Author Archives: Uday Nath

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About Uday Nath

I'm motivated. I like to out-perform. I only strive for the best.

Born in Silence

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Do you get alone-time?

Can you live with noise?

Does noise cover fact?

Can you see the forest for the trees?

Why do I ask?

Do you want your ideas to turn into multibaggers?

Bask in silence. 

There’s something about silence. 

You don’t need to think. 

Thoughts just come. 

Eventually, a blockbuster idea appears. 

Distracted, you might not even recognize it. 

It will come, and go, worthless as it is forgotten. 

Alert, you recognize it. 

You put it on paper. 

Ramifications. 

Aha. 

You see it. 

Implementation. 

Benefit. 

It was born in silence. 

The biggest money can be made when you think like no one has thought before.

Using Doubt as an Asset

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Is this really working?

Have I thought this through enough?

Is my strategy sound enough to hold?

Am I going to look like a fool?

Should I just scrap it?

What if I’d followed that other strategy, where the other fellow said he was making tons of money with? (Like hullo, just forget the other fellow, period).

Questions…

…crop up…

…when a strategy stalls, or doesn’t behave like you want it to.

Doubt is par for the course.

Doubt is good.

Keep it at good.

Control doubt.

Don’t let it control you.

I have a great strategy for when doubt crops up.

Nothing.

I do nothing.

I sit on the strategy in question, and occupy my mind with other things.

Now, two things can happen.

Either the strategy starts to work again,…

…or things remain status quo.

If your patience is over, fine, scrap it.

However, mostly, things do get back to normal.

You’ve taken your time to develop something.

Effort and sweat have gone in.

Don’t be in a hurry to scrap something valuable.

A new strategy will take long to develop. Be prepared for that.

Remember, no strategy works all the time.

You’re well served by one that works more than it doesn’t work.

Doubt serves like a stop-loss.

As doubt overshoots critical mass, you start to change things.

Use doubt as an asset.

Till it is overshooting critical mass, keep observing it, but don’t act.

Is there Peace of Mind in the Markets?

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Hey,

First up, is this even the right question?

Should the proper question not be person-centric?

Is there peace of mind in you? Or in me? Or in whoever’s asking?

Sure.

Let’s just cast aside what the proper question should be for a bit.

We are in the markets, and, if not at first, then ultimately, we do crave for peace of mind.

We’ll probably be in the markets for life.

Where does that leave us?

To answer this question in our favour, our mental, physical and monetary condition needs to be peace-of-mind-appropriate while approaching the markets.

Only surplus goes in.

What goes in, does so in small, digestible quanta, an action that does not disturb one’s equilibrium.

Also, we are not perturbed about any down movement because of our small entry quantum strategy.

We have rendered ourselves peace-of-mind-appropriate.

We have also rendered ourselves open to the effects of big moves.

Big move down?

No worries. Buy some more. Small entry quantum strategy ensures ample liquidity, whilst commitment till date has been small.

Big move up?

No euphoria please. Enjoy your peace of mind and sit tight.

For all you know, it becomes an even bigger move.

You actually end up wishing that the underlying cools down, so you can buy some more.

You’re good.

We’ll Take Boring

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Boring…

…is good.

Boring means…

…that you’re on the right track.

We’ll take boring.

What are we talking about?

Equity.

When it’s working according to plan, yeah, you got it, it tends to become a bit boring in the long run.

Don’t get alarmed.

That’s exactly where you want your equity to be.

When it’s there, it’s fulfilling its function, and then some.

You’ve moved away from euphoria.

You’ve moved away from fear.

You’ve arrived at boring.

Look no further.

You’re ready to scale up.

Using Auto-Manual Mix Towards Peace of Mind

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Create…

… an asset.

Move on.

Create…

… next asset.

Move on.

Loop to the nth and decide what your magic n is.

Retire.

Ha!

Formula for financial independence in 22 words?

You decide.

How?

By treading the path.

The act of creation is manual.

One can use many tools while putting the asset together manually. That’s absolutely fine.

Let the asset loose.

From this point on, it’s on auto.

