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Home  » Business » Which stocks to buy? Here's expert advice

Which stocks to buy? Here's expert advice

February 05, 2008 09:49 IST
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After last week's blood bath the Sensex rebounded to finally end the week with a record gain of 1,140 points (6.6%) at 18,362 - the first-ever, four-digit single day gain for the index.

But it once again closed in the negative region the first 4 days of this week. However, the trend is likely to be reversed on Friday as the Sensex is likely to end the week in green.

Did you make losses during the current market crash? What strategy should you adopt to recover your losses?

Is this the right time to buy stocks? If so, which stocks and sectors should you concentrate on?

In an hour-long chat on rediff.com on Friday, market expert Pranav Sanghavi answered many such readers' queries. Here is the transcript:

PRANAV SANGHAVI says, 
Good afternoon and welcome to the chat. Let's begin.

kala asked, I purchase L&T at 4100. What should I do.
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers,  at 2008-02-01 16:02:54I think you could hold on and if the markets corrects a bit you could buy more at lower levels. L&T is extremely strong fundamentally and also has delivered great results. Hold on.
vilas Raut asked, what do think about mrpl stock, long term buy/ short term buy
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, You could hold on. The refinery stocks outcome depends a lot on the out come of the crude prices and the local prices. As their margins get affected with the fluctuations in the crude prices.
Nisha asked, Hello Uncle I have neyeli lignite @ average of 195 what do you suggest about it?
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, I think Neyvelli is has two strong businesses. One is the coal mining which is a short commodity considering the number of cement, power and steel plants coming up who will need coal to run their plants. Second is generating power itself. India being a poewr hungry country Neyvelli will benefit there too. Surely hold would be my call. Due to the mayhem of last week the stock has been beaten down.
ee asked, How is the future for ICSA, Crompton, Yes bank, Dhanalakshmi bank for short term and long term?
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, The banking stocks will fare well in the coming quarters especially with there being a chance of interest rates going down locally. Crompton is a good engineering play.
a asked, hi pranav I got rolta@285 . for how long is it good to hold them ?
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, They are more dependent on the Indian sales rather than US based sales so the management feels they will manage to grow. Their US sales accounts only for about 20% odd. I think you could hold it.
ee asked, Container corportation - Is it worth to buy?
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, Yes shipping volumes have only been rising and and Con Corp will only benefit. Plus they have some good assets on their balance sheets.
eskay asked, In view of listing of Reliance Power, what is your short term take on NTPC, Powergrid & Power Finance Corporation? UP or Down?
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, I think all the power stocks had risen sharply and also corrected substantially. I would look at NTPC, and Power Grid. PFC is purely a finance company and does not generate power.
vkt asked, Hi Pranav good evening !! I have purchaed 3 equity worth 2.75 Lacs.mentioning Rel. Ene. , Rel. Com & MRPL.@ 1700,615 & 69 respec.Pl advice wheater I should make some part profit next week or hold all. Pl specify it. Pl
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, I think you could surely hold on to RCom, and Rel Energy and you should see profits soon.
rohit asked, hello sir i am new inverster in stcock market pls tell me which company i inverst or its right time to invest or not
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, Invest with the frontline quality stocks which are giving profit growth of over 25% on a year on year basis.
Ket asked, Hello There. I have purchased 5000 TTML at 64. What should I do ? Dhould I hold or book loss ?
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, You have got into an ok stock at high prices. The company still is a loss making company and has given less than par results for the last quarter. You would have to wait for some time before you can see profits.
pras asked, Everyone says long term-longterm....what exactly do u think are the returns that the fundamentally sound companies like ril, rcom, bhel, sbi, sail etc are going to give in the 5 yr run...and will it be worth it inspite of the inflation?
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, I think over a 5 year run these companies could easily give you an annualised return of over 10% each. Look at Reliance for example. Had one purchased it just prior to the split at around Rs. 500 to 600 levels. Today in just over a years time that amount has become Rs. 5500 to 6000. So fundamentally strong scrips who are performers will give good returns in a bull economy and market.
Preeti asked, Goodafternoon Pranav! why is STC stock price moving side ways despite a 100% growth in EPS and Profits, and a good dividend ? Can you throw some insight please ?
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, Government companies are always looked with a shadow of doubt. Although STC has been performing well. But with the current market scenario, investors are vary of touching scripts which are not frontline and not as liquid.
a asked, should we invest in mkt right now ? if yes then plz help me with some stocks for short term abt 1 yr .
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, You could look at stocks like RIL, SBI,. L&T, DLF, RCom etc. and so many more. Pick companies who are delivering good results and are little below the index PE.
devdatt asked, Any good news for NTPC?Will it rch 250 in this month?
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, NTPC is a strong company. You should get over 30 to 40% returns over the 6 to 18 months.
NATEKAR asked, What is future of GMR, JPHYDRO and ABB ?
