IPO BASICS : WHAT IS IPO ?

Selling Stock 

An initial public offering, or IPO, is the first sale of stock by a company to the public. A company can raise money by issuing either debt or equity. If the company has never issued equity to the public, it’s known as an IPO.

Companies fall into two broad categories: private and public. 

A privately held company has fewer shareholders and its owners don’t have to disclose much information about the company. Anybody can go out and incorporate a company: just put in some money, file the right legal documents and follow the reporting rules of your jurisdiction. Most small businesses are privately held. But large companies can be private too. Did you know that IKEA, Domino’s Pizza and Hallmark Cards are all privately held?

It usually isn’t possible to buy shares in a private company. You can approach the owners about investing, but they’re not obligated to sell you anything. Public companies, on the other hand, have sold at least a portion of themselves to the public and trade on a stock exchange. This is why doing an IPO is also referred to as “going public.”

Public companies have thousands of shareholders and are subject to strict rules and regulations. They must have a board of directors and they must report financial information every quarter. In the United States, public companies report to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In other countries, public companies are overseen by governing bodies similar to the SEC. From an investor’s standpoint, the most exciting thing about a public company is that the stock is traded in the open market, like any other commodity. If you have the cash, you can invest. The CEO could hate your guts, but there’s nothing he or she could do to stop you from buying stock.

Why Go Public? 

Going public raises cash, and usually a lot of it. Being publicly traded also opens many financial doors:

Because of the increased scrutiny, public companies can usually get better rates when they issue debt. 

As long as there is market demand, a public company can always issue more stock. Thus, mergers and acquisitions are easier to do because stock can be issued as part of the deal.
Trading in the open markets means liquidity. This makes it possible to implement things like employee stock ownership plans, which help to attract top talent.

The internet boom changed all this. Firms no longer needed strong financials and a solid history to go public. Instead, IPOs were done by smaller startups seeking to expand their businesses. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to expand, but most of these firms had never made a profit and didn’t plan on being profitable any time soon. Founded on venture capital funding, they spent like Texans trying to generate enough excitement to make it to the market before burning through all their cash. In cases like this, companies might be suspected of doing an IPO just to make the founders rich. This is known as an exit strategy, implying that there’s no desire to stick around and create value for shareholders. The IPO then becomes the end of the road rather than the beginning

How can this happen? Remember: an IPO is just selling stock. It’s all about the sales job. If you can convince people to buy stock in your company, you can raise a lot of money.

WHAT IS ARBITRAGE TRADING ?

“Arbitrage” trading is simply the trading of securities when the opportunity exists during the trading day to take advantage of differences in value between the markets the trades are made within. Arbitrage trading takes place all day long on most days that the markets are active.

Arbritrage is legally allowed. In fact arbitrage is responsible for a large part of the daily volumes on the NSE & BSE exchanges.

What mainly takes place in India is called Market Arbitrage
 

Market Arbitrage involves purchasing and selling the same security at the same time in different markets (BSE & NSE) to take advantage of a price difference between the two separate markets. A market arbitrageur would short sell the higher priced stock and buy the lower priced one. The profit is the spread between the two assets.

Here is a simple example:

Suppose you own 600 shares of RPL. One trading day you notice that RPL is trading at 150 on the BSE and 145 on the NSE. You sell your 600 shares on the BSE at 150 and simultaneously buy back the 600 shares on the NSE at 145.

You profit in this case is 600*5.00 = 3000.00 less brokerages if any.

Do’s And Dont’s For INTRADAY TRADERS

If index is in minus then one should look to short stocks which are minus and not stocks which are in plus.

It is not necessary that a stock which is weak today during intraday trading might be weak tomorrow also, simultaneously if a stock is strong today might not be strong tomorrow

Being a contrarians is very important while trading intraday.

If index is in positive from yesterday and the share you are holding is in minus then it should be cut and if intraday trend of index is in buy then one should buy a stock in which is in plus.

If US Markets have gone up overnight, the markets here in all probability will open strong, so one should be quite careful when buying stocks as the general psychology of public is to buy when good news is there.

Stop loss is a must while trading intraday.

Always trade in very liquid stocks i.e. which have very high volume because as entry and exit can be very fast in such stocks.

Keep your volume constant e.g.: if you trade in five lots of nifty future then trade in five lots only. This position can be increased only when you are satisfied with your trading for a month. It should not be that one day you buy five lots and next day you trade in ten lots and third day you get a loss and stop trading for two days.

Do paper trading before you actually start trading so that when you start making paper profits, then shift to actual trading.

Fear and Greed are at maximum levels while trading intraday so always have less position when you are new to intraday trading as otherwise you will be mostly under tension.