It’ll remain on auto, hopefully, till its logical conclusion is reached.

If the asset misbehaves in between, it will attract your attention.

If your attention is attracted beyond your critical mass, you will stop what you’re doing and attend to the asset.

You will either tweak and repair and let it loose once more.

If the asset is beyond repair, you will terminate it, i.e. sell it off, even at a loss. After all, it is misbehaving. You don’t wish to hold something that bothers you.

Peace of mind is the most valuable asset in your portfolio.

Manual has a Tendency to Enslave

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There is something about things by rote.

They create a groove.

We enter the groove on a repeated basis.

Entering becomes a given.

Our system has aligned itself to entering.

Our system gets comfortable.

It wants to stay there.

It wants more.

How does one extract oneself from this vicious cycle?

Firstly, why do we wish to extract ourselves?

We wish to control Manual, and we don’t want to let Manual control us.

If there’s too much of Manual, our day is gone, and we are not able to attend to more important things in life, like family, extra-curricular activities and all the jazz.

How to go about it is a question of awareness and setting limits.

Thus, you find yourself saying that you will engage to this particular level, and no more, and once this level of engagement is reached, you will put the strategy on auto, and disengage, and remain disengaged till the next screening is due.

Easier said than done, sure.

How is one able to stick to this plan?

If the day is busy, with multiple engagements, one forgets about the activity of the morning by afternoon, because the afternoon has brought with itself a whole new set of activities. Stay busy.

Learn to take small losses in stride. That’ll line you up for the big wins. Strategies left on auto till next screening can incur losses and then get stopped out. That’s part of the deal. Have faith in your stop. You have placed it at a strategic location, where it can not be reached so easily. For your stop to be reached, the market will have to go out of its way. If the market is doing that, you don’t wish to be in the trade anyways. You’re stopped out, and that’s good. That saves you from big losses. Have faith in this philosophy.

So, you’re busy, and you have faith in your philosophy.

You engage, disengage and move on.

You don’t look behind.

That’s how you keep Manual from enslaving you.

A Little Bit of Manual is a Good Thing

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Sure.

Auto is the motto.

Keep some pivotal stuff on manual, though.

It’ll give you something to do.

Because it’s pivotal stuff, it decides direction, or quantum, or what have you.

Position-sizing is ideally done on auto.

You can write an algorithm for it too.

Yeah.

You can take auto to the nth level and then some.

Keeping position-sizing on manual, though, for example, makes you remain in touch with portfolio expansion or contraction. Central.

In my opinion, setting risk:reward is a trade to trade thing, and depends upon the underlying chart. Hence, being manual here gives more dexterity.

Same goes for setting stop-losses.

Which auto strategy to look at, when, is by default a manual thing. It should be, anyways, in my opinion.

This adds spontaneity to life.

Spontaneity has a certain freshness to it which makes work fun.

Some strategies are better off when not looked at for days.

Manual helps here.

When an auto strategy stops working, one needs to manually fit it to work again.

If the strategy needs dumping, you’ll need to see to this yourself.

Creation of a new strategy – you got it – manual.

The manual stuff keeps you moving, and fit.

The auto stuff just goes on auto, and if that’s all there is for you, you’re going to start getting lazy.

Befriend manual, but don’t become a slave to manual.

A little bit of manual is a good thing.

Making Forex Go on Auto W/o Software Robotics

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Charts.

Chart.

Identification…

…of trade.

Trigger Entry.

Feed in entry level.

Trigger Stop.

Choose between dynamic and fixed stop.

I like the fixed stop that keeps raising itself in chunks, chunk after chunk.

However, you might prefer a dynamic stop.

Trigger Limit. Not necessarily a must.

Put trade on.

Entry triggers.

You are now live…

…and your forex is now on auto,…

… whereby you’ve not used a software robot to achieve this.

Well done!

🙂

Auto Strategies Befit This Age

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Create an asset. 
 
Move on.
 
Create next asset. 
 
Move on.
 
So on and so forth. 
 
Very soon, you are sorted for life. 
 
What is an asset?
 
