Category Archives: Margin of Safety

Can We Please Get This One Basic Thing Right?

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Pop-quiz, people – how many of us know the basic difference between investing and trading?

The logical follow-up question would be – why is it so important that one is aware of this difference?

When you buy into deep value cheaply, you are investing. Your idea is to sell high, after everyone else discovers the value which you saw, and acted upon, before everyone.

When you’re not getting deep value, and you still buy – high – you are trading. Your idea is to sell even higher, to the next idiot standing, and to get out before becoming the last pig holding the red-hot scrip, which would by now have become so hot, that no one else would want to take it off you.

The above two paras need to be understood thoroughly.

Why?

So that you don’t get confused while managing a long-term portfolio. Many of us actually start trading with it. Mistake.

Also, so that you don’t start treating your trades as investments. Even bigger mistake.

You see, investing and trading both involve diametrically opposite strategies. What’s good for the goose is poison for the gander. And vice-versa.

For example, while trading, you do not average down. Period. Averaging down in a trade is like committing hara-kiri. What if the scrip goes down further? How big a notional loss will you sit upon, as a trader? Don’t ignore the mental tension being caused. The thumb rule is, that a scrip can refuse to turn in your direction longer than you can remain solvent, so if you’re leveraged, get the hell out even faster. If you’re not leveraged, still get the hell out and put the money pulled out into a new trade. Have some stamina left for the new trade. Don’t subject yourself to anguish by sitting on a huge notional loss. Just move to the next trade. Something or the other will move in your direction.

On the other hand, a seasoned investor has no problems averaging down. He or she has researched his or her scrip well, is seeing  deep-value as clearly as anything, is acting with long-term conviction, and is following a staggered buying strategy. If on the second, third or fourth buy the stock is available cheaper, the seasoned investor will feel that he or she is getting the stock at an even bigger discount, and will go for it.

Then, you invest with money you don’t need for the next two to three years. If you don’t have funds to spare for so long, you don’t invest …

… but nobody’s going to stop you from trading with funds you don’t need for the next two to three months. Of course you’re trading with a strict stop-loss with a clear-cut numerical value. Furthermore, you’ve also set your bail-out level. If your total loss exceeds a certain percentage, you’re absolutely gonna stop trading for the next two to three months, and are probably gonna get an extra part-time job to earn back the lost funds, so that your financial planning for the coming months doesn’t go awry. Yeah, while trading, you’ve got your worst-case strategies sorted out.

The investor doesn’t look at a stop-loss number. He or she is happy if he or she continues to see deep-value, or even value. When the investor fails to see value, it’s like a bail-out signal, and the investor exits. For example, Mr. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala continues to see growth-based value in Titan Industries at 42 times earnings, and Titan constitutes about 30% of his billion dollar portfolio. On the other hand, Mr. Warren Buffett could well decide to dump Goldman Sachs at 11 – 12 times earnings if he were to consider it over-valued.

Then there’s taxes.

In India, short-term capital gains tax amounts to 15%  of the profits. Losses can be carried forward for eight years, and within that time, they must be written off against profits. As a trader, if you buy stock and then sell it within one year, you must pay short term capital gains tax. Investors have it good here. Long-term capital gains tax is nil (!!). Also, all the dividends you receive are tax-free for you.

Of course we are not going to forget brokerage.

Traders are brokerage-generating dynamos. Investors hardly take a hit here.

What about the paper-work?

An active trader generates lots of paper-work, which means head-aches for the accountant. Of course the accountant must be hired and paid for, and is not going to suffer the headaches for free.

Investing involves much lesser action, and its paper-work can easily be managed on your own, without any head-aches.

Lastly, we come to frame of mind.

Sheer activity knocks the wind out of the average trader. He or she has problems enjoying other portions of life, because stamina is invariably low. Tomorrow is another trading day, and one needs to prepare for it. Mind is full of tension. Sleep is bad. These are some of the pitfalls that the trader has to iron out of his or her life. It is very possible to do so. One can trade and lead a happy family life. This status is not easy to achieve, though, and involves mental training and discipline.

The average investor who is heavily invested can barely sleep too, during a market down-turn. The mind constantly wanders towards the mayhem being inflicted upon the portfolio. An investor needs to learn to buy with margin of safety, which makes sitting possible. An investor needs to learn to sit. The investor should not be more heavily invested than his or her sleep-threshold. The investor’s portfolio should not be on the investor’s mind all day. It is ideal if the investor does not follow the market in real-time. One can be heavily invested and still lead a happy family life, even during a market down-turn, if one has bought with safety and has even saved buying power for such cheaper times. This status is not easy to achieve either. To have cash when cash is king – that’s the name of the game.

I’m not saying that investing is better than trading, or that trading is better than investing.

Discover what’s good for you.

Many do both. I certainly do both.

If you want to do both, make sure you have segregated portfolios.

Your software should be in a position to make you look at only your trading stocks, or only your investing stocks at one time, in one snapshot. You don’t even need separate holding accounts; your desktop software can sort out the segregation for you.

That’s all it takes to do both – proper segregation – on your computer and in your mind.

