It has been a while since I posted to the blog. The reason being I had nothing much to say. So while I find something to say, there is always a lot of interesting stuff to read. While the message remains the same like all the basics of investing, it is not a bad time … Read more
A slightly old-ish book (first published in 1994), I chanced upon this book and picked it up again at the library recently, though I had read it a few years back. While after so many years, it may not seem to have anything new, given that there is so much written about Buffett since 1994 … Read more
My friend Swami does not believe that he is ‘average’. Some study said that 9 out of 10 people believe that they are above average. This means that the average belief is that ‘I am above average’. This comes to the fore during performance appraisals in companies. At least 70% of the people are supposed … Read more
For regular investors for whom investing is not a full-time activity, the Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing is a wonderful book that asks the right questions and provides clear answers. In a single book, the authors (who also started an online forum bogleheads.org based on the investing principles of John Bogle) have explained, in a step … Read more
Over the past 6, 12 or perhaps 18 months, the Indian capital market performance has had a polarized structure. It is broadly divided into, on the one hand, a small set of wonderful companies that are grossly overvalued, whichever way you look at it, and which keep getting expensive; and on the other hand, a … Read more
I have compiled some of my writings over the past couple of years into a book titled ‘Common and Not So Common Sense: Practical Lessons for the Individual Investor’. The book is now available for purchase at the publisher’s site. It is available in both print and e-book (pdf) formats. You may order a copy … Read more
Most personal finance books are boring. Most of them have nothing new as such. Of course, there are the legendary books on investing that make great reading. They are generally written by gurus who have a past investing record, or by academics or a combination. Or they are written by journalists or writers following the lives of these ‘gurus’ … Read more
Peter Drucker, the management guru, said, “This is by far the best book on investment policy and management.” The more I read books on investing, the more I get convinced that investing is much simpler than most people think or are told. Simple, but not easy as Buffett had once said. Most of what one … Read more
Seth Klarman is the founder and president of The Baupost Group, a Boston-based private investment partnership. He wrote a book named ‘Margin of Safety: Risk-Averse Value Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful Investor’ which is an investment classic, but has been out of print since 1991. For the individual investor, this is perhaps the best book … Read more