Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Unbiased Stock Research firm - Is that a myth ?

Recently I got a promotional mail from PersonalFn which recommended Hidden Treasure service (Small cap recommendation service) from Equitymaster. They were talking about the three top performers (only three) of their recos in last 3 years. They also acknowledged their failure on MIC electronics. As usual they are trying to market their services by luring the investors citing  5 to10 fold returns that some of the Small caps bring you over longer term.

Being a Life time Wealth Alliance member of Equitymaster I knew Hidden Treasure service is one of the worst failures among EQM services. Their success rate in the last 2 years is nothing to talk about. Only 3-4 recos made in year 2009-10 have given good returns. Most of the recos in 2010 and 2011 have performed between +5% to -80%

I have lost close to a lakh in INR (booked losses) by investing in some of their Recos like MIC Electronics, Bartronics, Allied Digital,  C and C Constructions, Anant Raj Industries,  Deccan Chronicle, Lakshmi Energy and few more. People who invest in stocks on a regular basis would know how badly these stock prices went down in last one year... I learnt another round of lessons in the Stock market by paying a heavy price.

Folks, be careful and don't blindly follow recommendation reports on Mid/Small Cap companies even if they are from paid services like Equitymaster. I do have doubts if they are a truly independent and neutral stock research firm without any vested interests. Always do you own research wrt Valuations, Promoter Pledging, Promoter holding, Overall Business environment, Debt to Equity ration (most important), FCCB liabilities, % interest costs / profits etc.

Make your own decisions on Buy / Sell. Be responsible. Be disciplined. You will be a winner.

All the best.

My Equitymaster review in Mouthshut.com
http://www.mouthshut.com/review/EquityMaster-com-review-nspurrrpon



Open letter to Income Tax Department

Open letter to Income Tax Department (posting a mail for which I did not receive any response from them)

I have THREE different issues to report here.

1. For my PAN, my latest IT Efiling was done from a Bangalore based address.
   But the IT efiling website still shows my old Chennai based address.
   How do I make sure that the latest address gets updated for my PAN ?.

2. With respect to latest Communication Reference No : CPC/<>, dated 19th Oct 2011,
    I have been asked to pay Arrears for the following years.

a)  Year   2005 :  Rs 240 as Arrear.
     Only few weeks back, I got a refund notice of Rs 240 for the same year.
     My latest Form26-AS for the current year shows the same.
     May I know  Why the refund was done followed by a Arrear demand for the same ?.

b)  Year 2007 : Rs. 2311 as Arrear.
     Year 2008 : Rs 4650 as Arrear.
     I have paid the Self-assesment tax for AY 2007 & 2008.
     Form26-AS for AY 2008-09 has the details for the same.
     I am wondering why these arrears are being demanded now.
                   
3. As per the latest Communication Reference No :<>,
    dated 19th Oct 2011,
    I have been asked to meet the current AO. Since the IT Efiling website doesn't have my
    bangalore based address, I am not able to find the right AO in Bangalore.
   When I call CPC Customer care, they are asking me to contact AO in Chennai who made
    the arrear demand. Can you please help to find the correct AO for communication.

Thank you.

Regards,
Poor Indian from Salaried class who needs to break the head even after paying all the taxes and filing returns on time.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Insurance : Endowment vs Term Insurance

Some useful articles to read :

http://www.investmoneybetter.com/2010/01/term-insurance-vs-endowment-insurance.html

http://www.jagoinvestor.com/2011/06/online-term-insurance-india.html

http://www.insurancexray.com/164/why-you-should-say-no-to-endowment-policies/

How to surrender LIC Jeevan Anand : (Better go for Paid-up option)
http://www.vinayahs.com/archives/2011/01/18/how-to-surrender-and-close-your-lic-jeevan-anand-life-insurance-policy/

http://www.jagoinvestor.com/forum/lics-jeevan-anand-policy-surrender-value/854/