How to Invest in Share Market? A Beginner’s Guide!

A complete beginner’s guide to learn how to invest in share market in India: Hello Investors. Today we are going to discuss one of the most elementary topics for a newbie- How to invest in share market? I have been planning to write this post for a number of days as there are many people who are willing to invest, however, do not know how to invest in share market. Through this article, they will get the answers to their question and learn the step-by-step process of how a beginner can start investing in indian share market.

Please note that this post might be a little longer as I am trying to cover all the basics that a beginner should know before entering the stock investment world. Make sure that you read the article till the end, cause it will be definitely worthwhile reading it. Let’s get started.

Pre-requisites before you start investing

For investing in the Indian stock market, there are few pre-requisites that I would like to mention first. Here are the few things that you will need to invest in share market:

Bank Savings account
Trading and Demat account
Computer/laptop/mobile
Internet connection

(Thanks to Reliance Jio, everyone has 4G internet connection now.. 😀 )

For opening a demat and trading account (usually opened altogether and called 2-in-1 account), the following documents are required:

PAN Card
Aadhar card (for address proof)
Canceled cheque/Bank Statement/Passbook
Passport size photos

You can have your savings account in any private/public Indian bank.

Where to open your trading and demat account?– This will be discussed later in this post on the section ‘choose your stock broker’ (STEP 4).

Get your documents ready. If you do not have a PAN card, then apply as soon as possible (if you are 18 years old or above).

3 basic advice before you start investing

When you are new to the stock market, you enter with lots of dreams and expectations. You might be planning to invest your savings and make lakhs in return.

Although there are hundreds of examples of people who had created huge wealth from the stock market, however, there are also thousands who didn’t.

Here are a few cautionary points for people who are just entering the world of investing.

— Pay down your ‘High-Interest’ debts first

If you have any kind of high-interest paying debts like personal loans, credit card dues debts, etc, then pay them first. The interests of these loans can be even as high as your returns from the market. There is no point in wasting your energy to give all the returns you made from the market as interests of your debts. Pay down these debts before entering the market.

— Invest only your additional/ surplus fund

Stop right there if you are planning to invest your next semester tuition fee, next month flat rent, savings for your daughter’s marriage which is going to happen next year or any similar reasons.

Only invest the amount that won’t affect your daily life. In addition, investing in debts/loans is really a bad idea, especially when you are new and learning how to invest in the share market.

— Keep some cash in hand

The cash in hand doesn’t just serve as your emergency fund. It also serves as your key to freedom. You can take big steps like changing your little flat, or quit your annoying job or simply shifting to a new city, only when you have cash in hand.

Do not get trapped by investing all your money and later losing your freedom. Do not sacrifice your personal freedom in the name of financial freedom.

Also read: 7 Things to do Before You Start Investing

Now that you have understood the pre-requisites and the basics, here are the seven steps to learn how to invest in share market on your own. Do follow the step sequences for an easy approach to enter the stock market world.

How to invest in share market?

Step 1: Define your investment goals

It’s important to start with defining your investment goals. Start with end goals in mind. Know what you want.

Do you want to grow you saved money (capital appreciation) to beat inflation and get higher returns? Do you want to build a passive income from your investments through dividends? Are you investing for a specific goal? Or do you just want to have fun in the market along with creating wealth?

If you want to just have fun and want to learn, that’s okay. But make sure that you do not over-invest or get too much attracted to the market? Moreover, most people start the same way and define their goals later.

Anyways, if you are starting for Goal-Based Investing, do remember that the time frame for different investment goals will be different. Your goal can be anything like buying a new house, new car, funding your higher education, children’s marriage, retirement, etc. However, if you are investing in your retirement, then you have a bigger time frame compared to if you are investing in buying your first house.

When you know your goals, you can decide how much you want and for how long you have to remain invested.

Step 2: Create a plan/strategy

Now that you know your goals, you need to define your strategies. You might need to figure out whether you want to invest in the lump sum (a large amount at a time) or by SIP (systematic investment plan) approach. If you are planning small periodic investments, analyze how much you want to invest monthly.

There’s a common misconception among our society that you need large savings to get started. Say, one lakh or above. But that’s not true. As a thumb rule, first, build an emergency fund and next start allocating a fixed amount let’s say 10-20% of your monthly income to save and invest. You can use the remaining portion of your earnings for paying your bills, mortgages, etc. Nevertheless, even if your allocated amount turns out to be Rs 3-5k or more, it’s good enough to build an investing habit.

Step 3: Read some investing books.

There are a number of decent books on stock market investing that you can read to brush up the basics. Few good books that I will suggest the beginners should read are:

The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
One up on wall street by Peter Lynch
Common stocks and uncommon profits by Philip Fisher
The Dhandho Investor by Mohnish Pabrai
The little book that beats the market by Joel Greenblatt

Besides, there are a couple of more books that you can read to build good basics of the stock market. You can find the list of ten must-read books for Indian stock investors here.

Step 4: Choose your stock broker

Deciding an online broker is one of the biggest steps that you need to take. There are two types of stockbrokers in India:

Full-service brokers
Discount brokers

— Full-Service Brokers (Traditional Brokers)

They are traditional brokers who provide trading, research, and advisory facility for stocks, commodities, and currency. These brokers charge commissions on every trade their clients execute. They also facilitate investing in Forex, Mutual Funds, IPOs, FDs, Bonds, and Insurance.

Few examples of full-time brokers are ICICIDirect, Kotak Security, HDFC Sec, Sharekhan, Motilal Oswal, etc

— Discount Brokers (Budget Brokers)

Discount brokers just provide the trading facility for their clients. They do not offer advisory and hence suitable for a ‘do-it-yourself’ type of clients. They offer low brokerage, high speed and a decent platform for trading in stocks, commodities and currency derivatives.

A few examples of discount brokers are Zerodha, ProStocks, RKSV, Trade Smart Online, SAS online, etc.

Read more here: Full service brokers vs discount brokers: Which one to choose?

I will highly recommend you to choose discount brokers (like Zerodha) as it will save you a lot of brokerage charges.

Initially, I started trading with ICICI direct (which is a full-service broker), but soon realized that it was too expensive when compared to discount brokers. It doesn’t make sense to pay extra brokerage charges even if you get similar benefits. And that’s why I shifted to Zerodha as my broker. (Related Post: Different Charges on Share Trading Explained- Brokerage, STT & More)

Zerodha (a discount broker) charges a brokerage of 0.01% or Rs 20 (whichever is lower) per executed order on Intraday, irrespective of a number of shares or their prices. For delivery, there is a zero brokerage charge in Zerodha. Therefore, the maximum brokerage that you’ve to pay per trade while using the Zerodha platform is Rs 20 and it doesn’t depend on the volume of trading.

This is way cheaper compared to ICICI direct (full-service broker) which asks a brokerage of 0.55% on each transaction. If you buy stocks for Rs 50,000 in ICICI direct, then you have to pay a brokerage of Rs 275 for delivery trading i.e. when you hold the stock for more than one day in your demat account.

Further, as this amount is charged on both sides of the delivery transaction (buying & selling), hence you have to pay a total of Rs 550 for the complete transactions in ICICI direct (way too expensive than Zerodha).

In short, if you are planning to open a new trading account, I would recommend opening accounts in a discount broker so that you can save lots of brokerages. If you’re interested to open your account with Zerodha, here’s the direct link to fill account opening application!

Step 5: Start researching common stocks and invest.

Start noticing the companies around you. If you like the product or services of any company, dig deeper to find out more about its parent company, like whether it is listed on the stock exchange or not, what is its current share price, etc.

Most of the products or services that you use in day to day life — From soap, shampoo, cigarettes, bank, petrol pump, SIM card or even your inner wears, there is a company behind everyone. Start researching about them.

For example- if you’ve been using HDFC debit/credit card for a long time and satisfied with the experience, then investigate further about HDFC Bank. The information of all the listed companies in India is publicly available. Just a simple ‘Google search’ of ‘HDFC share price’ will give you a lot of important pieces of information. (Try it now!)

Similarly, if your neighbor bought a new Baleno car lately, they try to find out more about the parent company, i.e. Maruti Suzuki. What other products it offers and how is the company performing recently- like how are its sales, profits, etc.

You do not need to start investing in stocks with hidden gems. Start with the popular large-cap companies. And once you are comfortable in the market, invest in mid and small caps.

Step 6: Select a platform to track your performance

You can simply use an excel or google spreadsheet to track your stocks. Make a spreadsheet with three tables containing:

The stocks that you are interested in and need to study/investigate,
Those stocks that you have already studied and found decent,
Miscellaneous stock- for the other stocks that you want to track.

This way, you can easily follow the stocks. Further, there are also a number of financial websites and mobile apps that you can use to keep track of the stocks. However, I find using google sheets the easiest for tracking my stocks.

Related post: 7 Best Stock Market Apps that Makes Stock Research 10x Easier.

Step 7: Have an exit plan

Its always good to have an exit plan. There are two ways to exit a stock. Either by booking profit or by cutting a loss. Let’s discuss both these scenarios.

Basically, there are only four scenarios when you should sell a good stock in your portfolio: 1) When you badly need money 2) when the stock fundamentals have changed 3) When you find a better investment opportunity and 4) When you have reached your investment goals.

If your investment goals are met, then you can exit the stocks happily. Or at least, book a portion of the profit from your stock portfolio and shift it to other more safer investment options. On the other hand, if the stock has fallen under your risk appetite level, then again exit the stock. In short, always know your exit options before entering.

That’s all. There were seven steps that will help you learn how to invest in the share market. Now, here are a few other important points that every stock market beginner should know:

10 Additional points to take care

1. Start small

Do not put all your money on the market in the beginning. Start small and test what you have learned. You can start even with an amount of Rs 500 or 1000. For the beginners, it’s more important to learn than to earn.   You can invest in a large amount once you have more confidence and experience.

2. Diversify your portfolio

It’s really important that you diversify your portfolio. Do not invest all in just one stock. Buy stocks from companies in different industries.

For example, two stocks of Apollo Tyres and JK Tyres in your portfolio won’t be called as a diversified portfolio. Although the companies are different, however, both companies belong to the same industry. If there is a recession/crisis in tyre sector, then your entire portfolio might be in RED.

A diversified portfolio can be something like Apollo tyres and Hindustan Unilever stocks in your portfolio. Here, Apollo Tyres is from Tyre industry and Hindustan Unilever is from FMCG industry. Both the stocks are from different industry in this portfolio and hence is diversified.

Also read: How to create your Stock Portfolio?

3. Invest in blue-chip stocks (for beginners)

Blue chips are the stocks of those reputed companies who are in the market for a very long time, financially strong and have a good track record of consistent growth and returns in the past many years.

For example- HDFC banks (leader in the banking sector), Larsen and turbo (leader in the construction sector), TCS (leader in the software company), etc. A few other examples of blue-chip stocks are Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma, State bank of India, etc.

These companies have stable performance and are very less volatile. That’s why blue-chip stocks are considered safe to invest compared to other companies.

It’s recommendable for beginners to start investing in blue chips stocks. As you gain knowledge and experience, you can start investing in mid-cap and small-cap companies.

Also read: What are large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap stocks?

4. Never invest in ‘FREE’ tips/advice

This is the biggest reason why people lose money in the stock market. They do not carry enough research on the stocks and blindly follow their friends/colleague’s tips and advice.

The stock market is very dynamic and it’s stock price and circumstances change every second. Maybe your friend has bought that stock when it was underpriced, however now it’s trading at a higher price range. Maybe, your friend has a different exit strategy than yours. There are a number of factors involved here, which may end up with you losing the money.

Avoid investing in tips/advice and do your own study.

5. Avoid blindly following the crowd

I know a number of people who have lost money by blindly following the crowd. One of my colleagues invested in a stock just because the stock has given double return to another of my college in 3 months. He ended up losing Rs 20,000 in the market just because of his blind investing.

Related post: 6 Reasons Why Most People Lose Money in Stock Market

6. Invest in what you know and understand

Will you buy ABC company which produces Vinyl sulphone easter and dye intermediates even though you have zero knowledge of the chemical industry?

If you will, then it’s like giving some stranger 1 lakh rupee and expecting him to return the money with interests.   If you are lending money to someone, you ask a number of questions like what he does, what is his salary, what is his background, etc.

However, while investing Rs 1 lakh in a company which people do not understand, they forget this common logic.

7. Know what to expect from the market

Do not set unrealistic expectations for the stock market. If you want to make your money double in one month, from the stock market, then you have set your expectations wrong. Have a logical expectation form the market.

People are happy with 4% simple interest from the savings account, but a return of 20% in a year sounds underperformance for them.

Also read: How To Select A Stock To Invest In Indian Stock Market For Consistent Returns?

8. Have discipline and follow your plan/strategy

Do not get distracted if your portfolio starts performing too well or too bad in the first few months of investing. Many people increase their investment amount just in few weeks if they see their stock doing too well, and end up losing in the long run.

Similarly, many people exit the market soon and are not able to get profits when their stocks start performing.   Have discipline and follow your strategy.

9. Invest regularly and continuously increase your investment amount

The stock investment gives the best returns when you invest for the long term. Do not invest in lump sump at just one time and wait for the next 10 years to see how much returns you got. Invest regularly whenever you get a good opportunity.   Further, increase the investment amount as your savings increase.

10. Continue your education

Keep learning and keep growing. The stock market is a dynamic place and changes continuously. You can only keep up with the stock market if you also continue your education.

Besides, there are a number of more lessons which you will learn with time and experience.

Ready to start your journey to become a succesful stock market investor? If yes, then here’s an amazing course for newbie investors: HOW TO PICK WINNING STOCKS?

That’s all for this post on how to invest in the share market. I hope this is helpful to the readers. If you have any doubts, feel free to comment below.

Kritesh Abhishek

Hi, I am Kritesh (Tweet me here), an NSE Certified Equity Fundamental Analyst and an electrical engineer (NIT Warangal) by qualification. I have a passion for stocks and have spent my last 4+ years learning, investing and educating people about stock market investing. And so, I am delighted to share my learnings with you. #HappyInvesting

www.linkedin.com/in/kriteshrules/

March 31, 2020 Kritesh Abhishek Beginner's guide, Investment Basics 85 comments

Top Down and Bottom Up – Stock investing Approaches!

Top Down and Bottom Up approach of Stock Investing: While performing the fundamental analysis of companies, two of the most common strategies to research stocks that are used by investors are top down and bottom up approaches. In this post, you’ll learn what exactly is top down and bottom up approach.

Here, we’ll learn how top down and bottom up approach work, the difference between them and which one may be more suitable to you. Let’s get started.

Top down approach

Have you ever heard any investor/analyst saying something like- “The electric vehicle industry looks particularly promising now. The industry is growing at a fast pace and I should invest in this industry”.

Well, here the investor is following the top down approach to find stocks.

In the top down approach, the investors first look into the macro picture of the economy and later work down to research the individual stocks.

The overall steps involved in top down approach is to first look at the big picture of the world i.e. which economy is doing great, then look at the general market in that economy, next find the particular sector that may outperform and finally research the best stock opportunity to invest within that sector.

For example, let’s say you studied that the European economy is growing at a very fast rate. Next, when you looked further into the European market, you found that especially the biotechnology industry in outperforming. And finally, you researched some appealing stocks in that industry to invest. This is the top down approach for stock investing.

Here, you start with the big picture and ultimately move down to find the suitable investing opportunity. Top down approach looks at the performance of the economy & sector and believes that if the industry is doing good– the chances are that the stocks in that industry will perform too.

A few of the major areas where the top down analysts pay attention are economic growth, GDP, monetary policy, inflation, prices of commodities, bond yields, etc before moving into the specific industry study.

The biggest advantage of top down approach is that there’s no pre-conceived notion about what may work and the selection of economy, industry & stocks are based on the real-time studies. Further, as they focuses on the strong sectors, the chances of underlying companies performing well are favorable.

