Vishal Khandelwal

BookWorm: Latticework

February 8, 2015

“Latticework”, written by Robert Hagstrom, is unlike most other investment books I have ever read. I won’t advise you to read this book if all you are looking for is magic formulas or readymade rules of sound investing.

This is a powerful book arguing for the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to investing. So if you are one amongst the many investors who have been searching out companies to invest in for a number of years and all you have learned is to plug basic financial information into excel models, this book may be worth a read.

Behaviouronomics: Alternate History

February 5, 2015

One peculiar but common way our brain works is that we often remember what’s easily available to us, and see what’s easily visible.

So, we conclude that the stock trader who is rich must know what he is doing. In the same way, an investor who uses leverage to increase his bets and in the process magnifies his returns is also considered a role model.

In business, a CEO who borrows a lot of money to make acquisitions and in process turns his business bigger in quick time, also seem to be doing the right things (at least when times are euphoric).

Spotlight: Investing Against the Herd

February 3, 2015

In investing, what feels comfortable is rarely safe. Read why independence of thought and not blindly mimicking the herd is a more sensible and profitable strategy for investors.

What feels safe is often risky, and what feels risky is often safe.

If there was one of the most contradictory statements about the evolutionary instinct we possess, this must be it.

Since ages, human beings have tried to seek safety and avoid risk whenever possible (well, we’re not talking about the stock market yet!).