Wishing You All a Very Happy New Year

BlackSwan FMS wishes all readers and investors and students of Financial Markets a very happy and exciting New Year 2012.

India's Financial Markets - A guest lecture

RLP Securities, a member of NSE in the interest of promoting Market awareness would like to provide a free of charge guest lecture to any MBA college or B-School.

1. It will be of 2 hr duration.
2. Covers broadly the Indian Securities Market on the lines of NCFM Securities market Advanced Module.
3. The students will have the benefit of learning from Market practitioners and live market data is used for exemplifying the concepts.
4. Interested people can contact  Gangineni Dhananjhay  9391319721  for further details

Coaching for MBA Finance Students in SAPM & DERIVATIVES

We at BlackSwan Financial Markets School have started an initiative to train MBA Finance students in the areas of Security Analysis & Portfolio Management and Derivatives.

1. This is a  40 hr program. Daily 4 hrs for 10 days. Starts from 4th Jan 2012.
2. This program would strengthen their foundation in SAPM.
3. I would like to use INVESTMENTS by BKMM and NSE's IAPM workbook.
4. This training will be of help in doing MBA Finance projects also.
5. Mr Harikrishna Karri a well known MBA Finance faculty will lead this MBA Tutions project.

India Finance Confrence 2011

I have traveled  to  Bangalore to attend IFC 2011 @ IIMB.

1. Today is the  pre conference tutorial day. There were two sessions on Stochastic Caluculus and International Finance. More than 50% gone above my head.
2. I could make friends with one person who has done his PGDM from IIMC and presently working with CBIT. We had good conversation.
3. I am very much impressed by the ambience and style of IIMB.
4. From IIMB store I purchased two T-shirts and carry bag for their brand value.
5. I spent good amount of time at their library.
6. From tomorrow the actual conference starts.

Quant Finance - Books I am reading

I am fortunate to get hold of three books on quant finance - Thanks to my friend B N Reddy who has kindly brought it from USA via his daughter. I find it very common to see people who have not read any literature on quant finance to deride it which has become a fashion.

1.  FAQs on Quantitative Finance by Paul Wilmott. A legendary name in Quant finance and creator of CQF.
2. My Life as a Quant by Emmanuel Derman. A physicist's take on Finance and markets.
3. Quants by Scott patterson. Where he sketches about colorful personalities like Aaron Brown, Paul wilmott, Ed Thorp, Jim Simons .
4. I like to think  Victor Niederhoffer of DailySpec as the original quant.

Committee Reports on Indian Markets & Financial system

There are important committee reports on Indian Financial system at various points of time. This is an effort to gather them.  Any serious finance student should be aware of their contents and be able to quote from them. I have collected here reports  which are latest and available on the net.

1. Top of mind is Dr Raghuram Rajan's   CFSR. It is a must read and contains  excellent exposition of Indian financial system.
2. Another report is MIFC by Percy Mistry.
3. Bimal Jalan's report on Stock Exchanges Ownership
4. J R Verma Committee report
5. LC Gupta committee on derivatives
6. Narayana Murthy committee on Corporate Governance.

Day 1 @ QFW 2011

I had the pleasure of being a participant at QFW 2011. Some of my observations are

1. We had a pleasant welcome by the Coordinator Dr Sastry and  interaction by Director IDRBT Dr Sambamoorthy.  Infact the Director's remarks are very relevant and interesting.
2. Inaugural address by Dr Subir Gokarn  focused on financial system design and macro perspectives and how quantitative models can be addressed to real life problems.
3. There was a fascinating overview by Dr Aparna Gupta of RPI on the  Quant Finance.
4. Dr RNS Gupta of IIT- Kanpur had given a talk on probability and statistics.
5. Very good intro on ANN by Dr Ravi of IDRBT
6. I had nice interaction with Dr Aparna Gupta of RPI, made friends with lot of participants  like Dr Prasad from IIM Indore, Crisil and Other participants from XLRI School of Business and IGIDR, MSE.
7. One faculty member from IIMB was very active and posed lot of interesting questions. She is from the area of Investments which I had later found out from interactions with her.

QFW 2011 - Workshop on Quant Finance

I am happy to be selected for the  Quantitative Finance Workshop ( QFW 2011).

