10 stocks you may invest in

Foreign investors are back with a bang on the bourses as concerns about the course of interest rates and oil prices have receded somewhat. In the current quarter till date, FIIs have made net purchases of Rs 4,300 crore (Rs 43 billion) in the cash market.
        Even in among emerging markets, India has attracted maximum interest. This is a marked shift from the June quarter, when FIIs were net sellers in the cash market to the tune of Rs 6,291 crore (Rs 62.91 billion). Ironically, an analysis of the FII holdings for the June quarter - based on the data available so far - reveals that they have been buying more than selling.
        Of the 449 stocks in which they had more than one per cent stake at the end of the June quarter, FIIs cut their positions in 198 stocks, maintained their holdings in 28 stocks and hiked their stakes in 223 stocks. Besides, there are three key findings:
    FII purchases don't matter much: When sentiment is bearish, all stocks go down. It does not matter whether somebody is buying, at all, or not. May be because the purchases are too few in numbers to counter the general pessimism that nags the market. So, even those stocks in which FIIs had hiked their stakes saw their prices decline 14.35 per cent, on an average.
           However, stocks where FIIs reduced their stakes recorded a sharper fall of around 19.76 per cent. It may be worthwhile to mention here that in some stocks the stakes have gone up on the back of conversion of warrants and, hence, this might not have had a direct impact on the stock prices unlike secondary market purchases.
        One decisive factor behind FIIs reducing their exposure to some stocks was high valuations. Since FIIs have been early entrants in the rally this time around, they have also been booking profits more periodically. But after the recent fall, several stocks are looking attractive once again. To know the 10 stocks visit this link

Tags: stocks, foreign investors, FIIs, market shift, invest

How best to diversify your portfolio

The benefits of diversifying one's portfolio are, of course, known to all. It helps align our investment portfolio with our financial-cum-risk profile. It protects us from any downside in one particular asset class. As each one of has a unique financial-cum-risk profile, each one of us must Build a suitable mix of investment across various assets classes viz. debt, equity, real-estate, gold etc.
        Even among the broad asset class like debt or equity, there are sub-classes. One must diversify suitably across these sub-classes too. For example in debt one must invest suitably in Bank FD, NSC/KVP and PPF etc. Or in equity one has to diversify across large-cap, mid-cap, small-cap, sector-specific.
        Going further, even within particular sub-class say large-cap equity, one has to choose a mix of individual stocks. The overall approach is a top-down one i.e. starting from the broad allocation across asset classes, you move down to choosing individual investment options.
        We could invest separately in each of the individual option as per our desired allocation strategy. This approach gives us the total flexibility to choose what we want. We have full control over our financial decisions. But this approach

• can become a bit cumbersome


• requires one to have the time and the knowledge to identify and invest separately in individual opportunities. This is more particularly true of building and managing one's own equity portfolio, where things are more dynamic and risky as compared to debt


• a fairly large corpus is needed to achieve the desired diversification


• the transaction costs could work out to be high


• the tax efficiency is low

Mutual Funds offer some simplification and tax-efficiency, but this so far is limited to equity and debt. We may, however, shortly see real estate and gold funds too. Even within say debt all instruments are not included such as PPF, where we would still have to invest separately. Further, Mutual Funds also offer different routes to achieving the desired diversification. Read more

Tags: portfolio, diversify portfolio, investment, risk profile, debt, equity market, bank FD, PPF, large-cap, small-cap, mid-cap, stocks, large corpus, tax, Mutual funds, gold funds, real estate

10 ways your broker can pick your pocket

Check out any television advertisement for a full-service brokerage firm, and the same words tend  to pop up: trust, integrity, relationships. Last year, Morgan Stanley ran ads that depicted a broker cheering wildly on the sidelines of a soccer game -- that of his client's kid.
        But look for the fine print on any full-service brokerage's Web site and you'll see the following: "Our interests may not be the same as yours." That's because, when it comes right down to it, brokers are salespeople.
        There's the rub. Some brokers may try to pitch you products that will earn them higher commissions. "They aren't committing fraud, but it's not necessarily good advice for the investor, either," says Barbara Black, who previously founded the Securities Arbitration Clinic at Pace University School of Law and now is the director of the Corporate Law Center at the University of Cincinnati. Here are the Ten ways your broker can pick your pocket

1	Selling you bad brokerage funds
2	'Flavor of the month' funds
3	Putting you in Class B shares
4	No reduced sales charge for large investments
5	No discounts -- Period
6	Not telling you stocks may be a better option
7	Putting you in a wrap account
8	Variable annuities
9	Switching to another family of mutual funds
10	What fees?

