Why not give it a try, I thought. This was the only time in my 5.5 year career that I had a respectable bank balance, else it was always some Rs 93.34 which I cannot withdraw because of the ATM money withdrawal policies.
Well, I am willing. Lets give it a try, I said aloud with some conviction.
I saw that gleam in Sarath's eye as a wide grin spread across his face. We started with a 'Hi-Fi'. Yes dude, lets do it.
Ok decision made, now we had to dwell into the details of the investment.
What amount to invest? Into which stocks?
Sarath started relaying tales about the kind of profit that his colleagues and friends had made in the share market. I being more circumspect wanted more info, like how much can we lose if everything goes wrong.
You cant lose money if you play your cards right man, Sarath said, in a very convincing note. Well he must be knowing a lot about this, I thought. Ok let him handle the decisions. Only if I had known the truth about his investment acumen 😧
Fine dude, lets start with 50K each said Sarath. I thought over it. Ya 50k was pretty ok. I had some lakhs in my account and parting with 50k was not a problem.
Fine I said.
What are you guys up to said Anoop as he lazily wandered into my room? Oh we were discussing some investment options, I said with the air of a self made millionaire.
Did u ask Leslie about it? He would have told you the best shares to invest now.
Oh Ya, I said. Leslie was our college-mate and was worked as an Investment Analyst in Geogit Securities. He was also from my native place and we were good friends
I picked up my mobile and dialled his no.
'Hi da, how are you?' After exchanging pleasantries I told him about my decision to foray into the Share market.
So da tell me the best stocks to invest in now.
'R u looking for a short term or a long term investment', he asked with a laid-back attitude
Short term man and I want to make quick money. I am willing to invest 50000. Can I double it in 2-3 weeks. Please suggest me the best stocks, I finished off in one breath.
I could hear a soft grin from the other side as Leslie was probably thinking about what fools these magnanimous software engineers are....
Eda I cannot help you in that. That's just plain risk. You can either lose it all or make quick money. And the value for these stocks(the low end ones) are raised and lowered by the big players, so they are unpredictable. (I didn't understand this then)
So how long will I have to wait if I invested in good stocks and want a 50% return on investments I asked, my enthusiasm a bit diminished by now.
Well if you play long term, you will get good returns. I am not saying 50% but somewhere nearby, said leslie.
Ask him what stocks to invest it, said Sarath. He could see my interest was waning after the revelation from leslie that immediate gains are not possible.
Well I asked leslie about the stocks to buy and he named a few frontline stocks which were safe.
I transferred the amount to Ami(Sarath’s friend) who had a demat account.
You can buy share's online only if you have a Demat account.
So on Jan 10th,11am I had 50K worth shares and was a proud investor.
You can monitor your stocks online by registering at any free websites like moneycontrol.com etc
We started monitoring shares by the minute. I didn't do any work at office that day.
At around 3pm my stocks showed a profit of around 4k and I was beaming. By close it was around 6k and I almost felt like dancing. I called up sharath who had made similar gains and we decided to celebrate.
We celebrated our successful venture into the share market over a mug of beer.
And that’s the end. Long story short - the money was invested into Reliance Communications and the company went bust. So much for all that “doubling” hype…
Back to rum and beer; that’s a safe zone. No one can beat us there ….
