Nifty, Sensex on top, but brokers, Monkeys gain too

Nifty and Sensex, take a bow. The two benchmark indices reported their highest weekly gain for 2012 for the week ending 8 June, soaring 4.7 percent each.

Their exuberance lifted the brokers’ and Monkey portfolios. The brokers’ portfolio, which contains 10 stocks picked by 10 investment experts, jumped 4 percent, while Monkey portfolio 2, containing 10 randomly selected stocks from the BSE 500 , climbed 3.1 percent. Monkey portfolio 1, consisting of 10 randomly picked stocks from the BSE 100, wasn’t too far behind: it expanded 3 percent as well.

[caption id=“attachment_337827” align=“alignleft” width=“500” caption=“Andre Abu/Flickr”]  [/caption]

Clearly, it was a buoyant week for investors as expectations soared on another interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India later this month to boost the country’s stuttering growth. While it’s debatable whether another rate cut will jump-start economic growth, there ’s little doubt the upbeat mood lifted the performance of all the portfolios not just for the past week but since they were introduced on 19 August, 2011.

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As in the past week, the Nifty emerged topper for the 10-month period, soaring 4.6 percent. The Sensex was runner-up with a 3.6 percent gain. The brokers’ portfolio claimed third spot, gaining 3.2 percent (see table below).

[caption id=“attachment_337824” align=“aligncenter” width=“476” caption=“Expert Portfolio”]  [/caption]

While nearly five of the ten stocks in the portfolio were in the red, the spectacular gains of MRF, still up by a whopping 71 percent, pushed the portfolio into the green.

In fourth place was Monkey portfolio 1, which dipped by a marginal 0.01 percent (see table below).

[caption id=“attachment_337821” align=“aligncenter” width=“476” caption=“Monkey Portfolio One”]  [/caption]

Here too, five stocks out of ten wallowed in negative territory. Finally, in fifth (and last) place was Monkey portfolio 2, which managed to at least trim its losses to 15.6 percent from 18 percent last week (see table below).

[caption id=“attachment_337823” align=“aligncenter” width=“476” caption=“Monkey portfolio 2”]  [/caption]

On the bright side, those small gains - and an interesting encounter - were enough to convince Monkey 2 to stay invested in the markets for a little while longer. Firstpost had reported last week that Monkey 2, depressed about his losses, was thinking about packing his bags and exiting the stock markets. Now, it seems he’s decided to try his luck for a while yet. Make that a couple of years, actually.

Don’t credit only the brief market turnaround for that change of heart. Sources told Firstpost that Monkey 2 visited a famous tarot card reader earlier this week in a bid to seek otherworldly help to decide if he should stick to his Indian investments or head elsewhere.

Apparently, the clairvoyant, whose clients include some prominent politicians and market doyens, told him that if he was willing to stick it out for the next two years, staying invested in India could reward him handsomely. She has promised him enough gains to be able to buy all the bananas in the world, and the affections of an equally rich female of his species.

Oh, the glory of being a Monkey King with a loaded Queen to boot. How can any red-blooded, hot-headed Monkey resist that? Last heard, Monkey 2 was walking around with images of the rupee note in his eyes (not the rupee symbol which, he read on this very website , could be ‘Vaastu’-unfriendly), dreaming about his glittering future. Take that, brokers!

Said tarot reader also told Monkey 2 that despite all the doom and gloom, India’s fundamentals remain ‘very strong’. Apparently, this is the same tarot reader that finance minister (and possibly soon-to-be President) Pranab Mukherjee visits every month. Wonder what she told him about his chances of becoming Prez….

Catch you next week!