Do it yourself

Stagflation is an economic environment with rapidly rising prices, a weak labor market, and low GDP growth. The recent corporate commentary throws light on some important economic trends. These trends, which might have been developing for few years, are becoming more established on ground now. The most discussed trend since demonetization (November 2016) and GST (July 2017) has been the transfer of market share from smaller unorganized businesses to the large organized businesses. Import substitution (Make in India) has been another trend that has gained significant currency in past 4-5 years. This has manifested most prominently in the capacity building in chemical and renewable energy space. These trends have obviously helped the larger publically traded companies to grow bigger and more profitable. The buoyancy in stock market, a representation of these larger companies, is aptly reflecting these trends. One trend that has escaped the popular narrative and closer scrutiny is s...

There are two types of investors in Indian stocks markets – (i) who own all Tata group stocks and all internet and related businesses like IRCTC, IEX, IndiaMart, InfoEdge etc.; and (ii) the others who own none of these. (It’s a Joke or Irony only time could tell.) A survey of Indian investors indicates that presently the investor positioning and opinions are deeply and widely divided. The survey in the form of a free unstructured discussion with some professional, household and institutional investors was conducted over past two weeks. Indian investors – A divided house Based on the discussions, the investors in Indian equities could be divided into the following ten broad categories – (i)     Fearful - Investors who are fully invested and are overweight in equities and/or cryptocurrencies but are uncomfortable with the current price levels and volatility. This category mostly involves High Networth households who have significantly increased their active involvem...

The recent visuals of the massive destruction in Uttarakhand due to rains are heart wrenching. The repetitive loss of human life due to frequent natural disasters in past decades is extremely frustrating. The recent floods and landslides in the Himalayan state are stark reminder of the fact that no lesson has been learned from the 2013 Kedarnath tragedy. Unmindful construction in the path of rivers and rain water drains; cutting of millions of trees to build/widen roads; and unsustainable strain on the sensitive ecology due to excessive tourist flows has not only continued unabated post 2013, but has actually increased. Since 2013, the State has witnessed multiple natural disasters almost every year. The visuals of rain water storming the Nainital town clearly indicates that the natural rain water drains have been obstructed/encroached and forest cover for the city has been denuded. There is nothing to suggest that this fight between the Nature and our greed will stop any time so...

There are two types of investors in Indian stocks markets – (i) who own all Tata group stocks and all internet and related businesses like IRCTC, IEX, IndiaMart, InfoEdge etc.; and (ii) the others who own none of these. (It’s a Joke or Irony only time could tell.) A survey of Indian investors indicates that presently the investor positioning and opinions are deeply and widely divided. The survey in the form of a free unstructured discussion with some professional, household and institutional investors was conducted over past two weeks. Indian investors – A divided house Based on the discussions, the investors in Indian equities could be divided into the following ten broad categories – (i)     Fearful - Investors who are fully invested and are overweight in equities and/or cryptocurrencies but are uncomfortable with the current price levels and volatility. This category mostly involves High Networth households who have significantly increased their active involvem...

 The Ministry of Power, Government of India, recently issued Draft Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Amendment Rules, 2021 for public comments. The amendment seeks to stipulate the following three rules to the existing rules: “1.    “In view of the increasing pollution level particularly in the metros and the large cities, Distribution Licensee shall ensure 24x7 uninterrupted power supply to all the consumers, so that there is no requirement of running the Diesel Generating sets. 2.     Consumers, who are using the Diesel Generating sets as essential back up power, shall endeavor to shift to cleaner technology such as RE with battery storage etc in five years from the date of the publication of this amendment or as per the timelines given by the State Commission for such replacement based on the reliability of supply by the distribution company in that city. 3.     The process of giving temporary connections to the consumers for cons...

Fear, paranoia and resilience prevails in 1HFY22 The financial year FY22 started with the country reeling under the impact of an intense second wave of Covid-19 pandemic. The images of citizens struggling for life saving drugs and Oxygen, overcrowded cremation grounds and corpses of the victims of pandemic floating in the Ganges were imprinted on peoples’ consciousness. For once, disease, death, and desperation dominated the popular narrative. The life seemed still with everyone becoming fearful and paranoid. It felt that spirituality and austerity would dominate the behavior of common man for many months to come. The government went into overdrive to build health infrastructure, provide assistance to helpless citizens and planned, what would eventually become, the biggest public vaccination drive ever in history of mankind. The austerity and fiscal discipline did not appear to be anywhere in the list of top priorities. The macro economic data for 1QFY22 however presented a sligh...