Value at Risk (VaR): This Famous Wall Street Metric Can Aid Your Trading and Investing Decisions

Value at Risk or VaR as it's usually referred to, is a Risk Management metric widely used by many Banks and Investment Banks around the world. The post explores the basics of the definition, the calculation and the usage of this famous Wall Street Metric.

RBL Bank Valuation: Bank or Banker?

It may come as a surprise to some of you that RBL Bank, despite having caught the attention of the media only a few years ago, is actually a considerably old bank. It was incorporated in Kolhapur, Maharashtra in 1943 as 'Ratnakar Bank'. It has come a long way since then. In line with its re-branding to 'RBL Bank' in 2014, it seems to have adopted a new and lucrative business model.

Harita Seating Systems Valuation: Buying Things Well

Have you ever traveled in Bharat Benz, Volvo or Scania bus? Or for folks who are living / have lived in Karnataka, traveled in a BMTC bus? Chances are, you might have unwittingly used the product(s) of Harita Seating Systems -- a not-so-well-known seat manufacturer.

D-Mart Valuation: The 100 P/E Conundrum

Avenue Supermarts Limited, or D-Mart as it is better recognized, is a curious case. The stock trades on the Indian markets at a staggering P/E of 118. Although absolute P/E levels are nowhere near indicative of undervaluation or overvaluation of a stock, we still have to ask, how much is too much? Today, we will attempt to answer that question.

HDFC AMC IPO Valuation: Speed Demon

'Mutual Funds Sahi Hai' says a famous Indian TV advertisement. While the slogan is used and abused several times over, the sentiment seems to ring true with many Indians. We know for a fact that only 2-3% of India invests in Equities directly or in Mutual Funds. However, the general trend is that the number of people investing in these modern savings schemes have increased drastically. So, it would be an understatement to say that HDFC AMC filed for an IPO at the most opportune of times. With HDFC AMC's IPO opening today (25-07-2018), I wanted to register my thoughts on the company and its Valuation before I could be accused of hindsight bias from the Listing Price.

Shemaroo Entertainment Valuation: The Netflix of Bollywood?

Gone are the days when Indian families rented out VCDs/DVDs on a quite Sunday afternoon and sat down to watch a movie with samosas and hot chai. Every day, more and more set of eyes are turning towards the internet. That online content making and distribution is an emerging macro trend in India is undeniable. Shemaroo Entertainment is a niche player in such a niche industry. Does the market under-appreciate its merits or does it overshoot its possibilities? Let's explore these questions further.

S&P BSE SENSEX Valuation: All is Fair in Love and Markets

The SENSEX has crossed the 35000 mark and investors are getting a little uneasy. They have voices inside their heads asking "Is the SENSEX running ahead of itself? Should I cash out or should I stay in?" While those are difficult questions to give a definitive answer to, I thought I'd try to come up with a ballpark answer based on market metrics.

Eicher Motors Valuation: Valuing the Indian Dream

We all know the feeling.. the thrill of kick-starting a Royal Enfield motorbike and hearing the *dug dug dug* sound emerge from the rear. Over the years, Royal Enfield has almost become a household name. It's become a dream every Indian aspires towards and every family is proud to have. But what is the Value of that dream?

Buying High P/E Stocks: Was Benjamin Graham Wrong?

The 'Price-to-Earnings' Ratio is perhaps the most commonly used Valuation tool in Stock Markets around the world. The concept was popularized by Benjamin Graham of 'The Intelligent Investor' fame. The general notion was that 'Low P/E' stocks produced better returns in the long run. But is that really the case?

Numbers and Narratives: A Simple Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Model for Equity Valuation

I still remember the day I got into Equity Valuation. It was a drowsy Saturday afternoon and I was browsing through YouTube videos on Finance. I had been feeling quite annoyed with myself, because I was not making use of my free-time productively. You can imagine how difficult that must have been.

Creating Value in an Equity Investment: The Basics

In my PGDM, the Business Strategy paper described a framework called the 'Value-Cost Framework'. That is to say, a buyer creates value for himself by paying a price which is lesser than what he is willing to pay for a product or a service. Of course, this was taught in the context of Value Creation in Marketing. But it’s not so different in the context of Common Stocks.

Purchasing Common Stock: A 7 Step Code of Conduct

This is the 7-step code-of-conduct I follow whenever I attempt to purchase a Common Stock. The code is derived from the ideas of some of the investing greats, like Warren Buffet, Charlie Munger, Philip Fisher, Peter Lynch, Monish Pabrai and Prof. Aswath Damodaran.