Stock Market Basics

How to invest in large cap mutual funds

2010-09-02T02:16:00.000-07:00

Before you even go and pick a fund let us first understand what is a large cap. The large cap stock is a stock which has a big market capitalisation and when I say big it will mean something in excess of $5-$10 billion. Now that said let us look at the Dow Jones Index and you will see that most of the stocks in that are those which have large market capitalization. So some of the companies the portfolio will be Wal-Mart, General electric and Johnson and Johnson.

Things to note
Before you invest in a large cap mutual fund make sure that you know that the returns of course will be lesser than the returns that you will generate when you invest in small cap funds or the mid cap funds as these companies generally grow faster.

Less risk
Now that said the amount of risk that you need to take is also less and that will mean that you will have less returns. It is common knowledge that high risk means high returns.
Large cap funds are the best way to diversify your portfolio and build some stability in your portfolio. These large cap funds look and behave like index only as most of the large companies are part of the index. However that said each mutual fund manager has a different style and that will tell you how the fund is being managed and how well it is meeting its objectives.
The growth for the big companies is not that fast as compared to other mid cap companies which have a big market to capture as well as they have something which is totally special which ability to take quick decisions whereas big companies have a lot of factors to weigh on before they take a decisions and hence are not as nimble footed.

Now here are some of the funds that are large cap.

Fidelity Contra fund with a massive $78 billion fund is one of the large funds in the Fidelity Family and the second among those funds is the Investment Company of America
Here are some of the others which are very good and these are

Reynolds Blue Chip Growth
Putnam Voyager Y
TIAA-CREF Life Funds Growth Equity
Wells Fargo Advantage VT Omega Growth 1
FMI Large Cap Fund

Large cap mutual funds to buy in India

2010-09-02T02:15:00.000-07:00

There are several funds that have been launched and all with all those exotic names like opportunities fund, infrastructure fund, special situations and what not. In those good times of growth generally nobody cares as each fund is giving a very good return of course the mid cap stocks perform much better than the regular stocks and hence all those mid cap funds is where the investor money goes. It is only when the times are bad that the large cap fund find favour and it is here that we need to be vary careful as to what does the fund really offer.

There are three or four funds which absolutely a must if you want to invest in the large cap funds sector and these are

Franklin India Blue chip – This fund is a must have in your portfolio and this fund has given some amazing return since the launch in year 1993. It has annualised returns of 27% nearly and believe me that kind of returns are one of the best in the category. This fund should be there in your diversified portfolio as you need to have some stability.

Franklin India Prima Plus – This fund is the best when it comes to picking goof mid cap winners as well as investing in large cap funds. This stock has done wonderfully well and the returns have been very good.

Fidelity Equity Fund – This fund is that not that old like Blue chip but still has been able to make a good impression and deliver impressive returns. This fund is backed by the best fund house in America and it has delivered very good returns over the years.

HDFC Top 200 – Again one of the very best mutual funds and this is a must have in your portfolio. It tracks the benchmark BSE 200 but still has give returns which are on par with some of the star mid caps funds in heydays.

How to invest in oil futures

2010-09-02T02:14:00.000-07:00

These oil futures simply said is an investment contract in which you agree to buy or sell oil at a specified price. These futures or contracts can be bought and sold at the futures exchange and these are entirely liquid. That way you can easily invest in oil rather than actually buying the oil itself.

So basically the oil futures are contracts between two parties and they can be easily traded in the stock exchange. The exchange and the broker which is supposed to be there for the oil futures are very different than the regular broker who deals in stocks and shares.

Just to give you an idea that crude oil contract represents 100 barrels of crude oil. So the basic unit is 1000 barrels and that will mean that dollar movement in the price of crude will make an impact of 1000 dollars plus or minus.

Trade basics

Now if you think that prices will increase then go long on the contract and buy as many contracts as you want. Then for every one dollar increase your contracts will increase in value by $1000 for each contract.

If you think that prices will decline then you can go short on the oil futures. Each price will increase your contract value.

For closing the trade make sure that you take the opposite position and

Futures brokerage account – to make an investment in the oil futures you will have to invest in opening a new account with a brokerage firm which offers futures brokerages. There are a lot of them if you go online. Once you have searched for the firm online and funded the account you are ready to trade in an oil future. You can fund the account with wire transfer or by linking with accredit card or a debit card. Make sure that you know about the brokerage that the firm charges.

There are other ways to invest in oil.

But first the oil economy depends on the supply and demand of the . The supply is basically from the oil producing countries which are OPEC countries. The demand is huge form India and China as they have a growing affluent middle class and they have now have good disposable incomes and hence they buy more cars and hence more need for fuel.

So based on that you can invest in oil and the ways are
Investing in oil stocks like Royal Dutch Shell, Premier Oil, British Petroleum, Dragon Oil or Tullow Oil and Cairn Energy, Dana Petroleum and Soco International . Beware that these stocks can go into a prolonged bearish phase based on the demand for the oil.

Then you can invest in Oil ETF from providers like dbx-Trackers, Lyxor and iShares and the most common one is the ETFS Crude oil.

What does ELSS stand for and best ELSS for tax saving – top 10 ELSS schemes

2010-09-02T02:00:00.000-07:00

ELSS in simple terms means equity linked saving scheme and the yes the name definitely suggests these are schemes whereby in which you invest then you get a tax benefit. Let me explain how it works.

In the current tax laws you invest up to 1 lakh u/s 80C. That 1 lakh rupees can be invested in any of the tax saving schemes like PPF or NSC and one such scheme is the ELSS or the equity linked saving scheme. These scheme need to take the clearance from the government when they launch as ELSS. They need to invest more than 65% of their corpus at any time in the equity to be called equity schemes.

That said these have a lock in period of 3 years and that will mean that you will get the tax advantage only if you invest for more than 3 years.
Equity linked saving scheme is very good with returns that they give and in the last few years the CAGR has been in the range of 16%
.
Let us compare that with the returns that NSC or the PF gives. In these cases the returns would be around 8% and if you are senior citizen the return would be around 9%.

