I did an unscientific sms poll asking people the same question: ” 5 year view – If I have money to invest in the equity markets. Should I do a 12 month STP or a 24 month STP?”. The persons covered included 2 CIOs, 2 CEOs a few fund managers, 3-4 research people and a […]
Why is it that in the case of Satyam and in the world wide mess it is largely the equity shareholder who is losing? Welcome to the world of moral hazard. When you lend money to a bank (which may be insolvent even as you are lending) or to a country (which technically cannot become […]
In a training class there are some of the few questions I cannot wish away. Let me name a few: 1. What will happen to the market in the next 12 months? 2. When will the market reach 21000 again? (they mean Sensex) 3. Is the fall over? Will it start rising again? When? Frankly […]
October is a particularly dangerous month to speculate. The others are January, September, April, February, July, November, June, August, March, May, and December. or something to this effect was said by Mark Twain. One of the main reasons why people lose money in equities is people speculate instead of investing. Trading is not investing! So […]
Myth: Time in the market is more important that timing the market. This says that the longer you stay invested, the more chances of you making money. Again, only partly true. Good investors know that timing is all. While no one can call market peaks or troughs correctly all the time, we all can figure […]
Here is a story …said in a very spiritual context. It is just as applicable to us as ‘fund managers’, ‘relationship managers’, ‘ifas’ or…what have you. When the markets do well, we keep saying ” I got the client 43% returns” if you are such a genius why is your portfolio in the Red this […]
The markets – capital markets especially is a great teacher. However, the characteristics of this teacher are unique: 1. Takes the fee upfront 2. Lessons are taught the hard way, but students do not remember it long enough 3. Never negotiates fees – the dumber the student the higher the fee, and no mercy is […]