Archives for June 2019

It’s Not Supposed to Be Fair

June 30, 2019 | Reading Time: 10 minutes | Leave a Comment |

In 1999 when Warren Buffett bought a 75% stake in MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, David Sokol was its CEO. He retained his position till 2008. Apart from managing MidAmerican, Sokol played a crucial role in turning around Berkshire’s other investments like NetJets and Johns Manville. Over the years he established a reputation inside Berkshire Hathaway as Mr. Fixit.

In his annual letters, Buffett often referred to Sokol as a terrific manager, a brilliant dealmaker and a huge asset to Berkshire. In his 2008 letter, he wrote —
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Bookworm: Skin in The Game by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

June 29, 2019 | Reading Time: 10 minutes | Leave a Comment |

The problem with Taleb is not that he’s an a**hole. He as an a**hole. The problem with Taleb is that he is right.

Those are not my words. It’s from one of the blurbs for Taleb’s book Skin in The Game. And among many other surprising things about the book, one is that all the blurbs that appear on the jacket aren’t from other famous authors. Taleb took the testimonials from ordinary readers and printed it on the back of the book. Not because other famous authors weren’t willing to offer their testimonials — many of them would be honoured to do that — but it’s because Taleb doesn’t care.

Those who have read his books agree on one thing — Taleb is idiosyncratic and he is a genius.

In out bookworm series we have already reviewed Nassim Taleb’s earlier books — Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan, The Bed of Procrustes, and Antifragile. Skin in the Game is Taleb’s latest book. It came out last year (2018) and I had been sitting on it for quite a while. Last month I finally managed to finish reading it. Like all Taleb’s books, this one also needs to be read at least twice (perhaps thrice) to be able to absorb all the wisdom in a meaningful way.
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StockTalk (June 2019)

June 28, 2019 | Reading Time: 9 minutes | Leave a Comment |

We the Corrupt

June 28, 2019 | Reading Time: 12 minutes | 43 Comments |

Disclaimer: I am not in a bad mood today, and this is not an anti-national post. I love my country and its people. These are just some thoughts on my general observations over the years, so please don’t take any of what you read below personally. And if you do take it personally, please keep it personal.😊

As I boarded my return flight to India recently, I heard some noises coming from near the back rows of the airplane. It appeared that two middle-aged men and their wives were shouting at each other.

The reason? One of the Indian couples had occupied the luggage rack above the seats of the second couple. As was visible from my seat, there were empty racks close to the one these guys were fighting for, but this was seemingly a prized one for which they were shouting at the top of their voices.

As I was taking my seat, a similar hustle, though relatively more civilized happened just next to me. This time it was two aunties who were at loggerheads about their spaces.

Anyways, flights to India, and in India, are a sight to watch when the plane lands and stops at the parking lot. Passengers get up from their seats in such a hurry as if the flight would take off again in the next few seconds and they would miss getting out!

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Investor Insights: Abhishek Basumallick

June 27, 2019 | Reading Time: 27 minutes | Leave a Comment |

Abhishek is the founder and chief investment advisor at Intelsense Capital (www.intelsense.in). He is a value investor with nearly two decades in the market. He is a keen observer of the economy and shifts in technological trends across industries. He is a proponent of behavioural finance and a long-term orientation while investing.

In this interview, Abhishek shares his evolution as an investor, key lessons learned, his investment process, and how he tries to minimize decision making mistakes.