Here are the top 8 again based on the amount of years you have invested. Looking at last five years the best schemes have been

1 Magnum Taxgain
2 Canara Robeco Equity Tax Saver
3 Sundaram BNP Paribas Taxsaver
4 HDFC Taxsaver
5 Sahara Tax Gain
6 ICICI Prudential Tax Plan
7 Franklin India Taxshield
8 Birla Sun Life Tax Relief 96

Now if you look at 3 year returns then the best schemes are

Rank Fund Name

1 Taurus Tax Shield
2 Canara Robeco Equity Tax Saver
3 Sahara Tax Gain
4 Sundaram BNP Paribas Taxsaver
5 Religare Tax Plan
6 Fidelity Tax Advantage
7 Franklin India Taxshield
8 HDFC Taxsaver
9 Birla Sun Life Tax Relief
10 Magnum Taxgain

Top 5 tax saving mutual funds in India or Equity linked savings scheme – ELSS

2010-09-02T01:59:00.000-07:00

In India for the tax benefit there is this section which is called the section 80C and under this you can save up to I lakh rupees. That will mean that you can very easily invest up to 1 lakh in these schemes. The challenge in this is that you will have a lock in period of 3 years.

The best part is that the mutual fund managers get the money for 3 years and they can easily get to maximize the money and they have no short term pressures like in the other equity diversified mutual fund schemes.

That said here is the low down on the kind of returns that you can make on an annualized basis. In the last two three years the returns have been in the vicinity of 16% year on year.

Here are some of the best ELSS schemes that are available for investing.

SBI Magnum Tax Gain 1993
* Birla Sunlife Tax Relief 1996
* Sundaram BNP Paribas Tax Saver
* Franklin India Tax Shield
* Prudential ICICI Tax Plan

Apart from the fact that these are tax saving schemes the benefit is that you will get the financial discipline of investing as well as you can very make good money. And believe me it is much better than the other tax saving methods like the PPF and the ULIP schemes. The reason being that they do not invest in equities and hence have very less returns compare dto the 16% returns that ELSS schemes are giving out.

That ULIP have the equity component but they take out a good amount of money for death benefits and administrative costs such that it becomes very tough for the scheme to get good returns in initial five seven years.
There are several other avenues which can give you tax benefit like post office schemes but again the returns are much lesser but the benefit of security is there are as there is simply no chance of losing the capital.

Tax implications of investing in mutual funds in India

2010-09-02T01:58:00.000-07:00

There are two things that that you have to keep in mind and these are the Dividends and the second are the capital gains.

Dividends are not taxed in India

Any income which is distributed by the mutual funds is not taxed in the hands of the unit holders however that said the debt oriented mutual funds as well as the money market mutual fund spay the dividend distribution tax according to SEBI rules.

Capitals gains tax – Long term vs short term

Long term capital gains tax is currently zero if you decide to sell the units. Now long term in the Indian scenario means you have the holding for more than 365 days a year. Now this rate of 0% income tax is only in case the STT or the securities transaction tax is paid by you. What that means is that transaction is done via recognized stock exchange or the units are repurchased back from you by the mutual fund. Now if the STT is not paid then you will be charged 10% without indexation and 20% without indexation as the tax rate.

If you have the units with you for less than 365 days in a year the you will be charges a short term capital gains tax and this rate is the normal income tax rate.

Here is the short guide for you while considering tax implications of selling the mutual funds

Short Term Capital Gain Tax

15.45% for Equity Funds
As per Income Tax Slab - For Liquid funds/Money Market Funds
As per Income Tax Slab - For Debt fund/liquid plus Funds

Long Term Capital Gain Tax

Nil for Equity Funds
Less of 10% without indexation or 20% with indexation - For Liquid funds/Money Market Funds

Less of 10% without indexation or 20% with indexation - For Debt fund/liquid plus Funds

Dividend Distribution Tax

Nil for Equity Funds

28.325% For Liquid funds/Money Market Funds

14.163% For Debt fund/liquid plus Funds

What are the various mutual fund companies in India?

2010-09-02T01:38:00.001-07:00

Well there are several companies which are known as Asset management companies or AMC’s. The biggest among them is the Reliance Mutual fund and then there is the ICICI Prudential and Franklin Templeton. Also the new ones like DSP Blackrock is also there.

That said you should not go by the name of the fund house but rather by the name of the fund. There are certain schemes that have done better than the others and in some areas the new one shave done wonderfully well.

In the oldies I like

Franklin Templeton Blue Chip Fund
HDFC Prudence Balanced fund
HDFC Top 200 fund
Reliance Growth Fund

In the new ones I ilke the

Fidelity Growth fund
Sundaram Midcap fund

Meanwhile here are the names of the various fund houses that are there iin India.

AIG Global Investments..
Axis Mutual Fund
Baroda Pioneer Mutual..
Benchmark Mutual Fund
Bharti AXA Mutual Fund
Birla Sun Life Mutual.
Canara Robeco Mutual..
DBS Chola Mutual Fund..
Deutsche Mutual Fund
DSP Blackrock Mutual..
Edelweiss Mutual Fund
Escorts Mutual Fund
Fidelity Mutual Fund
Fortis Mutual Fund
Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund
HDFC Mutual Fund
HSBC Mutual Fund
ICICI Prudential Mutual.
IDFC Mutual Fund
ING Mutual Fund
JM Financial Mutual ..
JPMorgan Mutual Fund
Kotak Mahindra Mutual..
L&T Mutual Fund
LIC Mutual Fund
Mirae Asset Mutual Fund.
Morgan Stanley Mutual Fund..
Peerless Mutual Fund
PRINCIPAL Mutual Fund.
Quantum Mutual Fund
Reliance Mutual Fund
Religare Mutual Fund
Sahara Mutual Fund
SBI Mutual Fund
Shinsei Mutual Fund
Sundaram BNP Paribas..
Tata Mutual Fund
Taurus Mutual Fund
UTI Mutual Fund

Note that you can invest in these mutual fund companies either directly or through your broker. I would suggest that you go for the systematic investment plan. These systematic investment plans are better than lump sum investments as that will bring financial discipline to your investments.

Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) mutual funds in India

2010-09-02T01:37:00.000-07:00

Here is the list of ETF mutual funds in India. These mutual funds definitely have a benefit as these can be very easily considered to have the benefits of what is called a closed end fund as well as open end fund. These ETF’s follow stock market indices and then you trade as a single stock . The big thing with these is that these provide adequate diversification and the liquidity and ease of investing in the entire index

Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) Schemes

Kotak PSU Bank ETF

PSU Bank Benchmark Exchange Traded Scheme

Bank BeES

Reliance Banking Exchange Traded Fund

Junior BeES

UTI Gold Exchange Traded Fund

Kotak Gold ETF

Quantum Gold Exchange Traded Fund - Growth

Gold BeES

Reliance Gold Exchange Traded Fund - Dividend

SBI Gold Exchange Traded Scheme

S&P CNX NIFTY UTI National Depository Receipts Scheme

Nifty BeES

Quantum Index Fund - Growth

Kotak Sensex ETF

ICICI SENSEX Prudential Exchange Traded Fund

Shariah BeES

Liquid BeES

Kotak Nifty ETF

Religare Gold Exchange Traded Fund

Hang Seng BeES

Mutual Fund Strategies – Which one to invest in

2010-09-02T01:36:00.000-07:00

There are a variety of mutual funds and these are based on the kind of strategy they follow to make money for you.

Here are the basic types of mutual funds that are there

Equity Funds – These fund primarily buy the equities. Then within these there are a variety of investing strategies that are there and these are value investing and growth investing. Then there are sector funds which invest in stocks of a particular sector.

Bonds or Fixed Income Funds – These hold bonds and fixed income securities in its portfolio.

Balanced Funds – These hold bonds and stocks in a permissible proportion as stated in the initial guidance of the funds. These funds keep altering the investment in stocks and bonds based on the investing scenario.

Income or Dividend Funds – These have income generating stocks which pay dividends as well as preferred stocks which pay big dividends.

Money market funds or short term funds – these are those who want to park their money for a short term and gain some amount on it. They will generally have less return but they are safe and very liquid.

Again based on this you should not be taking your decisions as the basic decision and the mutual fund investing strategy should come form your money needs and at what age you are in.

If you are in your 20s then you need to make sure that ypou invest in aggressive funds so that your money can grow and you can make good money form those. You can take a few risks in life and you are still earning. That will mean that you should be able to get good returns with even bigger risks.

As you start reaching your retirement age you will need to make sure that you have good money plus the money that you earned should not go down the drain when the stock market tanks. That will mean that when you near your retirement age make sure that you invest in conservative funds and these conservative funds are those which will be very much like balance funds or the bond funds . These may not be the best of the funds but they will be able to make sure that you conserve your principal amount.

That way you will have good cash when you retire rather than worrying about the amount that you have invested in the stock market and then seeing it all gone when the market crashes.

So as an mutual fund strategy make sure that you diversify and allocate your assets based on the age you are in.

Reliance mutual fund - Reliance Capital

2010-09-02T01:35:00.000-07:00

Reliance mutual fund is from the famous Reliance group. Now it is with Reliance Dhirubhai Ambani’s younger son Anil Dhirubhai Ambani and the group name is R-ADAG and the main sponsor of the fund is Reliance Capital Ltd.

This fund has the largest asset base and it is managed to have very good schemes in the last two decades of existence beginning with Reliance Growth and Reliance Vision Fund.

Reliance has schemes covering equity, debt, money market and sector funds.

Scheme Name
Reliance Medium Term Fund-Retail Plan - Growth Plan Bonus Option
Reliance Medium Term Fund-Retail Plan - Growth Plan Growth Option
Reliance Medium Term Fund-Retail Plan - Monthly Dividend Plan
Reliance Medium Term Fund-Retail Plan - Quarterly Dividend Plan
Reliance Dynamic Bond Fund-Dividend Plan-Dividend Option
Reliance Dynamic Bond-Growth Plan-Growth Option
Reliance Short Term Fund-Dividend Re-investment Plan
Reliance Short Term Fund-Growth Plan
Reliance Short Term Fund-Quarterly Dividend Plan
Reliance Banking Fund-Dividend Plan-Dividend Option
Reliance Banking Fund-Growth Plan-Bonus Option
Reliance Banking Fund-Growth Plan-Growth Option
Reliance Diversified Power Sector Fund-Dividend Plan-Dividend
Reliance Diversified Power Sector Fund-Growth-Bonus
Reliance Diversified Power Sector Fund-Growth-Growth
Reliance Equity Fund-Dividend Plan-Dividend Option
Reliance Equity Fund-Growth Plan-Bonus Option
Reliance Equity Fund-Growth Plan-Growth Option
Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund-Dividend Plan-Dividend Option
Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund-Growth Plan-Bonus Option
Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund-Growth Plan-Growth Option
Reliance Growth Fund-Dividend Plan-(D)
Reliance Growth Fund-Growth Plan-Bonus Option
Reliance Growth Fund-Growth Plan-Growth Option
Reliance Media & Entertainment Fund-Dividend Plan-Dividend Option
Reliance Media & Entertainment Fund-Growth Plan-Bonus Option
Reliance Media & Entertainment Fund-Growth Plan-Growth Option
Reliance NRI Equity Fund-Dividend Plan-Dividend Option
Reliance NRI Equity Fund-Growth Plan-Bonus Option
Reliance NRI Equity Fund-Growth Plan-Growth Option
Reliance Pharma Fund-Dividend-Dividend
Reliance Pharma Fund-Growth Plan-Bonus
Reliance Pharma Fund-Growth Plan-Growth
Reliance Regular Savings Fund-DEBT OPTION -Growth Option
Reliance Regular Savings Fund-EQUITY OPTION-Growth Option
Reliance Regular Savings Fund-BALANCED OPTION-Growth Option
Reliance Vision Fund-DIVIDEND PLAN-D
Reliance Vision Fund-GROWTH PLAN-Bonus Option
Reliance Vision Fund-GROWTH PLAN-Growth Option
Reliance Liquidity Fund-Bonus Plan-Bonus Option
Reliance Liquidity Fund-Dividend Plan-Daily Dividend Reinvestment
Reliance Liquidity Fund-Dividend Plan-Monthly Dividend Plan
Reliance Liquidity Fund-Dividend Plan-Weekly Dividend Reinvesment
Reliance Liquidity Fund-Growth Plan-Growth Option
Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund-Dividend Plan-Dividend Option
Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund-Growth Plan-Growth Option
Reliance Gold Exchange Traded Fund-Dividend Payout Option

SBI mutual fund

2010-09-02T01:10:00.000-07:00

This mutual fund is sponsored by the largest public sector bank in India which is the SBI. For the Asset Management company there is a joint venture between Societe Generale Asset Management and SBI.

