Monday, May 21, 2012

Investonomics-ManFina-Series 12


It’s been time that I have been waiting for my targets to be achieved since I wrote my last blog on 19th March 2012. Today on 21st may 2012 I can say that whatever has been written in my previous blog maybe it was for rupee dollar or for our economic growth or for Equity Market performance, I have been able to justify the behavioral investing is a successful technique and one can learn it easily but only thing which is required is Simplicity in investing and huge amount of discipline.

As I write today Nifty closed at 4906 after touching lows of 4770 just a day back. Markets have fallen down from 5350(my last blog) by almost 10% which I have already cautioned and the great achievement was target achievement of our Dollar Rupee call which I have rightly predicted to be at 54+ levels in my last blog. We have followed this approach for advising our clients, majorly exporters, and they have certainly reaped the benefits of our advisory.

Nifty at 4900 and Rupee at 55- What Next?

Questions have been asked and Debates have been done about how the markets will behave and INR trading above 55 levels giving dangerous signals for our economy.

RBI has intervened twice to stop the Rupee downfall but of no avail. This clearly tells us that the down fall has no speculation and is based on some fundamentals. Now let us understand these fundamentals and try to decipher how the future will look like?

Various data which we have suggest that we can conclude on 2 things very confidently:
1.      Political Will lacking for reforms
2.      Euro zone split

On the first point I would like to comment that ministers sitting in govt are involved in their own money making work as they find themselves that People of India will not vote them to power in next elections and also they are trying to get themselves shield from various imbroglios in which they are involved. We have to understand that ministers are not God but humans and like any human being if too many problems come simultaneously your decision taking capacity is hindered/challenged. Knowing that one is doing wrong things, one cant control himself.
The result is what we are seeing. Our GDP growth is coming down, IIP is down drastically, infact its Negative 10%,inflation is uncontrollable, INR is losing its value so far and so forth. What happens when these things happen? Government puts pressure on RBI to decrease rates cursing RBI for higher Interest rate scenario and our Finance Minister speaks in Loksabha that the slowdown is global in nature and India can’t do much about global slowdown. Now the RBI governor, to save his head, reduces the interest rates more that what is required, markets jumps and investors catch fancy that now since Interest rates are coming down, now is the time to buy. I would like to caution investors that FIIs or big money chases stocks when they see clear trend on Interest rate cycle and its impact on economic growth. They generally wait for at least 2 quarters to decide whether the effect of rate cut is coming positive or not. But my poor investor is helpless. He gets the call from his broker/agent stating that since the rates have been cut, markets will go up as if cutting interest rates only pushes up the market. Here you are caught.
I foresee political system in India to get more involved in corruption as more and more cases come out and political parties deeply involved in solving this crisis of their own instead of thinking for development of country. Almost every Indian understands that the current Government will not be able to take big steps and we may expect earlier election as well which might be declared by early next year. So the only year left for reforms is the FY12-13 and we are almost half path.
Our risk reward ratio still remains unfavorable and we still believe markets to go down or remain stagnant in a range. 4400-4500 on Nifty is a chance on lower side on immediate basis which is 10% down from current levels. The upside is likely capped at 5150. So the strategy is to Sell at rise for traders and gradual exit from Investments for Investors

On the second point on Euro zone split a major event is coming on 17th June 2012 when Greece election results will be declared. On a reasonable certainty I find that Anti Austerity Government will be formed in Greece which will take Greece out of Euro zone. The impact will be very huge on Euro and as a currency its existence will come into danger. We have to understand one thing clearly that if Euro collapses, The US Dollar will become strong which will again have negative impact on Rupee. Added to this our growing Fiscal Deficit and reduced Currency reserve will also pose problem and will help INR to devalue itself against US Dollar. If INR trades around 56 levels by the time Greece results are announced, we should be ready for looking at 60 levels within few days. I would like to caution that there will be a collapse in Stock market if this thing happens and we may even see Nifty levels of 4000 in June itself which will produce a buying opportunity for Medium Term investors as there can be a decent pullback from those levels for some time. A closing below 16030 on sensex will not augur well for Equity Markets

Monday, March 19, 2012

Investonomics-ManFina-Series 11


As I write today with Nifty@5350 almost the same level at which I had written my previous blog with various strategies to be followed as it was a period of various events falling in line. The latest event i.e. our Union Budget which came on 16th March 2012 was as per my expectation which I have highlighted in my previous blog that this budget is going to be a highly inflationary budget. Various indirect taxes were raised and a little were given to public in terms of raising Income tax slabs.

