Category Archives: Society

I know a guy who knows another guy who knows this guy…

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Well, congratulations.

So you’re well connected.

You probably play golf with the CEO of Big Balls Incorporated.

We’re not even going into how you wangled the slot.

You probably feel, that because of your connectedness, you can get away with anything in life.

Well, almost anything.

That’s the bottom-line.

You can get away with almost anything in life.

Here are two areas where your connectivity counts jack. As in El Zero. Nadda.

One is before the Almighty (presuming that God exists). Buying a slot with God using connections isn’t gonna cut it with the big guy. You can’t buy personal time with deities using money and / or connections, even if you think you can. Also, that “bought” time, when you shoved everyone else out of line, well, that time’s not going to make your life any better, or richer. You’ve just established yourself as someone who shoves others out of line using connections….that’s how your deity is going to view your performance. So, what you’re going to understand from this space is that before deities – the Almighty – God – the Metaphysical – or whatever you might want to call what I’m talking about, connections don’t work. You only end up scoring negative in your deity’s books.

Which brings us to the more relevant matter – where else do connections not work?

In the marketplace of course, my friend.

Don’t believe me? Fine, find it out for yourself, the hard way. Or, read on.

You see, in the marketplace, insiders have an agenda. All insiders. They have an agenda.

That agenda is personal. It includes them. It doesn’t include you … … if you’re not connected to the insider. Once you are, and you use that connection to fish for “lucrative” inside information, that’s where the insider’s agenda starts to include you. The information you get is as per the agenda of the insider. If a promoter wishes to off-load huge quantities of stock, you will be told that the stock’s a good buy, because blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. On the other hand, if the promoter wishes to buy back large quantities of stock, because of attractive valuations, you’ll be told to sell the stock owing to tricky prospects in the future. You are not getting quality information when you fish for tips. You’ll only find yourself getting trapped if you follow insider tips.

There are good insiders too … is that what you are saying? Ok, fine, some insiders are good human beings. They are not vicious, and they wish you well. They might even want to do you a favour, wishing that you make some money from the information they are letting out. All true. Question is, does it really work?

No.

Why?

You see, an insider never functions alone. When a company experiences a turnaround or a great quarter comes along with excellent earnings, white-collared people connected to the functioning of the company obviously know this, and they leak this information out (for a price) to smart researchers and investors. These smarties (along with their entire intimate circle of connectivity) buy into the company’s prospects. The money moved is called smart money. Smart money registers / reflects on the traders’ charts. The scrip might show a bounce-back from a low with huge volume, or a resistance might be broken, or a new high could even be made (all coupled with large volume). Traders latch on. Price movers higher. All this is happening before the CEO has announced quarterly results, mind you. Finally, a few days before the results, the corresponding results-file lands on the CEO’s desk. He or she congratulates his or her staff on the spectacular performance, and over a round of golf, the information is shared with you. The CEO is obviously thinking that the market is going to react positively to the earnings surprise that’s going to be announced.

Well, the earnings are not going to be a surprise. The market already knows, and earnings have thus already been factored into the price, before results are announced. Announcement time is generally selling time for traders, who tend to sell all stock upon the first spike after announcement. With no more buying pressure (since traders are out of the scrip), the inflated scrip tanks despite the good news, leaving you stuck with a peak-price buy. Well done, well done indeed.

See, that’s why. Don’t listen to insiders, even if they mean well.

In the marketplace, you really are on your own. Isn’t that exciting? As in challenging?

All the best, my friend. Learn to rely on your own judgement.

Power of Compounding II – The Curious Case of Switzerland

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What comes to mind when one thinks of Switzerland?

– Blood Money – world’s haven for,

– “Neutralness” – has never fought a war in modern times,

– Beauty – it is God’s own country, with its mountains, meadows, valleys, lakes, trails…,

– Discipline – blessed with the works, punctuality, law and order, you name it,

– Technological supremacy – for example their watch-technology, or their advances in heavy mechanical engineering,

– Culinary supremacy – as in their chocolates, or for that matter their herbal know-how, superior quality of their milk, and of course, their cheese,

– Love for their country – the Swiss really look after their country, are loyal to it, and would probably die for it willingly.

Only the first factor has a negative sound.

Well, they do provide a safe-haven. I mean, look at all the other factors. People feel that their money’s safe in a swiss bank. You can’t blame a country for being a safe country.

Most of the world is not safe today. So, most of the world’s money flows to locations that are considered safe. A good percentage of the world’s money is blood money, but that’s how it is. When foreign funds flow into a country, a country doesn’t ask questions. Do we in India ask questions? No. For all we know, it is Mafia money flowing into our country, inflating our markets. Nobody cares as long as it is coming in.

