Category Archives: Society

Loneliness of the Successful Investor

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Walked alone?

No?

Please try.

Success needs original ideas. Original ideas need solitude.

Successful investors walk alone.

Sometimes, they’re lonely.

Investing is more about sitting than action.

Sitting around inactively breeds loneliness.

The antidote is activity – other activity. Not market-related.

Successful investors do other stuff to tackle this loneliness.

Buffett plays poker.

Branson is breaking into some virgin territory or the other.

Gates is busy souping up his home.

Trump trumps.

Jindal plays polo.

Mallya’s sole focus has been other stuff, so much so, that he’s become unsuccessful.

Mahindra loves to tweet.

Tata walks his dog.

Sachin watches Wimbledon live.

Mr. Bean is seen on the F1 circuit.

You get the gist.

These people follow one or more “other” activity / activities so passionately, that they forget about their main activity for a while.

Their system recuperates. Time is bridged to the next instance of main-frame action. While traversing this bridge, body, mind and soul have recuperated. System is fresh, ready and waiting for new action.

When you’re walking alone next time, you’ll be able to deal easily with any loneliness on the path.

One might make moderate returns, investing with the masses.

To outperform, though, one needs to walk alone.

The successful investor realizes that he can’t get out of this one.

Therefore, the successful investor creates a way to still come out winning.

This is human capital at peak performance!

The Thin Line

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Have you met the thin line…

…  between ambition and greed?

You see it. You want to cross it without wanting to cross it.

What stops you?

A deadly sin is… deadly. If you’re sensitive enough, you do fear the effects of a deadly sin.

Greed can ruin. It has the capacity to upset an apple-cart.

Sometimes you want something that extra much.

Ambition turns into over-ambition.

You get your something.

You’re a go-getter.

You become over-confident.

You forget your basics.

Next few times around, you cross the thin line repeatedly. The high is addictive. Soon, you’re crossing…

… without even knowing.

Yeah, the vicious cycle outlined above has made you insensitive. You’ve stepped over, don’t even know it, and on you’re going. You’re blinded by greed.

It’s not happened overnight. First the thin line beckoned you to come back. Your over-ambition spurred you on a few steps more. A few more steps wouldn’t harm, right?

Wrong.

You’re not sensitive anymore. You’ve lost normal vision. You’re greedy for your goal. You’re not sticking to your basic tenets. You’re not playing safe anymore. You’ve started to even play with your safety moat, in order to achieve an even bigger goal.

You’ve set yourself up to fall… big.

If you do, I hope for two things.

First up, I hope you don’t fall too big, and that you can get up again.

Second, I hope that this fall is your last one, and that it has made you sensitive again.

Sensitive?

Towards what?

Yeah, sensitive towards the thin line.

I Don’t Want the Cancer

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Are you hurt?

A.

Do you want the cancer?

B.

I do get hurt. Yeah, things hurt me. I’m an emotionally penetrable human being.

Fine. That’s me.

What I definitely don’t want is option B.

Who wants option B?

Can’t think of anyone.

Who gets option B?

Many.

But who?

Those who can’t forget the hurt. Yeah, people who’re unable to move on.

To forget the hurt and move on, simultaneously saving ourselves from the cancer, we need to forgive.

Someone’s misbehaved. Hurt you. Are you going to ruin your future days? No.

Forgive. Forget. Move on.

Just remove the mould in which cancer can potentially set in.

What makes you think it’s different in the markets?

A loss is a hurt.

Need I say more?

You can do the math.

Dealing with “Situation Change”

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When does a situation change?

For example, one could move on to a new field in finance.

Or, a particular goal could have been achieved. Now, one’s approach is supposed to incorporate predefined changes for financial strategy post goal-accomplishment.

Family dynamics could be responsible for situation changes too.

Sure, health. Never underestimate the power of health. It can make you, and it can break you.

Emotion. Fell in love? Going crazy? Outbursts? Hot flashes? Preggers?

Logistics? Moving? New girl-friend in New York?

Night duty?

Looking after your parents in their old age?

