Doctrine

Europe’s feeling it.

Feeling what?

The stab.

Stab?

Ya, in the back.

They’ve realized it…

…now.

A tad late…

…felt a known figure, lately, presumably.

European media had tried to take this personality down recently, with jibes, verbal attacks and what have you.

Thing is, you can’t take a truth down.

That’s the thing about truth.

A half-truth can be taken down, though.

The half-truths that Europe was sold, ya those kinds, they don’t withstand much scrutiny. They’re exposed after only a few thought processes.

What’s incredible is…

…that the gullibles took three quarters of a century to realize that they are being…

…stabbed.

Currently, their leaders are scrambling for safety.

Highest level delegations are in India and Russia, in in effort to form new alliances.

Alliances that promise more safety? Will the ire of the stabber relent?

New deals with India will be win-win. That’s India’s style of doing business. Economic proximity to India will benefit Europe. Besides, India’s vision is long-term, and it targets a prosperous business future with its partners, whilst ignoring their hypocrisy, if any. A long-term business partner will need to let go of double standards and racial mindsets. If not, lucrative nations will look beyond, seeking other more balanced avenues with diverse partners a plenty.

The discussion about India here is not a biggie, to be honest.

Let’s now address the elephant in the room.

Scrambling to Russia?

Yes, one hears that right.

The same Russia… ?

Yes.

Why?

No other options. Need to secure themselves.

They should’ve just agreed to what VP was saying till Jan ‘22. What would that have cost them?

The ire of the stabber.

Oh ya, I forgot. They were so scared of the stabber, and obeyed every word to an exponential level. How can one behave in such a manner?

Well they are paying for it. Mostly, they are empty. Nothing much working. Manufacturing shutting down. Energy supply dwindling, though that was an own-goal.

Ask that South American football player the price of an own-goal.

Don’t bother him, let his soul rest in peace. Coming back to our discussion, there’s poverty in these nations. Right radicalism is either ruling, or is set to rule. Unemployment is rising. Life is getting more and more difficult for the common person. With AI set to go ballistic, most citizens will be jobless. Unless leaders take drastic measures right now, we’re looking at a civil-war kinda situation in the near term.

What’s the moral of this whole story?

I’m going to leave you with just two words. These two words are the moral of this story. These two words are what’s working today to ensure the successful implementation of a nation’s geo-political policy.

And these two words are?

Jaishankar doctrine.

Holding The Line

Getting set is not…

…the cat’s whiskers.

Holding the line…

…is.

Why?

It’s really (damn) tough to…

…hold the line.

Everyone and everything is trying to knock you off your line.

Firstly, there’s you.

You just can’t hold it, can you?

A green light will not become greener.

You strive for even more perfection, till you bungle your system.

Don’t OCD.

Develop a normal relationship between your system and yourself.

You’ve allocated. Now don’t look left or right.

And don’t speak about your efforts. Especially, don’t speak about your fund-allocation or your fund reserve.

Once your fund reserve is common knowledge, everyone eyes it, and is vying and conspiring for a loan till you melt.

Please don’t melt.

You’ve allocated for your long term strategy and your emergency fund. You are not to give it away. Period.

Nobody gives any hoots about how hard you’ve worked, or how you’ve saved all your life to have enough towards the implementation of your system, or, for that matter, about how many hits and beatings you’ve taken while developing your market-edge. Simultaneously, apart from not giving jack about you, all and their aunties eye your funds that you’ve allocated, and even those that you have implemented. They want it all, for themselves. You need it all for your system to function properly, for the long-term. Who will win?

You. Please. YOU.

Then, there are knocks. Genuine knocks. Life is about these. At these times you dig into emergency, not mainline. This is the reason for building up and sealing off emergency funds before implementation of your system.

It’s possible that knocks are many, and emergency funds go down to zero. You have no choice but to deplete your mainline. Now, come down with your position-size. Please remember that position-size is a directly proportional function of funds in play.

Finally, please improvise. Nature has provided you with a brain. Please use it. Make sure, at any cost, that you continue to…

…hold the line.

Win-Win, Anyone?

Hey,

Our country just changed lanes.

It’s creating some waves in multiple fields.

India doesn’t posture.

It just…

…does, …

… quietly.

It’s been doing, quietly, for some decades now.

