Cared to Rewire?

Hey.

From this point onwards…

…it all boils down to…

…stamina.

Theories for market success have been out there, in abundance, since eternity.

Everybody can read how the richest man in Babylon…

…got rich.

Or how compounding works.

Position-sizing.

Entry quantum.

Margin of safety.

Profit run.

Multibaggers.

Engines of income generation.

Entry into the territory of wealth.

Generational wealth-creation. Etc.

Yes. Everybody can read. Or listen. Or both.

Question is…

…how many can follow through?

Of those who set out, how many can remain grounded and focused when the heat is turned up, like now?

Most importantly, how many can finish?

I would estimate that a low single digit percentage walks the talk to successful culmination.

Why?

You see, heat does something critical.

Once it is turned up, it burns out all nervous systems that haven’t been rewired.

Given that we are not born with nervous systems programmed towards market success, we need to rewire them over the years and over the knocks. Once fully rewired, our nervous systems can withstand, pivot, and generate wealth over prolonged strife.

As this crisis continues, more and more players will start to cave in.

Capitulation at lows.

Others will stop all activity owing to fear, but might not sell. They’ve frozen. Better than capitulation.

There will be some who cash out with the intent of getting in lower, cannot then find the courage when the lows come, and then join their frozen compatriots as the reversal arrives and accelerates.

Still others, with funds safely picked away in fixed deposits, will be afraid to bring them over to Equity. Fine. They are behaving as per their risk-pr0file. At least they are in control of their behaviour.

Rewired market entities will be acting. They know what to buy. Markets give ample time to study, and all kinds of preparation will have been done, like, yesterday. These folks will have started buying upon the arrival of their levels. Clockwork. Small entry quanta. Position-sized as per their risk profile. Programmed to keep entering for a long period. That’s how they will have positioned themselves and their liquidities. These entities will show stamina and will outlast everyone to still be buying at market bottoms and slightly beyond. They will emerge with the lowest buying averages, and will make the quickest multiples upon reversal, after which some will pull their principles out, while others will ride their holdings to multibaggers.

Who do you want to be?

It’s ok if you don’t identify with any of these categories. Find your passion elsewhere.

Or, self-PhD to a rewired market mindframe, sooner than later. Preferably – now. This crisis could even just be beginning. No one knows. Since no one also knows how long it will last, for all you know, you could still get a year or two’s great buying ahead.

Wishing you lucrative investing.

Basics Baby

In the…

…ongoing…

…and incoming…

…frenzy…

…there’s only one go-to strategy…

…for me.

Basics…

…always.

During CoViD, during which everything was supposed to go bankrupt, one stuck to the ‘Basics, Always’ approach, and the rest became History.

This, today, has the potential to become a CoViD like crash.

First up, there’s been mass AI hypnosis. Everyone and their Aunties are in the loop and are talking AI. No one cares anymore about companies with great fundamentals and a penchant cum track record for metamorphosis. It’s ok. We do, since that’s what counts for a steady, long-term return in the market. We are not greedy. We wish to put away our money safely, not let inflation eat at it, and we would like it to grow over the next twenty to thirty odd years. We’re balanced. We’re basic. We’re simple. We’re the opposite of complicated and sophisticated.

And now, there’s all out war. Provoked. Just to bury Epstein consequences? All pipelines choked. Gold-nugget question being asked in this moment is…

…how should one act?

Should one get swept into the AI madness and buy into abysmally high PE multiples? Infinite PE multiples? Should one buy international stocks? Gold? Bitcoin? Silver? Sit in cash? WHAT?

Answer in such scenarios is SIMPLE, always.

Basics. Baby.

Basics, always.

Basics to the rescue.

What are your basics? Go back to them.

I’ll tell you my basics. I’ve gone back to them since I started buying, February 6th onwards. And I shall remain with them, till I’ve finished buying, or till I’m fully invested, whichever comes first.

Shareholder-friendly managements.

Companies with clean balance sheets.

Companies with zero or quasi-zero long-term debt.

Free cashflow to market cap upwards of 2% for large- and mid-caps, and upwards of 1% for small-caps.

Companies with multi-decade penchants and track-records for / of successful metamorphosis and navigation through disruption.

Margin of safety. Each high-conviction buy lowers average. Mathematics to support buying and selling. A low average has the capacity to quickly give a multiple in better times, from where then one’s principal can be skimmed off to fight another battle, and the profit stays in the market for eternity, on the back of the mathematics of compounding.

These are my basics. Shared with you, with pleasure, to inspire you to find yourself in the chaos. Use these till you find your own. You can pay it forward. Leads to a better world.

One doesn’t need more. Just one’s basics. Basics that are superimposable on the entire market, and when something conforms, there’s action. Like now, for me.

Please go back to your basics at a time like this. That’s why you have developed them. Your happy, go to place. Market success is more about a high-conviction frame of mind with holding power.

The rest, rest assured, will be History. Go for it.

🙂

Take a Bow!

Hey.

So, what’s our model?

It’s not sector based.

First I thought it was.

I now realize it’s not.

Well, to be honest, our model has various facets.

One of these is on, currently.

