Confessions of a Stock Broker

The advice I give to my clients is focused on making money for me first and the client next

The person all stockbrokers want to emulate is Harshad Mehta. Every one of us dreams of owning a Mercedes and a huge bungalow but not even a fraction get it. Harshad Mehta was a very intelligent man but his big mouth brought him down.

There is no such thing as an honest stockbroker. The advice I give to my clients is focused on making money for me first and the client next.

It is not easy to understand the stock market. If anyone says so then they are lying. However experienced a stockbroker is, on a day when everything is going right and you expect the market to rise, there will be a slump. You never know what can bring the market down—talk of attacking Pakistan, heavy rains somewhere in the world, Bal Thackeray is ill, well, anything.

For many, stockbroking is family business. There are some women stockbrokers. They may be good but do not have many clients. I am not sexist but when people want to invest huge amounts they do not trust a woman’s instinct. Many women have an issue with mathematics and it shows in brokerage work.

Sebi is supposed to be the watchdog, but it really is not. If it was doing its work there would not be so many irregularities. These things do not come out into the open. Since there are many beneficiaries, no one will squeal. Some of the big business houses really manipulate the market. Since they are politically connected they know the changes in policies in advance and use it to turn the market.

A big jewellery house lost a lot of money in the stock market. They had to sell out. But they used their connections to manipulate the market and did not let word of their loss get out. Soon afterwards they got back into making money. Everyone knows what happens, but who will bell the cat?

The stock market is like a drug, you need your daily fix. The uncertainty makes it more exciting and challenging. If you have to be a winner you have to take risks, otherwise quit the market.

The stockbroker is from a family-owned broking firm in Mumbai.

(As told to Haima Deshpande)

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