Warren Buffett’s fortune is enough to stupefy anyone. Starting from scratch, he has amassed a fortune of billions and billions of dollars. And the most amazing part of that feat is not even that – it is the fact that he has achieved so much wealth in his lifetime purely by investing in the stocks and bonds of companies.

As he has mentioned a number of times, he credits much of the framework with which he invests to Benjamin Graham, his mentor and teacher from whom he learned how to invest. Thus, it should be of immense interest to anyone who wants to invest wisely, to hear what Graham has to say on the subject of the maximum price one should pay for buying a stock. After all, this is a perennial question that comes to the mind of investors – What is the right price to pay?

Although the benchmark indices made a valiant attempt at recovery towards the closing stages, it did not prove to be enough, thus leading to the indices closing the day in the negative. While the BSE Sensex ended the day down around 50 points (0.3%), NSE Nifty edged lower by around 10 points (0.2%). BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices on the other hand, had a relatively better day, ending higher by 0.2% and 0.5% respectively. Advances and declines split themselves up rather evenly on the overall BSE today with the former having a slight edge.

While most Asian indices ended in the red today, most of Europe is also trading in the negative currently. The rupee was trading at 48.8 to the dollar at the time of writing.

There's no gainsaying the fact that emerging markets (except China) have been the leaders of the current bull-run that began taking wings in March 2009. Now while there are murmurs abound that valuations of these markets have reached their multi-year highs, the fact remains that emerging markets are showing better signs of growth after last year's crisis than what is seen in the developed world of the US and Europe. In fact, the improvement in the economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) has taken investors by surprise given that none had expected such a fast recovery. The fact that this recovery is largely based on cheap and excess liquidity ,that has the risks of building up into another bubble, is another point of discussion.

Data Source: Yahoo Finance Note: Country names represent their benchmark stockmarket indices

Volatility continued to rule the roost during the closing hours of trade. However, one big push towards the closing stages enabled the key benchmark indices to close in the positive. While Sensex edged higher by nearly 60 points (0.4%), Nifty ended higher by around 10 points (0.2%). BSE Mid cap and small cap indices closed in a contrasting manner with the former ending marginally lower and the latter marginally higher. Advance to decline ratio on the overall BSE once again came in favour of the latter albeit marginally.

While Asian indices closed mixed today, majority of the European indices are witnessing buying activity currently. The rupee was trading at Rs 48.5 to the dollar at the time of writing.

As if the drought-like conditions and inflationary pressures were not enough, there is another threat looming large on the wellbeing of the Indian economy. While poor exports, rising input costs and fewer borrowing options have already been ailing India Inc., this threat could bring the crisis for Indian companies to catastrophic proportions.

We are referring to the ballooning fiscal deficit that is expected to enlarge further with the government's damage control measures in the aftermath of crop failures. The weakest monsoon in at least seven years has caused drought in 278 of India's 626 districts, damaging crops including sugar cane, rice and oilseeds.

With markets in no mood of giving up their gains, the indices traded in a narrow range during the closing hours of trade and this resulted in them closing in the black yet again. While the Sensex closed with gains of around 385 points (2.6%), Nifty edged higher by around 100 points (2.1%). The BSE mid cap and small cap indices also ended with gains, closing higher by 2.6% and 2.8% respectively. With the exception of ONGC, all the other Sensex stocks closed positive. Advance to decline ratio on the overall BSE also favored advances as they outnumbered declines by a ratio of nearly 3:1.

Asian indices were also in the grip of positive sentiment as most of them edged higher today while buoyancy is also being witnessed currently amongst European indices. The rupee was trading at Rs 48.6 to the dollar at the time of writing.

By Ajit Dayal

Money flows are doing to stock markets what money flows are supposed to do. When people buy with greed, markets rise. When people sell in fear, markets fall.

Although Indian equities had reached very attractive valuations earlier this year, no one really expected the recovery to be this strong and this quick. However, there are some who prepared for this rally and have reaped rich dividends. One of them is Sanjiv Duggal, who manages about US$ 6 bn in Indian stocks at HSBC Holdings Plc’s Halbis Capital Management in London.

As per Bloomberg, Duggal's US$ 4.6bn Indian Equity Fund, which targets overseas investors, rose a whopping 78% this year, the best-performing Indian equity fund with assets of more than US$ 500m.

By Ajit Dayal

Green shoots emerge?

From September 2008 till February 2009, while governments and central banks were doing their fair share of printing money or increasing their spending plans, the mood amongst consumers, businesses, and investors was one of utter despair.

Persistent buying activity throughout today’s trading session led the Indian markets to end the day well above the dotted line. The BSE-Sensex ended higher by around 440 points, while the NSE-Nifty closed higher by about 125 points. Stocks from the mid-cap and small-cap spaces ended the day on a positive note as well, recording gains of around 2.5% each. Barring stocks from the FMCG sector, buying activity was witnessed in stocks across the board, led by software, realty and banking.

As regards other markets, most of the Asian markets ended the day on a positive note. The European indices are currently trading in the green. Rupee was trading at 48.20 against the US Dollar at the time of writing.

Led by some decent results announced by Indian companies for the quarter ended June 2009, markets made a strong upsurge in today's trade. The BSE-Sensex ended higher by around 495 points, while the NSE-Nifty closed up by about 144 points. Stocks from the mid-cap and small-cap spaces ended strong as well, recording gains of 2.3% and 2.4% respectively.

Most of the other Asian markets ended the day on a positive note too. The European indices are also trading strong currently. Rupee was trading at 48.75 against the US dollar at the time of writing.

