हिंदी कहानी - वह दिन


वह दिन

सुबह के सात बजे होंगे. मैं अपनी पुस्तकों की मंत्रिपरिषद के समक्ष अपनी काबिलियत के प्रदर्शन में प्रयासरत था कि शायद कुछ हासिल हो जाये पर यह मंत्रिपरिषद हमारे 'भारत गणराज्य' के मंत्रिपरिषद की ही तरह मुझे घास नहीं डाल रही थी. तभी दरवाजे पर दो जोड़े दस्तक मेरे कर्णो में ख़ुशी बनकर समा गए, क्योंकि अब पढाई से छुट्टी मिलने वाली थी. भौंहों पर कोई शिकन नहीं आई क्योंकि सुबह का समय था. कलम को खुले हुए ही कॉपी पर छोड़कर उठ गया, इसलिए कि मेहमान के सामने ही किताबें बंद करूँगा ताकि वे और ये सब ये समझें कि मजबूरी है. लपकते हुए द्वार खोला और पलक झपकते हुए उन्हें देखा. उनकी एक इंच कि मुस्कान ने मेरी मुस्कान कि लम्बाई और भी बढ़ा दी. मेरे अगवानी करने से पहले वह सोफे पर धंस चुके थे.
दरवाजा बंद किया और किताबों में पेन डालकर उनको भी बंद किया. तब तक बातों का सिलसिला बढ़ रहा था. इसी बीच में रसोई विभाग को 'कुछ भी' का आदेश दे आया था. हम गुफ्तगू में मशगूल थे. हमने बातों ही बातों में राजनीति, दर्शन, अपराध और विमर्शन सब पर अपने अपने राय थोपे. बुश, मिखाइल, मार्गरेट और देश कि नीतियों को तार तार कर दिया हमने. वह हमारे तर्कों के आगे बौने लग रहे थे और हम फूलते ही जा रहे थे कि अचानक...
अचानक मेज पर दो गिलास नीम्बू के शरबत और उन गिलासों के पावों से लगी दासी प्लेट जिसमे थे दो बिस्कूट, नज़र किये गए. उनके रखने कि बेतरतीबी से साफ़ था कि रसोई विभाग कुपित है. कोई बात नहीं, हम युवाओ के मित्रों के साथ ऐसा ही होता है. बड़े बूढों के मित्र आयें तो देखिये आलम. मेजपोश पर कड़क चाय और वगैरह वगैरह सज जायेंगे जबकि बड़े बूढ़े 'फोर्मेल्टी वश ' थोडा ही खायेंगे. खैर हमारा भी समय आएगा. हमने गिलास का फीका द्रव 'ढकोचा' और बिस्कूटों पर रहम कर उन्हें 'मेहराने' के लिए छोड़ दिया (वैसे उन्होंने अपना हाथ बढाया जरूर था). गिलासों के दौर के बाद वे यूँ करबद्ध हो उठे कि हमें लगा कि सिर्फ कुछ 'ढकेलने' के लिए आये थे. मुझे लगा बुरा और मैंने सभ्यता से उन्हें सोफे पर लिया गिरा ताकि वे समझ ना पायें. वे बैठ तो गए, पर इस आशा से कि गर्मी के दिन हैं सो कुछ देर बाद फिर कुछ पेश होगा. अब मैं कुछ गंभीर मिजाज़ में आ गया था सो उनके मुस्कियों का प्रभाव ना पड़ा. उन्होंने बातों के दौरान ही पूछा, 'आपका वह कौन सा दिन था जब आप महत्वपूर्ण या महत्वहीन थे?' मैंने कुछ क्षण सोचा और उन्हें 'वह दिन' कि महिमा समझाने लगा.
परिभाषानुसार 'वह दिन' वह दिन होता है जो आपकी ज़िन्दगी के अनलिखे इतिहास का एक अनुच्छेद बन जाये या बन गया हो. 'वह दिन' दो प्रकार का होता है, (अ) वह दिन जब आप खुश हुए हों, (ब) वह दिन जब आप दुखी हुए हों. इन दो मुख्य भेदों के अनेक उपभेद हैं. मसलन वह दिन जब आपने किसी को पीटा हो (चाहे प्रत्यक्ष या परोक्ष). या फिर वह दिन जब आपकी शादी हुई हो (पता नहीं कि शादी ही है या आप भी औरों कि भांति सिर्फ 'फंस' गए हैं). तो मै आपको बता रहा था कि 'वह दिन' कि महिमा अपरम्पार है. 
मेरा 'वह दिन' था जब मेरा जन्म हुआ था. अन्यों कि भांति हमने भी ख्वाब देखे थे कि हम होंगे निराले और निहायत शरीफ. पर इस कलियुग की मिलावट में शरीफों के बारे में सोचना भी पाप है क्यूंकि शरीफों को 'शरीफों' कि भांति खा लिया जाता है. दूसरा 'वह दिन' वह दिन था जब हमने स्कूल में दाखिला लिया, सोचा कि रोम्यां रोलां या सुकरात या फिर अरस्तु तो बनना ही है. पर कुछ ही दिनों  में ख़ुशी काफूर हो गयी और हम बिना पेंदी के लोटा ही रह गए. तीसरा 'वह दिन'  वह दिन था जब हम हाई स्कूल में अव्वल आये. चौथा 'वह दिन' वह दिन था जब हम 'इंटर महान' में अव्वल आये, पांचवा 'वह दिन' वह दिन होगा जब हम 'फलाना' करेंगे, क्षठवा 'वह दिन' वह दिन होगा जब हम 'ढेकानो' पर अपना रौब जमायेंगे, सातवां 'वह दिन' वह दिन होगा जब...आठवां 'वह दिन' वह दिन होगा जब...नवां 'वह दिन' जब.....मैं शेष विश्व से कट कर अपनी ही धुन में धारा प्रवाहमयी धारा में गिरता पड़ता चला जा रहा था और मेरी आँखें टंग चुकी थी कि कमरा हिल उठा.
"तेरा एक 'वह दिन' वह दिन भी होगा पुत्र जब तू संसार की निस्सारता को छोड़ कर नए वस्त्र पहनने चला जायेगा और तेरे 'वह दिन' सारे अगले जीवन में चले जायेंगे; रुकेंगे नहीं. अतः पागलपन छोड़ और कर्म कर कर्म".
मैं अवाक् था. बिना सर उठाये कमरे का मुआयना किया. वे नदारद थे और दीवारें सवाक हो गयीं थीं. यह असमंजस की स्तिथि कब तक रही पता नहीं, पर मैं आज तक इस घटना से अवाक् हूँ. यह चिरंतन सत्य, यह वेद वाक्य इस प्रकार मेरे सामने प्रस्तुत किया जायेगा, यह मैंने नहीं सोचा था.
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[यह रचना १९९५  में एक गुलाबचंद त्रिपाठी फाउन्डेसन द्वारा 'शुभाशंषा सम्मान" से पुरस्कृत और स्थानीय दूरदर्शन केंद्र से प्रसारित की गयी थी. उस उम्र में मन की आग जो भी उगलती थी, उसमे एक धुन होती थी. आज जो मन में आग है उसमे घुन लग गया है...]  

