Stock Picking 101

The stock market has been hyperactive since the benchmark Sensex index touched a low of 25,638 points almost two years back, on March 24, 2020, reeling under the first shock of the Covid pandemic. But within a year-and-a-half of the initial shock, the Sensex had climbed up to reach a peak of 60,000 points in September 2021. However, typical to its nature, the journey has not been consistent; there have been phases of high volatility. For instance, in January 2022 alone, the Sensex stayed over the 60,000 mark for about seven trading days in a row (it was at 61,308 on January 17), but then lost more than 6 per cent to touch a low of 57,200 on January 28. A look at the journey between March 24, 2020, and February 15, 2022, shows that the Sensex gained 126 per cent. However, that does not mean that all the stocks listed on the index saw similar gains during this period. For instance, ITC...