Wife wants to party all the time? Lack of sleep?

Promotion? Demotion? Fired? Jobless? Suddenly self-employed?

Gone single? Date-circuit? Got married? Had a kid?

Situation changes come to all. Not once, but many times in life.

Why are we talking about them?

They have an effect on our financial strategy. That’s suffices.

I’ll tell you how I deal with situation change. You can then BODMAS your way to your own approach, using my approach as a broad outline.

My first approach is to put on auto-pilot as many of my financial activity as possible. Going paper-less helps. Trusted auto-bill-pay channels are assets. Fixed-income generators with auto annual-alerts give financial security with zero involvement. SIPs and dividend pay-ins are further examples of having gone auto.

Then I look at what is left. What has not yet gone on auto-pilot? Can it? Ever? If there’s a chance, I go for it. For example, I’m currently developing a software robot to automate my forex trading.

Lastly, I size up what is not pushable into auto-mode. Do I want to keep it? Can I do without it? Weigh, weigh, weigh, scrap A, scrap B, C is something I just have to do, manually, period, so keep C. Eventually, C, G, P, X and Z are five manual financial activities I keep, having scrapped the others (that refused to go on auto) out of my life, since I didn’t consider them burningly essential. C, G, P, X and Z are the ones that’ll weigh me down when my situation changes. I’ve kept them on doable levels. Some are on semi-auto but do require manual intervention. The others are fully manual.

My situation changes.

My auto-pilot activities continue their smooth run. They are my assets, my stars.

P, X and Z are on semi-auto. I barely gather the energy to look into their manual aspects, just about managing to keep them going with reasonable results.

C and G are bogging me down. Can’t keep up. No energy. No motivation. Situation change has drained me. Relentlessly, I try. C has turned a loser. Beginning to feel sick. I shut down C. Losses.

G is sucking me out. Emotionally. It’s a winner, though. Can’t keep up. Can I turn it into semi-auto? It required constant monitoring till it started winning big. I’ll still need to feed in my stop daily. That’s the manual part. I stop looking at G. Problem with equity orders is that your stop has little technical value overnight. A new day requires renewed stop-considerations. Ok, five minutes daily for G. Open terminal, set trigger-stop 9.99% below opening price, close terminal, don’t look left or right, done.

Phew.

Save health. Don’t fall sick.

If sick, rest.

Recuperate.

Regain health.

Get used to new situation.

Normalize.

Gear up for next situation change, whatever it is, whenever it comes.

Gear up now.

The Cycle of Flow

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Life is riddled with cycles.

Words flow. Then they stop. Lulls can be long.

Doesn’t bother me anymore.

I know that when the flow starts, I’ll be there, milking it completely. You’ve seen me do it. I’ve been amazed myself by the sheer force of flow.

I’m happiest in full flow. At this time, I don’t believe in containment.

Lulls are good too. They happen for a reason. Especially if your situation changes. Your system is busy getting accustomed to the new situation. It is accumulating and assimilating. Respect its silence. Conserve your energy. Let it do its work. Don’t try to get busy just for the sake of feeling busy. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone. This is your unique game. No one else is playing your particular game. Wait for your system to finish assimilating. Let it use whatever energy is available. You don’t waste this energy.

At some stage, your system will be ready to disseminate.

It’ll give signs.

Flow will ignite.

Words will emerge.

Many of us block at this stage.

We’re afraid of embarrassment. We don’t want to look silly. We hate awkward situations.

Fine. Block. Fall sick. Your wish. Blocked flow turns toxic inside.

Why do you behave like an unevolved j#ck@#s?

The human being has come to evolve. Devolution is not your purpose. Evolution is.

If you wish to evolve, don’t block.

Just like you respected the silence…

… now, respect the flow.

The Womb in which One’s A-Game is Born

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Simple situations don’t challenge you, and if a human being doesn’t feel challenged, he or she doesn’t grow. 

What would you like your A-Game to be?

Simple? Bread-winning? No surprises in store? Straight-forward? 

Fine.

If you don’t wish to feel challenged by it, that is your right. What ? You want to enjoy your A-Game, though? And you want to keep enjoying it for life?

