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.

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/

How to identify Quality Stocks ?

A good article can be found here.

Life time member of Private Wealth Alliance from Equitymaster

Taking another step forward in my relationship with Equitymaster, I subscribed to their "Private Wealth Alliance" - Lifetime membership for all Large/Mid/Small Cap Recos and ResearchPro services. Year on year renewal of their services is a pain and it much costlier too. I am glad that Eqm came up with this offer to their clients and I hope they will maintain their service levels and improve the Quality of their research reports.

I am waiting for a 20% correction in Market from current levels. I am sure I would be able to recover the subscription costs soon with market presenting a medium term opportunity.

Gratuity - Points to Note

Folks who have spent more than 5 years with a Company will be eligible to receive Gratuity at the time of leaving the Co.

Here are some links that throw light on Gratuity and related tax implications.

Gratuity Basics

Income Tax Calculations for Gratuity

Income Tax Efiling Process for FY 2009-10 , AY 2010-11

Source : Income Tax Site

Select appropriate type of Return Form

2 Download Return Preparation Software for selected Return Form.

3 Fill your return offline and generate a XML file.

4 Register and create a user id/password

5 Login and click on relevant form on left panel and select "Submit Return"

6 Browse to select XML file and click on "Upload" button

7 On successful upload acknowledgement details would be displayed. Click on "Print" to generate printout of acknowledgement/ITR-V Form.

8 Incase the return is digitally signed, on generation of "Acknowledgement" the Return Filing process gets completed. You may take a printout of the Acknowledgement for your record.

9 Incase the return is not digitally signed, on successful uploading of e-Return, the ITR-V Form would be generated which needs to be printed by the tax payers. This is an acknowledgement cum verification form. The tax payer has to fill-up the verification part and verify the same. A duly verified ITR-V form should be mailed to “Income Tax Department – CPC, Post Bag No - 1, Electronic City Post Office, Bangalore - 560100, Karnataka, ” BY ORDINARY POST OR SPEEDPOST ONLY within 120 days after the date of transmitting the data electronically.

ITR-V sent by Registered Post or Courier will not be accepted.

No Form ITR-V shall be received in any other office of the Income-tax Department or in any other manner. In case, Form ITR-V, is furnished after the above mentioned period, it will be deemed that the return in respect of which the Form ITR-V has been filed was never furnished and it shall be incumbent on the assessee to electronically re-transmit the data and follow it up by submitting the new Form ITR-V within 120 days. This completes the Return filing process for non-digitally signed Returns.

10 For any assistance in electronic filing please contact the Public Relations Officer of the local Income Tax Office