The cup just brimmed over, for the whole world to see, and for friends to acknowledge.

India’s efforts can’t be swept under the carpet anymore, they are just too many.

Sure, long way to go, I agree, but the point being made is that current GDP numbers, and soon to be double digit GDP numbers are encountered on the journey from ‘developing to developed’ phenomena.

Such numbers are not encountered in ‘already developed’ phenomena.

Therefore, anyone wishing to participate in these numbers, welcome, just come, in friendship, and earn some good profits.

However, if some are fuming, with jealousy, then its on them. Stop fuming. Be part of the journey. It’s everyone’s for the taking. India has a large heart. Invest in it. Now.

Don’t waste energy and resources in ventures aimed at derailing India. Instead, use your acumen to earn India’s trust, so that you can partner with it.

Let’s go places, together, in friendship.

Winning

Hey.

Who believes in win-win?

The new alpha-male on the block does.

This one’s friendly.

Has fewer vested interests.

Doesn’t believe in dominating its friends. Treats them as equals.

Is magnanimous.

Vast.

Benign.

Courageous.

Unexplored.

Growing.

A gold-mine.

More and more are believing in it.

Forming partnerships.

To win.

That’s the result of win-win.

All win.

What’s so difficult to understand about that?

A win-win relationship is…

…beautiful, …

…long-term, …

… and full of windfalls.

Who doesn’t want that?

By aligning ourselves appropriately, …

…we too can…

…win.

Synthesis…

…makes for a call.

What exactly is…

…synthesis?

Multiple factors amalgamate, react, cook, boil, simmer…

…and lead to synthesis.

Where does it happen?

This one happens inside…

…of one.

What is it’s value?

Synthesis is a per saldo action resultant pointing the way forward. It’s value is proportional to acumen generated by experience.

Acumen is a translation into DNA thing. It’s how we pull the bow, aim, and shoot. It’s how we get the arrow to swerve, and how we keep firing when it’s hot. It’s how we…

…don’t fire when there’s no need.

Acumen also varies as per how we are feeling. Ill-health dims it temporarily. Thus, when action is coming up, we try and stay healthy. We, in general, try and stay healthy in body and mind.

Not all living beings have full capacity to synthesize.

Not all who do use their capability.

Synthesis in the Zone leads to some huge market calls.

Winnings

Not all…

…winnings…

…are tangible.

Intangible winnings…

…can be far greater…

…in stature.

One can carry these with…

…anywhere.

Don’t need to know more.

They’ve won their case already.

Let’s break this down, using a concrete example.

Let’s take this blog.

First, the losses.

Subscribers?

Hardly.

Financial loss?

A few pennies a day, equalling domain charges plus plus divided by 365.

Effort loss?

Yes, a lot of effort goes in. However, it is rewarded heavily, though indirectly. Since there are no more losses, let’s talk about winnings.

Sharpening of skill – maximum.

As words flow, ideas are elucidated, take greater shape, and are cemented into a system.

I’ve often spoken about the fact that this blog can also be seen as fundamental / critical / what have you research towards developing a 360 degree unified market field approach. I think I’m there.

Let’s look at the system that has evolved over the last fourteen years – specifically, let’s look at modules incorporated.

Small Entry Quantum.

Non-Linear Position-Sizing.

Cost-Free-Ness.

Long-Term-Hold.

Positional-Hold (culminating in trade booked with cost-free-ness generated).

2 Demat Approach.

GTT incorporation.

Buy Low.

Sell High.

Entry.

Sitting.

Letting Profits Run.

Exit.

Averaging Down.

(Stop-)Loss attenuated by Cost-Free-Ness’s capability to rise by…

…’Banking on Infinity’…

…in a Non-Linear Long-Term Growth-Market.

The Zone.

The Line.

Fitting.

Market Forces.

Market Presence.

List goes on.

Bottom line is that what has emerged is a decent-size double-digit list of modules incorporated into one clear-cut, multi-level and dynamic wealth-creating strategy…

…with results that make ‘losses’ due to lack of subscribers statistically too small to even mention.

I write to create a magnificent system, and to keep fine-tuning it.

My system creates wealth for my family.

I donate a small part of our wealth to charity.

Hence my writing facilitates pro-bono work.

