Our friend Panja, like others of his breed, having got an education from the best institutes in India is a confident man. His confidence is often interpreted as ego by others. The surplus of "I"s in the nomenclature of his alma mater may be plausible explanation. Like so many others, Panja had absolutely no interest in stock markets, and never bought or sold a single share in his life. That is, till he met us.

We welcomed him into our gang, and promptly bombarded him with research reports, tip sheets, gossip and grapevine (and wine, too). He got into the gyrations of the Sensex and became its slave. I guess there is something about gyrating items. Till the pack of cards collapsed and he was left with nothing but few sheets of paper and debt. Much chastened, he walked away from the (one way?) Dalal Street.

Now when we got down to creating portfolios for 5paisa.com, Panja's old affairs with the Sensex resurfaced. Having imbibed the cup that cheers, he shared with us his new investment strategy. For him, there are no fundamental analysis or technical, only mathematical. Having read tomes on financial analysis, he has concluded that markets are perfectly efficient and adopted the dart board approach. His portfolio pickings are simple, straight forward, elegant yet mathematical.

Panja's principles are -

• Pick any five stocks in random. We have forced him (much against his wishes) to restrict his selection to A and B1 stocks only.
  
• Once every month, on the last trading day, he will remove one stock and add another at random keeping the weightage equal.
• He will have equal weightage for all stocks in the portfolio.

And that's it. Lets see what Panja does this time.

Note: Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental and unintentional.

1. Amara Raja Batteries

We have come to understand from reliable sources that Panja has brought a new Ford Ikon and has since been impressed with its battery. Closer investigation has it that the brand was 'Amaron'. So no surprise if Amara Raja is one of Panja's pick for the month. This Tirupati based company has been well known for its industrial/telecom batteries. For this it had to look askance every time when DoT floated a tender. The last few years haven't been good with DoT playing truant. However, with this government seeming committed to telecom projects, it seems that Amara Raja has a better future ahead.

2. Apollo Tyres

Apollo is the Greek God of Sun. But things have not always looked bright for the company in the past few years. Part of it has been due to the overall downturn in the tyre industry and part of it has been due to the company's militant labor unions. A leader in the truck and bus tyre segment, the company has 'amazed' us by becoming aggressive in terms of facing competition on the basis of price. This has meant additional pressure on margins. So has Panja missed the target with Apollo? Perhaps, only time will tell.

3. Balrampur Chini Mills

Our man Panja has revealed that he has a sweet tooth. So he thought why not pick a company which is an acknowledged leader in the sugar industry. And lo and behold!! His dart fell straight on Balrampur Chini. With the festival season already upon us, it presents an opportunity for Panja to satiate his craving for things sweet. We would also hope that the movement in the share price does not leave a bitter taste in our mouths.

4. Carborundum Universal

Panja is not known for his abrasive nature. He is so sophisticated for that. But he has shown interest in a firm, which makes abrasives and is the leader in the segment. Till recently it also used to dabble in refractories. But it is right now in the process of hiving one of its divisions to someone who knows the business well - Vesuvius. The company has also gone in for a VRS to reduce employee costs. In his wisdom, Panja believes that the company's restructuring initiatives should make it a cut above the rest.

5. Jaiprakash Industries

Panja has picked a stock, which originally figured among our 5 Fataka ideas. But it seems we have been proved wrong. The stock did not gyrate to the extent we had predicted and Panja knows this. He believes in things more fundamental and here he has seen a silver lining. Jaiprakash has proposed to restructure itself by reducing its debt burden and focusing more on its engineering and construction businesses. But will the market also see the way Panja does? The verdict has to wait.