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Market View : Sideways to Positive

The biggest worry for RBI and the Govt is the Inflation which shot up to 5.92% - 11-month high. There was significant decline in commodity prices like Copper, Aluminium, Gold Silver and Crude Oil over the weekend. Asian Market have opened flat on positive bias

a musical group featuring debutant singers, released their self-titled first album amid much pomp and fanfare, at Technopark Amphitheatre on the 25th of January 2008. The album, which was released by Padmasree Mohanlal, has been worked on by an ensemble crew of 25 musicians, and features seven tracks in four different languages (English, Malayalam, Hindi and Tamil).Voice of the Park is a music album which has been worked on from start to finish by Technopark employees. With seven songs in four different languages, the album has something to offer to everybody. From fast and peppy numbers to soft fusions; from dance numbers to romantic tracks; from rock to meandering melodies there�s everything that a music lover wants. The assortment of songs have been composed, configured and compiled by debutant artists all of whom are Technopark employees. From the first stages of music composition to vocals to instruments down to CD cover, everything has been handled by people from Technopark. Like the multicultural blend of people who form the strength of Technopark, the music also transcends cultural and corporate boundaries.

The music is a rare blend of cultures like the very people that form Technopark. The fact that the album has songs in four different languages is proof of the integration of diverse cultures present in Technopark! Hindustani chords merge serenely with soft western; fast tracks augmented by foot-tapping beats; ensemble instruments intertwining to a wholesome union; legatos flowing to a romantic pitch; lyrics in English, Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil; all these make Voice of the Park the ultimate experience for any music lover. There’s no denying that there’s something for everybody in this musical consortium.

Music for the album has been done by Arun K Narayanan. He has also penned the lyrics and played the role of chief designer for the album. Marketing, Sales, Public Relations and Branding of the album has been managed by Kiran Rajendran. He has also lent his voice to a song in the album. Anand Venkitaraman, another singer in VOTP, has handled finance, accounting and resource management for the production and release of the album. Harikrishnan Namboothiri, a drummer for VOTP was a key player in the organization of the album.
Contact details:
Arun Narayanan K
email : arunnarayank@gmail.com
Kiran Rajendran
email : kiran.rajendran@ust-global.com
Anand Venkitaraman
email : anandv.ustechies@gmail.com
Harikrishnan Namboothiri
email : harikrishnan.namboothiri@ust-global.com

The common answer to the often-asked question by anxious investors, as to what is the best way to save tax, is to invest in Post Office savings schemes, or perhaps a regular investment in a public provident fund, or to buy insurance policies. It is unfortunate that the greatly advantageous Equity Linked Savings Scheme (ELSS) is hardly ever mentioned, which is not a surprise, since, even though it is one of the high yielding products, it remains one of the lesser known ones. That is another reason that investors do not yet comprehend the potential benefits of this product.

ELSS holds the advantage of being the only equity-based tax saving instrument available in the country today and offers tax deduction on investments up to Rs 1,10,000, under Section 80C of the Income-Tax Act. Experts are of the opinion that equities, proven time and again to be the best asset class in the long term, would continue to beat inflation over the next few years, considering the strong growth rate in the economy and a healthy rise in corporate earnings. It would be prudent for long-term investors to invest in an asset that will do just that. We have elucidated the nature of an ELSS, which rightly deserves its due.

What is ELSS?
Equity Linked Savings Schemes (ELSSs) are similar to the normal equity diversified schemes that invest across the board and market segments. Features that differentiate ELSS from an open-ended equity diversified scheme are tax saving benefit (deductions under Sec 80C) and a lock-in period of three years. Also, one can invest in these schemes in small amounts through a Systematic Investment Plan and begin with a small fund size to add to this expense (i.e. entry/exit load) of

investing in an ELSS is similar to any other equity scheme.

Advantages of the lock-in-period:

• The close-ended nature of the Scheme gives the investment team an opportunity to take decisions without the pressures of dealing with constant fund cash flow considerations.
• This would also help to focus on long-term opportunities in mid-cap and small-cap companies that are strategically placed to take advantage of the robust economic growth in India and of the global outsourcing trend.
• Since the funds would remain with the fund manager for a long duration, it would give him more flexibility with regards to the illiquid nature of mid cap space. Therefore, the Fund is likely to perform better than an open-ended scheme.

Asset Allocation:
The Asset Allocation of the majority of Equity Linked Savings Schemes shows that the equity exposure varies between 90-98%, with the rest in the money market or Government Securities. Though all schemes have similar allocation, the style of investing may differ.

ELSS and other tax saving instruments
Below is the comparative analysis of ELSS with the other conventional tax saving schemes.