1. QFW 2011 is scheduled for DEC 14- 17,2011 at IDRBT , Hyderabad.
2. Topics are very interesting ranging from R to  ANN.
3. I am looking forward to meet John Teall , former ASE Member and author of  FINANCIAL MARKET ANALYTICS.
4. This is a prestigious program co-conducted by  IGIDR, IIT-Kanpur, RPI, IDRBT.
5. I hope to brush up my R skills with finance examples which have been generously shared by Dr Kiran of NISM at his EERF 2011.
6. Perhaps I can connect better with Dr John Teall with his Stock exchange and academic background.

Trading platforms in Indian Markets

Often students new to the markets want to know various types of Trading Platforms/ Softwares available.

1. NOW :  This is the platform promoted by NSE. This is abbreviated as NEAT ON WEB. NEAT Stands for National Stockexchange Automated Trading. This I found to be of great interest to jobbers or Day traders as its response time for orders is very high. NSE quotes

"NSE today allows members to provide internet trading facility to their clients through the use of NOW (NSE on web), a shared web infrastructure.''

    2 . ODIN : This is a trading platform of Financial Technologies which is a pioneer in this area and promoter of MCX and MCX-SX. ODIN  stands for Open Dealer Integrated Network.

    3.  FOW : Fast Trade on Web. Detailed description here.
 
    4. BOLT : BSE Online Trading System

     5. NEAT: National Stock Exchange Automated trading

     6. Trade Tiger  from Share Khan : Offers best charting features . I had traded with their software and for a  student of charting this is the best bet.

     7. Trader Terminal from  India Infoline
 
     8. PIB : From India Bulls
 
     9. NEST  from Omnesys.  This company also offers Algorithmic and Rule based trading.

   10. POINTER from Ventura securities













    

 

Some Good Books on Academic Finance by Mirza Rafath

I have seen the blog of Mirza  Rafath who is a MBA faculty and runs highly successful training for students.
I quote his comments on two books which I also liked most when as an associate professor in VJIM. I have adopted those books for my finance specialization classes. I really cherish that experience as the students are very demanding and expected the best. I learned a lot from them.

The Second preference must be given to the Text Book of P.G. APTE’s “INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT”. Almost all college libraries will definitely have this book. The book covers more than 90% of the syllabus and is written with Indian perspective. Any student who wants to follow OU MBA SYLLABUS for IF must prefer P.G. APTE’s books. This book provides knowledge + covers majority of syllabus. IF any student is interested in using both books Levi’s and Apte’s, then that would be excellent because one gives international exposure and the other Indian.

Another best book by foreign authors is INVESTMENTS: ANALYSIS AND BEHAVIOUR BY MARK HIRSCHEY AND JOHN NOFSINGER TATA MCGRAW HILL (SPECIAL INDIAN EDITION).

Link to Mirza Rafath's BLOG.

IndiaVIX

I post here an abstract of a  paper on IndiaVIX which is under review of Indian Journal of Finance coauthored by myself, Dr D Raghunatha Reddy of JNTU SMS, Dr TNL Prasad , DGM ( Finance ) of NCC.

                  INDIA VIX:           Examining the Negative and Asymmetric                       

                                                 Volatility Index – Market   Return Relationship

This paper examines the behavior of India Volatility Index (India VIX). We study two aspects: First, the negative correlation between changes in India VIX and market returns. Second, the asymmetric nature of the changes in India VIX with respect to market returns. S&P CNX NIFTY Index has been used as a proxy for the market and the study period covers March 2009 through November 2011. Using OLS Regression method on daily data this study finds an inverse relation between movements in India VIX and movements in the NIFTY. The study reveals the asymmetric nature of the Volatility Index- Market Return relationship. This study is useful for understanding the behavior of India VIX and helps policymakers in the design of appropriate instruments based on India VIX for hedging and risk management.

Keywords: Volatility Index, Hedging, Derivatives, Indian Stock market

Improving MBA(Finance) Education at Colleges

Some observations of my experience of teaching and interacting with MBA( Finance) students at Colleges on how to improve the quality.

