Basant Maheshwari Engages In “Creative Destruction” To Dump Old Fav Stocks & Buy New Ones

The last few months have been tumultuous for Basant Maheshwari. The acrimonious exchange of words between his fans and detractors over the failure of Hawkins Cookers disturbed Basant to such an extent that he pulled the plug on Basant Top 10, his popular money-spinner stock advisory service.

At the root of the controversy was the belief/ suspicion that Basant had sold off Hawkins Cookers even while advising the public and his subscribers to buy/ hold the stock.

In his latest interview to CNBC TV18, Basant struck an emotional tone. When asked whether he still believed that housing finance stocks are a “blind buy”, Basant launched into a suo-motu clarification on how “creative destruction is a fantastic form of investing”. He explained that he had sold off some stocks which were close to him. “Its’ like sending your daughter away after marriage” Basant said.

This clearly indicates that Basant has sold off all/ a major part of his holdings in Hawkins Cookers and perhaps even Page Industries.

Basant candidly admitted that he no longer holds HDFC Bank, also one of his erstwhile favourite stocks.

As to new stocks, Basant appears to be smitten by the Pharma sector. He called it a “$86 Billion opportunity” and said that the mid-cap Pharma stocks would do “extraordinarily well”.

Basant acknowledged that he still holds Granules India, which he publicly recommended in May 2015. The stock is up 45% since then. Some of his other favourite Pharma stocks are Torrent Pharma and Cadila Pharma.

Basant’s choice of the Pharma sector is impeccable. The Pharma sector is well known for its low volatility and steady growth trajectory. Several stocks in the sector have effortlessly become super-duper multi-baggers and the trend is likely to continue in the foreseeable future given the huge size of opportunity.

Basant’s choice of Pharma stocks also cannot be faulted. All three stocks, Granules India, Torrent Pharma and Cadila Healthcare, are powerhouse stocks with a stranglehold over the market place.

Incidentally, Daljeet Kohli has issued a “visit note” on Granules India in which he has systematically set out all the core features of the company.

Granules India is also one of the few stocks proclaimed as a “potential 100-bagger” in Motilal Oswal’s 19th Wealth Creation Study. The stock is also widely covered by several brokerages and all of them are bullish about its prospects.