JAGsPOSTs

Voting dAPP- Ethereum - India Opinion Poll

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Mon, 25 Dec 2017 10:47:00 +0000

dAPP (decentralized app) is a type of app where there is no centralized server. All the data is stored in decentralized fashion. The data is available public, it cannot be tampered. Once the data is pushed into Blockchain it cannot be removed. One of the most useful application is voting.
All the votes are registered in blockchain and it maintains a history of votes and hence the voting process can be trusted.

Ethereum blockchain can be used to store both code and data. Hence the protocol or logic to implement voting process can also be pushed into blockchain. The code part is called as contract.
Hence by using Ethereum blockchain, both the votes and the code can be made available in public database.

Participate in simple opinion poll - India and reap the benefit of decentralization !

https://voting-dapp.herokuapp.com/

Ethereum donation 0xA98C1903CfEfE2cf5E7eD78CF16e17DcF8a566CB

Arduino Yun interfacing with TMP36 sensor using Temboo and ThingSpeak IoT platforms

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 06:57:00 +0000

Arduino Yun is wifi enabled board from Arduino. The binary can be flashed over wifi. The sensor data collected can be pushed to cloud through wifi connection.
The data is pushed into IoT cloud platforms like Temboo, ThingSpeak, Ubidots etc. Most of the platforms are free for basic usage.
Once the data is in the cloud platform, it can be passed on to the upper layer of stack such as Android App or an excel sheet where the data can be processed.
The IoT platform provider provides libraries and API's to send and receive data from their cloud platform.

Block diagram of the data flow

Arduino YUN
https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardYun
I have Arduino YUN purchased from Arduino org and not Arduino cc. There was a split in the original Arduino company and hence the clarification.
Though there are no major differences but keep in mind that the board detects as Linino* instead of Arduino* when detected over wifi.
Once you connect, the password to be entered in doghunter.
http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=364731.0

Sensor
TMP36
The sensor used here is TMP36 which is analog based. Change in temperature results in change in voltage which needs to be measured through Arduino board analog pin and then convert the analog data to digital (ADC) in the code. The sensor is not that accurate due to its analog nature but its cheap and readily available.

IoT cloud platforms
https://temboo.com/
https://thingspeak.com/
There are various cloud platforms which can be used to store the data from the IoT boards and then can be processed or passed to upper layer of stack such as webserver, Android App etc.
Include the corresponding platform header file in the Arduino code and link the library, use the platform API's to read/write data to the platforms.

Connection of Arduino YUN with the sensor

Arduino Code for pushing data into Temboo
https://github.com/jaglinux/arduino-yun-sensor-spreadsheet

https://github.com/jaglinux/arduino-yun-sensor-dropbox

Arduino Code for pushing data into ThingSpeak
https://github.com/jaglinux/Arduino-YUN-TMP36_sensor-ThingSpeak

ThingSpeak public channel
https://thingspeak.com/channels/164264

Union Usage - Interpreting different value through the members

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 18:33:00 +0000

Union, like Structure can hold various members and each member can be of any data type.

But the basic difference is that at any given point, only one member of Union can be accessed.

It means that the value/data of a member will be retained until data is stored in another member.

If the idea is to retain the value of individual member then obviously Structure needs to be used.

Union should be used keeping in mind that the same memory location will be used by all the members of Union.

Size of Union is same as the size of the largest member.

All the members in Union use the same memory location to store the respective values and this fundamental principle can be exploited in cases where the value stored in one member can be interpreted in another way though a different member.

Lets consider a hypothetical 32 bit register X. There are 4 fields of a byte each.

31 - 24	23 - 16	15 - 8	7 - 0
Control_1 bits	Status_1 bits	Control_0 bits	Status_0 bits

A Structure representing the above diagram can be written as follows

struct regX {

        __u8 control_1;

        __u8 status_1;

        __u8 control_0;

        __u8 status_0;

}

Now we will write a Union which encapsulate the above structure along with the value of the register.

union regX_encaps {

        __u32 value;

        struct regX reg;

};

It should be noted that the "value" member is 32 bit and the "status / control" members are 8 bit each.

Since regX_encaps is a Union, the data present in the member .value can be accessed as struct regX.

        union regX_encaps registerX;

        registerX.value = 0xaabbccdd;

        printf("value of register is %x \n",registerX.value);

        printf("value of control_1 is %x\n",registerX.reg.control_1);

        printf("value of status_1 is %x\n",registerX.reg.status_1);

        printf("value of control_0 is %x\n",registerX.reg.control_0);

        printf("value of status_0 is %x\n",registerX.reg.status_0);

        return 0;

In the above example, data 0xaabbccdd is fed into reg of regX_encaps which can be accessed as individual byte.

Output of the above code

value of register is aabbccdd 

value of control_1 is bb

value of status_1 is aa

value of control_0 is dd

value of status_0 is cc

In a real time scenario, readl() will be used to feed the data into reg of regX_encaps. Perform the desired action on the individual byte (control_0, status_0 etc) and then write into that, effectively reg of regX has the entire data now and which can be written using writel()

SpinLock in Device Drivers

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 04:27:00 +0000

Locking is required in driver code to protect a shared variable or a piece of code from concurrent access. This protective region is referred as critical section.
Concurrent access to a variable will lead to variable corruption if locking is not used.
Locking restricts the access to the shared variable, converts the concurrent access to a sequential one.
When writing a driver, its important to keep in mind that the driver code can be accessed by many independent processes especially if the driver interacts with the user space through sysfs, device file operations etc.

Spinlock is a type of lock mechanism, used to protect a critical section which can be accessed by interrupt service routine and other part of driver code such as read,write functions.
To access a critical section, hold a lock and then enter the section and release the lock while leaving. If another process tries to enter the section when the lock is held, the process just spins around the lock to check if the lock is released. Its a busy wait loop which checks if the lock is released or not. Hence the name spinlock. Obviously the process which is spinning is 'wasting CPU cycles'.
The reason why spinlock is often used in interrupts because the other locking mechanism such as mutex, semaphore puts the process to sleep if the process wants to acquire the lock which is held by another process. As we know interrupts are not designed to sleep. Hence spinlocks are used when we need to protect a shared variable between interrupts and other part of driver code.

