Sinewave Securities

Philip narrates how he got into the markets from a school boy desperate to buy a share, to managing Fisher and Co. The book is divided into three parts, part one being common stocks and uncommon profits, part two conservative investor sleep well and part three developing an investment philosophy. PART I Common stocks and Uncommon profit Chapter 1 Clues from the past This chapter outlines what changes were made in the market in the last century from coming up of FED to banking regulations. Fisher found out that what works is finding great companies and staying with them for an extended period of time. He explains business cycles, management’s vision, depression, inflation, unemployment, deficits, bond yields and other basic terminology which takes up substance from the past. He lays down all these points to provide two conclusions: To explain timing of markets in this complex economical environment in very difficult. More opportunities are available today than it was 50 yea...

Stocks to Riches Parag Parikh was an ace equity investor and founder of PPFAS Mutual Fund (India's leading mutual fund house). His fund has outperformed broader markets for an extended period of time making it one of the most successful fund house of country. The book Stocks to Riches is beginner's guide to stock market, how markets work and how people perceive it to work, behavioral finance, mental models and investor psychology. Mr. Parikh wrote this book in 2005 after the dot com bubble, and Asian economic crisis when the Indian equity market was about to enter a bull run. It is divided into 11 chapters, starting from the basics and gradually moving towards an investor’s behavioral insights.

Stillness is the Key, the book that completes the trilogy that began with "The Obstacle is The Way" and "Ego is the Enemy", Ryan Holiday argues that stillness is the key to being better at anything you do. The book is divided into three parts Mind, Spirit and Body, a trinity in which each part depends on the other.

Deep work -Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively-demanding task. A deep task hard to replicate is essential in the age of information. Shallow Work – Low valued and easily replicable work.

The book as the title suggest Fooled by Randomness brings out the role of chance and luck over widely proclaimed qualities marketed more often in the world of randomness. It lays an alternative perspective to various aspects like luck, probability, theory etc. As Taleb proclaims in the preface “my motto is to tease those who take themselves and quality of their knowledge too seriously”. Being a mathematician and an long standing advocate of probability theory Taleb does not refrain from trolling the concept of “certain knowledge” and its practitioners. Qualities like perseverance, persistence and doggedness may be necessary but not enough  in order to win. The prologue gives brief outline regarding the flow of the book and what does it stand for. It lays down the “Table of confusion” covering the central distinctions used in the book.

This is part two of the series in which I have tried to combine and sort them topicwise. Black Sholes The Black-Scholes formula has approached the status of holy writ in finance, and is used when valuing equity put options for financial statement purposes. Key inputs to the calculation include a  contract’s maturity and strike price, as well as the analyst’s expectations for volatility, interest rates and dividends. If the formula is applied to extended time periods, however, it can produce absurd results. In fairness, Black and Scholes almost certainly understood this point well.

Few case studies and concepts by Buffett given through the newsletters are compiled topic wise. It combines Buffett’s magic and mind, simplicity and subtleness which results into extraordinary results overtime past 60 years has been provided in these newsletters year after year. The idea of ”praise specifically criticize generally” can be seen over the years in these letters over the years.

 𝗔 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 –Moderated by prof. Sanjay Bakshi. He talks about focusing illusion –whatever you are looking or thinking at the time has outsize support in your mind comes. Prof. Bakshi brings up a few questions from Chris Mayer’s book 100 Baggers.

Another book by Professor Jim Collins after Built to last, Good to Great and How does the Mighty Fall, Great by Choice showing - Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not? The method is similar (comparative historical analysis) and the question of greatness is constant. But in this study, unlike any of the previous research,  Collins selected cases not just on performance or stature but also on the extremity of the environment i.e. PERFORMANCE + ENVIRONMENT Starting from delving into what he learned about the individual people who led these companies, and in, how they led and built their companies differently from their less successful comparisons to studying luck. Collins defined luck, quantified luck, determined if the 10X cases were luckier (or not), and discovered what they do differently about luck. At the end of the book, the detailed methods of research, quantitative and qualitative parameters based on each type of analysis (10x, 20 Mil...

