A 15% plus spike in the volatility index (called VIX), a sharp bump up, 3%+ in gold, and 5%+ in oil don’t triangulate too often. In the past two decades, this happened thrice – once in 2001, then in 2008, and now on Friday. Events like this want you to…
What is the most important thing an investor must avoid doing now? The answer is actually very simple. An investor must not overpay now. The reason for that being more important now is not too difficult to understand. When the global macros are heading into rough weather and local macros…
“Details create the big picture.” – Sanford I Weill There is a stark contrast in investor sentiment between fixed income and equity. Equity investors are quick to digest negative news and eager to participate in the asset class. On the other hand, fixed-income investors are taking their time to…
“What’s the hurry to sell even the most expensive smallcap stocks? ” asked a friend. His rationale was simple. Mutual funds are flushed with flows. They will only buy and somehow deploy their cash. Investors simply need to hold on for a while and liquidity could potentially make their holdings…
The divergence in valuations between listed companies and private VC-funded companies in emerging sectors is a telltale sign of what liquidity can do. In high growth sectors like QSR, solar, EV and digital commerce, listed entities are trading at a significant premium to their unlisted peers trading in private markets.…
The sustained rally in the Sensex over the past 11 trading sessions has surprised market watchers. Despite rising every single day, the Sensex barely gained 4.6%. This is in sharp contrast to similar rallies in the past when the Sensex gained 12% & 15% respectively. What does this market rally…
“One must choose in life between boredom and suffering.” ~ Madame de Stael Often, the market is an exciting place for investors. There’s always something happening, a new idea to explore, or an old lesson to relearn. Despite transitioning into a new regime of higher inflation and an impending…
Knowing what to focus on in every market context is important. Investors are prone to focusing on the wrong things and missing out on what they really need to focus on. Investors are so obsessed with a few things that they ignore what is more important to their Investing. This…
A casual conversation with a DIY investor was extremely educative. The investor had made returns of 18% by investing from the COVID bottom. He believed that performance was sustainable annually and consistently. Telling him that his expectations were high was not going to cut much ice with him, but understanding…
Even in the best-performing companies’ investors have the tendency to keep extending their expectations. Companies have the habit of giving future guidance. They guide us on how their profits and sales will grow. Investors layer their judgements on such guidance and start comparing the actual performance based on their expectations.…
Where the retail money is going tells you what the markets are thinking. The retail money is largely moving towards smallcap and midcap mutual funds. The markets broadly seem to think that timing the market is not possible. This judgement seems to be forcing investors to dump their money in…
There are times when you must not buy the market. Under such circumstances, even indexing is not advised. But, that does not mean there are no opportunities in such a market. In any kind of market, there will be very selective opportunities to invest. An investor must recognise when he…