NSE Holidays 2011: BSE Holidays 2011: List-India Stock Exchange (Stock Market) Holidays 2011

As the new year 2011 is approaching and the year 2010 is coming to a close, its time to know about the Trading Holidays of 2011 in India and Indian Stock Exchanges of BSE and NSE

Below, we provide you a list of holidays when there will be no trading done on National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
Wishing all the readers, traders and investors a happy and frutiful New year 2011.

Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Holidays 2011

National Stock Exchange (NSE) Holidays 2011

The two primary stock exchanges of India, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) will remain close for trading for the following days in the year 2011:

BSE Holidays List 2011 / NSE Holidays List 2011

Day,Date	Holiday
Wednesday 26th January, 2011	Republic Day
Wednesday 2nd March, 2011	Mahashivratri
Tuesday 12th April, 2011	Ram Navmi
Thursday 14th April, 2011	Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti
Friday 22nd April, 2011	Good Friday
Monday 15th August, 2011	Independence Day
Wednesday 31st August, 2011	Ramzan Id
Thursday 1st September, 2011	Shri Ganesh Chaturthi
Thursday 6th October, 2011	Dassera
Wednesday 26th October, 2011	Diwali Amavasya (Laxmi Pujan)
Thursday 27th October, 2011	Diwali Balipratipada
Monday 7th November 2011	Bakri-Id
Thursday 10th November, 2011	Gurunanak Jayanti
Tuesday 6th December 2011	Moharum

Also note that the special Muhurat Trading for Diwali also known as the Diwali Muhurat Trading 2001 / Deepavali 2011 Muhurat Trading will be conducted on Wednesday, the 26th of October, 2011 which haapens to be the Diwali Amavasya or Lakshmi Pooja Holiday

Please note that some other bank holidays are falling on weekends, and hence they are not included in the list of exchange BSE and NSE Holidays 2011.
Although due care has been taken in providing the above information, please note that there may be errors and changes after this info is published. Readers are advised to check with the respective official agencies for confirmation

Trade E-Silver National Spot Exchange (NSEL): Commodity Trading

There is some good news for the traders and investors who wish to bet their money on precious metal commodities. The National Spot Exchange of India has come out with a good product called E-Silver through which small investors as well as big investors can trade Silver on the NSEL. In this article, we will cover details about what is E-Silver, how it can be traded and what are the benefits of trading E-Silver as a commodity product.

Trading Silver as Commodity through E-Silver

Let's start with the basics first.
What is E-Silver?

E-Silver is a trading and investment product which is offerd by National Spot Exchange of India and aimed at offering trading as well as investment opportunities to small investors as this product can be traded with small amounts of money.
Till now, Precious commodities like Gold and Silver were being traded only in large quantities, so they were out of reach of common man or better to say small investors who wished to trade these commodities. Although Gold can be traded in small amounts through Gold based ETF's - see details, there was no similar product for trading silver. Now, through E-Silver, small traders and investors can bet their money on Silver prices and attempt to benefit from Silver trading.

What will be underlying the E-Silver as a product? How will E-silver trading work
This is the crux of silver trading. Silver can be traded through E-Silver in small quantities - like 100 grams and its multiples. So 1 unit of E-Silver will be the cost of 100 grams of Physical silver, as available in the market (around 2750 Rs. as of now). So this will allow small investors who can trade silver in small amounts.
Similar product called E-Gold which was launched by NSEL in March 2010 has also been a good success.

Why is E-Silver introduced?
Riding high on the success of E-Gold, the National Spot Exchange has offered similar product for Silver.
As we all know, silver prices in the recent past have given excellent returns. However, small investors have always been left out as there is no silver based ETF available for trading in India or any other silver based product suitable for trading and investing in silver in small amounts.
NSEL is trying to offer a silver based product so that small investors can also trade on silver prices.
Morever, this can also bring in a kind of uniformity in prices across the country, as silver prices will now be available (and can be referred benchmarked) against the E-Silver product prices, as trading goes on on NSEL. Irrespective of whether the silver trader is in Delhi or Kanyakumari, he will get the same price of silver across the geography.

How will E-Silver trading happen?
The price of E-Silver units will be in multiples of 10 paisa ticks.
Trading day will be for a long period - 10 AM to 1130 PM.
Settlement Cyce will be T+2

What are the risks involved in trading E-Silver?
Of course there is the risk of price movements. You may have a BUY position and then the price starts to go down, or vice versa, you will be in a loss.
Dont just go by the historical price rise. Market works randomly and what has been going up till now can start falling down. See Historical Performace of Gold ETF and how it has varied over long periods of time.
Also note that it will be a 13:30 hr long trading day. So from a trader's perspective, it will be a really long day and one will be required to keep close eye on his silver positions for long periods of time. Also note that Sivler prices are decided internationally.
Then, NSEL or National Spot Exchange is a relatively new exchange. Not all brokers provide trading in NSEL. So investors or traders who wish to bet their money on E-Silver, might have to spend money on opening accounts with the brokers who offer NSEL trading.
Transaction costs will again be another thing to look at and it will vary from broker to broker.

