“My lord of second house is moving into the eleventh house. You will see, next year I am going to kill it on Dalal Street.”
Now, this was an argument that my dear friend Raj made a few months back as we sat for one of the long, slightly infrequent meetings that we have. It appeared he had recently met with some astrologer to get some career advice and discuss possible divine intervention to get out of his financial troubles. Believe me, I have nothing against astrologers. But they are more like traditional counselors who can give you some hope and help you tide over the difficult times, at best.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyEY70Pd3c8
This video brought back memories of that conversation.
His strong belief that things will turn around for him made him invest in some bank scripts. But instead of gaining, the index fell miserably and is now at its 52 week low. I guess that his planets weren’t strong enough to shoulder and move the entire banking index up.
Basing your investment decisions on superstitions, unless the astrologer also happens to be a professional financial adviser, is pure waste of time. But Raj was completely enamored by the confident prediction of the astrologer and ready to bet his hard earned wealth on movements of planets.
Wouldn’t you rather bet on movement of financial indicators? Stock market investing is a very difficult job. And unless you know all the economic implications of political, social, and business deals happening around the world, stock market predictions are, at best, good guesses.
Why would you take the risk of investing your money based on advice from someone who has no connection with investing? Astrologers, if you truly believe, can help you in some ways. But there are better ways, more practical ways to get financial advice or reach decisions on financial investments.
Traditions and rituals is what bind us to a culture and help us belong to a greater entity. But that doesn’t mean that we blindly accept all that is part of this culture. Investments in stock markets are tricky. Even professional financial advisers tend to fail every now and then. Isn’t it better then to leave this task to the professionals who have a better chance of success than to the astrologer or some variables that have absolutely no connection to the markets?
And if you insist to go it on your own, Mutual Funds are indeed a better option than randomly picking stocks based on what’s making rounds in social media. The investments that they make in equities from diverse industries have a greater chance of evening out and saving you from losses than depending on movement of equities from a single sector. Check out the JanoTohMano website for more information on sensible investments.
Well, Raj has learned a valuable lesson, albeit at a great cost. When it comes to investment in the modern world, superstitions definitely do not have a place.