Specialization

Hey.

Calls have started coming in.

Am I doing ok?

Is the panic getting to me?

Am I going under?

I was waiting for this.

Calls of this nature, coming in, are a fantastic guage for the onset of panic.

You see…

…I specialize in guaging panic. You could call me a fall-specialist. A crash is my field of action.

During the crash in CoViD wave 1, I categorized two levels of panic.

Level I was classified as middling panic and identified at the point when calls were coming in asking if people should cancel their systematic investment plans. Aversion to invest with blood beginning to flow on the streets. Noted.

Level II was classified as grave panic, and identified at the point when calls were coming in of the nature, that now that all companies would be bankrupt, why was I still putting in money, into the markets? Questioning the whole financial system. Noted too.

In current scenario, questions about my health followed by queries about which stocks to invest into, after I had answered with a ‘never been better’ reply, for me, corresponds to level I of panic, identified.

Am still waiting for those other calls, asking why I’m putting in money when everything was going bankrupt anyway. Probably coming soon.

So, what’s the course of action, now that level I prevails.

We take it up a notch.

Meaning?

Look harder for entries.

Weren’t you already entering?

Yes, but wasn’t trying very much. Was letting the market punch me hard into an entry.

Meaning?

I’ll give you an example to drive this point home.

Ok.

HDFC Bank, right?

Right.

I had a GTT on for the last many sessions for entry at 809. Wasn’t coming. GTT remained. Either the market socked me into this position, or I wasn’t entering. Happened this morning. Triggered during open, at 773, executed at 778. Market pushed me into the position with force. I let it.

And now?

Will leave myself open to a lesser force push. Will put nearer GTTs, let’s say ~3% away.

If such prices don’t come?

Then not interested in entries.

What happens at level II of panic?

Even lesser force required to enter. Only GTTs lesser than 1 to 2% away perhaps. Many entries.

How come you are so liquid?

This approach creates liquidity during good times. Entering with small quanta now, as compared to networth. Can go on buying for more than one year from this point, if required. Such is the strategy.

Good to know, thanks for sharing.

Mind you, buying during panic does take a toll on one’s psyche. One needs to recuperate and regenerate. It’s not as easy as it sounds. I try very hard though, to recover mentally before the next session. Wish to last very long in the markets, …

…successfully.

Poise

Hey.

Story’s changed already.

IT has suddenly become a defensive buy, it seems.

Not perceived as oil dependent.

See how fast that happened.

Five weeks ago one was hearing the RIP bugles for IT, or so the spin-doctors were trying to spin it.

Bottom-line : don’t believe the stories being spun. Have your own…

… high conviction.

And, the opportunity is…

…now.

Make up your mind.

Invest where you see stability and growth. Invest in India.

There are a lot of high conviction ideas in India that can be latched on to.

Fear makes good investments fall too. That is happening now. To take advantage of this effect, one needs to be fearless with high conviction.

How does one build high conviction in a stock?

Repeated shareholder-friendliness shown by a management.

Clean balance-sheet.

Abundance of free cashflow.

Debt-free-ness.

Longevity.

Vision.

Margin of safety.

That’s it.

Oh, one more thing.

Don’t force the market.

Let it make you enter.

Be poised with a funded GTT order in place before market open.

Keep doing this throughout the fall, as margin of safety deepens. One can do this if one has created enough liquidity during good times, and if one keeps entering with small entry quanta proportional to one’s networth.

Idea is to enter with and into high conviction multiple times, each time lowering the buying average.

With that, one sets oneself up for a fast multiple when markets recover.

It’s boiling down to…

…poise.

Take a Bow!

Hey.

So, what’s our model?

It’s not sector based.

First I thought it was.

I now realize it’s not.

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

One of these is on, currently.

Value? Buy. Deep value? Buy.

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

Sector?

Doesn’t matter.

Moving on to next facet.

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

No value buying, of course.

Ideally nothing.

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

Right. Next facet.

What happens for us in a market that breaks out?

Two things.

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

Moving on.

What happens to the stuff that gets stuck?

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

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

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

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

Our one entry quantum is a function of our networth.

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

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

Final question – answered here.

Ya, final frontier. We tackle this very maturely.

Why are you getting all this for free?

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

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

🙂