BSE TASIS Shariah 50 Index: India's Shariah Index for Islamic Investments

India has got its first Shariah compliant Index which strictly follows the Shariah Guidelines which are drafted by local India based Shariah Advisory board. The index is called BSE TASIS Shariah 50 Index and will be available from 27th December 2010 onwards.

What will be the composition of BSE TASIS Shariah 50 Index?
The top 50 companies listed on BSE which will adhere to the criteria set for the BSE TASIS Shariah 50 Index will form this Index. These 50 companies will be from the BSE 500 index, that means 50 out of 500 top BSE companies will form this BSE TASIS Shariah 50 Index

What will be the use of this BSE TASIS Shariah 50 Index?
The launch of this index will enable various investment firms and brokerage/mutual fund houses to start investment schemes like Mutual funds, Exchange traded funds, etc. which will be based upon this BSE TASIS Shariah 50 Index. Read more about working of Islamic Mutual Funds: How Sharia Mutual Funds Work?.
These kinds of mutual funds, ETF's and investment products fall under the umbrella of what is called Socially Responsible Mutual Funds. Read more about Socially Responsible Mutual Funds

What are the benefits of investment products based on BSE TASIS Shariah 50 Index?
There is a big investor community, in India as well as abroad, who wishes to follow Shariah guidelines for investments. Hence, the Shariah compliant products offer them a good opportunity to invest as per their religious beliefs.
For the investment companies and exchanges, it presents another opportunity for big business. As many shariah based investors are still not investing in the open market, having investment products based on shariah guidelines will help them get these investors and mean big business for them.

The screening of the constituent stocks in BSE TASIS Shariah 50 index will be done on a monthly basis. Non compliant sotcks will be moved out and those which qualify will be included.
The index will be licensed for the construction of Shariah compliant financial products including mutual funds, ETFs, and structured products, and that is this licence fee will generate the revenue for BSE. The index is being launched as a joint partnership between BSE and Taqwaa Advisory and Shariah Investment Solutions (TASIS)
NSE is also reported to have the S&P CNX 500 Shariah Index, which is based on the Free Float Market Capitalization Weighted Methodology

Twitter-Based Hedge Fund - Review, Analysis, Risks & Details

The world of investments is full of surprises - and innovations (atleast coming up with new ideas for investments).
And this is what a London based investment firm is planning to do. It is attempting to come out with an investment product, expected to be a Hedge Fund, which will be based on Twitter.

Twitter-Based Hedge Fund

Does that sound interesting - or unimaginable? But that is what is expected to happen if this hedge fund comes to reality. Millions of Sterling Pounds will be betted in the stock market through this Twitter based hedge fund, if this becomes a reality.

How will the Twitter-Based Hedge Fund work?
Twitter-Based Hedge Fund Working Explained: Any model, any algorithm, any trading strategy in the stock markets is based upon certain assumptions. The same is true with the Twitter-Based Hedge Fund working assumptions as well.
It is claimed that some recent research has shown about the mood of twitter tweets and apps usage can be used as a guide to predict the stock markets up or down movements.
The stock markets and the updates on the social networks, both work on one thing called the Human Sentiments. The messages that people post on their social network status can be a key to their mood.
Here is a picture/flowcart explaining how the Twitter-Based Hedge Fund will work to extract the stock market mood from the tweets.


If someway, one can effectively track the stock market participant moods from their social network status, then there is a chance of good success in predicting the stock market trends and this is what will be the basis of Twitter-Based Hedge Fund and its working.

What are the risks and challenges in the Twitter-Based Hedge Fund ?
Nothing in this world is risk free.
The first and foremost thing is that this hedge fund is based on placing trades on human moods as predicted from their social networks.
That itself poses a big challenge. Observe so many dependencies which are here.
First, extracting a list of legitimate people who will be active in stock markets and following them. There have been many fake profiles around
Second, what is the guarantee that these legitimate people will post their real mood.
Third, even if they do post their real mood, will they post it regularly?
Fourth, Is it really possible to extract the information on stock market trends based upon the calm or anxious language used in the status posted on social networking sites like twitter.

As you can see, there are many dependencies.