Some of the few readers of this blog might one day choose to implement a few modules, or perhaps the whole approach. I’m happy for them. God bless them. Magic Bull is completely free, and is part of my give-back to society.

I create good causes with my writing.

While writing, I feel buoyant, sharp, and fulfilled, carrying this combination of feelings into the day, spilling them over into other good causes created over the whole day.

Am thankful for this avenue, since it gives my creativity an outlet.

🙂

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.

Approach

Hey,

Just did a mental review about my approach to the markets over the years.

Saw how I started out.

What was the motivation?

Strategy?

Mindset?

Outcome?

Then gauged these parameters after being in the markets for ten years.

And, finally, assessed the same as of today, after being in the markets for twenty years.

Here are a few observations.

Approach softened over the years.

Not in quantity. Will come to that in a bit.

No, approach became opportunity-linked.

One didn’t wish that the markets would be somewhere.

One played them where they were, as was worthy of that situation.

One wasn’t tense.

One had rules. Approach was now rule-based.

One enjoyed the approach.

It was relaxing.

It now gave a kick.

Now, there was feeling of achievement.

Of creation.

Of success.

Earlier, all this wasn’t there.

One was tense most of the time.

One followed markets all the time.

Sometimes, sleep eluded.

Now, after market hours, what market? When you don’t think about it, it doesn’t exist, for you.

I’d said I would mention quantity, which has been increasing steadily, since it’s a function of portfolio-size.

So, in a nutshell, benefits abound, upon ever-increasing quantity?

What’s happened?

What’s changed?

Have gotten into a groove.

Found a sweet-spot.

Entered a zone. The Zone, perhaps.

It’s like that ‘perfect’ cover drive, or an optimal trajectory golf drive shot resulting in a birdie for the hole. Don’t wish to use ‘hole-in-one’ here, that would be too much… .

In the Zone, you know things.

Someone outside the Zone will ask how one knows.

Don’t know. One just knows.

One can attach oneself to the swing of the Universe.

One is one with the swing.

It takes time to get into the groove.

For me, make that twenty years.

One becomes mouldable, and flows with the current of the Zone.

I enjoy my approach.

It’s not tangible.

Visibility is not my criterion.

What is, then?

Fulfilment.

If my approach is all I have when I die, I’ll leave with a feeling of fulfilment.

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.

Meaning

Situations…

…arise.

Do I accept…

…my situation…

…or don’t I?

Unless something fits, I don’t deem it a fit.

Fighting…

…till the environment moulds…

…and fits…

…has been a normal response…

…for me.

Using this response, majority of circumstances are made to fit, and then one moves on to the next set.

However,…

…some situations refuse to mould.

These are the big ones.

They don’t go away.

They don’t change.

Hmmmm.

Most of these, I still don’t accept.

Plan B.

I fit.

These two words are not just two words.

There are worlds underneath.

How does one make oneself fit?

Change.

Behaviour.

Habits.

Body.

Mind.

DNA.

Changes that then incorporate into one’s reflexes, and, finally, into one’s long-term memory.

Takes a lot.

Mental checks.

Tolerance.

Control over speech.

Throwing temper into bin.

Exercise. Build-up to high-intensity. Need to generate human growth hormone (HGH). Its presence expedites what I wish to achieve.

Fasting. At times. At least IF. More HGH.

Cold showers. Even more HGH.

Deep sleep. If possible. Providing fast avenue for change to get incorporated at biochemical level.

Four months.

There’s visible change.

Six months.

It’s a fit.

I…

…have…

…fit(ted).

Feels good.

It’s a huge win.

Accomplishment unleashes a different set of hormones. These supply a feeling of fulfilment.

That’s not all.

There are one or two other situations in life, which belong to a different category.

They don’t fit.

Also, one doesn’t wish to fit.

They don’t go away either.

And, they don’t change.

Where does one stand, then?

These are the biggest ones.

These were sent to keep poking you.

Till the end.

What do I do with these?

Accept the category in play?

Have to, eventually.

Try everything pertaining to the prior two categories?

Of course. How else would I know?

When the category stands, and nothing works, there still remains a question.

Do I accept my situation?

I…

…don’t,…

…as this situation stands.

I…

…do,…

…with a twist.

Meaning.

Looking for meaning.

Mostly takes damn long to find meaning. Years. Decades? Can.

