Types of Stocks That You should Avoid: Successful stock investing requires a lot of discipline. There are thousands of stocks listed in Indian stock exchanges, and all you need to find is 10-15 good stocks to invest. For the remaining, you just need to say ‘NO’.
In this post, we are going to discuss four specific types of stocks that you should avoid investing in. However, before we discuss these four kinds, let’s first learn the most generic rule of stocks that you should avoid investing.
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Rule #1 of Stocks that you should avoid
“The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.” -Warren Buffett
As an elementary rule, avoid investing in companies that you do not understand. If you can’t figure out how the company is generating its revenue, what is the company’s business model, what are the products/services offered by the company, or what is the use of the products- avoid investing in that company?
For example, if you have zero knowledge of semiconductors or microelectronics, and don’t understand the use of Zener diodes, MOSFETs, Amplifiers, etc. then avoid investing in semiconductor companies that manufacture these products. There’s no way that you can understand the market demand, product quality, future prospects, or even the competitors.
Instead, invest in companies that you can understand. A few common industries that anyone can understand with little efforts are Consumer goods, FMCG, automobiles, utility, etc.
4 Common Types of Stocks That You should Avoid Investing In
Here are four mainstream kinds of stocks that you should avoid investing to reduce the risks involved and safeguard your returns:
1. Low liquid Companies
There are some stocks whose prices may be continuously falling, but the investors are not able to sell that share just because there are no buyers. Exiting from a low-liquid company can be pretty stressful. Avoid investing in companies with low liquidity.
In general, stay away from companies with the daily average trading volume of fewer than ten lacks. The higher the volume, the better it is. (If you are new to this concept, try checking out the volumes of few of your favorite companies on moneycontrol or other financial websites to get a good idea of the daily trading volumes).
Besides, another way to check the liquidity of a company is by noticing the difference between Ask/Bid price. The smaller the difference, the higher is the liquidity.
2. High debt companies
Debts in the companies are like big holes in a ship. Until and unless, these holes are filled- the ship cannot go far. Avoid investing in companies with a lot of debt. As a thumb rule, keep away from investing in companies with a lot of debt in their balance sheet and debt/equity ratio greater than 1.
Also read: Is Debt always bad for a company?
3. Falling knife category companies:
Do not try to catch a falling knife! Investing in companies whose share prices are falling continuously and significantly (for example- Geetanjali gems, Yes Bank, PC Jewellers, PNB, Suzlon energy, etc.) is never a good idea. There’s always a reason why the prices of these stocks are continuously falling, and the market is punishing that company.
Moreover, there are thousands of listed companies in the Indian stock market which you can explore. Trying to catch a falling knife generally results in hurting your own hand if you are not trained on how to do so.
4. Low visibility companies
There are few companies in the Indian market whose information is not easily (and transparently) available on the internet or financial websites. This is mostly in the case of small and micro-cap companies.
Researching such companies with low visibility can be a tedious job for investors. Further, there are also chances of information manipulation if you can’t cross-check the data or when the reference sources are not reliable. Hence, avoid companies that are less visible.
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Bonus Tip (For beginners)
— Avoid investing in Penny stocks
Penny stocks are very risky to invest in. Many of the penny stocks become bankrupt and go out of the business. In addition, penny stocks are prone to different scams like pump and dump, etc.
There have been plenty of cases of price manipulations in penny stocks where the insiders try to inflate the share price. One can readily manipulate the penny stock prices by buying large quantities of these stocks. Besides, these stocks also have very low liquidity. Overall, if you are a beginner, it is recommended to avoid investing in penny stocks.
Anyways, if you’re inclined toward any penny stock company- then allocate only a small portion of your net investment (less than 10%) in that stock.
That’s all for this post. I hope it was helpful to you. Happy Investing.
Kritesh (Tweet here) is the Founder & CEO of Trade Brains & FinGrad. He is an NSE Certified Equity Fundamental Analyst with +7 Years of Experience in Share Market Investing. Kritesh frequently writes about Share Market Investing and IPOs and publishes his personal insights on the market.
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Very basic and useful information for beginners..Thanks..!
You are welcome, Minisha!!
As you said one should avoid investing in companies which you are less aware off. But, what if that company has a good record in present as well as have performed good in previous records to. Now should i go for it?
Hi Virendra. Good question. However, one thing that investors need to understand is that past performance doesn’t guarantee future returns. Moreover, until and unless the investors understand the company and its products, it’s really difficult to look into the future of the company. They can’t understand the future demand or the competitive advantage of the products.
Mr. Advisor, I think you are doing great business for new comers and making the way clearer. So I am indebted for this advise.
Good Luck!
Thank you for your kind words, Nilesh. Cheers!!
Hi ! Abhishek Sir,
I am so thankful that I came across your website. Its simply very informative. I am a newbie to share market. Just started investing and I buy my shares in cash on delivery basis. I am not very familiar to technical terms used by most of the analyst and brokers. I would be grateful if you pen a detailed note on to what is simple trading, Positional trading, F & O, Options, Put Nifty, Intraday, BTST etc.etc..
Also as an investor if I buy a share and want to sale it within a year do I have pay the short term tax per scrip or I only pay the tax after I have crossed the allowed tax limit of 5 lac within a year.
Secondly is it better to do F & O,Positional or simple trading.
what is difference between a Investment trading and positional trading. Charges and tax wise which will work out cheaper since I am using Angel.
You detailed explanation will be helpful for People like me who are new to share market as the brokers are ripping us off.
Hi Rahul. Thank you for your comment. I’ll write a detailed blog post on f&O trading and other related terms soon. Second, if your income is greater than 2.5 lakhs, then you have to pay a fixed tax of 15% on the short-term capital gains. Third, I’m not involved in F&O trading. I invest for long-term. I do not have a good experience in future trading. However, there are many people who are making tons of money by trading in derivatives. Overall, it depends on the personal preference and experience whether you want to perform F&O or invest for the long term. Further, if you need detailed answers, feel free to reach me out at kritesh@tradebrains.in. I hope it helps. Cheers.
Thanks for Great and valuable information.
I have done really well in penny stocks especially in mining and resources. I used to invest blue chip but I found so boring and you are really just waiting for the dividend each year. Penny stocks are higher risk yes I get that but if you pick the right one you can do very well. It’s important to know what they are doing, especially mining, what are they looking for? What mines are they into? You really need to read their announcements to keep up-to-date on what’s happening in the company. Importantly build up a portfolio of around 10 – 15 stocks which you have more chances for success.