SAFED MUSLI Herbal Plantation in India

SAFED MUSLI

Chlorophytum borivilianum Family - Liliaceae Santapau

It is herb with linear leaves appearing over ground with the advent of summer rains. Flowers white. It is propagated through rootstocks.
REGIONAL NAMES
English : White Musale
Marathi : Pandhri Musli
Gujarati : Dhouli Musli
Kannada : Belwadi
Tamil : Tanirvitang
Malayalam : Milyatali
Bengali : Taalmooli
DISTRIBUTION

Foot Hills of Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh & Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Kanataka, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
PART USED


Tuberous Root
MEDICINAL PROPERTIES & USES

It is merging as a natural aphrodisiac and also utilised in various neutraceutical and phytopharmaceutical. It is prescribed in debility, gonorrhoea and also considered useful in diarrhoea and asthma.
CULTIVATION & PROPAGATION
Soil and Climate

Safed Musli requires well drained loamy to sandy loam soils rich in organic matter. Warm and humid climatic condition with good amount of soil moisture during the growing season favour luxuriant vegetative growth and facilitate fleshy root development.
Nursery Raising and Planting

It could be propagated through seeds as well as by vegetative means (root stock bearing buds or growing points).
1. Vegetative propagation

The initiation of sprouts of fleshy roots starts by the mid of May but sometimes it could be as early as the last week of April in stored material. In the forest seedlings emerge from the ground within 4-6 days after the rains. However, for the purpose of raising plants in the field either the sprouted seedlings should be collected from the forest between 10 to 30 days after the rains and transplanted in the field or fleshy root bunches should be taken out from the ground or storage place by mid of May.
2. By seeds

The seeds are black in colour and with angular edges. It takes 12-16 days to sprout. The seeds should be sown in prepared seedbed, which is heavily manured by FYM, or leaf litter in the first or second week of June and adequate moisture should be continuously maintained during absence of rain in the early monsoon. The seedlings can be transplanted in the field during the next rainy season only at 30 x 15 cm spacing because the development of plants as well as roots by means of seeds in the first year is not vigorous enough as compared to the vegetatively propagated plants.

Even a small, 1 cm long and slightly shrinken fleshy roots or rootstocks have a capacity to reproduce into new plants. These fleshy roots sprout from second week of May to second week of June. The sprouted fleshy propagules should be planted in the field in first or second week of June, followed by irrigation. The practice of planting on top of the ridges of 15-20 cm height at a row distance of 30 x 15 cm is found adequate for obtaining commercial yield. It is estimated that 250-300 kg of rootstocks will be required for planting one hecatare land. Safed Musli could be easily intercropped in between maize rows.
Manure/Fertilizer

The use of 10-15 ton of farmyard manure (FYM)/hectare provides good nutrient status to the substratum for supporting healthy plant growth.
Irrigation

The crop may be sown after the rainfall. If there is no rains after sowing of fleshy root propagules and its transplanting then one irrigation should be provided immediately. Later, when soil moisture has receded in the fields, irrigation may be done after 10 to 15 days interval.
Weeding

One to two weeding-cum-hoeings are needed to keep the soil porous and free of weedy growth.
HARVESTING/POST-HARVESTING

The crop matures in about 90 days after cultivation. At maturity the leaves start yellowing and ultimately dry up from the collar part and fall down. The crop could thus be harvested when leaves have dried which occurs in the month of September & October. During digging of plants, fleshy root bunches should be lifted from the soil. The harvested fleshy roots a removed and cleaned and white musali tubers are dried and spread in the shade for about 4-7 days.
CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS

Glycosides, saponins, sapogenins, steroids, asparagin, vitamins & carbohydrates.
Yield

About one ton of fleshy root per hectare, is collected. This, after processing and drying is reduced to 200 kg.

How herbs turn land into gold!

Converting land into a goldmine -- this is what herbs and medicinal plants' growers seem to be doing under the patronage of the recently-formed Central Herbal Agro Marketing Federation of India.

Realising that marketing is a major problem for herb growers, the federation has chalked out a unique strategy to get over it by pooling the entire produce of its members and selling it collectively.

