1.A couple of days ago, I wrote about missing a 10 bagger for a 10% profit. That was the year I started : 1991. I am aiming to chronicle some interesting lessons I learnt over the years. Now the next year 1992.

2. 1992 is forever etched in the memory of those who participated in the Boom & Bust. Before that some Background, Those days it was only "Ring Based' Trading, where each Broker in Madras(as it was known then)could go to the ring accompanied by 4 AAs(Authorized Assistant Brokers)

3. In case of Bombay ( as it was known then) , 6 AAs were allowed . To become a "card holder" ie Stock Broker was very very difficult and once you had achieved that status you were like God. A popular saying was that God created 2 kinds of people : Brokers & Ordinary people

4.Hell, to become even an AA was very difficult. While the qualifications to become a broker was 12th Standard , an AA could be just anybody. There used to be a cursory interview and selection would depend on the whims and fancies of the Senior Most Broker on the Panel

5.Even though I started in 1991, I could get into the ring only in 1994 since there were no vacancies and when a vacancy arose I was REJECTED by the Interview Panel. I was a BE , MBA from Bajaj Instt and had 3 years experience as a Sub-Broker , yet I was asked to come again.

6.Only in the second attempt did I get my AA Badge . More of that later. So 1992 . The BSE Sensex was the only Index everyone watched ( NSE was still 2 years away). It was buoyant since the first budget of MMS and end of '91, it was in kissing distance of 2000.

7.We had the winter vacation all over the cities ( yes we used to have 14 days vacation for the bourses) while Calcutta was the only exchange which was open late Dec and the prices were well bid for BSE to vault over 2000.

8.Sure enough in the first week the landmark was achieved & it brought in many bystanders into the market and we first heard the name of an ex- Insurance Agent : Harshad Mehta . The "legend" of HM was built by the press over the next few months.

8. While the smarter brokers were all seeking anonymity, HM enjoyed the limelight . January brought in more and more people to the market and prices started rising interminably. By the time of 2nd Budget of MMS ( Feb 29th), the Sensex was challenging 3000

9. Budget '92 was a further push to the reforms and the market went crazy. The then RBI Guv cautioned that the market was not going up on fundamentals ( Shades of our current Guv's utterance sometime ago), the market pummeled further. By the end of March we were at 4000

10.There was no space in the visitors gallery & visitors were allowed only 15 minutes to watch the action in the ring. I used to go everyday & dreamt that one day I would be inside the ring. The security guard would roughly push me aside as soon as the 15 min period was completed

11. April came & Sensex had gone up 50 % ( 4500) since the time the RBI Guv had given the warning . I panicked since my portfolio over all was a 5 bagger. Just a year back I was proud of a salary of 8k/month while now my portfolio was worth more 100 times that.

12. I knew God could never be so kind to me so I cashed out almost at the peak , Beginners Luck, I suspect . Bought a Maruti with the proceeds and waited for a correction. There was a 14 day summer break in April and we looked to re start trading after April 20th.

13.This "summer break" was the undoing of HM since he could not rollover the Banking Receipts (BRs) and Suchetha Dalal got the scoop and the scam was exposed by her. The legend of HM unraveled after her article. The Sensex crashed from 4500 to 3700 very swiftly.

14. I was waiting for this "correction" , I swooped in & expended all my remaining funds, bought back the "popular' shares. I thought I was being smart , however, the next few months the scam became clear, the markets ground down incessantly to bottom out below 2000 in 12 months

15. I lost everything i had made since many of the "popular" stocks went to zero or lost nearly 75 % of their value

16. LESSON LEARNT : The markets are smarter than the smartest person. " If you do not have HUMILITY in the markets, then be prepared to be HUMILIATED.