A beginner's guide to stocks

It’s Long-term

Only invest money that you dont need for at least 5 years. Rather put your money only if you can lose ‘all’ of it. A holding period of more than one year not only reduces the possibility of loss, but also ensures that you will be treated better on tax front, as there is no tax on capital gains if the holding period is more than one year.

Study and invest

Not knowing about the possible outcomes of your actions is the true risk of investing in equities. Never invest on tips. Try to find information on the stocks and mutual funds you intend to invest in. A good track record across market cycles, while not a guarantee of future performance, reduces possibilites of future underperformace.

Direct or indirect

Should I invest on my own? The answer is no – if you do not have the time, expertise and inclination to research into ‘investment opportunities’ and if investing is not a full time activity for you. In such circumstances, it makes sense to hire an expert and invest through them. The transactional costs – such as demat charges, brokerage - are a deterrent for those with a a small investment corpus. This is where mutual funds come in as they start as low as Rs 500 and in some cases even at Rs 100 per month in the form of micro SIP.

SIP route

Systematic investment plan (SIP) is one of the better options for investing in the stock markets. Exposure at various time intervals helps reduce the risk associate with the market timing.

Index fund

In a rising market, the first to rise will be the front rung stocks. Index funds that track Nifty and Sensex help you to tap the opportunity. You just have to ensure that the fund will have least tracking error and minimal cost of the offering.

Equity linked saving scheme (ELSS)

Those who want to invest in equities and avail of tax breaks, equity linked saving schemes are the option. A scheme such as Franklin Templeton Index Tax can offer you a channel to invest in index while you enjoy a tax break.

Pitfalls to avoid

New fund offers (NFO) are best avoided if there is a lack of track record. Unit linked insurance plans are good only for those who typically have a term of more than 20 years on mind. If your investment horizon is three years mutual funds are better options. Do not get swayed by the online advisory services that claim to have 100% success ratio in day trading. Only god or a liar can claim a 100% success ratio.

There is no ‘one shirt fits all’ solution here. You have to assess your financial needs and your resources in the light of the markets. Portfolio rebalancing from time to time will further enhance the quality of the returns.

Meet Infosys highest-paid execs

Prof Marti G Subramanyam was the highest paid non-wholetime director at Rs 96 lakh (Rs 59 lakh). Other two names in the Infosys' 2007-08 were Srinath Batni, and Subhash Dhar. Batni received an annual compensation package of $316,207 (little less than Rs 1.3 crore). A member of the Infosys board, Batni is also a director on the board of Infosys Technologies (China) Co Ltd and Infosys Australia Pty Ltd.

Dhar is a senior vice-president and heads the communications, media and entertainment business unit at Infosys. He is also a member of the executive council of Infosys and serves on the board of Infosys Australia Pty Ltd. Dhar got an annual compensation package of $248,316 (a little less than Rs 1 crore), in the year 2007-08.


Among the board members, Mohandas Pai earned the highest compensation package of Rs 2.59 crore. He was followed by CFO Balakrishnan at Rs 2.36 crore (Rs 0.63 crore).

Last year, Pai was the third highest earning executive at Infosys. He received an annual package of $443,379 (about Rs 1.8 crore). This included $82,033 (approximately Rs 37 lakh) as annual salary, bonus/incentive of $308,625 (Rs 1.3 crore), other annual compensation of $31,916 (around Rs 14 lakh) and $20,805 (around Rs 9 lakh) towards long-term benefits.




The US-based Ashok Vemuri, head of BFSI and capital markets, took home a total compensation of Rs 4.04 crore (Rs 2.81 crore last year).

Last year Vemuri, had received an annual compensation of $704,111 (a little over Rs 2.8 crore).







BG Srinivas, head of European operations and an executive council member, was the highest paid employee at Infosys in the year-ended March 2009.

Last year, Srinivas received a total compensation package of Rs 3.07 crore, which includes approximately Rs 1.8 crore towards salary, Rs 1.16 crore towards bonus and incentives. This included an amount of Rs 38 kakh accruing from long-term benefits.




The CEO and MD, S Gopalakrishnan’s total compensation package stood at Rs 92 lakh (Rs 81 lakh) while co-chairman Nandan Nilekani earned Rs 91 lakh (Rs 82 lakh).

COO SD Shibulal’s Rs 87 lakh (Rs 78 lakh) was the lowest among key management personnel. NR Narayana Murthy, non-executive chairman and chief mentor, took home a commission of Rs 63 lakh (Rs 50 lakh).

Buying Guide To Cameras

Wanting to buy a camera for long? Bamboozled by the cameras around you? However, not sure how to go about hunting, what to look for? What features and how many megapixels?

You need some help in choosing your perfect one. Take a shot...



With digital cameras, it does. The overall quality of the image depends mainly on three things; quality of lens, quality & size of image sensor and image processing circuitry.

Stick to better known brands only; preferably Canon & Nikon. Both these companies do only imaging and they’re good at it too!

Millions of dollars spent by companies on advertising the ‘megapixel myth’ have brainwashed many. The fact is megapixels have nothing to do with image quality. Cramming more megapixels into a smaller image sensor can even lead to reduced picture quality.

Before buying, check out the optical zoom (more the better), LCD (size, quality), optical viewfinder (useful to frame photos in bright sunlight) and video recording (should be at least VGA quality @ 30 fps).

Also take note of the battery type, accessories (lens, flash, remote), optical viewfinder and manual modes. Some smaller cameras have really tiny and hard-to-use buttons; see if the camera fits your hand before you buy.

Cameras with touchscreen LCDs reduce the number of buttons, but attract a lot of fingerprints. Also check if the responsiveness of the screen is good enough for you.

Rechargeable batteries are convenient, but offer no means of recharging while on the move. If you’re worried about running out of power while travelling, you can go for a camera that uses standard AA size batteries.

Use high-power Ni-MH batteries, but in a pinch, you can also switch to alkaline batteries.

Prosumer refers to a class of camera that is intermediate between basic point-and-shoot and digital SLRs. They offer features suited to the more advanced user like full manual control, high optical zoom, image stabilisation (usually), high quality video and ability to attach an external flash.

But they are also usually more expensive and larger than their basic counterparts.

CCD/CMOS (charge coupled device/complementary metal oxide semiconductor): The type of image sensor used in a digital camera.

Digital zoom: This type of zoom digitally enlarges a portion of the image to make it appear bigger/closer.

Image stabiliser: A technology/mechanism by which camera shake is automatically countered (to a certain degree). It can be electronic or optical. Electronic is cheaper, not as effective.

ISO/ASA (Industry Standards Organization or American Standards Association): Denotes sensitivity to light, assigned to a number. Higher ISO/ASA means greater sensitivity and vice versa. It can help reduce camera shake, and can also lead to increased image noise.

Optical zoom: Refers to the use of movable lens elements to bring an object closer. Look for optical zoom figure, not the digital zoom.