The Small Voice

I had posted a link to a story on GM corns a few days ago.  Crow no-loves corn!!! The story appeared in an online magazine and I was quite distressed by the implications. But there was a very interesting dialogue that happened between an aware & informed reader Mr. Proloy C Pramanik and the author of the article, which I am re-producing here.  If you wish to read the interaction on the website itself, here is the link .   I am re-producing the interaction since initially I was stupid enough to post the story verbatim, I feel it my responsibility towards  the readers of this blog  that I must also provide the following interaction which is both interesting as well as informative and follows a logical inquiry on the same topic. I confess that I am not qualified enough to understand and appreciate the nuances of such matters, but I hope this conversation below will be of MUCH better use. Read it, towards the end, the convers...

by Drunk-on-job-Patrakar Frustrated by Indian strategy and buckling under intense pressure, Australia finally declared their innings at 659. Clarke & Co. were completely taken in by clever Indian tactics of allowing them to score freely without attempting to take their wickets. This waiting game finally got on to their nerves as they couldn’t handle the relentless pressure of scoring runs as well as trying to figure out why Indians were not taking their wickets. In fact, at one occasion Clarke himself uprooted his off stump and offered it to India's pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, who mumbled something about Kohli’s injured fingers and walked away, gallantly refusing to be lured by Clarke’s antics. In the very next ball, he tricked Clarke into hitting a four. Former cricketing great Ravi Shastri explained how India were playing the clever game of getting the key Australian batsmen tired while getting their bowlers & fielders cramped up sitting on chairs, all padd...

In the 2nd Test against Australia, the mighty Indian team capitulated at 191 all out. Micheal Clarke, scored 209, not out. The same story continues...Indian cricket team is invincible on subcontinent pitches but play worse than club level players on overseas (read FAST, BOUNCY) pitches. A simple algorithm comes to mind as to how BCCI and Indian cricket seem to work Go Abroad Get thrashed / whitewashed / lose 4-0 Return home, face Media, public outcry DO NOTHING Play a home series against weak team WIN Get Media , public praise, Advertisement Money REPEAT STEP #1

Often in stock markets, proponents of value investing tend to choose a stock with a proven track record and a consumer monopoly seemingly impossible to beat. What Warren Buffet achieved with Coca Cola or Gillette, every value investor wannabe wants to emulate.  Value investors, to put it simply, try to identify strong companies with a strong consumer acceptance. Their products are fairly cheap to produce, requiring less capital expenditure, wide or growing acceptance, enjoy deep customer acceptance and trust. Such high levels of consumer trust or other factors, serve as a deep advantage, a kind of protective moat around medieval castles, for the company which competitors find difficult to match or break. But the road to prosperity has many a learning curves. Take the example of Nokia Corporation. Nokia was the ubiquitous choice of everybody till a few years ago. The handsets were sturdy, reliable and with decent performance.   Chart 1: 2005-2007  (roughly) ...

Dear Readers, Three cheers for you.  This blog is getting decent viewership and clicks. I regularly track the readerships pattern, and it delights me no end to see netizens from USA, UAE, Indonesia,  Germany,  Oman, Australia, Norway, South Korea, Philippines etc. regularly frequenting this blog. Compared to other super blogs, the readership of "The small voice" is still humble, but growing steadily. :) Thanks for making this a memorable journey so far. It also poses some problems for me. You see, since the readership is getting increasingly getting diverse, often I am at my wit’s end to what to post which will have more relevance to you, my readers.  So pl help me out here.   Tell me what topics you would like to see here. Feel free to suggest topics on which you would like me to post, only exception, I will use my discretion so that this blog remains a family and open minded post. We can all collaborate and discuss topics.  Wha...