Thursday, December 31, 2015
Rules for (Happy) New Year
A Few Simple Rules For Money Managers - Advice to money managers from a money manager – Original Article
One of the biggest hazards of being a professional money manager is that you are expected to behave in a certain way: You have to come to the office every day, work long hours, slog through countless e-mails, be on top of your portfolio (that is, check performance of your securities minute by minute), watch business TV and consume news continuously, and dress well and conservatively, wearing a rope around the only part of your body that lets air get to your brain. Our colleagues judge us on how early we arrive at work and how late we stay. We do these things because society expects us to, not because they make us better investors or do any good for our clients.
Somehow we let the mindless, Henry Ford–assembly-line, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., widgets-per-hour mentality dictate how we conduct our business thinking. Though car production benefits from rigid rules, uniforms, automation and strict working hours, in investing — the business of thinking — the assembly-line culture is counterproductive. Our clients and employers would be better off if we designed our workdays to let us perform our best.
Investing is not an idea-per-hour profession; it more likely results in a few ideas per year. A traditional, structured working environment creates pressure to produce an output — an idea, even a forced idea. Warren Buffett once said at a Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting: “We don’t get paid for activity; we get paid for being right. As to how long we’ll wait, we’ll wait indefinitely.”
How you get ideas is up to you. I am not a professional writer, but as a professional money manager, I learn and think best through writing. I put on my headphones, turn on opera and stare at my computer screen for hours, pecking away at the keyboard — that is how I think. You may do better by walking in the park or sitting with your legs up on the desk, staring at the ceiling.
I do my best thinking in the morning. At 3:00 in the afternoon, my brain shuts off; that is when I read my e-mails. We are all different. My best friend is a brunch person; he needs to consume six cups of coffee in the morning just to get his brain going. To be most productive, he shouldn’t go to work before 11:00 a.m.
And then there’s the business news. Serious business news that lacked sensationalism, and thus ratings, has been replaced by a new genre: business entertainment (of course, investors did not get the memo). These shows do a terrific job of filling our need to have explanations for everything, even random events that require no explanation (like daily stock movements). Most information on the business entertainment channels — Bloomberg Television, CNBC, Fox Business — has as much value for investors as daily weather forecasts have for travelers who don’t intend to go anywhere for a year. Yet many managers have CNBC, Fox or Bloomberg on while they work.
You may think you’re able to filter the noise. You cannot; it overwhelms you. So don’t fight the noise — block it. Leave the television off while the markets are open, and at the end of the day, check the business channel websites to see if there were interviews or news events that are worth watching.
Don’t check your stock quotes continuously; doing so shrinks your time horizon. As a long-term investor, you analyze a company and value the business over the next decade, but daily stock volatility will negate all that and turn you into a trader. There is nothing wrong with trading, but investors are rarely good traders.
Numerous studies have found that humans are terrible at multitasking. We have a hard time ignoring irrelevant information and are too sensitive to new information. Focus is the antithesis of multitasking. I find that I’m most productive on an airplane. I put on my headphones and focus on reading or writing. There are no distractions — no e-mails, no Twitter, no Facebook, no instant messages, no phone calls. I get more done in the course of a four-hour flight than in two days at the office. But you don’t need to rack up frequent-flier miles to focus; just go into “off mode” a few hours a day: Kill your Internet, turn off your phone, and do what you need to do.
I bet if most of us really focused, we could cut down our workweek from five days to two. Performance would improve, our personal lives would get better, and those eventual heart attacks would be pushed back a decade or two.
Take the rope off your neck and wear comfortable clothes to work (I often opt for jeans and a “Life is good” T-shirt). Pause and ask yourself a question: If I was not bound by the obsolete routines of the dinosaur age of assembly-line manufacturing, how would I structure my work to be the best investor I could be? Print this article, take it to your boss and tell him or her, “This is what I need to do to be the most productive.
By Vitaliy Katsenelson
Saturday, December 26, 2015
Read,Learn,Improve – 26-Dec-15
Read,Learn,Improve – 26-Dec-15
Nice looking girl always catches eye, hence there are hardly any ads without woman/girl in it ;)
The nonsense that is gut instinct – Link here
The most misleading charts of 2015, fixed - how to lie with stats & graphs – Link here
When the KKK Was a Pyramid Scheme – Link here
David Einhorn and Reasons Why Widely Followed Stocks Get Mispriced – Link here
This amazing trash can for the sea could be the answer to the Ganga's garbage problem – Link here
A Short History of Interest Rates – Link here
Warren Buffett Is Wrong: The Bitcoin Proof – Link here
Three Clues for Assessing Management – Link here
Money talks - Has money really changed from shells to digital apps? Underneath, money is always a token of our social relations – Link here
Not everything that counts, can be counted – Link here
Infographic: The World’s Strangest Currencies – Link here
33 Signs that Bitcoin Growth Isn’t Slowing in 2016 – Link here
Nice looking girl always catches eye, hence there are hardly any ads without woman/girl in it ;)
The nonsense that is gut instinct – Link here
The most misleading charts of 2015, fixed - how to lie with stats & graphs – Link here
When the KKK Was a Pyramid Scheme – Link here
David Einhorn and Reasons Why Widely Followed Stocks Get Mispriced – Link here
This amazing trash can for the sea could be the answer to the Ganga's garbage problem – Link here
A Short History of Interest Rates – Link here
Warren Buffett Is Wrong: The Bitcoin Proof – Link here
Three Clues for Assessing Management – Link here
Money talks - Has money really changed from shells to digital apps? Underneath, money is always a token of our social relations – Link here
Not everything that counts, can be counted – Link here
Infographic: The World’s Strangest Currencies – Link here
33 Signs that Bitcoin Growth Isn’t Slowing in 2016 – Link here
Friday, December 25, 2015
Christmas & Refugees
Christmas & Refugees
I received this very nice piece in mail from quartz.com, thought i did share with all. Its really good read, its written by Annalisa Merelli.
One of the key reason why I like this piece is how beautiful it explains the Role of Luck that we all have. Imagine you being born in border town of North Korea, I have never visited nor met anybody who has visited that place. But going by whats written by media, that place pretty much lacks freedom. Imagine just 1 kilometer down the road from your home is country called South Korea and see how your future changes. Closer to home, imagine being born in Pakistan now compare that to being born in India. Some part of your success is because of role of luck, I am not saying we all stop doing what we are doing and waiting for luck to play out or assuming if its in my luck I will get it, why to work for it. All I am saying is, lets just appreciate Luck we have.
Below is the piece by Annalisa Merelli
“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me,” Jesus says in Matthew’s gospel. “Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” This is at the very core of Christian values: love your neighbor as yourself—and as your god.
And yet Westerners are, by and large, keeping refugees at bay, bargaining their quotas down, as if the world’s 2.2 billion Christians had never been taught the story of Joseph and Mary being refused accommodation because they were poor strangers.
Perhaps instead we can show mercy for mothers breastfeeding their children on a cold beach, for men who nearly drown trying to swim to shore, for children who have no choice but to follow their parents in chasing a future—any future, anywhere.
These people are the real-life versions of the icons that Christians have come to associate with the passion of god as a human. Let us recognize them as such. Let us acknowledge, once and for all, that being a refugee—of war, poverty, or discrimination—is a sheer function of luck, and we did nothing to deserve our better fate. Whenever and wherever humanity is suffering, we are involved, and the responsibility to offer refuge is ours until the least of us have shelter.—Annalisa Merelli
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Auto guy - "Sansakar"
One of the habit/key learning, I have picked up from one of my Guru who happens to be Analyst-cum-Fund Manager is talking to auto-rickshaw/taxi driver, they always have some interesting story & learning. So hence forth I would post such random encounters under the heading of "auto guy", here is first one
"Sansakar"
It was around 6:30pm when I left office, reached gate and saw evening traffic hurling around, weather felt pretty perfect not hot not too cold just perfect. Held out hand for auto, and one halted right next to me. Asked him for home and he said welcome. Auto driver seemed very old around mid-50s to near 60s, I asked him how long has he been driving, he said almost 15 years now. I asked how long before you retire and he says couple of more years, although he doesn't like doing it he has to, I said "pappi pet ka sawal hotha hai" and he acknowledged and reiterated. Talked along the way about his family - wife n kids, his brothers family, who's wife got elected in gram sabha.
Then more on his kids education and life, who are now in his hometown Lucknow, one studying masters and other preparing for IAS exam, thought they have been born n breed in city of Mumbai. I asked if it's difficulty there to live once you are used to life in mumbai. He said Sir agar aap mumbai mein bimar pad jao aur doctor ke pass jao, doctor paisa leta hai aur thik kardeta hai. Waha par paise le leta hai par kaam nahi karta.
I remembered ovarian lottery (concept by Warren Buffett) many get it and many don't. We talked few other things when he asked me where I m from? and I was bit confused what to answer. If anybody had asked me that question during my school days I would say, Mumbai. In college, it was Mumbai and then in post graduate it continued to be Mumbai. But once I started working, traveling & interacting with tonnes of different people, started learning about their life & history, I started rethinking on who on that question "where I am from". we are continuously evolving.
So when auto guy asked me where I am from, I said parents are from Gujarat but I m born n breed here. He replied par sanaskar Gujarat ke hai. Surprised, I asked why does he say so, he replied "the way you talk with respect". Mumbai ka aadmi khali saaman lena chaahta hai dena hai, aap woh nahi ho. Got down gave him money I said thank you bhaiya and he replied dhanayvaad.
People crave for "Respect" but are miser when it comes to giving it.
"Sansakar"
It was around 6:30pm when I left office, reached gate and saw evening traffic hurling around, weather felt pretty perfect not hot not too cold just perfect. Held out hand for auto, and one halted right next to me. Asked him for home and he said welcome. Auto driver seemed very old around mid-50s to near 60s, I asked him how long has he been driving, he said almost 15 years now. I asked how long before you retire and he says couple of more years, although he doesn't like doing it he has to, I said "pappi pet ka sawal hotha hai" and he acknowledged and reiterated. Talked along the way about his family - wife n kids, his brothers family, who's wife got elected in gram sabha.
Then more on his kids education and life, who are now in his hometown Lucknow, one studying masters and other preparing for IAS exam, thought they have been born n breed in city of Mumbai. I asked if it's difficulty there to live once you are used to life in mumbai. He said Sir agar aap mumbai mein bimar pad jao aur doctor ke pass jao, doctor paisa leta hai aur thik kardeta hai. Waha par paise le leta hai par kaam nahi karta.
