Archives for March 2012

New Investor? Know these 6 Things for a Safe Investment Journey

I often meet people who are just starting out as stock market investors but have no idea where to begin.

Then there are others who have been investors for some time, but are still clueless about taking their next, and the next step.

If this is the case with you as well, here are 6 simple things that you must keep in mind as you enter the stock market.

These are in fact the 6 lessons that I have learnt the hard way over the years. But you must not go through the same cycle, and these lessons will help you be safe, and emerge successful, in your investment journey.

Let’s start right here.

How ‘Minimalism’ Changed My Life as an Investor

Have you even wondered that there are way too many things that you have to face day after day?

Too many responsibilities, too many questions, too many possessions, too much information, too many options for everything, too many stocks to choose from, too many other investments that too many financial advisors push you to buy.

If that’s the case with you, what you need to bring back peace to your life is…minimalism.

Minimalism is basically an extension of simplicity – not only do you take things from complex to simple, but you try to get rid of anything that is unnecessary.

Practicing minimalism has brought simplicity to my life, and I love it for the time it gives me to focus on the bigger, more important things – taking greater care of my health and family.

Safal Niveshak StockTalk #5: Graphite India

Welcome to the fifth issue of the Safal Niveshak StockTalk.

This time I delve deeper into a small-cap company, Graphite India Ltd. (GIL). GIL, despite being a small company, is India’s largest manufacturer of “graphite electrodes”, one of the most important components used while manufacturing steel using the electric arc furnace (EAF) route.

Before we dive deeper into GIL, here is a brief overview of the sections of this report…

About GIL
GIL’s Shareholder Value Creation Model
Safal Niveshak’s 20-Point Checklist
Intrinsic Value Assumptions
Financial & Market Snapshot
“Should I Buy GIL?” Checklist

What Investing Topics Do You Want Me to Write About?

Whatever I write at Safal Niveshak is for you. And I want it to be useful to you.

So a while back, I did a feature called “Ask Vishal,” where I answered investment-related questions asked by readers. And the response was good.

Going forward, I want to do something a little different.

Here’s what I’m asking.

Post topics of interest to you in the Comments section below – topics related to investing, stock market, and financial education, which you want me to write on Safal Niveshak.

Sorry Veritas, But I Love DLF!

Whatever Veritas may say, I love DLF and for the reasons mentioned below. Here’s my ode to the company and its founder Mr. K.P. Singh for whatever good they’ve done for me as a financial analyst and an investor…

My Ode to DLF
KP-KP, where have you been?
“I’ve been working day and night, to make my balance sheet clean.”

KP-KP, so what did Veritas found there?
“It’s ‘mischievous’ of them, I don’t know what wrong they saw here!”

KP-KP, but aren’t your assets really inflated?
“I don’t know why you say so, for I’ve always kept them deflated!”

By the way, I love your company for what it is,
It’s taught me what’s nice and what I must miss.

Education and Investing

Some people are educated. Some are smart. Some are both.

Some educated people are blockheads. Some uneducated people are geniuses.

Put the sophisticated, smart fund manager in the role of a chief financial officer of a company, and see who the intelligent one is – him or the relatively ‘less educated’ CFO who has been managing the ‘real’ business challenges for years.

Some people understand the theory of everything but can’t deal with the reality of anything.

Like an arm-chair financial analyst would continuously blame an automobile company for not managing its cost well, but does not understand a bit what problems that company faces in dealing with its vendors.

So you have some people who are academically capable but practically incompetent!

How to Invest after Sensex Rises 20%

“Bull markets go to people’s heads. If you’re a duck on a pond, and it’s rising due to a downpour, you start going up in the world. But you think it’s you, not the pond.” ~ Charlie Munger

“I’m loving it!” said my friend as he entered my home for a family dinner.

“Why, did you just eat a McDonald’s burger or what?” I asked.

“What a poor joke, man!” he said while switching the channel from Star Cricket to CNBC. “Haven’t you seen how the Sensex is rising these days?”

“I don’t keep a track of the Sensex, you see!”

“It’s sad! Then you’ve missed a great rise in stock prices,” he said as if he was mocking me for not watching CNBC.