What Unexpected 'Stay'cation At Home Means To Us

The breakout of Corona Virus has meant that we all have been confined to our homes. It has been a dramatic shift in the schedule for most of us who were used to an outgoing life but this has also been the time for us to reflect on our life. It is the time to revisit our priorities and probably reset them.

Staying indoors has meant spending a lot of time with family which was not the case before in our fast paced life. This pause, however untimely and unexpected it is, should be used an event to re-energize ourselves . The fact that I am writing this on my blog for the first time after 2018 can be the best example! :)
There is so much that can be done productively at home to improve our self. And there is always the right time to do that.

What matters has sharply come into focus. Family, Love, Health, People, Community, Generosity and most of all self awareness about a particular situation. Talking to parents and having their complete attention is like having childhood back again. Simply priceless!
We can do so many productive things while at home. Here's what I can think of:

• Reading books which many of us purchase but do not read or leave it midway. I think we can do that and take up writing once again which can be in any medium like blogs, journals or Quora.
• Pursuing a hobby which doesn't require you to go outdoors like Painting, Cooking, Paper Crafts etc
• Doing household chores and even doing it completely and giving your Mom/Spouse some rest.
• Yoga and Exercises at home. Keeping yourself physically and mentally fit is always important.
• Go for some mind games like Sudoku or Chess or any other game which challenges your mind.
• Talking to your loved ones who stay far away. There's nothing like that. Call up that friend whom you haven't spoken to in weeks since you were busy.
• Eat well nutritious food to stay healthy.
• Learn something new by opting for online courses on the subject/hobby of your choices.   

Haven't included Web series because that's by default everyone's choice. 

That's it. Hope you make the most of these times. Be positive and keep learning and improving.


   

Books on Investing and Stock Market - Part 2

The field of stock investing is very wide. A lot of books have been written on the subject. In the Part 1 of the series, I had discussed about books which covered subjects right from the basics of investing. 

In this post, I will try to go little deeper into the subject and will try my best to recommend books for investors or stock market enthusiasts who have learnt the basics of investing.

• Coffee Can Investing by Saurabh Mukherjea, Rakshit Ranjan and Pranab Uniyal. Coffee Can Investing refers to a 'buy and forget' approach to investing in companies which have delivered consistently great results. Mukherjea and his co-authors' delves deeper into this concept and have come out with this well written book solidly backed by data.
• Beating the Street by Peter Lynch. Lynch was a famous fund manager at Fidelity Investments. He liked to visit companies before investing in them. He believed that anyone who has time to do stock research can generate good returns.
• Big Mistakes: The best Investors and Their Worst Investments by Michael Batnick. 
• All I Want To Know Is Where I'm Going To Die So I'll Never Go There by Peter Bevelin. This book is about a fictitious seeker and his visit to a 'Library of Wisdom' where he meets another fictitious character - 'The librarian' along with Warren Buffett and Charles Munger. It's a must read for all Buffett and Munger fans.
• What works on Wall Street: A Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All time by James O'Shaughnessy.
• Value Investing and Behavioral Finance by Parag Parikh. 

 So, these are the books which I could think of. I will add few more books once I get to know about them and read it. 

There are a lot of blogs, websites and even podcasts which are also imparting useful lessons in investing. May be some other day, I will touch upon them also.

And remember these three concepts always- good businesses, right valuations and long term focus. 

Happy Investing!

My-leave-the-worries-behind Car

First time is always memorable in life. Right?

Your first day in school or college or anything for the first time. I am quite sure that you might as well have remembered the first time you drove a car. Same here. I cannot and will not forget my first experience of driving a car. In fact, Our good old car is quite close to my mind and heart.

The 2006 Hyundai Santro Xing arrived in our family, when I was studying in my 10th Standard. I was quite excited to just be there in the car and had not even thought about driving it. I could feel the joy within me, it was an emotion which is hard to express really. I loved the times when my dad used to drop me off to exam centers for board exams. I grew in awe of the little machine which was well taken care of, by my dad.

Good old Trusted Companion!

