On the Indian Stock Markets. January 31.

Our outlook continues to be negative with key support at 5973.

However, the direction of trades today will largely be decided on the basis of which side of the 6061 mark the benchmark index trades with good volumes with immediate resistances at 6095, 6117 and 6151 and supports at 6039, 6005 and 5984.

The intraday traders may trade accordingly with stop loss for longs at 6141 and stop loss for shorts at 6115.

The short term traders may cover those short positions, they might have taken yesterday as per our advise, at lower levels.

Mid-term investors may sell 10% of their holdings in HCL Tech at 1487.4.

Disclaimer: The writers of this column do not personally hold any stock or position in the F&O market and do not intend to benefit in any way by publishing this column. The final discretion is that of the reader and we disown any responsibility for any loss incurred by the reader.

On the Indian Stock Markets. January 30.

The readers of this blog might have noticed how exact we were in predicting accurate strategies for both the intra-day traders and for the short-term traders and both must have surely gained.

Our outlook continues to be negative and the next key support happens to be at 5973 but this is not to say that we might go that far. Moreover, the settlement blues may set in today making it more un-predictive and erratic.

That being said the 6133 mark will decide the direction of trade today. Above 6133, the nifty will face resistance 6157, 6194 and 6218. Otherwise it will remain weak with possible supports at 6096, 6072 and 6035.

Intra-day traders may trade accordingly with stop loss for longs at 6105 and that for shorts at 6137.

Short-term traders may take contrarian position at the end of the trading session, i.e. go long if it weakens at the end and go short if it is bullish towards the close.

Mid-term investors may stay away from the market as no clear signals are emerging.

Disclaimer: The writers of this column do not personally hold any stock or position in the F&O market and do not intend to benefit in any way by publishing this column. The final discretion is that of the reader and we disown any responsibility for any loss incurred by the reader.

On the Indian Stock Markets. January 29.

The Nifty behaved quite in expected lines in the last trading session. Our outlook on the Nifty is that of continued weakness. But, with impending settlement on Thursday, one cannot rule out erratic moves in the index and stock prices.

That being said, they key point deciding intra-day trades is at 6125 and if Nifty trades above this level with good volumes then it will gain with resistances at 6165, 6203 and 6242. Otherwise it will lose ground finding supports at 6086, 6047 and 6009.

Intra-day traders may trade accordingly with stop loss for longs at 6100 and that for shorts at 6140.

Short-term traders may start taking positions in the February series and may play on short side at higher levels.

Mid-term investors may stay away from the market and keep their eyes open as in case if a stock looks buy-worthy, we will publish a subsequent post.

Disclaimer: The writers of this column do not personally hold any stock or position in the F&O market and do not intend to benefit in any way by publishing this column. The final discretion is that of the reader and we disown any responsibility for any loss incurred by the reader.

Understanding Trading Concepts Part V: In the money, at the money and out of the money options.

In continuation to Part IV of this series of articles, we present in this section various types of options.

Suppose the share of a company X is trading at 100 bucks. This price is called ‘spot price’ of the share. The share can have any number of Call and Put options. Suppose the stock has the following options.

Call 75, Call 80, Call 90, Call 95, Call100, Call 105, Call 110, Call 115, Call 120

and

Put 75, Put 80, Put 85, Put 90, Put 95, Put 100, Put105, Put110, Put115, Put120.

The number 75, 80, … , 115, 120 suffixed to the options are called ‘Strike prices’ of the options.

In the money options 

If the strike price of a Call Option is less then the spot price of the underlying stock than the Call Option is called in the money. For example Call 75, Call 80, Call 90 and Call 95 are called in the money Calls.

But in case of Put Option, if the strike price of the put is more than the spot price of the underlying stock, then the Put Option is called in the money. For example, Put105, Put110, Put115 and Put120 are called in the money Puts.

At the money options

A Call or a Put is called at the money when strike price of the option is equal to the spot price of the underlying stock. Examples are Call 100 and Put 100.

