Tale of the Tape 

Good evening, everyone. We’re halfway through the week!

For the second day in a row, markets cooled off sharply from the highs to end with minor losses. We don’t blame you for losing interest in stocks right now - this is easily one of the most BORING phases in the market. Bears are hoping for a meltdown after reading the global headlines but the Bulls are holding firm. This means a whole lot of confusion, indecision and big money choosing to stay on the sidelines.

Consequently, the market breadth was weak with over 3 stocks falling for every gainer. Autos (+0.4%) and Banks (+0.2%) fought hard to end in the green. Meanwhile, IT (-0.8%) and Metals (-0.7%) saw profit booking.

Today’s issue covers SEBI action on market expert Sanjiv Bhasin for alleged stock price manipulation, BSE’s expiry day shift and what it means for the stock, why Hindustan Zinc cracked nearly -7% today and more.

Here’s the NSE 500 heatmap:

Market
Sanjiv Bhasin BANNED!

SEBI has banned market expert Sanjiv Bhasin, earlier with IIFL, from the markets. The regulator also impounded crores in unlawful gains made by him & his associates. Let’s take a closer look at the funny business.

The scam: It’s a well-practiced playbook at this point. Prominent investor recommends a stock on a popular platform. Before he does, he instructs a broker to secretly buy the same stock. Once his tip goes viral on social media and the stock goes up, he quickly sells. Classic pump and dump.

The deets: SEBI says Sanjiv Bhasin did exactly this along with his cousin Lalit Bhasin and a group of small brokers. He did it on established TV channels (like Zee Business and ET Now) and also through official IIFL platforms including its app and Telegram channel. PS - he wasn’t even careful, with calls being made over the phone & messages sent on WhatsApp. SEBI also says they carefully maintained details of Bhasin’s cut and that profits were actually shared through cash in meetings at Connaught Place.

The stocks hit: Well-known stock were manipulated, including L&T Technology Services, IndiGo, SAIL and Godrej Consumer Products. FYI - the stocks didn’t even have to be pushed up a lot to make money. For example, take Parag Milk Foods. Bhasin and Co got in at Rs 220 p/sh, made the recommendation and then got out at Rs 235 p/sh (+7% jump). But by trading in huge quantities, they all made out with Rs 11 crore in profits.

Big Picture:There’s enough examples of corrupt TV stock tips for us to say NEVER EVER listen to them. This is also good advice for any tip tbh; always buy something because you’ve researched it. Not because some so-called expert says so!

Specials
BSE - Wait or Invest?

After a +3x in the last 1 year, BSE is a stock that everyone has an eye on. But, does it have room for further upside from current levels? Check out our latest video where we cover the company’s fundamentals, technicals, brokerage ratings and SEBI RA views in ~5 mins.