Now, apply for US visa online from Feb 1
13 January 2010
MUMBAI: Are you thinking of studying in US ? Or travelling to America for a holiday? If so, here’s some good news for you. The process of applying for a US visa just got a tad less cumbersome.
The US is introducing a new, high-tech, completely online system for non-immigrant visas, which will be in place by February 1. While applicants could complete their visa application forms online earlier too, they will now be able to submit the application form online, thus eliminating the need for paper applications.
“The new application forms will ask only those questions that are relevant to you as an applicant,’’ said Jim Herman, the US Embassy’s minister counsellor for consular affairs at the US embassy.
While the old application form had the applicant’s signature on it, the new ones will require a digital signature, which involves typing in a unique code number. After the applying, there will be a confirmation page with applicants need to have as a record."
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
"What are the new SEBI guidelines all about MF investing?
"What are the new SEBI guidelines all about?
Relevant extract of the SEBI circular released on June 30, 2009 (SEBI/IMD/CIR No.
4/168230/09) is as follows:
'In order to empower the investors in deciding the commission paid to distributors in accordance with the level of service received, to bring about more transparency in payment of commissions and to incentivise long term investment, it has been decided that:
There shall be no entry load for all mutual fund schemes
The scheme application forms shall carry a suitable disclosure to the effect that the
upfront commission to distributors will be paid by the investor directly to the distributor, based on his assessment of various factors including the service rendered by the distributor
Of the exit load or CDSC charged to the investor, a maximum of 1% of the
redemption proceeds shall be maintained in a separate account which can be used by the AMC to pay commissions to the distributor and to take care of other marketing and selling expenses. Any balance shall be credited to the scheme immediately
The distributors should disclose all the commissions (in the form of trail commission
or any other mode) payable to them for the different competing schemes of various mutual funds from amongst which the scheme is being recommended to the investor
This circular shall be applicable for :
Investments in mutual fund schemes (including additional purchases and
switch-in to a scheme from other schemes) with effect from August 1, 2009
Redemptions from mutual fund schemes (including switch-out from other
schemes) with effect from August 1, 2009
New mutual fund schemes launched on and after August 1, 2009; and
Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) registered on or after August 1, 2009'"
Relevant extract of the SEBI circular released on June 30, 2009 (SEBI/IMD/CIR No.
4/168230/09) is as follows:
'In order to empower the investors in deciding the commission paid to distributors in accordance with the level of service received, to bring about more transparency in payment of commissions and to incentivise long term investment, it has been decided that:
There shall be no entry load for all mutual fund schemes
The scheme application forms shall carry a suitable disclosure to the effect that the
upfront commission to distributors will be paid by the investor directly to the distributor, based on his assessment of various factors including the service rendered by the distributor
Of the exit load or CDSC charged to the investor, a maximum of 1% of the
redemption proceeds shall be maintained in a separate account which can be used by the AMC to pay commissions to the distributor and to take care of other marketing and selling expenses. Any balance shall be credited to the scheme immediately
The distributors should disclose all the commissions (in the form of trail commission
or any other mode) payable to them for the different competing schemes of various mutual funds from amongst which the scheme is being recommended to the investor
This circular shall be applicable for :
Investments in mutual fund schemes (including additional purchases and
switch-in to a scheme from other schemes) with effect from August 1, 2009
Redemptions from mutual fund schemes (including switch-out from other
schemes) with effect from August 1, 2009
New mutual fund schemes launched on and after August 1, 2009; and
Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) registered on or after August 1, 2009'"
Fringe Pinches
As you are aware, the Finance Act 2009-10 has done away with the concept of Fringe Benefits Tax. Consequently, all the erstwhile ‘Fringe Benefits’ like Car related components, Food Coupons, etc., will now be treated as perquisites and taxed accordingly at normal income tax rates applicable to your income.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes has recently issued the guidelines on valuation of these perquisites. These valuations and their consequent taxation are effective from 01 Apr 2009.
As per the valuation circulated, Food Coupons are exempt to the extent of Rs. 50/- per meal. Hence the maximum amount that is tax free as far as food coupons are concerned has been frozen at Rs.1100/- per month. Since these rules are effective 01 Apr 2009, the resultant tax on the balance amount of Rs. 550/- already paid per month will be recovered in retrospect, in the remaining months i.e., January 2010 to March 2010.
