Platter of Half Baked Ideas

M ega investments in infrastructure and the recent market correction offers an exciting investment opportunity in construction stocks. The robust GDP growth rate experienced by the country in the last few years is indeed commendable and was aided by investment in infrastructure. To sustain growth rates, it is imperative for India to make higher investments towards setting up world-class infrastructure. As per the Planning Commission estimates, investments in infrastructure is set to go up by a whopping 130 per cent to $520 billion for the eleventh Five-Year Plan (FY 2008-12) as against the $226 billion made during the 10th plan (FY 2003-2007). Construction companies will be among the first beneficiaries of these investments and will deliver good and sustainable long-term growth. Since the investment plans for each of the sub-segments in infrastructure space varies, based on priorities, there is reason to believe that not all the segments or companies will grow at all times. For instanc...

T his is a simple enough rule that everybody applies without thinking about. When a floor trader first told me about it I dismissed him as being overly cautious. I continued to make the mistake of selling out my winners and keeping my losers. As a young trader, my mistakes could be overcome; as I get older, the mistakes are more difficult to overcome. Let's go through the process of placing a trade to illustrate how I manage to maintain a profit in it. When I make a decision to buy or sell a futures or a stock, I also figure out how much I am willing to risk on the trade. Let's say I want to buy 100 shares of IBM at $124 per share. I figure out that I will put in a stop order at around the $121 level. The actual number is something like $120-7/8. Whole numbers and even fractions are where the public enters the markets; I stay away from public orders. There might be a lot of public orders resting at $121 to buy the stock, but all the orders to buy at that price won't be fill...