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Mr. TVK Vivek Kumar, Managing Partner at Bestpals Research and Advisory LLP, was searching for investment opportunities during the lockdown period following COVID-19. The stock markets witnessed a crash and most stocks were trading at decade-low prices. Mr. Kumar identified this as an opportunity for investment and wealth creation. He started scanning the stocks related to different sectors like Retail, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, E-commerce, and soon discovered the agricultural equipment and machinery sector stocks may offer attractive opportunities. He collected data related to the agricultural machinery sector and details of Indian companies operating in the Agricultural Machinery and Farm equipment sector. After reviewing the company profiles, he concluded that Escorts Ltd. and VST Tillers Tractors Ltd. were less diversified companies that mostly focused on manufacturing agricultural equipment. Upon analyzing the financial performance of the two companies, he was unable to decide which of these two companies for investments had the potential to deliver better returns. The goal was to identify Value or Growth stocks for a short-term investment horizon of 12-18 months, as he had no idea what the long-term outlook might be in the post-COVID-19 era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulators use securities market surveillance as an essential tool to guard against market manipulation, safeguard investors, and maintain the effectiveness of the markets. In an effort to thwart open market manipulation SEBI in consultation with the exchanges has put in place a unique surveillance mechanism known as Additional Surveillance Measures (ASM). The short-term impact of this surveillance measure on stock prices and trading volume is examined in this study, using event study methodology. The sample data consists of 245 instances, where companies were subject to ASM surveillance actions for a brief period. The results of the study show that the Cumulative Abnormal Return (CAR) on the stocks decreased after inclusion into STASM and the same persisted after exclusion also. However, the average abnormal volume (AAV) changed significantly in the pre- and post-event period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]