Out of the money options

A call is called out of the money when its strike price is more than the spot price of the underlying stock. Examples are Call 105, Call 110, Call 115 and Call 120.

Likewise, a Put is called out of the money when its strike price is less than the spot price of the underlying stock. Put 75, Put 80, Put 85, Put 90 and Put 95 are examples of out of the money Put options.

We hope that the readers of this series of articles are becoming well versed with the terminology involved. In our next article we will state how options are helpful in hedging one’s investments.

On the Indian Stock Markets. January 28.

We had seen it coming and so had advised the readers of this blog in our previous post to play on the short side. The Nifty indeed did tank going down to 6130.85 before closing at 6135.85 breaching our key support of 6142.

It remains to be seen whether the key support of 6142 remains breached today too, in which case we will be headed towards the next support of 5973, 5737 and 5614 in the next sessions. It may be kept in mind that the F&O of January will expire on January 30.

That being said, the direction of Nifty in today’s trades will depend on which side of the 6151 mark the benchmark index trades. Above 6151, it will meet resistances at 6172, 6210 and 6231 whereas below 6151, the supports are at 6114, 6093 and 6056.

Intraday-traders may play on the short side with stop loss for shorts at 6151.
Short-term traders may exit all their positions in January series and open short positions in February series with stop loss at 6210.

Mid-term investors may wait and watch today and keep an eye open for a post from us during the day time, as in case if we think it is worth adding some stock to your portfolio, we will advise in a subsequent post.

Disclaimer: The writers of this column do not personally hold any stock or position in the F&O market and do not intend to benefit in any way by publishing this column. The final discretion is that of the reader and we disown any responsibility for any loss incurred by the reader.

On the Indian Stock Markets. January 27.

The Nifty must trade above the 6287 mark to turn bullish again, in which case it will meet resistances at 6311, 6355 and 6378. Otherwise it will remain weak with supports at 6243, 6219 and 6175.

Intraday-traders may trade on the short side with strict stop loss at 6308.

Short-term traders may exit their longs.

Mid-term investors may may consider buying Lupin at 882.65, Maruti at 1746.30 and Tata Motors at 375.45 in small quantities.

Disclaimer: The writers of this column do not personally hold any stock or position in the F&O market and do not intend to benefit in any way by publishing this column. The final discretion is that of the reader and we disown any responsibility for any loss incurred by the reader.

A very long story cut short

Time has disappeared by Aurélia Lassaque

Time has disappeared

Time has disappeared

Into the air-tracks

Where a young girl's face,

Bird without body,

Takes flight.

From her eyes a black pearl

Escapes to Icaria sky.

She's daughter to oblivion

That bequeathed her

A morsel of moonless night,

Left on her lips.

She'll never touch earth

She'll never tease the stone

Nor the trees

Nor the waters that confound them.

She married an illusion

That vanished in the wind.

                                     ......by Aurélia Lassaque 

                                (translated by James Thomas)

This poem is taken from her collection, 

'Solstice and Other Poems' which is a bilingual volume. the original poems in Occitan have been juxtaposed with their English translations on facing pages.

The original poem in Occitan

Lo temps s'es perdut

Dins los camins de l'èr

Ont, ausèl sens còs,

Una cara de dròlla

Pren sa volada.

Una perla negra dins sos uèlhs

S'escapa cap al cèl d'Icara.

Es filha del neient

Que li daissèt en eritatge

Un tròç de nuèch sens luna

Sus las labras.

Jamai tocarà tèrra

Jamai tutejarà la pèira

Nimai los arbres

E l'aiga que los enjaura.

Qu'a esposada una quimèra

Que se perdèt dins lo vent.

