The Hindu Business Line : Sunday, June 20, 2004

Investment Quiz
1. Considered an authority in the area of competitive strategy, he has also founded a consulting outfit called Monitor. Who is being referred to here? 2. We have all heard of technology-heavy exchange called the Nasdaq. What does the ... More

OPEN OFFERS

Ultratech Cemco: Accept
SHAREHOLDERS of Ultratech Cement Company can accept the open offer made by Grasim Industries and associates as the risks of holding on to the stock outweigh potential benefits. The cement business of Larsen and ... More

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Overdraft on car
WORRIED that your money is locked up in your new car? You do not have to. A host of options are available to tide over your liquidity crunch. HDFC Bank's overdraft facility on car is one such option. The scheme directly ... More

AUTOMOBILES

Adding mystique to the Qualis
THE concept of pushing sales through limited edition variants of existing models is not new to the automobile industry. From the company's point of view, a limited edition enables it to give a model an exclusive ... More

Question `n' Auto
I want to upgrade from my Ambassador Classic 1.5 D to either the Hyundai Accent Viva CRDi or the Ford Ikon ZXI diesel. Which of the two is sturdier and gives more mileage? I have an average run of about 3,500 km per month. Will the Accent Viva ... More

INSIGHT

Why expenses can make or break fund returns
WHAT do you look for when you choose a mutual fund from many competing offerings? The fund's track record, its recent performance and the credentials of the fund house and fund manager, right? It is now time to add ... More

Understanding fund costs
WHAT is an expense ratio? It is the cost of owning a fund. It represents the percentage of a fund's assets that go towards meeting the expenses of running the fund. The expense ratio thus comes entirely out of ... More

Mutual fund IPOs: Contrasting styles on offer
The diametrically opposite philosophies of two equity schemes that have hit the market may just trigger a debate on which set of stocks are better — high PE or low PE. The odds seem to be stacked in favour of low PE stocks although the risks in volved also are higher. More

Taking stock of TCS
The price fixation process will have to necessarily factor in the relative financial and operational parameters of TCS vis-à-vis Infosys Technologies and Wipro, the two billion-dollar peers in the software sector. More

MUTUAL FUNDS

Sundaram Growth: Hold
INVESTORS in Sundaram Growth can retain their holdings. Since its launch, the fund's returns have not been as spectacular as other funds. It has, however, beaten the index consistently and aims to straddle the middle ... More

Staying cautious is advisable
OVER the next few weeks, the market appears set to continue its downward trend. Negative sentiment abounds and anxiety over the pronouncements in the Budget has enhanced the downside risk. Over the next month, even in the case of stocks that ... More

Outlook for oil and gas stocks
I bought UTI Petro Fund after Business Line recommended it in one of the recent issues. What is the outlook for the fund now? Should I hold or sell the units? What is the outlook for sector funds that invest mainly in oil and gas stocks? ... More

DSP ML Top 100 Equity fund
DSP ML Top 100 Equity Fund appears to have pared exposures in quite a few stocks in its portfolio in May. Stocks in which exposures have been substantially pared include Mahindra & Mahindra, GAIL, Maruti Udyog, ICICI Bank and Bharat Electronics. ... More

Principal Mutual to launch floating rate fund

STOCKS

BHEL: Generating better times
BHEL, the power equipment industry major, is looking forward to some exciting times. Never mind the change in the government, BHEL's top honchos brush aside the worries and are gearing up for the capacity-addition ... More

Jubilant Organosys: Hold
INVESTORS may retain their holdings in the stock of Jubilant Organosys. The company's improving fundamentals, its export thrust and focus on pharmaceuticals and life-science chemicals business augurs well for its ... More

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam: Hold
INVESTORS may continue to hold on to their exposures in the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) stock. A reasonably steady fourth quarter performance, opportunities opening up in the broadband arena and improving growth ... More

Madras Cements: Book profits partially
SHAREHOLDERS of Madras Cements can contemplate profit booking on a part of their holdings. The company is well-placed to turn in steady growth in revenues and earnings by ramping up volumes in a gradual manner; but it ... More

MRF: Hold
REFLECTING the business environment that prevailed in the tyre industry, market leader MRF turned in a rather lacklustre performance for the quarter-ended March 2004. However, the company has managed to weather the ... More

