No Goal Investing Year 2 Month 4 May 2026
There are times when the market actually tells you to stop looking at it. There is something that I have noticed over the past month, and the thought came to me while talking with my better half. These days there seems to be a dearth of investing gurus on YouTube. Earlier, a scroll through YouTube would inevitably show a couple of investing gurus who were trending. Not anymore.
My first thought was that maybe those gurus had sold their courses, methodologies etc., made their packet, and quietly left YouTube. So, I went back to check. And they are still there. What has changed though is that while their earlier videos used to get hundreds of thousands of views, now they get tens of thousands, even though the subscriber counts are still in the hundreds of thousands.
People seem to have lost interest in stock investing. At least in India. Evidently, almost two years of the market going nowhere can do that. And we had another “market going nowhere” month in May. The Nifty remained around 24,000 for almost the entire month. Quite far from the highs and the momentum of September 2024. As I have written in this series before, there were months when the market seemed to have broken upward through the 22K to 26K range, but that optimism lasted for a day or two before it settled comfortably back into the range.
No one is making any money, and it shows in the YouTube algorithms.
The update –
In a market like this, it is very optimistic to expect a dramatic recovery in your portfolio. But our three stalwarts are nothing if not disciplined. For them, long term means long term, and a year or two of no returns is not going to deter them from their path.
The three invested their planned INR 22K in their chosen strategies. Their hope: the portfolios will at least keep pace with the market. Let’s take a look.
Indu’s portfolio (The index fan) –
| Mutual Fund Scheme | Existing Units | New Investment | NAV | New Units | Total Units | Value |
| ICICI Pru Nifty 100 ETF | 14756.699 | 22000 | 27.73 | 793.365 | 15550.063 | 431203.26 |
| Invested Amount | 428000 |
| Current Value | 431203.3 |
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 | 83.705 | 4400 | 1006.54 | 4.371 | 88.076 | 88651.98 |
| 2 | HDFC Mid-cap Opprtunities fund | 434.294 | 4400 | 201.95 | 21.788 | 456.081 | 92105.62 |
| 3 | Parag Parikh Flexi Cap fund | 986.636 | 4400 | 83.04 | 52.987 | 1039.622 | 86330.24 |
| 4 | Nippon India Multi Cap fund | 286.357 | 4400 | 299.83 | 14.675 | 301.031 | 90258.27 |
| 5 | HDFC Small Cap fund | 617.589 | 4400 | 134.13 | 32.804 | 650.393 | 87237.18 |
| Invested Amount | 428000 |
| Current Value | 444583.3 |
Shekhar’s Portfolio (the stock picker) –
| Stock | Existing Shares | New Investment | Buy Price | New Shares | Total Shares | Value |
| Aarti Industries | 19.53 | 440.00 | 500.75 | 0.88 | 20.41 | 10221.64 |
| Aarti Pharma | 11.29 | 440.00 | 655.25 | 0.67 | 11.96 | 7838.06 |
| Asian Paints | 3.42 | 440.00 | 2671.9 | 0.16 | 3.58 | 9574.871 |
| Astral | 5.61 | 440.00 | 1598.6 | 0.28 | 5.88 | 9400.342 |
| Axis Bank | 7.25 | 440.00 | 1304.1 | 0.34 | 7.59 | 9893.786 |
| Bajaj Finance | 9.27 | 440.00 | 931.15 | 0.47 | 9.74 | 9072.665 |
| Bajaj Finserv | 4.28 | 440.00 | 1809.1 | 0.24 | 4.53 | 8186.256 |
| Bajaj Housing Finance | 61.75 | 0.00 | 86.02 | 0.00 | 61.75 | 5312.113 |
| Britannia | 1.49 | 440.00 | 5335.5 | 0.08 | 1.57 | 8398.369 |
| Chola Investment | 5.53 | 440.00 | 1579.2 | 0.28 | 5.80 | 9167.111 |
| Dabur | 16.40 | 440.00 | 445.45 | 0.99 | 17.39 | 7745.764 |
| Deepak Nitrite | 3.50 | 0.00 | 1714.8 | 0.00 | 3.50 | 5996.354 |
| Devyani International | 42.07 | 0.00 | 117.16 | 0.00 | 42.07 | 4929.374 |
| Divis Labs | 1.33 | 440.00 | 6797.5 | 0.06 | 1.40 | 9496.964 |
| DMART Avenue Supermart | 2.06 | 440.00 | 4124.4 | 0.11 | 2.17 | 8948.063 |
| Eicher | 1.37 | 440.00 | 7419 | 0.06 | 1.43 | 10579.67 |
| Garware Technical | 8.86 | 0.00 | 649.55 | 0.00 | 8.86 | 5752.112 |
| Havells | 5.59 | 440.00 | 1211 | 0.36 | 5.95 | 7204.31 |
| HCL Tech | 5.29 | 440.00 | 1165.2 | 0.38 | 5.66 | 6598.601 |
| HDFC Bank | 9.14 | 440.00 | 758.65 | 0.58 | 9.72 | 7373.127 |
| HUL | 3.47 | 440.00 | 2198.4 | 0.20 | 3.68 | 8079.178 |
| ICICI Bank | 6.17 | 440.00 | 1272.79 | 0.35 | 6.52 | 8295.728 |
| Indian Hotels | 11.14 | 440.00 | 667.7 | 0.66 | 11.79 | 7875.505 |
| Infosys | 5.27 | 440.00 | 1159.9 | 0.38 | 5.65 | 6548.369 |