As a policy change in relation to food coupons, the monthly value of food coupons will be Rs. 1100/- effective Jan 2010. Employees who have presently opted for food coupons, will be paid Rs. 550/- as special allowance along with food coupons amounting to Rs. 1100/-.
Best regards,
Team Corporate HR
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
10 investment resolutions for 2010
Moneycontrol.com - 10 investment resolutions for 2010: "10 investment resolutions for 2010
Published on Tue, Dec 29, 2009 at 13:59 | Updated at Wed, Dec 30, 2009 at 13:02
Every year starts with a handful of New Year resolutions – losing weight, giving up a bad habit, spending more time with family, or anything personal or professional. When we can make so many commitments to different parts of our lives – why forget our money? Let us welcome 2010 with ten simple investment resolutions we can all strive to make:
1. I will truly invest for the long-term
Everybody claims to be a long-term investor, but nobody really is. Most investors are relentlessly checking their portfolio every day, often more than professional money managers, and they lose sight of the long term. Checking your portfolio every day leads to overtrading, which only makes your broker and the tax department richer. Don’t forget that when you invest in a stock, you invest in a business – businesses don’t change materially every day.
2. I will not trade on tips
We love investment tips, from our brokers, bankers, family, and cocktail party acquaintances, particularly when they come for free. We are also happy to trade on those tips, forgetting that most of them are not grounded in any kind of reality. Anybody with an opinion who has watched a little bit of TV will give you a tip – that does not mean it makes sense and that certainly doesn’t mean you put hard earned money behind it.
3. I will be disciplined and not emotional about investments
It’s very easy to see an article about the 10% rise in a mid-cap stock and go out and buy it, forgetting that news is meant to get you excited. If there is one place where discipline and not emotion pays off, it is your money. Make a plan when you build a portfolio – why are you building a portfolio, when do you intend to sell it to use the money, when would you increase it?
4. I will do due diligence on my fund manager
It is very easy to invest with a fund manager and then blame him when something goes wrong. Do the due diligence before investing. Just because you are investing in a known fund house doesn’t not mean the fund manager is competent. Find out about the fund manager’s track record and ask the manager about their practices – accounting, reporting, redeeming funds, talking to clients – to see if you can really rely on them.
5. I will have reasonable expectations with my money
Investing in the stock market will not double your money in a year – you should stop working if it did. Have reasonable expectations from your money and money manager. A manager who can beat the market by 5% every year net of all fees has done very well by global standards and a manager who claims they can beat it by 30% a year is lying. Any equity investment will lose some money in a 2008 like crisis – no manager can perfectly call a crisis and neither can you.
6. I will try something new with my money
Are you tired of saying every money manager sounds the same and that there is nothing new in the market? Think again – the market is full of young boutique managers with interesting ideas and new approaches to investing. All you have to do is seek them out and give them a listen. Suspend your existing beliefs and learn new approaches to investing, and try them out, at least in a small dose. If nothing, it adds valuable diversification to your portfolio.
7. I will invest based on my needs
No two investors are the same and every investor has different needs based on their income, life stage and responsibilities. Investing isn’t about gambling or playing the market for fun, it is about building long term wealth to meet your future needs. Understand what your needs are and then invest appropriately in different asset classes and instruments.
8. I will think about risk
Most investors conveniently ignore the more important side in the risk-return equation of finance – the risk side. Risk exists and is different by stock, sector, and asset class, and every investor should have a basic understanding of risk. Don’t evaluate the return on any investment independent of the risk of that investment. Get mathematical with risk – you always want to know the return numbers on an investment, ask for the risk ones too.
9. I will not follow the herd
Who doesn’t love following the herd, whether it is movies, music or money? If everyone is subscribing to the Reliance Power IPO, there must be something great about it, right? Wrong. What everyone is investing in or not investing in doesn’t have to be right – in fact, investing by nature is about discovering opportunities that others haven’t. Next time, when you make an investment decision, don’t look to the world for validation.
10. I will invest, today
If you do one thing in 2010, don’t try to time when you invest. There is always a great excuse not to invest – market has run up too much, I am busy with other things, I don’t understand the market, afraid of a correction, can’t afford it. All the stars in the investing world never align and no time is a perfect time to invest – that is why markets work. If you are truly investing for the long term (Resolution 1), there is no difference between today and two weeks later.
Keeping even of a few of these simple resolutions will make us smarter, safer, and if nothing else, saner investors. This decade, let’s remember the lessons of the financial crisis, let’s be cautious yet creative with our money, and most importantly, let’s take our money seriously.
