Mean Reversion: Universal Truth or Human Delusion?
The concept of ‘mean reversion’ is part of both, our everyday life as well as investing. However, inadequate understanding of the ‘mean’ leads to several mistakes in the application of this concept. When it comes to equities, over the long run share prices revert to their fundamentals and hence, clarity of thought around fundamental strengths […]
Mounting clues suggest the coronavirus might trigger diabetes
Despite the continued rise in new daily cases in Brazil, India and Russia and the southern parts of the US, rising recovery rates and incrementally positive news about better treatments of Covid have been encouraging. Whilst our understanding about the virus and its treatment is improving, several researchers are beginning to look at long lasting […]
Nestle Hired a Psychoanalyst to Convert a Nation to Coffee
Marketing professionals often look for a ‘hook’ to connect with the consumer, so as to build that trust about the brand that triggers repeat purchase. Here’s a story about how Nestle used ‘emotional branding’ to get the Japanese to like and consume its coffee products. The only difference is the time horizon over which Nestle […]
If Inflation Is Coming, the Market Isn’t Ready
Modern Monetary Theory is referred to the approach used by governments and central banks globally since the Lehman crisis in 2008, primarily involving pumping money into the financial system by expanding the central banks’ balance sheet. Whilst the positive effects on the economy, particularly in the US cannot be denied, the effects of money printing […]
How Elon Musk aims to revolutionise battery technology
The Paypal Mafia is used to refer to the founders of Paypal who after selling out to e-Bay have gone on to found several marquee companies in the Silicon Valley. Last week, we featured a piece on Peter Thiel often called the don of the Paypal Mafia. This time we feature a piece on the […]
The Dharavi unlock: How daily new cases down to single digit
One of the many tragic aspects of the hysteria around Covid back in March 2020 was the enthusiasm with which self-proclaimed Covid experts around the world and the international media forecasted that poor & populous India would be hammered by Covid. After all, said these Covid gurus, if the Western economies with well-developed health infrastructure […]
The Most Damaging Myths in Indian Investing
Portfolio construction based on grandmothers’ stories and advice from snake oil salesmen means that the vast majority of affluent Indians have invested most of their wealth in assets which do not and,cannot deliver returns in excess of the rate of inflation. This skewed portfolio allocation means that millions of Indian families are heading into retirement […]
The pandemic has shown that amazon is essential – but vulnerable
This week’s The Economist carries this piece in its Leaders section with a caricature of Jeff Bezos that has a mischievous resemblance to Dr Evil of Austin Powers fame. The article highlights that indeed the pandemic and the lockdown have clearly boosted the prospects of e-commerce, what with a whole of host of consumers who hitherto shied […]
Robert Clive was a vicious asset-stripper. His statue has no place on Whitehall
As Indians attempt to build an “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (self-reliant India), here’s a piece about a man who triggered India’s economic collapse from being the world’s leading manufacturing nation. As the ‘Black Lives Matter’ anti-racism protests have gained ground, protestors and even governments across the world have been pulling down statues of historical figures whose lives have been […]
Terry Smith’s Owners Manual – 14 Filters For Purchasing A Great Investment
Few people in fund management can claim to be as iconoclastic as Terry Smith. For many of us at Marcellus, Terry is an inspiration of sorts given the common beliefs and backgrounds. First, Terry never pulled his punches as a sell-side analyst, most famously as an analyst at Barclays for having written a sell note on […]
How Exactly Do You Catch Covid-19? There Is a Growing Consensus
Two weeks ago, the World Health Organisation issued a statement saying asymptomatic carriers are rare transmitters of Covid, only to retract the statement hours later. For all our faith in mankind’s scientific prowess, this pandemic has brought to fore the unfortunate truth that several months on from the discovery of the virus, our understanding of […]
Marc Andreessen on time management
Marc Andreessen has been an influential thinker and VC for twice as long as Peter Thiel. In this interview with Sriram Krishnan, he focuses on how he manages his time. Based on this interview, we discern five specific strands in Mr Andreessen’s time management philosophy: Have a well-structured routine from Mon-Fri and follow that routine […]
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