Shopping for a comp?

I never buy anything without doing a tremendous amount of market research on it. So here I was, shopping for a laptop for my sis - and here's my tips to buying computers in India.

Firstly: Assembled or Branded?

This is a no-brainer. Unless, un' the very less, you really know the assembler, as in beer buddies/best pals.. do not trust any assembler. There are folks who swear by proffesional assemblers and for the most part they appear to have no problems - but they do eventually. I now think, that may be more due to the rampant use of pirated software especially among assembled pc's.. be that as it may, but I don't trust just anyone.

Branded folks..

Ads keep coming in newspapers - Dual Core Pentium for 30,000.. Vista PC for 35,000 etc. Things to note..

1. Is the monitor included?
2. If it's a Pentium.. is it a 'Dual Core' or 'Core2Duo'? BIG difference
   
3. How much RAM? Minimum 1 GB in today's scenario.
   
4. Is the OS included? Which one is it?
5. Integrated Graphics or Standalone? Not very relevant unless you're a hardcore gamer.. in which case you wouldn't even be reading this. Anyways, Integrated graphics are pretty good these days so not much worries..
   
6. Peripherals like speakers..
7. Which sound card?
   
8. 160GB Hard Disk is minimum
9. Bundled software to be noted

Additionally for laptops..

1. Bluetooth and WiFi are MUST.
2. What are you paying for? Mobility at the cost of features or vice versa? Do you really need the slim Vaio or a chunky but full featured Toshiba/Lenovo?
   
3. Consider the price of a good case as well.
   

So what did I get?

In the Indian scenario, no matter how you look. The best value for money pc/laptop, as of 14/11/2007 is..

A Dell.

Pricing is spot on. Go to their website and you'll see the professionalism lacking in the sites of Acer, Lenovo, Zenith and even Compaq/HP.
They advertise prices including OS, monitors, and peripherals. And best of all, its all customizable.

There were some battery issues with Dell Laptops so I'm given to understand that has given them some flak. But they have also provided replacements promptly, as I know from a friend of mine who has one.

Here's the config. Remember, its for my sis who's use it for academic purposes (I hope!)

Dell Inspiron 1420 Notebook
Intel Core2Duo T5250
Windows Vista Home Basic
14.1" Widescreen Display
1GB RAM
Intel Integrated GFX X3100
160GB SATA HDD
8x DVD R/W
McAfee Security Center
Bluetooth, WiFi,
Remote Control
Belkin Messenger Bag

Price: Rs.41,500. (tax included)

Oh yeah, and it's pink.

Happy Diwali?

So? Did you burst firecrackers this Diwali?

Look at this.


Our great apartment-society decided that the basketball court would be the ideal place to let tenants burst their god-forsaken fireworks.
Look at the smoke. Thats the pollution from each of the crackers.


This is the aftermath the next day.


Who gives a shit, huh. These fireworks have riduculous levels or toxins, heavy metals and phosphates; they pollute, deplete the ozone, trigger asthma, have illegal decibel levels.. and yeah, the child labour that goes into it.. our great democracy. Did anybody follow or even know about the 10pm deadline?

Please do not support the bursting of fireworks.

I'll leave you with this wreched sight.

Handy-man

We are a nation of people lacking common sense.

I think in the good old days, when resources were scarce and customer service was poor, people used to DO things themselves. Like fix engines, clean drains, seal punctures, repair electronic items etc. Now, the Indian 'male' needs a mechanic to replace engine oil. Believe me, there'll come a time when you will call the electrician to replace a light bulb.

There's no such thing as a handyman nowadays. Sure, if you have the engineering student in your house, but nowadays they pass choots to become engineers anyways. What use are they.

So, it is in this scenario, that the somewhat typical Indian 24 yr-old.. (me).. found his fan not working one unusually hot and mosquito infested 4am morning. I got to know later that the 'capacitor', which is a cylindric device, had blown and probably needed to be replaced.

