SHARE MARKET AND PITFALLS

TRAITS OF GAMBLING.

Off late there has been a spurt of action in share markets mainly due to the media hype of the rising share values and the great Indian success story. To some extent at least we can be sure that the markets have been manipulated by bulls and bears. The big players mainly started playing the game just as one does in gambling, especially the ones with foreign currency access or the ones who are actually foreigners, did play a big role in influencing the market trends.

If one think straight and see all the actions involved just prior to the little crash after sunsex touching/crossing 20000 we can all see that the foreign participation has been in volumes not expected from a country like India. The funds stashed in Swiss banks I suspect also did return to Indian markets and gave it legibility and can be termed as the prime money laundering techniques used by our own countrymen who are super rich.

But the ultimate losers in this game have been the middle and upper middle class people of India who dreamed of making a fortune from the markets and started investing their hard earned money in to such ventures. Normally we witness that these are the people who get hit in the melee of market crashes. They also have to blame them selves for going for it in the first place after having witnessed the Harshad Mehta scandal and their modus operandi. It is akin to gambling to expect huge returns from short investments. Some times it clicks but eventually will be lost in the melee later. The luck during peak periods encourages them to get further involved even if it is with the help of borrowed funds. These are the guys who were severely punished on this occasion. It is really saddening to note that people makes the same blunders over and over again.

The fact of the matter is that no markets are immune to manipulations be it US or UK or any where in the world. In such markets there are no fool proof mechanisms to deal with big entities and there are lot of lacunae’s which big fish make use of, for gaining fortunes. Like they say it is always the most difficult job making your first million and always much easier to make it double and triple. Especially during times of wild swings you can be sure that it has been infected and is bound to crash.

There are a lot of ways and means to manipulate with the share values of companies if you have access to loads of money only to be invested for gaining momentum after which comes the time for harvest. The big fish as always can get through the net due to their sheer size while small investors suffer most.

The best course for the government is to keep a close watch on the proceedings and act swiftly when identified with big players entering the market to boost the so called vulnerability of small markets, in terms of volumes traded in Indian Rupees which are peanuts for those with funds in Euro or Dollar due to their high market value in comparison with rupees. Caution should be the watch word before one invests in Share Market. Like gambling it can have far reaching sociological problems in our society when one gets addicted to such habits like the lotteries, gambling or such foolish games.
Compiled by, M.Balakrishnan,16a,3rd layout,Meena Estate,CBE-641028 Cell.9894474174, Res.0422 2310637