As mentioned in my previous blog that I expect this budget to be negative for majority of Sectors barring Agriculture and FMCG.A bit was spoken about Infrastructure sector as Govt allocating RS 50,000 crores for this sector and out of this Govt wants at least 25,000 crores to come from private sector, meaning thereby Govt would contribute only 25,000 crores. I feel this allocation of Rs 25K crores to be too little for country with 125 crores of population. A reasonable estimate for investment needed alone in power sector is Rs 10 lac crores in next 8 years if we want our country to be self sufficient in terms of giving power to every individual. So if Government believes that they are going to give proper infra to their citizens then this figure of 25000 crores which they have given in this budget is too little or negligible. And also who is going to put another Rs 25K crores in this highly inflationary environment and in current high interest rate scenario. For last 2 years now there are no news on Project expansion and new capital formation. Curse to Global Economy or Higher interest rates for this but this is the truth

Unfortunately this budget neither allocated appropriate funds for current development nor gave any vision for further development in Infra sector investment.

Looking to the amount allocated for infra sector and lack of vision for further investment I am forced to assume that investors should exit Infra sector for at least next 2 years. As an investor we should exit investments in this sector as I believe Infra companies will not be able to get positive cash flows from this sector as their basic raw material Cement & Steel prices are going to go up whereas Interest rates are not going to come down aggressively in next One year as Inflation is going to stay for a longer period. The reasons why Inflation is going to stay for a longer period are:

  1. Fiscal Deficit-As per budget Govt would contain Fiscal Deficit to 5.1% of GDP which doesn’t include Rs 2 Lac crores Food Security Bill. The same Government projected 4% Deficit target in 2011-12 and ended at 5.9% Debt to GDP. So with reasonable certainty even if Govt says that they are going to contain the deficit to 5.1% without including Food Security Bill then what would be the status if this is included, we know it all. Higher the deficit, higher will be money printing and higher will be the inflation. One should remember that High Inflation is Negative for Equities barring FMCG sector and Positive for Real Estate, Gold or anything which is not money but Money’s worth.


  1. Crude-As indicated in my previous blogs if Crude prices remain high because of rising Geo Political risks then being a net importer of Oil we may face unexpected High Deficit and a depreciating Rupee. Also current trend in rupee suggest we may see Rupee around 54+ levels shortly. This will be again negative for Equities as an asset class for investment.


  1. Election-The latest reason is Governments own credibility and standing in Parliament. Looking to the kind of threats the government faces for getting resolutions passed we may also see unexpected event in the form of early Loksabha Poll or Third front forming government. This event can be very disastrous for Equity markets in India. Global cues may remain strong as US is recovering but we have to look into our pockets first.

So, overall we can say the risk reward ratio is highly negative for investment in Equity as an asset class. The current scenario will be very positive for Exporters and equally tough for importers (mostly Capital Goods Sector).Equity markets may fall at least 10-15% from current levels in next 3 to 6 months where we may see some value buying to happen. There are many more points in this Budget whose repercussions needs to be discussed and highlighted which I will do in my next blog. Till then enjoy investments in Debt Markets, Gold and Properties & reallocate in Equities.

For Asset allocation strategy and further advisory, you may contact me on my mail manfinacorp@gmail.com

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Investonomics-ManFina-Series 10


March-The Colorful Month (from Holi to Union Budget,2012)

From Who moved my Cheese TO Who can move my Cheese?

