Crash of 2008

This post is about the title of my blog, moneytalkz. As most of you might be aware, come Jan 2008, the stock markets in India crashed. People all around were mentioning that India had decoupled from the rest of the world and will not crash. I somehow started to believe it and kept on smiling at every new high the markets made. And then finally Indian Markets crashed. I had forgotten that what goes up has to come down. The big crash helped me learn a few lessons, which I hope to remember until the next crash if not for ever.
1. Always keep booking your profits, once the stocks reach some target. This is a tricky one, at times I have booked my profits to realise that I should have waited a little while, what with the stocks creating a new high daily. One needs to strike a balance between booking profits and holding your stocks. We need to understand that the returns in the market dont exactlyhold a linear relationship to time like your bank fixed deposits, that the longer you hold them, more will be the returns. Infact the returns that you can realise by just holding your stocks for few more days will wipe out all the losses you made by holding it for few years. Hence timing your sales is equally critical.
2. If something goes up in an irrational manner, is always hitting the upper circuit for no apparent reason, it is better to not enter the stock at that point and if one holds the stock, it is better to sell that stock, rather than wait for the peak. I have made a mistake of at times entering a stock just to ride the bull wave only to be hit by the bears as I didnt get out when the going was good.
3. Avoid buying stocks on hear say, I had taken a couple of stocks just because some of my friends, cousins recommended the stocks to me. I had no inclination of their business, just blindly took them. A wrong decision. Dont take stocks that you are not convinced about.
4. If you are an individual investor, keep a limited number of stocks in your portfolio. The 80-20 rule applies here as well, 80% of your returns will be generated from 20% of your stocks. And more over, tracking a huge number of different scripts say in the region of 40 or above will not be easy, the investor will not be able to efficiently research such huge number of stocks. Many a times I have ended up holding miniscule stakes in various scripts, reason being I am tempted to buy all the stocks that are rising. It is a huge mistake. I end up tracking a plethora of stocks and in return not able to devote appropriate time to researching all my stocks. Keep limited scripts, no matter how tempting it is, let go or pass on a few good buying opportunities.
5. Many a times, one is tempted to hold a small number of shares in some companies as one is not too confident of the company, but neverthless want to participate in the upswing. Another mistake. The holding is so miniscule that the returns are equally miniscule and we end up increasing the number of stocks in our portfolio. Also as Warren Buffett mentions, one should be as careful about investing 100$ as one is while investing 100k. It is money after all.
6. Patience is another virtue, many a times, when we are sitting on the market sidelines and see that the stocks are going up, we get tempted to enter the markets just to be able to ride the bull wave. This is a wrong decision, this temptation leads us to enter the markets at the wrong levels where the upside is limited but the risks are high. Just because the markets are rising or just because one has idle cash doesnt imply that one should invest in the markets. Investments in market should be dictated by the prices of stocks as well. Patience was never rewarded more appropriately rewarded.

Thanks for being there

They say, everyone comes into your life for a purpose. Some times you meet some people and you never really know why did you meet them in the first place and then well there are some whom you can never really have enough off.

Lets talk of the 2nd ones..I am sure we dont want to talk abt people whom you regret meeting in the first place.

These folks, enter your life unknowingly, and slowly become a part n parcel of your life. Now that I have given enuf of lecture, back to topic.

One can easily recognise the 2nd types, they never give up on you, even when you are out, your chips are out, they will egg you on. Something like what I had put in the nagging rights, they will keep nagging you until you reach your goal, it can be anything, completing your project deliverables on time, finding that elusive job and who knows finding happiness as well.

For these people out of sight is out of mind doesnt hold good, rather it is more of the absence makes the heart grow fonder.

If you are someone who has had a pink slip given, they will not only advice you, but help you review your cv, and if its your lucky day help you find a job as well :).

If you are someone who is a lazy person, they will keep nagging you until you give some certification, if not for anything just to keep them from nagging !!

If you are someone who is a big spend thrift, they will be there to keep your expenses under check so that you dont have to apply for chapter 11 !!!

Above all, they will be positive and hopeful of your success when everyone else is spreading a message of gloom and doom.

What would I not do to have such a friend, unfortunately such people I think are far and few in between.. And rather than being skeptical, trying to analyse, why is x so worried about me, I think we should rather be thankful of having such a well wisher even if he/she is there only for a short while.

