How to learn Stock Market Investment

A lot of my students and some friends often ask me how they can learn about stock markets and investments. While I am myself a novice at this and have miles to go before I can even begin to give ‘tips’ on which stocks to pick, I do have a few suggestions on how to begin learning, based on my 4 years of investment experience. So here it goes-  

https://www.varunmalhotra.co.in/landing-page

1. This site gives you access to a 3 hour free video (FLAP) by Varun Malhotra after you register. Let this be the beginning of your learning. I have attended his extensive training program (FLIP) in offline mode and can vouch that he is one of the most learned persons in this field I have met. Subscribe to his You Tube channel and watch some amazing videos- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY1-91vKeDNzyS3_cY-lh_w

2. Once done with FLAP, start reading extensively to 

A) develop your aptitude and understanding of finance, money, investment instruments and stock market in general

B)  know about basic terminology and concepts 

C) get into the habit of being aware of what his happening around you and its implication on the economy, stock market and individual stocks

For A, I suggest reading books like Rich Dad Poor Dad, The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham, One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch, The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John Bogle and then keep going. Must read Letters to Investors by Warren Buffet, which, for an investor, is Bhagwad Gita straight from Lord Krishna!

For B, start following Investopedia.com to learn new terms, ratios, matrices and their relevance. Just subscribe to this website and read the 1-2 articles you would receive in their mailbox. Also, you may watch You Tube videos which explain any term/event you want to understand. So if you want to know what is ‘Free Cash Flow’ or how ‘Repo Rate increase tames inflation’, watch some You Tube videos on it or just Google such terms to find some articles that explain it simply. For example, this video lucidly yet simply explains the sub-prime crisis of 2008. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx_LWm6_6tA

For C) begin with reading the business pages of The Hindu and later graduate to The Economic Times. Along with it, follow relevant articles on sites like Money Control, Livemint and Bloomberg. Join Watsapp groups where you get info of various big developments and where list of headlines from various financial papers is shared daily. Basically surround yourself with people who are into investments.Read the articles whose title seems interesting or useful and share it with others. This way develop a network where valuable and insightful articles are shared and discussed. 

3.  Once you feel that you are getting a hang of things, join some professional course by someone who can then help you understand how to pick individual stocks and evaluate them. There are dozens of stock market gurus on TV and social media (I wonder how much money they have made and why would they be running their mouth if they really were worth their salt). However, I suggest two- Varun Malhotra’s intensive program (FLIP) and Dr Vijay Malik’s full day workshop titled ‘Peaceful Investing’. I have attended both and can thus vouch for their fruitfulness. They both have offline as well as online sessions. In case you decide to join the online course, do consult me…I might be able to get you some discount. There are some free courses too, like one by Rachna Ranade on her You Tube channel, which is all good for a beginner, but then if you want some real quality, then of course you must be willing to invest for that. I can say without any doubt that the money I have invested in my learning have had a multiplier effect on the profit I have made.  

4. On the basis of your understanding, develop your way to shortlist, pick and analyse sectors and companies, and choose the one whom you feel confident about. Use https://www.screener.in/ for that. Discuss those stocks with other learned peers and Google its history to get deeper insights and different perspectives on it.

5. Open a demat account -I have one with Sharekhan and one with Zerodha. (I use Sharekhan to track shares and price movements as it has better interface, but I buy over Zerodha as it has least brokerage). Buy the stock! Congratulations, you are in the game!!!

One last word- 2 is the most important, time-taking and burdensome step. Of course, the problem is that most people start with 5 😁

If you don’t want to lose money here, as a lot of people here do in the initial phase, including myself, then don’t rush. Take it slow and take time in building knowledge. Then start small, invest only small amounts to test your understanding, and do not dive head first. 

PS- I attended dozens of free webinars during the lockdown and none of them was worth my time, even when I had loads of it!

PPS: Let me know in the comments below if this added any value, and what else would you lik eme to add to this. Your appreciation will bolster my resolve and your suggestions will improve the article.