The term ‘economies of scale’ is synonymous for efficiency in production of goods and services. It simply means that as the business grows bigger and bigger, the cost of production per unit declines progressively.

It is claimed that the price of a stock on the stock market is the function of demand for that stock and the available supply at a given point of time, apart from the fundamental factors that come into play in the pricing of the stock.

You must have often heard or read about the ‘power of compounding’ and if you are not conversant with matters of finance, you may not know what it actually means. Actually, it is quite simple: It just means that you get paid interest on the principal amount as well as on the accrued interest at regular intervals. The exponential effect of this power of compounding is astounding.

If you are planning to quit your job and thinking of becoming an entrepreneur having a start-up of your own, you need to take some steps to secure yourself financially before you venture into business.

NTPC has acquired 27.36% equity of Bihar State Power Generation Company (BSPGCL) in Kanti Bijlee Utpadan Nigam (KBUN) which owns 610 MW Muzaffarpur Thermal Power Station and 50% equity of BSPGCL in Nabinagar Power Generating Company (NPGC) which is developing 1980 MW Nabinagar Super Thermal Power Project in district Aurangabad, Bihar.

India’s current account deficit (CAD) seems under pressure with rising oil prices and depreciating rupee adding to the worries. The Indian rupee touched an all-time low mark of Rs. 69 per dollar on Friday.

The star IPOs of the past week, Fine Organic and RITES Limited are slated to list on the exchanges on Monday. Both the IPOs were well-subscribed inspite of volatile market condition during the week.

Recently, SEBI has recategorized balanced funds into three categories that is Aggressive hybrid funds, Balanced hybrid funds and Conservative hybrid funds. So investors should know the basic information that they must look into while investing in these mutual fund schemes.

Wipro announced that the company has completed the divestment of Wipro Data Centre and Cloud Services Inc, business in Germany and UK for a consideration of US$ 399 million. 

V2 Retail Limited has announced that it has opened its 63rd ‘V2 Retail’ store in India. This store is opened at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. This is the retail chains 14th store in Uttar Pradesh. V2 Retail's stores are spread across 17 states and 57 cities.

ICICI Bank, which has been going through a management crisis off-late, has announced appointment of Girish Chandra Chaturvedi as its non-executive part-time chairman, with effect from July 1, for a period of 3 years.

Kalpataru Power Transmission Limited (KPTL) informed bourses on Thursday that company has secured new orders worth Rs. 1,235 crore.

Lupin, the tuberculosis drug specialist company, in which Rakesh Jhunjhunwala holds 1.9 per cent stake was trading 1 per cent higher when the Pharma index was flat. On Friday, Lupin grabbed the second position as the top pharma gainer after Divis Lab which was trading 3 per cent up.

If we see the performance of large-cap funds, more than 20 schemes are under performing their respective benchmark since the start of this year.

Agrochemical firm Insecticides India Limited launched new products in Punjab for cost-effective control of pests and diseases that would increase agricultural yield.

Following stocks are close to their 52-week low as at 1.10 p.m. on June 29, 2018.

The markets on June 29, 2018 opened gap up. BSE Sensex is trading at 35,324.88, up by 287.24 points and the Nifty is trading at 10,682.20, up by 93.10 points. 

The shareholding pattern of ICRA, as of the end of March, showed that Punjab National Bank was holding almost 3,40,000shares, which represents almost 3.43 per cent stake.

India International Clearing Corporation Ltd. (India ICC), the clearing arm of India International Exchange (India INX) has announced the acceptance of AAA-rated international sovereign securities as collateral from its clearing members and custodians.

Overall volumes in futures & options currently stand at 2.14 crore contracts with a turnover of Rs. 19,55,855.51 crore.

Overall volumes in futures & options currently stand at 2.14 crore contracts with a turnover of Rs. 19,55,855.51 crore.

HDFC Asset Management Company (HDFC AMC) is the country’s largest mutual fund and is in news recently. SEBI has given a go ahead to HDFC Mutual Fund for its IPO. 

As we step into the last trading session of the quarter, we are likely to see a flat to positive start. The level of 10,530 is going to be a crucial support level as it is 100-DMA, followed by 10,490. On the way up, the levels of 10,635, followed by 10,660, are likely to act as stiff barriers. Stocks in news: Camlin Fine Sciences, JSW Energy, Fortis Healthcare, Bank Overseas, Kalpataru Power Transmission, Wipro, Clariant Chemicals, Adani Ports, Zee Media, Bharat Financial and RBL Bank.