However, one of the major flaw of top down approach is that here you may miss out a few good bargain stocks in the eliminated industries.

Bottom up approach

This approach is exact opposite of the top down approach. Here, you first start with company research and later move up to find the other details.

Bottom up approach tries to study the fundamental of the company regardless the market conditions, industry or the macroeconomic factors. While performing the bottom up approach, the investors studies how fundamentally strong the company is by focusing on its revenues, earnings, financial ratios, products/services, sales growth, management etc.

The key here is to find the potentially strong company which may outperform the industry and market in future. If the fundamental factors are good, then regardless of what the industry is doing, the bottom up investors will pick such companies to invest.

The biggest advantage of the bottom up approach is that the investors may find the best potentially strong company which can outperform even if the economy or industry as a whole declines. Bottom up approach helps in picking quality stocks.

On the other hand, one of the cons of bottom up approach is that the investor may have some pre-conceived notion of the company and in such condition, their investment decisions may be a little biased. Further, as these investors ignore the longer economic influence and market conditions, some investment returns may be adversely affected because of these factors.

Closing Thoughts

Top down and bottom up are entirely different approaches to analyze and invest in stocks. However, both have their own advantages and disadvantages.

The top down approach first looks at the broader economy and macroeconomic factors, and then move to the specific industry and the company within. On the other hand, bottom up approach starts at the company level and later moves up for the other important details.

In general, top down approach can be a little easier for the less experienced investors as they do not have to perform the intense stock research and analysis. They can start studying the most appealing industry and find the companies within to invest.

Anyways, both approaches have their own effectiveness and hence, difficult to say which one is better. Moreover, it also depends on the knowledge and preference of the investor. My final advice would be to better try out both the approaches and find out which one suits you the best for your investment strategy.

Kritesh Abhishek

www.linkedin.com/in/kriteshrules/

March 30, 2020 Kritesh Abhishek Investment Basics 1 comment

Why did Indian Stock Market Crash in 2020? Causes & Effects!

Indian Stock Market Crash in 2020: After making a peak of 42,273.87 points in Feb 2020, Sensex crashed over -38% by 23 March 2020 to 25,638.90 points. We are currently witnessing one of the fastest crashes in stock market history, even worse than the 2008 market crash as quoted by many leading market analysts. In this article, we are going to discuss the reason behind this stock market crash in 2020.

Here you’ll find everything that you want to learn regarding the Indian stock market crash in 2020. We’ll look into leading causes, facts, effects and what do economists have to say about the crisis. However, before we start the article, let’s first understand what exactly is a stock market crash so that everyone is on the same page. Let’s get started.

What is a stock market crash?

A stock market crash is when a market index faces a rapid and unanticipated severe drop in a day or a few days of trading. A double-digit percentage drop over a few days in the market index generally constitutes a stock market crash. A stock market crash may be caused due to economic bubbles, wars, large corporation hacks, changes in federal laws & regulations and natural disasters. They are generally followed by panic selling and can lead to bear markets, recessions and even depressions.

There have been a few measures to stop a crash. One being large entities purchasing massive quantities of stocks in order to curb panic selling. Trading halts have also been introduced but both these measures have not been proved to be actually effective in pausing a crash.

(The stock market crash of 1924 was one of the most unfortunate crashes where the Dow Jones Index lost 23% in two days and eventually led to ‘The Great Depression’.)

Do Stock Market crashes lead to Recession?

A stock market crash reduces the investors’ confidence in the economy and as the falling shares slowly wipe out investor wealth. Investors resort to selling off their holding at minimal costs. Due to lack of confidence investors also refuse to partake in the purchase of shares.

With the diminished wealth of investors and the valuations of companies dropping, it makes harder for companies to raise capital and secure debt. Companies in bad financial shape lead to layoffs resulting in a fall in demand in the economy. As the decline continues the economy contracts resulting in a recession. A stock market crash does not necessarily result in recession but a recession always results in a stock market crash.

Also read: How Does The Stock Market Affect The Economy?

Why did Indian Stock Market crash in 2020?

The period between 17th January 2020 to 27th March 2020 saw the SENSEX lose 12,129.75 points. Multiple events were involved which led to a negative impact on the market.

The presentation of the Union Budget on 1st February 2020 coupled with the coronavirus panic led to the SENSEX falling by 2%. Later, WHO classified Coronavirus as a potential pandemic on February 28th, 2020 which led to both the Nifty and the Sensex ending with the worst weekly fall since 2009.

This was further followed by the shares of Yes Bank falling on March 6th due to bad loans and one of the worst NPA in the country. One of the founders of Yes Bank was also arrested on corruption charges. The fall after Yes Bank coupled with the effects of Coronavirus in Europe and the US resulted in the markets touching 35,636 points. (Read More: The Unravelling of Yes Bank – Fiasco Explained)

On 12th March the Sensex fell by 8.18% as a result of WHO declaring corona a pandemic. As the pandemic further spread and the number of cases in India worsened the stock Market plunged 13.5% on March 23rd. Besides, a countrywide lockdown of 21 days was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi starting from midnight March 24th. The lockdown was a necessity to curb the spread but it was the last thing the Indian economy required in its efforts to make a recovery.

Also read: Indian Markets: A Week Against Coronavirus & Crude Oil Fall

Is India headed towards a recession?

A recession is typically described as 2 consecutive quarters of negative growth. However, a few more factors are also in play.

The NBER ( National Bureau of Economic Research) defines a recession as “ a significant decline in economic activity spread across the country lasting more than a few months visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales.

With several predictions by notable economists indicating India having a negative GDP, the lockdown has further intensified all the other factors possibly directing the economy towards a recession due to lack of income to major portions of the sector, with tourism industry already facing unemployment, the other industries will definitely face the heat. The lockdown also guarantees a drop in production and a drop in wholesale retail and sales.

What has the Government done so far?

All efforts by the government began after the lockdown was announced. The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a financial relief package of Rs 170,000 crores. The package included hugely appreciated Rs 50 Lac insurance cover to every individual in the health sector. The finance minister also announced 5kg of wheat and 1kg of pulses in addition to the existing scheme to over 80 crore individuals.

This too was appreciated as the 21-day lockdown would rid the daily wage workers of any source of income. The withdrawal limit of the EPFO was hiked. This was done to transfer cash into the hands of individuals. This would also provide support to unemployed workers.

In addition, the Finance Minister also announced that the center will pay the Provident Fund requirements on behalf of both the employer and also the employee for 90% of the employees. This will further reduce the burden on small businesses as it is targeted towards firms with less than 100 employees and those that have salaries less than Rs 15,000.

(RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das in talks with the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman)

The RBI announced a moratorium on EMI for the next 3 months and also cut the Repo rate by 0.75% to 4.4%. The Moratorium on EMI’s will reduce the burden on individuals.

The repo rate, on the other hand, will make it cheaper for individuals to avail loans, however, deposits will receive reduced interest. This is aimed at increasing cash in the hand of an individual resulting in an increased demand which in turn may lead to stimulating the economy.

What do economists have to say about the crisis?

— Raghuram Rajan

(Raghuram Rajan- Former RBI Governor)

Former governor of the RBI, Raghuram Rajan, known for predicting the 2008 financial crisis and recession in 2005, said in an interview that the most important requirement right now is to prioritize targets such as fulfilling supplies and physical resource requirements of the healthcare sector followed by reaching out to the poor and only then should the question of reduction of taxes and temporary income support should come into the picture.

On questioned about the impact coronavirus may have on the global economy he answered that due to the unprecedented situation we should first look into the Chinese economy and observe the relaxation placed in China and the response COVID-19 has to it and accordingly take an action depending on if the virus spread begins again after the relaxation.

This would mean that the lockdown would be required to be implemented for longer periods. He also said in the interview that it may be a little too early to predict if the COVID-19 pandemic will lead us towards depression. In addition, he further added that with a recession almost certainly on the cards we still can focus on avoiding a depression based on measures taken

— P. Chidambaram

( P. Chidambaram – Former Finance Minister)

The former finance minister advocated the lockdown but mentioned that a lockdown alone was not sufficient. He mentioned that a relief package of 5-6 Lac Rupees is the absolute minimum which is required. He also provided a 10 point action plan which included the direction of cash and food towards the urban poor, assurance that the employer will be reimbursed for any wages paid during the lockdown and also proposed cuts on the GST.

On being questioned about future economic recovery he answered saying that there is no economic recovery on the horizon. Although the growth for the last quarter stood at 4.7% due to corona as per global economic loss prediction of 2% percent the same may be applied to the Indian markets.

He also added that the situation the country is put in now is worse than the migration crisis post-independence, famines to date, the tsunami of 2004 and even bigger than the 2008 financial crash and in fact even bigger than all of them put together.

— Jayati Ghosh

(Jayati Ghosh – Indian Economist)

Jayati Ghost one of India’s foremost economists and also a Professor at JNU, Jayati Ghosh, took a much more critical stance to highlight the magnitude of the problem the lockdown will create.

According to Jayati Ghosh in a country like India, a lockdown of more than a week will have severe disruptions. The damage done by the lockdown is already greater than the damage caused by demonetization due to which the economy has still not recovered. A massive shock such as this will have a negative multiplier effect and will continue to permeate.

She added that lockdown which has already disrupted the demand within the economy, with the supply chain broken down will force farmers to get rid of their stock as they will not be able to sell their produce and any bulk buying or hoarding engaged in the consumer end will only lead to shortages in the economy.

On being asked on what effect this will have on the GDP she made it clear that she has reservations already of the GDP figures being fudged and are actually lower than that reported by the government due to which we may see negative GDP in the coming quarters.

Closing Thoughts

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that if the nation does not impose the lockdown, the country and our families will be set back by 21 years.

After taking a closer look which makes it clear that a lot more has to be done before it further devastates the country if poorly implemented and makes one wonder that if so, by how many years is the economy going to fall behind due to the lockdown. The government has to have a plan in place instead of abrupt decisions followed by a plan that may fall in line with such decisions. This is required to keep the economy from falling into a depression at all costs.

While looking into the Indian stock market crash in 2020, we should also not forget that it took the Dow Jones Index almost 25 years to recover from the crash that had led to The Great Depression. The financial package announced which currently makes up 0.8% of the GDP does not even reach the bare minimum set by former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram at 5 lac to 6 lac crore, let alone be compared to Western countries where they are set at 5- 15% of the GDP. The government still has to roll out policies swiftly to make the necessary yet draconian lockdown a success.

March 29, 2020 Aron Almeida Economics, Market, News 2 comments

Stock Market Timings in India

Stock Market Timings in India: There are two major stock exchanges in India- Bombay stock exchange (BSE) and National stock exchange (NSE). However, the timing of both BSE & NSE is the same.

First of all, you need to know that the stock market in India is closed on weekends i.e. Saturday and Sunday. It is also closed on the national holidays. You can find the list of the holidays of the stock exchange here: NSE India

The normal trading time for equity market is between 9:15 am to 03:30 pm, Monday to Friday.

The trading time for commodity (MCX) market is between 10:00 AM to 11:30 PM, Monday to Friday.

The normal trading time for Agri-community (NCDEX) market is between 10:00 AM to 05:00 PM, Monday to Friday.

(Quick Note: Revision in MCX trade timings – Due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak and nation-wide lockdown, MCX has revised its trading hours. MCX will open at 9:00 AM and close at 5:00 PM from Monday, March 30, 2020, to April 14, 2020.)

In addition, there is no lunch break or tea break in the Indian stock market timings.

The timings of the Indian stock market are divided into three sessions:

Normal session (also called continuous session)
Pre-opening session
Post-closing session

Now, let us discuss all these sessions to further understand their importance in the stock market timings in India.

Also read: Indian Stock Market Holidays 2018

Stock Market Timings in India.

NORMAL TRADING SESSION:

This is the actual time where most of the trading takes place.
Its duration is between 9:15 AM to 3:30 PM.
You can buy and sell stocks in this session.
The normal trading session follows bilateral matching session i.e. whenever buying price is equal to the selling price, the transaction is complete. Here transactions are as per price and time priority.

PRE-OPENING SESSION:

The duration of the Pre-opening session is between 9:00 AM to 9:15 AM. This is further divided into three sub-sessions.

9:00 AM to 9:08 AM:
1. This is the order entry session.
2. You can place an order to buy and sell stocks in this duration.
3. One can also modify or cancel his orders during this period.
9:08 AM to 9:12 AM:
1. This session is used for order matching and for calculating the opening price of the normal session.
2. You cannot modify or cancel buy/sell order during this time.
9:12 AM to 9:15 AM:
1. This session is used as a buffer period.
2. It is used for the smooth translation of pre-opening session to the normal session.

The opening price of the normal session is calculated using multilateral order matching system. Earlier, the bilateral matching system was used which caused a lot of volatility when the market opened. Later, this was changed to multilateral order matching system to reduce the volatility in the market.

However, most people do not use the pre-opening session and only use the normal session for trading. That’s why there is still huge volatility even in the normal session after the pre-opening session.

The time between 3:30 PM to 3:40 PM is used for closing price calculation.

The closing price of a stock is the weighted average of the prices between 3:00 PM to 3:30 PM.
For the indexes like Sensex & nifty, its closing price is the weighted average of the constituent stocks for the last 30 minutes i.e. Between 3:00 PM to 3:30 PM.

POST-CLOSING SESSION:

The duration of the Post-closing session is between 3:40 PM to 4:00 PM.
You can place orders to buy or sell stocks in the post-closing session at the closing price.If buyers/sellers are available then your trade will be confirmed at the closing price.

NOTE: Pre-opening session and the Post-closing session is only for the cash market. There are no such sessions for future & options.

Overall, the stock market timings in India can be briefed as:

9:00 AM to 9:15 AM	Pre-Opening Session
9:15 AM to 3:30 PM	Normal Trading Session
3:30 PM to 3:40 PM	Closing Price Calculation
3:40 PM to 4:00 PM	Post-Closing Session

(Pic credit: BSE India)

In addition, if you are unable to trade between this time periods, you can place an AMO (Aftermarket order). There is no actual trading here but you can place your buy or sell order.

Further, the Indian stock market also opens a special trading session during Diwali, the festival of light. This is known as ‘Mahurat Trading’. Its trading time is declared a few days before Diwali. However, generally, Mahurat Trading timing is in the evening. You can find more details about mahurat trading here: 60-minute ‘Muhurat Trading’ on BSE, NSE this Diwali

BONUS

By the way, if you are new to investing and want to learn how to start investing in the Indian stock market, check out this video. I’m sure it will be helpful to you!

Final Tip: When you enter the share market, you’ll need to open your demat account to start investing/trading. We’ll highly recommend opening an account with Zerodha, No 1 stockbroker in India. Here’s a detailed post on how to open Zerodha account step-by-step.

That’s all. I hope this post on the ‘Stock Market Timings in India‘ is helpful to the readers. If you have any doubts regarding the Indian stock market timings, feel free to comment below. I will be happy to help you.

Kritesh Abhishek

www.linkedin.com/in/kriteshrules/

March 28, 2020 Kritesh Abhishek Investment Basics 35 comments

Demat vs Trading Account – What’s the difference?

Hi Investors & Traders! Today, I am writing this post regarding the demat vs trading account because of the popular demand by our readers. Many of the readers of ‘Trade Brains’ asked me to cover this topic as they are constantly confused about what is a demat and trading account and their difference.

Therefore in this post, I am going to explain what is the difference between the demat and trading accounts in a very simplest possible words.

Most of the newbies who enter the stock market might already know that they’ll need a demat and trading account to start trading/investing in India. However, the majority of beginners do not know the difference and consider both the demat account and trading account to be the same. But in reality, both these accounts are entirely different and serve different purposes.

Difference between demat and trading account

— Trading Account

A trading account is a medium to buy and sell shares in a stock market. In simple words, it is used to place buy or sell order for a stock in the exchange.

