The fates of human societies

This book ‘Guns, Germs, and Steel’ authored by Jared Diamond is about the evolution of human societies during pre-historic times. It won Pulitzer award for him in 1998.

In this book, author examines the factors which shaped the evolution of early societies like farming, domestication of animals and development of communication skills including writing etc. The societies which acquired these skills had a distinctive advantage over others which lacked them. The farming power gave the ability to prepare for a war without a need to hunt for food every day. And the writing skills helped pass on the knowledge to future generations. The societies which had no clue of these skills during the same time could not compete with the ones possessing them and lost land and lives. Darwin simply put it as ‘Survival of the fittest’ but Jared explains it to us in detail. His other book ‘Collapse’,  is a book with a reversal theme, about what made strong societies like Mayans disappear.

While fiction readers may find this book heavy, non-fiction readers loved it and made it a best seller in its time.

Guns, Germs & Steel - The Fates of Human Societies

Where stones tell you a story

A Forgotten Empire

My fascination towards Hampi and the history of Vijayanagar kingdom begin with my first visit to it during a school trip. My interest grew with each succeeding trip and I have found myself at Hampi a dozen times after that.

All history books mention the glory of Vijayanagar kingdom. Many authors and researchers have put forward conflicting views about its rise and fall. After going through many texts, I found that ‘A Forgotten Empire’ written by Robert Sewell, a British officer in colonial India gives the best description of the forgotten times.

You can download a free copy here:

http://theknowledgeden.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/A-Forgotten-Empire-Vijayanagar-A-Contribution-to-the-History-of-India.-Robert-Sewell.pdf

The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World

Oil, oil, oil….petroleum

So goes the background song in a documentary video based on Daniel Yergin’s book ‘The Prize’ on the oil industry. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1w3whd11dc)

The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power

The Prize got him Pulitzer award, but that was two decades ago. After that oil industry has changed a lot, new supply sources were identified, geopolitics became one of the influential factors in oil pricing and energy security became an important consideration for governments all over the world. There was look out for alternatives but the difficulties faced there increased the importance of oil further. 

So it made Daniel to come out with a new book The Quest to document all the changes in the industry and their implications. Interesting read for those who want to know more about the black gold and the politics around it.

The Quest: Energy, Security and the Remaking of the Modern World

Market chooses its winners (and losers). Is that our choice too?

Last 6 months chart for Nifty, its winners and losers

Last 6 months chart for Bank Nifty, its winners and losers

During uncertainty of a break-out or a break-down, straddle or strangle are the tools available for options traders to put to use. That means building positions in both directions in the same stock or index.

Another way of trading this could be to identify the winners and losers and buy at the money calls and puts in those identified stocks. When a break-out is expected, buy a call of an expected winner from the trend and a put of an expected  loser.

Advantage of this method is, profits are better than in a straddle in a single stock. But one needs to verify that trend reversal possibility for those stocks are minimum.

Last 3 months Bank Nifty chart and some of its components

Bank Nifty has remained flat. ICICI and HDFC Banks remained in a narrow range. 

Money has flown out of SBI but IndusInd and Yes Bank have gained.