I remembered ovarian lottery (concept by Warren Buffett) many get it and many don't. We talked few other things when he asked me where I m from? and I was bit confused what to answer. If anybody had asked me that question during my school days I would say, Mumbai. In college, it was Mumbai and then in post graduate it continued to be Mumbai. But once I started working, traveling & interacting with tonnes of different people, started learning about their life & history, I started rethinking on who on that question "where I am from". we are continuously evolving.
So when auto guy asked me where I am from, I said parents are from Gujarat but I m born n breed here. He replied par sanaskar Gujarat ke hai. Surprised, I asked why does he say so, he replied "the way you talk with respect". Mumbai ka aadmi khali saaman lena chaahta hai dena hai, aap woh nahi ho. Got down gave him money I said thank you bhaiya and he replied dhanayvaad.
People crave for "Respect" but are miser when it comes to giving it.
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Read,Learn,Improve – 19-Dec-15
Read,Learn,Improve – 19-Dec-15
Google Ventures Owns Part of Several Unicorns, but the Biggest (And Trickiest) Is Uber – Link here
Jason Zweig on Wall Street’s big lie – Link here
Superstition and the inherent cruelty of rationalists – Link here
The Misunderstanding of Peter Lynch’s Investment Style – Link here
What proportion of a CEO's success is down to luck? – Link here
How Star Wars Conquered the Galaxy - The economic power of the greatest movie franchise ever – Link here
Meet The 2nd Largest PR Firm In The World: The U.S. Government – Link here
Auto Parts Industry Looks for New Deals - Suppliers are shifting focus from share repurchases to technology acquisitions – Link here
What Happens When There Are Fewer Suckers at the Poker Table? – Link here
Winning the Driverless Car Wars – Link here
A billion-dollar question: Are Flipkart, Snapdeal or Ola actually too big to fail? – Link here
The Engineering of Volkswagen’s Aggressive Ambition – Link here
Softbank Too Bids at Rs 4.63/kWh for 350 MW Solar – An Analysis of the Magic Number 4.63 – Link here
The future of medicine is testing our body fluids at home - From earwax to faeces, your secretions have secrets – Link here
Weekends, not Diwali, is when consumers spend – Link here
Does this orangutan cracking up at a magic trick prove animals have a sense of humour? – Link here
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Read,Learn,Improve – 12-Dec-15
Read,Learn,Improve – 12-Dec-15
Finland plans to give every citizen a basic income of 800 Euros a month – Link here
The Richest Photographer in the World – Link here
The Sports Bubble Is About to Pop – Link here
Half of Delhi’s transport problem is that it can’t sort out its autowallahs – Link here
The Yahoo! Chronicles! Is this the End Game? – Link here
12 Simple Ways To Be More Interesting – Link here
A simple invention that can seal a gunshot wound within 20 seconds is now FDA-approved – Link here
'If I had talked about aligning with the BJP, it was just a political strategy': Sharad Pawar – Link here
The World's Smartest Bad Investors – Link here
To See the Future of Electric Cars, Look East – Link here
Why is industry fleeing Punjab? – Link here
Control the Negotiation Before It Begins – Link here
The Market for Human Hair – Link here
Brazil’s cancer curse - The startling discovery that hundreds of thousands of Brazilians have a genetic mutation that undermines their ability to resist cancer is helping labs worldwide in their search for new treatments for the disease. Sue Armstrong reports – Link here
Finland plans to give every citizen a basic income of 800 Euros a month – Link here
The Richest Photographer in the World – Link here
The Sports Bubble Is About to Pop – Link here
Half of Delhi’s transport problem is that it can’t sort out its autowallahs – Link here
The Yahoo! Chronicles! Is this the End Game? – Link here
12 Simple Ways To Be More Interesting – Link here
A simple invention that can seal a gunshot wound within 20 seconds is now FDA-approved – Link here
'If I had talked about aligning with the BJP, it was just a political strategy': Sharad Pawar – Link here
The World's Smartest Bad Investors – Link here
To See the Future of Electric Cars, Look East – Link here
Why is industry fleeing Punjab? – Link here
Control the Negotiation Before It Begins – Link here
The Market for Human Hair – Link here
Brazil’s cancer curse - The startling discovery that hundreds of thousands of Brazilians have a genetic mutation that undermines their ability to resist cancer is helping labs worldwide in their search for new treatments for the disease. Sue Armstrong reports – Link here
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Read, Learn, Improve - 5-Nov-15
Read, Learn, Improve - 5-Nov-15
The Absolute Return Letter- The Next Driver of Productivity – Link here
Understanding The Gita: A guide for modern readers – Link here
India ponders using GM mosquitoes to fight dengue – and climate change could make this necessary – Link here
The technology giant faces the biggest shift since its founding - Google searches for its future – Link here
Who owns space? US asteroid-mining act is dangerous and potentially illegal – Link here
Investment Noise And How To Deal With It – Link here
How Big Pharma Gave America Its Heroin Problem – Link here
How to save yourself from a bad startup idea that looks good – Link here
Financial Considerations for Collectors of Art, Antiques and the Esoteric – Link here
How to build a strong board – Link here
Why Warren Buffett Is a World-Class Con Man – Link here
CLIMATE CHANGE - Eight Ways to Save the Planet – Link here
Victoria’s Secrets Revealed as Bramaker Becomes Billionaire – Link here
The Industrial Internet, and How It’s Revolutionizing Mining – Link here
RBI effectively lifts all FDI restrictions, including etail & retail – Link here
Infographic-Macau's Newest $3.2 Billion Casino an Extravagance of Entertainment – Link here
Basecamp valuation tops $100 billion after bold VC investment – Link here
The Absolute Return Letter- The Next Driver of Productivity – Link here
Understanding The Gita: A guide for modern readers – Link here
India ponders using GM mosquitoes to fight dengue – and climate change could make this necessary – Link here
The technology giant faces the biggest shift since its founding - Google searches for its future – Link here
Who owns space? US asteroid-mining act is dangerous and potentially illegal – Link here
Investment Noise And How To Deal With It – Link here
How Big Pharma Gave America Its Heroin Problem – Link here
How to save yourself from a bad startup idea that looks good – Link here
Financial Considerations for Collectors of Art, Antiques and the Esoteric – Link here
How to build a strong board – Link here
Why Warren Buffett Is a World-Class Con Man – Link here
CLIMATE CHANGE - Eight Ways to Save the Planet – Link here
Victoria’s Secrets Revealed as Bramaker Becomes Billionaire – Link here
The Industrial Internet, and How It’s Revolutionizing Mining – Link here
RBI effectively lifts all FDI restrictions, including etail & retail – Link here
Infographic-Macau's Newest $3.2 Billion Casino an Extravagance of Entertainment – Link here
Basecamp valuation tops $100 billion after bold VC investment – Link here
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Why did Stock go up so fast?
This happened to me some time in 2014, just after Modi had won landmark election mandate....still gives me hearty laugh
Why did Stock go up so fast?
So I met an acquaintance after long time, after exchanging usual pleasantries, talks took turn towards stock market. This acquaintance is typical trader, who only believes buying today and selling tomm. These kinds of guys are very impatient; temperament is of action & reaction. Their mantra is “if you move you survive or you die”, “make money today, who has seen tomm”. In past whenever we have spoken on few occasions I always tell him “I don’t do trading its doesn’t suit me. I buy and hold for 2-3 or more years – long term investor thing”. But man being man created by nature, he doesn’t believe that is possible, there is always circling question on his face that clearly announced “how can one survive without trading?”
This one time I visited him and he had looks that had complaint written all over it. He reminded me of one stock that I had discussed during last meeting with him and I quickly admitted yes, and that broke the dam. In bit harsh tone he said “you say you only do long term thing”, I nodded my head in admission and he replied “but this stock went up 5 times in less than a year, how do you explain that?”. I was not sure what to say, but acquaintance being impatient, again repeated the question and demanded answer from me how did stock rise up so fast when same was suppose to happen over 2-3 years. I knew I have to get out or else guy would probably sue me for loss in probable profit he could have made. I said “it’s all because of Modi winning election” and made quick dash, not before he asked for another stock tip and I gave him name in hurry. I hope stock doesn’t go up so fast and so soon.
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Read, Learn, Improve - 28-Nov-15
Read, Learn, Improve - 28-Nov-15
How Twitch Turned Video Game Voyeurism Into Big Business – Link here
The Single Best Interview Question You Can Ask – Link here
Listening and the Learning Lens – Link here
What the death of the American mall means for investors – Link here
What Does History Say About The First Rate Hike And Stocks? – Link here
Diverging Markets – Link here
User behaviour - Websites and apps are designed for compulsion, even addiction. Should the net be regulated like drugs or casinos? – Link here
UBS - Could "ride-on-demand" end car ownership? – Link here
The Five Dimensions of Variant Perception – Link here
How to Be a Lawyer Without Going to Law School – Link here
Emilie Wapnick: Why Some of us Don’t Have One True Calling – Link here
How Twitch Turned Video Game Voyeurism Into Big Business – Link here
The Single Best Interview Question You Can Ask – Link here
Listening and the Learning Lens – Link here
What the death of the American mall means for investors – Link here
What Does History Say About The First Rate Hike And Stocks? – Link here
Diverging Markets – Link here
User behaviour - Websites and apps are designed for compulsion, even addiction. Should the net be regulated like drugs or casinos? – Link here
UBS - Could "ride-on-demand" end car ownership? – Link here
The Five Dimensions of Variant Perception – Link here
How to Be a Lawyer Without Going to Law School – Link here
Emilie Wapnick: Why Some of us Don’t Have One True Calling – Link here
Monday, November 23, 2015
Read, Learn, Improve – 21-Nov-15
Read, Learn, Improve – 21-Nov-15
What Scented Candles Say to an Economist – Link here
Ackman’s Enigmatic Investment Philosophy – Link here
Why Reliance is struggling to launch its 4G service – Link here
Exxon Predicted Today's Cheap Solar Boom Back in the 1980s – Link here
Facebook Prods Users to Share a Bit More – Link here
How startups such as Dropbox, Airbnb, Groupon and others acquired their first users – Link here
This robot kills weeds, and could end the need for herbicides on farms – Link here
Why deny an individual’s right to die? – Link here
Your unhashable fingerprints secure nothing – Link here
The Strange, True Story of How a Chairman at McKinsey Made Millions of Dollars off His Maid – Link here
Why ISIS Has All the Money It Needs – Link here
How Amazon’s Long Game Yielded a Retail Juggernaut – Link here
Runaway Stories and Fairy Tale Endings: The Cautionary Tale of Theranos – Link here
The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold – Link here
From ‘Bubble’ to ‘Crash,’ the Incredible Origins of 7 Finance Terms – Link here
Do People Want to be Fooled? – Link here
LivingSocial Offers a Cautionary Tale to Today’s Unicorns – Link here
What Scented Candles Say to an Economist – Link here
Ackman’s Enigmatic Investment Philosophy – Link here
Why Reliance is struggling to launch its 4G service – Link here
Exxon Predicted Today's Cheap Solar Boom Back in the 1980s – Link here
Facebook Prods Users to Share a Bit More – Link here
How startups such as Dropbox, Airbnb, Groupon and others acquired their first users – Link here
This robot kills weeds, and could end the need for herbicides on farms – Link here
Why deny an individual’s right to die? – Link here
Your unhashable fingerprints secure nothing – Link here
The Strange, True Story of How a Chairman at McKinsey Made Millions of Dollars off His Maid – Link here
Why ISIS Has All the Money It Needs – Link here
How Amazon’s Long Game Yielded a Retail Juggernaut – Link here
Runaway Stories and Fairy Tale Endings: The Cautionary Tale of Theranos – Link here
The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold – Link here
From ‘Bubble’ to ‘Crash,’ the Incredible Origins of 7 Finance Terms – Link here
Do People Want to be Fooled? – Link here
LivingSocial Offers a Cautionary Tale to Today’s Unicorns – Link here
Saturday, November 7, 2015
Read, Learn, Improve – 7-Nov-15
Read, Learn, Improve – 7-Nov-15
There would be no Read, Learn, Improve for week ending 14-Nov-15, Wish you a very Diwali & prosperous New Year in advance.