Event report - JAPAN HABBA 2012

JAPAN HABBA 2012 - AN INDO-JAPAN CULTURAL EXCHANGE PROGRAM
60 Years, 2 Nations, 1 Goal

19-Feb-2012, Bangalore University, India.

One day for Japan. Each day for Japan.
The day is Japan Habba 2012, the event held by Bangalore University, is in it seventh year of milestone. University's Jnanajyothi auditorium reverberates Japan beats whole day. This is my second year visit and my family's first year visit. This is closest that we can come to Japan by being in Bangalore. This is the closest we can be to Japan while being away from it.

This year's slogan is 60 years, 2 Nations, 1 Goal and the theme is KIZUNA, meaning 'Friendship ties'. It marks the 60th anniversary of Japan - India Diplomatic relations.

The day started with usual welcome address and introduction to dignitaries. Then addresses by dignitaries. I wish the format was updated to at least  some latest entertainment standards. No mention of 'kolaveri...' in Japanese - thank God!

The auditorium was full by the time of cultural items. Morning had gone by with karaoke concepts where Japanese sang in Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Indians sang in Japanese with ease.

Song: Mubarak ho tumko samaa ye suhana, by Kazumasa Kuboki san
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U58-kyx
Outside the auditorium, the food court adorned with Onigiri, Karaage Chicken, Yakisoba, Yakitori and Gyoza were truly competing with samosa, Chole- Bhature, and Idli- Wadas.

Outside was also brimming with Origami, Calligraphy, Kanji Mehndi, Manga reading, Kadou-flower arrangement, and off course Yukata wearing dashed with Tea ceremony. I was in little Japan in Bangalore today.

Outside did showcase higher education from Tokyo University and Ritsumeikan University and it was pleasure to see their booth. This is first time I saw Japanese universities showcasing in India which is sarcastically obsessed with western universities.

Inside Bollywood ruled our Japanese guest girls with 'chammak challo' and others. Bollywood is is one of the best glue.

Song: Chammak Challo by Japanese girls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH-lPcf5pCQ


Bonodori dance by students of Toyota Kirloskar Motors was a great choreography of a revered Culture. Last but not the least was the darling "Doraemon" song by Japanese kids who lamented that they have to see their favourite childhood hero in Hindi, by being in India. Algorithm march was another feather by these kids which left our children jaw dropped.

All in all, it was an event to be relived for many days to come. It must have been great pleasure 500+ Japanese community staying in Bangalore. This is third biggest Japanese community in India, after Delhi, Mumbai / Chennai.

Japan Habba 2012 is supported by Japan government, Japan chamber of commerce, BNK, Koyo and Japan Foundation.


















Times Of India, Bangalore edition (20-Feb-2012), did also cover this event "With love from Japan"

Enjoy and Revel in the glory of Nihon a.k.a Japan!

