The end of De Beers

De Beers is desperate now, diamond prices are going down. But this time they won't be able to retrieve the situation. 

Diamonds have never been a great investment. Their prices have always been "controlled " by De Beers, the largest owner of diamond mines in the world. Over the years, they started facing increasing challenges from other players, along with undercutting. 

The whole idea of procuring  a "diamond ring" for getting engaged, is a creation of the De Beers marketing department, just like buying gold on Akshaya Tritiya is a myth, if not created, fostered by the Indian Gold Council. 

Diamonds are highly subjective in their pricing, involving the 4 C's of Color, Cut, Clarity, and Carat. This makes them unreliable as an investment. Further, the trade margins are too high. 

Indians being smart have never been too enamored of diamonds, with the exception of Sindhis and traditional Tambrahm maamis. In general, the sensible Indians prefer gold. 

"Diamonds are forever" goes the tag line, I suspect created by the De Beers Marketing department. But then, every stone is "forever", that hardly makes it a good investment does it. The gravel under my driveway I am sure is a few thousand years old. 

In the last couple of decades a new problem emerged for the diamond industry. Artificial lab manufactured diamonds  became better and better, and now they are so good as to be  indistinguishable from the original. Even experts can't tell the difference without detailed lab analysis. 

I believe the prices are still artificially propped up by the diamond lobby, and they are all set to go through the floor any time. 

If you had diamonds, you should have sold them ten years back, this development is not sudden and was known to everyone. If you still have them, sell them right away, and buy gold. 

But, these are my great grandmother's earrings, my granddad bought them for her in Sindh, you say. Well, this is an investment discussion and those are irrelevant considerations. 

But they look good on me, you say. Sure, the lab stuff will look equally good. And you don't need diamonds, you are already so beautiful / ugly (depending on who I am talking to) that nothing will make a difference! 

And yes, if you need De Beers to teach you how to express your love, I have nothing to say!

Pot Belly, the New Normal

Obesity, pot belly... The new Indian normal 

See this article: 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czjnd4rzmglo

QUOTE from the article 

Scientists still don't fully understand the biological reasons behind the fat distribution patterns. Though numerous genetic studies have been conducted, no single gene has consistently explained this tendency.

UNQUOTE 

"Scientists" are wasting their time. The way to maintain  good health, the root causes, are always the same. In  order of importance: 

Good sleep, 

Good diet,

Enough Movement,

Good thoughts, 

In short, good lifestyle. 

"Scientists" will not go in that direction. They will invent "anti obesity" drugs, like NLP 1s, which are the current craze, and starting with people like Bill Gates ( who said recently, changing lifestyle is difficult, drugs are the panacea for obesity) will go around promoting them. 

Meanwhile, as more and more people becomes obese and pot bellied, they will not want to be called obese and potbellied. That, my dear, is "body shaming". So, I, who am not obese and am flat bellied, will be ashamed of myself, meri tummy uski tummy se flat kaise?. There will be seminars on diversity and inclusivity for OP people ( obese potbellied). LGBTQOP+ will be the new mantra. 

When a majority of the people are aberrant, in whatever sense, society will find a way to normalise the aberration, and make those who are not aberrant, feel guilty. 

Meanwhile, rather than eating well, sleeping well, moving the body, and stilling the mind, society will promote a new religion that does exactly the opposite. 

And anyone who does not join the new religion will be banished by cancellation, ostracised... Most people can't stand to be banished so they will rush to get a pot belly and then join support groups of the pot bellied which will help them revel in their own victimhood and feel virtuous about it!

Prepare for the next Pandemic!

This is the reality of the new sci-fi world we are entering into. 

( See news item below) 

I keep saying that Covid was only a trailer. In fact it didn't start with covid, it started with SARS in 2010. 

Engineer a virus, 

Engineer a pandemic,

Engineer its spread,

Create a panic,

In a population primed,

With fear instilled deep inside, 

Covered in gory masks,

Peeking with fearful eyes;

Lining up for the jab,

Which makes them weaker still, 

Panicked and jabbed till they turn, 

Dumb scared infertile! 

Exploit man's innate fears,

Of demons in the dark;

The amygdala takes over, 

Survival is paramount;

Use that fear to drive out,

All independent thought; 

Control their minds and slaves,

Will willingly submit to the Masters! 

Agency and choice are key,

To defining us as human; 

The masters of the world, 

Are turning us into zombies;

Where we think as one act as one,

A vast untinking herd, 

Welcome to this the future, 

The brave new world!

__----------+----____----------_____

News item: 

*WHO conducts a 2-day pandemic simulation called 'Exercise Polaris' – bringing together 350 predatory health groups worldwide* 

 *A new global control apparatus is trying to take shape* 

In a world still reeling from the aftermath of the COVID-19 scandal and a barrage of unlawful mandates, the World Health Organization (WHO) has once again taken center stage with a two-day pandemic simulation, Exercise Polaris. *This latest drill, involving over 15 countries and 20 regional health agencies, has reignited debates about the true intentions behind such exercises.* Health freedom advocates point out that these simulations are not merely about preparedness but are part of a broader agenda to exert control over global health narratives and policies. *The same planning took place in 2019, right before the release of COVID-19.* 

Exercise Polaris, held last week, was designed to test the WHO's Global Health Emergency Corps (GHEC), a framework aimed at strengthening countries' emergency workforce, coordinating the deployment of surge teams and experts, and enhancing collaboration between nations. According to the WHO, the exercise involved more than 350 health emergency groups connected worldwide, *simulating an outbreak of a fictional virus that spread across the globe.* 

