New Delhi, Aug. 21 -- Take a minute to do a small exercise. Think about investing in a stock of a company (or 5 companies if you like) for the long-term, say 5-10 years. Write down the name(s) on your phone or paper.

Without looking at the name, I can guess that this is a company which you expect to have a bright future. You may not know exact valuation of this company or the exact ratios like profit margins or return on capital. But this is the name where you are reasonably confident that the business will GROW!

And when you expect a business to grow over the next five to ten years, you are, knowingly or unknowingly, making a judgement about its future profit growth. After all, long-term investing cannot be built around companies whose...