Value? Buy. Deep value? Buy.

Objective? Make a multiple fast. Pull principle out. Leave profit in the market for compounding.

Sector?

Doesn’t matter.

Moving on to next facet.

Ok. In range bound markets, what do we do?

No value buying, of course.

Ideally nothing.

However, action does get the better of us, at times, ya, ya, we are all human, and have that video game need. So, in range-bound markets, we do buy, at times, with the objective of making a small profit, slowly. When the profit objective is achieved, principal is pulled out and the profit is left in the market to compound if not required otherwise.

Right. Next facet.

What happens for us in a market that breaks out?

Two things.

First up, we are looking to make a quick let’s say 25%, and then getting principal out. Profit stays in the market to compound, irrespective of the level, ya we have the guts, since that which stays in the market enjoys 100% margin of safety. Secondly, some of the deep value still in the market has made a mega multitude by then, and we can take a call about it. We might or might not liquidate a fraction, depending upon our 2 to 3 year liquidity needs.

Moving on.

What happens to the stuff that gets stuck?

If our world is not falling apart because of that something that’s stuck, that something is and remains for us just another position. Downside is the position going down to zero. Upside is unlimited. We stay or cut, depending on our per saldo existence and / or situation in the world.

Stuff will get stuck. This is the markets baby, not a vacation in Hawaii. [Thought to self – let’s make activity in the markets like a vacation in Hawaii. Hands off, no engagement during market hours, let’s do an Ed Seykota baby, adding a few leg-glances like only handling in GTTs, disengaging after Thursday analysis and market input (3:45 pm to 4:15pm), only to re-engage on Monday morning 8 am to 8:30 am, to punch in GTTs for Monday.]

Very long-term play allows us to work well with even hundred positions stuck, because a handful of lucrative positions will offset these and then some. Perhaps one will even be able to say ‘and then lots’.

Now comes the pointe. This is something I learnt from Dr. Van K. Tharp, God bless his soul. Position-sizing.

Our one entry quantum is a function of our networth.

Make it whatever function you are comfortable with, corresponding to your own networth.

As our networth increases, our one entry quantum increases in size. As our networth decreases, our one entry quantum decreases in size. When we are winning, we set ourselves up to win bigger. When we are losing, we set ourselves up to lose lesser.

Final question – answered here.

Ya, final frontier. We tackle this very maturely.

Why are you getting all this for free?

Free? Please remember, that nothing in life is for free. Not one breath. There always needs to be a karmic field to support an event. No field, no action, meaning this here wouldn’t be taking place.

I’ve taken freely from a lot of people. This is my giveback. Please take freely of this. Don’t feel any burden. All you need to do is to pay it forward, at some stage in your life, when you comfortably can. Help someone in need. Make our world a better place. If perhaps you already are doing so – take a bow!

🙂

Yawn

Mass hypnosis…

…sweeps psychology…

…into a space where common sense…

…goes out of the window.

Such is the power of a pseudo ideology vis-à-vis a public that is now constantly in fight or flight mode.

Since CoViD.

Vaccinations.

Constant pursuit of growth at any cost.

Next story.

Next story.

Next story.

Let’s spin them a yarn.

Not any yarn.

A yarn that looks very realistic. Cut to ten years ahead, and the yarn probably alters current reality to a yet uncertain level. However…

…it’s not true NOW, in the shape it’s being spun and sold.

Masses are lapping it up. No need for implementation proof, no need for some years of field testing, perhaps at least five, antibiotics take ten in the actual world, no need for anything, no discounting for blunders, just spin it and we’ll lap it up. Ok.

Please do so. We, on the other hand, shall take huge advantage of your mass gullibility, masses. That’s why we remain liquid, for exactly these mass hypnoses.

Yes, we are buyers for Indian IT.

We’ll be buying till the bottom and slightly beyond.

We are fearless. Over more than two decades, we have created conditions for ourselves, mentally, in our environments, financially, which have thrown fear out of the equation.

Our strategy is one that benefits from ridiculous crowd behaviour. Again and again, we’ve gone against crowds, and emerged with multiples, financially free to take our principals out and deploy these into the next mania, panic, or whatever have you.

And so shall it be this time.

We are liquid enough to keep buying Indian IT, with small entry quanta, right to the mid single digit PE levels. Yes, we have that conviction.

Why?

First up, track record. 40 years of successful navigation through disruption. This disruption is different you say? Replace billable hours with a 1000 times more outcomes coupled with handholding, and revenue streams make billable hours look like dust particles. This one para just breaks the back of the story being sold. Do I think it’s possible? Yes. ‘Necessity is the mother of invention’, and the companies we buy have track records to prove that they are capable of emerging in the avatar that is required.

Then, poise. Zero or quasi zero long term debt. Massive free cash-flow per annum on the balance sheets, i.e., the conditions and means to R&D one’s way through. And, why is the public discounting the last five years that have been laden with exactly such R&D? Why is the public further discounting the level-headed input of Indian IT into AI? Owned billions put in with equilibrium. Indian approach. Borrowed trillions thrown in without looking left and right. Western approach. BIG DIFFERENCE.