Due Diligence Snapshot + Technical Cross-Section — Ador Fontech Limited — Nov 27 2012

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Price – Rs. 81.30 per share

Earnings Per Share projected on the basis of quarter ended Sep 30 2012 – Rs. 12.62

Price to Earnings Ratio (thus, also projected) – 6.44

Price to Book Value Ratio – the stock is selling at approximately 2 x book value currently

Debt : Equity Ratio – Nil

Current Ratio – 2.73

Profit After Tax Margin – 12.51%

Return on Networth – 32.54 %

Pledged Shares %age – Nil

Face Value – Rs. 2.00

Dividend Payout – 50% -150% of face-value.

Average Daily Volumes – around 5 – 6 k / day on BSE.

Product – Reclamation of alloys, fusion surfacing (preventive welding), spraying and environmental solutions.

Promoters – JB Advani & Company Pvt Ltd (of Advani-Oerlikon fame) + a group of other Sindhi business-people.

Share-holding Pattern – Promoters (35.4%), Public (58.9%), Institutions (2.0%), NICBs (3.7%).

Technicals (see chart below) – This is a very low volume scrip, so there could be slippage. The scrip has corrected from its June 2011 peak of Rs. 150.90 to a pivot of Rs. 73.25 within about one year. This low pivot lies bang in between the 50% and the 61.8% Fibonacci levels of correction on the weekly chart. Currently, the scrip is quoting at Rs. 81.30, just below the Fib. 50% level. Volumes are average, with one high volume peak every 7 odd trading days. The scrip is trading in a broad band between Rs. 73.25 and Rs. 93.90. Perhaps it is trying to establish a base.

Comments – Fundamentals are good, and the company’s corporate governance is considered clean. Market for the company’s niche is considered small, and people view that as a long-term growth concern. Technically, correction has taken place, and thus value shines out fundamentally. Debt is nil. Dividend is excellent. Projected PE is low, though P/BV is a bit high. Cushion is there, and profitability and returns are exemplary. Future investment would be required to keep niche-segment status alive.

Buy? – I like the theme – reclamation and preventive welding. Contrary to what others say, I feel the market is going to grow phenomenally, as earth and rare-earth metals become difficult to source, and need to be reclaimed. Valuations are excellent, governance is great, payouts are great too, and a technical buying level has presented itself. Yes, it’s a long-term buy right now. Remember, this is not a trade we are speaking about, so we are not going to talk in terms of a stop-loss. This is a long-term investment, and we’ve been speaking in terms of margin of safety, which I’m sure you’ve noticed. Also, while buying, one needs to show caution regarding slippage, which is invariably going to occur owing to the low-volume nature of the scrip.

Disclaimer and Disclosure – Opinions given here are mine only. You are free to build your own view on the stock. I have bought a miniscule stake in Ador Fontech today. Data given here has been compiled from motilaloswal.com, moneycontrol.com and equitymaster.com. Technicals have been gauged and shown using Metastock Professional version 9.1 by Equis International.

Betting Your Monsters and Checking Ace-High

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Blah, blah, blah, I know, poker terminology yet again…

Can’t help it, people, it’s just so valid…

When you’re holding a monster hand, you bet out on the next street to build up the pot. Similarly, when a trade starts to run, you’re looking to load up some more on the scrip at the appropriate point.

When you’re holding air, or a mere bluff-catching hand like ace-high, you check it down through the river. Likewise, if the scrip you’ve just bought into stagnates, or moves a bit down, you do not double up on your trade. Instead, you just wait for your stop to be hit, or if before that your time-stop has run out, you square-off the trade.

An aggressive-passive style?

Who cares?

Recipe for winning in the long run?

Yes.

Right, then we’re taking it.

Two out of ten trades may start to run big. It’s taken you time, money and effort to identify those two. You are in the trade. You can feel the adrenaline pumping. Now’s not the time to sit passively. Spade-work’s all done. Right, put some more money on the winning scrip. Point is, when?

Additional points of entry are tricky.

I prefer a little margin of safety here. I like to double up at a point where there’s been some correction, and possibly when a Fibonacci level has been hit. After that, I want to see the scrip going up back through the level, and I’d like to see volume go up simultaneously. That’s my point of second entry.

You can be more aggressive, no one’s stopping you.

You can even choose to enter the second time above some kind of a previous high or above the breaking of a resistance with volume.

Risky?

Yes.

You do, however, stand a good chance of catching a big move in a very short time.

You see, at this particular point, where you’re choosing to enter, the scrip is pretty hot. People are plunging in. There is no resistance from above. Upward movement is smooth.

Downside is, that those who’ve been sitting on notional profits might start to book these anytime. When that happens, the scrip might plunge well below your high entry and hit your stop. That’s a risk you have to take, since you have decided to enter above a high.

No risk, no gain.

At my more conservative second entry point, the scrip is not as hot. It is meeting with overhead resistance from recent entrants who entered high to then find the scrip correcting, and who are now happy to exit at their entry points as the scrip retraces its upward move. So, I will have to wait longer for a possible second run of the scrip to develop, and this might or might not develop. That’s a chance I have to take. That’s the price of being conservative during second entry. I’m comfortable.

