Monkey 2 beats brokers, but Sensex strikes back - for now

At the end of seven weeks, the Monkey portfolios, which, until now, had been cruising along smoothly on the expressway to fame and fortune, seemed to have hit some roadblocks. Will they be able be successfully make some diversions and carry on? We’ll soon find out.

For the period since inception - 19 August - Monkey portfolio 1 lost 0.61 percent ( see table ), while Monkey portfolio 2, always the more aggressive between the two, gained 0.34 percent ( see table ). Still, for the first time, those gains were lower than those of the Sensex and Nifty, which gained 0.6-0.8 percent during the same period.

[caption id=“attachment_102474” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“For the week ending 7 October, the Monkeys were outdone by both the benchmark indices and the brokers. Punit Paranjpe/Reuters”]  [/caption]

Monkey portfolio 1 consists of 10 randomly-picked stocks from the BSE 100 , while Monkey portfolio 2 consists of 10 randomly-selected stocks from the BSE 500 .

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The big winners in Monkey portfolio 1 were DLF, which surged by 17 percent, and Grasim, up by a hefty 12 percent, although those gains were erased by losses in Adani, Bharat Forge and Tata Global, which lost between 5 percent and 13 percent.

The star of Monkey portfolio 2, meanwhile, was Noida Toll Bridge, which added 10 percent during the period, as well as VIP Industries (6 percent).

There was one small victory: Monkey 2 managed to stay ahead of the experts, whose collection of 10 stock picks slipped by 0.18 percent over the 7-week period ( see table ).

Nevertheless, for the week ending 7 October, the Monkeys were outdone by both the benchmark indices and the brokers.

Monkey portfolio 1 slipped 3.6 percent during the week, while Monkey portfolio 2 tumbled 3.2 percent. In contrast the benchmark indices surrendered 1.1-1.3 percent. Even the brokers did better, shedding just 0.41 percent.

Are our Monkeys finally losing their golden touch? The simians might disagree. As Monkey 1, who is currently attending a relaxation and meditation course conducted by his spiritual guru, the Monk(ey) who sold his Ferrari, said in a recent interview with _Firstpost_ _,_ day-to-day fluctuations in the stock markets don’t get him worked up, since he believes everything turns out just fine in the long run.

Monkey 2, also, Firstpost has learned, is currently spending most of his time watching Hollywood movie ‘Planet of the Apes’ and isn’t too concerned about his recent stock market losses.

The key question is, will our nonchalant Monkeys return to form and beat the slogging brokers and indices next week? Come back next week to find out.