The Head and the Heart: Rivers and Roads with lyrics

The Head and The Heart 

perform

Rivers and Roads

The lyrics to the song

A year from now we'll all be gone

All our friends will move away

And they're goin' to better places

But our friends will be gone away

Nothin' is as it has been

And I miss your face like hell

And I guess it's just as well

But I miss your face like hell

Been talkin' 'bout the way things change

And my family lives in a different state

If you don't know what to make of this

Then we will not relate

So if you don't know what to make of this

Then we will not relate

Rivers and roads

Rivers and roads

Rivers till I reach you

Rivers and roads

Rivers and roads

Rivers till I reach you

Rivers and roads

Rivers and roads

Rivers till I reach you

Rivers and roads

Rivers and roads

Rivers till I reach you

Rivers and roads

Rivers and roads

Rivers till I reach you

Rivers and roads

Rivers and roads

Rivers till I reach you

Rivers and roads

Rivers and roads

Rivers till I reach you

Rivers and roads

Rivers and roads

Rivers till I reach you

Rivers and roads

Rivers and roads

Rivers till I reach you

On the Indian Stock Markets. January 24.

The benchmark index must trade above the 6339 mark conclusively for it to remain bullish in today’s trading session in which case it will face resistances at 6365, 6383 and 6405. Otherwise it will consolidate further with bullish bias with supports at 6322, 6300 and 6283.

Intra-day traders may trade accordingly with stop loss for longs at 6328 and stop loss for shorts at 6345.

Short-term traders may continue riding their longs and even add more and raise their stop loss to 6225.

Mid-term investors may consider buying Lupin at 882.65, Maruti at 1746.30 and Tata Motors at 375.45 in small quantities. They may also consider offering 10 % of their holdings in each of HCL Tech at 1464.50, HDFC Bank at 691.15 and Tata Steel at 398.35 for today.

Disclaimer: The writers of this column do not personally hold any stock or position in the F&O market and do not intend to benefit in any way by publishing this column. The final discretion is that of the reader and we disown any responsibility for any loss incurred by the reader.

On the Indian Stock Markets. January 22.

The benchmark index must trade above the 6317 point conclusively to remain bullish in which case it will face resistances at 6330, 6346 and 6363. Otherwise it will consolidate further with bullish bias with supports at 6307, 6276 and 6265.

Intra-day traders may trade accordingly with stop loss for longs at 6300 and stop loss for shorts at 6325.

Short-term traders may continue riding their longs with stop loss at 6218.

Mid-term investors may consider buying Lupin at 882.65, Maruti at 1746.30 and Tata Motors at 374.95 in small quantities. They may also consider offering 10 % of their holdings in each of HCL Tech at 1483.05, HDFC Bank at 688.70 and Hindustan Zinc at 147.30 for today.

Disclaimer: The writers of this column do not personally hold any stock or position in the F&O market and do not intend to benefit in any way by publishing this column. The final discretion is that of the reader and we disown any responsibility for any loss incurred by the reader.

On the Indian Stock Markets. January 21.

The benchmark index must trade above the 6284 mark conclusively with good volumes today for it to exhibit further up-move, in which case it will meet resistances at 6308, 6326, 6349 and 6391. Otherwise it will weaken and consolidate with a positive bias with supports at 6267 and 6218.

Intra-day traders may trade accordingly i.e trade on the long side if the Nifty manages to stick its head above the 6284 mark with stop loss at 6265. Otherwise they may consider shorting the Nifty with stop loss at  6295.

Short-term traders may consider going long in case of weakness with stop loss at 6210. They may open fresh longs if Nifty trades conclusively with good volumes above 6310.

Mid-term traders may consider buying Lupin at 882.65 and Maruti at 1746.30 in small quantities. They may also consider offering 10 % of their holdings in each of HCL Tech at 1475.75, HDFC Bank at 685.95, Hindustan Zinc at 139.05 and ITC at 340.15 for today.

Disclaimer: The writers of this column do not personally hold any stock or position in the F&O market and do not intend to benefit in any way by publishing this column. The final discretion is that of the reader and we disown any responsibility for any loss incurred by the reader.

On the Indian Stock Markets. January 20.

The benchmark index must trade above 6278 mark in the initial hour of trade conclusively for the market to go up, in which case the resistances will be at 6296, 6308 and 6359. Otherwise, i.e. below 6278, the market will remain weak and bearish with supports at 6256, 6218 and 6148.  

