One of the most surprising things during this recent horrifying mumbai terrorist attacks is that there was no public announcement of any hostage situation. Think about it, There were only about a couple of terrorists in each hotel, each hotel had hundreds of people in it, but at no point of time did we hear a news that there is a hostage situation and the terrorists are trying to negotiate/demand anything.

Isn't that surprising? I think the credit here goes to the people who handled the crisis and actually took decisions. I am quite sure, the terrorists did plan to use hostages to their advantage, either to escape or to release more of their friends in jail or whatever. But our side just did not negotiate nor did they make any such intention of terrorists public. Yes, i think it was a good idea to not negotiate and although it must have certainly increased the number of casualties, it would have been a bad idea to let these bast*rds go just like that, after having already killed maybe a hundred and our top cops. More importantly this is also a good way to discourage hostage like situations in future.- Just dont negotiate with animals!

Let us hope this nightmare and the huge loss will bring some meaningful and long lasting change in our political system.

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NSE BSE will be closed today as a result of the unfortunate event of terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

3 terrorists are still on the lose, so if you are in mumbai, you are better off staying safe in your home.

some facts: around 100 people killed. army summoned. main target: taj and oberoi hotel.

If you were in the Colaba area last night, you may have actually heard 2 or 3 explosions, just like I did.

Also Read: Will India Attack Pakistan?

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I have recently been getting a lot of visitors searching for How to buy shares using your Demat account? or How to place order using your Dmat account? and so on.

First you must understand that Demat Account is merely an account which 'keeps' your shares. Just as a savings account in a Bank keeps your money. Now if you want to buy shares "using" your Demat account you need to either have an Online Trading Account or find some Broker. You can either directly place an order with the Online Trading account with a few clicks, or you can call/tell your Broker to buy the shares for you.

There are two things you can do with the shares or stocks or equities that you buy. You can either sell them on the same day itself. Such buying and selling of shares on the same days is called intraday trading. Or you can choose to 'keep' those shares in your demat account (to be sold at a later date at your discretion), an action usually referred to as "take delivery" of those shares. Such a trade would be called "Delivery". The brokerage charged for delivery trades is typically more than that charged for Intraday trades. Read my post on comparison of brokerage charges in India to get an idea about how much brokerage is charged for Intraday and Delivery by leading brokerage houses in India.

T+3 rule

Remember that once you place a delivery order for shares (or stocks or equities) with a broker or on your online trading account, they are not immediately deposited in your demat account. They will only be deposited on the 3rd business day. T in T+3 refers to trade or the day on which trade has taken place.

Can shares bought for Delivery be sold on the next day itself, before having to wait for 3rd day on which they are deposited in your Demat account? Yes! this type of trade is called "Obligation". I'll write more about it later.

Dmat Accounts, Online Trading Accounts in India Compare Brokerage Charges in India Dmat Account : Think Beyond Savings Account Compare Demat Accounts How to buy shares using demat account? How to Open a Demat Account? How to choose the best Demat Account? How to transfer shares between Demat Accounts? Demat + Trading Account CitiBank Demat Account Charges HDFC Demat Account Charges SBI Demat Account Charges Sharekhan Demat Account Charges

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Textile cos to axe five lakh employees in next five months
Financial Express - 21 Nov 2008
Even as the government is getting ready to undertake a nationwide survey of over 800 companies to find out the exact job losses in India due to the global financial crisis, the first report of pink slips is out. .....

Five lakhs is a large number. Compare this with a few thousand job cuts announced by the IT industry. However the average salary of the textile employees is probably much less than that of the IT people hence the five lakh number is definitely bad but does not immediately translate into a 50 times worse scenario than IT job cuts. Also note that this is probably not much due to decrease in domestic demand but a slow down in exports. Countries like India and Bangladesh export are one of the leading textile exporters to the west.

He [deputy chairman, Confederation of Indian Textiles Industry] said the textiles and clothing industry employs 35 million workers directly, adding that already 7 lakh jobs are estimated to have been lost and another 5 lakh would lose jobs by March 2009.

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NDTV: Only in India is ATF cheaper than petrol.

ATF is sold at Rs 40 per litre to the airlines, whereas petrol which is consumed by the common man, costs Rs 57 per litre

I dont know how much more expensive is ATF as compared to petrol or diesel, but ATF or Aviation turbine fuel is supposed to be more refined version of crude oil than petrol. So why is the Indian government not considering a petrol price cut? Currently the reason cited is that the petroleum refining and marketting companies have suffered such big losses during the recent bull run of crude oil, that they need a chance, some more time to make profit and come back into business.

Reducing Petrol price is one of the best 'populist moves' that this government can make. It is being targeted by opposition for price hikes and high inflation. So what could be a best move than to just cut petrol prices just some time before the election campaigning picks up speed? The Congress will look for timing in this case.