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, JP Hydro is a traders scrip and one could stay out of it currently. GMR Infra looks surely like a buy at the current levels with a 6 month outlook. ABB also is fundamentally a strong scrip and can be held on.
mauliks asked, Is it right time to buy Hotel leela, Ingersol Rand, Nagarjuna Construction Nagarjuna Fertilisers
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, Hotel Leela saw some hectic buying activity today and rose substantially. On a longer term basis also the stock looks good. All the other three stocks could be held on.
subbu asked, icicibank, ril, dena bank what is the prospect for short term,
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, I would buy them at current levels. i am extremely bullish on ICICI and RIL.
ajay asked, Your view on Airte,NTPC,GMR Infra, LIC HSG FIN,Jindal Saw,Cairn energy. Plz suggest immed as I am in trouble.
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, Barring probably Cairns energy which I don't follow all the other stocks can surely be held on to. All are great companies with good and strong growth. LIC Hsg should benefit if the interest rates are dropped during the year.
sri asked, Hi, Is it good time to but ISPAT and Ashok Leyland?
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, If you are a short term trader you could look at it. But you must have seen the fate of short term traders in the beginning of last week when a lot of people lost a lot of money in these liquid F&O stocks.
Hrishikesh asked, Hello Can Market Goes Again 10000
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, It looks highly improbable.
chsvja asked, sir, your views on emmar mgf ipo
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, Having reduced the price band at the last minute puts in a certain amount of doubt in the companies confidence in itself but I guess they wanted more applications from investors and having seen the carnage of last week might have prompted them to reduce the price. Overall the company looks like a strong player.
tanuja asked, What is future of real estate market
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, I think there could be some sort of a correction in the commercial prices in pockets but overall the market will be bouyant. Especially if the REIT's are allowed to operate in India we could seea huge inflow of REIT funds.
mahendran asked, Can I buy Karuturi for Long term?
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, Sorry, I don't follow that scrip.
shailesh asked, when the fii n fdi will flow in again in Indian market?? And what will happen to Indian markets if US economy lands in recession??
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, That is the exact scare that lead a fall in our markets. But I think eventually the smart money will return to countries which are growing their GDP's at over 8% like India is.
ravii asked, hi pranav i hve purchase 118 shares of reliance industries @ 3015 now wht to do.... i hve lost nearly 70 or 80 thousand plz advice....?
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, You will only lose it if you sell. Hold on to it as the stock will move up eventually and you will see a profit over the next 3 months surely.
sandip asked, hi can you plz tell me shall I buy RPL at current level
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, You could surely look at the stock with a 1 to 2
year outlook. You could see decent returns over that time frame.
deepakj asked, pranav sir i recently purchased ongc 100 shares at 1200 rs . infosys 57 at 1830 also lnt 28 at 4225 now what shuld i do wait
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, Yes you will have to as you have got in at around the higher levels of the stocks.
vijay asked, Hi pranav. What's your opinion on Ajanta pharma , Apollo tyres , Rolta india & KS Oils. Also is it a good time to invest in PSU Banks such as Centurion bank of punjab , Vijaya bank , BOB etc. Thanks.
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, Yes I am pretty bullish on the PSU banks and all have given good results for the previous quarter too.
iwishiwasagenius asked, Hi Pranav..good rebound today ...is it because the refunds have started from Future and now soon from Power On India "Gone"??? Does that mean this rebound is here to stay? How and why did it rebound towards the last few hours,..or is it the "BUJHTA DIYA"???
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, To me it looks like the short covering by the FII's but we'll know once the official figures are out. But markets could remain a bit volatile in the short term.
cc asked, i hold KOLTEPATIL,HDIL shares from IPO should i HOLD or SELL
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, Surely hold. Both are quality regional real estate players and should perform well in times to come. HDIL being more pan nation than Kolte who are more Pune focussed currently.
bless asked, what is your take on WOCKHARD Hospitals IPO
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, I think its a good IPO to invest in. There is a strong management with proven track record and hospital business is booming.
UmeshWakhare asked, I Have followin share in stocks plz. help shall I hold or Saleout. 1. RPL 50 2. TTML 100 3. Dishtv 50 4.Arvind Mill - 50 5.Abhishek Ind. 50 6. Ispat 200
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, You have 6 of the top 10 actviely traded F&O stocks. I am sure you have got in also at higher levels. You will only have to wait unless you are willing to book loss.
raj asked, is it good time to enter for new investers? when market will stable ?
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, Yes new investors could take advantage of the massive correction that our markets witnessed and pick quality stocks for a 6 to 12 month period.
nikhil asked, hey i have following shares: burnpur cement (purchase price 44/-) apollo tyres (purchase price 49/-) RPL (puchase price 159/-) wht u think which share i shud hold ?
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, Hold on to RPL.
kalyan asked, infosys- within a month shall it cross 2000?
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, Not that I am an astrologist but it looks highly unlikely.
pr asked, Hi which are good shares to buy now .....punj Lloyd and power grid views???
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, Punj Lloyd is a good company and could be held on to. They have delivered good set of results too.
