Indian mutual fund investors have come of age and now follow a contrarian strategy: they invest during market corrections. More importantly, they have shown patience in the bear run by continuing to stay invested.

As the inflation rate moves up, key market indices are spiralling downward. Is there a way of making sure that your portfolio is not affected by this rising rate?

What an investor needs is not important. What an advisor wants to sell gains precedence. Who loses in the bargain? The investor, of course, who gets something he didn't want or even need.

Did you know that a 6% growth in inflation can hurt you more than an 8% growth rate? No, we are not hallucinating, nor have we got our numbers mixed up but it’s a matter of historical fact.

Looking for one central theme for Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign in 1992, political strategist James Carville had come up with a line that became a memorable slogan: ‘It’s the economy, Stupid”. For a few days after the announcement of January figures of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) this slogan reflected the mood and movements on the stock markets.

Service tax has come a long way from the time when it was imposed at 5% on telephone bills, stock-broking charges and general insurance premium. The tax rate has since jumped to effectively 12.36%, including the cess. This Budget has added four new services in the tax net, taking the tally to 104.

Read the impact on stocks of nine sectors that are likely to be most affected by the Budget proposals. We also list out some of the stocks in each sector that you might want to consider buying or selling.

Dipen Sheth lists some stocks that he would want to exit, and use the cash to buy relatively ‘safe’ stocks for the Zoom portfolio. Here are his buy and sell clues.

You might have an account with a wellknown bank that gives you great service—but which has only a handful of ATMs in your city.  The lack of ATMs can be a limitation, especially when you see State Bank of India or ICICI Bank ATMs on almost every street.

After driving wealth creation for years, tech funds have become a drag now. Should you exit, hold, or buy while they are cheap?

A lot has been said so far about your rights as a consumer and the steps taken to protect those rights. The power of the consumer is steadily rising. But to exercise that power, we must show some signs of responsibility.

Rakesh Rai speaks to NCDRC President Justice MB Shah about the issues faced by consumers and how well the redressal mechanism is geared to handle complaints.

MONEY TODAY presents the first ever charter of your financial rights. Know what they are and how to get redressal for your investor grievances.

Determination and self-belief are two key reasons why Rohit Kumar has made a success of helping expatriates settle down in India to a new life.

Depending on speed of reforms, life will get worse or better, depending on one’s perspective.

This is what the best mutual funds earned for investors in recent years.

Asuccession of finance ministers has industriously chipped away, for the last 20 years, on achieving a remarkable transformation of India’s tax system.

In six budgets, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has given us more money than what he has taken out through taxes. Here’s what to expect on February 28, and why

The e-Choupal model of ITC has continuously evolved over the past decade, and today is a boon not just for farmers but for the consumer goods business of the tobacco major as well.

Sports: The Next Big Thing (BT cover, April 18) raises prospects of big investment in sports and creation of sports infrastructure in the country.