Archives for May 2018

Consistency, the Playground of Dull Minds

May 30, 2018 | 7 Comments

Two men went to a priest to resolve a dispute.

Having listened to the first, the priest said, “You are right.” When the second man insisted on being heard, the priest listened to him and said, “You’re also right.”

The priest’s wife was overhearing the conversation from the next room. She called out, “But they can’t both be right!” The priest paused for a moment, reflected on what the wife said and then concluded, “And you’re right too.”

How wonderful that we’ve met with a paradox, observed Great Danish physicist Niels Bohr, “Now we have a hope of making some progress.” Bohr wasn’t the only one who thrived on contradictions. It’s said that Einstein discovered relativity by way of resolving an apparent conflict between electromagnetism and mechanics.

A physicist is only too happy, writes Carlo Rovelli in his book Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, “when he finds a conflict of between successful theories: it’s an extraordinary opportunity.”

The Books That Made Me – Part 2

May 28, 2018 | 12 Comments

In the first part of this series, I profiled books on life and living that have inspired me the most. In this second part, I cover books on learning, thinking, and decision making (more coming in the third part).

Before I begin, here’s something worth reiterating. You should not read good books for the sake of talking about them. Mentioning them by name may give you the appearance of literacy, but you do not have to read them to outshine someone else at a dinner party. Reading is a means toward living a good human life. It’s a means toward living the life of a free man/woman.

Anyways, what follows below is not an exhaustive list but is made up of books I go back to time and again, and return wiser.

The Books That Made Me – Part 2 - Safal Niveshak

Let’s start right away with my favourite books on learning, thinking, and decision making.

Where is the Stock Market Headed: A Conversation With My Friend

May 21, 2018 | 7 Comments

“What is happening with the stock market, Vishal?” my very concerned trader-who-thinks-he-is-an-investor friend Ravi asked me on phone.

“Why Ravi, what happened?” I asked in my usual show of ignorance.

“Hey, haven’t you seen the crash in small and midcap stocks?”

“Okay, so you already know what is happening with the stock market, right?” I asked.

“Vishal, I have already lost all my profits in this crash, which I made during the past two years.”

“Oh! Were you playing around with stuff like Vakrangee, or PNB, or Suzlon?”

“I know I am bad at investing, but not so bad Vishal. Luckily, I never got into these stocks.”

“Wonderful. Now tell me how I can help you,” I asked.

“Tell me if you have any clue where the stock market is headed?” Ravi asked.

Investing and the Art of Cloning

May 14, 2018 | 4 Comments

My friend Ravi was home for lunch on weekend. After food, as we went out for a stroll, he told me a story of a famous motivational speaker.

At a huge gathering once, the speaker proclaimed, “The best years of my life were spent in the arms of a woman, who wasn’t my wife.”

The audience was in a state of shock and silence at thus revelation, especially because it was coming from someone they looked up to.

The speaker than added, “She was my mother.”

What followed then was a huge round of applause and laughter.

Ravi then told me the story of a male participant at this event who was his friend from school. This gentleman tried to trick his wife with a similar joke.

Warren Buffett, Humility, and 25 Other Lessons in Investing

May 12, 2018 | 2 Comments

This is going to be the shortest post on Safal Niveshak, but one with the most amount of wisdom (it doesn’t come from me, of course).

What follows below is a series of tweets from James O’Shaughnessy, the chairman and founder of O’Shaughnessy Asset Management, and the author of What Works on Wall Street.

The entire thread is worth reading, given that it contains the most important things an investor in stocks must understand, appreciate and tie into his/her investment philosophy.

It’s a gem of a tweetstorm, and I suggest you read through this and, maybe, print this out as it can serve as a wonderful reminder when you feel lost in the world of investing and the information overload that’s a part of it.

1/ I have been a professional investor for over 30 years. What follows is some things I think I know and some things I know I don’t know. Let’s start with some things I know I don’t know.

— Jim OShaughnessy (@jposhaughnessy) May 10, 2018

Click on the tweet above to read the entire series, or click here.