Investments
- Bank Deposits- Tops the list of concerns, but collapse of any bank highly unlikely. Stay put: while cash is king, keeping it at home is not a good idea.
- Stocks- With high risk and volatility, tough to bet the market bottom. Think long-term; courageous investors should focus on liquid, large-cap stocks.
- Mutual Funds- For equity, think long-term and large-cap funds; conservative investors should look at government securities or fixed maturity plans.
- Gold- Volatile and rising, looks attractive in these uncertain times, but the upside may be limited.
- Housing-Makes sense to wait as prices will fall further; desperate builders are not finding many buyers.
Housing Loans
- Interest rates expected to come down, so wait a while; good time to pre-pay part of the loan if it is not tax-efficient.
Jobs
- Increment- Big impact across the board, expect most companies to be conservative now.
- Hiring- Some sectors will be hit; across the board, employees will take more time, seek to bring costs under control.
- Placements- Too early to say, beginning to become a bit of a question mark.
- Bonuses- Will be hit badly without doubt, particularly for services like consulting, banking and financial services.
Spending
- Prices- Crashing commodity prices should reduce headline inflation over time, for now household essentials remain highly priced
- Diwali- Spending sentiment is subdued, particularly for cars; but other consumer goods companies say Diwali is far from a washout.
- Travel- With dipping business travel, this segment is a major casualty of subdued sentiment.
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