When foreign funds flow into a country excessively, as is the case with Switzerland, such a country can dictate the interest-rate it pays out for such funds. For many, many decades, Swiss banks have been in demand because of the safe-haven quality of their country, and the interest-rate doled out is a pittance, something like 0.5 % or perhaps 1% per annum, something in that range. I could be making a mistake of an odd 1 % here or there, but, you see, people don’t store their money in Switzerland so that it accumulates to an even bigger amount. They store it there so that the principal stays safe. Switzerland doesn’t participate in wars. Thus, wealth is not destroyed. In fact, during wars elsewhere, fund-flow towards safe-havens heightens.

And that’s the game. Almost unlimited inflow, pittance of a payout, loan the money further on 6%, 7%, 8%, huge differential, year upon year, decade upon decade, humungous compounding, enough to spark-off, inculcate and fully support massive all-round development – couple this with all the other factors given above about Switzerland, and you have a hugely positive n-th loop. A hugely positive n-th loop is the exact opposite of a hugely negative vicious cycle. Switzerland sets the framework for the all-round blossoming of life, and the inflow provides lubrication and fuels development. After a while, they don’t depend upon the inflow anymore. In fact, the Swiss were probably self-sufficent even before the inflow began. That’s how they were able to provide a stable system. The inflow is just a bonus. Due to the power of its compounding, all the other diamond qualities of CH sparkle even more brightly.

Living in India, with its legacy of corrupt leaders who have siphoned off most of our wealth towards safe-havens, how should one react?

It is not the fault of the safe-haven. We need to evolve and make our own citizens feel comfortable with keeping their funds here. Our system needs to provide that safety.

Only then will the funds stay here. If our funds are not staying in our own country, it is our own fault.

The Ugly Side of Leverage

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Not too long a time ago, in an existence nearby, people saved.

Credit was a four letter word, or a six letter word, or whatever you want to all it, as long as you get my point.

People worked hard, and enjoyed the sweet taste of their labour.

They knew their networth on their fingertips, and there was no question of extending oneself beyond.

People were happy. They had time for their families. Words like sophistication, complicated and what have you had simpler meanings.

At the end of the month, as large a chunk as possible was pickled away.

For what?

Safety. Steady growth. For building a lifetime’s corpus. For the future generation.

Life was straight-forward.

Then came leverage.

At first, leverage was an idea that was looked down upon. People were slow to leave their safety zones.

Then they saw what leverage could do.

It could make possible a lifetime of fun. One could do things which were well out of one’s financial reach currently. Leverage could even buy out billion dollar companies.

All one had to do was to pledge one’s incoming for many, many years. If that didn’t suffice to fulfill one’s fun-desires, one could even pledge the house. The money borrowed would eventually be paid up, along with the compound interest, right? After all, one had a steady job that promised regular income.

What use was a lifetime of sweat if one didn’t get to enjoy oneself? One couldn’t really live it up after retirement, could one? That’s when one would eventually possess enough free funds to do what one was doing now, with the advent of leverage.

The do-now-pay-later philosophy soon took over the world.

Without being able to afford even a meaningful fraction of their expenditure, people began to go beserk.

What people didn’t know, and what they are now finding out the hard way, is that leverage is a double-edged sword. Since people didn’t know this, and since they didn’t bother to read the fine-print of the documents they were signing while leveraging their monthly salary or their home, well, financiers didn’t bother to educate them any further. No hard feelings, it was just business strategy, nothing personal.

Today, we know more. Much much more. Hopefully we have learnt. We are not going to make the same mistakes again.

So, when you buy into a company, look at the leverage on the balance-sheet. A debt : equity ratio of 1 : 1 is healthy. It promises balanced growth. If the ratio is lower, even better. We’ll talk about debt : equity ratios that are below 0.5 some other day.

Most companies do not have a healthy debt : equity ratio. Promoters like to borrow, and borrow big. You as an investor then need to judge. What exactly is the promotor using these funds for? Is he or she using these funds to finance a hi-fi lifestyle, with flashy cars, villas and company jets? Or is the promoter using these funds for the growth of the company, i.e. for the benefit of the shareholders? Use your common-sense. Look into a company’s management before buying into any company.

As regards your own self, reason it out, people. Save. As long as you can avoid taking that loan, do so. Loaned money comes with lots of hidden fees. If I’m not mistaken, now you’ll even need to pay service tax and education cess on a loan, but please correct me if I’m wrong. There’s definitely a loan-activation fee. Then there’s the huge interest, that compounds very fast. Ask someone who has borrowed on his or her credit card. There’s the collateral you’re promising against the loan. That’s your life you’re putting on the line. All for a bit of leveraged fun? How will your children remember you?

Also, when you invest with no leverage on your own balance-sheet, your mind is relaxed. There is no tension, and your investment decisions are solid. Furthermore, if you’re invested without having borrowed, there’s no question of having an investment terminated prematurely because of a loan-repayment date maturing coupled with one’s inability to pay.

How does the following sentence sound?