As I write today with Nifty @ 5360 there’s going to be huge drama in stock markets in next 15 days as we have a slew of events coming, right from Election results in state assembly in UP & Goa on 6th March 2012 to RBI policy on 15th march and Union Budget on 16th March while the international events to be watched for will be Greece debt rollover on 20th March 2012 along with various data’s on Inflation,GDP growth etc etc which will determine future course of action of Economy and obviously Equity & Commodity markets going forward. I have already cautioned my readers and had already written about trimming their portfolios. Also the use of Options has paid us largely by restricting our losses and increasing our profits. Now is the time to for us to take a view one by one on each event and its resultant effect on our money/stocks.

UP election results-6th March 2012

Case A- Govt formation by Congress or its allies (SP)

This will strengthen the position of ruling party in centre i.e. Congress and will help Rahul Gandhi to take a leading role in centre as by now he has proved his mettle in politics. Also Congress will be able to get support of Samajwadi Party (SP) in Centre which will help it to get passed certain regulations which as of now are kept in abeyance due to non supportive stance of BSP & Trinmool Congress

Effect- Markets will remain in bullish tone, Expect FII flow to remain till budget, no major correction
Strategy- Buy on Dips and keep booking profits

Case B- Hung assembly

In this case there will be two scenarios:
  1. If Congress emerges as king maker i.e. if it gets more than expected seat an help any other party to form government then we can expect range bound markets for the time being with no major volatility in Equity markets and the eyes will again shift to budget for further course of action

Strategy- Avoid trading or investment

  1. If congress doesn’t become a King maker then expect a sharp correction

Strategy- Buy Options (Puts) to hedge your portfolio or Sell on rise strategy

RBI Monetary Policy-15th March 2012

Certainly I feel RBI is going to have a rate cut of at least 50 to 100 basis points on CRR as anything less that this will only be a drop in the ocean. Currently there’s a shortage of liquidity in banking system in the tune of Rs 1.4 lac crores and a 50 basis points cut gives Rs 32000 crores into the system which is neglible,so I expect RBI to tinker SLR also this time and a 25 to 50 basis point in SLR is also not ruled out with 50 bps in CRR. I think RBI will put at least 1 lac crores into the system allaying liquidity concerns. I don’t expect anything on Repo/Reverse Repo front, if there is any announcement to it, it will be a welcome sign but I do expect any decision on  Repo/reverse Repo front only after budget. We will make our strategy after the budget

Strategy- Anything less than 1 lac crores is not welcome. Exit long or reduce equity exposure. Sell on rise

Union Budget-16th March 2012

Union Budget for 2012 will be a challenging budget for Finance Minister as he has to control Fiscal Deficit on one hand also give momentum to Economic growth on the other. Unfortunately the latter doest happen without the help of the former. So this time our FM has a very difficult task of making two shores of a river meet. To me it seems very unreasonable to expect from Finance Minister to do make a socio-capitalistic budget. I expect this budget to very socialistic budget wherein we may find social initiatives like Food Security Bill and other Agriculture related regulations which will help Government to showcase as a very populist government as I expect 2013 to be an Election year for our country and as such this budget to be last budget for the current government. I base my assumption on the condition that Congress will be a King maker in UP election results going to be announce on 6th march 2012 and Rahul Gandhi to emerge stronger in Congress Party.

So, although this budget might give some relief to Public at large in terms of raising Income tax slabs but I feel this budget to be high on inflation as Government may increase the Indirect Taxes ,Corporate Tax and Wealth tax as it is falling short of revenues whereas its Fiscal deficit burgeoning. Moreover raising taxes mentioned above will also help Government to fund its social objective of Food Security Bill which would alone take away Rs 2 lac crores. So I feel this budget to be negative for majority of Sectors barring Agriculture and FMCG. The only thing which needs to be seen is that whether our FM says anything on Infrastructure development or not? If this time he doesn’t speak about this sector, then expect a great downside in this sector and avoid this sector for next 2 years. The fate of this sector, I feel, lies in this Budget. So, wait and watch!!!

