Investing is not equal to intelligence
Jason Zweig recently wrote an article on the “Seven Virtues of Great Investors.” As per his article, those are:
Curiosity,
Scepticism,
Independence,
Humility,
Discipline,
Patience
Courage.
Read that again. It does not include intelligence or IQ or math or numerical ability or such traits.
Investing is driven largely by psychology. After having dealt with quant systems for the last 4-5 years, I can attest to the fact that even in quant-based systems, it is the psychology of the person building the system and the one who uses the system that determines its success.
Careers built on the Urban Company platform
In this interesting article, the author takes us through the challenges and successes of women who have built independent careers as beauticians on the Urban Company platform.
UC has 45,000 contract employees who work for Urban Company, a gig work platform that launched in India in 2014 advertising “Home services, on demand.” It is now Asia’s largest home services platform, one of India’s highest venture capital-funded organizations, and a unicorn valued in 2021 at over $2 billion.
Today, it is present in 54 cities in India and has expanded to the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia. On the Urban Company app, customers can order all kinds of in-home services, including cleaning, DIY jobs such as painting or plumbing, and beauty treatments such as massages and manicures.
Thought of the Week
I just finished “The Big Bull of Dalal Street: How Rakesh Jhunjhunwala Made His Fortune”. Below are three quotes which I liked from the book.
‘I wish to take one weekend off every month, one week off every quarter, one month off every year. I want to plan it well. I want to see the world,’ Rakesh said.
According to Shankar Sharma, trading gives a person an eye for detail. In trading, positions are leveraged and short-term price movements matter a great deal, so you cannot afford to miss anything. Those with the invest-only mindset (often mutual fund managers) miss out on the skills that trading imparts. Rakesh’s trading made him a better investor, according to Sharma.
‘I have two activities—trading and investment. For investment, I have a horizon of more than two–three years. For trading, I keep all opinions at home. In my life, there is never any price target for trades. How do I know? I see the screen, the screen talks to me.’
Overall, I did not like the book. Would not recommend it.
Video of the Week
Since everyone is talking about an imminent US recession these days, here is a slightly old video of the Depression of 1921 (before the 1929 mega-depression!!).
Intelsense Updates
Disclaimer: Investments in the securities market are subject to market risks. Read all the related documents carefully before investing. Past performance is not an indication of future performance.