1. Usage of NCFM Materials : These materials will be useful for correct and latest understanding of  market structure and deign. Some of the textbooks are at least 5 years out of touch with market realities.
2. Market Simulator                 : Finance students can get real feel of the market by using tools like NSE pathasala.
3. Market Based Approach         : Understanding finance from the prism of financial markets will help sharpen the understanding. Corporate finance also should be linked with market based approach.
4. Financial Newspapers              : Students should be encouraged to utilize ET, BS to understand real-time market happenings
5. Market Experts                        :  Colleges can invite market experts and experienced professionals from brokerages, regulators and other market infrastructure institutions to share their experiences.
6. Standard Text Books                : Text book selection is also important from my experience. For ex INVESTMENTS by Bodie, Kane, Marcus, Mohanty suits very well to  Indian examples against say, Fischer and Jordan. Same is the case with   Options by HULL & BASU. ( By the way I am looking forward to interacting with Mr . Basu at IFC 2011 at Bangalore IIM)
7. Empirical approach                     :  Finance concepts can be operationalized using data from NSE, BSE websites . Use data to illustrate which will enhance the experience of students.
8. Charting Tools                             : There are free Technical analysis tools offered by NSE like TAME .These can be utilized to demonstrate Technical analysis real time.
9. Business Channels                         :  Students should practice listening to  Channels like CNBC, ET NOW, BLLOMBERG, NDTV PROFIT at least one hour daily. Well give known anlysts like Udayan Mukherjee, Lata Venkatesh  give good insight into latest happenings.
10. Statistical orientation                   :  lectures should  preferably be less of personal opinion and more of statistics based approach.
11. NCMP                                           : It is advisable for MBA( Finance) students should at least get a NCMP Level 1 certification before they finish their degree which willl differentiate them from others in the job market.

NSE Certified Market Professional Level 5

NSE has introduced NCMP Level 5 under its NCFM umbrella.

1. It is awarded to candidates passing 11 + NCFM Modules.
2. 4 New modules were added which are very interesting for a student of finance.
3. NCFM helps to standardize and bring the Indian context to finance body of knowledge.
4. As academics depend on US texts, quality  Indian material is lacking particularly in the areas of market practices and design. NCFM materials will bring classsrooms to a common platform which I think is a positive externality(in economics jargon)
5. I would believe this has prompted NSE to launch tie-ups with universities for MBA( Financial Markets) and BBA ( Financial Markets) courses.
6. I would expect more NCFM modules in areas like  Technical analysis, Advanced Derivatives, Financial Journalism,Statistics for Financial Markets which come to my mind straight away.

Attending Workshop at BDU, Trichy

The participation in the workshop on " How to write a Research paper " is very enlightening for me.

1. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience though it is one way 18 hrs travel from Hyd - Trichy .
2. I particularly liked the Pongal at Egmore station and  also at Trichy
3. When returning back, in Chennai central the Sambar Rice is Fantastic @ Saravana Bhavan
4. I wanted to network with researchers in Finance and I could meet very nice people.
5. My friends in this trip included Mr. Narayanan, Mr Prabhakaran and his two student colleagues.
6. The hospitality and the humility with which BDU- Department of commerce and financial studies function is truly an example to emulate.
7. I particularly liked  Dr Roji George for his finance examples on Literature Review.
8. Hope to visit again on JAN 7-8,2012 for FIMIC 2012.

Markus Heitkoetter on Trading Education

 I take the liberty to publish Markus Heitkoetter's comments on Trading Education. He is a respected blogger and Trading Educator.

Learning to trade the forex market successfully is something that many aspiring traders fail to achieve. Many beginning forex traders erroneously drop thousands of dollars on forex educational products with the belief that the more expensive the product the more effective it will be. Thanks a lot...

Markus Heitkoetter  further comments

Hi,

Sellers of trading education strongly advise traders to seek assistance of a professional commodity broker to provide them with valuable functions that best suit their needs. A commodity futures broker can ensure that all trades are placed correctly, avoiding any costly mistakes. Thanks a lot.

Training on Futures & Options

BlackSwan intends to conduct a training program on F&O during NOV 5-7,2011 and repeat the same course on NOV 19-21,2011.

1. Signals from F&O by Devangshu Datta my favorite analyst here.
2. Measuring Volatility here.
3. Another good piece by Devangshu Datta.
4. Conquering Volatility
5. Article on F&O strategies as a template for analyzing market movement.

Infact, a collection of his articles in Smart Investor of Business Standard every Tuesday will make one a well informed trader or investor in Derivatives.

First Day of IPO Listing: Wild & Spurious Volatility

IPO Listing day fluctuations are abnormal. As CNBC anchors term it there are lot of fun and games in these counters as there are no price bands on listing day.