Welcome to 2010 – wishing both you and your money a Happy New Year!"
Here is my two cents addition into this post:
I really appreciate the power of long term investments, and equity always pays in long term. For professionals mutual fund investments are the best way to earn money as stocks are more time demanding, and in market downfall it demands more and more maintenance which is tough to do. So, mutual fund is the safe bet and there will be a bunch of fund managers to look after my funds. Yes, your guess is true, you may earn more by direct equity investments with a risk that you are investing based upon your limited knowledge. So, jay ho MFs.
--Kongkon
Published on Tue, Dec 29, 2009 at 13:59 | Updated at Wed, Dec 30, 2009 at 13:02
Every year starts with a handful of New Year resolutions – losing weight, giving up a bad habit, spending more time with family, or anything personal or professional. When we can make so many commitments to different parts of our lives – why forget our money? Let us welcome 2010 with ten simple investment resolutions we can all strive to make:
1. I will truly invest for the long-term
Everybody claims to be a long-term investor, but nobody really is. Most investors are relentlessly checking their portfolio every day, often more than professional money managers, and they lose sight of the long term. Checking your portfolio every day leads to overtrading, which only makes your broker and the tax department richer. Don’t forget that when you invest in a stock, you invest in a business – businesses don’t change materially every day.
2. I will not trade on tips
We love investment tips, from our brokers, bankers, family, and cocktail party acquaintances, particularly when they come for free. We are also happy to trade on those tips, forgetting that most of them are not grounded in any kind of reality. Anybody with an opinion who has watched a little bit of TV will give you a tip – that does not mean it makes sense and that certainly doesn’t mean you put hard earned money behind it.
3. I will be disciplined and not emotional about investments
It’s very easy to see an article about the 10% rise in a mid-cap stock and go out and buy it, forgetting that news is meant to get you excited. If there is one place where discipline and not emotion pays off, it is your money. Make a plan when you build a portfolio – why are you building a portfolio, when do you intend to sell it to use the money, when would you increase it?
4. I will do due diligence on my fund manager
It is very easy to invest with a fund manager and then blame him when something goes wrong. Do the due diligence before investing. Just because you are investing in a known fund house doesn’t not mean the fund manager is competent. Find out about the fund manager’s track record and ask the manager about their practices – accounting, reporting, redeeming funds, talking to clients – to see if you can really rely on them.
5. I will have reasonable expectations with my money
Investing in the stock market will not double your money in a year – you should stop working if it did. Have reasonable expectations from your money and money manager. A manager who can beat the market by 5% every year net of all fees has done very well by global standards and a manager who claims they can beat it by 30% a year is lying. Any equity investment will lose some money in a 2008 like crisis – no manager can perfectly call a crisis and neither can you.
6. I will try something new with my money
Are you tired of saying every money manager sounds the same and that there is nothing new in the market? Think again – the market is full of young boutique managers with interesting ideas and new approaches to investing. All you have to do is seek them out and give them a listen. Suspend your existing beliefs and learn new approaches to investing, and try them out, at least in a small dose. If nothing, it adds valuable diversification to your portfolio.
7. I will invest based on my needs
No two investors are the same and every investor has different needs based on their income, life stage and responsibilities. Investing isn’t about gambling or playing the market for fun, it is about building long term wealth to meet your future needs. Understand what your needs are and then invest appropriately in different asset classes and instruments.
8. I will think about risk
Most investors conveniently ignore the more important side in the risk-return equation of finance – the risk side. Risk exists and is different by stock, sector, and asset class, and every investor should have a basic understanding of risk. Don’t evaluate the return on any investment independent of the risk of that investment. Get mathematical with risk – you always want to know the return numbers on an investment, ask for the risk ones too.
9. I will not follow the herd
Who doesn’t love following the herd, whether it is movies, music or money? If everyone is subscribing to the Reliance Power IPO, there must be something great about it, right? Wrong. What everyone is investing in or not investing in doesn’t have to be right – in fact, investing by nature is about discovering opportunities that others haven’t. Next time, when you make an investment decision, don’t look to the world for validation.
10. I will invest, today
If you do one thing in 2010, don’t try to time when you invest. There is always a great excuse not to invest – market has run up too much, I am busy with other things, I don’t understand the market, afraid of a correction, can’t afford it. All the stars in the investing world never align and no time is a perfect time to invest – that is why markets work. If you are truly investing for the long term (Resolution 1), there is no difference between today and two weeks later.