If am not able to find meaning, that’ll be the status till the end. One dies finding meaning, with regard to the particular situation.

If I do, that meaning is the twist.

Every time there’s a poke, I’ll think of the meaning.

With regard to the situation, one dies while acting upon the meaning.

And…

…why?

Why do they come, such ones?

Accelerated, enhanced, bumper growth?

It doesn’t happen without these.

Constriction

Nobody likes constriction.

It …

… limits, …

… suffocates …

… and tries to lower one’s self-esteem.

Have been constricted.

Circumstances all around border on criminal society, fascism and unnecessary limits applied to everyday life, even home life.

There’ve been two ways to go.

One is to crumble.

The other is to find pathways.

In alleys.

Corners.

Cloud.

Navigation.

Codes.

Systems.

MultiTasking.

Covert efficiency.

Knowledge acquisition

Application.

When nothing works for one on the outside, we go into achievement mode on the inside.

I speak for those who decide not to crumble.

Times will change.

They always have.

It’s dictators that have crumbled.

They’ve not been able to conquer time.

We keep ourselves functional till our time comes.

When it does …

… and it will, …

… our added soft assets will shine forth …

… not only with a vengeance, …

… but will be impossible to ignore.

Achievement is just an add-on.

Survival is a far more precious memory.

Normal

Hey…

… how’ve you been?

Just hit my normal, so, am feeling good about it.

LifeVector took a multi-SD shock some months back, and everything that makes my normal went out of whack.

Life today is about finding one’s normal amidst constant and new shocks.

Didn’t know I had it in me, to take a multi.

Found out while it happened and in the aftermath.

It’s good news for one’s environment, since everyone remains protected, if one is confident about navigating through multis.

So, what makes up my normal?

Firstly, I don’t fit.

So I construct my own fit.

Takes two and a half decades.

My fit has many-dimensional functionality, tailor made, to extract fullness from life.

In no defining order, there are some income-creating avenues.

Wealth-creating ones.

Recreation.

Giving.

Movement.

Study.

Wellness.

Spirit.

Family.

Exploration.

Responsibility.

Evolution.

Systems.

Auto-pilot.

Am not necessarily passing every avenue. There’s failure too.

I do know one big thing, though, from the recent shock.

It’s an invaluable lesson.

Don’t mind sharing it with you.

Am unhappy when away from my normal.

Further away, more the unhappiness.

Happiest when normal is hit.

Happiness-peak continues as normal remains intact.

Hmmmm.

Isn’t that a big learning?

Hope it helps you too!

🙂

Is Cost-Free-Ness the Holy Grail?

There is…

…a Holy Grail…

…mentioned in the Holy Bible. 

Also, …

… human capital

… pursues excellence.

I…

… am no exception.

Having stumbled upon…

…cost-free-ness…

…after many knocks in all possible markets, …

… and having developed the concept a tad, …

… I do say to you this.

I say to you, …

… , that cost-free-ness…

… is no holy grail. 

In its pursuit, money does get stuck. And, …

… upon its generation, money does flow, at times, into expensive, “uncatchable” material.

These are the two main mentionable “nuances” associated with the pursuit of cost-free-ness, that one needs to be aware of. 

Money getting stuck? Hmmmm.

If we’re afraid of money getting stuck, we should exit from the market. Any market. Period. 

Don’t be in the game if you can’t take the heat. 

It’s ok. 

Play another game, where you can. 

Perfectly fine.

Now let’s tackle the other one. 

Purists are jumping, I know. 

I can hear them yelling “EXPENSIVE!”

Sure.

Extremely high quality…

…will be expensive. 

One legitimate entry opportunity every ten years can be possible in such underlyings.

When it comes, and if one is having a bad hair week, one can even miss the window.

When it comes, we’ll enter big.

That’s a larger game, non-cost-free initially, and we’ve played it well in March 2020, entering non-cost-free, entering big (because of the available margin of safety), and generating vast amounts of cost-free-ness within a few months, to then ultimately be sitting on large, extremely high-quality & completely cost-free portfolios, perhaps for life.

However, such timelines are anomalies. We’ll pounce upon such chronologies when they happen. Meanwhile, …

…our bread and butter is to generate small amounts of cost-free-ness on a regular basis, day-in-day-out, all year round, …

… and it’s ok to enter extremely high quality with one’s freshly generated small amounts of cost-free-ness, right here right now, at the expensive price. 