Originally what was designated to be an article which eventually got transformed into a small book. It emerged from the wildfire of 2008 GFC where majority of the markets crumbled. Stocks like Lehman Brothers collapsed into bankruptcy after 158 years of growth and success. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, crippled, succumbed to government conservatorship. Merrill Lynch, the symbol of bullish America, capitulated to a takeover bid. From “Good to Great” to “How does the Mighty Fall” - Principles in Good to Great were derived primarily from studying specific periods in history when the good-to-great companies showed a substantial transformation into an era of superior performance that lasted fifteen years. The research did not attempt to predict which companies would remain great after their fifteen-year run. Indeed, as this work shows, even the mightiest of companies can self-destruct. Collins uses data and collects a pack of about 11 companies- A&P, Addressograph, Ames Department Sto...

Jim Collins, Stanford graduate, after 5 year long research brings to us Good to Great –Why some companies make the leap and others don’t. Getting inspiration from Bill Meeham’s challenge to picking up 11 amidst 1435 companies, Collins decipher the formula from being good to great in step by step manner. The chapters takes up the case studies from each of 11 selected companies namely Abbott, Circuit City, Fannie Mae, Gillette, Kimberly Clark, Kroger, Nucor, Philip Morris, Pitney Bowes, Walgreens and Wells Fargo. The book lays down everything possible to decipher the greatness out of these selected companies, right from there selection process to performance over last 15 years and a common pattern found among all. Chapter One - Good is the enemy of the Great - This lays down the overview of the book, the purpose, process and pattern found in great companies. It summaries the entire book in less than 15 pages and guides about the concepts or ideas of convergence among great companies...

A much talked about book on social media, “ The Almanack Of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness ”, collects and organizes the ideas of Naval, an entrepreneur, angel investor, computer science and economics student and brutally honest individual. Collected from tweets, podcasts and blogs - The wisdom of Naval is compiled in the book. I have summarized and condensed the major ideas and quotes from the book. Part 1 Wealth -How to get rich without getting LUCKY? "Getting rich is knowing what to do, with whom to do." Naval suggests : You ought to own equity. All the gains in life come from compound interest. Specific knowledge to be gained -cannot be outscored or automated. Leverage is forced multiplier for your judgment. Capital, Codes and Media - Let them work for you. PRODUCTISE YOURSELF. Play Long term games with long term people - Compounding works - Reputation, Wealth or relationship. Only 1% of the things are useful. Accountability does come wit...

A short, sweet and simple read of less than 150 pages covering the journey of Nicolas Darvas, how back in 1950s he made $ 2000000 from the stock market. It does not give you any secret sauce to succeed but provides the mindset and discipline to become a successful trader. He received the stocks of Brilund after performing in a nightclub and earned a few quick bucks which attracted him towards the stock markets. From thereon he got that fascination and perceived markets as some quick buck printing machine. The book is divided into 10 chapters each showing a significant phase from his trading journey, Chapter 1 covers from being a newbie relying on brokers tip and running behind the “next big thing” to losing a significant portion of his capital. In Chapter 2, how he got to learn some of the basics about the market terminologies, filtering out information, filtering out stocks on the basis of “fundamentals”. He made his own rules after some reading like never follow advisory services...

The One Thing - Gary connects result and approach - From 14 to 7 to 3 to doing the one thing this week - one which makes everything else seem useless - and the results went over the roof. Key to success is not in all the things we do but in the handful of things we do well. I have covered a few key concepts : The Domino effect - Getting extraordinary result is all about creating that domino in your life. Extraordinary success is sequential not simultaneous. It is done overtime. Success leave clues - Gary take up the examples from corporate world - Apple, Google, Disney, Intel and their ONE THING One Passion One Skill. "We are bombarded with more life choices than our ancestors would face in their lifetime." Part 1 THE LIES -That mislead and derail us. Gary busts some common myths popular in the business world. Success has its own lies too and here Garry tells about the 6 lies - Everything matters equally, Multitasking, A disciplined life, Willpower is always on will...

Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins is a book which describes the journey of a black American boy born in almost broken home, abusive father and a mother who was barely holding the things together into becoming the hardest man God ever created. It comes with the prescriptions to come out of your comfort zone, take the challenges and transform your life. Each chapter covers a part of his journey and comes up with a challenge in the end. Chapter One - I should have been a statistic - Gives an overview of his household conditions and takes up a bold decision to leave his father. David moved to Brazil with his mother. “Those raised in abusive households have an increased probability of being arrested as a juvenile by 53% and their odds of committing a violent crime as adults are increased by 38%.” Rather than being the part of the statistic, David decided to fight, take that pain and move. Chapter Two –Truth Hurts -   David tells the challenges they face in new town. David came up wi...