Should driverless cars kill their own passengers to save a pedestrian? – Link here
Why is makeup so expensive? – Link here
Is China the Next Mexico? The Chinese Communist Party Is Looking to Russia for Lessons on How to Retain Power. It's the Wrong Example – Link here
Making Insider Trading Legal – Link here
Meet the ghost sharks and deep-sea demons that will haunt your dreams – Link here
Software Is The New Oil – Link here
The Tech Bust of 2015 – Link here
A history of sugar – the food nobody needs, but everyone craves – Link here
The great chain of being sure about things – Link here
Finns May Get Paid for Being Finns – Link here
The Hidden Reasons People Spend Too Much – Link here
When Is the Right Time to Sell Big Winners? – Link here
How a contractor from Tamil Nadu carved out an enormous mining empire in Odisha – Link here
What Makes You You? – Link here
Latticework of Mental Models: Alternative Histories – Link here
The Uberization of Money – Link here
How Yudhishthira won over the God of Death – Link here
There would be no Read, Learn, Improve for week ending 14-Nov-15, Wish you a very Diwali & prosperous New Year in advance.
Should driverless cars kill their own passengers to save a pedestrian? – Link here
Why is makeup so expensive? – Link here
Is China the Next Mexico? The Chinese Communist Party Is Looking to Russia for Lessons on How to Retain Power. It's the Wrong Example – Link here
Making Insider Trading Legal – Link here
Meet the ghost sharks and deep-sea demons that will haunt your dreams – Link here
Software Is The New Oil – Link here
The Tech Bust of 2015 – Link here
A history of sugar – the food nobody needs, but everyone craves – Link here
The great chain of being sure about things – Link here
Finns May Get Paid for Being Finns – Link here
The Hidden Reasons People Spend Too Much – Link here
When Is the Right Time to Sell Big Winners? – Link here
How a contractor from Tamil Nadu carved out an enormous mining empire in Odisha – Link here
What Makes You You? – Link here
Latticework of Mental Models: Alternative Histories – Link here
The Uberization of Money – Link here
How Yudhishthira won over the God of Death – Link here
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Read,Learn,Improve – 31-Oct-15
Read,Learn,Improve – 31-Oct-15
Here's How Isaac Newton Remembered Everything He Read – Link here
A Timeline of Some of The Best Investment Books – Link here
The $3 Trillion ETF ‘Boom’ – Link here
Turn Off Your Chief Economist: GDP Growth Doesn’t Predict Stock Returns – Link here
How Chhota Rajan went from small-time crook to one of India’s most wanted gangsters – Link here
Are India’s public-sector ports being weakened to favour Adani Ports? – Link here
Taxis Can Still Survive Uber – Link here
Not Enough Women in China? Let Men Share a Wife, an Economist Suggests – Link here
The Dangers Ahead if Tech Unicorns Get Gored – Link here
The value of ‘overvalued’ stocks – Link here
The Futility of (Narrow) Speculation About Machines and Jobs – Link here
Moats vs Boats by Chetan Parikh – Link here
The most important question of your life – Link here
Why downside matters and some basic arithmetic – Link here
Hedge-Fund Priest: Thou Shalt Make Money - A priest who moonlights as a hedge-fund manager – Link here
The Economics of Male Birth Control – Link here
Inside the Secretive Circle That Rules a $14 Trillion Market – Link here
This Man Failed A Paternity Test Due To His Vanished Twin’s DNA – Link here
Here's How Isaac Newton Remembered Everything He Read – Link here
A Timeline of Some of The Best Investment Books – Link here
The $3 Trillion ETF ‘Boom’ – Link here
Turn Off Your Chief Economist: GDP Growth Doesn’t Predict Stock Returns – Link here
How Chhota Rajan went from small-time crook to one of India’s most wanted gangsters – Link here
Are India’s public-sector ports being weakened to favour Adani Ports? – Link here
Taxis Can Still Survive Uber – Link here
Not Enough Women in China? Let Men Share a Wife, an Economist Suggests – Link here
The Dangers Ahead if Tech Unicorns Get Gored – Link here
The value of ‘overvalued’ stocks – Link here
The Futility of (Narrow) Speculation About Machines and Jobs – Link here
Moats vs Boats by Chetan Parikh – Link here
The most important question of your life – Link here
Why downside matters and some basic arithmetic – Link here
Hedge-Fund Priest: Thou Shalt Make Money - A priest who moonlights as a hedge-fund manager – Link here
The Economics of Male Birth Control – Link here
Inside the Secretive Circle That Rules a $14 Trillion Market – Link here
This Man Failed A Paternity Test Due To His Vanished Twin’s DNA – Link here
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Read, Learn, Improve - 24-Oct-15
Read, Learn, Improve - 24-Oct-15
Intermediary Influence and Competition: Berkshire versus KKR - Link here
The Collected Wisdom of Seth Klarman – Link here
Our Brains Say Corporations Are People, Too – Link here
If it’s about saving the cow, reform the dairy industry first – Link here
Some Common Mistakes by Investors – Link here
The history of science has been centred for too long on the West, say Simon Schaffer and Sujit Sivasundaram. It’s time to think global – Link here
Unnatural Gas - The dubious ways of the environment ministry – Link here
Envy: Most lethal of all sins in Investing - Part I – Link here
Sakti3’s quest for a better battery: Hype, funding, promises, and then a surprise sale – Link here
Devangshu Datta: The discoveries that saved lives – Link here
If print media is dying, why are moneybags investing in it? – Link here
40 years ago the US sent Mexico into a financial crisis - and it transformed the narcotics industry – Link here
Crisis of Confidence in Financial Engineering – Link here
How to prepare for the right heir to take over your business - Subroto Bagchi – Link here
Why Uber Has To Start Using Self-Driving Cars – Link here
Raghuram Rajan and the online discount wars – Link here
Have we found a structure? (Interesting way how serendipity may lead to find alien/other life form) – Link here
Distinctions and Differences – Link here
Why CCD's coffee vending machines cost Rs1.15 lakh each – Link here
Intermediary Influence and Competition: Berkshire versus KKR - Link here
The Collected Wisdom of Seth Klarman – Link here
Our Brains Say Corporations Are People, Too – Link here
If it’s about saving the cow, reform the dairy industry first – Link here
Some Common Mistakes by Investors – Link here
The history of science has been centred for too long on the West, say Simon Schaffer and Sujit Sivasundaram. It’s time to think global – Link here
Unnatural Gas - The dubious ways of the environment ministry – Link here
Envy: Most lethal of all sins in Investing - Part I – Link here
Sakti3’s quest for a better battery: Hype, funding, promises, and then a surprise sale – Link here
Devangshu Datta: The discoveries that saved lives – Link here
If print media is dying, why are moneybags investing in it? – Link here
40 years ago the US sent Mexico into a financial crisis - and it transformed the narcotics industry – Link here
Crisis of Confidence in Financial Engineering – Link here
How to prepare for the right heir to take over your business - Subroto Bagchi – Link here
Why Uber Has To Start Using Self-Driving Cars – Link here
Raghuram Rajan and the online discount wars – Link here
Have we found a structure? (Interesting way how serendipity may lead to find alien/other life form) – Link here
Distinctions and Differences – Link here
Why CCD's coffee vending machines cost Rs1.15 lakh each – Link here
Monday, October 12, 2015
Read, Learn, Improve - 10-Oct-15
Read, Learn, Improve - 10-Oct-15
(Must Read) A Brief History of the Corporation: 1600 to 2100 – Link here
International courts and refugees – Link here
Sneaker Wars: Inside the Battle Between Nike and Adidas – Link here
Elon Musk Versus the Taxi Meter – Link here
Meet Robohon, Sharp’s incredibly cute robot smartphone – Link here
How Two Guys Lost God and Found $40 Million – Link here
12 Surprising Facts about Nobel Prizes – Link here
Kotak Gamechanger - Value versus Valuation – Link here
Ten Office Boys Per Foreigner? Indonesia Explains New Labor Law – Link here
You can learn to be creative, if you’re willing to embarrass yourself – Link here
The Trick to Making Better Forecasts – Link here
It Just Got a Lot Harder for Big Tobacco to Defend Itself – Link here
Who dies and who survives during a mass extinction? A tantalizing clue – Link here
What people in 1900 thought the year 2000 would look like – Link here
The sex instinct – Link here
16 More Startup Metrics – Link here
Bitnation Registers First Refugees on the Blockchain – Link here
(Must Read) A Brief History of the Corporation: 1600 to 2100 – Link here
International courts and refugees – Link here
Sneaker Wars: Inside the Battle Between Nike and Adidas – Link here
Elon Musk Versus the Taxi Meter – Link here
Meet Robohon, Sharp’s incredibly cute robot smartphone – Link here
How Two Guys Lost God and Found $40 Million – Link here
12 Surprising Facts about Nobel Prizes – Link here
Kotak Gamechanger - Value versus Valuation – Link here
Ten Office Boys Per Foreigner? Indonesia Explains New Labor Law – Link here
You can learn to be creative, if you’re willing to embarrass yourself – Link here
The Trick to Making Better Forecasts – Link here
It Just Got a Lot Harder for Big Tobacco to Defend Itself – Link here
Who dies and who survives during a mass extinction? A tantalizing clue – Link here
What people in 1900 thought the year 2000 would look like – Link here
The sex instinct – Link here
16 More Startup Metrics – Link here
Bitnation Registers First Refugees on the Blockchain – Link here
(Must Read) A Brief History of the Corporation: 1600 to 2100 – Link here
International courts and refugees – Link here
Sneaker Wars: Inside the Battle Between Nike and Adidas – Link here
Elon Musk Versus the Taxi Meter – Link here
Meet Robohon, Sharp’s incredibly cute robot smartphone – Link here
How Two Guys Lost God and Found $40 Million – Link here
12 Surprising Facts about Nobel Prizes – Link here
Kotak Gamechanger - Value versus Valuation – Link here
Ten Office Boys Per Foreigner? Indonesia Explains New Labor Law – Link here
You can learn to be creative, if you’re willing to embarrass yourself – Link here
The Trick to Making Better Forecasts – Link here
It Just Got a Lot Harder for Big Tobacco to Defend Itself – Link here
Who dies and who survives during a mass extinction? A tantalizing clue – Link here
What people in 1900 thought the year 2000 would look like – Link here
The sex instinct – Link here
16 More Startup Metrics – Link here
Bitnation Registers First Refugees on the Blockchain – Link here
(Must Read) A Brief History of the Corporation: 1600 to 2100 – Link here
International courts and refugees – Link here
Sneaker Wars: Inside the Battle Between Nike and Adidas – Link here
Elon Musk Versus the Taxi Meter – Link here
Meet Robohon, Sharp’s incredibly cute robot smartphone – Link here
How Two Guys Lost God and Found $40 Million – Link here
12 Surprising Facts about Nobel Prizes – Link here
Kotak Gamechanger - Value versus Valuation – Link here
Ten Office Boys Per Foreigner? Indonesia Explains New Labor Law – Link here
You can learn to be creative, if you’re willing to embarrass yourself – Link here
The Trick to Making Better Forecasts – Link here
It Just Got a Lot Harder for Big Tobacco to Defend Itself – Link here
Who dies and who survives during a mass extinction? A tantalizing clue – Link here
What people in 1900 thought the year 2000 would look like – Link here
The sex instinct – Link here
16 More Startup Metrics – Link here
Bitnation Registers First Refugees on the Blockchain – Link here
Thursday, October 8, 2015
Is Elder Pharma website hacked?