A breach of the key support of 6141 conclusively with volumes and on closing basis will imply that the Nifty will be headed towards the 5946 mark.

Intra-day traders may trade accordingly depending on which side of the 6278 mark the index trades. They may go short if the index trades conclusively below 6278 in the initial trades with stop loss at 6296. In case if Nifty trades above 6278 conclusively then they may trade on the long side with stop loss at 6256.

Short-term traders may trade on the short side at higher levels with strict stop loss at 6308. They may however go long if Nifty trades above 6310 with good volumes.

Mid-term investors may utilize the current weakness to buy Lupin by placing bid at 882.65  buy Maruti at 1746.30 in small quantities. They may also consider selling 10% of their holdings in HCL Tech at 1424.95.

Disclaimer: The writers of this column do not personally hold any stock or position in the F&O market and do not intend to benefit in any way by publishing this column. The final discretion is that of the reader and we disown any responsibility for any loss incurred by the reader.

My Immediate Neighbours

Understanding Trading concepts Part IV- Option writer.

Hope our earlier posts on trading concepts Part I, II and III have been of help to those who are new to Option trading. (Click here to read our earlier posts.)

In this section we focus on the seller of the contract, as well as how one can actually buy and sell an Option. An option is essentially a contract.

The seller of an option or contract is called an Option Writer. He sells the Put or Call option at an amount which is called ‘premium’ and the premium amount (minus brokerage) goes to him.

An Option writer is the one who initiates the option trading. An Option writer places his offer of selling a Put Option or a Call Option in the stock exchange, quoting his offer price at which he wants to sell the contract, just like one offers shares in the bourses.

Similarly the buyer of a Call or Put has to place bid for buying the option in the exchange just like he places bid for the shares he wants to buy.

Anyone, i.e. even you, can be a buyer or a writer (i.e. seller) of a Put or a Call option. What one pays or gets for buying or selling an option is just the premium at which the contract gets bought or sold.
The premium increases or decreases as the price of the underlying share or index changes and the trader gains or loses money by buying and selling these contracts at the changing premium.

In our next post we will introduce the idea of 'in the money', 'at the money' and 'out of the money' options and also how options help in 'hedging'. 

One may feel free to write or ask.

A Very Long Story Cut Short

I loved you first by Christina Rossetti

I loved you first

I loved you first: but afterwards your love

Outsoaring mine, sang such a loftier song

As drowned the friendly cooings of my dove.

Which owes the other most? my love was long,

And yours one moment seemed to wax more strong;

I loved and guessed at you, you construed me

And loved me for what might or might not be –

Nay, weights and measures do us both a wrong.

For verily love knows not ‘mine’ or ‘thine;’

With separate ‘I’ and ‘thou’ free love has done,

For one is both and both are one in love:

Rich love knows naught of ‘thine that is not mine;’

Both have the strength and both the length thereof,

Both of us, of the love which makes us one.

                            ..... by Christina Rossetti

On the Indian Stock Markets. January 17.

The technical indicators suggest that the benchmark index is poised to move up a bit more on the upside. However, the 6321 mark is the key point above which the Nifty will have to trade with good volumes in the initial hour of trade in order to show further gains, in which case it will face resistances at 6344, 6368 and 6390. Otherwise it will remain weak and consolidate with positive bias with supports at 6297, 6275 and 6250.

Intra-day traders may trade accordingly with stop loss for longs at 6295 and stop loss for shorts at 6335.

Short-term traders may continue to ride their longs and add further to their long positions in case of weakness and book profits at above 6375 level with stop loss at 6270.

Mid-term investors may sell 10% of their holdings in HCL tech at 1458.65. They may also consider buying Lupin at 882.65 in small quantities.

 Disclaimer: The writers of this column do not personally hold any stock or position in the F&O market and do not intend to benefit in any way by publishing this column. The final discretion is that of the reader and we disown any responsibility for any loss incurred by the reader.

On the Indian Stock Markets. January 16.

The market is back in bullish mode and will remain so as long as it trades above 6303 which is the key point to decide today’s trend.