Keeping even of a few of these simple resolutions will make us smarter, safer, and if nothing else, saner investors. This decade, let’s remember the lessons of the financial crisis, let’s be cautious yet creative with our money, and most importantly, let’s take our money seriously.
Welcome to 2010 – wishing both you and your money a Happy New Year!"
Here is my two cents addition into this post:
I really appreciate the power of long term investments, and equity always pays in long term. For professionals mutual fund investments are the best way to earn money as stocks are more time demanding, and in market downfall it demands more and more maintenance which is tough to do. So, mutual fund is the safe bet and there will be a bunch of fund managers to look after my funds. Yes, your guess is true, you may earn more by direct equity investments with a risk that you are investing based upon your limited knowledge. So, jay ho MFs.
--Kongkon
Investment strategies for 2010
Moneycontrol.com - Investment strategies for 2010: "Investment strategies for 2010
Published on Tue, Dec 29, 2009 at 13:24 | Updated at Tue, Dec 29, 2009 at 14:37 | Source : Moneycontrol.com
2009 has been a rollercoaster ride for major asset classes such as equity, debt and real estate. The only exception was Gold which not only survived the wild swings on the way downward but made new highs with the spot price crossing the 18000 mark for the first time. Since the peak gold has corrected almost 6-7% and seems to be consolidating at the current levels. So what does 2010 hold in store for investors?
Let’s take a look at each asset class and explore the opportunities and threats.
Equity: 2009 has proven to be a golden year for the stock market with returns of around 64% till 21st December 2009. Markets have been range bound for a while now and Nifty was unable to break 5200 on the upside and it seems now that we are in a corrective phase since the last few days. There is a lot of noise of a further 20-30% correction. There is nothing impossible in the markets and there is no sane way of really figuring out whether a 20-30% correction would indeed happen. If a sharper correction does indeed happen, then it could be an exciting opportunity for people who have missed the bus. On the other hand what happens if the market corrects a little (10%) but then goes up sharply in the first couple of weeks of January or does not correct from the current levels and goes up.
There are many events such as the third quarter corporate earnings, budget, interest rate announcements by the RBI, global earnings data and so on that will have a major impact on the stock markets. The point I am making is that there is no way one can predict the course of the Sensex or Nifty over the next few days or months. Valuations might look a little stretched but again GDP and earnings growth are improving quickly. Typically when markets recover valuations do look stretched for a while because there is more money coming in as earnings start to catch up and before you realize markets can tread much higher levels. Advance tax numbers have been good and corporate earnings in the third quarter is likely to be strong. I will not be surprised to see markets inch upwards to very high levels by Diwali time (2010) or late next year. I believe that domestic liquidity primarily from life insurance companies will be extremely strong into 2010 and they will buy heavily the dips that markets would present from time to time.
Your strategy should be to invest regularly through SIPs or in a staggered manner and take advantage of the dips. This has been one of the best ways to make money in the Indian stock markets in the last 25 years and 2010 will be no different. At the same time if the market shoots up sharply we will rebalance your portfolio. In fact rebalancing the portfolio will be a very important theme in 2010."
Gold: Indians have always been big buyers of gold. However once the price crossed 15000 and scaled new highs, buying interest has gone down as many believe that gold prices are way too high. At the same time central banks around the world have been buying gold as if there is no tomorrow. One of the key reasons is that gold is an alternate currency that can come in extremely handy during tough times. I decided to check on the Gold Knowledge Quotient of several people with a very basic question and trust me the answers were uninspiring.
Published on Tue, Dec 29, 2009 at 13:24 | Updated at Tue, Dec 29, 2009 at 14:37 | Source : Moneycontrol.com
2009 has been a rollercoaster ride for major asset classes such as equity, debt and real estate. The only exception was Gold which not only survived the wild swings on the way downward but made new highs with the spot price crossing the 18000 mark for the first time. Since the peak gold has corrected almost 6-7% and seems to be consolidating at the current levels. So what does 2010 hold in store for investors?
Let’s take a look at each asset class and explore the opportunities and threats.
Equity: 2009 has proven to be a golden year for the stock market with returns of around 64% till 21st December 2009. Markets have been range bound for a while now and Nifty was unable to break 5200 on the upside and it seems now that we are in a corrective phase since the last few days. There is a lot of noise of a further 20-30% correction. There is nothing impossible in the markets and there is no sane way of really figuring out whether a 20-30% correction would indeed happen. If a sharper correction does indeed happen, then it could be an exciting opportunity for people who have missed the bus. On the other hand what happens if the market corrects a little (10%) but then goes up sharply in the first couple of weeks of January or does not correct from the current levels and goes up.