In fact, the federation first enters into purchase agreements with buyers and then advises its members to plan the production accordingly.

To help the members produce good quality stuff, the federation provides them the necessary technical know-how and even inputs such as seeding material.

And all the herbs are produced through organic farming to facilitate negotiating better prices.

The man behind this venture is Rajaram Tripathy, a 45-year-old former banker belonging to Kondagaon, a sleepy habitation in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh.

He left his job to try out herbal cultivation in 1996 on his ancestral land in Kondagaon. His banking contacts came in handy to get a loan of over Rs 20 lakh (the biggest loan to any single farmer in the area till then) for this purpose. But what really contributed to the success of the venture was his marketing acumen.

Even before sowing the herb, Safed Musli (Chlorohytum borivilianum), he visited traders in Delhi to assess the demand and the price he was likely to get.

The results were instant, and he was able to repay the loan after disposing off the very first harvest. This instilled confidence in the bankers to lend him even larger amounts, albeit at commercial terms.

This help was adequate for Tripathy to set up Maa Danteshwari Hitech Herbal Farms on his land to take up research and development of organic herbal cultivation.

In less than a decade, this farm has become the hub of herb promotion activities for the whole country. It serves as the training centre, demonstration farm and even a seed supplier for herb growers.

Today, the herbal marketing federation has a membership of nearly 2,700 farmers in 11 states. In fact, the Chhattisgarh government has come out with a policy paper to make it a "herbal state".

Recently, the defence ministry's directorate of resettlement of ex-armymen has sought the federation's assistance in initiating ex-servicemen into herb cultivation.

The directorate is doing this under its retired personnel's rehabilitation programme called "from arms to farms". These men will be cultivating Safed Musli (the Indian answer to Viagra and the Chinese ginseng) and Stevia (a zero-calorie herbal sweetener).

To begin with, the federation has taken up the promotion of organic farming and marketing of a few selected herbs that have the maximum market demand, and can provide lucrative returns to growers.

These include Safed Musli, Stevia, Sarpgandha, Ashwagandha, lemon grass, Kalihari, Coleus and some others. According to Tripathy, Safed Musli and Stevia, among these, are the most lucrative and have vast untapped production and marketing potential.

Both are virtually cash crops with low risk and assured tax-free, high returns.

Safed Musli has been used for centuries in the ayurvedic system of medicine as an aphrodisiac and vitaliser agent. Besides, it is also used in the treatment of diabetes, arthritis, rheumatism and natal and post-natal problems.

As such, it is an essential ingredient in over 100 ayurvedic, Unani, allopathic and homeopathic medicinal preparations. Stevia (Stevia robudina), on the other hand, is used in the preparations offered as alternatives to white sugar for weight-conscious people and diabetes patients.

However, the country's present Safed Musli production is only a fraction of the actual demand. A great deal of spurious stuff is also doing the rounds. This malpractice needs to be curbed.

Tripathy is upbeat about boosting herbal exports from India. The annual global market for medicinal herbs is estimated at around $ 65 billion.

It is growing at a high rate of around 16 per cent a year. The Indian share at present is very small. Even China exports nearly six times more herbs than India.

"I want to replace Chinese ginseng with the Indian Safed Musli in the export market," says Tripathy. This should not be too difficult as the Indian Safed Musli has 14 per cent Saphonil (the active ingredient that is believed to have anti-ageing properties), against only 6 per cent in the ginseng.

Besides, most of the supplies from the federation's members are grown organically and certified as such by a German organic produce certification agency.

By adopting modern marketing strategies, and highlighting the advantages of organically-grown Indian herbs, the exports can be multiplied several folds. The federation, as well as the Maa Danteshwari herbal farm, have created Web sites to reach out to the world for this purpose.

WHAT IS JATROPHA AND ITS CULTIVATION IN INDIA

Jatropha curcas belongs to the family. Euphorbiaceae and is thus related to other important
cultivated plants like rubber, varan, neem etc. It is believed to be a native of South America, Africa & the Caribbean. It was introduced by Portuguese traders in the 16th century in India and since then Jatropha has been grown as a medicinal plant & hedge crop.

