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Bear cartels under lens for battering blue chip stocks
Tax Advice
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SBI rejigs top brass
Travel Intelligence
Which mutual fund market cap is ideal for you?
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Bear cartels under lens for battering blue chip stocks
Mumbai, August 11 The regulator is analysing the trading pattern of many such stocks to ascertain whether any manipulation has taken place, while data is also being collected for the brokers and traders having traded heavily on these counters, sources said. According to a senior official, the bear cartels generally resort to such manipulations whenever there is a sustained downtrend in the markets, as they seek to maximise their profits by taking huge short positions in derivatives market on stocks and indices expected to witness a fall. 'Going short' typically refers to a trader taking a position that the prices would fall going ahead and the returns are determined by the quantum of the decline. While taking a short position is a permissible trade, the bear cartels try to maximise their profits through this route by manipulating the future movement of stocks or indices through methods like fraudulent placement of orders, manipulating the trade execution and at time by spreading false rumours in the market. Sources said SEBI is also looking into the possibility of any collusion of such bear cartels with some brokers, company promoters and other entities for any manipulative activities. In some cases, the companies have themselves requested the regulator to probe the role of any bear cartels in plunge in their respective share prices. Besides, the stock exchanges and the Integrated Market Surveillance System of SEBI have also generated some alerts for possible manipulation in the futures and options (F&O) segment. The regulator as such allows only a small number of stocks and indices for F&O trading and these securities are selected from among the best and largest stocks available for trading in the market. While there are more than 5,000 listed companies in the Indian stock market, the F&O contracts are available for less than 150 securities.
— PTI Tightening noose
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Shares held for over 12 months are long-term capital asset
by SC Vasudeva Q. I am a senior citizen and retired Punjab Government employee and filing my income tax returns regularly and paying income tax as admissible. I have a demat and stock trading account with Stock Holding Corporation of India and intend to start trading in shares. Kindly clarify the following points: a) In case I sell shares at a price more than the purchase price and there is a profit on my investment, how this profit will be dealt with. Will this profit be added to my regular income of salary, interest on deposits etc. b) In case shares are sold at less than the purchase price and there is a loss on my investment, will this amount of loss be deducted from my gross income. Is it possible to carry over this loss amount to next financial year. c) What is the period of long term and short- term capital gains in shares sale purchase and rate of income tax. d) Kindly clarify the detailed procedure to count the profit and loss on shares sale purchase. Which income tax return form is to be used and any other special instructions, such as maintaining books etc. — Jagdish Singh A. It is evident from the facts of the query that you intend to start business of trading in shares. Replies given hereunder are based on this fact. a) The net profit or loss arising from such business shall either be added to or deducted from other income comprising of salary and interest on deposit. b) Shares held for more than 12 months are considered to be a long-term capital asset and any profit arising on the sale of shares in a listed company, which subjected to securities transaction tax, is exempt from tax. Loss, if any, arising on the sale of such shares is not allowed to be carried forward. In case the profit arises on the sale of shares of a listed company, which sale is not subjected to securities transaction tax, such profit would be taxable @10% plus applicable education cess. c) You would have to maintain complete books of account for the purpose of recording purchase and sale of shares. A profit and loss account and balance sheet containing business assets and liabilities will have to be drawn up and details thereof will have to be given in the return of income. In case the turnover exceeds Rs 1 crore, such books of account will be subjected to tax audit under Section 44AB of the Act, and a tax audit report will have to be obtained from an accountant before the due date of