So then, as the prompt Indian male, I called the electrician who gleefully told me, yes indeed, the capacitor has blown, and it'd need to be replaced. Fucker. One of the disadvantages of living in a neighborhood where property prices have tripled in the past three years, is that every fucking bhikari thinks you are a millionaire. I bet he was counting the Gandhi's he'd get. I mumbled something about getting the capacitor myself and told him to come the next day.

Next day. The electrician is 'busy' at some other rich man's house and will take ten more minutes. That was 2 hours ago. As frustrated as I got, I looked around the fans in the other rooms and noted just how this capacitor is fixed. Pretty easy, there's just two wires which need to touch two small pins on top of the fan. I thought I'd give it a shot and guess what - fan's running.

I'm telling you. I am an idiot for not knowing something as simple as this.. The elec will come now asking for some sixty odd bucks and I'll tell him that the fan miraculously started working by itself.

Morals:
1) Replacing a capacitor is easy. DIY.
2) Learn some basic DIY fixes - people are around to fleece you.

Bikes of Lore

Why can't we have motorcycle ads like these?








It's because we don't ride bikes like these.

Pics from http://www.reproductiondecals.com/vintageads.html

What is a Colt?

"God created men, but Colt made them equal"

Pic: http://www.gunbroker.com/

Market Musings.. Stop Loss and such..

Hmm.. y'know the money-making ain't coming to me that easily nowadays.

Firstly 2 stocks that I've put big bucks in aren't showing returns.. firstly IKF. I bought it for their Biodiesel plans but it crashed from my buy price of 7.9 to 4.71. Yups. Big loss. No heart attacks about it or anything but I'm just too reluctant to sell it even now, in spite of it not looking positive.

Praj. Although I'm not in any loss this stock is simply not moving. However one can make a profit if one manages to buy it at 190/- as it has tremendous suport at that level and inevitably rises to 200/- or so the next day.

RIIL. It betrayed me :( Well although I'm not too worried about RIIL.. maybe I should be as it is in Lower Circuit for the past few days.

And that's the lesson for today, boys and girls. Maintain Stop Loss Prices. I can not get myself to do that as I buy with a target price in mind and I'm willing to take risks. But how long can you go on keeping a stock when there are other opportunities flying like gnats to all the frogs around you? Your money is effectively locked.

Get a kick out of Life!

Is this amazing or what?!

Pic from http://www.reproductiondecals.com/vintageads.html

Lessons I learnt.

Right. These are the "Lessons I have learnt in the STOCK MARKET".

1. Patience. If you find yourself hasty in making a decision, it's almost always a bad decision.
   
   
2. It's not the end of the world. Sometimes a stock looks like its running away from you and the only way to catch it is by quoting an exorbitant price. If its out of your hands, leave it. There are plenty of opportunities that are going to come by.
   
   
3. Every stock has its ideal price. Jesus Christ, if only I realized this before! If you select stocks and their Buy Price by this dictum you can't go wrong. I'm not telling you to time the market.
   Eg. : There was a crash recently on the P-notes fiasco. Everybody expected a correction, God knows I wanted it. Once it did happen, I guess most people were wondering whether to buy, or to wait.
   I feel what one should do is look at your stock and does it fall into your ideal price. Chances are that during a bull run stocks are already overvalued, some to ridiculous levels.. and a crash like this only brings stocks to their "real" price.. i.e. the price they deserve to be at.
   
   
4. Do not put too much money in penny stocks. Even if you really feel you have to, buy in dips (obviously) but also buy in disciplined phases. Do not go with all or half the money you intend to put in it at one go. Penny stocks go up very fast, and naturally they crash down much, much faster.
   
   
5. Past is past. Yeah everybody looks back and wonders.. "Oh, I wish I had gone for IFCI when it was at Rs.10, in the case I would have been a crorepati.." Yeah. Only problem dude, you wouldn't have dreamt of touching a debt-ridden bank at Rs. 10 or less which has been giving negative returns for the past 5 years. Work hard at picking value in the future
   
   
6. Tips. Always, always take it with a pinch of salt. And last but not the least..
   
   
7. Never trust analysts.
   

Sayonara folks.. Happy trading!!