SBi has about 2,00, 000 investors in its various schemes and this has the largest amount of asset base as SBI has a very vast reach.
Not only that SBI has managed to have very good schemes and these schemes have gone well with the investors.

SBI also has a vast majority of schemes that are a mix of equity funs, debt funds and ba fiunds.

Scheme Name
SBI Magnum Income Fund-Bonus
SBI Magnum Income Fund-Dividend
SBI Magnum Income Fund-Growth
SBI Magnum Income Plus Fund - Investment Plan (D)
SBI Magnum Income Plus Fund - Investment Plan (G)
SBI Magnum Income Plus Fund - Savings Plan (D)
SBI Magnum Income Plus Fund - Savings Plan (G)
SBI Magnum Monthly Income Plan-Dividend-Annually
SBI Magnum Monthly Income Plan-Dividend-Monthly
SBI Magnum Monthly Income Plan-Dividend-Quaterly
SBI Magnum Monthly Income Plan - Growth
Magnum Equity Fund -Dividend
Magnum Equity Fund- Growth
SBI Arbitrage Opportunities Fund - Div
SBI Arbitrage Opportunities Fund - Gr
SBI BLUE CHIP FUND-DIVIDEND
SBI BLUE CHIP FUND-GROWTH
SBI Magnum Children Benefit Plan- Holding Held for <= 1 Year
SBI Magnum COMMA Fund - Dividend
SBI Magnum COMMA Fund - Growth
SBI Magnum Index Fund - Dividend
SBI Magnum Index Fund - Growth
SBI Magnum MIDCAP FUND - DIVIDEND
SBI Magnum MIDCAP FUND - GROWTH
SBI Magnum Multicap Fund - Dividend Option
SBI Magnum Multicap Fund - Growth Option
SBI Magnum Multiplier Plus Scheme - 93 -Dividend
SBI Magnum Multiplier Plus Scheme - 93 -Growth
SBI MAGNUM NRI FLEXIASSET PLAN-DIVIDEND
SBI MAGNUM NRI FLEXIASSET PLAN-GROWTH
SBI MAGNUM GLOBAL FUND 94 - DIVIDEND
SBI MAGNUM GLOBAL FUND 94 - GROWTH
SBI MSFU CONTRA-DIVIDEND
SBI MSFU CONTRA-GROWTH
SBI MSFU EMERGING BUSINESSES FUND - DIVIDEND
SBI MSFU EMERGING BUSINESSES FUND - GROWTH
SBI MSFU FMCG
SBI MSFU IT
SBI MSFU PHARMA - DIVIDEND
SBI MSFU PHARMA - GROWTH
SBI Magnum Balanced Fund - Dividend
SBI Magnum Balanced Fund - Growth
MAGNUM INSTA CASH FUND - DAILY DIVIDEND
SBI Magnum Institutional Income Fund - Savings - Dividend(Upto 22/03/07) Renamed as SBI Premier Liquid Fund
SBI Magnum Institutional Income Fund - Savings - Growth(Upto 22/03/07) Renamed as SBI Premier Liquid Fund
SBI MGST-DIVIDEND
SBI MGST-GROWTH
SBI MAGNUM TAXGAIN SCHEME 1993 - DIVIDEND
SBI MAGNUM TAXGAIN SCHEME 1993 - GROWTH

Sundaram Mutual fund - Sundaram BNP Paribas Mutual fund

2010-09-02T01:07:00.000-07:00

Sundaram mutual fund is a joint venture between the Sundaram Finance and the French Banking giant called the BNP Paribas. In its short history this fund has managed to created a niche for itself.

Some of the best fund have come from this house like the Sundaram BNP Paribas madcap fund.

Sundaram Finance in itself is one if the best NBFC or the non banking finance company in the country and it has definitely set up a scorching pace in the mutual fund world.

Sundaram BNP Paribas Asset Management Company Limited is the main sponsor of the Sundaram Mutual fund.

The latest news is that Sundaram has decided to go it alone after BNP Paribas decided to pt out of the joint venture.

The main schemes are equity oriented growth funds, then the debt funds and also the sector funds.

Scheme Name
Sundaram BNP Paribas Income Plus-Appreciation
Sundaram BNP Paribas Income Plus-Dividend
Sundaram BNP Paribas Monthly Income Plan-Quarterly-Dividend
Sundaram BNP Paribas Monthly Income Plan-Growth
Sundaram BNP Paribas Monthly Income Plan-Half-yearly Dividend
Sundaram BNP Paribas Monthly Income Plan-Monthly Dividend
Sundaram BNP Paribas CAPEX Opportunities Fund-Dividend
Sundaram BNP Paribas CAPEX Opportunities Fund-Growth
Sundaram BNP Paribas Growth Fund-Dividend
Sundaram BNP Paribas Growth Fund-Growth
Sundaram BNP Paribas India Leadership Fund-Dividend
Sundaram BNP Paribas India Leadership Fund-Growth
Sundaram BNP Paribas Rural India Fund Dividend
Sundaram BNP Paribas Rural India Fund Growth
Sundaram BNP Paribas S.M.I.L.E.Fund-Dividend
Sundaram BNP Paribas S.M.I.L.E.Fund-Growth
Sundaram BNP Paribas Select Focus-Dividend
Sundaram BNP Paribas Select Focus-Growth
Sundaram BNP Paribas Select Midcap-Dividend
Sundaram BNP Paribas Select Midcap-Growth
Sundaram BNP Paribas Balanced Fund - Appreciation Option
Sundaram BNP Paribas Balanced Fund - Dividend Option
SUNDARAM BNP Paribas GILT FUND (APP. OPTION)
SUNDARAM BNP PARIBAS GILT FUND (DIV. OPTION)
Sundaram BNP Paribas Tax Saver OE - Dividend
Sundaram BNP Paribas Taxsaver OE- App
Sundaram BNP Paribas Value Plus-3 Year-Div
Sundaram BNP Paribas Equity Multiplier Fund Dividend
Sundaram BNP Paribas Equity Multiplier Fund Growth

TATA Mutual fund - TATA Asset management limited NAV

2010-09-02T01:03:00.000-07:00

This fund has been promoted by the TATA group and the main sponsors are the TATA Sons limited and the TATA Investment corporation limited.
TATA Asset management limited is the AMC for the TATA Mutual fund. The majority stake is held by the TATA Sons and rest by the TATA Investment corporation limited.