BASICS RULES OF FUTURE TRADING

Following are some basic rules for Future Traders :

 

1.Apply money management techniques to your trading. 

2.Do not overtrade.

3.Take a position only when you know where your profit goal is and where you are going to get out if the market goes against you.

4.Trade with the trends, rather than trying to pick tops and bottoms.

5.Don’t trade many markets with little capital.

6.Don’t just trade the volatile contracts.

7.Calculate the risk/reward ratio before putting a trade on, then guard against the risk of holding it too long.

8.Establish your trading plans before the market opening to eliminate emotional reactions.

9.Decide on entry points, exit points, and objectives. Subject your decisions to only minor changes during the session. Profits are for those who act, not react. Don’t change during the session unless you have a very good reason.

10.Follow your plan. Once a position is established and stops are selected, do not get out unless the stop is reached, or the fundamental reason for taking the position changes.

11.Use technical signals (charts) to maintain discipline – the vast majority of traders are not emotionally equipped to stay disciplined without some technical tools. Use discipline to eliminate impulse trading.

12.Have a disciplined, detailed trading plan for each trade; i.e., entry, objective, exit, with no changes unless hard data changes. Disciplined money management means intelligent trading allocation and risk management. The overall objective is end-of-year bottom line, not each individual trade.

13.When you have successful a trade, fight the natural tendency to give some of it back.

14.Use a disciplined trade selection system…an organized, systematic process to eliminate impulse or emotional trading.

15.Trade with a plan – not with hope, greed, or fear. Plan where you will get in the market, plan how much you will risk on the trade, and plan where you will take your profits.

16.Cut losses short. Most importantly, cut your losses short, let your profits run. It sounds simple, but it isn’t. Let’s look at some of the reasons many traders have a hard time “cuttings losses short.” First, it’s hard for any of us to admit we’ve made a mistake. Let’s say a position starts going against you, and all your “good” reasons for putting the position on are still there. You say to yourself, “it’s only a temporary set-back. After all (you reason), the more the position goes against me, the better chance it has to come back – the odds will catch up.” Also, the reasons for entering the trade are still there. By now you’ve lost quite a bit; you sell yourself on giving it “one more day.” It’s easy to convince yourself because, by this time, you probably aren’t thinking very clearly about the position. Besides, you’ve lost so much already, what’s a little more? Panic sets in, and then comes the worst, the most devastating, the most fallacious reasoning of all, when you figure: “That contract doesn’t expire for a few more months; things; are bound to turn around in the meantime.”

“So it goes; so cut those losses short. In fact, many experienced traders say if a position still goes against you the second day in, get out. Cut those losses fast, before the losing position starts to infect you, before you “fall in love” with it. The easiest way is to inscribe across the front of your brain, “Cut my losses fast.” Use stop loss orders, aim for a Rs. 5000 per contract loss limit…or whatever works for you, but do it.

17.Let profits run. Now to the “letting profits run” side of the equation. This is even harder because who knows when those profits will stop running? Well, of course, no one does, but there are some things to consider. First of all, be aware that there is an urge in all of us to want to win…even if it’s only by a narrow margin. Most of us were raised that way. Win – even if it’s only by one touchdown, one point, or one run. Following that philosophy almost assures you of losing in the futures markets because the nature of trading futures usually means that there are more losers than winners. The winners are often big, big, big winners, not “one run” winners. Here again, you have to fight human nature. Let’s say you’ve had several losses (like most traders), and now one of your positions is developing into a pretty good winner. The temptation to close it out is universally overwhelming. You’re sick about all those losses, and here’s a chance to cash in on a pretty good winner. You don’t want it to get away. Besides, it gives you a nice warm feeling to close out a winning position and tell yourself (and maybe even your friends) how smart you were (particularly if you’re beginning to doubt yourself because of all those past losers).

18.That kind of reasoning and emotionalism have no place in futures trading; therefore, the next time you are about to close out a winning position, ask yourself why. If the cold, calculating, sound reasons you used to put on the position are still there, you should strongly consider staying. Of course, you can use trailing stops to protect your profits, but if you are exiting a winning position out of fear…don’t; out of greed…don’t; out of ego… don’t; out of impatience…don’t; out of anxiety…don’t; out of sound fundamental and/or technical reasoning…do.

“You can avoid the emotionalism, the second guessing, the wondering, the agonizing, if you have a sound trading plan (including price objectives, entry points, exit points, risk-reward ratios, stops, information about historical price levels, seasonal influences, government reports, prices of related markets, chart analysis, etc.) and follow it. Most traders don’t want to bother, they like to “wing it.” Perhaps they think a plan might take the fun out of it for them. If you’re like that and trade futures for the fun of it, fine. If you’re trying to make money without a plan – forget it. Trading a sound, smart plan is the answer to cutting your losses short and letting your profits run.

