Stock Market Practical Knowledge-The Art of Investment
Stock Market Practical Knowledge-The Art of Investment
Stock Market Practical Knowledge-The Art of Investment
Stock Investing
Lets now move on to the more important art of finding worthy stocks for investing.
Art Of Picking Worthy Stocks
Like i said in the introduction, 99% of stocks or companies are not worth investing in.
So, in simple words, art of picking worthy stocks, is avoiding 99% of the stocks or companies. Thats all
you have to do, to be the best & smartest investor.
Debt & Cash Equivalents of a Company
You can ignore over 90% of stocks, by just looking at debt levels of the company.
Debt or loans or liabilities is a killer. Either we or our parents would definitely have loans in some form
or the other (House loan or personal loan or car loan or two wheeler loan or educational loans & so
on). Just like us, companies also take loans, in earlier stages to expand and run their company. Very
few companies execute their expansion plans and go on to pay off their debts. After that, they expand
their business more & more, from the profits they make every year. Such companies will start
accumulating cash from profits they make every year, just like savings we build in our bank accounts.
On the contrary, debt will also pull profits downwards, as the company will need to pay interest on the
loans or debt every quarter.
If you think of a company as a ship, debt is like holes in a ship. The more the debt exposure, larger is
the size of the hole in the ship. A company loaded with debt or loans is a sinking ship. When you invest
in a sinking ship, you will sink with it. While profits made by a company every year, tries to push the
ship forward, debt tries to sink the ship.
So, what is the right balance of debt and profits? (Debt to Profits Ratio)
A Zero debt company is Green signal for me any day. Its always easy for a ship with no holes in it to
move forward and win the race, than a ship with holes in it (Irrespective of size of the hole).
Any company with debt lesser than 2 years of profits, is Yellow signal for me. They have a few holes in
it. But, they can always pay it back in 2 years, if they choose to use their profits, to pay off the loan
rather than use it to expand their business. Their business expansion will have to wait for 2 years. But
thats not a big deal.
Any company with debt more than 2 years of profits, is Red signal for me. The more the debt to profit
ratio is, the larger is the size of the hole in the ship. If you drive with red signal on, you are going to
be dead soon. Its the same with stock investing.
Share price of a Zero debt company, will fall lesser, than a company with debt.
Let me give you some facts between 2008 and 2011 on 2 stocks (One loaded with debt and the other
with zero debt).
Colgate Palmolive (India) is a zero debt company and made profits of Rupees 231 Crores, in 2008.
Share price of Colgate, has risen from Rupees 450 a share in 2008, to over Rupees 1000 a share in
2011. And, it will more likely grow as their profits grow every year.
DLF had debt of more than Rupees 8,000 Crores and made profits of Rupees 2,575 Crores in 2008
(Debt to Profit ratio of over 3). Share price of DLF, has fallen from Rupees 1000 a share in 2008, to
Rupees 200 a share in 2011. And I can say, its looking good to fall more (Debt to Profit ratio, is now
dangerously over 10).
Cash & Cash Equivalents
Most companies with debt will have no cash & cash equivalents (There are exceptions of course).
Companies with debt would choose to use their profits, to either expand business or pay off debt.
They cannot afford to accumulate cash balance. A zero debt company, with strong cash & cash
equivalents, can always use them to expand their business, which will in turn push their profits higher
in future.
A company rich in cash, will acquire other smaller companies in their sector, which will add more value
and help increase their sales & profits. Companies with debt can't afford to acquire.
When you want to compare two Zero debt companies, with cash equivalents, use the cash to market
cap ratio.
For example: Colgate Palmolive (India) market cap is Rupees 14,000 Crores, with cash of nearly Rupees
400 Crores. Cash to Market cap ratio of Colgate is nearly 3% (400 14000).
Infosys market cap is around Rupees 1,50,000 Crores now and has cash of Rupees 15,165 Crores. Cash
to Market cap ratio of Infosys is over 10% (15,165 1,50,000).
