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Ashish Chabbra
A wise guy once said: If you think there is strength in numbers, you haven't seen the stock market lately.
As the sensex lurches from one low to another, the retail investor (someone like yours truly who thinks Japanese Candlesticks are candles made in Japan and Head and Shoulders is a brand of shampoo) will no doubt agree.
But, before you rush to cash in your depleted portfolio, a piece of advice. With interest rates on small savings falling, the stock markets, however risky, are an investment avenue that could offer you a rate of return to beat inflation. On the other hand, it could also wipe out your life's savings.
Having said that, if you still want to roll the dice and take your chances, then it's a good idea to be equipped for the game.
You can start your journey at the School section at Sharekhan.com. Its seven chapters - basic concepts, understanding equities, equity risks, annual report explained, capital structure, financial ratios and valuing equities - are as good an initiation into the arcane world of stock markets as any I could find. Besides this, the site frequently features articles in its Tell Me More section on topics like rolling settlement, price earnings, stock buybacks, demat, etc.
The Advanced section covers areas like the nature of the market, badla and leveraging, investment strategies, investing styles, traders handbook, futures and options, portfolio strategies, and picking winners.
Before you sign up and hit the Trade Now button, check out its model portfolios. It starts off with a primer on portfolios and then explains the rationale behind each of its three portfolios - Hammock (for the long-term investor); Hot Chocolate (for the investor with a 1-2 year time horizon); and Braveheart (for the aggressive investor). The portfolios are traded and updated in real time.
If you have had your fill of ShareKhan, MyIris.com should be your next stop. The best feature here is its Wealth Tracker. Register once, and you can manage your portfolio of stocks and mutual funds, effortlessly. Among the portfolio managers I have used, this site tracks the maximum number of stocks and MF schemes. For instance, it was the only one that tracked my investment in the recently listed IPO of Vijaya Bank.
For each investment in your portfolio you can get a transaction history, performance report, live prices, broker research and recos, financials, charts, comparisons with other stocks in the category, news and a lot more. Apart from the portfolio manager, MyIris has an excellent investment guide, New To Investing. With features like why to invest, how to invest, a glossary and FAQ, it covers a lot of basic ground. Before you quit the page, take a look at the Researching a Stock Tutorial.
MoneyControl is another excellent site for the lay investor. Besides news and analysis, live quotes and research and expert stock picks, it features a host of financial planning tools like Risk Analyser and Asset Allocator, which will help you make the right investment choices.
Once you get down to actual trading, you will need a site to track the markets on a daily basis. Try Capital Market. The site features session-by-session trading commentary, breaking news, gainers and losers, circuit hitters, technicals and more. I also like its live ticker at the bottom of the page, which keeps me updated, by the minute, on the value of my stocks. (For live quotes, a good option would be to download the customisable BSE/NSE desktop ticker at Indiainfoline).
The sites I have mentioned are merely starting points. There are many others that cover every facet of the markets, and I have tried to include them in the links below. Remember, finally, that investing in the stock markets requires patience, guts and a lot of money. If you have all of these in abundance, go break a leg.
Additional Links
ET Invest
Equity Master
India Infoline
Intelligent Investor
Bombay Stock Exchange
National Stock Exchange
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