Useful resources

This section contains useful resources that would help individuals make better informed conclusions about fundamental and technical aspects of securities

Books

Investment

• Intelligent Investor (Benjamin Graham)
• Buffetology (Mary Buffet)
• How to pick stocks like Warren Buffet (Timothy Vick)
• Beating the street (Peter Lynch)

Technical

• Technical analysis of the financial markets (John J Murphy)

Websites

Given below are some of the websites that can be of help in analysing stocks. It is imperative that the information provided by a portal should be counter checked with other sources before decision making.

• http://www.nse-india.com/ - The official website of the national stock exchange. Click the site map tab from the home page to enumerate the information available. Historical stock prices and charts can be obtained from the equity tab in the home page; the information would be helpful in determining the price movement of a stock. Mock trading and maintaining a watch list of the desired stocks can be done by registering in the mynse section.

• http://marketinfo.livemint.com/ - An excellent site with essential company info for an amateur investor. Specially check out the charts section containing a handful of tools for technical analysis.

• http://www.coattailinvestor.com/ - There is always a lot to learn from the greatest in any field. Sign up for the news letter to obtain valuable information regarding the portfolio management strategies of one of the world's greatest investor - Warren Buffet.

• http://money.rediff.com/money/jsp/markets_home.jsp - Check out the stock picks section (only if you are a speculator). Eipe's rule - Picks with all analysts giving buy recommendations ("buy" not "hold") have high probability of short term gains. Always use strict stoploss for the same. Disclaimer: This is a high risk strategy and is not a sound investment principle

• http://www.moneycontrol.com/

• http://www.edelweiss.in/ - There are a lot of materials on this site which could aid in amateur investor research. Of particular significance is the stock screener option available (on signing up) in the in the data tools section under the markets tab. This can be of immense help in selecting scrips based on specific investment criteria.

Essential qualities

This section details the essential qualities an individual should possess as an equity manager.

1. Discipline

Of all the qualities required in handling equities the most important one is discipline. Be it investment or speculation, discipline is a must to prevent lethal losses and to make decent profits. Discipline is the shield that protects an individual from the dreadful market emotions of greed and fear.

2. Education

As for every profession, education is a must in this field too. Though markets teach a lot as time pass by, some lessons may be very painful or even lethal. It is a must that a market aspirant should have received some kind of a formal training at least for a period of 6 months before actually entering in to the arena. Books like Intelligent investor (Benjamin Graham), Buffetology (Mary Buffet), Technical analysis of the financial markets (John J Murphy) are some of the must reads which gives a broader picture of the market to novices.