FOR stock analyst Kaladher Govindan, "the stress is OK so long as you know how to handle it".
Just the day before, the father of three girls had celebrated Thaipusam - the Hindu religious festival commemorating the birth of the deity Lord Murugan.
Mr Kaladher did not know it then but he had good reason to celebrate. Stockbroking firm TA Securities, where he has been head of research for the past two years, made it to the top four of Starmine's list of broker rankings for Malaysia last year. It was ranked fourth in the FTSE Bursa Malaysia 30 Index under the recommendations and earnings forecast categories, fourth for Malaysia small-and-mid cap recommendations and second for earnings forecasts.
"Plan your work and accomplish what you set out to do, and don't procrastinate. Delegation is also important - delegate equally or to the right people," he says of his team of six analysts and a technical analyst. Because the firm is more retail based, each analyst covers 12-17 stocks, depending on the analyst's seniority. "They make their own calls. If I need to interfere I will, but my influence is mainly to question their methods or basis of valuations or earnings forecasts," says Mr Kaladher.
A University Malaysia graduate in economics and business administration - he also has an MBA in finance from the same university - Mr Kaladher's first vocation was not in stockbroking. In 1999, he left his previous position as plant manager of a company which makes surface mounts for printed circuit boards, to become a technology analyst.
"I have no regrets. I'm a finance guy and I was already hitting the ceiling at my previous job, and to further advance my career there I would have had to compete with tertiary education holders in the engineering line."
The 41-year-old may have missed the 1990s super bull-run as well as the Asian financial crisis stock market crash, but the past year has not been short of excitement.
"The previous six months have been hectic; on certain days I easily get 30 to 40 calls from remisiers on particular stocks. When the market is volatile, people get very agitated and want to know what to do," he says.
What to do in 2008 is laid out in TA Securities? "Mouse Traps the Bull" annual strategy for the year. As the foreboding title suggests, the year is expected to be very volatile, "peaking in the first half and then consolidating and drifting lower in the second half", as Mr Kaladher puts it.
The extent of the problems in the US collateralised debt obligations market has yet to be fully unravelled, so Mr Kaladher expects a "panicky" second half. Investors who haven't already done so should cash out over the next two months, "as they can get better buying opportunities by July/August".
TA Securities' target for the KL Composite index this year is 1,570, but Mr Kaladher does not discount the benchmark index - rocked by external negative news flow and rising inflationary pressures locally - testing its 1,280 support level.
Still, he believes there are selective buying opportunities in the following sectors: plantations, oil and gas, media, power, and water - so long as investors get their timing right.
In the past, he claims the stockbroking firm has discovered "gems" which include interior fitting outfit LCL Corporation and oil and gas firm KNM Group - both relatively unknown then but now firmly on investors' radar.
TA Securities' current long-term picks include oil and gas companies Petra Energy and Perisai Petroleum Teknologi.
