ART OF MOTORBIKING & INVESTING

Zooming out of a traffic stop, once the lights turn green, gives ardent bike enthusiasts like me a lot of pride and satisfaction. It feels like you have the fastest machine among the rest.

Strange but true is the fact that, to be the first one to zoom out of traffic signal just a big and powerful machine is not the only requirement. In fact, one can very well achieve the same feat with a comparatively less potent engine. The requirement is of a good bike rider with excellent biking skill, expertise in maneuvering, proper positioning among the crowd so as to allow one to zip past the others, regardless of their bigger or smaller machines.

The art of making big profits in the stock market is similar to bikers waiting for a signal to zoom ahead. Here are a few similarities:
1) Each biker occupies a different spot on the road. No two bikers can occupy the same co-ordinates on the road simultaneously. Similarly no two investors can have exactly the equivalent equity portfolios at the same point of time. Similar they might be.
2) Each biker has an engine of different capacity. They might have the same brand motorcycle, with the same cc engine, but wear and tear and proper or improper maintenance does play a factor enough for these machines to perform at varying levels of efficiency. Similarly, no two investors have the same risk taking appetite or investing capacity.
3) Every biker has his own driving and maneuvering style and thus the performance of the same bike will differ in the hands of two bikers. Similarly, every investor has his own style of interpreting and understanding the value of stocks, own style of investing, every investor has different investment requirements and portfolio churning schedules.

I don’t get intimidated if I have a 150 cc bike and another biker with a 180 cc engine parks his bike besides me at the traffic stop. The success or failure of being the first to zoom out after the lights turn green is absolutely independent of the size of engine.

Hence, we should take cues from this practical day by day experience of ours and learn to visualize our strengths and plan and invest accordingly. Not follow the big Indian investors or the trends followed by FIIs. Following them or listening to analysts is like parking your mean machine behind a queue of trucks waiting at a traffic stop for clearance. We all know how long queues of trucks are formed and how slow moving they are.

It’s for you to decide then.