Here is the list with the latest NAV from the TATA Mutual fund

Scheme Name
Tata Fixed Horizon Annual Aug 04 App
Tata Fixed Horizon Annual Aug 04 Div
Tata Fixed Horizon Annual Plan 3 (Nov 04) (App)
Tata Fixed Horizon Annual Sept 04 App
Tata Fixed Horizon Fund Annual Jan 05 Appr
Tata Fixed Horizon Qrtly Dividend (Nov 04)
Tata Fixed Horizon Qtrly Aug04 App
Tata Fixed Horizon Qtrly Aug04 Div
Tata Fixed Horizon Qtrly Sept 04 Div
Tata Income Fund - Div Qtrly
Tata Income Fund - Div Semi
Tata Income Fund - Growth
Tata Income Fund - Growth Bonus Option
Tata Income Fund Appreciation - Per Dividend
Tata Income Plus Fund - Option C Dividend
Tata Income Plus Fund - Option C Growth
Tata Income Plus Fund A - Growth Option
Tata Income Plus Fund A - Income / Bonus Option
Tata Income Plus Fund B - Growth Option
Tata Income Plus Fund B - Income / Bonus Option
Tata M I P Plus Fund - Growth
Tata M I P Plus Fund - Half Yearly Dividend
Tata M I P Plus Fund - Monthly Dividend
Tata M I P Plus Fund - Quarterly Dividend
Tata Monthly Income Fund - Qrtly Option
Tata Monthly Income Fund - Regular
Tata Monthly Income Fund Growth
Tata Short Term Bond Fund - App Option
Tata Short Term Bond Fund - Reg Income Option
Tata Contra Fund - Dividend
Tata Contra Fund - Growth
Tata Dividend Yield Fund ( Div)
Tata Dividend Yield Fund (App)
Tata Equity Opportunities Fund - A Dividend
Tata Equity Opportunities Fund - B Growth
Tata Equity P/E Fund (Dividend Trigger Option B - 10%)
Tata Equity P/E Fund (Growth Option)
Tata Growth Fund - Bonus (Growth)
Tata Growth Fund - Dividend
Tata Growth Fund - Growth
Tata Index Fund - Nifty A
Tata Index Fund - Nifty B
Tata Index Fund - Sensex A
Tata Index Fund - Sensex B
Tata Infrastructure Fund - Dividend
Tata Infrastructure Fund - Growth
Tata Life Science & Technology Fund - Dividend Option
Tata Life Sciences & Technology Fund - Growth
Tata Mid Cap Fund - Dividend
Tata Mid Cap Fund - Growth
Tata Pure Equity Fund - Dividend Option
Tata Pure Equity Fund - Growth
Tata Select Equity Fund
Tata Select Equity Fund - Dividend
Tata Service Industries Fund - Appreciation
Tata Service Industries Fund - Dividend
Tata Balanced Fund - Dividend Option
Tata Balanced Fund - Growth
Tata Young Citizen [After 7 years]
Tata Young Citizen Fund [>3 years upto 7 years]
Tata Young Citizen Fund [Upto 3 years]
Tata Liquidity Management Fund - Daily Div
Tata Liquidity Management Fund - Growth
Tata Liquidity Management Fund - Weekly Div
Tata Tax Saving Fund
Tata Floater Fund Growth
Tata Floater Fund Daily Dividend
Tata Floater Fund Weekly Dividend
Tata Treasury Manager Fund High Investment Plan Daily Dividend
Tata Treasury Manager Fund High Investment Plan Growth
Tata Treasury Manager Fund High Investment Plan Monthly Dividend
Tata Treasury Manager Fund High Investment Plan Weekly Dividend
Tata Treasury Manager Fund Retail Investment Plan Growth
Tata Treasury Manager Fund Retail Investment Plan Monthly Dividend
Tata Treasury Manager Fund Super High Investment Plan Daily Dividend
Tata Treasury Manager Fund Super High Investment Plan Growth
Tata Treasury Manager Fund Super High Investment Plan Monthly Dividend
Tata Treasury Manager Fund Super High Investment Plan Weekly Dividend
Tata Capital Builder Fund - Div
Tata Capital Builder Fund - Growth
Tata Equity Management Fund - Div
Tata Equity Management Fund - Growth
Tata SIP Fund - Scheme I - Dividend
Tata SIP Fund - Scheme I - Growth
Tata Tax Advantage Fund -1
Tata SIP Fund - Scheme II - Dividend
Tata SIP Fund - Scheme II - Growth

Best Indian stocks to buy right now

2010-09-02T01:00:00.002-07:00

Indian market is in a bull run right now and there is no stopping it for sure. The blue chips, the mid caps everything is buzzing. But as always in any stock exchange there are companies that you should avoid and there are companies that you should buy.

Again I would suggest that you diversify such that there are no issue when the market tanks. Invest in some good Sensex stocks and good emerging stocks but I would say that do not invest in any of the cyclical stocks.

Here are the best stocks that you should invest in the Indian market and Bombay stock exchange or BSE is the way to go for you. Well even Nifty is not bad but with it history behind it SENSEX is what you should look forward to.

Reliance Industries (REL) This giant is also very nimble and is one the to producers of refined petroleum and have the projected execution capabilities that nobody can match. Reliance recently invested big in Shale gas and I am sure it will give a huge boost in coming years. Another thing is its retail foray. Reliance will reap big rewards as and when it starts investing again in retail.

Infosys – This IT leader has always given wonderful returns and it has the motto which under promise and over deliver.

TCS – This IT company can deliver the return because it is present in all the countries that you can imagine and is big in government contracts and low cost structure.

Bharti – With this company picking up Zain telecom, there is the story which is started in India of low telecom tariffs which will be repeated in Africa and this company will reach big numbers.

Hindalco – This company betted on Novelis and now that is turning out to good investment so buy this stock.

SKS Microfinance – This microfinance stock has just got listed and the kind of spread that they have I am sure no finance company can match this and given the model that this company has it will make good returns for its investors.

