Indian Stocks that I am currently watching!

I was in a dilemma earlier if I should sell or hold Satyam shares but had made a decision to let go go of them for a decent gain. Now with the money back in my account I am itching to make a buy.

The one mistake I had committed earlier was to buy everything in a single day for all the money that I had got. Now that I think I am maturing I made a decision not to buy in one go but do it in small lots - either in the same day if the prices are fluctuating too much or in subsequent days. I am implementing this approach with buying into DLF slowly but this is anyway for long term.

Ok, coming back from my approach bullshit, I am currently watching few stocks to buy for a short term. Pharma is doing well but I don't want to enter now as they are in the middle of an uptrend. IT is doing well but 25% of my portfolio is already in IT. I had invested in IT in late 2007 when no one bothered about them, they got beaten down further and even after the market interest my IT portfolio is still reeling in negative!!

Anyways coming back to the original topic, need to kick out the habit of digressing, I am focusing on the beaten down sectors or stocks now - ICICI, Maruti, Tata Motors, BHEL and L & T.

I have not made a choice yet and I wont rush into it. I will wait even if its going to take a week or 2 to find the right one ( that's bullshit!! Don't be surprised if you see a post in few hours stating that I made a mistake by rushing into something)

RK

Long term investor or a short term speculator - Whats your style?

I started thinking seriously at investing Indian Stock Market late last year. The market was already at its peak. I made a decision to allocate a sum of money which can I do away with even if wiped out completely. I took a conscious choice to be in the market as an investor something what Warren Buffet suggests.

As fate would have it the Indian Markets started to decline just as I started investing and they have gone lower and lower since then. I was, and still am, not worried or perturbed with this development. I see investing or speculating during tough times as a valuable learning for the future. I added on capital during these months and bought more stocks and I tried to be in the long term and stick to that philosophy.

But I learnt slowly that going long term just for the sake of it in a declining market makes no sense and one needs to take advantage of the price fluctuations if they can. I had my portfolio swing between green and red and also I had seen individual stocks up 20% and then down 20% during these periods. If I had sold some of them when they were up I could have re-invested the money buying the same or another stock at a lower price but I let the opportunity go.

But now, as I mature I am trying to mold the philosophies and thinkings from famous investors to suit my own style, I also have the urge like many to do something in the market - just sitting idle is boring isn't it ;). So, now I allocated a part of my capital to speculate and make use of the market fluctuations. I am still invested in quality stocks on long term basis and would not sell for marginal profits. I am picking stocks which I can hold for a month or two and make 10-20% out of it.

Thats going to my way till I learn some more... How about your style when you started out and how it changed over the time?

RK
http://yourmitra.wordpress.com

Dilemma with selling a stock - Price is right? Does it have any upward momentum left?

This is a personal post but it reflects the dilemma most of the investors or traders face while selling stocks. The question that needs to be answered while thinking of selling is whether the stock's price is right and if there is any significant upward movement left? I am talking more from a short-term view point.

I currently face the dilemma about Satyam computers. Charts say that it moves within ranges and I have seen it happen. So I had bought Satyam at 375 (low range) and now the price is around 425 (close to high). I had a target of 430 in my mind but from the charts it can go till 440 (short-term max). So my dilemma is whether to give it time to reach 440 or should I sell it off at 430. Greed makes to wait till it reaches 440 and maximize the gain and also since IT stocks are doing well of late there is this optimism that the price can go even higher.

On the other hand, I had seen the prices fall rapidly back to the lows. It happened twice already in the last 3-4 months where Satyam's price fell back to 400 or even less. Should I wait and watch the gains evaporate or monetize them?

The money involved is not huge so I can wait and I can afford mistakes. Since I am only in the learning phase I am alright with committing mistakes since mistakes teach you more than success. One thing I definitely learned is no matter what read in the books and no matter what advice you get from the experts it is finally up to you to make a decision and to follow a style of investing/trading that suits your character and maturity.

I think I will wait and give it a couple of day's time but I have not matured so much that I can control the urge to sell if the price starts to drop. If it moves upward then I might just hold on. Lets see!

RK

Alternative investment choices - Gold and Art

With the Indian Stocks and the Global markets getting hammered down I more reports about alternatives to equities and bonds. More prominent among them are the investments in Gold and Art. Gold is in fact hogging the limelight for the past few weeks due to its sky rocketing price. I don't have much idea about Art and I am not interested in it at this point and I also think investing in Art will need more skill and knowledge than investing in Gold.

Gold interested me because of the fact that its prices are inversely proportional to that of equities. This provides a very good balance in the portfolio (GOSH!! I am beginning to talk like an expert, For a moment I forgot that I am just a novice). Having said that I will not enter into Gold at this moment, the prices are way too high. I might miss out on opportunities to make some money here but I want to protect the downside. Gold was below 300$ in 1999 and now its over 1000$ and surely these prices will come down at some point. I will wait for that time. I hope it doesn't take too long.

Wine is another investment one can look at. Again you need skill and knowledge to buy the right ones.

For the moment though I am sticking to equities. I am not buying at this moment. Its more of a wait and watch.

RK