In a Zero debt company, being cash rich will more likely, tend to prevent the share price from falling
down. Its the future growth potentials, which will push the share prices higher. Infosys is more cash
rich than Colgate. But, Infosys profit growth was slower than Colgate, between 2008 and 2011. As a
result of that, Colgate share prices have risen more than Infosys, between 2008 and 2011.
Note: If a company does not pass the debt test, its no good for investing. Lets now move on, as to
how to avoid left over 9% of the companies.
cement gets split among the 22 companies (There would be other unlisted smaller players too). Of
course, a company with Zero debt and better management, would grab the opportunity, more than
anyone else.
Lets go over to the IT sector: There are over 30 listed companies in the IT sector. TCS and Infosys
are strong competitors to each other. Wipro, HCL, Satyam and Patni come in next.
Lets move on to Hospitals & Medical Services sector: There are only 7 listed companies here, led by
Apollo Hospitals Enterprises. Its nearly a monopoly by Apollo, except for maybe Fortis Healthcare. All
others, are either loaded with debt or too small to pose a thread. I would simply prefer to invest in
Apollo, rather than TCS or Infosys for this reason.
Lets checkout Paint Industry: There are only 6 listed players, dominated by Asian Paints. All others
are too small or loaded with debt to pose a threat.
Lets go to fast food: specifically Pizza. You may not have heard of Jubilant Foodworks, but might have
tasted Domino's Pizza. Their only real competitor is Pizza Hut, which is not listed in Indian Stock
Exchange. With least competition and good future scope, I would definitely prefer to invest in
Jubilant Foodworks.
And ofcourse there are fastest growing and upcoming companies in India and they come as an IPO
Indigo, Montecarlo, Practo etc...
Future Growth Prospects
While competition is a major factor, scope for future growth comes in as a secondary factor. To
understand this better, lets talk about Telecom sector.
Bharti Aitel has Debt to Profits ratio of less than 2 and is a strong brand valued company. Lets
checkout its listed competitors: Idea, Reliance Communications and Tata Communications, are loaded
with Debt to Profit ratio of more than 10.
Bharti Airtel dominates the telecom industry. But their profit growth has saturated in India. Why? By
now, every Indian above the age of 20 from Kashmir to Kanyakumari has a cell phone. The only scope
for growth left is increase in Indian population. This is the reason why, Bharti Airtel is increasing its
presence outside India. Airtel is still a better stock, than many debt loaded ones. But it is not the next
big thing.
Lets now think about Jubilant Foodworks (Domino's Pizza). Their presence is currently seen in a few
places, only in major cities of India today. There's a lot more scope for growth, left in Cities, smaller
cities and villages. It may take 10 more years for it to thrive in smaller cities, but when it does:
investors of today will have gained big, over the next 10 years. And i have a strong belief that, smaller
cities are the next big thing in India.
Growth Consistency of a Company
By growth, I am talking about rise in Revenues and more specifically Profits. Revenue or Profit growth
of the past will not push share prices higher. But, consistency of past profit growth, reflects how good
a company performed in the past. They should continue the good work in the future too, which an
investor will benefit from. If a company has been erratic in the past, its likely to be erratic in the
future too.
Lets check out few examples:
Colgate Palmolive (India) made profits of Rupees 138 Crores, 160 Crores , 232 Crores, 290 Crores and
403 Crores, in the last 5 years. It means that, Colgates profits grew by 16%, 31%, 25% & 39% in the
last 5 years. Looking at the past track record, I can bet that they will do 20% growth consistently, in
Look at the red circles. You can see the debt that TCS had in the last 5 years. Note that all these
Next, click on the Yearly Results sub-menu under the same Financials tab to checkout revenues and
net profits that TCS made in the last 5 years. You can also see how well the Sales Turnover has
increased for a company in the last 5 years.
Again, please note that all values you see are in Crores.