SBI – This public sector bank has such a reach that it will make you big money in all times.

Best Canadian stocks to buy right now

2010-09-02T01:00:00.001-07:00

There are a lot of good companies that are hot and happening in Canada right now. In fact when it comes to certain sectors like minerals and mining and exploration and technology there are some of the very good stocks that are an absolute must to be in your portfolio. That said you must do proper research before you invest in the Canadian stocks.

The Canadian stock exchange which is there is the TSX and here is the list of stocks that you must buy right now

Here is the list of the Canadian gold stock that you must own

Kinross Gold (TSX: K, NYSE: KGC)
Eldorado Gold (TSX: ELD, NYSE: EGO)
Yamana Gold (TSX: YRI, NYSE: AUY)

Here is the one from the banking sector which is the Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD). This stock is a must have in your portfolio and even from a dividend yield perspective it has a very good dividend yield of 3.7%. In the recent mortgage meltdown and financial crises of 2008 this bank stood tall with no major issues.

Another good one is Potash – This Company is one of the biggest in Canada and in the Potash sector this is the largest and hence this company has been a take over target for the likes of BHP Billiton.

Talking about natural resources there is one big sector which is natural gas and this company called the EnCana (ECA) is one of the largest independent gas producers in Canada and doing very good.

With Nuclear power being the flavor of the day there is one company that you just cannot ignore and that is Cameco Corp(CCJ). This company has 20% share of the world market of uranium production and with developing countries showing interest in going for nuclear power generation for peaceful purposes this company will rise and rise for some time to come.

Well there are several stocks that worth buying Canada but the fact is that you may then need to invest in a Canadian index fund or a Canadian mutual fund to get the full benefit of the index.

Buying foreign stocks and international market investing

2010-09-02T00:59:00.000-07:00

You all keep hearing about the emerging markets as well how good the China Bull Run has been and how good the Indian Bull market has been. so if you are looking to buy the stocks in the foreign ,market then there are a couple of ways to do that.

Invest in global mutual funds

The first and the easiest way to invest is to invest in the international mutual funds that Fidelity, Schwab and Vanguard offer. These are by far the best mutual funds. But make sure when you invest now as to some countries which were on a bull run then are no longer in the bull market so be careful when you invest in these mutual finds

Invest in International ETF’s and Index ETF’s and even country specifi ETF’s

This is another good ways to invest in the global markets. Some examples are Austrian ETF (EWO, China FT/Xinhua 25 Index ETF (FXI), South Korean ETF (EWY). These are the examples of some good ETF’s but there are so many others. Investing in foreign ETF’s will mean that you will need to research a lot more than the domestic stocks as very less information will be available on these countries or indices.

Invest in ADR’s or American Depository Receipts.

Here are some of the shares which are listed on NYSE or NASADQ and these have an underlying share value which mirrors the stocks movements in the home country. This in a way the most direct method to invest in foreign country stocks. Nokia (NOK), Volvo (VOLV) and Toyota (TM), INFY, are some of the examples of the ADR’s listed in US exchanges.

Buy via your broker

There are several brokers and even online discount brokers that will help you buy via the regular brokerage account. These are Schwab, Fidelity and eTrade. There are several others and these definitely have the best ones. The cost of these trades is higher than the cost of the trades that are submitted for domestic stocks. So be careful and research before investing in foreign stocks.

Dividend reinvestment plans list

2010-09-02T00:57:00.000-07:00

Dividend reinvestment as the name suggests is the way that you can reinvest your dividend income. In general when the company has the profits and substantial earnings then these companies will distribute those in terms of either cash or shares. Now that if you get those dividends in cash then chances are that you will spend that and also be taxes on them. The other methods is to make sure that you get those dividends in shares and that ay you will be able to get more dividends on these shares brought from dividends thereby increasing your dividend and getting the benefit in future.

There are companies which directly offer these dividend reinvestment plans which are called as the DRIPS. The names of these companies which offer these DRIPS are

New York Times Co. (NYT)
Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NWL
NICOR Inc. (GAS)
NIKE, Inc. (NKE)
NiSource Inc. (NI)
Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC)
Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC)
Nucor Corp. (NUE)
Proctor & Gamble
Merck
Pfizer
Duke Energy
CMS Energy
IBM
Microsoft
Edison Int
Medtronic
ChevronTexaco
Walmart
Bellsouth
Bank of America
Verizon
Lowes
Eastman Kodak
Home Depot
GE

There are about 1500 companies in the US that offer this DSP plan and it works really well. However make sure that you do not go overweight on one stock and it is absolutely important that you achieve portfolio diversification in this so that you can make sure that you no high exposure to one stock.

Apart from this the benefit is that you will be able to save some costs as you do not have to have a stockbroker and the net costs of buying will be absolutely lower. These plans are administered by individual companies and you can just buy one share or even thousand shares from them and start investing.

Money Market Mutual Fund definition

2010-08-30T19:22:00.000-07:00

A mutual fund is a form of investment that is done in market instruments only. This form of investment is very liquid and it matures in one year or less. Bulk of these market instruments are make up by treasury bills and security is relatively risk-free.

The most secured and safest of the mutual funds are the money market funds. Some modern returns are yielded by money market funds while preserving the principal amount. The investment in the money market funds is similar to a high paying bank account but it cannot be considered as totally risk free. The most important factor before investing in this type of fund is to check the offered rate of interest.

There are two different types of money market funds.

1. Institutional money market mutual funds:
In these kinds of sums, a lot of money is invested by big businessmen, institutional investors and government agencies.

2. Retail money market mutual funds:
This fund is basically a type of fund where you can invest your money temporarily. the type of this money market funds include treasury bills, tax free bonds and short term debts etc.

Money market funds are loaded with features and some special features are as follows

They are the best investment option for a low income investor and are the safest too. The money invested by the investors in these funds is invested in stable and safe investments issued by government, corporations and banks etc.

Money market instruments in general need big amounts of investments that are beyond the capacity of a retail investor to invest funds that are large. With this fund, the retail investors have the opportunity to invest in money market instrument which can be beneficial in a long run taken into consideration the price advantage.