There are number of varities of Jatropha now thrive in India's varied regional climate. It is found in almost all the states & is generally grown as a live fence for protection of agricultural fields from damage by live stock as it is not eaten by cattle or goat.Amongst all the variety,

JATROPHA curcas is the best since the seed oil is reported to possess insecticidal, mollucicidal, fungicidal & nimaticidal properties. Some of the jatropha varieties are as under:
» Jatropha curcas (Non-toxic) -suitable species for Jatropha oil and biodiesel production.

» Jatropha curcas integrerrima.

» Jatropha Gossypifolia.

» Jatropha Glandulifera.

» Jatropha Tranjorensis.

» Jatropha Multifield.

» Jatropha Podagrica.


JATROPHA CULTIVATION

Jatropha requires specialized nursery techniques to raise the saplings in the nursery. The first step in Jatropha plantation is to plant the seeds to raise the nursery, which is very vital and requires guidance of professionals. Jatropha can also be propagated vegetative from cuttings.

Seeds are best sown during mid-February to mid-march and the seedlings 60-75 cm.tall can be transplanted to the prepared field.

Ideal planting pitch has been found to be 2m x 2m. thereby resulting in 2500 plants per hectare. Wider spacing would give larger yields of fruit @794 Kgs./Hac. Like all perennial plants, Jatropha shows vigorous growth in youth that tails off gradually towards maturity.

1Kg. of good Jatropha seed will give around 1100 seeds.

Germination time under good nursery care is 10-21 days.

In equatorial regions where moisture is not a limiting factor, Jatropha can bloom & produce fruit throughout the year.

Although Jatropha is adapted to soils with low fertility & alkalinity, better yield can be obtained on poor quality soils if fertilizers containing small quantity of nutrients are for first 2 years which is considered to be vital for their growth.

Jatropha starts yielding seeds from the end of first year & the economic yield stabilizes from the end of 3rd year onwards.

Under Indian condition, the yield varies from 6-10 MT Near from the end of 3nl year under proper care & supervision.

The plantation cost per hectare inclusive of site preparation, plant, material, maintenance for one year, overheads etc. shall be in the tune of Rs.30000/Hectare

Ripe fruits are plucked from the tree and the seeds are sun dried. Ripe fruits are decorticated manually or by decorticator.

To prepare seeds for oil extraction, the seed should be solar heated for several hours or roasted for 10 minutes. Overheating is to be avoided.

Oil can be extracted from seeds by mechanical extraction, solvent extraction etc.
For a yearly plantation of 200 Hectares,we propose to raise a nursery of 20 Lakh seedlings to be developed initially and then to raise 10 lakh nursery every year. This figure can be pegged up and down in discussion with you.
The income from the plantation at the end of 3rd year is around Rs.60,000/- per Hectare.

BIODIESEL IN INDIA SCENARIO

There has been greater awareness on Biodiesel in india in the recent
times due to shortage of Petrodiesel and soaring prices. Significant
activities have picked up for its production especially with a view to
reduce the huge cost involved in import of Petroleum fuel and to take
care of the shortage of Petrodiesel anticipated within a few years from
now. In addition, the process of production of Biodiesel from non edible
vegetable oil will boost the rural economy and providing non-polluting,
bio degradable and safe environment.

Considering all the aspects available among non-edible Tree Bearing Oil
(TBO) seeds, Jatropha curcas has been identified as the most suitable
seed for extraction of oil and subsequent processing of Biodiesel. The
best source of producing Biodiesel is Jatropha curcas, a plant that
grows well mainly in tropical climate. Jatropha can be grown in arid
zones (20 cm rainfall) as well as higher rainfall zones and even on land
with thin soil cover.

In tropical countries like ours, Jatropha grows well and can bloom and
produce fruit through out the year. To withstand extreme drought
conditions, Jatropha plant sheds leaves to conserve moisture which may
result in reduced growth. Although, Jatropha is adapted to soils with
low fertility and alkalinity, better yields can be obtained on poor
quality soils, if fertilizers containing small amount of nutrients are
used for the first two years.

