currency etc. However, holding assets in foreign currency are considered more of an hedging tool (risk management) rather than an investment.

Personal finances

2009-08-31T03:48:00.000-07:00

There is always a first time for everything so also for investing. To invest you need capital free of any obligation. If you are not in the habit of saving sufficient amount every month, then you are not ready for investing. Our advice is :-

Save to atleast 4-5 months of your monthly income for emergencies. Do not invest from savings made for this purpose. Hold them in a liquid state and do not lock it up against any liability or in term deposits.

Save atleast 30-35 per cent of your monthly income. Stick to this practice and try to increase your savings.

Avoid unnecessary or lavish expenses as they add up to your savings. A dinner at Copper Chimney can always be avoided, the pleasures of avoiding it will be far greater if the amount is saved and invested.

Try gifting a bundle of share certificates to yourself on your marriage anniversary or your hubby’s birthday instead of spending your money on a lavish holiday package.

Clear all your high interest debts first out of the savings that you make. Credit card debts (revolving credits) and loans from pawnbrokers typically carry interest rates of between 24-36% annually. It is foolish to pay off debt by trying to first make money for that cause out of gambling or investing in stocks with whatever little money you hold. Infact its prudent to clear a portion of the debt with whatever amounts you have.

Retirement benefits is an ideal savings tool. Never opt out of retirement benefits in place of a consolidated pay cheque. You are then missing out on a substantial employer contribution into the fund.

Investing !! What's that?

2009-08-20T09:14:00.000-07:00

Judging by the fact that you've taken the trouble to navigate to the Learning Center , our guess is that you don't need much convincing about the wisdom of investing. However, we hope that your quest for knowledge/information about the art/science of investing ends here. Sink in. Knowledge is power. It is common knowledge that money has to be invested wisely. If you are a novice at investing, terms such as stocks, bonds, badla, undha badla, yield, P/E ratio may sound Greek and Latin. Relax. It takes years to understand the art of investing. You're not alone in the quest to crack the jargon. To start with, take your investment decisions with as many facts as you can assimilate. But, understand that you can never know everything. Learning to live with the anxiety of the unknown is part of investing. Being enthusiastic about getting started is the first step, though daunting at the first instance. That's why our investment course begins with a dose of encouragement: With enough time and a little discipline, you are all but guaranteed to make the right moves in the market. Patience and the willingness to pepper your savings across a portfolio of securities tailored to suit your age and risk profile will propel your revenues at the same time cushion you against any major losses. Investing is not about putting all your money into the "Next Infosys," hoping to make a killing. Investing isn't gambling or speculation; it's about taking reasonable risks to reap steady rewards. Investing is a method of purchasing assets in order to gain profit in the form of reasonably predictable income (dividends, interest, or rentals) and appreciation over the long term
Why should you invest?

Simply put, you should invest so that your money grows and shields you against rising inflation. The rate of return on investments should be greater than the rate of inflation, leaving you with a nice surplus over a period of time. Whether your money is invested in stocks, bonds, mutual funds or certificates of deposit (CD), the end result is to create wealth for retirement, marriage, college fees, vacations, better standard of living or to just pass on the money to the next generation. Also, it's exciting to review your investment returns and to see how they are accumulating at a faster rate than your salary.

When to Invest?

The sooner the better. By investing into the market right away you allow your investments more time to grow, whereby the concept of compounding interest swells your income by accumulating your earnings and dividends. Considering the unpredictability of the markets, research and history indicates these three golden rules for all investors 1. Invest early 2. Invest regularly 3. Invest for long term and not short term While it’s tempting to wait for the “best time” to invest, especially in a rising market, remember that the risk of waiting may be much greater than the potential rewards of participating. Trust in the power of compounding Compounding is growth via reinvestment of returns earned on your savings. Compounding has a snowballing effect because you earn income not only on the original investment but also on the reinvestment of dividend/interest accumulated over the years. The power of compounding is one of the most compelling reasons for investing as soon as possible. The earlier you start investing and continue to do so consistently the more money you will make. The longer you leave your money invested and the higher the interest rates, the faster your money will grow. That's why stocks are the best long-term investment tool. The general upward momentum of the economy mitigates the stock market volatility and the risk of losses. That’s the reasoning behind investing for long term rather than short term.

How much money do I need to invest?

There is no statutory amount that an investor needs to invest inorder to generate adequate returns from his savings. The amount that you invest will eventually depend on factors such as:

Your risk profile

Your Time horizon

Savings made

All the above three factors will be discussed in brief in the latter part of the course.

What can you invest in?

The investing options are many, to name a few

Stocks

Bonds

Mutual funds

Fixed deposits

Others

Get Rich Tips

2009-03-05T23:46:00.000-08:00

You will never loose in share market if you invest in falling market.There is always excesses in this market.Irrational exuberance and despondency is its unique quality.So when every body is selling then you start cherry picking.Once the cycle turns you will have the windfall.It might take five years to change the trend.But considering the state of economy,that will happen much...much sooner.

