The name Warren Buffett stirs a wide range of emotions – from awe to envy to disgust to pity! But one common thought that one instantly associates with the name is WEALTH. The Snowball is the ‘authorised’ biography of Warren Buffett (WB), written by Alice Schroeder, an investment analyst. The book is a big boring read, spanning more than 70 years of WB’s life in a chronicle-like fashion....

Risk and returns are two sides of the investment coin. During a boom period, investors only look at returns; they forget that there is risk attached to them. During a recession, investors are so worried about risk that they forget that investments also give returns. There is one more aspect to investing. I have seen many experts argue that we must invest in ‘defensive sectors’ – consumer...

Visaka Industries (VIL) makes asbestos cement sheets (ACS) and synthetic blended yarn. India has a total annual production capacity of 2.70 million tonnes of ACS which is mainly used as roofing material in rural and semi-urban areas and by the industrial sector. There are mainly four major players commanding 59% of the total production capacity. In 2006-07, the industry grew 16%. VIL has gone...