Read, Learn, Improve - 15-Oct-16

Liquid assets: how the business of bottled water went mad - How did a substance that falls from the air, springs from the earth and comes out of your tap become a hyperactive multibillion-dollar business? – Link here

The science (and business) of sleep – Link here

We’re getting closer to clothing made entirely by robots – Link here

Your Next Friend Could Be a Robot – Link here

The Most Complicated Simple Problems – Link here

American cows have been bred into milk machines, and it’s backfiring on farmers – Link here

China’s Days of Exporting Deflation May Be Drawing to a Close – Link here

Netflix or Hulu won’t win the streaming wars. Your cable company will – Link here

America’s Dazzling Tech Boom Has a Downside: Not Enough Jobs – Link here

27 charts that will change how you think about the American economy – Link here

Uber Slayer: How China’s Didi Beat the Ride-Hailing Superpower – Link here

The oldest human lived to 122. Why no person will likely break her record - Even with better medicine, living past 120 years will be extremely unlikely – Link here

Read,Learn, Improve – 8-Oct-16

Short Basic Automakers, Long Luxury/SportsCar markers from 10-20years view  - People buy car for two basic purpose one for travel and second to indicate status and this is clearly visible by two type of car maker – Basic efficient ones - Toyota, Suzuki, Ford, GM, etc and Status - Luxury, Sports,etc  – BMW, Audi, Porsche, Ferrari, McLaren etc. Now once cars become automatic/driverless, I wonder how many people would buy car for its looks and driving pleasure, huge mass would shift to driverless cars (in case you wondering why we would shift to driverless car, we would be more happy to chat with our friends or read or entertain ourselves or as they call it stay glued to our mobile screen – snapchat, facebook, twitter, etc) while we are traveling in car. Most probably I think most of the population would cease owning a car when it would be easily available at push of the button, hence there would very few people actually buying car and those would be buying self drive (opposite of driverless cars) – I believe this would be pure luxury & sports car aficionados or connoisseurs. Read “More Evidence Cars Will Never Be Sexy Again – Link here “ to get idea where my views are coming from.

Ride-hailing apps are creating an inefficient and unfair transit system – Link here

The Absolute Return Letter - The New Normal, Mk. II – Link here . One of the interesting points raised is how we calculate GDP. Not counting contribution of housewife has been one of the age old criticisms of how we calculate GDP. However if you observe closely new economy has to offer lot of things for free and doesn’t get captured in our GDP calculation. Case in point Google Map, we don’t pay for it (although technically we share our info, so we are selling our personal habits & life) but it helps lots of us.

Shiller’s Powerful Market Indicator Is Sending a False Signal About Stocks This Time – Link here

Cut-throat competition is slashing offshore wind costs to unthinkable levels – Link here

If War Can Have Ethics, Wall Street Can, Too – Link here

Out of Prison, Out of Work – Link here

Why the next 20 years will see a lot less technological disruption than the past 20 – Link here

Why thousands of millionaires don’t pay federal income taxes – Link here

In the age of the algorithm, the human gatekeeper is back - The rise of algorithms has been relentless, but we need human input in our world of technological innovations – Link here

A Dozen Things You can Learn by Reading “The Success Equation” by Michael Mauboussin – Link here

10,000 years of smart beta data – Link here

Oil Discoveries at 70-Year Low Signal Supply Shortfall Ahead – Link here

These Technologies May Actually Deliver Elon Musk’s Dream of Changing the World – Link here

Panasonic reveals bendable battery at Ceatec – Link here

Read,Learn,Improve-1-Oct-16

Practicing a “Punch Card” Approach to Investing – Linkhere

Tamal Bandyopadhyay is one of the finest business journalists when it comes to banks and financial institutions. Last year I read his book “Sahara: The Untold Story” and would recommend you to do the so too. Currently I am midst of his another book “A Bank for the Buck” based on HDFC bank, again very insightful and goes through history of the bank. He recently wrote interesting piece called - How corrupt are our bankers? – Linkhere – makes for an interesting read.

