Paid Stock Advice

Sometimes free stock advice is expensive. In the past, brokerage houses have come up with buy reports to help their larger clients offload a position and many brokerages release technical trading reports only to help generate brokerage income.

Equity investors who believe in buying stocks only after a thorough research and cannot access company managements on their own often seek independent research . Subscribing to fundamental reports makes economic sense if a family has a direct equities portfolio or is keen to build a portfolio of Rs 8-10 lakh at least. Equitymaster provides long-term stock recommendation services based on fundamental research. The service could cost anywhere between Rs2,000 and Rs30,000 annually. In their Hidden Treasure package, they recommend one small-cap multi-bagger every month. Also, they tell you when to book profit or exit the stock. Then there are individual-led firms like Kolkata-based Basant Maheshwari Financial Services, which gives stock ideas and access to archives of 8,000 questions across stocks which have been answered over the last decade.

However, if you are looking to make a little money off trading, there are firms or entities specialising in technical calls like Trend watch, Sharegyan, Wealthrays or Dr Praveen Mokashi. The frequency of calls varies depending on the technical trading package you opt for.For example, in the intra-day technical calls package, Wealthrays gives you three recommendations on each trading day.

In fact,  Wealthrays Securities, the latest entrant to the paid re search space, charges only a flat fee of  Rs100 for every successful  intra-day recommendation,unlike others who charge an annual or quarterly subscription fees. Moreover, the company does not charge anything if a recommendation does not hit the target.

But before you hazard any money, be sure to check the track record in the technical analysis space.The easiest way to judge a service provider is to opt for a free trial which most players offer for three days to a week and do mock trades to judge the recommendations.In the technical analysis space if more than 70% of the calls are on target, the quality of service is good. In the fundamental research space, check how the past recommendations have fared in good as well as bad times.Equitymaster lists out past performance of their recommendations on their website.

Finally, ask around locally for pros and cons of each service provider to get an idea, of the quality of service.