1. Financial Express on Listing Day Volatility
2. Report on IPO listing day volatility in Business Standard
3. Prithvi Haldea of Prime database on Listing Day price bands.
4. SEBI's earlier proposal of 25% price band on first day of IPO Listing.
5. DNA on the Violence of Volatility of New Listings. One has to participate to experience the abrupt price fluctuations.
6. Will pre-opening trade help in case of IPOs Listing day fluctuations ?
7. IPO manipulation behind these violent moves ? Sucheta Dalal here
8. Research article on IPO pricing
9. Scholarly article on IPO pricing. Infact the vast amount of availability of academic literature makes the study of financial markets endlessly fascinating and intellectually satisfying. A motivated student of financial markets can grasp all aspects of an issue from various sources and form an informed opinion.
10. Another article by SSS Kumar who is an alumni of SVUSBM and a student of Dr M S REDDY who is my professor at Tirupati.
11. Information assymetry in IPO pricing may necessitate not applying price bands on Day 1.
12. Today( Oct 23,2011)'s new listing VASWANI has allegations of dummy IPO subscription.  
13. Related Article on  Vaswani
14. Always fascinating prose by Dr Ajay Shah on IPOs. He reminds me of Larry Harris of Trading & Exchanges. His articles on Indian Finance together with Dr Susan Thomas of IGIDR will be a GITA on Indian Finance & Markets. Infact Dr Susan Thomas web page contains lot of notes on Econometrics and Finance which is a feast for students of Finance and Financial econometrics.
15. Another respected thinker on Indian Finance even quoted in India's Financial Markets Book.
16. MoneyLife on IPO manipulation

Must Read Finance Authors

During my approx 20 years of fascination for the subject of  Finance & Markets , I came across many fantastic authors which I will try to recollect here.

1. Bodie, Kane, Marcus on Investments
2. Luenberger  with Investment Science
3. Paul Willmott on Derivatives & Quantitative Finance
4. Aswath Damodaran on Investment Valuation
5. Larry Harris on Trading & Exchanges
6. Victor Niederhoffer on SPECULATION
7. Brett Steenbarger on Trading Psychology
8. N N Taleb on  Hedging &  Randomness
9. Anderson & Sweeney on Statistics
10. Fabozzi on Fixed Income
11. Ajay Shah & Susan Thomas on India's Financial Markets
12. Chris Brooks on Financial Econometrics
13. Hull on Options & Futures
14. Elton & Gruber on Portfolio Theory
15. Fuller & Farrel  on Investments
16. FX Diebold on Forecasting
17. Snedcor on Statistical Methods
18. J R Verma on Derivatives & Risk Management
19. Mark Hirschey on Investments - More on the Behavorial aspect.

BlackBox Sellers of Trading Education

Today I have attended a Seminar ( rather a sales pitch !) by a person in Hyderabad who wants to sell his 3-Day workshop and Trading Software.

1. The company's 3-Day workshop is priced at approx  Rs 40000/-.
2. All techniques of influencing the audience were used by the Trading system seller. Like anchoring the seminar  benefits to Rs 200000/- worth.
3. I personally could not identify with the speaker's motivational seminar with rather using flowery analogies, exaggerated claims, quoting outliers as if they are normal!
4. You can check the company's website  here
5. I would rather refer all my friends to Dr Brett  at www.traderfeed.blogspot.com
6. You have a life time of learning resources here by Dr Brett
7. I take the liberty to recommend you the book TRADING & EXCHANGES by Larry Harris for Rs 400 at 1 % of the company's workshop.

VOLATILITY

Volatility or Vol as Market participants call it affectionately is the soul of Financial Markets. Recently I came across lot of resources on Volatility as my research also involves survey on Volatility.

1. Nobel Laureate Robert F Engle  on VOLATILITY. His FT Lectures here.
2. R F Engle's take on Financial Market Volatility on Youtube.
3. Interview with Engle by FX Diebold.
4. In fact I am greatly influenced by Dr K Kiran Kumar of NISM for introducing me and being a teacher of  Financial Econometrics at NISM in his EERF Summer Schools. Engle has actually participated in a conference at NISM two years back.
5. One book that is extremely lucid in explaining financial econometrics is  Chris Brooks.

NEWTON LINCHEN ON INDEPENDENT TRADER

Dear Professor,

Namastê!

It has been occurring some improvements to this issue: I only day trade now patterns I had worked with comprehensive statistics.