submission of income tax return. The relevant return form would be ITR 4. Q. We have purchased National Saving Certificates of six years from a post office on 05.11.2012 amounting to Rs 1 lakh in the name of my wife and the undersigned. We both are senior citizens. The first person’s name on the NSCs is of my wife who is not required to file income tax return whereas I have to file my income tax return for assessment year 2013-14 because my income is above Rs 2,60,000. Please advise can I avail income tax benefit of six years NSC purchased jointly in the name of my wife (first person) and undersigned (second person). — Jai Dev Cheema A. Interest accruing on the NSCs for a particular year would be taxable in the hands of a person who has provided the funds for such investment. Accordingly, deduction under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (The Act) in respect of such interest would also be allowable to such a person. You have stated in the query that your wife is not required to file the return. It is presumed that this is on account of the fact that she is not having any income. The source of investment of NSCs in all probability can therefore be linked to you. In such a case, tax liability in respect of the amount of accrued interest will be on you and you would also be able to claim the deduction in respect of such interest under Section 80C of the Act. Q. I need a clarification on Section 87A. As per income tax india.gov.in website, income tax rebate/credit of Rs 2,000 is applicable for individuals whose income is less than Rs 5 lakh. I am a pensioner and have income from other sources i.e. bank fixed deposits, MIS and house rent. I am paying bank interest for home loan. After making use of all above rebates, my net income is less than Rs 5 lakh. But total income of pension and other sources is more than Rs 5 lakh. Please let me know if I can take a rebate of Rs 2,000 also u/s 87A. There is no mention of this section in ITR-1 form for deduction. Where this rebate is to be shown. Kindly clarify. — J.S. Baxi A. Section 87A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (The Act) provides that an individual assessee whose total income does not exceed Rs 5 lakh shall be entitled to a deduction, from the amount of income tax (as computed before allowing the deductions under the Chapter VIII) on his total income with which he is chargeable for any assessment year, of an amount equal to 100% of such income tax or an amount of Rs 2,000, whichever is less. On the basis of the facts given in the query, you should be able to claim the rebate as provided in the aforesaid section. This rebate is available for the assessment year 2014-15. It is on account of this reason that the income tax return form doesn’t contain a column for such rebate as the return form presently prescribed is applicable for assessment year 2013-14. Q. Please guide me on Section 44AA and 44AD of the Income Tax Act. I want to know if I file my return under Section 44 AD showing gross receipts of Rs 14 lakh and a net profit of Rs 2,05,000, is there any need to maintain account books? Kindly help me. — Happy Garg A. The scope and effect of the various sections introduced for declaring income on estimate basis (including Section 44AD of the Act) have been explained by the Board in its circular No. 684 dated 10th June, 1994. It has been explained in the said circular that an assessee who files his return estimating income at 8% of gross receipts or a higher income is neither required to maintain books of account nor required to get accounts audited under the provisions of Section 44AB of the Act. The said circular is still in operation. In my opinion, therefore, you are not required to maintain books of account in case your turnover does not exceed Rs 1 crore. The taxable income is declared @8% of the total turnover and you are engaged in an eligible business.
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Facebook expects next billion users to come from cellphones
Q. Why is Facebook focusing on feature phones (like Asha OS-based devices), when the future is clearly in smartphones? How much of a priority are feature phones for Facebook? A. Feature phones consists of a large chunk of mobile phone users in India, and with low price points these devices are becoming the first Internet connected device many people will own. Irrespective of the platform, our focus is towards connecting people whether it’s through desktop, laptops, feature phones or smartphones. We have also invested in building “Facebook for Every Phone” application, which delivers smartphone-like Facebook experience on feature phones. In India, the application is available in Hindi and seven other local languages, including