Promoter Share Holding
The 4 basic thumb rules to Art of Stock Picking will help you find the best stocks to invest from a
Retail Investor perspective.
Before you proceed to invest, just make sure that the promoter stake in the company is clean. When I
say clean, I mean that the promoter stake must not be pledged. If the promoter stake is pledged, it
means that the promoter has pledged his stake in the company to a Bank as security and taken loans.
It is a major negative for the company and its investors.
In most fraudulent promoter cases, the promoter stake will be pledged. Satyam, KFA, Suzlon, Unitech
are popular examples of promoter pledged, where retail investors wealth and hope has been
demolished. Stay Away from such companies.
To check whether promoter stake is pledged or not, click on the Shareholding tab on the left in
money control.
Below is a snapshot of the page in moneycontrol for Unitech. The right most column is
Shares Pledged or Otherwise Encumbered. As you can see below, almost 91% of promoter stake is
pledged
Power Of Compounding
The maximum fixed (guaranteed) return available is 10% in fixed deposits. You can do 20 - 30%
returns a year, if you follow art of investing properly. Now, that doesnt sound like a great deal of
difference, between stock markets and fixed deposit returns. Power of compounded returns, will be
more and more as you give more time to it. The below table will show you the difference:
Lets assume, you invest 1 Lakh in fixed deposit at 10% returns and 1 more Lakh in Indian Stocks. Lets
see the value of your investments, when you are able to achieve 20% and 30% returns per year, in
stock markets at various stages of time (5 years, 10 years & 20 years).
Stock Recommendations - Evergreen Stocks
You now know the 4 basic thumb rules, in the art of stock picking. Its time to discuss stocks, which I
consider as worthy investments. If you are still scared about stock investing or dont have the time to
handpick stocks, just checkout the stocks I mention 2 years later. I am sure all of them would rise in
valuations (Stock price). Check them 20 years later and you will know the power of compounding.
Titan Industries Ltd
Summary (Data as on Dec 2011):
Stock Price per Share: 170 Rupees
Market Cap: 15,300 Crores
Debt: 67 Crores
Cash & Cash Equivalents: 1094 Crores
Profits in FY 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011: 94 Crores, 158 Crores, 159 Crores, 250 Crore, 430 Crores
Profit growth in FY 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011: 68%, 1%, 57% and 72%
Profit growth in last 5 years: 357%
Share Price Rise in last 5 years: 325%
Lets analyze Titan Industries with our 4 thumb rule.
Debt & Cash Equivalents of "Titan Industries"
Titan has debt of Rupees 67 Crores. They have cash in hand of Rupees 1094 Crores. They probably
took debt to do favor to bankers or to leverage on tax exemptions. Cash to Market cap ratio is 7%
(Highly cash rich compared to other companies). More cash in hand is always better. More so for
investors.
Brand Value of "Titan Industries"
Titan is a TATA Enterprise (That in itself is enough said). Titan has been building customer base, for
over two decades now. Lets drill down more into their specific products.
Fastrack Watches
I got nearly 4 watches during my marriage period. All of them were Titan Fastrack watches. Why?
He's the only branded watch available all over India, in the budget range of Rupees 1000 to 5000.
There is no other competitor. Not to mention that they have outlets all over the world.
Titan Eye+
Titan Eye+ has Sunglasses, Lenses, Frames, Contact Lenses & so on. India is becoming fashionable at a
fast pace. Everyone at-least in cities wants to buy Titan glasses, for eye sight problems.
Tanishq:
Tanishq is India's largest jewelry brand (Gold, Silver Jewelry & so on).
There are other brand products in Titan like Sonata, Xylys & Goldplus.
Competition & Future Growth Prospects for "Titan Industries"
Titan has very little competition at this point. There's no watchmaker or jewelry maker with outlets
setup all over India. Its virtually a Monopoly.
Titan is setting up outlets all over the world. They recently acquired a watch maker brand in Europe.
