The Hindu Business Line : Sunday, November 30, 2003

Karnataka Bank's `Swarna Nidhi'
Karnataka Bank now offers loans for buying gold under its new scheme, Swarna Nidhi, for working/self-employed/professional resident Indian women in the 18-60 age group. ... More

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Touchtel cuts ILD rates
Touchtel's Delhi customers will now be able to make calls to the UK, the US, Canada and Europe at Rs 9.40 per minute instead of the earlier (Rs 14.40). Call rates to the South-East Asian countries have also been revised to Rs 12 per minute. The ... More

INSIGHT

Big investments in mutual funds — Loaded against the retail customer
HOW would you react to the news that over a third of your mutual fund's assets are held by just one investor? Such instances of big-ticket investors holding a significant portion of the NAV of a mutual fund are not ... More

Why big investors bring in big risks
HOW do big ticket investments affect you as an investor? The impact of big-ticket investments on a fund is neither easily quantifiable nor readily visible, but it can influence returns significantly over the long term. ... More

Will the November effect last?
The November effect usually adds 13 per cent to the Sensex between October and February. That has been the case the past five years. If it happens this year too, it could put stock prices out of tune with their fundamentals. Picking stocks with limi ted downside risk is, thus, important now. More

Overseas acquisitions — Needed, information better and faster
THE Securities and Exchange Board of India must quickly tone up the disclosures made by Indian companies when they acquire businesses abroad. The acquisition of FLAG Telecom of the US by Reliance and that of Carl Dan ... More

Outsourcing backlash in the US — Time for a strategic rethink
Seen in the backdrop of an election year in the US, "job losses" are beginning to acquire political momentum and logic in their own right. More

MUTUAL FUNDS

Alliance Buy India: Sell
INVESTORS can cut exposures in the Alliance Buy India Fund, which focusses on the consumer and healthcare sectors, to take advantage of the improvement in the NAV by about 65 per cent over the past year. The fund has ... More

Prudential ICICI Flexible Income Plan: Avoid
PRUDENTIAL ICICI Flexible Income Plan returned 16 per cent since its launch last September. The holding period return does not, however, capture the high fluctuation in monthly returns due to the fund's aggressive ... More

HDFC Mutual Fund launches MIP
HDFC Mutual Fund has launched a monthly income plan, which will be open for subscription in the initial offer period between November 17 and December 8, 2003. The fund offers a Short-Term Plan and a Long-Term Plan. ... More

Canexpo: Pare exposures
INVESTORS in Canexpo can consider reducing their exposures to the fund. While its net asset value rose about 88 per cent last year, significant risks were taken by the fund to achieve this return. Importantly, ... More

Sundaram Select Focus: Hold
INVESTORS in Sundaram Select Focus can retain their investments. The fund has piggy-backed on the stock market rally of the past one year, doubling its NAV over this period. The portfolio strategy revolves around ... More

Tech funds in a new avatar
IF YOU needed any confirmation of the risk involved in investing in sector funds, the changes made or planned in a few tech sector funds should drive home the point. A few technology funds are now being restructured and ... More

STOCKS

GlaxoSmithKline Pharma: Buy
INVESTORS with a long-term perspective can contemplate exposures in the GlaxoSmithKline Pharma stock, which trades at about Rs 495. Business Line had recommended `Buy' on the stock several times, the most ... More

Bharat Earth Movers: Buy
EXPOSURE can be considered in the BEML stock which trades at Rs 215, considering the bright business prospects ahead, the comfortable order book position and the improvement in operating parameters. Despite the ... More

Television Eighteen: Hold
SHAREHOLDERS of Television Eighteen (TV 18) can stay invested in the stock as it holds potential for upside despite the sharp run-up in its price this year. The company operates the CNBC-TV 18 channel that caters to ... More

Corporation Bank: Book profit
SHAREHOLDERS in the stock of Corporation Bank can consider reducing their exposures. They can utilise the run-up in stock price over the past 12 months to book profits. The stock now trades at 1.2 times its book ... More

Tata Infotech: Hold/Buy on decline
BUOYED by an improvement in fundamentals, shareholders can retain their investment exposures in Tata Infotech. Investors with a high-risk appetite may use any declines in the stock's price (10 per cent from current ... More

Hero Honda: Buy
AFTER passing through a rough patch in recent quarters, Hero Honda appears to be headed towards better times. The recent launch of two models has met with reasonable degree of success. This has helped the company stage ... More

Rain Calcining: Long-term buy
LONG-TERM exposures can be considered in Rain Calcining at Rs 25. Business Line's earlier recommendation was at Rs 18 in June. We reiterate our recommendation on the back of increasing demand for aluminium and rising alumina prices (75 per ... More

Sundram Fasteners: Buy
LONG-TERM investors could include this stock in the portfolio. Apart from the sustained improvement in automobile production, quite a few developments in the recent past would keep the market interested in the Sundram Fasteners stock. With a ... More