Years went in a flash and all I had were some more memories with my Dad and elder brother driving it around. All that changed, when I took over the driving duties after learning to drive. My first time was marked with a lot of ecstacy as I managed to take it our for an early morning spin. The 1100 cc engine was a delight to rev hard. I revved it slightly hard, dumped the clutch pedal for throttle and off it went. The pick up, the gear ratios were much more tuned than I had expected. The seating position of the car was again very comfortable. Compact dimensions, peppy engine and great handling made Santro a great fun to drive car. The car feels stable on highways and can easily zip around in city traffic with its superior engine performance.

I loved my first drive and used to look back at that experience as one of the finest till now. I still drive it and the car functions just as well as it used to be (although all the credit should go to my Dad for maintaining the car so well).

I regularly drive my good old Santro and there's always a good feeling while entering the car. My parents are surprised that how much their son has fallen for a 11 year old car. Who says only humans can be companions?

It is my thrill machine and my-leave-the-worries-behind car. 

Books on Investing and Stock Markets

There are a lot of books written on 'investing' and 'stock markets'. Many of these books are a treasure trove of knowledge. In my journey of investing, I have read a lot on markets and still do, whenever I can. 

The following books which according to me, are worth reading time and again:

• 'The Intelligent Investor' by Benjamin Graham. This book is the textbook of investing. Everyone who is into markets or even thinking about it should read this. Timeless wisdom in this book. It should be there in the book shelf. 
• 'Security Analysis' by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd. Basics of fundamental analysis and Interpretation of financial statements discussed in a greater detail. The book espouses the true concept of Value Investing. Must read for anyone who is interested in Fundamental Analysis.
• 'The little book that builds wealth' by Pat Dorsey.
• 'The little book that beats the market' by Joel Greenblatt.
• 'Reminiscences of a Stock Operator' by Edwin Lefevre.
• 'Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits' by Philip Fisher.
• 'Poor Charlie's Almanack' by Charlie Munger.
• 'The Thoughtful Investor' by Basant Maheshwari.
• 'Gurus of Chaos' by Saurabh Mukherjea.
• 'India's Money Monarchs' by Parag Parikh (It's a collection of interviews of prominent Indian investors who have succeeded in the market)
• 'Graham, Buffett and me' by Aryaman Dalmia. This book was written when the writer was 14 years old. Some interesting insights on investing.
• 'The Unusual Billionaires' by Saurabh Mukherjea. The story of 8 companies on how they have built and sustained their competitive moats over a period of time. The book is a must read for anyone having interest in number crunching and financial analysis.

Examples of the Magic of Compounding in the Markets

There have been some great returns from some well run companies for last few decades and that has been attributed to the 'power of compounding'. Now, Compounding is the process of generating earnings on an asset's reinvested earnings. 

To work, it requires two things: the reinvestment of earnings and time. The more time you give your investments, the more you are able to accelerate the income potential of your original investment.

See for yourself, how the magic of compounding works over a period of 20–30 years.

• Rs 10,000 invested in Eicher Motors in 1992 is worth today - Rs 80 lacs
• Rs 10,000 invested in Asian Paints in 1986 is worth today at Rs 90 lacs
• Rs 10,000 invested in Dr Reddy’s Labs in 1986 is worth today at mindboggling Rs 10 crores.
• Rs 10,000 invested in Shree Cement in 1990 is worth today at Rs 2.90 crores.
• Rs 10,000 invested in Torrent Pharma in 2008 is worth today at Rs 2.19 lacs (approx) (that’s more than 21 times in 9 years)
• Rs 10,000 invested in Granules India in 2008 is worth today at Rs 2.97 lacs (almost 30 times in 9 years) (Stock was at Rs 28.20 back in 2008 and there was split in face value from 10 to 1 in 2015)
• Hold your breath for this one. Rs 10,000 invested in Ajanta Pharma in 2008 would be worth today at Rs 24.42 lacs. (More than 240 times in 9 years)

Barring these companies there are many companies which have grown tremendously in the last 20–30 years. We all have read about the investing returns from Infosys and Wipro over the last 3 decades.

There are companies like Bajaj Finance, BPCL, Lupin, Natco Pharma and HPCL which have delivered 50–60x over a period of last 20 years.

Happy Investing!

(Source; Compiled information available on various websites like Money Control, BSE India, Yahoo Finance and Google Finance)