Mumbai/New Delhi: Believe it or not, one of every six actively-traded stocks on BSE hit their rock bottom in 2019, even as largecap benchmarks delivered double-digits return.Seventy per cent of the stocks that hit new lows do not have a history of such sharp slumps. Yet they eroded 50-95 per cent of investor wealth from their 52-week high levels amid problems with cash flow, high debt, promoter share pledges and corporate governance issues in some case.Unsuspecting investors got stuck in many of these so-called ‘ value traps .’Out of the 547 BSE-listed stocks that hit record lows in 2019, 383 lost 50-95 per cent of their market value from their 52-week high levels.Anil Ambani’s ADAG group stocks Reliance Communications fell 95 per cent, Reliance Infrastructure 92 per cent, Reliance Power 89 per cent, Reliance Home Finance 86 per cent and Reliance Naval 84 per cent.Rating agencies have cut their ratings on debt papers of some of Adag group companies to ‘default’ grade. Once the six richest person on the planet with $42 billion wealth, Anil’s networth has since dropped to millions.Shares of Naresh Goyal’s Jet Airways, which was grounded in April and is now facing bankruptcy proceedings, have fallen 93 per cent. Among others, Jaiprakash Associates is down 86 per cent, Manpasand Beverages 86 per cent and Sintex Plastics Technologies 84 per cent.“These were asset-heavy stocks. Many had cash flow problems. Corporate governance issues propped up for some of them, and the stocks turned illiquid. There were structural problems to start with,” said Dhananjay Sinha, Head of Strategy Research and Chief Economist, IDFC Securities.“One needs to know the sector he/she is investing well. Liquid stocks with proven management track record should be preferred to avoid getting trapped,” he said.Among others, Eros International Media, Siti Networks, Ballarpur Industries , Navkar Corporation, Cox & Kings, Shankara Building Products and Jaypee Infratech have also severely destroyed investor wealth.Wealth destruction is the drop in market capitalisation, adjusted for fresh equity issuance, mergers, demergers and share buybacks.Among the stocks where retail investors have got stuck, one is Jet Airways. As of March 31, retail investors held 11.42 per cent stake in the airline against 4.29 per cent a year ago. FPIs have cut stake in the company to 1.47 per cent from 5.23 per cent, MFs to 3.58 per cent from 9.16 per cent YoY. In the case of JP Associates, where Big Bull Rakesh Jhunjhunwala was an investor once, small investors now hold 29.49 per cent stake against 21.77 per cent a year ago, even as FPIs have cut their holdings by roughly 300 basis points and MFs have almost exited it.Manpasand Beverages is a similar case; retail investors held nearly 10 per cent stake in this firm as of March end against 2.49 per cent in the year-ago quarter.Anil-Ambani controlled Reliance Communications turned out to be the worst value destructor, having fallen a whopping 99.9 per cent to Rs 1.20 from its record high of Rs 844 hit in January 2008. The telco, which is back in bankruptcy court after staving it off once about a year back, has become one of the biggest insolvency cases in the country.Reliance Power recently took impairments and write-off of over Rs 4,000 crore. The company’s IPO was one of the most awaited ones in 2008, but the stock lost momentum within minutes of its listing. It was listed with much fanfare, and rose 19 per cent on debut, but corrected thereafter. The stock is down 99.3 per cent from its record high of Rs 599.90 hit in February 2008.Other stocks on the list which have fallen more than 98 per cent from their record high levels are Jaiprakash Power Ventures, HDIL. Bombay Rayon Fashions, Siti Networks and Reliance Infrastructure.In their bid to make quick money, retail investors often jump to catch the so-called falling knives, only to end up getting trapped.Sinha said it was unfortunate that in their bid to grab multibaggers, retail investors are getting trapped in these stocks, while institutional investors have exited over timeAre you among them?