And finally, the pack of cards collapses...

We all are witnessing the downfall of the stock market and the banks going bankrupt and stock markets across the world going down. Now we are slowly hearing the news of how the economy is effected and the demand going down thus effecting the supply->profits->lowering costs->retrenchment of employees->Unemployment.

There was news that a MBA grad family guy killed his family - wife,mom-in-law and 3 kids and later shot himself in San Fransisco because of the financial crisis the global crisis had created in his life or which he let himself be part of his life.

Well what do you expect if you build this so-called financial system on a pack of cards and expect it to last for generations? Like my husband remarked 'There is no fundamental analysis and industrial analysis. It's all fake' It only takes one chip to fall for the entire system to fail.

I think when Bears and Stern's went down, that was the yellow light before the red (Lehman clearly) that all is not well. I don't know how many people deal with derivatives and short selling and all that bunch of gambling but gambling it is. You cannot deny it. Only this is the more glamorous, legal and 'you need to get a degree' to excel it in kind of gambling.

I remember travelling around India during 2005 when the stock market was on a bull's run and everyone was praising the so called aritificial growth of India's GDP. I didn't see any of it on road. There were beggars still on the roads,the trains, people without shoes, people with torn clothes and shouting 'Shoe Polish'. The roads were the same, the villages were the same, the station was the same. If India had really grown, we would have seen it physically.

There have been times over the past few years during the bull's run that I was 'advised' to invest in Mutual funds and that they will grow and all. But somehow in my heart I felt uneasy. I mean ok, I am ready to invest in companies like power, real estate, pharma but then a Mutual fund whether equity or debt always has that small tiny % of investments in debts. Debts->Interest->Haram. So clearly thumb rule was it's not Halal.

So today I have nothing in mutual funds. I have a few shares of a power company and a hotel group before my Demat was frozen and I was asked to make a PAN card to continue trading and I was not interested so for the past 3 years, I have not bought any shares. In a way a blessing in disguise due to my procastination and hesistation. Yes I do look forward to the markets going down to 10000 and then may be I will buy a few IT shares and Gold.

My ideology in buying shares is that.. You are buying a part of a company. You are becoming a partner. And no one goes into any business unless long term, give a shot of at least 2-3 years. I'd like to go for 15 years so all this up's and down's won't matter. After 15 years when I need some funding for example my children's fees then I would sell my stake and hopefully it would be a profitable partnership.

However, this whole gambling bit of trading everyday, running numbers in your head is bullshit. Sorry but I just hate that because if I were to list my company on the market, I would expect some loyalty and not be taken as a company to be used as a football to make some change. I know it is purely sentimental and that is one aspect of the stock market that I do not like. There is always a scam or a downfall in 2-3-5 years. Those engaged in playing are hit the most.

Well the game continues. All is not over yet. This is the beginning of recession. We still have to see job cuts, salary cuts, the real estate has to go down and inflation to remain stable until after the recovery. So how long will this last? Another 2-3 years and then once again, people will start playing with cards and as the cards pile up, everyone will shout: "The bull is back!"