Philippine stock market lost 9% in January 2008
If you placed money in the Philippine stock market from the beginning of January this year, you would have already lost 9% by now. That translates to a million pesos worth only P910,000 as of January 31.
That is based on the performance of the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi), a basket of 30 listed common stocks representing the overall movement of market prices and the general state of the Philippine economy.
On January 31, the PSEi closed at 3,294.08, down 9.04% compared to its original level at the start of the year. Badly hit were the Mining and Oil sector which lost 15.12% and the Holding Firms sector which declined in value by 14.74%.
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The Philippine Daily Inquirer recently reported that foreign investors are currently unloading themselves of Philippine stocks. In 2007, foreign investment in local stocks fell by $1.36 billion and in November and December 2007 alone, around P16.69 billion worth of shares were sold.
Although the Philippines currently shows strong fundamentals, evidenced by a 31-year high growth of 7.3% last year, the lingering subprime market problem in the US and fears of recession in the world’s largest economy are weighing down the local stock market.
Is the Philippines looking at a bleaker 2008 in terms of stock market and economic performance? We hope not.
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February 29th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
I agree with you jigtalk about not investing your usual money in stocks. the stocks exchange in the philippines is just to volatile. So unless you really know what you’re doing use your extra cash, say your quarterly bonus to invest. best that you have an experienced mentor in doing the investments
February 28th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
FALSE!… False!… False!…
If you want to be in the stock market, do it now when the prices are down… Don’t wait for the prices to go up. If the price goes up, you would buy lesser stocks, because they got expensive already. The worst the market is, the better is the time. Hold on to your stocks because it will not bottom out for a decade.
The trick is finding companies that have strong fundamentals such as having a pristine balance sheet that could weather out any crisis, having good management at the helm, and having a clear vision of what their future looks like five years down the line.
Keep in mind that investing in stocks is like gambling. Throw to the stock market any excess cash that you are willing to loose without loosing sleep at night. Then forget about it. Let the time value of money do the rest for you.
DO NOT INVEST IN THE STOCK MARKET YOUR LIFE’S SAVINGS, or the one’s that you have to rely on to pay your PLDT bills, Maynilad Bills, or the monthly rent. IF YOU DO THAT then you’re killing yourself!
February 15th, 2008 at 9:08 am
True, some analysts and traders are saying that if you have no business going into the stock market these days, then don’t go. Unless you are a trader willing to embrace risk to compensate for supposedly higher returns, it’s best right now to stay on the sidelines.
February 15th, 2008 at 4:27 am
It’s a good thing I haven’t jumped into stocks yet. I’m still planning to attend a few seminars to learn more about it. Looks like it’s best to hold out for a while.