ETMarkets Trade Talk: Nagpur engineering dropout became crorepati trader after meeting an astrologer

NEW DELHI: All hell broke loose on the middle-class Gujarati family living in Nagpur when they found out that their young lad Harshubh Shah had failed in the first year exam of mechanical engineering. The family had no money to invest in a business and also had an educational loan to be repaid. Getting a decent job was impossible. In sheer desperation, Shah’s father took him to an astrologer for advice one day in 2007.

The God-fearing family had no other choice but to follow the astrologer’s advice of trying luck in the stock market. “People laugh when I tell them this story,” says Shah who now has a portfolio of over Rs 5 crore.

Although he started his journey as a technical analyst with a broker, now he doesn’t look at the charts for making buy or sell decisions. A firm believer in the power of financial astrology, he instead studies the movement of different planets, moons and stars to calculate the trajectory of stock prices.

The Sebi-registered research analyst now has around 4,000 clients who follow his mantra of picking stocks with astro-based strategies. However, the road to riches has not been a smooth ride as he became bankrupt twice. Other than markets, spirituality and music are his two other passions. He lives in Nagpur with his parents, wife and 3-year-old son. Edited excerpts from a chat:

Tell us about your meeting with the astrologer who changed your life.
In 2005-06, I failed my first year mechanical engineering exam at a college in Nagpur. I had taken an education loan also which needed to be repaid. Besides, I knew that I won’t get a job anywhere. So my dad took me to an astrologer in 2007 who said that I should work in any finance related job and that the stock market will be very good for me. That was the first time I got interested in it. I am not sure if he said it in fluke or by looking at the ‘kundali’ as he was himself watching a business news channel while talking to us. I was confused whether I should believe him or not, but I had no other option left.



So how was the initial phase of your life in the stock market?
I got in touch with a broker and started trading. My beginning was good as stock prices were depressed after the 2008 crash. So whatever you bought at that time, went up eventually.

Our family’s finances were in a bad shape at that time. Daily survival was also a big challenge.

I did a technical analysis course as well in 2009 and then got a job with a brokerage firm at a monthly salary of Rs 15,000.

Then I learnt scalping and arbitrage trades, which worked very well. But in 2011, the company with whom I was associated shut down and I left the market in 2012 as I stopped making as much money as I used to do earlier.

So what brought you back to the market?
After quitting the market, I went back to my old passion of music. We had a band which was very popular locally and we also used to play in a radio show. I went to Mumbai to record a music album but realised that to make it big I needed more time and so I shifted focus back to the market.

I came back in 2014 but gave up again after a year and started doing a job. In 2016, we were again in trouble. There was a loan of Rs 1 crore on my dad and we had to sell our house. At this point, a friend gave me a DVD of motivational speaker Sandeep Maheshwari. I found new motivations and started preparing new strategies. I made good money within a year.

And then I started making YouTube videos which became popular. Lot of people came to me to learn about markets. We used to work on price action. ‘Bhav Bhagwan Che’ was my tagline.

By 2020, I had made enough money. Our family is into meditation and follows the spiritual path. Our funda is that money is not the answer to your problems. Peace and family time is more important.

So what made you rely on financial astrology despite having enough technical competence?
I was invited to a conference in Singapore in 2019 and when I told them that I joined the market after an astrologer told me, they laughed at the story. But that struck me. I started reading about astrology online.

Financial astrology begins where technical analysis ends. This is one thing that you cannot explain to someone till he or she experiences it or believes in it. It is difficult to digest. I used to think that it was rubbish.

In technicals, you cannot predict time but in astro you can.

How is a typical trading day for you?
During market hours, I look at the screens only when I get an alert on my targets and stop losses. From 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm, I make a list of stocks to buy for the next day, find out trading levels and then I shut my computer.

How big is your portfolio now and what kind of trades do you do?
I trade mostly in Bank Nifty futures. I tell my staff to buy and sell at specific levels. I don't look at the screen. For Bank Nifty trades, my target is to earn 20-23% return annually as I want to protect capital and beat FD returns.

Nowadays, I am not very active in trading but I have a big portfolio of Rs 5 crore which are long term investments. I have reduced exposure in equity as I see some fall coming in the market. I have diversified into G-Sec bonds and real estate.

Tell us about your biggest success in trading or investing.
I had bought Tanla Platforms at Rs 38 in 2019 and exited it after 1.5 years at Rs 1,700. This was based on fundamentals and not technicals or astrology. This has been one of the best trades of my life. If there is one stock that changed my life, it is Tanla. I could retire early because of that.

How do you go about figuring out which stocks to buy?
Every stock has a planet. Nifty’s ruling planet is Jupiter and for Bank Nifty it is Venus. You have to watch the movement of planets and the speed at which they are moving. Then there is the cycle of the moon. Even our Indian festivals impact markets.

If you want to start, start by googling financial astrology but having a belief system in astrology is more important.

Your life is nothing less than a rags to riches story. How have little things in your life changed?
When we used to live in a one-room house, we had more fun together as a family. But now all of us have separate rooms in a big house, but that fun is missing.

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