SUNDAY WEEKLY #15

Hello EveryFinions!

The city of Shijiazhuang in Hebei province saw a return of COVID-19 this week. Close to 40 cases were identified when the city of 11 Million people were put under total lockdown. Schools were shut, transport links were closed. Gyms, recreation centres and all non-essential shops were closed. The city deployed close to 20,000 medical professionals to undertake mass testing.

But how do you test everyone when you have 11 Million people and only so few cases? They devised a simple but powerful strategy. They took 10 people at a time, put their swabs/salivas together and tested the entire concoction. If the results came out negative, all 10 were free to go. If it came back positive, they were tested individually. 

The best ideas are those that make you stand back and wonder, "Why didn't we think of that in the first place?". 

NEWS IN BRIEF

• State bank of India this week offered further interest rate concession on their home loans of up to 0.3%. Interest rates now start at 6.8% for lower value loans and 6.9% for higher. It is also offering 100% waiver on processing fees. Meanwhile, banks in Denmark are offering 0% fixed interest rate loans for 20 years. What an offer, sir ji!
• While stock markets made higher highs, investors in India pulled more money out of equity mutual funds in December clearly worried about the massive run up and significant overvaluation. We wrote about this trend last month and it only seems to be continuing.
• The IPO frenzy continues. At least 6 companies are on track with their plans for IPOs this month. These are Indigo paints, Home first finance company, IRFC, Brookfield REIT and Railtel corporation of India.
• Bitcoin, which traded above $20,000 for the first time on the 16th of December 2020, has now gone up to $40,000! This was one of our key predictions for 2021 that cryptocurrencies will continue to do well this year.
• PayTM this week announced that it is now starting to offer instant digital personal loans for people with no credit history. The payments bank has tied up with banks and NBFCs to process these loans. PayTM will also offer small value loans to businesses. The credit revolution credit revolution in the country continues.

COVER STORY

BEST FIXED DEPOSITS & RISK FREE INVESTMENTS

Here at EveryFin, we have written about most investment instruments – Equity, real estate, gold, mutual funds, you name it. But the most read article on our website, is the one we wrote in September 2020 about fixed deposits. We are not sure if it is because we have done a cracking job covering the subject or because our readers love these investments for what they are. Nevertheless, to stay up to date, we are doing an updated coverage on this subject.

Our excellent intern, Ramya, has got most of the latest on this subject covered. From SB accounts to fixed deposits, post office savings schemes to government bonds - Hit the link to find out more about all things risk free.

WEBINAR UPDATE

HOW TO INVEST TO CREATE LONG TERM WEALTH?

This weekend, we had the opportunity to interact with students from Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics through a webinar. It was such an enriching session, at least for us.  Here are the slides from the presentation we made during the session.

IN OTHER NEWS...

• TCS kicked off the earnings season by recording 16% growth in profits and 4% growth in constant currency revenue.

• In what could have qualified for a dramatic U-turn in a kollywood film, Tamil Nadu government revoked its earlier order permitting 100% occupancy in cinema halls and theatres.

• German weekly WirtschaftsWoche reported that Volkswagen’s Audi will phase out combustion engines and offer only electric cars in 10 to 15 years.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

READ/WATCH/LISTEN

• A whole host of Indian start-ups including Unacademy, Postman & Nykaa joined the coveted $1 Billion+ valued unicorn club. India has the third largest number of unicorn start-ups (24) after US (242) and China (119). ASIA NIKKEI

• Is long-termism dead? Here is an interesting perspective from Andy Dyson at QM-alpha asset management company. QMA

From the writer in me, to the reader in you ♥

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