Day: January 9, 2013

Stock

Samir Arora of Helios Capital should take his own advice

Post author By Raoji
Post date January 9, 2013
1 Comment on Samir Arora of Helios Capital should take his own advice

Samir Arora of Helios Capital is one of those fund managers who irritates the hell out of me.

No surprises, as I was one of the unfortunate investors in his Alliance New Millennium Fund.Like all naive investors, I invested at the FPO at 10 Rs/share.I exited a few years later at around 4 Rs !!

Now, I find our man on the cover of Outlook Business with a tongue in cheek article titled “Do Not Invest in Indian Equities”. In an article full of hindsight bias, he quotes various stocks which have gone up by 200%-600% since Dec 2008.Well, the timing of the month and year is significant as that was when the markets had more or less bottomed out.Hindsight bias, again !!

Its interesting to see how his own favorite stock fared since then.His favorite stock is Arshiya International as quoted in this interview to CNBC in Sept 2011 “The company that we like very much is Arshiya International , which owns India’s first free trade warehouse zone and also the second free trade warehouse zone. This a very strong and completely new business, which India needed since long time.”

Now the markets have rallied big time since then but Arshiya is still at multi year lows.Today it hit the lower circuit with no takers for its stock.

Maybe Samir Arora should take his own advice seriously and stay away from Indian equities !

Tags fundmanager, helios, samirarora

Quotes

Is my life wasted?

Question:I am turning 27, and feel I have wasted a lot of time. Is it too late?

Answer: Too late for what?

If you slept through your 26th birthday, it’s too late for you to experience it. It’s too late for you to watch “LOST” in its premiere broadcast. (Though, honestly, you didn’t miss much.) It’s too late for you to fight in the Vietnam War. It’s too late for you to go through puberty or attend nursery school. It’s too late for you to learn a second language as proficiently as a native speaker. It’s probably too late for you to be breastfed.

It’s not too late for you to fall in love.

It’s not too late for you to have kids.

It’s not too late for you to embark on an exciting career or series of careers.

It’s not too late for you to read the complete works of Shakespeare; learn how to program computers; learn to dance; travel around the world; go to therapy; become an accomplished cook; sky dive; develop an appreciation for jazz; write a novel; get an advanced degree; save for your old age; read “In Search of Lost Time”; become a Christian, then an atheist, then a Scientologist; break a few bones; learn how to fix a toilet; develop a six-pack …

Honestly, I’m 47, and I’ll say this to you, whippersnapper: you’re a fucking kid, so get over yourself. I’m a fucking kid, too. I’m almost twice your age, and I’m just getting started! My dad is in his 80s, and he wrote two books last year.

You don’t get to use age as an excuse. Get off your ass!

Also, learn about what economists call “sunk costs.” If I give someone $100 on Monday, and he spends $50 on candy, he’ll probably regret that purchase on Tuesday. In a way, he’ll still think of himself as a guy with $100 — half of which is wasted.

What he really is is a guy with $50, just as he would be if I’d handed him a fifty-dollar bill. A sunk cost from yesterday should not be part of today’s equation. What he should be thinking is this: “What should I do with my $50?”

What you are isn’t a person who has wasted 27 years. You are a person who has X number of years ahead of you. What are you going to do with them?

-from Quora