Staying in your comfort-zone at all times adds a lot of value to the rest of your life, even after you shut down your computer. One does carry over one’s emotions, and it’s best if these are under control when you reach home. By trading in your comfort-zone at all times, you make sure that you come home in an emotionally balanced state.

If you can take the second entry above a high or above a resistance while still remaining in your comfort-zone, by all means, please do so. It’s an exciting play, capable of yielding large and quick rewards. I’ve tried it at times, but cannot get a grip on the excitement levels. Thus, I normally choose the more conservative play mentioned above. It’s just a personal choice.

Similarly, I’m very comfortable checking my ace-high trades down through the river. If I’m in a trade and it’s not running, I don’t jump about trying to pull stuff out of a hat in an effort to make the trade run.

If it’s not running, it’s not running. Feed in a trigger stop and shut the computer.

Once you are alerted that the stop’s been hit, look for a new trade.

Keep it simple. That’s another recipe for winning.

Watch Out for Bottomless Pits

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A shareholder-friendly management?

Forget about it.

Very difficult to find, nowadays.

Gone are the days where you’d see an Azim Premji driving his 800, or a Narayana Murthy travelling economy class.

These legends believed in increasing the shareholder’s pie. And this they did, big time. Ask any Wipro or Infosys shareholder. These legends were very clear about one thing: there was no question of pumping in useless expenditure into their public limited company at the cost of the shareholder.

The norm, btw, is totally opposite. Public limited company managements live it up at the cost of the shareholder. Very few promoters are actually bothered about their shareholders. It is the norm to put medical bills, day to day living / wining / dining / entertainment costs, personal property purchases etc. into the company. Why should the promoter bear such costs when there is the public limited company to put these and such costs into? Logical?

Don’t expect too much from your average promoter. He’s not in the game for you.

Where does all this leave you, by the way?

Firstly, you need to look out for, and avoid bottomless pits. These are companies that bear huge amounts of expenditure emanating from the whims and fancies of the promoter. For example, the total sports sponsorship bill for Kingfisher Airlines is staggering. Then there’s this huge red flag in their balance sheet – the company is in under a mountain of debt. On top of that, this company just reported almost a 100 million USD Q2 loss. Math doesn’t add up for you to be investing in such bottomless pits, does it?

In your search for idealistic and shareholder-friendly managements, you might come up with a handful of names. Next you’ll find that it’s no secret. If there’s an idealistic and shareholder-friendly promoter around, people can see this in his or her deeds and of course in the balance sheet of his or her company. Savvy early investors make a beeline for such companies, with the result that by the time you get there, the concerned share-price is already quite inflated. You’ve identified a good investment, but you are not going to enter at an expensive price. If you do, you’ll not be able to sit on your investment for the long-term. Even slight volatility will shake you out of it.

Instead, you choose to wait for the right price to arrive, and then you enter. Well played.

The deal is, that more than 90% – 95% of managements don’t play it like an Azim Premji, or a Narayana Murthy, or an Anu Aga for that matter. However, shareholder-unfriendly promoters sometimes own companies that are lucrative investments. This can be due to niche, cycles, technology, crowd mentality, whatever. When do you buy into such companies?

As a long-term investor, you wanna be buying such companies at a deep discount to real value. My thumb-rule is a single-digit price to earnings ratio. You can have your own thumb-rule. You might have to wait a long time to get this kind of a price, but that’s what long-term investing is about.

As a trader, you buy into such a company with the momentum. You can buy after a resistance is broken. Or after a high is taken out. Or upon a substantial dip after the first burst of momentum. As a trader, what is far more important for you is to know when to let such a company go. Know the level by heart below which or at which you will exit such a company. In trading, exits are far more important than entries.

The mistake you don’t want to be making is to invest in a bottomless-pit, no matter how cheap the share price is.

What U Gonna Do When They Come For U?

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“Bad Boys Bad Boys, what u gonna do…

what u gonna do…

… when they come for you?”

Lots of bad boys floating around.

They make a beeline for an underlying, for example Gold. Hike up its price. Entice you to enter at a peak. They cash out. You, the slow poke, are left high and dry.

Then the bad boys gang up and short the underlying simultaneously. Price tanks. From one day to the next, you are sitting on a large loss. You get out, disgusted.

Don’t make yourself vulnerable to such bad boys. Get your strategy right.

Buy at strategic points. If you are buying at dips, do so at pinpointed levels, like Fibonacci ones. You can also buy when a resistance is broken. Or, you can buy when a high is taken out with volume. Don’t buy above that. Meaning to say, that’s the vulnerability cut off. After that, you expose yourself to the bad boys, because you don’t have any margin of safety after that point. Through your actions, you activate bad boy zone.

On the short side, go short at strategic points in a rally. That’s where margin of safety is maximum. You can also short when a support is broken. Or, you may go short when a low is taken out with volume. Below that is bad boy zone.

At times, the human being likes the thrill of being in bad boy zone. Got me there, I like it too. Only sometimes. In bad boy territory, you need to be light. Don’t carry too much cash in your pockets when they come for you. In bad boy territory, do options. Options are your best friends here.