An asset puts money in your pocket.
 
As opposed to a liability…
 
…which takes money out of your pocket. 
 
Therefore, we are in the business of creating assets. Period. 
 
Once an asset is created, it becomes a strategy on auto…
 
…till it needs handling for a bit. 
 
You handle for a bit, make it go on auto again, and then you move on. 
 
When it needs handling, it will tell you. It will scream. 
 
When it doesn’t need handling, it won’t bother you. 
 
At these times, it will silently put the money in your pocket, even if you’re too busy looking elsewhere. 
 
The idea is to get as many such assets in place as possible, in a balanced and no-nonsense fashion. 
 
This is the age of short attention-spans.
 
Creation of an asset requires short attention-span focus, mostly. 
 
Auto strategies befit this age. 
 
Go for it. 

The Why of Movement

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Spread.

Buyer.

Seller.

Willingness to buy.

Willingness to sell.

Buying pressure.

Selling Pressure.

Which is more?

Willingness leads to pressure…

…if buyer or seller is serious about it.

Willingness stops at willingness and does not lead to pressure when buyer or seller is in two minds.

Back to…

…buying pressure…

… and selling pressure.

When overall buying pressure outdoes overall selling pressure…

…prices move up.

When overall selling pressure outdoes overall buying pressure…

…prices move down.

We Don’t Want Anymore

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There comes a time…

…when we don’t want anymore.

Why has this happened?

It’s a spin-off from our small entry quantum approach.

We’ve been buying at sale prices, with small entry quanta, each day, a quantum a day.

A groove has been set.

After umpteen failed attempts, prices break through.

An interesting thing happens to us.

Slightly higher prices start to pinch us.

As prices go even higher…

…our mood is off, and…

…we don’t want anymore.

From a strategy perspective, this is the best thing that could have happened to us.

We will not be buying as margin of safety vanishes and remains vanished.

Our want will be triggered once more, when margin of safety returns.

This has not taken place for free.

It is an indirect result of our painful sticking to a small entry quantum approach.

🙂

And Now, We’re Not Looking

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Who’s not looking?

We. Stock people.

What are we not looking at?

Wrong question. We’re always looking at stocks.

Ok. What are we not looking for?

New stocks.

Why?

Our magic number has been hit.

What’s this magic number?

That’s the number of stocks we wish to handle.

Is it the same for everyone?

No, it’s different for everyone.

How does one arrive at this number?

Through hit and trial. Whatever that works. Where you feel good, that’s your number.

So, will your portfolio now stagnate?

No. Most definitely not. If a stock is not interesting anymore, it can always be replaced.

How does one go about doing that?

Wait for a market high. Then discard the stock you are not interested in anymore.

And how does one find a new stock in a scenario where one is not looking?

You let the stock find you.

Meaning?

You’re not looking, but something eventually hits you in the eye.

Aaahhhh.

Then you dig deeper. If all criteria are met…

…you enter.

Rriiighht….!

Going Beyond Price Action

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Is price action the holy grail?

You’ve rid yourself of all indicators in search of something that holds.

In forex, you’re probably not looking at volume either.

What you’re left looking at is the behaviour of price.

Price patterns, expressed in the form of candles, contain a psychology.

You are trying to understand this psychology in order to put on a winning trade.

However, everyone else is also watching the same patterns too, including the big boys.

Who are the big boys?

Institutions, banks et al.

Why are we talking about them?

They are the one’s capable of creating enough buying or selling pressure to determine the direction of price. Retail people, like you and I, are not.

That’s why.

And these same big boys know the patterns that you are looking out for, and are going to react to.

What do they do?

They tweak the patterns.

Think about it.

It’s the obvious thing to do. Stopping the public out will give them a smooth run later.

Is tweaking the patterns a biggie for them?

No.

Determining the direction of price is like winning a war.

What’s it going to take to win a small battle, like tweaking a pattern?

A fraction of one’s resources.

Where does that leave you?

If you’re looking at pure price action, you probably might not fare too well.

You have no choice but to look beyond.

What is beyond?

