The Hindu Business Line : Sunday, July 04, 2004

J. K. Paper: Accept
SHAREHOLDERS of J. K. Paper can accept the open offer at Rs 40 per share. The pricing appears attractive if one factors in the risk of poor liquidity that has dogged the stock. The stock trades on the BSE at close to ... More

INSIGHT

Mutual funds in April-June 2004 — IT was the right choice
THE stock market went through a difficult patch in the April-June quarter of 2004, with market indices Nifty and Sensex declining 13 per cent and 14 per cent respectively over the period. But retail investors in ... More

Stocks that offer growth and value
IN uncertain times such as these, the `value investing' style offers investors a refuge of sorts. This style would be even more attractive if the strategy threw up stocks of companies with strong fundamentals and ... More

Equity fund flows: Break from the past?
In the past, inflows into equity funds have picked up when the stock markets have; but swiftly dried up when the markets tanked. More

MUTUAL FUNDS

Birla Mid-cap Fund: Cut exposures
INVESTORS in Birla Mid-Cap Fund can contemplate paring exposures as its performance is not as impressive as benchmark indices or peer funds such as Franklin Prima, Sundaram Mid-Cap and UTI Master Value Unit Plan, to ... More

Birla India Opportunities Fund: Hold
INVESTORS in Birla India Opportunities Fund can hold on to their investments for the present. Though the fund's transformation into an "opportunities fund" is relatively recent, the environment appears favourable for ... More

PORTFOLIO MOVES
Templeton India Growth Fund
THE stock of Tata Steel was the only addition to the portfolio of Templeton India Growth Fund in May. The fund has also completely exited from the stocks of Ranbaxy and Datamatics. A number of funds enhanced exposures to the IT sector in May. ... More

Fund Watch

Fund Talk

STOCKS

LMW: Buy
IN A choppy market, select mid- and small-cap companies with strong performance and growth prospects have been rising steadily. LMW is one such stock that has exhibited an impressive performance and the prospects too ... More

TVS Motor: Pare exposures
THE motorcycle major, TVS Motor, reported a rather lacklustre performance for the year-ended March 2004. The turnover rose 4 per cent to Rs 2,820.2 crore and post-tax earnings 8 per cent to Rs 138.5 crore. The merger ... More

Matrix Laboratories: Buy
INVESTORS can consider fresh exposures in the stock of the Hyderabad-based bulk drug player, Matrix Laboratories. Matrix is gradually emerging as one of the frontline plays in the pharma outsourcing space. A robust ... More

D-Link (India): Hold
INVESTORS with a medium-term horizon may consider retaining their exposures in the D-Link (India) stock. Fresh investments may be avoided for now, as the stock is stiffly valued. The stock is suitable only for a ... More

NDTV: Hold
The ability to at least sustain the scaled-up level of revenues in the quarters ahead, without a big-ticket event,such as Parliamentary elections, will be critical for NDTV to emerge from the red. This, however, is not likely to be easy as there is i ntense competition, says S. Vaidya Nathan. More

Britannia Industries: Hold
BRITANNIA Industries has delivered robust profit growth for 2003-04, with its growth rates well ahead of the majority of its FMCG peers. A cost-reduction exercise and an ongoing buyback programme may also help earnings ... More

Macmillan India: Buy
INVESTORS with a one-year investment horizon can consider taking exposures to the stock of Macmillan India at the current price of Rs 250. Even as its information processing unit (IPU) continues to grow and contribute over 80 per cent of the ... More

Clarification

TAXATION

Housewife with a property to sell and tax to think of
I AM a housewife and do not have any taxable income. I have not applied for PAN (permanent account number). I now propose to sell a property, which was inherited by me. What will be my tax liability on such sale? Can I ... More

Senior's multiple sources
I AM a senior citizen aged about 67 years. I have income from business through consultancy of Rs 1,38,000. I also have income from investments of Rs 32,000. I receive a pension of Rs 188 a month. Am I liable to pay ... More