The advantage of operating in bad boy territory is that every now and then, there’s a jackpot for the taking. There’s no telling how far bad boys take an underlying in a particular direction. Where there’s risk, there’s reward. Out of ten option trades you put on, at least two or three should hit the pot if your research is good. That’s all you need.

In bad boy territory, the only position you want to be in is about showing the jackpot in the one hand and the finger from the other. By default, your losses must be small here, and they are, because you are doing options. Period. With that, you’ve shown the necessary aggression that is required in this territory, and you’ve also shown proper backfoot (defence) strategy. That is winning behaviour in bad boy territory. That’s the language understood by bad boys, telling them to lay off. Now, even if they try to come for you, they’ll not get you. Ever.

When Cash is King

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I don’t like crowds.

The last thing I ever want to do is to conform to crowd behaviour.

That’s one goal defined.

What does this mean?

Very clearly, for starters, it means singing one’s own tune, i.e. defining one’s own path.

It also means not listening to anyone. That requires mental strength, and the power to resist. Very tough.

In life, generally, one likes to be in tandem with the Joneses. And then, smart cookies that we are, we like to go one up on the Joneses, which would be the cue for the Joneses to catch up and then overtake us. Hypothetically, this is how the Joneses and the Naths could blow up all their cash.

It doesn’t stop there. To keep up, the average citizen doesn’t think twice before leaping into debt.

Bottomline is, when cash is king, hardly anybody has cash. In fact, most people owe money at that time.

This is the age of black swans. Crisis after crisis, then a bit of recovery, then another crisis, then some recovery, followed by a mega-crisis.

When a master-blaster crisis ensues, cash becomes king. Quality stuff on the Street starts to sell so cheap, that one needs to pinch oneself to believe the selling prices. Margins of safety are unprecedented. Now’s the time one can salt away a part of one’s cash in Equity, for the long-term.

That’s if one has cash to spare. This is report card time. How have you done in your REAL investment exam? Have you learnt to sit on cash? Have you learnt to buy with margin of safety? The Street doesn’t care for your college degree, in fact, it vomits on your college degree. Your college degree has no value on the Street, it’s just a piece of paper.

Learning on the Street happens everyday, with every move, every investment, every trade, every observation. Unless and until your own money is on the line, this learning is ineffective.

Get real, wake up, so that when cash is king, you feel like an emperor!

An Elliott-Wave Cross-Section through a Crowd Build-Up

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At first, there’s smart money.

Behind this white-collared term are pioneering investors who believe in thorough research, and who are willing to take risks.

Smart money goes into an underlying, and the price of this underlying moves up. Wave 1.

At the sidelines, there are those who have been stuck in this underlying. As the price moves above their entry level, they begin to off-load. There’s a small correction. Wave 2.

By now, news of the smart money has perforated through the markets. Where is it moving? What did it pick up? Who is behind it? Thus, more investors following news or fundamentals (or both) enter. The price moves past the very recent short-term high of Wave 1, accompanied by a surge in volume.

This is picked up on the charts by those following technicals, who enter too. By now, there are analysts speaking in the media about the turn-around in company so and so, and a large chunk of people following the media do the honours by entering. Wave 3 is under way.

Technical trend-followers latch on, and soon, we are at the meat of Wave 3, i.e. the middle off the trend.

Analysts on the media then speak about buying on dips. All dips are cut short by a surge of entrants seeking to be part of the crowd.

The first feelings of missing the bus register. The pangs of these cause more people to enter.

Meanwhile, the short community has been getting active. Large short positions have been in place for a while, and they are bleeding. Eventually, the short community throws in the towel, and there’s massive short-covering, causing a further surge in price.

Short-covering is sensed by gauging buying pressure despite very high price levels. It is the ideal time for smart money to exit. That’s exactly what it does, without any dip in the price of the underlying whatsoever.

Short-covering is over. Smart money starts boasting about its returns of X% in Y days, openly, at parties, in the media, everywhere. This causes pangs of jealousy and intense feelings of missing the bus in those still left out. Some enter, throwing caution to the wind.

The price has reached a level at which no one has the guts to enter. Demand dries up. With no buying pressure, the price dips automatically. Bargain hunters emerge, and so do shorters. The shorters sell to the bargain hunters right through a sizable dip. This dip happens so fast, that most of the crowd still remains trapped. Wave 3 has ended, and we are now looking at the correcting Wave 4 in progress.

At this stage, technical analysts start advising reentry upon Fibonacci correction levels. Position traders buying upon dips with margin of safety enter, and so does the second-last chunk of those feeling they’d missed the bus. The price edges up to the peak of Wave 3 and past it. That’s the trigger for technical traders to enter.

We now see a mini-repeat of Wave 3. This is called Wave 5. Once Wave 5 crosses its meat, the last chunk of those still feeling they’d missed the bus makes a grand entry with a sharp spike in the price. These are your Uncle Georges, Aunt Marthas and Mr. Cools who know nothing about the underlying. They cannot discern a price to earnings ratio from an orangutan. They desperately want to be a part of the action, since everyone is, at whatever the price. And these are the very people that traders sell to as they exit. With that, the crowd is at its peak, and so is the price. There are no more buyers.