Therefore, Europe and other non-tropical countries are a buyer of
Jatropha seeds and seedling of Jatropha from our internal market. As of
now no countries can supply any Jatropha seeds for the commercial
production of Biodiesel, but seeds for cultivation purpose are available
since mass scale cultivation is going on in the Indian sub-continent.
Nursery propagation of Jatropha needs specialized agro techniques to get
plants to yield requisite oil yields and the plant needs specialized
attention (prunning) to make it adequately seed bearing just like tea
plant. The raising of nursery and plantation thereafter should be done
under professional guidance. Jatropha plant bears fruits from 2nd year
of its plantation & the economic yield stabilizes from 4th/5th year
onwards. The plant has an average life with effective yield up to 50
years. Jatropha gives around 2 kg.of seeds/Plant The economic yield can
be considered as one-two kg./Plant & 4-6 MT hect/ year depending on
agro-climatic zone & agricultural practices. One hectare of plantation
on average soil will give 1.6 MT of oil.

India produces only 22% of its diesel requirement & 78% is imported at a
huge cost in foreign currency. With the introduction of compulsory use
of 10-20% Biodiesel in UK, USA, France, Germany, Japan & other countries
who specifies a 40-50% mix by 2010. India has a huge requirement by 2010
to meet the world norms & emission standard & accordingly a National
policy has already been given a green signal by Govt.of India in the
year 2003. Indian Railways have already carried out a trial run on
Amritsar-Shatabdi Express with Biodiesel. Similarly, Haryana State
Transport buses have been run by using biodiesel. Indian Railways have
taken a decision to plant Jatropha trees by the side of railway tracks &
Indian Oil other agencies in possession of Biodiesel Processing Units
will eventually process the Jatropha oil into biodiesel for Indian
Railways & to meet the national needs..

JATROPHA PLANTATION INDIA

Non-Forest Areas proposed for Jatropha Curcas Plantation
200 districts in 19 potential_tates have been identified on the basis of
availability of wasteland, rural poverty ratio, below poverty line (BPL)
census and agro-climatic conditions suitable for jatropha cultivation.
Each district will be treated as a block and under each block 15,000
hecter jatropha plantittfon will be undertaken through farmers. Proposal
is to provide green coverage to about 3 Million hectares of wasteland
through plantation of jatropha in 200 identified districts over a period
of 3 years.
Andhra Pradesh Adilabad, Anantapur, Chittoor, Cuddapah, Kuroool, Karim
Nagar, Mehboob Nagar, Nellore, Nalgonda, Prakasam, Visakhapatnam, Warrangal.

Bihar Araria, Aurangabad, Banka, Betiah (West Champaran), Bhagalpur,
Gaya, Jahanabad, Jamui,-Kaimur, Latehar, Muzzaffarpur, Munger, Nawada.

Chhattisgarh Bastar, Bilaspur, Dantewada,"Dhamtri, Durg, Jagdalpur,
Janjgir-champa, Kanker, Kawardha, korba, Mahasaund, Rajnandgaon, Raipur,
Raigarh, Surguj.

Jharkhand Bokaro, Chatra, Daltenganj, Devgarh, Dhanbad, Dumka, Garhwa,
Godda, Giridih, Gumla, Hazaribag, Jamshedpur, Koderma, Pakur, Palamu,
Ranchi, Sahibganj, Singbhum(East), Singbhum(West).

Gujarat Ahmedabad, Amedi, Banaskantha, Bhavnagar, Junagarh, Jamnagar,
Kutch, Rajkot, Surendranagar, Sural.
Goa Panaji, Padi, Ponda, Sanguelim.

Himachal Pradesh Bilaspur, Nahan, Parvanu, Solan, Unna.

Haryana Ambala, Bhiwani, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Hisar, Jind, Jhajjar,
Mohindergarh, Punchkula, Rewari, Rohtak.

Karnataka Bijapur, Bellary, Bangalore, Belgaum, Chikmagalur,
Chitradurga, Daksina Kannada, Dharwad, Gulbarga, Hassan, Kolar, Mysore,
Raichur, TumkW, Udupi.

Kerala Kottayam, Quilon Trichur, Thiruvananthapuram.

