Friday, November 28, 2014
Friday, November 14, 2014
Mr & Mrs Khanna: The latest blockbuster on D-street tracked by market watchers
ET Intelligence Group: Every bull market produces stars — those who churn one multi-bagger after another. One such name which is being closely tracked by avid market watchers, and participants these days, is Dolly Khanna.
With stakes of more than 1% in 14 listed companies, Khanna's shareholdings are worth at least a few hundred crores. Most of these stocks — mainly small-caps — have multiplied several times, earning her a devoted fan following on Dalal Street in recent years. But, there is one thing that flummoxes them: they don't know who Dolly Khanna is.
With stakes of more than 1% in 14 listed companies, Khanna's shareholdings are worth at least a few hundred crores. Most of these stocks — mainly small-caps — have multiplied several times, earning her a devoted fan following on Dalal Street in recent years. But, there is one thing that flummoxes them: they don't know who Dolly Khanna is.
That is strange because such impressive stock pickings usually spark frenzied hero worship, especially among those who prefer to piggyback rather than identify their own winners to make big money.
The only time her name pops up is when she buys more than 1% or more in a company. No one knows how she looks though traders' blogs have some versions of her identity. But, those market watchers who insist on knowing more about the thoughts behind picking the stock winners, could benefit better by talking to her husband, Rajiv. The low-profile investor revealed to ET that Dolly Khanna is a homemaker and that he manages her investments.
For Chennai-based Khanna, stock investing is more of a hobby than a profession. The Khannas own Kwality Milk Foods, which sold its ice-cream business to Hindustan Unilever in 1995. With the money he got after selling the ice cream business, Rajiv Khanna, 67, started investing in the market in 1996-97 for the first time.
"It started as a hobby and remains a hobby. My core business is of milk products," said the lowprofile investor, who agreed to talk to ET over phone after weeks of persuasion. He did not respond to requests seeking an interview in person. Hawkins Cookers was his first multi-bagger. Khanna started accumulating the stock in 2007 and went on accumulating it till June 2009 at an average price of 130-140. Today, the stock is trading at Rs 3,400, and the company has given at least 70% of its profits a ..
Then, there was nothing stopping Khanna. He went on to identify small-cap winners such as Wimplast (more than 7 times in two years), Cera Sanitaryware (more than 7 times in two years ), RS Software (4 times in less than two years), and Avanti Feeds (more than 4 times in less than 6 months). Khanna's passion for picking stocks through extensive research can be traced back to his first job. A chemical engineer from IIT Madras, Khanna worked for ICI Ltd, a pharmaceutical company as a research person in the field of industrial explosives and blasting physics. In 1986, he started his company - Kwality Milk Foods. In the first decade of his investing career, gains from the market were modest. It was only after 2007 that the stakes started becoming bigger.
Dolly Khanna's portfolio (companies in which she holds more than 1%) has grown from Rs 1 crore in 2007 to Rs 175 crore at present. She also holds shares in several other companies but that does not appear in the shareholding of those companies. "We also have holdings in larger companies but we can't buy more than 1% of them," he said
Friday, October 31, 2014
6 years later: Verdict on Raju, 9 other Satyam scam accused on 23 December
A special court here will pronounce its verdict on December 23 in the accounting fraud in the erstwhile Satyam Computer Services Limited, nearly six years after the the multi-crore rupee scam jolted corporate India.
Special judge BVLN Chakravarthi fixed 23 December for pronouncement of the much-awaited judgement.
All the ten accused in the case, including prime accused Satyam Computers founder and former chairman B Ramalinga Raju and his brother and Satyam's former MD B Rama Raju, appeared in the court, as per its direction.
The media was not allowed inside the court.
"Case is posted for judgement on 23 December. In all probability, it (verdict) will be delivered on that date, failing which, because of the volume of the case, it might take a few days more if at all," CBI's special Public Prosecutor K Surender said.
The others accused in the case are ex-CFO Vadlamani Srinivas, former PwC auditors Subramani Gopalakrishnan and T Srinivas, Raju's another brother B Suryanarayana Raju, former employees G Ramakrishna, D Venkatpathi Raju and Ch Srisailam, and Satyam's former internal chief auditor VS Prabhakar Gupta.
The court, in the meanwhile, heard arguments by the defence and prosecution after Raju had filed an application before it challenging the authenticity of some of the electronic evidence presented by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that investigated the fraud.
The defence contended that some of the electronic evidence submitted against Raju and the others accused was inadmissible because it was not retrieved in accordance with provisions of the Evidence Act.
Touted as the country's biggest accounting fraud, the scam came to light on 7 January, 2009, after Ramalinga Raju allegedly confessed to manipulating his company's account books and inflating profits over many years to the tune of several crores of rupees.
Raju was arrested by the Crime Investigation Department of Andhra Pradesh Police two days later along with his brother Rama Raju and others.
Raju and others were charged with offences like cheating, criminal conspiracy, forgery and breach of trust under relevant sections of IPC for inflating invoices and incomes, account falsification, faking fixed deposits, besides allegedly falsifying returns through violation of various I-T laws.
In February that year, the CBI took over investigation and filed three charge sheets (on 7 April, 2009, 24 November, 2009 and 7 January, 2010), which were later clubbed into one. Around 3,000 documents were marked and 226 witnesses were examined.