What’s now required is a pin-prick to burst the bubble. It can be bad news in the media, the emergence of a scandal, a negative earnings report, anything.

The rest, they say, is History.

A Fall to Remember (Part 2)

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Part 1 was when Silver fell almost 20 $ an ounce within a week. Like, 40%. Swoosh. Remember? Happened very recently.

And now, Gold does a Silver, and falls 20 % in a few days. These are the signs of the times. “Quick volatility” is the new “rangebound move”. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

The wrong question here is “What’s a good entry level in general?” Why is this question wrong?

When something new becomes the norm, there is too little precedence to adhere to. It becomes dangerous to use entry rules which were established using older conditions as a standard.

I believe there is one way to go here. The correct question for me, were I seeking entry into Gold or Silver, would be “Is this entry level good enough FOR ME?” or perhaps “What’s a good enough entry level FOR ME?”

Let’s define “good” for ourselves. Here, “good” is a level at which entry doesn’t bother YOU. It doesn’t bother you, because you are comfortable with the level and with the amount you are entering. You don’t need this sum for a while. It is a small percentage of what you’ve got pickled in debt, yielding very decent returns. If the underlying slides further after your entry, your “good” level of entry still remains “good” till it starts bothering you. You can widen the gap between “not-bothering” and “bothering” by going ahead with a small entry at your “good” level, and postponing further entry for an “even better” level which might or might not come.

If the”even better” level arrives, you go ahead as planned, and enter with a little more. If, however, your “good” level was the bottom, and prices zoom after that, you stick to your plan and do not enter after that. This would be an investment entry strategy, which sigularly looks for a margin of safety. Entry is all-important while investing, as opposed to when one is trading (while trading, trade-management and exit are more important than entry).

Trading entry strategies are totally different. Here, one looks to latch on after the bottom is made and the underlying is on the rise. Small entries can be made as each resistance is broken. It’s called pyramiding. Trading strategies are mostly the complete opposite of investing strategies. Please DO NOT mix the two.

Sort yourself out. What do you want to do? Do you want to invest in Gold and Silver, or do you want to trade in them? ANSWER this question for yourself. Once you have the answer, formulate your strategy accordingly. U – good level – how much here? U – even better level – how much there? U – no more entry – after which level?

Life is so much simpler when one has sorted oneself out and then treads the path.

A Hedge is a Hedge is a Hedge

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U guessed it, this is again about Gold.

Why do I keep harping on Gold?

Situations crop up, questions arise, people ask stuff…whatever.

I’ve always treated Gold as a hedge. Luckily, I don’t suffer from any Midas affliction.

There’ll be a time in one’s investing timeline, when there’s no need to hedge. As of now, there is a need to hedge, seeing the uncertainty around us. This does not mean, under any circumstances, that you go around picking up your Gold for hedging at these rates. A hedge is best picked up cheap. Curretly, Gold is 2 or maybe 3 multiplied by cheap.

So, if Gold is your hedge of choice, this is not the time to pick it up. There is absolutely no margin of safety at these levels.

Once you’ve picked up your hedge cheaply, you can turn it into a double whammy and sell it really expensively. That option will always be with you.

You also have the option of not buying your hedge, whatever hedge it might be, if you don’t get a cheap enough price.

Exercise your options. Mrs. Market gives you lots of freedom till you act. Once you do act, you have to bear the consequences, whatever they are.

Don’ be in a hurry to act, especially if you are an investor. For the investor, the entry is of prime importance. Entry is the investor’s singular weapon.

And please, for heaven’s sake, treat Gold as a hedge. In good economic times, it’s going right back where it came from. The 100 year return on Gold has been 1% per annum compounded.

Whenever one gets into any underlying, one needs to be clear about what one is getting into.

Do you buy your car without doing the appropriate due diligence? No, right?

By the same right, investing demands proper due diligence too.

What are We, Really?

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One bout of torrential rainfall and our infrastructure comes to a stand-still.

What are we, really?

Is India a golden investment?

Not with the current state of governance.

Is India an investment?

Yes, but only at single-digit price to earnings ratios.

Why?

Because while investing in India, one needs to factor in very bad governance, terrorism, and fragile infrastructure. That’s why the margin of safety required is huge.

Is India a good trade?

Yes.

Why?

Because of the pull and push between the shining private sector versus the apathetic government sector. This contrast causes big moves, both up and down. Ideal for trading.

So how should one play India?

Again, up to you. Invest in it at single digit PEs. Cash out when PEs hit the early 20s. Or, just sheer trade it. Suit yourself.

And Gold Overshoots Platinum

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For me, this is a pivotal event.

It signals to me the beginning of the last stage of the bubble in Gold.

The last stages of bubbles are the most eventful.

The basic message being broadcast here is that the ornamental value of the yellow metal is no longer a consideration during its purchase. The whole-hearted focus of Gold-purchase now is its safe-haven value. There is absolutely no question about it anymore.

For the sticklers, I believe we are well on our way to reaching the pinnacle of Wave 3 with the last burst to come in the coming weeks. Wave 3s are normally followed by a correcting Wave 4, and then those who missed Wave 3 latch on to make Wave 5. I also believe that it will be a subdued Wave 4, with perhaps a 23.6% or a 38.2% Fibonacci level correction, before Wave 5 takes over.