Then there’s Buffettology. Tried and tested. Down the ages. Value. Deep discounts. Quality. BUY. HOLD. Beats most growth pursuits without having to look. Time and effort requiring growth pursuits are another story, and those pursuing them also become slaves, as in they don’t own their time. WE DO. WE OWN OUR TIME. HUGE WIN.

We are independent, and this current panic shall enhance our level of independence financially in the medium term, which is when we will pull out our current principals going in now, leaving part of our multiples in the market for further compounding.

Pulled out principals will then be deployed into the next panic.

One can already feel it brewing.

No Pharma required anymore. AI and implants will cure everything.

No Auto sector required anymore, it’s merged with the AI sector, or, better still, Auto is now AI. Forget Auto. Invest in AI. You automatically get Auto. Aviation. Tourism. Banking. Everything.

Etc.

New bottles. One after another.

Same old wine.

This time is always different. Ok, keep it rolling.

We’ll just keep doing our common sense thing each time, which is deploying, making a multiple, and then pulling our principal out.

And repeat.

Shame, Shame, West

The next scam is here.

Please don’t get fooled.

Unfortunately, many already are.

You see, the storyline is so, so believable.

However, only on the surface. A few scratches, and the story falls apart.

There is something about human intelligence. Behaviour. Instinct. Decision making prowess. Mental synthesis.

Everything described here, …

… AI is not.

So, why give it that status?

What’s the agenda?

Ohhh, there’s a very solid agenda, and since one can’t fool all the people all the time, we see through the bullsh**.

First up, Western IT is hugely, hugely over-invested. Neck deep. Rational minds in other parts of the world are not. The occident needs ratification and burden-sharing. Orient is not biting. So make it bite. Unleash a scam. Perhaps it was a sop allowed through in the recent trade deal, since some of the spin doctors being utilized are actually Indian.

Secondly, rendered useless? Give us a break. Spun yarns don’t render useless quality, zero-debt, free cash-flow rich, lean, diligent companies. On the contrary, agility and versatility allows such companies to adapt very fast, particularly owing to huge spending power and zero obligations. Indian IT is adapting, FAST, and whatever artificial crashes are being caused owing to the foolishness of pigs, are buying opportunities. PERIOD.

Thirdly, what kind of a track record do the likes of current disruptors have? Like, four years. In other words, NOTHING. Current disruptors have no experience, themselves, in emerging successfully from disruptions. Indian IT has been navigating, SUCCESSFULLY, through all disruptions since the ‘80s. So, like, Western AI, garner a track record first, then talk. Also, an announcement alone, that you are potentially capable of doing XYZ, is not going to cut it.

Please remember, the problem with AI is, everything functions supremely till it doesn’t. That’s the point where the value of human capital is realized, to navigate mankind successfully through and out of the dead end. A dead end in critical ventures is not acceptable. Writing Indian IT off for dead is wishful thinking and reeks of a jealous to the hilt society that fumes with envy at the cash-richness, the zero-indebtedness, the ability to adapt at amazing speeds, the start-up laden clean balance-sheets etc. etc. etc. of Indian IT. Shame, shame, West.

Needle moves

Hey.

After all our verbal outbursts, …

… point to be noted is, …

… that what’s moving the needle in India is last evening’s development with the US.

Sentiment in India chooses to move with the money.

Till there’s a change in status, licence to print is with the US.

Noted. Where does this leave us?

First up, we’re not pumping in funds upon coming spike. Funds already went in during recent corrections. We’re amply invested.

So, how do we maximize on the spike?

That’s easy. We let it unfold. If it’s big enough, and goes beyond our critical mass, we start exiting as our trailing stops get hit.

What’s going to be the size of our exit?

That’s a personal choice.

Please remember, that there are no permanent bedfellows in business. One presidential mood swing, and we’ll crash into buying territory, That’s the reason to exit beyond critical mass. Definition of critical mass is up to you.

Now we come to size of exit.

Make your own thumb rule. You see, we are functioning at Markets 5.0.5. We make our own rules. We don’t follow. We choose to lead instead.

I’ll share with you my own exit rule, so that you get a bit of a drift as to options prevailing. I will only exit as per my 6 month liquidity constraints. That’s it. No more. No less either. Why? To me, it makes more sense to remain in this market as much as possible. That’s when the Indian markets are giving multibagger returns. And, I’m playing this game in the first place – to generate multibaggers.

For me, creation of just enough liquidity is a mere happening along the path.

Courage

Tariff knife is…

…blunting.

500 will need to come on to have any strategic value.

500 is many things.

Call it a joke. Dream. Litany. Madness. Moronic. Ridiculous to the power of n. Whatever.

It’s still getting headlines.

500 will kill.

Since it’s do or die, all sides are coming out in the open.

Yeah, there’s real activity.

There was a 105 minute state visit yesterday. We know who flew in, and where to, with what mandate, etc.

Before that, the German chancellor, accompanied by a powerful team, came to India too.

French and German teams went to Russia.

BRICS counter is very busy, the busiest it has ever been.

New deals. Alliances. Promises. Protection.

Currency?

Yes. Coming.

This one will bypass being bullied.

