Common Sense Trading - A Blue Jeans Approach to Philippine Stock Market Trading

Most of my favorite stocks carry a similar pattern of lower highs and lower lows since around november last year. I can think of only a few that defied this pattern, but our experts remain upbeat for 2008. Not one negative prediction for 2008 has been made yet so many are quick to warn about big drops within they coming weeks. Technical analysts talk of levels like 2700 as a possible scenario. In november last year such a level was thought by many to have been long gone. Now, its that sort of thinking that had to be thrown out the door and many are soberly staring at beaten up protfolios that have fallen far from glorious novemeber. Call me crazy, but I still think this is a perfect time to build up a good portfolio based on a sound fundamental analysis.

The R word The overused word for the month of January is recession. Everyone talks about it because its rearing its ugly head in the U.S. and for better or for worse, what happens in the U.S. affects almost, if not, the whole world. The debate is ending The long and seeminlgy unending debate on whether the U.S. will head into a recession seems to be tipping in favor of a recession. That chilly word is all over CNBC and even Ron Nathan who has long been arguing that it isn't here yet nor is it coming seems to have modified that opinion a bit. Good news in there, somewhere The gloom and doom in his last article didn't sit too well with me so I prefer not to mention those points here. But I very much like that he ended by pointing out that: "There are signs that the Philippine Stock Exchange index may be bottoming out. Foreign selling stopped last week after seven continuous weeks averaging nearly P1 billion a day. I suspect the pension funds are buying heavily, especiall...

Hollywood-ish news News of what happened to the Senate's witness on the NBN deal is dominating the clicks on inquirer.net . The Inquirer's front page told of a story that I think belongs in fiction. Lozada was intercepted at the airport even before he made it through the tube, taken by men and made to sign documents saying it wasn't an abduction. His hearing started around 10am today, and I've been following along through inquirer.net's running account . Another sluggish trading day The total trade value today was slightly less than yesterday, being just below the Php1.2 billion mark. Modest gains left the market at around 3241, up by about 17 points from yesterday. Waning interestin RP stocks Business world's headline for today says that: "Interest in RP stocks wanes" . The article highlighted some important statistics. "THE STOCK MARKET got off to a shaky start this year, with net foreign selling hitting a record P11.59 billion as foreign invest...

Generally unpleasant Corrections are associated with unpleasant things. I remember when I first tried buying stocks. I did it with two unexperienced friends. We made our debut into Philippine stocks last year when the market was reaching new highs around the 3800 level. Shortly after, we saw a major correction in the Philippine Stock Market and watched the value of our new stocks plummet. We didn't like it. Luckily, we were patient, and since it was just a correction, the values returned to our entry levels and after a lot of waiting, rose a bit to give us our first taste of gains. It can be a good thing After almost a year of watching the stock market, talking to people about it and reading related material and news, I have a different view of corrections. I think it can be a good thing for various reasons, here are a few that I want to highlight: 1) It makes everyone cautious 2) It makes investors more discriminating 3) It reveals which stocks are quality stocks 4) It shakes off...

Today is the day the chinese celebrate the new year with such wonderous things as tikoy. Made from sticky rice, I like it best cooked with egg. Kung Hei Fat Choi! The market barely moved today. With a volume of about Php1.2 billion pesos, the index went down by only 5.64 points sticking close to this lame level that I am beginning to dislike very much. *yawn. It's one of the more boring days for Philippines Stocks.