From my perspective as an analyst, the past week has been tedious because financial markets have been reacting to "headline risks” rather than the long term underlying fundamentals of the economy. Of course, financial markets are always pricing in new and unexpected risks, so this is nothing new. However, the intensity of the situation in Europe (i.e., Greece) and Washington (i.e., financial regulatory reform) makes rational assessment difficult because of the nature of the situation.

Specifically, it is hard to assess how politicians all over the world will make and implement decisions that will have a significant impact on all economic activity. The uncertainty about those decisions is high and the resulting uncertainties will weigh on investment decisions until clarity is achieved. It can be interpreted that the liquidity will become a major issue for global markets going forward. Corporations may find it difficult to hedge against important risks or alternatively, may find that the cost of doing so will rise significantly.

All near term indicators remain bullish, but there has been a diminishing of the positive signal over the past few weeks. This reflects the pullback in risk-taking that occurred since mid-April. It is worth monitoring for further deterioration.

Some of the indicators which could be looked into are as follows

1) The Yield Curves of the G3 nations remains near cyclical and historic highs, but has flattened by 25 bps since early-April. The current steepness of the curve is still indicating a sustained global recovery, but the signal has diminished slightly.

2) The real yield in the US, as proxied by the 10-year TIPS, has fallen by 39 bps since early-April. The 10-year UST yield fell 25 bps over the same time period, which means that the inflation breakeven has risen by 14 bps. Slower growth and higher inflation is not good for financial assets. It is worth mentioning that real yields reflect expected rates of return on capital. Falling real yields are bearish and rising yields are bullish, all else equal.

3) The Industrial Metals/Gold Ratio has fallen by 9% since mid-April. Industrial metals are sensitive to business cycle demand while gold is not. The 9% decline in the index was caused by a 6% decline in the industrial metals index and a 4% increase in the price of gold. Again, this is indicating slower growth and higher inflation on the margin. The Metals/Gold Ratio is up 33% from a year ago. The recent 9% decline does not indicate a reversal of the bullish macro environment. However, the entire commodities markets remain very tentative and vulnerable

To sum up on the markets, I maintain my bullish cyclical view with positive implications and cyclically sensitive industries except commodities. I believe that the recent pullback in stock prices last week is an excellent opportunity to buy.Banks, autos and capital goods are good bets at this point in time

Additionally, the Honorable Supreme Court pronounced its judgement in the RIL-RNRL case today .The principal points on which the apex court laid out clarity is that promoter / shareholder agreements is not be binding on the corporate entities behind them or for that matter the government .Second, natural resources are the assets of the government and it will have a final say in the quantity and price at which it is to be consumed, irrespective of policies and regulations at that point in time or future policies/regulations which might come . This judgment, to my mind could have immense implications for Corporate India going forward. It could also impact bidding amounts for future NELP auctions

The judgement went in favour Reliance Industries. To that extent, there are is a positive implications for the stock . Also there may be excellent value in Reliance Infra (even after subtracting Dadri from the SOTP valuations) at lower levels.

Reader’s queries

I have some shares which I want to hold for 3 years. I want to know the order book positions of these companies as on 31st March, 2010. IVRCL Infra & Projects Ltd (100 shares) JMC Projects Ltd- 200 shares Akruti City - 50 share Sandip Desai, Mehsana

For IVRCL, order book was Rs 17300cr at the end of the third quarter
For JMC projects,order book was Rs 2600cr at the end of the third quarter

I want to know the prospects of below mentioned companies. Uflex Ltd- 100 shares (rs. 85 per share) Garden Silk Mills- 100 shares (rs. 89 per share) Navneet Publications- 100 shares (rs. 55 per shares)
Uflex- I have no idea about this stock
Garden Silk- I have no idea about his stock either
Navneet Puplications-It is fully priced at current levels

I have the shares of Kirloskar Oil engine (Bse Code: 500243). The trading in this share hasnot been seen from 21st April, 2010. What should I do? Sell the stocks or hold? R K Bhatt, Rajkot (letter dated 22nd April, 2010)

Kirloskar Oil Engines should not be sold at current prices

The crisis in Greece crystallises the worries about the dire state of the public finances in many countries around the world. The fact that a Greek default is even considered possible is a fundamental shock to confidence in the world order. For a start, Greece has been seen as an advanced economy, if only by virtue of its membership of the euro-zone. As such, the shock value of a sovereign default in Greece could be much larger than the frequent defaults in emerging markets. We have to wait and see the events unfolding till May-19th (the day by when Greece should have paid 12 billion dollars to her lenders)

What’s more, the pressure will inevitably increase on other weaker members of the monetary union, notably Portugal, Ireland and perhaps Spain and Italy (PIIGS). That pressure would be all the greater if Greece were to leave the union and then, in time, be perceived to be doing better outside than in. The contagion from a Greek default could also spread to much larger economies where the public finances are also fragile, including the UK and, perhaps the biggest risk of all, Japan.

What’s more, even if Greece is rescued, the appetite for another bailout would surely be limited. Greece might therefore end up as the next Bear Stearns – the last to be bailed out before patience finally runs out, and some other country is allowed to default.

The dollar is also likely to strengthen further. Indeed, safe haven demand for the US currency is likely to be even greater than it was in late 2008 given the concerns over the future of the euro and the much worse state of the public finances in Japan.

The Greek crisis could also be the catalyst for a long overdue correction in the prices of most commodities. Many participants in these markets seem to assume that the world economy is returning to the strong growth that fuelled the commodity price boom from 2004 to 2007 as if nothing has happened in the meantime. In contrast, I expect big falls in commodity prices especially crude oil and copper. While this may good news for consumers, a collapse in commodity prices could be a big shock for financial markets. It could be very bad news for many emerging economies including India.

It is surely now or never for gold. Safe haven demand should be strong and rising given that gold is not dependent on the creditworthiness of any government. Despite this, current gold prices of around $1163/oz are still some way below the peak of $1227/oz seen in December last year. Gold’s failure to set new highs in dollar terms most likely reflects the resilience of the US currency, still-low inflation and the lack of any new impetus from central bank buying. Prices would spike higher in the event of an actual Greek default. But, gold may fallback to much lower levels by year-end as the dollar rises further and global deflation fears return.

Back home, economy is on an upswing, inflation remains stubbornly high, and RBI has started to lift policy rates. Worries over contagion from Greece have curbed the rise in Asian markets including India, but Asia has deleveraged since its mid-to-late 1990s crisis and there is not much to worry. Rollovers have been strong at 82% indicating that markets are likely to remain strong in the near future.

Reader’s queries :-

I want to buy 2000-3000 stocks of Zee News for 6 months.
Popatbhai, Ahmedabad.

I expect the company to show exponential earnings growth in FY12, as start-up losses are expected to be capped in FY11, following the conversion of Zee Tamil into a news channel. My DCFF-based target price for the company is INR 17 for the stock. My target implied FY11 PE is 24.1 xs and EV/EBITDA is 15.9 x. Reduced losses on new launches and increased growth in advertisement revenue remain risks to our call.

I want to invest in Zee News buying its 1000 shares. I also want to invest in Zandu Pharma. How are these companies?
Sureshbhai, Siddhpur.

Even after taking into account the real estate value in the company-Zandu pharmaceuticals is still expensive at current prices. I would not recommend you to buy at current prices