New world order.

Process is in spurts and then there’s brief time for whatever equilibrium that can be achieved under the circumstances.

And that, exactly, is our style of transferring out…

…of cash…

…and into…

…assets.

Spurt, balance, spurt, balance and in the middle, somewhere, at any resulting low, we go in.

What assets?

The ones we are comfortable with.

Can the blunt knife still hurt?

Yes, 500 will kill. Businesses, relations, trade…

So what then?

The idea is to make 500 work for oneself.

How?

In the wake of 500, there will be many lows, in many assets. Those are entry points. You need to have the courage to buy.

What if there’s a lower point later?

You buy more there, later. This chronology might continue for a while.

How long?

Till the wealth transfer is complete from the old world order to the new world order.

So how long?

Don’t know. 15 months. 5 years. Anybody’s guess. I’m banking on about 3 years or so.

If your liquidity lasts 15 months, how will you manage to buy for 3 continuous years?

As I said, everything is happening in spurts. There will be pockets where my exit rule will trigger for various entries.

Oh, so your entries will generate liquidity along the way, rule-based.

Yup.

Additionally generated liquidity will lead to more buying, along the way.

True, after taking care of my personal liquidity needs.

Hmmm, that’s something.

Yeah. Keep going. Don’t be afraid. Don’t let the screamers knock you off your game. This one will be won if we don’t blink. Stare the bully in the face. Wear the bully down. At the bully’s core, there is huge fear. That’s the difference between the bully and us. At our core, there is …

…conviction…

…which results in…

…courage.

How to?

How does one…

…position oneself…

…for what’s coming?

What’s coming?

Yeah.

Meaning the turbulence ahead?

What else. First up, we’re taking turbulence to be the norm, from this point onwards.

All right. Turbulence = norm. Baseline set.

Then, how do we maximally exploit our understanding, …

…simultaneously creating income…

…but then also allowing wealth to accumulate and compound?

Yeah, how do we?

You tell me.

We need to start with an asset class.

Right.

Which asset class?

Again, you tell me.

What we’re comfortable with.

Yes. Beautiful. And then we weaponize the asset class chosen, the one we’re comfortable with.

Weaponize?

Yeah. Otherwise it will be no good for these times. We need to make it time-befitting.

Example?

Let’s say you choose gold, ok? What good are your efforts in gold if after a point governments nationalize it and then confiscate it, paying you a reasonable price at that moment, and then, from that point onwards, in the hands of enough governments, gold turns a 100-bagger, for them, not for you?

Yeah, what good are my efforts in gold then?

No good. You need to trade gold, use some profits as income, and another portion of profits you invest in other asset classes, bought cheap, which the government has issues regulating harshly.

Like? Crypto?

Some think so. That’s their weapon of choice. Personally, I have problems with storing my entire networth on a pen-drive. That alone takes crypto off the table for me.

So where do you go?

Stocks. They come naturally to me.

Stocks can be harshly regulated.

In isolation, if we’re looking at stocks-stocks, yes, I’ll give you that. In a solid framework encapsulated within an income-generation cum wealth-creation mechanism operating with fundamental, evergreen principles like margin of safety, letting profits run, position-sizing and what have you, even stocks can be made to behave like the anti-fragile system they are a part of.

Would that not be valid for any asset classes, then?

Yes, provided the government can’t seize that asset class overnight from you.

Like cash?

True.

Gold?

True.

Silver?

Yeah.

Bonds?

Not sure. Risk of default though.

Real-estate?

Prices of real-estate follow demand and supply, and demand is reciprocally proportional to negative regulation. Governments can crash real-estate. So, yes.

Crypto?

I’m not so sure that crypto is beyond regulation. However, exchanges collapsing regularly are not my scene.

Stocks?

Have we heard of governments seizing stocks? As long as no illegal activity, all debts paid off, clear ownership and succession, I don’t think the government can do that. So stocks of companies, for me, remain in the fray. On top of that, we encapsulate them into a system. The system has an edge. It’s multi-faceted. It generates income, approximately when required, in cash. Otherwise, it creates wealth through compounding. Throw in 20 -30 models like margin of safety, letting most profits run, position-sizing, fine-tuned Fibonacci, income dynamos, etc. etc., and what we’re looking at is a unique entity, which behaves differently when compared to fragile stocks, or even to robust stocks.

So what you’re trying to say is that it all depends how you handle each asset class is what makes that asset class either fragile, robust or anti-fragile.

Exactly.

Is that your word?

Which word?

Anti-fragile.

No. It belongs to Mr. Taleb. In whatever way a word or a concept can belong to a person…

Like governments can crash real-estate, they can also crash stocks. What do you say to that?

Oh, that’s an anti-fragile part of this system, which leaves the user liquid enough to benefit greatly from such crash, seen from a 15 month perspective. User of such system is positioned to take huge advantage of temporary and large price dips. Stocks have a very low ticket size as compared to real-estate, and can be readily swooped up in a crash in bulk, unlike real-estate, which is heavy and is a huge liquidity-enemy.

Where do you stand with your system, personally?