But do you remember ? The governement had clearly announced, that it will consider reducing petrol prices when crude drops below $67? I think the govt simply did not expect this scenario so face to early. It had not really planned for it. Remember this announcement was during a time when crude oil had just dropped from its peak $147 to just below $100. $67 seemd unthinkable at that time.

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I have written two posts on how the dollar is likely to face a catastrophic fall against the rupee. and more generally against other currencies. Currently the following factors are keeping the dollar strong :

1. Net outflows of FII's from Indian Stock Market. It seems to me that on an average the FII's are withdrawing approximately 3000 crore rupees on a weekly basis (very rough estimate). Certainly this is putting a downward pressure on the rupee.
2. Several countries have huge dollar reserves. China, over a trillion dollars, and the Arab countries which price petrol in US dollars. They thus have a vested interest in keeping the US dollar strong. (but for how long?)
   

It is not clear to me how long the above two factors are going to hold the dollar up against the rupee. There is a third, a more fundamental factor, which plays a role in forex rates and that is the economy. If US economy worsens a lot than the Indian economy (which is likely the case), then fundamentally, the dollar SHOULD go down. It is point number 2) mentioned above which can cause a sudden panic selling of dollar, and make the fall much more sharper, I think. However, after having written two posts on this, I have realised one thing. I (perhaps even experts) completely lack the ability to make any quantitative prediction like when? how fast? etc. The dollar-rupee rate does affect me directly. Does it affect yours? Then ask yourself the question, if tomorrow China decides to offload its trillion dollar reserves, what happens? This wont happen as of now though, because that will hurt China perhaps as badly as it will hurt the dollar. The following article on BBC : The death of the Dollar? is worth reading. Again, it is an article, like my previous posts, lacking any quantitative predictions. Following is an excerpt from the article

..He [Prof Ngaire Woods] wonders whether the combined cost of foreign wars and domestic bail-outs is being seen as "a burden too far" for the US.

But for the dollar to lose reserve currency status would end what has been in many ways a huge bonus for the US.

It is sometimes described as the ability to write cheques that no-one ever cashes.

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This post is all about comparing different charges one incurrs while opening/operating a Demat Account with various depositories : SBI, ICICI, HDFC, CITIBANK, SHAREKHAN, etc.

DEMAT Account Charges :

Comparison of Account Opening Charges, Account Maintenance Charges, Charges for BUY and SELL trades.

These are the charges which matter most to most of us.

Depository	Account Opening Charges	Account Maintenance Charges	BUY Charges	SELL Charges
SBI Demat Account Charges	NIL	Rs. 400/- per year (Rs.350/- if you choose email statement)	NIL	NIL for trade on' SBICAP Securities, else 0.03% (Min. Rs.30/-)
HDFC Demat Account Charges	NIL	Rs. 500/- per year	NIL	0.04% Min. Rs. 20/-
CITI Bank Demat Account Charges	NIL	Rs. 250/- per year	NIL	0.06% Min. Rs.18/-
Sharekhan Demat Account Charges	NIL	Rs. 75/- per quarter	0.02% Min. Rs. 15/-	0.04% Min. Rs. 15/-
ICICI Demat Account Charges	NIL	Rs. 500/- per year (Rs. 450 if you choose email statement)	NIL	NIL for trade on ICICIDirect.com, else 0.04%*

*Min Rs.10/- for e-instruction, Min Rs.30/- for instructions through branches.

Comparison of Dematerialisation and Rematerialisation charges

(only relevant if you want or have shares in old paper format style)

Depository	Dematerialisation Charges	Rematerialisation Charges
SBI Demat Account Charges	Rs. 35/- for each request form, +Rs.2/- for each certificate	Rs. 25/- for each request form
HDFC Demat Account Charges	Rs. 35/- per request form+ Rs. 3/- per certificate	Rs. 10/- per certificate
CITIBank Demat Account Charges	Rs. 50/- per request form	Rs. 50/- per request form
Sharekhan Demat Account Charges	Rs. 15/- per request OR Rs. 3/- per certificate, whichever higher	Rs. 25/- or 0.12% of value, whichever higher
ICICI Demat Account Charges	Rs.35/- per request form + Rs. 2/- per certificate	Rs. 20/- per request form.