Different stockbrokers offer different trading tools to their clients to simplify their trades. For example, Zerodha, the biggest stockbroker in India offers ‘KITE’ as their platform to trade in stocks. Once you have opened your trading account with a stockbroker, you can place your buy/sell orders using those platforms.

(Image: Kite Trading Platform by Zerodha)

— Demat Account

Demat account is the short form for ‘Dematerialised account’. It is similar to a bank account. Just as money is kept in your savings account, similarly your bought stocks are kept in your demat account.

In other words, a demat account serves as a facility where stocks that you buy are deposited and the stocks sold are taken away. Demat account is used only for the storage of stocks, not for transactions (buying/selling).

Example of Demat and Trading Accounts

Let us understand the difference between trading and demat account further with the help of an example. Assume that you wish to buy 100 stocks of Maruti Suzuki. Here, the sequence followed during the procedure will be as follows:

First of all, you’ll need to have a savings equal to or greater than the buying amount in your savings account.
Next, you’ll transfer the money from saving account to trading account.
Now, you’ll buy stocks of ‘Maruti Suzuki’ from the stock exchange by using your trading account and paying the amount.
Finally, the money is transferred to the seller through your trading account and stocks of ‘Maruti Suzuki’ will be transferred to your demat account.

Now let us assume that after a few months, you wish to sell 20 stocks of ‘Maruti Suzuki’ from your holdings of 100 stocks. Here, the sequence followed will be as follows:

First, you’ll place a sell order in the market using your trading account to find a buyer.
If a buyer is found, then the shares will move from your demat account to the buyer.
Finally, the money gained by selling your stocks will flow through your trading account to your linked savings account.

Also read: 8 Best Discount Brokers in India – Stockbrokers List 2020

Quick Fact About Demat Account

Before the internet became popular in India, there were no demat accounts. Share certificates were provided whenever you buy stocks (on papers). However, there were many limitations to using paper share certificates. They used to get torn, stolen, faced safety-related issues or the ink just gets fade away with time.

Nevertheless, after coming of the internet from the mid-1990s, the stocks started getting kept in the electronic dematerialized form in the demat account of the buyers. It resolved most of the limitations of the old paper share certificates.

Also read: Where to open your Demat & Trading account? – A Beginner’s Guide

A few other points to know about demat and trading account

Demat and trading accounts are opened together (also known as 2-in-1 account) with most of the popular stockbrokers in India. For example, Zerodha, Angel Broking, 5 Paisa, etc.
A few big stockbrokers (generally bank brokers) also offer a 3-in-1 account i.e. Saving+Demat+Trading account to their clients. For example ICICI Direct, HDFC Securities, etc.
In general, there are no annual maintenance charges for a trading account, where for the demat account this maintenance charge may vary from broker to broker. It is typically around Rs 300-400 per year.
These days, the investors and traders can open instant (paperless) demat and trading account within 10 minutes with major stockbrokers. Nonetheless, the facility of offline account opening is still popular in India and offered by all these brokers.
The account opening charge for demat and trading account also varies from broker to broker. A few brokers offer free account opening. However, the majority of them will charge somewhere between Rs 300-500 to open your brokerage account.
In addition, you are also allowed to open multiple demat and trading accounts using same PAN card. For instance, You can have multiple accounts- one in ICICI direct and other in Zerodha.
Finally, choose your broker wisely to open your demat and trading account if you want to avoid unnecessary charges and risks.

Also read: How to Open a Demat and Trading Account at Zerodha – No 1 Stockbroker in India?

Summary

Let us quickly summarize what we discussed in this article regarding trading and demat account in India.

A trading account provides a platform to buy or sell the share in the market. It acts as an intermediary between your saving accounts and demat accounts. In simple words, it takes share from your demat account and sells them in the market.

On the other hand, it takes money from your savings account and buys a share to keep in a demat account. Further, a demat account is a facility to keep your shares in an electronic dematerialized form.

That’s all. I hope this post on the difference between demat and trading account is useful to the readers. If you have any doubts, comment below. I will be happy to help you out. Happy Investing!

Kritesh Abhishek

www.linkedin.com/in/kriteshrules/

March 27, 2020 Kritesh Abhishek Investment Basics, Online Brokers 7 comments

Is Debt the New Working Capital for Millennials?

Millennials Debt – The New Working Capital: The need for capital is the need of the hour; from growth to survival, money has become a vital non-natural resource. From an individuals’ need for basic necessities to running a business, the one-stop solution is capital. So what solves this need of capital? Either earn or borrow. Yes, ‘Debt’ is the easiest and the quickest way to fulfill the demand for money that exists in the economy.

The demand for money is a never-ending phenomenon and its mismanagement has been the root cause of some major financial debacles in history. Like the Bank’s NPA crisis, where hefty loans were distributed without measuring the exposure to the risk in a systematic way which made them bad loans leading to default in repayment. The NPA crisis in India started with NBFC’s, which was followed by the liquidity crisis, damping the economic growth of the country.

History has always given us a lesson and one must learn from it. Is the current debt-scenario of the new rising population of ‘Millennials’ in jeopardy? Let’s find out in this read.

The current scenario of ‘Debt’ among Millennials

Of the total population in India, Millennials account for almost 35%. As per a recent survey by CIBIL, it was found that, of the total loans sanctioned in India in the year 2018, around 39% of the loans were sanctioned to the Millennials group and these are increasing by every passing year.

As per CIBIL’s study, almost 72% of loans are for credit cards, personal loans, and consumer durables, and these come under the category of unsecured loans. While secured loans for two-wheeler and auto loans contribute 9% of the total loans.

Why are Millennials taking more and more loans?

The generation of Millennials is building a new spending culture and their rate of expenditure is on the rise. Where India is known for its saving culture, a new change in people’s lifestyle is pushing them towards a spending spree.

Millennials (aging between 18 to 35 Years) need for a loan and the rising burden of their debt is majorly driven due to the following-

— Education Fees and Related Expenses

Education is every individual’s right. But this basic right costs too much. Higher education standards have substantially risen due to more and more private universities entering the industry with better quality and demanding a hefty fee against it.

Further studying abroad has become a new trend among the youth and hence calls for money demand. The education industry doesn’t just stop at institutes but also includes coaching classes, which prepare the students for competitive exams. The importance of education can never be debated and hence no matter what, one will always look forward towards fulfilling this need. This adds to the need for an education loan.

— Vehicle Loans

In today’s modern world social status plays a very important role and it has become important among individuals to keep up with their social status. Having a self-owned car or a bike is one such way of giving meaning to social status.

— Marriage and Related Expenses

This is another industry that has shown an exponential rise over the last decade. Bollywood has always had a huge impact on its viewers. Movies showcasing high budget destination weddings, designer outfits, jewelry, party, etc. have had a huge impact on its audience leading to rising marriage loans.

— Travel and Leisure

Travel is another industry, which is surging. This includes a major chunk of the population attracted to foreign travels like Europe, America, Islands, etc. These trips cost huge and again add to the demand for money ultimately influencing people to borrow more.

Leisure activities like frequently going out for movies, parties, concerts, etc. have become an integral part of one’s busy life and are a stress buster, which further adds to the need for money.

— Ease of Borrowing

Technology has become a pillar of our lives. It has influenced our lives for good. Traditional lending platforms i.e. banks are now being accompanied by some new lending platforms like P2P (Peer-to-Peer) players such as IndiaLends, i2i Lending Lenden, RupeeCircle, CASHe, etc. These platforms have made borrowing easy by reducing the paperwork hassle and making everything online and at lower borrowing costs.

Additionally, these platforms also provide a loan with very small ticket size like of Rs.500, etc. and for a short duration like a month or a fortnight, which makes them much more attractive.

— Other Factors

Medical, Housing loans, Personal loans, etc. are a few other requirements shaping the demand for loans.

Also read: Good Debt vs Bad Debt: What You Need to Know?

Is the rising Debt Burden on Millennials Good or Bad?

‘Debt’ has always had a negative image on the financial minds. This is one of the major reasons, which causes panic. Hence millennials’ rising dependency on loan is an issue that needs to be addressed.

In order to understand the risk associated with millennials’ debt, one needs to understand whether they have financial literacy and awareness with respect to this.

As per the data given by CIBIL, millennials who have a CIBIL credit score of less than 700 have improved it by an average of 65 points within six months of checking their scores. Further, the data also revealed that self-monitoring millennials have an average score of more than 740, which is higher than the non-millennials average score of 734.

An increased dependency on easy credit has made our lives simple but are we aware of the consequences if things go south. The lending platforms and banks over the past few years have been engaged in awareness activities of the customers in order to make them financially literate and conscious of the risks associated with borrowing and its defaults.

The data given by CIBIL directs us towards the fact that currently the debt-scenario among the millennials is under control and hasn’t shown any signs of another bubble ready to burst. But the question is for how long?

The new wave of digital borrowing and banks becoming more inclined towards retail loans are both changing the basic nature of India as a ‘Saving Economy’ towards a ‘Debt-Driven Economy’.

The past financial crisis like the 1929-30’s Great Depression, 1980 Savings and Loan Crisis, 1995 Dot Com Bubble, 2008 Financial Crisis and many have impacted the world economy but the Indian economy’s saving culture has saved us from all of them by absorbing the loss. The saving culture has always provided a thick cushion and protected people. Having savings reduces the financial dependency on institutions and government thereby reducing the exposure of the crisis.

Closing Thoughts

The world is advancing towards new technologies and new means of living but compromising on the old ways might cost us heavily in the next financial crisis. Nowadays the banks are selling loans rather than emphasizing the deposits as such. Household debt in India is more than the household savings. We must think twice about how much are we saving to keep our future secure and financially sound.

One of the biggest rules in finance is to manage the risk and so we should stay a step ahead in analyzing this new debt-culture and how can it be managed in order to downside the risk and avoid another crisis.

Shivani Mundra

I am an MBA graduate specialised in Finance. I am a passionate stock market investor and a movie buff. I have always been inclined towards learning and development through different styles and new experiences. I believe knowledge is a vital ingredient for success. So here I am trying to contribute my best to add to your financial knowledge via this knowledge centre ‘Trade Brains’.

March 26, 2020 Shivani Mundra Personal Finance 1 comment

Do You Need a Finance Degree For a Career in Stock Market?

Do You Need a Finance Degree For a Career in Stock Market? The finance industry in India has been growing at a very fast pace for the last two decades. And along with the growth in the industry, there’s also a boom in job opportunities and enthusiasts willing to work in this field.

Although there are many job opportunities available in the stock market, however, one of the most frequently asked questions is- “Can a student from non-finance degree get a job on Dalal street?” How much relevant is having a finance, commerce or business degree to land a job in the world on the stock market.

Well, the short answer to this question is that you do not need a finance or business degree to get all the jobs in the stock market. A lot of financial companies hire employees from Engineering, mathematics, science, computing or economics background. In the era of internet technology, most of the financial giants are looking more for the skills and the aptitude of the candidates rather than just the degree.

Anyways, there are still a few careers in the market like Investment Banking, Equity Research, Risk Management, Portfolio Management, etc where a special skill set and expert knowledge of finance is required and having a degree can give an advantage to the candidates.

Nonetheless, having or not having a finance/commerce/business degree is just the starting point. There are a lot more things that you need to know if you want to build a career in the stock market industry which we are going to discuss in this post.

It’s always beneficial to have a background in Finance

When you have a background in finance, business, accounting or commerce, you already have got a minor exposure to the investing world. You might already know the lingo and familiar with the frequently used terms in the stock market like dividends, assets, liabilities, etc.

On the other hand, most of the non-finance guys are not even familiar with the most common terms of the market. Moreover, they find reading and understanding financial statements is quite challenging compared to people with a finance background.

Getting a job at Dalal Street Market

In a scenario where you are appearing in a job interview for a financial position, knowing these financial terms can help you impress the interviewer or at least not feeling like a dumb one. Besides, as stated, in a few financial positions, the interviewers create a barrier by shortlisting only candidates with a graduate degree in finance, commerce, business or accounting. And in all these cases, having a degree can be advantageous for you.

Moreover, if you want to become a SEBI registered investment advisor or research analyst, you will require an educational qualification of graduate or post-graduate degree in finance/accounting/commerce, etc. If you don’t meet the educational qualification, you cannot become a SEBI registered advisors/analyst and hence can’t have a career in the advisory field.

Overall, if you’re planning to become an investment advisor/research analysis, you’ll require a degree in these fields. Nonetheless, you can always enroll in post-graduate degrees of one or two years to get the degree and meet the educational qualifications.

Also read: What are the Different Career Options in Indian Stock Market?

Managing your own portfolio

When it comes to trading & investing or managing your own portfolio, you don’t require any degree.

Anyone can open their trading accounts and start trading in stocks. Many engineers, math/science majors, arts graduate or even people who don’t have any degree have been investing successfully and made a huge fortune from the market. A lot of successful stock market traders/investors do not have any background in finance or never did any course in this field. One of the best examples is Charlie Munger, a successful stock investor and vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway.

In short, if you are not interested in a 9-to-5 job or career in the Dalal street and just want to trade in stocks on your own, you won’t require any degree or certification. Here you can make money by using your knowledge and skillsets.

What to do when you don’t have a degree in Finance/Commerce?

It’s often said that Self-Education is the best form of learning. Even though if you do not have a degree in finance, you can learn the skills and impress the interviewer with your enthusiasm to master the market.

Start by learning the lingo. It’s really important to know financial terms if you want to break the initial barrier of entering the stock market world. Know the most frequently used investing terms and how to read the financial statements.

Further, if possible, take a few online courses to learn the trading/investing concept. Attend local investing workshops, seminars, etc. It would be best if you can find a mentor. Expand your knowledge base and try simulating platforms to trade in stocks without risking your money. And finally, try to land an internship in the finance company so that you can have a real experience of how things work in this industry.

Also read: NSE Certification Examination – The Definite Guide

Closing Thoughts

Most people believe that a career in the stock market is only for people with finance or business background. But this is not true. Do not stop yourself from entering the exciting world of the stock market just because you do not have a finance degree. Here, having a skill set is more important compared to a degree. Moreover, even if you do not have a graduation degree in Finance/Commerce, you can go for reputed financial certifications like CFA, FRM, PRM, etc that will put you in the same position as those with degrees.

My final advice will be to focus on enhancing your skills and acquiring specialized knowledge. This will help you more in building your dream life than chasing over degrees.

Kritesh Abhishek

www.linkedin.com/in/kriteshrules/

March 26, 2020 Kritesh Abhishek Beginner's guide, Market 5 comments

7 Best Mutual Fund Apps for Direct Investment

Top Rated Mutual Fund Apps for Direct Investment: As we all know that investing in mutual funds is one of the best ways to grow our money in the long term. And thanks to some of the best mutual fund apps in India, tracking, managing and investing in different mutual fund schemes is a lot faster and easier these days. Moreover, you can perform all these activities in just one app.

Whether you are interested to invest in regular funds or direct mutual funds, there are multiple mobile apps for these mutual fund investments in the google play store providing the advantage of buying and selling on the tip of your fingers. Further, if you plan to invest in direct funds through these apps, they can also help you to save an extra commission of 1% to 1.5% which is a huge advantage.

What are Direct Mutual funds?

Direct vs Regular Mutual Funds Plans: With effect from the very beginning of the year 2013, the SEBI had made it compulsory for all Mutual Fund houses of having two versions of each scheme i.e. Direct plan & Regular (or Indirect plan).

In a Direct plan, you can invest directly in a scheme of a Mutual Fund AMC at a low cost. The direct plans are cheaper than the regular plans because you will be saving costs in terms of paying commission to intermediaries. Looking at both the plans, the difference in returns seems to be as low as 0.25% which can go up to 1%.