If the Nifty remains above 6303 in the initial hour of trade with good volumes then it will face resistances at 6342, 6364 and 6402. Otherwise it will consolidate with a positive bias with immediate supports at 6282, 6268 and 6222.

Intra-day traders may trade accordingly. If the index trades conclusively above the 6303 mark then they may go long with stop loss at 6268. Otherwise they may go short with stop loss at 6310.

Short-term traders may continue to ride longs which we assume they have been doing as per our advice in previous two posts and book profit when index trades around above 6350. They may add further longs in case if the index weakens but they may raise their trailing stop loss from 6177 (as in our last post) to 6274.

Mid-term investors ,may bid HCL Tech at 1284.55, and Lupin at 882.65 in small quantities.
Disclaimer: The writers of this column do not personally hold any stock or position in the F&O market and do not intend to benefit in any way by publishing this column. The final discretion is that of the reader and we disown any responsibility for any loss incurred by the reader.

Understanding Trading concepts Part III - Options, Lot size, expiry etc.

The readers of this blog might have gone through our earlier posts and have formed a fair idea of what a Call Option and a Put Option is. But in the earlier posts we have explained the Put and Call Options from the buyer of contract’s perspective and that too from a theoretical point of view. In this section we focus on a few more terms associated with an Option. (Click here to read Part II.)

Each share can have many Call Options or Put Options. 
If a share trades at 100 bucks in the stock exchange then the spot price is said to be 100 bucks. The share trading at 100 bucks can have any number of Call and Put Options around the spot price. 

A share can have Put 500, Put 400, Put 200, Put 150 etc. or a Call 100, Call 50, Call 25, Call 5 etc.

A Put 200 of a share means that the buyer of the Put  200 will sell the underlying share at 200 bucks on the date of settlement. So for any conceivable Put, be it Put 1000, Put 30, Put 5, Put 2 etc.

A Call 50 of a share means that the buyer of the Call will buy the underlying share at 50 bucks on the date of settlement. 
Furthermore, a share can have puts and calls for each month i.e. Call 50 for January 2014, Call 80 for February 2014 Put 200 for March 2014, the month indicating the date of settlement for the Option, the date on which the contract will expire.

Each share has a fixed lot. If the lot of a share consists of 1000 shares then the buyer of Put 200 of the share will sell 1000 shares on the date of settlement at 200 bucks. 

Similarly if the lot of a share is 500 shares then the buyer of Call 125 of the share will sell 500 shares on the date of settlement at 125 bucks.

We hope this series of articles is being helpful to those who are new to the concept of derivative trading and any query in this regard is welcome.
In the next part we will explain how one buys and sells options in the bourses and the concept behind an Option Writer.
(Click here to read part IV of this series)

On the Indian Stock Markets. January 15.

There seems to be a bit more of a headroom on the upside as per the technical indicators. That being said, the key point to determine the course of Nifty is at 6252 and the benchmark index must trade above this point in order to go further up with resistances at 6270, 6298 and 6316. Otherwise it will slip down weakening and consolidating with supports at 6223, 6205 and 6177.

Intra-day traders may trade accordingly and go long if the benchmark index trades conclusively with good volumes above the 6252 mark with strict stop loss at 6240. Otherwise they may short the index with stop loss at 6265.

Short-term traders may continue riding their longs and add further to their long positions if Nifty weakens with stop loss at 6177.

Mid-term investors may consider buying HCL Tech at 1284.55 and Maruti at 1746.30 in small quantities.

Disclaimer: The writers of this column do not personally hold any stock or position in the F&O market and do not intend to benefit in any way by publishing this column. The final discretion is that of the reader and we disown any responsibility for any loss incurred by the reader.

On the Indian Stock markets. January 14.

The tipping point for the day is at 6260 above which the resistances are at 6311, 6349 and 6409. Otherwise the supports are at 6212, 6151 and 6113.

Intra-day traders may trade accordingly i.e. go long if the index trades above 6260 in the initial hour of trade with stop loss at  6250. However, below 6250 they may play on the short side with stop loss at 6265.

