Hello everyone! Typically I try and ensure that this newsletter reaches you every Sunday morning, but once again we are here.
This week, I found interesting insights from a massive reading of almost 200 newspapers!
Yeah, you read that right.
I get three newspapers a day and I had almost not read them for two and a half months.
So here I was, scrapping all through the weekend to distill a few interesting anecdotes I came across.
But before I delve deeper, allow me to talk to you about why do I do this.
Well, I am on a Mission
My mission has three objectives:
Indians should benefit from the wealth creation from global stock markets
All Indians should have a basic understanding of personal finance and investing principles
Atleast 100 Indians have something like this outside their house in the next 10 years
Back to insights.
Current Account Surplus
This year, India might have it’s very first Current Account Surplus.
What’s that?
Typically, as a country if you’re spending (read investing) more than you’re saving, you run a deficit.
For a developing country, it is often a good idea to run a deficit so that you keep investing capital for ensuring these investments keep ‘running’ the cycle of a multiplier effect.
More Investments > More Jobs > More Income > More Prosperity
This year, due to crude price tailwinds (India imports a LOT of Crude), reduced imports and a little subdued exports, India is all set to end the fiscal with a surplus against a deficit.
Do you think it’s a good thing?
Let me know in the comments section.
The Author of Greed & Fear finally gets Greedy on India
Being a part of the Investment community and being on the Buy Side, I do enjoy reading the iconic ‘Greed & Fear’ Report by Chris Woods from Jefferies.
So what now?
Well, Mr. Wood launches a long-only India focussed portfolio with ~17% weightage to Real Estate!
A name that caught my eye from his portfolio picks – Century Textiles.
Back in 2015, I had done a detailed analysis on this company and always thought that it was neither a paper company nor a textile company – it was a company with a massive land bank.
And well, cut to 6 years later – someone seems to be valuing the ‘intrinsic value’.
Google unveils Google Showcase
In a new move, a new breed of companies seemed to have a found a new source of Revenue.
Beta to Alpha had spoken about this almost 3-4 months back in a newsletter here.
I am talking about Media companies.
In India, it has been close to a month since this was rolled out and it also provides publishers with a new way to monetise their content and earn a license fee from Google.
While globally, this has been an issue of a lot of legal hassle, the space seems to be evolving and clearly world over, one thing is very clear.
CONTENT is KING.
What are your thoughts?
STOCKROOM SUNDAY – EPISODE 16
This was a long episode and both Vishal and I grapple with switching between Hindi and English.
Why is that?
Well, ensuring a mix of two ensures that the reach is maximised and we are able to make more and more Indians make informed choices when it comes to trading and investing decisions.
SONG OF THE WEEK
BOOK OF THE WEEK
This week, I came across an interesting book.
A book that is allegedly a ‘Secret’ used by Swiss bankers and covers the rules of risk when it comes to investments.
I did learn that this book was out of print and now has been brought back.
Yes, this has been the most expensive book I have purchased in a long time – but after reading Chapter 1 – I totally feel it is worth it.
Click here to check out the book.
PODCAST OF THE WEEK
I am extremely proud of my alma mater’s efforts.
Almost a month back – in a WhatsApp forum, dedicated to discussing markets, we learnt that three members had passed away due to Covid.
Everyone within the group immediately pooled their resources and made sure we collect a corpus to take care of their family’s expenses for atleast a year.
A lot of resources that we read around finance and investing do not cover something very sensitive yet important.
What happens after death?
Check out this podcast below covering this subject.
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These webinars are typically around four broad categories:
- Company Deep Dives – A bulk of our sessions are around this. We try and dissect companies and look at competitive advantages for the companies alongside industry tailwinds. Typically the structure is as follows:
- Industry Overview
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- Catalysts / Tailwinds that make A/B exciting
- Valuations – DCF, Forward P/E, EV/EBITDA
- Risks
- Optionality in Businesses
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In the pipeline – Webinar Transcripts.
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Let’s show you one example.
This week, we did a deep dive on Natco Pharma. The cohort helped in bringing out better insights.
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