Which investment firm is launching the Twitter-Based Hedge Fund ?
Derwent Capital Markets from London will be launching this Hedge fund.
Since it is a hedge fund, it will be common investors money which will be betted on.

What is the success rate claimed for the Twitter-Based Hedge Fund ?
The research report which studied the correlation of twitter moods and stock market movements claims a accurate or success rate of huge 87.6% on a saily basis for index like DowJones. Each model, when introduced, claims a high success rate. However, things fall apart when the real trading and investment business happens.
How much of this will be actually true in real world of hedge fund trading, can be checked only after this hedge fund begins its operation.
Investors need to take a call on investing in this Twitter-Based Hedge Fund

GoAir IPO: Review Analysis & Details of Go Air IPO

There is unconfirmed news about an airline based IPO to hit the primary stock markets very soon. The news has come out about the financial arm of GoAir or GO Air called GoAir , which is expected to come out with its IPO pretty soon. GoAir arm has decided to come out with the Initial Public Offering or IPO.
In this article, we will look at the Review, Analysis and Details of the GoAir IPO and try to do the Review and analysis of GoAir IPO.

GoAir IPO: Review Analysis & Details

Some basic details first about the GoAir IPO, which are available as of now:

- The size of GoAir IPO is not exactly known, but as per the reports the size of the GoAir IPO will be around 400-500 Crore Rupees

- The majority of the capital collected through the GoAir IPO will be used to repay debt and to buy some new aircraftst to add to the GoAir fleet

What are the primary reasons for GoAir to come out with the GoAir IPO?
The main reason for any company to come and list its shares in the stock market is to collect money from common public and so is the case with GoAir IPO
The money collected will be used by the company to repay its debts and to buy additional aircrafts. It is reported that the company is planning to double its no. of aircrafts from existing 10 to 20 airplanes by 2014-2015. In the short term, it is planning to add atleast 3 airplanes by the year 2011

So what is the needs of GoAir to come out with the GoAir IPO?
The aviation industry in India is showing some good growth signs, so the company management is reported to be hopeful about the IPO. However, its the investors who should take the call.
Business Expansion, Repayment of debts and loans are good enough reasons to be quoted for an IPO. However, one must note that an IPO is no guarantee of sure shot returns. Please read our previous article Investing in Airline Companies? for a detailed analysis about airline stocks and their performance.

What is the issue size of the GoAir IPO?
No info about that except that the company plans to raise 400-500 Crore Rupees from the GoAir IPO.
What is the price band of GoAir IPO?
It is reported that the recommended price band for GoAir IPO is not yet decided.

How many shares will be sold in the GoAir IPO?
The total no. of shares to be sold through this IPO is not known precisely.

What are the IPO dates for GoAir IPO
The IPO dates have not yet been finalised. But the IPO is expected to hit the markets sometimes in the next few months. The reason for this is that the airline sector has shown around 25% growth in November 2010. The same is expected to accelerate further and reach around 35-40% growth rate.

How will the capital raised by GoAir IPO be used?
It will be used for business expansion by purchase of new aircrafts and for repayment of debts.

Any ratings given to GoAir IPO?
No information about that as of now.

What are the analysts recommendations and business results for GoAir IPO?
No details available as of now. But one must be cautions about airline stocks. The reason is that historically, majority of the airline companies have posted not good returns - airline is not among the best performine sector in the stock markets.
Moreover, the aviation sector is strictly controlled by the government & regulations. In countries like India, we have recently seen new regulations about airlines should post their maximum fares on their websites in advance. All this is good for common passengers, but might be bad for investors of airline companies.
However, the IPO is a different story. One may make good returns in the short term, say by applying for IPO and selling it for profits on the listing date. Investors to take the call in the random markets

South African Rand Forex Currency Notes & Exchange Rates: Images

Continuing our series on Forex Currency Notes, today in this article we will be covering the . If you wish to know about other forex currencies and their details, click on the link All Forex Articles.
As stated earlier, Foreign Exchange is required by any traveller who is willing to travel abraod - i.e. outside his home country where the currency in curculation might be different. It is very important to be familiar with the currency of that particular country, otherwise you might be cheated. Say before starting your journey, one of the "unknown" forex broker gives you foreign currency at quite cheap rate. But afetr buying the forex and reaching the destination country, you learn that the currency you bought is forged.
Or you may Buy 1000 South African Rands from your known forex brokers in the denomination of 200 rands * 5 notes. When you reach the destination country, some seller noticing that you are new to that country, might trick you while you make a purchase of 10 Rands, and return you some forged notes for the balance 190 rands.
Hence, it is very important to be familiar with the forex currency before you get into any kind of transactions.
You can buy/sell the forex currency from local foreign exchange brokers or forex brokers as they quote good competitive rates.