A sample skeleton driver pseudo code to illustrate the importance of locking.

write () {
..
outb(COMMAND_0, COMMAND_REG);
inb(STATUS_REG);
..
}

ioctl () {
..
outb(COMMAND_1, COMMAND_REG);
inb(STATUS_REG);
..
}

The write function sends command to the device and reads the status of the command as executed by the device. Even the ioctl command sends command and reads the status of the command. But the command sent by the ioctl function is different from the write function. (COMMAND_1 and COMMAND_0)
Assume there are 2 user space clients for this driver. One of the user process P0 has issued the write system call and another user process P1 has issued the ioctl system call.
Lets consider P1 is running and the code inside ioctl() is executing and has issued the command 1. By the time it reads the status register of the result, the scheduler kicks in and hands over the control to process P0. The write function issues command 0 and reads the status of that command. The scheduler hands back the control to process P1. It continues the execution from where it has left before i.e reading status register. But instead of reading status of command 1, it reads the status of command 0 !
This simple example illustrates the necessary of locking to maintain the right state machine.
Results are not predictable even if the processes are running on different CPU i.e P0 is running on CPU0 and P1 is running on CPU1.

Re-writing the code with the usage of spinlock.

write () {
..
spin_lock(&driver_lock);
outb(COMMAND_0, COMMAND_REG);
inb(STATUS_REG);
spin_unlock(&driver_lock);
..
}

ioctl () {
..
spin_lock(&driver_lock);
outb(COMMAND_1, COMMAND_REG);
inb(STATUS_REG);
spin_unlock(&driver_lock);
..
}

If a process acquires the spinlock then the other process or processes doesn't get the lock and only the process which has acquired the lock will be executing the critical section . Hence ioctl and write will always read the status of their respective commands.
We can use mutex instead of spinlock in the above example. But it might be overkill.

However in the above example. if the interrupt also uses the lock then we might need to use other version of spinlocks like spin_lock_bh(), spin_lock_irqsave() which I will discuss in the next section.
Till then Happy SpinLocking !!!

IPC : AP-CP communication

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 17:27:00 +0000

IPC here refers Inter Processor Communication and not Inter Process Communication.
AP refers to Application Processor.
CP refers to Communication Processor. Its also called as Modem, BP (BaseBand Processor).
AP is considered as main processor. It is responsible for most of the mobile processing except the heart of it !
AP deals with everything except Cellular Network related work. This is done by the Modem.
Display unit, Camera, Touch key, Keypad etc are controlled by AP. These peripherals are present in AP.
Modem has hardware's that is responsible for connecting to mobile network. Modem maybe 2G,3G,4G capability.
Modem handles call, sms, browser processing.
Actual UI features of call/sms are handled in AP.
Now this must be enough to guess the importance of IPC between AP and CP.

IPC consists of physical connection (set of wires) between AP and CP, corresponding controller on AP and CP, drivers to talk with controller.
Other than IPC medium, set of GPIO lines are also connected between AP and CP for modem control operations like modem on,off etc.

Both AP and CP are separate chip packages. Both can be single core or multi core processors.
This means that both are independent computing unit. There should be a connection between these 2 units so
that the data is transferred between them. This connection is referred as IPC (Inter Processor Communication).
Please be noted that all handsets are not designed in this way. There maybe a single chip package which hosts all the hardware. It does the job of both AP and modem.
Its a design issue in selecting the architecture for the same, whether to go for a single chip solution or dual / multi chip solution.
AP --> Texas Instruments OMAP series, Qualcom MSM series, Samsung chip-set, Nvdia Tegra etc.
CP --> Qualcom MDM series, Infineon, Samsung, Broadcom, Marvel chip-set etc.
For an Android handset, Android (Linux OS) runs on AP whereas CP runs on its own proprietary OS platform.

Different kind of IPC's

MIPI HSI
HSIC (USB HS)
DpRam (Shared Memory)
SPI
c2c (Chip to Chip)

Functionality of IPC

IPC are used to transfer Voice data, SMS data, Net (browser) data between CP and AP.
Usually CP wont have Flash memory. The modem binary itself is stored in AP side Flash.
Hence AP uses IPC to transfer modem binary to CP.
When CP is powered on, Boot ROM code of CP runs and it waits for modem binary.
After Linux kernel boots up in AP, the kernel IPC driver sends modem binary to CP.
This is referred as Flashless Boot. (CP is flashless)

Since CP is flashless, it should use AP side flash to store NV data (data across boot).
This remote File system feature is also provided with IPC as medium.

Whenever AP asks for CP logs or in case of CP crash CP ram dump can be transferred to AP
through IPC.

IPC drivers (AP side,Linux Kernel)

If we consider MIPI HSI as IPC medium, HSI controller driver is responsible for HSI controller configuration, register settings, data transmission / reception with CP. The actual data transfer happens through IPC physical wires connected between AP and CP
Usually HSI read / write functions are exported and exposed to another set of drivers called IPC utility driver which actually calls these exported functions.
These utility drivers are character drivers which interacts with user space, in case of android its RIL.
Based on RIL directives, utility driver writes and reads data from CP with the help of exported functions as mentioned above.
Set of GPIO lines are also connected between AP and CP. These GPIO lines can be used for Modem on/off, interrupt from CP to AP, AP status to CP etc.
We can handle all these GPIO lines under a driver.
Other than this, for net data, kernel TCP/IP stack and net drivers are utilized.

KDB porting on Android device

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 11:28:00 +0000

KDB stands for Kernel DeBugger.
Its used for on target debugging. You don't need another device to debug the kernel on target.
From linux 2.6.35 onwards, mainline kernel includes KDB front end (Backend is GDB). So gone are the days when we used to port kernel patches.
In fact, there used to be 2 patches , one for kernel and another for architecture specific patch.
With 2.6.35 and above, we only need to enable the following configs.
1.CONFIG_KGDB=y
2.CONFIG_KGDB_KDB=y
3.CONFIG_KGDB_SERIAL_CONSOLE=y

However we need to port a UART patch for console polling on UART. Check out for your UART driver patch for KDB. It should be mostly available 'Open'ly.
With the following changes, build kernel and its ready for debugging.

After booting with modified kernel,we have 2 options to start KDB service.
1.Before boot
Add kgdboc=tty,115200 param in the kernel cmdline.
2.After boot
echo kbd > /sys/module/kgdboc/parameters/kgdboc

To enter KDB mode for debugging,
In tera term (or any other serial port application over PC)
echo g > /proc/sysrq-trigger
KDB command prompt is entered.
Now , we can use various KDB commands for debugging kernel such as backtrace, breakpoint, list registers etc.
Happy Debugging !

