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.

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)

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

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.

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.

DELAY in Market Moves

Markets delay the moves to frustate traders and force them out of their positions.

1. Stock price delays moves. This is an important characteristic of the market. Price movement will not happen when you are anticipating it.
2. Price moves when it is inconvenient for the trader.
3. This is recently observed in EDUCOMP.
4. The movement we think random may be in the scheme of things for traders on the other side.
5. This is the reason why for active traders path dependence is important.
6. If the stock price hits my stop before making the favorable move I am forced out of the position.

Learning to Trade

The education needed to effectively participate in Markets is wide and intensive. In this post I will discuss my observations regarding the beginning trader starting with a clean slate and resources available to him on web 2.0 for self development in the Indian Context.

1. Start with a very good introduction to markets from Trading & Exchanges by Larry Harris
2. Good resource for observation of market data like volumes, price history from National Stock Exchange.
3. The short term trader can concentrate on Most active Securities and Top Gainers/ Losers list.
4. Active Day traders benefit from a market scanner like FALCON software.
5. For general understanding of trading psychology there is no better resource than Dr Brett Steenbarger