Do it yourself

Like most other Indian urban households, we receive multiple ‘deliveries’ every day. These deliveries are mostly made by ecommerce platforms (Ecom) like Amazon and Myntra; quick commerce platforms (Qcom) like Blinkit and Zepto; food delivery platforms like Zomato and Swiggy; pharmaceutical deliveries like 1mg and Medplus, courier companies like Blue Dart and DTDC, and local delivery services like Borzo (WeFast) and Porter. Besides, our regular grocery, vegetable, and milk vendors also make regular deliveries. I have been observing men making these deliveries closely for the past five years. I have noticed a gradual but definite shift taking place in the profile of the deliveryman visiting my house. In the earlier days, these were usually young semi-skilled boys, who were doing this part-time job while acquiring some skill that would get them a regular job. For most of them this was their first or second job. None of them would like it to be their regular job in the next 2-3 years. ...

The recent move in prices of some popular e-commerce stocks listed in India has caught the eye of the market participants. These stocks have sharply outperformed the benchmark Nifty50, Nifty IT and even NASDAQ in the past one month. Notably, these stocks have been sharply underperforming the markets for the past one year particularly. Most of these stocks have lost about two third of value from their respective all time high stock price levels. Many investors who had bought these stocks in the 2021-2022 frenzy have seen material erosion in their investment value. It is therefore pertinent to examine, from the individual investors’ viewpoint, whether the tide is turning for these companies; to assess whether they should stay invested, buy more or consider using the latest price rally to exit their positions. Use your own parameters One grave mistake small investors usually make while investing in the stock of a company, is to use the valuation matrices followed by specialized invest...

(A couple of years ago, one central minister got confused between Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein and erroneously attributed theory of gravity to Einstein. The Enforcement Directorate of Social Media (EDSM) immediately took cognizance of the mistake and forced the minister to correct his mistake. The minister in reference also happened to be a Chartered Accountant by professional qualification, like me. It is reasonable to believe that the minister, like me, does not understand the nuances of the theory of relativity and laws of motion, and got confused. Nonetheless, learning a lesson from that episode, I want to upfront clarify that my knowledge and understanding of the theory of relativity and laws of motion is zilch. Any references to relativity and gravity herein is just plain English and should be read as that only.) My investment advisor often motivates me to invest in stocks having “valuation cheaper than the industry average or significant valuation discount to the industry ...