Investing

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How I’m Investing My Own Money Through the Crisis

A stock I bought as recently as mid-February 2020 is down 60% from my original purchase price. I bought more of the stock after it fell 20% from my first purchase, more after it fell 20% from the second purchase, and more after it fell 40% from the third purchase. My total investment in the stock is around 3% of overall stock portfolio, and it is down 55% from the total invested amount.

My total equity investment – stocks and funds – is down around 25% in the last one month.

My total financial net worth is down 15%.

So, what saved the day for me as far as my total financial net worth is concerned? Cash in hand, that I started building up from the end of 2019, in search for investment opportunities that were not to be found anywhere. Plus some income that came in over the past few weeks.

11 Positive Things to Do Amidst the COVID-19 Crisis

“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” ~ Haruki Murakami

“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.” ~ Sun Tzu

In a 1959 speech, American President John F. Kennedy famously said: “When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters — one represents danger and one represents opportunity.”

Although today it is widely recognized that this is not the correct interpretation of the Chinese characters, Kennedy’s wisdom about a crisis yielding unique opportunities may be more important than ever.

While it may sound selfish to treat a crisis of this magnitude, as COVID-19 is, as an opportunity, why not do it when it may help you and those around you deal better with it and survive well through it?

In this context, here are 11 things you can do while you are confined to your home and have a lot of time to indulge in them. The world after six and twelve months is likely to look way different than what it is today. But without worrying about the uncertainty of it, let’s get down to do what we can do now, when we have time.

Let’s start right away.

Shaken by Stock Market Carnage? Forget Everything

All I am reading and hearing all around is this.

Volatility is your friend. Stick to the long term. Don’t touch your portfolio. Keep some cash. Invest that in a staggered manner. Recheck your asset allocation. Shuffle your stock portfolio. Don’t borrow to invest. Don’t speculate. Quickly search for new stock ideas. Stop watching news.

Well, let’s cut it all.

Mastermind Value Investing Course: 11th Batch Admission Ends on 31st March

Admission to the 11th batch of The Safal Niveshak Mastermind – my premium, online course in Value Investing – is now open, and will remain so till 31st March.

Click Here to Join Mastermind Now
My idea through Mastermind is simple – to help you with a simple, common-sense approach to successful investing, so that you can avoid the uncertainty and outlandish time you would otherwise spend doing it all alone.

I’ve lined up a lot of things that you will receive when you become a part of The Safal Niveshak Mastermind. Here’re the key ones…

50+ detailed lessons and few hours of video classes that will help you learn the nuances of Value Investing and how you can apply it to create long-term wealth through stock investing.
Lessons on identifying moats and analyzing specific sectors to help you build your circle of competence.
Lessons on building a latticework of mental models – the Charlie Munger way – to make better investment decisions.
Lessons on calculating Intrinsic Values of stocks.
Lessons on creating a portfolio of high-quality stocks.
Exclusive Forum to participate in learning exercises and discuss practical examples so that you can gain experience in doing your own independent analysis.

How to Select Stocks and Survive this Stock Market Crisis

1. Pull out your watchlist already created using this stock selection framework…

COVID, Investing, and You: A Few Questions Answered

Announcement: Admission to the 11th batch of my premium, online course in Value Investing – Mastermind – is now open, and will remain so till 25th March. Click here to pay your price and join now.

Amidst the Coronovirus (COVID) outbreak and the reality of it becoming a serious health emergency, here are answers to few key questions I have received from readers recently.

You won’t find perfect answers below, but this is just my attempt to help you get over your fears, which may otherwise lead you to act in haste, which can cause some damage to your process of long term wealth creation.

Let’s start right here.

My Notes on Warren Buffett’s 2019 Letter to Shareholders

Warren Buffett recently released his 2019 letter to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway.

I have prepared some notes on the letter. Click here to download my notes.

My Talk at Value Investing Summit 2020, Kuala Lumpur

I recently spoke at the Value Investing Summit 2020 in Kuala Lumpur, on the subject of ‘financial freedom.’

Click here to watch the video of my talk, or watch below.

There are intermittent audio issues due to a problem with the microphone. But I know you are wise enough to not complain about the same and instead able to connect those dots looking at my slides and your own wisdom. 🙂

Thanks for your time!

The Getting Rich Quadrant

The secret to getting rich is simple.

Of course, I am not talking about owning a bank, or inheriting riches, or marrying someone rich as the secrets to getting there.

My simple secret of getting rich that is available to all is – start early, spend less than you earn, and invest that surplus well for the long run.

Now, consider the middle part of the equation, that is, spending less than you earn.

Budget: Much Ado About Nothing

Much ado about nothing – If you describe a situation as much ado about nothing, you mean that people are making a lot of fuss about something which is not very important.

In his book Fooled by Randomness, Nassim Taleb wrote that “news makes idiots of us because it gives us confidence, not insight.” Like a PhD in macroeconomic theory. Now is one such time of the year in India, when after the Union Budget is announced, a lot of us are feeling and behaving like PhDs in macroeconomic theory.

Like a school friend of mine, who called up recently to ask my views on the Budget, and before I could say, “I don’t have any view!” lectured me for thirty minutes on his views.

“How should my investment strategy change with the Budget announcements?” he asked near the end of the call.