The Indian markets put up a strong show today as persistent buying activity led the indices to gain momentum right from the opening session of trade. The BSE-Sensex ended the day higher by around 400 points, while the NSE-Nifty ended with gains of about 130 points. The BSE-Midcap and BSE-Smallcap indices ended the day higher by about 4.2% and 4.6% respectively. Buying activity was witnessed in stocks across the board with the pack of gainers led by stocks from the realty, metal and capital goods space. At the time of writing, the overall advance to decline ratio stood at 3.7 to 1 on the BSE.

Most of the other Asian markets ended the day on a firm note today. The European indices are currently trading in the green as well. Rupee was trading at 48.7 against the US dollar at the time of writing.

The final hour saw the Indian markets strengthen further on account of strong buying activity. The BSE-Sensex ended the day higher by around 450 points, while the NSE-Nifty closed higher by about 140 points. The BSE-Midcap and BSE-Smallcap indices also ended the day on a firm note, ending higher by about 4.3% and 4.5% respectively. Today, buying activity was witnessed in stocks across the board with stocks from the realty, metal and power sectors leading the pack of gainers. At the time of writing, the overall advance to decline ratio stood at 3.1 to 1 on the BSE.

Most of the other Asian markets ended the day on a firm note today. The European indices are currently trading in the green as well. Rupee was trading at 48.9 against the US dollar at the time of writing.

Despite the buying activity during the final hour of trading, the markets still ended lower than Friday’s closing mark. The BSE-Sensex ended the day lower by around 100 points, while the NSE-Nifty closed lower by about 30 points. The BSE-Midcap and BSE-Smallcap indices ended the day lower by about 2.8% and 3.4% respectively. Today, buying activity was witnessed in select IT and banking stocks. On the other hand, stocks from the metal, realty and power sectors led the pack of losers. At the time of writing, the overall decline to advance ratio stood at 3.4 to 1 on the BSE.

Most of the other Asian markets ended the day on a weak note today. The European indices are currently trading in the red as well. Rupee was trading at 49.2 against the US dollar at the time of writing.

Not so content with the budget measures announced today, market participants reacted harshly by engaging in a mass sell-off. Just an hour before noon, the indices’ downward journey began and subsequently continued till the close. The Sensex ended the day lower by about 870 points (5.8%), while the NSE-Nifty closed lower by around 260 points (5.8%). Barring stocks from the FMCG sector, selling activity was witnessed across the board, led by stocks from the banking, realty and capital good spaces, whose respective indices were down in the range of 7% to 8%. The overall decline to advance ratio was stood at 3.5 to 1 on the BSE.

Most of the other Asian markets also ended the day on a weak note today. Stocks in Europe are also trading in the red currently. Rupee was trading at 48.49 against the US dollar at the time of writing.

After weathering the alternate bouts of buying and selling activity through the day, the Indian markets closed marginally higher than yesterday’s levels. The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty ended higher, up by around 13 points and 8 points respectively. The stocks from the mid-cap and the small-cap spaces ended higher, up by around 0.33% and 0.74% respectively. Buying activity was witnessed among the stocks from the metals, realty and healthcare sectors. Engineering and auto stocks were at the receiving end. The overall market breadth was positive, with gainers outnumbering losers in ratio of 1.2 to 1 on the BSE.

Most of the Asian markets ended the day on a weak note. The European markets are also trading weak currently. The Rupee was trading at 47.91 against the US Dollar at the time of writing.

Although the Indian markets witnessed some volatility during the previous hour, they managed to end the day well above yesterday’s closing level. The BSE-Sensex ended with gains of about 150 points, while the NSE-Nifty ended higher by about 50 points. Stocks from the mid-cap and small-cap spaces ended the day on a positive note as well, recording gains of 1% and 0.3% respectively. Apart from stocks from the consumer durables space, buying activity was witnessed in stocks across the board, led by the realty, banking and auto spaces.

Most of the other Asian markets ended the day on a firm note today. The European indices are currently trading in the green as well. Rupee was trading at 48.00 against the US dollar at the time of writing.

The Indian markets continued their downward journey as selling activity persisted till the final minutes of trade. The BSE-Sensex ended lower by around 290 points, while the NSE-Nifty closed lower by about 100 points. Stocks from the mid-cap and small-cap spaces ended the day on a weak note as well, recording losses of 2.9% and 2.5% respectively. Selling activity was witnessed in stocks across the board today, with the pack led by stocks from the realty, metal and capital goods sectors.

Other Asian markets ended the day on a mixed note today. The European indices are currently trading in the red. Rupee was trading at 47.99 against the US dollar at the time of writing.

The Indian markets gave up the huge gains they had registered during the second half of today’s trading session, and closed on a flat note as selling activity intensified during the fag end. The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty ended higher by around 10 points each. However, the stocks from the BSE mid-cap and BSE small-cap indices ended strong, up by around 1.2% and 1.5% respectively. Buying activity was witnessed in stocks from the metal, realty and banking spaces, while stocks from auto and software spaces ended on a negative note. The overall advance to decline ratio was poised at 1.7 to 1 on the BSE.

Most of the other Asian markets ended the day on a weak note. The European indices are currently trading in the green. The Rupee was trading at 48.15 against the US Dollar at the time of writing.

Persistent buying activity during the day led the markets to end the week on a strong note. The BSE-Sensex ended higher by around 419 points, while the NSE-Nifty closed up by about 135 points. Stocks from the mid-cap and small-cap spaces ended the day on a positive note, recording gains of 2.4% and 1.9% respectively. Buying activity was witnessed in stocks from the banking, consumer goods and IT spaces, while stocks from healthcare ended on a negative note.

Most of the other Asian markets ended the day on a positive note today. The European indices are currently trading in the green. The Rupee was trading at 48.27 against the US Dollar at the time of writing.