The Hindu Business Line : Sunday, February 06, 2005

SPEED-e service to clients
SPEED-e is a common Internet infrastructure that enables the depository participants (DPs) to provide depository services to their clients. Demat accountholders (including clearing members) subscribing to this facility can submit delivery ... More

INSIGHT

P&G-Gillette deal: Getting the FMCG sector in a lather
IT IS competitors, rather than the listed Indian arms of P&G and Gillette, which may feel the first aftershocks of the $57-billion global acquisition deal inked last week between the Procter & Gamble Company and ... More

ITC-government excise spat — Smoke the settlement pipe
With the Union Government issuing an ordinance to nullify the apex court ruling in the ITC case, the stage appears set for a legal battle, the outcome of which will set the boundaries within which the Government can act. More

EPF: Defined-contribution scheme in the making
THE administered interest rate on Employees Provident Fund has been hiked, probably for the first time in a couple of decades. It had held steady during the 1990s and started declining since 2000. If the increase in ... More

MUTUAL FUNDS

SPOTLIGHT

Sundaram Tax Saver: Invest
INVESTMENTS can be considered in Sundaram Tax Saver. The fund's performance has been impressive over the past year. In light of the sharp rally in the market in recent weeks, investments can be made in phases through a ... More

FUND TALK
Do old funds carry baggage?
You usually recommend that readers should invest in older funds with a track record, rather than new funds that raise money through initial public offerings. But I have been given to understand that if a fund is recently launched, then the ... More

JM Mutual launches Equity & Derivative Fund

STOCKS

Indian Overseas Bank: Buy
AN INVESTMENT in the stock of Indian Overseas Bank can be considered. Among public sector banks, IOB has weathered the storm of rising interest rates relatively better. Above average business growth is also in the ... More

Kotak Mahindra Bank: Buy
INVESTMENTS can be considered in the stock of Kotak Mahindra Bank. At Rs 308, the stock is trading at a price to book value of just below 3. The valuation, which is at a premium to that of most other banks, reflects the growth expectations built ... More

Birla Corp: Buy
Cement now accounts for about 90 per cent of revenues and Birla Corp is likely to be viewed as a pure-cement play though the jute business acts as a drag on earnings. However, the threat of higher input costs is the principal risk to the story of mar gin expansion. More

EIH: Hold
SHAREHOLDERS can hold the stock of EIH, which is part of the Oberoi chain of hotels. The stock appreciated considerably the last couple of months as strong tourist arrivals spurred interest in hotel stocks. But it ... More

Tata Motors: Hold
TATA Motors shareholders can continue to hold the stock in the near term. The company has reported yet another impressive performance in the third quarter despite margin pressures. Shareholders can review their ... More

TVS Motor: Hold
MOTORCYCLE major TVS Motor has come up with a relatively lacklustre performance for the quarter ended December 2004. Yet, it is not too unimpressive compared with the showing of its peers ... More

Hexaware Technologies: Hold
SHAREHOLDERS may retain their exposure in Hexaware Technologies at current price levels, though the stock surged by 30 per cent in the last ten days since the announcement of the earnings performance. Considering the ... More

TAXATION

Rebate on child's tuition fee yo-yoing between parents
MY WIFE paid my son's tuition fee the last year. She had, therefore, claimed the rebate under Section 88 in respect of the tuition fee paid for my son's education. In the current year will it be possible for me to ... More

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

Positive outlook for HDFC, ITC
ITC (Rs 1,341.8): The bearish sentiment witnessed in the earlier weeks appears to have subsided. There appears to be nominal downside risk from present levels. A move above Rs 1,380 would have positive implications and long positions ... More

Focus of the week
KEC International (Rs 143.1): The stock appears to be in a long-term bullish trend. The share price completed the first leg of the upward move at Rs 95.4 in January 2004. The correction to this upward move appears to have been completed ... More

Short-term correction in Nifty likely
Preferred view: In line with expectations, market sentiment remained bullish during the just concluded week. After a strong move on Monday, market activity was marked by a relatively higher degree of volatility. The Nifty managed to ... More

Query corner

CARS

AUTO TECH

Throwing new light on a cleaner drive
EVEN six years ago, vehicular pollution was a non-issue in the country. But as more multinational automobile companies drove in, new technology products were launched, and people became aware of the ill-effects of air ... More

Accent & Honda City - a better choice
I HAVE a 1998 model Maruti Zen VX petrol. The car has run only 15,000 km. Some people have advised me that I should change the car since a six-year-old car could start giving problems because of static wear and ... More

BANKING

Basel II: The Duckworth-Lewis of banking
BASEL-II norms are to banking what Duckworth-Lewis is to cricket. Both are complex, mathematically inclined, enigma for the layman but still very logical and needs some intuition to understand. Duckworth-Lewis changed ... More

STOCK MARKETS

A profitable short-cut
MORE information can sometimes confuse when it comes to stock picking. Studies in behavioural finance show that people who pick stocks based on "recognition heuristics" can successfully outperform informed investors! ... More

DERIVATIVES MARKETS

Spread position
The profits and losses would depend upon the difference between the price at which the position is opened and the price at which it is closed. Let us see some examples. Example 1 · Position - Long - Buy June Sensex Futures @ ... More

Sideways movement likely in Nifty
WITH the market remaining firm, the derivative segment saw modest trading last week ending Friday, considering it was the first week after the settlement of January contracts on the NSE. The average daily turnover was Rs 12,852 crore against Rs ... More

Options guide

Futures guide

CORPORATE BONDS

ICICI Bonds — Long-term options are attractive
Tax Saving Bond: Avoid
Regular Income Bond: Subscribe
Children Growth Bond: Subscribe More

BOOKS

Markets are like voting machines
WHEN the overworked voting machines get tallied up at the counting centres after the ongoing polls, will the result go in favour of the best candidate? What a naïve expectation, like wishing the bourses to be quick ... More

CARTOON