Hey folks!
Diwaliās just around the corner, and itās not just homes lighting up, investors are excited too! You see, Diwali isnāt only about celebrating the triumph of light over darkness or good over evil. Itās also a fresh start for the stock market.
And no, weāre not making this up! Back in the day, people followed the Vikram Samvat calendar, a lunar calendar based on the moonās phases, which is 57 years ahead of the one we use today. Diwali marked the start of the accounting year in this calendar.
The tradition dates back to the era of King Chandragupta II, or Vikramaditya, as he liked to call himself.1 He believed that kicking off new business ventures during Diwali brought good luck. So, even though India adopted the Gregorian calendar eventually, stockbrokers continued with the tradition of opening fresh settlement accounts for their clients, believing it to be the perfect time for a prosperous start.2 And voila! Muhurat Trading was born.
In Hindu and Sikh traditions, a āMuhuratā is the best time to begin something auspicious. And Muhurat Trading officially became a part of the Indian stock market in the 20th century, with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) leading the charge in 1957.3 In 1992, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) joined in too.
So, during Diwali, Indian stock exchanges host symbolic trading sessions, typically lasting an hour in the evening. It marks the start of the financial year for many, who see it as the perfect time to pick up some fundamentally strong stocks. Over the past five years, BSEās SENSEX has consistently gained an average of 0.6% during Muhurat Trading. And this year, itās likely to be scheduled for November 1st.
Are you feeling lucky this Diwali? Or if you havenāt traded stocks during this time before, are you tempted to give it a shot this year? Let us know!
Fun Fact: The Vikram Samvat calendar is still Nepalās official calendar.
Hereās a soundtrack to put you in the mood šµ
Ek Chaand by Tony Kakkar
You can thank our reader Sayali Arole for this soothing song recommendation. And funny enough, itās not an auto-tuned remix of yet another Bollywood track. You can thank Sayali for that disclaimer too! š
Ready to roll?
What caught our eye this week š
Can you stop getting older by popping a pill?
Fruit flies or those tiny, annoying insects buzzing around moist places, bins and food, might just help us humans live longer.
Waitā¦ what?
Yup, you read that right! Korean scientists have been working on a drug that could slow down ageing.4 And fruit flies, surprisingly, are their test subjects. These little guys share some key similarities with us when it comes to ageing, like muscle deterioration.
You see, to stay healthy, our bodyās cells need to maintain a balance of proteins, a process called proteostasis. But as we age, this balance gets thrown off, leading to damaged proteins and diseases. Thatās where the Korean teamās breakthrough drug, IU1, comes in. It could boost proteostasis and potentially slow down the ageing process, keeping us healthier for longer.
But hold onā¦ anti-ageing drugs might already be out there. And some of us could be taking them every day without even knowing it! Take metformin, for example.5 Itās a widely-used, affordable drug that helps millions of people manage type 2 diabetes. And back in 2016, researchers found that diabetics taking metformin were actually ageing more slowly compared to those who werenāt.
These medicines, though, are designed to treat specific diseases. Thereās no magic pill that fights all the signs of ageing. Thatās because ageing is a natural process, not a disease. And for health regulators like the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) to approve an anti-ageing drug, ageing would first need to be classified as a preventable condition that can be treated, which isnāt the case right now.
Plus, scientists donāt fully understand ageing yet. What we do know is that itās a mix of factors that unfold naturally over time. For example, if someoneās born with a gene that makes them prone to Alzheimerās, their body will age, and they might gradually lose memory as they get older. So for any drug to be considered āanti-ageingā it would need to prevent those kinds of changes. And that makes human trials tricky.
Thatās why some researchers are testing anti-ageing drugs on dogs, who age 7 times faster than us.6 And itās not like getting a drug approved for our furry friends is easy. Itās just quicker because dogs have shorter lifespans. In fact, the US might be on the verge of releasing a drug that could extend dog life spans by 2025. And if that happens, it could pave the way for a breakthrough in human anti-ageing treatments, eventually earning FDA approval.
So, whether itās fruit flies or our furry friends, the quest to slow down ageing is on. Will it work? Only time will tell!
Infographic š
This Day in Financial History š
18th of October, 2004 ā The end of Veerappan
On this day, one of Indiaās most feared outlaws, Veerappan, met his end.
For over thirty years, Koose Munisamy Veerappan ruled the forests of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, controlling over 6,000 square kilometres of dense jungle and treating it like his backyard.7
His reign involved smuggling, poaching and orchestrating crimes that seemed straight out of a movie plot.
Veerappanās criminal journey began early as a teenager.8 He hunted elephants, not one or two, but hundreds of them, for the highly valuable ivory. His actions caused a sharp decline in the male elephant population, which not only skewed the tuskersā sex ratio but also significantly reduced their overall numbers in South India.
But when the government cracked down on the ivory trade, Veerappan didnāt just throw in the towel. He switched gears and dove into something even more profitable ā sandalwood smuggling. And that allegedly earned him a jaw-dropping ā¹100 crores.
It wasnāt just smuggling that filled his resume of crimes. He dabbled in extortion, kidnapping and murder, claiming 120 lives, including police and forest officials.
Kidnapping Kannada film icon Rajkumar in 2000 was one of his most audacious moves. For 108 days, the entire nation was on edge. Veerappan demanded a ā¹30 crore, and he wasnāt bluffing.
With all these brazen crimes, youād think he wouldāve been caught sooner, right? Not quite.
Veerappan was the master of evasion.
In 1991, the Indian government set up a Special Task Force (STF) to catch him, but for years, he played a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse.
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu spent over ā¹150 crores in their pursuit, with some estimates suggesting that the figure might have been closer to ā¹300 crores per state.9
The chase started way back in 1983. But as they say, no game can last forever. By 2004, the STF had had enough. They launched āOperation Cocoonā, and Veerappan, ever confident in his ability to outsmart them, walked straight into their trap.10
In a fierce gunfight, Veerappanās reign of terror ended, and the jungle finally had peace.
And with that, one of Indiaās longest and most expensive manhunts closed its chapter.
Readers Recommend šļø
This week our reader Kaartic Sivaraam recommends listening to The Hanselminutes Podcast by Scott Hanselman. Itās a tech podcast. But Hanselman does a great job of breaking things down so that everyone can follow along, even if youāre not a tech expert.
So whether youāre into tech or not, you might want to tune into this one. Thanks for the rec Kaartic!
Finshots Weekly Quiz š§©
Itās time to announce the winners of our last two weekly quizzes. And the winners areā¦š„
Shafqat Ali and Prashantini S. Congratulations! Keep an eye on your inbox and weāll get in touch with you soon to send over your Finshots merch. And for the rest of you, weāve moved the quiz to our weekly wrapup. So make sure you answer all the questions correctly by 12 noon on October 26, 2024 (Saturday) and tune in here next week to check if you got lucky.
Anyway, thatās it from us this week. Weāll see you next Sunday!
Until then, donāt forget to tell us what you thought of todayās newsletter. And send us your book, music, business movies, documentaries or podcast recommendations. Weāll feature them in the newsletter! Just hit reply to this email (or if youāre reading this on the web, drop us a message: morning@finshots.in).
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Sources: Livemint [1], Kotak Securities [2], Forbes India [3], India Today [4], BBC Science Focus [5], Business Insider [6], IPCS [7], Britannica [8], The Times of India [9], The Statesman [10]
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