Quick Edit: A slowdown stares at us. Bad news, isn’t it? But, it comes with a silver lining. This slow down is not cyclical. It has not been thrust on us by the times. It is systemic. Our system has invited it on us. Masterly inaction has been the best…
An ominous phase of volatility in commodities seems imminent. We are seeing price fluctuations increasing across commodities. The demand-supply estimates of key commodities have either been hazy or improperly assessed over the past year and this helped traders profit from increased volatility. The current year could well see demand drop and…
The Government of India wants to tame gold. It is moving with full resolve to do so and the budgetary proposals are to be viewed in that light. Why is the Government wanting to tame gold? The reasons are macro-economic. Gold consumption of Indian households has risen to $ 45…
Bull markets happen once in several years. The most recent one was in 2008. We have had a four year bear market play out. Investors have gradually lost faith in equity and preferred to place greater faith in other asset classes. Debt, gold and real estate have been the preferred investment…
Buying insurance is no easy job. The maze of products that have been designed by insurance companies have made decision making a nightmare. Most products are sold to you with e devil hidden in the fine print. The hard sell by agents make it hard to judge the truth. Worse,…
The IPO and stock investing are almost synonymous to the investor. Investors view the IPO as the most preferred entry point into the stock market. The reasons are historic. The IPO had a history of delivering great returns if the investor stuck to quality companies. But, that was in a…
Habitual saving is an innately Indian trait. Most of us save a good part of our earnings. What’s a good part supposed to be? Typically, Indians save over 25% of what we earn. I do know people who save upward of 60% of what they earned for their entire work…
Imagine. You just hit 30. You’ve worked for 8 years in good jobs. Pay packs expanded through the period. Lifestyles were improving all through. You broke away from the tough struggles of life and found what you wanted. In fact, you always found what you wanted. It is the time…
Success stories often sound like fairy tales where one is led to believe that sudden transformations change a person’s fortunes. But, in practice, transformation is a process. Most processes are slow, measured, and milestone-driven. Each little change that a person made to the process matters greatly to the outcome. But,…
Events tend to throw the world into chaos. With the world in chaos, the stock markets inevitably see mayhem. The mayhem in Europe in recent weeks is only evidence of one thing. The more things change in the world, the more our behavior towards investments remains the same. I remember…
Don’t do this. Nobody likes to be told so. Yet, there are times in History when we accept the calling and apply ourselves. Not doing something is not merely a form of dissent. It could also be a way of changing our destiny. Remember the swadeshi movement. It served as…
Watching business TV now is like taking a walk in the Park of Gloom. Nobody seems to see the brighter side of the future. There are strategists of global repute who have made a living predicting gloom and doom. They appear on business channels with unfailing regularity and reinforce…