TYPE OF STOCK

Common Stock
Common stock is, well, common. When people talk about stocks they are usually
referring to this type. In fact, the majority of stock is issued is in this form. We basically
went over features of common stock in the last section. Common shares represent
ownership in a company and a claim (dividends) on a portion of profits. Investors get one
vote per share to elect the board members, who oversee the major decisions made by
management.

Over the long term, common stock, by means of capital growth, yields higher returns
than almost every other investment. This higher return comes at a cost since common
stocks entail the most risk. If a company goes bankrupt and liquidates, the common
shareholders will not receive money until the creditors, bondholders and preferred
shareholders are paid.

Preferred Stock
Preferred stock represents some degree of ownership in a company but usually doesn't
come with the same voting rights. (This may vary depending on the company.) With
preferred shares, investors are usually guaranteed a fixed dividend forever. This is
different than common stock, which has variable dividends that are never guaranteed.
Another advantage is that in the event of liquidation, preferred shareholders are paid off
before the common shareholder (but still after debt holders). Preferred stock may also be
callable, meaning that the company has the option to purchase the shares from
shareholders at anytime for any reason (usually for a premium).

Some people consider preferred stock to be more like debt than equity. A good way to
think of these kinds of shares is to see them as being in between bonds and common
shares.

Different Classes of Stock

Common and preferred are the two main forms of stock; however, it's also possible for
companies to customize different classes of stock in any way they want. The most
common reason for this is the company wanting the voting power to remain with a
certain group; therefore, different classes of shares are given different voting rights. For
example, one class of shares would be held by a select group who are given ten votes per
share while a second class would be issued to the majority of investors who are given one
vote per share.

When there is more than one class of stock, the classes are traditionally designated as
Class A and Class B. Berkshire Hathaway (ticker: BRK), has two classes of stock. The
different forms are represented by placing the letter behind the ticker symbol in a form
like this: "BRKa, BRKb" or "BRK.A, BRK.B".
The Indian Stock Market 101
Mark Twain once divided the world into two kinds of people - those who have seen the
famous Indian monument the Taj Mahal, and those who haven't. The same could be said
about investors. There are two kinds of investors - those who know about the investment
opportunities in India and those who don't. India may look like a small dot to someone in
the U.S., but upon closer inspection, you will find the same things you would expect from
any promising market. Here we'll provide an overview of the Indian stock market and
how interested investors can gain exposure.
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The BSE and NSE
Most of the trading in the Indian stock market takes place on its two stock exchanges -
the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The BSE
has been in existence since 1875. The NSE, on the other hand, was founded in 1992 and
started trading in 1994. However, both exchanges follow the same trading mechanism,
trading hours, settlement process etc. At the last count, BSE had about 4,700 listed firms,
whereas rival NSE had about 1,200. Out of all the listed firms on the BSE, only about
500 firms constitute more than 90% of its market capitalization; the rest of the crowd
consists of highly illiquid shares. Almost all the significant firms of India are listed on
both the exchanges. NSE enjoys a dominant share in spot trading, with about 70% (as of
2009) of the market share and almost a complete monopoly in derivatives trading, with
about a 98% share in this market (also as of 2009). Both exchanges compete for the order
flow that leads to reduced costs, market efficiency and innovation. The presence of
arbitrageurs keeps the prices on the two stock exchanges within a very tight range. (To
learn more, see The Birth Of Stock Exchanges.)

Trading Mechanism
Trading at both the exchanges takes place through an open electronic limit order book in
which order matching is done by the trading computer. There are no market makers or
specialists and the entire process is order-driven, which means that market orders placed
by investors are automatically matched with the best limit orders. As a result, buyers and
sellers remain anonymous. The advantage of an order driven market is that it brings more
transparency by displaying all buy and sell orders in the trading system. However, in the
absence of market makers, there is no guarantee that orders will be executed. All orders
in the trading system need to be placed through brokers, many of which provide online
trading facility to retail customers. Institutional investors can also take advantage of the
direct market access (DMA) option, in which they use trading terminals provided by
brokers for placing orders directly into the stock market trading system. (For more, read
Brokers And Online Trading: Accounts And Orders.)

Settlement Cycle and Trading Hours

Equity spot markets follow T+2 rolling settlement. This means that any trade taking place
on Monday gets settled by Wednesday. Delivery of shares must be made in
dematerialized form. Each exchange has its own clearing house, which assumes all
settlement risk by serving as a central counterparty. All trading on stock exchanges takes
place between 9:55am and 3:30pm Indian Standard Time (+ 5.5 hours GMT) from
Monday through Friday.

Market Indexes
The two prominent Indian market indexes are Sensex and Nifty. Sensex is the oldest
market index for equities; it includes shares of 30 firms listed on the BSE, which
represent about 45% of the index's free-float market capitalization. It was created in 1986
and provides time series data from April 1979 onward. Another index is the S&P CNX
Nifty; it includes 50 shares listed on the NSE, which represent about 62% of its free-float
market capitalization. It was created in 1996 and provides time series data from July 1990
onward. (To learn more about Indian stock exchanges please go to
http://www.bseindia.com/ and http://www.nse-india.com/.)