FACETool milestone

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 05:43:00 +0000

My mobile application FACETool has crossed a milestone set by me.
25000 downloads overall.
The most number of downloads were from India (5000) followed by France and Turkey.
Though I have got a modest rating, I never expected 25k downloads !
Hope to port it to Android.

FACETool

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 06:48:00 +0000

I have created a new mobile application FACETool for Samsung Bada devices such as WAVE, HERO etc.

FACETool is an image application based on Face recognition.
The tool extracts each face in an image containing many faces.
Various actions can be performed on the extracted faces like creating and editing contact with the extracted face, saving the face in memory.

From your Samsung mobile, you can visit Samsung app store to download my application

You can visit below link (and download using Samsung Kies PC software)

http://www.samsungapps.com/topApps/topAppsDetail.as?productId=G00000519711&listYN=Y

Poland Diary (Mar – May 2010)

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Thu, 27 May 2010 19:08:00 +0000

My trip to Warsaw, Poland (capital) was eventful in terms of NEWS. (Even if it was not, need to create news!)
Poland is a developing country. It joined EU lately, focus is to provide on par facilities like other EU nations and also trying very hard to be in league of top Euro nations. . It’s yet to adopt EURO; right now the currency is Zloty.
Poland is the only EU state that has avoided slipping into recession. Since Poland is late boomer it didn’t get chance to slip into recession.
The biggest stock exchange is WSE (Warsaw Stock Exchange).
Number of companies listed are 376 which is less if compared with our NSE.
Poland is included in MSCI Emerging Markets as well as India.
That’s more about Poland as a country, now would like to say something about my stay in there in terms of NEWS again.

Suzlon and me!
My favorite stock is Suzlon. Its 3rd largest wind turbine manufacturing company in the world. At any given time of year, my portfolio is green. It’s not due to profits but due to presence of green energy Suzlon!
Right now, Suzlon is going through a rough patch and my portfolio is in red, deep red!
I was thrilled, when the news flashed that Suzlon’s subsidiary RePower entered Polish market. It entered into a contract with a Germany-based company WSB Group to deliver 15 wind turbines in Poland.
There is a saying in the markets that one should not be emotionally attached with any stock. I need to learn this lesson.

Polish Prez unfortunate air crash
The aircraft carrying Polish president Lech Kaczynski and his aides crashed in Russia leading to the death of all passengers onboard. The plane was carrying Ministers and Army chiefs.
It was heart breaking scene to see scores of car escorting the dead bodies from Warsaw airport. The cars were passing one after another and we lost the count of number of cars. Polish people were seen on either side of roads with flags. It is the most tragic event for Poland after World war.

Volcanic ash eruption debate
The news of Volcano Eyjafjallajökull (no idea how to pronounce it!) emitting ash in Iceland created havoc. It caused the biggest airspace shutdown in Europe since World War II, affecting more than 100,000 flights and eight million passengers.
It was a hot topic for us since many of my colleagues were supposed to travel on that week. I personally felt that the decision to stop aircrafts for one whole week was over exaggeration. But many others supported the decision since safety of passengers is of higher priority.
There is a news that a neighboring volcano Katla (short and sweet name!) is about to explode and it is more powerful than the present volcano. BEWARE… !!!!!

Greece Hangover

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Fri, 21 May 2010 17:51:00 +0000

Greece hangover continues…

The market is yet to recover from the Greece crisis, as markets across the world continues to slide with standard 2 % down on daily basis!

Indian markets fall in the morning and tries to recover in the late afternoon.

Chinese market will be up when the whole global market is down and vice-versa!!!

EU and IMF finally rescued the beaten up EURO and came up with 1 trillion $ package to resolve the debt and budget deficit crisis in Europe.

The news sparked around 5 – 10 % rally, but finally came down on the subsequent days with analysts calling for more fundamental action rather than ornamental changes.

Germany passed EU aid package and USA passed financial reform bill.

Germany banned naked short selling of EURO thereby providing stability to EURO but markets usually doesn’t like any restrictions and effect is there to see. Markets were down for couple of days, due to the short sell ban.

Dow Jones has entered the correction zone officially.

Meanwhile, there was 998 points fall in US markets and 500 point recovery in span of 30 minutes. Initially, rumor was that the market crashed due to Greece. Many were envy of Greece ability to bring down markets so heavily! .One of the theory going around was that the crash was due to a typing error by a broker! Instead of ‘M’(Million), ‘B’(Billion) was typed. Ahhh.. that makes a real difference.. !!

Couple of events that needs to be watched:

1. Greece fallout spreading to other countries. (Old issue)

2. South vs. North Korean possible war. (New issue)

Indian markets are keeping a close watch on Euro / US events as there are no major events in India and are looking for the world market for direction.

Hope to see GREEN soon, RED is so scary!!!

Follow up blog on Greece crisis

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Thu, 06 May 2010 17:25:00 +0000

The news from Europe is getting worse day by day.
After Greece it was the turn of Portugal ratings getting degraded.
But the real worry came in the form of Spain.
Spain is considered to be heavyweight compared to Greece or Portugal.
The deterioration of Spain economy will have a major impact on the world economy compared to Greece.
There are some concerns on China's asset bubble but positive data are emerging from US economy.
The markets are falling daily. But the correction was much needed since the markets rallied heavily in recent months.
So the market initially used the bad news as an excuse for correction. But now the concerns are threatening the markets.
As of now , EU has agreed to bail out Greece but on condition that it will reduce the expenditure.
Many Greeks have been outraged by the measures, which slash salaries and pensions for civil servants and hike consumer taxes.

Hopefully
1. The austerity bill will get passed in Greece Parliament.
2. The crisis is limited only to Greece and Portugal.
3. Spain remains unaffected.

We need to wait and watch if economy is really recovering from the recession or the economy is
entering double recession dip. The likely scenario is that the worse is behind us.

