8 – THE CYCLE IN ATTITUDES TOWARD RISK – MASTERING THE MARKET CYCLE

In a good time, people do not care for the risk. They believe that they will be able to generate a good return by taking additional risk. But what happens when bad time comes? Does this behaviour remain the same? No, in bad times, people change their focus on protecting wealth rather create it.

Investing means to build a portfolio position in a way that future development helps the potential profit generation.

But do we predict the future? Someone believes that they can. Since (a) investing consists of dealing with the future but (b) the future isn’t knowable, that’s where the risk in investing comes from. If we can accurately predict the future then would not be investing becomes so easy and everyone can perform it in a better way?

We do not even know what is going to happen with us in the coming few moments, then how we can predict the future of the corporate earnings and economy accurately. It is just a probability of occurrence of the events. The event may or may not occur, and if occurs then may not be on the time at where we have predicted. For becoming superior investors must have to understand, assess and deal with the risk. And without dealing with the risk, we cannot become a superior investor. It’s an essential element of investment success. How we behave with the risk is to decide investment success.

It is overstated that the more you take risks, the more return you get. But if we take the higher risk then the outcome might be in lower or higher potential return. The concept should be, higher riskier investment should produce a higher potential return otherwise nobody will be going to invest in the particular assets.

 BIBLIOPHILE: THE MOST IMPORTANT THING BY HOWARD MARKS “UNDERSTANDING RISK”

If two investment avenue promises similar returns with differences into the risk scenario then we should choose the lower risk with assured return. Treasury bond and any other investment both promises same return then one should go with treasury investment.

Due to our risk aversion towards stocks, we remain careful while studying companies, keep a margin of safety, appropriate sceptical towards analysis, conservative to assumptions. For successful investing, we all need to focus on mentioned factors but not all perform these tasks and if perform then not every time.

So, investors demand incremental returns forbearing of incremental risk. But when positive scenario plays out, people become less risk-averse than what they should. Now, they put less effort and less caution for performing an analysis. Not careful with a margin of safety, not demanding for the risk premium and resulting in it, prices of risky assets raise more compared to less risky assets. These reduce the incremental returns for the bearing incremental risk. The most unwise investment made during the good time rather in a bad time.

Cycle

So, the risk is higher when everyone feels that risk is lower. And the risk is lower when everyone feels that risk is higher. It’s all about temperament, comes with experience, no educational courses can teach it.

 Example – Maruti Suzuki – everyone bullish when marketing goods, majority of research reports indicated per capita car in India compared to others nations such as China, USA etc. but what happen when the euphoria has been wiped out then everyone has a threat of EV, disruption of business. We have to think that the country is the same, opportunity is the same. The scenario only changes from over-optimism to pessimism, liquidity has dries.

Cycle

Just as risk tolerance had positioned them to become buyers of overpriced assets at the highs, now their screaming risk aversion makes them sellers— certainly not buyers— at the bottom. Here, people realize that they have made a mistake in selecting investment Avenue, selecting a particular stock, missed a few points in the analysis, etc. etc. But when the bull phase enters, they always made similar kind of mistakes which they realized during the bear phase.

We generally take more risks when we should avoid or behave in a risk aversion. And we behave risk aversion when we should take an incremental risk for incremental returns. We need to balance between too much and too little.

Such extreme behaviour tends to work as a cycle in the market.

Risk arises when prices of the assets reaching towards high and started getting vague investment rationale to justify such a high price.

If we want to save ourselves from the carefree market situation then we have to accept the lower comparative return during the carefree market scenario and have to look like an old-fashioned investor. This is only a way to save our reputation and wealth.

I have experienced the same in my investment career. I have mentioned many times in the past articles that I remain in huge liquidity position since the mid of 2017, and this has given me much rough and sarcastic behaviour from people. But now, they have lost their major part of the portfolio and I am searching for a good investment opportunity with a flat portfolio.

