Ego and pride are not really useful elements while investing. Many investors I know have made money because of luck or research done by some other person. However when they apply their minds a little on the shares that they buy, they think they are doing research! My research for example, is completely outsourced [...]
One advantage or disadvantages of being connected with equity markets is you hear many stories. However if you have been in it for long, you may be part of many stories. For example a friend who wanted alpha (returns greater than the market returns), asked me what to do. Knowing his ability to trade I [...]
These are stories about a few friends.
I have 2 friends – aged about 57 years. They were classmates and are now very close to retirement. Their investing philosophies are so different that I could not believe that the accumulated amounts could be so far away from each other. One of them did his MBA and [...]
Madhu Soman of Reuters writes well – and is a keen watcher of equity markets and real estate (especially in Wadala and Kerala!). He had written an article for REuters – on 16th October, 2008 - and it was subsequently carried in ET.Here are the first 2 paras where Shankar Sharma….read on!
“The world of equities [...]
If you wanted to make a career in a sport would you just watch that sport on television and hope to be a world beater? No, I guess.
Similarly if you want to be a good investor watching television or the pink papers or the personal finance magazines and websites may be not the best way [...]
This is perhaps the most often asked question. I have seen people mess up quite dramatically. One HR consultant once called me and said “I have Rs. 52,000 where can I invest?’. So I got of on the pedal saying “Equity is good for the long term….etc”. Then when there was a blank from the [...]
While doing a risk review of a portfolio, I stumbled on a portfolio with 55 mutual fund schemes and 52 direct equity investments. When the investor asked me what was the risk, I said there was ‘concentration’ risk. I also told him he was running the risk of ‘over-diversification’ . He asked me to speak [...]
This is not a debate on whether you will live long or not live long. It is simple and easier to assume that you will live long – pretty long if you ask me. If your grand parents are pushing 85, your father is in his 2nd innings, but still holding a job at the [...]
Many people have been asking me this question. I thought I will wear the hat of an investment advisor in US and look at the world markets and see what to do. So here it is. Not too useful I am sure, but here it is:
1. All Central Banks are printing notes – so inflation [...]
The cheer leaders are screaming once again – welcoming the 10,000 index. Whether it is television, print, or the internet – all of them have headlined the great reclaiming of the 10k index.
The typical middle class guy is happy, but of course skeptical. The questions he is asking are the following:
Will this market rally last?
Does [...]