Stocks are a tricky market. Many people love the thrill and thrive on being on the edge of disaster at any moment. If you want
to dabble in stocks and futures, day trading may be for you.
What is day trading anyway? It reminds you of seeing all those people in colorful jackets in the bullpen at the New York Stock
Exchange yelling and trading paper with scribbles on it as the digital ticker tape scrolls around the room. Day trading
involves stocks but also other investment instruments that demonstrate such market changes that can be traded successfully from
day to day. What you are trading on is the difference between the buying price and the selling price.
It can be a complicated business to trade stocks and other instruments, so day traders need to know the market and have a
strategy for getting the useful information to make them some money. The Internet has given people savvy in the financial
market the ability to day trade for themselves because of access to up-to-the-minute market data.
Day traders work within markets that can be traded on a daily basis because of the changes in their markets. We mentioned
stocks but other options are currencies (based on exchange rates), commodities (like gold and oil, based on daily rates) and
futures (future contracts) to name a few. Futures are popular because it is not actually about owning anything. You are trading
contracts that say something will be sold for a specific price in the future. Money is made on the difference between buying
and selling prices just like with other instruments useful for day trading.
Start with a market that doesn’t move very fast so you can get the hang of it. You will need money to deposit with your
brokerage before you begin trading. Sometimes that determines which markets are suitable for you to begin with. Shoot for
markets with low tick value and also low tick size (the minimum change in price that is required).
As a beginner day trader, you will most likely choose to enter trades based on the volatility and liquidity of the stock.
Volatility is a measure of how much the stock is supposed to fluctuate in a day. Those that have a greater fluctuation risk
could mean huge profits or huge losses. Liquidity refers to how well you’ll move within that stock price.
Use your charts and data available. Finding an entry point is your target. You may want to trade on the low and high of the day
to buy and sell. Another strategy is trading based on financial news. Buy when volume is low and sell when it begins to show
signs of a reversal.
Day trading can be lucrative once you learn the ropes. Start in a slower, more stable market as you get your bearings and
choose the strategy that works for you.
Put simply, a stock market is the place where people buy and sell shares of stock in publicly traded companies. Brokers connect
potential buyers and sellers who agree to transactions at an agreed-upon price.
When the stock market operates the way it should, the most efficiently-run companies will receive more investments than the
others who are not. The best businesses will then thrive and those that are not will become extinct or adapt.
Today, stock markets are thriving and are getting more sophisticated. There is now a slow transition of the traditional stock
markets (and stock exchanges) into the virtual world and online stocks transactions will all be done online.
For an aspiring investor or a broker wannabe, there are still certain things one should be familiar with in a real-world stock
market trading. One of them is the so-called stock index.
Stock indexes
A stock index is the statistical average of a particular stock exchange or sector. Stocks of parts of the same exchange, or the
same industry or the same companies are classified and grouped into indexes.
The most common (and well-known) stock indexes in the U.S. are the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the New York Stock Exchange
composite index, and the Standard & Poor 500 Composite Stock Price Index.
Stock indexes are usually studied by experts for a definitive look into the overall perspective of the economic health of a
certain industry group or the whole of a stock exchange, for instance.
Kinds of indexes
Stock indexes are calculated in different ways, each type serving a purpose. Price Weighted Indexes are those that are based
solely on the price of stocks. This index group does not consider the importance of any particular stock or the company size.
The Market Value Weighted Index is the one that does consider the company size of the stocks group with them. This group
considers the price shifts of small companies even if they have less influence than the big ones. Another type, the one that is
based on the number of shares rather than the total value is called the Market-share Weighted Index.
Other index uses
Aside from giving overall outlook on particular economies, indexes are also used as investment instruments. Passively Managed
Mutual Funds are mutual funds based on indexes.
Regular managed funds have been found to be outperformed by this index-based passively managed mutual fund.
The big indexes
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is one of the best-known indexes in the U.S. Presently, it follows the stock movements of 30
of the most influential companies in America.
Dow Jones is considered to be a price-weighted average index because it gives more influence to more expensive stocks. Many
analysts say that price-weighting does not really give an accurate picture of the different stock market movements. They also
added that 30 companies is still short to form an accurate assessment.
S & P 500 Index is based on 500 US corporations that are carefully chosen to represent a much extensive swathe of the country’s
economic activity. Although regarded as second only to Dow Jones, economic experts feel that it is an accurate predictor of the
state and condition of the economy.
All in all, stock indexes have a perfect role to perform in a stock market – an indicator of the market’s health or that of its
group or even the strength of one particular stock itself in the market.
There are cash plans that cover for the cost of travelling to a hospital or keeping a relative with the patient
Taking a health plan does not mean all our expenses on hospitalisation is covered. To name a few, travelling to and fro from
the hospital, special diet expenses and expenses for relative staying with patient are not covered under medical plans.
Should you chase dividend funds?
However, there are certain plans that cater to these specific needs as well. Tata AIG General Insurance, Bajaj Allianz General
Insurance and Royal Sundaram General Insurance offer hospital cash plans. These plans can be purchased mostly with the medical
insurance policies.
To avail off this facility, the policy holder should be hospitalised either in a registered hospital or in a hospital with a
minimum of 15 beds. And, hospitalisation could be due to sickness or accident.
Premium: As per Tata AIG General Insurance’s website, this plan is available for any individual aged between 18 to 59 years and
includes self, spouse and two dependent children aged between 6 months and 18 years or up to 23 years, if studying in an
accredited institution of higher learning and unmarried.
Strategies for SIP investment
If a family of four buys a cover of Rs 5.5 lakh from Tata AIG, the annual premium would be Rs 4,669 inclusive of service tax.
Benefits provided under this would be hospitalisation due to sickness (Rs 1,000 per day), hospitalisation due to accident (Rs
2,000 per day), medical expenses reimbursement in the event of an accident (Rs 10,000).
With Bajaj Allianz - 30 days Rs 500 Plan, a family of four would pay a premium of Rs 1,362 inclusive of service tax.
Hospitalisation due to illness (in a general) would receive Rs 500 a day, admission in ICU due to illness would get Rs 1,000
per day. Hospitalisation due to accident (general) would get Rs 500 a day and accident admission in ICU would get Rs 1,000. A
premium up to Rs 15,000 a year is eligible for tax exemption under section 80D.
Exclusions: Hospitalisation within 30 days from the time of purchasing the policy, pre-existing diseases, dental treatment or
surgery, pregnancy-related treatment, childbirth, natural perils like avalanche, earthquake, volcanic eruptions, accidents from
drunken driving are not covered by the policy.
Keep track of these changes with your investments
The waiting period for Tata AIG General Insurance’s Individual Accident and Sickness Hospital Cash is 90 days, unless
hospitalisation is caused by injury. Routine physical examination where there are no objective indications or impairment in
normal health, laboratory diagnostic or X-ray examinations is also not covered, including expenses incurred outside India.
Claim settlement: The illness or claim should be immediately reported to the insurer on phone or in writing (email/letter). The
claimant will need to submit a complete claim form along with documents required - attending doctor's report, hospital
discharge card or proof with details of treatment, bills with prescriptions, pathological or X-ray reports.
After submission of the necessary documents, the insurance company's claim team would assess the claim for completeness of
documentation and admissibility and send a written communication to the insured for additional documents if any or if the claim
is deemed to be inadmissible as per policy.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
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