DIWALI WISHES ..

First of all , wish you a very happy Diwali and a prosperous year ahead.I believe many of my readers made decent return in last 1-2 years mainly due to overall better sentiment in small and mid caps.Generally, retail investors become active in a bull market and there is no exception this time too. From the mails I am receiving from my readers , I feel lot of first time investors entered in market during this period. But unfortunately only a very small fraction of these investors are serious about investment and remaining considering stock market as ground to play for ‘ time pass’ . My following two cents are for this newbie friends who always suggest me to give the name of few stocks for investment.

Like any other profession , to succeed in investing , lot of hard work and patience is necessary. Controlling emotions is very important and we must ready to accept our faults and willing to correct it. “ I am a new investor , please suggest some stocks to me" is the common message I am getting from at least 25 % of mails receiving in my mail box. I have only one suggestion to such friends, before jumping into the market first of all we must realize what kind of investor we are, based on our temperament,expectation, risk taking capacity..etc .One stock suitable for a person may or may not suitable for another .Another point is , ‘ a good company’( based on balance sheet and related equations) always never means as a ‘Good Investment’ and the entry price is very important in investing and rate of return from it.On the other side, a bad company ( with a poor balance sheet so far ) may turn as a wonderful investment if our entry is at right point and things develop as per our calculation and expectation. Of course the risk and reward in both these cases will be always different.So , defining our own aim and selecting the way suitable for us is most important for our investing journey. Generally we can classify stocks into three categories ( This is my personal view and never expect the copy book meaning for the terms used ) – Value Stocks , Growth Stocks and Dark Horses.

Value Stocks 

Generally a stock termed as a value stock if it trade at a lower price compared to its known fundamentals. One common mistake lot of new investors making while selecting value stock is their inability to assess the reason for lower valuation and taking investment decisions based only on certain pre-defined valuation methods like P/E ratio..etc.Personally I don’t think a lower P/E never guarantee good return,instead to a certain extent, it may give a cushion against sharp fall.At certain point of time ,outdated businesses may seems attractive if we follow lower P/E alone as a benchmark for stock selection. Such business may attractive till date but ends in big loss in the years to come due to changing trend, technology ..etc.
So , while selecting value stocks we should also consider future prospects, promoter quality,dividend distribution policy ..etc along with cheap valuation . One can expect steady return and good dividend from such stock with less risk but don't expect multiple times returns from such stocks in short period .


Growth Stocks

As per definition , 'Growth Stock' is the stock of a company whose earnings are expected to grow at an above-average rate relative to the market.These type stocks may always look expensive based on conventional valuation parameters but remain as expensive till their growth trajectory ends which may last for many years .While value stocks are selected mainly based on the current performance,growth stocks are practically selecting based on the anticipated business growth in future and hence the later is riskier than the former.


Dark Horses :

Please don’t search for the meaning for such stocks , you may not find it anywhere :)
These type stocks are only for daredevils but may change our fortune on either side . Generally lesser known with poor fundamentals at present but potential to grow multi fold over a period of time due to some unique features like niche technology,patented products, possibility to emerge as a winner due to changing trend of people in favor of company’s product ..etc. Risk is very high in such stocks and any error in calculation and assessment may wipe out entire investment in such stocks . They are not suitable for newbies and better to avoid in the initial stage of investment journey, at least till we gain something from stock market itself.

 So, before investing in any stock it is always better to study whether that particular stock is suitable for you considering your style of investing  , even if everyone around you claim it as a wonderful one. 

 


Once again ,Diwali wishes to all my readers .