As We Turn 31, We Wish To Stand By Your Investment Decisions For Several Such Profitable Years

As I write this piece of editorial, a sense of happiness, pride and excitement engulfs my heart. The reason is not an impressive GDP number released in the last week of February or markets continuing to climb higher but it is our 31st anniversary. Yes, you read it right--your most favourite and preferred investment fortnightly has been celebrating its 31st anniversary this February-March. Thirty-one years back this journey of providing India’s stock market investors reliable, verified and well researched information was kicked off by Dalal Street Investment Journal from India’s commercial capital. During the years passed by we have served millions of investors across the length and breadth of the country and also across the geographical boundaries. Today, we have earned the distinction of being the best and most trusted fortnightly investment publication. And all these distinctions come to us just because of your continued support and standing by us during all the seasons. Team Dalal Street Investment Journal remains grateful to all your support and trust bestowed on us.

Meanwhile, a set of highly impressive GDP numbers were shared by the Central Statistical Organisation data suggested that the gross domestic product of India in the third quarter of FY17 grew by 7 per cent sweeping away all the apprehensions post the demonetisation move. Markets took a clue from the numbers and climbed steep getting closer to 29000 mark. 

What can be a better beginning of a fierce summer--a sweetened deal coming from the capital market plunging millions in happiness. I am sure markets will take further positive clue from the results of the five states’ legislative assembly elections which will come out during the second week of March, just before the colourful festival of Holi. I have been continuously over the past months emphasising on the fact that demonetisation has been a short term disruption.

This move by the government was meaninglessly criticised by large number of economists and market experts who have mostly been speaking negatively about the whole radical exercise. In your favourite fortnightly DSIJ (Volume 32, Issue No-4 Dated January 23-February 5), I had stated that, despite all the major financial institutions and global multilateral agencies cutting India’s GDP target for FY17, the move by all the major agencies was overdone and despite going through the demonetisation pain, India will be able to achieve GDP growth in the range of 7-7.2 per cent which has turned out to be bang on the target.

It is disheartening to see economists and opposition only criticising the economic reform agenda of the government and not talking about the positive steps which have benefited the Indian economy immensely. We have been through a long journey over transformation -- right from the reforms in 1991 to the advent of technology which has changed the way business is done in the country.

Technology has evolved over a period of time from playing a nascent part to now defining the overall business dynamics of organisations which have built upon the technology platforms and used technology to grow their business. On the wake of disruptions and unexpected business threats from tech-based entities, technology and innovations have become the two major tools for India Inc. to fight back the devils in their process of wealth creations. Businesses have not only thrived on the usage of technology in their day-to-day operations, but have also built around the technological eco-system.

Though I support technology to the fullest but, at the same time, it comes at a cost - it impacts the employment levels and, therefore, that is a negative aspect of technology too. In my view, technology should be used to make one’s product and services better, cutting down costs and eliminating duplication of work. I feel technology should be used in the best way possible for a country like India where a vast majority of people are still unemployed.

Therefore, we as a nation should leverage technology to innovate the way in which we can utilise the mass workforce the country has at its disposal for the welfare and well-being of one and all. Our cover package this time is dedicated to the cause of talking about the companies and their efforts of wealth creation even in the days and times of crisis. We have also spoken to a large number of industry captains to understand what is happening within their companies, starting from business icons like Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Adi Godrej.

I am sure you will find it an interesting read and the information shares by who’s who of India Inc. will also help you to form your investments decisions. As many as 150 wealth-creators’ crucial numbers also have been shared with you in this edition which will guide you further, I am sure. In this 31st edition of our offering, our focus shifts back to how a person should manage one’s portfolio in the smartest manner possible. Our research team has prepared a comprehensive report on how an investor should effectively manage ones’ portfolio by following the cardinal rule of diversification of portfolio across asset classes, in line with one’s investment objective/horizons and risk appetite.

I am confident that this report would go a long way in helping our reader-investors in taking the right investment decisions at the right moment. You will also find the best of DSIJ Product recommendations over the past years across all our product offerings. For the entire landscape of our reader-investors, we have prepared an exhaustive report card of our top performing recommendations.

The report would certainly help all of you to gauge the performance of all our recommendations and help us in our continuous endeavour to improve and build upon it in the coming years. Have a safe summer as the mercury is rising and keep following us for all your investment needs. 

Happy reading, happy investing!