Banks and software stocks among the A list had a great run last fortnight

Gainers
After months, weekly data on inflation showed a marginal decline in the past week. So bank stocks attracted a surge of speculative buying. At the same time, bankers don’t see a significant slowdown in loan disbursements due to a combination of factors such as the need to fund large projects through more of...

In my last column, I had stated that, broadly, over the short- to medium-term, the Sensex would remain range-bound between 13,500 and 15,500. I had identified major support levels at 13,454 and 14,063 and resistance at 15,167 and 15,565. The immediate resistance is at 15,167 which had acted as a support once earlier (week ended 8 August 2008). This very short-term rise on the weekly charts...

ML: Let’s start with your background.
NS: I was born and brought up in the Kalbadevi area of Mumbai which used to be the hub of wholesale trading in textiles. I always stood first in school. However, when I got into Sydenham, which was an elite college, I realised that everyone else is far ahead of me. That was when I came down to earth. We had industrialists’ sons studying with us, who were...