In the morning bustle, my investment just rose out of sleep. Six months is the time I held it, being utmost patient. I had one goal in mind, I will sell it only and only when it gives me a 5% profit. Let it take ages if it may. And yes, finally it reached where I wanted it to be. The share chart was growing green. I had set a GTT (target) selling price and to be safe, (one must always) set a stop loss to mitigate the losses. When the market rose I immediately changed my GTT entirely and set a much higher target. I was in profits but my intuition told me it shall rise even more. This is greed. The market makes you want to be greedy.
The stock market is a study, it is statistics, its observation, art and dedication. Its courage combined with sense and presence of mind. It’s no gamble. It’s no gut feeling. So many players come in every day, but in reality, no one realises it is somebody’s loss that makes somebody’s gain. You are not going to always gain huge profits. If you want to win today you are going to lose also someday. In the end, the gross of your profits and losses has to be profitable. You have to have an appetite. You have to have the heart. We, humans, are trained to only win always and we do not realise losing during winning is part of the win.
16 million Demat accounts were added just in the first half of the year 2022. It’s growing like never before. The pandemic has encouraged ordinary people to invest in the stock market like never before. But a majority of the investors are amateurs. They lack training and discipline. They learn from open information available in the market which cannot be relied on completely. These investors learning curve takes place with every investment and a lot of losses. Everyone does their own math. Everyone has their own style. It’s speculation after all its thought. It’s a math of others’ speculation.
No one can control sentiments and no one is right all the time. All you have to do is stay on. Take some profits and take some losses. A day is yours a day may belong to someone else. Are you making only losses? Know why is it happening so? It’s not the nature of the market or your sheer bad luck. It is your lack of skill. You may not need to spend hours and hours. But you need to have discipline, observation, regularity, and patience. It’s a long process but do not give up as yet.
That day passed, and the next day the trade was going just ok. A little here and there. I changed my GTT and set off to work. To my least expectation, my stop loss got hit. My investments for months got sold in a snap. I couldn’t change anything. I did exit in profit, but was that profit worth it? The profit doesn’t feel like profit if it doesn’t meet your expectations.
Yes India, take small profits, do not be greedy. Stop loss id there to save you. Your friends in equity are:
1. Set targets and adhere to them
2. Take that stop loss and begin again.
3. Do not be greedy
4. Try every day. Have a dedicated schedule.
5. Observe, observe and observe before being hasty.