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

HLL may seek lower levels
ONGC (Rs 676.4): The firm trend in the stock was one of the key factors behind the rally in the key market indices during the week. The share price managed to hang above the stop-loss level of Rs 608 and also managed to move closer to the ... More

Limited upside potential
Preferred view: The previous week's positive outlook was validated by the price movement in the past few trading sessions. As anticipated, the index ruled firm and also moved to the target zone of 1550-1560 mentioned last week. The ... More

Focus of the week
Jindal Iron & Steel (Rs 187.6): The near-term outlook appears positive. The stock could move to the Rs 200-205 range in the near term. Remain invested with a stop-loss at Rs 173. Fresh long positions may also be considered if the stock ... More

Query corner

CARS

Question 'n' Auto
I use a Maruti 800, and am thinking of buying a new B-segment car. My budget is a maximum Rs 5 lakh. My daily use is usually a trip to the office and back. My business trips can occasionally include driving down to cities in the ... More

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION

Choosing the right contractor
"He said he will give his personal attention to this project before getting the contract. Once he got the contract, his visits to the site have become infrequent." "He gets the work done by unprofessional people and does not ensure ... More

LIFE INSURANCE

Birla Sun Life `Woman First' Plan
IF THE idea of a woman-specific insurance plan interests you, Birla Sun Life's new plan `Woman First' is one that offers a clutch of features, but is expensive. What is the plan ... More

ECONOMICS

Minority games and contrarian strategy
AS AN investor, it sometimes pays to be a contrarian. This means that you buy a stock when the majority is selling. Or you sell a stock when others are buying. Financial economists study such behaviour as part of ... More

STOCK MARKETS

Equities recover in June
MAJORITY of the global markets ended the month in a positive territory with select countries such as Brazil, Japan and the Philippines even notched up impressive gains in excess of over 4.5 per cent. The softening of crude oil prices and the ... More

In line with global trend
This movement was broadly in line with equity markets across the globe, which traded in a narrow band. The stock markets saw a revival of interest towards the end of the week as volumes soared, led by basic metal stocks, on the back of a revival ... More

DERIVATIVES MARKETS

Bullish undertone prevails
TRADING activity picked up at the derivative segment on the NSE ahead of the Union Budget, which is scheduled for Thursday. Last week also saw the considerable narrowing down of gap (read discount) between majority of future contracts and ... More

Time value of options and other issues
TIME value is the amount option buyers are willing to pay for the possibility that the option may become profitable prior to expiration due to favourable change in the price of the underlying. An option loses its time value as its expiration ... More

Using Futures/Options
I will appreciate if you cover margin requirements on writing options on nifty index and stocks. Please advise specifically margin requirements for writing straddles (shorting put/call). I have been told that margin will be applicable on both ... More

Futures guide

Options guide

FIXED DEPOSITS

Dewan Housing Finance — Housed in comfort
INVESTORS can park their money in the one-year option of the fixed deposit programme of Dewan Housing Finance (DHFL). The company's fundamentals are strong. The interest rate on offer is on a par with those such as ... More

Flexible Reserve from Standard Chartered
ARE you holding cash in your savings account only because it offers higher liquidity? You don't have to anymore. Quite a few banks now offer term deposits that come with a higher degree of liquidity without ... More

Corporation Bank cuts FCNR rates

INTERVIEW

`The sustainability of current growth is higher': Mr B. Muthuraman, Managing Director, Tata Steel
The steel industry could not have had a better year than the one gone by. Despite the rise in input costs towards the end of the last fiscal, buoyant steel prices have dramatically improved the industry's profitability. In a wide-ranging ... More

BOOKS

Gross ways to grow wealth
BILL Gates you only know too well. What about Bill Gross? No answer. Oh, it's all right if you don't know the man whose company PIMCO is a leading institutional money manager with $ 360 billion in fixed income assets ... More

CARTOON