Comparison of Additional Statement Charges and Account Closing Charges

Depository	Additional Statements Charges	Account Closing Charges
SBI Demat Account	By courier: Rs. 30/-, By email: NIL	NIL
HDFC Demat Account	Rs. 25/- (inland) Rs. 500/- foreign	?
CITIBank Demat Account	?	?
Sharekhan Demat Account	Rs.10/- upto 10 pages. For every extra page, Rs.3/-	Rs. 100/-
ICICI Demat Account	Rs. 20/-	NIL

Dmat Accounts, Online Trading Accounts in India Compare Brokerage Charges in India Dmat Account : Think Beyond Savings Account Compare Demat Accounts How to buy shares using demat account? How to Open a Demat Account? How to choose the best Demat Account? How to transfer shares between Demat Accounts? Demat + Trading Account CitiBank Demat Account Charges HDFC Demat Account Charges SBI Demat Account Charges Sharekhan Demat Account Charges

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Also see

• SBI DEMAT Account Charges
• HDFC DEMAT Account Charges

CITIBANK DEMAT ACCOUNT CHARGES

Account Opening	Nil
Account Maintenance	Rs. 250/- per year
BUY (Market / Off-Market)	Nil
SELL (Market / Off-Market)	0.06% (Min. Rs.18)
Custody charges	Nil
Dematerialisation	Rs.50 per demat request
Rematerialisation	Rs.50 per remat request
Transaction cum Holding statement	Monthly free (if there are transactions in the account, else quarterly)
Pledge Closure	0.02%
Pledge Invocation	Nil

Dmat Accounts, Online Trading Accounts in India Compare Brokerage Charges in India Dmat Account : Think Beyond Savings Account Compare Demat Accounts How to buy shares using demat account? How to Open a Demat Account? How to choose the best Demat Account? How to transfer shares between Demat Accounts? Demat + Trading Account CitiBank Demat Account Charges HDFC Demat Account Charges SBI Demat Account Charges Sharekhan Demat Account Charges

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Here is a list of HDFC Demat Account Charges. You may compare it with SBI Demat Account Charges or find more about HDFC Dmat by clicking on those words.

			Minimum
1	Account Opening	NIL	--
2	Account Maintenance	Rs. 500/- per anum	Rs. 500/-
3	Dematerializations	Rs. 3 per certificate, plus Rs. 35/- per request	Rs. 38.00
4	Rematerialisation	At actuals, as levied by the Depository Currently Rs. 10/- per certificate	--
5	SELL	0.04 % of the value of the transaction	** Minimum Rs.20.00
6	BUY	NIL	--
7	Pledge Services *	0.04% of the value of the shares	Rs. 25.00
8	Asset Holding	NIL	--
9	Debt Transactions - Sell	0.04 % of the value of the transaction. Minimum Rs 500/- and Maximum Rs 5000/- per Txn	Rs. 500.00 per txn.
10	Debt Transactions - Buy	NIL	--
11	Mailing Charges for non periodic statements and other communication	Rs. 25/- per request for inland address Rs. 500/- per request for foreign address

Dmat Accounts, Online Trading Accounts in India Compare Brokerage Charges in India Dmat Account : Think Beyond Savings Account Compare Demat Accounts How to buy shares using demat account? How to Open a Demat Account? How to choose the best Demat Account? How to transfer shares between Demat Accounts? Demat + Trading Account CitiBank Demat Account Charges HDFC Demat Account Charges SBI Demat Account Charges Sharekhan Demat Account Charges

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I have a SBI Demat Account and I am pretty happy with their service. I had earlier written about it in my post on Demat Accounts. In this post I will list all the charges (see below).

1. Account Opening Charges : NIL !
   
2. Account Maintenance Charges : Rs. 400/- (Rs. 350/- for customers receiving statements by email) per year.
   
3. Dematerialisation : Rs. 35/- for each request form, additional Rs. 2/- for each certificate.
4. Rematerialisation : Rs. 25/- for each request form.
5. Closure of Account : NIL !
6. Additional Account Statements : by courier - Rs. 30/- , by email - NIL !
7. Buying equities: - NIL !
8. Selling equities: NIL ! if you sell through SBICAP Securities, or eztrade.co.in. If you give instructions to branches to sell, then 0.03% of the transaction value (minimum Rs.30/-).
   

Let me elaborate on point 7 and 8. If you perform any transactions through SBICAP Securities, then you are not charged any additional fee (other than brokerage charged by SBICAP) for buying/selling transactions.

Related posts :

• Demat Account : Think Beyond Savings Account
• Demat + Trading Account
• Review of SBICAP Securities
  

Dmat Accounts, Online Trading Accounts in India Compare Brokerage Charges in India Dmat Account : Think Beyond Savings Account Compare Demat Accounts How to buy shares using demat account? How to Open a Demat Account? How to choose the best Demat Account? How to transfer shares between Demat Accounts? Demat + Trading Account CitiBank Demat Account Charges HDFC Demat Account Charges SBI Demat Account Charges Sharekhan Demat Account Charges

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Indian rupee is a managed currency. If RBI gets nervous, it can sell or buy billions of dollars on a monthly basis and try to intervene and stop the rise or fall of the US Dollar versus the Indian Rupee. I have had a tough time understanding why the dollar rose so much against the rupee, when the dangers to US economy and increasing US national debt both seem to predict a catastrophic fall in US dollar. The catastrophic fall in all probability will happen, but it may take a while. One reason why the US dollar touched 50 Indian rupees maybe because of FII's and other banks and institutions pulling out money from India to meet their financial obligations at home. Whatever reason they pulled out the money for. But this is a temporary and not so fundamentally sound reason for the US dollar to rise so much against the rupee. That is why, unless I am unable to see some major catastrophic event in Indian economy, the dollar will fall, and will fall hard.

