Weekly Market Update 23 to 27 Dec 2013

The last week of 2013 was a feel good week all-in-all. The markets continued with their positivity with interspersed downswings only on the back of profit-booking. As the year draws to a close, everybody is looking forward to a new year with a sense of certainty that the worst may possibly be over.

Don’t Mind the Index, Just Pick Your Stocks!

After the state election results were out the Nifty and Sensex reached historic highs (Nifty closed at 6363 after intraday high of 6414 and Sensex closed at 21326 after intraday high of 21483 ) bringing a sense of euphoria in market-watchers but for the seasoned investors, this was just another non-descript day in the market, quick to fade away into distant memory.

Weekly Market Update - 16 to 20 Dec 2013

The markets started last week on a low note with the hangover of the high CPI which was further aided by the 14-month high WPI figures. It was expected with certainty that the RBI will go for another bout of rate-hikes and this kept the mood in the markets down. But with the RBI keeping a status quo on the interest rates which lifted the moods. This also helped somewhat when the US Fed finally reduced its bond buying signalling the start of the QE taper program.

Will FDI rekindle foreign investors’ interest in India once again?

It is universally accepted that FDIs increase the employment opportunities and wealth in a country. They provide new technology and capital for investment, which may be helpful for the growth of that country’s economy. FDIs claim several other opportunities that include direct benefit to farmers, reduction in food inflation, and drop in wastage of food.

Weekly Market Update - 09 to 13 December 2013

The Sensex and Nifty hit historic highs on the first trading day of the week riding on the back of what was percieved as a good outcome of assembly elections. But, the euphoria did not last long and old fears gripped the markets in a bear hug. Data on IIP and CPI released also aided the disappointment.

Market Perspective For Retail Investors

Recently the Indian markets touched record high levels and the mood in the markets was jubilant. With the Sensex and Nifty near their peaks, there is a wide speculation about the direction the markets will take in the future and what it means for the retail investors.

Bitcoin: Of Shady Drug Websites and Space Travel

What is common to Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, The University of Nicosia in Greece, Cheapair.com, Baidu, Reddit and a few hundred more business, or probably a few thousands more? Let me give you a hint, the words ‘Silk Road’ may help ring a few bells.

Weekly Market Update - 02 to 06 Dec 2013

The markets had an air of positivity from early this week which ended in a zoom after the exit polls results were out for the state elections. Aiding the mood of the market in the week were the good manufacturing PMI numbers, the news about sharp reduction in CAD and the fact that India may be having its way in the WTO meet.

Earnings Season Snapshot - H1 FY 2013-14 - IT Sector

The IT industry has been and will continue to be an attractive option for investors due to the good returns it has given in the past and the potential to give better returns in the future. This sector will always remain the favourite with the investors because of the ability to give good RoI.

Weekly Market Update - 25 Nov to 29 Nov 2013

The market was positive for most of the week showing a negative bias for only a day or two. Once the F&O expiry was done with on Thursday, the market zoomed on the last trading session on expectations of good Q2 GDP figure. The highlights of the week are :

Earnings Season Snapshot - H1 FY 2013-14 - Pharma Sector

The pharmaceuticals industry in India has been the flavour of the market with its low beta nature and its standing as a wealth creator from the perspective of last 5yrs. It is one of the sectors which is affected minimally due to the domestic macro-economic condition as most of the business of this sector comes from outside India.

Weekly Market Update - 18 to 22 Nov 2013

The week started with a big bang went through a big bust in the middle and ended with slight negative bias towards the end of the week.  The highlights of the week are :

Earnings Season Snapshot - H1 FY 2013-14 - Banking Sector

The second quarter results of the banking sector were as per the expected guidelines. The blue chip companies in this sector were on the market radar from the start of this earnings season itself.

Weekly Market Update - 11 Nov to 14 Nov 2013

When the markets lose, they lose big and you need to have some pep talk by somebody up there to turn the mood. That is the gist of the markets this week as the 7-day losing streak was cut short with the press-conference by one Mr. Rajan.