When a negative situation prevailing in the market, people tend to become more and unnecessary sceptical, they show risk-averse behaviour about the investment which they did not perform during the boom period. Such behavioural bias left them with a lower return with incremental risk. During the boom period, people have a fear of missing out an opportunity and during the negative period, they have a fear of losing the capital. When people have to show a risk-averse behaviour, they show a risk-tolerant behaviour and vice-versa.

We always need to check; how much positive news is discounted into the price? Whether upcoming positive events already discounted into the price? Higher price compared to the intrinsic value left with a lower margin of safety. We have to be sceptical towards the decision making but sceptical in pessimism environment is for optimism and sceptical in the optimistic environment is for pessimism.

Disclosure – Companies mentioned in the article are just for an example & educational purpose. It is not a buy/sell/ hold recommendation. 

Read for more detail: Mastering The Market Cycle: Getting the odds on your side by Mr.Howard Marks

07 – THE PENDULUM OF INVESTOR PSYCHOLOGY – MASTERING THE MARKET CYCLE

Psychology/emotions affect corporate profits and investment cycles as well. We have seen the pendulum swings in both the extreme and investment world also moves in the same way.

Between euphoria and depression, between celebrating positive developments and obsessing over negatives, and thus between being overpriced and underpriced.

And few other observations of the pendulum – between greed and fear, between optimism and pessimism, between risk tolerance and risk aversion, between credence and scepticism, between faith in value in the future and insistence of concrete value in the present, and between the urgency to buy and panic to sell.

Above is average return but what about good and bad cycle?

When people feel good about the investment, Optimistic about it then they are in the greed and buy more which resulted in the increase of assets prices. On the other hand, when they do not feel good about the investment, pessimistic about it then sell their assets which reduces the prices of assets. Sometimes market plays between a range where greed and fear both having a stronghold.

When investors do not feel fear then prices of assets keep on raising up. Similarly happens during the tech boom 1999-2000, subprime in 2003-2007 and current scenario.

Somehow the greed evaporated and fear took over. “Buy before you miss out” was replaced by “Sell before it goes to zero.” When greed is high then people find for next Infosys, top-performing private sector banks but when fear is higher than seeing each as a next Yes bank, DHFL.

Other factors such as euphoria and depression are an extension of greed and fear. Continuing greed translated into the euphoria and fear into the depression.

When prices of assets raise then people believe in any stories prevailing in the market but reversely when prices falling then cheap assets does not get the attention of investors.

Superior investors are wise enough and they buy assets when it available at the discount from intrinsic value and there will be a potential to increase in intrinsic value.

For making such investment decisions, they need to keep a balance between greed and fear. Very few investors remain cool and unemotional to stay at the midpoint of fear & greed. Else, the majority of people remains greedy when everyone is optimistic and fearful when everyone is pessimistic. The pendulum moves from one extreme to the other and remains quiet for midpoint. For becoming a superior investor, we need to be unemotional to such swings. Emotional people will require a great deal of self-awareness and self-restraint for becoming a successful investor.

People generally remains biased with their emotions to reach any conclusion.

INTEREST RATE CUTS: DOES IT PROVIDE LONG-TERM BENEFITS?

Many times, it has been noticed that news over both extreme – positive and negative but market keep on rising.

So that, Interpretation of the data has importance. During the depression time, positive news getting ignored and negative news only getting rewarded. Reversely, during the euphoric situation, negative news getting ignored and positive news only getting rewarded. Saving ourselves from such traps results in the superior investment returns and long-term survival of our wealth.

Disclosure – Companies mentioned in the article are just for an example & educational purpose. It is not a buy/sell/ hold recommendation. 

Read for more detail: Mastering The Market Cycle: Getting the odds on your side by Mr.Howard Marks

06 – THE CYCLE IN PROFITS – Mastering The Market Cycle

As we have seen that the economy moves in a cyclical way and if the economy moves in a cycle then the industry will get affected by the cycle and due to that corporates also getting affected. The profitability of corporate earnings has been affected by the economic cycle. But such effects vary from company to company as per the inherent capability of the company.