They may go on to acquire more, expanding their outlet chain. With other parts of the world facing
crisis, Titan will thrive. Titan currently sells hot in major cities of India. They still have lots of space
to grow in smaller cities of India, in the next 10 years. They advertise in radios & televisions, to
increase their customer base. They offer discounts like 25% to capture fresh customers. I am sure
they will continue to grow.
Growth Consistency of "Titan Industries"
Read summary section, for Profits in the last 5 years. They have consistently made more profits than
previous years. Their Revenues/Sales and Profits just go one way and its always on the way up.
TTK Prestige Ltd
Summary (Data as on Dec 2011)
Stock Price per Share: 2500 Rupees
Market Cap: 2,800 Crores
Debt: 2 Crores
Cash & Cash Equivalents: 54 Crores
Profits in FY 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011: 12 Crores, 21 Crores, 22 Crores, 52 Crores, 84 Crores
Profit growth in FY 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011: 75%, 5%, 136% and 61%
Profit growth in last 5 years: 600%
Share Price Rise in last 5 years: 1900%
Lets analyze TTK Prestige with our 4 thumb rule.
Debt & Cash Equivalents of "TTK Prestige"
TTK Prestige is a Zero debt company for me. Good cash in hand for a smaller company like TTK
Prestige. Cash to Market cap ratio is nearly 2%.
Brand Value of "TTK Prestige"
Well, what cooker are you using in your house? Prestige? Then you know its brand.
TTK Prestige product base is huge with over 250 products in Cookers, Non-Stick Cookware, Mixer
Grinders and Sandwich Toasters and in many more categories.
Competition & Future Growth Prospects for "TTK Prestige"
Hawkins Cooker is one competitor that i see. They too are nearly zero debt, but their growth in the
past has not been as great as TTK. Hawkins doesnt have the extensive reach as TTK Prestige. Even
with Hawkins, its not much competition.
Coming to future growth prospects, India's consumption growth is going up and up. Specifically, Gas
Cooker usage is on the rise. A lot of people still cook with firewood.
Growth Consistency of "TTK Prestige"
Look at the summary section and come back here. The growth has been consistent and high. The share
price has risen a lot as the brand value is on the rise. There's a lot more steam left in the next 10
years.
It has been most consistent. They have accumulated cash which adds more value to investors. Their
track record is immaculate in the last 5 years.
Asian Paints Ltd
Summary (Data as on Dec 2011)
Stock Price per Share: 2,600 Rupees
Market Cap: 24,900 Crores
Debt: 64 Crores
Cash & Cash Equivalents: 507 Crores
Profits in FY 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011: 188 Crores, 270 Crores, 378 Crores, 362 Crores, 775
Crores
Profit growth in FY 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011: 44%, 40%, - 4%, 114% (FY2010 & 2011)
Profit growth in last 5 years: 312%
Share Price Rise in last 5 years: 258%
Lets analyze Asian Paints with our 4 thumb rule.
Debt & Cash Equivalents of "Asian Paints"
Asian Paints is a zero debt company for me with cash equivalents of Rupees 500 Crores. Cash to
Market cap ratio of 2%.
Brand Value of "Asian Paints"
Well, my dad chose Asian Paints when it came to painting the house. Its the preferred paint although
its expensive than its peers. And all corporate buildings will prefer their buildings painted with the
best
paint. If you notice closely, most hardware shops are solely Asian Paints outlets. Their distribution
channel is amazing. So are the varieties of colors they offer in their product line.
Competition & Future Growth Prospects for "Asian Paints"
Asian Paints dominates the paint industry. Nerolac Paints & Berger Paints are its competitors. They
mainly cater to those who can't afford Asian Paints. Nerolac & Berger Paints are competition to each
other, but not to Asian Paints.
Future growth prospects: I worked in HP till mid-2011. In 2009, during economic recession, they didnt
have the budget to hike employees salary. But they still painted their buildings so that it looks clean
for business reasons. Corporate buildings re-paint every 2 years if not more frequently. And with
infrastructure growing, there will be more demand for paints.
