A look at some of the stocks to invest in 2008

The stock market is highly volatile now but there are quite a few stocks that you can pick up for a discount. We take this opportunity to list a few stocks that will generate good returns in a 6-month to a year's time, nevertheless, depending as and when the targets are achieved. Here are my picks for the year 2008:

A) IT Stocks

1) Infosys (current price: 1534.5 ........target price: 2000)
2) Wipro (current price: 465.95 .........target price: 650-700)
3) TCS (current price: 965.0 ........target price: 1250-1300)

B) Realty / Infrastructure

1) Parsvnath Developers (current: 470.0 ......target: 700 minimum)
2) Ganesh Housing (current: 691.0 .......target: 1200)
3) Srei Infrastructure (current: 258.0 ........target: 400)
4) Marg Constructions (current: 492.15 .....target: 850)

C) Financial Services

1) IndiaBulls Financial Services (current: 870.0 ......target: 1000 minimum .. There are talks of a few more demergers happening in this company. .So stay invested if you are holding this stock..)
2) Motilal Oswal (current: 1919.0 .......target: 2500)

D) Auto

1) Maruti Suzuki (current: 855.0 ....target: 1300 but only if 2H08 sales are good and launch of the new model goes as planned.)
2) Tata Motors (current: 763.0 ......target: 900-1000; again I expect the company to rocket skywards in the second half of 2008.)

E) Pharma

1) Ranbaxy (current: 399.45 ......target: 500; talks of a demerger are on. The demerger, if it happens, will likely take place in the second half of 2008. We believe the demerger will help unlock the value in the company.)
2) Aurobindo Pharma (current: 477.0 .....target: 900 in 2-3 years time)

F) Dark Horses

1) Reliance, Reliance and Reliance -- From RNRL to the forthcoming Reliance Power IPO, the Reliance pack is set to shine bright even in 2008! All records will be broken and rewritten or so we hope! If you are invested in it, then stay invested!!

G) Telecom

1) Bharti Airtel (current: 910.5 ......target: 1200)
2) RCOM (current: 805.2 ......target: 925 in short term, 1000 within 6-8 months)

[I've listed the reasons to invest in these stocks in one of my earlier posts; please refer to the same for more clarification - Varun Parwal..]

H) Aviation

1) Jet Airways (current: 895.0 .......target: 1400-1500)

I) Oil and gas

1) ONGC (current: 1299.7 .......target: 1650, achievement of the target is dependend on the oil and gas prices set by govt.) but awesome long-term investment!!

J) 3-Year Term Outlook: Go for DLF, NTPC and PowerGrid. However, wait for correction before buying into any of these stocks. A speculative bet would be an investment in NTPC currently. The Reliance Power IPO could help this stock cross the Rs. 300 mark.

However, these are just a FEW stocks that we are primarily bullish on. There are others too that you could look forward too. As for the mutual funds, equity-based funds have greater returns, so we recommend picking up one of these funds: Franklin Templeton, Reliance, SBI Magnum or HDFC.

We hope our picks help you generate good returns going forward. Please send in your feedback and any other queries; we will try and answer as many as we can.

[Co-authored with Meenakshi Sharma, CFP]