Why?

Firstly, it’s not costing you. 

Secondly, when we deploy cost-free-ness into extremely high quality in a long-term-growth-promising market like India’s, it’s probably for life. 

Seen from a perspective of a decade or two, or perhaps three, the currently expensive cost-free entry is legitimate. 

Please do the 10, 20 or 30 year math for India, and you should come to the same conclusion.

Why do we wish to deploy immediately?

Out of sight, out of mind. 

Money has idiosyncrasies. 

The biggest one is that it is spent, in the blink of an eye. 

Better, deploy it, specifically also because your mathematics is okaying a legit entry for the extremely long-term.

And, pray, have you wondered why you will be able to sit on your investment for so long?

Primarily because your entry is cost-free. 

There is no other singular, more overwhelming reason. 

Cost-free-ness overwhelms the mind into sitting on extremely long holds. Try it out for yourself.

That takes care of the second point, …

… and I say to you this, that…

… cost-free-ness, …

… though not the holy grail, …

… could well be the next best market concept available to mankind, for long-term success in the markets.

Wishing you lucrative & highly successful cost-free investing!

🙂

Taking Off with Cost-Free-Ness

In Buddhism, …

…there’s a saying to the effect, …

…that as the sun rises, …

…the radiance of others stars, …

… to the observer’s eye, …

… pales, …

…into insignificance.

We’re not going to leave an observation like that hanging.

We’re going to extrude it.

When we make a well-managed underlying cost-free, …

…what are the implications, …

… on existing holdings, …

…which are not cost-free yet?

Well, over a large period of time, …

…their comparative impact on the folio…

…will start paling, … into insignificance.

Let’s say we hold x value of cost-free-ness in an underlying.

Rest of the folio’s value is y, with y = let’s say 30x.

Here’s one way go looking at it.

What’s the maximum loss you can incur on your y?

Not going to happen, but it’s 30x.

What’s the maximum gain that can occur on your cost-free holding?

Uncapped. Yeah.

At 15% per annum compounded, which is reasonable to expect for a well-managed company with many other tick-marks, if you hold your cost-free holding for 25 years, it’s value would be ~ 33x (= 1.15^25).

So, what have you done?

You’ve paled your other portion of the folio into “insignificance”, with just one created pocket of cost-free-ness.

Do ponder, what the implications would be, if you were to create a). 10 such pockets, or b). 20, or c). 50, or perhaps even d). 100 such pockets of cost-free-ness?

Can you even imagine where you would then be in 25 years?

a). With 10x of cost-free-ness, you would be at ~ 329x.

b). With 20x of cost-free-ness, you would be at ~ 658x.

c). With 50x of cost-free-ness, you would be at ~ 1645x.

d). With 100x of cost-free-ness, you would be at ~ 3292x.

Now substitute the value of x here.

Arbitrarily, let’s take x = 1.

One rupee.

One thousand.

One lakh.

One million.

One Cr.

Take what suits you.

See where you started from, and see where you’ve then come.

For example, starting with 1L of cost-free-ness, we land up at ~ 16.5 Cr in 25 years for 50 pockets.

Let’s say I have a target of creating 1 million worth of cost-free-ness in 50 pockets.

Where do I stand in 25 years?

At ~ 165 Cr (50 *1Million *1.15^25).

Alone the after tax dividend emerging from this stream would be > 2.5 Cr per annum.

Any takers?

🙂 (Happy Cost-free-ness!)

Cost-Free-Ness completely does away with Fear

When nothing from your end is invested, but you still have a holding in the markets,…

…you have created for yourself the state of cost-free-ness.

Cost-free-ness carries with itself a feeling of intense satisfaction…

…because of the sheer magnitude of the feat.

Well, congratulations.

With cost-free-ness comes absence of fear with regard to one’s cost-free holding.

When it’s not costing us, we’re not bothered.

Markets can go anywhere.

They can come down to zero, for all we care.

Fine.

Still unshaken?

Yes.

Why?

If markets comes down to zero, we can look to enter en-masse.

We’ve got principal, remember? Took it out, to create cost-free-ness, tu te souviens?

When markets come down to zero, owing to absence of fear, …

… our focus is not on our (cost-free) holding.