Madhya Pradesh Betul, Chhindwara, Guna, Hoshingabad, Jabalpur, Khandwa ,
Mand Saur, Mandla, Nimar (Khargaon), Ratlam, Raisena, Rewa, Shahdol,
Shajapur, Shivpuri, Sagar, Satna, Shahdol, Tikamgarh, Ujjain, Vidisha.

Maharashtra Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Amrawati, Akola, Beed, Buldana,
Dhule, Nasik, Osmanabad, Parbhani, Pune, Ratnagiri, Raigad, Thane, Yavatmal.

Orissa Bolangir, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Ganiam, Gajapati, Jajapur, Koraput,
Keonjhar, Kalahandi, Nowrangpur, Nawapra, Phulbani, Puri.

Punjab Ferozpur, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Patiala, Sangrur.

Rajasthan Ajmer, Alwar, Barmar, Bilwara, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur,
Kota, Sikar, Sawai Madhopur, Udaipur.

Tamil Nadu Coimbatore, Chennai, Dharmapuri, Erode, Madurai, Peri gar,
Salem, Tirunelvelli, Vellore.

Uttar Pradesh Allahabad, Agra, Balia, Bulandshare, Bhadohi, Baharaich,
Chhitrakut, Deoria, Ferozabad, Faizabad, Ghazipur, Hardoi, Jaunpur,
Shahjahanpur.

Uttaranchal Chamoli, Dehradun, Pithoragarh, Rishikesh, Udhamsingh Nagar,
Uttrakashi.

West Bengal Balurghat, Barasat, Burdwan, Cochbehar, Darjeeling, Hoogly,
Howrah, Jalpaigudi, Mednapur, Murshidabad, MaIda, West Dinajpur,
24-Parganas South.

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Sector wise Stocks which make you crorepati in future! Believe it ! Hold for &7 Years

A. Commodities

• Reliance Industries – Perennially evergreen company

• Reliance Petroleum – Largest refinery with very high Nelson complexity index  that will lead to highest gross refining margins, GRMs

• NRE Coke – integration from coking coal to coke

• Tata Steel – formerly Tisco; lowest cost producer of steel plus large value addition through Corus acquisition

• Hindalco – lowest cost producer of aluminium plus large value addition through Novelis Fusion Technology

• Sterlite Industries – commodity powerhouse at a time when globally commodities are in a super cycle

• Sesa Goa – largest reserves of iron ore in private sector

 

B. Telecom

• RCom – marketing aggressiveness plus financial engineering plus political acumen

 

C. Auto

• Tata Motors – from world's cheapest car to luxury Jaguar to SUV Landrover to trucks -- will be in global top five in 5 years

 

D. Finance

• ICICI Bank – proactive, aggressive fund raising and lending taking full advantage of slow decision making at PSU banks

• Reliance Capital – straddling all areas of non-banking financial services
• Sbi: Going to became Public sector largest bank
  

 

E. Infrastructure

• L&T – another evergreen company, value unlocking through listing of subsidiaries, very strong core business

• Patel Engineering –  strong position in high margin high technology construction sector, real estate development
• Punj lloyd: A Very large corpus of order in pipeline &likely to become next L&T

  
  

F. Pharma

• Glenmark – innovator, out-licensor of drugs in fast growing therapeutic areas like lifestyle diseases

• Cipla – innovator copier, low cost supplier of essential medicines people can't do without

 

G. Realty

• DLF – proxy for the Indian real estate sector

• Unitech – number 2 and tries harder than number 1

• Sobha Developers – fully integrated real estate contractor who graduated to property developer status

Lanco Infra achieved financial closure for two road projects.

Lanco Infratech shares are trading at Rs.459. Lanco Infratech Ltd has
announced that the financial closures for the two road projects awarded
by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to LANCO at Karnataka to
be developed on Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis have been
successfully achieved.

The debt requirement for these projects has been tied up with State Bank
of India and its Associate Banks with State Bank of India being at the
lead. The two road projects are the 81 Km Bangalore-Hoskote-Mudbagal
stretch on National Highway 4 and 82 Km Neelamangla — Devihalli stretch
on National Highway 48. The project involves six laning of 16 Km stretch
and four laning of the remaining stretches. The total project cost is
estimated at Rs 13,480 million.

