The Indian stock market participants can be broadly categorized into two categories. Indians who preempt FII’s and Indians who follow FII’s. Historically, every Bull Run has seen the followers lose big money. Those who show investment conviction even preempting FII’s are the most successful investors. This breed seems to be a…
The fall in commodity prices helped consuming nations. An oil importing nation like India benefited greatly. But, the magnitude of the fall was so stark that it threatened the very viability of production in several producer countries. The economics was gone and their economies were tottering. Countries which used to…
With the imposition of excise on jewellery and the passage of the Real estate (regulation and development) bill, investing will never be the same again. The controversy on the PF has also only mixed things up. In this scenario, personal finance and financial planning assume a very serious role in…
The investor would be spending a quiet, long weekend away from the Indian markets. It is a good time to ponder about his February fears and to assess if they were overdone. Did they let him buy when there was fear all around? If they didn’t let him buy equity,…
Budgets come and go. We unfailingly judge every budget. Our judgements happen based on the way the budget speech is constructed. The imaginative writing of a speech tends to excite markets. But, budgets have to rise beyond the speech and deliver on the numbers. This naturally happens over the entire year. So, what is the hype and hoopla all about? Budgets…
When markets correct, are you one of those who felt regretful that you could have sold and gone into cash earlier? Don’t worry. You are in good company. The savviest investors of the world don’t constantly trade their well-chosen bets. Yet, over long periods of time, they make much more money than any…
When the markets are in a state of exuberance, everybody wants to have their part in the drama. When the markets are gripped by fear, nobody wants to play any part in it. All people want to do when there is fear, is sell and go away. Strangely, analysts and…
Contrarian investing is a much discussed subject. We all know that buying when there is blood on the street is the way to wealth. But, blindly buying when there is blood on the street could also leave you holding onto a dying animal. The risk on corporate governance is very…
The stock market is not a place where you gamble a bit of your surplus savings. It is a platform through which you benefit from economic progress and development. Economic progress never happens in a straight line. It faces several challenges along the way. Progress is an outcome that emerges…
One can’t do what everybody else does and hope to garner great successes in equity investing. Yet, investors unfailingly do just that. The obsessive hunt for small cap, microcap and Midcap ideas have unleashed a valuation bubble in 2015 that seemed invincible. Most seasoned investors were dismayed at the investor behaviour and yet…
It is never easy to catch falling knives. Most people who want to have the knife believe they can pick it up after it falls. So, everybody waits and keeps watch as the knives fall slowly. Once the knives fall to the ground, they get into a scramble to pick…
Drawing up parallels is one way of arriving at investment decisions. In similar scenarios during the past, the stock market behaved identically. There are phases when investors shift gears and change tack very quickly. Investors seem set to come out of their investment strategy of 2015 and head into a…