Haphazard Linkages

The US election is history. The dust has settled and life reverts to the dreariness of the usual. It is an appropriate time to pause awhile and look at some intriguing outcomes of the election. Voting is perceived as an activity centred around individual voter self-interest. Well-balanced, informed voter base is an assumption that is considered unworthy of a re-examination. While the self-interest angle is quite palpable, the gamut o f reasons put forth by voters on picking a certain candidate are often mired in v agueness .  The following is an edited excerpt of an recent email exchange with a friend. HaLin wasn't eligible for voting, but under the garb of a market participant, had much practical interest in the outcome. This post is a summary of events as they happened . Does individ ual rational behaviour lead to collective rational ou t come? I t is time to dive in to the world of individual definitions , nomenclature and qualitative perceptions. ----------...

In a chaotic world, a barrage of mirages can, sometimes, be confused for reality. In an environment of sustained negative developments and events, it seems somewhat paradoxical for misplaced hope to find an audience. The second part in the Mind Of The Marke t series ( Part I, here ) will focus on recent elections in Greece and France, and the culture of all-is-well and misplaced hope that pervades market participant positioning. Paradoxically even as mainstream media resonates with negative undertones, participant actions paint another story. ----------- Greeks came, voted a second time, and all seemed well. Again. For a disaster seemed averted. Greeks avoided Tspirageddon and offered the reins to a pro-bailout coalition led by New Democracy and PASOK, to steer them through the new phase in a never-ending saga. The flight of deposits that had begun from Greek coffers into banks in stronger EU countries (run-rate approx. EUR 800 mm per day) seemed like a costly hedge to tho...

In what should evolve into a multi-part series, Mind of the Market will endeavour to peer under the hood of the largest laboratory of human psychology in the world; the financial markets. Where frigid numbers and emotive participants spar enthusiastically in an elaborate and often bewildering drama-in-motion. Where apparitions and reality merge so finely as to be mostly indistinguishable. Where paradoxes and circular relationships reign supreme, frequently, and fervently, questioning the very essence of rationality and cause-and-effect. Part I addresses the dynamics of Pavlovian Conditioning and market participant response to stimuli in investment decision-making. Intriguing paradoxes and the behaviour of asset prices - a cause (and consequence) of market participant response - is considered concomitantly. Finally, the psychology of herding closes Part I. Pavlovian Conditioning and Asset Price Behaviour When Ivan Pavlov discovered his lasting contribution to humanity - Class...

During dreary journeys across the market landscape scouring for interesting opportunities, the investor occasionally stumbles upon an oasis. Of extreme anomaly. The sighting is generally a mirage, a ray of false hope; but in some instances, the manifestation is very real and extremely intriguing, especially so when the anomaly manifests across companies operating in the same business. The anomaly was first highlighted here (' Over-priced anomalies in bear markets '), when discussing One Life Capital Advisors (Bloomberg: OCAP IN) . Extreme pricing is generally either an outcome of mass euphoria/fear, or a flock of informed market participant presence. OCAP IN seemed to be in the latter category. The post also highlighted the case of peer, Brescon Corporate Advisors (Bloomberg: BFS IN) , as an example of under-appreciation.  For brevity, the scheme of things as on the date of writing (Dec '11) is reproduced: Such cases of extreme pricing always pique my inte...

Event-specific circumstances, sometimes, create interesting situations for deploying capital. The Indian Natural Gas sector presented one such instance; in Equities and Implied Volatility, this week.  Background note here .  IVs popped across the board, principally manifesting in Indraprastha Gas (Bloomberg: IGL IN, NSE: IGL), which was the chief victim in the melee. Reacting to the adverse regulatory pronouncement, other companies in the Natural Gas space too came under fire from investors, IVs spiked as stock prices swooned. IGL stock fell over 40% within minutes and other companies shed double digit percent. Petronet LNG (Bloomberg: PLNG IN, NSE: PETRONET ), however, should have escaped relatively unscathed, as the ruling is expected to have little impact on its earnings power. But fear is a pervasive force, which divorces with rationality in time of duress. Time eventually acts as an arbiter in the estrangement but the process is gradual and fraught with roadbloc...

It has been quite an eventful day for the Indian Natural Gas pack, which are quite effervescent as I write.  The ruckus was triggered by a ruling by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), fixing new tariffs for natural gas players . The PNGRB lowered gas network tariffs and compression charges by over 60% each. This prompted a free fall in stock prices of Natural Gas companies, with Indraprastha Gas (Bloomberg: IGL IN, NSE: IGL) caving in 40% within minutes of market open, on the back of rampant selling, as sell-side analysts rapidly scaled down forecasts. Other stocks shed between 5-15%. A ruckus is generally kind to Volatility. Natural Gas Implied Volatility, which was quite tepid since mid-March '12, spiked reacting to the adverse newsflow. IV skews, which were flattish around the long weekend (April 4, 2012), have now turned into smirks as Puts have come into focus. The scramble for buying protection has pushed up Put prices. Spiking IVs offer attrac...

The Day of Resurrection is probably an opportune moment to pause and gauge the pulse of the market. After the forgettable dalliance with 2011, risk assets seem to have found an amenable ally in 2012 so far. Tepid interest from FII towards India in 2011 has been replaced by renewed fervour ($9 billion net inflows in 1Q2012 v/s -c.$1 billion net outflow in 2011).  Interestingly, very little has changed fundamentally. The March budget was a damn squib, with the Finance Minister hoping to walk the tight rope between taming inflation, curbing a burgeoning fiscal deficit, without fettering growth. The Budget was, however, low on major reforms and irksome issues continue to make their presence felt. Yet, FII continue to pile in.  One of the intriguing things about human behaviour is its stickiness in altering the status quo prevailing bias. After a prolonged period of bull market, bearishness/pessimism is a rarity; likewise, after a bearish period, bullishness/optimism ...