In defence of the unconventional

When I mentioned the Shanghai Syndrome yesterday, I was not really referring to the possibility of a meltdown in China, but to trader's need to analyse several variables to trade just a few of them. But the Shanghai exchange did fall and is almost on the verge of moving into a downtrend. Another day of fall and we could have a trend change signal.

The Commodity index (CRB Index) fell yesterday despite a fall in the Dollar. The fall in Crude played a major role in this. Precious metals remained relatively immune to the fall. The next couple of days can be difficult (as in boring and less volatile) with the US being shut for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Suffice to say that I am still long and have now increased my stop for the longs to 5025. If we break below that level I am out of my long position. Will consider short positions at that level only based on the feel for the market at that time.

Yesterday was a boring day at work, enlivened only by another attacking innings by Sehwag. His style of batting is incredibly attractive because he bats to dominate the bowlers. He does everything wrong, the footwork is not there, he does not wait to see off the new ball, tries to hit his century with a six--- in short he is totally unconventional. His success needs to be savored when you consider that he is one of the few unconventional successes in a world steeped in tradition.

Just to give you an example of what normally happens to the unconventional I have an interesting anecdote. This involves a hypothetical teacher in a school. This teacher refuses to follow the normal norms of reading out a chapter and then dictating the answers to his/her students, instead prefering to discuss the chapter in the class without referring to the textbook. What he/she does not do is dictate any answers. Clearly this is the more difficult task. Clearly the conventional method is easier from the teacher's perspective-but surely detrimental to any students understanding of the subject.

What do you think happened to our unconventional teacher? A raise may be? If not that...then at least some praise? No!!! The parents complained that this unconventional teacher put their children at a disadvantage when it came to scoring in exams as compared to students in other divisions where precise answers are dictated. This teacher was reprimanded and asked to mend his/her ways.

I do not have any ending to this story. But this is what the world has come to. Everybody is willing to sacrifice long term benefits for short term gains. The long term growth of a company for short term quarterly numbers. The conventional always triumphs over the unconventional, the orthodox over the unorthodox and the collective over the individual. The sheer size of the unthinking and uncaring majority ensures that it is always so.

But any real progress really is always a result of an individual's ability to defy convention. It has forever been the case and always will be. Let us hope that even in these times we will have the ability to protect the right of an individual to be different- to look a little beyond the near term, nurture unconventional thoughts and ideas and not let it suffocate under the sheer weight of numbers that stand against it.