Consolidation is the buzzword now. Be it banking where the first move came from the leader SBI or insurance where HDFC life has moved to form a strong number two player, companies are moving to grow inorganically. The circumstances under which inorganic growth happens all around us must be well…
With the monsoon rains fast spreading around us, what would you reckon is the best investment to be in? A simple, no brainer choice would be the business of selling umbrellas. Every year, around this time, one would read about how an umbrella maker is innovating to draw more business and how it…
The stock markets were carrying this eerie fear through the months of January and February. We knew that things were not going well with the economy. The crony capitalist Industrialists of India with dreams way beyond their means, helped by friends in the right places, had technically gone bankrupt. Most of the…
Behaviour is the most critical component of investing. A simple test of one’s behavioural quality will tell a lot about an investor. Typically, most investors want to invest on seeing good returns out of their past investments. If they return well, they want to put more money. Now, this may…
The slowing of growth expectations has been a global phenomenon in recent times. The US economy once again lowered its growth estimates to 2%. How does this affect India? Our growth expectations have anyway been dropping for the past two years. In this scenario, will we see a further reduction…
The Indian stock markets were paranoid at the very mention of the name of that country. If the tax concessions given to this country were to be withdrawn, the belief was this would damage our market sentiment beyond repair. So we were told. Successive governments failed to act on this…
Global Interest rates clearly will play the Joker in the pack. They will determine global market sentiment. Whether they rise or fall or do nothing, the markets will find reasons to be unhappy with them. The reasons are simple. The US economy hints at raising rates and then chickens out…
An economy needs constant supply of a few things. Energy, foreign exchange and food are things which come up on top of our mind when we set out to make a list of economic essentials. One essential we often ignore is water. Our reservoirs are bone dry. Our storage levels of…
Fifty seven analysts track Infosys from across India’s brokerages. Their jobs rests on their ability to read the numbers right. If there is a surprise, these 57 people will take a credibility hit. So the corporation needs to guide them correctly and also live up to their extended expectation. After all, if an…
Pessimism and optimism are structurally very different in the way they are formed. For example, it is very easy to manufacture pessimism. All we need is for a sharp spike of fear and a string of bad news. The pessimism so formed takes a very long time to recede and…
The Indian stock market participants can be broadly categorized into two categories. Indians who preempt FII’s and Indians who follow FII’s. Historically, every Bull Run has seen the followers lose big money. Those who show investment conviction even preempting FII’s are the most successful investors. This breed seems to be a…