The outlook for the day is a quiet start with a positive bias as Asian peers are trading mixed. Investors will keep an eye on the rupee-dollar movement and any further weakness could lead to concerted selling by FPIs. Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange is currently trading marginally higher at 10,599.   

The direct plans are already a big hit with the HNIs (high networth investors) and institutional investors since their inception. Moreover, with an increased investment from small-town investors, the direct plans are emerging as the favourite choice for investment in mutual funds.

High risk taking investors can take exposure in Strides Shasun (BSE Code 532531 ). The stock is likely to keep its upward momentum alive in the short term.

NFO is nothing but the first time subscription offer for a newly launched funds. The NFO’s are launched with an aim to raise the capital for the scheme by the fund houses.

Subscribers can ask their queries regarding stocks they hold and get our expert guidance.

Technical Analysis of 1 Stock (with 15 days horizon)

Review on 2 stocks recommended in past.

Fundamental Analysis of 2 Stocks (with 180 days horizon).

Wait-N-Watch As Trump’s Tweets And Crude Prices Tweak The Markets

Large cap funds are the lone performer in last couple of months while small cap and mid cap funds have seen a deep cut. Read on to know what you should do now.

Following stocks are close to their 52-week low as at 1.13 p.m. on June 28, 2018.

The markets on June 28, 2018 opened up. BSE Sensex is trading at 35,124.91, down by 92.20 points and the Nifty is trading at 10,623.00, down by 48.40 points. 

The only IPO open for a subscription this week has witnessed a steady flow of interest from investors. The IPO will close on June 28, Thursday. The price band of the Varroc Engineering is Rs. 965.00 to 967.00 per share of face value Rs. 1 and the lot size is 15 equity shares.

Thematic funds are the funds whose objective is to reap optimal returns through investment in stocks which belong to a particular theme

Exide Industries gained over 1.5 per cent in early morning trade on Thursday after the company announced entering in to a JV agreement with a Switzerland-based company.

BSE StAR MF has crossed 10,000 Mutual Funds Distributors (MFD) registration, adding over 1,500 new distributors per month.

Kakinada SEZ Limited was declared the selected bidder by the government of Andhra Pradesh. The port will be developed through PPP model.

India’s leading steel company, JSW Steel, has informed the bourses that it is planning to increase the annual steel manufacturing capacity of its JSW Vijayanagar works to 13MTPA. The capacity expansion is likely to be completed by March 2020. 

In terms of full year performance, the revenue for FY18 surge 33 per cent to Rs. 955 crore. EBITDA for the full year also rose 27 per cent to Rs. 178 crore. Notably, company’s net profit jumped 38 per cent yoy to Rs. 100 crore. 

Overall volumes in futures & options currently stand at 1.42 crore contracts with a turnover of Rs. 12,64,849.26 crore.

Overall volumes in futures & options currently stand at 1.42 crore contracts with a turnover of Rs. 12,64,849.26 crore.

Going ahead, traders will keep a watch on opening levels of the Nifty on Thursday and will closely watch the immediate support level of 10,650. A slip below this level would confirm weakness. Stocks in news: Exide Industries, Bank of Maharashtra, GMR Infra and Mercator.

The weakness that has set into Indian equity markets is likely to stay put as the markets are set to start the June F&O series expiry session on a weak note amid gloomy leads from the global markets. Nifty 50 index future on the Singapore stock exchange is currently trading lower by 19 points at 10,654. 

Volatile markets test an investor’s patience. Read on to find what to do in such conditions.

Policy reforms along with digitization of governance process are driving the formerly unorganised SMEs to become part of India's growing formalised and transparent SME ecosystem. This in turn is attracting lenders to more actively engage with this sector.

Larsen & Toubro InfoTech inaugurated latest global delivery center in Johannesburg. The 30,000+ sq. ft. state-of-the-art center with a capacity of 250 seats will help the company expand its operations in South Africa across all sectors.

Following stocks are close to their 52-week low as at 1.08 p.m. on June 27, 2018.

The markets on June 27, 2018 opened up. BSE Sensex is trading at 35,333.65, down by 156.39 points and the Nifty is trading at 10,712.20, down by 56.95 points. 

The securities regulator has ordered VCPL to make an open offer for NDTV within the next 45 days. The stock was up 20 per cent right from the opening bell, and was stuck at its upper circuit limit on Wednesday.

The worst might not yet be over for the banking sector as bad loans of commercial banks are expected to worsen to 12.2 per cent of total loans by March 2019, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its Financial Stability Report.

Gallantt Ispat jumped over 9 per cent in the early trade on Wednesday after the company announced plans to consider splitting its equity shares.

Indusland Bank has signed a purchase agreement to acquire 100 per cent shares of IL&FS' securities services subsidiary. The agreement is subject to regulatory approvals.