Short-term traders may continue to ride their longs if they had opened them yesterday in line with our advice and even add more longs if Nifty trades above 6310 with stop loss at 6180. otherwise they may book their longs around 6310 levels.

Mid-term investors may bid Lupin at 882.65 and Maruti at 1746.30 in small quantities. They may also offer 10% of their holdings in HCL tech at 1383.15.

Disclaimer: The writers of this column do not personally hold any stock or position in the F&O market and do not intend to benefit in any way by publishing this column. The final discretion is that of the reader and we disown any responsibility for any loss incurred by the reader.

On the Indian Stock Markets. January 13.

The Nifty remained inconclusive and therefore elusive for the sixth consecutive session. The only silver lining takeaway from Friday's session last was that the key support of 6141 was not breached on the closing basis and the index did bounce back from 6139.6 immediately.

The key mark to look for today is 6183 and if Nifty conquers this resistance then it will go up facing resistances at 6227, 6283 and 6327. Otherwise it will weaken down finding supports at 6127, 6083 and 6028.

Intra-day traders may go long if the index conclusively trades above 6183 mark in the initial hour of trading session with stop loss at 6175. Otherwise they may play on the short side with stop loss at 6210.

Short-term traders may go long only if the index conquers the resistance of 6210 conclusively with good volumes with stop loss at 6150. They may go short if the Nifty breaches the key support of  6141 with good volumes and stays below the 6141 mark for some time with stop loss at 6185.

Mid-term investors may sell 10% of their holdings in HCL Tech at 1344.20. Theymay consider buying Lupin at 917.05 and Maruti at 1746.30.

Disclaimer: The writers of this column do not personally hold any stock or position in the F&O market and do not intend to benefit in any way by publishing this column. The final discretion is that of the reader and we disown any responsibility for any loss incurred by the reader.

Carolina Chocolate Drops perform Jackson

Carolina Chocolate Drops

 perform 

Jackson

 

The Good-Morrow by John Donne

 The Good-Morrow

I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I

Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then?

But sucked on country pleasures, childishly?

Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers’ den?

’Twas so; but this, all pleasures fancies be.

If ever any beauty I did see,

Which I desired, and got, ’twas but a dream of thee.

And now good-morrow to our waking souls,

Which watch not one another out of fear;

For love, all love of other sights controls,

And makes one little room an everywhere.

Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,

Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown,

Let us possess one world, each hath one, and is one.

My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,

And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;

Where can we find two better hemispheres,

Without sharp north, without declining west?

Whatever dies, was not mixed equally;

If our two loves be one, or, thou and I

Love so alike, that none do slacken, none can die.

  

                                              by John Donne

Snowbird by Anne Murray

This week we present an beautiful song from 70s

 'Snowbird' 

sung by 

Anne Murray. 

The lyrics are on screen.

On the Indian Stock Markets. January 10.

The markets once again closed inconclusively after bouncing back from 6148.25 which was pretty close to our key support of 6141. The critical point for today is at 6168 and Nifty must trade above this level conclusively in the initial hour of trade to go up. Otherwise it will remain weak with supports at 6148, 6128 and 6108. However, above 6168, the resistances are at 6188, 6208 and 6227.

Intra-day traders may trade accordingly with stop loss for longs at 6161 and that for shorts at 6175.

Short-term traders may go long only if Nifty trades above 6198. They may consider shorting the Nifty only if the index breaches the key support of 6141 conclusively with good volumes.

Mid-term investors may consider buying Lupin at 917.05 and Maruti at 1793.55. They may also consider selling 10% of their holdings is HCL Tech at 1320.25

Disclaimer: The writers of this column do not personally hold any stock or position in the F&O market and do not intend to benefit in any way by publishing this column. The final discretion is that of the reader and we disown any responsibility for any loss incurred by the reader.

Love After Love by Derek Walcott

Love After Love

The time will come 

when, with elation 

you will greet yourself arriving 

at your own door, in your own mirror 

and each will smile at the other's welcome, 

and say, sit here. Eat. 