Let me tell you a secret. If you master something, it becomes boring after a while. Where’s the challenge? You probably won’t enjoy something like that for life…just an opinion.

It’s taken me ten years in finance to actually discover what my A-Game is.

I’ve had a choice all along, I won’t hide that from you.

I’ve chosen two market niche-segments. I find both intriguing. Both fully absorb me. I keep asking questions. My mind feels that it meets its match. I enjoy both segments. 

It doesn’t matter which segments I’m talking about. They are my A-Game, and that’s what counts for this discussion. How did I know this was my A-Game?

Over the last ten years, I’ve tried all market segments. Got knocked around, made mistakes. Lost money. Tuition fees. You can’t really study the markets in college. You really need to study the markets in the marketplace itself. Eventually, an area of specialisation will speak to you. It will exercise a magnetism which will envelope you. Wait for this moment before going all-in. Even after identifying your A-Game, play it small for a long time, and only scale up slowly, according to strict money-management rules. 

The womb in which your A-Game is born can be really complicated. You can be left feeling confused for years about what your calling is. Life does remain a bit boring till you get there. You feel that that something is missing in life. While playing your A-Game, that very feeling is gone. That’s how you know it’s your A-Game. 

If you have a choice, secure yourself and your family financially before your A-Game unfolds. That way, your A-Game won’t necessarily have to yield you money in the beginning. Eventually , it will do that also, and of this there is no doubt in my mind, since complete engrossment into something will make you excel at that something. Treat the money as a bonus as it starts to come along. Focus on the monetary angle alone, forced perhaps by necessity, can make you lose sight of the enjoyment angle, or it can make you choose the more monetarily lucrative but less enjoyable activity. It all depends on your life-situation at that moment. 

Actually, come to think of it, whatever one does in life can be approached from a commercial angle only, blocking the enjoyment angle out totally. If your bread and butter depends upon it, I fully understand your choice, but if you’re already financially secure, then … go for growth, challenge, enjoyment… and money will follow too. 

Speed of Rise vs Speed of Fall

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Specifically, equity markets have this one repetitive characteristic.

Their average speed of rising is lesser than their average speed of falling. Much lesser, I would say. 

Why?

Falling has to do with selling pressure being more than buying pressure. Selling pressure is connected to fear. Add caution to fear, and one has already sold out. 

Rise has to do with buying pressure being more than selling pressure. Buying pressure is connected to optimism. As markets keep nudging higher, slowly, optimism turns into euphoria, with a hint of caution. This caution slows the speed of rising, till greed takes over in the last stage of the rise, and one fails to see any caution anymore. At this time, the speed of rising is the highest, but is still lesser than the speed of falling at the nadir. Why?

What is the prevalent situation at a nadir? There’s blood. People are running for their lives. They take action before asking questions, and before looking here or there. 

Many times, you come across someone holding a stock which he or she has inherited from a parent. This someone comes to you with the ubiquitous query – what to do, sell it now? You look at the chart. Whoahhhh! You see the buy price, one and a half decades ago. You look at the current level. You calculate the profit. Along the time axis of the chart, you also see that the stock fell back to its buy price or below in a market crash, all within a month and a half. After this, the stock has recouped its losses of the crash, and is showing a healthy profit again, six years after the crash. During the crash, how long did it take the stock to fall below the buy price of one and a half decades ago? A month and a half. Holy moly!

That’s the equity playground for you. 

It’s directly connected to human emotions. 

Anything can happen on this playground, so keep your eyes and ears open, and…

… be prepared. 

Learning to be Blunt

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Don’t like something? Is it causing you harm? Is someone bothering you? Is something draining your energy? Are you unhappy with a situation?

Get a grip. 

Get that something or someone out of your way. Now. Be blunt about it.

It pays to be blunt. I’m really learning this the hard way, but today I feel there is a lot of truth in this. 

I’ll tell you how I’ve benefited. 

All uselessly energy-depleting people and situations are now out of my life. With the surplus energy saved, I am able to create. 