Read more at this post

Tags: stock broker, online brokerage, stocks, brokerage funds

Which is the best drive? CNG or LPG

Should you get yourself a CNG or an LPG car? Here's the answer.
        In 1999, Fiat India had brought down two radically different machines to India for the Auto Expo, and both were breathtaking... in their own way. One was the downright gorgeous Alfa Romeo Spider (in red, that too), and the other was the downright outrageous Fiat Multipla (painted in a description-defying bluish-greenish combo).
         Given a choice, most people would grab the Alfa's keys, but to me, not even Pininfarina's iconic styling could tempt me away from the incredibly bizarre Fiat MPV. I loved it just the way it was. The Multipla was an amazingly friendly vehicle, and Fiat had put in a great deal of thinking in its development. It was as wide as an elephant, but moved with the grace of a gazelle. It was quick, extremely responsive and fun to drive.
        And what's more, it was powered by CNG. No petrol switchover. Yes, 100 per cent CNG. I never thought alternate-fuel vehicles could be this exciting to drive - the 95 bhp 1600cc 'blupower' engine of the Multipla changed my perceptions completely.  The biggest consumers for CNG are traditionally commercial vehicles, taxis and autorickshaws -- which will be the case for a long time to come. But with a choice in cars that run on CNG/LPG, we might be seeing a slight degree of change.
        So if you want to buy a CNG or an LPG car, what choice do you have? In CNG, you have the Chevrolet Optra, the Mitsubishi Lancer and recently, the Tata Indica and Indigo Marina. Ford India too will get onto the bandwagon, with a CNG Ikon scheduled to be introduced in the northern and western parts of the country - where the CNG distribution infrastructure is established - next month.
        And in LPG, you have the Suzuki Wagon R Duo and Omni, while the Tata hatchback and estate will also be available with LPG options. You can now convert any petrol vehicle to CNG or LPG. But the difference now is that manufacturers themselves are offering these as options. Earlier, you had to go to an authorised kit installer to convert your car (and cross your fingers hoping it would be safe), but now, you can opt for it at the dealership level itself. No, it still does not mean factory-fitted, it is an aftermarket fitment.  Read more at this post

Tags: CNG, LPG, Fiat India, fuel vehicles, taxis, LPG car, suzuki, Tata, dealership, market, stocks

Check out the hottest mutual funds

Mutual funds predominantly bought engineering, media, pharma, and oil and gas stocks in July, while they continued to be bearish on the metal stocks. Telecom, FMCG, particularly sugar stocks too weighed heavy on their sell list, while stocks were re-aligned in the banking, cement, IT, auto, and power sectors. They bought huge chunks of IDFC, Gujarat Ambuja Cement, and NTPC, while diluted exposure to Hindalco, Hindustan Lever, and Balrampur Chini. In terms of value, Reliance Industries, Gujarat Ambuja Cement, and NTPC were the top purchases by MFs, while ICICI Bank, Hindustan Lever, and Bharti Airtel topped the sell list.
        A study of the top ten mutual funds' equity portfolios as on July 31, which are Prudential ICICI, UTI, Reliance, HDFC, Templeton, Birla SunLife, SBI, Standard Chartered, Kotak, and Tata MF reveals that four out of the ten MFs added to their investments in the banking and finance pivotal IDFC. Templeton MF was the top buyer of the stock with almost 101 lakh shares bought. Among other banking and finance stocks, Syndicate Bank, Centurion Bank, and Bank of India topped the buy list, while ICICI Bank, Dena Bank, and Oriental Bank of Commerce were among the top sells. ICICI Bank was the top sold stock in terms of value. It was sold by five out of 10 mutual funds. Templeton MF was the top seller with over 27.8 lakh shares sold.
        Among other banking and finance stocks, Syndicate Bank, Centurion Bank, and Bank of India topped the buy list, while ICICI Bank, Dena Bank, and Oriental Bank of Commerce were among the top sells. ICICI Bank was the top sold stock in terms of value. It was sold by five out of 10 mutual funds. Templeton MF was the top seller with over 27.8 lakh shares sold.
         Hindalco Industries, the top sell, was sold six out of the ten MFs. Reliance MF was the top seller of the stock with over 47.8 lakh shares sold. Templeton, Birla, SBI, Tata, and StanChart MF also off-loaded the stock, while HDFC, UTI, and Pru ICICI MF made additional investments in it. Among other metal stocks, Sail, Hindustan Zinc, and ISMT were among the top sells, while JSW Steel was the only buy in the top 50 list.  Read more at this post

Tags: Mutual funds, media, pharma, metal stocks, banking, stocks, cement, sugar, it, auto, power sector, NTPC, Hindalco, Hindustan lever, Reliance, ICICI bank, HDFC, Reliance, UTI, Kotak, Birla, finance, portfolio, syndicate, Templeton MF, Tata, JSW steel, ONGC, FMCG