CONTENTS
LETTER
ISSUE CONTENTS
23 3 August August 2012
FROM THE
EDITOR BSE
Share Stinks
Debashis Basu
SEBI
Medium Term
Lupin Laboratories was up 4%, Bajaj Finance advanced 3%, while Atul Auto was down 10%
Long Term DIFFERENT STROKES
of 20 Destruction Institutions
NSE
Economic liberalisation and expansion of government has led to a massive increase in the scope and size of corruption
26 Cover Story
SMART MONEY
Stock Manipulation Indian stockmarkets are hotbeds of manipulation. Promoters and operators are having a field day, even as stock exchanges and market regulator sit idle
13
Your Interest
22 Legally Dishonest Investors are not only being taken for a ride by companies and intermediaries; they are damned by regulators and lawmakers too FUNDS
Patented drugs to get cheaper? Fake offers; Claim granted without proof of service and age; BSES to compensate for denying new power connection; Pan Card Club ordered to pay Rs50,000
24
A Better Choice?
Dividend-yield funds have performed well recently. Should you go for it?
14 Your Money
STOCKS
Pension: Pension Market To Be Rs20 trillion Prices: Scanty Rains Will Trigger Inflation Emerging Markets: Investors Pull Out $120 Million RBI: New Rs5 & Rs10 Coins for Parliament’s 60th year; Rs2,400 crore Unclaimed Inoperative Bank Accounts; Mobile Transactions Treble: A Tool of Financial Inclusion e-Ticketing: 44,000 Multiple User IDs Deactivated
36 Street Beat – Bharat Gears – Thangamayil Jewellery STOCK PERFORMANCE: Market - Beaters
16 Current Account
40
Protection against Rain: Run, Don’t Walk
Which Way
eClerx Services skyrocketed 13%, Marico went up 6%, while Munjal Showa tanked 10%
INSURANCE
48 Insurance Trends – Insurance Transparency: United India Forced to Disclose Data – Moneyback Plan: DLF Pramerica Life Income Rakshak – Health Plan: AEGON Religare iHealth—Surgical Benefit Plan – Mediclaim: Star Health Comprehensive & Family Delite
17 LOOSE CHANGE Moneylife Quiz Sound Bites: Bal Thackeray, Shiv Sena leader; KC Chakrabarty, deputy governor of RBI; Arvind Kejriwal, anticorruption activist
Safe Are 50 How Fizzy Drinks? – Damage your teeth, kidney, bones... it’s a long list of harm done – Pulse beat: Medical developments from around the world
Disclaimer: Moneylife has a policy of not allowing its editorial staff to buy and sell stocks that are written about in the magazine. All personal transactions in individual stocks are subjected to internal disclosure rules.
When it comes to medical opinion, we need to accept it as a fact of life that it has become dangerously subjective and person-dependent AUTO
at 54 Trouble Manesar
Values Emerging
8/4/2012 6:47:24 PM
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If your kid is packing to go abroad for studies, here is a roundup of how to get the best benefits for your money LEGALLY SPEAKING
We Trust 57 Can the Insurers? Policyholders often have go to courts to receive their claims SAVING AND INVESTING
60 Earning Curve – Behaviorial Finance: Happy people are bad traders – Long-Term Returns: Importance of dividends; Beware earnings forecasts and management guidance ML FOUNDATION EVENTS
mediclaim 61 “Cashless is best option for preplanned procedures”
Moneylife Foundation held an exclusive, in-depth session hosted by Raj Pradhan, to a overflowing house, in which he delved into various aspects of mediclaim, including explaining complex product features and the fine print
BEYOND MONEY
66 Smiling through Tears For terminally-ill cancer patients, Avedna Ashram in Jaipur is a haven, writes Dr Nita Mukherjee
Low Energy
42
for Students 56 Deals Travelling Abroad
some Doctors 52 How Prescribe these days
41 Popular Picks Value Picks
AIR TRAVEL
HEALTH
The market will in a range until something major happens
MONEYLIFE | 23 August 2012 | 10
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STOCKGRADER 46
Fraud Allegation: Is Deccan Chronicle Another Satyam?; SEBI Investigation: SAT Pulls Up SEBI for 12-year Delay; NDTV sues TAM: Why Is the Media Industry Quiet?
Y
ou hear a lot about mis-selling by market intermediaries. You hear less about stock manipulation being done right under the nose of regulators and the exchanges. Turn to the Cover Story on page 26 to see the extent of the menace and how easily market operators and promoters can get away with impunity. And, it doesn’t end with our inept regulators; it’s far worse. In her Different Strokes section, Sucheta Dalal talks about the inefficacy of our political and bureaucratic system to tackle corruption and clamp down on wrongdoers. And in her Crosshairs section, Sucheta talks about the mockery of SEBI in resolving a decade-old case, the possibility of Deccan Chronicle being the next ‘Satyam’ and how TAM, a media research company, has been manipulating its ratings. The stink is everywhere. It is up to us to clean the system. Are you in? As always, Moneylife Foundation is continuing its efforts to promote financial literacy and awareness. Our exclusive seminar on mediclaim and insurance was successfully conducted to a packed and interactive audience by our own insurance specialist, Raj Pradhan, who explained the nuances of insurance and mediclaim. To understand the needs, understanding and behaviour of savers, we are conducting a survey on financial literacy. Your inputs are vital and will help us take a strong stand to offer recommendations to the government for framing pro-investor policies. For those of you, who haven’t filled it up, please go to: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ Financial-LiteracySurvey. Please spread the word. This is your chance to act and make your voice heard! Moneylife is shattered by the news of the sudden demise of our columnist R Vijayaraghavan in the wee hours of 31 July 2012. Journalism/Moneylife has lost a fine human being whose defining characteristics were integrity, sharp wit, deep knowledge and compassion that helped scores of journalists. It is an irreparable loss and ‘Viji’ will be deeply missed.
18
The recent imbroglio at the Maruti Suzuki’s Manesar plant may have serious ramifications for the future of Gurgaon and the National Capital Region
DEPARTMENTS Letters ............................ 4 Book Review ....................58 Money Facts ....................63
8/3/2012 10:59:19 P