Greece debt crisis

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 18:40:00 +0000

Last year Iceland was bankrupt due to the collapse of the major banks.
Normally we hear companies go bankrupt !
Now , Greece is under tremendous pressure to clear debt. Its outlook is reduced to
JUNK by S&P !!!
Even Portugal ratings is reduced.
If further action is not taken then Greece may become next Iceland and
Portugal may become present Greece.
EU is trying hard to bailout Greece but there exists lot of difference among the Euro nations.
EU is struggling nowadays. EURO is showing weakness.
Hope EU succeeds in making Greece stable since its very important
for world economy.
The present rally across the globe is pulled down regularly
by Greece bad news. And in turn affecting common investor in India like me who is very very far
from Athens... !!!

Berkshire Hathaway's 15 Biggest Stock Holdings - CNBC

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 20:15:00 +0000

The below link contains Warren Buffett's (Berkshire Hathaway) top 15 stocks.

Berkshire Hathaway's 15 Biggest Stock Holdings - CNBC

The portfolio includes mostly banks and strong revenue based companies such as NIKE, COCA COLA etc. Important point is not a single Tech company is present in the list.
The top 15 stocks are

1. Costco Wholesale
2. Nike
3. M&T Bank Corp
4. Washington Post
5. Moody’s
6. US Bancorp (USB)
7. Johnson & Johnson
8. ConocoPhillips
9. Wesco Financial Corp
10. Wal-Mart
11. Kraft Foods
12. Procter & Gamble
13. American Express
14. Wells Fargo
15. Coca Cola

And also Warren Buffett holds Goldman Sachs. It was a sweet deal (and not sweat deal !!!) for Warren since he invested when the banks were roughed up last year. His investment was to instill credibility and stability to the company. After the recent Goldman Sachs fraud it would be interesting to hear Warren's take on that.

RBI monetary policy

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:25:00 +0000

RBI monetary policy is reviewed quarterly and the policy is spelled out which modifies the key interest rates.
Following are the key rates definition.

CRR (cash reserve ratio)
Its the reserve amount bank has to keep with RBI.
If CRR is hiked then bank has to keep more money with RBI. Due to this RBI sucks out extra liquidity out of the financial system.
If CRR is reduced then bank has to keep less money with RBI. Due to this bank will have more lending power thereby increasing the liquidity in the financial system.

RR (Repo rate)
Whenever the bank faces shortage of funds it can borrow from RBI. RR is the rate at which bank borrows money from RBI.
If its hiked then bank has to pay more money on borrowed money from RBI. The bank might pass the burden to the customer.

RRR (Reverse Repo rate)
Similarly RBI might need money !. During such scenarios RBI itself borrows money from the banks.
Therefore RRR is the rate at which RBI borrows money from the bank. Banks will be obviously happy to lend the money to RBI since it will be in safe hands.

SLR (Statutory Liquid rate)
Its the minimum amount of money the bank needs to park into Govt bonds,gold etc before providing credit to the customer. They can even hold in the form of cash.
The main difference between SLR and CRR is that in CRR the bank parks its money in RBI whereas in SLR it parks money in the markets.

Bank Interest rate
Its the rate at which RBI lends money to the bank. Depending on this bank will lend money to the customers keeping the banks profit in mind.
For customers like us hike in interest rate means hike in deposit rates and also hike in EMI !. Similarly lower interest rates means lower deposit rates and lower EMI propelling the customer
to take loans and thereby fueling the economy.

Inflation
Its a generic term to measure the cost price of food and goods in the country.Higher inflation rates means you need to pump in extra money for the same 1 kilo of sugar thereby bleeding your purse. Normally RBI in turn hikes the interest rate so that value for money is retained. But due to this growth will be affected due to higher rates.
Therefore RBI policy needs to look into inflation vs growth aspect before changing the policy . Its indeed a tough job for RBI Governor.

The rate sensitive sectors are normally affected by RBI policy. Sectors are Real estate, Auto, and obviously Banking.
If rates are cut then loans will be cheaper and customers will be more interested in buying lands and vehicles. Similarly when rates are hiked loans becomes dearer.
If rates are cut then depositing money in banks will not be attractive enough and money will be pumped into stock markets.
Normally the markets are smart enough to factor in the possible rate cut or hike even before the policy is announced.
Therefore when the policy is announced market doesn't react as expected since it has been factored already. But if the policy is full of surprises then the market will move up or down drastically. Many traders speculate in this period whereas long term investors review the policy and if need modify their portfolios.

RIP Sahasa Simha

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 03:44:00 +0000

I was woken up by a sms which carried the message of sad demise of my favorite actor.
I did not believe the news till I saw TV. Yes. It was true. Vishnu was no more…

Karnataka’s favorite son Dr VishnuVardhan passed away on the wee hours of 30th December 2009. It’s indeed a great loss for Karnataka. It can’t be worse due to the fact that Ashwath had died on the previous day. The twin untimely death has created a void in Kannada film industry. It’s very hard to fill up the vacuum.

Popularly known as Sahasa Simha he has acted over 199 Kannada movies. He has acted in several Hindi movies. Not to forget his episode in Malgudi Days.

I will always remember him for Nagarahavu. Die hard patriot, he was involved in many Kannada patriotic songs.
He was always at the fore-front. Be it was Kargil fund collection or controlling the crowds at Dr Raj funeral.

We have lost a true human being.

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 09:47:00 +0000

Beware of Stock Advisors!!!

A lot of stock advisors have recently sprung up just like how they surfaced during the previous boom.

They mostly use technical tools and advise their client for day trade or medium term stocks and rarely for long term stocks.

No problem but one should follow them albeit with a pinch of salt. When market is rising all tips will work irrespective of their advice.

But when market is on decline all these shops shut down and wait for the next boom to re-open!

So it’s always better to do your own research because in the long run you will be equipped with knowledge. Blindly following the stock advisors won’t fetch any knowledge.

Conclusion is that it’s fine to be client of stock advisors but don’t follow them blindly. Do your research before investing because at the end of the day what maters is your money and how much knowledge you have gained.

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:48:00 +0000

Hi All,
Today I will be discussing the type of files used in Symbian.
My intention is to provide a handbook like structure for definitions of various types of files used in Symbian.
(File means not the usual file system topic but rather the various files used such as rss,hrh,..etc)

List of Files in Symbian
CPP,Header files(.h)
RSS file Resource file.It contains resource definitions for UI related things like menu, dailogs etc. On compilation 2 files are generated (rsg & rsc)
RSG file It is a header specifying resource identifier. To be included by the cpp files for UI identifiers.It will be present in \epoc32\include
RSC file The binary code for the rss file.(Object code)

BMP file Image file format.Used commonly across all platforms.
MBM file Symbian bitmap files. Symbian understands MBM format. Multiple bitmap files can be embedded within one BMP.
MBG file Its a dynamically created header-file used by the application. (same like RSG concept). To be included by the cpp or rss file if bitmap images are used.