So got to hear that Elder India (a pharma company) CEO got arrested (Link here), so I googled Elder pharma and below is the page
Notice anything weird?...yup either site is hacked or I don't understand IT & Internet well :D
Notice anything weird?...yup either site is hacked or I don't understand IT & Internet well :D
FMCG premium valuation - is this time Different?
Markets are weird, i was going through Barclays report on India Consumer dt 21-Sep-15 and one chart caught my attention, even thought I had idea about the point I never got it to put it in black & white. here is the chart
most of the FMCG/consumer are trading at premium valuation compared to their respective historic averages. I would probably not pay too much attention to ITC, HUL, Titan and Jubliant as their premium is in range of 10%-14%.
While others like Britannia, Marico, Page Industries are trading at 99%, 91% & 71% to their historic valuation.
So I just thought to check performance of same stock post 21-Sep-15 and below is result
Barring Bata, Dabur & Marico every other stock has gone up. makes me wonder how long will premium valuation continue, will Mean reversion take place or as they say "This time it is Different"
most of the FMCG/consumer are trading at premium valuation compared to their respective historic averages. I would probably not pay too much attention to ITC, HUL, Titan and Jubliant as their premium is in range of 10%-14%.
While others like Britannia, Marico, Page Industries are trading at 99%, 91% & 71% to their historic valuation.
So I just thought to check performance of same stock post 21-Sep-15 and below is result
Barring Bata, Dabur & Marico every other stock has gone up. makes me wonder how long will premium valuation continue, will Mean reversion take place or as they say "This time it is Different"
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Read,Learn,Improve – 3-Oct-15
Read,Learn,Improve – 3-Oct-15
The moral imperatives to a lie – Link here
Complex Car Software Becomes the Weak Spot Under the Hood – Link here
What Cures Are We Missing Out On? – Link here
How to Catch a Spoofer – Link here
Bhushan Steel’s Dubious Restructuring – Link here
Unconventional Investments - Patience—all knowledge is cumulative – Link here
Give and take: the ethics of donating breast milk – Link here
10 Great Lines From ‘Where Are the Customers’ Yachts?’ – Link here
Why Good People Do Bad Things: A Conversation With My Daughter – Link here
Putting a Price Tag on Scandal: Sturm und Drang at Volkswagen! – Link here
A Universal Basic Income Is The Bipartisan Solution To Poverty We've Been Waiting For – Link here
She May Solve One of the Oldest Problems in Surgery – Link here
Why Commodities Are Back in the 1990s – Link here
High-Speed Trading Firm Deleted Some Code by Accident – Link here
The ‘Yelp for people’ app has everyone freaked out – Link here
The moral imperatives to a lie – Link here
Complex Car Software Becomes the Weak Spot Under the Hood – Link here
What Cures Are We Missing Out On? – Link here
How to Catch a Spoofer – Link here
Bhushan Steel’s Dubious Restructuring – Link here
Unconventional Investments - Patience—all knowledge is cumulative – Link here
Give and take: the ethics of donating breast milk – Link here
10 Great Lines From ‘Where Are the Customers’ Yachts?’ – Link here
Why Good People Do Bad Things: A Conversation With My Daughter – Link here
Putting a Price Tag on Scandal: Sturm und Drang at Volkswagen! – Link here
A Universal Basic Income Is The Bipartisan Solution To Poverty We've Been Waiting For – Link here
She May Solve One of the Oldest Problems in Surgery – Link here
Why Commodities Are Back in the 1990s – Link here
High-Speed Trading Firm Deleted Some Code by Accident – Link here
The ‘Yelp for people’ app has everyone freaked out – Link here
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
What I learnt from Shah Rukh Khan
Mint came up with interesting extra add on called "The Rich List" to existing newspaper. Time and again I have found there are timeless principle that helps one succeed in whatever one is doing. I think Mint tried to understand from the Rich what they do, its very good edition, would advice you all to read it.
There was one particular piece on SRK which I liked (Full article) and would like to highlight few interesting pointers that are very similar to that of long term investor.
2. stay humble , admit your mistake , learn from it and move on.
3. Get to know your finance very well - its not really rocket science to know that Sales minus Cost = Profit.
4. Fund capex internally.
5. Never borrow - this advise has been given to most of us time & again - if you borrow from bank it means bank pretty much owns you.
6. He goes of the extend saying avoid OPM - Other People's Money in any form - be it a loan or even equity. Once you have shareholder, you need to manage them ;)
7. Everything said and done - Work Hard, Slog yourself and Just believe in what you doing
8. Finally - Play the game you know - Know your competitive advantage and know what you are not good at. He highlights this very beautifully, If you have knowledge on Restaurant business, invest in restaurant not in restaurant chain. Skill set to run a Restaurant and Restaurant chain are different and SRK knows difference.
There was one particular piece on SRK which I liked (Full article) and would like to highlight few interesting pointers that are very similar to that of long term investor.
- Do something you believe in - products/service being offered should fundamental fulfill a need that customer has.
2. stay humble , admit your mistake , learn from it and move on.
3. Get to know your finance very well - its not really rocket science to know that Sales minus Cost = Profit.
4. Fund capex internally.
5. Never borrow - this advise has been given to most of us time & again - if you borrow from bank it means bank pretty much owns you.
6. He goes of the extend saying avoid OPM - Other People's Money in any form - be it a loan or even equity. Once you have shareholder, you need to manage them ;)
7. Everything said and done - Work Hard, Slog yourself and Just believe in what you doing
8. Finally - Play the game you know - Know your competitive advantage and know what you are not good at. He highlights this very beautifully, If you have knowledge on Restaurant business, invest in restaurant not in restaurant chain. Skill set to run a Restaurant and Restaurant chain are different and SRK knows difference.
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Read, Learn, Improve – 26-Sep-15
Read, Learn, Improve – 26-Sep-15
World is shocked post Volkswagen scandal, German engineering seems to have cheated. Keeping that aside for a moment, if you don’t know history of Volkswagen & Porsche you should read this - very good insight – Link here
The Unraveling of Tom Hayes - Libor's mastermind (five part series) – Link here
The Price for Losing Bill Gross or Jeff Gundlach – Link here
Big Tech Has Become Way Too Powerful – Link here
For $10,000, you can now print your own pound of human flesh – Link here
How Singapore INCENTIVISED itself into a First World Country – Link here
Lock Up Your Bees: Insects Are the Assets to Steal as Almond Prices Soar – Link here
The Night They Drove the Price of Electricity Down - Wind power was so plentiful in Texas that producers sold it at a negative price. What? – Link here
Why Is Art Expensive? – Link here
It’s not supposed to be easy. Anyone who finds it easy is stupid – Link here
Since market is rift with rumour that SunTV is on block, this piece makes interesting read - Will the Sun Set on Maran’s Empire? – Link here
Human-Like - Facebook Is Using Our Data To Build The 'World's Best' Artificial Intelligence Lab – Link here
5 Common Mental Errors That Sway You From Making Good Decisions – Link here
World is shocked post Volkswagen scandal, German engineering seems to have cheated. Keeping that aside for a moment, if you don’t know history of Volkswagen & Porsche you should read this - very good insight – Link here
The Unraveling of Tom Hayes - Libor's mastermind (five part series) – Link here
The Price for Losing Bill Gross or Jeff Gundlach – Link here
Big Tech Has Become Way Too Powerful – Link here
For $10,000, you can now print your own pound of human flesh – Link here
How Singapore INCENTIVISED itself into a First World Country – Link here
Lock Up Your Bees: Insects Are the Assets to Steal as Almond Prices Soar – Link here
The Night They Drove the Price of Electricity Down - Wind power was so plentiful in Texas that producers sold it at a negative price. What? – Link here
Why Is Art Expensive? – Link here
It’s not supposed to be easy. Anyone who finds it easy is stupid – Link here
Since market is rift with rumour that SunTV is on block, this piece makes interesting read - Will the Sun Set on Maran’s Empire? – Link here
Human-Like - Facebook Is Using Our Data To Build The 'World's Best' Artificial Intelligence Lab – Link here
5 Common Mental Errors That Sway You From Making Good Decisions – Link here
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Read, Learn, Improve - 19-Sept-15
Read, Learn, Improve - 19-Sept-15
Is Silicon Valley in Another Bubble . . . and What Could Burst It? – Link here
Some Thoughts on Coal Companies and Railroads – Link here
How a cheap Indian whiskey beat Smirnoff to become the world’s largest spirits brand – Link here
What's in a name? Of Umlauts, The Alphabet and World Peace! – Link here
The Long Road of Proving Yourself as an Investor – Link here
The concise encyclopedia of economics – Crime – Link here
The siege of Herbalife – Link here
We Need the Right to Repair Our Gadgets – Link here
The Two Types of Knowledge – Link here
The slumps that shaped modern finance - Finance is not merely prone to crises, it is shaped by them. Five historical crises show how aspects of today’s financial system originated—and offer lessons for today’s regulators – Link here
If print media is dying, why are moneybags investing in it? – Link here
The Not-So-Surprising Truth About Gold Bugs – Link here
The safe, user-friendly way to be a little drug lord: economic secrets of the dark web – Link here
Why An Interview With A Top Pharmaceutical Executive Left Me Alarmed About The Industry – Link here
Humans need not apply (Video) – Link here
How The Average U.S. Consumer Spends Their Paycheck (infographics) – Link here
Is Silicon Valley in Another Bubble . . . and What Could Burst It? – Link here
Some Thoughts on Coal Companies and Railroads – Link here
How a cheap Indian whiskey beat Smirnoff to become the world’s largest spirits brand – Link here
What's in a name? Of Umlauts, The Alphabet and World Peace! – Link here
The Long Road of Proving Yourself as an Investor – Link here
The concise encyclopedia of economics – Crime – Link here
The siege of Herbalife – Link here
We Need the Right to Repair Our Gadgets – Link here
The Two Types of Knowledge – Link here
The slumps that shaped modern finance - Finance is not merely prone to crises, it is shaped by them. Five historical crises show how aspects of today’s financial system originated—and offer lessons for today’s regulators – Link here
If print media is dying, why are moneybags investing in it? – Link here
The Not-So-Surprising Truth About Gold Bugs – Link here
The safe, user-friendly way to be a little drug lord: economic secrets of the dark web – Link here
Why An Interview With A Top Pharmaceutical Executive Left Me Alarmed About The Industry – Link here
Humans need not apply (Video) – Link here
How The Average U.S. Consumer Spends Their Paycheck (infographics) – Link here
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Paying attention to isolated incident
This conversation took place sometime around Mar/Apr-15 not sure about exact time
Analyst Friend (AF) – So which company you looking at?