Instead, our focus is on the lucrative entries coming our way.

After markets come down to zero, if they do, they’ll soon reverse.

Then, our new entries will start becoming cost-free, as prices climb.

Soon, we’ll pull principal out again, and will have have new cost-free holdings, which we can transfer to our consolidated cost-free holding account.

Fear is nowhere in the equation.

Rewiring 3.0.3

We grow up, being taught to win.

Slowly, we learn to expect shocks, but only sometimes, in sparing intervals.

We prepare fancy resumés. 

Life must look five star plus all the time, that’s the standard. 

We see this standard all around us. It encompasses us. We become it, in our minds.

It’s not like that in the markets.

Markets are a world, where loss is our second nature. 

If we’re not accustomed to loss, we die a thousand deaths, in the markets. 

What kind of loss are we taking about?

Small…

…loss. 

Your stock holding going down to 0…

…is a small loss…

…when compared to another holding multiplying 1000x over 10 years. 

Both these scenarios are very possible in the markets. They’ve happened. They will happen again. 

How do we react?

Our stock going down to zero mortifies us. We do something drastic. Some of us quit. 

When our potential 1000x candidate is at a healthy 10x, yeah, we cut it. 

Then we quickly post the win on our resumé. 

We must look great to the world, at any cost. 

We keep reacting like this…

…and, like this, we’ll perish in the markets with very high probability.

We can’t take a hit, and are nipping our saving graces in the bud. 

When does this stop happening?

When we rewire.

Rewiring is a mental process that happens slowly, upon repeated market exposure. 

For successful rewiring to take place, real money needs to be on the line, again and again and again, as we iron out our mistakes and let market forces teach us the tricks of the trade. 

While we’re rewiring, we need to play small. 

When we’re partly rewired, we wake up to the fact that this is the age of shocks. 

High-tower professors who’ve never had a penny on the line and have put together theorems about six-sigma events (black swans) setting on once in blue-moons have led us to believe that black swans are rare. 

They are not. They have become the norm. Our first-hand experience of multiple black-swans in a row teaches us that.

Once we rewire fully, the expectation of black-swans as the norm is engraved in our DNA. Then, we use this fact to our huge advantage.

How?

We realize the value of our ammunition, i.e. our liquidity. 

Whenever we have the chance, we build up liquidity. 

We become savers, and are not taken in by the false shine of the glittery world around us.

Also, when markets are inflated, we sell stuff we don’t want anymore, boosting our ammunition for the next onset of crisis…

…and, we stop preparing fancy resumés.

Markets have humbled us so many times, that we now just don’t have the energy to portray false images. 

Whatever energy we have left, we wish to use for successful market play, i.e. to make actual money. 

When that happens, yeah, we know for sure that we’ve fully rewired. 

Welcome to rewiring three nought three. 

Sophistication-Complicatedness-Overmodelling – REALLY?

The simplest ideas in life…

…go the longest way.

It’s also the simplest ideas that…

…make money in the markets.

As in, buying low, then selling high…

…learning to sit…

…not nipping a multibagger in the bud…

…recognising one’s risk-profile…

…and behaving within its parameters…

…for starters.

Do we even know what our risk-profile is?

What gives us a sleepless night?

Have we identified what?

Do we still do…

…that?

Most of us still haven’t gotten our basics together…

…because we’re too busy handling affairs in more complicated manners.

We like sophistication.

Let it cost.

Let it lose money.

Let it bring in lesser earning than simpler models.

Main thing is…

…it looks (and sounds) good.

It looks (and sounds)…

sophisticated.

It gives others the impression…

…that one is a big shot.

We overmodel.

The nth differentials of our models lose touch with real pictures on the ground.

Why can’t we move within the parameters of time-tested money-making principles?

Markets are not rocket-science.

We try and make them look like rocket-science.

What do we lose out on?

Time.

Money spent on sophistication that doesn’t yield.

Energy.

We lose out on the fun.

When we’re having fun, we will make money.

When we keep things simple, we’ll have fun.

It’s like doing five things at the same time, things which are all fun when done one at a time.

Are we having more fun when we do all five together?

Really?

No.

A little bit of sophistication and modelling, built upon a strong foundation of simplicity does give us an edge though.

Can we maintain the balance?