You will love again the stranger who was your self.

Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart 

to itself, to the stranger who has loved you 

all your life, whom you ignored 

for another, who knows you by heart. 

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf, 

the photographs, the desperate notes, 

peel your own image from the mirror. 

Sit. Feast on your life.

         by Derek Walcott

On the Indian Stock Markets. January 9.

The Nifty closed in the last session on an inconclusive note. However, a breakout seems imminent in the immediate course, albeit the direction of breakout is not clear.

That being said, the critical point deciding the trend for the day is at 6176 and if the benchmark index manages to stay above this mark in the initial hour of trade with volumes then we may see it going up with resistances at 6194, 6222 and 6277. Otherwise it will weaken up, giving up more gains with supports at 6159, 6141 and 6099. If the key support of 6141 is breached then we will see Nifty sliding down to the next support of 5946. Otherwise, it can be concluded that a bottom has been made for the immediate term at 6144.75 on Tuesday last. Similarly, if the resistance at 6194 is conquered with good volumes, then we may see Nifty go up towards the next important resistance which is at 6276.

Intra-day traders may trade accordingly and may go long if Nifty trades above the 6176 mark conclusively in the initial hour of trade with stop loss at 6170. Otherwise they may short the Nifty with stop loss at 6194.

Short-term traders may play on the short side unless the Nifty conquers the 6194 mark conclusively. If it trades above 6194 then they may go long to get out around 6276 levels.

Mid-term investors may consider buying Lupin at  917.15 and Maruti at 1793.55.

Disclaimer: The writers of this column do not personally hold any stock or position in the F&O market and do not intend to benefit in any way by publishing this column. The final discretion is that of the reader and we disown any responsibility for any loss incurred by the reader.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy : Book review

The Road is a 306 page long journey through a gutted America in which a father and his son walk across a country that has been razed. The two keep on walking south to reach the coast facing all sorts of conceivable horrors that will shock you. It is a tale of dark despair in the simmering light of hope, love and goodness. It is about the love of living in the present. The Road is a compelling novel written in excellent prose. It is a brilliant work which will capture you and will keep coming back to you again and again even long after you have read it. It definitely will be remembered as a classic work of modern times.

In a scale of 10 we give it a full 10. If you haven’t already read this book thus far, you must now for otherwise you will have missed a very intimate account of what lies at the heart of humanity.

On the Indian Stock Markets. January 8.

The key support of 6141 is pretty near and we almost tested it in the last session when the Nifty bounced from 6144.75.

That being said, the critical point determining the course of the benchmark index is at 6182 below which the Nifty will remain bearish with supports at 6141, 6130 and 6099 and above which the Nifty will demonstrate a bit of strength.with resistances at 6194, 6208 and 6253.

Intra-day traders may trade accordingly i.e. go long if Nifty trades above the 6176 mark in the initial hour of trade with stop loss at 6160 and go short otherwise with stop loss at 6195.

Short-term traders may go short at higher levels around the resistance levels with stop loss at 6276.

Mid-term investors may bid Lupin at 917.05 and Maruti at 1825.85 in small quantities.

Disclaimer: The writers of this column do not personally hold any stock or position in the F&O market and do not intend to benefit in any way by publishing this column. The final discretion is that of the reader and we disown any responsibility for any loss incurred by the reader.

On the Indian Stock Markets. January 7.

The followers of this blog might have noticed how precise our predictions were in our last post. Except for the opening blip, the Nifty remained below 6201 mark and therefore the benchmark index remained weak throughout the last session.

Our outlook for today is that 6203 will act as a resistance today and the Nifty must trade above this level to be bullish. Otherwise it will continue to remain weak although in somewhat consolidation mode with supports at 6188, 6141 and 6111.

The intra-day traders are advised to play accordingly i.e go long if the Nifty trades conclusively above 6203 in the initial hour with stop loss at 6182. Otherwise they may play on the short side with stop loss at 6196.

The short-term traders may continue to play on the short side if Nifty goes up around the resistance levels for the day, which are at 6221, 6250 and 6275 with stop loss at 6286.