Stonewalling is for bankers, private investigators, cops, crooks and what have you. 

Diplomacy is for diplomats. Let them do their jobs. 

I’ll do my job. I wish to conserve maximum energy for activities I enjoy and which are beneficial to my surroundings. To achieve this, I have learnt to be blunt. 

Who was my teacher?

Ever wondered?

I mean, do you ask such questions?

Do you use your imagination?

Do you grow?

Are you doing justice to your incarnation as a human?

Ok, enough provocation. Who was my teacher?

None other than…

… Mrs. Market.

I take my stops.

I’m blunt about taking small hits. Very, very often. 

So often that…I’m numb to their pain. 

This puts me in line for…

… fill in the blanks…

… big wins …

… provided …

… fill in the blanks …

… what, you thought this would be a spoon-feed… ? …

… well, … provided…

… provided I let my profits run. 

When a Model collapses…

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… that’s when you shouldn’t collapse.

A model is something temporary. You use it. Successfully. For a while.

Then it starts to play up. You tweak it into yielding successful results.

You keep doing this, till the model is representable. Ultimately, it collapses.

You don’t grieve or look back. Construct a new model.

Tweak it into success.

Move on.

Construction of a market model requires you to use common-sense and your observatory powers.

How do you mould a market into your daily usage without tipping any other balance in your life?

Right, we are only going to be discussing holistic models. Such models should not make you a worse human being. Otherwise, find a better model.

You’ll also need to create some vacuum in your system to attract the required energies for the construction of a new model from scratch.

Use your imagination. Move stuff around. Donate. Write. Help. Be kind. Do good. Pro bono. Create a vacuum in your system.

Soon, your vacuum will attract what you deserve and require. A missing link might flash as a brain-wave. An obstacle might get removed. A vital family member might become kinder. Nature’ll give it back to you.

Before you know it, you’ll be working with your new model…

How to Swallow Small Losses…

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… as if nothing has happened … is one of my biggest trading goals.

You see, our society teaches us not to lose. 

It doesn’t teach us that we can lose a bit 5 times, and after that we can win big, recovering all our losses and making money overall.

No. 

It teaches us to try and win all the time. 

That’s the exact reason 90%+ of all society members actually lose in the markets. They’ve not learnt how to lose small, move on, and take the next trade.

Mrs. Market won’t budge an inch for you. You’ll have to make the adjustment. 

So how does one take a loss in one’s stride?

Only one type of loss is immediately digestible – a small one. Therefore, define your risk in the market. Cut and scoot when required. Don’t get married to your trade.

Then, once the small loss has happened, and has been taken, it will nag you. 

It’ll be there, trying to bite your brain in the background. 

Focus on your next trade. 

Identification – Implementation – Entry – Management – Exit – Next Trade Identification – Implementation – Entry – Management – Exit – Next Trade Identification – Implementation – Entry – Management – Exit – … … [what’s the difference between implementation and entry? Well, you could be implementing the trade through a trigger, which is not equivalent to entry yet].

Don’t let the nagging bother you by keeping yourself busy with Identification – Implementation – Entry – Management – Exit – Next Trade Identification – Implementation – Entry – Management – Exit – Next Trade Identification – Implementation – Entry – Management – Exit – … … 

Ultimately the nagging will die out, as your mind starts to revolve around your current trades. 

If you give in to the nagging, it will grow, and will slow you down. You might snap at a family member. You might go into depression. You might freeze. DON’T. Don’t give in to the nagging. Don’t let it grow. Don’t let it slow you down. Maintain your family equilibrium at all costs. Move on. 

The nagging is worst if there’s been a close below your stop, and the market is to open the next day, or after the weekend. You have to deal with this one. If you’re not able to deal with this particular situation, you’ll either need to expose your mental stop prematurely and feed it in intraday (before there’s been a close under it), or you’ll need to follow the progress of your trade from half an hour before next market open onwards.

Yes, this last one’s tough, and you need to absolutely work your way around it. 

You can do it with a bit of practise. 

🙂

The Meaning of Comfort

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Your money is as comfortable as you are.