Truth is truth.

If the market wants to go somewhere, because of actual demand and supply dynamics, well, then it wants to go there.

It will reveal that with price action.

You won’t miss the message.

How can one overlook a very large-tailed candle, or an obvious support or resistance, for example?

As you are getting ready to act, based upon the obvious pattern you are seeing, you also observe, that most of the time, price is not behaving like the pattern is saying.

If the pattern is just too obvious, you need to go one step further and put on the trade, taking tweaked conditions into account.

Look at the chart for obvious points that the big boys might be targeting. Go beyond these points and set the levels for your entry, stop, and if it’s part of your strategy, your limit.

What have you basically done?

You have believed in the obvious price action that you have seen.

You have tried to factor in tweaking.

You have implemented your trade in a manner such that the negative effect of tweaking will just about give you entry, but the big boys will probably not be too bothered about going right up to the level of your stop, because its positioning is such.

This will fail.

Sometimes.

This will succeed…

…at other times.

Whether you make money or not will depend upon how you manage your winners.

Factoring in Doomsday

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Because of your small entry quantum, you are always liquid.

That’s how you have defined the strategy.

What happens when there’s a market crash?

Your existing folio takes a hit.

You’ve been buying with margin of safety.

Because of your small entry quantum strategy, your hit is not hitting you.

Your focus is elsewhere.

It is on the bargains that the crash has created.

You keep targeting these with your fresh entry quanta.

You keep getting margin of safety.

Suddenly you realise, that you like it.

You like being in bargain area.

You like the sale that’s going on.

It won’t always be so.

There will be times that you won’t be getting any margin of safety whatsoever.

Then, you realize another thing.

You’re not afraid of a crash…

…because…

…you are ready, to pick more.

What has empowered you?

Margin of safety.

Small entry quanta.

Controlled level of activity.

Great fundamentals.

Great managements.

Quality.

Crashes come. Crashes go.

You’ll keep buying stocks with the above criteria as per your outlined strategy, and you’ll keep adding on to your purchases with small entry quanta.

It’s not hurting you, because the money you’re putting in has been defined in such a manner.

Your mind has digested this definition, and your strategy is in place.

The market being down while you buy is a requirement for your strategy to be successful in the long run.

It is a good thing for you. It is not a bad thing.

It takes a while to realize this.

When Money goes on Auto

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What does “doing well” mean for you?

Making money – does that mean you are doing well?

Not necessarily.

You could be making money, but in the bargain, your life could be out of balance.

In my world, that’s already a fail.

Ideally, I like to keep the market in my pocket, and be in some sort of balance, such that a feeling of well-being is generated.

What am I feeling happy about?

Firstly, about defining my market scope. I have outlined how I wish to interact with the market. I’ve not allowed the market to define me. That makes me happy.

Secondly, I’ve stuck to my strategy. Before that, I found my strategy. Phew!

Now you try it out.

The market shouldn’t bother you after you’re done with it. See to it. Programme yourself in such a manner. Once you’re done with the market, you can then utilise your time for other vitally important things in life. If the market were bothering you with its constant nag, you would not be able to do these things properly.

Congratulations, your life is now rounded off, and not mono-faceted.

Sticking to a winning strategy when things are not going your way is going to see you through.

I know, the urge to call it off and look for a new strategy is huge when your current one seems to be going South. However, you’ve tried and back-tested your strategy. It should hold and then some. Now, have the confidence to stick to a plan.

Notice something?

I’ve not spoken about money.

Why?

Because, mostly, money goes on auto, when these basics are standing strong.

Money… … …speaks

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I almost landed a career in research.

Got offered a PhD seat, but turned it down, since I was homesick.

Upon returning home, I started teaching, but after eight years of doing so, it was time to move on.

Ultimately, I landed up in the markets.

Was this a better place?

It was actually quite cut-throat.

Ruthless was its other name.

Amidst the many negatives, there was one solid positive, though.

This positive made up for everything, and then some.

Recognition, or lack of it, was instant.

And, you knew it.

Furthermore, recognition, or lack of it, came directly from the market itself.

