Models & Strategies
How the leading playbooks are behaving right now — and which stocks fit each one.
A hand-curated field guide, written July 2026 — an editorial read of recent market behaviour, not output of Otto's screener and not investment advice. Strategies age: what re-rated yesterday is rarely cheap today. Every ticker below opens Otto's numbers-first deep dive — check the snowflake before you believe the story.
1 · Capex & infrastructure
#1 in India right nowOwn the companies that build the country.
Otto's current matches computed 2026-08-09 · refreshes ~every 30 days
- ADANIENT.NS Adani Enterprises Energy — Thermal Coal; +36% over 6 months; revenue +50% y/y.
- Hindustan Aeronautics Industrials — Aerospace & Defense; +22% over 6 months; revenue +2% y/y.
- ASIANPAINT.NS Asian Paints Basic Materials — Specialty Chemicals; +15% over 6 months; revenue +18% y/y.
- ADANIPORTS.NS Adani Ports Industrials — Marine Shipping; +10% over 6 months; revenue +19% y/y.
- InterGlobe Aviation Industrials — Airlines; +8% over 6 months; revenue +6% y/y.
Screen: infrastructure/defence/utility sectors with a positive 6-month trend, ranked by that trend. Screened within our curated ~100-ticker universe — not the whole market. Rule output, not advice.
Read the full playbook — history & India read
The oldest playbook in markets: when a government or an industry commits to a decade of physical building — railways, grids, factories — the builders' order books fill years in advance. The strategy is simply to hold the companies collecting those orders while the spending cycle runs.
Read more: Capital expenditure — Investopedia ↗
In India what's working
Arguably the single best-performing strategy in India. "Make in India", PLI incentives and record budget capex turned railway, defence, power and capital-goods order books into multi-year growth — and the builders into multi-baggers.
2 · Mega-cap quality growth
trailing — money chased premiumisationBuy the undisputed leaders, pay up, hold on.
Otto's current matches computed 2026-08-09 · refreshes ~every 30 days
- BAJFINANCE.NS Bajaj Finance Mega-cap (₹6.7T) still compounding: revenue +26% y/y on 43% profit margins.
- COALINDIA.NS Coal India Mega-cap (₹2.6T) still compounding: revenue +45% y/y on 18% profit margins.
- ADANIPORTS.NS Adani Ports Mega-cap (₹3.9T) still compounding: revenue +19% y/y on 32% profit margins.
- Axis Bank Mega-cap (₹3.9T) still compounding: revenue +14% y/y on 36% profit margins.
- Kotak Mahindra Bank Mega-cap (₹3.9T) still compounding: revenue +21% y/y on 28% profit margins.
Screen: mega-caps (≥$200B / ₹2.5T) with 10%+ profit margins and growing revenue, ranked by margins + growth. Screened within our curated ~100-ticker universe — not the whole market. Rule output, not advice.
Read the full playbook — history & India read
"Quality growth" means fortress balance sheets, fat cash flows and pricing power — and accepting you'll rarely get them cheap. The modern twist: in a market as efficient as the US, simply holding the biggest winners has beaten hunting for hidden gems.
Read more: Quality investing — Wikipedia ↗
In India what's working
India's classic quality names — big IT services, consumer staples — lagged on rich valuations and soft global demand. The growth money went to premiumisation instead: whatever the rising upper-middle class trades up to.
3 · Pure price momentum
crushing value investing in SMIDsBuy what's already going up — and respect your stops.
Otto's current matches computed 2026-08-09 · refreshes ~every 30 days
- ADANIENT.NS Adani Enterprises +36% in 6 months (+21% in 3); trading 6% below its 52-week high.
- TITAN.NS Titan Company +20% in 6 months (+21% in 3); trading 1% below its 52-week high.
- Hindustan Aeronautics +22% in 6 months (+6% in 3); trading 0% below its 52-week high.
- NESTLEIND.NS Nestlé India +19% in 6 months (+5% in 3); trading 0% below its 52-week high.
- SUNPHARMA.NS Sun Pharmaceutical +15% in 6 months (+7% in 3); trading 3% below its 52-week high.
Screen: +15% or better over 6 months and within 15% of the 52-week high, ranked by blended 3/6-month return. Screened within our curated ~100-ticker universe — not the whole market. Rule output, not advice.
Read the full playbook — history & India read
Momentum is the most stubborn anomaly in finance: winners keep winning longer than theory says they should. It works until the liquidity that feeds it turns — which is why position sizing and exits matter more than entries.
Read more: Momentum investing — Wikipedia ↗
In India what's working
A historic flood of domestic SIP money into mutual funds has poured disproportionately into small and mid caps. Buying what is already rising — regardless of valuation — has beaten fundamentals-first investing in the Indian SMID space.
4 · The value re-rating play
a historic PSU windfallBuy what everyone ignored, wait for the story to change.
Otto's current matches computed 2026-08-09 · refreshes ~every 30 days
- JSWSTEEL.NS JSW Steel Still cheap at 12.8× earnings, and the market is re-rating it: +6% in 6 months.
