The Blackstone rebellion: how one country took on the world’s biggest commercial landlord
Real estate has seen growing interest as an asset class for investment institutions looking for long dated steady yielding assets, such as pension funds. However, until now much of the interest had been in commercial property such as office spaces and malls. But increasingly, residential real estate has also become a part of many portfolios. […]
America’s Throwaway Spies
A few years ago we read a report of the death of an Indian spy who defected to the CIA only to be abandoned by the American spy agency. Turns out that wasn’t an exception for the CIA when it comes to foreign agents. Reuters have been investigating six cases of Iranian agents recruited and abandoned by […]
The new era of stronger hurricanes: bigger storms, better forecasts
With climactic extremes – extreme heat in Europe, extensive flooding on the sub-continents, unseasonal rain, etc – becoming the norm, technology is being brought into play to predict the unpredictable. As this FT article explains, “According to meteorologists at Nasa, a warming earth is producing major storms with more intense rainfall and larger storm surges.” This long […]
P/E Multiples are Deceptively Dangerous
A stock trading at a P/E multiple of 50x could be cheaper than one trading at 15x P/E multiple, even if both stocks deliver the same profit growth. This is possible due to factors such as superior capital efficiency (measured by Return on Capital Employed) and greater longevity of free cashflow compounding. Moreover, a focus […]
India’s US$ 100 billion energy windfall
Whilst India remains the most energy intensive of the world’s four largest economies (i.e., we use more power per $1 of GDP than USA, China, and Japan), India today is far more efficient in the use of oil & coal than it was a decade ago. This improved efficiency in the use of energy has […]
How thinking hard makes the brain tired
As much as we would love to endlessly engage in intellectually stimulating activities, mental fatigue is a reality. Much like physical tiredness, our brains do get tired when we exert them for long periods of time. However, unlike physical activity, exerting cognitive control is not energy intensive. “One analysis of previous studies suggests that cognitively overworked […]
How one of America’s last piano manufacturers stays alive
Capitalism has arguably made human lives better in general but in certain cases the relentless pursuit of efficiency and productivity has come at the expense of quality. The piano, the musical instrument made popular by the Mozart-era of western classical music, has been one such casualty going through a steady decline in quality through the […]
The myth of western decadence
For over a decade now, Janan Ganesh has been producing tightly written columns for the FT with provocative themes. Here he takes on those who believe that the West is a decadent society in structural decline (a theme that those of who grew up in India have been hearing about since we were in kindergarten). […]
The Fed Will Overdo It: Chen Zhao
The recent bout of interest hikes by central banks across the globe has thrown the markets into turmoil yet again. Whilst nobody ever knows where the markets are headed in the short run, here’s someone who can help us get our heads around what will it take to tame inflation and hence where are interest […]
Review of ‘From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life’ by Arthur Brooks
Of the 125 people in Marcellus, half a dozen or so people are over 40. After we read Arthur Brooks’ book ‘From Strength to Strength’ (thanks to a gift from a client who has also become a friend), we understood why those of us over 40 contribute the majority of the pieces to Three Longs […]
How the Worst Market Timer in History Built a Fortune
It is rare for us to meet a client who, regardless of his/her age and experience, does not ask us ‘Is this the right time to invest?’. Courtesy decades of exposure via broadcast and print media to investment gurus who pontificate on such matters, most people have an innate belief that timing matters when it […]
How Niche B2B Franchises Drive Compounding
Given Little Champs’ philosophy of investing in smallcaps which are market leading franchises, the portfolio has a preponderance of niche B2B names. Conventional arguments against B2B companies centre around their weak bargaining power vs much larger customers & suppliers and lack of entry barriers around brands & distribution. However, unlike a typical B2B company, the […]
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