Stock Trading And The Share Markets - 1

Dear Friends,

I bought shares of Ponds India and Hindustan Lever way back in 1973-74 when I was studying for my Degree in Commerce. So much has flown down the bridge as I now look back on this journey of mine.

Let me start at the very beginning!
It was a thrill to anticipate the dividend cheque in those days. The shares were bought on behalf of my sister but I would monitor everything connected to it.
The suspense about how much would be declared per share to shareholders, the invitation to attend the general body meetings, (Ponds would always have theirs at Chennai, then Madras at star hotels like the Taj Coromandel, etc.) which I used to attend when at Chennai from 1985 onwards (I relocated here in 1984).

I started buying shares in my own name and my husband's from the year 1984.

Those were the years when buying shares was so rare and it was for keeps. The long term gains were slow in coming except when a 1:1 bonus was declared every two or three years and the share price would flare up to double and come down to half just after the record date would get over. It was fun picking up terms like cum-bonus, ex-bonus, badla, kerb trades, etc.

Bombay Stock Exchange would be the ultimate and some shares were traded only on the BSE and not locally on Madras Stock Exchange - MSE. Our brokers would try and get special permission to buy those shares for us from their Bombay counterpart. There was thrill in it all. The thrill we got each time we made money from shares and it was quite a lot in those days.

Until then we were quite well off with a fortune in shares. It was well earned where a lot of planning went into selecting shares with earning potential. The returns in terms of dividends were very good. The returns on capital invested was too good. It was always long-term and careful planning. My husband who knew nothing of shares became an expert in analyzing the trend and the studied the company reports and equipped himself with additional information on companies from magazines devoted to information only on this - Money Opportunities, The Dalal Street to name just a few.

Came NIFTY-NSE and trading, the charm wore off and the money simply vanished in a few seconds of our ordering shares in 1999 and 2000. Speculation. Quick money were the favourite mantras to make money through the share markets.
Till then a firm believer in the share markets with dreams of making it big by doubling and tripling money in no time, only to get very disillusioned with the very word now as our profits, savings and our capital, all evaporated like water vapour on a hot summer noon.

More later...

Cheers!
Mahalakshmi