Monday, May 18, 2009

Rupee raises


Immediately after the market soar over 2100 points in a single day, the rupee also followed suit and strengthened a whopping 150 paise to reach 48 against the US dollar.

The domestic currency opened with a big gap of 92 paise from its previous close and then later appreciated further. This gain is on the back of the clear electoral verdict as many FII's would be attracted to invest in this country.

The foreign exchange market saw active trade in the early morning. The local stock market were shut down as it had reached the upper circuit. It went up by 2000 points. 

The strengthening of the rupee is bound to have an impact on the Indian IT stocks. Its better to stay away from all the technology stocks for now. Expectations are that the rupee will reach 45 per dollar very soon. This is bound put some pressure on the IT industry.

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Markets create history

Markets have stopped trading for the day as the benchmarks hit the upper circuit as soon as the trade resumed. The upper circuit was breached twice in the same day forcing the markets to be shut. The first upper circuit was reached in 15 seconds which forced the markets to close for an hour. The second time it opened the upper circuit was reached in 17 seconds forcing the markets to close for the day. This has happend for the very first time that two upper circuit was reached on a single day. Upper circuit and lower circuit is kept so that the market doest move up or move down to quickly.

The markets crossed the 14k mark. The markets went up by 2100 points on a single day. This has happened mainly due to the elections results that were announced on saturday. The results shows signs of a stable government headed by congress. With no other party gaining significant number of seats the day to day activites will be completely controlled by a single party. 

Markets had previously worried that gains by smaller regional parties would weigh on the already large fiscal deficit. However, despite the strong support to the UPA government from voters, it is likely to have a tough job in bringing back the economy back on track.

So what should investors do in such a market. It would be adviced to stay away from it till the markets settle down. However, this is a good time for traders. They couldnt play a big role today as the market was open only for a couple of minutes.

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Sunday, May 17, 2009

Stock Market Investment Strategies - when to sell a stock

Lets say you to bought a stock at, Rs 50. You see it climb to Rs 100. The greed in yourself makes you cling onto the stock instead of selling it. And ultimately the stock reaches Rs 40 from Rs 100 in no time, before you can change your decision and sell it.

Investor are attracted to the stock market due to their greed and the sole purpose of making quick money. It makes us think that a rising stock will climb further. But until you sell, the increase in the value of the stock is only on paper.

The decision for the investors to make is to buy the stocks at the right time and sell it when it is at its peak. Even investment analysts and fund managers admit that finding the right time and price is very difficult. Here I present some of the guidelines that can help you in making the decision.

  • First off, accept that it is almost impossible to sell the stock at its peak. When you sell, there will always a few more that you could have made. Accept this fact and be happy with the profit you made, as greed inevitably leads to costly mistakes. If your stock takes off then it's time to do a reality check. Is this a reasonable increase because the business fundamentals have improved that much? If yes, keep the stocks and your cool. If not, you're probably looking at a bubble. Get away from this stock immediately. Surely you may think that you didnt make slightly more profit, yet you should feel happy that you didnt have the stock when it will take a beating in the coming days.
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  • The best strategy would be this "If you had no shares, would you buy some at the current price? If yes, stay put or buy more. If not, sell and cut back your losses." This should be done at particular intervals of time to re-balance your portfolio.

  • Whenever you buy a stock maintain a target price at which you will sell the stock partially or fully. When the target price of your stocks has been reached, taking a selling decision is easy.

  • By having a stop loss trigger you sell a stock, not to book profits, but to minimise your losses. A stop-loss sell order is a contingent order that will get triggered only if the stock does fall to a particular price.

  • There could be fundamental reasons why you should think of selling the stock that you have long owned. It could be a sudden about turn in the company’s financials or prospects

  • Whether it is a bull phase or a bear market rally, there will always be stocks in your portfolio that merit selling or replacing with other options.

  • Booking of profits is should be your aim as it leaves you with liquidity, which can be handy when there is an opportunity to buy.