As a whole, I’m working towards making my system with stocks, income-generation and wealth-compounding as antifragile as I possibly can.

What’s the critical mass, above which the system can be considered safe for the new world order?

I’m not sure. It’s all experimental.

So how will you know?

If I make the transition to the new world order whilst preserving a large portion of my portfolio, I’ll know that I’ve succeeded.

Any other method apart from the make or break one suggested by you?

No. Everything else is theory. Surviving reasonably well and then thriving is the only practical method that counts for me.

Thanks.

🙂

Where to?

Changing world order…

…dedollarization…

…shifting boundaries…

…new havens…

…new strategies?

Confused as to what to do?

Where to with your hard-earned funds?

Don’t panic.

I personally don’t adhere to growth at any price, …

…so if your fund manager has you chasing the Moon …

…in gold, silver, copper, crypto, or any other newly identified haven…

…for a second, stop…

…and reflect.

Remember that word…

…’value’?

Ya, that’s a word we like.

We’re pursuing value.

There’s value in growth.

One can see it in the chart, …

…or one can see it in numbers, what with GARP and all that.

GARP’s good, …

…value’s great, …

…and we add two more words.

Nil burden.

Optimal.

Quasi nil burden?

Will do.

That’s where our money is going.

Hopefully, you’ve gotten our drift, but we believe you have the wherewithal to decide for yourself.

We want three other dynamos to work for us.

Liquidity is created by minor capital gain pursuits.

There’s the steady dividend, which adds to liquidity.

Now comes the kicker.

We pledge some portfolio and create margin. A small income is then made on the margin.

So, to recap, there’s the main-game that’s long-term. That our wealth, created and compounding.

Three side-hustles then generate income on top. That’s it for us.

Yeah, over to you now. Where’s your money headed? In these turbulent times, I’m sure this question must be flashing through your mind.

Potent Pioneers

Hey.

We define our own roadmap.

Own indicators.

Own rules of action.

Own changes to our rules.

Own interpretations of prevailing market rules.

You get the drift. We have our own way of looking at things.

First up, acting on someone’s opinion leaves us at their beck and call.

Then, there’s the thrill, the kick, of defining a path.

And, lastly, but most definitely not ‘least…ly…(?!?)’, since everything on the path is kind of different, we don’t get slaughtered with the masses.

Also, in our own unique way, we have first mover advantage.

We can do all this, because we’re (almost always) liquid.

Liquidity is ammunition. Just ask a soldier what ammunition is worth in battle.

Liquidity didn’t come to us just like that.

We learnt (from many a beating) how to accumulate it.

Now we’ve learnt, …

… and we’re liquid, …

… and we’ve developed our own unique system …

… with its own unique edge.

This makes us…

… potent…

… pioneers.

Noise Diaries

When something is a given, ….

…one just sheer deals with it.

And that something just got so much louder.

For example, social media is screaming with that something, i.e. …

… noise.

However, noise…

… has value.

One needs to know what’s being floated among the masses.

Furthermore, it’s helpful to gauge the decibel level.

If we look at the current scenario, everyone and their Aunty are yelling “Craaassshhhhhh…!” Dollar, bonds, gold silver, stocks, real-estate…

…everything’s supposed to “Craaassshhhhhhh!”

Fine.

Keep shouting.

At least we get an idea about the script and the concerned noise-level.

Is it supposed to scare us?

Yes.

Are we scared?

NO.

Why not?

Because we’re busy doing exactly what they don’t want us to.

Firstly, who’s ‘they’?

The floaters of the script. You were asking, ya, secondly?

Secondly, what do ‘they’ now NOT want us to do?

Buy cheap, like they are. They want us to let go and sell to them.

Wow.

Ya, it’s the biggest wealth-transfer in the History of mankind, currently unfolding.

Are you then not afraid of a crash, if you are buying now?

No.

Why not?

I’m liquid. If there’s a crash I’ll continue buying, into the crash. My entry quantum is aptly small and a function of my networth, thus allowing me entries for three to five years, upon any signs of reasonable value. Held over the years and bought with a clear head, in a growth market, assets will yield stellar returns.

So you’re saying you’ll cover the crash?

Yes. Timelines move very fast nowadays. Markets, when at all efficient, have become super-efficient, as if trying to prove a point to the level of overkill. When not efficient, they bubble or crash. Super-speed in times of efficiency is a huge bonus for us.

How?

Crashes play out within a shortish time-span. Buying through the crash is over fast. It’s not that when there’s a fire the crash is going to happen after five years. It will happen way sooner than later.

So is that enough time to get your money in, especially with a small entry quantum?

No. That’s why it’s important for small entry quantum cum long-term players like us, crash in, crash out, to keep buying amidst any signs of cheapness caused by fear-mongers creating all this…

…noise!

Exactly! 🙂

Opportunity

Knock knock!

Who’s there?

Oppo.

Oppo who?

Oppo – rrrr – tunity, which don’t knock often (enough).

Yes, huge opportunity is knocking.

Global talent will stay indoors, to a large extent, from now onwards, come this September 21st, i.e. today onwards.

Brain gain time for us.

India is going to boom. Forget about tomorrow, next week, next month, but come medium term, and, going on to the long term, India will shine.

