A lot of people must have told you what my parents had drilled down in me during my student days.

It is that you must find a promising career that pays you a decent living so that you can live happily ever after.

But they may not have told you that in the long run, it’s not just how much money you make that will determine your future prosperity.

It’s how much of that money you put to work by saving and investing it.

You see, the best time to start investing is when you are young.
[Read more…] about Are You Young Enough to Become a Crorepati?

Warren Buffett, whom the world knows as the best stock market investor, wasn’t as famous in 1969. But he was already a millionaire then, and was on the verge of retiring from his investing career.

Till then, Buffett was managing his private investment firm – Buffett Partnership – and was doing pretty well for his investors.

But in May 1969, he wrote a heavy-hearted and an apologetic letter to the members of his partnership, warning them of his “intention to retire.”

Buffett complained about the “seemingly barren investment world” and the “increasingly short-term oriented” speculative market.

That environment, he said, had “generally become more negative and frustrating as time has passed.”
[Read more…] about Forbes on Warren Buffett: A Brilliant Collection of Articles on the Master

Led by 850 points gain in the Sensex, Indian stock market rose to its 3-week high by the end of this week’s trading.

These gains were led by improved earnings guidance from the technology major Infosys, and slower-than-expected growth in factory output that seemed to have fuelled speculation the central bank may halt its interest rate increases.

Data Source: Yahoo Finance
Despite this week’s rise, the Sensex is still down around 17% this year (since January).

The question on top of mind of most investors I meet these days is – “Are Indian stock markets cheap now?”
[Read more…] about Are Indian Stock Markets Cheap Now?

One of the rituals of being a stock market analyst is that you must analyze the quarterly results of each and every company that is under your research coverage.

The analysis report has to be sent to clients the very same day, as the target is always to be the ‘first to market’.

I was part of this ritual for 8 years, or 32 quarters. At any point in time during these 8 years, I had around 20-25 large and small companies under my coverage.

In short, over these years, I wrote around 650-800 result analysis reports. If that was not enough, there was a considerable amount of time spent listening to managements through conference calls that were organized after the results came out.
[Read more…] about The Simplest Way You Can Question a Company’s CEO

Do you ever wonder if you’re wrong about certain things that you currently consider to be fact?

Like the way you handle your money? Or like the way you invest in stock market?

Do you ever think that maybe you were wrong about that worthless stock you still hold in your portfolio? Or the advisor who advised you that stock? Or your own habit of making hasty investing decisions that led you to buy that stock?

Do you ever question your beliefs and opinions when it comes to investing in stock market? Like, where they came from? Did you develop them yourself or did you adopt them from someone else, like your father, colleague, or Warren Buffett?
[Read more…] about Don’t Believe Everything I Write on Stock Market Investing

The Indian stock markets have had a ‘relief rally’ over the past few days. With the Sensex recovering almost 700 points over the past four trading sessions, investors are starting to believe in the ‘end of crisis’ theories floating around.

But the fact remains that the global economy and financial markets remain far from an end of crisis, and investing in stocks is likely to be clouded by high levels of uncertainty in the short to medium term.
[Read more…] about Why Investing Now is Like Catching a Falling Knife