Categories
Links

Weekend Mega Linkfest: 07 September, 2018

Some off beat reads for the weekend:

Becoming an Ironman (Mint)

How an ‘Intolerant India’ emancipated the tolerant (Op India)

Why were Kerala floods so deadly? (Time)

The legacy war at Teen Murti (Open)

The Op-Ed that caused a political earthquake in America (NYTimes)

China’s shocking pace of change (Guardian)

When China calls, all Africa answers (ATimes)

The worst is yet to come in Syria (Atlantic)

The Imam’s Widow (Pro Publica)

Are Chinese tourists messing up Bali ? (SCMP)

Profile: S Radhakrishnan (Swarajya)

The eternal Malgudi Days (Madras Courier)

Chennai-The chess capital of India (Outlook)

Wedding shopping adventures in India (Mint)

Carnatic Music’s recent discordant note (Anand Kumar)

Categories
MegaTrends

Mega Trend: India’s Monthly SIP Flows

Source: Morgan Stanley Research

Categories
Chart

Why Dalal Street loves Demonetization

Source: Edelweiss Research

Categories
Links

Linkfest: 07 September, 2018

Some stuff I am reading today morning:

IL&FS defaults (BS)

Rupee breaches 72/$ (Rediff)

Winds of change in Mutual Fund Industry (Mint)

HDFC Bank’s fintech footprints (Forbes)

Airfares cheaper than rail tickets (BQ)

Profile: Ashok Wadhwa (OB)

Tata Motors: Old Wine in Old Bottle (Fortune)

India- The biggest risk in Emerging Markets (Daniel Lacalle)

Charlie Munger & Li Lu Interview (Tao)

Should I sell our rental properties? (Retire By 40)

 

Categories
BookReview

Book Review: Instant Millionaires

The Book ‘Instant Millionaires’ is written by Max Gunther who wrote the very popular ‘The Zurich Axioms‘ and ‘How to get Lucky

Everyone knows that its not easy nor quick to become rich.It’s a long hard slog of working,saving and investing to become a Millionaire.

This Book wonders if there is an alternative to that…is it possible to become rich instantly – other than winning a lottery ticket,marrying money or by being born into a rich family.

The Book then looks at various fields where people became very rich instantly…or atleast in a few (3/4) years.

The Book was originally published in 1973.So it does not cover ESOPs and our Silicon Valley kind of millionaires.

It covers areas like glamour,inventions,business etc where people went from penury to riches in a matter of years.

There is a lot of hindsight bias in the examples…it’s just that some people got lucky while others who were equally talented did not do so.

I was interested in this Book by the success of the employees and investors in Paytm…its incredible how they became “instantly rich” and got the kind of returns that otherwise takes decades to achieve.

Alas, the Book did not offer any insights on how to identify and exploit such opportunities…other than the common-sensical  “Be at the right place at the right time and do the right thing”

I would recommend this Book only for die-hard Max Gunther fans.