BHEL: Long-term buy
AT Rs 480, BHEL trades at 16 times its 2004-05 expected per share earnings of Rs 30. Given the long-term prospects for the power generation sector, BHEL should be able to maintain a 20 per cent bottomline growth for the ... More

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

Short-term weakness in Reliance
Reliance Ind (Rs 444.8): Holders may look for opportunities to reduce exposures as the stock has the risk of a drop to the Rs 380-385 range. A drop below Rs 420 would indicate that the stock is headed towards the above-mentioned target ... More

Focus of the week
Kotak Mahindra (Rs 327.2): The short-term outlook appears positive. The stock could move to the Rs 345-350 range. A close above Rs 350 would help the stock move towards the Rs 400 mark. Remain invested with a stop-loss at Rs 300. ... More

Waiting for a breakout
Preferred view: The trading activity continued to be listless during the past week. The index was confined to a narrow trading zone and the institutional investors and FIIs were conspicuous by their absence. A "contracting triangle" ... More

Query corner
I have shares of Tata Power bought at Rs 377 and Rs 277. What is your advice on this stock? — Shibil Tata Power (Rs 237): After a sharp upmove in the year 2003, the share price has been in a corrective phase over the past ... More

HOUSING FINANCE

New-age loans for house seekers
OWNING a house has never this easy. Banks and housing finance companies are wooing customers with innovative schemes, making house buying much more affordable now. No longer are you tied down to rigid schedules that allow little financial ... More

LIFE INSURANCE

AMP Sanmar's `Vani Shree Plus'
AMP Sanmar's "Vani Shree Plus" is a loan assurance term cover that returns all the premiums paid on maturity. The sum assured decreases each year as the loan outstanding decreases. If death occurs during the plan term, ... More

ECONOMICS

Earning global income through macro markets
ALL of us face the risk of declining cash flows. Our cash flow comprises salary or business income and income from investments. You can hedge your investment risk through derivatives such as index futures and equity ... More

DERIVATIVES MARKETS

Using futures/options
We have some market indicators for Options Market i.e., put-call open interest ratio, put-call volume ratio, put call implied volatility and Index/Nifty. In Futures Market also we have open interest and volume, but how is this open interest ... More

Derivatives: First principles
An option is a contract, which gives the buyer (holder) the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell specified quantity of the underlying assets, at a specific (strike) price on or before a specified time (expiration date). The ... More

Roll-over of positions to July contracts improve
While the discount between the June Nifty contracts and the spot Nifty narrowed down sharply during the week to just about four points, the discount was still quite high for Nifty July contracts by over 25 points. More

Options guide

Futures guide

FIXED DEPOSITS

SRF Polymers: Weak links in the chain
THE fixed deposit programme of SRF Polymers is for those with a penchant for risk. The interest rates are attractive. An investment up to one year can be considered. Longer tenures, however, can be avoided ... More

INTERVIEW

`Service is a big differentiator' — Mr V. Shankar, Managing Director, CAMS
If you have invested in mutual funds, chances are you have experienced CAMS (Computer Age Management Services) capabilities first-hand. With a client list that includes the majority of private sector funds, CAMS processes about six out of ... More

INCOME TAX

Loan for a house in a different State
I AM a software engineer and work for a private company in Bangalore. My gross salary is Rs 3 lakh. I propose to take a housing loan and purchase a house in Meerut. The loan is to be taken from ICICI Bank. What are the ... More

Kindergarten tax lessons
WILL tuition fee paid for my children's education in LKG and UKG qualify for rebate under Section 88? Will premium paid in cash towards medical insurance qualify for deduction? R. Srinivasan Reply Tuition ... More

BOOKS

5 rules to follow and 7 mistakes to avoid
THE secret of Sachin is Boost, but what's the secret of successful investors? "Ability to think independently," states the foreword to The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing, by Pat Dorsey, ... More

NEW PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Hello Duniya from VSNL

Reliance Infocomm's new tariffs

Roaming packages from Airtel

Yahoo, Rediff hikes free email storage

HM's new range of Lancer

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BHEL: Generating better times

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