HRH file Enum declarations that are used in resource files,cpp and the normal header files are done here.

LOC file Used for localization.Strings which are used in rss file should be #defined in LOC files if your applications needs to support variety of language.
RLS file Same as loc files. Only difference is the syntax used. Instead of #define we use rls_string id.

MMP file Make file. Used to specify header file locations, source code to be compiled, library to be linked, UID value assignment etc

DEF file It's used for libraries (dll). The file contains the mapping of exported function to a ordinal number.abld freeze generates def file. It's used for BC (backward compatibility)

IBY file contains files which needs to be placed in the mobile(The destination path is mentioned along with the source path in the work space)

My team mate Jagamohan has reviewed this topic and I thank him for corrections.

Central Repository

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 09:55:00 +0000

I have decided to blog on Symbian , based on my work experience.
Symbian is an Operating System for Mobiles.
Please Google out Symbian for more information.
Thereby I am directly blogging on a topic called Central Repository and not focusing on Symbian OS essentials.

Central Repository is a mechanism to save Data permanently in mobiles. Can be viewed as Global Data but very much secured.Data is in the form of int, float and string. Applications can store data using Central Repository.

We also have a mechanism named as RProperty which is not persistent type of storage.Its a temporary mechanism to store the data. Data is valid for the present boot. Loose the content as soon as the system shuts down whereas Central Repository stores permanently.

Temporary data can be saved in RProperty and while turning the device OFF, can shift the data from RProperty to Central Repository.

If a factory reset is performed, then we have the option to retain the latest value of the data or the data can hold the initial value.For data to hold initial value, RFS setting of the data should be set. Overhead is that for every factory reset, additional time is required as Initial value of data should be restored.

While creating a central repository item, settings can be attributed to the item. As mentioned before one can have the option of RFs as well as back up,read write permission (security aspect) etc.

Following is the procedure to use Central Repository.

Step 1 : Create uid3.txt and export it to Z:
Step 2 : uid3.txt contains number of keys and initial attributes
Step 3 : From source code ; create a handle to access central repository.
Step 4 :If necessary change the attribute on the FLY.
Step 5 :Central Repository exposes a set of APIs to manipulate the data.
Step 6 :The storage data types are int,real,strings and binary.

The application uid can be used to create the text file. A file can have 2^32 number of keys.

Export the txt file from your project location to
\epoc32\RELEASE\WINSCW\UDEB\Z\private\10202be9\

The format of txt file is as below
----------------------Start of txt file------------------------

cenrep
version 1
[owner]
//uid of ur apps
0x101F6CFE
[defaultmeta]
0
[platsec]
//Attribute to the whole file
cap_rd=alwayspass cap_wr=WriteDeviceData
[Main]
//Attribute to individual key
//key 1
0x1 string "0" 0 cap_rd=alwayspass cap_wr=WriteDeviceData
//key 2
0x2 int 0 16777216 cap_rd=ReadDeviceData cap_wr=WriteDeviceData

-------------------------------End of txt file----------------------

To access central repository from source code

-----------------------.cpp-------------------------------
TUid Uid;
//uid of your app
Uid::TUid(0x101F6CFE);
//create a handle
iCenRep = CRepository::NewL(Uid);
if (iCenrep)
{
//data to hold value
TInt val;
//Now val holds the latest value of key 0x2 i.e 0 since we have assigned 0 in txt file
iCenRep.Get (0x2,val);
//Set the key 0x2 to some other value
iCenRep.Set (0x2,10);
//now val has the value 10
iCenRep.Get (0x2,val);
}
----------------------------------------------------------
My team mate Jagamohan has reviewed this topic and I thank him for corrections.

South Korea Financial market

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:44:00 +0000

South Korea Financial market

It’s quite obvious to explore an alien country on travel. I love to explore the financial condition of the place when I travel.

I have penned down some important aspect of the financial market in South Korea.

Korea region is divided into North and South. North Korea is banned country (as per United Nations) and it has historical problems with South Korea. The main reason is Communist to Capitalist conversion of South Korea.

South Korea is one of the developed countries in Asian continent. It’s due to the benefits of capitalistic approach and also it’s a key ally of USA. Traces of USA development impact can be found here.

South Korea is considered to be one of the world's most successful economies, which was the second fastest growing economy in the world for over four decades.

The present global crisis has thrown out many theories. One of the theories going around is that the world power is shifting from USA & Europe nations to Asian regions. If true then China India along with South Korea should provide leadership to the new world.

The currency of South Korea is Won. 1 Dollar is roughly equal to 1300 Won depending on the market conditions. Korean Won has been constantly devaluated due to Korean War, financial crisis etc. The devaluation of the currency is directly contradicted with the development of the country. I would be grateful if someone explains me this contradiction.

Important companies are Samsung, LG, Hyundai, Posco etc.

Samsung is world wide leader in technology. It’s ranked second in mobile industry whereas it’s ranked one in LCD television industry. It has an IC foundry and world’s majority of memory solutions are fabricated here. Samsung Corporation has won the contract to build the world's tallest building (the Burj Tower in Dubai).

LG follows Samsung in electronics industry. LG is ranked three in mobile industry. These 2 companies along with Japanese companies are ruling the electronics industry.

South Korea's largest automaker, Hyundai Motor Company and its subsidiary Kia Motors are the fifth largest car groups in the world.

Posco is the fourth largest steel producer in the world. Posco is proposing to set up a 12-million-tonne steel plant envisaging largest foreign direct investment in India of Rs 52,000 crore at Paradip in Orissa.

South Korea is one of the favorable destinations for ship building in the world.

South Korea's "big three" shipbuilders, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, dominate global shipbuilding, with Hanjin Heavy Industries also being a significant presence.

The stock market index of South Korea is called KOSPI (Korea Composite Stock Price Index). KOSPI follows the global movement of stock market all over the world.

