Stocks!

A: ‘So how is your stalker doing?’

Me: ‘I don’t invest in stocks (pun intended)!’

B:’Your stocks just went up!’

Me: ‘I don’t invest in stocks’

These conversations were in different points of time and in different cities and in different contexts. But the recurrence of the word stock stuck me in the economics class! New perspectives with the economics and accounting classes that have made their way into my life. However I’m not going into the economic value here but yes I’m definitely going to look at the ‘value proposition’. How much do we invest in the stocks of public admiration and ego boosts? How do we respond to market buoys and market dips?

For all the time I said, ‘I don’t invest in stocks’ the truth is none of us are really so detached. The market is all around us and we are very much there. However we all choose to be affected by it in different measure. There are the very aggressive investors and the highly volatile stocks and then there are the consistent performers and occasional shooting stars. It is interesting to watch the relationship for different people however the more enlightening part is to be your own audience.

When you find yourself in a different place, different geographically and far removed from your comfort zone and your circle of friends you get an honest audience of yourself in a new market! You get registered in a new stock exchange and there you go. Some days play rough and it seems you can’t make sense of anything around. It’s like you don’t fit in at all. I have had this feeling before but what took me by surprise is how I was affected thinking where I stand in others estimation. I was thinking of my stock. It is a different environment around. I look back at the relaxed 4 years of college and I know this is not the same deal. Back then it was more relaxed, it was more about friendship and now all I hear is networking. While I’m writing the above lines I can hear all the ‘told you so’ comments from friends ‘who’d been there & done that’! Dude I’m not complaining, I am experiencing it firsthand. However for everything that may change, everything that I may learn or unlearn I still wouldn’t bother myself with my stocks, intangible assets work for me J