When a bank says your FD rate is 7% (compounded quarterly) and the annualized yield is 7.7%, it sounds like you’re actually earning 7.7% compounded every year. But you’re not.

Here’s a Varsity thread on what you should know about yields shown by banks🧵👇 First, FDs can be of two types:

Cumulative: Interest is reinvested and paid at maturity.

Non-cumulative: Interest is paid out periodically (quarterly, twice a year, etc.)

For cumulative FDs, most banks usually show two numbers - the interest rate and the yield, as shown in the image below.

Aswath Damodaran called Walmart’s acquisition of Flipkart the most expensive facelift in history.

He said Walmart was an old company trying to look young with Flipkart.

Here’s a Varsity explainer on Damodaran’s views and why Walmart acquired Flipkart.🧵 (1/n) In the eighteen years of its existence, Flipkart has not delivered a net profit. That is what Damodaran perhaps had an issue with.
But Walmart saw value beyond profits in Flipkart. (2/n)

Silver is up 82% in 2025. Precious metals usually do not rally so much. The rally happened despite many investors being fearful.

So, we spoke to a few experts to understand what is happening, and here is a Varsity explainer on why Silver is firing on all cylinders. 🧵(1/n) 1⃣Besides being a precious metal, Silver’s applications in solar panels, EVs, wind turbines, semiconductors, and advanced electronics have been on the rise. But this has been known for the past few years. Perhaps, something deeper is brewing in the silver markets. (2/n)

Central banks have been blamed for the Great Depression, the 1970s inflation, and the 2008 crisis. So... do we even need them? 🤔
🧵(1/11) Let's travel back to 1700s Scotland - the wild west of banking. Anyone could set up a bank. No central authority. No one controlling money supply. Just pure competition. And contrary to what you'd expect, it actually worked. Here's how...(2/11)

All 10 pension fund managers launched new schemes during the recent NPS Diwas event.

All these schemes fall under the multiple scheme framework (MSF) introduced by PFRDA. Each fund follows a specific theme, and some allow up to 100% equity investment. This is in contrast to the existing structure, where equity allocation is capped at 75%.

Here’s a Varsity thread 🧵answering common questions, with inputs from @PensionBox 1⃣ Can you transfer your existing NPS investments into these new schemes?

No, you cannot transfer your existing investments.

Going forward, the existing investments in schemes E, C, G, and A under the Active and Auto Choice options will be referred to as common schemes.

These new schemes are available only for new investments, not for transfers from the common schemes.

Why did the shares of Indian hospital stocks soar by 5-7% on Monday?

Here’s a quick Varsity explainer on how a simple act by the government after a 10-year wait got investors excited. (1/n) The Central Government, since 1954, has run an initiative called the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) to provide medical care to its employees and pensioners — including Members of Parliament (MPs) & Supreme Court Judges. (2/n)

If you are buying gold jewelry or exchanging your old gold for new ornaments, here's a Varsity explainer on the pricing🧵👇 🧐Gold jewelry pricing has four components - Base gold cost, stone value, value addition charges, and GST.

Gold cost depends on both quantity and quality used.

You can soon invest 100% in equities in NPS. Yesterday, the PFRDA issued a circular with some major changes to its current structure: "Introduction of Multiple Scheme Framework."

It allows fund managers to launch new schemes, permits users to invest 100% in equity, and provides the option to withdraw early.

Here's a Varsity explainer with inputs from @PensionBox 👇 1⃣What are multiple schemes?

So, now each pension fund manager is allowed to launch schemes on top of the schemes that they already have.

The existing schemes will be called 'common schemes'.

The new schemes that the pension fund managers will launch can have a specific theme—like high growth, 'meant for doctors', or 'for women in their mid-30s', etc.

Each new scheme will have two variants based on risk: 'aggressive' and 'moderate'.

And these aggressive schemes can have equity allocation of up to 100%.

If you’re someone who files taxes in the last minute, here’s a cheat sheet to make your life easier.

You’re welcome :)

This is the 10th year of RERA (Real Estate Regulatory Authority), a law that promised to safeguard the interests of homebuyers of under-construction properties in India.

After all, buying a home is often the biggest personal finance decision of one’s lifetime.

RERA hasn’t been a panacea for all real estate problems, but it has laid a foundation. Yet many new buyers are still unaware of their rights under the law.

Here’s a quick Varsity thread on 5 RERA regulations every new homebuyer should know. 🧵 1⃣RERA website: a treasure of data

Every state has its own RERA website. Just search the project name and you’ll find a wealth of information—title deeds, approvals, unit counts, layouts, completion dates, and even complaints against the builder.

This applies to all projects with more than 8 units or covering over 500 square metres. Without registration, a builder isn’t even allowed to market the project to you.

And if someone tells you they are “in the process” of getting a RERA registration and asks for a booking advance, that’s a clear red flag.

ICICI Bank raising its minimum account bal to Rs 50K for urban new customers has raised many eyebrows.

"Is there any type of bank account that has no minimum balance requirement?" asked a few of our readers.

BSBDA (Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account) is an RBI-mandated no-min-balance account.
Here's a Varsity explainer on the same 🧵 First things first, why do banks impose minimum account balance (MAB)?