September IIP and October CPI data released

The September IIP data and October CPI data were released today. The highlights are as follows :

Weekly Market Update - 05 Nov to 08 Nov 2013

The pre-diwali highs reached by the markets seemed unsustainable as the markets were on the negative side for four days straight. Profit booking coupled with low volumes on some days were to blame for the continuous negative streak this week. The highlights of the week are :

Inflation - RBI's First Priority

In its mid term policy RBI has again stuck to its priority for curbing inflation. RBI has clearly signaled that its first priority is to curtail inflation even if it is at the expense of growth to some extent. The question is, why is inflation so important? Why is the RBI so seriously worried about inflation and made it its number one priority?

RBI Mid-Term Credit Policy - A Review

On October 29th, the RBI released its mid-term credit policy. The markets immediately reacted with cheer and scaled record highs. Below we highlight the important points of the policy and explain what it means for us in general.

Weekly Market Update - 21 Oct to 25 Oct 2013

From the start of the week itself it was evident that individual stock performances would be playing a big role in this earning season. The markets started with a marginally positive bias and though there was volatility in the markets throughout the week, the closing on each day pretty much summed up the story as flat to negative.

Play The Cyclical Markets - Pick Stocks For A Lifetime

If somebody were to sum-up the present macro-economic situation in India, they would probably sum it up as High Inflation Low Growth. As the IIP data for the past 12 months and the dismal GDP numbers reported so far and projected for the full year show, we are going through an economic low presently. But, for investors should search  good opportunities for investment in the present situation too.

Weekly Market Update - 14 Oct to 18 Oct 2013

The week started with a positive note and kept up the positive bias throughout the week. Individual stocks with their earnings reports too led the mood somewhat and the week closed on a high note setting big expectations for the next week.

Incredible Stocks - Lupin Limited

Lupin Limited is a well-known Indian pharmaceutical company which is the 4th largest by sales in India. It has established itself as an integrated global pharmaceutical company. 

Lupin’s products are well known in India and the world over too. In the therapeutic area Lupin’s anti-TB drug is No.1 globally.

Weekly Market Update - 7 Oct to 11 Oct 2013

This was a week which started the earnings season and quite as expected, the individual stocks are going to influence the markets for some time to come. The markets started the week with a positive bias and ended the week at a high note on the back of good Infosys Q2 results.

Valuation of the Market At Present. Is It a Bull-Run..?

During the time of peak bull run in 2007, the Nifty index was trading at 23-27 times earnings. From 2005-2007 the index was trading at 15-17 times its earnings. Now, in 2013, the index is again trading at 15-17 times earnings but the index is very near to its historical high as we have already witnessed Nifty crossing the 6000 mark a couple of times in the recent past.

Weekly Market Update - 30 Sep to 04 Oct 2013

The first day of the week started with the markets tumbling but the rest of the week saw gains backed by vague but positive domestic indicators. The highlights of the past week are :

Weekly Market Update 23 Sep to 27 Sep 2013

The market started with a bust, continued its lacklustre performance throughout the week and ended with more downside. This in short was the story of the week past.

Market Dynamics After FOMC meet and RBI Policy Review

Why the FOMC meet cheered markets?

In the FOMC meet on 18th Sep 2013 there was a surprise for the global markets as there was no announcement about any QE tapering as was widely anticipated. This unexpected move had ripple effects on all emerging markets including India and there was a sharp upside seen in Indian markets and there was good reason to cheer too.

Weekly Market Update - 16 Sep to 20 Sep 2013

The week started with a muted performance of the market. It was evident from the beginning that everybody was waiting for the twin outcomes of the US FOMC meet and RBI’s mid term monetary policy. As it turned out, both these developments came with unexpected outcomes.

NSEL Fiasco - Effect on MCX

A lot has been made about the payment crisis that broke out at NSEL and its after-effects. Since we had analysed MCX as one of the stocks with a potential to give good returns in our post Incredible Stocks - MCX, we felt that there is a need to review that analysis in the light of the latest developments.