Participating countries included Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ethiopia, Germany, Iraq, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mozambique, Nepal, Pakistan, Qatar, Somalia, Uganda, and Ukraine. Participating regional and international health agencies included the Africa CDC, European CDC, IFRC, IOM, UNICEF, the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, the Emergency Medical Teams initiative, Stand-by partners, and the International Association of National Public Health Institutes.

https://www.newstarget.com/2025-04-09-who-conducts-2day-pandemic-simulation-exercise-polaris.html

Talking about Gold

Gold is in the news nowadays. I thought it's a good time to dredge up this series of articles on Gold that I posted in my blog at the end of 2010. 

https://www.dineshgopalan.com/2010/10/

https://www.dineshgopalan.com/2010/11/fwd-talking-about-gold-and-silver-part.html

https://www.dineshgopalan.com/2010/12/talking-about-gold-and-silver-part-3.html

In the last fifteen years since I wrote that, Nifty is up about 3.5 times and gold is up about 5 times. 

Nothing much has changed in terms of the premises on which I was recommending gold then. I would still recommend gold as part of your portfolio, except that I would change the  recommended  allocation, from 10 to  15 percent of your total investment portfolio earlier, to one third of your non-real estate investment portfolio. 

As to silver, well, I think I am changing my mind on that. When you have gold in your portfolio, why do you need silver? It is  more volatile without necessarily having more potential for upside. It is both a precious metal and a commodity, and both the precious metal market dynamics and commodity market dynamics have an influence on silver. Also, it seems to be going nowhere and no one really is talking about it, it's like some poor neglected cousin of a rich family! 

I am getting more and more inclined to look at only gold and not silver.

"But, gold has gone up so much, it is at a high, should I invest now?", will be the natural question that arises. 

There is no such thing as too high, too low, the exactly right time, or timing the market. Just do it! 

In the midst of a stock market boom, everyone wants to pile on to stocks. In the midst of gloom and doom everyone wants to sell. There is a humongous amount of time spent  discussing stocks, worrying about stocks, exhilarating over stocks and wailing over stocks. If you invest in gold instead, all that wasted energy can be used elsewhere! In the last fifteen years, gold has significantly outperformed stocks. 

Will the same be the case in the next fifteen years? No one knows, least of all the talking heads on TV who you waste time listening to, along with wasting time watching IPL matches. You can save all that time for watching more wasteful IPL matches if you don't invest in stocks and put your money in gold instead! 

But yes, coming back to your investment strategy, the best long term investment strategy is to be diversified across the four Asset Classes of gold, real estate, equity and debt. And stop worrying about the outcome, karmanye vaadhikaaraste and all that, you can only do your duty and leave the rest in the hands of God. 

So stop suffering from FOMO since you don't have any gold in your portfolio. And start investing in gold also. 

But, you say, it has already gone up so much, what will happen... 

I know, I know. Life is incredibly complex, what to do... 

( Posted to my blog: https://www.dineshgopalan.com )

The Healthcare "System"

Healthcare has become a "system", requiring huge investments, driven by profits and obsessed with metrics which are used to drive the doctors to perform. 

The focus is on the Doctors' careers, money, and return on capital. 

The doctors are armed with knowledge gained from a highly corrupt scientific establishment which is driven by evil Pharma companies with motives that do not align with the health of the patient who lies at the end of the value chain, helpless in his hospital bed, with the tentacles of every stakeholder in the system embedded into him, sucking his blood. 

Neither the patient nor the doctors have any power in the giant blood sucking machine called the medical establishment. They interact with each other in a role play that could be a tragi comical charade, except that it is for real. 

The way to deal with the system is for us the patients to reclaim the power to decide for ourselves what is good for us, but for that we need to be well informed and have courage of conviction, which is very difficult when you are attached to the system in so many different ways. 

You cannot expect your doctor to give you good advice for they know very little about what constitutes good health, and are, with or without their knowledge, driven by incentives that have nothing to do with the patients' health or wellness. 

You certainly cannot expect your hospital to care about your well being. 

There is nothing surprising about what the doctor is outlining in his book, but the establishment is acting surprised. The establishment has to do that, what choice does it have? Those who know about its evils and profit from them, have to pretend that they never knew and they are cursing the bloody doctor who wrote the book. Those who didn't know about the evils of the system and are truly surprised are the naive trusting aam janta, who don't have a choice. They have to trust the system since it exists for their benefit, right? 

Right. The medical system, education system, civic amenities system, food system, government system, everything exists for their benefit. 

Right, sure, of course!

Meanwhile, I have some rules that I follow to deal with this evil machine called the medical establishment. 

Never go for "preventive" medical checkups. Never, ever, go for preventive medical checkups. 

If you are walking on the road and passing a hospital, cross to the other side so that even the shadow of the hospital does not fall on you. 

Just because you are insured does not mean you go in for treatment. Remember, the more you get into the system, and the more you spend, the more you get fucked. 

Retain the right to decide which medicine to take, and which to avoid. Remember, the doctor is merely a consultant, you are paying him for his services, and you have the right to decide which part of his advice to follow. In the rare occasion that I happen to visit a doctor, I am fully attired in an armour of scepticism, it has helped me immensely. 

Never ever get trapped into taking life long medication for any illness. The moment that happens, you are doomed. 

There are a thousand illnesses with several  thousand symptoms with millions of drug combinations. It's all very confusing. 

But the rules for good health are very few. Very very few. Focus on health and not on illness, and you will never go wrong.