For retail investors, investing often feels like a search for the next best way to lose money. And lately, the hot new way to do that is by buying unlisted or pre-IPO shares. These are shares of companies that haven’t yet been listed on the stock exchanges. When a company is listed on the stock […]
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There’s a paradox at the heart of financial services: What’s good for financial institutions is rarely good for you. All of the shady practices we see and the depressing stories we hear can be explained by this paradox. One of the more depressing manifestations of this paradox is dark patterns. Dark patterns are design practices […]
Caveat: This is a speculative post on what the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) means for one’s personal finances. The post has more questions than answers, so much so that you might even think, “What the hell is this fellow saying?” This is deliberate. Given the inherent uncertainty associated with AI, any opinion on it […]
A downside of writing about finance is that you are cursed to see the same dumb things and write about them over and over again. It’s a bit like being Sisyphus, if he were a writer. Uhmm, excuse me, who is sissy-puss? So, according to Greek mythology, Sisyphus was a guy that pissed Zeus off. […]
We’re in a bear market. Yes, things are terrible. But here’s everything you need to know about a bear market, so that you know what you’re in for.
Five years ago, a horrendous virus called COVID-19 made an unwelcome entry into our lives. It eventually became a weak shadow of itself. We barely even think of it anymore. But in its short stint, it changed our world forever. If the virus had never come our way, the changes of these five years would […]
It’s the end of another year. And that means it’s time to look back on the year and reflect on the mistakes that I made, and saw others make. Why? I’m not sure. It’s the height of arrogance to think we learn from our mistakes. I don’t know about you, but I’m not one of […]
RBI stayed put on rates but cut CRR to ease liquidity, because they are still unbothered about slowing growth. But why?
$18 billion gone in a week because RBI wanted to defend the rupee and keep inflation in check.
Headline inflation’s spiking, but core inflation’s steady, and not all food is to blame. RBI’s stuck in a tricky balancing act—control prices or support growth?
Revenues up, profits down, capex slipping, and foreign outflows on the rise—is India Inc. heading for a reset or just hitting a rough patch?
For the second month straight, BSNL gained market share from private telcos. A real turnaround or just a blip?
The rupee is still weakening against the US dollar, but at its slowest pace in history over the past two years.
Ticket scalpers are the obvious villain in the Coldplay ticketing saga. But are scalpers actually useful? Can scalping be good, even?
You are better off doing dumb things when you are younger and have less money to lose than when you are older and have more at stake.
Private telcos are losing customers. That happens occasionally. What’s unusual, though, is that those customers’ business is going to BSNL.
Inflation falls in both India and US. But why’s the RBI, unlike the US Fed, still cautious? Maybe because our inflation rate is a mirage.
Welcome to a story of warring Gods, the discovery of fire, the first woman ever – and what they all have to do with how you manage money.
Equities are worth 150% of India’s GDP. Foreigners are plowing in 2 billion dollars a month into Indian debt. Are the markets going nuts?
GDP growth declines in June. Corporate taxes swing wildly. Credit makes a quiet shift, while small IPOs balloon.
Two decades into the insurance industry’s liberalisation, LIC continues to hold the fort. But is people’s demand for insurance flagging?
Off-late, India’s managed to keep urban unemployment steady, while increasing its work force. Rural wage growth, however, is falling.
The RBI does not cut repo rates yet again. But is its calculus starting to change? Or are the risks of a rate cut simply too big to ignore?
While rains have been strong, what does it mean for our agriculture? Meanwhile, major economies across the world struggle with own problems.
India has eliminated absolute poverty. This is a civilisational victory. But what does this mean? And where does it leave us? We explore.