In the long-term, these differences result in significant amounts. So, this clearly evident that you should always go for investing in the Direct plans of Mutual Funds. (Have a look at what AMFI says about Direct Plan here)

7 Best mutual fund apps for direct investment:

From hundreds of mutual fund investment apps listed on the play store, we have hand-picked seven of the best mutual fund apps for direct investment. Here is the list of the most competent mutual fund apps for Indian investors:

1. myCAMS Mutual Fund App

myCAMS is a single gateway to invest in multiple Mutual Funds schemes. The app facilitates faster, easier and smarter ways to transact in the direct funds.

There are various features of myCAMS which include mobile PIN & Pattern login, one view of your MF portfolio, open new folios, purchase, redeem, switch, set up SIP and more. It also helps in scheduling the transaction option which allows investors to set up future Mutual Fund transactions.

Rating on Google Play store: 4.4 out of 5 with a total of 43,253 ratings.

Here is the direct link to the app on play store.

2. KFinKart- Investor Mutual Funds

The core objective of this app is to simplify the journey of the customer in mutual funds. It is a one-touch login app that empowers you to invest across a host of mutual funds and provides a new way of investing your money. It also emphasizes on a single view of your investments, manage profile, make decisions and transact instantly without needing multiple apps offered by different fund houses.

This app peculiarity is to make the most of your time and money by linking and tracking your family folios across AMCs, invest in NFOs, transact or reinvest, start or stop SIPs, etc.

Rating on Google Play store: 4.1 out of 5 with a total of 17,918 ratings.

Here is the direct link to the app on play store.

3. Zerodha Coin

As per my opinion, Zerodha coin is one of the best apps to invest in direct mutual funds. They offer investment services in over 3,000 commission-free direct mutual funds across 34 fund houses. This can help in saving up to 1-1.5% more per annum compared to regular mutual funds. With over 1,50,000 investors who have invested over 2500 crores and collectively saved 30+ crores in commissions, Zerodha Coin has already built a big brand and customer base.

Key features of the app include:

Search, filter, and buy from over 3,000 commission-free direct mutual funds across 34 AMC’s.
A single capital gain statement, P&L visualizations, and Annualized (XIRR) and absolute returns.
Mutual funds are held in Demat form, and thus easier to pledge as collateral for loan against securities.

Rating on Google Play store: 3.9 out of 5 with a total of 2,830 ratings.

Here is the direct link to the app on play store.

Note: You can open your account with Zerodha to invest in direct mutual funds and stocks using this quick link.

4. ETMONEY Mutual Fund App

ETMONEY was founded by a group of passionate Entrepreneurs, IITians and Designers with deep expertise in technology, mobile & financial services. Associated with a big brand of Economic times, this Mutual Fund app is a one-stop destination for all things investment which helps to track & manage expenses using expense manager, Invest in Mutual Funds through SIP or Lumpsum, Save tax with SIPs in ELSS mutual funds, etc.

Rating on Google Play store: 4.6 out of 5 with a total of 82,199 ratings.

Here is the direct link to the app on play store.

5. Groww- Mutual Funds App

Groww app is one of the fastest-growing apps in the Indian mutual fund industry. And the credit goes to its clean user-interface. This app helps in investing in mutual funds free of cost and is pretty simple to use with minimum paperwork and no hassles. All mutual funds information are available in just one investment app. Similar to the apps listed above in this article, Groww app also allows everyone to invest in direct mutual funds with zero commission and offers an additional saving up to 1.5%+ compared to regular plans.

Key features include:

Simple design, built with beginners and experts in mind
Dashboard to track all your investments, annualized returns, and total returns
Top mutual funds list for different categories with the latest finance news and insights

Rating on Google Play store: 4.6 out of 5 with a total of 24,189 ratings.

Here is the direct link to the app on play store.

6. PayTM Money Mutual Funds App

Paytm Money, offered by the Paytm group, is turning out to be one of the most trusted platforms in India which provide up to 1% higher returns by investing in Direct Plans of Mutual Fund Schemes with no commissions or any charges on buying and selling of direct mutual fund plans.

It offers many features to the customer which includes fully Transparent Tracking, Data Privacy & Protection, Switch from Regular to Direct Plans, Track, Manage & Automate SIP Investments, etc.

Rating on Google Play store: 4.3 out of 5 with a total of 29,447 ratings.

Here is the direct link to the app on play store.

7. KTrack mobile app by Karvy

The primary objective of KTrack mobile app by Karvy is to manage the investments of its customer in mutual funds. This app offers new ways of investing your money. With just one-touch login that powers you to invest across thousands of mutual funds. It provides a single view of your manage profile, investments, make decisions and transact instantly without needing multiple apps.

The app has Enriched UI and many features like One-touch login or Log In through Facebook/Google account, Enriched Navigation, provides Portfolio Dashboard, helps in tracking of your transaction, NAV Tracker, etc.

Rating on Google Play store: 4.1 out of 5 with a total of 17,918 ratings.

Here is the direct link to the app on play store.

Bonus: Additional Mutual Fund Apps

List of a few other Mutual Fund Apps for Direct Investment:

IPRU TOUCH by ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund
InvesTap by SBI Mutual Fund
FinGo by Aditya Birla SunLife MF
HDFC MFMobile app by HDFC MF
EasyApp by Axis Mutual Fund
FundsIndia Mobile App

A few fast-growing startup apps trying to simplify mutual fund investment worth checking out:

Scripbox: 4.3/5 with a total of 2,938 ratings (Playstore)
Kuvera: 4.5/5 with a total of 1,580 ratings (Playstore)
Sqrrl: 4.3/5 with a total of 1,502 ratings (Playstore)
Goalwise: 4.6/5 with a total of 431 ratings (Playstore)

Also read: 7 Best Stock Market Apps that Makes Stock Research 10x Easier.

That’s all for this post. Let us know which one is your favorite mutual fund apps in the comment section below. Happy Investing!

March 25, 2020 Dharmendra Singh Mutual Funds 19 comments

Coronavirus Impact on Global Indexes (2020) – US, Europe & More

Coronavirus impact on Global Indexes (2020) – US, Europe, Russia, India & More: India, currently in stage II of the novel coronavirus with over 500 cases reported throughout the country. This has resulted in an entire country imposing a lockdown. The center is still caught up in its efforts to make the gravity of the situation heard with the PM himself addressing the nation. The PM also had requested the nation to take part in a self-imposed curfew along with a noteworthy attempt at a show of admiration for all the essential services.

Indians today are going through a phase never experienced before at any of the earlier outbreaks. However, this turbulent phase has not only been limited to our personal lives but also as investors we are breaking into bearish conditions. These conditions were not foreseen at the initial stages of the outbreak.

With the Sensex falling over 36.54% since January 31st we take a look at how some other notable indexes around the world have fared against COVID-19 and also look into the respective government responses in such economies. The table below shows how the following global Indexes have performed since January 31:

Country	Index	% Change: Jan 31 - March 23, 2020
Russia	RTS	41.74%
Brazil	BOVESPA	41.04%
India	SENSEX	36.20%
Italy	FTSE MIB	32.30%
USA	DOW JONES	32.14%
Germany	DAX	31.22%
France	CAC	30.27%
UK	FTSE	28.76%
China	SSE COMPOSITE	3.15%

Quick Start: What is an Index?

Indices are used as a benchmark to measure performance. An index consists of major companies listed in the stock exchange which are measured together to arrive at a value representative of the entire market over a period of time. The stocks involved are weighted based on the capitalization of the respective company.

Country-based indexes track how the national stock exchange is performing. The NIFTY in India consists of the top 50 stocks listed in the NSE. The Sensex in India is representative of the top 30 stocks listed in the BSE. Further, an index is also a market sentiment indicator.

Coronavirus impact on Global Indexes

— Coronavirus effect on Russian Markets (RTS – 41.74%)

The Russian Trading System (RTS) Index faced an overall drop of 41.74% since January 31st. However, the problems faced by the RTS were not limited to the coronavirus panic but also due to the oil price crash. The crash was caused due to the Russian fallout with OPEC. This had a critical effect on the Russian economy due to its main export being oil.

Coronavirus affected the market once it further spread through the European region. This further led to the Foreign Investors engaging in panic selling. Russian Sberbank which declared a $3.2 billion in profit still suffered a fall of 5% in its stock price.

CEBR a leading economic consultancy from the UK forecasted the Russian economy to sink by 4% in 2020. The forecast also included little expectation of a short term rebound. Although the central bank remains uncertain about rate cuts, Russia will create a $4 billion anti-crisis fund to protect its economy from the coronavirus shock.

— Coronavirus against the Brazilian market (BOVESPA – 41.04%)

It may seem surprising to find a South American country to have a market hit as hard as the BOVESPA Index. The BOVESPA Index suffers a 41.04% market fall even though it is not considered a hotspot for coronavirus. This was because of the dependence of Brazilian exports on the Chinese markets.

In 2018, almost 25% of Brazilian exports and almost half of the commodity exports were directed towards China. These suffered a hit during the demand slump China faced due to the outbreak. This added to the roadblocks created by their business-minded President Jair Bolsonaro over the development of the Amazon Rainforest. This has led to investors avoiding the Brazilian market particularly after his unfavorable stance towards the environment after the Amazon fires.

The outbreak indirectly led to foreign investors further exiting the market in the crisis. The Brazilian market faces a situation where it fails to attract dip buyers as well. Furthermore, even the 30 billion package unveiled by the government has been criticized over its failure too adequately apprehend the magnitude of the problem.

— Coronavirus against European Markets

The problems in Europe can be attributed to most of the countries considering Corona an East Asian issue. Europe is currently a hotspot for the COVID-19 with Italy, Spain, Germany, and France being hit the worst. All of their markets fell at around 30% with further lockdowns imposed. The stock markets in Europe were further impacted after Trump announced a ban of all flights headed from Europe to the US.

( The famous painting ‘Mona Lisa’ by Italian artist Leonardo Da Vinci depicted with a medical mask over the coronavirus outbreak)

France also threatened to close its borders to the UK over its inadequate action taken towards containment of the virus. Over 6,000 people are suffering from the virus in the UK. The turmoil in Europe was further intensified with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel going into quarantine after one of her doctors was tested positive for coronavirus.

The European Central Bank is expected to cut interest rates into the negative territory. The Central Bank is to also extend long term loans to banks in an attempt to provide relief to Italy and the other European countries where coronavirus has a devastating effect.

The following packages were announced by the European governments to combat coronavirus:

Country	Rescue Package(Billion)	Directed towards
Italy	$28	Employment, Healthcare, Bonuses for Emergency Services and loans to Small and Medium businesses
Germany	$610	Companies hit by Corona in addition to relaxed tax norms
France	$335	Loans to Businesses, in addition, to pay to workers who lost jobs.
Spain	$200	To fight Corona Epidemic
Spain	$100	Small and Medium Businesses
UK	$424	Health services and Loan guarantee to Businesses

Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority has also directed companies to not release preliminary financial statements for at least another two weeks due to coronavirus.

— Coronavirus against the US Markets ( Dow Jones – 32.14%)

The US also suffered from the ignorance and underestimation of the virus. The virus has currently affected over 45,000 people in the US. Stock markets in the US were initially affected due to the crude oil price crash. This was due to the high marginal cost of production prevalent in the US which stands at 40$ per barrel whereas the barrel prices were slashed to around 30$ per barrel.

This was followed by the coronavirus panic and Trump travel ban against 26 European countries further impacting the Airline Industry. The number of coronavirus cases has exploded in the US since then.

(The ‘V-J Day in Times Square – New York’ iconic photograph depicted with medical masks over Coronavirus)

Measures taken by the US government include unemployment benefits, sick leave benefits, free coronavirus treatment including food and medical aid to people affected. Also, $50 billion has been announced as an immediate relief for the airline industry and $50 billion in further secured loans to other parts of the economy.

Congress is also further negotiating a 1 Trillion dollar rescue plan along with sharp rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. These measures have also led to corporations postponing layoffs in return for a big bailout.

— Coronavirus against the Indian Markets (Sensex – 36.20%)

With the Sensex falling 26.54% since January 31st and the Nifty 50 falling 31.85% in the last 30 days. Trouble began with the crude oil price fall which would have been welcome in any other situation as India relies heavily on import of crude oil. Any benefits due to the price fall were put to a halt due to the effects of coronavirus on the airline and tourism industry and eventual lockdowns which resulted in a drop in demand. With the officially reported cases within the country touching 500, the question remains if the healthcare infrastructure can bear the burden of an increase in cases.

The RBI announced that it will conduct an open market purchase of bonds worth up to Rs 15,000 crore besides announcing a fresh round of fund infusion from variable-rate repos. With the cases in India increasing the government has called for lockdown in multiple states which will further affect the volatility of the market.

However, the RBI has also created a unique Business Contingency Plan(BCP) by setting up a team of 90 process critical members from the RBI of which only half will work at any given time whereas the remaining half will wait on stand-by, 60 key personnel from their external vendors and 69 additional support staff, all to work in a War Room during the outbreak. A facility has been hired where the 219 members will be hosted.

Precautions are taken to an extent where all personnel will also be donning hazmat suits. This also includes the support staff involved in maintenance, security, kitchen, front desk, and the administration. The BCP also involves maintaining isolation and social distancing of the 219 members.

In addition to the actions taken by the RBI, the state governments are also resorting to providing financial relief to those affected by the respective lockdowns imposed.

Also read: Nifty 50 Stocks – 7 Stocks crashed over 50% since Coronavirus Outbreak

— Coronavirus against the Chinese Markets ( SSE Composite Index – 3.15%)

The Chinese Shanghai Composite Index (SSE) has fallen 0.04% since 3rd February. These figures would not form a fair comparison as the epidemic hit China first in December, whereas all the other regions faced the pandemic in the other European countries increasing in February and March itself.

However, even when the fall is measured since December the net impact on the Chinese market lies at 4.53%. Then how is it possible that of all the countries China has one of the least impacted stock markets even after being the worst-hit place by a coronavirus and also being the point of origination.

The Chinese government imposed stringent lockdowns and also suffered a 10% fall between 22 January to 3rd February. This was followed by the central bank announcing that it would inject $174 billion worth of liquidity into the market through reverse repo operations in addition to rate cuts.

The Chinese policymakers found ways to reach vulnerable households of Social Security Fees, Utility bills and provided them with other immediate requirements during the lockdown. Also, the most important economic effect against the virus would be the aggressive stand taken by the authorities by doing everything necessary particularly by ramping up its healthcare needs, stringent lockdowns which gave a brighter outlook in terms of economic prospects as life slowly resumes in China.

However, Goldmann has forecasted that the Chinese economy instead of growing by 2.5% will contract by 9% in 2020.

The Road Ahead

(The Bullish Markets enjoyed previously by investors have come to a full stop. Interestingly stocks of gaming companies like Ubisoft are expected to be on the rise after lockdown and quarantine measures taken by the governments worldwide)

Lockdowns are now becoming a necessity. Rate cuts and infusion of cash into the economy seem to be the only way out to protect economies from the COVID-19 quicksand. However, we have currently seen countries that are facing coronavirus in the 3rd stage generally have a stronger infrastructure and better healthcare facilities but are still not able to cope.

Nations with a poorer infrastructure will face an impossible task if the spread of the virus spirals out of control. This calls for aggressive measures to the taken to prevent the spread of the virus in these countries until a suitable vaccine is officially declared by the WHO.

Pertaining to the current scenario banks like JP Morgan have forecasted a coronavirus driven recession that will rock the US and Europe by July. Deutsche Bank has also warned that based on current trends we could be facing a severe global recession over time.

March 25, 2020 Aron Almeida Economics, Market, News 1 comment

Nifty 50 Stocks - 7 Stocks crashed over 50% since Coronavirus Outbrea cover

Nifty 50 Stocks – 7 Stocks crashed over 50% since Coronavirus Outbreak

The coronavirus outbreak has resulted in a huge crash in the stock market in India and the world. As the number of cases and casualties are rapidly increasing, there seems no stoppage in tanking the stock prices. In the last 30 days, the Indian benchmark Indexes ‘Sensex’ and ‘nifty’ fell over 30%. This is one of the fastest crashes ever seen in the stock market history.