Me – Info Edge
AF – what’s so good about it apart from Naukri.com, that’s only cashcow.
Me – true, rest all are loss making
AF – exactly my point, why to look at it?
Me – zomato seems interesting play, info edge has 50% stake (now it’s down post raising new capital)
AF – ya true, but have you seen FoodPanda? They are giving huge competition to them.
Me – not exactly, given zomato is only restaurant listing and FoodPanda is into delivering of food.
AF – ya but you need menu for ordering & delivering which ideal should have been done by zomato and they seem to have missed the bus.
Me – Naah…I don’t think so…they are moving slowly and steady…they can launch it tomm as they already have relationship with restaurants.
AF – then why have they not launched it yet?
Me – there are challenges with that business, have a look at this – Food Panda or Fool Panda , I think their systems are not in place and zomato is still working on it or has willfully chosen to ignore it. They are bunch of smart guys just check out back ground of founders – Link here.
AF – what challenges are you talking about?
Me – how to confirm delivery of order? Making sure none of the party is lying or faking?
AF – hmm….true…I will wait and watch how this space develops
Me – same here, it looks interesting, let see.
So this is pretty amazing, MINT newspaper (The BEST Newspaper in the town) has put out a story on Foodpanda.com and scam carried on by company insider. Here is link , article is long but very insightful, hence make sure you read it and give full attention.
If you are planning to be Analyst/Investor/Fund manager make sure you develop a good reading habit, from variety of sources. Most of the analyst & related fraternity would have glued their eye on pink newspaper & magazine and would have missed one isolate incident (Food Panda or Fool Panda ) that gave me signal there is probably something wrong with FoodPanda or help me wonder why is Zomato not doing it?
Analyst Friend (AF) – So which company you looking at?
Me – Info Edge
AF – what’s so good about it apart from Naukri.com, that’s only cashcow.
Me – true, rest all are loss making
AF – exactly my point, why to look at it?
Me – zomato seems interesting play, info edge has 50% stake (now it’s down post raising new capital)
AF – ya true, but have you seen FoodPanda? They are giving huge competition to them.
Me – not exactly, given zomato is only restaurant listing and FoodPanda is into delivering of food.
AF – ya but you need menu for ordering & delivering which ideal should have been done by zomato and they seem to have missed the bus.
Me – Naah…I don’t think so…they are moving slowly and steady…they can launch it tomm as they already have relationship with restaurants.
AF – then why have they not launched it yet?
Me – there are challenges with that business, have a look at this – Food Panda or Fool Panda , I think their systems are not in place and zomato is still working on it or has willfully chosen to ignore it. They are bunch of smart guys just check out back ground of founders – Link here.
AF – what challenges are you talking about?
Me – how to confirm delivery of order? Making sure none of the party is lying or faking?
AF – hmm….true…I will wait and watch how this space develops
Me – same here, it looks interesting, let see.
So this is pretty amazing, MINT newspaper (The BEST Newspaper in the town) has put out a story on Foodpanda.com and scam carried on by company insider. Here is link , article is long but very insightful, hence make sure you read it and give full attention.
If you are planning to be Analyst/Investor/Fund manager make sure you develop a good reading habit, from variety of sources. Most of the analyst & related fraternity would have glued their eye on pink newspaper & magazine and would have missed one isolate incident (Food Panda or Fool Panda ) that gave me signal there is probably something wrong with FoodPanda or help me wonder why is Zomato not doing it?
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Read, Learn, Improve - 12-Sept-15
Hey, Advertisers. It's Serena Time! – Link here
Man with almost-perfect poop donates it to help patients with C-diff infection – Link here
The Absolute Return Letter - Doodles from an eventful summer – Link here
Transplant Surgeons Revive Hearts After Death – Link here
Google Play solves for PPP (Purchasing power parity) in Apps! – Link here
The banker who helped give the world credit-default swaps wants to upend finance again—this time with the code that powers bitcoin – Link here
Brad Katsuyama’s Next Chapter (Guy from The Flashboys) – Link here
MCX: Out of the Jignesh Shah shadow – Link here
The Fed, Interest Rates and Stock Prices: Fighting the Fear Factor – Link here
We can Decongest our Jails , if our Governments are willing – Link here
Man with almost-perfect poop donates it to help patients with C-diff infection – Link here
The Absolute Return Letter - Doodles from an eventful summer – Link here
Transplant Surgeons Revive Hearts After Death – Link here
Google Play solves for PPP (Purchasing power parity) in Apps! – Link here
The banker who helped give the world credit-default swaps wants to upend finance again—this time with the code that powers bitcoin – Link here
Brad Katsuyama’s Next Chapter (Guy from The Flashboys) – Link here
MCX: Out of the Jignesh Shah shadow – Link here
The Fed, Interest Rates and Stock Prices: Fighting the Fear Factor – Link here
We can Decongest our Jails , if our Governments are willing – Link here
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Why are babies smart / intelligent?
Why are babies smart / intelligent?
If you are new parent or are observing kids, many times you are caught in awe of their intelligence. New parents offer / share stories how their kid did particular thing or how they responded to a particular question or situation, which they can’t fathom a kid would behave in certain way. It has happened with me too and have seen few such incidence and I would be like “yeah, they are definitely smart” and be that’s about it.
So one fine day I was reading newspaper and came across article on DNA profiling bill that Indian govt is thinking of making as law. Here is the full article link, makes for interesting read. However it was one diagram/ pic that described DNA that caught my attention.
To be precise it was “genetic code” para at bottom that sent me a striking thought. If you read it carefully it says, “DNA is a double helix structure in which the backbone is made of sugar and phosphate and Information is stored as a code made up of four chemical bases…” Key word is “Information”. So what it essentially means when couple makes a baby, they pass on their knowledge & experience through their genes. So let say male & female both of 25 years make a baby, their genes will carry all that experience and pass it on to baby. Of course it won’t be 100% pass-on, but many of those, hence intelligence. This is what I thought and spoke to another analyst friend who happens to be B.Pharm and loves pure science, he concurred with my thought process. Of course this is not a new invention, rather a new discovery for me. I dug around deeper into internet and found some amazing insight. Like as per one Harvard bioengineer and geneticist – single gram of DNA has capacity of 5.5 petabits or 700 terabytes (1 –terabytes = 1000GB), you can read it here . So now I know part of the reason why babies are smart or intelligent
If you are new parent or are observing kids, many times you are caught in awe of their intelligence. New parents offer / share stories how their kid did particular thing or how they responded to a particular question or situation, which they can’t fathom a kid would behave in certain way. It has happened with me too and have seen few such incidence and I would be like “yeah, they are definitely smart” and be that’s about it.
So one fine day I was reading newspaper and came across article on DNA profiling bill that Indian govt is thinking of making as law. Here is the full article link, makes for interesting read. However it was one diagram/ pic that described DNA that caught my attention.
To be precise it was “genetic code” para at bottom that sent me a striking thought. If you read it carefully it says, “DNA is a double helix structure in which the backbone is made of sugar and phosphate and Information is stored as a code made up of four chemical bases…” Key word is “Information”. So what it essentially means when couple makes a baby, they pass on their knowledge & experience through their genes. So let say male & female both of 25 years make a baby, their genes will carry all that experience and pass it on to baby. Of course it won’t be 100% pass-on, but many of those, hence intelligence. This is what I thought and spoke to another analyst friend who happens to be B.Pharm and loves pure science, he concurred with my thought process. Of course this is not a new invention, rather a new discovery for me. I dug around deeper into internet and found some amazing insight. Like as per one Harvard bioengineer and geneticist – single gram of DNA has capacity of 5.5 petabits or 700 terabytes (1 –terabytes = 1000GB), you can read it here . So now I know part of the reason why babies are smart or intelligent
Monday, August 31, 2015
Debt is alway safe...really?
One thing every MBA student & RM & Financial adviser and every other tom, dick & harry involved in business of investing will tell you is - Equity = risky and Debt = safety. However, if recent event with regards to one JP Morgan Scheme are to go by, you would be in for some shock.
