The Hindu Business Line : Sunday, February 13, 2005

Met Advantage from MetLife
INSURANCE plans that aim at providing the policyholder with a corpus to ensure that his post-retirement years are spent sans any financial hassles have, of late, been quite popular. With the launch of Met Advantage, ... More

INSIGHT

Tax-saving funds: Low on assets, high on performance
THE idea of locking into an investment for three years in a volatile equity market is surely not too appealing to the average investor. Equally, the tax benefits from the investment may not be attractive enough for the ... More

Other side of the job boom
THIS newspaper reported last week that the information technology industry is on the verge of reaching the one-million-employee mark. This may appear yet another IT industry record but the importance of this achievement ... More

Value- and mid-cap investing: The case for appropriate indices
THE striking feature of stock market performance in 2003 and 2004 has been the strong returns generated by the `value investing' strategy. The performance of value funds was so impressive that a host of value investment ... More

Prediction predilection
CONSIDER this: You are generating 20 per cent returns on your investment, thanks to the strong rally in the stock market. But suppose the market takes a U-turn and declines 15 per cent in the next three days. Would you ... More

MUTUAL FUNDS

HDFC Long Term Advantage: Buy in small lots
AN investment may be considered in HDFC Long Term Advantage, a tax-saving fund from HDFC Mutual. It has been one of the superior performers over the past couple of years and its performance is still impressive. ... More

HSBC India Opportunities: Hold
INVESTORS in HSBC India Opportunities can retain exposures in the fund. Its performance in the first year since launch has been impressive, matching the expectations raised by the impressive performance of HSBC Equity ... More

Equity fund: Aim for five-year horizon
I have availed of a Voluntary Retirement Scheme from my employer and invested in fixed deposits, RBI bonds , POMIS, and shares. The amount invested in these avenues is Rs 5 lakh. I have Rs 8 lakh to invest in equity mutual funds. I can ... More

UTI to launch a `dividend yield' fund

STOCKS

Dabur India: Buy
ACQUIRED brands can bring value to the buying company as Dabur India has found with its recent acquisition of Balsara's FMCG business. With a strong herbal positioning and an established presence in the ... More

Sun Pharma: Hold
SHAREHOLDERS can retain their holdings in the Sun Pharma stock, which trades at Rs 490. The company continues to remain the best play in the domestic market with operating margins significantly higher than its peers; ... More

India Cements: Hold
SHAREHOLDERS of India Cements can remain invested, as there is the prospect of a sizeable decline in losses over the next two years. With price levels and demand improving in the southern market over the past couple ... More

Maruti Udyog: Hold
SHAREHOLDERS can remain invested in the stock of Maruti Udyog (MUL) for potential gains in the medium term. At Rs 498, the stock trades at about 18 times its trailing annualised earnings per share of Rs 28. Car ... More

Shriram Group: Making inroads
Shriram Investments: Buy
Shriram Transport Finance: Buy More

ABB: Buy
AN INVESTMENT can be considered in the ABB stock, as it is one of the more attractive large-cap plays. A sizeable opportunity in the transmission and distribution business; a robust order-book, which has risen more ... More

SBI Home Finance: Sell
INVESTORS can sell the stock of SBI Home Finance trading at Rs 28. This stock has appreciated by 40 per cent in the last one month and by about 80 per cent over the past year. The company has, however, shut shop and according to its management, ... More

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

Positive near-term for Nifty
Preferred View: The subdued trend that prevailed was in sync with last week's expectations. After a spell of volatility, the index managed to close on a firm note on Friday. The near-term trend has turned positive. The immediate resistance for ... More

Bullish undertone in HLL
Hindustan Lever (Rs 155.3): As anticipated, the stock got into a corrective phase. The share price also dropped below the stop-loss level of Rs 161, which resulted in a slide to a low of Rs 151 on Friday. The price movement on Friday has ... More

Focus of the week
Aztec Software (Rs 89.7): The stock is in a long-term upward trend. In Elliott Wave terminology, the stock appears to have completed one segment of an impulsive move at Rs 74.55 in November 2004. The protracted sideways action since then ... More

Query Corner
What is the outlook for Lakshmi Vilas Bank purchased at Rs 155 and Alstom at Rs 45? — C. Balakrishnan Lakshmi Vilas Bank (Rs 199.7): The long-term outlook is bullish and the stock is likely to move to the Rs 245-250 range. ... More