” Then came leverage, and common-sense disappeared.”

Not good, right?

What Does it Take to Decouple?

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Is Decoupling a myth?

Why hasn’t any country been able to decouple from collective world economics for longish periods?

What does it take to decouple?

For starters, good governance. Over long periods.

Resources. One needs to have independent resources, as in energy resources. For example, India does not have ample independent oil resources. Going nuclear could make it a stronger candidate for decoupling, but does the country have responsible governance to handle nuclear energy safely? As of now, no.

A conducive business environment is the order of the day. Business needs to thrive. It can only do so, if laws are approved, that are favourable for business. The private sector needs to be allowed to grow wherever possible. Red-tapism and babudom are enemies of decoupling.

To thrive, business needs proper infrastructure. Bottlenecks arise when those responsible for getting this infrastructure in place simutaneously siphon away funds, thereby decreasing the quality of the infrastructure proportionately. Bottlenecks are enemies of decoupling.

Internal demand drives a decoupled economy. The demographic social structure of such an economy allows demand for manufactured goods to blossom.

What kind of a population dynamics caters to this sort of demand creation? One with a healthy demographic pyramid, with the broad pyramid base boasting a large, young consumer base.

This young consumer base is also supposed to be the decoupled economy’s demographic dividend.

Demographic dividends don’t just start existing just like that. They need to be reaped after sowing the proper seeds. An economy needs to first provide proper education and healthcare infrastructure, so that its citizens enjoy a beneficial environment to grow up in, which is when they can go on to become productive citizens.

Savings of productive citizens provide cushion to the decoupled economy. No savings, no cushion. The first Tsunami then destroys the decoupling.

Domestic payment cycles need to be healthy, and not chokingly long.

Imports are a necessary element of trade. Importers should thrive too, but not to the extent of recoupling a decoupled economy.

Then there are moral values. These keep a decoupled economy on track, after everything else is in the correct trajectory. Productive citizens need to do the right thing. Long-term, holistic thinking. No corner-cutting.

Sounds utopic, right?

Well, at least one is allowed to dream!

What Are We, Really? (Part 3)

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Heinous crimes … happen in India.

For example the recent Gurgaon r#pe case.

What are we, really?

We were supposed to be reaping a demographic dividend. What happened?

A society that mistreats its women-folk is a sick society.

At its core, the ideology of India is spiritual. And, the driving force of our spiritualism is “Shakti”. The “Shiva” portion is more like a rock of stability. The activity bit is left to Shakti, to rise, purify, and reach Shiva. Shakti is about action. She is the driving spiritual force of India.

So, when from deep inside, our driving force is feminine in nature, and when on the outside, we find ourselves in a male-dominated society, this is a huge paradox that we are forced to deal with.

China has dealt with a similar paradox – with force. Chinese governments, over the ages, have suppressed China’s mandarin-spiritual nature so heavily, that today, it is buried deep, deep down, and is not able to surface. Thus, their paradox is not able to feed off itself, since one pole is out of action. It’s not a solution, but that’s what they’ve done.

In India, spiritualism and basic life go hand in hand. Shakti is beyond suppression. Simultaneously, male domination makes itself felt, in pockets. At every moment, we are faced with our paradox. We need to deal with it, properly, peacefully.

Though the average Indian is dramatic in nature, let’s just get realistic for a while. Which portion of a society is responsible for its continued existence? As in, who bears children?

Bob Marley got his lyrics wrong in one song. “No woman…no KIDS” is what the scene is. No kids … no continued existence … end of your civilization.

A society can only be deemed healthy and fit for continued existence, if it provides a safe and harmonious environment to its women and children. Period.

How are women in India dealing with the paradox?

There is rebellion. Some are able to express themselves. They rebel openly, in their speech, their way of life, dressing-sense, etc. etc. Many others are not able to rebel openly, because of suppression. They rebel in their minds. At the first opportunity, their rebellion will break out.

How is the average dominating male reacting?

There is resentment. Jealousy. Anger. Frustration. Etc. etc. Evolved males are not showing these symptoms. They are dealing with the rebellion peacefully. Unevolved, unemployed, raw / young males are showing the above negative symptoms. They are not able to deal with this new expression of freedom. Their domination is threatened, and their hormones play havoc, which is when they commit heinous crimes, for example r#pe. Unforgivable. Yet, committed.

That’s where we are, people. A two-tier society in every respect. Spiritually (evolved-unevolved divide), structurally (male-female divide), and economically (rich-poor divide). We are still finding ourselves. Please don’t treat us as a mature society.

Specifically, please don’t invest your money here with the idea of steady growth. There will be growth, but it will be hap-hazard, as and when we keep finding ourselves. Many set-backs. Then proper trajectory again. Then road-bumps. And so on, and so forth, till we find ourselves once and for all.

Your money here is set for a volatile ride, till India’s out-of-whack pockets begin to heal.