SEBI Finally Cracks down on NSE’s Suspect Algo Trading. What does it mean? – Link here

10 Commandments of Financial Modeling – Linkhere

Hot Mess: How Goldman Sachs Lost $1.2 Billion of Libya’s Money - When Wall Street’s most aggressive bank took on the world’s most incendiary client, someone was going to make a killing – Link here

How to hide it: inside the secret world of wealth managers - They know more about their clients than the clients’ own wives. They are loyal in the face of appalling behaviour. They are the brains behind the most ingenious tax avoidance schemes. And there are more of them than ever – Linkhere

Peak Finance Looks Like It's Over – Linkhere

China’s Ambitious Plan to Make the Yuan the World’s Go-To Currency – Linkhere

How to change the world with a $1 microscope – Linkhere

The genesis of Zoomcar – Linkhere

Sword of the Brother Enemy by Shashi Tharoor – Linkhere

These Mammals Are Just Straight-Up Murdering Each Other All The Time – Linkhere

The Difference Between a Bubble and a Cycle – Linkhere

Stupefied - How organisations enshrine collective stupidity and employees are rewarded for checking their brains at the office door – Linkhere

Hell on Earth - What happens to life sentences if our lifespan is radically extended? A philosopher talks about future punishment – Linkhere

The nightmare of finding an ‘ipill’ in Chennai, TN – Linkhere

Can Lok Sabha & Assembly Elections be held simultaneously? – Linkhere

Read,Learn,Improve - 1-Oct-16

Practicing a “Punch Card” Approach to Investing – Link here

Tamal Bandyopadhyay is one of the finest business journalists when it comes to banks and financial institutions. Last year I read his book “Sahara: The Untold Story” and would recommend you to do the so too. Currently I am midst of his another book “A Bank for the Buck” based on HDFC bank, again very insightful and goes through history of the bank. He recently wrote interesting piece called - How corrupt are our bankers? – Link here – makes for an interesting read.

SEBI Finally Cracks down on NSE’s Suspect Algo Trading. What does it mean? – Link here

10 Commandments of Financial Modeling – Link here

Hot Mess: How Goldman Sachs Lost $1.2 Billion of Libya’s Money - When Wall Street’s most aggressive bank took on the world’s most incendiary client, someone was going to make a killing – Link here

How to hide it: inside the secret world of wealth managers - They know more about their clients than the clients’ own wives. They are loyal in the face of appalling behaviour. They are the brains behind the most ingenious tax avoidance schemes. And there are more of them than ever – Link here

Peak Finance Looks Like It's Over – Link here

China’s Ambitious Plan to Make the Yuan the World’s Go-To Currency – Link here

How to change the world with a $1 microscope – Link here

The genesis of Zoomcar – Link here

Sword of the Brother Enemy by Shashi Tharoor – Link here

These Mammals Are Just Straight-Up Murdering Each Other All The Time – Link here

The Difference Between a Bubble and a Cycle – Link here

Stupefied - How organisations enshrine collective stupidity and employees are rewarded for checking their brains at the office door – Link here

Hell on Earth - What happens to life sentences if our lifespan is radically extended? A philosopher talks about future punishment – Link here

The nightmare of finding an ‘ipill’ in Chennai, TN – Link here

Can Lok Sabha & Assembly Elections be held simultaneously? – Link here

 

Read, Learn, Improve – 24-Sep-16

12 cutting-edge technologies that could save our oceans – Link here

How a small Bengaluru biotech company is leading the way in global cancer diagnostics – Link here

Toyota is using sewage sludge to power its new electric car – Link here

It's not who buys a fancy car. What matters more is why - For the seller, variables such as gender, age, education and income are important, but what really matters is the customer's needs – Link here

Amazon Says It Puts Customers First. But Its Pricing Algorithm Doesn’t – Link here

In 20 to 40 years, most Americans won’t have sex to reproduce. Get ready. – Link here

Raghu Raman, the former CEO of the National Intelligence Grid has a unique blend of career experiences. Raghu began his career with the Indian Armed Forces and during his 12 year stint there, he was in operations in Punjab, then in the frontline at the highest battlefield in the world in Siachen Glacier followed by a tour of duty in war torn Angola as a UN Peace Keeper. Raman's last stint with the army was as an instructor in prestigious School of Armoured Warfare teaching young officers leadership and combat tactics. Mr Raman has been writer and has written some fantastic piece in Mint. Recently on back of Uri attack he has come up a fine plan on how to counter Pakistan - Seven powerful ways India can attack Pakistan – without crossing the border – Link here

How to invest like… Warren Buffett's hero Philip Carret – Link here

The Difference Between Rationality and Intelligence – Link here

The Coming Anti-National Revolution – Link here

The rise of the superstars - A small group of giant companies—some old, some new—are once again dominating the global economy, says Adrian Wooldridge. Is that a good or a bad thing? – Link here

