This week was all about Money and how to make the most of it.
Monday was Ganesh Chaturthi. So we took a day off and started fresh on Tuesday. The big story obviously was how everybody was losing their minds after finding out that GDP only grew by about 5% last quarter. That is slow. Rather too slow for a developing country like India.
Now obviously since it’s a politically charged subject, we had to tread carefully here, which is why we chose to talk about something that’s probably not talked about enough. The Double Balance Sheet Problem (Read as that pesky little situation where finances of most public sector banks and large private corporates are in absolute shambles)
Now, clearly this upset a lot of people because they thought we were absolving the current government of all blame when in fact we did no such thing. All we said was the seeds for the crisis were sown back in 2008. That’s not to say that the UPA was responsible for it. It’s a subtle yet very important difference.
Don’t believe us. Well, go find out for yourselves then -> The $ 5Trillion Summit
On Wednesday, we covered the new Motor Vehicles Act and the updated fine policy. Man, is it expensive or what?
Anyway, we wanted to find out if the move would have a positive impact on the overall ecosystem. And honestly we think it will. But look, obviously it’s again a very touchy subject and if you want to know exactly why we believe what we believe, you should read more here.
On Thursday, we talked about Maruti’s plans to halt production for a couple days in some of their biggest factories. Now, the reason might be obvious to most people.
Slowdown blues, subdued demand, the terrible economy etc etc etc. But here’s the thing. Manufacturers have known about the slowdown for a good year now. They’ve constantly been slashing their forecasts and managing inventory based on this new information. So why are they still having no production days despite all this ? Well, maybe even they didn’t think things were going to be this bad.
We also did another story about how banking stocks fared since the big bank merger. The verdict- Not too well. It’ll definitely be worth your time if you haven’t read it already.
On Friday, our big story was Apple. Why on Earth does Apple keep borrowing when it has like$ 210 Billion worth of cash and cash like stuff in its bank account? We wanted to get to the bottom of this stuff.
Turns out it’s because of two things.
A: It can borrow at very cheap rates now. Cheaper than it could earlier.
B. It's borrowing because it bloody can. And besides it's always nice to keep some of that cash aside for a rainy day eh?
Well, anyway this is a very diluted account of the whole borrowing story. So it’s highly advisable you read more here.
We also did this other cool story on people postponing their automobile purchase decisions owing to expectations of a future GST rate cut. This one is weird because all the government has to do, is come out and state the obvious. Will it cut rates or will it not? But that obviously hasn't happened and automakers have been left to fend for themselves.
Anyways that's it from us this week. We will see you again on Monday.
Until then, keep smiling :)