Gujarati, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, Bengali and Marathi. In India, we have a huge opportunity to increase our user base with an upsurge in the adoption of mobile phones and lowering of data tariffs. At present, Facebook has 78 million monthly active users and we aim to target the next billion users through partnerships with operators and device manufacturers. We have also partnered with component manufacturers such as MediaTek to offer best experience of Facebook mobile app on low-end phones. Q. Please update on the partnership with handset makers? A. Increasingly people are accessing the Internet through their mobile phones which is why collaborating with handset manufacturers will help us get more people online and connect them through Facebook. We have partnerships with global and local brands such as Nokia, Micromax and Lava. We have worked with them to introduce handsets with Facebook pre-installed on the devices. Most recently, we partnered with Nokia for their latest offering Asha 501 which provides free Facebook access to all Airtel users in India. Such partnerships are proof that great and more affordable devices are coming to these markets, helping people to gain access to the Internet for the first time. Q. What is your strategy to reach to regions with limited connectivity? A. India has third highest Internet users in the world and is adding 70 million mobile Internet subscribers a year. According to a report by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB, India is expected to have close to 165 million mobile Internet users by March 2014, up from 87.1 million in December 2012. With the availability of affordable phones packed with engaging features, more and more people are using their devices for uploading and sharing photos, searching for relevant facts/ news, accessing social networking sites etc. Therefore, people are upgrading their phones and data plans to access Internet at their ease and we have witnessed that Facebook is one primary reason for people to change their phones and data plans. This opens huge opportunity for operators and handset manufacturers to acquire/ retain customers by offering the Facebook experience in a relevant and integrated way. We have partnered with operators such as Airtel, Reliance, Idea etc. in India to provide free and discounted data access to Facebook for their subscribers. Such partnerships help in tapping 'first time’ Internet users and gradually converting them into full-fledged data customers, thus overcoming the connectivity barriers. Q. What are the major focus areas for Facebook India? A. At Facebook, our mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. Facebook has evolved from a ‘Mobile First’ to ‘Mobile Best’ company as it becomes the primary reason for many to access the Internet. Our priority is to ensure that people have access to Facebook regardless of platform or device. Whatever we do, people are at the centre of everything. Mobile is the perfect platform for Facebook as both were built for connecting, a constant companion that can capture and share moments anywhere, anytime. Facebook Messenger is an important step in this direction. Today, more than 10 billion messages (According to ComScore, 2013 report) are sent everyday through Facebook and we believe that Facebook Messenger app will further help people to connect seamlessly across all platforms and devices. Q. How big is the Facebook community in India? And how does Facebook plan to capture more? A. We have 78 million monthly active users in India today, and we have taken a step closer towards our mission to make the world more open and connected. Our partnerships with mobile operators and handset manufacturers will help people who do not have access to Internet to connect with new knowledge, opportunities, and new relationships.
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SBI rejigs top brass
Mumbai, August 11 Late last month, the bank had elevated Bhattacharya as the managing director and chief financial officer and had also moved deputy managing director (DMD) P Pradeep Kumar to the large corporate group. Prior to her elevation, Bhattacharya was the MD and chief executive of SBI Caps, the capital markets arm of the nation's largest lender. The seven CGMs elevated as deputy managing directors are VG Kannan, Jeevandas Narayan, N Jambunathan, Krishna Machari, SA Ramesh Rangan, Praveen Kumar Malhotra and Jibendu Narayan Misra, SBI sources said. The SBI top deck comprises the chairman, four managing directors, around 12 deputy managing directors and over 35 CGMs. Prior to the elevation, Kannan was president and chief operating officer at SBI Caps Misra was chief general manager (Maharashtra & Goa circle) and PK Malhotra was chief general manager for project finance.