So JP Morgan Asset Management Company put out notice/press release on 28-Aug-15. here is copy Link here or below is the content copy paste
"In the general interest of the Unit Holders of the JPMorgan India Treasury Fund and JPMorgan India Short Term Income Fund, JPMorgan Mutual Fund India Private Limited, the Trustee Company, has decided to limit the redemptions in the above referred two schemes effective August 28, 2015. Accordingly, the Redemptions in these two schemes will be limited (“gated”) to a percentage limit not exceeding 1% of the total number of Units outstanding on any Business Day as mentioned in the Paragraph III. Units & Offer, Section B. Ongoing Offer Details ‘Right to limit Redemptions’ of the Scheme Information Document of each scheme and the Trust Deed. Any Units which consequently are not redeemed on a particular Business Day will, subject to the further application of the Trustee Company’s right to limit Redemption, be carried forward for Redemption to the next Business Day. Redemptions so carried forward will be priced on the basis of the Applicable NAV (subject to the prevailing Exit Load) of the Business Day on which Redemption is made.
Investors should note that Redemptions shall include Switches, STPs and SWPs also.
Each capitalized term herein has the meaning assigned to such term in the Scheme Information Document.
This notice must be read in conjunction with, and forms an integral part of; the Scheme Information Document (SID) and Key Information Memorandum (KIM) of the JPMorgan India Treasury Fund and JPMorgan India Short Term Income Fund and may not be distributed without the SID or KIM"
In simplified word it means, if you have invested in this particular debt mutual fund scheme, you just can't sell/redeem it. rather it is restricted to 1% of total outstanding units on any day. Now one of best thing about MF is liquidity, one can get money pretty easily. but above thing seem to go against very characteristic of MF. so question arises why? well its to do with paper/securities that scheme had invested in. One of the security/paper turned out sour or of not that good quality or they gave money to company as loan and company is now unable to pay....meaning your money is gone.....poof.
I am not sure what happens to investor money, whether they will lose it or probably global parent JP Morgan may bail out to protect its reputation. However henceforth you know if anybody says debt fund are safe how much it really is.
So JP Morgan Asset Management Company put out notice/press release on 28-Aug-15. here is copy Link here or below is the content copy paste
"In the general interest of the Unit Holders of the JPMorgan India Treasury Fund and JPMorgan India Short Term Income Fund, JPMorgan Mutual Fund India Private Limited, the Trustee Company, has decided to limit the redemptions in the above referred two schemes effective August 28, 2015. Accordingly, the Redemptions in these two schemes will be limited (“gated”) to a percentage limit not exceeding 1% of the total number of Units outstanding on any Business Day as mentioned in the Paragraph III. Units & Offer, Section B. Ongoing Offer Details ‘Right to limit Redemptions’ of the Scheme Information Document of each scheme and the Trust Deed. Any Units which consequently are not redeemed on a particular Business Day will, subject to the further application of the Trustee Company’s right to limit Redemption, be carried forward for Redemption to the next Business Day. Redemptions so carried forward will be priced on the basis of the Applicable NAV (subject to the prevailing Exit Load) of the Business Day on which Redemption is made.
Investors should note that Redemptions shall include Switches, STPs and SWPs also.
Each capitalized term herein has the meaning assigned to such term in the Scheme Information Document.
This notice must be read in conjunction with, and forms an integral part of; the Scheme Information Document (SID) and Key Information Memorandum (KIM) of the JPMorgan India Treasury Fund and JPMorgan India Short Term Income Fund and may not be distributed without the SID or KIM"
In simplified word it means, if you have invested in this particular debt mutual fund scheme, you just can't sell/redeem it. rather it is restricted to 1% of total outstanding units on any day. Now one of best thing about MF is liquidity, one can get money pretty easily. but above thing seem to go against very characteristic of MF. so question arises why? well its to do with paper/securities that scheme had invested in. One of the security/paper turned out sour or of not that good quality or they gave money to company as loan and company is now unable to pay....meaning your money is gone.....poof.
I am not sure what happens to investor money, whether they will lose it or probably global parent JP Morgan may bail out to protect its reputation. However henceforth you know if anybody says debt fund are safe how much it really is.
Read, Learn, Improve - 29-Aug-15
(Must Know/read) You probably missed out on watching one of the greatest feats in athletics, ever – Link here
Why is it so difficult to be happy? – Link here
Why Waiting Is Torture – Link here
What is love? – Link here
10 Underrated Charlie Munger Quotes – Link here
Observations From a Decade in the Investment Business – Link here
This Fund Manager Picks Stocks by Watching Bonds, Beating 99% of Peers – Link here
Why Do Colleges Give Out “Honorary” Degrees? – Link here
Mir Sultan Khan: The errand boy who took the chess world by storm – Link here
16 Startup Metrics – Link here
Uber Offers 109% Returns for Chinese With $500,000 to Spare – Link here
Amazon Underground – Amazon gets it right! – Link here
How Silver Wrecked China – Link here
This is how NASA used to hire its astronauts 20 years ago—and it still works today – Link here
Why is it so difficult to be happy? – Link here
Why Waiting Is Torture – Link here
What is love? – Link here
10 Underrated Charlie Munger Quotes – Link here
Observations From a Decade in the Investment Business – Link here
This Fund Manager Picks Stocks by Watching Bonds, Beating 99% of Peers – Link here
Why Do Colleges Give Out “Honorary” Degrees? – Link here
Mir Sultan Khan: The errand boy who took the chess world by storm – Link here
16 Startup Metrics – Link here
Uber Offers 109% Returns for Chinese With $500,000 to Spare – Link here
Amazon Underground – Amazon gets it right! – Link here
How Silver Wrecked China – Link here
This is how NASA used to hire its astronauts 20 years ago—and it still works today – Link here
Monday, August 24, 2015
Green for Bull or Bear?
Since there is mayhem in market, I wont indulge you in too much gyaan except "Buy quality stocks and sit tight"
Here is something interesting i notice on BSE website. In market parlance colour Green is associated with Bull or market being up, while Red is bear and indicates markets are down. so If markets are down font colour reflect the same, however today I noticed for a moment it was not. Like when sensex was down by 1000 odd points, fonts were actually in green colour
however it changed after sometime
Here is something interesting i notice on BSE website. In market parlance colour Green is associated with Bull or market being up, while Red is bear and indicates markets are down. so If markets are down font colour reflect the same, however today I noticed for a moment it was not. Like when sensex was down by 1000 odd points, fonts were actually in green colour
however it changed after sometime
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Smartphone makers are copying Dell
It was probably 5 years back, when I was thinking of buying a new laptop. If you have been born in 80s you would have experienced most of all tech revolution unfolding before your eyes. So like in 90s when IT revolution had picked up (Infy had IPO sometime in 1994 or 1995 I think) people were getting hooked on to idea of automation and tech, corporate had gone on major capex drive to computerise their system as much as possible. And then internet came in public domain and college kids got hooked and started demanding PC (personal computer). If you went to market you had two options, branded and non-branded which was called assembled in local lingo. Branded was very expensive, to give you idea I got my first PC with config of Intel Celeron (Pentium 2 was in thing and expensive), 10 or 15 GB hard drive with RAM of around 150-200MB, an colour monitor, key board and mouse and all major software windows, office, adobe & acrobat and few games – all for Rs30-35,000/-, this was around 1999-2000. These days one can get better deal on flipkart or any other online store for around ~Rs20-25,000. Mine was assembled and not branded, hence comparatively it was cheaper compared to brand at that point of time.
Fast forward to 2009-10 and I was thinking of buying new system and thought to go for assembled as it would be cheaper. However, I found that branded laptop was almost equal or slightly expensive compared to assembled plus it came with warranty and all original software. Choice was clear, I opted for branded (Dell). Dell was started my Michael Dell in his college dorm, where he assembled and sold PC to buyer (assembled...just like Indian) he was eliminating middle man in selling PC to customer. He could sell cheaper as he had no middle man to share commission and also pass on cost benefit to attract customers. Beauty was he scaled this model on global level, tie up with key supplier of components, buy in bulk get raw material cheap and let customer design (config) his PC and sell it.
I wonder how soon before this model is replicated in cell/mobile phones. In some way it already is, xiaomi and one plus one/two, don’t manufacture but rather design and get manufacturing done from third party vendor and sell it through online stores only and no offline – marketing & promotion is probably done jointly. However no TV ads, no need for distributor or retailer and logistics company, number of activity that organisation do is considerable cut down. But how long before third party vendor or a new vendor decides to directly offer customer ability to design their phone based on catalogue they already have?
Monday, August 17, 2015
How to get Bang for your Buck
Being Analyst means to keep questioning your friends & colleague about their company. Here is one such tale from talk.
Once there was big FMCG Company, one of the key activity of an FMCG company is advertising. If one carefully observes advertising & promotion is key part of strategy. There is substantial money spent on making those ad - hiring right models, directors, jiggle writer, travelling, music composer, etc. However most important of all this is ad agency or to be more precise “Creative”, one who actually think of ad (they are real talent of ad agency). FMCG company typically meets client servicing manager who understands what message client (FMCG) wants to convey through ads to customer (Target Audience) then goes and conveys it to creative team. Then creative team goes about thinking of what ad should be like. (In this case product belongs to ready-to-eat kind of product).
Thing about creative people and creativity is, one cannot really motivate them or stimulate it. Try being creative on purpose and chances are one would fail. Creativity comes at its own pace, one cannot simply throw money or car or chocolate or anything other materialistic stuff to induce creativity. Creativity is like making baby, one need loads of passionate love to consummate, one needs patient to carry it out around for 9 months, one needs dedication to continuously take care of it and finally probably the most important “courage” to delivery it. However many think there is shortcut, like taking 9 women and 1 man and telling them you have 1 month to make a baby (its like equally telling someone “come with idea or you are fired”)
Something similar happens while making ads, in order to make your brand stand out from others, your brand needs to communicate message that creates very specific image in minds of consumer or deliver right message that it gives certain/stands for value. However this idea on how best to do it has to come from creative person, who operates on altogether different tangent. There are tons of ad agencies in world, one can hire anybody to do the job, but it takes genius to pull out creativity from creative team. One can pay software engineer and ask him to write code on urgent basis, but cannot ask painter to come up with creative piece on urgent basis.
FMCG Company appreciates this very best, so in order to pull out best creativity from team, it arranges for visit of creative team to schools, colleges, office etc places where people discover joy of food. Remember your lunch time in office, chances are most of the time first thing one does is, ask fellow friend “tere dabbe mein aaj kya hai?” You and he get excited on discovering your favourite vegetable. So that is something that tickles or ignites creative peoples mind and makes them think. Because of such stimuli creative guys are able to come up with better idea.