Trading Update (posted from my sister blog)

So these are my picks for the coming few months. As usual, disclaimers apply, I'm not a qualified analyst and if you follow these picks you do so at your own risk. Stock investing is high risk and only sometimes a high return strategy.

Wokay, here goes!

IFCI.
Man. This stock had already given me 60% gains like no tomorrow. I sold it at 100 and bought at lower levels. Its basically a loss making 'bank' but it has a LOT of valuable assets and are looking for a buyer for the said assets. It was a bargain when it was priced a few months ago at Rs. 10-15, and many folks queued up; but now its share price is hovering around Rs. 80-90-100 so these buyers are shying away. Anyways, that's the news on IFCI.

Target: 100-125 in 1 month.
Bought at Rs. 90.25. Foolishly bought at such a price. Ideal price is around 75.

PRAJ INDUSTRIES.
My darling stock. I tell you, I would trade a night with any hot chick for 100 shares of Praj. Long story made short, it manufactures Ethanol, and this fits in nicely with the Govt. plans of compulsory blending of petrol with Ethanol.
Current Price: Rs.208.
Buy at 190-200 levels. Blind buy below 190. :)

HINDALCO
Yeah. I've been holding these shares for 1 year. I wasn't able to get rid of it before its Novelis acquisition and so I was stuck and didn't want to book loss. No matter, I got some dividends and now the stock is back to my buying price which was 198. I feel it will rise like TATA STEEL did.

Currently, Hindalco is expensive. But it is on an uptrend, with solid fundamentals and its a good long term pick, albeit looking a bit slow. I wouldn't recommend a buy at these levels, but Rs. 170-177 looks nice.

KS OILS
Yo. These folks are trading at the 70-85 range. Manufacturers of vegetable based oils, show good results. Buy at around 70, sell at 80-85 for short term gains. Medium term target: Rs.100.

PETRONET LNG
Medium term. Bought last week at 78. CMP 82. Target Price 87-91.

IKF
Stock saw good momentum on news of Biodiesel producion. That was when I bought it at Rs. 7.95 but now it has crashed to Rs. 5.5. Very unpredictable stock, I am stuck with it at this level. If you believe in the Biodiesel story, get it at 5.2-5.4. Else chuck it, go for Praj.

TELEDATA INFORMATICS
Hmm. These folks are trading at around 64 levels. I suggest a buy at 60-64. Demerger into3 companies on 15 November. Short-Medium term target Rs.100

GMR INFRA
Buy, Buy, Buy. Buy at 150 levels. Blind Buy below 145. For details read any financial magazine with a story on GMR you'll know what I mean.

TANLA SOLUTIONS
Fantastic Company. Buy at 570-580. Target Rs. 800 in 6 months.

RELIANCE INDUSTRIAL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED (RIIL)
Daily hits upper circuit :) I got it at Rs. 2834 each. No target. Just keep for 6 months.

RPL
Oh, RPL. You know, if I wanted to trade in the stock market only for the money, I would have sold all my other stocks and had invested my entire money in RPL. I had bought it at IPO (Rs. 60) Averaged a little later at Rs.75, held for a year and the price is now 204. It's still good picking. My advice: Whenever you have free cash lying around, buy RPL.

Other picks based on Fundamentals but high risk stocks:
IQMS Soft: Bought at 2.95
PROTO INFOSYS: Bought at 3.10

Happy Trading! Repeat: Don't go by what I said.. the above post is for informational purpose only!

Eh heh heh.. I'm back

Somebody once said, "Son, if it ain't worth saying it out loud, it ain't worth saying".

So I'll still be posting here, chucking out all thoughts from my previous post. I kinda like my new blog too so I'll post some articles there also. You can check it out here. Hehe, it's called 'talk the walk'. I was never good with names, I know.

My loyal fans can still bookmark this page! Thanks a lot, you guys are amazing! :D