Articles by Equitymaster

Mining ban: Will steel industry buckle?

Posted by Equitymaster 19 October 2011 6756 Views

Indian steel industry is going through tough times. The demand for steel is slowing down because rising interest rate is slowing down spending on infrastructure sector which is the largest consumer of steel. This coupled with rising raw material cos

RBI's crusade against inflation continues

Posted by Equitymaster 17 September 2011 6446 Views

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) declared its mid-year monetary policy review for financial year 2011-12 today. High fuel prices, persistent inflation and expectations of liquidity overhang in global financial markets drove the RBI to tighten the mon

The business of banking over the past three years

Posted by Equitymaster 07 September 2011 9324 Views

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently came out with draft guidelines for the entry of new private sector banks into the sector. Most major corporate houses in India including the Tatas, Ambanis, Mahindras, Birlas, Bajaj Group etc are all ready to

Are these the 10 best stocks to buy?

Posted by Equitymaster 05 September 2011 14236 Views

It is believed that an investor is his own biggest enemy while investing. Our brains have evolved in such a way that it makes investing in a rational manner very difficult indeed. Rather than buying low and selling high, we mostly end up doing the

The why and how of 'human asset' valuation

Posted by Equitymaster 16 June 2011 18436 Views

Despite being an important asset for a company, human resource is an asset always ignored by accountants. With regards to assets, there is a fundamental conflict in accounting practices between human and non-human assets. Only non-human assets find

Capital goods to get cheaper in 2011?

Posted by Equitymaster 04 January 2011 8567 Views

Let's continue with our series on the outlook of the Capital Goods (CG) sector. Here we examine the valuations of the BSE CG Index using the popular valuation metric - PE multiple. We reiterate that the BSE CG Index underperformed the Sense

Bharti vs. RCOM: The numbers

Posted by Equitymaster 29 December 2010 10762 Views

Continuing with our series comparing the, top telecom players in India in this article we will compare the key operating metrics of Bharti and RCOM, which will throw light on which is the better of the two. Let us first do a quick recap of what

Can we time the market?

Posted by Equitymaster 02 December 2010 8955 Views

Should we wait for the stock to fall before buying? Shall we wait before we sell? If you are an investor in the stock market you would have also asked these questions at some point. Naturally these are relevant questions as one would like to maxim

Equity or Debt: Which is cheaper?

Posted by Equitymaster 19 October 2010 20114 Views

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 expan

A fast growing firm can be a ticking time-bomb

Posted by Equitymaster 02 October 2010 7749 Views

Of all things in a company, an average investor seems the most enamoured with earnings. Especially the growth in earnings. A company that has managed to grow its profits by a factor of 5x to 6x over the last few years is dubbed as a super achiever.