Why did Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata build the Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay?
In the unlikely event that anyone living in India was unfamiliar with the Taj Mahal Hotel in front of the Gateway of India, the tragic events of 26/11 and the bravery shown by the staff of this storied hotel has made this establishment an integral part of modern India’s fabric. In his bestselling book ‘Tata […]
CCP valuation multiples correct 30% whilst fundamentals continue to compound at over 20% per annum
CCP portfolio companies’ valuations have become 30-35% cheaper over the last 12 months. Given that Free Cashflows of these companies have compounded at 5-7% higher run-rate compared to their earnings consistently over the last 5-10 years, their current valuations (on a Price to Free Cashflow basis) are significantly cheaper than where they were 3 or […]
Would You Trade Places with Warren Buffett?
This isn’t another one about Buffett’s wisdom on investing or life. It is about the relationship between time, health and money using Buffett’s wealth and age as clickbait. The author begins with “Would you rather have $0 and be 20 years old, or have $100 billion and be 90? Most people respond to this hypothetical with […]
Are Indian Kids Getting Enough Opportunities to Realise Their Capabilities?
As every Indian knows, the country struggles to win medals of any colour in the Olympic Games. In contrast, Sweden, a wealthy country with fewer people living in the entire country than, say, in one of the smaller Indian cities like Hyderabad, won 11 Olympic medals in 2016. Most of us can intuit why India […]
To boost happiness, treat your weekend like a vacation
India and America, the world’s two largest free market democracies have several things in common including very long working weeks. Whereas the wimpy Europeans tend to work 35 hours per week, Indians and Americans regularly crank out 50 hour plus weeks. And then we complain of burn out and fatigue and seek work-life balance. This […]
How did China come to dominate the world of electric cars?
In last week’s edition, we featured a piece that talked about how some electric car models will likely be priced at par or lower than their internal combustion engine (ICE) fueled peers this year. And earlier in the edition, we heard Charlie Munger say why BYD (the Chinese electric car maker and the world’s largest) […]
Charlie Munger Q&A // 2023 Daily Journal Annual Meeting (Full Transcript)
It is indeed a Berkshire fest this edition of the 3L&3S. In Buffett’s annual letter (featured above), he also says this about his long-standing partner and vice-chairman of Berkshire, Charlie Munger: “Charlie and I think pretty much alike. But what it takes me a page to explain, he sums up in a sentence. His version, moreover, […]
Berkshire Hathaway’s 2022 annual shareholder letter
15 months ago we started building a separate team inside Marcellus for creating a Global Compounders Portfolio (GCP). 6 months ago some of Marcellus’ staff started investing their personal funds in GCP. On 15th March 2023, our branch office in GIFT City will start taking clients’ monies for GCP. One of the investee companies in Marcellus’ […]
Indian Lending: Gamblers versus Franchise Builders
The Return on Equity (RoE) of lenders is driven by: (i) strong operating profitability (Return on Assets); or (ii) capital structure (high debt to equity). Recent euphoria in share prices notwithstanding, most PSU banks suffer from weak operational profitability (RoAs of 1% or lower) and high debt to equity ratios (15x+). This deadly combination is […]
The scourge of job-title inflation
When we started Marcellus, we decided at the outset that we will shun all corporate titles such as Vice President or Senior Director and instead designations will show our functional roles such as Analyst or Salesperson. We wanted self-selection to work where prospective hires who care about fancy titles as social proof would go elsewhere. […]
Electric Vehicles Could Match Gasoline Cars on Price This Year
The pace of adoption of smartphones exceeded most expectations by a significant margin. It could be happening to electric cars soon. Thanks to the price cuts led by Tesla last month, many electric car models are now similarly priced to their internal combustion driven counterparts. “The battery-powered version of G.M.’s Equinox crossover, for example, will […]
Sania Mirza, a destiny fulfilled
In a country where female sportstars don’t get their due, this piece in scroll celebrates the storied career Sania Mirza, the ace tennis player from Hyderabad, who retired last month. In an international tennis career spanning two decades, Mirza achieved more success than any other Indian tennis player this century. Her Wikipedia page says: “A former […]
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