Case for a 50 basis points on May 3??
“Sakhi saiyan to khub hi kamat hai…..mehngai daayan maare jaat hai….” goes a number from a popular bollywood flick and rightly so atleast for RBI.
Since the last 15 months or so…RBI has been trying to battle the rising inflation by raising rates (What are policy rates?) eight times since March last year. However inflation, now it seems, is getting out of RBI’s control. Over the last one year, there have been many a concerns over structural bottlenecks in the economy which have been causing inflation. Well this might be true, I am not arguing against that. But even if Government decisively acts against structural cause of inflation, it would be some time before anything (like improving storage warehouses, improving transportation facilities, improving public distribution system etc) can be done and it impacts the mighty inflation. More >
Federal Reserve and Regulators Work Together For Financial Reform
The economic debacle of 2008 brought the modern economic system to the brink of total collapse. In fact, there was a brief period of weeks in September and October of 2008 when the most powerful people in the world were unsure what was going to happen. The incredible shock and general mayhen that swept through the market when Lehman Brothers and Fannie and Freddie faced collapse resulted in frenzied selling and fear on a catastrophic level.
In response to these dire circumstances, Central Bank leaders around the world joined in a historically unprecedented move of unity as they all slashed short-term interest rates to historically low levels in order to ease credit markets and stimulate interbank lending. Magically, it somehow worked.
Muthoot Finance IPO- Right Price, Right Opportunity, Right Time
Company and business
Muthoot finance Limited is Non-Banking Finance Company, headquarters in Southern India state of Kerala. MFL is a subsidiary of Muthoot Capital Service Ltd.
MFL provide personal and business loan secured by gold jewellery or gold loans to individuals particularly to whom loans are not available at all. Muthoot Group is into diversified business which includes hospitality, health care, media, education, information technology, foreign exchange, insurance distribution and money transfer service. The company also operates three windmills in the state of Tamil Nadu but the same forms a very small segment, about 0.23% of the total revenue.
About Gold financing
Gold Finance is a personal and business loan secured by gold jewellery, or gold loans to the the individuals who have the jewellery but unable to access loans in short period. There are several schemes varying from company to company. Gold Loan market is the fastest growing loan finance market. The market grew 46% CAGR over FY07-10 driven by expansion. Gold loan market is expected to rise at 40% over the next three years, based on competitive landscape and changes in the trends. It is also expected that the gold loan market will welcome enough opportunities for portfolio diversification and expansion and can yield huge margins to NBFC. Among loan product basket lending against gold is the most favourable retail loan product. Du-point analysis reveals that gold finance business generated – 4% ROA in the past five years in India. It is believed that gold finance sector continues to rise and yield good margins.
The Relevance of Economic Indicators to Financial Markets
Economic indicators can be broken down into 3 basic categories: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary. Primary indicators are the ones that everyone should be paying attention to, secondary indicators are less important in determining the direction of the market but can often times serve to help evaluate primary indicators, and tertiary indicators are the ones that are only of interest to niche markets.
For this article we will focus on the Primary Economic Indicators and how to use them to determine the direction of the market. It is important to note that every analyst and economist out there has their own list of indicators, so we will be concentrating primarily on the three biggest indicators, and will provide a list of other ones as well should you be interest in doing more in-depth research on the topic.
10 Commandments of Successful Investing
Let me unveil the 10 commandments of successful investing today. These commandments strictly followed can make you a successful investor; make you richer. The successful legendary investors like Benjamin graham, warren buffet have followed these principles. So why not you…?
Decide your investment strategy and stick to it:
An investor may invest in SIP and when the market continues to fall he will discontinue his SIP. But market crash is the right time to continue your SIP. Because, during the market crash you will get more number of units and the averaging works out in your favour.
Another investor may decide 50:50 as his debt:equity asset allocation ratio. When the market goes up he may want to invest more in equity and hence he may change his asset allocation to 30:70. Actually when the market goes up one need to reduce his equity exposure to bring the portfolio back to his predetermined asset allocation ratio. More >
ELSS Mutual Funds
Consumers are offered two different options with Equity Linked Service Scheme (ELSS) mutual funds. The two types are: growth option and dividend options. This mode of investment will help individuals save on taxes. ELSS mutual funds require a three year investment period. The ELSS mutual funds are recommended to help individuals avoid tax problems.
Investors are recommended to study the past performance of the ELSS mutual funds to predict future behavior. While these mutual funds are safer than other investments, they are not completely free of fluctuation.
In the event that the investor dies prematurely, the investor will name an heir to the ELSS mutual fund. They heir can access the funds after one year from the date of allotment.
Understanding ULIP
ULIP or Unit Linked Insurance Policy/Plan - ULIP is the most talked about insurance plans. But before investing into such plans we need to look at the risk-return associated with it. Read the question and answers below to understand the concept of ULIP in detail.
1. What is ULIP ?
A ULIP is a life insurance policy which provides a combination of risk cover and investment in equity and debt markets. Unlike traditional plans, the ups and downs of share market have a direct effect on the performance of the ULIPs.
Find out the difference between ULIP and Mutual Funds
2. What is a Unit Fund?
The allocated (invested) portions of the premiums after deducting for all the charges and premium for risk cover under all policies in a particular fund as chosen by the policy holders are pooled together to form a Unit fund. More >
Avoid these two emotions and Be a successful Investor
Let’s start having a look:
An experienced long-term investor once told me that when he looked at his face after a share market fall he found despair and fear, while the same face showed enthusiasm and happiness with a share market appreciation. This made him realize that greed and fear were the 2 magnetic forces that caused confusion in investment goals. A balanced and objective approach would help him achieve his long-term financial goals.
Hindrances to positive and objective approach to investment decisions:
My close look at investment behavior has made me realize that fear and greed is not separate but complimentary emotions in an investor. Greed is merely a mental state born out of fear, with investors feeling the fear to lose money and then being unable to meet their family financial obligations. In addition, social pressures to earn in line with close relatives and friends and provide for benefits like higher education in a prestigious college, a grand marriage for children and a house with all modern amenities and furnishings leads to greed. More >
Maharashtra Budget 2011
Generally it is the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister of India which creates a lot of furor in the securities markets. But this time around, there is a state budget which is causing market participants some panic in operations. It is the Maharashtra State Budget.
Maharashtra Budget 2011
Ajit Pawar, Finance Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, presented the state’s budget for 2011-12 and since then has been in news and not for very good reasons. More >
How & Why Should you invest in Stock Markets Even After Your Retirement?
Inflation and Retirement
Most Retirees feel great getting a bulk sum as provident fund and gratuity, and wish they knew a magician, who could spin their money 2 to 3 times in just 5 years, in addition to ensuring a regular return for their day to day expenses. It is true we all want it to keep up with the inflation rate in the market. I know of no such magicians, and it is practically not possible to multiply your money 2 to 3 times in just 5 years. But I definitely know of smart investment planning and investment advisors that could help you to beat inflation. More >
