Struggle to make money from stocks

Just a few months back, it seemed that the midcap and smallcap index and individual stocks would scale new highs, and make a lot of money for people in the past. However, October onwards, there was a lot of caution being talked about, since the valuations seemed unreasonable, and some of the small cap Mutual Funds had stopped taking new money from customers since there was a belief that a crash was around the corner, and at these valuations, there was little money to be made. However, the midcaps and smallcaps did go higher and higher, all the way into January. It was the months of January that started seeing the fall of these stocks, with sudden shocks. This continued into the months of February, and the indexes as well individual stocks started falling with a vengeance.
It has always been recommended by market experts that retail investors who buy smallcap and mid-cap stocks should do with a stop loss set, so that profits they have made can be taken out of the system - either this can be done when the investor feels that the stock has gone high enough and wants to do profit taking; or the stock has peaked, and the investor wants to get out when the stock has started falling (this strategy requires the investor to be disciplined in their approach and take action when their strategy calls for it). I am happy that I have managed to execute this strategy in this particular year, in the past, I have been emotional and held onto stocks when they are falling and have lost profit in this way. So, for example, in one stock which went upto Rs. 1400, I had reset my stop losses when the stock went on rising, and when it started falling, I was able to get around Rs. 1200 for a stock which is now at Rs 600. As a result, if there is a turnaround and the stock starts rising, I will have cash in my hands to start making purchasing again as opposed to the past when I would be holding the stock when it starts falling and keep on holding it.
I would strongly recommend investors to make a strategy that they believe that can bring them profit, and then follow that strategy. This is essential to make profit, and there is profit to be made in the Indian stock market.
Right now, the market is in a odd situation, with the stock market Nifty and Sensex still at highs, with the midcaps haven fallen; so a bit dicey whether the midcaps will recover. However, markets follow trends, and one should keep following the trends, and be ready to invest when the trend reverses. 

The gloom over the past couple of years have suddenly receded in the past couple of weeks. The scam hit Government was also losing the past few state elections, which further cost it more political capital. It would seem like that the political leadership of the Congress finally decided that the cost of not doing something was far more to the future of the Congress than any pressure that the allies would bring to bear on it. The prediction that, other than Mamta Banerjee, all the other allies could be brought in line because of various issues against them and their reluctance to face elections. And so the Government finally brought in reforms to project an improved image, to pick up some political capital, and though Mamta Banerjee went ahead of the expectations of the Congress by withdrawing support rather than just pushing for the resignation of her ministers, the Congress was assured of a majority that would still support them.
The market as expected welcomed the improvement in the air, also because there was no expectation of any such measures over the past many months; the market had come to expect that there would be ongoing policy paralysis and eventual reduction in the rating of the country and companies. The market as such has been seeing an increase in the index values and many shares that have been down-trodden have started climbing up from their yearly lows. However, there is a high amount of risk. The policies of the Government towards reform are not deep, nor are they because of any deep belief, especially since many members of the Congress are fearsome of the public backlash to the reform.
There is an improvement in engineering stocks, because of a belief that the economy will start improving, including in infrastructural, construction and other stocks. So for the short term, some risk can be worth it by investing in these stocks.
Reliance seems to be slowly recovering, although the share has been depressed for quite some time.
There are some other stocks that are worth investing in such as:
West Coast Paper
Weizman Forex
Tata Global Beverages
Godrej Industries
Zenith Fibres
Govind Rubber

Keep in mind that some of these stocks have already run up in the past few weeks, and there is a risk in buying into the equity market.