This means a lot in terms of reducing overtrading and the emotional factor of trading.

Notice that when you analyse trade by trade, you're "right" or "wrong", depending whether the trade works out or not. That kills traders, for we misinterpret random events with a "failure" of our judgment skills... When you only trade with statistical setups, you don't feel bad anymore about losing trades (you're acquainted now with the histogram of the distribution of the series of trades - losses and gains), and you also don't feel exhilarated when the trade is a win, because, remember, it was not the fruit of your recent workout in analysis or judgment. It was the result of the distribution of the series of trades, according to the statistical pattern.

In other terms, when the statistical trades works well, it's just normal. When it produces a loss, it's not your fault.

: )

Interesting Readings

I found the following to be of interest to Traders and students of Markets.

1. How to become a professional Trader 
2. Developing a daily game plan
3. Scholarly article on Market Quality . I remain fascinated with Market Microstructure - the study of internal workings of the market.

25 Hours Trading Course @ BlackSwan

BlackSwan  has scheduled a 3-Day, 25 Hrs Trading Course during August 13-15, 2011.

1. The details of the Course is given here.
2. This is a full time course from 9.30 am - 5.30 pm. Includes Tea, Snacks & Lunch
3. It covers Technical Analysis & Derivative Strategies.
4. The inspiration is from  SMB Training, Dr Brett, Afraid to Trade.

Concepts of Finance

I was reading or rather forced to read Concepts of Physics by  H C VERMA  by my daughter Gangineni Hita studying 8th Class at Sri Chaitanya Techno Schools. Her aim is to get into the prestigious IITs through their JEE Exam.

1. I wonder whether a distilled concepts of Modern Finance as articulated by Susan Thomas, JR Verma is needed for B-Schools.
2. Modern Finance is predicated on lot of Concepts like No-Arbitrage Pricing, EMH, Time Value of Money etc.
3. Excellent article by J R Verma on Teaching of Finance
4. Dr Susan Thomas Opines on Modern Finance
5. Essential reading on New Facts of Finance
6. One of my most liked book for concepts of markets and Trading is by Larry Harris. Even Victor recommends it as an outstanding must read.

The Independent Trader

Trading the markets is one of the most challenging endeavors. This is a field where only the best can survive unlike other professions where average can also make a reasonable livelihood.

1. SMB Training elaborates on the daily life of an Independent Trader.
2. Some psychological aspects of Trading
3. Difference between professional and amateur traders by Dr Brett
4. How to become an independent stock trader
5. One of the most tough tasks in becoming a profitable day trader is overcoming Transaction Costs.

NISM - EERF as a Platform for Finance Researchers

I had a very good experience at NISM attending the yearly EERF 2011 workshop.

1. I have no hesitation in recommending any researcher,teacher of finance, Market practitioner, Scholarly investor, Corporate executives in financial markets research and practice to attend it at least once. I have attended twice and thoroughly enjoyed it.
2. I think only comparable programe is by Susan Thomas at IGIDR namely Statistics for Financial Practitioners. But I am not sure of its frequency and accessibility.
3. EERF can act as a very good platform for budding researchers in Finance. I came to know many researchers in this area through this venue.
4. I highly appreciate an almost encyclopediac view of financial markets related research by Dr K Kiran Kumar of NISM  ( ex- ISB, IISC)

MBA/BBA in Financial Markets

A welcome trend is developing in Financial Markets Education. Super specialization and focused curriculum,industry tie-ups are becoming important  for good business education.

1. NSE has tied up with Punjabi University, MDU for BBA/ MBA in Financial Markets.
2. BSE Training Institute is offering MBA- Financial Markets in association with IGNOU
3. FTKMC an associate of MCX is also offering PGD in Financial Markets Practice
4. DMC institute of Capital Markets is also in the process of starting MBA & BBA in Financial Markets
5. ITM institute of financial Markets has a PGDM - Financial Markets course
6. NISM has  a well regarded  1-Yr course called PGPSM
7. BLB Institute of Financial Markets has MBA/BBA in Financial Markets in association with MS University
8. Business India Institute of Finance has a 1-Yr course in Financial Markets
9. IFMR has a highly reputed PGDM- Financial Engineering
10. NMIMS has an MBA in capital markets program in association with BSE

This is only a partial list. Financial Market education is on the rise on the back of NSE's Ravi Narain's comments.