— PTI |
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With rising costs and falling rupee, it has become more challenging to explore the world within your budget. To make your travel experience worth more than the money spent, it’s important to plan your vacation intelligently
Budget and destination
So first thing that you need to figure out is the amount of money you want to spend on your vacation. On that basis, you can look at the kind of trip you want to take — a weekend getaway, long vacation or backpacking trip. Then decide the possible destinations and last but not the least — the length of your stay. The mature travellers are increasingly picking up destinations during off season to explore the destination’s beauty sans the crowds. There are typically three seasons — peak, mid, low and the cost of the trip varies accordingly. It is important to first identify your type of vacation and then start looking for deals. If you feel you would rather go to a destination during its peak season, you can look at options that are closer home, like South-East Asian countries instead of a vacation in Europe or the US. Time is of essence
The foundation of a great trip on a shoe string budget is a well-researched plan and travel scheduled at least 2-3 months in advance. Research is the ideal way to explore great places and deals through online content, peer review and feedback. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have become the new brewery for unexplored travel destinations and ready tips for the regular ones. Peer review actually presents a more authentic insights and experience that the destination promises. Usually travel portals or tourism boards have some discounts or promotions running for various destinations and serve as a ready source of information. Online travel agencies come in handy as they can share some practical tips and authenticated hotel reviews alongside great deals. If you are booking two months in advance, you can easily bag up to 70% discount on hotel stays and about 40% aggregated savings, if you book your travel and stay together. Additionally, there are a lot of cities that offer discounts of up to 40% when buying tickets for three or more
activities together. Explore locally
It is good idea to allow a balanced mix of air and land transport in your travel plan, depending on the time available. For instance, to reach Europe you could take a flight and then the train to travel within the continent. Using the public transport or walking is usually the closest way to experience the culture while bagging some savings on taxi fares. Downloading subway, bus and train maps and schedules in advance makes sightseeing easy. Some cities such as London also have ‘Hop on Hop Off’
(HOHO) buses like the ones we have in India also. These buses take you around most of the tourist destinations in the city. If the purpose of the trip is to explore a new city, one can opt for a low budget hotel, or if in a group, can rent vacation homes as they work out to be much cheaper. Tips and tricks
Some other things to keep in mind include
X-change
If you are travelling abroad, it’s important to manage the forex purchase in advance, at a good rate, rather than buying it at the last minute and burning a hole in your pocket. Also, keep a check on the minimum requirement and maximum limit of currency that you can carry while entering another country. In case you exhaust the currency, you must exercise caution as money changing tricks are the easiest way to get burnt whilst abroad. So always make sure you have received real notes of the right denomination. Go online
Indians are evolving fast when it comes to the art of travelling and becoming tech-savvy to get the best deal. However, there is still a big chunk of travellers ignoring the goldmine offered by online travel agencies for easy booking and heavy discounts. You can have a great travel experience even on a restricted budget, but the key is to plan right and at the right time. Simple steps, including budget, research, plan and bookings, if performed well in time, can really make a huge difference in your vacation experience, whether domestic or international. Travelling on a budget can limit travel options, but it doesn’t have to limit your experience. The author is General Manager, South & South-East Asia, Expedia. The views expressed in this article are his own |
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Which mutual fund market cap is ideal for you?
Nowadays, many investors have started investing in equity mutual funds by way of SIP or lump sum. They invest in schemes as recommended by their adviser, distributor, financial planner, friends, relatives, media and a few do their own research. Most of the investors know in which schemes they have invested and are aware how mutual funds work, but are not aware in what kind of companies (large-cap, mid-cap or small-cap) do mutual funds invest and how risky the investment is. Let us understand what kind of equity mutual funds are available in the market, how much risk is attached to it and its suitability to you as an investor. Kinds of equity mutual fund Large-cap fund
A large-cap fund invests approximately 80% of the assets (funds) in large-cap companies. Large-cap companies have market capitalisation more than $8 billion. These companies have a well-established business and are generally dominant in the industry. These companies have good historic track record. The growth rate of these companies is usually constant. So, the performance of the large-cap funds is stable compared to other funds. Investment in large-cap fund is advisable for investor who has investment horizon of 10 to 12 years for their goals like child’s education or child’s marriage and is not willing to take much risk and compromises on the return on