- SBIN.NS State Bank of India Still cheap at 12.0× earnings, and the market is re-rating it: +5% in 6 months.
Screen: under 15× earnings (18× in India) AND rising over 6 months — cheap alone isn't enough, ranked by re-rating speed per unit of P/E. Screened within our curated ~100-ticker universe — not the whole market. Rule output, not advice.
Editorial examples hand-picked, July 2026
- SBIN.NS State Bank of India India's largest bank went from "bureaucratic discount" to record profits.
- BHEL Power-equipment order book reborn as the grid build-out returned.
- IRFC.NS Indian Railway Finance The railway financing arm, re-rated with the whole rail capex complex.
- COALINDIA.NS Coal India Paid a double-digit yield while powering the grid — the market finally noticed.
Read the full playbook — history & India read
Classic value: buy statistically cheap assets and wait for the market to change its mind. The catch — cheap stays cheap without a catalyst. The strategy only pays when something forces the re-rating: policy, profits or scarcity.
Read more: Value investing — Investopedia ↗
In India what's working
Public Sector Undertakings — companies majority-owned by the government — traded at dirt-cheap multiples with fat dividends because nobody trusted the management. When the state pivoted to profitability and execution (defence, railways, state banks), the re-rating was historic.
5 · Quantitative smart beta
exploding from a small baseFire the stock picker, hire the rule.
Otto's current matches computed 2026-08-09 · refreshes ~every 30 days
- BAJFINANCE.NS Bajaj Finance Passes a quality + momentum blend: margins 43% with +10% over 6 months — the factors MTUM/QUAL-style rules buy.
- Hindustan Aeronautics Passes a quality + momentum blend: ROE 24% with +22% over 6 months — the factors MTUM/QUAL-style rules buy.
- ADANIPORTS.NS Adani Ports Passes a quality + momentum blend: margins 32% with +10% over 6 months — the factors MTUM/QUAL-style rules buy.
- SUNPHARMA.NS Sun Pharmaceutical Passes a quality + momentum blend: margins 20% with +15% over 6 months — the factors MTUM/QUAL-style rules buy.
- NESTLEIND.NS Nestlé India Passes a quality + momentum blend: margins 16% with +19% over 6 months — the factors MTUM/QUAL-style rules buy.
Screen: a quality factor (ROE or margins ≥15%) blended with positive 6-month momentum — what rules-based factor funds buy. Screened within our curated ~100-ticker universe — not the whole market. Rule output, not advice.
Read the full playbook — history & India read
Factor investing sits between indexing and stock picking: buy whatever passes a transparent screen — momentum, quality, yield — rebalance on schedule, and let the rule remove the emotion. It's how retail money increasingly buys "strategy" itself.
Read more: Smart beta — Investopedia ↗
In India what's working
Rules-based investing is new but exploding in India. Momentum index funds — like those tracking the Nifty 200 Momentum 30 — have routinely beaten active managers, and investors are shifting from discretionary tips to systematic screens.
The classic frameworks
CANSLIM, SEPA, Zulu, Darvas — built for the US decades ago, and working beautifully in India today.
CANSLIM
1933–2023
Otto's current matches computed 2026-08-09 · refreshes ~every 30 days
- JSWSTEEL.NS JSW Steel O'Neil's C: quarterly earnings +113% y/y; price 2% off the 52-week high — the breakout zone.
- TITAN.NS Titan Company O'Neil's C: quarterly earnings +63% y/y; price 1% off the 52-week high — the breakout zone.
- NESTLEIND.NS Nestlé India O'Neil's C: quarterly earnings +48% y/y; price 0% off the 52-week high — the breakout zone.
- ASIANPAINT.NS Asian Paints O'Neil's C: quarterly earnings +40% y/y; price 7% off the 52-week high — the breakout zone.
- SUNPHARMA.NS Sun Pharmaceutical O'Neil's C: quarterly earnings +27% y/y; price 3% off the 52-week high — the breakout zone.
Screen: quarterly earnings up 25%+ year-on-year with price within 10% of the 52-week high, per O'Neil's C and N. Screened within our curated ~100-ticker universe — not the whole market. Rule output, not advice.
Read the full playbook — O'Neil's story & the India read
Seven letters, one idea: buy fundamentally accelerating companies (Current and Annual earnings) exactly when the chart confirms institutional buying — the cup-and-handle breakout — and cut every loss at 7–8%, no exceptions.
Read more: CANSLIM — Investopedia ↗
In India how it's holding up
India is in a classic structural bull market — huge retail and domestic institutional participation, far less algorithmic gaming in the SMID space. Cup-and-handle breakouts have tended to be genuine and sustained.
SEPA / VCP
b. 1965
Otto's current matches computed 2026-08-09 · refreshes ~every 30 days
- ADANIENT.NS Adani Enterprises A live volatility contraction: daily swings tightened to ±1.3% from ±2.2%, above the 200-day trend, 6% off the high.
