Time

TIME – the biggest mystery of UNIVERSE

why its important to talk about TIME ?

“there is past and present, but no such thing as future, so why do we end up borrowing from future, which messes up our present … is the cause of many human problems” ~ TheVIP 

we borrow from future with an assumption that future will be good, but when it doesn’t turn out as good as we presumed,  Financial crisis of 2008 or Banking crisis of 2023 happen … so; how do we re-define time that doesn’t hurt us ..!

second, most people on wall-street will tell you that “do not time your investments ..!” … on the contrary, my starting point is exactly opposite; i.e. “timing is everything for your investments” .. why? 

if you follow Buffett & take a glimpse at his investments; of course, they were smart choices & he is the smartest investor, but think about when those investments were made : 1974 & rest of the 70s & late 1980 (into consumer goods), 1999 (into bonds), 2000 (into insurance); 2008 (into banking) … but if you invest in same companies/sectors, but just off by an year or so, his returns would look normal, like S&P500; so, timing makes all the difference in your returns ..!

understanding time is the heart of my thesis …

what is time ?

to me, time is most fascinating thing as it explains the mysteries of this universe; it runs your life and as well as the stock market  ..!

first, how do you visualize time ..? 

is time a point ?… as used in the phrase “point in time”  like you have a meeting at 9AM or NYSE opens at 0930EST on weekdays; or 

is time a line ? …  as covered between two points in times, also known as time-line, as between open and close of stock market each day ? or

is time is a cycle? … as used in Hinduism as jeevan chakra or life cycle ..?

although we can find time at a point [in time], or take a difference between two points of time, but it doesn’t provide any meaning unless used in the context of a cycle .. like a day, an year etc. .. a cycle provides meaning to time .. its not just 9AM; rather 9AM this Wednesday, where Wednesday describes a day in a weekly cycle, which is a part of a month & so on.

time is a cycle and not a point; i.e. what’s happening at this point has no meaning unless seen in the context of a cycle …  in Hinduism, time is defined Sanatan – one that has no beginning or end ..!

second, time is not just A cycle, but cycles within cycles,  & each cycles not only has a meaning but are driven by nature ..!

For measurement, Time is simply a translation of Space; hence in Physics, we use the phrase Space-Time, as Space and Time are interchangeable

when earth completes a rotation around its axis, we call it a day

when earth goes round the sun, we call it an year

as earth traverses around sun in an elliptical orbit over 4 quadrants, we call each of them as seasons 

the cycles that we use in our daily life are nature made & not man-made .. & it would be fair to assume that nature has an expected outcome for each cycle .. OTOH, man being man never follows nature’s guidance and try to do “better than expected” [in most cases] .. & call it an achievement … & likely end up upsetting the nature & end up doing “worse than expected” in future cycles. 

Calendar

human life, a business & stock market – you know what drives all of them .. its the calendar or time ..!

now what is the logic or science behind a calendar ..?

a calendar, as used in Western World is nothing but a cross-section of cycles of two heavenly bodies (Sun & Earth; i may use the word planet, but the Hindi word is Graha); anyway, the calendar is based on Earth’s circular motion around her own axis (gives us day and night) & around Sun gives an Year, where the 4 Quadrants result in 4 seasons; and the Zodiac gives the monthly calendar; so far so good.

Indians, you may know, like to complicate things, so we added one more to the mix – The Moon – to make it a 3 planet calendar .. by introducing moon, which has two phases Krishna-Paksha and Shukla-Paksha, bounded by Amavasya and Poornima, we have a lunar month – which guides the oceans tides as well as the women’s monthly cycles — how romantic ..? also, it is The Moon in the mix, that we have Eclipses – when the 3 get in alignment; giving Rahu & Ketu in Indian Astrology. It is because of Moon or Lunar Calendar that Diwali is celebrated on different date each year; that you have to go an expert who knows how to study Panchang to give you a date for Diwali and other Indian festivals each year.

here i will take an opportunity to digress a little & to connect a subject that is important to both Human Behavior and Market Behavior – Astrology …!

So what’s an Astrology ..?

it’s not what most people think, what you get on Internet every day to how your day will be .. Vedic Astrology is simply a 10-planet calendar, & these 10 planets (9 Graha + Earth) based on cycles of Sun-Moon-Earth-Venus-Mercury-Mars-Jupiter-Saturn-Rahu-Ketu (the last two represent Solar and Lunar Eclipses)

now imagine, going from a 2-planet Calendar (like a 2-variable equation) to 3-planet Calendar (3-variables equation) makes you to go to an expert to know the date of an Indian festivals … to how life will be on a 10 planet Calendar (10-variables equation) to give you time at any moment; on top of that this 10-planet calendar is totally personal to you, as it begins on the date-time-location of your birth & that my friend is Astrology and not the mambo-jumbo that most have experienced so far.

nature cycle(s)

this is not a mystery  … but an excellent example of nature’s behavior .. that nature works as cycles within cycles & humans are part of the nature, we work and behave in very similar manner and since financial markets are based on human behavior .. they follow a similar cyclic patterns … 

think of 10Q & 10K – quarterly & yearly financial reporting

why do we only have 4 quarters in a year – each one matches a season … 4 seasons matching 4 quarters

so, a financial system on earth is driven from space .. think about it ..!

8 phases of moon cycle

 think of significance of 3-5-8 in markets – how a new cycle develops .?

15 shapes in half cycle …

where half of half-cycle is a Quad – used in capturing Market Behavior

8 phases of moon cycle

 think of significance of 3-5-8 in markets – how a new cycle develops .?

28-30 makes a full cycle ..l

& a spiral structure based on moon phases over an year

does it have any resemblance to stock markets .. ? i.e. a spiral formed over a monthly cycle

where do the years and months come from ..?

from the universe we live in: as earth completes its cycle around the Sun, we call this period as one Year,  and an year is divided over 12 months … separately, there are 12  rashi(s) (राशि) in our zodiac … a month in the Hindu calendar starts  on the sun’s move into a new rashi (e.g. leo, virgo, Libra etc. in  english, same as  सिंह, कन्या, तुला, हिंदी में & their corresponding  months are August, September & October in English and श्रावण,  भाद्रपद, आश्विन, हिंदी में)

even though the western astrology  uses sun’s move into the zodiac, the monthly calendar is arbitrary …  did you ever wonder why the month of Leo (construed as august) starts  around july 21 / 23, and not august 1 ?  feel free to scratch your head –  or you may look into the Hindu calendar system in which a month starts  at the same time as the Sun enters into a new zodiac (राशि)