Weekly Market Update - 10 Sep to 13 Sep 2013

“The worst may be over for India” is the new punchline doing the rounds in economic circles in the country. So, if you have not heard it yet then better get up to date because this may well become a slogan in the coming days. The past week saw a bullish market on a resurgent streak piggybacking on positive global and domestic cues.

Rupee Depreciation - Where We Stand Now

Starting June, when the US initially gave signals that a rollback of its Quantitative Easing may be on the horizon, the emerging markets were sent into a tizzy with most of these currencies depreciating against the dollar with Foreign Investments flying out of these emerging market economies. India was no exception and hence we too felt the heat. The problem at home was multiplied by already high CAD, fiscal deficit and inflation giving us a perfect recipe for economic gloom.

India’s Banking Sector - Resilient Entity or Mute Spectator

In the recent times, the banking sector has been in the midst of a storm with the various PSU and private banks’ stocks seeing a lot of correction and their Q1 numbers not lifting the spirits either. The BankNifty index has experienced a fall of 20% and touched its lowest point of Rs. 8664.2 recently.

Weekly Market Update - 02 Sep to 06 Sep 2013

The past week showed some signs of volatility in the beginning with the market positive on the first day but tanking on the second day. But the game changed with the new RBI governor taking office and immediately making his intentions and objectives clear.

Fiscal Deficit - Ringside View to India's Economic Problems

India is facing the problem of high fiscal deficit. Many economists feel that this is the root cause of India’s present economic woes as the government’s populist policies and the RBI’s monetary policies are not exactly in-sync with each other. In this post we present a simplistic explanation of fiscal deficit and what is the problem with high fiscal deficit in the Indian context.

Weekly Market Update - 26 Aug to 30 Aug 2013

If anybody was curious about the potential that the markets have for swings, then last week would have been an eye-opener. The Sensex and Nifty touched deep lows and had steep pull-backs aided by the wildly swinging INR in the fall as well as the rise.

Weekly Market Update - 19 Aug to 23 Aug 2013

The week saw the market seesawing from historic lows and then to recover to weekly high with assurances given by the RBI and the Govt. allaying the fears of investors. Rupee too saw some recovery from historic low of 65/$ during the last trading session ending the week at 63.20/$. Some highlights of the week gone by are :

Bear Market - Right Time to Invest in Stocks is NOW!!

Any novice to stock investments will tell you that the basic rule of getting good returns from stocks is to buy low and sell high. Easy?? Well, when it comes to actually implementing this rule, we make the inevitable blunder of staying away from the markets when they are actually low and then trying to enter into the market when the rally has already started and underway. We present this post as a reminder to all that the basic rule (Buy Low, Sell High) is indeed very easy to follow and what we need is a change in our approach to stocks and equity investments.

Weekly Market Update - 12 Aug to 16 Aug 2013

The markets did it again. The Sensex dived 769pts on Friday eroding investor wealth worth Rs. 2lk Cr in a single day. This was the Sensex’s biggest single day fall since 2009. As the Govt. went into damage control mode saying that things will calm down once the measures taken by RBI earlier in the week are interpreted correctly, investors felt the pain of the stock market fall all the more as the rupee touched record lows in intraday. This and more highlights of the week gone by :

Zerodha - Trade More Pay Less

Whenever we transact in Equity, F & O, Currency or Commodities, we pay a slew of taxes to the authorities for each transaction. In addition to these the brokerage firm through which we have done the transaction also charges us some amount as brokerage charges.

Weekly Market Update - 5 Aug to 8 Aug 2013

The market performance past week has shown decisively that we are in tight economic situation for a long time to come. As investors panicked and stocks and rupee fell to new lows everyone felt that this may just be a signal for worse things to come. The highlights of the past week are as follows :

RBI and its Monetary Policy

Any developing economy has mature regulating agencies which oversee the functioning of the nation’s economy as a whole and who have various checks and balances at their command exercise adequate control over the economic conditions when situation demands.

