Tuesday 26 February 2008

Use every dip to buy for investment.

I feels the markets could move up from here as there are quite a few expectations from the main budget after the popular Railway budget.Possibly about 400-500 points up form here in the next two days. Investors should buy midcaps only if they have a long term view on the stocks. Otherwise,I think there are enough largecap stocks which are available at very decent discounts, especially after this correction.

11. Monitor your portfolio

Investing in equity is not a one time affair. Buying shares is perhaps the smallest part of the overall investment activity. It is important to periodically monitor and review your investment portfolio. It is always prudent to sell a stock if you feel that the fundamentals have deteriorated and the stock is overpriced in comparison to its fair value. Money has an opportunity cost and by selling an overvalued stock you can investment the same money elsewhere, for better capital appreciation opportunities.

Monday 25 February 2008

10.Invest regularly and gradually build up your position

Just as you put money into fixed interest bearing investments regularly, also invest in equities on a periodic basis. Further, do not invest at one go. Rather, buy on a regular basis and in small lots. This will help you to buy stocks at a reasonable price.

sensex ended up

Sensex ended up 301.50 points or 1.74% at 17650.57, and the Nifty closed up 89.95 points or 1.76% at 5200.70. About 1211 shares have advanced, 1737 shares declined, and 87 shares are unchanged. BSE midcap ended flat at 7594.41 and smallcap was down 0.72% at 9526.28.

Friday 22 February 2008

9. Do not marry a stock

If you feel your investment decision has gone wrong, exit the counter; don’t try to average. It is prudent to cut losses, rather than lower the average purchase price. Particularly in cases where the stock is witnessing a continuous sell-off, it is better to offload your position and book losses. You can use the same money to invest in other opportunities.

Mkts end in red: Bank, IT, auto stocks down

The markets closed in red with a sharp cut tracking its Asian peers. Selling pressure was seen in scrips across sectors. IT, oil & gas, power, auto stocks are top losers. The BSE midcap and smallcap indices also closed lower giving market an extremely negative breadth. Sensex closed down naerly 400 points.
On a weekly basis both the Sensex and Nifty wre down nearly 4%.
Sensex closed down 368.46 points or 2.08% at 17366.22, and the Nifty down 78.25 points or 1.51% at 5113.55.
About 1040 shares have advanced, 1895 shares declined, and 97 shares are unchanged.
The BSE Midcap Index ended at 7,594.45 down 1%.
The BSE Smallcap Index ended at 9,595.41 down 1%.

Wednesday 20 February 2008

8.Do not borrow money to invest in equities

It is true that equities tend to outperform other investment avenues in the long run. However, there is no guarantee that you will make money on your stocks either in terms of dividends or capital gains, if your sale of shares is time-bound. Therefore, if you borrow funds to invest in equities, it might be difficult for you to repay the interest or principal on the loan, on time. What really matters in equity investment is your withholding power. So, invest your surplus money in equities and only invest an amount that you will not need in the immediate future. If you borrow and invest, your withholding power to stay invested for the long term could be limited.

Sunday 17 February 2008

7.Don't sell in panic

Markets go through cycles of boom and bust and volatility is a way of life in equities. Do not sell your holdings in a hurry and panic just because your stocks have witnessed a sudden correction. Always focus on company fundamentals; if they are intact, there’s nothing to worry about.

Wednesday 13 February 2008

6. Buy shares of companies whose business you understand

In the long run, the stock market rewards companies with strong fundamentals and good financial performance. Therefore, it is essential for you to invest in companies whose industry dynamics and business models you understand. This will help you to gauge whether a transformation in an industry is positive or negative, at an early stage itself, and its likely impact on the company’s fundamentals. Your understanding of industry dynamics would help you to evaluate industry trends.

Monday 11 February 2008

5.Do not buy on tips or rumors focus on fundamentals

Tips and rumors are an integral part of the stock market. Always remember that these could be engineered by a group of traders or punters. Therefore, a sharp rally based on rumors could fizzle out in a short time. You should strictly stay away from rumors, suggestions or tips received from your broker or friends or the investor circle. Investments based on tips could lead to huge losses. Rather, you would be better off investing based on industry and company fundamentals. Furthermore, generally such tips pertain to small and mid cap stocks, where liquidity is extremely limited. If you invest in such stocks, you could get trapped in an illiquid investment for a very long time.

