One sector that has been hit by the financial crisis and its own greed is realty. For the past few years, most realty companies were on a fund-raising spree – money was freely available through IPOs, private equity and short-term paper – that was entirely used to create land banks and invest in mega commercial and residential complexes. Simultaneously, they kept driving up realty prices to a...

Market mayhem continued unabated but banking stocks improved marginally

Gainers
The Reserve Bank of India announced a 250 basis point cut in three instalments in the cash reserve ratio of banks to improve liquidity. That, along with a ‘positive outlook’ for Indian banks announced by credit rating agencies helped bank stocks go up. Union Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Bank of India went...

Portfolio management schemes are less tax-efficient than mutual funds, are costlier and not backed bybetter skills

For many of us, a portfolio management scheme (PMS) is something couched in secrecy. No one knows whether people have made or lost money in PMS over a long period. PMS becomes popular in a bull market. As far as we know, in the bear market that followed the last broadbased rally...