The feedback loop was such, that you reported to the market, and the market reported back to you, and it told you immediately, that it was recognizing you, or if it was not.

The language of the market…

…was money.

Money…

…spoke…

…and you knew where you stood.

In research, recognition was abstract.

It came from academia.

Academia had other issues, and some of these issues were pretty ugly.

Furthermore, academia had a huge ego.

In academia, one didn’t really know where one stood, until something exceptionally huge came along. Mostly, it doesn’t.

In academia, one was left hanging, mostly.

I didn’t like being left hanging. I was actually quite happy about not being in academia.

Teaching at school level was a different form of academia.

Recognition came from students. I got my share, and it felt good.

Bottom-line didn’t look that happening, however. Teacher salaries were okayish.

For some reason, I wanted to be elsewhere.

I wanted action, challenge and knowledge about where I stood.

Entry into the markets became an ideal option for me.

In the markets, I didn’t have to look to anyone.

It was just me, and the market.

Face to face.

If I listened well, and followed accordingly, we were friends. If not, well, my account statement reflected this.

I liked straight-forwardness.

I liked being in the markets.

It thus became a long-term thing.

Allowance to Sit

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Your behaviour tells it all. 

How do you feel about being in the markets?

Is money on the line making you jump?

Is it giving you sleepless nights?

Are you tense?

Emotional?

On a roller-coaster?

Unhappy?

Or…

…are you comfortable sitting on your long-term position?

One needs to earn this comfort. 

It does not come for free.

How does one earn it?

By behaving appropriately.

What is appropriate behaviour?

Buying with margin of safety…

…and maintaining a small entry quantum…

…such that one is always liquid…

…and ready for next entry…

…waiting for price to give an inch. 

That’s one example of appropriate behaviour. 

Also, that’s my example. 

How do I know it’s appropriate?

I’m comfortable. 

Not tense. 

Sleep well.

Not on a roller-coaster. 

There’s no emotion here, it’s business.

I’m sitting on the long-term stuff, and I’m happy going about all other activities in and facets of life.

That’s why I know that my behaviour has been appropriate, and hopefully, will continue to be so, if I want to continue being comfortable. 

Fall?

Let it go down to zero.

If the stocks that one’s picking have sound fundmentals, price falls are actually a blessing, because one can pick up more. 

Small entry quantum, remember?

We can go on buying, on and on. Many, many small entries. That’s the strategy. Our stocks are fundamentally sound, and peoples’ perception about their pricing is not going to change that. 

We’re not betting the farm, and money going in is not going to make us feel constrained. We’ve sorted family funds and emergency money. We are going in to the markets in a stable and comfortable condition already.

And, the way we are going in is going to maintain this comfort and stability.

Forever. 

The Stand-Out Price

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You’re ready with your small entry quantum,…

…looking to add on to you portfolio. 

You’re always liquid,…

…owing to your small entry quantum strategy. 

Where do you enter?

This is not a difficult question.

Why is this question not difficult?

That’s because the stocks in your portfolio are fundamentally tested, and have been found to be sound by you.  

Fundamental soundness is a bombastic plus. 

Now comes the next question.

Where is margin of safety being offered to you?

Is it enough margin of safety for you?

Are more stocks offering this kind of margin of safety?

What, then, is a stand-out price?

You will enter there. 

A stand-out price hits you in the eye. 

It is unusual. 

It speaks of a large fall such that the level of the price draws your attention within milliseconds. 

When you see a stand-out price on the way down like this, you ask the next questions. 

Why is the price where it is? 

What has happened?

Whatever that has happened, is it a one-time thing?

Is the momentum of the fall subsiding, or mid-way, or what?

Ask as many questions as you may want. 

The answer you want to drive at is yes or no.

Yes as in you would like to use your small entry quantum to pick up the stock in question. 

No as in you would like to wait for more clarification. 

If you pick up, you’re done for the day, if you follow a one-entry per day strategy, that is. 

If not, you look for another stand-out price. 

Making Equity Antifragile

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Yeps, Taleb’s the famous one. 