Moreover, the month of March 2020 also witnessed two lower circuits where the exchanges were forced to stop trading for 45 minutes as the market fell over 10% within a day trading session.

Anyways, as the indexes and stock prices are down significantly since the outbreak, there may be some silver lining for the investors to pick good stocks at a huge bargain. Here is a quick study of the Nifty 50 constituent stocks and how they performed in the month of Feb-March 2020.

Nifty 50 Stocks – Feb March 2020 Performance

SYMBOL	COMPANY NAME	Price as of 1st Feb 2020	Current Price (24 March 2020)	Change (%)
INFY	Infosys Ltd	767.4	600	-21.81%
ADANIPORTS	Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ld	367.35	236.5	-35.62%
BRITANNIA	Britannia Industries Ltd	3230.05	2390	-26.01%
BAJFINANCE	Bajaj Finance Ltd	4359.35	2511	-42.40%
MARUTI	Maruti Suzuki India Ltd	7011.3	4545	-35.18%
HCLTECH	HCL Technologies Ltd	579.1	449	-22.47%
HINDUNILVR	Hindustan Unilever Ltd	2178.95	2011	-7.71%
KOTAKBANK	Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd	1676.25	1178.65	-29.69%
RELIANCE	Reliance Industries Limited	1385.5	946	-31.72%
NESTLEIND	Nestle India Limited	16301	13639.95	-16.32%
ICICIBANK	ICICI Bank Ltd	515.55	298.55	-42.09%
WIPRO	Wipro Limited	237.4	178.25	-24.92%
TATAMOTORS	Tata Motors Limited Fully Paid Ord. Shrs	163.85	68.95	-57.92%
DRREDDY	Dr.Reddy's Laboratories Ltd	3144.15	2880	-8.40%
ONGC	Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited	103.45	62.7	-39.39%
TITAN	Titan Company Ltd	1186.4	828	-30.21%
NSE:UPL	UPL Ltd Fully Paid Ord. Shrs	513.3	263	-48.76%
EICHERMOT	Eicher Motors Ltd	19883.45	14150	-28.84%
SUNPHARMA	Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited	417.55	334	-20.01%
NTPC	NTPC Limited	110.25	78.4	-28.89%
ASIANPAINT	Asian Paints Ltd	1867.65	1536	-17.76%
JSWSTEEL	JSW Steel Limited Fully Paid Ord. Shrs	251.5	148	-41.15%
TECHM	Tech Mahindra Ltd	793.15	498	-37.21%
SBIN	State Bank of India	298.1	185.4	-37.81%
TCS	Container Store Group Inc	4.19	2.81	-32.94%
BAJAJ-AUTO	Bajaj Auto Ltd	3284.5	1969.1	-40.05%
VEDL	Vedanta Ltd	7.71	3.44	-55.38%
HINDALCO	Hindalco Industries Ltd	181.8	89	-51.05%
CIPLA	Cipla Ltd	444.55	379.5	-14.63%
BHARTIARTL	Bharti Airtel Limited	510.05	411.55	-19.31%
COALINDIA	Coal India Ltd	178.65	129	-27.79%
SHREECEM	Shree Cement Limited	23267.5	17030	-26.81%
HDFCBANK	HDFC Bank Limited	1192.8	774.8	-35.04%
TATASTEEL	Tata Steel Limited Fully Paid Ord. Shrs	436.05	271.9	-37.64%
HEROMOTOCO	Hero Motocorp Ltd	2376.15	1618	-31.91%
GAIL	GAIL (India) Limited	114.5	77.7	-32.14%
BAJAJFINSV	Bajaj Finserv Ltd	9086.15	4600	-49.37%
BPCL	Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd	460.3	268	-41.78%
LT	Larsen & Toubro Limited	1286.65	710	-44.82%
ULTRACEMCO	UltraTech Cement Ltd	4370.65	3030	-30.67%
HDFC	Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd	2259.75	1504.35	-33.43%
IOC	Indian Oil Corporation Ltd	108.05	79.75	-26.19%
AXISBANK	Axis Bank Ltd	708.95	304.8	-57.01%
ZEEL	Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited Fully Paid Ord. Shrs	256.6	119.6	-53.39%
ITC	ITC Ltd	207.6	151	-27.26%
INFRATEL	Bharti Infratel Ltd	229.3	140	-38.94%
POWERGRID	Power Grid Corporation of India Limited	187.35	148.8	-20.58%
INDUSINDBK	Indusind Bank Ltd	1263.1	313.6	-75.17%
GRASIM	Grasim Industries Ltd	780.4	400	-48.74%
M&M	Mahindra & Mahindra Limited	558.7	270	-51.67%

As you can notice from the above table, none of the constituents of Nifty 50 has given positive returns from 01 Feb 2020 till 24th March 2020. All of these stocks have given negative returns. However, the magnitude of the hammering in their prices varies from stocks to stocks.

Out of the 50 stocks in NSE Nifty, only two companies were able to limit losses within -10%. These were Hindustan Unilever (-7.71%) and Dr Reddy’s laboratory (-8.4%).
Next, 17 out of 50 companies’ share price has fallen between 10-30% in this time period. This list includes companies like Kotak Mahindra Bank (-29.7%), Eicher Motors (28.84%), ITC (-27.26%), Infosys (-21.81%), Asian Paints (-17.76%), NESTLE (-16.32%), etc.
For 24 companies in Nifty 50, the share price has fallen between 30-50%. This might be a good opportunity to look into these companies from an investing point of view. A few major stocks in this range are Bajaj Finserv (-49.37%), ICICI Bank (-42.09%), Bajaj Finance (-42.4%), ONGC (-39.39%), Maruti Suzuki (-35.18%), HDFC Bank (-35.04%), Reliance Industries (-31.72%) etc.
For the remaining 7 stocks, the coronavirus has turned out to be a disaster. Their share prices have fallen more than 50% from Feb 1 2020 till 24 March 2020. ‘IndusInd bank’ is the biggest loser in this list with the share price falling more than 75% in this time period.
Other beaten-down stocks with a decline more than 50% are Tata Motors (-57.92%), Axis Bank (-57.01%), Vedanta (-55.38%), Zee Entertainement (-53.39%), Mahindra & Mahindra (-51.67%) and Hindalco (-51.05%).

Also read: Indian Markets: A Week Against Coronavirus & Crude Oil Fall

As India and the world are still fighting the war against coronavirus, the market is expected to decline further until this pandemic is contained. However, for the bargain hunters, this might be a great opportunity to pick the biggest companies in India at an amazingly discounted price.

Take care & till next time…!

Kritesh Abhishek

www.linkedin.com/in/kriteshrules/

March 25, 2020 Kritesh Abhishek Market, Stocks 1 comment

Market Circuit Breakers Explained - When Trading Gets Halted!

Market Circuit Breakers Explained: Yesterday i.e. on 23rd March 2020, the Indian equity market hit a lower circuit breaker. The BSE benchmark index ‘Sensex’ fell over 10% in the morning because of which trading was halted on both NSE & BSE for 45 minutes.

A similar scenario happened on 13th March 2020 (10 days back), when nifty hit the lower circuit resulting in closing off the market for an hour (45 mins halt and 15 mins pre-opening session).

Anyways, what are these circuit breakers that result in halting the normal trading in the market? This is what we are going to understand in this article. Here, we’ll discuss what exactly are circuit breakers and in which situations trading are stopped in the Indian stock market and for how long. Let’s get started.

What is Market Circuit Breakers?

The Indian stock exchanges have implemented the index-based circuit breakers according to the guidelines of SEBI w.e.f 02 July 2001.

These circuits (lower or upper ) are an automatic mechanism to stop a freefall/crash or a massive surge in a security or an index during trading hours. If the index hits the lower or upper circuit, the trading session is stopped for some time. Overall, market circuit breakers are used to check the volatile swings in the market.

According to the SEBI rules:

The circuit breakers for the indexes will be applied at three stages, whenever the index crosses 10%, 15%, and 20% level. The stock exchanges calculate these Index circuit breaker limits levels based on the previous day’s closing level of the index.

When these circuit breakers are triggered, it will result in a trading halt in all equity and equity-based derivative markets nationwide.This means that if the index crosses its first stage of 10% (either upside or downside), the trading will halt in entire India i.e. no trading will take place on NSE and BSE.

Moreover, this circuit breaker can be triggered by the movement of any of the market benchmark index (Sensex or Nifty) whichever crosses the limit level first.

Let’s say Sensex fell above 10% and nifty is still at 9.7% down. In this scenario, the circuit breaker will be triggered as Sensex has breached the level. The circuit breaker does not require both the indexes to breach and either one crossing the level will trip the circuit breaker.

After the first circuit filter is breached, the market will re-open with a pre-opening session after a specified time. The extent of market halt and the pre-open session decided by the SEBI is given below:

Trigger limit	Trigger time	Market halt duration	Pre-open call auction session post market halt
10%	Before 1:00 pm.	45 Minutes	15 Minutes
10%	At or after 1:00 pm upto 2.30 pm	15 Minutes	15 Minutes
10%	At or after 2.30 pm	No halt	Not applicable
15%	Before 1 pm	1 hour 45 minutes	15 Minutes
15%	At or after 1:00 pm before 2:00 pm	45 Minutes	15 Minutes
15%	On or after 2:00 pm	Remainder of the day	Not applicable
20%	Any time during market hours	Remainder of the day	Not applicable

Source: NSE Circuit Breakers

Circuit Breaker Recent Example

Let’s understand the concept of circuit breaker better with the help of the same example discussed at the starting of this post.

On March 23, 2020, the Sensex lost 2,991 points or 10% at 9: 58 am. At the same time, Nifty 50 too declined 9.40% or 822 points to 7,923. This led to led to the triggering of circuit breakers on BSE and NSE. Trading on both these exchanges stopped and commenced at 10: 58 am (45 min halt and a 15-minute pre-open session).

Although market circuits breakers intend to control the volatility, however, it cannot stop a falling market. By the end of the day, Sensex and nifty post biggest one day fall ever. Sensex tanked nearly 4,000 points yesterday.

(Source: Bloomberg Quint)

This is the second time this year (2020) when the Indian indices have hit the circuit breaker. On March 13, Nifty plunged 10.07% or 966 points to 8,625 at 9:20 am after which trading was halted for 45 minutes in the Indian equity market. Sensex plunged 3,090 points or 9.43% in early trade that day. However, as Nifty breached the circuit first, the trading session was stopped for an hour.

Also read: How Much Can a Share Price Rise or Fall in a Day?

Summary

Market Circuit Breakers are an automatic mechanism used to check the volatile swings in the market. When these circuit breakers are triggered, they result in a trading halt in all equity and derivative markets nationwide.

This year the Indian stock market has already witnessed two lower circuits in the month of March. This is mainly because of the rising cases of coronavirus and the various announcements of the lockdown of states in India. If the Indian government and its people are not able to contain the outbreak of this coronavirus, we may expect other circuit breakers in the market soon. Take care. Till next time…!

Kritesh Abhishek

www.linkedin.com/in/kriteshrules/

March 24, 2020 Kritesh Abhishek Essential Reading, Market 1 comment

Life During Coronavirus Times: Changes & Effects

Life During Coronavirus Times: In the last few weeks, if you’ve been living in a metropolitan city in India, you might have noticed several changes. A lot of usual day-to-day activities that you used to easily perform in previous months, might not be accessible to you now. For example, going out for dining with friends, attending the gym, relaxing at parks, partying, etc.

The reason behind all these changes is the pandemic coronavirus, an infectious disease caused by a new virus, that was originally found in China, and which later spread throughout the world. As of 22nd March 2020, this virus has affected over 340,000 people worldwide and resulted in the death of over 14,000 people. Here’s a live counter of coronavirus pandemic with real-time counts and world news:

As Coronavirus disease spreads primarily through contact with an infected person (when they cough or sneeze) and its vaccine has not been found yet, the government has taken various steps to tackle the situation and to limit its spread. In this post, we are going to discuss such changes that have already been made in India and its effects in the short and long-term. Let’s get started.

Changes Made to Tackle Coronavirus

Here are a few of the big and necessary changes that the government and the Indian population have implemented to fight back with coronavirus. Although these changes are temporary, however, they may last even for months:

1. Social Distancing

Although not a new concept, nonetheless, a lot many people are not familiar with social distancing. It is a set of non-pharmaceutical infection control actions intended to stop or slow down the spread of a contagious disease.

As this virus is contagious and spread by touch or when people come in contact, it is suggested to maintain a minimum distance of 1 m (or 3 ft) with others and not to indulge in groups bigger than five. Social/Physical distancing is the most common change seen in this coronavirus days.

2. Work from Home

A lot many corporate employees are mandatorily offered work from home for a sustained longer period for the first time in their career. Almost all big and small companies in the metropolitan cities have now given work from home to their employees. Although this might have resulted in lower productivity. However, work from home means less physical interaction, less traveling and minimal spread of the virus among colleagues at the workplace.

3. Lock-down/Curfew

After the success of ‘Janata Curfew’ started by PM Narendra Modi on 22nd March 2020, over 75 districts in India have now imposed a complete lock-down. As a lock-down is the only noticeable successful strategy that been followed by other big countries infected by the coronavirus, Indian states have also started implementing a similar lock-down/curfew strategy.

4. Travel Ban/Restrictions

As of 22nd March 2020, all the international flights are banned. Moreover, on the same day, Indian Railways also announced to cancel all passenger trains, and reduce suburban trains. By passenger trains, the ministry of railways means all mail, express trains, suburban trains, passenger trains, Kolkata Metro Rail, Konkan Railways, etc.

Effects of Coronavirus Spread

If the spread of coronavirus is not contained, the number of cases and casualties in India is expected to increase in the upcoming weeks. The total number of affected cases has already crossed +400 in India. The above-mentioned changes may help to fight back the virus. Nonetheless, here is a few common effects that may be noticed among the people because of coronavirus changes:

1. Dealing with Fear, Social (& Mental) Anxiety

Fear and anxiety are quite common during a pandemic. As the number of cases with coronavirus casualties in India will increase, it may increase the fear and anxiety among the population.

2. Personal cleanliness & hygiene

To control the spread of this contagious virus, washing hands frequently and cleanliness are a few of the key steps. Indians have now started taking care of their hygiene and cleanliness.

3. New kind of patriotism

Because of different changes made in the country like International travel ban, lock-down, and country first approach, it is expected to see a rise of new kind of patriotism among people. During Janata Curfew (22nd March 2020), we’ve already seen how the people of India appreciated the work done by Doctors, and servicemen by banging thalis, ringing bells and clapping hands for five minutes at 5 pm.

Financial and economical Effects

Now, let us talk about the stock market, finance and economy. How coronavirus days may impact us financially and economically:

1. Continued Bear Market

During the coronavirus days, the share prices and market have already witnessed a sharp crash. Within less than one month, all the major market indexes have fallen over 30%. Nonetheless, it is expected that the market will continue to run in a bear market for a continued longer duration. This is because the aftermath of this pandemic virus will take a lot more time to make things normal, both in the personal and professional lives of people.

2. Pay-cut or lay-offs

Due to the spread of the virus, a lot of companies are not able to perform well and their revenues are continuously tanking. And in order to avoid bankruptcy or financial stress, these companies may have to cut salaries, delay new hirings or even lay-off some employees. Moreover, the lay-off scenario may be worse in some highly affected industries like travel, tourism, hotels, airlines, bars, malls, etc that are heavily affected by the lockdown.

3. Rise of online businesses

Although the market and economy are continuously falling during the coronavirus days, however, there may be a silver lining for a few sectors during this time. A few industries like online learning (Byju’s, Unacademy, etc), online payment (Phonepe, Paytm), Online Grocery (Bigbasket, Amazon), E-commerce, etc are performing quite well as people are opting for their product/services from their homes. These industries are expected to boom during the coronavirus days.