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

Wipro in a positive orbit
Wipro (Rs 1538): The near-term outlook appears positive. A move above the near-term resistance level of Rs 1570 would help the stock touch the immediate price target of Rs 1700-1720. Only a drop below Rs 1420 would negate the positive ... More

Focus of the week
Orchid Chem (Rs 183.6): The outlook for the stock is positive. A move to the Rs 240-250 range appears likely. Only a drop below Rs 164 would blunt the positive outlook and could push the stock down to the Rs 140-150 range. However, the ... More

Query corner
I am holding City Union Bank (bough at Rs 54). Kindly indicate the outlook for the company. — Srikanth Matrubai City Union Bank (Rs 54.1): The near-term outlook does not appear too positive. The stock has been stuck in a ... More

Near-term strength
Preferred view: The market sentiment remained distinctly bullish during the week and the index ruled firm in line with last week's expectation. The near-term outlook remains positive. A move to the 1675-1700 levels appears likely. A close ... More

CARS

Maruti rolls out new Zen
MARUTI Udyog has launched the new-look Zen. The new Zen has the same engine that powered the previous versions and costs the same. However, it sports a new grille, fenders, bonnet, multi-reflector headlamps, and front ... More

TWO/THREE WHEELERS

Pulsar DTSi: Suave but savage
"It's a Boy!" Not so long ago that would have conjured up images of a nurse in a government hospital holding up a newborn, greeting the tired but expectant parents. That is not something which comes to ... More

QUESTION `N' AUTO
A bike with power and mileage
I live in Chandigarh and want to buy a bike with a good balance between power and mileage. How does the Hero Honda Ambition compare with the Bajaj Pulsar 150 in terms of engine performance and riding comfort? Which will be a better choice? ... More

LIFE INSURANCE

INSURANCE CORNER

Max New York Life's Child Money Back plan
MAX NEW York Life recently launched Stepping Stones — a child money-back plan. Premiums need to be paid over the tenure of the plan; the benefits kick in towards the plan's maturity. The tenure of the plan can ... More

STOCK MARKETS

On the move
Tata Infotech (Rs 381): The stock rose 18.7 per cent on the back of good earnings growth in the recently concluded quarter. Reliance Capital (Rs 106): The stock appreciated 21.7 per cent on market talk that the company is planning ... More

DERIVATIVES MARKETS

Stock speed and option time decay
FUTURES contracts have become costly because of the ad hoc margins imposed by the National Stock Exchange (NSE). You will now have to deposit an initial margin of Rs 5 lakh to buy/sell one contract of Tata ... More

Bullish undertone prevails
ACC and Gujarat Ambuja saw heavy build up in open positions, indicating a fresh momentum for the cement sector. More

Position limits & violations
PRISM (Parallel Risk Management System) is the real-time position monitoring and risk management system for the Futures and Options market segment at NSCCL. The risk of each trading and clearing member is monitored on a real-time basis and ... More

Options guide

Futures guide

CORPORATE BONDS

IDBI Flexibonds
IDBI Flexibonds 19 is open for public subscription. Under the issue, IDBI offers four instruments — IDBI Infrastructure (Tax saving) bond, IDBI Money Multiplier Bonds, IDBI Retirement Bond and IDBI Regular Income Bond. Each instrument ... More

CREDIT CARDS & DEBIT CARDS

Jet Air, Citibank launch co-branded card
Jet Airways and Citibank have launched the Jet Airways Citibank Silver Credit card. As an introductory offer, the card will be available at an annual fee of Rs 750. The minimum income eligibility for this card is Rs 72,000 for salaried and Rs ... More

FIXED DEPOSITS

Sundaram Industries: Wheeling along
THE fixed deposit programme of Sundaram Industries (SIL), a subsidiary of TVS and Sons, is open for renewal only. The interest rates are quite attractive. Given the company's fundamentals, the parentage and the strong ... More

UCO Bank cuts term deposit rates
UCO Bank has cut its term deposit rates for higher maturity periods by 25 basis points effective December 1. The new rates are 5 per cent for 180 to 364 days, 5.25 per cent for one-three years, and 5.5 per cent for three years and above maturity ... More

INCOME TAX

There is a new arrival in the `club'
MY DAUGHTER was born in August 2003. Soon after her birth a small function was held, during which some gifts were received from the guests who attended the function. I propose to open a separate bank account and invest ... More

Penalty for non-filing of returns
KINDLY explain the penalty provisions for a person who is required to file a return but does not do the same within the due date? P. Muniappan Reply A penalty of Rs 5,000 may be imposable under Section ... More

IPOS

Indraprastha Gas: Subscribe
INVESTORS can consider subscribing to the Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) offer being made at the price band of Rs 40-48 per share of Rs 10 each. The price band translates to a price-earnings multiple of 8-10 times the ... More

BOOKS

BOOK VALUE

Is there a Dr Faustus in your company?
PROMISES prove to be false. Trust gets violated. Operators fly off at night. And the world seems too suddenly too full of too many crooks. There is hope, and you can still find out whether an organisation is as credible and trustworthy as it ... More

CARTOON