Book Notes - The White Tiger

The White Tiger
(winner of The Man Booker Prize 2008)
Aravind Adiga


No Entrepreneur has it easy. No Entrepreneur will ever have it easy.
Their journey though is generally a potboiler story in its own uniqueness - each one has one. What is less known, not known or purposefully hidden, is the underbelly of entrepreneurial journey. Every hard boiled entrepreneur has to be part of this underbelly and play through its rules. Aravind Adiga's "The White Tiger" is probably the first such book. The journey of a 'no man' to 'the man' in this entrepreneurial journey is sloshed with heavy does of dark alleys. The beauty of this book is in its hauntedness, which keeps chasing you after you have read it, for a long time. The book tries to elevate Bangalore into a cult city status and does a good job at it. 

Some excerpts of my choice, for you.

1. ...And our nation, though it has no drinking water, electricity, sewage system, public transportation, sense of hygiene, discipline, courtesy, or punctuality, does have entrepreneurs. thousands and thousands of them. Especially in the field of technology. And these entrepreneurs - we entrepreneurs - have setup all these outsourcing companies that virtually run America now.

2. ...When you have heard the story of how I got to Bangalore and became one of its successful *though probably least known* businessmen, you will know everything there is to know about how entrepreneurship is born, nurtured, and developed in this, the glorious twenty first century of man.

3. The entrepreneur's curse. He has to watch his business all the time.

4. My country is the kind where it pays to play it both ways: the Indian entrepreneur has to be straight and crooked, mocking and believing, sly and sincere, at the same time.

5. Entrepreneurs are made from half-baked clay.

6. I am not a sentimental man, Mr. Jiabao. Entrepreneurs can't afford to be.

7. To break the law of this land - to turn bad news into good news is entrepreneur's prerogative

8. I have always been a big believer in the education especially my own

9. In his journey from village to city, from Laxmangarh to Delhi, the entrepreneur's path crosses any number of provincial towns that have the pollution and noise and traffic of a big city - without any hint of the true city's sense of history, planning and grandeur. Half-baked cities, built for half-baked men

10. There is no reward for entrepreneurship in most of India. It's a sad fact.

11. I absorbed everything - that's the amazing thing about entrepreneurs. We are like sponges - we absorb and grow.

12. It's 2.44a.m. The hour of degenerates, drug addicts, and Bangalore based entrepreneurs.

13. The great socialist is said to have embezzled one billion rupees from the darkness, and transferred that money into a bank account in a small beautiful country in Europe full fo white people and black money.

14. Now that the date for the elections had been set, and declared on radio, election fever had started spreading again. These are the three main diseases of this country, are typhoid, cholera, and election fever. This last one is the worst; it makes people talk and talk about things that they have no say in.

15. Would they do it this time? Would they beat the Great Socialist and win the elections? Had they raised enough money of their own, and bribed enough policement, and bought enough fingerprints of their own, to win? Like eunuchs discussing the Kama Sutra, the voters discuss the elections in Laxmangarh.

16. If I may go back for a moment to that WANTED poster, Your Excellency. Being called a murderer: fine, I have no objectio to that. It's a fact: I am a sinner, a fallen human. But to be called a murderer by the police! What a fucking joke.

17. Free people don't know the value of freedom, that's the problem.

18. Drivers like to say that some men are first-gear types. Mr. Ashok was a classic first-gear man. He liked to start things, but nothing held his attention for long.

19. A servant gets to know his master's intestinal tract from end to end - from lips to anus.

20. God, why is it always the wrong kind of Indian who goes abroad?

21. When you retain semen in your lower body, it leads to evil movements in the fluids of your upper body.

22. Sometimes what is most animal in a man .......best thing in him.

23. Iqbal, that great poet, was so right. The moment you recognize what is beautiful in this world, you stop being a slave.

24. See, men and women in Bangalore live like the animals in a forest do. Sleep in the day and then work all night, until two, three, four, five o'clock, depending, because their masters are on the other side of the world, in America. Big question -: how will the boys and girls - girls especially - get from home to work place in the late evening and then get back home at three in the morning? there is no night bus system in Bangalore, no train system like in Mumbai. the girls would not be safe on buses or trains anyway. the men of this city, frankly speaking are animals. Thats where entrepreneurs come in.

25. The last stage in my amazing success story, sir, was to go from being a social entrepreneur to a business entrepreneur. This part wasn't easy at all.

26. They are my employees, I am their boss, that's all. I make them sign a contract and I sign it too, and bothof us must honour that contract. that's all. if they notice the way I talk, the way I dress, the way I keep things clean, they will go up in life. if they don't, they will be drivers all their lives. I leave the choice up to them. when the work is done, I kick them out of office, no chitchat, no cups of coffee. A white tiger keeps no friends, its too dangerous.