Market Regulation
The overall responsibility of development, regulation and supervision of the stock market
rests with the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI), which was formed in 1992
as an independent authority. Since then, SEBI has consistently tried to lay down market
rules in line with the best market practices. It enjoys vast powers of imposing penalties on
market participants in case of a breach. (For more insight, see http://www.sebi.gov.in/. )

Who Can Invest In India?

India started permitting outside investments only in the 1990s. Foreign investments are
classified into two categories: foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign portfolio
investment (FPI). All investments in which an investor takes part in the day-to-day
management and operations of the company are treated as FDI, whereas investments in
shares without any control over management and operations are treated as FPI.

For making portfolio investment in India, one should be registered either as a foreign
institutional investor (FII) or as one of the sub-accounts of one of the registered FIIs.
Both registrations are granted by the market regulator SEBI. Foreign institutional
investors mainly consist of mutual funds, pension funds, endowments, sovereign wealth
funds, insurance companies, banks, asset management companies etc. At present, India
does not allow foreign individuals to invest directly into its stock market. However, high-
net-worth individuals (those with a net worth of at least $US50 million) can be registered
as sub-accounts of an FII.

Foreign institutional investors and their sub accounts can invest directly into any of the
stocks listed on any of the stock exchanges. Most portfolio investments consist of
investment in securities in the primary and secondary markets including shares,
debentures and warrants of companies listed or to be listed on a recognized stock
exchange in India. FIIs can also invest in unlisted securities outside stock exchanges,
subject to approval of the price by the Reserve Bank of India. Finally, they can invest in
units of mutual funds and derivatives traded on any stock exchange.

An FII registered as a debt-only FII can invest 100% of its investment into debt
instruments. Other FIIs must invest a minimum of 70% of their investments in equity.
The balance of 30% can be invested in debt. FIIs must use special non-resident rupee
bank accounts in order to move money in and out of India. The balances held in such an
account can be fully repatriated. (For related reading, see Re-evaluating Emerging
Markets. )

Restrictions/Investment Ceilings
The government of India prescribes the FDI limit, and different ceilings have been
prescribed for different sectors. Over a period of time, the government has been
progressively increasing the ceilings. FDI ceilings mostly fall in the range of 26-100%.

By default, the maximum limit for portfolio investment in a particular listed firm is
decided by the FDI limit prescribed for the sector to which the firm belongs. However,
there are two additional restrictions on portfolio investment. First, the aggregate limit of
investment by all FIIs inclusive of their sub-accounts in any particular firm has been
fixed at 24% of the paid-up capital. However, the same can be raised up to the sector cap
with the approval of the company's boards and shareholders.

Secondly, investment by any single FII in any particular firm should not exceed 10% of
the paid-up capital of the company. Regulations permit a separate 10% ceiling on
investment for each of the sub-accounts of an FII in any particular firm. However, in case
of foreign corporations or individuals investing as a sub-account, the same ceiling is only
5%. Regulations also impose limits for investment in equity-based derivatives trading on
stock exchanges. (For restrictions and investment ceilings go to
http://www.fiilist.rbi.org.in/ )

Investment Opportunities for Retail Foreign Investors

Foreign entities and individuals can gain exposure to Indian stocks through institutional
investors. Many India-focused mutual funds are becoming popular among retail
investors. Investments could also be made through some of the offshore instruments like
participatory notes (PNs) and depositary receipts, such as American depositary receipts
(ADRs), global depositary receipts (GDRs), and exchange traded funds (ETFs) and
exchange-traded notes (ETNs). (To learn about these investments, see 20 Investments
You Should Know.)

As per Indian regulations, participatory notes representing underlying Indian stocks can
be issued offshore by FIIs only to regulated entities.

However, even small investors can invest in American depositary receipts representing
the underlying stocks of some of the well-known Indian firms listed on the New York
Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. ADRs are denominated in dollars and subject to the
regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Likewise, global
depositary receipts are listed on European stock exchanges. However, many promising
Indian firms are not yet using ADRs or GDRs to access offshore investors.

Retail investors also have the option of investing in ETFs and ETNs based on Indian
stocks. India ETFs mostly make investments in indexes made up of Indian stocks. Most
of the stocks included in the index are the ones already listed on NYSE and Nasdaq. As
of 2009, the two most prominent ETFs based on Indian stocks are the Wisdom-Tree India
Earnings Fund (NYSE: EPI) and the PowerShares India Portfolio Fund (NYSE:PIN). The
most prominent ETN is the MSCI India Index Exchange Traded Note (NYSE:INP). Both
ETFs and ETNs provide good investment opportunity for outside investors.