For heaven’s sake, if you are entering Gold now, do so only to trade. There is no question of investing in Gold at this level. Where are you seeing the margin of safety to be making such an investment decision?

So, it’s passing the hot-plate from this level onwards. The last donkey standing with the hot-plate still in hand will get burnt, whenever that happens. Just forget about time-frames and focus on the tape.

As someone said, the “devil takes the hind-most”.

Is it Over for the Long-Term Investor?

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Long-term portfolios are getting bludgeoned.

I can feel the pain of the long-term investor.

Is it over for this niche segment?

I really wouldn’t say that.

It’s not over till the fat lady sings, as somebody said.

What if someone trained hard so as to not allow the fat lady from starting her performance in the first place?

Well, for this breed, it’s not over by a long way. In fact, things are just getting started.

And what are the areas of training?

First and foremost, for the millionth time, one needs to understand what margin of safety is. In this era of black swans, one can fine-tune this area with the word “large”. So, simple and straight-forward: the long-term investor needs to buy with a large margin of safety.

This is a game of PATIENCE. Patiently wait for entry. Entry is the most important act while investing. If you cannot learn to be patient, change your line. Be a trader instead.

However scarce the virtues of honesty and integrity have become, keep looking. When you finally find them in a company, ear-mark the company for a buy. For you, managements need to be intelligent and shareholder-friendly too. They need to be evolved enough to take you into account as a shareholder. Keep looking for such managements, and you’ll be amazed at the unfolding potential of diligent human capital.

Before you enter this arena, answer another question please? Have you learnt to sit? If you don’t even know what this question means, you are by no means ready for the game.

So, when is one capable of sitting through some serious knocks, like now? If the money you’ve put on the line is not required for the next 5 to 10 years, you’ve totally helped your cause. Then, your risk-profile should fit the pattern. If a knock causes you an ulcer, just forget about the game and look for another game that doesn’t cause you an ulcer. Your margin of safety will help you take the knock. Knowing that your money has bought a stake with honest and diligent people who can work their way around inflation will help your cause even more.

If you are taking a very serious hit right now, you need to decide something. Are you gonna sit it out? Can you afford to, age-wise and health-wise? Yes? Fine, go ahead. I sat it out in 2008. If I could do it, so can you. It did take a lot. Taught me a lot too. I now know so much more about myself. Was a rough ride, is all I can say. Nevertheless, it’s a good option if age and health support you. If you decide to sit it out, please train yourself, from this point onwards, to do it right. Needless to say, don’t make the same mistakes again. Let’s be very clear about this point. If you are feeling pain at this point, it’s because you have made one or more investing mistakes. Don’t blame the market, or the times. This is your pain, because of your mistakes. Take responsibity for your actions. Do it right from here onwards.

If you can’t take the hit anymore, age-wise or health-wise, then you need to reflect. It’s none of my business to tell you to sell out. That would be inappropriate. All the same, as a friend, I would like you to ask yourself if you feel you are cut out for this niche segment. There are other very successful niche-segments. I know highly successful traders who started out as miserable long-term investors. So, just this one thing, get the questioning process started. Now. Then, listen to your inner voice and decide what you want to do.

There’s this one other point. Some people feel they can focus on both these segments simutaneously. You know, trade in one portfolio and maintain another long-term portfolio. Possible. People are doing it. I’m not about to start a discussion on focus versus diversification just now, because I’m leaving it for another day. Not because I don’t possess the mettle, but because I’m a little tired just now.

Wish you safe investing! 🙂

El Helicoptro’s not able to Smell the Coffee

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Helicopter Ben Bernanke just doesn’t get it, does he?

People have lost confidence in the Fed and its “stimulus”.

That’s why, when Benny Boy announced more stimulus a day after the “debt deal”, the Dow along with broader markets tanked even further.

The Dow only encompasses 30 stocks. Let’s look at the broader US market. For example, the Russell 2000 fell 9 % yesterday.

Now if that’s not a vote of no-confidence, then what is?

If we observe Bernanke’s dealings of yesterday, he heightened his stimulus announcement from one-week ago to “even more stimulus”. This is a death-trap.

How does El Helicoptro plan to finance his stimulus? By printing notes. Such free printing of notes leads to more and more currency in circulation, which ultimately leads to devaluation of the currency in question.

The devaluation process of anything financially connected to the US has been set in motion. Ben Bernanke is still not smelling the coffee.

Where does that leave you?

Ideally, one should have asked this question back in 2008, but if one didn’t, one will be forced to ask it now.

That’s what Mrs. Market does, it forces you to keep questioning your basics till you get her groove.

For the newbie investor who’s caught in the current fall and is taking his or her share of hits, well, the silver lining is the learning effect. He or she will buy with a margin of safety as an investor in the future, or will learn to respect a stop-loss as a trader. Mrs. Market will either force him or her to learn these basics, or will throw him or her out of her game forever.

What about more experienced players, who saw 2008, or perhaps older crises? If they are still taking a hit just now, well, they too need to get back to the basics. Mrs. Market does not discriminate between who is making the mistake. She’s universal in doling out her punishment to the non-performers, but also universal in doling out her reward to the diligent learners.