Why not make it comfortable?

Right, for that you’ll need to be comfortable.

How does one go about doing that?

There are many meanings of comfort. 

You need to choose the right one for yourself.

Mission recap – this is the marketplace, and you need to feel comfortable in the marketplace. 

Firstly, secure your bread and butter. Decouple it from the markets. No matter what happens in the markets, your bread and butter should not stop. In fact, it should not even be threatened. You got it. Enter the markets on a secondary mission. Enter it to have fun first, and success will follow. 

Secondly, where does Jack want to play? The arena is so vast. Does Jill want to do many things, or does she want to master one, or perhaps two segments. What gives you pleasure? What gives you a kick? What challenges you? Find out for yourself. Try out everything if you want. Try things out many times. Ultimately you’ll know where your calling is. Your future field of expertise will speak to you. Do what you enjoy doing in the marketplace. Whatever you do should come naturally to you. Nothing should be forced, or a burden. That’s when you’ll excel.

Before this, you’ve lost small. That’s tuition fees. The best place to study finance is in the marketplace. Embrace your tuition fees. Keep it low. Make a mistake – repeat it if you please, as long as levels are small. Don’t ever repeat any mistake as levels start to get big. Levels start to get big as basic salary pay-checks start rising with age. Mistakes then mean larger losses. 

You are not tense because of your market activity. It won’t snatch your child’s education away. It won’t take food off your family’s table. You are comfortable. That’s when you play the markets best. 

Slowly, your actions will start adding to your income. 

That’s the sweet-spot. That’s where you want to be. At this spot, your comfort-level, along with your confidence, will keep going higher. 

Soon, big wins will come. All because you’ve understood the meaning of comfort.

Go for it. 

 

… … please don’t … … reinvent the wheel … …

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… it’s just a request.

You’ll be doing the world a favour.

You’ll utilize your time to do something new, something unique.

You’ll be doing yourself a favour too, therefore.

Stand on the shoulders of giants who’ve come before you. It’s absolutely ok.

Many giants have come and gone, intellectual ones, spiritual ones, geniuses, you name it. They’ve come, fulfilled their purpose, created something new, helped mankind further, and gone.

It’s your turn.

You have a choice.

You can either choose to do the same old same old, perhaps with a twist, maybe a little better, and can perhaps make an extra buck in the bargain.

Or, if you can afford the struggle, mentally, emotionally, physically and financially, well, then, you can choose to drive the wheels invented by former giants to a new destination.

Please choose the latter path if you can.

Please end your journey as a giant.

Why do I insist?

We are at a crossroads. It’s a make or break situation for Earth. New and innovative contributions will see us through and onto a safer trajectory. Our current trajectory is not looking great, to put it mildly.

If it’s possible for you, please end your journey as a giant.

Are You a Juggler?

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No?

Why not?

You don’t need juggling balls to juggle.

Life in a country like India is enough.

India teaches you to juggle your way through.

You keep improvising… till something fits.

In the marketplace, a fit is big news. One struggles towards a system that fits.

Once there is a fit, you follow the system, till it continues to fit.

As the fit experiences turbulence, you struggle, tweak and juggle towards a renewed fit.

What does a fit mean?

Success.

Balance.

Harmony.

Health.

Happiness.

Peace.

What more could one want?

At times, a system collapses.

Accept the collapse.

Work out a new system.

Fine-tune it into fitting.

You’re a juggler, remember?

Am I Taking Bitcoin Seriously?

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Yeah.

Bitcoin is a serious new kid on the block.

Am I getting into it? That’s the more important question, isn’t it?

Well, not yet.

First up, I know very little about it. I’m not going to get into something because of the smoke. Gone are the days.

So, I’m educating myself.

The Web tells me that Bitcoin is not alone. Numerous Crypto-currencies have emerged. Confusing.

Many of these have their main servers or their secondary addresses located in ex-Soviet / ex-iron-curtain nations. Intimidating. I’m afraid.

Then I look at the bid-ask spread for Bitcoin. There’s typically a 1% difference between buying and selling price. That is huge. In fact, it’s outrageous.