Also read: Coronavirus- How it Infected Stock Market & Indian Economy!

Closing Thoughts

In this post, we tried to discuss a few common changes and their effects in India during the coronavirus days. Nonetheless, these are just assumptions and it might be a little early to say what will exactly happen.

The next two weeks are quite crucial for India in its fight towards coronavirus and they may be the deciding factor. In these times, how the government of India and its people handles the situation will play a major role among the changes, effects, and aftermath that we may see in the future. Take Care and till next time…!

Kritesh Abhishek

www.linkedin.com/in/kriteshrules/

March 23, 2020 Kritesh Abhishek Economics, Market, News 1 comment

3 Best Sites to Learn Virtual Stock Trading in India (Without Risking Your Money)

Best Sites to Learn Virtual Stock Trading in India (Paper trading): Entering the Indian stock market can be a tedious job for beginners. First, you need to open your brokerage account (demat and trading account). This means that you have to pay the account opening charges and go through the complex documentation process. Further, as stock market trading involves market risk, you can always lose some money— especially, you are a beginner.

So, how to solve this problem? How to Learn stock trading in India without actually risking any money. The answer is by using virtual stock trading platforms.

In this post, we are going to discuss how to use virtual stock trading platforms in India. It’s going to be an exciting post. Therefore, without wasting any time, let’s get started. Here are the topics that we’ll cover today:

1. What is Virtual Stock Trading?

A virtual stock trading (also known as paper trading) is similar to the actual trading where you can buy and sell stocks. However, here no real money is involved. You invest only in virtual money. Such platforms that provide virtual trading facilities are called stock simulators.

When you register in these stock simulators, you will get virtual money (Say Rs 10 lakhs or 1 Crore) in your account. You can use this money to practice trading.

Stock simulators provide real-time stock data, which means that you can try out different strategies of trading in stocks just like the real world stock market, but risk-free.

Also read: 7 Must Know Websites for Indian Stock Market Investors.

2. How do virtual stock trading platforms work?

It’s a really straightforward process to use a stock simulator to do the virtual stock trading. Here are the steps required to start virtual stock trading in India-

Open a free account (using your email-id) on a simulating platform (discussed below).
Get instant virtual money in your account.
Start buying/selling stocks like real trading scenarios.
Monitor your portfolio and track profit/loss.
Try different strategies and learn the trading basics.
When you get enough confidence and experience- move to real trading.

3. What are the pros and cons of using the virtual trading platform?

Nothing is perfect in this world. Although there are many advantages of using virtual trading platforms (especially for beginners), however, there are also a few disadvantages. Let’s discuss them- one by one:

— Advantages of using Virtual stock trading platforms

No need to open a demat/trading account or go through any documentation process.
No real money is required to start virtual trading.
Real-time market scenarios to try out different strategies and to learn the basics.
Risk-free trading practice.
Okay to make mistakes and take risks as there’s no real loss here.

— Disadvantages of using virtual stock trading platforms

There’s no emotional attachment as real money is not involved.
You can quickly get bored as winning/losing virtual money is not much exciting.
The real market scenario might be a little different than the virtual trading environment. (In the virtual trading platforms, participants take extra risks and bets than they would actually take in a real scenario.)

Also read: 7 Best Stock Market Apps that Makes Stock Research 10x Easier.

#3 Best sites to learn virtual stock trading in India.

1. Moneybhai

Website — https://moneybhai.moneycontrol.com/

Moneycontrol website offers Moneybhai. It is a free virtual trading platform where you’ll get Rs 1 crore virtual cash on registration which you can use to invest in shares, commodities, mutual funds, or fixed deposits on the platform.

At Moneybhai, you can also compete with fellow Indian traders by joining different leagues. There’s also a free forum on this website where you can ask your queries or participate in the on-going discussion threads.

2. TrakInvest

Website— http://www.trakinvest.com/

TrakInvest is a global trading platform that helps you to learn, develop and improve your investing skills. Currently, it provides a curated market data and news from 10 exchanges. It also offers beginners’ guides and videos, certification courses designed by industry experts and simulations for competing for rewards.

At TrakInvest, you can also track other traders and dig deeper into their trading activity (portfolio) where you can replicate their trades using the ‘Copy Trade’ facility. Overall, TrakInvest provides a simple and friendly platform for ‘Social’ virtual trading for beginners.

3. Dalal Street

Website: https://www.dsij.in/Stock-Market-Challenge

Dalal Street Investment Journal (DSIJ) popular virtual stock trading platform in India which helps you to understand the different trading nuances and to test your investment strategies.

On registration, you’ll get virtual cash of Rs 1,000,0000 to create your portfolio. At DSIJ, you can also discuss strategies with like-minded participants in the discussion group.

New to stocks? Confused where to begin? Here’s an amazing online course for beginners: ‘HOW TO PICK WINNING STOCKS?‘ This course is currently available at a discount.

Bonus: Investopedia stock simulator

Website: https://www.investopedia.com/simulator/

This is my favorite stock simulator.

Investopedia provides a FREE stock simulation platform where you can easily learn how to place trade orders (like market order, limit order, stop loss, etc), how to create a portfolio, how to create a watchlist and more. On registration, you’ll get $100,000 as virtual cash which you can use to trade. You can also compete with thousands of Investopedia traders/players on the same platform.

The reason why I didn’t place this platform in the top 3 is that you cannot trade in Indian stocks on the Investopedia stock simulator. Therefore, if you’re looking to learn virtual stock trading in India, then it might not be a good option. However, if you are comfortable with trading in foreign stocks like Apple, Google, Amazon, etc, then feel free to check out this simulating platform.

Closing Thoughts on Virtual Trading

Virtual stock trading in India is an excellent way to learn the basics of trading in the stock market. Using these platforms, you can try different investment/trading strategies without any fear to lose your real money. It’s always advisable to try paper trading (virtual stock trading) for a few weeks before directly jumping into the market.

Kritesh Abhishek

www.linkedin.com/in/kriteshrules/

March 22, 2020 Kritesh Abhishek Investment Basics, Trading 28 comments

11 Best Passive Ways to Make Money While You Sleep

Passive ways to make money in India: “Passive income” certainly sounds like an interesting and appealing idea, but making money while you sleep is certainly not that easy. The majority of passive income ideas won’t really work (either limited or minimal financial returns or will need a great degree of effort from your side), certainly not like making money while you sleep.

So, the question is what really works? What are the ideas that can actually get the money ball rolling for you? Here are some top picks that can help you leverage some real basic factors for that continuous stream of passive income.

#11 Best Passive Ways to Make Money While You Sleep

1. Sell your art

You might be a skilled designer, a graphics expert or someone who just picks up the paint-brush as a hobby. But what if those raw pieces of your art can ensure you a continuous flow of money. There are several websites like Etsy, Zazzle, etc. that will pay you a nice amount of money for sharing your artworks with them.

These websites use your artworks to create patterns for their branded t-shirts, mobile covers, posters, mugs etc. Whenever these products are sold, you will be given a fair share of commission from the product price.

2. Express your skills via video channels [Youtube]

Got some special dance moves, singing skills, the art of mimicry, stand-in comedy or detailed workout sessions? Showcase your talent to the world using YouTube videos from your own channel. YouTube is an immensely popular and exciting medium for earning a decent flow of passive income for yourself.

You will be paid higher as per the number of views, likes, subscriptions, and popularity that your channel will get across different user groups.

Bdw, you can subscribe to Trade Brains youtube channel here.

3. Online educational courses

Since the introduction of the digital age, online learning platforms and resources have gained a lot of popularity. There are certain web portals like Udemy, Coursera, Edx that offer digital certifications and classes to students across the globe. If you have specialization in any academic, technical or non-technical subject then you can structure your own educational courses on these websites. You will be paid for every subscription or registration that a user makes for your course.

Also read: #11 Simple Ways to make money online in India [No spam/surveys]

4. Sell-Stock Photos

Are you someone who is amazing with a camera in his hands? If yes, then there is a good scope for earning a decent flow of money with your stock photos. There are several websites like Shutterstock, Alamy or iStockPhoto that need photography enthusiasts or experts who can deliver some really amazing and high-quality images from different niches.

5. Rent your vacant property

Renting your own vacant property can also be a good way to earn some easy passive bucks. Some working professions even prefer moving in shared apartments and houses in order to save their hard earned money.

6. Start your own blog

Got some really exciting cooking recipes, life hacks, astrology tips or interesting hacks to share with others? Just go on and set up your web-blog. Once your blog gains popularity, you can use services like Google Adsense or AdWords to earn a considerable amount of money by displaying corporate or business advertisements on your blogs. Additionally, you can also set subscription fees for the users who want premium access to your content.

There are a number of bloggers who are making tons of money enjoying their life on a beach or travelling by setting passive ways to make money on their blog.

Note: If you are new to blogging and planning to launch your blog soon, we’ll recommend getting a hosting from “HOSTPAPA”. They offer most affordable hosting plans starting at just Rs 99/month. Here’s a quick link to get started. Cheers!

7. Sell your Ebooks

Fond of writing? Great! This can be one big opportunity for you to earn. Convert your passion for writing into some easy money. You can fetch 5-10$ easily with short write-ups of 70-80 pages, but make sure you choose the trending titles and themes. To sell your ebooks, you can choose various platforms, Amazon and iBook are two of the best once.

Market Investment Ways to Make Passive Income

8. Mutual Funds

What if you can earn regular income on your basic savings?

Mutual funds are the best passive ways to make money in India. You do not need to spend much time, knowledge or even money to start investing in mutual funds. These funds are managed by professional fund managers and there are several low-risk investment schemes that offer high returns compared to the interest amount that banks pay for your deposits with them. Nevertheless, you will need to select the mutual fund smartly to reduce the risk of financial loses.

Learn more about mutual funds here: What is Mutual Fund? Definition, Type, Benefits & More.

9. Stock Market Investing

If you are willing to invest some time, then investing directly in the stocks offers the highest returns and can easily be considered the best passive ways to make money with even limited investments. You can make money in stocks through capital appreciation and dividends. If you have a good working knowledge of stock market and shares, then it can ensure high returns for your basic investments, but such investments are always subjected to risks of market fluctuations.

New to stocks? Want to learn how to invest in Indian stock market from scratch? Here is an amazing online course: INVESTING IN STOCKS- THE COMPLETE COURSE FOR BEGINNERS. Enroll now and start your share market journey today.

10. Real estate Investments

Investing in the Real-estate market is another way of ensuring a continuous income stream on a part-time basis. You can either buy a rental property to ensure a monthly fixed amount or look for those perfect deals at the perfect time (when you purchase properties at a low price and then sell the same when the market hits a high.) In both the cases, you will be getting a decent amount of income on regular basis with minimal efforts.

11. E-commerce service outsourcing

An e-commerce portal that bridges the gap between the local retailers and customers can be a handy way of earning a continuous stream of passive income. Your e-commerce portal, website or app can be structured to serve the requirements of a locality, zone, town or a whole city.

Who knows it might develop into a fully-fledged business venture in future?

March 22, 2020 Team Trade Brains Earn More, Personal Finance 9 comments

The Equilibrium of Duopolies in Indian Market

Duopolies in Indian Market: Visa vs MasterCard, Boeing vs Airbus, Coke vs Pepsi, Netflix vs Amazon prime, etc are some of the companies that have already been etched most notable duopolies throughout the world. Be it a boon or a bane, these mega-corporations cannot be named individually without mentioning the other. Such has been the tale of Duopolies, their fierce competition, and respectful cooperation eventually forming an interdependence where each has scaled summits.

(Rivalry noticed through Advertisements)

(Pepsi responded to the above-attempted sale of Coke’s secret ingredients by notifying Coka-Cola)

In this article, we further look at Duopolies that have shaped and extended their segments, particularly in the Indian markets.

Duopolies in Indian Market

— Zomato vs. Swiggy – Food tech

A decade ago Dominoes and their ’30 minutes or free’ scheme stood for food delivery in India. However, the real credit has to be given to Zomato and Swiggy for the development of the Food tech industry in India. They have now formed an integral part of our lives and also sets the perfect example of a duopoly in the Indian context in the food tech/delivery industry.

Zomato was founded in 2008 initially as a website that provided information on restaurants, access to their menus, the ability to view and provide reviews. However, they eventually ventured into the food delivery segment. On the other hand, Swiggy was set up as a food delivery platform from the beginning in 2014. Both competitors have used a strategic discounting model to attract and keep customers. Moreover, advertisements through social media have played a significant role in their growth and competition.

Strategies used by Zomato

Each of these corporations has strategically acquired other new entrants to enhance their growth to gain an upper hand. This was also done to use them as a doorway into new markets. Zomato has made 12 acquisitions which include companies throughout the globe. The acquisitions are involved in restaurant search service, table reservation, restaurant management platforms, logistic tech startups, food delivery startups with their most notable recent acquisition being UberEats. Zomato has also acquired companies involved in drone technology focusing on the possibility of a future with drone-based food delivery.

Strategies used by Swiggy

Swiggy also has made notable acquisitions like 48 east, Scootsy logistics and also invested in Fingerlix- a ready to eat food brand. They also enhanced its customer base by easing the payment systems for working customers by partnering with Sodexo. In addition, Swiggy has also partnered with Indifi technologies, a financing program for partner restaurants.

The strategies used by Zomato and Swiggy show how the food tech duopoly in India has competed using the technique of an acquisition. As mentioned earlier, this was also used as a medium to enter new markets and build on the structure already set up by the company taken over.

But when the pages are flipped over it also shows the difficulty a startup could face when competing with companies having greater control over the market. This is because they have already built resources over the years and are ready to burn through cash even after going through losses. They will eventually have to give in to the offer placed by either of the duopolies as it would be an uphill battle to compete with strategic discounting employed by either of the companies.

Also read: Online Grocery Market: Overview & Future in India (2020)

— Ola vs. Uber – Ride Booking/Sharing

The ride-hailing segment in India is dominated by Ola and Uber. Uber a globally recognized corporation known for its ride-hailing service in 785 metro cities worldwide. They entered the Indian market in 2013 and currently boasts 14 million rides a week in India. Ola, on the other hand, had a three-year head start and currently boasts a reach of over 250 cities with 28 million weekly bookings.

Strategies used by Ola vs Uber

Ola and Uber too have used the strategies of acquisition and investment. Uber acquired Kareem particularly known for its service in the middle east and Ola has invested in VOGO to further its reach in the two-wheeler ride-hailing segment. Both Uber and Ola have competed aggressively in all road transport segments ( inc. two-wheeler, three-wheeler).

They have also entered other segments namely the food tech industry with Uber initiating UberEats and Ola acquiring Foodpanda. Uber has also extended its service to other means of transport through UberAir which uses VTOL aircraft in the US and also UberBoat in Mumbai at the jetty from Gateway of India to Alibaug. In addition, they are particularly keen on developing self-driving cars to be introduced in the ride-hailing segment.

However, in the case of Ola and Uber, we also see another side of the duopoly segment. Ola had been earlier accused of attempting to eliminate competition by lowering prices. This makes it impossible for new entrants to survive and then hiking prices when convenient.

Besides, both Ola and Uber have been accused of overcharging in situations where the same ride is charged different amounts based on the day, time, profile, history, rating of both the rider and the driver. This was opposed as both attempt to show a front of transparency to attract customers to their reasonable pricing. The same surge in pricing would not be acceptable when applied by local players.

They have also been accused of baiting riders with discounts and bonuses and then hiking fares without passing the gain from the price hike to the drivers. One of the main reasons that Uber and Ola have been in controversy is the fact the drivers are not considered employees of these corporations. They are instead considered as ‘contractors’ as this allows them to skirt legal obligations mandated towards employees.

If we look into the strategies used by Uber at a global stage to remain market heads they would seem to be straight out of a conspiracy novel. Uber to compete with Lyft in new York had formed a street team to gather information on Lyft’s expansion plans and lure their drivers into Uber. In 2014, 177 employees of Uber were accused to have intentionally ordering and canceling 5560 rides.