Sure, tomorrow, Indian IT will probably be down. Who’s in it for just tomorrow? One doesn’t get one’s house valued every day, week or year. One might do it when one is contemplating a sale, maybe after twenty years of owning it. Same goes for very long-term held compounders. Like Indian IT.

So, down? Maybe. Out? NO!!! Drag other markets? A bit. Effect to continue? Very short-term.

Beautiful thing is, Indian and possibly other corporates have been working on their plan Bs, and perhaps their plan Cs, and have, slowly but surely, been implementing these.

Also, government is boldly stepping up and refusing to get bullied. Watch out for the measures to be announced that will further boost the economy, to counter this ‘shock’. Thing is, where other nations have started thinking and acting short-term only, India has started to play a longer-term game. One can call it a meta-game.

Bottom-line.?

Time to answer the door-bell, open the door, and let the knockers in.

In my opinion, it’s safe to put one’s money on the line here.

Should Indian IT fall, large quantities of domestic funds will be lapping it up. Smart money will definitely be buying into offered margin of safety.

Why?

Fundamentals.

Clean balance sheets.

Free cashflow.

ZERO DEBT.

High RoE.

Large number of diligently purchased start-ups owned.

AI incorporation and development.

Steady growth.

Technical margin of safety being offered, possibly, tomorrow onwards.

And now, brain gain.

These are some of the big pluses that Indian IT offers.

So, one can easily and calmly go out there, and, with a cool head, put one’s hard-earned money into any margin of safety exhibited by these potential compounders with amazing track records, with a clear-cut goal of generating long-term wealth.

Wishing you happy and lucrative investing!

🙂

Strategy

Reserve currency’s buying power is…

…waning.

Many others, too, have pointed out, that…

…assets…

…quoted in the reserve currency…

…are getting expensive.

Across the board.

If something is happening across the board, is the entire board showing an anomaly, or is it the underlying entity, here the reserve currency, that is behaving differently?

Going for the latter. Gut. Common sense. Fundamentals. Printing. Geopolitical balance of scales.

Diagnosis stands. The only bubble in town is a reserve-currency-bubble.

Doesn’t stop here.

Central governments across the world blindly price, or, rather, mis-price their own currencies in response to movements in the reserve currency. Many governments artificially support levels of their own currencies which are not realistic. Net net, asset markets worldwide are rising. It seems that buying powers of fiat currencies in general is falling. Masses seem to be losing confidence in fiat currencies.

Where does this leave you, financially?

Are you very liquid?

Hmmm, liquidity is losing value. How about moving some of your liquidity into assets of your choice. Look for value, and act where you find it.

However, stay liquid to a comfortable extent, and let some value of that particular liquidity be lost. It’s ok. You’ll make it up and more, in the event of a correction, where you’ll be tanking up on assets of your choice.

There will always be a correction. Period. You need to be at least somewhat liquid, come a correction, and it will.

So, this is what needs to be done.

Identify extra, and movable liquidity.

Look for value.

See if you are comfortable with the asset class offering value.

If yes, move any extra liquidity into the asset offering value, bit by bit.

Signposts

Noise, …

… currently, …

… is deafening.

Posturing, …

… rebuttal, …

… a coup nearby, …

… printing, …

… and what have you, …

… have now become par for the course.

What are the signposts we follow, amidst this chaos?

First up, let’s not be afraid of chaos. Big returns are made exactly there.

We are going to follow high-growth, …

… and specifically, value offered in a high-growth market. Ya, we’ll never get away from margin of safety. It keeps coming back, in one form or another, whether one is investing, or even trading. We use it to get a little better value while entering, facilitated by Technicals. We understand that it’s in volatile times and markets that growth offers value, very temporarily.

Needless to say, basic Fundamentals need to be intact, on the path that we tread.

The governments, and managements we invest in need to show integrity, and develop trust.

We remind ourselves, that high growth is a non-linear entity, and thus we need to stay invested.

We achieve this by keeping our Cost-Free-Ness in the market, like, forever.

We toil to create more and more Cost-Free-Ness.

What this exactly is has been explained ad nauseam in this space, at many earlier instances.

Creation of Cost-Free-Ness means that our principal goes to work repeatedly. Its mini-units are like soldiers that go into battle, bring back winnings, and then they rest, to be deployed another day. If some deployed principal is losing, we wait for it to win. If losses mount, we always have the option to bail it out, or to switch its battle.

The beauty about Cost-Free-Ness is, that since it remains in the field, like, forever, there then is no cap on its upside, in a high-growth market.

Wishing you happy and lucrative wealth-creation!

🙂

SUVs

Daily dealings are in…

…simple units of victory (SUVs), …

…for me.

When the SUV dawns, it brings happiness.

Contentment.

Fulfilment of purpose.

Motivation.

Recognition from the Universe.

Driving force.

What exactly is one SUV?

What shape does it take?

How does it…

…dawn?

Let’s break it down.

First…

…there’s struggle.

