Tuesday, October 7, 2008

...did you see the market today?

A friend called this evening, "Oh My God IHM! How much further will it fall?"

Last year this time I was sitting with my mobile and calculating how much richer we were, calling my dad every hour. He was insisting I immediately sell everything.
My sister said diamonds were a better investment, but I knew Reliance Infrastructure was my biggest diamond.
I had considered playing safe and selling half, but was flying with the $tock price$, singing, "Who wants a loan? I am rich!"

There were all the warnings but we were singing, like these two:
'You fill up my Sensex, like a Reliance net worth, like a sinking Air Deccan, Stock Market's insane... '






Husband and the Broker repeated, "Sell. Put the profit in fixed deposit, reinvest the capital when the market comes down."
"How down?"

"16000."
Nobody wanted to think, it would fall lower than that :)

I stayed invested, deciding to wait and watch...

Is it any consolation that if I had sold then, I would have reinvested at somewhere between, 17000 to 15000, and seen a very red portfolio now?
Isn't it better to stay invested in a portfolio bought at around 10,000-11,000, then reinvest profits at 16,000?
I have stopped peeping into the portfolio, every hour, to check how much poorer, from then, I have made us.
Do you think there is any hope of us ever singing this song again? And when? The Sensex closed at 11695 today.

And if Veerdas in the video above made you want to hear the beautiful Annie's Song...

14 comments:

Just call me 'A' said...

The "made-in-America" economic problem is rippling far and out into the world all right.
When the bailout was announced here last week, it seems like the almost 'pefect' plan to regain solid ground. Now it's like a small pebble in a roaring sea.

The stock market is filling up our senses all right. Hang in there. it has to get better. The lower it digs, the higher it will rise. Like skyscrapers (so I'd like to believe).

Gauri said...

Oh ! Talk about getting poorer by the minute ! I've stopped peeping into teh HangSeng Index too - atleast short term - stocks have gone through the floor - even the ones whose fundamentals are strong.

Yes - this economic fallout is having repurcussions people had not even thought about. Iceland, I heard on the news yesterday, is in extremely bad shape - just cos the govt treasury was holding US Bonds !

About the "bailout package" - it gives a very good opportunity for the foreign investors to cut lossses, get back what they can and run the hell away from the American market. My question is "where does that leave the american economy ?"

Anonymous said...

Same here. My dad was asking me to sell and exit, I had some stocks which really were 3 times over! But I wanted to wait some more time...the greedy me. Although I do not know how things would be if I had sold and bought again at that time...anyways, I am keeping my eyes off the daily movements.

Anonymous said...

11068 and falling.......

Liked the BSE's version of Annie's Song!

Cheers,

Quirky Indian
http://quirkyindian.wordpress.com

Indian Home Maker said...

Me! Yes me an optimist too, anything that goes down must come up :)

@gauri Yeah, watching all the diamonds I could have bought, and now my fav reliance is also plummeting!
Yes I wonder what happens to American economy:(

@preetischronicles I don't regret not selling ...because I know I would have bought again, at higher prices. And been stuck with that.

@ Quirky Indian yeah watching ...but not trying not to look at my portfolio:) Added another post with Udayan's advise this morning. Hoping to find a video to show him saying he would sell his furniture to buy at these valuations:)

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah, he'll sell his furniture - but who's buying furniture these days?! Its cash crunch time.

Indian Home Maker said...

@phoenixritu I wonder if he is free to give his own advise, maybe he's paid to say this ... because soon afterward he was saying the markets look really gloomy.

Vinod_Sharma said...

I like the way you got John Denver to fill you 'stock senses'!

I can't even begin to tell you what 'John' has done to me!

Anonymous said...

I am the totally finances ignorant...so no shares for me! I do follow the news though and feel horrible about the economy. If the economy does not improve, more jobs go..recession, depression...and people like me trying to get out of the job market and into a decent paying position have no hopes left :(

Indian Home Maker said...

@myheadtrip I also feel either know what you are doing or play safe with fixed deposits etc. Even Mutual funds are not safe, I find they go into red the fastest! It's really funny that if you can't choose which stocks to buy you let the Mutual funds do that and how do choose which Mutual funds are being managed well? LOL

Mampi said...

Hehehe,
I know i m sounding foolish...
But I was thinking of buying now that it has down to this...

Unknown said...

you are a wise woman if you sell everything and buy GOLD.

Dr. Ally Critter said...

The Dow is falling like it does not know how to rise too- and no, it is not a purely "Made in America Problem"- mortgages rose, world companies and governments invested in the market, - then mortgages fell-and everyone being as connected in this much smaller world of ours was affected.
Just calm down Don't sell in panic. Most of the "fall" is because of selling in panic. And the Indexes are not a very reliable indicator of the economies because they fluctuate with very small changes- even rumors. Invest in government bonds- the money will be safe- it will not grow exponentially. But you could "play" some money in the market- who knows you can make a killing when this subsides. Take a deep brath- calm down. As a world we are all in this together.

Indian Home Maker said...

@Mampi Just a small part of what you wish you invest will not be such a bad idea :) I am undecided, I think this phase will be here for a while, so maybe wait a bit... there maybe worse to come, who knows!

@Anrosh But, isn't Gold at all time highs and all, right now?

@@lankrita I agree :) And wondering if it's time to pick few favs at available at unbelievable prices...