Uber also has been criticized for the development and implementation of the software tool ‘Greyball’ which was used to gather user data from their phones and avoid giving rides to law enforcement officers and those involved in sting operations. Uber also used the Ripley a panic button 24 times at the times of raids. Ripley would shut off and change the passwords of the staff computers when initiated. The controversy with Uber gets worse as they have been accused of implementing ‘God View’ a function used to track journalists and politicians.

Also read: The On-going Oil War (2020) – Causes & Effects

— Flipkart vs. Amazon – Indian eCommerce

When it comes to E-commerce the duopoly Flipkart and Amazon are said to have a combined market share of over 90% in the Indian market. Flipkart was founded in India in the year 2007 whereas Amazon had been launched in India in the year 2012.

Strategies used by Flipkart and Amazon

In comparison, the homegrown company ‘Flipkart’ has been a market leader even when facing Amazon. Flipkart being an Indian company has used this to its advantage by spreading its reach even to rural areas whereas Amazon had initially limited itself only to metro cities. Almost 45% of Flipkart’s sales currently come from smaller towns and cities giving them an edge over Amazon in India. Amazon, on the other hand, has targeted metro cities which formed 65% of its sales.

Flipkart too as noticed in the earlier examples has used similar strategies of acquisition ( Myntra, Jabong, PhonePe, and eBay). Amazon, on the other hand, has relied less on acquisition and more on forming partnership with local logistic companies to bolster business.

The entry of Walmart into India through the purchase of Flipkart gives an insight of means used by MNCs to enter new markets. This was also used by Zomato and Uber in the previous examples.

Disrupting a Duopoly

The duopoly held by MasterCard and Visa in the international payment segment was disrupted by the introduction of RuPay in India. After noticing multiple examples of new entrants not being able to compete with already set Duopolies eventually leading them to being acquired, the question arises on how RuPay was able to achieve this in India.

RuPay belonging to the domestic payment system was set up in India in the year 2005 by the Board of payment and Settlement systems by the Reserve Bank of India. The RuPay card was introduced in 2012. As the processing of the transaction in RuPay is within India they are lower than that of MasterCard and Visa. This is because the processing in MasterCard and Visa take place abroad resulting in a higher processing fee along with their higher fee structure.

The rise of RuPay can also be attributed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had publicly endorsed it. One of Modi’s schemes namely the PM Jan Dhan Yojana helped RuPay contend with global players. Here, financial services, bank accounts, and a RuPay card were made available to most of the rural population free of cost.

Government support, Deep Pockets and a focus on the local problems that MNCs overlook seem to have worked for RuPay to become the top player in India. However, this led to the government facing a lot of backlash on the global stage with Visa and MasterCard crying foul and alleging that Modi used patriotism which they viewed as a way of protectionism against them.

Closing Thoughts

After considering three of the most notable duopolies in India we can note that for the successful functioning of a company a certain degree of cooperation is required to maximize the profits. With both companies acting as a check on each other the greatest benefit reaches the consumer.

Example – strategic discounting used by Zomato and Swiggy. These benefits are not available in a monopoly. It is also important for the government to maintain stringent checks to avoid the formation of cartels. The best comparison can be seen in Uber. The management has been termed as a ‘ Group of Thugs’ in the US ( where it has a market share of over 65%) due to its unethical practices. In India however due to a stronghold by its competitor Ola it has had to forego its ‘win at all costs’ attitude which was also later forgone in its operation in the US.

Another disadvantage a duopoly may have is on the stakeholders in the operating region, particularly its employees. All the companies taken as an example burn through cash without achieving profitability for a considerable period of time. This is done to survive the competition and eliminate new entrants. Failure of any of the companies will result in mass layoffs. Even if they enter a position of being acquired, employees that may increase duplication of jobs will not be hired.

Acquiring a major market share does not then limit the competition in the Duopoly to each other. In the future, we will see many new entrants ready with deep pockets to take on these duopolies.

Amazon seems to be keen to make an entry into the food-tech segment. Also the Mukesh Ambani backed Jiomart has just made an entry into the eCommerce platform offering attractive incentives to users like savings of Rs. 3,000 on pre-registration.

The telecom sector, on the other hand, seems to be headed towards a duopoly with the supreme court taking a strong stand against Vodafone-Idea which owes the government $3.9 billion in dues interest and penalties. In the coming years, India will see Duopolies entering other segments and at the same time disrupt those that are currently in play.

March 20, 2020 Aron Almeida Economics, Essential Reading, Market, News 1 comment

What is Nifty and Sensex? Stock Market Basics (For Beginners) cover

How Does The Stock Market Affect The Economy?

The stock market and the economy are in a lot of talk in recent days. Seeing the market indexes declined by over 30% within a month, an obvious question among people is to understand how does the stock market affects the economy.

In this article, we are going to answer the same and discuss the effect of rising or falling stock market on the economy. In addition, we’ll also answer whether the stock market and the economy are the same or not. Let’s get started.

Why do we have a stock market?

A stock is a type of security that represents an individual’s ownership in a company and a stock market is a place where an investor can buy and sell ownership of such assets. Trading stock on a public exchange is essential for economic growth as it allows companies to raise capital through public funding, pay off debts or expand the business.

The stock market exists for two main reasons, the first is to provide a company with the opportunity to raise capital that can be used to expand and grow the business.

If a company issues one million shares that can sell at $4 a share, this allows them to raise $4 million for the business. Companies find it favorable to raise capital this way so they can avoid incurring debt and paying steep interest charges.

The stock market also provides investors with the opportunity to earn a share in the company’s profit.

One way to do this is to buy stocks and earn regular dividends on its value- that is the investor earns a certain amount of money for each stock they own.

Another way is to sell the stock to buyers for a profit when the price of the stock increases. If an investor buys a share for $20 and the price eventually increases to $25, the investor can sell the stock and realize a profit of 25%.

Also read: Why do Stock Markets Exist? And Why is it So Important?

How the Stock Market affects the Economy?

The increase and decrease in stock prices can influence numerous factors in the economy such as consumer and business confidence which can, in turn, have a positive or negative impact on the economy as a whole. Alternatively, different economic conditions can affect the stock market as well.

Here are a few ways the stock market can affect the economy of a country:

— Movements in the Stock Market

The movements in the individual prices of stocks give the stock market a volatile character. As stock prices move up or down, their volatility can have a positive or negative impact on consumers and businesses.

In the event of a bull market or a rise in the prices of stocks, the overall confidence in the economy increases. People’s spending also increases as they become more optimistic about the market. More investors also enter the market and this feeds into greater economic development in the nation.

When the prices of stock fall for a continuously longer period, also known as a bear market, it has a negative effect on the economy. People are pessimistic about the economic conditions and news reports on falling stock prices can often create a sense of panic. Fewer investors enter the market and people tend to invest in lower-risk assets which further depresses the state of the economy.

Also read: What is Bull and Bear market? Stock Market Basics

(Image credits: 5paisa.com)

— Consumption and the Wealth effect

When stock prices rise and there is a bull market, people are more confident in the market conditions, and their investment increases. They tend to spend more on expensive items such as houses and cars. This is also known as the wealth effect which is how a change in a person’s income affects their spending habits and eventually leads to growth in the economy.

In the case of a bear market or a fall in stock prices, there is a negative wealth effect. It creates an environment of uncertainty among consumers and a fall in the value of their investment portfolios decreases spending on goods and services. This affects economic growth as consumer spending is a major component of Gross Domestic Product.

A common situation of the wealth effect was during the US housing market crash of 2008, which had a large negative impact on consumers wealth.

(Image credits: Investopedia)

— Impact on Business Investment

Apart from consumer spending, business investment is also a key indicator of economic growth.

When stock prices are high, businesses are likely to make more capital investments due to high market values. Many companies issue an IPO during this time as market optimism is high and it is a good time to raise capital through the sale of shares. There is also more mergers and acquisitions during a bull market and firms can use the value of their stock to buy out other companies. This increased investment feeds into greater economic growth.

When the stock market is bearish, it has the opposite effect on investment. Confidence in the economy decreases and businesses are no longer eager to invest in the economy. The decrease in share price makes it harder for companies to raise funding in the stock market.

Other factors

The stock market also affects the bond market and pension funds. A large part of pension funds are invested in the stock market and a decrease in the price of shares will lower the value of the fund and affect future pension payments. This can lower economic growth as people who depend on pension income will tend to save more and this lowers spending and eventually the GDP.

While a fall in share prices has a negative impact on economic growth and GDP of a nation, it has a positive effect on the bond market. When there is a depression in the stock market, people look for other assets to invest their money in such as bonds or gold. They often provide a better return on investment than shares in the stock market.

Remember, it is always important to diversify your investment portfolio and spread your risk. Don’t throw all your eggs into one basket.

Final Thoughts: Stock market and Economy are not the same

Contrary to popular belief, the stock market and the economy are two different things. The GDP of an economy and the stock market gains are incompatible and, in fact, there is little comparison between the two. The major reason for this discrepancy is the difference in the size of the two markets. The economy depends on millions of factors that can have both a positive and negative impact, while the stock market is only affected by one factor, the supply and demand of stocks.

Also read:

The Stock Market and the Economy Are Two Different Things -The Balance

There’s Almost No Relationship Between The Magnitude Of GDP Growth And Stock Market Performance -Business Insider.

For investors in the stock market, it is better to err on the side of caution and focus on the fundamentals of each stock rather than on the economy as a whole. As the saying goes ‘an economist is a trained professional paid to guess wrong about the economy’.

March 20, 2020 Divya Premkumar Economics, Investment Basics 1 comment

10 Best Youtube Channels to Learn Indian Stock Market

10 Best Youtube Channels to Learn Indian Stock Market: With the boom of the internet, self-education has never been easier. Now, you can learn any skill that you crave by sitting on your couch and watching youtube videos. And that too for FREE. There are tons of information and resources available on youtube to learn whatever you want. And if you want to acquire financial literacy without spending a dime, Youtube is definitely one of the best places where you should be.

Anyways, if you are a newbie to investing world, you might not know the best youtube channels to learn Indian stock market. After all, there are thousands of youtube channels that discuss stocks. But which ones give the best information? We’ll answer this question today. In this post, we are going to discuss ten Best Youtube Channels to learn Indian stock market.

Quick Note: There may be a few more good channels that we might miss in this post. This may be because we never watched their videos or the channel is launched recently. If we miss any of your favorite youtube channels feel free to mention in the comment box. We’ll be glad to add it to our list of best youtube channels for Indian Stock Market.

Nonetheless, you might not synergize with all the channels as they may cover different core areas like fundamentals, technicals or future/options trading strategies. Only subscribe to the channels that suit you the best and whose ideology you would like to follow. So, let’s get started with our list of 10 Best Youtube Channels to Learn Indian Stock Market. Here it goes.

10 Best Youtube Channels to Learn Indian Stock Market

— FinnovationZ

This channel uploads animated financial education videos on stock market tutorials, mutual fund basics, book summaries, case studies, etc. FinnovationZ has uploaded over 320 videos on their channel and had got +41 million views on their videos with +670k subscribers. The videos on this channel are mostly in the Hindi language and very simple to understand. If you are a complete newbie to the stock market, this is a definite channel to subscribe.

— Pranjal Kamra

Also known as Finology, Pranjal Kamra runs this channel and teaches the philosophy of value investing. On his channel, you can find over 130 videos on investing, stock analysis, mutual funds, and behavioral finance. Along with educational videos, Finology also offers courses, workshops, Excel tools, Advisory & research services etc on their website.

— Elearn Markets

With over 550 videos and +210,000 subscribers, Elearn Markets is definitely ranked among one of the best youtube channels to learn Indian stock market. They cover videos on financial literacy, stock market trading, fundamental analysis, technical analysis and more. Besides, one of the most popular segments on their Youtube channel is ‘Meet market rockstars’.

Quick fact: The founders of Elearn markets are also the creator of one of the most downloaded and highest rated stock analysis app in India, named Stockedge.

— Trade Brains

This channel is hosted by Kritesh Abhishek and is focused to teach stock market investing and personal finance to the do-it-yourself (DIY) Investors. On Trade brains youtube channel, you can find simplified investing videos on stock market basics, valuations, mutual funds, investing strategies and much more. You can subscribe to the channel using this link.

— Sunil Miglani

Sunil Minglani is an expert on behavioral aspects of Stock Market and has rich experience in analyzing stock chart patterns which he has co-related with human psychological patterns at a deeper level. He has uploaded over 250 videos on his channel and got over +410k subscribers. On Sunil Miglani’s channel, you can find videos on stock market basics, human psychology, Q&A with Sunil Miglani, etc.

— Nitin Bhatia

Nitin Bhatia is a Youtuber and founder of the blog nitinbhatia.in. On his youtube channel with over +549k subscribers, Nitin Bhatia uploads videos about stock trading & investing, Real Estate and Personal Finance to provide ‘Smart Ideas for Your Money’. He’s very consistent in making videos and has uploaded over 690 videos on his channel.

— Yadnya Investment Academy

This channel uploads simple investing videos in Hindi & English on the stock market, mutual funds, taxes and other investment options in India. The videos are extremely simple to understand. They have uploaded over +720 videos on their youtube channel and received over +190k subscribers. Invest Yadnya also offers different services like financial planning on their website.

— Ghanshyam Tech

This channel is run by Ghanshyam Yadav, a trader and trainer in stock market from Mumbai. This channel focuses on stock market trading and technical analysis. Ghanshyam has uploaded over 1,400 videos on his channel and here you can find videos on Nifty Trading, Technical analysis, Candlestick patterns, charting software and more.

— ProCapital.MohdFaiz

This channel is run by Mohd Faiz and the objective of this channel is to help the subscribers create wealth. Mr. Faiz has uploaded over +4,700 videos on this channel which has received over +95 million views. This channel upload videos on current news, technical analysis, stock charts, patterns and more.

— Varun Malhotra

The host of this channel, Varun Malhotra, Director EIFS, started investing at an age of 17. He dropped out of his Campus placements at IIM-A to continue his journey in the investment world. Since 2010, Varun Malhotra has trained over 500,000 Investors including the entire 250,000 strong force of Border Security Force. On his youtube channel, he uploads videos on stock market investments & mutual funds. Varun Malhotra has uploaded over +45 videos on youtube and earned+225k subscribers.

— Market Gurukul (Bonus)

The marketGurukul channel is managed by Mr. Edward and is one of the best technical analysis youtube channels in Hindi. He uploads videos on Indian Stocks, Commodity or Forex Trading including Trading Psychology, Money Management along with hardcore Technical Analysis. You can find over +170 videos on this channel teaching technical analysis, Strategies, and Indicators to know the markets better, demo trading platform and more.

Also read: 7 Must know websites for Indian stock investors

Closing Thoughts:

If you are not from a finance, commerce, business background or from a family of stock market enthusiasts, the chances are that you do not know the stock market lingo or even the frequently used terms like dividends, market cap, etc. Moreover, if you are in the learning stage, it’s a little difficult to master everything by yourself. Enters Youtube.

With the help of youtube channels, you can find online mentors who can help you to make your investing journey a lot easier. Further, interacting with Youtubers is also not very difficult. You can simply leave a comment on the videos and if the Youtuber is active, most likely, you’ll get the reply.

Final advice, watch the videos but do not copy their entire investment strategy or stock picks of the Youtubers. Ideally, Copycat investing doesn’t work. Be original and create your own investment style.

That’s all for this post. I hope it was useful for you. Have a great day and comment below which is your favorite YouTube channel to learn Indian stock market. Happy Investing!

March 18, 2020 Team Trade Brains Essential Reading, Investment Basics 12 comments

Online Grocery Market: Overview & Future in India (2020)

An overview of online grocery market in India and it’s future: We all evolved from living in a world with no Internet to living in a world that cannot be imagined without Internet. Yes, we exist in the era of digitisation. From our daily needs to our daily activities we are surrounded by online apps, which have now become an integral part of our lives.

