The Hindu Business Line : Sunday, October 03, 2004

IOB's e-Cash Home
ONLINE money transfer is currently the rage. The advantage it offers vis-à-vis the other modes of money transfer, such as cheque, draft and telegraphic transfer, seems to have attracted users towards it. ... More

INVESTMENTS

A new cue for your debt portfolio
DO you believe that timing your investment and switching deftly between holdings are only for stock market investors? If yes, the past year would have proved you wrong. If you had invested in a diversified bond fund at ... More

INSIGHT

Mutual funds in July-September: Skillfully navigating a stormy market
IN THE past couple of months, a spate of mutual fund IPOs (initial public offerings) mopped up more than Rs 1,000 crore from the market. The overwhelming investor response to these IPOs is, in a way, indicative of ... More

Delisting of stocks — Investor interest must be paramount
The delisting guidelines, in their present form, suffer from certain anomalies relating to the delisting threshold, glitches in the reverse book-building process and gaps in the procedure to follow when delisting fails. SEBI's decision to review and tweak the guidelines to factor in these aspects will come as welcome news to investors. More

A nation of incorrigible savers
Trends in household savings indicate a continuing preference for bank term deposits and apathy towards equity investments. This lop-sided investment strategy does not augur well for the financial security of households. More

MUTUAL FUNDS

Debt funds: Down but not out
INVESTORS in debt funds may bemoan their lacklustre performance in recent months, but they can take comfort from the fact that diversified debt funds largely outperformed the Crisil Composite Bond Index. Of the 82 ... More

Sundaram Select Mid-Cap Fund: Hold
UNITHOLDERS in Sundaram Select Mid-Cap Fund could retain their holdings as there could be upside potential. The recent bullish phase in mid-cap stocks has pepped up performance. It has been one of the superior ... More

SBI Magnum Contra: Hold
INVESTORS in SBI Magnum Contra can stay with the fund. While its performance since early 2001 has been moderate, it has fared impressively in calendar year 2004. The fund's focus is on stocks whose earnings growth is ... More

PORTFOLIO MOVES
DSP Merrill Lynch TIGER Fund
THE stocks of Cadila Healthcare, Canara Bank and VSNL were added to the portfolio of DSP Merrill Lynch TIGER Fund in August. Since the fund's launch in June, it has generated a return of about 13 per cent, although it is yet to outperform its ... More

UTI Petro Fund announces 20 per cent dividend

UTI Petro Fund has declared a dividend of 20 per cent or Rs.2.00 per unit. The record date for the dividend is October 20.

PruICICI Mutual Fund has declared dividend of Rs 0.1 per unit on its Income Plan (quarterly option) and Rs ... More

Fund Talk

STOCKS

Marico: Long-term buy
INVESTORS with a long-term investment perspective can consider adding the Marico Industries stock to their portfolio. At a price of Rs 138, the stock trades at a price earnings multiple of about 14 times its per share earnings, on post-bonus ... More

Orient Abrasives: Buy
THE stock of Orient Abrasives can be added to your portfolio, as it is a small-cap stock with potential for high growth. At Rs 168, the stock trades a price earnings multiple of five times its trailing 12-month per share earnings. The company ... More

Essar Shipping: Buy
AN INVESTMENT in the Essar Shipping stock at about Rs 25 may be considered. As there is likely to be a sizeable scaling up of revenues and earnings, the stock holds potential for considerable appreciation in value. A ... More

Opto Circuits: Buy
EXPOSURE can be considered in the stock of Opto Circuits at Rs 100. The stock trades at 10 times its trailing 12-month per share earnings. The acquisitions made over the past two years have expanded its product range ... More

TAXATION

Allowances received abroad — You can have best of both worlds
I WAS deputed to the US by my Indian employer in May 2002. I have been working there since then. I am paid an allowance in dollars there and a salary of Rs 3,50,000 per annum in India. I wish to know:

... More

You can repay your wife without interest

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

Positive undertone in pivotal stocks
ONGC (Rs 777.8): Contrary to expectation, the stock ruled firm and also managed to move past the positive trigger level of Rs 766. As anticipated, the move past this trigger level imparted strength. The trend has now turned positive and ... More

Nifty headed for higher levels
Preferred view: After weakness in the first two trading days, the index staged a sharp recovery. In the process, the Nifty moved past the positive trigger level of 1760.8. As observed last week, the break above this level has now ... More

Focus of the week
Sesa Goa (Rs 694.9): The stock has been covered on quite a few occasions in the recent months. The latest recommendation was featured in the edition dated August 22 and the stock has moved comfortably past the target zone that was ... More

Query corner
What are the prospects of Neyveli Lignite (purchased at Rs 55.7)? — M. Nair, Sheikh Subur Basha Neyveli Lignite (60.5): The stock appears to have completed the downward move at the low of Rs 39 recorded in June 2004. The ... More

CARS

Getz you more than what you see
FIVE years ago, as car-makers out-raced one another to introduce vehicles in the market, a consultant with a prominent European automotive design house observed that Indians preferred their cars to appear big from the ... More

LIFE INSURANCE

Bajaj Allianz LifelongGain
A product that incorporates the elements of both life cover and savings is LifelongGain of Bajaj Allianz. The product is a whole life unit-linked plan that offers protection with a limited premium-payment term. How the plan ... More

STOCK MARKETS

Mobs in the market
PICTURE this. You want to buy shares of HDFC. Your fellow investors, however, feel that the stock will decline. You, therefore, decide to either short-sell the stock or refrain from placing a buy order. You later regret ... More

DERIVATIVES MARKETS

Buoyant trend may continue
LAST week saw the expiry of September contracts and the introduction of December contracts; the rollover of open positions from September to October contracts was almost complete. This was despite the introduction of securities transaction tax ... More

Settlement price
FUTURES contracts on Index or Individual Security: Closing price of the futures contracts on the trading day. (The closing price is the last half hour weighted average price of the contract). Settlemnet would be on a daily basis. Futures ... More

Options guide

Futures guide

Using Futures/Options

FIXED DEPOSITS

India Cements — Bind on for a year
THE fixed deposit programme of India Cements is appropriate for investors with a penchant for risk. Given the attractive interest rates and the expected benefits from its debt restructuring efforts, an investment up to ... More

INTERVIEW

`We have always raised the bar' _ Mr Anil Singhvi, Executive Director (Finance), Gujarat Ambuja Cements
Size, per se, is good, but it does not deliver a major advantage in cement. If you go up from 10 million tonnes to 20 million tonnes, you do not necessarily get economies of scale. We started off with a million tonne capacity. ACC then was 12 times our size. But our profitability and reach were far superior. More

IPOS

NTPC: Invest at Rs 62
INVESTORS can consider subscribing to the IPO of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) at the higher end of the price band with a long-term holding perspective. NTPC is a fundamentally strong company with an ... More

MSK Projects: Avoid
INVESTORS can stay away from the initial public offering (IPO) of MSK Projects (India) considering the relatively high offer price, the inconsistent earnings record and the high business risk involved. MSK Projects ... More

BOOKS

In a large portfolio there may be free-riding stocks
WITH a line as simple as `common sense is the heart of investing and business management' begins the intro to How to Think like Benjamin Graham and Invest like Warren Buffett, by Lawrence A. Cunningham, ... More

CARTOON