27. I am sorry, madam, i said "I offer you my sympathies, in addition, I offer you my company, White Tiger Drivers".
"Do all your drivers have licences?"
"Offcourse, madam. You can call the police and check."
she did just that, and called me back. I think the police must have put in a good word for me. And that was how I got my own - as they say in English - 'start up'.

28. Only four men in history have led successful revolution to free the slaves and kill their masters, this page said:
Alexander the Great
Abraham Lincoln of America
Mao of your country
And a fourth man. It may have been Hitler, I can't remember.

29. An Indian revolution? No, sir, it won't happen. People in this country are still waiting for the war of their freedom to come from somewhere else - from jungles, from the mountain, from China, from Pakistan. That will never happen. Every man must make his own Benares.

30. Mobile Phones cause cancer in the brain and shrink your masculinity the Japanese invented them to diminish the white man brain and balls at the same time.

31. You will have to keep paying and paying the fuckers. But I complain about the police the way the rich complain; not the way the poor complain. the difference is everything.

32. I love my startup - this chandelier, and this silver laptop, and these twenty six Toyota Qualises - but honestly, I 'll get bored of it sooner or later. I am a first-gear man, Mr Premier. In the end, I'll have to sell this start up to some other moron - entrepreneur, I mean - and head into a new line. You see, I am always a man who sees 'tomorrow' when others see 'today'.


हिंदी कविता - थाली में चाँद

पानी की थाली में ज्यों चाँद उतर आता है
यूँ ज़िन्दगी में मेरे तुम उतर आई हो.
चाँद हकीकत में कोई छू नहीं पाता है
चांदनी बन कर तुम जीवन परछाई हो.
 
तुम्हे भी मैं कभी छू ना पाऊंगा
तुम शायद प्यार की गहरायी हो.
मुझ जैसे किनारे बैठे मछुआरे ने
जैसे 'गोताखोर की मोती' पायी हो.
 
एक 'अपना परिवार', जैसे सपना साकार
तुम कहाँ से निकल चली आई हो?
सोचता हूँ किस प्रयास से
तुम मुझ तक पहुच आई हो.
 
आओ इस ज़िन्दगी का शुक्रिया करें
कि तुम मुझसे मिल आई हो.
 
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सन २००४, मुंबई के अंतहीन रोमांटिक महीनो में लिखी गयी थी ये - जिसे आप तो कविता कहेंगे परन्तु मैं कहूँगा दिल की आवाज़.
कुछ बात है कि हिंदुस्तान कि सरज़मीन पर मुंबई जैसा कोई और शहर नहीं, कोई और दरियादिल जगह नहीं, कोई और मस्ताना नगर नहीं जहाँ किस्मत कर्म का पीछा करती है. भारत को ३० मुंबई जैसे शहरों की सख्त और तुरंत जरूरत है.

Book Notes - GOLDMAN SACHS - The Culture of Success

A book, as they say, is known by its cover. I must say that a book on GS (popular name of Goldman Sachs) adds to the aura to the institution which is synonymous with wall street for significantly more than a century. It remains my favorite books read all time. Here, I bring some excerpts of the book to you:

1. A partnership is a much more personal organizational structure than a corporation.
2. In a private partnership none of the assets of partners are shielded from liability, and the individual partners are exposed down to the pennies in their children's piggy banks.
3. Capital should be a restraint. It helps you make selections.
4. All partners regardless of their stake, left the bulk of each year's earnings with the firm, to be withdrawn only after retirement. Partners took home an 8 percent draw each year against the amount they had in their capital accounts(the amount of the firm's profits they had accrued but left invested with the firm.
5. If there is a recurring theme In our thought process, it is that Goldman Sachs under promises and over delivers to itself.
6. Not everyone can be the first with a new idea, but there is no excuse for not copying a good idea quickly
7. Through its strong client focus Goldman Sachs has been able to control egos and monitor arrogance. The client, mot the salesman, banker, or trader, is the focus of any transaction. The banker is there to do his client's bidding.
8. Clients are simply in your custody. Someone before you established the relationship and someone after you will carry it on.
9. If you are willing to turn down money and you keep your ego under control, you can save yourself a lot of heartache in this business.
10. Gus levy's maxim- greedy, but long term greedy, was the firm's watchword.
11. Partners reinvested almost all their earnings in the firm, so the focus was always on the future.
12. Value of ownership-No one ever washes a rental car.
13. One of the most visible manifestations of the the firm's culture is its emphasis o understatement. Men of great wealth, the partners of Goldman Sachs deliberately discouraged its overt trappings...believing money is for bank account, not flashing about.
14. Money is always fashionable- Henry Goldman
15. Save and serve.-Henry Goldman
16. Most men can stand adversity; very few men can stand success.
17. During 1930s Weinberg's contribution to the firm was so great that he was accorded one third of the firm's profits. But as his son john pointed out more than sixty years later, one third of nothing is still nothing.
18. To Gus(Gus Levy) short range was what's happening this morning and long range whats going to happen this afternoon. Levy had two secretaries on the theory that he would never need to wait for one to be free.
19. Short term profits would not be earned at the expense of of long term relationships.
20. J Aaron's philosophy was 'never tell anybody how much money you make, just smile on the way to the bank.' in a public limited company we would never have been able to do that'
21. The standards of fitness for individuals within an organization should be conducive to achieving fitness for the organization.
22. The risk arbitrage business, in its most simplified form, involves the purchase or sale of securities deemed to be mis-priced, often because of their complexity or some change occurring in the company of which the shares represent ownership. Many of these opportunities arise as a result of a takeover by one company by another.
Risk arbitrage is all about risk.
"you had to stick to your discipline and try to reduce everything in your mind to pluses and minuses and to probabilities", Rubin remembers. "if a deal goes through, what do you win?" if it does not go through, what do you loose? It was a high risk business, but I'll tell you, it did teach you to think in terms of probabilities instead of absolutes. You couldn't be in that business and not internalize that probabilistic approach to life. It was what you were doing all the time."
23. When Weiner announced his retirement after forty years he was a vigorous sixty five years old. He joked that wanted to out "a master of my own destiny, and not drooling." he explained: These guys are ready, and I'm ready. This is the logical time. When the goose is cooked, you better go ahead and eat it."
24. Friedman has said "facts are extremely wiggly; they are like greased pigs, so you have to ask a lot of questions."
25. Losses are part of trading; learn something from them and move on. Rubin grew up with trading risk. He argued that "as long as there are risks there will be losses. If the day ever comes when there are no risks, there will also be no profits."
26. Levy taught many things, but the most important was about risk. Never worry about how much money you are going to make on a trade, focus instead on how much you are going to lose if you make a mistake.
27. For Rubin and Friedman, if GS was not surging ahead, it was falling behind.
28. In 1993, profits were going up so fast that mo one worried about the fact that risk was going up faster- a trader
29. In 1993 annual review, Friedman praised the firm for its exceptional year. But he took time to remind all concerned that trees do not grow to the sky. A lover of military history, he knew that after great victories in battle generals would have a spectacular procession to mark the event. As they marched in the parade someone would follow a few steps behind whispering in their ear, "remember you are mortal, remember you are mortal."
30. Investment banks live and die by their ability to analyze the balance between risk and reward.
31. Bad assets(non performing loans and the like), liquidity problems, and lack of legal compliance are the three things that can bring down firms in a heartbeat.
32. There are good times and bad, but the shared values that make up the firm's culture are immutable.- John Weinberg
33. Don't trust self made men because they think it's their fault.- Michel David Weill, Chairman of Lazard Freres
34. Jon Corzine could deliver bad news and make you feel good about it.
35. For every one you layoff, you frighten four," says limited partner Roy Smith. "You're destroying loyalty in the interest of year-by-year profit management."
36. Corzine feels that a leader passes on a culture not just by what he says and does, but also by whom he selects for the succeeding generation of leadership.
37. By bringing a larger group of partners into the upper reaches of management, the culture of the firm, as transmitted by its leaders, could more easily be spread to a larger group of people. "You have to broaden the number of people who have a leadership mandate," Corzine said. "Against that you have to make sure that you don't dilute the value of the mandate."
38. "We need to do something that challenges the organization to be more than it is today," Jon Corzine
39. Structure follows strategy.
40. Good firms worry about competition. Great firms worry about their clients. - Hank Paulson
41. The two Johns were opposed to the partners selling the firm. They believed strongly that "if it ain't broke don't fix it."
42. Greed is a two-sided coin, Corzine argued, and a system in which 1.5 percent of the participants reap the vast majority of the rewards in good times and adjust the compensation and headcount of the other 98 percent of the firm in rough times also might be viewed as grossly unfair. Perhaps, Corzine ventured, selling the firm in good times and spreading the largesse broadly, deeply, and generously would actually be less greedy.
43. In a risky cyclical business it makes no sense to expose the resources of a handful of people to the whims of the world's capital markets.
44. The most successful traders make their fortunes over time not by picking the biggest winners but by deftly cutting their losses, putting it all behind them and then moving on with an open mind.

Book Notes - ONE UP ON WALL STREET

While reading this book couple of years back in Japan, I just laid my eyes in my real estate agents' office, and borrowed from him. It appeared to be just another book on the shelf. Once I started reading and went past couple of pages, it appeared to be a volume. I then read this book in trains, home, parks and while walking to office and finished it with more hunger, anger (that why I did not read it much before) and aggressiveness. Here, I bring some excerpts of this book, for you:

1. There is unwritten rule on Wall street "You'll never lose your job losing your client's money in IBM"
2. Acceptable mediocrity is far more comfortable than diverse performance.
3. There's an unwritten rule that the bigger the client, the more talking the portfolio manager has to do to please him.
4. The old wall street adage "Never invest in anything that eats or needs repairs" may apply to racehorses, but it's malarkey when it comes to houses.
5. Only invest what you could afford to lose without that loss having any effect on your daily life in the foreseeable future.
6. "Rise early, work hard, strike oil" - J Paul Getty
7. If you must forecast, forecast often.
8. I believe in buying great companies-especally companies that are undervalued, and /or underappreciated.
9. "As far as I am concerned, the stock market doesnt exist. It is there only as a reference to see if anybody is offering to do something foolish" - Warren Buffett
10. Don't overestimate the skill and wisdom of professionals.
Pointers:
  • Take advantage of what you already know.
  • Look for opportunities that havent yet been discovered and certified by Wall STreet - companies that are "off the radar scope"
  • Invest in a house before you invest in a stock.
  • Invest in companies, not in the stock market.
  • Ignore short term fluctuations.
  • Large profits can be common stocks.
  • Large losses can be made in common stocks.
  • Predicting the economy is futile.
  • Predicting the short term direction of the stock market is futile
  • The long term returns from stocks are both relatively predictable and also far superior to the long term returns from bonds
  • Keeping up with a company in which you own stock is like playing an endless stud-poker hand
  • Common stocks aren't for everyone, nor even for all phases of a person's life.
  • The average person is exposed to interesting local companies and products years before the professionals
  • Having an edge will help you make money in stocks.
  • In the stock market, one in the hand is worth ten in the bush
 11. So often we struggle to pick a winning stock, when all the while a winning stock has been struggling to pick us.
12. A great patients's drug is the one that cures an affliction once and for all, but a great investor's drug is one that the patient has to keep buying.
13.  In general, if you polled all the doctors, I'd bet only a small percentage would turn out to be invested in medical stocks, and more would be invested in oil; and if you polled the shoe-store owners, more would be invested in aerospace than in shoes, while the aerospace engineers are more likely to dabble in shoe stocks. Why is that stock certificates, like grasses, are always greener in somebody else's pasture I'm not sure.
14. Investing without research is like playing stud poker and never looking at the cards.
15. I separate the growth stocks into slow growers (sluggards), medium growers (starlwarts), and then the fast growers - the superstocks that deserve the most attention.
16. A sure sign of a slow grower is that it pays a generous and regular dividend.
17. If you choose wisely, Fast Growers is the land of the 10 to 40 baggers and even 200 baggers. With a small portfolio, one or two of these can make a career.
18. Turnaround stocks make up lost ground very quickly.
19. "Any idiot can run this business" is one characteristic of the perfect company, the kind of stock I dream about. You never find the perfect company, but if you can imagine it, then you'll know how to recognize favorable attributes, the most important thirteen of which are as follows:
  • IT SOUNDS DULL - OR, EVEN BETTER, RIDICULOUS
  • IT DOES SOMETHING DULL
  • IT DOES SOMETHING DISAGREEABLE
  • IT'S A SPINOFF
  • THE INSTITUTIONS DON'T OWN IT, AND THE ANALYSTS DON'T FOLLOW IT
  • THE RUMORS ABOUND: IT'S INVOLVED WITH TOXIC WASTE AND/OR THE MAFIA
  • THERE'S SOMETHING DEPRESSING ABOUT IT
  • IT'S A NO GROWTH INDUSTRY
  • IT'S GOT A NICHE
  • PEOPLE HAVE TO KEEP BUYING IT
  • IT'S A USER OF TECHNOLOGY
  • THE INSIDERS ARE BUYERS
  • THE COMPANY IS BUYING BACK SHARES
20. The common alternatives to buying back share are (1) raising the dividend, (2) developing new products, (3) starting new operations, and (4) making acquisitions.
21. If I could avoid a single stock, it would be the hottest stock in the hottest industry, the one that gets the most favorable publicity, the one that every investor hears about in the car pool or on the commuter train- and succumbing to the social pressure, often buys.
22. BEWARE THE NEXT SOMETHING
23. AVOID DIWORSIFICATIONS
24. BEWARE THE WHISPER STOCK
25. BEWARE THE MIDDLEMAN
26. BEWARE THE STOCK WITH THE EXCITING NAME
27. Although it is easy to forget sometimes, a share of stock is not a lottery ticket. It's part ownership of a business.
28. A quick way to tell if a stock is overpriced is to compare the price line to the earnings line. If you bought familiar growth companies when the stock price fell well below the earnings line, and sold them when the stock price rose dramatically above it, the chances are you'd do pretty well.
29. The p/e ratio can be thought of as the number of years it will take the company to earn back the amount of your initial investment- assuming, of course, that the compay's earnings stay constant.
30. You might begin by asking whether the p/e ratios of various stocks you own are low, high, or average, relative to the industry norms. Sometimes you'll hear things like "this company is selling at a discount to the industry" - meaning that its p/e is at a bargain level.
31. A broker can also give you the historical record of a company's p/e-and the same information can be found on the S&P reports also available from the brokerage firm. Before you buy a stock, you might want to track its p/e ratio back through several years to get a sense of its normal levels. New companies, of course, haven't been around long enought to have such records.
32. Company p/e ratios do not exist in a vaccum. The stock market as a whole has its own collective p/e ratio, which is good indicator of whether the market at large is overvalued or undervalued. When you find that a few stocks are selling at inflated prices relative to the earnings, its likely that most stocks are selling at inflated prices relative to earnings.