Strategy- Reduce your overall Equity Exposure before budget. Wait for 2 days for market to settle. If this budget is going to be a game changer event i.e. a very positive event for Indian economy then we will not be left behind in this mega bull run as the run up from these levels in sensex or Nifty will be very high and we can expect even 7500-8000 Nifty in next 2-3 years, so there will be ample time to make money by leaving this last leg of 5% up in market in case this event is going to be a investment dampener event. In that case also don’t be fearful to look markets to touch lows of 2008.

Overall I feel, as a genuine investor I should always keep my Risk-Reward ratio favorable at the time of decision making. So, in short currently I don’t feel Risk reward to be favorable for investment in Equities in current scenario.

For Asset allocation strategy and further advisory, you may contact me on my mail manfinacorp@gmail.com

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Investonomics-ManFina-Series 9


Time to trim!!!!

Stock markets today reached a high of 5629 and closed at 5505 with a corrective note on account of Greece debt down grading by Fitch to near default. While the index hardly fell by 1.5%, stocks in general fell around 8-10% on an average. As already suggested in my previous blog about the market range of 5400-5700 and to increase exposure in G-Sec while reducing the same in Equity, we stand tall and right in our approach to portfolio management and justice to our client portfolio. As propagated it’s the time to reduce the trading quantity in stocks, using options as investing strategy will certainly help clients minimize their losses while remaining invested.

There were some news and events and data in last week which are worth noting before taking great exposure in Equity market. I would like to highlight some of them as these events/data has the ability to jeopardize the rally which we have seen in the recent past. These news have been collected here from various sources for the sake of knowledge of the reader of my blog for their understanding on how to approach markets when we have these kind of news flows

a.       “Euro zone unemployment reached 10.4 percent at the end of last year, its highest      since the introduction of the European single currency, official data showed late last month. It is seen peaking at 10.8 percent in the second half of this year.”

Comment:This might keep industrial activity under check in EU and will dampen GDP Estimated figures

b.      “China's manufacturing sector contracted in February for the fourth straight month as new export orders dropped sharply in the face of the Euro area debt crisis. Trade data for January showed imports and exports falling at their fastest rate since 2009.”

Comment:This indicates that actual consumption even in china is not showing pace of recovery despite Central bank of china cutting rates by 100 basis points in last 3 months. So we can’t say that even if RBI cuts rate in India, we can expect demand in Industrial goods/Services or a resultant effect on GDP

c.       Fitch ratings agency on Wednesday slashed its rating for Greek sovereign debt to “C” from “CCC,” indicating that default is “highly likely in the near term. In Fitch's opinion, the exchange, if completed, would constitute a 'distressed debt exchange'           

Comment:If history is to repeat itself, one can expect sub prime like crisis in Europe but this time it will be default on soverign debt involving many nations. So we have to be prepared for the worst ever corrections in Equities as and when it happens. Idea is to keep low exposure in Equities now so that whenever this kind of crisis happens, One has the fund to Buy Blue-chip stocks at reasonable throw away prices. This correction will be lifetime buying opportunity.
For dynamic Asset Allocation advisory on the basis of above opinion, contact me on my mail


Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Investonomics-ManFina-Series 8


Investonomics-ManFina-Series 8

The Mad Rush!!

As I write today, Equity markets are cheering up & Nifty touched 5500 and closed above this level, I find many investors now talking irrational targets for their stocks and market as if we have come out of all the problems which were there 2 months back and global economy is now back on track for the new bull run to emerge.

The momentum of this bear market rally (as I call it) was so fast that it has made many bears, bulls. People who were talking of new lows in markets are now talking new highs for the market according to there whims and fancies. This sentiment or over confidence as I call it is generally very good for FIIs (as they can now exit) and usually a nightmare for retail investors.

The saying “Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful” is made for these situations only. The irony is that even if markets go up from these levels the risk –reward for fresh investments in equities as far as my understanding goes is not favorable. Although for those investors/traders who are fast to take an entry/exit there exists a greater opportunity to make money from market provided they have the guts to limit their losses.

I foresee probably Nifty to touch 5650-5700 and stabilize around 5400-5700 range till the budget. The month of February may not find much of correction but there are numbers of events in the month of March 2012 which will make sentiments change. I would therefore take a cautious stance and be very selective in stocks as I find some stocks which have potential and have not participated in the rally to now participate.