It’s truly a “Coupling of Markets” all over the world. Whenever I come late to the office I look at the display screen in the elevator where I can get info on Korean Won vs. Dollar. If Won is high against dollar then I assume KOSPI is down, When Kospi is down then our Sensex should also be down!!! Similarly if Won is lower then Sensex will be higher.

The assumptions are true for most of the time clearly indicating that truly we are living in a GLOBALIZED VILLAGE.

Buy GOLD in form of STOCKS

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:26:00 +0000

This is a very interesting blog in which I talk about buying gold to stabilize your investment portfolio. Buying gold refers buying gold in form of stocks and not the usual buying of gold in physical from a jewelery shop. Gold is used as a tool against stock market risk and inflation.

This blog is directly influenced by OUTLOOK MONEY issue dated 31^st March 2008.

Gold price is inversely proportional to Stock market movement. So when the stock market is at a high the gold price actually will be in the downside. While the stock market crashes gold price is at all time high. That means by adding little gold in your portfolio you can neutralize the stock market crash (another way to neutralize the crash is to buy Nifty Put Option).

If you follow gold price movements, gold prices hit an all time high during January- February period of 2008. And that was the period when stock market crashed to 14k levels. Gold prices were hovering around Rs 1200 per gram during the same period.

You can buy gold in various forms. But investment in gold is bit different. If you buy physical gold and wear it then it’s not an investment. It should be in your portfolio in some other form so that it is easy to buy and sell just like any other investment. And also by buying physical gold, security issue comes into picture. But if your gold is in paper form then there is no question of security issues.

Reasons for upward movement of gold in the future

Since Dollar is crashing countries are looking at gold as a instrument to store value.
US sub prime crisis which is prompting investors for alternative investments such as gold.
Rising oil prices in turn raises inflation which in turn raises gold price.
Limited supply of gold.

How to buy gold

Jewelery shop: where you buy gold in physical form. Not advised for investors.
Gold futures: bit complexity.
Gold ETF: in plain words it means Gold in form of shares. This is advised and I will discus this method in deep.

GOLD ETF (GETF)

ETF means electronic traded fund. GETF are funds maintained by fund houses. The fund house buys physical gold and stores it in their place. So you are not bothered about usual shopping and security. Roughly 1 gram of gold is 1 share of GETF. So if you buy 1 share of GETF from a fund house, the fund house in turn buys 1 gram of gold and store it. You can sell the share whenever you want. So there is no difference between buying GETF shares and a normal share (say an Infosys share).

The GETF shares which you buy is shown in your demat column as normal shares.

GETF share value will roughly reflect the gold price movements since the fund house invests in gold only.

Difference between a normal stock and GETF stock

Since the fund house needs to preserve your gold they charge an expense ratio of 1 % annually and also the tax structure is different from normal tax structure for stocks. (There is a long term capital gain tax of 11.33 %). Even the brokerages are usually same as a normal stock.

List of GETF fund houses

UTI GETF
Kotak GETF
Benchmark Gold BeES
Quantum Gold
Reliance GETF

The stock value of GETF of the entire above traded fund is more or less same and in turn they are more or less same as actual gold value.

So you can buy 10 shares of UTI GETF in National Stock Exchange through your broker.

That means you have bought 10 grams of gold as investment. It’s as simple as that!!!

(Many women may view this as an unromantic move!!!)

Final Words (Golden words!)

Buying gold as an alternative investment is a world wide phenomenon.

OUTLOOK MONEY advises 5 % of gold in your investment portfolio.

But certainly it’s not as attractive as stock market. Profit out of gold is not highly attractive. Gains are moderated. In stock market you might get 100 % returns within a few weeks which is next to impossible in gold trading. So gold acts as a protection against stock market risk.

SO TIME HAS COME TO VIEW GOLD AS AN INVESTMENT IDEA RATHER THAN FASHION STATEMENT!!!

Happy Investing in GOLD.

Resources to start studying STOCKS

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:01:00 +0000

Some of my friends keep on asking me to teach about Stock Market.

I am studying market on my own with a personal interest. So I can list out what all resources are needed to start studying Stock Market. It’s left to users to study on their own in a hard way rather than simply relying on others.

If someone had not derived half baked knowledge from friends or any relative UNCLE then I can assure that person is best qualified to start studying about Stock Market!

But I would like to introduce 2 principles of investing at the end. It’s based on my personal experience and certainly its not any HOT tips or any half bake knowledge which I am trying to drive!

I will list each of the medium where one can derive info one by one

1. Daily morning News Paper.

It might be TOI or Indian Express. Most of the morning news papers have BIZ sheet in the middle which gives info about business round up and stock market related news.

Though a fresher will not understand anything in the initial stages they should not give up. It’s the basic requirement. Day to day news is very important. It gives a general feeling about things going around the world. (If possible one must also read the first sheet i.e. Politics! since it’s also one of the major factor driving the Market)

2. TV

One can spend half an hour or so in front of BIZ news channel viz CNBC, CNBC Awaaz (Hindi), NDTV Profit, ZEE Biz.

There is a 7 30 pm half an hour show on CNBC on business market days (Mon - Fri). This show is hosted by Udayan Mukarjee. It covers daily Market updates and it features many technical and fundamental experts commenting on the market. Most active stocks are discussed.

Have a look at business news at any channels mentioned above anywhere between 9 PM and 11 PM.

3. WEBSITES

Since many of us spend major part of our activity on net, websites are most integral part in our study of Market.

www.moneycontrol.com

This website is a part of TV18 (CNBC) networks. News, stock specific movements, message boards, Mutual funds, IPO etc are the numerous sections which are updated regularly on hourly basis. One can create portfolio and keep tab on specific companies’ news and stock movement.

It’s easily the Rediff of Indian Stock Market.

www.myiris.com

www.capitalmarket.com

These are juniors to moneycontrol.com!

www.nseindia.com

It’s the official website of National Stock Exchange. Mainly comprises of official stock prices. Latest corporate announcements and financial results should be updated compulsory in this website by the companies. Similarly www.bseindia.com

One can also create portfolios and view news on Yahoo finance, Rediff money, Sify finance etc.

4. BIZ news papers & BIZ magazines

When you are familiar with market you can have a look at BIZ news papers such as Business Line, Business Standard and Economic Times.

Magazines such as OUTLOOK MONEY are very useful for financial planning.

DALAL STREET deals with only stock market and nothing else. It looks like a bit danger with so many hot tips flowing in many pages!