What effect will Obama have on dollar/rupee?

Obama's financial policies have been inclined towards more spending, stimulus package and a little bit of less focus on controlling debt (and rightly so ! - read Krugman on this). So naturally, the more spending focus is going to tend to increase national debt even more, (which by the way, now stands almost equal to US GDP). So the Obama effect is going to exert a downward pressure on the US dollar against all major global currencies, EURO, YEN, etc.

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" [Nearly 70% of the military budget] is to provide men and weapons to fight in foreign countries in support of our allies and friends and for offensive operations in Third World countries .. Another big chunk of the defense budget is the 20% allocated for our offensive nuclear force of bombers, missles, and submarines whose job it is to carry nuclear weapons to the Soviet Union... Actual defense of the United States costs about 10% of the military budget and is the least expensive function performed by the Pentagon... "-- Rear Admiral Gene LaRoque, U.S. Navy retired

This is quite interesting. I have always felt uncomfortable by "US foreign policy" and have been of the opinion that a large portion of it is deterimental both to the US as well as to the rest of the world. (Iraq War is one example). But the above actual numbers are really an eye opener. Also Compare $700 billion dollar bailout package with the $500 billion annual US military budget!.

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In this post I am going to list / discuss fundamental concepts that as an investor you must know before operating your demat + Online Trading account.

In this post I am going to discuss the first question that arises in the mind of a new investor:
How to buy shares using your demat and trading account?
Also Read: Buying Shares using Demat Account

Here are a few things to remember :

1. Your Demat Account is merely an account which keeps track of which shares or equities you have bought and you currently hold in your portfolio. So there is not much to do as far as 'operating' demat account is concerned.
   
2. Your Online Trading account is the account which is used to place buy and sell orders. It is important to understand how to buy and sell shares using your online trading account. If you are interested in learning this, i recommend you watch THIS DEMO. It doesn't matter if you have a online trading account with sharekhan, or sbi or motilal oswal or any other online broker. This demo will help you understand basic concepts involved.

After having read the demo, you can go through the following list of 'must know' items.

1. There are three types of BUY (or SELL) orders you can place. Market Order, Limit Order, Stop-Loss Order.
2. There are two types of "Order Terms", i.e. Day and IOC (Immediate or Cancel). Day order means your order remains valid for that day until the market closes. For example if you place a day order to buy Tata Steel at Rs. 250, then your order will be valid throughout the day and will be executed as soon as there is a seller selling the shares for less than or equal to 250. As opposed to this if you place an IOC order, it will be executed at that moment if there is someone selling tata steel shares at a price of at most 250. If there is noone, the order is cancelled immediately. You do not have to manually cancel it. IOC is typically used by Intraday traders, if at all.
3. You can either place an Intraday order or a Delivery Order. Intraday orders are squared off typically 15 minutes before the market closes. A buy Delivery order means the shares are deposited in your demat account (on third working day). A sell Delivery order means shares are sold from your demat account (you must first own them !). Note that Brokerage Charges for Delivery Orders are usually more than the brokerage charges for Intraday Orders.
   

I will keep updating this post to make it more user friendly. Meanwhile if you have questions, you may try posting a comment.

Dmat Accounts, Online Trading Accounts in India Compare Brokerage Charges in India Dmat Account : Think Beyond Savings Account Compare Demat Accounts How to buy shares using demat account? How to Open a Demat Account? How to choose the best Demat Account? How to transfer shares between Demat Accounts? Demat + Trading Account CitiBank Demat Account Charges HDFC Demat Account Charges SBI Demat Account Charges Sharekhan Demat Account Charges

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I am merely a part time investor located in Pune. I have a full time job, just like most of you, and reading and writing about investing and economy has now become my hobby.

If you would like to make a comment or a suggestion, or ask a question regarding anything related to this blog, please leave a comment on this post. If you would like to contact me for some other reason by email, please leave your email address here and I'll get back to you within a couple of days.

For reasons of avoiding spam and junk calls, I do not immediately reveal my email address.

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This is personal blog. Any comment or statement made in this blog is purely an expression of my personal opinion, which may or may not be correct, and in no case should it be interpreted as an investment advice. While you are free to read my opinion, you are responsible for making your own investment decisions and possible losses or profits arising out of those.

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