The major worry of this rally is actual consumption of commodities not seen picking up as commodity prices globally remain stagnant and majorly non participation of Copper which indicates pick up in industrial demand is still not visible. As I have indicated in my series 5, out of the entire three indicators still only one is visible and that is Auto demand picking up. The remaining two indicators viz. Copper demand & government Borrowing rate although moderately on positive side are still waiting for some precursor.

As per my previous blogs we have propagated value buying at 4700 Nifty levels, I now change my stance at 5500 Nifty levels to selective buying and booking profits. Remember your overall quantity of buying should get reduced at these levels, while generally it is seen that Investors tend to get over enthused and are tempted to buy greater quantities in order to earn trading profits. Beware of this. Try and limit your trades with the help of Options where you have a selective bet. For further advisory on how to use Options for trading do le me know.

The 2G Order!!!

An important event that has occurred between my last blog and this blog was an order by the Honorable Supreme Court of India regarding the 2G disputes. Telecom licenses were quashed and were held Null and Void. Government of India has been asked to reissue licenses with fresh bidding process. This order has come like a blessing in disguise for government which has missed its Fiscal targets and Disinvestments targets. According to my estimates Govt. Of India may be able to get around 40000 crores of fresh money in reissuing licenses which will nullify its inability to raise funds through disinvestment to an extent.

This alone decision has the power to bring Fiscal deficit in check and will help RBI to raise funds for Government at a lower rate. Added to this government can now raise spending in Infra Sector which in turn boosts the economy as a whole. I expect this whole exercise to be done by our Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee in his coming budget on March 15, 2012.

 So the Budget 2012 will be an important event to watch out for. If the above mentioned things happen then I have no doubts that Nifty shouldn’t touch previous highs of 2007. Expect Nifty at 6100 and the start of the new Bull Run. Also for the short term, 6months to an year view we continue to remain bullish on G-Sec as we expect Interest rates to fall at least by 100 basis points in next One year. Allocate major portion to this as it seems more certain with less risk.

The Game Spoilers!!!

Crude

Brent Crude currently trading at $118/barrel is a cause of concern as 70% of India’s imports is oil. If the tussle between America and Iran aggravates the expect Crude to touch $150/barrel and at those levels we cant expect our economy to be on track of 8% GDP growth. Also Iran banning supply of Crude to EU which is already in recession will only worsen the Geo Political risks as the money which has comedown into our markets because of EU printing will surely go back to its origin and will bring major corrections in equity markets. Buy Gold if this happens to hedge your portfolio. Also this will be negative for INR and Rupee may fall back to 53+ levels. For further advisory on how to make money in these conditions do let me know.

Europe

We have seen that Greece has accepted austerity measures to avoid possible default. Although the help provided by EU to Greece is still very little as compared to its requirements, we may find some more issues with Italy & Spain in the month of March 2012 as there debt rollovers happen. So it will be in March 2012 that we will be seeing a major trend reversal across markets.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Investonomics-ManFina-Series 7



Markets round up

Nifty ended at 5200+ levels for the week ending 27th Jan 2012 nearing our target of 5250(recommended in our last blog)-200 DMA for nifty which currently is at 5208. The week also had bought a sigh of relief in many investors mind as this was week where RBI had cut CRR(Cash reserve ratio) by 50 basis points which was more than expected move by the central bank and due to which market sentiments improved and we saw all-round buying in all type of stocks(Large cap,Mid cap & Small cap). Particularly where the stocks were beaten down has risen up almost 80% from there recent lows. This phenomenon was already highlighted in our earlier bog wherein we have mentioned that the time is of value buying. Investors who have bought as per our recommendation have hugely participated in this rally with a decent return in their pockets
Also we have been able to take a call on currency markets correctly by letting our clients booking the dollars forwards@52+ levels as we were seeing a great strength in Rupee because of Dollar inflow in the country as per reasons mentioned in our Series -4. Particularly capital goods sector was recommended in equity only because of this reason. Our investment in G-Sec also gave returns of 15 to 22% in last 1 month wherein we still remain bullish with exposure increasing in G-sec and Fixed instruments like Tax free Bonds while we will now start reducing exposure from Equities.