This article is to throw a light on how digitisation is taking over the ‘Indian Online Grocery Market’.

Food & Grocery Market in India stepping into the Digital Age

Let us recall the time when the only means to buy groceries was from brick & mortar stores or roadside peddlers and hawkers. From the time of stepping outside of home to the time when one can buy from home just at the tip of the hand, the Indian Grocery Market has enlarged.

In the year 2018, online F&G i.e. Food and Grocery stood at approximately $1 Billion and grew at almost 110% CAGR in its initial years of penetration from 2014 to 2018. The online F&G market in India as of CY19 accounts for almost 0.2% of the overall market share. It is expected to reach 1.2% and touch a $10.5 Billion by the year 2023.

However, the offline F&G dominates the market and holds the maximum share but the dynamics of this industry are changing drastically. The online F&G is growing by almost 25-30% rate and the anticipated CAGR for it is 66% from 2018-23. (Source- LIVEMINT, Financial Express)

Market Players in Online F&G Market in India

The rising start-up culture across the globe was the foundation that supported and motivated the application based modern age ideas like Byju’s, Cure.fit, Flipkart etc. Among these, the start-ups in the F&G industry were ‘Big Basket’, ‘Grofers’, ‘Ondoor’, ‘Godrej Nature’s Basket’ etc.

Moreover, in all of these, the most popular ones are ‘Big Basket’ and ‘Grofers’ with 1,00,000 and 40,000 orders in a day.

Apart from the newly established companies in this online space, there are few other giant offline F&G retail players that are now entering the online-based selling like ‘D-Mart’; ‘Reliance’ etc.

Additionally the large e-commerce players like Amazon and Flipkart’s FarmerMart have also initiated their operations in this segment. Online food delivery platform ‘Swiggy’ owned ‘Supr-Daily’; Dunzo; Milkbasket etc. are some other popular players.

Key Factors Influencing the Growth of Online F&G Industry in India

— Changes in Consumers Purchasing Patterns

The changing behavioural patterns in consumers purchasing habits is one of the most influential factors that has encouraged the ‘Online Grocery Market’.

With the rising e-commerce, consumers are more inclined towards purchasing online at the tip of the palm. The online transaction value of a retail shopper buying at-least once in a month is between Rs.900-1200.

It is a commonly notable habit nowadays where an individual with a free time is mostly scrolling through his/her social media accounts or other app-based services offered online.

— Convenience

Taking out time from a busy work schedule in office along with tiring days calls for much more suitable and convenient ways of living. Online purchasing is one such means, which eases one’s effort and offers a hassle-free purchasing from anywhere and at any time.

— Offline Players entering App-Based Online Space

On one hand where online purchasing is seen as a new way of living some others are facing a high competition and business model threat from the same.

Giant offline store-based retailers like D-Mart and Reliance, are now extending their operations from brick & mortar supermarkets to online-based selling websites. This implies that the how much big competition and opportunity is this online retail industry.

— Business Model

In order to succeed must have a strategically proven and tested business model that forms a strong base for the business idea. Selling groceries online is an idea which is supported by two types of business models-

— Internet Penetration

The average rate of using Internet per user is increasing at an exponential rate. With JIO’s price disruption the price for using Internet went down drastically and so the usage of Internet went up within last few years. Telecom operators are introducing more cheap plans for its users, which have increased the user dependency on Internet and related activities.

Indirectly this led to benefitting a large number of e-commerce players. Due to low-cost Internet, its accessibility among lower income level groups also increased thereby creating a larger customer base for online-based businesses.

— Heavy Discounts and Offers

In order to attract a large number of customers these online F&G players offer huge discounts and cash back schemes. Selling at high discounts calls for the ability to absorb losses as well. Being backed up by large private equity investors like Softbank backed Big-Basket, these players are well funded and stable financially. Thus having an added advantage.

— Low Cost of Establishment

The biggest expenditure for an offline store is the cost of establishing the store, which demands a suitable location, rental cost, construction cost (for self-owned outlets), staff salary, maintenance and other expenses. While on the contrary, an online store saves on all these costs.

— No-Geographical Barriers

A brick & mortar outlet calls for physical location and has a limitation of serving that area only, an online store has no barriers of servicing a specific area. Although it calls for a strong supply chain to reach interiors but this has been overcome by the online operators.

— Other Benefits

No time bound purchasing as apps are working 24×7. A wide variety of products are available. Certain players like Big-Basket offer specific delivery time in order to confirm the availability of the customer at the time of delivery and enhance consumer experience. Websites have a customer feedback on the product, which gives a much realistic view before purchase.

Drawbacks of Online based F&G Industry

Like every coin has two sides, similarly, this attractive online F&G market has its own limitations.

On one hand, where it is highly convenient and user-friendly it has its disadvantages like there is a lack of touch of the merchandise before purchase, frauds associated while purchasing online, delay in delivery, damaged or expired goods delivered, vegetables and fruits ordered online may not be fresh.

The rising awareness of health and eating healthy food raises concerns about buying groceries online.

Also read: A brief study of Petrol & Diesel price history in India

Conclusion

Consumer behavior is a very crucial aspect of any industry. Where we are witnessing newer business models with every passing year based on the changing preferences of consumers, online business models are on the rise. This is due to the changing habits in our daily lifestyle. The future of online grocery market in India only looks bright despite its drawbacks that are being resolved by the existing players, and is an opportunity to make big money.

The existing online F&G market is at its nascent stage and is growing with more and more opportunities.

Shivani Mundra

March 17, 2020 Shivani Mundra Economics, Market 3 comments

What is Sunk Cost Fallacy? And how it Can Affect Your Decisions?

Have you ever been in a situation where you went to watch a movie in the theatre, however, it turned out to be terrible? What did you do next? Did you walked out of the theater or continued watching it till the end because you were afraid that you have already paid for the ticket? If you choose the latter, you have fallen for the sunk cost fallacy.

In this post, we are going to discuss what exactly is a sunk cost fallacy and how it can affect your investment decisions. But first, let us understand what are sunk costs.

What are sunk costs?

Sunk costs are those irrevocable costs which have already been occurred and cannot be retrieved. Here, the costs can be in term of your money, time or any other resource.

For example- Let’s suppose that you bought a brand new machine. However, after using it for three months, you realize that the machine is not actually working as you desired. And obviously, the return period of the machine has surpassed. Here, even if you sell the machine, you will get a depreciated value compared to what you originally bought. This cost is called the sunk cost.

In general, people should not consider sunk costs while making their decisions as these costs are independent of any happenings in the future. However, humans are emotional being and unlike robots, we do not always make rational decisions.

Examples of Sunk Cost Fallacy

Sunk cost fallacy, also known as Concorde fallacy, is an emotional situation where the individuals take sunk costs into consideration while making the decisions.

We have already discussed the example of watching the entire movie (even if it is terrible) just because you, as a consumer, won’t get back the money of your ticket. This is a classic example of sunk cost fallacy.

Another example can be when you eat foods that you do not like because you have already bought that food and cannot revoke that sunk cost. Similarly, overeating after ordering foods in restaurants because food has been already ordered is also an example of sunk cost fallacy.

Further, a typical example of the same fallacy is when you keep attending the miserable classes of your college (that you do not enjoy) because you have already invested a lot of time in that course and also have paid the tuition fee. Besides, salaries, loan payments etc are also considered as sunk costs as you cannot prevent these costs.

A quick point to mention here is that not all past costs are sunk costs. For example, let’s suppose you bought a shoe and you didn’t like it after reaching home. However, as the shoe is still in the return-period of 30 days, here, you can return the shoe and get back your purchase price. This is not a case of ‘sunk cost’.

Sunk Cost Dilemma

Sunk cost dilemma is an emotional difficulty to decide whether to continue with the project/deal where you have already spend a lot of money and time (i.e. sunk cost) or to quit because the desired result has not been achieved or because the project has an obscure future.

Here, the dilemma is that the person cannot easily walk away from the project as he has already spent a lot of time and energy. On the other hand, continuously pouring more money, time and resources in the project also do not seem a good idea because the outcomes are uncertain. This dilemma of deciding whether to proceed further or to quit is called sunk cost dilemma.

For example- Let’s say you started a business and invested $200,000 over the last three years. However, you haven’t achieved any wanted result so far. Moreover, you cannot see the business working out in the future. Here, the dilemma is ‘what to do next?’. Should you bear the losses and move on, or should you invest more resources in that uncertain business?

Another common example of sunk cost dilemma can be a bad marriage. Here, the couples find it difficult to decide whether to save themselves (and their spouse) by splitting up when they are sure that the things are not going to work out. Or should they hold on to the marriage just because they have already spend a lot of time together and breaking up will make them look bad?

Sunk cost dilemma in Investing

Even investors are common people and they face the sunk cost dilemma while making their investment decisions.

For example, let’s say that an investor bought a stock at Rs 100. Later, the price of that stock starts declining. In order to minimize the losses, the investor averages out the purchase price by buying more stocks when the price kept falling (also known as Rupee cost averaging). Here, the dilemma happens when the stock keeps underperforming for a stretched period of time. Here, the investors are uncertain whether they should book the loss by selling their stocks, or should they continue averaging out with the hope that they may recover the losses in the future.

Another example of the sunk cost dilemma is people buying/selling aggressively in risky stocks once they have incurred a few major losses in the past to ‘break even’ those losses. However, the losses have already been incurred and investing in risky stocks to cover those losses won’t do any good to such investors. The better approach would be to choose those stocks that can give the best possible returns in the future, not the imaginary aggressive returns that they expect to match up the sunk cost.

As an intelligent investor, people should ‘not’ consider the sunk costs while making their decision. However, this is rarely the case.

Closing Thoughts

It is no denying the fact that nobody likes losing and hence the past losses can influence the future decisions made by the individuals. However, one must not consider sunk costs while making their investment decisions.

As sunk costs cannot be changed (recovered), a rational person should ignore them while making their judgments. Here, if you want to proceed, first you should logically assess whether the project/deal is profitable for the future. If not, then discontinue the project. In other words, try to forecast the future and react accordingly.

Anyways, a few methods of solving the sunk cost dilemma is by opting for incremental wins over the big ones, increasing your options (not just to completely quit or go all in) and in the terminal case, cutting your losses. When stuck in this dilemma, try to make minimum losses by looking at the mitigating options.

Kritesh Abhishek

www.linkedin.com/in/kriteshrules/

March 17, 2020 Kritesh Abhishek Investing Psychology 1 comment

Indian Markets: A Week Against Coronavirus & Crude Oil Fall

Indian Markets Weekly Wrapup: As investors searched desperately for sightings of a leeway from the slumping market, last Thursday provided a worse off trajectory with WHO declaring coronavirus a pandemic. This led to the chokehold on various industries being tightened as it seemed to have contributed to the perfect two-punch combo to knock the Indian markets into a bearish slump.

Investors watched on as 11 lakh crore worth of wealth vanished with Sensex crashing by 2929.26 points. It was accompanied by the Bank Nifty falling 2951.45 points along with Nifty 50 which continued slipping further with a 950.40 points loss as Foreign Portfolio Investors sold off their holdings in the Indian markets. All closing at a two year low on Thursday.

The Wreckage through the week

The Indian market has already been suffering from the jabs from the economic slowdown, with added political tremors felt throughout the country due to riots, followed by the Yes Bank fiasco. Here we look at some other major events throughout the week.

— The Oil price hook

Last week, the crude oil prices were slashed to $30 a barrel. The cause was rooted in the Russian refusal to corroborate with Saudi Arabia in their plans to increase the crude oil output due to supply chain disruptions caused by the coronavirus scare. The scare had resulted in a worldwide demand slump.

This news only added to the Monday Blues in the US where the marginal cost of production touches $40 per barrel. Also globally, as this was the biggest drop in crude oil prices since the Gulf War.

However, this came as a relief to the Indian markets. Being the third-largest oil importer even a dollar drop per barrel would eventually result in an annual reduction in the import bill by Rs 10,700 crores. The benefits are still doubted due to the impact of the falling rupee against the dollar which currently stands at over Rs 74.

Also read: The On-going Oil War (2020) – Causes & Effects

— The COVID-19 Overhand Punch

The novel coronavirus outbreak had a devastating impact on any industry based in China or majorly dependant on China. By March 2020, the novel virus spread out to 119 countries. This was followed by the existing panic being materialized which already had investors all around the world bracing themselves for further impact on the market.

On Wednesday 11th, March 2020 with cases touching over 118,000, World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. This was followed by a bloodbath the following day which wiped out most of the bullish movement achieved by the Sensex and the Nifty in the last two years confirming investments in India to be locked in a bearish state. This also led to a global turmoil with Dow Jones(US) posting a 10% fall, its largest loss in history and the FTSE ( London) losing 11%.

Also read: Coronavirus- How it Infected Stock Market & Indian Economy!

Indian Stock hits after Coronavirus being declared a Pandemic

The following notable stocks touched their lowest in 52 weeks on 12th, March 2020:

Reliance Industries (RIL)
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
HDFC Bank
Hero Motocorp
GAIL
Gillette

Notable Industry-wise effects

— Corona vs Healthcare Industry

Other significant effects are also to be faced by the Healthcare industry in India as over 90% of the medical supply is sourced from China. Supply disruptions are already faced in sourcing Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients(APV) from China which are used in the manufacturing of antiretrovirals used in the treatment of HIV. These are crucial as they are also currently being tested on patients infected with COVID-19.

— Corona vs. Airline and Tourism Industry

With WHO declaring coronavirus a pandemic, countries affected entered a lockdown. US banned travel from Europe and travel has been discouraged by the government.

This has led to the airline industry being affected by IndiGo airlines announcing an expected fall in the quarterly earnings after noticing a 15-20% fall in their bookings on a day to day basis. The shares of Indigo fell over 12% while Spicejet fell by nearly 20%. An even more severe impact expected in the tourism industry.

— Corona vs. Agriculture Industry

The effects of COVID-19 are now being experienced even in the agriculture industry due to its dependency on pesticides. The raw materials required are imported from China. The imports range from 40%- 90% depending on the chemicals required. If the current scenario persists this will eventually affect the food industry due to a reduction in the availability of pesticides which has already been plagued by rumors on a variety of foods that may aid the spread of the virus.

— Corona vs. Sports

Any action taken specifically to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 is laudable, but we can still note and relate to the impact that has been on entertainment and sports.

With multiple sporting leagues being canceled or played with closed doors the 13th edition of IPL has been suspended till April 15th. Estimated losses touching Rs.10,000 crores if canceled.

Effect of Coronavirus on Sectoral Indices

Last week, every Indian sectoral indices faced major losses (with only BSE Telecom facing a loss at 1.35%). All the remaining sectoral indices facing losses from 7.5% to 16.03%

Biggest Losers – Nifty Indexes
Nifty Media	16.03%
Nifty IT	13.56%
Nifty Metal	12.85%
Nifty Realty	12.57%
Nifty CPSE	12.57%

Outlook by End of the Week

With Friday, 13 March 2020, came the silver lining where market movements of Thursday were not repeated. Due to the effects of COVID-19 bearish markets were realized which were also noticed during the outbreak of SARS in 2003, Bird Flu in 2004, Ebola in 2014, and Zika in 2016. Here we can learn that the markets have always recovered into bullish positions and eventually performed better than ever.

Indians have already witnessed several decisions taken by the government that have led to being financial disasters, resulting in the eventual economic slowdown in the recent past. However, when the future of India is considered, there is little that can be done by a government in such market scenarios where it is trying to make up for the lead already gained by an outbreak.

Best option being to direct its focus on the root causes which involve the prevention of the virus spread and finding a cure before its too late. We have already learned from the effects on China and Italy where such outbreaks entering a lockdown phase result in graver consequences on the economy.

March 16, 2020 Aron Almeida Economics, Market, News, Stocks 1 comment