The Hindu Business Line : Sunday, March 13, 2005

Mid-cap investing — Ride the sector wave right
WHEN the S&P CNX MidCap 200 Index closed at an all-time high and crossed 2900 points last week, it was clear that mid-cap investing was the flavour of the stock market. It is hard to imagine that less than two years More

Fixed-income investing — All set for resurgence
As of now, debt offers after-tax annual returns of 6-6.5 per cent for an investor in the 20 per cent tax bracket. This could change and the after-tax return could edge above 7 per cent. This would make investing in debt — either through mutual As of now, debt offers after-tax annual returns of 6-6.5 per cent for an investor in the 20 per cent tax bracket. This could change and the after-tax return could edge above 7 per cent. This would make investing in debt — either through mutual More

Warren Buffett's world-view: Insatiable spending to spur dollar decline
BERKSHIRE owned about $21.4 billion of foreign exchange contracts at yearend, spread among 12 currencies. As I mentioned last year, holdings of this kind are a decided change for us. Before March 2002, neither Berkshire ... More

BUYBACK

Madras Aluminium: Bid at Rs 260
SHAREHOLDERS of The Madras Aluminium Company (Malco) may bid at an indicative price band of Rs 260 per share to Twinstar Holdings offer to buy out the equity held by non-promoters and voluntarily delist the equity ... More

OPEN OFFERS

Krone Communications: Avoid
SHAREHOLDERS may reject the open offer of Krone Communications being made by ADC Telecommunications Inc., US. The open offer price of Rs 92 is unattractive as it is significantly lower than the current market price of ... More

AUTOMOBILES

Corsa 1.4 - the best choice
I AM unable to decide as to which car I should buy. After considering the cars available within the limitations of my budget of Rs 5 lakh, I have narrowed down to three choices - the Hyundai Santro Xing, the Ford ... More

MUTUAL FUNDS

UTI Growth & Value Fund: Hold
INVESTORS can retain their holdings in UTI Growth & Value Fund (earlier known as known as IL&FS Growth & Value Fund). The fund came into UTI Mutual's fold in July 2004. It has a fairly good track record over .. More

ABN AMRO launches Opportunities Fund
* ABN AMRO has unveiled ABN AMRO Opportunities Fund. The fund will identify opportunities across all ranges of capitalisation. It will also retain the flexibility to hold more concentrated investments in a few sectors. The IPO, which opened on ... More

FUND TALK

Diversifying into debt funds

STOCKS

Indian Hotels: Buy
AN investment can be considered in the stock of Indian Hotels that owns the Taj group of hotels. The company has been the major beneficiary of the boom in tourist arrivals over the past year and higher occupancy levels and room rates in key ... More

Chambal Fertilisers: Hold
SHAREHOLDERS can retain the Chambal Fertilisers stock. At the current price of Rs 30, the stock trades at about eight times its trailing 12-month earnings of about Rs 4. The company's earnings growth could be in double ... More

Cholamandalam Investment & Finance: Buy
FRESH exposure can be considered in the stock of Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company with a long-term perspective. The stock valuation is attractive and an investment could offer an exposure to the ... More

Alok Industries: Buy
INVESTORS can consider exposure to the stock of Alok Industries. Bright prospects on the export front, capacity expansion that would support volumes growth and a thrust on such high-value products as bed linen and terry ... More

Asian Paints: Buy
IT HAS been a solid performance by Asian Paints for the quarter ended December 2004; the results have been a positive surprise, indeed. With demand drivers in place, we are sanguine about Asian Paints' prospects. As ... More

TAXATION

More houses, more loans, more questions
MY FATHER settled a property to me and to my brother in 1998. The property comprises 2,800 sq.ft of land and a built-up area of 700 sq.ft on the said land. The settlement was done in such a way that I got 50 per cent ... More

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

Near-term outlook is bearish for Nifty
As anticipated last week, the index moved to the target zone of 2185-2200 and entered into a corrective phase subsequently. After hitting a high of 2183.45, the index turned weak on Wednesday. The reversal of the index at a crucial resistance ... More

Weakness beckons Tata Power, HLL
The earlier view that the price is headed towards Rs 370-380 range is still valid. The stock dropped below the downward trigger price of Rs 400 that was mentioned last week. This is an early indication of the bearish trend ahead. Short ... More

Focus of the week
There has been a precipitous drop in volatility. This typically is a precursor to a sharp move. Taking into account the recent price pattern, it appears that the stock could see an upward spike shortly. A move to the target zone of Rs 33-34 range ... More

Query corner

CARS

Common rail engines are firing up diesel
THE URGE to achieve the seemingly impossible in such areas as engine technology and performance, alternative fuels, driving comfort and vehicle stability is constantly driving innovation in the automotive world. In ... More

LIFE INSURANCE

LIC's Future Plus
NOT TO be left behind in the race to get a slice of the growing unit-linked pension plan pie, LIC has unveiled its latest offering — Future Plus. A look at some of the key features of this ... More

ECONOMICS

Physics of finance
IN 1905, Albert Einstein, one of the greatest physicists ever, published three seminal papers. The first was on special relativity, the second on photoelectric effect and the third on Brownian motion. Through the years, ... More

DERIVATIVES MARKETS

Banking stocks active
WITH markets ruling at close to historic levels, there was no let up in trading activity at the derivative segment on the NSE; the average daily turnover at the NSE during last week was Rs 13,523 crore against the previous week figure of Rs ... More

SPAN to track risks
The objective of SPAN is to identify overall risk in a portfolio of futures and options contracts for each member. The system treats futures and options contracts uniformly, while at the same time recognising the unique exposures associated with ... More

F&O Contratcs on Jet Airways
Members are notified about addition of the following security being made to the list of eligible securities on the F&O segment with effect from March 14, 2005: * Company name: Jet Airways (India) * Symbol: JETAIRWAYS * Permitted Lot ... More

Futures guide

Options guide

IPOS

Gateway Distriparks: Invest at Rs 72
AN INVESTMENT can be made at the upper end of the price band of Rs 60-72 in the initial public offering of Gateway Distriparks. Though the pricing appears stiff, based on historical earnings, there appears room for a ... More

BOOKS

Talking currency page to page
CAN we use debit cards or ATM cards for foreign exchange transactions? Is my Mumbai friend right when he says we can make direct investment in any foreign security? If under US GAAP there is reduction in profits why ... More

CARTOON