| Jio Finance | 30.86 | 440.00 | 242.89 | 1.81 | 32.67 | 7935.112 |
| Kotak Mahindra Bank | 20.18 | 440.00 | 388.7 | 1.13 | 21.31 | 8283.86 |
| L&T Technologies | 1.49 | 0.00 | 3491.6 | 0.00 | 1.49 | 5196.476 |
| LTI Mindtree | 1.56 | 440.00 | 3988.6 | 0.11 | 1.67 | 6671.457 |
| Mankind Pharma | 3.42 | 440.00 | 2420.4 | 0.18 | 3.60 | 8722.816 |
| Manyavar Vedant Fashions | 8.75 | 0.00 | 416.1 | 0.00 | 8.75 | 3639.133 |
| Metro Shoes | 7.26 | 440.00 | 1052.4 | 0.42 | 7.67 | 8076.915 |
| Muthoot Finance | 3.10 | 533.02 | 3306.9 | 0.16 | 3.26 | 10786.46 |
| Naukri Info Edge | 6.11 | 440.00 | 1005.65 | 0.44 | 6.55 | 6587.231 |
| Nestle | 6.91 | 440.00 | 1427.5 | 0.31 | 7.22 | 10306.1 |
| Nykaa | 39.59 | 440.00 | 263.15 | 1.67 | 41.26 | 10857.49 |
| Page Industries | 0.16 | 0.00 | 38145 | 0.00 | 0.16 | 6063.077 |
| PayTM | 8.43 | 440.00 | 1128.2 | 0.39 | 8.82 | 9955.892 |
| Pidilite | 5.64 | 440.00 | 1480.7 | 0.30 | 5.93 | 8786.931 |
| Reliance | 6.03 | 440.00 | 1350.5 | 0.33 | 6.36 | 8585.819 |
| SRF | 2.96 | 440.00 | 2736.8 | 0.16 | 3.12 | 8531.719 |
| Tata Consumer | 7.54 | 440.00 | 1204.6 | 0.37 | 7.90 | 9521.628 |
| Tata Elxsi | 1.48 | 440.00 | 4331.2 | 0.10 | 1.58 | 6852.212 |
| Tata Commecial | 7.40 | 440.00 | 383.85 | 1.15 | 8.55 | 3280.49 |
| Tata Motors | 13.94 | 440.00 | 400.95 | 1.10 | 15.04 | 6029.812 |
| TCS | 2.58 | 440.00 | 2284.2 | 0.19 | 2.78 | 6339.744 |
| Titan | 2.26 | 440.00 | 4137.9 | 0.11 | 2.36 | 9772.688 |
| Torrent Pharma | 2.32 | 440.00 | 4537.8 | 0.10 | 2.42 | 10961.89 |
| Trent | 1.70 | 440.00 | 4248.6 | 0.10 | 1.80 | 7658.084 |
| Tube Investments | 2.82 | 440.00 | 3210.5 | 0.14 | 2.96 | 9489.679 |
| Varun Beverages | 16.71 | 448.35 | 534.5 | 0.84 | 17.55 | 9377.898 |
| Zomato | 32.73 | 440.00 | 256.51 | 1.72 | 34.45 | 8835.521 |
| Kwality Walls | 2.54 | 0.00 | 26.33 | 0 | 2.54 | 66.8782 |
*This month we had dividends coming in from Muthoot and Varun Beverages. We are assuming a reinvestment of the dividends in the same stocks.
| Invested Amount | 428000 |
| Current Value | 409661.4 |
For both Indu and Shekhar, the portfolio has largely kept pace with the market. It is more or less where it was. In the case of Indu, she is now marginally above the invested amount. And for Shekhar, it has essentially meant that he hasn’t lost much money despite the prolonged stagnation. After following a disciplined investment approach for almost a year and a half, this is not where he would have wanted to be. But as I said earlier, long term for all of them truly means long term.
Muthu’s mutual funds, however, seem to be doing remarkably well. The gap between him and Indu was created during last month’s recovery, and it appears that the funds have recovered a bit more strongly. Let’s take a look at their portfolios over time.
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 | 213291.5 | 200000 |
| Jul-25 | 232075.9 | 236487.7 | 229127.7 | 220000 |
| Aug-25 | 251337.4 | 255466.6 | 249919.1 | 240000 |
| Sep-25 | 270980.7 | 275483.7 | 266187.4 | 260000 |
| Oct-25 | 304457.6 | 304522.5 | 295892 | 280000 |
| Nov-25 | 325694 | 325651.9 | 313676.1 | 300000 |
| Dec-25 | 344596.2 | 341517.5 | 332826.2 | 320000 |
| Jan-26 | 351311.2 | 347628.1 | 335923.3 | 340000 |
| Feb-26 | 378748.3 | 378656.9 | 355547.2 | 362000 |
| Mar-26 | 364801.9 | 369107.5 | 341042.7 | 384000 |
| Apr-26 | 408022.7 | 416609.5 | 387260.3 | 406000 |
| May-26 | 431203.3 | 444583.3 | 409661.4 | 428000 |
During these sixteen months, there have been phases when all three participants were fairly happy with the progress of their portfolios. However, as you can see from the chart, the last few months have created considerable jitters in that progress. A significant part of this uncertainty can be attributed to the Iran war and the subsequent impact on oil prices. Even today, the status of the Strait of Hormuz remains uncertain. Interestingly, even though the market may react very positively to any news related to easing tensions around Hormuz, some of the damage to the oil infrastructure could take months, if not years, to repair.
These are uncertain times. And when uncertainty looms, discipline is the way out.
The market may or may not reward conviction quickly. But it punishes impatience almost immediately.
Disclaimer: I hold all the stocks and mutual funds mentioned on this page in my personal portfolio.