Thursday, August 21, 2008

taking a breath

Low trade volume over the first two trading days of this week indicates that the market is taking a breath.

Tuspitero of tsupitero.com said last monday (18th) that he believed we'll likely see sideways movement or a correction. He discounts the likelihood of a strong rally before either of those happens.

As we've seen some correction already over the past two days, it looks like he's right on the money this time. Whether the PSEi eventually ends up rallying up and beyond 2900 or comes down below 2500, in the meantime we've got a moment to decide where to place our bets.

I don't bother crunching numbers much but considering the world economy and the mixed numbers as regards corporate earnings, I'm still bearish. But who knows, as the silver linning of the slowing world economy is emerging to be the drop in demand for oil we there may be a few more surprises in store for us.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

OIL and the WORLD ECONOMY: is it a chicken and egg game?

Pablo Gorondi, a writer for the Associated Press noted that the oil price is going down and will be facing additional pressure because of the slowing world economy.

Wasn't it the rising price of oil that was slowing the growth of the world economy? So which caused which? Was it some kind of a returning domino effect? hehe... At any rate Oil fell as low as $111.78. That's more than enough for a few more sighs of relief and smile to top it off. :)

GEO: What's up with "the people's stock".

The much loved, hyped and traded GEO was dubbed as "the people's stock" on the blogosphere. It was popular, affordable and easy to buy and sell. Why was it so loved and where is it now?

Why was it so loved?

Well, as GEO would hover around the Php2.00 to Php3.00 level it was really easy to buy. At that level, most brokerages would let you buy it by the thousands. So with only a minimum of Php2k to Php3k you could already be trading it actively. The rise of internet trading had plenty to do with it. In addition, it would fall daily in the top 20 most traded stocks.

Where is it now?

Last close: Php0.88; It didn't even make it to the top 20 most traded. Even during its glory days at "the people's stock" that company wasn't pulling anything out of the ground. The latest buzz is that they inked an exploration deal with listed Nihao Mineral Resources and Chinese mining firm Jiangxi Rare Earth and Rare Metals Tungsten Group. No details have been released.

A common sense reason to buy it now
If you choose to be a contrarian it would be better to buy into this stock now while no one is looking. The moment they start digging, it's price will start rising. "Buy low and sell high" they say. This looks low to me at Php0.88. Note though that this has recently gone down as low as Php0.60+.
But then again, why buy into this company. If you haven't already, give it plenty of thought before you do. I direct this post more to those that love trading it already.

It's well to note for everyone that the fact that mining still has handsome prospects in the Philippines should direct us to have even a part of our portfolios in mining. This is a happy candidate. It also helps a lot for our peace of mind that the Puno's have a hand in this cookie jar.