There are many events such as the third quarter corporate earnings, budget, interest rate announcements by the RBI, global earnings data and so on that will have a major impact on the stock markets. The point I am making is that there is no way one can predict the course of the Sensex or Nifty over the next few days or months. Valuations might look a little stretched but again GDP and earnings growth are improving quickly. Typically when markets recover valuations do look stretched for a while because there is more money coming in as earnings start to catch up and before you realize markets can tread much higher levels. Advance tax numbers have been good and corporate earnings in the third quarter is likely to be strong. I will not be surprised to see markets inch upwards to very high levels by Diwali time (2010) or late next year. I believe that domestic liquidity primarily from life insurance companies will be extremely strong into 2010 and they will buy heavily the dips that markets would present from time to time.
Your strategy should be to invest regularly through SIPs or in a staggered manner and take advantage of the dips. This has been one of the best ways to make money in the Indian stock markets in the last 25 years and 2010 will be no different. At the same time if the market shoots up sharply we will rebalance your portfolio. In fact rebalancing the portfolio will be a very important theme in 2010."
Gold: Indians have always been big buyers of gold. However once the price crossed 15000 and scaled new highs, buying interest has gone down as many believe that gold prices are way too high. At the same time central banks around the world have been buying gold as if there is no tomorrow. One of the key reasons is that gold is an alternate currency that can come in extremely handy during tough times. I decided to check on the Gold Knowledge Quotient of several people with a very basic question and trust me the answers were uninspiring.
1. What percentage of gold is actually present in 22K gold jewellery?
2. If the gold price is 18000 in the spot market, will you get the same rate for your jewellery?
Gold is traditionally weighed in Troy Ounces (31.1035 grammes) which is 3.1 tolas. The proportion of gold in jewellery is measured on the carat (or karat) scale. The word carat comes from the carob seed, which was originally used to balance scales in Oriental bazaars. Pure gold is designated 24 carat, which compares with the "fineness" by which bar gold is defined.
| Pure gold Gold alloys | Caratage | Fineness | % Gold |
| 24 | 1000 | 100 | |
| 22 | 916.7 | 91.67 | |
| 18 | 750 | 75 | |
| 14 | 583.3 | 58.3 | |
| 10 | 416.7 | 41.67 | |
| 9 | 375 | 37.5 |
As you can see from the above table, 22K gold has just 91.67% of gold.
Try selling jewellery anytime and the first thing that a jeweler will do after verifying the purity will be to multiply the spot gold rate by 91.67 %. Hence when you sell gold even though the price of gold might be 18000 you will get far less than 18000 (at least 9.1% less) . Hence when you buy gold you must make sure that you are charged in the same proportion.
Gold is a great buy at 12000 but many experts believe that we will never see those levels. In fact some even believe that we will never see 15000 levels in gold. However being an optimist, I like to believe that sooner than later we might get to see 15000 odd levels. The best strategy once again is to invest in a staggered manner on the downside.
Invest in gold every month and the best part is that you can even buy 1 gm every month through a Gold Exchange Traded Fund. There are several such as Benchmark, Kotak, Reliance, Quantum, UTI and SBIMF Gold Exchange Traded funds that you can buy. Gold has given excellent returns in the last 7 odd years and I like to believe 2010 will be no different if the price corrects from the current level of Rs. 17000 to slightly more meaningful levels.
Debt: Rising inflation is a huge concern and it is quite likely that RBI will hike CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio). CRR is the percentage of amount banks must keep with RBI. The hike will help in sucking out excessive liquidity in the system. Bond Yields have already started hardening and one is already witnessing negative returns from gilt and long term income funds. The best options in the debt fund space here will be to look at Fixed Maturity Plans (FMPs), and Short Term Income Funds which can still generate around 7% post tax returns. In the highest tax brackets, the best avenue for short term money is liquid plus and floating rate funds. When it comes to fixed deposits, do not lock yourself in long term fixed rates as the rates could get better late next year. The key here is to look out for better post tax returns.
Like elsewhere in life, it really pays to keep things simple and this is what you need to precisely do in 2010.
Wish you and your family a Very Happy, Healthy & Prosperous 2010
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)