Stick to what is safe, even if the returns are not very high

Over the past nine months, the Sensex dived precipitously from a high of over 21,000 to nearly a third of its value when it sank to 7,700 (intra-day) on 27th October. Millions of retail investors have suffered heavy losses on equity as well as ‘safer investments’ such as mutual funds, unit linked insurance plans (ULIPs), fixed...

The world economy is in turmoil and various countries are adopting different strategies to contain the damage. While some countries are ‘leading’ by coming up with innovative ideas, others are blindly ‘following’ in their footsteps. Our finance minister could consider this innovative idea – a three-year or a five-year tax holiday for individuals on short-term capital gains on listed stocks...