Weekly Market Update - 29 Jul to 2 Aug 2013

The markets saw a lot of red this week. The RBI not changing key rates in its policy review and no concrete signs of revival of the rupee weighed heavily on the markets and the resulting lack of direction took the market and the rupee downwards. Some of the key highlights this week are as follows :

Weekly Market Update 22 Jul to 26 Jul 2013

If last week was the Govt.’s week with its big impact announcements on FDI, this week the RBI ruled the roost with more steps to tighten liquidity and reduce gold imports. As expected, the markets which saw some upside during the early part of the week, turned negative after the announcements from RBI with the banking stocks leading the race down south. This and more highlights in this week’s update :

Incredible Stocks - HDFC Bank

HDFC bank is the second largest private bank in India and one of the earliest entrants in the banking sector. It has all the makings of a good stock investment option. Let us look at it in detail to understand the investment rationale better.

Weekly Market Update 15 Jul to 19 Jul 2013

The week started with RBI taking some tough steps to curb the rupee fall. The RBI actions led to some downfall in the markets and the Bank Nifty remained under pressure for most of the week. The bad news for banks continued with RBI fining 22 banks for violations in KYC norms. There was some positive news with the govt. revising FDI norms in various sectors.

Issue of Bonus Shares by Companies

Issue of bonus shares by a company, like declaring dividends, is another way in which the company rewards its shareholders. Time and again we have heard in the news about some company or the other issuing bonus shares to its shareholders. In this post we will discuss more about bonus shares, how and why they are issued and what’s in it for investors.

Weekly Market Update - 8 Jul to 12 Jul 2013

The markets started with a volatile note at the start of the week. It was soon evident that it is now all important to tame the rupee which started to fall wildly, even crossing the 61/$ mark. As steps were taken to stem the fall and as some good news poured in towards the end of the week, the indices saw a rise with nifty closing above the 6000 mark. The rupee too saw some recovery to close at 59.56/$.

Rupee and its Value Depreciation

Currency is the lifeblood of a nation’s economy. Where currency is affected, the economy is affected. And where the economy is affected, the currency experiences the repercussions. The Indian Rupee has experienced considerable depreciation of value in the recent times and that has affected every aspect of the economy of India. In this post we would will try to examine what depreciation is, what is causing it and what are the effects.

Weekly Market Digest 01 Jul to 05 Jul 2013

The upside of the last week had its aftereffects in the beginning of this week too. But a mixture of news and the woes of falling rupee persisted and all in all it was a pretty unpredictable week filled with market volatility. The main highlights of the week were as follows :

HUL Open Offer - A Quick Look

Hindustan Unilever is the giant in the Indian FMCG sector which has shown remarkable growth and has given its investors good returns in the past. On 21 Jun 2013 the parent company Unilever issued a voluntary open offer at Rs.600/- per share with an additional dividend of Rs.6 per share  in HUL to increase its stake in the Indian arm. Presently Unilever has 52.48% stake in HUL and with the open offer it aims to increase its stake to 75%.

Asset Allocation Decoded

Travelling to picturesque New Zealand or Switzerland on vacation? You won’t start your journey on a bicycle from here, right? You will take the correct mode of transportation. In this case, a flight!!

Similarly, we need to invest in the correct financial instrument to get returns in a time-bound manner so that we can fulfil our life’s goals in a planned manner.

Current Account Deficit - How it Affects India's Economy

The ever increasing Current Account Deficit (CAD) seems to be the biggest issue for the nation’s economy which threatens to engulf everything else in its fold. But why is the CAD such an important factor and what are its effects? Let’s try to answer this for ourselves.

RupyaGyan Weekly Digests

News is the pulse of the economy. News drives the markets and in-turn markets drive news. So, it is imperative that we keep our tabs on the news relevant to us as investors.

Incredible Stocks - Zydus Wellness

Wellness is the new in-thing and wellness products are slowly but surely making steady inroads into our lives. These products, unlike medicines are not a cure for any ailment but should be viewed as health aiding or enhancing supplements.