This is called true way to get bang for your buck, obviously this beats all other forms ;)
This gives one real insight of how FMCG industry, ad agency and whole industry operates. However key thing is best companies truly know how to motivate and get best out of employee or vendor. Best companies/Leader understands money & fear can only motivate up to extend, one needs to truly cherish & appreciate art (regular or not so regular job) that people do on day in day out. If one observe closely one would notice idea of motivating creative, came from brand team of FMCG Company. So imagine how much effort they took in not only to understanding consumer but also creative people who work for ad agency. Now obviously these brand managers in turn were hired by HR people, so some credit goes to them who hired such a smart people. To top it up these HR guys probably put in lot of effort in hiring right people because of organisation culture, which in turn was probably created by founders & senior management of the company. So it’s kind of big circle that feeds on each other.
Once there was big FMCG Company, one of the key activity of an FMCG company is advertising. If one carefully observes advertising & promotion is key part of strategy. There is substantial money spent on making those ad - hiring right models, directors, jiggle writer, travelling, music composer, etc. However most important of all this is ad agency or to be more precise “Creative”, one who actually think of ad (they are real talent of ad agency). FMCG company typically meets client servicing manager who understands what message client (FMCG) wants to convey through ads to customer (Target Audience) then goes and conveys it to creative team. Then creative team goes about thinking of what ad should be like. (In this case product belongs to ready-to-eat kind of product).
Thing about creative people and creativity is, one cannot really motivate them or stimulate it. Try being creative on purpose and chances are one would fail. Creativity comes at its own pace, one cannot simply throw money or car or chocolate or anything other materialistic stuff to induce creativity. Creativity is like making baby, one need loads of passionate love to consummate, one needs patient to carry it out around for 9 months, one needs dedication to continuously take care of it and finally probably the most important “courage” to delivery it. However many think there is shortcut, like taking 9 women and 1 man and telling them you have 1 month to make a baby (its like equally telling someone “come with idea or you are fired”)
Something similar happens while making ads, in order to make your brand stand out from others, your brand needs to communicate message that creates very specific image in minds of consumer or deliver right message that it gives certain/stands for value. However this idea on how best to do it has to come from creative person, who operates on altogether different tangent. There are tons of ad agencies in world, one can hire anybody to do the job, but it takes genius to pull out creativity from creative team. One can pay software engineer and ask him to write code on urgent basis, but cannot ask painter to come up with creative piece on urgent basis.
FMCG Company appreciates this very best, so in order to pull out best creativity from team, it arranges for visit of creative team to schools, colleges, office etc places where people discover joy of food. Remember your lunch time in office, chances are most of the time first thing one does is, ask fellow friend “tere dabbe mein aaj kya hai?” You and he get excited on discovering your favourite vegetable. So that is something that tickles or ignites creative peoples mind and makes them think. Because of such stimuli creative guys are able to come up with better idea.
This is called true way to get bang for your buck, obviously this beats all other forms ;)
This gives one real insight of how FMCG industry, ad agency and whole industry operates. However key thing is best companies truly know how to motivate and get best out of employee or vendor. Best companies/Leader understands money & fear can only motivate up to extend, one needs to truly cherish & appreciate art (regular or not so regular job) that people do on day in day out. If one observe closely one would notice idea of motivating creative, came from brand team of FMCG Company. So imagine how much effort they took in not only to understanding consumer but also creative people who work for ad agency. Now obviously these brand managers in turn were hired by HR people, so some credit goes to them who hired such a smart people. To top it up these HR guys probably put in lot of effort in hiring right people because of organisation culture, which in turn was probably created by founders & senior management of the company. So it’s kind of big circle that feeds on each other.
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Read, Learn, Improve - 15-Aug-15
Space mining is closer than you think, and the prospects are great – Link here
Robots Won't Rule the Checkout Lane – Link here
The LinkedIn Hack That Made Me $120,000 – Link here
How this chemist unwittingly helped spawn the synthetic drug industry – Link here
All Hail Uber – Link here
George Zimmer Starts an ‘Uber for Tailors’ – Link here
Why Not Insider Trade on Every Company? – Link here
WeChat’s Growth Shows Why Messaging Apps Attract Big Valuations – Link here
The video game dream: a pakistani teen gets rich quick in e-sports – Link here
A stockpicker confesses to recommendations you should not buy – Link here
Charlie Munger, Coke and Apple – Link here
What are some animals that most people have never seen before? – Link here
Robots Won't Rule the Checkout Lane – Link here
The LinkedIn Hack That Made Me $120,000 – Link here
How this chemist unwittingly helped spawn the synthetic drug industry – Link here
All Hail Uber – Link here
George Zimmer Starts an ‘Uber for Tailors’ – Link here
Why Not Insider Trade on Every Company? – Link here
WeChat’s Growth Shows Why Messaging Apps Attract Big Valuations – Link here
The video game dream: a pakistani teen gets rich quick in e-sports – Link here
A stockpicker confesses to recommendations you should not buy – Link here
Charlie Munger, Coke and Apple – Link here
What are some animals that most people have never seen before? – Link here
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Read, Learn, Improve - 8-Aug-15
Star Trek Economics: Life After the Dismal Science – Link here
Guess how to blow $1.5 billion – Link here
The Age of the Robot Worker Will Be Worse for Men – Link here
Chinese Textile Mills Are Now Hiring in Places Where Cotton Was King – Link here
Why emerging markets won’t crash – Link here
Don't teach a man to fish. Just give him the goddamn fish – Link here
Want to Hire Great People? Stop Asking Stupid Interview Questions! – Link here
What Is Our Attention Really Worth? – Link here
Why This Company Could Reshape Franchise Funding – Link here
How Toshiba delayed a $100 million loss with two words: 'uncorrected misstatement' – Link here
Why A 21-Year-Old Is Building OYO As An Uber (And Not An Airbnb) For Hotels In India – Link here
How youtube became the new food network – Link here
What the nose knows - it can fundamentally change the way you relate to other people – Link here
Guess how to blow $1.5 billion – Link here
The Age of the Robot Worker Will Be Worse for Men – Link here
Chinese Textile Mills Are Now Hiring in Places Where Cotton Was King – Link here
Why emerging markets won’t crash – Link here
Don't teach a man to fish. Just give him the goddamn fish – Link here
Want to Hire Great People? Stop Asking Stupid Interview Questions! – Link here
What Is Our Attention Really Worth? – Link here
Why This Company Could Reshape Franchise Funding – Link here
How Toshiba delayed a $100 million loss with two words: 'uncorrected misstatement' – Link here
Why A 21-Year-Old Is Building OYO As An Uber (And Not An Airbnb) For Hotels In India – Link here
How youtube became the new food network – Link here
What the nose knows - it can fundamentally change the way you relate to other people – Link here
Friday, August 7, 2015
In hunt for good cultured company
Once Analyst was job hunting, given some work experience he has figured out it makes sense to work with a company that has good philosophy / culture/ core value. Because if you get that one thing right chances are rest all (money, work profile, good boss/mentor, solid learning etc etc) will follow on its own. So here is one such incident of Analyst on hunt of good company to make his career.
So once a small time company called up, Analyst had not heard too much about it, pay level was pretty less, but out of curiosity he went for first round of interview with HR person, here is small transcript of interview
HR: so tell me something about yourself
Analyst: .....blah blah blah blah (mainly talks about skill areas, what he can do, what he likes to do, what he is good at, etc)
HR: your family background
Analyst: .....blah blah blah blah (yes you gone hire them as well)
HR: where did you do your MBA from?
Analyst: institute that is sister-concern of Mumbai’s No-1 MMS Institute, (where nobody likes to go, but I went and got my MBA at less than half the cost of most major institute, also managed to have fee payback in 1st year of job itself)
HR: ...oh....ok..... (I could figure out she was not really impressed by the name of institute)....so was it full time or part time or correspondence
Analyst: FULL TIME....there was class where students use to go and sit on bench and professor use to come and use OHP to teach us
HR: oh ok that’s nice (seems convince that my institute does exist and not fake one) ......what about your graduation.....what you did and which college?
Analyst: .....blah blah blah blah (thankfully its known name)
HR: ok nice (smiling...as she recognised name of my graduation college)
Analyst: ..... (Glad to know HR finally understood something)
HR: so why do you want to leave your current job?
Analyst: I don’t understand or can’t get along with culture & philosophy of current management
HR: but what if you join us tomm and don’t like our culture too?
Analyst: I believe that is why we are having this meeting, so to understand each other better.
HR: ya....but you see....we don’t have culture
Analyst:......ummm.....what.....how is it possible?
HR: our company has 200 people but only 6-7 people sit in HO with whom you would be working, so what culture would be there to talk about.
Analyst: I am sure there are something.....some central philosophy/ guiding principle which drives those 6-7 people.
HR: those 6-7 people report to Chairman, so he drives (orders) them.
Analyst: ok......2 things (1) they don’t go to chairman for every decision right?......so what are key principles that helps them make right choice. (2) your chairman also takes decision so how does he decide what choices to make?
HR:....ummmm...(has thoroughly confused looks.....manages to say).....so what are you trying to say
Analyst: what is sense of your purpose?, why do you do what do you do?
HR: well that’s easy....CMD looks forward for monetary gains....
Analyst: so if money is the motive there are 10 other business that can help him make money ...why this business and not those 10?
HR:.......ummm......I am not sure
Analyst: no problem......I think may be I will get those answer from Management
HR: ya...thanks for coming....I will speak to management about your profile and I will get back to you.
Monday, August 3, 2015
This is India – Quantity = Quality
This is India – Quantity = Quality
Once analyst applied for a position in leading jewelry retailer, here is transcript of the interview
HR: tell me something about yourself
Analyst:... blah....blah....blah
HR:...hmmmm... (Followed with long pause as he is going through CV).......hmmm.....(those thoughtful words are utter when one doesn’t understand anything about financial or business analysis, in between he plays with his iPhone)
Analyst: ... blah....blah....blah, so that is what I am , what I like doing
HR: so do you have any idea about jewelry company?
Analyst: throws industry facts & figure, company specific facts, key success factor in business, important variables that needs to be monitored, key risk & how to manage those
HR:...hmmmm...(facial expression says it all....I don’t understand a shit pal.....let me check my whtsapp)
Analyst: ... blah....blah....blah, so that what basically I know about jewellery industry.
HR: so tell me something.........which job have you applied for?
Analyst: (bit startled)......MIS Costing & Finance
HR:...ummm.....ummmmm.
Analyst: quickly removes print out of JD posted on job-sites
HR: ...hmmm..... (While looking at it)....ok...you know there are too many openings so I got bit confused.
Analyst: ok
HR: tell me something.....have you done any kind of homework about our industry & company?