riyas asked, Hi Pranav, I have invested all front like stocks such as ICICI Bank, Tata chemicals, Tata steel, GMR Infra, Infosys, ONGC, Nestle, RCom, Suzlon, DLF and Canara bank. All the prices of those stocks are falling down. Do i need to wait for long time to get profit? After i get some margins, can i sell it now due to the market volatility and come back to the market once it is stable. Please suggest. Thanks a lot.
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, I would say do not panic. All the companies that you mention are doing well and look to continue doing so. I would surely hold on and not panic.
komal asked, please suggest is it the right time to invest into power shares??
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, There is never a right time to invest in to stocks. No one can predict the exact bottom. So one can buy at times of corrections like these in a bull run.
arun asked, any call on edelweiss
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, I really like the company and its management. And I am sure they will post results better than those projected in their Prospectus. I would surely hold on and buy at lower levels.
RALS123 asked, what would be the targets for Reliance Energy and Reliance Petro in 6-9 months??
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, I am not a technical analyst so can't give you any price targets but you could easily see a 10 to 15% return in these scrips.
kalyan ghosh asked, sir what is ur view on himatsingka seide
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, They are niche manufacturers of silk and certain type of cloth only one other company makes in the whole world. So they will remain a decent player in the textile sector.
MOHAN asked, HOLDING RPL AT 238/- & BHARTI AT 1014/- WHAT'S THE OUT LOOK &
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, I think both stocks will give decent returns if you hold them for a year atleast.
rahulspi asked, Hi Pranav, Gud evening. I have purchased RNRL 100 130 RPL 100 161 PRAJ INDUSTRIES 100 152 ISPAT 300 42.8 GMR 100 166 Wat do u think for this porfolio looking at the current market conditions??
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, RPL, PRaj and GMR are stocks which you can surely hold on to.
venu asked, shud I go for reliance communications or air tel
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, At the current moment it looks like RCom. But Bharti shall eventually counter the policy changes going against them.
Randy asked, Hello Pranav sir, can i get ur email address or website ?
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, You can ask the rediff people for my email id thank you.
anandarao asked, Hi Pranav, What is meant by correction. How one can know which stocks are overvalued or undervalued. Thanx and Regards, A. Ananda Rao.
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, You have to see what is the accepted PE multiple at the current times. If it is 15 and the stock is below that then its under valued, if it is above then it is over valued. This is just one parameter. But there could be hidden assets or liabilities in the company which do not show on the balance sheet and therefore does not translate into the EPS of the company. So there are various factors one has to study before you arrive at that conclusion. The one I mentioned is a basic one.
lakshmi asked, hi mr.pranav, good evening. What is the future in respect of SRF Shares and how soon GMR Infrsturcture can recover.
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, SRF I don't follow but GMR you could surley look at current levels and within 6 months you should see a decent return.
satya asked, what about power grid?
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, It is a decent power sector play only its a much newer scrip so I'd rather go with NTPC or REL or Tata Power.
Esh asked, I have bought Micro Technologies at 302.90 what will be appreciation like on this scrp, Can one buy Reliance Commm at this level
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, Yes you could but RComm.
anandarao asked, Hi Pranav, What is derivatives and future trading Thanx and Regards, A. Ananda Rao.
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, I would suggest you take up a course at the training institutes of BSE or NSE who offer good courses on the topics. It would probably take a day to explain the complete dyanmics of F&O.
akky asked, someone was saying today .. tht market will go 2000 points down from here .. what do u think
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, It looks difficult but one can never say. Markets should remain a bit volatile and some drastically negative news could send the markets tumbling especially with the low volumes we are witnessing currently.
amitjoshi04 asked, Hello sir, I have 1000 shares of GujNre Coke @107. Should i hold them and what shud be the target within 6 months
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, Yes surely hold on. Coal is a commodity which is in short supply.
sunil asked, noida tol purchased 750@the rate of 73.40, any sign of quick recovery
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, They have plans to develop over 200 hectres in and around the highway and could substantially benefit over the net 2 to 3 years from the same.
sandipjog asked, hello pranav
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, Hello and what is your query?
jkavalam asked, any chance of comming back to 21000 +
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, If our corporates continue the performance and we don't have any drastic changes in teh budget we could see new highs some time during the year.
jitesh asked, I hold Kirloskar ferro, Electrosteel casting,blue bird india. how r this stocks for long term. And in mining sector which is a growth stock?
PRANAV SANGHAVI answers, I like The first 2 stocks you mentioned. In the mining I think Sesa Goa has good potential. It has a very strong balance sheet. Low capital and huge reserves and profitability.
PRANAV SANGHAVI says, Well its been great chatting with you guys. Its time for me to leave. Have a great weekend and see you'll next week. Bye for now.

Chat with Pranav every Wednesday at 4 pm

(Due to circumstances beyond our control, the date and time of chat may change) 
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