The concession periods are 20 and 25 years for the two projects
respectively including 30 months of construction period. The contracts
were awarded through a competitive bidding process. The projects would
be financed through a mix of Equity, Debt and Grant from NHAI.At
present, the power portfolio includes an operating capacity of 519 MW
and additional capacities under construction aggregating to more than
3,400 MW with plans under advanced stages of finalization for beginning
of construction of another 3600 MW. The construction and EPC wing has an
order book worth Rs 114 billion.

Bloglines - Stock Idea - Aban Offshore

Bloglines user raman_bel@yahoo.com has sent this item to you, with the following personal message:

Buy

---

Stock Recommendations for Indian Share Markets

Stock Idea - Aban Offshore By Gemini Recommendation: Buy (again!!!) CMP = Rs 3,780 Price target: Rs 5,420 Key points: Aban Offshore has received a letter of intent from Oil and Natural Gas Corporation for the deployment of drillship, Aban Ice, on a three-year contract worth Rs 657 crore. As per the new contract, the day rate works out to around $154,000, which is much higher than our estimate of $110,000 per day. The ongoing contract, which was at a rate of $43,000 per day, is set to expire in March 2008. As can be noticed, the new rates are almost 258% higher than the previous contract, clearly indicating the strong uptrend in the day rates.  Also, it is important to note that the contract has been struck in rupee terms, protecting the company against any fluctuations on the foreign exchange front. I would also factor in the impact of this contract at higher day rates for Aban Ice in our next update, along with the impact of the recent acquisition of an offshore rig, Bulford, for a consideration of $211 million. All this would add to the company's growth from the next year onwards. Furthermore, the company might also announce its contract for the newly-built jack-up rig, Aban VIII, in February 2008, which may provide further upside to our numbers. It should be noted that the current correction in its stock price should be used as an opportunity to buy the stock. At the current market price of Rs 3,780, the stock is discounting its FY2009E earnings by 9.7x and FY2010E earnings by 7.5x. I believe that its valuations are extremely attractive at the current levels. Also, the listing of its subsidiary would act as an important trigger for the stock going ahead. I maintain Buy recommendation on the stock with a price target of Rs 5,420 with a time frame of 9-12 months.

Golden Moments to Pick Valuable Gold Stocks ! Don't miss it!

Name of stocks to pick: 1. Radico Khaitan 2. Alok Industries 3. JP
Associates 4. Inox 5. Noida Toll Bridge 6. Aban Offshore

While the correction has been deep and painful, there is still room to
make money in select stocks. It has been a sharp knock for all the
midcap or smallcap stocks. But there are still some very interesting
stocks to pick up.

Radico Khaitan is one of them, with a current market price around Rs
130. The stock has corrected nearly 45%, from its all-time highs or
52-week high, of around Rs 220. Reliance Capital has bought nearly 37.67
lakh shares, which is around 4% stake, at a value of around Rs 150. So,
one is getting around 15% discount to the level, which Reliance Mutual
has bought into.

Alok Industries is another stock, where the stock has corrected nearly
25%, from its 52-week high of around Rs 110. The most interesting thing
is that the company has issued warrants to the promoters at Rs 102 per
share, which is again a 15% discount to the prevailing market price.

JP Associates is another stock, where the current market price is
hovering around Rs 400. The stock has corrected nearly 21%, from its
52-week high, of around Rs 510. There has been a bullish brokerage
report on the stock. Merrill Lynch's target is at Rs 530 per share.
Merrill Lynch reiterated buy on value creation via subsidiary JP
Infratech & Power.

Inox is another stock, which has seen correction. The stock has
corrected 30%, from a 52-week high, of around Rs 242. Again, Reliance
Capital has bought nearly 43 lakh shares or nearly 5% stake at Rs 143
per share on an average.

Noida Toll Bridge, where the stock had seen exceptional run up, has
corrected 28% from its 52-week of around Rs 85. India Infoline's price
target is at Rs 107.

