Value Investing Lessons Relevant At All Times

• Understanding Working capital - Part 1
  (Nov 21, 2011)Working capital is a critical component in the functioning of any business. Working capital is akin to the oxygen supply for a business.
• Understanding the basics of yield curves
  (Jun 14, 2011)Very often you may come across the term 'yield curve' and wonder what it implicates for a common investor. In this article we will try and understand the basics of bond yield curves. Let's start off with a simple example. Say your office colleague, wants to urgently borrow Rs 5,000 from you. He promises to repay you the very next day.
• Buyback: What should a retail investor do?
  (Mar 3, 2011)An investor buys a stock with the intention to earn returns. These returns accrue over a period of time. So why would a company buy its own stock? To earn returns on itself? Sounds confusing? Well read on to understand more.
• Equity or Debt: Which is cheaper?
  (Oct 13, 2010)Put yourself in the shoes of the CFO of a company. One major aspect you will be confronted with in your job will relate to the financing of your company's assets. Just like a plant needs water to grow, businesses need capital in order to expand.
• Investing and the 'rule of 72'
  (Sep 27, 2010)As an investor, the dream is to grow the money invested over years. Investors specifically look for opportunities that double their money or even earn more than double.
• Exotic Derivatives
  (Sep 2, 2010)This is the final article in the derivatives tutorial. So far, we have looked in detail at futures and options, how they are priced, and how they can be traded. Today, we’ll take a look at some of the exotic derivatives that have come up in financial markets today.
• Options Trading Strategies - Part 2
  (Aug 26, 2010)Previously we examined some commonly used option trading strategies. These included outright directional strategies, protective puts, and covered calls.
• Options Trading Strategies - Part 1
  (Aug 19, 2010)In the last two weeks, we discussed how options are priced and the various factors that affect option prices. In this and next week's article, we’ll discuss some commonly used option trading strategies.
• Option Pricing - Part II
  (Aug 12, 2010)In the previous week's article, we discussed some of the basic tenets of options. These included how they operate, and the concepts of intrinsic and time value.
• Option Pricing - Part I
  (Aug 5, 2010)Option pricing is a very popular topic for any students studying finance; it can get extremely technical and sometimes divorced from reality. Over the next two articles, my aim is to provide you with the tools to understand how options are priced, and what are the risks involved.
• Futures trading strategies
  (Jul 29, 2010)In the previous week, we discussed the mechanics of trading futures, and provided some examples of how to trade them. This week, I'd like to talk about a few trading strategies that can be implemented through the use of futures contracts.
• How does Futures pricing work?
  (Jul 22, 2010)As I discussed in the previous week, a futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell an asset on a particular date in the future.
• Real estate: Have you looked at these key points?
  (Jul 15, 2010)The real estate pack has traditionally been a high beta play. Being cyclical in nature, the industry does not find favour amongst many value investors. The real estate pack as a whole is known for market outperformance when the economy is in boom.
• Introduction to Derivatives
  (Jul 15, 2010)What is a derivative? A derivative is a financial instrument that derives its value from another financial asset. For example, the value of a crude oil futures contract depends on the value of the underlying asset, which is crude oil itself.
• Key banking ratios-II: PSUs vs private
  (Mar 18, 2010)In one of our recent articles, we discussed about some of the key ratios relating to a bank's balance sheet statement.
• Key banking ratios: PSUs versus private
  (Jan 8, 2010)In one of our recent articles, we discussed about some of the key ratios relating to a bank's profit and loss statement. Just to brush up our readers, some of the ratios that were discussed included:
• A close cousin of the P/E ratio
  (Sep 3, 2009)Learning about stock market investing is a never-ending quest. There are several metrics that an investor can look at while selecting stocks. In this article, we discuss one of the many parameters that could help in making better investment decisions - Price-earnings to growth ratio (PEG ratio).
• One ratio every investor must understand
  (Aug 25, 2009)Return on Equity (RoE) ratio is one of the most important ratios that every investor must understand. This is because it is used to measure the efficiency with which a company utilises the equity capital. In this article, we shall discuss what RoE is and how it is calculated with the help of an example.
• P/E ratio simplified
  (Jul 10, 2008)We thought it would be a good time to write this article as the result season is just about to begin. Also, the understanding of this method could help one take a call on which stock to purchase, hold or sell.
• Identifying a Retailing stock: Do's and Don'ts
  (Apr 9, 2008)Retail as a whole can be divided into various categories, depending on the types of products serviced. It covers diverse products such as food, apparel, consumer goods, financial services and leisure.