Conclusion
Emerging markets like India are fast becoming engines for future growth. Currently, only
a very low percentage of the household savings of Indians are invested in the domestic
stock market, but with GDP growing at 7-8% annually and a stable financial market, we
might see more money joining the race. May be it's the right time for outside investors
also to seriously think about joining the India bandwagon.

Daily Trends in FII Investments on 15-SEP-2010

Gross Net Net Conversio
Investme Gross
Reporting Debt/Equit Sales(R Investme Investme n
nt Purchases(
Date y s nt (Rs nt US($) (1 USD
Route Rs Crores)
Crores) Crores) million TO INR)*
15-SEP- Stock 2351.0 Rs.46.37
4095.50 1744.50 376.21
2010 Exchange 0
Primary
Equity market & 2.50 23.70 (21.20) (4.56)
others
2374.7
Sub-total 4098.00 1723.30 371.65
0
Debt Stock
589.60 299.10 290.50 62.65
Exchange
Primary 14.90 5.50 9.40 2.03
 market &
others
Sub-total 604.50 304.60 299.90 64.68
2679.3
Total 4702.50 2023.20 436.33
0

The data presented above is compiled on the basis of reports submitted to SEBI by
custodians on 15-SEP-2010 and constitutes trades conducted by FIIs on and upto the
previous trading day(s).

Note

Daily Trends in FII Derivative Trades on 15-SEP-2010

Open Interest at
Buy Sell the
Reporting Derivative end of the date
Date Products No. of Amoun No. of No. of Amount
Amount
Contract t in Contract Contract in
in crores
s Crores s s Crores
15-SEP- 4137.7 20063.5
Index Futures 142803 87064 2512.97 690786
2010 6 6
9626.1 12977.4 78817.7
Index Options 338701 456761 2719558
2 5 5
1724.5 39424.3
Stock Futures 58033 78985 2397.37 1350347
8 4
Stock Options 25483 865.57 25408 857.94 43772 1335.82
Interest Rate
0 0 0 0 0 0
Futures

DETAILS OF STOCK EXCHANGES

Sr. Name of the Exchange Valid Upto
No
.
1 Ahmedabad Stock Exchange Ltd. PERMANENT
2 Bangalore Stock Exchange Ltd. PERMANENT
3 Bhubaneswar Stock Exchange Ltd. June 04, 2011
4 Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd. PERMANENT
5 Calcutta Stock Exchange Ltd. PERMANENT
6 Cochin Stock Exchange Ltd. November 07, 2010
7 Coimbatore Stock Exchange Ltd. September 17, 2006
Due to pending litigation before the Hon'ble Madras High
Court, Coimbatore Stock Exchange Ltd. (CSX) has not
filed application for renewal of recognition which expired
on 17.09.06. However, in terms of order dated 15.09.06
of the Hon'ble Court, the right of CSX to apply for
renewal shall be subject to further orders of the court and
the stock exchange shall not be entitled to oppose the
renewal solely on the ground of lapse of time.
8 Delhi Stock Exchange Ltd.,The PERMANENT
9 Gauhati Stock Exchange Ltd.,The April 30, 2011
10 Hyderabad Stock Exchange Ltd.,The

The Hyderabad Stock Exchange Ltd. (HSE) failed to

dilute atleast 51% of its equity share capital to
public other than shareholders having trading rights on or
before the
stipulated date i.e. August 28, 2007. Consequently, in
terms
of section 5(2) of the Securities Contracts (Regulation)
Act, 1956,
the recognition granted to HSE stands withdrawn
with effect from August 29, 2007.

11 Interconnected Stock Exchange of India November 17, 2010

Ltd.
12 Jaipur Stock Exchange Ltd. January 08, 2011
13 Ludhiana Stock Exchange Ltd.,The April 27, 2011
14 Madhya Pradesh Stock Exchange Ltd PERMANENT
15 Madras Stock Exchange Ltd. PERMANENT
16 Magadh Stock Exchange Ltd.
"SEBI vide order dated September 3, 2007 refused to renew the
recognition granted to Magadh Stock Exchange Ltd."
17 * Mangalore Stock Exchange
As per Securities Appellete Tribunal order
dated October 4, 2006, the Mangalore
Stock Exchange is a de-recognized Stock
Exchange under Section 4 (4) of SCRA
18 MCX Stock Exchange Ltd September 15, 2011
19 National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. PERMANENT
20 OTC Exchange of India August 22, 2011
21 Pune Stock Exchange Ltd. September 01, 2010
22 Saurashtra Kutch Stock Exchange Ltd.
SEBI vide order dated July 06, 2007 has withdrawn the recognition
granted to Saurashtra Kutch Stock Exchange Limited.
23 U.P. Stock Exchange Limited June 02, 2011
24 United Stock Exchange of India Limited March 21, 2011
25 The Vadodara Stock Exchange Ltd. January 03, 2011