Decent magazines such as Business Today, Business World are helpful.

5. Online Brokers

Finally when you are ready for trading its necessary to have a stock broker since individuals can’t directly deal with Stock Exchanges. You must be equipped with PAN card to have a DEMAT account. (Demat account are like your Savings Bank account; Savings account holds your money where as Demat account holds your shares)

It’s better to have online brokers such as

www.sharekhan.com

www.indiabulls.com

www.indiainfoline.com

6. RICH DAD POOR DAD

It’s a book by Robert Kiyosaki which deals with how to manage money and not stocks in particular. It’s a must read.

So these are the mediums and I have given materials on each medium so that you can access the financial and stock market knowledge.

And yes here are the 2 principles

1] You are responsible for your investment. No one should be blamed either for loss or profit! You should study and you should invest. Brokers give recommendations .Go through them research then take a final call.

2] Have patience in Stock Market maybe in LIFE also!!!

Suggestions are most welcome. If anyone thinks some other medium or some other websites or materials are good please post as a comment.

HAPPY INVESTING.

My Presentation on 10 GE for my PG project

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:01:00 +0000

From: jagdish.krishna, 1 week ago

| View | Upload your own

The presentation covers 10G Ethernet. Topics covered are Mac Frames, RMON, XGMII.

SlideShare Link

How are our 4 stocks performing ???

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 19:52:00 +0000

BULLS are back in the market and are roaring to move forward!!!

Bullishness returned to market after US Fed rate cut. The market indices are at all time high and also many stocks are trading in new higher territories. The market is expected to do well further provided the central government doesn’t fall!

** Bull is a term used to signify stronger market where there are more buyers than sellers.

** Bear is a term used to signify weaker market where there are more sellers than buyers.

Time is ripe for a review of case study of 4 stocks. Though one should take a longer term view on stocks this review is an exercise to study the quality of the recommendations.

Any news flow from the company can also be reviewed.

The 4 stocks in focus are Universal Cables, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Strides Arcolab (STAR), Tourism Finance Corporation of India (TFCI).

Company	Target	Market price as per last blog (July 1 2007) [X]	Market price as of today [Y]	Gain / Loss (In %) [between X and Y]
Universal Cables	179	120	96	-25
HUL	280	198	219	+11
STAR	500	335	278	-20
TFCI	30	23	35	+52

By the above table information Universal Cables had performed pathetic in this 3 month period. STAR is also giving good company to it!

HUL has performed satisfactory but the real winner is TFCI. Just look at that, a neat 52 % upside.

Let’s review the stocks 1by1.

1] Universal Cables

The Quarterly result were pathetic .Its profit were down to 80 lakhs from 6.2 crores!
And the best part is that there is no company release regarding the bad results. And no update even from Sharekhan. This is not the way a company should behave with its investors.
Much depends on the next quarterly result. Hope the company comes up with good results and some explanation.

2] HUL

The quarterly result was better than expected and the investors surely gave thumbs up. But still this stock is a defensive play.

One major news is that HUL have offered to buy back some portion of shares from the market at Rs 230. This means that the company management thinks that the current price of the stock in the market is not fair and it expects a better price valuation. So in future Rs 230 can become a solid support.

There was a rumor floating that many of the real estate owned by the company in prime locations are up for sale.

HUL has terminated an agreement with frozen foods exporter Temptation Foods (TFL) to sell its marine business, putting an end to all media speculations over the past couple of months.

It has been ranked number one among the 2007 top companies in terms of leadership development in the Asia-Pacific in a study of the global top companies by the consulting firm Hewitt Associates.

One can still buy the stock since it’s a defensive stock and it doesn’t fall much in turbulent times. Good results expected.

3] STAR

There is no negative view fundamentally in this stock. Results were also good but the major worry is rupee appreciation. Since the company derives major profits from exports it’s badly hurt. So the Pharma sector along with IT sector is undergoing a negative sentiment.

Good news flowed in this period. The approval of its first injectable ANDA for Ketorolac Injection is positive for the company. It has also completed the acquisition of Grandix Pharmaceuticals, enabling the company's domestic foray for a branded pharmaceutical strategy. It has also completed the acquisition of Diaspa, Italy and has acquired its fermentation assets including its ongoing business in Milan.

This stock is an exellent buy at this level. It’s surely the best buy among the 4 stock but one should have a long term view since upside is limited as of now due to rupee factor.

4] TFCI

This is certainly the darling of 4 stocks. A whooping 50 % upside in 3 months.

Sharekhan had set a target of Rs 30. It has not only hit the target but also trading at higher levels.
The share has risen on talk of institutional participation. Activity in this stock has been amid news of a likely induction of strategic investors into IFCI, which is TFCI’s single-largest shareholder.

The New Delhi-based financial institution holds close to 19% in TFCI, which specialises in financing tourism projects. In recent times, IFCI has diluted its stake in some of its strategic investments such as NSE and ICRA.

There were also talks about IFCI looking to dilute its stakes in its brokerage and factoring businesses, as part of its restructuring exercise. Other key shareholders of TFCI include SBI — 7.4%, LIC — 6.2% and Bank of India — 3.5%.

When a stock hits the target it is time to review the fundamentals before taking any call.

For short term gains one can look at Real estate sector and Banking. IT and Pharma continues to drift down due to rupee factor. Sugar sector is back in news on hopes of solid announcement by the Union Agriculture ministry.

CASE STUDY on 4 STOCKS

noreply@blogger.com (jag) — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 18:33:00 +0000

Online brokers are usually involved in research of stocks. Based on which they come up with the recommendations of stocks primarily for their clients. Normally theses stock recommendations are for long term. That is to say that if a broking house comes up with recommendations today it does not mean that it will hit the target tomorrow. So it is always advisable to hold stocks (recommended or non recommended) for a longer period provided the fundamentals are good.

Based on the above introduction I present a case study of 4 stocks which are recommended by the broking houses. I have taken 3 stocks recommendations from SHAREKHAN and 1 from KOTAK. The selection of these 4 stocks is based purely on the maximum upside potential from the current market price. The 4 stocks for case study are

1. Universal Cables (By Sharekhan) [Target Rs 179, Current market price Rs 120]

2. Hindustan Unilever (By Sharekhan) [Target Rs 280, Current market price Rs 198]

3. Strides Arcolab (By Kotak) [Target Rs 500, Current market price Rs 335]

4. Tourism Finance Corporation of India (By Sharekhan) [Target Rs 30, Current market price Rs 23]

It should be clearly noted that the case study is just an experimental way to track the market .The case study involves the following plus points viz.