Overall volumes in futures & options currently stand at 1.05 crore contracts with a turnover of Rs. 9,31,576.17 crore.

Overall volumes in futures & options currently stand at 1.05 crore contracts with a turnover of Rs. 9,31,576.17 crore.

It has been observed that in the last couple of weeks, Nifty has been trading in the range of 10,700-10,837. On the charts one thing remains distinctly clear that unless this range is breached either on upside or downside, we will see each upmove getting stalled in the range of 10,830-10,840. Stocks in news: Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Communications, IDBI Bank, Relaxo Footwears, Majesco, PNB Housing Finance, IndusInd Bank and NMDC.

The outlook for the day is a quiet start and there are chances that the market may continue to exhibit sluggishness on account of continuing consolidation. The Nifty 50 index future on the Singapore stock exchange is currently trading with modest loss of 4 points at 10,751. 

Equity markets yet again ended in doldrums on Tuesday, repeating what it has been doing for the past four to five trading sessions. FMCG sector gained more than a per cent, while energy sector shedding 1.4 per cent, which led to a roller-coaster ride in the markets.

The most common quoted rule of thumb for asset allocation is 100 minus your age. Read on to check if it is suitable for you.

Following stocks are close to their 52-week low as at 1.20 p.m. on June 26, 2018.

The markets on June 26, 2018 opened down. BSE Sensex is trading at 35,554.28, up by 83.93 points and the Nifty is trading at 10,789.15, up by 26.70 points.

In a bid to give relief to certain sectors which are being adversely affected by the GST regime, the government may plan to remove items including cement, paint, movie tickets from 28 per cent tax slab.

Mutual fund investors are looking at various smart investment ideas to generate better returns. The mutual fund arena offers a wide basket of the choices to the investors of which quant funds are one of the lesser known funds.

Overall, the robust and well-diversified order book gives the confidence that the company may deliver the growth target of 15-20 per cent for FY19.

The stock of Info Edge was buzzing on the bourses in the early morning session, post the announcement of an investment in the company which operates online marketplace for insurance and financial products, namely www.policybazaar.com and www.paisabazaar.com.

Overall volumes in futures & options currently stand at 85.89 lakh contracts with a turnover of Rs. 7,56,917.32 crore.

Overall volumes in futures & options currently stand at 85.89 lakh contracts with a turnover of Rs. 7,56,917.32 crore.

On Tuesday, there are chances that Nifty will try to stabilise near its critical moving average support, i.e. 50-DMA. But there are higher chances of seeing lot of vulnerability persisting at the opening bell as hints from the global markets are negative. Stocks in news: Piramal Enterprises, Fortis Healthcare, Zuari Agro Chemicals, United Spirits, Jet Airways, NHPC, NOCIL, OIL India, Info Edge and Ratnamani Metals and Tubes.

The Indian markets may open sharply lower as it is reckoned that the trade war between the US and China may go on much longer, which resulted in a sharp drop on the Wall Street and sell-off in the Asian markets. Nifty 50 index future on the Singapore stock exchange is currently trading at 10,705, down by 50 points. 

The stocks that are likely to witness significant movement on the bourses on Tuesday, June 26, 2018 are Oil India Limited, Jet Airways Limited India, Tata Communications Limited, Biocon and Max India Limited.

Following the benchmark indices, S&P BSE 100 index too tumbled to close down by 0.6 per cent. However, three stocks listed on BSE 100 category hit 52-week high levels including Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance and Page Industries. 

The company has signed an agreement to acquire assets of Tudor India situtated in Gujarat. The assets include immovable land assets and movable assets in its factory in Prantij, Sabarkantha.

Union Budget of FY19 has wiped-off some of the tax disadvantages that FoF had compared to normal equity fund. Does this warrants investment in them?

Indian stock markets turned subdued at the start of the week, despite a very sharp upside and positive closure in the last week. Nifty Auto index which shed more than 1 per cent is the top sectoral loser. Tata Motors which is a part of Nifty50 and forms almost 10 per cent of Nifty Auto, has tumbled nearly 4 per cent and was the top loser in both the indices on Monday.

The upcoming expansion at Mysuru, Karnataka and Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh will add 6,00,000 KL and 5,00,000 KL to existing facilities. The company is investing around Rs. 4,000 crore for this expansions.

Following stocks are close to their 52-week low as at 1.26 p.m. on June 25, 2018.

The markets on June 25, 2018 opened gap down. BSE Sensex is trading at 35,585.15, down by 104.45 points and the Nifty is trading at 10,793.10, down by 28.75 points. 