Some project Ideas for MBA Finance students

I would like to list out some ideas for Project work and also empirical study. Pl note that these are are borrowed extensively from the existing financial markets literature.

1. Stock Index Futures Market in India
2. Single Stock Futures Market in India
3. Index Options Markets in India
4. Stock Options Market in India
5. Commodity Futures Market in India
6. Risk Management at NSE
7. Risk Management Using Derivatives at NSE
8. Study of Selected Mutual Fund Schemes in India
9. Study of selected ULIP schemes in India
10. Technical analysis- A study of selected Indicators
11. Study on On-line Trading, Clearing & Settlement
12. Comparitive analysis of  internet trading schemes of Selected Stockbroking firms in Hyderabad
13. Sub-Brokers at NSE : A study in Hyderabad
14. Currency Futures Market in India
15. Currency Options Market in India
16. Study on Commodity Exchanges in India
17. Study of Indian Capital Markets at NSE
18. Study on  Regulation of Indian Securities Market - Case study of SEBI
19. Indian Stock Market Volatility - A Study
20. FII impact on Indian Stock Market
21. A Study on Exchage Traded Funds ( ETFs)
22. Fundamental analysis of different Companies
23. Beta analysis of selected Nifty stocks
24. Study on IPOs at NSE
25. Dividend analysis of Selected Companies
26. Study of Single Index Market Model on selected Nifty Stocks
27. India VIX- A study on Volatility Index
28. Study on PMS Schemes in India
29. Portfolio Construction & Management
30. Study on selected M&A's in India
31. Study of Market Efficiency in India
32. Indian Stock Market Integration with Selected Countries
33. Study on Investor Behavior in Hyderabad

MARKET QUALITY

My research topic revolves around assesing the impact of Microstructure innovations on Market quality at NSE.

1. I am proposing to examine the issue from three stand points
2. Market quality in terms of a) Informational Efficiency b) Market Volatility c) Market Integration
3. I want to examine how various metrics can be used as proxy for these measures.
4. Presently I am doing a survey of literature.

Basic Skills for MBA ( Finance) students

I hope that many students doing project work for their MBA ( Finance) brush up on their following skills.

1. How to type in MS-Word, Using MS-Excel for simple tasks of forming a table etc
2. Browsing for required information on google and othe search engines.
3. Getting required data from websites like http://www.nseindia.com,www.bseindia.com,www.sebi.gov.in/ and othe sites mentioned in a previous post.
4. Basic report writing skills. 

My role models in Indian Academic Finance

I would like to share my role models in Academic Finance. Of course this cant be an exhaustive list. I tried to put whom ever I came across or read personally or through their writings.

1. Ajay Shah definitely one of the top most thinkers in finance, economics and policy. His book on India's Financial Markets is a must read for any body remotely connected with Indian Finance.The book is full of empirical justifications rather than empty opinion.
2. Susan Thomas . I admire for her clarity and depth in econometric treatment of financial markets. She has lot of top quality finance materials online for free download.
3. J R Verma . Famous for Derivatives. I have used his book on DERIVATIVES & RISK MANAGEMENT for my class at VJIM.
4. Kotha Kiran Kumar of NISM. I have attended two summer schools on EERF just to listen to his interpretation of Market Microstructure research and his unique way of analysing research papers. He shows you how to connect econometrics with finance.
5. Prasanna Chandra . I have heard his lectures at my initial days at ICFAI.
6. NJ Yasaswy for pioneering the the financial education revolution in India through ICFAI.
7. SSS Kumar who is an alumni of SVUSBM whre I have also studied.
8. M S Reddy has made initial impression on me at my SV University MBA days for his way of questioning.

SOURCES OF FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Much of the information required by MBA students for their project work can be found on the web.Some of the frequently used sources are

