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Aparajita Saha

What goes up must come down. That's the mantra the Indian stock market seems to be chanting.

The economy? Nasdaq? Ketan Parekh? Or Anand Rathi?

Whatever the reason maybe, the retail investor is reconciled to it. What he isn't reconciled to is the fate of his investment. He is presently counting his losses in thousands, and maybe even millions.

rediff.com speaks to a few retail investors to elicit their reactions to the week that was.

Dr Jignesh Patel, General Practitioner
Age: 59

My main investments were in SSI and Pentamedia. I had bought the former at Rs 930 and the latter at Rs 146. In the past few weeks, SSI has slipped down to Rs 550 and Pentamedia to Rs 85. Thankfully, I invest in small quantities and I have incurred a loss of Rs 10,000.

Usually I read something about a company, watch its progress, take a judgement call and then pay a visit to my broker's office. I generally trade on the same day but due to the continuous fall in stock prices, I held back.

I feel Sebi isn't doing its job. It just isn't watchful enough. Its duty is to ensure that the price of a share is governed by its profit. But this is not the case in India. How else can a share that has face value of only Rs 10, sell for hundreds of rupees?

A group of brokers is to be blamed for the present scam. It is this group that makes people lose their money and faith in the markets.

The lesson I have learnt is to invest in bank deposits, even though the returns are less there. Since very few investors put money for the long-term, one should know when to book losses and profits.

Hiren Jhaveri, Businessman
Age: 40

I lost about Rs 500,000, which is around 20 per cent of my investment. Among my stocks, I had bought Essel Packaging at Rs 700 and now it is Rs 250.

I wasn't really surprised with the goings-on in the market since it's all a big gamble. The market was bound to fall because of prevailing high prices and this is a well-understood fact. You can't ride against the wave.

For instance, just five years ago only a handful of shares (Thomas Cook, Lakshmi Machine Works, Cipla, Supreme) were selling at over 30 to 50 times their earnings per share. Today, this is the case even for shares belonging to the Z group.

I have a 20-year-old association with this market. Way back in 1985, I sold 10,000 shares of Reliance, which led to its price falling by Rs 10 to Rs 12. And I was only one person. Think of that instance and the present nexus of groups and you'll realise how easy it is for prices to plummet.

I don't understand why people are talking so much about a scam. It's a known fact that the FIIs (foreign institutional investors) are just a front for promoters and operators in India. This makes the retail investor think that XYZ Company must be good because an FII has invested in it when, in fact, it is the promoters and operators who are creating this illusion.

It is not possible for a few individuals to bring down the market. It is only when a cartel comes together and operates through an FII that the manipulations occur.

I don't have any regrets. I invested because the market was up and I wanted to join the bandwagon. Eventually, I knew a fall was coming.

Bhavin Chheda, Real Estate Agent
Age: 46

I have lost over Rs 300,000 and I am not trading anymore. I've lost faith in the system, pura bharosa uth gaya (i have lost faith completely). I don't understand how these things are allowed to happen where ordinary people get destroyed. Several friends of mine are adversely affected too.

I bought Himachal Futuristic at Rs 900 and now it's down to Rs 230. I have stocks in SSI, which is down from Rs 1,600 to Rs 550; while NIIT is at Rs 800 from Rs 2,100. Silverline, which was Rs 350 when I bought it, is now Rs 75.

The government, operators and certain influential people at the stock exchange are all hand in glove in this entire scam. All that retail investors can do is wait and watch.

Sulochana Pednekar, sub-broker
Age: 45

Though I personally don't invest, my clients have incurred substantial losses. They have lost in millions. Some have prematurely liquidated their fixed assets for investment purposes while others sold deliveries for huge losses.

I hold the operators and big brokers responsible for the present state of affairs. They have ample money to influence the market. Even in the primary market, as soon as shares of a company are allotted, its stock price rises. But investors are unable to take advantage of this price rise as it takes time for the share certificates to reach the investor, and by then the prices have fallen.

Our markets don't run on the fundamentals of a company. For instance, a client of mine bought over 10,000 shares of a company that was showing good results. It even benefited from the Budget. In spite of that, the share prices fell in the last week resulting in a loss of almost a million. So, it was obvious that the operators were hammering the shares.

In all this it is the small retail investor who is worst affected. Unless you have an inside track of the market, investing for short-term gains is pointless. I advise my clients to avoid speculating for quick returns. This market is only for people who are in it for the long haul and have the patience to wait it out.

Lakshmi Reddy, Junior College Lecturer
Age: 39

I don't invest more than Rs 100,000 at a time and have incurred a loss of Rs 20,000 on mostly IT stocks. I had bought Infosys at Rs 6,700 and now it is down to Rs 3,800. I anticipated a slight dip maybe, but definitely not such a drastic one. The market has taken a beating after the likes of Ketan Parekh and Anand Rathi.

There are such huge amounts of money in the market that the involvement of negative elements is inevitable. Here, the moment rules and laws are made, people think of all the possible loopholes in them.

Things should look up in the next 15 days and the market will return to normal after the pending cases have been dealt with. I feel people in positions of power become so thick skinned that they can stoop to any level to achieve their ends.

What I have learnt from this experience is not to concentrate on any one particular sector. The reasons may be man-made or natural, but markets do fall, and in such a situation it is best to invest in a wide range of sectors.

Trilok Jain, Day Trader
Age: 26

I haven't incurred any losses as I have an effective stop loss strategy. People who have suffered the most are the ones who relied heavily on infotech stocks. I know friends who have lost between 2 million to 20 million.

The weak outstanding long position and Nasdaq is responsible for this situation. It's a classic reflex action. The prices that were prevailing were ridiculous. They had to come down. And many of them were fraud companies.

The market is sacrosanct. What is wrong is the system of laws and regulations. I do not want to analyse the market with respect to the Parekh or Rathi factor because I think they are all subjective. Hard and concrete facts interest me.

My advice to medium-term investors is to hang in there. Things will definitely look up in a few months's time.

All names have been changed

Design: Lynette Menezes

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