This year has been an eventful one. Since I started this series in January, every month has seen something new. In the first month update, I mentioned that there were three events that could’ve moved the market positively – the budget, the rate cut, and BJP winning Delhi; still the market didn’t budge. We were in a bear market. Imagine starting an investing journey in a bear market. But, we did that.

The second month update had me confirming that the interim bottom was made and now we should start our path to recovery. Nothing much happened, the calm before the storm. Maybe.

And then the storm broke, and has been continuing since. First Trump with his tariffs. Markets worldwide danced like a drunk gorilla on a pirate ship in rough seas. The bottom that I had called was immediately tested. But then Trump started dressing the tariffs in multiple outfits, everyone realized that maybe they will take some time to decide on the final look. And the markets heaved a sigh.

While all of this was going on, we had a terror attack in Pehelgam and then a war with Pakistan. Somehow, the markets held through both of the events with a minor blip. And as if all this was not enough for this year, over the past month Israel, Iran and the USA have been engaged in a war – or   “altercation” if you want to put it mildly. There were threats to escalate this. Then there were ceasefire promises. Oil supply of the world was threatened.

And somehow, the markets have still held. In fact, during the month they seem to have turned Bullish.

God only knows what moves the markets.

Anyways, our three stalwarts are feeling the bullishness and they have continued their investing journey. Below is an update on all the three portfolios.

The Update

As planned, Indu, Muthu and Shekhar invested additional INR 20000 this month. The prices shown below are closing prices of 27^th June. This month, there is an extra day in the portfolio, due to the chronicler (yours truly) being busy otherwise.

Indu’s portfolio (The index fan) –

Mutual Fund Scheme	Existing Units	New Investment	NAV	New Units	Total Units	Value
ICICI Pru Nifty 100 ETF	6808.542	20000	28.96	690.608	7499.149	217175.36

Invested Amount	200000
Current Value	217175.4

Muthu’s portfolio (the mutual funds sahi hai guy) –

Sr No	Mutual Fund Scheme	Existing Units	New Investment	NAV	New Units	Total Units	Value
1	ICICI Large and Mid Cap fund	38.943	4000	1012.61	3.950	42.894	43434.54
2	HDFC Mid-cap Opprtunities fund	203.783	4000	194.79	20.535	224.318	43694.89
3	Parag Parikh Flexi Cap fund	451.628	4000	85.52	46.773	498.400	42623.19
4	Nippon India Multi Cap fund	133.212	4000	302.74	13.213	146.425	44328.64
5	HDFC Small Cap fund	285.150	4000	139.69	28.635	313.784	43832.56

