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Gone are the days when even smart investors relied on tips from brokers and friends to bet on the hottest scrips. Rumour-mongers and freelance tipsters have moved their trade online. Blogs, mailing lists and even free SMS services based abroad are being adopted by anyone with pretensions of being an investment analyst. Only a handful of genuine services have broken through the clutter to emerge as genuine purveyors of well-researched investment information. Among them is The Equity Desk, a free but collaborative service run by Mumbai-based investment professional Basant Maheshwari. In less than two years, TED as the forum is known, has emerged a major online forum with 1,454 members drawn from professionals in different spheres. "Today we have doctors, journalists, bankers, engineers, financial analysts, real estate developers etc as members of TED. These diversified groups of individuals provide a specialised view on companies and businesses from their respective industries,"says Maheshwari. Thanks to the vast talent pool that has come together on this forum, investors are able to obtain in-depth analysis of different industries. "For example, I did not have such an in-depth knowledge about the private banking space but at TED we had some professional bankers who helped discuss the finer points of this industry," says Maheshwari. Incidentally, Maheshwari suffered huge losses in the tech melt-down of the early part of this century. "I sold blue-chips like L&T to invest in tech stocks. My portfolio went up five times, but subsequently I lost 90 per cent of my portfolio," says Maheshwari. Today, he extols the value of research and value-based investing. Another forum that has rapidly built up credibility among investors is a blog that goes by the curious name of ‘deadpresident’ hosted at blogspot.com. The blogger who holds a regular job refuses to provide his/her identity. "I thought of setting up this site three years ago when I was newbie in investing," says the blogger in an e-mail reply. With more than 1700 members, the blog brings together a wide range of analysis and research information. "I made an unbelievable number of contacts like stock brokers and super investors and benefitted from their advice," says this blogger. There are other forums as well including a popular mailing list that has virtually become the bible of investors. However the owners of such forums are wary of being identified in public. "I don’t want trouble from SEBI or any such organisation," writes one. Priority One is simply to make money. Publicity, of course, can wait. —S.K.
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