2007 Annual Report.

2007 Highlights
- Started to track securities investments as a fund.
- Studied books and articles related to Value investments esp. related to Buffet.
- Started this site. It is designed to contain two main subjects. First, general investor education and second to track my portfolio on a quarterly/half yearly basis. It will not contain discussion about any individual stocks.
- Portfolio grew by 84.3% in past 5 months.

Fund Performance Summary
Duration: Aug 14, 2007 - Dec 31, 2007
Price: 100.00 - 184.30: 84.30%
Sensex: 15,001 - 20,286: 35.23%

Annual performance report of my investments for the year 2007. Past year was good in terms of growth. I started tracking the my portfolio like a fund since Aug 14th, it helps me calculate the performance accurately. The portfolio was up 84.30% while sensex was up 35.23% during the period Aug 14 2007 to Dec 31 2007.

The best performing stock of last year was Jindal Steel and Power which rose close to 550%. And the moderate performing was Power Grid and Reliance Petro, both were added during past 3-5 months and provided average returns around 20%. Exited Wipro, during the beginning of the year and Infy towards the end after holding for couple of years.

Planning to continue is to limit the number of stocks holding under 20, preferably around 15, this will force to review the investments periodically and also help to weed out the weak stocks. Will try to reduce the number of transactions even more going forward, last year I entered and exited few stocks like Bhagiradha Chemincals, Banswara Syntex.

Performance Comparison Graph (vs Sensex)


Portfolio Details (*) (Rs)

Company Name	Avg Pur Price[Gain/(Loss)]	Lowest Pur Price[Gain/(Loss)]	Current Price(Rs)
Jindal Steel and Power Ltd.	1,760(774%)	487(3,059%)	15,395
Reliance Industries	602(379%)	280(928%)	2,882
Federal Bank	93(261%)	93(261%)	335
SBI	485(388%)	285(731%)	2,371
ONGC	369(234%)	238(419%)	1,236
Reliance Communications	196(282%)	0(**%)	746
Reliance Capital	856(202%)	0(**%)	2,587

* Split adjusted & without considering dividends.

New Additions (Last 1-12 Months)

Company Name	Avg Pur Price[Gain/(Loss)]	Lowest Pur Price[Gain/(Loss)]	Current Price (Rs)
GE Shipping	295(89%)	240(132%)	557
Tata Investment Corp	403(81%)	343(113%)	730
Sesa Goa	1,912(99%)	1,698(124%)	3,817
Tata Steel	567(65%)	517(80%)	935
Sunil Hitech	148(173%)	71(468%)	405
Reliance Petro***	198(12%)	168(32%)	223
Power Grid Corp***	116(23%)	98(47%)	143
Godawari Power***	294(17%)	285(20%)	345
Prime Securities***	186(61%)	177(69%)	300
Prakash Industries***	288(17%)	282(19%)	338
Sanghvi Movers***	223(38%)	204(52%)	310
SA Petrochem***	22(40%)	19(63%)	31

** Bonus shares from Reliance Industries.
*** Latest investment
Estimated tax liability(if all the investments are be liquidated today): ~1% of portfolio value.

Thank you for a wonderful 2007, and looking forward to 2008. Happy New Year!!

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Finding Firms with an Edge (Moat)

Morningstar's characteristics of identifying the moat of a company - by Pat Dorsey, Director of Stock Analysis, Morningstar.

First,
- Look at the numbers
Return On Invested Capital (ROIC) must exceed Cost Of Capital.

If this is true, then look for one of the following four characteristics which will enable the business to earn the high ROIC in future.
- Structural Characteristics
1. Intangible Asset (like Patent)
2. Low Cost Producer
3. Customer Switching Cost e.g: Oracle
4. Network Effect. e.g: eBay

Watch the Complete Video

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The World's Greatest Formula

Another 'Get Rich Quickly' scheme?? No, this one works; check it out yourself!!

The formula: FV = PV * (1+r) ^ n

Where:
FV = future value
PV = present value
r = rate of return
n = time (or number of years)

Compounding 101:
Now, some astute finance brains will know that equation not as some mystical secret but as the "future value of money" (FVM) equation taught in college.

The FVM formula simply states that your future wealth (FV) is a function of three variables: the amount of money invested today (PV), the rate of return generated (r), and the length of time in which that money is put to work (n).

So maximizing future riches requires three steps.

Step 1: Increase 'PV'
It takes money to make money. But by actively and consistently slivering off a portion of your earnings every month to save and invest, you'll have more and more of that money working for you.

All things equal, the greater amount you invest today (PV), the greater wealth you'll build for tomorrow (FV).

Step 2: Increase 'r'
Next, you'll need a way to grow that capital. Historically, the stock market has been the most effective wealth-building vehicle of all. Plowing your money into a low-cost index fund wouldn't be a bad idea. This is where the importance of right investment principles comes into play.

Step 3: Increase 'n'
The last ingredient in our super-simple wealth-building recipe: maximum time in the market.
Look back at the equation. You'll see that n is an exponential function -- meaning that for every year you're not invested, you give up the awesome (almost magical) benefits of compounding.
All things equal, the longer you're invested (n), the greater wealth you'll build for tomorrow (FV).

Final word:
So don't waste another "n." Start plugging whopping returns into your own real-life wealth equation today.

Source & Complete Article: http://www.fool.com/investing/small-cap/2007/12/05/the-worlds-greatest-get-rich-formula.aspx

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'An exclusive conversation with Warren Buffett' by Charlie Rose

http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2007/05/10/1/an-exclusive-conversation-with-warren-buffett

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