RupyaGyan in ITB Directory of Best Indian Blogs 2012-13

Its the WOW!! moment for us! RupyaGyan has been listed in the Directory of best Indian Blogs 2012-13 by Indian Top Blogs.

Released on 30-May-2013, the list consists of 541 blogs from India or maintained by Indians considered best by ITB.

Sector Snapshot - Pharmaceuticals

The Indian pharmaceutical sector is the 3rd largest in the world by volume and 14th largest market by value. This very essential sector has shown robust growth and is still growing. The sector has potential to increase to USD34 billion by 2016 from the current USD17.4 billion in 2012.

Returns Summary of Stocks Listed by RupyaGyan

As RupyaGyan has grown in the past one year, we have tackled issues relating to investing in stocks, tried to explain in very simple ways how to spot good stocks and invest in them at the right time and also we have been analysing various companies and stocks for their strengths and investment opportunities using the concepts outlined by us.

Incredible Stocks - MCX

We have known stock exchanges for so long. Stock exchanges encourage companies to list themselves on the exchange for the double purpose of raising money through public equity investment and also for enabling better price discovery and unlocking the real value of the company.

Incredible Stocks - ITC Ltd

ITC Ltd is a well known company operating in diversified segments. This company which was known as only a cigarette manufacturer about 15yrs back has now become a trusted brand in households in the FMCG segments with its varied product offerings. In the period from 1996 to 2012 its non-cigarette segment revenue increased from Rs.1363cr to Rs. 16150cr. This clearly shows ITC’s competitive position in various business verticals.

Inflation - Effect on Investment

What is inflation? It is simply the price rise that we experience in our day to day lives. Inflation is thus perceived as something bad because rising prices reduce our saving power.

It is a given therefore that whatever funding options we are planning to have for our future should be able to tackle this price rise or inflation. This is one important aspect which needs to be factored in, when learning to invest in the right instruments.

Stock Investments and Market Volatility

While going through stocks and stock market related news, we may have come across many terms which indicate the confusing and rather indecisive phase of the stock market or individual stocks. It is useful to understand the nature of such situations and resulting price fluctuations in stocks.

Incredible Stocks - TTK Prestige

TTK Prestige is India’s largest kitchen appliances company by market cap. Its products portfolio caters to a wide range of kitchen needs. From the traditional pressure cooker segment TTK Prestige today offers a host of modern equipments for the urban kitchen. The company offers products for the complete kitchen under the Prestige Smart Kitchen tag.

Investment - The Wealth Creation Tool

We keep hearing about financial planning every now and then. We keep talking about how to make our money flow into the right channels and to make it work of us. For most of us, all this stops with the monthly budgeting exercise where we allocate some amount for our regular expenses and the rest goes into various savings and investments without putting in a second thought to it. The result is that more often than not, the money that we save goes into inefficient channels because we got the balance wrong in the first place.

Becoming Rich - Its Possible!!

When you hear of the word Rich, what is it that you really think of? A big house, luxury car, exotic vacation etc. are some of the pictures that come to our mind. But is it really possible to achieve that? The answer is a resounding Yes!!

Some More Banking Concepts for Investors

We have already dealt with some of the concepts needed to know about banking sector in our post on Fundamental Parameters of Banking. We continue to give some more concepts here to understand banking better so that we are in a good position to evaluate before in any good banking sector stocks.

Incredible Stocks - ICICI Bank

ICICI bank is a well known bank and is presently the second largest bank in India. It has more than 3000 branches in the country and more than 10500 ATMs. This is one of the biggest private sector banks in India and has a very good penetration level at par or even better than some PSU banks.

Incredible Stocks - Amara Raja Batteries

Continuing with our posts on some great stocks in which we can invest, we will look at Amara Raja Batteries Ltd. in this post. The company is a well known company and caters to the industrial battery segment and now commands a good position in the industry. It is the largest supplier of industrial batteries in India and the second largest supplier of automotive batteries. Its most popular brand is Amaron.

