The Hindu Business Line : Sunday, August 03, 2003

Segment reporting: Spirit matters too, not just the letter
IT IS one and a half years since segment reporting was made mandatory, but not all of Corporate India has come clean — in both consistency and quality. Some leading companies have been so preoccupied with ... More

Useful trend indicator
In companies with several divisions, segment reporting helps to estimate growth expectations, assess valuation and provide restructuring signals. More

A religion called cost control
From a mere mantra, cost control has turned into a religion with a fanatical following across Corporate India. More

Liquidity: Fuel for market excesses
Trading volumes in the stock market have risen sharply. Investors need to be wary as such rising volumes have fuelled market excesses in the past. More

Using Liquid BeEs effectively
Liquid BeEs is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that invests in calls, Treasury Bills and other short-term fixed-income securities. The units can be bought from the NSE. The minimum lot is one with a face value of Rs 1,000. But why invest in ... More

Punjab Tractors: Disinvestment at a discount
THE just-completed disinvestment in Punjab Tractors is unlikely to bring much cheer to its shareholders. The holdings of the Punjab Government have been sold at Rs 153 per share to Commonwealth Development Corporation ... More

MUTUAL FUNDS

Templeton India Money Market Account: Invest
TEMPLETON India Money Market Account (TIMMA) is a short-term fund that invests in money market instruments. Those looking to increase their returns on the moneys in their savings bank account can invest in this ... More

UTI Mastergrowth: Hold
A SIZABLE allocation to PSU stocks has put UTI's Mastergrowth fund among the top diversified equity funds in the recent times. The fund's NAV has appreciated about 24 per cent since the end of 2002, beating the S&P CNX ... More

HDFC Tax Plan 2000: Invest
INVESTORS can hold their exposures in HDFC Tax Plan 2000. Fresh investments can be contemplated in a phased manner by investors with a penchant for high risk. The fund has an impressive track record over the last ... More

UTI Services Fund: Book profits partially
INVESTORS in the UTI Services Sector Fund can contemplate booking profits, by selling at least a part of their holdings. This will enable them to cash in on the strong gains of about 38 per cent over the past three ... More

HDFC Mutual Fund starts disclosing its average assets
HDFC Mutual Fund has started to disclose average assets under management. Now mutual funds are required to disclose assets under management at the end of the month. This leaves room for assets to be inflated at the ... More

The dividend lure
THE game of using dividends to lure fresh funds from investors has started again. Over the past couple of months, a slew of equity-oriented funds have announced dividend payouts. In some cases, the record date for the ... More

STOCKS

RESEARCHING FOR THE GROWTH PILL

Dr Reddy's Labs: Hold
SHAREHOLDERS can continue to hold on to the Dr. Reddy's stock; fresh exposures need not be considered now. The stock gained close to 15 per cent since the earlier buy recommendation at Rs 960 (Business Line, ... More

GlaxoSmithKline Pharma: Buy
FRESH buying may be considered in the Glaxo stock that trades at Rs 415. Business Line had earlier given a buy recommendation for the stock when it was trading at Rs 292 (refer edition dated March 16) and later ... More

M&M: Book Profits
AT about Rs 200-205, the Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) stock appears fully valued, given its current performance parameters. Shareholders may consider booking profits, at least partially, and can re-enter at lower levels. ... More

Gujarat Ambuja: Buy
INVESTMENTS can be considered in the stock of Gujarat Ambuja Cements. However, it may be better to wait for the fancy for cement stocks, evident in the last few trading days, to run its course. Any room for downside ... More

Shanthi Gears: Buy
FRESH exposures can be considered in Shanthi Gears, a Coimbatore-based small-cap company. It is one of the low-profile companies in the capital goods sector. It is fundamentally strong and one of the few that has ... More

Hindustan Lever: Book Profits
GIVEN the demanding valuations for the stock, investors can consider booking profits in the Hindustan Lever stock at current price levels. There are several encouraging aspects to Hindustan Lever's financial performance ... More

Infosys: Take advantage of the uptrend
THE Infosys stock has run up on the back of the offer of sponsored American Depository Shares (ADS) placed at a premium of 26 per cent to the domestic market price. Conversion of a part of domestically held share capital into ADSs has delivered ... More