Raju later retracted his confession statement and contended that all charges levelled by the CBI were false. During the trial, the CBI alleged that the scam caused a loss of Rs 14,000 crore to Satyam shareholders, while the defence countered the charges saying the accused were not responsible for the fraud and all the documents filed by the central agency relating to the case were fabricated and not according to law.
At present, all the accused are out on bail, though the Enforcement Directorate has also filed a charge sheet against them under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Satyam Computer Services Ltd had later merged with Tech Mahindra.
Run for Unity: PM Modi masterstroke pushes Indira to irrelevance
Congressmen better grin and bear it. 31 October is no more about Indira Gandhi's death anniversary; the Narendra Modi government has managed to make it irrelevant by superimposing on it another national icon, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. These towering personalities of Indian history would not have liked being placed on conflicting sides of a political divide a bit, but the BJP government is too busy scoring ideological points at the moment to think about propriety.
India's first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
If the Congress was afraid that the government would end up appropriating all its icons, including Mahatma Gandhi, the NDA is doing worse: it’s making the deities in its pantheon redundant. The ‘Run for Unity’ being organised by the NDA government is as a much a tribute to one of the nation's founding fathers as it is about giving a short shrift to Indira's martyrdom.
While Modi has openly banked on Sardar Patel in his previous campaigns for Gujarat Assembly elections, he has now given it a national hue. Government offices near Raisina Hill will be closed in the afternoon today. It will be followed by a pledge-taking ceremony for the country’s unity in various government offices, public institutions and Public Sector Undertakings (PSU’s). The NDA government has already announced that Patel’s birth anniversary will be celebrated as Rashtriya Ekta Divas (National Unity Day). Patel was instrumental in unifying the country by bringing various princely states under one roof as India’s first Deputy Prime Minister.
Though most Congressmen remained mum, some did lash out against the NDA’s latest move. “Indira ji and her sacrifice don’t need patronage from anyone. She still rules the hearts of our poor,” says Akhilesh Pratap Singh, national spokesperson Congress. “It was only the Congress party that contributed to the freedom struggle, the rest remained subservient to the British. Why does the BJP forget that it was Patel who banned the RSS,” he adds.
But the NDA remains unfazed as PM Modi has grand plans afoot on Sardar Patel’s 138th birth anniversary. Another radio address to the nation followed by a ‘March Past’ by Police, Central Armed Police Forces, NCC, Home Guards etc in major cities and towns in the evening. The agenda seems to be clear, to keep ‘Indira at bay’. “With Modi in complete control, the narratives around 31st October hinges on Sardar Patel and anti-Sikh riots,” says Shivraj Parshad, CEO and Founder Brevis LLP which deals in Media, Training and Advocacy. “For the first time in three decades, India Gandhi’s death anniversary has been consigned to the back pages. The media also seems to be rallying around a new flag,” he adds. Centre also decided to give an additional compensation to over 3000 victims of the 1984 anti Sikh riots this Thursday, and is pulling all stops to ensure that National Unity Day turns into an overwhelming success.
For the NDA, it may be a commemoration to reiterate that India stands together when it comes to facing any threat to its integrity, but in reality it is a political masterstroke. The Congress has now become acutely aware of Modi’s intentions and has been working overtime to do the balancing act, after all both Patel and Indira belonged to their party.
“No one can demolish the legacy of our leaders. It is there for everyone to see, be it Sardar Patel or Indira Gandhi,” counters Ajay Maken, Congress media chief. “Congress president had herself written to the then PM in 2012 that Government of India should celebrate/organize such events only for Mahatma Gandhi, rest should be left to political parties or Trusts to do so. Narendra Modi has just taken a step in that direction,” he adds.
Though the Congress is maintaining a straight face over Sardar Patel overshadowing Nehru’s daughter, the discomfort does find its way out. So far the grand old party has just been kept busy trying to counter what NDA government has been doing, a systematic approach to keep the Nehru-Gandhi name out of public memory. It’s time the Congress moved from just being vigilant to pro-active as Modi attempts to make their political icons fade in the background in the current political scenario.
Overnight US Market.Dow Closed up 221.11 points ,S&P 500 by 12.35 points.
U.S. Stocks »
World Markets » | Level | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Nikkei 225 Japan | 15,953.29 | +1.88% |
 | Hang Seng Hong Kong | 23,898.84 | +0.83% |
| | FTSE 100 England | 6,463.55 | +0.15% |
| | DAX Germany | 9,114.84 | +0.35% |
Data as of Oct 30
Currencies » | Price | $ Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada Dollar | $0.8935 | -0.0004% | |
| United Kingdom Pound | $1.5994 | +0.0522% | |
| European Euro | $1.2601 | +0.0885% | |
| Japan Yen | ¥109.3850 | +0.0274% | |
Data as of Oct 30
Commodities » | Price | % Change |
|---|---|---|
| Light Crude | 80.84 | -0.35% |
| Natural Gas | 3.85 | +0.47% |
| Gold | 1,198.30 | -0.03% |
| Corn | 3.74 | -0.33% |
Data as of Oct 30
Bonds & Interest Rates » | Yield Today | Previous Yield |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Month Treasury | 0.00% | 0.02% |
| 10 Year Treasury | 2.30% | 2.32% |
| 30 Year Treasury | 3.04% | 3.05% |
Data as of Oct 30
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)