What is the balance?

Never forget the basics.

Sophistication…

…modelling…

…fine…

…as long as we don’t belly-up into overmodelling.

That’s the thin line that makes us lose sight of our basics.

Can we see it?

Can we steer clear of it?

Yes?

Then we’re going to make money.

My Buddy called Compounding

Compounding…

…is my happy space.

When I’m having a difficult market day,…

…I open my calculator…

…and start…

…compounding.

My friend clears all doubts in a flash.

It’s easy to compound on the calc.

In German they’d say “Pippifax”.

The younger tribe in the English-speaking world would say easy peasy…

…(lemon squeasy).

Let me run you through it.

Let’s say you wish to calculate an end amount after 25 years of compounding @ 9 % per annum.

Let z be the initial amount (invested).

The calculation is z * 1.09 ^25.

That’s it.

You don’t have to punch in 25 lines. It’s 1 line.

What if you went wrong on the 18th line?

So 1 line, ok? That’s all.

What’s ^ ?

This symbol stands for “to the power of”.

On your calculator, look for the y to power of x key, and then…

…punch in z * 1.09 (now press y to the power of x)[and then punch in 25].

What does such an exercise do for me?

Meaning, why does this exercise ooze endorphins?

Let’s say I’m investing in sound companies, with zero or very little debt, diligent and shareholder-friendly managements, and into a versatile product profile, looking like existing long into the future, basically meaning that I’m sound on fundamentals.

Let’s say that the stock is down owing to some TDH (TomDicK&Harry) reason, since that’s all it’s taking for a stock to plunge since the beginning of 2018.

I have no control over why this stock is falling.

Because of my small entry quantum strategy, I invest more as this fundamentally sound stock falls.

However, nth re-entry demands some reassurance, and that is given en-masse by the accompanying compounding exercise.

At the back of my mind I know that my money is safe, since fundamentals are crystal clear. At the front-end, Mr. Compounding’s reassurance allows me to pull the trigger.

Let’s run through a one-shot compounding exercise.

How much would a million invested be worth in thirty years, @ 11% per annum compounded.

That’s 1 * 1.11^30 = almost 23 million, that’s a 2300% return in 30 years, or 75%+ per annum non-compounded!

Now let’s say that my stock selection is above average. Let’s assume it is good enough to make 15% per annum compounded, over 30 years.

What’s the million worth now?

1 * 1.15^30 = about 66 million, whoahhh, a 6600% return in 30 years, or 220% per annum non-compounded.

Let’s say I’m really good, perhaps not in the RJ or the WB category, but let’s assume I’m in my own category, calling it the UN category. Let’s further assume that my investment strategy is good enough to yield 20% per annum compounded.

Ya. What’s happened to the million?

1 * 1.20^30 = about 237 million…!! 23700% in 30 years, or 790% per annum non-compounded…

…is out of most ballparks!!!

How can something like this be possible?

It’s called “The Power of Compounding”…,

…most famously so by Mr. Warren Buffett himself.

Try it out!

Pickle your surplus into investment with fundamentally sound strategy.

Sit tight.

Lo, and behold.

🙂

Shutting Down the Manipulator

Markets…

…manipulate. 

That’s their very nature.

Are we in the game to be manipulated?

What’s your answer?

Mine is no.

It’s a pretty emphatic no. 

I’ve backed my no with action. 

How do I stop the markets from manipulating me?

The answer if found in one’s trajectory of action.

Is there anything in one’s market actions that can be easily second-guessed by the market?

For example, is one acting upon plain vanilla technicals?

Is one acting upon news? Results? Announcements? 

Let’s not base our action upon anything the market is doing or telling us to do. 

Period. 

It’s as simple as that. 

With that, we’ve already shut out all avenues for manipulation.

Where does that leave you?

What to do now? 

You must be asking this. 

Well, build your own system. 

Let it expand and explore. 

Let it gain complexity. 

Let it boil the complexity down to simplicity. 

Let your actions be based upon your unique bridges. 

Yes, build your bridges.

Make your own market landmarks.

When you act, nobody knows that you are acting.

If nobody even knows that you are implementing an action, well, then nobody can know what that action is, or how it is implemented.

You’re done already. 

Enjoy your non-manipulable existence. 

I wish for you that it is lucrative!

🙂