The love of liquidity-From USA to India Via Europe


A look at the previous months events suggests that while the love of Liquidity continues with all the political leadership & the central banks across the world, the new thing which happened in India is RBI also jumping into this bandwagon of providing liquidity in the system by cutting CRR by 50 basis points and managing an inflow of almost Rs 32000 crores into the system.
There are some questions which come to my doubtful mind as to why there was a CRR cut rather than a Repo cut which could have helped a high interest paying reeling industry. While I find that pushing liquidity into system has been a common practice  in EU & US as they poses a systemic risk/chances of collapse of banking system due to liquidity in there respective countries, does RBI  also foresee/fear this risk in India due to shortage of liquidity? A question might arise in your mind that how can India have shortage of liquidity. Well, you might be aware that 40% of our exports come from 2 regions-EU & US & the share of EU & US in world total trade is roughly 35% of total trade done, so any crisis in EU or US or both will lead to world being lead in to depression due to shortage of liquidity or in other terms lack of confidence in currency or currency crisis due to sovereign debt problems.
To make the above lines more simple we must know how much of my money is at risk if the EU crisis occur? Simply put it 30 to 40% of money or expected export realization for exporters from India. Such big is the cause of this crisis & Central banks all over world are pushing liquidity in the system just to avoid this crisis

Markets beyond 5200

While FIIs have pumped in large chunk of money since 1st week of January & their investments have earned them far superior returns as Rupee also has appreciated by almost 10% from 54 to 49 levels till the time I write this & Nifty going from 4700 to 5200 levels and at the same time I do not find any major event in EU/US till February end there is a reasonable certainty that markets have a potential to go up by 5-7% more, might be Nifty at 5400-5500 looks achievable. Also reasons as mentioned in my earlier blog like Indian Budget Session might also help sentiments in good shape. This last leg will be very widespread with stock prices going up like there will be no tomorrow, I caution my readers not to get attracted by this fancy & reduce exposure at these levels.
I expect the coming budget to be a highly inflationary budget & a Pro-Public budget rather that Pro-Industry budget. Also if our Finance Minister has to resort to Fiscal discipline then this budget is sure to raise Indirect taxes which will again hit Industry . Will highlight some more issues in my next blog. Enjoy the rally!!!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Investonomics-ManFina-Series 6


Markets Round up-
Nifty cheered 4875 in today’s session and sensex crossing 16200 mark clearly signaling a good pullback as mentioned in my Series-4 on 26th December 2011.Especially the value buy proposition paid much more. Stocks in mid cap have moved up significantly (20-40%) as compared to 26th Dec rates. This pullback can last up to 5250(200DMA for Nifty). At these levels we need to be cautious as further trends will be decided by the news and events prevailing at that time.

Expectations from Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will also start building up by the end of Jan 2012 along with the much expected Interest rate cut by RBI. I feel that these events will more or less keep Stocks in India to behave in a more resilient manner than in world. Also Govt of India’s plan to raise funds from pledging shares has also subsided short term liquidity problems faced by Government and due to which 10Yr GOI rates has gone down to 8.3% from 8.8%. This has also generated Positive returns to the investors who have started investing in G-Sec as per my recommendation in Series-4. Also I feel investment in Long term G-Sec papers to yield better risk/reward returns going forward as ample liquidity available in World markets. Majorly, I feel these money will chase more of Debt(G-Sec`s) across world as compared to riskier asset class like commodities or Equities, but one cant rule out rally in Equities , only question is how much rally and till what time?
The fundamentals of our economy remains as it were when I cautioned about India’s burgeoning Fiscal Deficit. The only good thing that has happened in last few days is Govt of India has been able to raise funds & since it has given free hands to banks to give NRIs the highest ever FD rates, it has for a while stopped dollar outflows from the country which has brought down Rupee to 51+ levels. I have indicated the same in my blog earlier in Series 4 itself. This whole exercise is of short term in nature and we cant say that everything is alright.

