POWER equipment manufacturer Thermax has seen significant investor interest in the last month or so, with the stock rising over 30% in this period. Analysts attribute this trend to the shift in Bhel’s focus to bigger projects in the utility boiler market, a move which is expected to enable Thermax to get more orders in this space. Bhel has the biggest market share in the utility boiler market. Investors are enthused about Thermax’s recent signing of a 15-year agreement for technology licence for sub-critical boilers with US-based Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group. Analysts expect this move to enable the company expand its order book, which was lagging other major players in the power equipment manufacturing space in 2007-08. On Monday, Thermax ended at Rs 494.05, up 4.7% from Friday’s close.
Historically Sensex has given returns of about 15% per year, despite volatility and price fluctuations of about -20% to +60%. The following table shows S&P BSE Sensex historical data - start & close values and the yearly returns of the sensex from 2000 to 2024. So far during the year the index has hit an all-time high of 75,124 and despite markets hitting all time highs not all stocks make all-time highs. There are many stocks still below their highs. Stocks like HDFC Bank, ITC, Asian paints are still well below their highs and some of them have given low returns over last 3-5 years. Individual or Retail investors can achieve consistent returns through investing via mutual funds , whether it be active or passive. Chasing returns from individual stocks is futile. Be a wise investor !