South African Rand Forex Currency Notes Picture

Let's begin with the series with the South African Rand Forex Currency and the Foreign Exchange details. Here is an image of the South African Rand Currency Notes which are in circulation.
As you can see, all the notes of South african Rand Currency are filled with Animal pictures indicating the rich wildlife and that is the distinct feature clearly noticable on the South african Rand Currency Notes. Here is another picture of South african Rand Currency Notes (sourced from Wiki)
As shown in the picture above, the South African Rand Currency notes come in the denominations of 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 Rand. There are South African Rand Coins also called the Cents, which come in denominations of 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents. You might also find coinds for 2 and 5 rands.

Please note that above image or picture of South African Rand is just for illustration purpose to give a look and feel of South African Rand currency notes to travellers who are interested in dealing in South African Rand Forex. It is not to be used for any other purposes.
Whenever you buy foreign exchange currency from someone, please always take care of the following points:

1) Always buy/sell Forex currency (like South African Rand) through a registered foreign exchange brokerage firm or forex trading firm

2) Always insist on receipt of the transaction

3) Chances are that in some countries you may be asked to provide some documents (like copy of of passport, visa etc.) to buy/sell the forex currency notes. While handing over the copies, do mention on them some info like "For buying 1000 South African Rand on (date) from (Forex Broker Firm name)". Such things ensure that your documents are safe and cannot be misused
At the time of writing this article, the forex rate for 1 South African rand = 0.141243 U.S. dollars

L&T Finance IPO: Review Analysis & Details of Larsen and Toubro Finance IPO

Another IPO is set to hit the primary stock markets very soon. The news has come out about the financial arm of Larsen and Toubro or L&T called L&T Finance, which is expected to come out with its IPO in the next month of January 2011. L&T Finance arm has decided to come out with the Initial Public Offering or IPO.
In this article, we will look at the Review, Analysis and Details of the L&T Finance IPO and try to do the Review and analysis of L&T Finance IPO.

L&T Finance IPO: Review Analysis & Details

Some basic details first about the L&T Finance IPO, which are available as of now:

- The size of L&T Finance IPO is Rs 1,245 Crore, and the reports are that the dilution for L&T Finance IPO will be around 15-17%

What are the primary reasons for L&T to come out with the L&T Finance IPO?
The main reason for any company to come and list its shares in the stock market is to collect money from common public and so is the case with L&T Finance IPO
However, the most important thing to note is that L&T Finance is already operational - L&T Finance is one of the leading NBFCs in the country and offers a wide spectrum of financial products and services for trade, industry and agriculture.
What you are going to see through this IPO is that this financial arm of L&T will be listed as a seperate entity on the stock exchanges.

So what is the needs of L&T to come out with the L&T Finance IPO?
The aim of L&T Finance is to get a banking licence to start banking operations in India.
As the Indian market opens up for more private players and organizations in the retail banking space, the requirements for obtaining a banking licence will be available by March 2011. L&T Finance has already restructured itself so as to become a potential candidate to apply for the banking licence. This L&T Finance IPO is being seen as an attempt by the management to get the required capital to fulfilling the needs of starting the banking operations.
There is also news that the money collected through this IPO will be passed on to the five subsidiaries-- L&T Infrastructure Company, L&T Finance, India Infrastructure Developers, L&T Investment Management and L&T Mutual Fund Trustees
What is the issue size of the L&T Finance IPO?
The L&T Finance IPO size is Rs 1245 Crores

What is the price band of L&T Finance IPO?
It is reported that the recommended price band for L&T Finance IPO is Rs. 51 to Rs 59 per share. Final price to be decided by the 100% book building process

How many shares will be sold in the L&T Finance IPO?
The total no. of shares to be sold through this IPO is not known precisely. However, it is known that there will be 15-17% stake dilution .

What are the IPO dates for L&T Finance IPO
The IPO dates for L&T Finance IPO are July 27 to July 29, 2011

How will the capital raised by L&T Finance IPO be used?
Growth is the buzzword, and the capital collected will be distributed to the five subsidiaries of the company as mentioned above. They need money and capital infusion for fuelling growth.

Any ratings given to L&T Finance IPO?
No information about that as of now.

What are the analysts recommendations and business results for L&T Finance IPO?
The company is in business since 1950 - L&T in itself is a good reputed name in India. Analysts are expecting a good response to the IPO and even in this lacklusture period where there is huge volatility in the stock market with a negative bias, experts believe that investors should apply for this L&T Finance IPO.