‘Stuck’ Market
Episode Background
A few years ago the number of women investors in the stock markets was minuscule. However the Covid pandemic has brought in a major change in this segment.
With job losses, salary cuts of self/ spouse, dropping FD rates and with time on hand, many women across India (and the world) started tracking stock markets and investing in them especially since most global stock indices have done phenomenally well in the past 18 months.
Today almost 20% of the investors in India are women. More number of them are opening trading accounts as rapid digitalisation of the entire process has simplified investing and helped fuel this trend.
Homemakers who have lagged behind are also now joining the bandwagon of traders/ investors as awareness increases.
One of them is of course the protagonist of our story Jhumka Jhumur. All her life she has believed only in Savings accounts and her primary investments have been Cash, Fixed Deposits and Gold.
However, few years ago Jhumur ventured into the world of Sensex and its myriad constituents. She played it safe and invested in what she considered ‘safe haven’ companies like ITC, Coal India, Maruti Suzuki, NTPC etc.
However such a strategy yielded totally unintended and hilarious consequences as we will find out from this episode!
Dear Reader, Have you had a similar experience like Jhumka Jhumur where-in you have invested in some stocks and they have more or less remained stagnant in the past few years despite a rally in the market? For the uninitiated, the stock names mentioned in the Introduction above have not performed very well in the pandemic period and seem to have been stuck at their respective price levels. Do share your thoughts and look forward as always to hearing from you 😊 This episode comes to life through the Illustrations by Vartika Bhonsle, with whom this is my 2nd episode of JJ. She is a student of Fashion Communication and a graduate from NIFT, Bhubaneswar. She loves illustrating people and cute puppies and you can visit her Instagram page @yellowlittlelamp to follow some awesome art!
Copyright © 2022 Wasim Jawaid
This work of fiction, written by Wasim Jawaid is the author’s sole intellectual property. All rights are reserved. No part of this story may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including printing, photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author. For permission requests, send an email to the author wasim.jawaid@gmail.com
That Odia Boy 
Great idea for ladies but how I wish I understand the stock markets. But my husband favorite pastime is studying the market… Lovely presentation and well written
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Jhumur thank you so much for liking the episode 😊
Well yes stock markets are not very easy to study and track. So many variables! But glad your hubby does it and hopefully making profits in it!!
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👍🏽 good illustration and write up. Simple to understand. Look forward to see more.
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Prachi thank you so much! Really appreciate your spending time to read this episode and give feedback😊 🙌
Glad you liked it!
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Very nice! And i am sure the old economy blue chip stocks will do well too for her!
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Hello Arif! Yes indeed over a period of 3-5 years the Index stocks will shine. Thank you for your compliment!!
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Another example of the word “safe” in investments meaning “unattractive” in returns. Jhumur needs to mix some real risk into the portfolio like Tech and Pharma to generate attractive returns. Give her some portfolio advice Wasim:-).
Timely episode and nicely done✔
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Yes Manish! Indeed. Sound advice for a diverse mix in portfolio :)) Thank you so much for ‘investing’ your time to read and appreciate this episode 😊❤
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Stock market very well represented! Very true for people who want to play safe! I don’t understand it well but aware about the risks in this market. Great to hear some witty lines from Jhumka Jhumur! Keep it up!
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Sunanda thank you so much! Can definitely explain you mutual funds and their features sometime :))
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Enjoyable read and excellent illustrations.
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Ranjan thank you so much!
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Two decade before at the beginning of this century insurance was considered as a heaven and only place of investment among investors after bank deposits a decade ago came the SIP and Mutual Funds but the pandemic hit market attract the attention of the mind of retail investors particularly women to enter into the market and sharp recovery in market pay them handsome return too. Promotor of Nykaa became billionaire with listing of her start up in NSEand BSE.Indeed a beautiful place for investment but with caution for those who have Patience and risk appetite.Lovely presentation and well written
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Wow.. well written and summarized the trends in Investing from the turn of this century Debashish! Yes indeed a good place to augment your savings but with patience.
Thank you so much for the compliment bhai 😊❤
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Ha ha … the conceptualisation and how u have explained it makes one want to read it time and again…. that beautiful way in which every day life is captured here…
The illustrations are awesome too.
Keep it going
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Sanjay really appreciate your taking out time to read, like and comment!!
Thank you so much ❤❤
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This is indeed the story of so many DIY stock investors across millions of portfolios.. Stock investing seems deceptively simple but is probably the amongst the hardest things to master . Keep up the good work Wasim..👍👍
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Well spoken friend. Indeed making money is not easy. Especially as the dynamics keep shifting/ changing.
Thank you so much Anando for taking time out to read and share your thoughts. Really appreciate! 😊❤
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Excellent!!!.. So very True!
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Glad the title resonated!
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