The Hindu Business Line : Sunday, June 22, 2003

Three years of equity derivatives: My money, my play
We may never modulate the "boom and bust" cycles of our capital markets... US investors have every right to expect that the system of SEC-registered, exchange-traded equities can weather such cycles without significant companies "melting ... More

Chickens have hatched, count!
WHATEVER may be said of India's effectiveness in dealing with public finances, it can be safely argued that individuals act with great discernment while dealing with their personal savings. Many state-owned and ... More

Where is the Sensex headed?
IT DID not stop at 3,300 nor at 3,400 and is now tantalisingly poised at 3,499. Where is it headed? Further north? Maybe. However, in contrast to earlier bull runs, a Sensex rally to previous highs such as 4,700 ... More

Maruti IPO: An act of faith
IT APPEARS to be more an act of faith rather than one dictated by cold investment logic. Whichever way one looks at it, the overwhelming feeling is that investors in the Maruti IPO have been driven more by ... More

Grasim deal may force Gujarat Ambuja hand
GRASIM'S firm hold over the cement business of Larsen & Toubro has the potential to trigger interest in the ACC stock. Gujarat Ambuja Cements (the Ambuja group) has positioned itself to take eventual control ... More

Guarding investors against themselves
THE stock market is on a roll. The bull seems back in the ring. The BSE market capitalisation is up Rs 1,00,000 crore in a month. Clearly, for retail investors, the resurgence of animal spirits is cause for ... More

COURTS/LEGAL ISSUES

Notes on the notary
A NOTARY is a member of the public who is appointed by the Central/State Government on the recommendation of courts under the provisions of the Notaries Act LII of 1952. According to the Oxford ... More

MUTUAL FUNDS

IDBI Principal Child Benefit Fund: Switch
INVESTORS who have completed five years in the IDBI-Principal Child Benefit Plan may consider switching to an open-end balanced fund with a superior track record. New investors looking to build up a corpus to ... More

Kotak-MNC: Hold/Avoid fresh exposures
INVESTORS in the K-MNC Fund (of Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund) can stay with the fund as the portfolio has room for upside. MNC stocks across sectors have come back into fancy after a protracted period of ... More

Standard Chartered adds to its income scheme basket
STANDARD Chartered Mutual Fund plans to launch a Medium Term Fund, which will enable investors to invest for three to twelve months. The fund will invest up to 25-25 per cent in government securities and the ... More

Derivatives: Beef up the disclosures
AS usual, mutual fund industry practices are set to march ahead of regulations concerning disosures. The latest development concerns interest rate derivatives. Trading on interest rate derivatives is set to ... More

Prudential ICICI Dynamic Plan: Hold
FRESH investments in Prudential ICICI's Dynamic Plan need not be considered. The fund's performance since inception in October 2002 has not been impressive. However, investors in the fund can continue to hold ... More

UTI Master Value Plan: Hold
WITH a consistent performance track record over the past five years and impressive returns in the past year, the UTI's Master Value Plan has been a key beneficiary of the rally in mid-cap stocks over the past ... More

Liquid fund from UTI
UTI Mutual Fund in its new "avatar" launched its first scheme, UTI Liquid Fund. The initial offer period is on June 23 and 24, and the sale of units will re-open from June 27. The face value of units is at Rs 10 per unit. The Fund is open to ... More

STOCKS

Grasim: Buy
INVESTMENTS can be contemplated in the Grasim Industries' stock, as there is scope of gains linked to its now-certain hold over Larsen & Toubro's cement business (referred to as CemCo). Grasim's impressive ... More

State Bank of India: Pare exposures
SHAREHOLDERS of State Bank of India (SBI) can contemplate booking profits partially. The stock's valuation now factors in successive years of ever higher dividends and modest growth in earnings, but not the ... More

Shasun Chemicals: Hold/Buy on declines
SHAREHOLDERS of Shasun Chemicals can continue to stay invested in the stock. Those looking to add the stock to their portfolio can do so on dips from current price levels. The stock appears to be good from a ... More

ICI India: Hold
SHAREHOLDERS of ICI India can continue to hold the stock at the current levels of about Rs 140. At this price, the stock discounts its latest full year earnings per share of Rs 26.35 by about 5.3 times. The ... More

Alfa Laval: Book profits; re-enter at lower levels
SHAREHOLDERS can consider booking profits in Alfa Laval at the current market price of Rs 300. The stock has appreciated 25 per cent since our earlier buy recommendation at Rs 240 (Business Line, May ... More

MICO: Some spark still left
INVESTMENTS can be contemplated in the MICO stock at Rs 4,890 as scope for gains exist despite the run-up in the stock price. The stock has appreciated by about 15 per cent since the earlier Business Line recommendation to book profits at ... More