33. There are five basic ways a company can increase earnings: reduce costs, raise prices; expand into new markets; sell more of its product in the old markets; or revitalize, close, or otherwise dispose of a losing operation. These are the factors to investigate as you develop the story.
34. Wait to see if this good idea from the neighborhood would actually succeed someplace else.
35. It's never too late not invest in an unproven enterprise.
36. What you can't get from the anual report you can get by asking your broker, by calling the company, by visiting the company, or by doing some grassroots research, also known as kicking the tires.
37. If you buy and sell stocks through a full service brokerage firm instead of a discount house, you're probably paying an extra 30 cents a share in commissions.
38. If you use the broker as an advisor (a foolhardy practice generally, but sometimes worthwhile), then ask the broker to give you the two miniute speech on the recommended stocks.
39. Professionals call companies all the time, yet amateurs never think of it. If you have specific questions, the investor relations office is a good place to get the answers. The accepted form of the question is subtle and indirect: "what are the wall street estimates of your company's earnings for the upcoming year?"
40. Better you lead off with a question that shows you've done some research on your own.
41. Even if you have no script, you can learn something by asking two general questions: "What are the positives this year?" and "what are the negatives?"
42. When Looking at the same sky, people in mature industries see clouds where people in immature industries see pie.
43. When I visit a headquarters, what I'm really after is a feel for the place.
44. The first thing, by the way, is: "when is the last time a fund manager or an analyst visited here?" If the answer is "two years ago, I think," then I'm ecstatic. 
45. Rich earnings and a cheap headquarters is a great combination.
46. Among other things, proxy statements tell you how many shares are owned by the various corporate officers and directors, and how much those people are paid.
47. I've continued to believe that wandering through stores and tasting things is a fundamental investment strategy.
48.  It's amazing how much analysis of the auto industry you can do in the parking lots of ski lodges, shopping centers, bowling alleys, or churches.
49. The p/e ratio of any company that's fairly priced will equal its growth rate. I'm talking about growth rate of earnings here. In general, a p/e ratio that's half the growth rate is very positive, and one that's twice the growth, is very negative.
50. A slightly more complicated formula enables us to compare growth rates to earnings, while also taking the dividends into account. Find the long term growth rate (say, company X's is 12 percent), add the dividend yield (Company X pays 3 percent), and divide by the p/e ratio (Company X's is 10). 12 plus 3 divided by 10 is 1.5
51. How much does the company owe, and how much does it own? Debt versus Equity. It's just the kind of thing a loan officer would want to know about you in deciding if you are a good credit risk.
52. Among turnarounds and troubled companies, I pay special attention to the debt factor. More than anything else, it's debt that determines which companies will survive and which will go bankrupt in a crisis.
53. It's the kind of debt, as much as the actual amount, that separates the winners from the losers in a crisis. There's bank debt an there's funded debt.
54. "Do you know the only thing that gives me pleasure? It's to see my dividends coming in." - John D Rockefeller, 1901
55. The smaller companies that don't pay dividends are likely to grow much faster because of it. They're plowing the money into expansion. The reason that companies issue stock in the first place is so  they can finance their expansion without having to burden themselves with debt from the bank. I'll take an aggressive grower over a stodgy old dividend payer any day.
56. A company with a 20 or 30 year record of regularly raising the dividend is your best bet.
57. The flaw is that the stated book value often bears little relationship to the actual worth of the company. It often understates or overstates reality by a large margin.
58. Unwritten rule - The closer you get to a finished product, the less predictable the resale value. You know how much cotton is worth, but who can be sure about an orange cotton shirt?
59.  Overvalued assets on the left side of the balance sheet are especially treacherous when there is a lot of debt on the right. Let's say that company shows $400 million in assets and $300 million in debts, resulting in a positive book value of $100 million. You know the debt part is a real number. But if the $400 million in assets will bring only $200 million in a bankruptcy sale, then the actual book value is a negative $100 million. The company is less than worthless.
60. Just as often as book value overstates true worth, it can understate true worth. This is where you get the greatest asset plays.
61. There are many kinds of hidden assets besides gold and silver. Brand names such as coca-cola have tremendous value that isn't reflected on the books. So do patented drugs, cable franchises, TV and radio stations - all are carried at original cost, then depreciated until they, too, disappear from the asset side of the balance sheet.
62. "Goodwill" is carried on the new books as an asset, and eventually it, too, will be written off. This in turn will create another potential asset play.
63. Sometimes the best way to invest in a company is to find the foreign owner of it. I realize this is easier said than done, but if you have any access to European companies, you can stumble onto some unbelievable situations. European companies in general are not well analyzed, and in many cases they're not analyzed at all. I discovered this on a fact finding trip to sweden, where Volvo and several other giants of Swedish industry were covered by one person who didn't even have a computer.
