A company can be a pioneer in a particular sector; the sector can be a sizzling one; it can have an aggressive sales force; it may have developed one of the largest distribution networks; it may be fiercely competitive against its much larger, well-known multinational rivals – and, yet, its stock may fetch you poor returns if you buy it and hold it for long. HCL Infosystems, started by IT...

Denials have been used as a political strategy

It was May 1992, a few weeks after I broke what came to be known as the Harshad Mehta scam. The scam was actually a creation of fake securities (bankers’ receipts and units of Unit Trust of India) by almost the entire banking sector. My report put the securities scam at around Rs5,000 crore (a stupendous figure 16 years ago) and was front-paged...

Indian pharma companies have great days ahead. Here is why and what to bet on

Looking for a sector that will keep growing over time, suffer less in a severe stockmarket collapse and even turn out to be a ‘hot’ sector if the circumstances are right? Consider the staid pharma sector. There are several trends that would make the cream of Indian pharma companies great stock market bets. Here...