A dozen years in a country’s economic history make a lot of difference. In 1996, Ratan Tata gave up a lonely battle to get the group back into the aviation business. His proposed venture with Singapore Airlines was scuttled by dirty politics, dubious policies and business rivalry. Then, neither industry associations nor fellow industrialists supported the Tatas, despite their historical claim...

Readers may recall a passing mention in my column last fortnight of companies that dilute the stakes of existing shareholders by issuing fresh equity. If media reports are accurate, it is the opposite action (companies offering to buy back shares) that is likely to attract investors’ attention. Buyback activity has increased sharply, from about $200 million a year ago to more than $1.1 billion...

The best of investors tell you that, to do well in the markets, you have to do your own work. This is because popular notions about investing are fraught with myths and false beliefs. Over the past three years, we have dissected many such myths, including ideas like ‘fund managers are experts’, ‘low PE stocks do better than high PE stocks’ and so on. Here is one more myth, a big one: gold is a...