5.Do not buy on tips or rumors rather focus on fundamentals

Tips and rumors are an integral part of the stock market. Always remember that these could be engineered by a group of traders or punters. Therefore, a sharp rally based on rumors could fizzle out in a short time. You should strictly stay away from rumors, suggestions or tips received from your broker or friends or the investor circle. Investments based on tips could lead to huge losses. Rather, you would be better off investing based on industry and company fundamentals. Furthermore, generally such tips pertain to small and mid cap stocks, where liquidity is extremely limited. If you invest in such stocks, you could get trapped in an illiquid investment for a very long time.

Saturday 9 February 2008

4.Portfolio diversification

Diversion is a very old and popular investment strategy, applied to reduce portfolio risk. Actually, before you start investing in equities, you should consider various factors like your age, monetary requirements, etc, to determine how much risk you can take on. For instance, if you are around 30 years old, you can invest a greater portion of your portfolio in equities than a retired person. Once you have determined how much risk you can take on and how much you can invest regularly in equities, try to achieve diversification in your portfolio. To reduce risk, diversify within equities by investing across sectors. Do not invest in one or two sectors or any negative development pertaining to those sectors could severely impact the profitability of your portfolio. Secondly, ensure a good blend of small, mid and large-cap stocks in your portfolio. While large cap stocks would lend stability to your portfolio, small and mid cap stocks would give you an above average appreciation. Basically, growth potentials are higher in the case of small and mid cap stocks. Thus, just having large cap stocks could be safe but also mean that returns are just about at the same level as market returns. Thirdly, invest across value and growth stocks. Growth stocks are risky but also offer higher returns while value stocks are likely to be less volatile. In brief, when you spread your investments over a larger number of stocks and sectors, if a few stocks/sectors under-perform, this is compensated by other stocks/sectors which perform well.

Friday 8 February 2008

Markets end weak

It was extremely volatile and weak day for the markets wherein the Sensex and Nifty both traded flat across yesterday's closing level and finally settled down on weak note.
Sensex ended down 62.04 points or 0.35% at 17464.89, and the Nifty closed down 12.90 points or 0.25% at 5120.35. On BSE, about 590 shares advanced, 2369 shares declined, and 52 shares were unchanged.

3.Pay the right price

It is essential to buy at the ‘right price’, that is, the price that you are comfortable paying. Do not buy because others are doing so. This will help you to hold the stock for a longer duration. Conversely, when you have to decide when to sell, if you feel that the market is overheated and prices have reached unrealistic levels, exit; Don’t stick on hoping for a little more. It helps to limit your own greed.

Tuesday 5 February 2008

2. Invest time and efforts in doing your homework

Investing in equities is not a one time affair. You need to invest a lot of time and efforts, apart from money, to understand industries, economic trends and so on. Further, you should dedicate time to analyse companies, as this will help you to avoid costly mistakes. You need to develop the habit of reading first hand information - such as company annual reports, company announcements and so on. Annual reports of large companies are easily available on the web. Reading business dailies is also a must for equity investors. Get your basic concepts and fundamentals right. Revisiting financial fundamentals periodically would be a good idea. You need to understand basic concepts like the Price-Earning ratio (P/E ratio), operating margins, earnings per share, etc. Analysing balance sheets and profit and loss accounts is a must. A short term course on ratio analysis would be of immense help. Further, understand technicalities of investment, like how the stock market operates, how to buy or sell, settlement procedures, etc. Also focus on domestic economic and policy development. These factors are also of immense importance as they lead to structural changes in the economy that would benefit certain industries. For instance, the boom in the telecom sector in the domestic market is driven by government policy initiatives over the years. Lastly, you also need to keep yourself abreast with key global developments. With liberalisation and subsequent integration of economies, global factors also impact domestic industries and the stock market. The stock market is said to be all about sentiments. However, in this mad rush you need to stay focused and maintain a lot of discipline in executing your investment strategy. Thus, irrespective of which way the market moves, you need to stick to your investment strategy without getting swayed by market sentiments. In short, discipline in your investment approach will protect you from the herd mentality. Most investors are tempted to buy when everyone is on a buying binge and sell when the market is moving southwards. But if you have decided as a rule to buy a particular stock only when the overall market corrects by one per cent, this rule could kill your temptation to jump on the stock when the market is overheated.