his investment. Large and mid-cap fund
A large amd mid-cap fund invests approximately 60 to 80% of assets (funds) in large-cap companies and the balance in mid-cap companies. The performance of these funds is similar to large-cap funds but due to 20-40% exposure to mid-caps, you may earn a bit higher returns comparatively. So, if you are willing to take some risk than you can consider investing 20-25% in large & mid-cap fund and balance in large-cap fund for investment horizon of 10 to 12 years. Mid and small-cap fund
A mid and small-cap fund invests approximately more than 60% of assets (funds) in mid and small-cap companies and the balance in large-cap companies. Mid and small companies have market capitalisation of less than $8 billion. These companies are new in the industry, in early stage of their business. They have a lot of expansion and growth opportunities, so they have the potential of earning super-normal profits and growth compared to large caps. Investment in mid & small-cap funds can be fruitful when the market conditions are good, because mid & small-cap companies generally outperform the large caps. But on the other hand, it can be a poor investment option in times of market instability because the companies in the portfolio suffer greatly during such times since they are less stable and less established. Thus, investment in mid & small-cap funds is advisable for aggressive investors who are willing to take high risk to earn higher returns. It is advisable to have an exposure to mid & small-cap funds of approximately 15 to 20% if your investment horizon is more than 15 years for goals like child’s marriage or retirement. Multi-cap fund
As the name says ‘Multi-cap fund’ it is a combination of large, mid and small-cap companies. It invests approximately 40 to 60% of assets (funds) in large-cap companies and the balance in mid and small-cap companies. The fund manager has the flexibility to invest in different companies. Due to the combination of variety of companies in the portfolio, the portfolio gets diversified. Thus diversification reduces the risk of the overall portfolio and increases the return. Investment in multi-cap fund is suitable for investors who wish to take moderate risk. It is advisable to invest in multi-cap funds approximately 15 to 20% if your investment horizon is more than 12 years. Sector funds
A sector fund invests in companies of particular sector (for example
FMCG, banking, power, etc) as per the fund objective. The performance of these funds depends on the performance of the respective sector. So it is not advisable to invest in sector funds, since they are very risky and the portfolio of these funds is not diversified. Index fund
An index fund is a fund which tries to replicate a benchmark equity index like
Sensex, Nifty, etc. Since these funds mimic the benchmark, the returns are also similar but are subject to tracking error. Investment in an index fund is advised for investors who follow buy and hold strategy and are not able to review their portfolio periodically. You need to have a diversified portfolio by investing in different market cap funds, in order to reduce the overall risk of your mutual fund portfolio. Apart from choosing the right mutual fund for you, you must also review your portfolio periodically. You should invest in a mix of different market caps of funds as per your risk-taking capacity, investment time horizon and your financial goals. As it is said, ‘The art is not in making money, but in keeping it’; so it is very important to make informed investment and manage your portfolio efficiently. The author is a Research
Analyst, ApnaPaisa.com. The views expressed in this article are his own |
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Q.
I am a senior citizen and retired Punjab Government employee and filing my income tax returns regularly and paying income tax as admissible. I have a demat and stock trading account with Stock Holding Corporation of India and intend to start trading in shares. Kindly clarify the following points:
Nowadays, many investors have started investing in equity mutual funds by way of SIP or lump sum. They invest in schemes as recommended by their adviser, distributor, financial planner, friends, relatives, media and a few do their own research. Most of the investors know in which schemes they have invested and are aware how mutual funds work, but are not aware in what kind of companies (large-cap, mid-cap or small-cap) do mutual funds invest and how risky the investment is. Let us understand what kind of equity mutual funds are available in the market, how much risk is attached to it and its suitability to you as an investor.
With 78 million users in India, Facebook is the most engaged community of real people in the world. Facebook was created based on the notion of making the world more open and connected and is working towards fulfilling its mission, as it continues to transform the way people and businesses connect. Having created a partnership ecosystem with operators, handset manufacturers and new product offerings, Facebook expects its next billion users to come from mobile phones. Girja Shankar Kaura talks to Kevin D'Souza, Country Growth Manager, Facebook.
With the rupee devaluating, budget travel is replacing extravagant vacation plans. The challenge is to strike a balance between money spent and discovering a unique travel experience. The Indian travellers are turning more experimental, whether they are a couple, family
travellers, or a group of backpackers. With this new found desire to explore the world, the rising costs and falling rupee, the concept of travel intelligence is catching up with Indian
travellers. So here are a few ways to make your travel experience worth more than the money spent on it.