Simply put, maintaining your account costs money to the bank — infrastructure costs, staff, tech, etc. To justify such costs, they want you to maintain a minimum balance in your account. Also, this brings in extra revenue through penalty charges when you breach it.

Should you opt for corporate NPS?

A varsity explainer 🧵 on how it works, its pros & cons, and whether you should opt in. 👇 Budget 2024 made corporate NPS more attractive by offering tax benefits on employer contributions (up to 14% of basic+DA) under the new tax regime.

This is significant because, in the new regime, our personal NPS contributions don’t get any tax benefits.

A few companies already offer corporate NPS, and many others are considering it too.

Is it time for India to abolish MRP (Maximum Retail Price)?

Here's a Varsity explainer on why India is one of the only countries with MRP.👇 When a manufacturer prices a product, they factor in costs like ingredients, labor, packaging, profit, wholesaler cuts, taxes, and what customers can afford. The government doesn't dictate this initial price. (1/12)

Are small borrowers struggling to repay their loans?

Bajaj Finance’s quarterly results suggest so. Its investor presentation mentioned - Consumer leverage continues to remain an area of concern.

Here is a Varsity explainer on how it could be a reflection of a larger stress. 👇 (1/9) Bajaj Finance reported a 23% YOY growth in new loans and a 22% growth in net profits. However, its Gross NPAs rose from 0.86% in June 2024 to 1.03% in June 2025.
Consumer loans, which make nearly half of its total loan book, seem to be the culprit behind this rise in NPAs. (2/9)

SEBI cracks down on Dabba Trading!

A popular publication recently got a ‘letter’ from SEBI. All because they published an ad from an entity called Close Friends Traders!

Here’s a quick Varsity explainer on why Dabba Trading is an illegal practice.👇 (1/8) Dabba trading is an underground market where stock deals happen OUTSIDE official stock exchanges. There’s no registered broker to place trades. There’s no documentation or KYC.

Instead, there’s some dubious person or entity who intermediates trades.

What kind of trades? (2/8)

Don't be fooled by the 2.10% inflation number. There's more to it than meets the eye. Because there is something called core inflation, which is at 4.60%.

What is core inflation? How does it differ from inflation? We break this down in a quick Varsity explainer. (1/n) Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation measures the price change for a basket of goods and services of regular use, such as food, fuel, housing, clothing, education, health, and transport.

CPI inflation gets reported in the news headlines, so it is also called headline inflation. And this is at 2.10% now. (2/n)

SEBI has banned Jane Street from the Indian securities market for manipulation. One strategy Jane Street used is ‘Marking the Close’.

Here is a Varsity explainer on how the strategy works and why it's illegal. 🧵👇(1/n) Any option contract has an underlying, and its premium moves with the underlying. For e.g., Infosys' call option premium will rise if Infosys’ price rises, and its Put option premium will rise with a fall in its price. Basically, option premium is linked to its underlying price.

Should you shift all your money from a savings account to liquid funds?

The SBI savings account interest rate dropped to 2.5%, among the lowest we've seen in the past. Other banks also offer rates in the range of 2.5% - 3 % pa.

We got a bunch of queries asking if they should move their money from SB to liquid funds, as liquid funds' Yield to Maturity (YTM) is about 6%. But is that what you will really earn?

Here’s a Varsity explainer 🧵 We all understand liquid funds. They are MFs that invest in short-term debt securities issued by the Government, Banks, and companies.

Relatively, they are safe. But what most people don't understand is YTM. 🤔

In 2024, Jane Street, a Wall Street high-frequency trading (HFT) firm, made a profit of over $2.3 billion in India alone. In 2023, they made about a billion dollars. India is one of their most profitable markets.

Do retail traders stand a chance against HFT traders? Here is Varsity’s take on this. 🧵👇(1/8) Besides Jane Street, many Wall Street HFT heavyweights are active in India - Citadel Securities, Tower Research, and Jump Trading.

Trading is a zero-sum game. One trader's profit is another trader's loss. Jane Street alone inflicted a combined loss of $2.3 billion on its counterparties in a single year. We will not get into the how; that's another topic. (2/8)

The RBI recently slashed the repo rate by 50 bps. This is great news for the economy and borrowers in general because the interest you pay every month should reduce.

But then you see your next home loan EMI, and it has not changed; it's the same. Ever wondered why?

Here is a Varsity explainer and everything you need to know about home loans and the RBI’s repo rate. There are two components to any loan: the interest rate that you pay and the tenure over which you repay your loan.

When the RBI reduces the repo rate, you naturally expect your EMIs to reduce. However, most banks usually keep the EMI amount the same, but reduce the loan tenure.

Of course, you can speak to the bank to reduce the EMI amount while keeping the tenure unchanged.
Both options reduce your interest outgo.

SEBI’s debarment of Gensol and its promoters from the securities market has resurfaced the discussion on corporate governance.

Is there a way of spotting red flags in corporate governance? Let’s explore👇. 🧵(1/11) When studying a listed firm, check for the "Independent Auditor's Report" in its annual report.

The first section of the Auditor's Report is titled “Opinion” or “Unqualified Opinion.” It is a red flag⛳️ if titled anything else. (2/11)