Risk-averse investors may complain about the volatility factor in an equity-linked instrument but the same is taken care of by the mandatory three-year lock-in period. Equities tend to be volatile over the short-term, but the performance tends to get smoothened-out over a longer, three-year time frame. Even the fund manager is not under pressure to take risky, aggressive investment calls to deliver short-term growth, as investors are in the Fund for the long haul. This translates into lower volatility in an ELSS, as compared to that in a diversified equity fund. Moreover, equities outperform other investment avenues like bonds, real estate and gold, over the long term. Therefore, ELSS offers investors a window to benefit from the ‘power’ of equities and also claim tax benefits to boot! No doubt NSC and PPF offer investors an assured return, but equities have the potential to offer a higher return vis-à-vis fixed income avenues, as has been established in several studies.

Another factor that is often ignored by investors and rarely factored-in while calculating returns is inflation. Inflation dampens returns and pulls down the ‘real return on investment’. To put it simply, if your investment offers you a return of 8% p.a. and inflation is at 4%, your real return is (8% minus 4%) 4%, at the end of the first year. Equities are the only investment avenue that can counter inflation effectively and enable investors to post a healthy return, post-inflation.

So what are you waiting for? Opt for ELSS as an investment avenue, whenever you prepare your tax plan.

I never knew there are so many talented people in technopark. Check out this video.

MARKET VIEW : POSITIVE 

Fed cut of 75bps, better than expected earnings from Lehman Bros and Goldman Sachs, narrowing credit spreads of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , crash in CBOE volatility index by 20% and lower commodity prices fuelled a sharp rally in US markets. Asian markets, this morning, are trading up 2.5-3%. Indian markets to open gap up in line with other Asian markets and is expected to remain positive for the day.

Advance tax figures give us some confidence that earnings momentum would be maintained for the 4th quarter.Open interest in the F&O segment indicate a very light position . Total open interest position stands at Rs 61.3b and futures open interest at Rs43.6bn

Interest rate sensitives to be bought today . Financials and real estate to remain in focus.After the recent price correction in both these sectors,some of the top picks would be ICICI Bank, Axis Bank , SBI, HDFC, HDFC Bank, DLF,IBulls Real Estate and Unitech

After winning the power project for 1600MW in Chattisgarh,IBREL’s share of the project stands at Rs5.5b (Rs17.4/sh) on a first cut estimate
- Also, media reports indicate that IBREL may form 50:50 joint venture with Reliance Energy for
development of 6,000 acres multi-product SEZ at Raigad, Maharashtra. We have not yet obtained
any management confirmation of this news. Knight Frank had valued the Raigarh SEZ at Rs120b,
where IBREL has 87% (post acquiring Dev Properties). We have not ascribed any value to the
Raigarh SEZ in our NAV calculation of IBREL as the land acquisition is yet to be completed.
IBREL has till date acquired ~1000acres of land.
- We expect the IBREL to record 490% revenue CAGR and 393% earnings CAGR over FY07-10, on
the back of its asset light business model, vertical de-risking and strategically located land bank.
Our target price for IBREL at Rs808/share is in line with our revised FY09 NAV estimate

MARKET VIEW : POSITIVE

Fed funds futures indicate a 100% probability of a 1% cut in fed funds rates and 22% probability of a 125bps cut in rates .

Prudential plc report a 12% margin for their life insurance business for the year ended CY07 v/s 23% in CY06. The fall in reported margins by Prudential UK is partly due to decreased margins (by ~400bp) on ULIP products due to revised IRDA guidelines during FY08. The balance fall is attributable to conservative assumptions (booking costs up-front) made by Prudential UK during CY07. . We have lowered our NBAP margin assumption from 19% to 18% for Prudential ICICI life insurance venture for the next 3 yeras. We have also lowered our target multiple for life insurance business from 22xNBAP to 15xNBAP. Consequently, the valuations of the subsidiaries come down to Rs 339 from Rs 461 earlier. Our modified target price stands revised at Rs 1182 per share. Given the price correction on the stock, it remains an attractive investment buy.

Siemens AG announced a €900m hit to in the second quarter. Estimates for full-year operating profit seem set to fall by about 15 per cent, and further charges, The group has not finished assessing
its contracts in its transportation unit or in the power generation division. Some impact of it
could be felt in its India operations . The stock is trading at 28.4xFY08 EPS and 22xFY09 EPs.
Maintain neutral

This movie was made by the Movicamp Attendees.

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Sensex opened with 433 points downward price gap at 15,327 and slipped sharply breaching 15,000 mark. In comparison with previous day’s close, Sensex lost 950 points forming day’s low at 14,738. As per the Elliot Wave Theory, the downward 3rd wave is started from 18,137 and reached 15,362 i.e. 2775 points in earlier fall. The bounce back after this fall was seen up to 16,683 and the current’s downtrend target, (16,683 – 2775 = 13,908) is coming near 14,000 level. In the current 3rd downward wave, a sharp fall is generally seen hurting the sentiments, as this is considered as most devastating impulsive downward wave. If any bounce back is seen, the level of 15,230 will now act as strong hurdle and any bounce back in the Sensex should be used for short selling with appropriate stop loss. The upward trend reversal level is still maintained at 16,800 on closing basis. One should avoid any sort of short term or intraday buying positions as the
momentum of the fall may be seen with higher velocity.