Heard on the Street

BSE tightens circuit filters as panic sets in
THE desperation is palpable. While nothing seems to be stopping the free fall on Indian bourses, stock exchanges are now trying out measures that would help soften the blow from intra-day crash in share prices. The Bombay Stock Exchange, for instance, has been revising circuit filters in an increasing number of stocks, particularly those where the fall has been sharper. Given the technical nature of such a move, brokers feel it would only restrict intra-day fall to some extent but would not help in boosting investor confidence, which is badly shaken by global financial turmoil and consequent FII outflows. The BSE surveillance department has revised circuit filters in about 40 stocks so far in the current week. The list mostly includes beaten down stocks of medium- and small-cap companies.
Govt orders back on radar
DEALERS tracking the high-profile technology sector were, for long, looking for investment ideas. The days of largesized fancy orders coming from remote parts of the world are over and analysts were left wondering what to say to attract investors. Luckily, they found support from one of the most unexpected quarters. Government orders hardly figured in the 'pitch' of dealers that they made to clients. But now many dealers can be heard talking to their clients about the passport order that TCS bagged recently from the ministry of external affairs. The order, in the company's own words, is valued at over Rs 1,000 crore. And that's not all. Vakrangee Software, which is known to be a favourite counter for most punters, has attracted a lot of attention after it joined hands with Financial Information Network and Operations (FINO) for the execution of the Rashtriya Swathya Bima Yojana (RSBY).
It's Raining Bears
With apologies to the 1982 The Weather Girls classic —It's Raining Men...
Volatility is rising — Hope's getting low According to all sources, the street's the last place to go Cause today for the n-th time Just about 955 AM Not the first time in history It's gonna start raining bears... It's Raining Bears! Hallelujah! - It's Raining Bears! I'm gonna go out to run and keep my cash under the mat Absolutely buried in a big net! The bears' are rough, tough, strong and mean Gone is the bull run when they were sad, mad, afraid and lean It's Raining Bears! Everywhere!
    Contributed by Vijay Gurav,
    Ashish Rukhaiyar & Gaurav Pai