So what are these basics?

Mrs. Market 1.0.1 teaches two basic lessons.

Lesson numero 1 is for investors. They need to BUY WITH A MARGIN OF SAFETY. This allows them to sit tight during such a crisis, because they aren’t taking much of a hit.

Lesson numero 2 is for traders. They need to TAKE A STOP-LOSS once it is hit. With that they are out of the market and she can’t hurt them anymore.

That’s it. 2 lessons, people. No way around them. They need to be incorporated into one’s DNA before one can move on to second base with Mrs. Market.

Face-Off

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Markets are about returns.

Just as many roads lead to Rome, so do multiple paths lead to returns.

The two basic approaches in this game are investing and trading. We are keeping things basic, and are not even going to talk about scalping, arbitrage etc. We are looking at paths taken by most players.

So who has got it better, the investor or the trader?

Markets have this characteristic of collapsing. Unless the investor has bought with a decent margin of safety, he or she can be sitting on a huge loss. This can lead to irritability, sleepless nights, ill-health and family problems. An investor needs to slay these demons before-hand. Allowed to grow, these demons can wreck havoc.

The nimble trader on the other hand treads lightly. Technicals alert him or her well before a collapse, and when the collapse comes, the trader is ideally already fully in cash. Such a trader has no professional reason for a sleepless night.

However, when the bulls roar, the investor’s entire portfolio adds to the roar, and very soon the investor is sitting on huge gains. The trader on the other hands builds up positions slowly, and might miss a large portion of the up-move during the staggered entry process. To be fair, the investor’s exposure (risk) has been large in comparison to the trader, and thus the reward in good times will be proportionately large too. Given a choice, I’d personally take the comfortable nights throughout the year.

Then there’s active and passive playing. Investing is a passive play. One doesn’t need to man one’s portfolio on a daily basis, and can focus on other things instead. Trading, on the other hand, is very much an active play, and needs to be attended to on a daily basis.

So, unless the investor likes action, this is a favourable scenario. Unfortunately, the majority of long-term investors mess up their long-term portfolios owing to the need for action.

Trading can lead to action overload. A bad day’s result can cause mood swings. The trader needs to be in control of emotional machinery and ready to withstand a pre-determined level of loss. Unfortunately, most traders fail badly in the emotional and stop-loss department. On the whole, I feel this particular round is won the by the investor. So, it’s 1 round each.

The last round in today’s discussion is about life-style. The bored investor can either use the spare time for constructive activities, which is a great scenario, or for useless ones, like surfing adult sites. The point I’m trying to make is that a bored investor is a prime candidate for sowing wild oats.

The sensible trader uses non-market hours to finish research for the next day and then to give the mind and body relaxation and rest. However, all the action makes most traders less sensible and more flambuoyant, and equally likely candidates for sowing wild-oats during non-market hours. I think this round is a tie.

So who’s got it better, the trader or the investor?

This is actually a trick question.

What’s the proper answer?

The answer is that YOU have got it better if you fit into the profile of a sensible trader or a balanced investor, and that YOU have got it bad if you fit into the profile of a reckless / flambuoyant trader or a bored and thus trigger-happy investor.

Both investing and trading are about YOU.

You need to see how good or bad YOU have it, and forget about the rest.

Learning to Sit

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One of the first things a baby learns is to sit.

And sitting is probably the last thing that an investor learns. Some investors never learn to sit. Their long-term returns are disastrous.

Wanna make a killing? All right, first learn to sit.

To be able to sit, one needs to create proper conditions. One needs to take “jumpiness”, or volatility, out of the equation. This is done by buying with a margin of safety.

Having bought with a margin of safety, market blow-ups affect your bottom-line lesser. You can sit thru them.

And that’s all you need to do, to allow a multi-bagger to unfold.

Wish you lucrative investing!

A Fall to Remember

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Ok, these are big drops in the values of commodities. Especially Silver.

Actually, I’m liking it.

No, I am not short Silver, or short Oil, or short Gold.

As far as commodities go, I don’t trade in them, I invest in them.

And as Silver falls big time, I am buying shares of Silver mining companies. Small amounts, nothing big. One needs to tread carefully. Because one doesn’t know when prices will stabilize.

Prices were way too high earlier to go ahead with these purchases. But, as Silver falls, one starts getting a margin of safety in Silver mining companies. I feel this has just started happening. Which is not to say that Silver won’t fall more.

Which is when I’ll buy more.

This is long-term investing. Here, the ideology is the complete opposite of trading.

You must be Joking, Mr. Nath!

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Ok, so there are aliens, so what?

I mean, is that so hard to believe? Which law says that Earth is the centre of activity in this universe?

Look around you. The horizon is full of scams. An honest management is most difficult to find. Honesty and integrity have become alien virtues. Scarce, don’t bump into them in normal life, and you might read an odd story about them in the papers.

So where does this leave you as an investor?

In a dishonest world, one needs to think in a warped manner to make money. You know, “two steps away from the norm” kinda thinking. So if the norm is to buy on a dip, in Kalyuga one waits to buy on a mega-dip. And these have started occuring more often than they used to. 10-Sigma or Black Swan events happen every now and then.

