TCS bonus issue 1:1

It seems TCS has not felt the pinch of recession as it is offering bonus issue during recession in a ratio of 1:1.
This is the second bonus issue by the company since it went public five years ago. It had announced a similar bonus in 2006.
Bearing the brunt of global slowdown, TCS battled price re-negotiations and drying up of new software development projects, but maintained operating profit margins by moving thousands of employees from expensive onsite locations to offshore sites, bringing down travel expenditure and other expenses. The company said more than 40-45% of its customers have been reporting decline in revenues and more than 50% were reporting decline in profits.
The company’s net profit grew 4.6% year- on-year to Rs 1,314 crore, while revenues grew 17.7% to Rs 7,171.8 crore in the fourth quarter of FY09. However, for the first time since it went public in 2004, TCS has recorded a quarter-on-quarter decline of 1.4% in revenue. via

In my view this is a good step by a Tata Group , providing relief to share holders during bad times. TATA group has always been ahead in a social cause.

A Few stock market abbreviations you need to know.

These are few abbreviations used in the Indian Stock markets.

BSE - Bombay Stock Exchange. (Index - Sensex)
NSE - National Stock Exchange (Index - Nifty)
MF - Mutual Funds
SIP - Systematic Investment Plan
MCX - Multi Commodity Exchange
S&P - Standard & Poor
HNI - High net worth Individual
FII - Foreign Institutional Investor
DII - Domestic
EPS - Earning Per Share
PAT - Profit After Tax
PBT - Profit Before Tax
IPO - Initial Public Offerings
NAV - Net Asset Value
CAGR - Compounded Annual Growth Rate
P/E Ratio - Price Earning Ratio

If you know few more abbreviations then comment I will add them as soon as possible.

Is Stock Market Investing Gambling.

One of the biggest myth among many people is that they think stock market investing is just like gambling.
I have mentioned this in my earlier list.
People shy off from investing as they think it is gambling.
Many of our parents and grand parents didn't invest as they thought investing is just like gambling otherwise all of them have been just like Warren Buffet. If not at lest multi-millionaire.

Meaning of Investing and Gambling.
Merriam-Webster's first definition for "invest" is : "to commit (money) in order to earn a financial return." And the second definition is "to make use of for future benefits or advantages."

What about "gamble"? The first meaning is "to play a game for money or property" and the second is "to stake something on a contingency."

Some say it (Investing) is very much like gambling. While some say its myth comparing stock markets with gambling.
What I feel - In true sense if you go and see investing is buying the stock buy predicting the future (fundamentally or technically)with a sole aim to earn a profit. While in gambling you cant predict any future , people blindly put money without knowing the future.

There are some important differences here, though. Investment brokers may live off salaries or commissions, but the day trader depends directly on the market for income. The gambler may have a lot of good days, but the bad week will sap the earnings from a few good days. There is no doubt that the psychology behind gambling and active trading seems alarmingly similar, while gambling is considered illegal and illicit in many parts of the world, or at least looked down upon, day trading is mysterious and high sounding.

My point is that if you study the trends of the stock market, you can always gain with minimal (if any) loss. Gambling precludes some level of loss (and hopefully gain) -- even the best poker players have lost money, although they feel that their skills can outwit most casual players.

The other difference is the expectation. Gamblers don't go to Las Vegas with $100 hoping to come back with $115. They want to double or triple their money quickly. Investing is slower. You hope to double or triple your money, but over decades, not minutes or hours.

Markets depend on trends . Gambling is to go by flow.
Study and knowledge in markets is essential. In gambling a good knowledge base is not required , it depends on luck.

At the end I won't say stock market is not gambling , a bit of it is gambling i.e. Day trading. There are speculators (gamblers) in stock markets who may act as a bear or even a bull which affects the price of the stock on a high level on routine basis.
Take for an instance a few week ago rumors for ICICI bank becoming bankrupt were spread by a broker in Mumbai. So he speculated the stock price.

Shying of investing in Stock is not done. Warren Buffet became rich by investing. So can you.

Happy Investing.