19.Do not overstay a good market. If you do, you are bound to overstay a bad one also.

20.Take your lumps. Just be sure they are little lumps. Very successful traders generally have more losing trades than winning trades. It’s just that they don’t leave any hang-ups about admitting they’re wrong, and have the ability to close out losing positions quickly.

21.Trade all positions in futures on a performance basis. The position must give a profit by the end of the second day after the position is taken, or else get out.

22.Program your mind to accept many small losses. Program your mind to “sit still” for a few large gains.

23.Learn to trade from the short side. Most people would rather own something (go long) than owe something (go short). Markets can (and should) also be traded frown the short side.

24.Watch for divergences in related markets – is one market making a new high and another not following?

25.Recognize that fear, greed, ignorance, generosity, stupidity, impatience, self-delusion, etc., can cost you a lot more money than the market(s) going against you, and that there is no fundamental method to recognize these factors.

26.Learn the basics of futures trading. It’s amazing how many people simply don’t know what they’re doing. They’re bound to lose, unless they have a strong broker to guide them and keep them out of trouble.

27.Standing aside is a position. Patience is important.

28.Client and broker must have rapport. Chemistry between account executive and client is very important; the odds of picking the right Account Executive (AE) the first time are remote. Pick a broker who will protect you from yourself…greed, ego, fear, subconscious desire to lose (actually true with some traders). Ask someone who trades if they know a good futures broker. If you find one who has room for you, give him your account.

29.Sometimes, when things aren’t going well and you’re thinking about changing brokerage firms, think about just changing AEs instead. Phone the manager of the local office, let him describe some of the other AEs in the office, and see if any of them seem right enough to have a first meeting with. Don’t worry about getting your account executive in trouble; the office certainly would rather have you switch AEs than to lose your business altogether.

30.Broker/client psychology must be in tune, or else the broker and client should part company early in the program. Client and broker should be in touch repeatedly, so when the time comes, both parties are mentally programmed to take the necessary action without delay.

31.Most people do not have the time or the experience to trade futures profitably, so choosing a broker is the most important step to profitable futures trading.

32.When you go stale, get out of the markets for a while. Trading futures is demanding, and can be draining – especially when you’re losing. Step back; get away from it all to recharge your batteries.

33.Thrill seekers usually lose. If you’re in futures simply for the thrill of gambling, you’ll probably lose because, chances are, the money does not mean as much to you as the excitement. Just knowing this about yourself may cause you to be more prudent, which could improve your trading record. Have a business-like approach to the markets.

34.Anyone who is inclined to speculate in futures should look at speculation as a business, and treat it as such. Do not regard it as a pure gamble, as so many people do. If speculation is a business, anyone in that business should learn and understand it to the best of his ability.

35.Approach the markets with a reasonable time goal. When you open an account with a broker, don’t just decide on the amount of money, decide on the length of time you should trade. This approach helps you conserve your equity, and helps avoid the Las Vegas approach of “Well, I’ll trade till my stake runs out.” Experience shows that many who have been at it over a long period of time end up making money.

36.Don’t trade on rumors. If you have, ask yourself this: “Over the long run, have I made money or lost money trading on rumors? O.K. then, stop it.

37.Don’t trade unless you’re well financed…so that market action, not financial condition, dictates your entry and exit from the market. If you don’t start with enough money, you may not be able to hang in there if the market temporarily turns against you.

38.Be more careful if you’re extra smart. Smart people very often put on a position a little too early. They see the potential for a price movement before it becomes actual. They become worn out or “tapped out,” and aren’t around when a big move finally gets under way. They were too busy trading to make money.

39.Never add to a losing position. Stay out of trouble, your first loss is your smallest loss.

40.Analyze your losses. Learn from your losses. They’re expensive lessons; you paid for them. Most traders don’t learn from their mistakes because they don’t like to think about them.

41.Survive! In futures trading, the ones who stay around long enough to be there when those “big moves” come along are often successful.

42.If you’re just getting into the markets, be a small trader for at least a year, then analyze your good trades and your bad ones. You can really learn more from your bad ones.

43.Carry a notebook with you, and jot down interesting market information. Write down the market openings, price ranges, your fills, stop orders, and your own personal observations. Re-read your notes from time to time; use them to help analyze your performance.

“Rome was not built in a day,” and no real movement of importance ends in one day. A speculator should have enough excess margin in his account to provide staying power so he can participate in big moves.