Ratings should always be checked before investing in a market mutual fund, which are rated by some agencies.

best telecommunication stocks and best telecom stocks to buy

2010-09-01T23:52:00.000-07:00

Here is the list of telecom stocks that you can buy and these may not be the best but yes these are solid telecommunication stocks
CenturyTel (CTL), Embarq (EQ), Metropcs (PCS), and Qwest (Q)

This list has all old telecommunication style companies but you should also look at the telecom players which are coming up with their one operating systems like Nokia, Research in Motion(RIMM) , Apple and Google of course. These are good plays in the telecom market and I am sure when the Smartphone market reaches its saturation levels one of them will have had the last laugh and with be an outright winner.

So not forget the old horse AT&T(ATT). This stock has been there and done that and along with pairing with the Apple for iPhone. This is definitely one of the best stocks that have been there for years now and is not a pure play telecom stock but yes in terms of iPhone sales this stock is a must buy.

One of the best telecom stock in the stock market today is CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL). These guys provide voice, broadband and video service in about 33 states in US and are far more robust in a lot of ways than the big guys in telecom.

Let us talk about international top buys in the telecom world and there is one which is nothing short of a screaming buy and that is Telmex or Teléfonos de México . This is a very good stock from Mexico and is a must have in your portfolio. Then the next one is the stock which has been the best in terms of growth in India and is now expanding its foot print outside India which is the Bharti Airtel. They recently bought Zain telecom operations and this has given them foothold in the growing market of Africa in about 15 African countries.

Understanding the stock market for long term growth

2010-09-01T23:23:00.000-07:00

Stock market investing is one thing which done carefully can make you big money however that said I am sure you will have a lot of people tell you that they have made huge losses in the stock market.

The reason for making losses can be numerous but in general I will tell that you need to be in the stock market for a long term to make money.

Why I should be in it for long term

The reason being that you need to invest in a stock based on solid research and that will do some fundamental analysis and identify stocks that you think are doing good and will keep on doing good. Shun stocks that are short term favorites of the market. These stocks will then just turn losses for you in the long term.

Once identified you need to decide on a long term horizon which is the upper of ten years or so and the reason being that since the stocks that you own may go up or down in the sort term but on a longer terms basis these are on the uptrend.

Say a stock X in which you invest in at $10. In ten years time it will go to say $40. However it may so happen in the short term it may go to $8 based on the market conditions and overall industry health. Let us say it goes to about $15 then flips down to $12. Do not panic as the overall growth will happen and that is why you need to have a longer term horizon. The horizon if shorter may result in losses for you.

That is why it is important to understand the market dynamics then go for the stocks which are either blue chip stocks. Now these blue chips may be in the domestic market or they may even be foreign stocks,

Again knowledge of the stock market and its functioning is required to unearth what good stocks to invest in. You will also need to know how to buy stocks as well as how to invest in foreign markets.

Long term growth in the stock market will always come if you patience and are not prone to selling the stock in panic. Buy low and then sell high after a few years may be ten or twenty and you will have had made good money in the stock market.

Indian share market for dummies

2010-09-01T23:22:00.001-07:00

The share market is a universal phenomenon and most of the countries will have their own stock market which will have an index and also they will list the companies which are registered in the country.

One of the most promising emerging market economies in the world with a huge middle class population is the country called India.

Things that you need to know in the Indian Share market

Exchanges

India has two exchanges which are the Bombay Stock exchange called the BSE and it has an index called the Sensex and comprises of the top 30 stocks of the exchanges and it is more or less conceptualised on the Dow Jones index.

The other major exchange which is there is the NSE or the National Stock exchange and it has an index which is much more broad based and is called as the NIFTY.

NSE is the younger and the newer exchange whereas the BSE is very old and you can draw similarities to NYSE and NASDAQ

The Indian stock market is very robust and very dynamic and also it has a watch dog much like the SEC in US which is called the SEBI.

In terms of the stock market rules and regulation there are a few things which may be different than the US stock market in general the most of the things and the stock market terminology is the same.

Blue chips
Some of the most popular stocks that are there in the Indian stock market are Reliance, Infosys, WIPRO, TCS, Bharti , SBI , GRASIM etc.

Same as in US there are a large number of discount brokerage firms which are online and these are ICICIDIRECT, 5PAISA, SHAREKHAN, HDFC SECURITIES. Then there are the full service big ticket brokers like Motilal Oswal, JM Financial etc which have their brokers working for you and giving you advice for investing in the stock market.

Overall the stock market in India is very healthy and this has proved to be something which ahs spurred the attention of the large number of foreign players in the country and they can invest in the Indian stock market using something called as Foreign Institutional Investors. They can invest in India by registering themselves with SEBI.

Another major thing is that if you want to invest in Indian stocks then you can invest in the ADR’s of the Indian companies and that way you will have to deal with the Indian stock brokers and you can use your American broker account to invest in ADR listed on NYSE.

how to invest in high quality blue chips

2010-09-01T23:20:00.000-07:00

As a stock market investor you will need to buy stocks and these stocks can be classified as something into blue chips, emerging blue chips and the rest of them as merely stocks which may blue chips at a later stage.

So what makes the stocks as blue chips?

These are companies which have displayed immense resilience in the downturn and have fared better than others in terms of growth and have huge market capitalization. The track record of these companies will suggest by itself that they are good buys.

More and more investors are buying stocks that are so called blue chips and here are some of the example like the

Visa (NYSE: V), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), MetLife (NYSE: MET), and Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT). IBM, Procter & Gamble, General Electric are also the blue chips that you can buy.

In a recent filing China Investment corp. also said that they have good holdings of the blue chips. So to answer your question as to how to invest in blue chips then there are a variety of things that you will need to se but if you do not want to do your own research then simply go for the stocks that have been listed in the Dow Jones 30 and they are certainly Blue chips.

That is not to say that there are no other blue chips in the market. There are new blue chips which keep on emerging and these are the stocks which are new but have shown lot of promise like the foreign stock listed on NYSE.

You can even look at the stocks that have been listed in the top exchanges of the Emerging countries and then buy some of these stocks through your foreign stock broker like Indian telecom giant Bharti Airtel or InFY . Brazilian blue chips like TOTvs or AMBEV. China has a lot of emerging blue chips like Yue Yuen and several others.

Note – Blue chips are for long term growth and these should be there in your portfolio for short term growth and you should just keep them holding on for years together.

How do Dow Futures Work?

