Safal Niveshak

Wit. Wisdom. Value Investing.

How Sachin Tendulkar Would Have Made You a Richer Investor

320 runs. That’s what the Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has scored in his last 10 innings in England.

For someone who has a test match batting average of 56, with 51 centuries, spread over a record 181 test matches, the recent form must be a cause for worry.

Anyways, does this poor form over the past 45 days make Tendulkar a bad player? A majority of us would say, ‘No’.

But what about the poor run your stock market investments have seen over the past 45 days? The BSE-Sensex has lost 10% during this period.
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The Easiest Way to Go Bankrupt

Dictionary defines bankruptcy as the state of being or becoming bankrupt. And you are bankrupt if you are unable to satisfy any just claims made upon you.

Some also define bankruptcy as a legal proceeding in which you put your money in your pants pocket and give your coat to your creditors.

These definitions apply to you once you are already bankrupt.

But the question is – How do you go bankrupt?
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This Big Investing Mistake Can Cost You Heavy

Do you remember the 2009 swine flu pandemic that caused worldwide panic? An estimated 14,300 people died of this virus.

If you think that’s a big number, you would be surprised to note that more people die every year due to seasonal flu.

But even then, swine flu caused much greater panic than the regular flu. What could be the reason for that?

Or consider the following example. In the months after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US in 2001, travellers made the decision that travelling by car was a far safer way than by air.
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It’s 2008 All Over Again

I hate to sound pessimistic, but it looks as though the global banking system led by European banks is edging its way towards another big collapse.

That means in just a few short months, stocks could be back at their 2009 lows.

And if the last few weeks are any indication, the impact will also be felt in India…as it did after Lehman Brothers collapsed in September 2008.

But don’t expect things to capitulate so fast. At least not given that central bankers in the US and Europe will attempt one more Herculean effort to ‘save’ things.
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Want to Become a Better Investor? First Get Your Brain Damaged

“I hate it! It’s like the end of world for me!” said my friend Ravi hanging his head in desperation.

“What happened?” I asked. “You lost someone in your family? Oh, I’m so sorry!”

“Oh no, not that!” he said.

“Then what? Your dog died?”

“No, no!”

“Someone stole your Blackberry?”

“Vishal, will you let me speak?”

“Yeah, c’mon tell me what happened?” I smiled at him and asked.
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Steve Jobs Resigns from Apple: Lessons for Indian Investors

iPods, iPads, and iPhones would have baffled the German social scientist Max Weber, who died in 1920.

The father of modern sociology, however, would surely have understood something about the man behind those futuristic gadgets.

Weber defined the ‘charismatic leader’ as one whose influence stems from almost preternatural insights and imagination, and who inspires devotional loyalty from his followers.

This definition adds up to an uncanny description of Steve Jobs of Apple.

Weber also argued that organizations structured around a charismatic leader are doomed to lose their vigor after the great one leaves the scene.
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The Stock Market Nonsense Called ‘Consensus’

The spread of business channels and other financial media has had grave consequences for investors over the past few years.

One of them is the need to justify each and every move of the market.

The other is the tendency to buy or sell stocks first and think about the rationale of buying/selling later.

The third, and the worst, consequence for investors of watching business channels and reading financial media has been the nonsensical focus on the movement of the Sensex or the Nifty.
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Tuesday Morning Reads

A few interesting items for your reading pleasure:

What are you reading?

This is Not a Time for Heroism

“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, then you probably haven’t been following global financial markets over the past few weeks.” Thus went the first paragraph of a report I recently read on Bloomberg.

The dizzying price volatility – across asset classes and indifferent to national borders – might be taken as evidence that the market has lost its anchor to fundamentals.


Data Source: Yahoo Finance
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