Moi, je ne suis pas célèbre.

Néanmoins, j’aime le terme “antifragile” de Taleb.

Also, Taleb has termed equity as robust.

I do equity. 

I’d like my interaction and future with equity to be antifragile.

Let’s first look at Taleb’s definition for antifragile.

He says that anything that has more upside than downside from random events (or certain shocks), is antifragile; the reverse is fragile.

Robust equity will eventually crack when subjected to shock.

We are aware of that.

What do we do now?

Firstly, we take time, and put it in infinity mode. Meaning, that we stay invested, for a long, long, long time. 

We’re now allowing equity amply sufficient time to recover from not one shock, but many shocks.

Also, each time there is a shock, and equity tanks, we go in and buy some more.

How can we do this?

We are sufficiently liquid, all the time. 

Our small entry quantum approach is ensuring that. 

Also, we’ve chosen such equity first-up that is minimally susceptible to cracking. That’s the best we can do. 

We have either avoided debt altogether or chosen debt-levels that are adding value to the stock and can be easily taken care of in the short-term. 

We have chosen equity with decent quick and current ratios. 

We have chosen adaptable managements that function as optimal human capital, fighting inflation, showering shareholder-friendliness and adding value at all times. 

However, crack they do, eventually, and we keep picking up more. 

Since we’ve kept ourselves “infinitely” liquid as per our small entry quantum approach, we are then also “infinitely”poised to benefit from the cracks. 

As we keep getting more and more opportunities to buy with meaningful margins of safety, markets show us more upside than downside. 

Thus, antifragility comes to us as a function of falling price, given that the underlying has sound fundamentals, low to nil debt and benevolent, versatile and diligent management. 

Now, let the shocks come. 

In fact, let 20 shocks come. 

We want shocks to come…

…so that we can continue to buy at rock-bottom prices, which work in an antifragile manner for us, because of the characteristics of the equity and management we have chosen. 

Profiting from shocks?

More upside than downside? Owing to the effects of a shock?

What kind of behaviour is that?

That’s antifragile behaviour.

Negating Promoter Greed

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You like a stock. 

You’ve checked it out. 

Fundamentals are under control. 

You find the management reasonable.

They’re shareholder-friendly. 

They have high salaries though, specifically those connected to the promoter-group. 

Now, you need to answer some questions.

Are you ok with high salaries for the top staff?

What is your definition of high?

Are salaries performance-driven?

Do the company’s number justify what promoter-connected management is taking home?

Ok. 

You’ve answered these questions. 

You still want the stock, despite the fact that an answer to two could be an outlier. 

That’s fine. 

One won’t find perfection anywhere. 

If one finds it, the stock will probably already be overpriced. 

So, you’re ok with mild imperfection, as long as your basic needs are met. 

You decide to purchase the stock. 

Here’s how you can negate promoter greed. 

The fancy cars, the family dish outs, the pushed-in lunch bills, the first class travel, you get the drift. 

Who doesn’t do it, given the opportunity?

Your promoter is human, and will surround him- or herself with comforts, at the company’s expense. 

That is the norm. Get used to it. 

Here’s how you are not letting this affect you. 

You buy in a staggered fashion. 

You buy with margin of safety. 

Because you’re sure of fundamentals, you average down. 

Each time your holding average touches a new low, you’ve secured yourself against promoter greed just a tad more. 

Because of sound fundamentals, ultimately, the stock will start to rise. 

That’s the time your low holding average will show a stellar profit for you. 

Perhaps your holding average is better than that of the promoter.

If that is the case, rise in price has given you more profit than it has to the promoter. 

Therefore, while the promoter got to live in the lap of luxury at the cost of the company, you were busy raking in a better result owing to the price rise.

Successive margin of safety buying amounting to averaging down after convincing oneself of intact fundamentals has been the key for you. 

Use this key, but do so wisely, and safely. 

Remember, that averaging down only works well in the case of diligent, research-based long-term investing. Averaging down is a strict no-no for short-term traders, however. 

Wishing you happy and fruitful investing!

🙂