64. Cash flow is the amont of money a company takes in as a result of doing business. All companies take in cash, but some have to spend more than others to get it. This is a critical difference that makes a Philip Morris such a wonderfully reliable investment, and a steel company such a shaky one.
65. Occasionally I find a company that has modest earnings and yet is a great investment because of the free cash flow. Usually, it's a company with a huge depreciation allowance for old equipment that doesn't need to be replaced in the immediate future. The company continues to enjoy the tax breaks (the depreciation on equipment is tax deductible) as it spends as little as possible to modernize and renovate.
66. Dedicated asset buyers look for this situation: a mundane company going nowhere, a lot of free cash flow, and owners who aren't  trying to build up the businesses. It might be a leasing company with a bunch of railroad containers that have a 12 year life. All the company wants to do is contract the old container business and squeeze as much cash out of it as possible. In the upcoming decade, managment will shrink the plant, phase out the containers, and pile up cash. From a $10 million operation, they might be able to generate $40 million this way. It wouldn't work in the computer business, because the prices drop so fast that old inventory doesn't hold its value long enough for anybody to squeeze anything out of it.
67. A company may brag that sales are up 10 percent, but if inventories are up 30 percent, you have to say to yourself: "wait a second. Maybe they should have marked that stuff down and gotten rid of it. Since they didn't get rid of it, they might have a problem next year and a bigger problem the year after that. The new stuff they make will compete witht the old stuff, and inventories will pile up even higher until they're forced to cut prices, and that means less profit."
68. On the bright side, if a company has been depressed and the inventrories are beginning to be depleted, it's the first evidence that things have turned around.
69. As more companies reward their employees with stock options and pension benefits, investors are well advised to consider the consequences.
70. That "growth" is synonymous with "expansion" is one of the most popular misconception on wall street., leading people to overlook the really great growth companies such as Philip Morris.
71. one more thing about growth rate: all else being equal, a 20 percent grower selling at 20 times earnings (a p/e ratio of 20) is a much better buy than a 10 percent grower selling at 10 time earnings (a p/e of 10). This may sound like an esoteric point, but its important to understand what happens to the earnings of the faster growers that propels the stock price.
72. Its no accident that the Wal-Marts and The Limiteds can go up so much in a decade. Its all based on the arithmetic of compounded earnings.
73. Whats the bottom line? Whats the real bottom line? Its the final number at the end of an income statement: profit after taxes. Profit before taxes, also known as the pretax profit margin, is a tool I use in analyzing companies. Thats whats left of companys annual sales dollar after al the costs, including depreciation and interest expenses, have been deducted. Pretax profit margin is one more factor to consider in evaluating a companys staying power in hard times.
What you want, then, is a relatively high profit margin in a long term stock that you plan to hold through good times and bad, and a relatively low profit margin in a successful turnaround. 
The Final Checklist
Stocks in General
1. The p/e ratio. It is hight or low for this particular company and for similar companies in the same industry.
2. The percentage or institutional ownership. The lower the better.
3. Whether insiders are buying and whether the company itself is buying back its own shares. Both are positive signs.
4. The record of earnings growth to date and whether the earnings are sporadic or consistent.
5. Whether the company has a strong balance sheet or a weak balance sheet (debt to equity ratio)  and how its rated for financial strength.
6. The cash position. With $16 in net cash, I know Ford is unlikely to drop below $16 a share. Thats the floor on the stock
Slow growers
1. These are big companies that arent likely to go out of business. The key issue is price, and p/e ratio will tell you whether you are paying too much.
2. Check for possible diworseifications that may reduce earnings in the future.
3. Check the companys long term growth rate, and whether it has kept up the same momentum in recent years.
4. If you plan to hold the stock forever, see how the company has fared during previous recessions and market drops.
Cyclicals
1. Keep a close watch on inventories, and the supply demand relationship. Watch for new entrants, which is usually a dangerous development.
2.  anticipate a shrinking p/e multiple over time as business recovers and investors look ahead to the end of the cycle, when peak earnings are achieved.
3. If you know your cyclical, you have an advantage in figuring out the cycles.
Fast growers
1. Investigate whether the product thats supposed to enrich the company is a major part of the companys business.
2. What the growth rate in earnings has been in recent years.
3. That the company has duplicated its successes in more than one city or town, to prove that expansion will work.
4. That the company still has room to grow.
5. Whether the stock is selling at a p/e ratio at or near the growth rate.
6. Whether the expansion is speeding up or slowing down.
Turnarounds
1. Most important, can the company survive a raid by its creditors? How much cash does the company have? How much debt?
2. It its bankrupt already, then whats left for the shareholders?
3. How is the company supposed to be turning around? Has it rid itself of unprofitable divisions?
4. Is the business coming back?
5. Are costs being cut? If so, what will the effect be?
Asset Plays
1. Whats the value of the assets? Are there any hidden assets?
2. How much debt is there to detract from these assets?
3. Is the company taking on new debt, making the assets less valuable?
4. Is there a raider in the wings to help shareholders reap the benefits of the assets?