Hello........and help me get started!

tmg · #1 13th August 2005, 09:06 AM

Hi all,
I am studying engineering at IIT. I had a course on Security Analysis and Portfolio Management last year. Of course we studied the various theories, fundamental analysis, technical analysis etc. But theory being theory, and practical being something else I thought of putting some of the theory I learnt into practice by starting to invest in the share market.
It would be great help if someone could tell me the procedure for getting started on investing starting with opening of DMAT account( where? ICICI?) to the brokerages, capital gains tax information etc.
Thanks in advance

Masterchief · #2 13th August 2005, 09:18 PM

TMG,

It's great to see your interest in the market(s). It would especially be helpful to all of us to hear any insights you have given your specific experience inthe classroom. A majority (i speak of myself mainly) of us are self-taught.

I would encourage you to first start with a paper account - one that allows you to paper trade for FREE, one that takes into account commissions. The two biggest drawbacks to a paper account is liquidity and emotion- meaning there is no guarantee that you would get a specific position at a specific price in the real market and there is no substitute for real market conditions when actual money is on the line.

Still though, even top professionals use paper accounts to tweak their models or even to try a new* technique/strategy. I use a paper account when trying something new. Never ever would I risk actual money on an unproven model. Nothing is full proof, but certain correlations are made in all markets - some of which you've studied at school no doubt.

The issue it seems for you, is to put into practice the theories you've studied - probably to clearly determine which is most effective (not perfect). If that's the purpose, then a paper account is ideal. When you write your thesis you will have to report that all of the data is collected using a paper account and report the parameters behind the paper account. Most computer based models that report "backtesting" are simulations with market prices and though they try to reflect what traders could have made, they must disclose that all results are hypothetical and do not warrant actual performance.

Best of luck to you and let us know who's right! hehe Something i nearly neglected to mention is risk management. A lot of great posts have already been written in this forum regarding risk protection etc. Look for those articles and read up, because no matter how fullproof a system, unless you can appropriately limit loss, nothing else will matter.

raviiyer · #3 15th August 2005, 10:27 AM

Dear,

Good to say Hello to you. I am an existing customer of ICICIDirect.com. I am with them for the last one year. And my experience shows, it is a worst one and for the last 20 days we faced lot of losses because of the non-functioning of this to its potential, and getting no reply for our many e-mails, and taking us granted that we will stick to them. If you happen to visit moneycontrol.com's message board under 'internet' link, then you will come to know how bad this has affected their customers. Many have shifted to other trading platforms. And you will get to see a lot of informations posted by many regarding Sharekhan, Indiabulls, Geogit, 5Paisa.com, etc.

PLS. DON'T DO THE MISTAKE OF OPENING AN ACCOUNT WITH ICICIDIRECT.COM. YOU WILL BE LOSER. THIS IS 100% CORRECT.

Regards,

Ravi Iyer

tmg · #4 15th August 2005, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raviiyer

Dear,

Good to say Hello to you. I am an existing customer of ICICIDirect.com. I am with them for the last one year. And my experience shows, it is a worst one and for the last 20 days we faced lot of losses because of the non-functioning of this to its potential, and getting no reply for our many e-mails, and taking us granted that we will stick to them. If you happen to visit moneycontrol.com's message board under 'internet' link, then you will come to know how bad this has affected their customers. Many have shifted to other trading platforms. And you will get to see a lot of informations posted by many regarding Sharekhan, Indiabulls, Geogit, 5Paisa.com, etc.

PLS. DON'T DO THE MISTAKE OF OPENING AN ACCOUNT WITH ICICIDIRECT.COM. YOU WILL BE LOSER. THIS IS 100% CORRECT.

Regards,

Ravi Iyer

Thank you for the reply.
Do you suggest any one broker in particular? The attraction with ICICI is that you can have bank account, demat account with a single service provider. But I have been seeing a lot of negative comments about ICICIdirect and I get a feeling that it might not turn out as good as they claim especially if one is interested in trading on a day to day basis. So I think I need to collect some more info about this.
comments are welcome...