When anyone, anytime, anywhere, let’s say, is facing struggle, …

… and there’s even a mini-breakthrough, …

… the onset of a new concept, …

… a new understanding of things, …

… the simplest unit of progress in one’s situation, …

… that’s the one, that’s the SUV, dawning.

The SUV brings with it the realization that one is enjoying the journey. For struggle to turn into joy, the presence of SUV after SUV is a huge catalyst.

Recognizing the SUV is a state of mind. One needs to have evolved enough to acknowledge subtle victories.

Changes in behaviour.

Efficiency at doing a task.

Development of a mini-model.

A new system.

Eco-system.

Now the equation flips over to excess, owing to overflowing SUVs.

Challenges change. Dealing with enhancing recognition, and its superior cousin, outright fame, is extremely difficult. First up, privacy is gone. Then, these states of being don’t offer guarantees for joy and contentment. List is long. Long list lost me at one and two. In my opinion, …

… getting SUVs together and enjoying the journey in the process…

…is a better life.

Fall Specialists

Hey.

We come alive…

…during a fall.

Though we don’t panic, …

… we do feel a pang, here or there.

However, we have trained ourselves to…

…quickly normalize, …

… and then go about our business, …

… which is, …

… buying during a fall.

It hasn’t been easy.

During the first fall we experienced, we broke down.

You see, we were fully invested, and then that fall happened.

Now came two options.

Quit? Or learn to navigate?

Chose the latter. Learnt.

What did we learn?

We found ways to remain…

…liquid, calm, composed and poised.

Slowly, but surely, we turned into…

…fall specialists.

We argued with ourselves.

How many falls had this market seen in History?

Had they stopped its long-term growth?

In a growth environment like India’s?

The answers reiterated our stand.

The central idea that remained was to stand our ground and lock some great prices in, intensifying buying towards the bottom.

How would one recognize a bottom?

Technicals, pin-bars, big intraday swings, huge volumes, nihilist sentiment, depressing newsflow, one can sense these things if one is mentally there.

And that’s what fall specialists are doing, in the wake of disruption ruling international trade, difficult quarterly results, international fund-flight, regression to the mean, perpetuating newsflow, almost blood on the midcap street, actual blood on the smallcap alley, and what have you.

Yeah, we’re locking in great prices.

Remember to come back and read this piece when sentiment changes.

India is a growth environment, where lucrative prices have been hard to find since CoViD.

So, when these come, is it a wonder that fall specialists are lapping up the action?

A-Gamers

Hey, …

…nowadays, …

…we only play our A-game.

There’s no time for formalities.

It’s late in the day.

All weapons are out.

This is the need of the hour.

So, what are the salient features of our A-game?

A well-forged, multiply-faceted, time-tested road map – our system of systems – our one Strategy. This one’s 360 degrees. It incorporates both trading and investing, and leads to very long holds in cost-free form. Includes more than twenty highly competitive, sharpened, edge-providing Modules, about which I wrote a few articles back. As far as strategies go, we are cruising in a Maybach on the Autobahn. No worries there.

Patience. In the last twenty odd years, we have learnt how to sit. Makes biggest money, said we know who. Patience is ubiquitous, or is it? Many people have developed it. Many are born with it. But then, many are not. And, markets demand their own kind of patience. Over the years, we have learnt and developed market-patience. We wait for our levels before acting. We sit on our Cost-Free-Ness, like, forever. We are not in a hurry. I ‘can behave’ as if this is my own module 🙂 (do allow me the indulgence), but patience is universal and out there for everyone to incorporate and exploit on their own.

Liquidity. This is a module. Am reiterating it here since it is key. Our initial small-entry-quantum strategy (remember, that’s how we started!) allowed us ample liquidity, always. Yes, we were always liquid in situations, when they came, while building up the backbone of our portfolios. Slowly, portfolio-size started to grow. Then came the incorporation of position-sizing, thanks to my learnings from Dr. Van K.Tharp. Subsequently, I instinctively added my own twist to this, making it Non-Linear Position Sizing (NLPS) that we follow. NLPS initially allows for small entry quanta. As portfolio-size increases, so does each entry quantum-size. However, the latter increases more than y = x, i.e. more than linear. This means that over the very long term, entry quanta become remarkably substantial in size. Nevertheless, we still maintain balance by perhaps Fine-Tuning entries and exits to the nth level, i.e. with huge win probabilities, which automatically / mathematically leads to lesser entries. Strategy thus goes on cruise-control. Furthermore, outstanding entry-prices, followed by Quick Generation of cost-free-ness make our very long-term holdings as Anti-Fragile (thanks for the term, Mr. Taleb) as possible.

Talking of cruise-control, our back-end allows for full Automation at button-clicks. All transactional trail-mail is auto-forwarded to every required avenue. It’s a one-time self-setup time-expense, so don’t be afraid of it, since the reward is disproportionately huge. Each avenue allows preview and further transfer / storage after button-clicks. Taxation? Button-clicks. Indexing? Button-clicks. Retrieval? Button-clicks. Viewing in any format? Button-Clicks (baby).

Time. We have all the time in the world. We do our own thing. Income is sorted. Wealth is being generated on auto, and is multiplying. Learn languages. Travel. Pro-bono. I teach kids. To manage their own finances. From a young age. Currently I’m teaching four kids. It’s a give-back, and they can pay it forward.

