Author: John Linnemeier
Covestor model: Opportunistic and Adventurous
Disclosure: Long HDB, INFY, RDY
I just got back from a short trip to India, and, as usual, I found that actually being in a country gives me a much better picture of what’s happening than just reading newspapers here in the States. The Indian stock market might have recently been in a slump, but the economy is going great guns. As they say, in the short-term the market is a voting machine, but in the long-term it’s a weighing machine. I believe in India long-term. In a global economy with increasingly strong internet connections, India is on an even playing field with the rest of the world, and they’re going to kick some butt.
I bought shares of HDFC Bank (HDB), the best private bank in India. Unlike the State Bank of India, which is a classic example of a horrendously run government owned enterprise, it’s efficient and does all of the things that a good bank is supposed to do. Essentially, it’s a play on the Indian middle class, and that’s one of the best bets I know.
I bought shares of Infosys (INFY). For year after year, it’s been the company that Indians most want to work for. The outsourcing of computer software has an inevitability to it, and Infosys has continued to climb up the value ladder for projects of all types. There are several other world class software companies in India, but Infosys, in my mind, is the pick of the litter.
I bought shares of Doctor Reddy Labs (RDY). They have been doing a lot of drug trial outsourcing work. Again, this is something that an Indian company can do extremely well, extremely efficiently, and way, way cheaper than it can be done in America or elsewhere. They are also a leader in generic drugs.
Glad to be back in the game.