Corporate profits rise and fall more compared to the GDP growth and we need to focus on factors that cause such cyclical trends.

And when GDP shows weakness

So corporate profits also getting affected by the economic cycle. We can argue that food, beverages, pharmaceuticals do not have any impact on the economic cycle. Yes, not high but during a recessionary environment, people tend to save more than what they earlier used to. People prefer to eat at home rather than to go out to a restaurant. People prefer to cut costs while experiencing a tough time.

Durable products majorly affected by the economic downturn because such goods can last longer and people can defer spending on such goods.

We should not have to directly consider that increases in the sales will similarly result in the increase in profits. This is because of the operating leverage. Cost mainly remains fixed and few costs increase with the sales.

In general, it’s higher for companies for whom a larger percentage of costs are fixed and lower for the ones whose costs are more variable. Operating leverage helps the companies when the economy is in good shape and sales rising. But when the economy and sales are in bad shape, profits fall more than sales.

Other than these, there are few other factors which can also affect the profitability of the companies such as management’s decisions regarding inventories, production levels, and capital investment; technological advancements (on the part of a company, its industry competitors); changes in regulation and taxation; and even developments exogenous to the industry or war, weather, etc.

The technological disruption led cycle such as streaming has killed the DVDs culture so that those businesses which does not welcome technological changes, they all get out of the business. Nokia & Kodak are also the biggest examples of got the worst hit on business.

Disclosure – Companies mentioned in the article are just for an example & educational purpose. It is not a buy/sell/ hold recommendation. 

Read for more detail: Mastering The Market Cycle: Getting the odds on your side by Mr.Howard Marks

05 – GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT WITH THE ECONOMIC CYCLE – Mastering The Market Cycle

Generally, the economy works as either a free economy or a communist economy. But the most accepted free economy also needs government interference sometimes. There are interventions made by controlling authorities for shaping the economy and help the economy to grow well.

Central Bank

Central Bank such as RBI concerns managing the economic cycle which is mainly through inflation and employment. Inflation has a two type –

• Demand-pull where the demand for products increases more than of supply.
• Cost-push where prices of labor and raw materials increases.

Central Bank involves in reducing money supply in the economy through increased interest rates, selling of securities which resulted in lower demand due to lower availability of money and inflation comes down.

Such an act also hampers the growth of an economy.

When it comes to generating more employment in the economy then the central bank increases the money supply to the economy through reducing interest rates, purchases of securities (quantitative easing), etc.

Central Bank has to maintain a balance between employment generation and limiting inflation.

 INTEREST RATE CUTS: DOES IT PROVIDE LONG-TERM BENEFITS?

Government

The government has a wide area of responsibilities and the economy is one of those. The government has the main tool for managing the economic cycle is fiscal which includes taxing and spending. So, for stimulating the economy, government cuts tax, increases government spending, provides stimulus packages. Government reversely increase taxes, reduce spending and another stimulus when they feel that the economy is overheating.

Also, the government has to look after the deficit which results in the increases in debt levels.

The above stimulus will invite higher taxes when either economy overheating or debt level of economy crossing limits.

If higher taxes and lower spending by the government with the fiscal surplus resulted in the lower down of debt level and the fund goes out of the economy. Reversely, lower taxes and higher spending by the government bring more fiscal deficits and that will have resulted in the increasing borrowing levels.

Similarly, currently, Government has cut corporate tax rates in India and this will have resulted in the above process mentioned in rate cut but in a longer period, this lower tax can be increasing a debt level. India is a developing economy that requires higher government spending as well so that that will surely going to increases a deficit and will increase a debt level. But for stimulating growth in the economy it is a welcome step. Otherwise, the economy starts failing. The government has to take appropriate steps whenever requires.

Disclosure – Companies mentioned in the article are just for an example & educational purpose. It is not a buy/sell/ hold recommendation. 

Read for more detail: Mastering The Market Cycle: Getting the odds on your side by Mr.Howard Marks