After that I look at the Bitcoin price vs time chart.  I can see the panic in the chart. I don’t like panic. I generally stay away from panic markets. If I’m entering a long-term market, I like entering on a solid base foundation. The panic dust hasn’t settled yet. Technical bases build after panic settles, and only if the underlying has long-term mettle. They’re visible on the chart as horizontal stretches. Not happening as yet on the Bitcoin price vs time chart. Means I’m not entering yet.

Then there’s this mining stuff. Like, virtual mining. I don’t understand it. Yet. Looks silly, off-hand. Could this be connected to currency-backing? Or, is this just a hype-creating gimmick that doesn’t make economic sense? I’m not sure, I tell myself.

Last point I’m making against current Bitcoin entry – theft and loss. If I store Bitcoin on my computer, it becomes a potential target. I don’t wish to have the 5 million odd extremely sharp ex-Soviet ex-chess wizard brains targeting my computer. Period.

So, where do we stand?

Meaning, why am I taking Bitcoin seriously?

The USD has nothing backing it. The US seems to be following a fiscal policy with high risk of implosion due to escalating debt. They’ve got no reserves left. Savings are nil. The USD will probably maintain its hierarchy till the world has another alternative.

A few years ago, I thought that Gold could be this alternative. Today, I think Bitcoin is a more serious contender.

First, I need to convince myself that Bitcoin is backed. Meanwhile, the noise will even out, and only the most solid crypto-currencies shall live on. I’d like Bitcoin to still be at the top of all crypto-charts once the noise settles. By then, there’ll be someone reliable in my own country offering Bitcoin investment and trading, someone I know, like an HDFC Bank, or a Kotak Securities. Volumes will escalate. Slippage will be down to a bearable 0.1% or less. Bitcoin’s chart will show a base foundation. I’ll have understood the virtual mining stuff, and hopefully it’ll be connected to currency-backing. Banks will store Bitcoin as an e-holding, which will reflect in one’s Netbanking.

That’s when I’ll enter Bitcoin.

The Path

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You’re just two steps away…

… from success in finance.

Don’t follow anyone.

Use your common-sense.

That’s all it takes.

Use your nose to sniff out trouble.

Use your eyes to identify Ponzi billboards, with promises of 12%+ returns. Use your hands to push away the Ponzis, or your feet to kick them out of your office.

Shut your ears to the external world. No tips, no rumours. Use your ears to hear the sound of your own intuition. Yes, use them to hear your inner voice. Correct, this is about you. You and only you bear full responsibility for your finances and well-being.

As and when you identify the taste of success, you might realize the following.

Success doesn’t taste sweet without appropriate struggle. To really know, feel and retain something, the human being must know and feel the opposite pole first.

What matters in the end?

Meaning, after you’ve gotten your success, and are sitting on top of things?

Yeah, what matters then?

Any ideas?

The path you took. That’s what matters.

Your path has shaped your soul.

Success is a mere statistic.

The real game was played on the path.

Did you enjoy the path?

Did you enjoy it despite the struggle?

Did it challenge you?

Did you learn something?

Did you grow?

Did you stop to smell the flowers while on the path?

Did you help others who were struggling with their paths, even as you were coming to terms with your own path?

Did your path fulfill you?

Did it give you the feeling of “Yes, I’ve done something”?

Did it make you happy?

These are the factors that really matter.

They make your grade in the path called life.

Enjoy your path. It’s nature’s gift to you, whereas…

… success is a mere statistic.

What’s your Answer to Dictatorial Legislature?

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Cyprus almost bust…

Money from savings accounts being used to pay off debt…

Five European nations going down the same road…

US economy managing to function for now, but without any security moat (they’ve used up all their moats)…

Our own fiscal deficit at dangerous levels…

Scams in every dustbin…

Mid- & small-caps have already bled badly…

Let’s not even talk about micro-caps…

Large-caps have just started to fall big…

Just how far could this go?

Let’s just say that it’s not inconceivable to think… that this could go far.