Saregama is another very interesting stock, which it has corrected
nearly 34%, from its 52-week high of around Rs 388. It is now trading at
around Rs 250. Reliance MF had bought nearly 7% stake at Rs 250 per
share in September 2007.

Aban Offshore has corrected nearly 25%, from its 52-week high, of around
Rs 5,416. Goldman Sachs has reiterated buy with target of Rs 5,400.

CRITICAL LEVELS FOR INDEX ON 21 JAN 08

FOR INTRADAY TRADING ON  21 JAN  , NIFTY INDEX HAS INITIAL  SUPPORT AROUND 5705   LEVELS  BREACHING OF THIS SUPPORT MAY TAKE NIFTY  TO  MAJOR SUPPORT  LEVELS AT 5677. HOWEVER IF THIS IS BREACHED,  THEN   EXPECT  NIFTY  TO   SLIDE   TOWARDS   5595   &  THEN TO 5515  LEVELS   WHICH  IS   A VERY STRONG BOUNCE BACK POINT  . ON THE UPPER SIDE , IT MAY FIND  INITIAL  RESISTANCE  AT 5724   BREACH OF WHICH CAN TAKE NIFTY TO 5750  ABOVE  WHICH   NIFTY CAN TEST 5783  OR  EVEN 5909 LEVELS

Stock trading works how? Some Tips are

Trade = Buy or Sell

To “trade” means to buy and sell in the jargon of the financial markets. How a system that can accommodate one billion shares trading in a single day works is a mystery to most people. No doubt, our financial markets are marvels of technological efficiency.

Yet, they still must handle your order for 100 shares of Acme Kumquats with the same care and documentation as my order of 100,000 shares of MegaCorp.

You don’t need to know all of the technical details of how you buy and sell stocks, however it is important to have a basic understanding of how the markets work.
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If you want to dig deeper, there are links to articles explaining the technical side of the markets.

Two Basic Methods

There are two basic ways exchanges execute a trade:

    * On the exchange floor
    * Electronically

There is a strong push to move more trading to the networks and off the trading floors, however this push is meeting with some resistance. Most markets, most notably the NASDAQ, trade stocks electronically. The futures’ markets trade in person on the floor of several exchanges, but that’s a different topic.

Exchange Floor

Trading on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (the NYSE) is the image most people have thanks to television and the movies of how the market works. When the market is open, you see hundreds of people rushing about shouting and gesturing to one another, talking on phones, watching monitors, and entering data into terminals. It could not look any more chaotic.

Yet, at the end of the day, the markets workout all the trades and get ready for the next day. Here is a step-by-step walk through the execution of a simple trade on the NYSE.

1. You tell your broker to buy 100 shares of Acme Kumquats at market.
   
   
2. Your broker’s order department sends the order to their floor clerk on the exchange.
   
   
3. The floor clerk alerts one of the firm’s floor traders who finds another floor trader willing to sell 100 shares of Acme Kumquats. This is easier than is sounds, because the floor trader knows which floor traders make markets in particular stocks.
   
   
4. The two agree on a price and complete the deal. The notification process goes back up the line and your broker calls you back with the final price. The process may take a few minutes or longer depending on the stock and the market. A few days later, you will receive the confirmation notice in the mail.

Of course, this example was a simple trade, complex trades and large blocks of stocks involve considerable more detail.

Electronic Trading

In this fast moving world, some are wondering how long a human-based system like the NYSE can continue to provide the level of service necessary. The NYSE handles a small percentage of its volume electronically, while the rival NASDAQ is completely electronic.

The electronic markets use vast computer networks to match buyers and sellers, rather than human brokers. While this system lacks the romantic and exciting images of the NYSE floor, it is efficient and fast. Many large institutional traders, such as pension funds, mutual funds, and so forth, prefer this method of trading.

For the individual investor, you frequently can get almost instant confirmations on your trades, if that is important to you. It also facilitates further control of online investing by putting you one step closer to the market.

You still need a broker to handle your trades - individuals don’t have access to the electronic markets. Your broker accesses the exchange network and the system finds a buyer or seller depending on your order.

Conclusion

What does this all mean to you? If the system works, and it does most of the time, all of this will be hidden from you, however if something goes wrong it’s important to have an idea of what’s going on behind the scenes.