44.Take windfall profits (profits that have no sound reasons for occurring).

45.Periodically redefine the kind of capital you have in the markets. If your personal financial situation changes and the risk capital becomes necessary capital, don’t wait for “just one more day” or “one more price tick,” get out right away. If you don’t, you’ll most likely start trading with your heart instead of your head, and then you’ll surely lose.

46.Always use stop orders, always…always… always

OPTION: THE BASICS OF "CALL" N "PUT"

What is an option?

An option contract gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation to buy/sell an underlying asset at a pre-determined price on or before a specified time. The option buyer acquires a right, while the option seller takes on an obligation. It is the buyer’s prerogative to exercise the acquired right. If and when the right is exercised, the seller has to honour it. The underlying asset for option contracts may be stocks, indices, commodity futures, currency or interest rates

What are the types of options?

Broadly speaking, options can be classified as ‘call’ options and ‘put’ options. When you buy a ‘call’ option, on a stock, you acquire a right to buy the stock. And when you buy a ‘put’ option, you acquire a right to sell the stock. You can also sell a ‘call’ option, in which, you will acquire an obligation to deliver the stock. And when you sell a ‘put’ option, you acquire an obligation to buy the stock.

What do you understand by the term option premium?

Option premium is the consideration paid upfront by the option holder (buyer of the option) to the option writer (seller of the option). The option holder gets the right to buy / sell the underlying.

What is the strike price or the exercise price of the option?

The right or obligation to buy or sell the underlying asset is always at a pre-decided price known as the ‘strike price’ or ‘exercise price’, which is linked to the prevailing price of the underlying asset in the cash market. Usually, option contracts are available on the underlying asset on various strike prices (generally, five or more)-divided equally on either side of its spot price.

How does an American option differ from a European option?

In ‘European’ options, a buyer can exercise his option only on the expiration date, that is, the last day of the contract tenure. Whereas in ‘American’ options, a buyer can exercise his option any day on or before the expiration date.In the Indian equity market context, index options are European style, while stock options are usually American in nature.

How do options differ from futures?

In futures, both the buyer and the seller are obligated to buy and sell, respectively, the underlying asset-the quid pro quo relationship. In case of options, however, the buyer has the right, but is not obliged to exercise it. Effectively, while buyers and sellers face a…
: linear payoff profile in futures, it’s not so in the case of options. An option buyer’s upside potential is unlimited,while his losses are limited to the premium paid. For the option seller, on the other hand,his maximum profits are limited to the premium received, while his loss potential is unlimited.

IMPORTANT TERMS TO CHECK WHILE PURCHASING A STOCK

1. P/E:
 

The P/E ratio (price-to-earnings ratio) of a stock (also called its “earnings multiple”, or simply “multiple”, “P/E”, or “PE”) is a measure of the price paid for a share relative to the annual income or profit earned by the firm per share.A higher P/E ratio means that investors are paying more for each unit of income. It is a valuation ratio included in other financial ratios.The reciprocal of the P/E ratio is known as the earnings yield. Stock having a P/E less than 30 are said to be good investmets

2. EPS:

 
EPS. Total earnings divided by the number of shares outstanding. Companies often use a weighted average of shares outstanding over the reporting term. EPS can be calculated for the previous year (”trailing EPS”), for the current year (”current EPS”), or for the coming year (”forward EPS”). Note that last year’s EPS would be actual, while current year and forward year EPS would be estimates.

3.DVI (Sividend yield):

The yield a company pays out to its shareholders in the form of dividends. It is calculated by taking the amount of dividends paid per share over the course of a year and dividing by the stock’s price. For example, if a stock pays out $2 in dividends over the course of a year and trades at $40, then it has a dividend yield of 5%. Mature, well-established companies tend to have higher dividend yields, while young, growth-oriented companies tend to have lower ones, and most small growing companies don’t have a dividend yield at all because they don’t pay out dividends

7 WAYS TO SHORTLIST THE RIGHT STOCK

Equity as an asset class outperforms all other asset classes in the long run. True. But, how do you pick the right company?

It’s always important to spend time in knowing a company, its business, financial health and prospects. But do you have the time, resources and energy to study about 1,400 companies listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and about 4,900 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) before selecting the one to invest?

If these numbers make you uncomfortable, sample these: the market capitalisation of these companies ranges from a few lakhs to over Rs 2 lakh crore and the prices of shares from less than a rupee to over Rs 12,000 per share.

So, how and where do you make a start? We give you seven basic screening criteria, which will help you shortlist companies that are worth researching in the first place.