Monday 4 February 2008

1. Be a long term investor

This is the first and most important rule of equity investment. Timing the market - entering the market at low levels and exiting at higher levels - is almost impossible. Though often heard on the street, this strategy is difficult to implement, as it is nearly impossible to gauge when the market has peaked and when it has bottomed out. Do not play the guessing game; it is more sensible to put money into the market with a long term commitment. Trading or speculating seldom helps in equities. You could make quick bucks by trading in 10 deals, but you could lose whatever you have earned in just one deal. This is the risk you take when you try to trade and make easy money from the stock market. Apart from incurring financial losses, it also involves a lot of mental stress. Trading could give you sleepless nights. Globally, economies follow seven year business cycles of boom and bust. Thus, when you are investing, invest for a fairly long term, say three to seven years. Indeed, it is a proven fact that over the long haul, equities tend to outperform all other asset classes.

Market end strong but off day's high

The markets opened with impressive gap up today on the back of good amount buying seen in the realty, IT, capital goods and metal space coupled with favourable cues from the global markets. Sensex and Nifty traded extremely strong in the first half of trade but could not maintain its gains and gave up gains on account of some profit booking seen in the FMCG, metals and pharma stocks at higher levels and finally shut shop with significant gains.
BSE smallcaps and midcaps were also very strong in todays trade and the market breadth was also positive with advance decline ratio of 6:1. Volume was relatively muted today.

Sunday 3 February 2008

How to receive income from shares?

The income received from shares is called a dividend. We invest in shares to make money – either through a share’s capital growth, i.e. the amount by which the share price increases in value over time, or through the dividends it pays to its shareholders. Dividends are payments made by companies to shareholders from their profits. Not all companies pay dividends. Dividends are usually paid twice a year and are in effect the yield from your investment. Some growth companies plough most of their profits back into generating more business rather than paying out dividends to investors.

What is a demat account?

Investors who wish to trade in the market need to have a dematerialized, or demat, account. In India, the government has mandated two entities –National Securities Depository, or NSDL, and Central Depository Services (India), or CDSL – to be the custodian of dematerialized securities.

Saturday 2 February 2008

Who is a broker?

A stockbroker is person who is licensed to trade in shares. Brokers also have direct access to the sharemarket and can act as your agent in share transactions. For this service they charge a fee. They can also offer additional services like advice on shares, debentures, government bonds and listed property trusts and non-listed investment options (cash management trusts, property and equity trusts.

The bank of Rajasthan

The bank of Rajasthan expect a bounce back from current levels.

Pick large cap stock first

Midcaps have been beaten down so much that you will see some bounce back. But any market which has seen a crash, the first stocks to be bought are the large caps. The mid caps will take much longer to get back on track.

2 What is a stock exchange?

A stock exchange, share market or bourse is a corporation or mutual organization which provides facilities for stock brokers and traders, to trade company stocks and other securities. Stock exchanges also provide facilities for the issue and redemption of securities as well as other financial instruments and capital events including the payment of income and dividends. The securities traded on a stock exchange include: shares issued by companies, unit trusts and other pooled investment products and bonds. To be able to trade a security on a certain stock exchange, it has to be listed there. The Bombay Stock Exchange Limited, or BSE has a nation-wide reach with a presence in 417 cities and towns of India. Its index, or market indicator is known as the Sensex. It gives a general idea regarding the movement of the stocks; whether they have gone up or have gone down. If the Sensex goes up, it means that the prices of the stocks of most of the major companies on the BSE have gone up.

Friday 1 February 2008

What are shares?