Why Do Famous People Get Paid $250,000 to Give a Speech? – Link here

The Greatest Bubble of All-Time? – Link here

Wall Street’s 0.01%: The Guru Who Only Talks to Hedge-Fund Elite – Link here

A Dozen Ways to Apply the Lessons Taught in the Book “The Most Important Thing” by Howard Marks – Link here

A global corporate conspiracy helped catalyze a food crisis and drove 44 million into poverty – Link here

 

Read, Learn, Improve – 17-Sep-16

Bayer-Monsanto Combination Likely Too Big in U.S. Cottonseed – Link here

Can the open hardware revolution help to democratise technology? – Link here

The John Bogle Expected Return Formula – Link here

Adblock Plus now sells ads – Link here

Would you fly in a pilotless airliner? - Driverless trains and cars are already with us – but how soon before pilotless airliners? The biggest challenge may be getting passengers on board – Link here

How Morality Changes in a Foreign Language - Fascinating ethical shifts come with thinking in a different language – Link here

Chinese Billionaire Linked to Giant Aluminum Stockpile in Mexican Desert – Link here

Banks and Colleges Are Wasting Our Money – Link here

How Does America Keep Finding Vast Stores of Energy? – Link here

What Fiat Chrysler chief Sergio Marchionne told us over lunch – Link here

India’s Sham-Scam Scooter Policy of the 1970s – Link here

How India’s digital economy can recover its mojo – Link here

A Bored Investor Is a Dangerous Thing - If the stock market feels too quiet, resist the urge to spice things up in your portfolio – Link here

Two Key Checklist Items – Link here

Hacking a Company's Stock Price – Link here (what happens if a researcher discovers vulnerability in a niche medical device? A pacemaker, for example?)

Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari review – how data will destroy human freedom – Link here  - It’s a chilling prospect, but the AI we’ve created could transform human nature, argues this spellbinding new book by the author of Sapiens.

Watch: This anytime pizza machine might soon be at a railway station near you (if you're in Mumbai) – Link here

 

Read, Learn, Improve - 10-Sep-16

(Links open in new window)

Indian IT sector has been shining example of Indian industry as well stock market for wealth it has created. However off lately, there has been a concern whether Indian IT companies can compete & stand against global biggies in wake of change in technology. Basic question being it’s true we do have tonnes of engineers and software programmer but how competent are they for new tech? And it looks concerns are very legitimate if you see global ranking of our programmers, they are nowhere near top on overall basis or on domain basis. Read this to get more insight - Which Country Would Win in the Programming Olympics? – Link here . Many of you might spot that even US is not amongst the top – 5 either on overall basis or in any particular domain, very true, thought they have ability to attract best talent from across the globe. I guess Vishal Sikka is probably on right path of training its employee, will it yield fruits? Let’s wait & watch.

Why Luck Plays a Big Role in Making You Rich – Link here

The court that rules the world - A parallel legal universe, open only to corporations and largely invisible to everyone else, helps executives convicted of crimes escape punishment. Part 2 of a BuzzFeed News investigation – let’s make them poorer, and we’ll get rich – Link here

The Wrong Man - Thomas Webb survived a false conviction, but freedom failed him. Then he met his accuser – Link here

A Chinese Mystery: Who Owns a Firm on a Global Shopping Spree? Owners of Anbang, a Chinese insurer behind a wave of multibillion-dollar deals, include relatives and friends of its politically connected chairman – Link here

An Insider’s View: Why is Bollywood Going Bust? – Link here

Smashed Fortunes - How market speculators in China upended life in India’s ship-recycling yards – Link here

Aadhar seems to be on verge of creating a revolution for india, blockchain is another tech that I believe can ease how business is registered and run – take a look at global examples how it is being used - The Blockchain is Perfect for Government Services, Here’s A Blueprint – Link here

Exclusive: how Elizabeth Holmes’s house of cards came tumbling down – Link here

5 Interview Tips to Find the Long-Term Employee – Link here

Judges Need Not Know All Laws – Link here

Proof of evolution that you can find on your body (Video – 3:54) – Link here

When You Change the World and No One Notices – Link here

This Is Your Brain's Default Setting—Here's How And When To Change It - We may be hardwired for overconfidence, but there's more than one trigger for it and it's not always a bad thing – Link here

Why China Isn't a Financial Center – Link here

Apple’s little-known (and somewhat unsexy) secret to success – Link here