Phoenix Mills’ (PML) wholly-owned subsidiary, Insight Hotels & Leisure has acquired an under-construction retail asset in Indore. PML has acquired the asset for Rs. 2.34 billion in an auction conducted by an Asset Reconstruction Company.

The US drug regulator, USFDA has cleared Biocon's sterile drug product unit after an inspection that ended last month.

The upcoming IPO of Varroc Engineering Ltd. will remain open for subscription from June 26-28, 2018. The issue consists of Offer for Sale (OFS) comprising of 2,01,21,730 equity shares with face value of Rs 1 per share. The IPO size is worth Rs 1945.77 crore. The price band is in the range of Rs 965-967 per share. The minimum lot size consists of 15 shares.

Overall volumes in futures & options currently stand at 79.84 lakh contracts with a turnover of Rs. 7,12,491.54 crore.

Overall volumes in futures & options currently stand at 79.84 lakh contracts with a turnover of Rs. 7,12,491.54 crore.

On Monday, we anticipate weakness might persist in the initial part of the trading session as cues from Asian peers are negative and the behaviour of the Nifty vis-à-vis the level of 10,840-10,850 continues to remain very decisive. Stocks in the news: Tata Communications, Biocon, Indian Hotels, Phoenix Mills, ICICI Bank, Symphony, Goa Carbon, Bombay Dyeing and Unichem Laboratories.

As we step into the F&O expiry week, we feel that Indian markets may open on a weak note as leads from the Asian markets are negative. This is on the back of media reports stating that the US President Donald Trump is planning to impose new curbs on Chinese investments in the US. The Nifty 50 index future on the Singapore stock exchange is currently trading lower by 50 points at 10,786.  

The Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has asked general insurance companies to submit third party vehicle insurance policies offering 3-year and 5-year insurance for cars and two-wheelers, respectively, and offer these options to their customers. The IRDAI directive to the insurers comes in the wake of the recommendation made by the Committee on Road Safety of the Supreme Court.

If you are in need of money and want to have a loan at a rate cheaper than personal loan, you can consider pledging your life insurance policy as collateral for raising the loan. You may apply for the loan either through the insurance policy or directly with the bank.

The performance of a mutual fund scheme cannot be done in isolation and it has to have some reference point or yardstick for comparison. The index to which the scheme is benchmarked provides such a reference point for comparison of the performance. If the scheme gives higher returns than the benchmark’s returns, it is said to have outperformed the benchmark during a given period of time; however, if it gives lower returns than that of the benchmark, the scheme is said to have underperformed the benchmark.

In India, an average investor barely knows about money market mutual funds (MMMFs), and even if he is aware, he seldom ventures to invest in these funds. There is a tendency among Indian investors to opt for known investment avenues such as bank fixed deposits, bonds, debentures, PPF, etc. The lack of awareness amongst investors about MMMFs deprives them of a good investment opportunity.

If you are planning to invest in securities such as fixed maturity plans (FMPs), closed-ended mutual funds, tax-free bonds or non-convertible debentures, you need to know that these securities are illiquid as there are not many buyers and sellers of these securities in the market.

The trade war tensions have escalated and the Asian markets have been rattled and have reached 6-month low post the deepening of trade war between the US and China.

Indian benchmark indices which remained subdued for almost the entire trading session, gave the last hour bounce back to close nearly 0.7 per cent up. Broader markets too closed in green but underperformed the benchmark indices. All the sectors closed in the positive territory where pharma followed by all banking sectoral indices and FMCG outperformed the markets.

Fund houses in India are launching ESG Funds. Read on to find what are these ESG funds and should you be investing in them.

Dr Lal PathLabs gave its prolonged multiple resistance breakout on Friday in the zone of 920-930 levels. The stock should sustain 930-932 levels on all daily, weekly and monthly closing basis to witness significant upside in future.

Brent oil rose on Friday after witnessing three consecutive red days as Russia and Saudi Arabia called for an increase in the output. The outcome of the meet has been discounted and Brent rose on Friday expecting a output hike by OPEC in the meeting scheduled later during the day.

In testing market condition on the last trading day of the week as well as the last day of subscription for two IPOs RITES and Fine Organics, investors seem to be wanting to subscribe these IPOs.

Following stocks are close to their 52-week low as at 12.23 p.m. on June 22, 2018.

The markets on June 22, 2018 opened flat. BSE Sensex is trading at 35,467.30, up by 34.91 points and the Nifty is trading at 10,750.75, up by 9.65 points. 

Overall volumes in futures & options currently stand at 1.75 crore contracts with a turnover of Rs. 17,57,000.41 crore.