Incredible Stocks - CCL Products India

In this post we will introduce you to a company which is in the beverages industry and which is export-oriented. CCL products Ltd. imports coffee beans from various parts of the world and processes them to manufacture different varities of granules and liquid coffee and exports the products to various parts of the world. As you might have understood by now, majority of revenue comes from export market. The company is also collaborating with various retailers to penetrate in the domestic market. This is particularily relevant now as coffee culture is growing and domestic market is looking attractive.

Sector Snapshot - Energy Sector

Energy is a day-to-day requirement. The ever-increasing demand of petroleum and hydrocarbon products is a part of our life. India is an energy-deficient country. 75% of crude oil requirements is catered through imports. The rest is through State run and private oil exploration and production companies catering to the energy needs of the nation.

Sector Snapshot - IT Sector

Information Technology industry has been the stalwart of Indian economy from the past decade. How the IT sector has changed the lifestyle of the Indian middle class is very well known.

It will be worth our while to understand the strength of this sector. It will give us an idea of the extent to which it is necessary to include the IT sector in our investment portfolio.

Sector Snapshot - Consumer Goods

Consumer goods consist of items that we use daily or periodically. Soaps, toiletries, other FMCG items, processed food items, health drinks, home appliances, electronic goods etc. come in the consumer goods category. We all use these items in our day-to-day life. It is a huge sector and with a lot of potential. India is a consumer driven economy and the consumer goods sector has been the direct beneficiary of the affluence of the Indian public.

Sector Snapshot - Banking Sector

When beginning to invest in equities and stocks, it is always helpful to have a rough framework against which you can decide where to invest. If you start looking into individual companies straightaway, it is difficult to put your investment decisions in the correct perspective. Instead, It is easier to decide, which sectors you want to invest in, and then zero-in on a good company in that sector.

Importance of Investing - An Infographic

Why is it important to invest? To have a financially secure life of-course. Good investments will benefit the investor by giving him/her more returns overtime. On the other hand, proper investments are not made in-time, then inflation will certainly catch-up as time passes by.

To understand more clearly the differences in the lifestyle of investors and spenders, we have presented the following infographic.

Incredible Stock - Berger Paints

Continuing with our journey of spotting good stocks to invest which can potentially give good returns, we take a look at Berger Paints. Berger Paints presently has 20% market share and well placed in its business segment.

Berger Paints has presence in the decorative and industrial segment and second amongst the top three companies in this sector. .

Timing The Stock Market

One thing about stock markets which puts-off a number of beginners to stock investments, is the inability to time the markets. We give-in to buzz very easily. When a lot of activity happens in a particular scrip then it is easy for the beginner to do what others are doing and in the rush,  make mistakes. We have to practice, in-order to resist temptation and take the correct decisions. For that, we need to understand two important extremities which arise due to the market buzz.

Gold - My Precious....

My Precious... says Smeagol in J R R Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings, fully aware of his obsession to the ring, yet unable to control his temptation! We too are like the Gollum when it comes to our obsession to the yellow metal. Gold is very precious. The amount of importance we give to gold needs no new introduction. As we are learning to invest and become better investors and wealth creators, we need to look at this precious commodity in the correct perspective. We need to ask ourselves, is it really worth it?

Incredible Stocks - Yes Bank

There are some good stocks to invest in the banking industry too. In this post we will discuss about one such private sector bank. Since its inception in the year 2005 as a listed entity, this bank has transformed itself from a small-sized to a mid-sized bank.

Yes Bank is a relatively new entrant to the banking sector of India

Fundamental Parameters of Banking

Learning to invest in stocks of banks will require a basic knowledge of some parameters which will help us know about the bank’s performance in financial terms. This will form the basis on which we can decide to invest in the stocks of one bank or the other. So, let’s start :

The Business of Banking

Banking is a very essential part of our lives. Where would we be without banks and financial institutions? We cannot even imagine the ease of transactions and the safety of our money without the structure of nationalised banking. Banks and financial institutions have made life easy not only in terms of transactions within the country but also for seamless monetary transactions wherever in the world you are.