Investment:Telecommunication

2009-03-05T23:39:00.000-08:00

Indian telecommunication Industry is surging ahead and the trend is likely to continue for some more years.There are few solid players like "Idea Cellular"whose price looks very attractive and considering other companies pries,this will catch them sooner or later.The parent company and promoters behind this company is known for his integrity and business acumanship.

Investment:Airlines

2009-03-05T23:32:00.000-08:00

There are many stocks available at very attractive price.India is poised to grow and if the fare is reasonable,many would start flying once again.This many might be millions per year.This will make airlines company healthier.If invested considering these facts into this sector for a horizon of three to five years then more than 100 percent return is not far fetched.

Option trading:means for those who want to get rich quickly

2008-12-26T21:48:00.000-08:00

Option trading has been gaining hugely in popularity in recent times. It is being advised throughout the globe nowadays as the surest means for those who want to get rich quickly. Well-known lecturers such as Robert Kiyosaki and Robert G. Allen have enormously encouraged this investment approach, and the constantly increasing quantity of options contracts being traded shows just how much in demand option trading has now become.

A contract to buy using options provides the buyer a right but not an obligation to either buy or sell a pre-specified quantity of a given asset. This is set at a specific price before hand on or before a predetermined date. Different than future trading, the option's purchaser has no obligation to either buy or sell for the exercise price and will do so only if it is profitable. Should the option be allowed to lapse, the initial purchase price of the option or (option money) is all the purchaser lose.

The option specifies a price at which the underlying asset can be bought, and this is called the exercise price. It is called this because the buyer exercises the option before its expiration date when he decides to buy the asset from the seller. At the time that the option is sold, the buyer must pay a premium to make it worth something to the seller. That is the only money that the seller can make on the option trade.

There is nothing that makes a room more stylish than a charming sheepskin rug. Full sheepskin rugs are an absolutely beautiful addition to any room. As well as looking very stylish they also add a warm, coy feel to the room like no other rug can. They are usually very soft and silky to the touch and just thinking about a sheepskin rug makes you think of warmth, comfort and sleeping. Sheepskin rugs come in all shapes and sizes and can be used in a number of ways. You can get designer rugs and even have a custom made rug to suit your personal taste.

Option trading online is now becoming a very known way of trading options. It is very easy and simple. Options trading is very much like futures trading. They both go through a process of buying stocks and a pre-determined price and selling them on a marketplace once the price is higher then what they were purchases for.

I couldn't believe it, it was late, my eyes were hurting from staring at the red and green numbers flashing on the screen. I must have stared at my account balance about 15 different times in 5 minutes, yet the numbers still remained the same, after spending option trading stock option education hours of burning my eyes out pouring over charts, watching an endless stream of news that made my head swim, losing hours of much needed sleep, basically looking and feeling like something the cat dragged in on a really bad day.

Glooming shadow on the season of festivities

2008-10-30T01:13:00.000-07:00

Economic recession has cast its glooming shadow on the season of festivities. However, investment options available in the capital markets should not be blamed for the losses incurred by investors. More often than not, retail investors fail to segregate low risk investment options from lucrative options that are more prone to risks. Wise investors regard the following as a fundamental rule of stock market trading-invest only in stocks of organizations you know inside out. You need to understand the business as if you run it. It may sound ironical but it's actually your money that runs the company.

Trend is Friend

2008-07-26T01:47:00.000-07:00

Those who act smart,fail miserably in the Share Market.Always follow the golden rule that is "Trend is Friend".Buy the stock which is on the move and sell the declining stock.Book your profit partially as soon as the stock appreciates more than 20 percent.And enter the same stock once it retreats 10-15 percent.If you are new to the market then buy Bank's stock to start with.

Do Your Own Research

2008-07-21T00:39:00.000-07:00

This is not a Rocket science.Anybody can do some plain research with the help of Share Street .
If you are convinced about the prospect of a particular company then go for it.The promoters track record and fundamentals should never be overlooked,however.

Valuations are tempting now.

2008-07-21T00:32:00.000-07:00

The best way is to pick up the stock you are familiar with.There are Banking and other government controlled companies which can be completely trusted.They would give very good return in due course. Share Street is of the view that the marked has steeply declined and the valuations are just tempting.So invest now......

Be Wise And Invest At The Right Moment

2008-07-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

Market meltdown has driven away day-traders and small investors.Traders will return as that is their profession.Traders will know when to enter and exploit the opportunities again.But small investors always plunge into the market when it is overflowing and most often they are sunk completely.The current is too much to handle for them.
If only they are brave and logical and displays same kind of patient as they do with other investments like Bank's fixed deposit,Insurance,Provident Fund etc., then they too would reap the cyclical windfall of the Stock Market.In the long term,Stock Market gives the best return.But here again is to invest wisely and pick the stocks considering their future potential.

Great Time To Enter The Market !

2008-02-07T21:52:00.000-08:00

There is great potential in share market now. Share Street will advise those who missed the bus during the last bull phase to not miss the bus yet again.They can come aboard now as the market has come to the level where most of the blue chips stocks are looking very attractive once again.As the Indian growth story remains intact,the marker is bound to respond accordingly.It is high time to leave skepticism apart and enter the bandwagon without any further delay.