Re-Start
After a long absence, Stonks Simplified returns to try and make Investing just a little bit less complicated and a little bit more fun.
Hi. It’s been almost 26 months since I last published something.
I know, it’s been a long, long time.
When I started this newsletter, it was with the intention of putting my learnings from the markets and the world of finance out there to help me refine and give structure to my understanding and knowledge and in the process also hoped to benefit those just starting out.
I didn’t want to put out boring, complicated, unstructured bytes of ‘information’, the way the markets and investing usually seem like to those with not much background knowledge. I wanted Stonks Simplified to feel like a friend you are talking finance with.
But I’ll be honest. A year in the markets is not sufficient to gather enough understanding or anecdotes. Especially the 2020-2021 period where whatever you touched, turned to gold.
It was the easiest time in recent history to make money in the stock market. And because it was this easy, it led to two things.
My zeal to learn was partially blocked by my rising portfolio which made me believe I now knew enough.
And secondly, my lack of failures, a function of my lack of experience, just didn’t bring about enough learnings.
So I ran out of things to write about. I had nothing which I felt would add enough value to me or to you.
And then 2022 happened and completely flipped the switch.
Wars, supply chain issues, energy crisis, relentless interest rate hikes, rising yields…. Murphy’s Law.
I was gathering experience in real time and realizing I wasn’t really MS Dhoni with the midas touch anymore.
Now was the hammering of the overseas tours. Every quarter felt like a 4-0 Test series loss(still hurts :/).
And it wasn’t that we had to face a massive crash where you could find an opportunity to accumulate like in 2020. It was a slow burn. The markets were in nowhere land. The index may still have held its ground, but profits from different baskets and sectors were evaporating slowly. Most investors were in a state of limbo. And I feel that state is a lot more challenging to face.
But while the portfolio was taking one step forward, two steps backward, the confluence of so many events gave the perfect opportunity to learn more.
2022 was the year I made minimal buying and selling decisions, instead, read up extensively.
And because of that, without a doubt, 2022 was more fruitful to me than 20 and 21.
And then 2023 happened. With the challenges of a new city, new workplace, other things took a backseat. It is not like I did not follow the markets. But surely, I did not give it the time, attention or energy which I would have liked.
But 2023 turned out to be a great year for the markets overall. And while it wasn’t the frantic rise like 2020, portfolios compounded rapidly. And now we are at an exciting yet tricky standpoint which also seems like the opportune time to re-start writing.
Now with almost four years of investing experience, I feel better prepared. For the markets, as well as for this newsletter.
I have said this time and again, nobody in the markets can always be right and know enough. But this is what makes financial markets so exciting. The subjectivity, the uncertainty which gives rise to the bulls and the bears. If everyone held the same view always, the financial markets would be non-operational.
The last couple of years have taught me to revel in this uncertainty rather than let it be a cause of anxiety. Easier said than done, of course. But with time and learnings, it does become something you are able to adapt to.
Philosophical quotes aside, what’s in store for Stonks Simplified you would be asking at this point.
Here is:
In the coming weeks and months, I plan to share what I have learnt about economic cycles, valuations, exit systems, bonds, alternate investments, stock specific learnings, tools and a lot more.
I hope to re-establish Stonks Simplified as a simple, fun guide which can involve you in the markets and in some way answer questions about various facets of investing.
If you have enjoyed my earlier pieces and taken back something, I promise there’s a lot of good stuff I plan to share(hopefully, a lot more regularly). So do keep a lookout for Stonks Simplified in your inboxes(sometime, spam too).
To new beginnings.
P.S : While I didn’t publish anything on this newsletter for a while, I did find an opportunity to publish a short e-book last year on how to begin investing in the markets. It covers the very basics of how to open a DEMAT, techniques and principles on how and when to buy and sell etc. If you are someone who is on the verge of beginning their investing journey, do check it out(link is embedded)
P.S.S : It is free of course. But you could drop in a few bucks here and there too 😊