Long read: The Divine Discontent
There’s been a school of thought which sees the pursuit of perfectionism as a trap that inevitably leads to dissatisfaction and unhappiness. This piece gives a slightly different take on the subject. Indeed, it says attaining ‘fulfilment’ requires us to pursue activities particularly in the creative field, that leave you dissatisfied. It is called divine […]
Long read: Russell Napier Interview – “We Are Headed Towards a System of National Capitalism”
As the introduction to this interview says, when Russell Napier speaks, investors across the world listen. We have featured his interviews with The Market since the pandemic here in the 3L&3S and he’s got his two big calls right – the rise in inflation and the capex boom globally. In this interview, he maintains his […]
Long read: Journalist or Russian spy? The strange Case of Pablo González
You should read this remarkable piece from Shaun Walker to understand the lengths to which countries go to train spies and fit them into the society of the country where they are going to conduct spying. And you should read this piece to understand how faulty our perceptions are of people we think we know […]
Global Compounders Portfolio: Maintaining Discipline amidst Pockets of Excess
Marcellus’ Global Compounders Portfolio (GCP) strategically invests in 25-30 deeply moated global companies aligned with megatrends, fostering a consistent mid to high teens compounding of free cash flow/earnings. In this newsletter, we present our perspective on valuations in the US market given that we do see signs of excess in S&P 500 valuations. However, these […]
Short read: 25 years after the Matrix: Simulation theory more relevant than ever
A few weeks ago, we featured a piece from The Economist marking the 25th anniversary of the cult movie Fight Club and its increasing relevance in today’s world. This piece cites the 25th anniversary of yet another path breaking movie “ The Matrix” and how in the age of Artificial Intelligence and computing power, its simulation theory is more relevant than ever […]
Short read: 7 Lessons From 2024 for Investors
Charlie Bilello, an American wealth manager and advisor puts out a very useful weekly blog – The Week in Charts. In this year end piece, he gives us 7 timeless lessons to follow from a personal finance and investing perspective. We share two of them here: First, the futility of predictions basis how woefully wrong all expert investment […]
Short read: Patna cops resort to lathi-charge against BPSC aspirants protesting ‘normalisation’, server issues
Two weeks ago our blog on the current predicament of the Indian middle class ended up triggering a debate on the floor of the Parliament (see https://marcellus.in/blogs/why-is-the-indian-middle-class-suffering/ ). However, politicians wagging their tongues in Delhi is not going to take the sting out of what is gradually developing into a financial crisis of significant proportions because without […]
Long read: Manufacturing is a War now
Chris Miller’s fascinating book “Chip War” put semiconductor manufacturing prowess front and centre of global geo-politics. This brilliant blog by Noah Smith puts manufacturing muscle in general in the context of geo-political conflict, primarily between China and the US (and its allies). Over the past few decades, China emerged as a factory to the world. […]
Long read: Are drug expiration dates meaningless?
If you are like us, this is a question which you have been asking yourself for many years but were too lazy to do the research necessary to answer the question. Thanks to Keren Landman, MD, your quest for getting a satisfactory answer to the question of how seriously to take drug expiry dates is […]
Long read: ‘Her fans are making pilgrimages’: How Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour became a near-religious experience
The entertainment business had never seen anything like it. No other tour by a rock or pop star has generated so much economic activity in so many different continents or made so much money for the star at the centre of it all. For all of us who have not kept up with Taylor Swift’s […]
Slowing Growth + Rising Risks = Quality Lenders finally Outperforming
Loan growth for the banking sector has slowed down to 12% YOY from a peak of 16% and slippages for the higher risk retail lending segments are up anywhere between 2x – 6x vs FY24 levels. The increase in NPAs is a result of: (i) oversupply of credit in the post- Covid retail lending frenzy, […]
Portfolio performance and update on Fundamentals – November 2024
Note: For all strategies except GCP, Performance data shown is net of fixed fees and expenses charged till September 30th, 2024 and is net of annual performance fees (Except for Little Champs Portfolio) charged for client accounts whose account anniversary/performance calculation date falls upto the last date of this performance period. Since, for Little Champs Portfolio, […]
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