CARS

New face to good old Maruti 800
WHEN over two decades ago it quietly rolled onto Indian roads, little did anyone realise that a a revolution in personal transportation was in the making. Since then this no-frills `supermini' has come a long way. ... More

Question `n' Auto
I OWN a two-wheeler and am planning to step up the personal mobility ladder by going in for a passenger car. Help me choose between the Maruti 800 and the Maruti Zen LX keeping in mind mileage, maintenance costs, ... More

BANKING

Basel II norms: Strength from three pillars
PILLAR I of Basel II norms provide banks with guidelines to measure the various types of risks they face — credit, market and operational risks — and the capital required to cover these ... More

DERIVATIVES MARKETS

Nifty may remain range-bound
AS the market last week remained locked in a narrow range, activity at the derivative segment too took a breather; the average daily turnover dipped to Rs 11,142 crore against the previous week figure of Rs 12,852 crore. Foreign institutional ... More

Arvind Mills' contract attracts restriction
The derivative contracts of Arvind Mills has crossed 95 per cent of the market-wide position limit and is currently in the ban period. Increase in open positions from now is subject to the conditions imposed in the following circular dated August ... More

Options guide
Call option: A call option gives the buyer `the right but not the obligation' to buy the stock at a specified price on a future date. Put Option: A put option gives the buyer `the right but not the obligation' to sell a stock ... More

Futures guide
Futures: A futures contract is an agreement between two parties to buy or sell an underlying asset at a certain time in the future at a certain price. It has standardised date and month of delivery, quantity and price. Spot Price: ... More

FIXED DEPOSITS

Fixed Deposit options
United Bank of India: Senior citizens can consider investing in the recently introduced long-term term deposit scheme of United Bank of India. The bank has introduced a new term deposit bucket of between seven and 10 years. ... More

INCOME TAX

A shot at capital gains
HINDUSTAN Lever had earlier issued bonus debentures. The company has now redeemed these debentures. Will this attract capital gains tax? Meenakshy, N. G. Krishnan Reply The redemption of bonus debentures by ... More

LTC benefit when spouse is not dependant
I WORK in UTI Bank Ltd and my spouse in a private limited company. My spouse and myself had gone on a holiday. Am I eligible to get the benefit of exemption under Section 10(5) in respect of the leave travel ... More

IPOS

IPOs in the offing
INVESTORS interested in parking their funds in equity via the primary market can look forward to the forthcoming IPOs from Jet Airways, UTV Software Communications and Allsec Technologies. BL Research ... More

BOOKS

There're VCs in waiting if your ideas are a-burning
AS A country, we're gradually getting used to lot of attention from the rest of the world, not for droughts and derailments, disasters and defections, but for the vast investment potential. Now that we're one of the ... More

CARTOON

Shortsell
``Okay, I'll buy you a necklace if the Sensex touches 7000. And if it hits 7500, I'll sell it and put the money back in stocks.'' More

NEW PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Airtel's Friendz Prepaid
Bharti has launched `Airtel Friendz Prepaid' in Chennai targeting the `Generation X'. It comes with several firsts, a 64k SIM with a 250 number phonebook, a closed user group (CUG) facility for 3-5 members, a phone-to-phone (P2P) recharge ... More

Credit cards for Chennaiites
Vijaya Bank has come out with a unique credit card catering to its Chennai customers, `Vijaya Bank Chennai card'. The Chennai card is an international one, valid across all Visa outlets. The cardholder may access cash at any of Visa's ATMs, and ... More

Retirement plan for a secure life
Birla Sun Life has come out with a retirement plan, `Flexi Secure Life II' with two options — single premium plan and regular premium plan. It is a unit-linked plan with three investment fund options; migration from one fund option to ... More

Travel insurance plans
Tata AIG General Insurance has launched `Business Travel Guard', a comprehensive overseas travel coverage for the business traveller. The policy comes in three options Silver, Gold and Platinum. A minimum of five employees can be insured. The ... More

Credit card against FD
Heard of a fixed deposit that gets you a credit card, ICICI Bank offers its FD customers `Easy Deposit Card' free of charge as long as the FD account is active. The card bestows various insurance benefits, zero per cent surcharge on fuel ... More

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Top Stories
Dabur India: Buy

Tax-saving funds: Low on assets, high on performance

Positive near-term for Nifty

Nifty may remain range-bound

Value- and mid-cap investing: The case for appropriate indices

LTC benefit when spouse is not dependant

Other side of the job boom

New face to good old Maruti 800

In Focus

Soaring sugar prices