TVS Motor: Ride out with profits
SHAREHOLDERS of TVS Motor can consider profit booking at the current price of about Rs 600. Business Line had earlier recommended partial profit booking at a price of Rs 535 in end-May 2003. A steadily declining trend in motorcycle' ... More

OPEN OFFERS

Indo Gulf Fertilisers: Reject
SHAREHOLDERS in Indo Gulf Fertilisers may refrain from tendering to the open offer being made by TGS Investment and Trade Private Ltd, a closely-held company belonging to the Aditya Birla group. The offer is being made ... More

INVESTMENTS

Online trading: Simple and fast but fewer options
THE equity market is all excited, and going places. No doubt, you want to get your share of the action. Till recently, one could buy or sell stocks only through individual stockbrokers and broking firms/companies. ... More

TVS Motor: Of facelifts and nosejobs
IT TOOK its own time to recognise the shift in market preference towards four-stroke technology in two wheelers, but TVS Motors (post-Suzuki split) has managed to swing back with one winner in the Victor and a decent ... More

LIFE INSURANCE

INSURANCE CORNER

SBI Life's Swadhan
SWADHAN is a term plan from SBI Life that returns at maturity all premiums paid. The plan provides life cover for a specific period and also returns the premiums paid on survival of the term. As with all term plans, no ... More

STOCK MARKETS

Stocks driven by earnings numbers
Buoyed by impressive numbers, quite a few stocks have had a sharp bull run in the last few trading sessions - Elgi Equipments, SAIL, GE Shipping, Container Corporation, Bajaj Tempo, ACC, Bajaj Auto, Bharat Electronics, Cummins, MICO and Larsen & ... More

Maruti gains 8%
IGate Global (Rs 163): IGate Global has acquired a 51 per stake in business services provisioning start-up, Quintant Services for Rs 86.9 crore and appointed Mr Phaneesh Murthy (formerly world wide head of sales and marketing, Infosys ... More

Global markets on upbeat note in July
AFTER witnessing a sharp surge during April-June quarter, global stock markets maintained their upward momentum to end July in a positive territory. With the earnings season set to get into top gear during the ensuing days, upbeat clues on ... More

DEBT MARKET

Bonds to trade in tight range
THE 10-year bond closed last week at 5.60 per cent. Week-on-week, the yield curve shifted marginally downwards, as traders continued to bid up bond prices. Going forward, bonds are likely to remain biddish but may trade in a tight range. The ... More

DERIVATIVES MARKETS

More on zero-cost collars
The strategy allows the investor to costless hedge while maintaining potential for profit in the position. More

Using Futures/Options
* Please clarify whether margin is required to be deposited for options also or only premium is payable. In addition, whether the option could be exercised any time before the expiry. — T.N. Sivasubramanium * If I am not assigned Nifty ... More

Open interest still high
Maruti, IPCL, Polaris, Shipping corporation, Tata Steel and Mastek have open interest build-up of more than 60 per cent of the market wide limit. More

Options Guide

Futures Guide

FIXED DEPOSITS

SRF: Don't stretch this fabric
THE fixed deposit programme of SRF is open for fresh investment. An investment up to a year can be considered. However, exposures beyond that can be avoided, as the incremental returns are not large enough. ... More

INTERVIEW

`Cost of lending makes a huge difference' — Mr V. Leeladhar, CMD, Union Bank of India
Union Bank of India is one of the mid-sized public sector banks which manages about Rs 65,000 crore. Its stock has appreciated more than 100 per cent since its listing in 2002. The bank has been making progress in terms of boosting low-cost ... More

INCOME TAX

Investing for rebates
CAN I invest Rs 60,000 in a Public Provident Fund (PPF) account and Rs 10,000 in NSC, aggregating in all to Rs 70,000 and be eligible for the rebate in respect of the Rs 70,000 invested? Or, can I invest the Rs 70,000 ... More

BOOKS

BOOK VALUE

Ancient `Art of war' in stock markets
STOCK markets have never ceased to baffle people, with bears entering the graphs all of a sudden and bulls doing their work in great hurry. There are peaks and troughs, highs and lows, and daredevils and play-safes. ... More

CARTOON