Indian Hotels: Check in
INVESTORS with a one- to two-year horizon can consider fresh exposures in Indian Hotels (which owns The Taj group of hotels). The stock trades at Rs 248 and holds room for appreciation. But investors should use any gains of 20 to 30 per cent to ... More

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

Correction likely in Nifty
Preferred view: The overall outlook for the index is bullish. A move to the previous pivot high of 3760 appears to be on the cards. The index is moving up steadily in a well-defined upward channel. A break below the lower boundary of this ... More

Positive trend in Orchid Chem
ITC (Rs 743.75): As expected, the stock ruled firm and also managed to move to the target zone of Rs 745-750 mentioned in earlier weeks. After touching a high of Rs 747.85, the stock closed slightly lower at Rs 743.75. The overall outlook ... More

Query corner
I am holding HDFC Bank bought at Rs 260. Is it good to hold this share for medium-term? Kindly give the stop loss price also. — Thomas Jose & Ajay Shah HDFC Bank (Rs 247.1): This is one of the better long-term bets in the ... More

HOUSING FINANCE

Housing loan as a put option
DO YOU know that your mortgage loan can be used as a put option on the property? Consider this: You have borrowed Rs 11 lakh and purchased a house for Rs 15 lakh. Your primary collateral will be the property ... More

LIFE INSURANCE

MetLife India's MetLife Sukh
METLIFE India's `MetLife Sukh' — a simple money back policy with no frills attached — is targeted at the 15-55 age group. This policy is different, as it pays a guaranteed return over and above the ... More

STOCK MARKETS

India Nippon up on good numbers
LIC Housing Finance (Rs 127): On the back of market expectations that some foreign housing finance companies would shortly seek entry into India by picking up stake in local finance companies, the stock price of LIC Housing Finance surged ... More

Pharma stocks keeping well
Housing finance stocks have caught up in the last two trading sessions. LIC Housing, GIC Housing, SBI Housing, Dewan Housing, CanFin Homes and the market leader HDFC shot up sharply in the last two days. Stocks such as GIC hit the upper circuit ... More

DERIVATIVES MARKETS

Reliance, SBI in limelight
WITH the cash market zooming to a 14-month high this week, trading activity picked up at the derivative segment; the average daily turnover jumped to about Rs 3,593 crore as against last week's average daily turnover of about Rs 2,969 crore on ... More

USING FUTURES/OPTIONS
Corporate Actions and adjustments
THE basis for any adjustment for corporate actions shall be such that the value of the position of the market participants, on the cum and ex-dates for the corporate action, shall continue to remain the same as far as possible. This will ... More

Options guide

INTEREST RATES

Floating rate loans: You are locked into it
A NEW house, a floating rate loan and soft interest rates... This happy picture can become chimerical if the interest rate rises. As housing loans are usually for at least 15 years, any interest rate rise ... More

FIXED DEPOSITS

Lakshmi General Finance: For a short ride
THE fixed deposit programme of Lakshmi General Finance (LGF), a group entity of Sundaram Finance, is open. The interest rate is lower than that offered by such auto finance companies as Ashok Leyland Finance. ... More

INCOME TAX

Cutting your tax outgo
PLEASE clarify whether I can invest in ICICI Bonds in the name of my wife and claim rebate under Section 88. Please note that my spouse is a housewife. R. S. Khedekar Reply The rebate under Section 88 is ... More

Dealing and trading costs
I AM a pensioner and am engaged in carrying on trading activity in shares on the Internet. Am I entitled to claim expenses such as telephone, subscription to economic newspapers/magazines, depreciation and ... More

Last date for filing I-T returns extended
The last date for filing I-T returns for the assessment year 2003-04 has been extended from July 31 to September 30 for individual assesses.

BL Research Bureau

PROMOTIONS & OFFERS

Sops for top IA fliers
Indian Airlines is to set up a Golden Eagle Club for its top fliers in its new frequent flier programme which is to be launched on July 1. The member will have the benefit of using the executive lounges, but only after they are refurbished. ... More

RIGHTS ISSUES

PCS Industries: Avoid
PCS Industries is making a rights offer of equity to finance the repayment of unsecured loans availed by the company from the promoter group and acquisition of companies in the software development/IT-enabled ... More

OPEN OFFERS

Yokogawa Bluestar: Accept
SHAREHOLDERS of Yokogawa Bluestar (YBL) can accept the offer made to them at Rs 67 per share. Yokogawa Electric Corporation (Yokogawa) is making the offer, with the intention of delisting the company. In this ... More

PENSION PLANS

LIC postpones pension scheme
LIC has postponed the launch of its pension plan "Varishta Pension Bima Yojana", a government-subsidised scheme for those in the 55-79 age group. The scheme was announced in the 2003-04 Budget, and assured a return of 9 per cent per annum. ... More

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