The basic question is will there be a war with Pakistan?

With the Pakistan establishment in trouble and the election ahead, there will be very little prepartion for this kind of war with India. One can safely say using the planetary transit and the dasa and bhukthi there will not be a war with Pakistan.since Jupiter is in the 9th house and Saturn, in the 5th house . Pakistan will be a country undergoing sweeping changes.

Stock markets

There was a dream run for markets: nearly 6000 points went up last year. Can we expect the same? Basically, with the 11th lord Jupiter in the 8th house plus Saturn and Ketu conjuct till 2008 June, it will be diffcult for Sensex to make such a wild leaps.

Secondly, there will be volatility. Correction in the market will happen. Most of the stocks on the upside will see 1 per cent - 2 per cent swings. Reliance, Tata and Birla will do well. IT will be an under-perfomer. Power, infrastructure , auto and real estate stocks will do well. The top pick for the year from the astrologer side will be MRL, Suzlon, DLF, ONGC, Jindal Drilling, Aban Offshore. If u are long term investors, Deccan, Bharthi Telecom, Wipro, TCS will be good picks. Sebi will be putting some more norms for the regulation of the market. The inflow of FIIs funds will be average rather than very great. India story is still there with a restrains.

Oil prices

With the raging war and problems of Saturn with Ketu, oil prices will cross over the 100 dollars mark easily. The government will raise the price for one +IBM - 5 Rs range. Being typically close to elections these issues will be played under wraps.

Rupee

Rupee value continues to be strong and can even reach 37 for a dollar. Of course, the main impact will be on the exporter.

Gold

Gold prices will creep up slowly as usual. During Deepavali and festival time, they will go up.

Property

Property prices will have marginal relief with correction in the market till June 2008. Saturn and Ketu will not allow another big rally. Many people can hold the property in the long run. Market still looks good. The middle class dream of having a house will get fulfilled easily.

Politics

With Karat holding the cards, the relationship will be somewhat hunky-dory till June 2008. Afterwards, I want to write a separate article. Advani, who made a statement that the government will come down based on what a Delhi astrologer said, will be disappointed till June 2008. Manmohan will still be the darling for the Congress. Tempers will be still controlled in a nice manner. The so-called posturing by the Left, plus the Nandigram issue will be put in the backburner.

There will be a separate article on whether Advani will become Prime Minister like Vajapee in the ripe old age.

A major leader in the BJP will have health problems.

Telecom sector

The czar of Indian telecom, Sunil Mittal, will see his ambition curtailed due to the spectrum issue. There will be reasonable growth in the sector. Vodafone, as expected, will be spending more money in ads to build up brand.

Retail

The retail will see massive expansion in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. New formats, structures will be introduced. It is retail boom all the way.

Airlines

It is time for celebration and expansion. More and more people will travel. Deccan, Jet, Spice will have increased passenger capacity and number of flights. New destinations and one more new airline can join the race. Mallya's Kingfisher and Deccan will make a smooth merger. Air Sahara will remain where it is.

Computers

Internet gaming, surfing , buying will increase rapidly. There will be a boom in online share trading. Laptops costing Rs15,000 will become a big hit.

Two-wheelers

The higher end of the bike market will see more sales; the middle-class graduating to car will be the normal trend. New bikes, new segments, new prices will be common features among major players.

The 8-10 per cent growth will be maintained till the start of Ketu bhukthi which is till July 9, 2008.

Finance

The RBI will not meddle much with interest rate though people wil have crying need for loans. At the most, there can be some fluctuation for 50 basis points. The government whiz kids in finance, who will not want another sub prime in hand, will tighten the grip in the financial sector.

Insurance by private people will be less than government one.

Judiciary

The judiciary will become stronger.

Media

Media channels will do well with soaps. Sun TV network is a very good buy. Paper as a sector will have average growth.

The ad industry will have a normal year.

Tourism

Tourism, hotels and eateries will have a very good run. There will be an increasing tendency to visit India and Indians will go abroad.

Mass death

Mass death will increase due to Jupiter in the 8th house. The dates to watch are:

February 21-27
June 10 +IBM - 20
July 10 +IBM - 17
August 2 +IBM - 4
August 14-15 August 23

There will be a lot of tension.

Till January15 itself mass death will higher.

Overall, India in 2008 looks positive with no major hiccups.

KB Gopalakrishnan