Analyst: (copy pasting previously given answer but in new format) throws industry facts & figure, company specific facts, key success factor in business, important variables that needs to be monitored, key risk & how to manage those....blah blah blah..... blah....blah....blah.
HR: (is checking out his iPhone again) ok pal......we are in process of interview other candidate...so will let you know once we decide
Analyst: ok....thanks for having me.
HR: on the way out of office, hey Analyst...do me a favour....make a new CV that is bit bigger than current one (1-pager)...its bit smaller.
Analyst: ok sure (whatever happened to concept of “Minimum Words, Maximum Impact”).
Once analyst applied for a position in leading jewelry retailer, here is transcript of the interview
HR: tell me something about yourself
Analyst:... blah....blah....blah
HR:...hmmmm... (Followed with long pause as he is going through CV).......hmmm.....(those thoughtful words are utter when one doesn’t understand anything about financial or business analysis, in between he plays with his iPhone)
Analyst: ... blah....blah....blah, so that is what I am , what I like doing
HR: so do you have any idea about jewelry company?
Analyst: throws industry facts & figure, company specific facts, key success factor in business, important variables that needs to be monitored, key risk & how to manage those
HR:...hmmmm...(facial expression says it all....I don’t understand a shit pal.....let me check my whtsapp)
Analyst: ... blah....blah....blah, so that what basically I know about jewellery industry.
HR: so tell me something.........which job have you applied for?
Analyst: (bit startled)......MIS Costing & Finance
HR:...ummm.....ummmmm.
Analyst: quickly removes print out of JD posted on job-sites
HR: ...hmmm..... (While looking at it)....ok...you know there are too many openings so I got bit confused.
Analyst: ok
HR: tell me something.....have you done any kind of homework about our industry & company?
Analyst: (copy pasting previously given answer but in new format) throws industry facts & figure, company specific facts, key success factor in business, important variables that needs to be monitored, key risk & how to manage those....blah blah blah..... blah....blah....blah.
HR: (is checking out his iPhone again) ok pal......we are in process of interview other candidate...so will let you know once we decide
Analyst: ok....thanks for having me.
HR: on the way out of office, hey Analyst...do me a favour....make a new CV that is bit bigger than current one (1-pager)...its bit smaller.
Analyst: ok sure (whatever happened to concept of “Minimum Words, Maximum Impact”).
Read, Learn, Improve - 1-Aug-15
Why a Japanese company paid top dollar for the Financial Times – Link here
No, you don’t need a business model – Link here
The automation myth - Robots aren't taking your jobs— and that's the problem – Link here
Goldman in Ventureland - The inside story of how—and why—Goldman Sachs became a tech-investing powerhouse – Link here
Warren Buffett’s Family Secretly Funded a Birth Control Revolution – Link here
How One Life Hack From A Self-Made Billionaire Leads To Exceptional Success – Link here
Buyback Extravaganza – Link here
Why Women Choose Not to Have Children – Link here
The thing about flat stock markets – Link here
Algorithm Aversion — Why people don’t follow the model! – Link here
20 People You Don’t Want to Invest With – Link here
How Facebook's video-traffic explosion is shaking up the advertising world – Link here
From Germany to India: Two hitchhikers on their way east – Link here
No, you don’t need a business model – Link here
The automation myth - Robots aren't taking your jobs— and that's the problem – Link here
Goldman in Ventureland - The inside story of how—and why—Goldman Sachs became a tech-investing powerhouse – Link here
Warren Buffett’s Family Secretly Funded a Birth Control Revolution – Link here
How One Life Hack From A Self-Made Billionaire Leads To Exceptional Success – Link here
Buyback Extravaganza – Link here
Why Women Choose Not to Have Children – Link here
The thing about flat stock markets – Link here
Algorithm Aversion — Why people don’t follow the model! – Link here
20 People You Don’t Want to Invest With – Link here
How Facebook's video-traffic explosion is shaking up the advertising world – Link here
From Germany to India: Two hitchhikers on their way east – Link here
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Tyranny of app
6 newspaper, 4 shopping, 3 entertainment, 3 dating/matrimonial, 2 taxi, 2 messenger, 2 restaurant/food ordering, 2 social media, 1 mail, 1 wallet – 25 – that’s how many app I have on my cell. I think this is very conservative number – people who travel regular have airline & hotel app – at least 2 of each (some of us use M-Indicator only), then there are games (2/3), maps, calendar, browser, camera, file sending & receiving, system cleaner, antivirus, photo editing, etc. I wonder how many of these apps does one actually use on regular basis. And to top it up all these app keeps coming up with regular update, meaning your memory space gets utilized by these apps, this when you may be already running low on inbuilt memory and not all of apps can be moved to your SD memory card. There ought to be solution for this “tyranny of app”, I haven’t figure out but I am sure given Google and Apple who control operating system of most mobile phones, they are best placed to find solution or if you can you may be the next Genius in the making.
This thought was inspired by presentation given by Jack Hidary - Jack Hidary is a technology and financial entrepreneur who lives In New York City. He is the chairman of Samba Energy and was the co-founder of EarthWeb/Dice, Inc. and Vista Research. Wiki Link
This thought was inspired by presentation given by Jack Hidary - Jack Hidary is a technology and financial entrepreneur who lives In New York City. He is the chairman of Samba Energy and was the co-founder of EarthWeb/Dice, Inc. and Vista Research. Wiki Link
Read, Learn, Improve - 18-Jul-15
Flash Boys Welcome: World Exchanges Woo High-Frequency Traders – Link here
How a Chinese puzzle could enable the Greeks to have the last laugh – Link here
The Big 4 – Navy SEAL’s Technique to Conquering Fear and Panic – Link here
World Class Comedy or Investing: Are They Teachable? – Link here
Do animals think about the future? – Link here
Why Investing Is So Complicated, and How to Make It Simpler – Link here
The Turing Phone Is Built to Be Unhackable and Unbreakable – Link here
Banks Forgot Who Was Supposed to Own Dell Shares – Link here
Xiaomi success inspires every man and his dog to make smartphones in China – Link here and Link here
How Fanuc quietly took over the world – Link here
How (not) to invest like Sir Isaac Newton – Link here
Why Are so Many of the World's Oldest Businesses in Japan? – Link here
How a Chinese puzzle could enable the Greeks to have the last laugh – Link here
The Big 4 – Navy SEAL’s Technique to Conquering Fear and Panic – Link here
World Class Comedy or Investing: Are They Teachable? – Link here
Do animals think about the future? – Link here
Why Investing Is So Complicated, and How to Make It Simpler – Link here
The Turing Phone Is Built to Be Unhackable and Unbreakable – Link here
Banks Forgot Who Was Supposed to Own Dell Shares – Link here
Xiaomi success inspires every man and his dog to make smartphones in China – Link here and Link here
How Fanuc quietly took over the world – Link here
How (not) to invest like Sir Isaac Newton – Link here
Why Are so Many of the World's Oldest Businesses in Japan? – Link here
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Virus – No Virus
It’s been ages since Analyst upgraded his cell phone and now it looked like Analyst had too, new office pretty much demanded everybody to be on whatsapp and access mails at all point of time as “First to analyse news, is First who makes money”. So Analyst went scouting in nearby big branded store for new mobile phones. Once Analyst was through mobile section he thought to check out tablet section. It had very good collection of iPad, Samsung Tab, HCL me, Amazon Kindle, Lenovo and others.
As it’s with Indian salesman, who can’t see a customer enjoying solitude of simply checking out product & its feature, he could not control his urge to say “may I help you sir” as he came around. Analyst tried to avoid him, but as they are made of thick skin, he started blabbering various features about product and what it can do. It’s amazing to see, young kid of age 20-22 with soo much amount of data in their head, you query them on any vital stat of any product and within a split-second they would answer you.
Analyst kept on shifting to various tabs and he would start explaining various features and difference between new & old model and also that with competitor model. So Analyst queried him on basic info on memory, various connectivity tools, pre-loaded apps etc and he happily replied to all my queries. Analyst could sense how happy Sales guy was to just answer his query. That’s when Analyst got query in mind and thought to ask him,
Analyst said “what about virus?”, Salesman with questioning look on his face said “.....virus?......”
Analyst replied “yeah..virus”....Salesman replied “no sir...this doesn’t have any virus”......
Analyst was like “ya I know that...I am saying does this thing come with loaded with anti-virus?”
Salesman in his most thoughtful way could manage to say......hmmmm.....he gave me look as if he is analysing tonnes of data to come up with right solution. Meanwhile Analyst could sense Salesman was stumped by the query. That’s’ when Salesman hits back...”I don’t think you would need that sir”
Analyst could not believe what Sales guy had said and blurted “huh....why so?”
Salesman said “because sir....viruses don’t come on tab...They only come on laptop & PC”.
Analyst for once was confused.....should he ROFL or give him small tap on his head. Salesman was watching Analyst’s confused expression....he managed to give out confident smile
Analyst smiled back and walked out saying... good it’s nice offering......thanks for all the help pal.... right now I am looking for mobile...just thought to check out tabs.
As it’s with Indian salesman, who can’t see a customer enjoying solitude of simply checking out product & its feature, he could not control his urge to say “may I help you sir” as he came around. Analyst tried to avoid him, but as they are made of thick skin, he started blabbering various features about product and what it can do. It’s amazing to see, young kid of age 20-22 with soo much amount of data in their head, you query them on any vital stat of any product and within a split-second they would answer you.
Analyst kept on shifting to various tabs and he would start explaining various features and difference between new & old model and also that with competitor model. So Analyst queried him on basic info on memory, various connectivity tools, pre-loaded apps etc and he happily replied to all my queries. Analyst could sense how happy Sales guy was to just answer his query. That’s when Analyst got query in mind and thought to ask him,
Analyst said “what about virus?”, Salesman with questioning look on his face said “.....virus?......”
Analyst replied “yeah..virus”....Salesman replied “no sir...this doesn’t have any virus”......
Analyst was like “ya I know that...I am saying does this thing come with loaded with anti-virus?”
Salesman in his most thoughtful way could manage to say......hmmmm.....he gave me look as if he is analysing tonnes of data to come up with right solution. Meanwhile Analyst could sense Salesman was stumped by the query. That’s’ when Salesman hits back...”I don’t think you would need that sir”
Analyst could not believe what Sales guy had said and blurted “huh....why so?”
Salesman said “because sir....viruses don’t come on tab...They only come on laptop & PC”.
Analyst for once was confused.....should he ROFL or give him small tap on his head. Salesman was watching Analyst’s confused expression....he managed to give out confident smile
Analyst smiled back and walked out saying... good it’s nice offering......thanks for all the help pal.... right now I am looking for mobile...just thought to check out tabs.
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