1. Those who are new into the market can track these 4 stocks on experimental basis along with the general index (SENSEX, NIFTY) movements.

2. Keeping track of these 4 stocks one can fairly judge the quality of recommendations by the brokerage houses.

3. And of course one can invest in these 4 stocks for long term investments. (Purely on their own risk and no one should be blamed either for profit or loss!!!)

Now let us discuss each of the recommended shares

1] UNIVERSAL CABLES

Currently Universal cables is trading at an average rate at Rs120.This stock comes under the Power cable sector.

Universal cables manufacture cables, conductors and capacitors. The company was established way back in 1962.They are based at Satna, Madhya Pradesh. The company is part of M.P.Birla group.

Its 100% subsidiary Optic Fibre Goa Ltd (OFGL) has turned profitable. The subsidiary is into optic fibre business.

Universal cables has recently commissioned and commenced the first phase of the technological up gradation-cum-expansion project. The project uses Vertical Continuous Vulcanization (VCV) process for manufacture of XLPE Power cables.

The company is implementing a capex plan of Rs64 crore wherein it will double its capacity of medium tension cables and put up a new capacity of extra high tension (EHT) cables (>220KV). This plant is expected to get fully commissioned by December 2007, after the capacity expansion. Universal cables will be the only player in India to produce EHT cables (>220KV) other than Cable Corporation of India.

In the optical fibre division the company has successfully developed a newer version

of fibre known as Low Water Peak Optical Fibre (G-652D), with its in-house expertise and has also taken necessary approvals to supply this fibre to most of the customers in India.

Final Comments: Due to the above plans one can definitely expect a lot of buying interest in the coming months. So this is the right time to enter into the stock. Its financial performance is improving. And as per Sharekhan’s calculation the target for this company is around Rs180.If anyone is interested in financial aspect or any other detail of Universal cables they can just visit their website www.universalcablesltd.com

2] HINDUSTAN UNILEVER

Currently Unilever is trading at an average rate at Rs198.This stock comes under the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods).Its a SENSEX and NIFTY component stock.

Unilever is ranked 2^nd world wide in FMCG. It hosts popular brands such as Clinic, Close up, Fair & Lovely, Lux and many more. The list is endless.

But the movement in stock price is really dull due to the disappointing financial performance owing to margin pressure and stiff competitions. But the worst is over due to a management make up and stringent measures and hence Sharekhan has recommended this stock with a target at Rs 280.

The food business and ice cream business are reportedly doing well compared to other sectors which in turn are expected to boost the profits. The processed food business recorded a strong growth o 48% with all the key brands, viz Kissan, Annapurna and Knorr, growing strongly during the quarter.

Final Comments: Recently there is a strong rumor going around world wide that Colgate may buy part or full of Unilever. Though Unilever is 3 times more than Colgate it is quite surprising. Anyways the news is in rumors phase.

If the merger happens then Unilever-Colgate will command more than 60% of tooth-paste business.

There is yet another major managerial shake up to restructure the company.

So one should carefully look at these news before taking interest in the company. This stock is sure to test the patience of any investor. It has been a laggard in the bull market.

One can visit www.hll.com for more info on numbers and products

3] STRIDES ARCOLAB LTD (STAR)

Currently STAR is trading at Rs 335 and KOTAK has a target of Rs 500. The stock comes under Parma sector.

Their main focus is on AIDS, TB and MALARIA. They have a leadership position in soft- gel capsules and have a huge expansion plan which are identified as a key growth drivers as per KOTAK.

The company has tied up with Clinton foundation to make available a range of affordable anti-retroviral drugs for the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

STAR is emerging as a global player in steriles with a wide range of capabilities in freeze drying (FDV), pre-fill syringes (PFS), ampoules and vials, and specialized therapeutic formats, namely, penicillin, cephalosporins, penems and oncology.

The company proposes to construct a green-field facility in Bangalore for Oncology and Hormone products and capacity expansion in R&D.

Strides Arcolab has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of Grandix Pharmaceuticals Ltd and its subsidiary Grandix Laboratories Ltd.

Grandix is a branded pharmaceutical company mainly focused on south India and has an established distribution network. It has around 45-50 active brands in antibiotic, anti diabetic, anti-hypertensive/cardiac, neurology, pulmocare and vitamins segment.

Final Comments: Parma sector is a defensive sector which tests the patience of investor like Unilever. Currently Strides is trading at a dull movement daily. For more info on their plans log on to www.stridesarco.com

4] Tourism Finance Corporation of India (TFCI)

Currently TFCI is trading at Rs 23. As per Sharekhan the target for this stock is Rs 30. It comes under Tourism sector.

TFCI is a government owned company in which banks like SBI, Canara bank etc have stake in it. It provides financial assistance to tourism-related activities/projects. TFCI provides financial assistance to enterprises for setting up and/or development of tourism-related projects, facilities and services, such as Hotels, Restaurants, Holiday Resorts etc.

TFCI has improved its financial parameters which resulted Sharekhan in up gradation of the stock. The revival in the demand from the hotel and tourism sectors has helped TFCI to register an 81% y-o-y growth in sanctions for FY2007 compared with a 20% sanction growth in FY2006.

The business fundamentals of the company have improved significantly on the back of the capacity expansion in the hotel and tourism sectors planned for the next three to four years.

Final Comments: TFCI is in a sector which does not have much of a trading interest. So this serves as both advantage as well as disadvantage for the stock.

The stock had a 1 way journey from Rs 16.5 to Rs. Rs 24. The circuit breaker for this stock is 5%. So traders should be cautious since the stock tends to hit the circuit either upwards or downwards frequently. To know about the company one can visit www.tfciltd.com

Critics are most welcome along with suggestions. Please correct me if I had gone wrong somewhere. For the first timers one could do a Google search on new terms such as circuit breakers in stocks etc to gain knowledge.

HAPPY INVESTING!!!

DISCLAIMER: I personally have interest in all of the above stocks. No one should be blamed for any profit or loss!

The current market prices given are based on 10 day average prices rather than a particular day price. One can view the latest stock price by visiting the official website of the stock exchange www.nseindia.com