When speculation is King !

 It is a sign of the lack of depth in Indian stocks, some even blue-chips, that the Sensex is so markedly sensitive to transient and endemic political inclemency. Speculation often overrides fundamentals. The US sub-prime crisis of 2008 affecting global finance or a serious Middle East conflict threatening oil supplies upset the economy of developing countries. But it is a pity that our economy with its strong fundamentals should wait with trepidation the electoral outcome on May 16. That swings will be wilder on that day than say an Israeli-Palestinian flare up or even a revised QE taper in the US is a given. Weak fault lines continue to exist, be it in the narrow band of retail speculative stock transactions, the dated 30-component Sensex, as perhaps in other sectors too the Sensex seems to be largely serving as a day-to-day ATM for investors, which is fine except that swings tend to become hugely separated from the core value strength of the respective stock(s). Speculation and short haul political developments are content to feed on each other and small investors invariably get hurt. It is time that our stock indices get reworked and that fundamentals start prevailing over exuberant speculation.
Pub Financial Express May 13
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/letters-to-the-editor/1250070