Results Season-What to expect from Corporate India?
January will be the season of results of Q3 from Corporate India. The results will be no different that you can expect as for the last few months we have been noticing Negative IIP, so not much expected as well, a dollar there and a pound here! Only some Fund managers work will be left as they will be churning their portfolio quoting some or the other reason. Q4 being the budget season as well, markets will start building unwanted expectations from the budget & RBI. This has happened many times and it happens every time. You may find some Rail Stocks and Fertilizer stocks going up.


The problem of plenty, The problem of NIL-Brain Re-gain!!

Unemployment in EU & US has caused unemployment in many countries, rather I will not blame EU or US but it is the sectors dependence on each other in Globalization that creates or destroys Outsourcing. Many Indians have settled abroad in last decade mostly in Middle East(as it was a tax haven and many companies invest in India through these Countries) and Some in US & Europe. Now since all the EU countries including the US has put a control on outsourcing, I think in a year or two we will be finding plenty of Indians will be returning back to India along with whatever money they have earned and more interestingly this is not because they want to come down to India but because they will not be left with any option rather that to come back to India.

Now this will be an opportunity for the us if taken in right earnest, but alas, do we have Infrastructure support to handle these elite traffic? Nay or NIL
I have found in some recent readings that this will not be a reverse brain drain rather we should call this as Brain Re-gain, but my little mind asks a simple question, whether we will be able to handle this Brain Regain efficiently or let these Brains go in Drain? A Trillion Dollar opportunity with a Billion Dollor Investment!! Is India ready to take this?????????

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Investonomics-ManFina-Series 5

The story of four great bottoms in Equity markets---3 little monkeys!!!!(1929,1980,2000 & 2008) 

At the outset of 2012, an already much hyped year for various reasons, I would like to start the note with the above mentioned rhymes. These rhymes have been taught to us so that we may not repeat the mistakes again n again but its human nature to do the same.

Obviously our scholars have mentioned “To err is to human, to forgive is to divine” we may argue. Unfortunately, these 3 little monkeys have been with us in different phases of life and yes, even in stock markets. I would like to highlight to my readers who invest in Equity markets to make a note of these 3 little monkeys who jumps on their bed and when they fall down, they break their Owners head.

With my studies I have found these 3 common factors which were the primary indicators or precursor to the major falls in markets.
a. Auto sales declining continuously for 3 quarters
b. Copper prices declining continuously
c. Govt. Borrowing rates going up

So next time when you find all these 3 things happen simultaneously be the first one to get out of Stock/Commodity markets. At least we will be sure of not loosing money, to make money in such a difficult time is a different question altogether.
Although if you don’t track your investments because of lack of time, hire a Financial advisor who can do this for you. As earlier mentioned in my last blog, we are still not seeing recovery in commodities, especially copper, so I would like to caution my readers that till the time we don’t see any sustained recovery in Copper, avoid meaningful investments in Equities.

I will be highlighting some important Cycles (Waves) which we have gathered from History of stock markets, which will help the readers to enrich their knowledge and take wise decision. Out of all Cycles/Trends/Waves I will first highlight “The Most powerful Decennial Cycle”, a cycle/wave/trends which markets have been following since 1900. Fig. below by Ned Davis shows the average gains in the stock markets(DOW) over the last century.
The markets tend to peak late in ninth year, correct into middle part of second year, and then recoup modestly into the end of the fourth year. Most or all of the net gains then tend to occur in second half of the decade. By getting defensive in first 2.5 years of every decade, investors could have create greater risk/return benefits, so we can say that we need to be more defensive till mid 2012. The greatest stock crashes other than 1973-74 have occurred in early years of the decades: late 1919 to early 1922; late 1929 to mid 1932, late 1937 to early 1942; 1960-1962; 1970; 1980-1982; 1990 and early 2000 to late 2002.Similarly the greatest bubbles have occurred in the second half of the decade: 1914-1919; 1925-1929;1985-1989;1995 to early 2000; and 2005-2009.