Invested Amount	200000
Current Value	217913.8

Shekhar’s Portfolio (the stock picker) –

Stock	Existing Shares	New Investment	Buy Price	New Shares	Total Shares	Value
Aarti Industries	8.36	400	479.15	0.83	9.20	4407.581
Aarti Pharma	5.29	400	859.55	0.47	5.76	4947.965
Asian Paints	1.57	400	2358.7	0.17	1.74	4108.758
Astral	2.53	400	1500.4	0.27	2.79	4189.372
Axis Bank	3.54	400	1225.1	0.33	3.87	4739.297
Bajaj Finance	4.50	400	947	0.42	4.92	4661.5
Bajaj Finserv	1.97	400	2044	0.20	2.16	4419.55
Bajaj Housing Finance	31.71	400	122.07	3.28	34.98	4270.236
Britannia	0.70	400	5794.5	0.07	0.77	4479.77
Chola Investment	2.69	400	1654.1	0.24	2.94	4856.872
Dabur	7.06	400	486.35	0.82	7.88	3834.198
Deepak Nitrite	1.68	400	1984.6	0.20	1.88	3730.618
Devyani International	21.17	400	171.52	2.33	23.51	4031.803
Divis Labs	0.61	400	6658	0.06	0.67	4470.18
DMART Avenue Supermart	0.96	400	4313.5	0.09	1.05	4547.058
Eicher	0.68	400	5660	0.07	0.75	4270.215
Garware Technical	4.53	400	905	0.44	4.97	4501.124
Havells	2.34	400	1566.8	0.26	2.60	4073.5
HCL Tech	2.12	400	1723.3	0.23	2.35	4048.847
HDFC Bank	2.09	400	2014.9	0.20	2.29	4604.903
HUL	1.54	400	2306.9	0.17	1.71	3948.687
ICICI Bank	2.84	400	1462.2	0.27	3.11	4550.842
Indian Hotels	4.63	400	767.4	0.52	5.15	3954.615
Infosys	2.07	400	1608	0.25	2.31	3722.285
Jio Finance	14.75	400	323.45	1.24	15.98	5169.54
Kotak Mahindra Bank	1.82	400	2207.9	0.18	2.00	4425.13
L&T Technologies	0.72	427.51	4385.6	0.10	0.82	3602.99
LTI Mindtree	0.67	430.05	5293	0.08	0.75	3964.663
Mankind Pharma	1.46	400	2333.4	0.17	1.63	3797.399
Manyavar Vedant Fashions	3.83	400	804.05	0.50	4.32	3476.935
Metro Shoes	3.09	400	1137.2	0.35	3.45	3918.951
Muthoot Finance	1.68	400	2570.7	0.16	1.83	4709.938
Naukri Info Edge	2.46	400	1508.1	0.27	2.72	4103.035
Nestle	1.60	400	2458.7	0.16	1.76	4327.766
Nykaa	20.81	400	209.86	1.91	22.72	4767.842
Page Industries	0.08	415.95	49440	0.01	0.09	4358.113
PayTM	4.45	400	919.35	0.44	4.89	4493.694
Pidilite	1.25	400	3051.7	0.13	1.38	4226.056
Reliance	2.84	400	1515.4	0.26	3.10	4700.045
SRF	1.33	400	3174.8	0.13	1.46	4625.621
Tata Consumer	3.53	429.08	1124.3	0.38	3.91	4392.652
Tata Elxsi	0.59	400	6345	0.06	0.65	4139.558
Tata Motors	5.05	430.32	686.9	0.63	5.68	3901.184
TCS	0.93	427.93	3441.1	0.12	1.06	3631.484
Titan	1.07	400	3666.2	0.11	1.18	4335.277
Torrent Pharma	1.13	400	3341.4	0.12	1.25	4163.046
Trent	0.67	400	6019.5	0.07	0.74	4434.308
Tube Investments	1.21	400	3082.1	0.13	1.34	4120.968
Varun Beverages	6.89	400	461.6	0.87	7.76	3580.681
Zomato	16.53	400	261.86	1.53	18.06	4728.213

*Bajaj Finance went through a stock split and bonus issue, effectively meaning a 1:10 this month. The numbers are updated for that. We had dividends coming in from L&T tech twins, Page, Tata Consumer, Tata Motors and TCS. We are assuming a reinvestment of the dividends in the same stocks.

Invested Amount	200000
Current Value	213464.9

The returns are getting substantial for them. As I mentioned at the start of the post, I don’t know why there is this bullish momentum in the market. But our three musketeers are not complaining. They are pretty happy with the performance so far. Shekhar though seems to be rethinking his portfolio. In a quarter or so, he might choose some other stock to put his money in and stop for one of the incumbents. The rule is, he doesn’t sell till we have had at least a decade run of the strategy. But all of that is in the future.

The tussle between the three strategies continues in this month. For the first time, the MF based portfolio has come on top. Indu’s Index fund is still performing well but this month Muthu’s portfolio has topped that. Maybe a hint of resurgence in the Mid-cap and Small-cap space. Still, there isn’t much difference between Indu’s and Muthu’s portfolios.

The comparison and the graph

Month	Indu	Muthu	Shekhar	Investment
Jan-25	100000	100000	100000	100000
Feb-25	117247.7	115538.4	116557.2	120000
Mar-25	142363.5	140184.6	138494.2	140000
Apr-25	165366.2	162416	163500.4	160000
May-25	192137	191789.2	189153.7	180000
Jun-25	217175.4	217913.8	213464.9	200000

It’s only month five, and the noise outside has been deafening—wars, tariffs, nuclear threats. Yet these three portfolios have kept walking, heads down, money in.

Indu’s index fund keeps pace. Muthu’s funds are inching ahead. Shekhar’s stock-picking still holds its own.

We’re not drawing conclusions yet. That comes much, much later.

But the game is on. And it’s beginning to get interesting.

Disclaimer: I hold all the stocks and mutual funds mentioned on this page in my personal portfolio.