- TITAN.NS Titan Company A live volatility contraction: daily swings tightened to ±1.0% from ±1.7%, above the 200-day trend, 1% off the high.
- SUNPHARMA.NS Sun Pharmaceutical A live volatility contraction: daily swings tightened to ±0.8% from ±1.4%, above the 200-day trend, 3% off the high.
- Tech Mahindra A live volatility contraction: daily swings tightened to ±1.5% from ±2.2%, above the 200-day trend, 5% off the high.
- Bharti Airtel A live volatility contraction: daily swings tightened to ±1.0% from ±1.4%, above the 200-day trend, 8% off the high.
Screen: above the 200-day trend with recent daily volatility at least 25% tighter than before, near the high — Minervini's contraction. Screened within our curated ~100-ticker universe — not the whole market. Rule output, not advice.
Read the full playbook — Minervini's story & the India read
Specific Entry Point Analysis: wait for a leader's volatility to contract through successively tighter pullbacks — the Volatility Contraction Pattern — then enter as price pivots out on volume, risking fractions of a percent to make multiples.
Read more: minervini.com — the official site ↗
In India how it's holding up
A golden era. When an Indian defence or manufacturing name coils into a VCP, the breakout has tended to run for months, not minutes.
The Zulu Principle
1929–2015
Otto's current matches computed 2026-08-09 · refreshes ~every 30 days
- LICI.NS Life Insurance Corp Slater's PEG test: 8.3× earnings ÷ 40% earnings growth = PEG 0.21 (under 1 = growth going cheap).
- ONGC.NS Oil & Natural Gas Corp Slater's PEG test: 6.9× earnings ÷ 21% earnings growth = PEG 0.32 (under 1 = growth going cheap).
- M&M.NS Mahindra & Mahindra Slater's PEG test: 21.3× earnings ÷ 33% earnings growth = PEG 0.64 (under 1 = growth going cheap).
- Axis Bank Slater's PEG test: 13.9× earnings ÷ 22% earnings growth = PEG 0.64 (under 1 = growth going cheap).
- Kotak Mahindra Bank Slater's PEG test: 19.2× earnings ÷ 22% earnings growth = PEG 0.85 (under 1 = growth going cheap).
Screen: PEG under 1.0 on 15–60% earnings growth, per Slater — spectacular growth is excluded as cyclical recovery, not compounding. Screened within our curated ~100-ticker universe — not the whole market. Rule output, not advice.
Read the full playbook — Slater's story & the India read
Slater's rule: specialise narrowly ("be a Zulu expert"), hunt small, under-researched companies growing EPS 15%+ — and only pay a PEG under about 0.75, so the growth costs less than it's worth.
Read more: Jim Slater — Wikipedia ↗
In India how it's holding up
India was the perfect hunting ground — dozens of under-researched smallcaps compounding 25%+ on 10–15× earnings. The liquidity wave has stretched those valuations, so true Zulu bargains are far scarcer than two years ago.
Darvas Box
1920–1977
Otto's current matches computed 2026-08-09 · refreshes ~every 30 days
- NESTLEIND.NS Nestlé India Within 0.0% of its highest close in our 5-year window — the top of a fresh Darvas box (+5% in 3 months).
- TITAN.NS Titan Company Within 1.2% of its highest close in our 5-year window — the top of a fresh Darvas box (+21% in 3 months).
- SUNPHARMA.NS Sun Pharmaceutical Within 2.8% of its highest close in our 5-year window — the top of a fresh Darvas box (+7% in 3 months).
- JSWSTEEL.NS JSW Steel Within 2.3% of its highest close in our 5-year window — the top of a fresh Darvas box (+3% in 3 months).
- ICICIBANK.NS ICICI Bank Within 3.0% of its highest close in our 5-year window — the top of a fresh Darvas box (+16% in 3 months).
Screen: within 3% of the highest close in our 5-year window and rising over 3 months — the top of the box. Screened within our curated ~100-ticker universe — not the whole market. Rule output, not advice.
Read the full playbook — Darvas's story & the India read
Darvas bought only stocks punching to new all-time highs on heavy volume, drew a "box" around each consolidation, bought the break of the box top and trailed his stop beneath it. No forecasts — price only.
Read more: Darvas Box theory — Investopedia ↗
In India how it's holding up
An absolute goldmine — whole sectors (PSU banks, railways, power, real estate) broke to all-time highs and stacked boxes for months. Pure price-action kept you fully exposed to the leaders without needing the fundamental story.
The bottom line
IndiaThe winning Indian strategy has been following government capital expenditure (capex, defence, PSUs) and riding the wave of domestic liquidity into small and mid caps, where momentum has trumped valuation. India today behaves much like the US of the 1980s–90s — which is exactly why the classic frameworks are working so well there.
Hi! I can explain any playbook on this page — what it is, who invented it, why it's working (or not) in India right now.
Otto explains what's on this page — not investment advice.