Mid-term investors may place bid for Maruti at 1777.95 and Lupin at 917.05 in small quantities.

Disclaimer: The writers of this column do not personally hold any stock or position in the F&O market and do not intend to benefit in any way by publishing this column. The final discretion is that of the reader and we disown any responsibility for any loss incurred by the reader.

Understanding trading concepts Part II–Put Option.

We had introduced the meaning of a Call option in an earlier post. (Click here to read part I.)
In this post we introduce the concept of a Put option.

Like in a call option the buyer of the call option has the right to buy shares at a pre-agreed rate but he is under no compulsion to buy them. Similarly in a put option of a share, a buyer of a put option may, on payment of a premium, enter into a contract whereby he may sell shares at a pre-agreed rate but he is under no compulsion to sell.

Let’s assume that one thinks that the prices of a share may drop by the date of settlement from the price of 100 bucks to 80 bucks.and he buys a 120 bucks put option of the share today at a cost called ‘premium’ which goes to the seller of the contract. Now he has the contract whereby he may sell the share on the date of settlement at 120 bucks irrespective of whether it trades at 80 bucks on the settlement date. So on the settlement date he buys the shares at 80 bucks and sells them at 120 as per the contract. However, if the price of the share does not go down to 80 bucks and rises to 140 bucks on the settlement date then as he does not have to sell the shares compulsorily, he lets the contract expire and all he looses is the premium which is a minimal amount.

In this way he has maximized his gains and minimized his losses or in other words he has leveraged himself in a non-linear way.

Did these articles help you in understanding the concept behind Put and call option? Please write to us. 

In the next article we will introduce how trading is done in options along with various strategies. (Click here for the next article, Part III )

On the Indian Stock Markets. January 6

The markets behaved quite in expected lines and weakness prevailed through  out the previous session. Those who played shorts as we had advised might have made a killing.

The critical point for today is at 6201 which must act as a support for the Nifty to remain bullish in which case the possible resistances will be at 6231, 6252 and 6282. Otherwise the Nifty will weaken further with supports at 6181, 6141 and 6130.

Intra-day traders are advised to go long if Nifty opens and trades above 6201 in the initial hour of trade with strict stop loss at 6280. Otherwise they may play short.

Short-term traders may even attempt to go short at higher levels with strict stop loss at 6290.

Mid-term investors may bid Maruti at 1786.55 and 1764.35 in small quantities.

Disclaimer: The writers of this column do not personally hold any stock or position in the F&O market and do not intend to benefit in any way by publishing this column. The final discretion is that of the reader and we disown any responsibility for any loss incurred by the reader.

An Arab Love-Song by Francis Thompson.

An Arab Love-Song

The hunchèd camels of the night 

Trouble the bright 

And silver waters of the moon. 

The Maiden of the Morn will soon 

Through Heaven stray and sing, 

Star gathering.

Now while the dark about our loves is strewn, 

Light of my dark, blood of my heart, O come! 

And night will catch her breath up, and be dumb.

Leave thy father, leave thy mother 

And thy brother; 

Leave the black tents of thy tribe apart! 

Am I not thy father and thy brother, 

And thy mother? 

And thou – what needest with thy tribe's black tents 

Who hast the red pavilion of my heart?

                                .......by Francis Thompson

London Grammar - Hey now

London Grammar 

perform 

Hey Now

The lyrics

Hey now, letters burning by my bed for you

Hey now, I can feel my instincts here for you, hey now

By my bed for you, hey now, hey now

Uhu, you know it is frightening

Uhu, uhu, you know it’s like lightning

Hey now, now, 

Hey now, letters burning by my bed for you

Hey now, leave it to the wayside like you do, **** you

Imagination calling mirrors for you

Hey now, hey now

Uh, you know it is frightening

Uhu, uhu, you know it’s like lightning now now now now

Hey now, now, hey now, now

Hey now, now.

Hey now, now. 

Uhu, uhu, uhu, uhu, uhu.