Large-caps have a long way to fall. I’m not saying they will fall. All I’m saying is that the safety nets are way below.

I see one big, big net at PE 9, and another large one at PE 12. Getting to either will mean bloodshed.

Inflation figures are not helping.

In a last-ditch attempt to get reelected, the government recently announced a budget for which it’ll need to borrow through its nose.

Oops, I forgot, it doesn’t have a nose.

The whole world is aware about work-culture ground-truths in India.

Things are out of control, and this could go far, unless a miracle occurs and Mr. Modi gets elected. Before such an eventuality, though, things could go far.

When large-caps fall, everything else falls further.

How prepared are you?

Hats off to those with zero exposure.

Those with exposure have hopefully bought with large margins of safety.

Those who are bleeding need a plan B.

In fact, a plan B should have been formulated during good times.

Anyways, how prepared is one for a Cyprus-scenario, where dictatorial last-minute legislature allows the government to whack money from savings accounts?

In future, you might need to find a solution for loose cash in savings accounts. It needs to be kept in a form where government doesn’t have access to it.

As of now, what’s serving the purpose is an online mutual fund platform, through which loose cash can be moved and parked into liquid mutual fund schemes. For government to exercise full control over mutual fund money, it’ll probably need to be more than a bankruptcy scenario.

That’s just for now. Adaptability is the name of the game. It’s always good to be aware of one’s plans B, C & D.

Organic is In

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Is your institution “organic”?

What could organic mean?

Let’s try and answer this based on sheer intuition, without surfing the net or getting biased by other opinions. It doesn’t matter if we’re wrong. At least we’re thinking independently, and that is invaluable.

So, what kind of an institution is organic?

A non-synthetic one? Hmm.

One that’s alive? Not bad.

In sync? Better.

One whose left hand knows what its right hand is doing? Good.

One that tugs at the same string at the same time in the same direction. Yeah!

One that’s devoted to a holistic boss. You got it.

Are you part of such an institution?

Yes? God bless you.

No?

Why?

Never looked?

Looked and never found?

Looked, found, and then couldn’t fit in? Keep trying. If you don’t fit in fully into any such institution, firstly, don’t get worried. It’s ok. Found your own organic institution. On the other hand, maybe you are your own institution, but don’t know it yet. When you do discover it, try and be an organic one.

Organic growth is digestible. It sustains.

Short cuts are big in our world.

Why do we try and cut others short?

As investments, look for institutions where employees are not cut short. When talent is rewarded, it starts to perform beyond boundaries.

Apart from good valuations, corporate governance criteria and organic growth are critical factors that one must look for in an investment.

Organic is in, and will remain in.

Where Is The Love?

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There’s this song by The Black Eyed Peas, called Where is the Love?

It’s playing on my phone as I write. It’s really good. Features Justin Timberlake. Very catchy tune, amazing lyrics. The Peas are talented. Gotta hear them.

I drag myself through two customer-care calls, one with Dish TV, and the other one with Bharti Airtel.

Exasperating. Pathetic. Nuisance-value. Drains one out. Long.

Where’s the love?

These are some of the words / phrases / questions that come to mind.

Meanwhile, the Dish and Airtel jingles are coming out of all body exits.

Then, I remember my customer-care calls with AmEx.

Smooth.

Officers are clued in.

Zak-Zak-Zak, and your work is done.

Short, and sweet.

And, there’s love, for whatever reason.

What kind of a corporate India are we growing up in?

Indigestible growth over short periods leads to disease.

Are the majority of our corporates diseased?

If they’re not, one should be feeling the love.

Where’s the love?

One does feel it, in some companies. M&M, I think, Thermax, Wipro….Dabur maybe…

Before investing in a company, it might be a good idea to talk to the company’s customer-care, and to see if there is any…love.

It’s got to trickle down from the top. You are only as good as your boss is. If the boss is holistic, the company becomes a beacon of love, understanding and digestible growth. That’s the kind of company one feels like working for…

… and that’s the kind of company one feels like investing in.

From Laptop to Mobile – Are You Making the Shift?

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Pocket –

size.

Convenience.