Growth Consistency of "Asian Paints"
It slowed in 2009, but the growth trend continued after that. Its been very consistent otherwise.
Nestle India
Summary (Data as on Dec 2011)
Stock Price per Share: 4,200 Rupees
Market Cap: 40,500 Crores
Debt: 0
Cash & Cash Equivalents: 406 Crores
Profits in FY 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010: 315 Crores, 414 Crores, 534 Crores, 655 Crores, 819
Crores
Profit growth in FY 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010: 31%, 29%, 23%, 25%
Profit growth in last 5 years: 160%
Share Price Rise in last 5 years: 320%
Lets analyze Nestle India with our 4 thumb rule.
Lets now look at Realty Index (Mix of realty companies like DLF & Unitech). Now, all realty companies
including Unitech & DLF had debt from the start and they never paid them back in good times, when
they made huge profits. Their profits grew a lot between 2004 & 2007. But, they also built more debt,
to buy more lands. When purchasing power went down in 2009, they sank. Debt killed P/E and the
stock investors in it.
Below is the P/E chart of CNX Realty Index from 2007. Unfortunately, Realty index was formed by
our Stock exchanges only in 2007 and we dont have data before it. As you can see, investors madly
rushed in between 2004 and 2007 into Realty stocks pushing P/E to made levels to 140. Unitech rose
over 150 times in just 3 years between 2004 and 2007.
After 2007, such mad levels came down and investors burnt their hands. Unitech fell from peaks of
over Rupees 500 a share in 2008 to Rupees 20 today wiping out its investors.
This is why I repeatedly mention debt as a killer, not just to the economy, but also to investors.
Companies which grow without debt, building strong brand name & value alone are investor
friendly.
If you look at the chart in the previous page, the two thin lines (green and blue) you see are 50 day &
200 day EMA of Titan. The thick blue line is the share price of Titan in the last 5 years. Now, the
black arrows are points where the stock price falls back near 55 day & 200 day EMA. These are fair
and good levels to buy.
The red lines I have marked are when the stock price peaks and they peak from time to time. Avoid
buying even good stocks at peaks. Good stocks will create higher peaks from time to time as their
profits roll out higher and higher. But, the peaks are not the best times to buy. 55 day & 200 day EMA
are better price levels to buy. Sometimes, even good stocks will breach down below 200 day EMA.
Thats why this topic is named as better times to buy & NOT best times to buy. Dont worry about
good stocks going below 200 day EMA. Accumulate below 200 day EMA. These are great levels for long
term as long as the companys future growth prospects are still intact.
DO NOT, I repeat, Do Not use the red line peaks as times to sell your stock investments. Thats a real
bad idea. Do not try to buy at the arrow points and sell at the red peaks. You cannot time it. No one
can. You will one day end up selling at 500 and the stock will go to 700 and never come back to 500
and you will curse yourself. You have done a great job at picking the rarest of great stocks. Pick the
courage to buy on dips.
EMA levels are good fair levels to buy. P/E of an Index (NOT P/E of a stock) is the best indicator of
greed. Use P/E levels of Nifty index to identify best times to sell. Thats the next topic.
Best Times To Sell
Indian Stock Market has 2 popular Indexes which go by the name "Sensex" and "Nifty". You can think
of Sensex as a mix of top 30 stocks in Indian Stock Exchange and Nifty as a mix of top 50 stocks in
India Stock Exchange (Although this statement is not precisely true). Lets get to the more critical
thing here.
The purpose of these indexes are to measure Indian Stock Performance over a period of time. Just
like Stocks, these Indexes also have P/E. Now, these indexes are a mix of top stocks (in terms of
market cap i believe) from various sectors (Cement, Sugar & so on). So, not all of them are worthy
stocks to be invested in (Many are debt loaded). So when P/E of these indexes peak, its danger signal
for investors.