1. Is the company’s market cap more than Rs 250 crore (Rs 2.50 billion)?

Setting a minimum market cap floor really helps — it eliminates very small companies, or penny stocks. Generally, small companies have a small revenue base and they do not spend too much on investor relations. This makes tracking them difficult. At Outlook Money, we do not look at companies that have a market cap of less than Rs 250 crore. About 500 companies at NSE pass this criteria.

2. Are the company’s trading volumes high?

The company should have a reasonable trading volume — at least a few thousand shares per day. If you buy into a stock that has low volume, it can become difficult to get out when the markets fall. Both rise and fall is sharp in stocks with low volume. Also, the impact cost is high.

For example, MMTC, a state-owned company, has a market cap of over Rs 62,000 crore (Rs 620 billion), but its trading volume is very thin. The 30-day average trading volume of this stock is just about 338 shares and the stock is trading at Rs 12,400 per share. It is always advisable to avoid these kinds of stocks.

3. Does the company make quality disclosures?

 

The company should have good quality disclosures. This is an easy test. All you have to do is visit the company website and see press releases and results for the last few quarters. In the results part, you need not get into numbers in detail as of now, but do see how the developments of last quarter have been explained.

For example, see if cost has increased, or margins have declined, and whether there is an explanation for it.

Large companies, especially in the information technology sector, are generally good at this. Tata Consultancy Services [Get Quote], India’s largest IT company by revenue, has a transcript of analyst conference call on its website, which possibly answers all the questions that investors have.

Availability of information makes tracking easy and decision-making becomes quicker while you are invested in the company.

4. Does the company have operating profits?

Sometimes, companies raise money from the equity markets in their initial stages and hope to cover the costs by generating profits from operations later. Actually, they are in a stage when they spend money for, say, setting up plants, or research and development facilities.

These businesses sound exciting, but can be risky. It is advisable to avoid such companies. New projects involve a lot of regulatory approvals and can get delayed, which can escalate cost. Also, stock prices of such companies are the first to fall during any broader market correction, as there are no earnings to support the prices.

This is exactly what happened with Reliance Power, which does not have any of its plants in operation. Its public issue got heavily oversubscribed (73 times) due to general euphoria in the market, but sentiments changed between issue and listing. The issue went on to become one of the biggest disasters in the markets.

Therefore, it is always safer to be in companies that generate profits from their operations.

5. Does the company generate constant cash flows?

At times, fast-growing companies may show profits without generating cash. These companies are in their expansion stage. They have to generate cash eventually and create value for the shareholders.

Companies with a negative cash flow may have to seek additional capital, either through debt or equity. Debt will increase the risk while equity will dilute the earnings, which will get reflected in the share prices also.

6. Is its return to equity (RTE) constantly above 10 percent?

RTE is the profit a company generates with the shareholders’ money and is calculated by dividing net profits with shareholders’ equity. It indicates how well a company has deployed investors’ money.

The RTE is generally low in case of manufacturing companies and is higher for services companies as the cost of setting infrastructure is low in services companies. Use 10 per cent as the minimum limit for companies to qualify. There are just about 400 companies listed on NSE with a market cap above Rs 250 crore that generated return on equity above 10 per cent in the financial year 2007-08.

7. Is the earnings growth constant or cyclical?

Cyclical earnings implies that profits move up or down depending on the business cycle. Businesses generally move in cycles.

This is commonly seen in commodity companies, where a shortage or sudden rise in demand helps prices to move up, resulting in super normal profits for a while. Sugar is a classic example of cyclical earnings.

Bajaj Hindustan , the largest sugar company in India, saw its share prices soaring from Rs 200 in November 2005 to Rs 550 in April 2006 on the back of rising sugar prices; net sales for the company went up Rs 394 crore (Rs 3.94 billion) in the March 2006 quarter compared to Rs 282 crore (Rs 2.82 billion) in the September 2005 quarter.

But by the end of the December quarter, net sales went down to Rs 286.64 crore (Rs 2.86 billion) and the share price to Rs 140. The biggest risk in investing in cyclical or commodity stocks is that you could enter at the wrong time.

Once the cycle is reversed, it becomes difficult to get out. Commodity prices are interlinked globally, and any demand-supply mismatch in one corner of the world can disturb prices all over.

Companies in the pharma and FMCG space have stable growth in the long term as demand in these sectors depends on the business cycle and macroeconomic movements. The services sector also has stable earnings growth compared to commodity stocks.

If you carry out these seven checks, you will, by and large, be able to eliminate companies that are not worth investing. However, investors must note that these conditions are not fool-proof and there can always be exceptions.