Tablet.

3G.

Connectivity.

Netbanking.

Trinity-account.

MF-platform.

Anti-virus.

Apps.

Widget.

Buzz-words, people.

I mean, like, are you with it? Are you moving with the times?

Or, are the times leaving you behind?

Laptops still have their uses, no doubt.

For example, I enjoy typing on a laptop. On the cell, it used to be a pain…, till word-pattern recognition software came along. Meaning, the more you write, the easier it is for the app to recognize, understand and digest your style. After that, you type one or two or three letters, and most of the times, the correct word-option is auto-typed for you. Couple this with slide typing, and your mobile typing speed really increases. Laptop-typing is still more fun, though.

Your cell-phone is with you, anytime, anyplace, always. You can aim and shoot Google Goggles at anything you don’t understand. With camera resolutions improving drastically, casual photograpy is now a mobile domain. Notes on the go are the ultimate boon. And contacts, whoahhh, talk about life-histories of contacts, all at your beck and call. Your contacts auto-update, of course, with your Gmail or what have you.

With internet speeds becoming more and more comfortable, you can just about do anything, anytime, anyplace, all on your cell-phone, and that brings us to the next question.

Is it over for the laptop?

No!

Of course it’s not over for the laptop.

Storage-space?

Security?

Ease when using, as in comfort-level?

Übersicht?

Screen-space?

Proprietary-software?

Charts – market-charts, Astrology-charts, chemical-spectra?

Theses? Would you not be more comfortable compiling a thesis on your laptop?

Multiple-interconnected-document-usage? As in, for example, a 20 – spreadsheet Excel document?

You see, there are some things one is just more comfortable doing on the laptop. Tablets / smart-phones don’t fill the gap for many things, and printing is, as of now, one big such thing.

It ain’t over for the laptop, by a long-shot.

Where does that leave you?

For heaven’s sake, use both, as savvily as possible.

Both have now cornered their niche-segments. Use each device for its particular niche-segment.

Yeah, swing both ways to get maximum utility mileage.

Shaken, and not Stirred, Mr. Trader…

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Trading models crumble. Happens often.

Does this shake you?

Please don’t let it. Models are meant to crumble.

Construct a new trading model, instead of mourning over the loss of your current one.

Your belief in your model might be shaken, but you are not stirred, right? Helooooo, Mr. Trader, are you there?

Let’s get this straight – you are not stirred. You stand solid as a rock.

What allows you to do so?

Firstly, your safety net stands. Meaning, nothing’s making your safety net crumble. That’s the first thing you do as a trader – construct  a safety net that stands. Your safety net generates steady income and affords your family a comfortable lifestyle. Before that happens, not a single trade is pulled.

Secondly, ever since your safety net has been standing, you have been trading lightly. You’ve been chiselling away at this trading model, but are still a little uncertain about it, and thus, you’ve been going light. It’s recent crumbling has given you losses – which are also light. You are able to swallow such losses easily, since their magnitude is digestible. You’ve been very sensible in not scaling up prematurely.

Then, you’ve stuck to all your trading rules, and this is helping you immensely. Your rules called for a week’s break between two trading models, and you took it. You were not afraid to not work for a week. You didn’t care about what society said. You were confident about yourself, and made your own rules. This week off has kept your personality balanced, and you continue to be a good human being, working for the welfare of society. Your relationship with your family continues to be excellent, despite any losses on the markets.

Yeah, you’re still standing, and pretty comfortably so. Recuperated, and rejuvenated. You are raring to put together a new trading model after the collapse of your old one.

Slowly, you start chiselling again. You watch the market and its movements for a week. Charts are studied. A befitting trading instrument is identified. Trading direction is pinpointed. Trading magnitude is determined. A comfortable entry setup is chosen…and you’re in. Your trade triggers.

After trade upon trade upon trade, your fine-tuned trading model takes shape and yields profits…until it crumbles and gives way to a newer one.

Welcome to the world of trading. You’ll be shaken, many times, but if you stick to a few basics, nothing will be able to knock you off the path.

All the best! 🙂