2010-09-01T23:06:00.000-07:00

Futures that are traded on the Dow Jones Index are contracts that involve the future performance of a selected stock. Basically what it entails is a legal agreement between two parties that agree to exchange money or assets at a predetermined value. In other words, the two parties come to an agreement on the future value. If the value falls below their expectation, the seller must compensate the buyer. If the future meets their price and more, the buyer will pay the seller a commission plus the set fee that was agreed upon in the first place.

Futures are different than options because with options, the buyer has an option of getting out of the deal. They are watching the performance of a stock and are placing an option on it with hopes of buying it in the future. If it falls below their expectation, then they have the option of getting out of the deal. Futures are set contracts which carry a risk and both parties are held responsible for their side of the agreement and deal.

Built-in Leverage

The best thing about futures is that they have built in leverage which allows the person who buying the futures stock to make more money on it when the price fluctuates. In other words, Dow Jones futures usually work on a 10:1 leverage which means if the Dow Jones Jones Futures are trading at 8000 points, one contract would be worth $80,000. This means that each point is worth $10.

Basically what the Dow Jones futures market does is allow stock investors and brokers to be able to make huge deals for numerous amounts of clients. The leverage factor allows both the buyer and seller to take advantage of a bull market and be able to make a huge amount of money. With options and regular stock purchases, your individual stock is all by itself. The futures market is a representation of the market as a whole so if the market is doing good, the parties of the futures contract does good. If it fails, then there is a risk of loss.

The Dow Jones futures begin each day trading an hour before all the stock markets open so the markets can get a feel of how trading will be for the day. Basically, the Dow Jones futures market is a litmus test for the overall condition of the market, both nationally and internationally.

Understanding S&P 500

2010-09-01T23:04:00.000-07:00

Published since 1957, the S&P 500 is an index of the prices of 500 common stocks (large cap) which are traded actively in the US. The index ia free-float and capitalization-weighted. The S&P 500 includes stocks of large companies which are publically held and trade on either the NYSE Euronext or the NASDAQ OMX - two of the largest stock market exchanges in America.

The focus of the index these days is purely companies based in the US, although a few legacy companies are included which have headquarters overseas. The only new companies being added to this index are based in the US, and US companies which move their headquarters overseas will be removed from the index and replaced by a US-based company. This happened when Transocean migrated to Switzerland from Houston in 2008, for example.

The most widely-followed American large-cap stocks index is the S&P 500, except of course for the Industrial Average (Dow Jones). For the American economy it is thought of as a bellwether, and you'll find it included in what's called the Index of Leading indicators. Many funds - mutual, exchange-traded, pension, and other kinds of funds - are intended for tracking the S&P 500 index's performance. In this fashion, hundreds of dollars (US) have been invested.

Standard & Poor's (which is a division of McGraw-Hill) owns many indices, but the S&P 500 is maybe the best known of these. The title refers to more than just the index: S&P 500 also means the 500 companies whose common stock is included in the index itself.

The S&P 500 index's ticker symbol varies. It has variously been .INX, &SPX and ^GSPC. All of the stocks which are a part of the S&P 500 also feature in the broader Global 1200 stock market index and the S&P 1500 stock market index.

Traditionally, the index has been weighted by market-value. In other words, smaller market cap companies have a lesser effect on it than movements in the value of those stocks featuring higher market capitalizations (that is, the number of outstanding shares times the price of each share).

These days, the index is float-weighted. In other words, those market caps which are relevant to the S&P 500 index tend to be calculated by only using the "float", or the number of shares which are available for trading publically. The first step of this transition was made on March the 18th, 2005, and the second step on September 16 of the same year.

Investors may also, in addition to making an investment in a mutual fund which is S&P 500 indexed, buy shares in an ETF, or Exchange-Traded Fund. This will represent ownership of a portfolio in the Standard & Poor's 500 index's equity securities. One such Exchange-Traded Fund, for example, is the S&P Depositary Receipts (NYSE: SPY), and originates from a chain of similar funds known as the SPDRs, usually pronounced "SPiDeRs".

How to invest in fixed income mutual fund

2010-09-01T23:01:00.000-07:00

Regular risk free income
Fixed-income funds are ideal for regular income, liquidity and diversification. Such mutual funds are generally invested either in bonds or mortgages, or both. The basic investment destinations for this category of funds are government institutions, municipalities and companies of different sizes. A number of reputable investment firms do not only provide advice on how to invest in fixed income mutual fund, but also offer such funds to investors to earn and add to their existing income, while also managing the investment risks involved.

Income accrual, from mutual funds under the fixed income and municipal bond categories, can be achieved in three ways. The first way to earn income is from dividends on bonds and stocks. This is communicated to investors via established channels at specific, opportune times. The second opportunity to earn arises when securities increase in price, as a result of which the funds will deliver capital gains, with varying profit yields, if investments are sold at that time. The third way to earn a profit is by selling the entire portfolio of bonds and stocks when the time is right to do so. Of course, the truth is that the opposite can occur in the event aggregate value of investments fall. The investor can either decide to receive a check for income accrued, or reinvest the money earned. However, one important advantage in choosing the latter is that the reinvested money will be distributed across a wide range of bonds and stocks, and will resultantly also spread the risks. For example, if one company that’s part of the investment portfolio files for bankruptcy, each investor will incur minimum loss. Simultaneously, however, individual investors will need to depend on their management companies to make clever choices on their behalf. This is why it is crucial to do a background check of the track records of investment companies, before appointing one to manage your investments. As the management company you decide to work with will be trading a large number of bonds and stocks simultaneously, individual investors like you will most likely be charged lower transaction fees.

Safe parking for Money
A safe place to park your money is the money market which deals in debt instruments, a majority of which include short-term, Treasury bills. Money invested in such debt instruments will yield far better returns than those earned by way of interest on certificates of deposit or savings accounts, so the investor needn’t be concerned about losing his or her money as he or she would with other types of financial instruments. A fixed bond is also referred to as a fixed income mutual fund. The main objective of such bonds is to provide the individual investor with a stable income source during retirement, or for other uses. Some bonds can carry greater risks than other types, junk bonds are one example. However, you must know that the values of all bonds can be affected by higher or lower interest rates. This is why smart investors balance their portfolios by utilizing various investments which also include maintaining a balance between fixed and equity.