The name of the course 'Security Analysis and Portfolio Management' has some funny memories associated with it. Back in semester 5, when I chose Financial Management as my minor I was told that the last course would be 'Security Analysis and Portfolio Management'. I was and still am someone with a average intellect. I wondered what security had to do with finance. I told myself "maybe they will teach us how to guard an office and how to analyze office security". Of course, portfolio management I could never figure out what.
Slowly the realization dawned on me that security is a very different thing in finance and it has nothing to do with uniformed guards roaming around with batons and whistles.
I caught the share market bug briefly at that time. I read the papers, watched a few stocks move. I even had a scrapbook with newspaper clippings and stock graphs. Again, Plan A was to start work, get a demat account, invest and grow rich.
When money came in in the form of salary, the testosterone was in short supply. One needed a certain amount of guts and a feeling of being dispassionate about money to invest. Suddenly the share market seemed like a well organized, legally viable means to bet (I still think it is a legalized form of betting, but as of now I am running along Plan D or Plan E for life) To cut the explanation short, I never invested.
After all these years, I finally got myself a trading account and a reasonable amount of money to 'play with'. There have been a lot of changes since 'Security Analysis and Portfolio Management' in my understanding of Finance and the markets. I traded today and it felt good.