Why? When stock price of bad companies loaded with debt rise, it means there's tons and tons of
greed in the Financial Markets. And this greed will definitely end, followed by a huge fall in economy
and a huge fall in Stock Markets. This cycle in undeniable and will happen again and again. Its
advisable to exit Stock Markets on such peaks. What exactly do i mean by a peak here? Checkout the
P/E chart of Nifty Index in the last 10 years and you will understand what I mean.
I would basically look at the peaks. You can see that Nifty P/E has peaked above 25 levels, three times
in the last 10 years. It hit around 28 levels in early 2000, 28 levels again at 2008 and 25 levels 2011.
These are golden opportunities to exit even the good stocks I have listed in this book.
So, lets create the 5 th thumb rule here. Exit your equity holdings (Stock positions) when Nifty P/E
starts going over 24. These are opportunities that you get only like once in 4 to 10 years. Do NOT miss
that opportunity to sell off.
You can switch over to Gold and wait in sidelines for the next 12 18 months during which greed in the
Equity Markets will be killed and even the best Zero debt branded stocks will fall below 200 day EMA
presenting you the opportunity to buy back.
If you can do this, you will be the best investor. I consider this as the final killer blow to investing.
Gold ETF's
Diversify your investments in Gold also. Just like you can buy shares a company, you can now buy Gold
ETF's in your DEMAT account online. Apart from Gold being a safe investment, Gold prices normally
tend to rise when investors lose faith in Stock Market. Hence, it adds the right balance to your stock
investments.
Some Personal Advice
Do not trust so called Experts Advice
That includes me too and this book also. While you have added a lot of knowledge reading this
book, test it out. Reading this book is just a start. Your confidence levels about stock investing
will only increase when you invest yourself and see things for yourself in reality. Build courage
to hold good stocks even if they go down from price levels you buy. This is a very crucial aspect
to investing. This is one reason why you should always start investing with very minimal amount
that you can afford.
Start investing in stocks with as little amount, say 3000 Rupees. I started investing in my 4th
year of college with 5,000 Rupees way back in 2013. In the first year, gaining confidence on
stock markets is the primary thing.
In 2015 i have invested on many shares including many IPO's Indigo,MonteCarlo,Total security,
Narayana Hrudalaya.
All share given me profit of 60,000 in end of december.
Invest With Your Savings
My dad used to give me 6000 Rupees a month when i was in college and i saved some from it and
started investing in stocks. When i joined a job, even though i found very much difficulties to
save some amount.
As i am software engineer and background of math & science with computer so i started taking
home tuition per 500 rs easily u get in bangalore and started own company with hiring few
intern. All going well till now March2016.
So earning you have to find out more and more apart from your job how u can do better.
If u ask me my earning ways:
- Hometuition from flipclass.com, urbanpro.com
- Anmol share broker- for stock purchasing and IPO's
- Start up with less amount by hiring intern.
- Software Engineer(Sorry for not disclosing company name).
- Handling my dad business (wholesale clothes) by selling product in amazon, flipkart,paytm.
I always says to friend too find different ways of earning as well as investing.
Next plan is to add a car and put into Uber which could easily give me 20,000 p.m saving.
Do Not Rush In
Stocks markets are a very exciting place. More so, when you see shares doubling in no-time.
Staying sane and patient is important too. Its very easy to be pulled in to the greed system.
Stock markets will always provide you with buying opportunities. So, dont get rushed in seeing
share price rise. Let me repeat that. You will get frequent buying opportunities and few golden
opportunities to sell, when greed inflates the system bursting the bubble.
Disclaimer
I have every intention of buying stocks mentioned in this book myself or already holding them.
The views expressed in this book are completely my own personal thoughts.
I am not responsible for losses that may arise in any way financially and will not claim profits
you may make from my recommendations
This book is purely intended to break the myth that stock investing is gambling. Some of the
things that I have stressed upon are not intended to hurt anyones feelings. So, dont take it
seriously.
Nitin Jaiswal
nkj.vsp@gmail.com