Continuing upward journey
Karachi Stock Market as usual carried on its swift upward journey during July 2003. All the stock market indicators remained highly bullish attaining impressive new records.

IN FOCUS
Confectionery industry
By Ismat Sabir
The processed food industry consists of dairy plants, sea food/fisheries, livestock and poultry, fruits and vegetables, beverages, confectionery and biscuits and breads. In the present article we have confined ourselves to only two sectors, i.e., confectionery and biscuits.

Choosing a career by choice
S.Z. Arshad
Adam Smith taught us to trust the laws of supply and demand for things to turn out for the better. But is this the only thing that parents and students need to consider when making decisions about career? Definitely not! I have seen a great number of parents push their children blindly into IT or 'Computers' just because it seemed to be the most lucrative field at that moment. 

REFLECTION
Successful stock trading
By Shahid Hussain
Whether you are trading real investment capital or simply paper trading, it is important to stay organised and disciplined. More than a hundred experienced stockbrokers were asked: what rules they follow for successful trading? There were more than one thousand suggestions. To emphasise, preservation of capital and equity growth is the single most important aspect of trading. 

RATING ROUNDUP
Publicly Notified Ratings by JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company LIMITED
Adamjee Insurance Company Ltd.
Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) Rating AA-
ON RATING WATCH

SPOTLIGHT
Is the Pakistani market expensive?
By Basharat Ullah Khan
The current market valuation stands as follows:
-- The KSE-100 index has gained almost 100 per cent during the past 12 months.
-- The average P/E (price earnings ratio) has doubled
at 9-10x.
-- The dividend yield has fallen in the range of 6-8 per cent.

SPECIAL REPORT
Corporate governance: are we ready for induction of independent directors?
By M Shaban Uppal
Corporate governance is a generic term, which describes the ways in which rights and responsibilities are shared between the various corporate participants, especially the "management" and "shareholders.

STOCK MARKET CONFIDENCE
NEWS - CresBank STOCK EXCHANGE CONFIDENCE BAROMETER
Standing at low
During December 2001, level of investors' confidence in the stock market remained low as compared to that prevailed during the preceding month. The News-CresBank Confidence Barometer for December was measured at 38 per cent on an aggregate basis. Despite dropping down from 47 per cent of November, the barometer managed to maintain the same category of 'very low to low'. A week-to-week analysis reveals that the barometer managed to go as high as 44 per cent, in the middle of the month. and dipped as low as 33 per cent toward the month-end, hardly float above the 'very low' category.

The Stock Market Confidence Barometer developed by Vital Information Services Pvt. Ltd. is a unique instrument that expresses in percentage the level of investors' confidence prevailing at the Karachi Stock Exchange taking into account each and every share transaction. The model electronically tracks the number of shares traded (adjusted for free float) at the KSE along with their respective prices, to find out the exact movement of investors' money. The investors place their funds world wide in other than safe-haven stocks when they are confident of the prevailing economic and political situation. On the other hand, when they are not so confident of the economic and political developments, they transfer their funds from those comparatively risky items to the safe-havens. This phenomenon is the foundation stone of this Confidence Barometer.
-- M. Bilal Aftab

CORP CORNER