In a nutshell, that’s my A-game. I’ve taught it forward, so I can talk about a we. You’ve seen it develop in this space over the last 14+ years. I’ve nothing to hide. It’s for everyone to use and benefit from. The act of Giving gives me the most Satisfaction in life.

Holding

Hey.

I hold…

…my course.

Steering gets tough at times.

The most difficult time to continue holding…

…is during adversity.

The line held drops for a bit.

One veers off the path.

While off, there’s a lot of reflection.

Was one better off on course?

There was stability.

Routine.

Continuity.

A logical conclusion.

Satisfaction.

Achievement.

Success.

Etc.

Whilst off, random, non-linked and irrational causes are created.

These causes are useless in the long-term scheme of things. In fact, their effects hamper.

So, how to continue to stay on course, especially during adversity? Nichiren Buddhism shows the way.

One can pick up activities that simultaneously create good causes.

One can set a daily goal.

Each day one strives to achieve the goal.

While doing (these), one forgets the circumstance, the adversity or the whatever that’s been bothering one.

However, if one is not comfortable following a set formula, on a personal note one could well establish one’s own methods of making powerful good causes too.

The feeling of immersion and happiness emerging from the good causes created engulfs the persona and takes one forward steadfastly into the day, and to a night of satisfying sleep.

There will be a next time, when holding will look difficult.

At the next juncture, one will try and remember that one successfully navigated through last time.

And, that one can repeat the strategy that saw one through, to see one through yet again.

Taking this loop to the nth, life becomes a ballad of ons and off, with resolute efforts to get back on after each off.

Vital towards getting back on are good fortune earned from the many good causes created, and will power strengthened from multiple jumps back on.

Activation

Wrt success and happiness…

…what was your pick.

You said both, right?

There was a thing about that, though.

Thing was, success made one happy, sure, but how long did that particular happiness last?

It got boring after a point.

Taking any one thing, and succeeding at it again and again and again, gave no kick anymore, after a while.

Because everyone wished to succeed in life, and, also, because everyone strove to be happy, how would one go about making the happy condition regular, in worldly terms, apart from the spiritual angle?

Accumulation and activation of good fortune was a must here. How would one go about this?

By doing anything that helped the cause of another. By doing good deeds that helped something, or someone. This would then create a field of good fortune. On such very field, success could flow, towards one. No field meant no flow. Creating field after field, then moving on to create another – such behaviour would accumulate mountains of good fortune, which, upon breaching of critical mass, would get activated for fruition. Activation was important, since initial success motivated one to continue.

On this trajectory, success would eventually overflow. Perhaps there would be fame.

Hey, what had happened to one’s happiness?

Did it increase post activation? Upon fame? Or did it decline?

Down the line, the high would summon its buddy, the low.

Between highs and lows, there was a high chance of balance being lost. Happiness levels would start to decrease. There came a time when it was gone.

One started to ask. When was one happiest?

While creating field upon field, yes, that seemed correct, that’s when one was happiest.

Creation of good fortune, the sheer act, that was it.

One didn’t seem to bore of that particular kind of happiness emanating from creation.

That brought us back to the basic question.

What was worth striving for most in life?

To immerse repeatedly into the act? The act of creating good fortune?

That seemed to be the best answer.

2050

Hey,

There’s a Street View… ,

… , and then there’s a street view.

I rely on…

…my street view.

Making it a point not to heed that the Street thinks, I repeatedly look for micro and macro signs on my street.

My street is where I am.

I mostly spend my time in my own country.

And, my street view is one of staggered growth.

There’s development…

…with holdups waiting to happen out of nowhere, and often.

That’s India, for me.

Am I going to cry?

I scream, actually, at apathy prevailing, but from the inside. To no avail. At one point the screaming stops. The only thing remains is to take advantage. I’ll make it up for India. Part of the money earned will go towards a private initiative towards my country’s development. So, no guilty-conscience here. My country gives me repeated opportunities. Why should I not take them? India does give me grief too. It’s ok. I love my country. We both can take liberties with each other, as do parents and children between themselves.

Owing to our attitudinal coordinates, our country is full of bottlenecks, and these bring a rising entity down, regularly.

Apart from that we’re emotional.

Over-emotional, actually.

So what’s going down goes down by an unhealthy multiple.

Activation.

Chart Pattern?

Numbers talking to you?

Method.

System development.

Pinpoint.

Enter.

Sizably.

Making size a function of portfolio magnitude.

When something here rises, one lets it ride with a stop that eventually triggers, then trails.

One never books a winner fully in India. Not in this bull market.

Billion dollar strategy.

One first goes cost-free.

And then some.

After one’s in-the-profit stop is triggered and then hit, one takes one’s principal out, with which one will fight the next battle, the next quest for cost-free-ness.

One leaves one’s cost-free-ness created on the table and shifts if out of sight and out of mind.

One’s cost-free-ness can be held for a long, long time.

Till 2050?

Yes, if the underlying has been duly whetted for a 2050 hold.

That’s how we play India.

Till 2050.