The thing I like about scams is that eventually, they explode. The one scam that is exposed (against the 20 that go unexposed) is enough to hit mass psychology. The common investor starts selling everything, even stuff that’s not affected by the scam. The market as a whole falls, sometimes cracking big.

Since we’re mostly down to buying scam-artist run corporations as investors, above-mentioned crack is the time to buy them, i.e. when they are hit badly. That’s when you are getting good value for your money. That’s when you are getting your margin of safety.

So, wait for the explosion. Buy in its aftermath. The interim period between explosions is to be used to pinpoint what you want to buy with a margin of safety, whenever that margin of safety abounds.

It is entirely within the realm of possibilities to live at peace with aliens. And it is equally possible for an investor to learn to live honestly but lucratively in a world full of corporate criminals.

Why Japan?

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Exactly, why Japan?

Twice in 66 years. Holocaust, and now this.

Ok, there’s the seismic blubla. And the Nostradamus stuff. Don’t know what to believe.

And where does something like this leave one’s portfolio. (Sorry, have to ask this question, even at a time like this. It’s purely professional, and perhaps what I’m writing here will help someone.)

In the doldrums.

Unless one bought with a MARGIN OF SAFETY. That’s when one can sit pretty, even during a crisis.

Or, if u are a trader, and are long Japan before such a crisis, where does that leave u?

Broke.

Unless you trade with a STOP LOSS.

These 2 basic concepts are VERY IMPORTANT. And one only realizes this during a crisis.

I still don’t know why Japan, but am sharing with u what I have learnt.

It’s all a give and take. I have access to so much of free stuff on the web and otherwise in life. So it’s absolutely ok if u get this knowledge for free from me.

However, don’t forget to balance your own equation with nature. Set something solid in motion, for free, for others to benefit from. Balance your equation.

Otherwise, eventually, nature will balance it for you. In a way you might not necessarily like, but will be stuck with.

Don’t wait for that to happen. Balance your equation. Now. 🙂

A Time for Things

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You don’t normally have dinner at breakfast time, do you?

Of course not.

Similarly, you don’t buy into a State Bank of India with a 5 year horizon when 6 years of earnings growth has already been factored into the price.

There’s a time for things.

You do buy into the same State Bank of India with a 2 week horizon when it’s shooting off the table and giving clear-cut up-moves as it makes its way into no-resistance territory.

And that’s about it. You’re in it for the short-term because that’s how the environment has defined itself. It’s a trading environment, not really meant for investors, whether conservative or unconservative. Thus, you have a stop-loss mechanism in place, in case there’s a down-swing, because up-moves can go hand in hand with down-moves. Where there’s a big money to be made, there’s chances of making a big loss too.

Oh, are you asking why you can’t enter into such stocks at this time with a long-term perspective? I see. Do you fly first class? No? Why not? Because it’s expensive, right? Similarly, such stocks are expensive just now. That’s not to say they won’t rise further. What you need to understand is that when you wake up five years from now, such a stock will have peaked and could possibly be heading for its trough. So your net returns over the long-term could even be negative.

Really wanna be a successful investor? Then you need to learn to buy cheap, with a margin of safety. You need to be patient enough to wait for lucrative entry levels.

Not getting your margins of safety anywhere in the markets just now?

Ok, just trade till you get them. Then you can stop trading, and start investing. Fine?

A Beautiful Concept called Margin of Safety

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The most beautiful, genius things in life are simple.

And therefore, they are difficult to implement.

We like complications. Sophistication. When something appears simple, our first impulse is that of rejection.

We get our families insured, our car insured, house, properties etc. etc. all insured, in fact, we are busy buying protection everywhere. During winter we wear protective clothing. Our children swim with protective gear. Our cars have seat-belts and airbags. The list of how mankind protects itself is endless.

Then why is it that when it comes to putting one’s hard-earned money on the line, all thoughts of protection go out the window, and one becomes malleable enough to jump into the next hot story at even seventy or eighty times earnings?

Why is it that here we are not clinging on to protection? Basic question – are there any protective measures prevalent in the world of investing? The answer is yes, and many. In this article, I’ll name two and address one.

There’s the protective stop-loss (to be differentiated from the trigger-stop). Let’s talk about this one some other day. Right now, let’s focus on the other major avenue for protection, called margin of safety.

Basically, what margin of safety says is “Buy Cheap”. Period. What it’s not saying is that one should buy any odd-ball, cheap stock. It’s referring to quality stocks and telling us to buy them as cheaply as we can. The result will be a buffer price-band, which in case of a major market-crash will still limit our losses and save us from the urge to abandon our investment at rock-bottom prices. So, this concept asks us to have patience and wait for opportunity, and not to be impulsive and plunge blindly.

Margin of safety is applicable while trading also. One can buy into market leaders upon dips. The dip gives one a short-term margin of safety.

The primary advocate of margin of safety is none other than Warren Buffett himself, from an investment point of view.

So, to implement this simple and beautiful concept, one requires the virtues of patience and discipline.

Wishing for you safe and lucrative investing!

Cheers!