Bullish mode today

The Dow closed on a significantly positive note due to lower joblessness claims. Taking the early opening cues from US markets, European markets also rallied between 1-2% yesterday. Key Asian markets have opened in the green and we expect a positive opening for our markets too. Crude closed higher at $79.97/bbl while gold also rallied to $1047/oz.

Institutional activity on the cash segment saw significant volumes yesterday with FIIs selling INR 2546 crs while DIIs purchased INR 977 crs. Yesterday was expiry day and Nifty October futures rolled at a higher rollover cost - implying bullish bias. Nifty November put options are congested around the 4600/4800 levels while call options indicate 5000 as the upside hurdle.

Market closed at 4750 yesterday and we expect a positive opening close to 4800 levels. As I mentioned yesterday, it was a good day to start putting money back into the market.

In the short-term, oscillators and stochastic indicate oversold positions. On upside if market breaks 4870, then we are likely to test 4900 again. On the downside, 4770/4665 continue to be strong supports.

Time to start putting money from investing perspective

The Dow closed negative note on account of concerns about slower global recovery. European markets also closed deep in the red.Today key Asian markets have opened on a negative note and we expect a negative opening for our markets too. Crude closed lower at $77.15/bbl and gold also saw a fall and closed lower at $1032/oz.

Institutional activity on the cash segment mixed with FIIs selling INR 723 crs whileDIIs purchased INR 896 crs. Today is the expiry day so expect a choppy session. Aggregate rollovers so far have been over 61% indicating willingness to participate despiterecent nervousness. Key supports for the day are 4770/4670 while on the upside 5065 remains a crucial resistance level.

4700-4800 is a good time for long-term investors to start putting money in the market. Market has been making higher tops and higher bottoms on the charts. In the last pull back from 4800, we saw a bottom at 4450-4500. From the current high top of 5200, the 50% retracement level of 4665 looks unlikely to be breached at the moment.

Market in a consolidation phase

US markets closed in the red yesterday based on poor housing starts report despite strong earnings report by heavy equipment maker caterpillar. European markets also closed in the red yesterday. Key Asian markets have opened marginally in the red and we expect a subdued opening for our markets too.

Commodities were little changed with oil ending at $78.50 and Gold at $1,056.

The results season is on the full swing and yesterday majors like Sesa Goa and TechM declared results. Sesa Goa results were lower than expectations (performance is usually lower in 2QE due to monsoon). TechM results were per expectations if one were to exclude the forex gains made by the company. Yes bank also came out with a good set of numbers and the bank is expected to raise further capital to strengthen its Tier I and II capital base.

Among results to watch out for today are Hero Honda and JP Associates.

Further, from tomorrow onwards, the Nifty composition is going to include JP Associates and IDFC to replace Nalco and Tata Comm.

Market is currently in a consolidation phase and it is tough to conclusively say which direction the market is going to head towards. Based on technicals if the market trades below 5100 it will test support of 5077 and 5049 while in case the market breaches the level of 5135 then it will test recent high of 5180 and test even 5300.

Rediscovering board games

In recent weeks, husband and I have taken fancy to Scrabble. Apart from being a good distraction from TV (where we can never agree on channels) which seldom has good programs except on weekends probably, we found this a better way to spend time and exercise our rusted minds. At the moment the novelty factor has not rubbed off so every day our TV time is spent on Scrabble. We plan to add Carrom and other board games to our activity list soon.

During my childhood days, I seldom associated late evenings with TV. There was no TV till early mid-80s. And then also there was a black-n-white box. As long as I can remember there was boring Krishi Darshan that used to come at 7PM. All the interesting programs would come only after 9PM by which time, I would be fast asleep. Once it got dark and we stopped playing outside, it would be time to play indoor games like Carrom, Scrabble, Chess, Slots. Monopoly was reserved for Sundays since it was a long game.

As adults, our perspective of fun and entertainment has changed radically. TV, cinemas and eating out occupy most of our weekend time-pass. The best form of entertainment we can get during Diwali is only teen-patti. And yet we find 'entertainment' in the monotony of these activities. We've forgotten the joy of painting, drawing, knitting, philately, numismatics or doing any fun activity that we used to as kids. Hubby and I hope to change this for ourselves and rediscover the joys of board games.

Searching for a good english music channel on TV

Why is it that our Indian TV network does not have any channel which plays only English music all day? Channel V and MTV - traditionally the 'English' music channels hardly play (English) music during regular hours.

Is there no market for English music anymore? Is Bollywood music the preferred music of the times in India? After a long search of surfing through various channels, I finally found one channel VH1 which was unfortunately only playing only one type of music - Hiphop.

Is no one interested anymore in listening to good old classics 'Green Green grass of home', 'Lipstick on your collar' or something from ABBA and some less recent ones from the Corrs or Shania Twain?

Is there any way to check this?

Very often my mobile phone rings from numbers that play pre-recorded messages. These particular numbers begin with +965XXXXXXX. I get these calls at least twice a day with one call definitely coming while I am driving or early Saturday/Sunday morning when sleep is dear.

Have these telemarketers bothered to find out how effective such a strategy is? I often get such pre-recorded ad calls even on the land line which we hardly use.

I wonder which businesses find telecalling a successful way of getting clients. In my business, it is one of the worst methods of salesmanship. I myself have never agreed to purchase a product solicited over the phone.

Further, numerous SMSes urging me to buy a Sauna belt, learn baking and purchase a second hand computer spam my mobile inbox. Is there no way to stop this nonsense? I will never make a purchase decision based on a faceless, character devoid, monologue. And majority of people I know have not done so either.

Who are these people purchasing products because of one SMS or because of a telemarketer? What causes them to make a purchase decision over the phone?