Smallcaps that have been losing ground

By Niraj Shah , CNBC-TV18

Call it a cheery picking of a different sort altogether, but these stocks, while they may not have probably been on down circuits for all the 13-14 or probably the 30 days that I have analyzed them for, the volumes on these stocks are something that do not get the investors the chance to exit. Look at all of these and look at the volumes even today, for most of them, the volumes have been abysmally low which is why investors are not getting a chance to exit.

English Indian Clays for e.g. has been losing ground for 14th consecutive day. It has lost 40% since January 17, probably the day when the markets started getting spooked.

Another stock of the same category, SIL Investments has been losing ground for the 14th consecutive day and has loss 40% since January 17.

MGF , well the namesake with Emaar MGF, actually went up on those grounds only. Since January 17, it has lost 40% and volumes even today just sub-2,000 shares. This is probably higher if one look at the last 13-14 days and today’s volumes are significantly higher than most of these days. But again, it’s not giving investors a chance to exit at all.

A couple of sugar plays, inspite of the fact that sugar sector has seen its fair share of ups in these last 15 days also, these stocks are not doing too well at all. Kesar Enterprises has seen a continuous downtrend since January 18 and has lost 31% in the last 13 days. Even in today’s trade, I believe it’s locked on a lower circuit with volumes sub-1,000 shares.

There are a couple of stocks which are not doing well, not just since January 17, but for the entire month of January. Dharani Sugars is another stock which has lost 45% in January. It’s locked in a lower circuit today and though volumes are significantly higher in today’s trade, it’s still had a bad performance in the month of January.

Lastly, Blue Coast Hotels is another stock which actually ran up significantly till December 07. But, since January it’s lost 46%.

These are just a few stocks. There are actually a whole host of stocks which are not giving investors a chance to exit. There are some reputed names there also in stocks like Prime Securities. There are volumes on the stock but it’s a continuous down circuit for quite a period of time and it’s not giving investors any kind of chance to exit.

So, more than the fact that there are gains that have come to the people who have bought into these stocks, because of the lack of volumes, it raises a point whether investors should actually purchase such stocks for a quick buck. This is considering the fact that, if the stocks keeps on going down, it really becomes tough for the investors to hold on to these stocks.