A share is one of a finite number of equal portions in the capital of a company, entitling the owner to a proportion of distributed, non-reinvested profits known as dividends and to a portion of the value of the company in case of liquidation. Equity is a share in the ownership of a company. It represents a claim on the company’s assets and earnings. As you acquire more stock, your ownership stake in the company increases. The terms share, equity and stock mean the same thing and can be used interchangeably.

markets smart recovery

It was a strong day for the markets after few consecutive weak sessions. The markets witnessed smart recovery in the second half of trade after lacklusture performance in early trade on the back of heavy buying in the scrips across sectors led by IT, metal, auto and oil & gas.
The rally was mainly dominated by the large caps as the midcaps and smallcaps are still finding difficult to attract investors attention. Capital good, banking, power and realty counters remained subdued for most part of the day. Market breadth was negative however very thin and the volume was also truncated on the first day of February expiry.

Kaun Banega Crorepati(Power of compounding)

If you are a investor,you must know about magic of compounding
In case you earn Rs20,000 per month, do you know how many years it will take for you to become a Crorepati? Not 10 or 20, but 50 years!" exclaims Amitabh Bachchan, the anchor for "Kaun Banega Crorepati".Mr Bachchan, did you know that if you invest just Rs9,250 once and earn 15% per annum on this investment then, in 50 years you will be a 'Crorepati' too! And in case you invest Rs20,000 every month for 50 years under similar terms, you will be worth more than (hold your breath) Rs173cr! That is Crorepati 173 times over!!!
Welcome to the 'Power of Compounding'
One of the basic premises of investing is that your money multiplies manifold over time. And this multiplication of money is normally referred to as the "Power of Compounding".So, how does money compound?When you invest money, it earns interest (or returns, if you may). If you keep the interest invested, then it does not sit idle while only the original investment sweats it out. The interest earns interest too! And then the interest on interest earns interest again!That is the beauty of compounding. That is what made great men like Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin extol the virtues of 'compounding'.
What does the 'Power of Compounding' mean to an investor?
Ms Thrifty, Mr Realist and Ms Follower went to the same school and the same class.On her 10th birthday, Ms Thrifty's father gave her Rs100. She wisely invested the money that earned her an interest of 15% every year. Mr Realist won Rs200 as prize money when he was 16 years old. His friend, Ms Thrifty, advised him to invest his prize similarly. When Ms Follower earned her first salary at the age of 21, she salted away Rs400 in the same investment.After reaching the age of 60, all three decide to withdraw their investments. Who do you think realised the most from his/her investment?You think it's Ms Follower, right? After all, she invested four times the money that Ms Thrifty had invested. So what if she invested the money 10 years later. She did earn interest for 40 years anyway after that.But think again. Ms Thrifty makes the most out of her investment! In fact, her Rs100 is worth Rs1,08,366. On the other hand, Ms Follower's Rs400 is worth Rs93,169!
It simply means that the LONGER you stay invested the MORE you make.
Now you know why Ms Thrifty made more money than Mr Realist and Ms Follower.Let us try another small exercise.Let us assume Ms Thrifty, Mr Realist and Ms Follower invest Rs100 for 10 years. However, all three of them earn interest at different rates. Ms Thrifty earns 20% while Mr Realist earns 15% and Ms Follower manages a 10% interest rate.Can you work out what each one of them will have ten years hence?Ms Thrifty will have Rs619 while Mr Realist, Rs405. Ms Follower will have the least - Rs259 in ten years. Did you notice something though? While the interest rates differ by just 5%, in 10 years the worth of the original capital, Rs100 was vastly different!
That is another way of understanding the 'Power of Compounding' or the power to grow exponentially.
Now that we have understood the magic of compounding, it is time to take a look at an interesting rule associated with 'compounding' - the Rule of 72.The 'Rule of 72' is an easy way to find out in how many years your money will double at a given interest rate. Lost?Suppose the interest rate is 15%, then your money will double in 72/15= 4.8 years. In case, the interest rate is 20%, then the money will double in 3.6 years.Interesting rule indeed!
Moral of the story: The longer you stay invested the more you make!