Stock tips to buy stocks

It is very difficult to try and determine what company is going to do tomorrow or next week, even next month because you simply can’t account for the human condition. However, you can take a look at the future goals and aspirations of a company to determine where they’ll likely be in the next quarter or two or even the next year.

This is similar to the area of human psychology (the two areas, psychology and trading, are very much related) where psychologists can’t predict what one particular person will do tomorrow or the next day or maybe even next month. What they can do, however, is determine what a large group of people are likely to do in the future. They can also identify and distinguish certain patterns of human activity that are true in the general situation of a large group of people but that don’t necessarily apply to one particular person.

The same thing applies here, you can try to determine what a company is likely to do in the next year or two and then invest accordingly, even if you aren’t sure what they are going to do next week. Because of this there is no reason to be concerned about any small fluctuations in the stock that you are investing in as it is most likely going to even out in the future.

Short Term Stock Trading

Sometimes in trading, some people often experience 20% - 30% pullbacks but it doesn’t bother most of the professional traders since they know that the stock will come back and end up where they think it will in the next year or so.

This is a really important tip and is what separates the professionals from the amateurs because the professionals know to ride out the slight dips along the road while the amateurs get scared and pull out too early losing a ton of money.

What is normal stock market cycle

                               What is normal stock market cycle

Most bull (up) market cycles last two to four years and are followed by a recession or bear (down) market and eventually another bull market in common stocks.

In the beginning phase of a new bull market, growth stocks are usually the first sector to lead the market and make new price highs. Heavy basic industry groups such as steel, chemical, paper, rubber, and machinery are commonly more laggard followers. Young growth stocks will usually dominate for at least two bull market cycles. Then the emphasis may change for the next cycle, or a short period, to turnaround or cyclical stocks or newly improved sectors of the market, such as consumer growth stocks, over-the-counter growth issues, or defense stocks that sat on the sidelines in the previous cycle.

Last year's bloody bums become next year's heroes. Chrysler and Ford were two such spirited turnaround plays in 1982. Cyclical and turnaround opportunities led in the market waves of 1953-1955, 1963-1965, arid 1974-1975. Papers, aluminums, autos, chemicals, and plastics returned to the fore in 1987. Yet, even in these periods, there were some pretty dramatic young growth stocks available. Basic industry stocks in the United States frequently represent older, more inefficient industries, some of which are no longer internationally competitive and growing. This is perhaps not the area of America's future excellence.

Cyclical stocks' price moves tend to be more short-lived when they do occur, and these stocks are much more apt to suddenly falter and encounter disappointing quarterly earnings reports. Even in the stretch where you decide to buy strong turnaround situations, the annual compounded growth rate could, in many cases, be 5% to 10%.

Requiring a company to show two consecutive quarters of sharp earnings recovery should put the earnings for the latest twelve months into, or very near, new high ground. If the 12 months earnings line is shown on a chart, the sharper the upswing the better. This will make it possible in many cases for even the "old dog" about-face stock to show some annual growth rate for the prior five-year time period. Sometimes one quarter of earnings turnaround will suffice if the earnings upswing is so dramatic that it puts the 12 months ended earnings line into new highs.

How to Weed Out the Losers in a Group

When you investigate a specific industry group, using the five-year growth criteria will also help you weed out 80% of the stocks in an industry. This is because the majority of companies in an industry have lackluster growth rates or no growth at all.

When Xerox was having its super performance of 700% growth from March 1963 to June 1966, its earnings growth rate averaged 32% per year. Wal-Mart Stores, a discount retailer, sported an annual growth rate from 1977 to 1990 of 43% and boomed in price an incredible 11,200%. Cisco Systems growth rate in October 1990 was an enormous 257% per year and Microsoft's was 99% in October 1986, both before their long advances.

The fact that an investment possesses a good five-year growth record doesn't necessarily cause it to be labeled a growth stock. Ironically, in fact, some companies called growth stocks are producing a substantially slower rate of growth than they did in several earlier market eras. These should usually be avoided. Their record is more like a fully matured or nearly senile growth stock. Older and larger organizations frequently show slow growth.