PS: I would love to know your experiences as well

Changing relationships- II

An opposite or rather another take on the blog on changing relationships.

Many a times, irrespective of the circumstances surrounding the fall out of the friendship or any relationship, when you meet after a few years/some gap, you meet just as Rahul met Anjali :). Irrespective of any animosity or misunderstanding that may have led to the friendship going kaput or growing distance, some times with some people the connection is always there no matter how many years have passed by. When you meet, you forget old grudges and re connect as if you had never been apart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAAhi9z9OWE

Motivation

Motivation, many a times ppl ask what is it that motivates you in life, that makes you get up in the morning. To this each one has his/her own experience, story to share.

Well here is mine, (its not mine truly, someone shared with me)

A man was walking by the beach and he happened to see a guy walking near the shore. The guy appeared to be very happy, he looked relaxed and was singing and dancing about himself. The man wondered what is it in life that makes the guy so happy.

An hour later, the man happened to cross the guy again, but lo!, the guy looked all gloomy, he had stopped dancing and had a very sad expression. The man wondered what had happened in the last one hour that changed this guy's mood ? Tempted to know the answer, he approached him and asked, hey whats up, one minute yu are so happy and the next sad !

The guy said, i changed the CD in my music system !

So its up to us to keep up in good spirits folks, just change the music (your thoughts) you are listening to !!!

Yu've become like me

In continuation with my posts on motivation/the need for little madness in life, at times one gets motivated by ones friend/spouse in your life.

Not sure if we can call this as adapting in a relationship or getting motivated. Sometimes the influence of the other person is so strong or the person is so influential that knowingly or unknowingly you become like the other person/it maybe yur friend/your spouse.

I have a friend of mine, who has a very positive attitude towards life, I doubt there is anything that can make her frown /worry, she is ever smiling and has a solution to all the problems. I would wonder how in the hell can one always keep smiling and go on about living as if its the best thing that could have happened to her.

Recently, I mean until a year back, when I was travelling a lot, I started getting the same comments from my colleagues at work, hey there, what is with you and your smile, you are always smiling ?? Got some lottery/promotion ? I had no reason/no answer.

But when I saw this scene in Jab We Met, I realised, I had knowingly/unknowingly become like my friend..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9ptqi8b7d0&feature=related

This is a big scene, but my point of reference is the scene where kareena tells shahid that you have become just like me !!!

Why is this happening

Why is an eternal question , many of us keep asking why is that happening to me, why is this happening to me, why did she fight with me, why did my friend have to leave me, why did I loose my job and so on and so forth.
Many a times I am also guilty of using the big WHY, why did it have to happen to me only, what wrong did I do to have this fate be fall up on me. I would bug my friends/my sis, why did I flunk in the exams, why only those questions were asked which I had omitted, why was it only me who got a pink slip, why am I not the cool dude in my class, why am I the 2nd choice for people and not the first one !
But I have realised over a period of time that it is better not to ask why. As I had read in the papers, it is best to not try and understand everything. Many a times we are never able to find a satisfactory answer for the WHY and at times one realises that in the short run we did face pain but as they say everything happens for good.

A little bit of madness did not much harm !!!

As one of the advertisements of fanta or mirinda goes, at times a small dose of madness does one a lot of good !!!

Many a times in life, running about trying to manage the things, managing ones responsibilities , a person forgets that life is worth enjoying, we start acting and behaving as grown ups all the time, always and think that all the fun is only for kids.

We brand a lot of things as being madness, something only kids do, hey, how can I do this, what will the people say, hey i am not a kid any more to act and behave like this, i am too old for chococlates !!!

Many a times, one needs a friend like Kareena who can prod us/make us push our boundaries, help us find beauty in the dullest of things, and at times bring joy back in our life.

I am embedding another link in my blog, this time a scene from jab we met !!! One of my fav scenes..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-qhWdJmDEI

Changing Relationships

Few years ago, I didnt even know you nor did I know about your existence, we were both strangers to each other.
Destiny willed and I met you, we were not strangers any more. We became acquainted with each other. We kept meeting regularly, after college and as time went by we became very good friends. There were days when the time would just whizz by, but our conversations would not end. As they say, morning would turn to dusk, but your talks wouldn't end.
Then just as suddenly you had entered my life, you left from my life.
Now when I met you at a friend's birthday party after nearly a decade, it seemed that we had all the time in the world but nothing to talk about.
I felt I had met a stranger once again.