It was a bad year...
Samvat 2054 witnessed one of the bloodiest battles of all time between the bulls and bears, with the average investor being caught in the crossfire. While their skirmishes are not uncommon, this year the magnitude of the fight assumed frightening proportions.
Even the smartest trader was often caught on the wrong foot because of the volatility. It was clearly a no-win situation for everyone.
The bears traded heavily, but with the value of their portfolio depreciating, they lost a substantial packet. For the bulls, it was a double whammy. Apart from the depreciation of their net worth, they had to cough up the losses incurred on the trading front too.
Whatever gains the leading players (read operators) made at one particular counter, more often than not, they frittered them away on another. The only ones who might have figured on the winning side could be the ones who had access to information on institutional orders.
Big Bull Harshad Mehta was a major casualty of this prolonged carnage. He made a strong comeback bid this year only to be clobbered by the bear cartel which ultimately wreaked havoc at all his favourite counters, BPL, Sterlite and Videocon.
...even for fund managers
So far, the marching orders seemed to be given to just professionals from the broking side. Fund managers always looked to be well-insulated from the risks of accountability. An underperforming fund manager could safely lay the blame at the doorstep of sales professionals, research analysts and poor market conditions.
However, the recent dismissal of the fund manager at one of India