1. Government Owned websites : Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) http://www.sebi.gov.in/
2. Reserve Bank Of India   http://www.rbi.org/
3. Ministry Of Finance  http://www.finmin.nic.in/
4. Stock Exchange Websites : National Stock Exchange ( NSE) http://www.nseindia.com/
5. Bombay Stock Exchange http://www.bseindia.com/
6. Multi Commodity Exchange http://www.mcxindia.com/
7. Financial Magazine / Newspaper websites: Business Standard  http://www.businessstandard.co.in/
8. Hindu Business Line  http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/
9. Financial Express  http://www.financialexpress.com/
10. Wall street Journal  http://www.india.wsj.com/
11. Financial Times  http://www.ft.com/
12. Economic Times http://www.economictimes.indiatimes.com/
13. Mint http://www.livemint.com/
14. Business Today http://www.businesstoday.intoday.in/
15. Business India  http://www.businessindiagroup.com/
16. Economist  http://www.economist.com/
17. Capitalmarket  http://www.capitalmarket.com/
18. Indiainfoline  http://www.indiainfoline.com/
19. Equitymaster  http://www.equitymaster.com/
20. CRISIL  http://www.crisil.com/
21. Moneycontrol  http://www.moneycontrol.com/
22. CARE  http://www.careratings.com/
23. Myiris  http://www.myiris.com/
24. Bloomberg  http://www.bloomberg.com/
25. Reuters      http://www.reuters.com/

What PRICE should we use?

There are four prices observed in the market. Financial press reports OPEN,HIGH,LOW,CLOSE.

1. There is a difference between Closing Price and Last Traded Price(LTP). NSE provides Closing price as last half an hour VWAP(Volume Weighted Average Price).

2.If Corporate actions(Bonus,Stock Split,Rights) happen how to adjust the price so that when we caluculate returns it does not give a wrong picture ?

3. CMIE-PROWESS gives ACP( Adjusted Closing Price). Yahoo Finance also gives Adj Close data.

Essential Econometrics for Research in Finance @ NISM

I had the pleasure to attend  EERF 2011 @ NISM, Mumbai.

1. The program is from  Apr 30 - May 10,2011
2. I have met many interesting people from academics including  Mr D N RAO ( who has published widely on Mutual Funds), Dr Pandikumar ( PSGIM) .
3. On Day 1, interesting class sessions & discussion on Financial Data by Dr Kiran Kumar ( earlier with ISB) though afternoon session is a bit lacking in Financial examples .
4. Road map of Econometric tools and Statistical Thinking by  Dr K K on Day 1.
5. Most of the examples relate to Financial Markets and Market Efficiency and Microstructure. I hope to get some inspiration for my PhD Thesis.

MBA Finance Projects @ BlackSwan

I have the pleasure to interact with MBA Finance students advising on their Projects.

1. Most of the projects deal with  Indian Financial Markets, Risk Management at NSE, Performance Evaluation Of MF Schemes,Fundamental Analysis of Companies, Study of Commodities Markets,Risk Management using Derivatives,Study of F&O Market in India etc.
2. Indian market data is freely available at http://www.nseindia.com,www.bseindia.com,www.mcxindia.com/ and individual MF websites and Company websites for financial data/ Annual Reports.
3. Even though the project study appears simple at conceptual stage, there are lot of details at the implementation level. For ex when trying to do a study on " Performance evaluation of MF Schemes" we have come across the following issues.
4. Which Bench mark to consider ? NIFTY/ BSE 200/ CNX 100
5. NAV frequency ? Daily/ Weekly/ Monthly
6. What is the Risk free Return ?  RBI rate/ SBI term deposit rate
7. Various MF data sources are available. For eg  http://www.amfiindia.com,www.%20mutualfundsindia.com,value/ research, CRISIL, http://www.mf.economictimes.com/, SEBI, Business world and Business Standard sites.
8. For Capital Market related projects  ISMR 2009, NSE Fact Book, Risk Management guidelines are very useful.
9. Some common enquiries students can undertake is regarding examination of Return and Risk of selected instruments ( Equity Futures, Commodity Futures) and compare them on the basis of Volatility.
10. One fruitful study is adequate characterisation of Risk Containment Measures by exchanges ( NSE) in terms of Margins, Capital adequacy norms and their detailed calculation.

Trading and Poker

There had been lot of articles about comparing Trading with poker.

1. Dr Brett on TRADING & POKER

  2. Intersting discussion at DailySpec

  3. The Chair's Admonition.

  4. Sushil Kedia on  Bluffing

  5. More articles at DailySpec

INTERESTING READINGS

Interesting Readings

1. Article on Day Trading here

2.The rise of college traders here

Teaching Trading

As the financial markets become more accessible and democratised the need for Trading Education grows.

1. In my own way I have conducted around 15 programs in the past one year. They are basically 2-day workshops focussing on necessary trading skills, TA tools, psychology and risk management.
2. Around 200 participants were covered by our courses.
3. An intersting article on Teaching Trading at Universities.