Tool Kit | wealthymatters

Of Bonds And Capital Gains

January 18, 2012 Leave a comment

wealthymatters.com For any drop in interest rates by 100 basis points, or 1%, very broadly you can see a capital appreciation of 5% on a 5-year bond, 7% on a 10-year bond and 10% on a 15-year bond.The higher the duration of the bond, the greater the capital appreciation.

Since bonds like NHAI and SBI come from the government, they track benchmark 10-year Gsec rates.The 10-year yield now stands at 8.25%. Suppose this were to drop by 100 basis points over the next one year, then it is possible that the NHAI 10-year bonds with a face value of Rs 10,000 could gain Rs 700 per bond and trade at Rs 10,700 and the 15-year bonds will trade at Rs 11,000. Thus for a 15-year bond, an investor could make a capital gain of Rs 1,000, or 10%.

However it is better to buy these bonds with an objective of holding till their maturity, and not merely for capital gains. This is because bond markets are not well developed in India and show very little activity. So, exiting many bonds could be a problem. Also there are very few products with a maturity of 10 to 15 years, hence the market prices may not reflect the true price.

Filed under Paper Assets, Theory, Tool Kit Tagged with bond investing, bonds, capital gains, hold to maturity, interest rates, NHAI Bonds, postaday, SBI Bonds

……. and the Pursuit of Happiness

January 18, 2012 Leave a comment

wealthymatters.com The Institute of Economic Affairs,UK, has brought out an interesting report recentlycalled ‘……and the Pursuit of Happiness’.You can download your copy from here: http://www.iea.org.uk/publications/research/and-the-pursuit-of-happiness

Following are the excerpts I found particularly interesting:-

‘Contrary to popular perception, new statistical work suggests that happiness is related to income. This relationship holds between countries, within countries and over time. The relationship is robust and also holds at higher levels of income as well as at lower levels of income. This calls into question the assertion that people are on a ‘hedonic treadmill’ that prevents them becoming happier as their income rises beyond a certain level of income.’ Read more of this post

Filed under Theory, Tool Kit Tagged with avoiding poverty, book review, employment, income and happiness, Institute of Economic Affairs UK, marriage, postaday, religious belief, wealth and happiness, Wealthy

Of Skyscrapers And Recessions

January 15, 2012 Leave a comment

I came across an interesting hypothesis by Andrew Lawrence in today’s ET.

Lawrence explains that “high buildings are typically driven by cheap and available capital-high land values,high construction costs-and therefore marks the cyclical peak of the credit cycle.The higher the building the often more abundant and cheaper capital is relatively.”

“Skyscraper building booms do not appear in every economic upturn,but simply in those with strong expansion and typically driven by cheap credit.So when you see a skyscraper boom it should signal concern over the extent,nature of the upswing and the extent of the downturn.”

Mmm…..food for thought isn’t it?Mumbai today seems to have a couple of new towers coming up in almost every street.

Filed under Theory, Tool Kit Tagged with Andrew Lawrence, credit cycle, downturn, India, peak of credit cycle, postaday, recession, Skyscraper Index, skyscrapers Mumbai, upswing

The BSE SENSEX In Leap Years

January 8, 2012 1 Comment

wealthymatters Here is an interesting anecdote I found today at http://hksecurities.blogspot.com/2012/01/2012-leap-year-and-history.html

In every leap year BSE Sensex’s ‘YEAR HIGH’ was above previous year’s high since its inception. Read more of this post

Filed under Paper Assets, Tidbits, Tool Kit Tagged with BSE Sensex, BSE SENSEX Prediction, Leap Year, postaday, Sensex in 2012, Year High

Feng Shui For A Wealthy Life

January 7, 2012 3 Comments

wealthymatters.com Following is an article from today’s Mumbai Mirror by Meenakshi Agarwal,a Feng Shui consultant:

More and more home owners are now opting for the ancient Chinese science of Feng Shui to plan out their homes. This is because even a few minor changes that Feng Shui suggests bring about a remarkable positive change in one’s life.

A family residing in a posh locality of south Mumbai too have experienced this miraculous change in their lives, merely by following a few principles of Feng Shui. The head of the family sought Feng Shui solutions for a gamut of problems. He recounted that the family had simply stopped growing in wealth or making any progress career-wise. He had a marriageable daughter, another in college and a school going son. He even mentioned that in the present scenario, it would have been impossible for him to carry out any major changes as per Vaastu Shastra or Feng Shui. So, he asked for solutions that could be easily implemented. This is where the beauty of Feng Shui lies. The idea is not to disturb the basic spirit of the house by suggesting breaking of walls, etc., but to bring about drastic changes in your life with the slightest change in your environment. Read more of this post