Asia Stock Market Holidays / Trading Calendar - Year 2009

Asia Stock Market Holidays / Trading Calendar in Year 2009

Click on 'Country' as shown below for Market Holiday's schedule.

Australia

China

Hong Kong

India

Indonesia

Japan

Malaysia

New Zealand

Philippines

Singapore

South Korea

Taiwan

Thailand

Vietnam


Please click here for Year 2010

Asia Stock Market Trading Hours on Chinese (Lunar) New Year Eve

Trading Hours on Chinese (Lunar) New Year Eve

Stock Exchange	Closing Hour (at local time)
China	Will be closed *
Hong Kong	Will be closed *
Indonesia	Will be closed at 12:30pm*
Malaysia	Will be closed at 12:30pm*
Singapore	Will be closed at 12:30pm*
South Korea	Will be closed at 12:30pm*
Taiwan	Will be closed *
Vietnam	Will be closed *

* Note:
No trading on weekend if Chinese New Year Eve falls on weekend. (e.g. Chinese New Year Eve in year 2009 is on Sunday, therefore, all Asian stock markets are closed on that day)

On normal trading day, market in Australia, India, Japan, New Zealand, Philippines and Thailand will be traded as usual.

Click on 'Country ' as shown above for detail of 'Chinese New Year' holiday's schedule.

Asian Stock Market Trading Holidays

Most Asian markets are closed today except Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam and India.

For specific trading hours, please browse on particular section on right side of this blog or
Click here for Trading Hours on New Year Eve

Asian Stock Market Trading Hours on Christmas Eve and New Year Eve

Trading Hours on Christmas Eve
and
New Year Eve

Stock Exchange	Closing Hour (at local time)
Australia	2.10 pm (Sydney time)
Hong Kong	12:30 pm
Indonesia	No change on Christmas Eve but will be closed all day on New Year Eve (Dec. 31)
Japan	No change on Christmas Eve but will be closed all day on New Year Eve (Dec. 31)
Malaysia	No change on Christmas Eve but will be closed at 12:30 pm on New Year Eve (Dec. 31)
New Zealand	4 pm
Philippines	12:00 pm on Christmas Eve but will be closed all day on New Year Eve (Dec. 31)
Singapore	12:30 pm
South Korea	No change on Christmas Eve but will be closed all day on New Year Eve (Dec. 31)
Thailand	No change on Christmas Eve but will be closed all day on New Year Eve (Dec. 31)

Note:
Unless Christmas Eve and New Year Eve fall on weekend, trading hours at China, India, Taiwan and Vietnam will be traded as usual on Christmas Eve and New Year Eve.

China to hunt foreign investors who leave debts

SHANGHAI, Dec 20 - China, hit by a slowdown in manufacturing from the global downturn, will pursue foreign investors who flee the country to escape failed business investments and debt, the Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

China will ask foreign governments to help investigate and extradite the fugitives, especially in cases involving large sums of money, the official news agency said.

Government efforts to pursue runaway investors come at a time when shrinking global demand is dealing a heavy blow to export industries and manufacturers, forcing migrant workers to return to their rural homes after losing factory jobs.

Thousands of factories in the southern export hub of Guangdong have folded due to falling demand for China-made goods, rising production costs and the strong yuan currency.

China's commerce, foreign affairs, justice and public security ministries on Friday jointly issued a guideline for cross-border investigation and prosecution of fleeing investors.

More investors, especially from small- and labour-intensive industries, have avoided formal bankruptcy by leaving behind shutted factories, equipment and unpaid wages, Xinhua said.

Eighty seven companies funded by investors from South Korea left the eastern province of Shandong without properly liquidating assets last year, up from only 21 cases in 2003, Xinhua said, citing previous media reports.

In January, more than 10 Korean company officials abandoned the Yantai Shigang Fiber Co in Shandong and fled because of financial difficulties. They left without paying large debts and the wages of more than 3,000 employees.

China to reshuffle equities index components

SHANGHAI, Dec 15 - China Securities Index Co said on Monday that it would change some of the components of its equities indexes, effective from the first trading day of next year, to reflect changed market conditions.

Eighteen stocks will be added to the CSI300 Index <.CSI300> and 18 removed. The index, against which many Chinese equity funds are benchmarked, consists of the 300 local-currency A shares with the largest market capitalisation and liquidity.

Additions include television and mobile phone maker TCL Corp <000100.sz>, liquid crystal display producer BOE Technology Group <000725.sz>, China Railway Construction Corp <601186.ss>, and Zijin Mining Group <601899.ss>.

Deletions include chemical fibre and textile maker China Union Holdings <000036.sz>, Haima Investment Group <000572.sz>, Zhongchu Development <600787.ss>, and computer equipment trader Insigma Technology Co <600797.ss>.

Full details of revisions to all indexes are posted on the index company's website, www.csindex.com.cn .

Difficult Year Ahead for Developing Asia

HONG KONG, CHINA - Economic growth in developing Asia will slow to 5.8% in 2009, down from a likely 6.9% this year and 9% in 2007, as the impact of the global financial crisis spreads to emerging markets, says a new report from the Asian Development Bank.

Click here for full report

--------------------------------------------------

Related article

ADB tweaks 2008 Asia growth forecast

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GDP Forecast (From World Bank)

Forecast Summary, 2008-2010
Annual percent change, unless indicated otherwise.

Regional detailed forecasts
Source:World Bank

Stock Market Performance During Recessions

Interesting graph to share from http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/
(Click graph below to enlarge)

Total official recessions for the last 80 years = 15 (from year 1926 to 2008)

The following chart from Fidelity gives a very clear breakdown of all 15 recessions, their duration, and severity as far as market damage during and after the recession ended

Chinese leader says China losing competitive edge

BEIJING - Chinese President Hu Jintao warned that China has started to lose its competitive edge in trade amid the global financial crisis, as he told Communist Party leaders the challenge posed a test to the government's ability to rule, state media reported.

China's economic growth is expected to fall to about 9 percent this year, down from last year's 11.9 percent. That would be the fastest of any major economy, but Chinese leaders worry about possible unrest as unemployment rises, especially in export industries where factories are shutting down as global demand plummets.

"External demand has obviously weakened and China's traditional competitive advantage is being gradually weakened," Hu said, according to the Communist Party's official People's Daily newspaper.

China warns of worse to come for its economy

BEIJING (AFP) - - China's economy slowed further in November, the nation's top planner said Thursday, as he warned the government was being forced to act to avoid massive unemployment and social unrest.

Zhang Ping, the minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission, made the sombre remarks at a briefing explaining recent measures to trigger domestic consumption and lift economic growth.

"In November, a number of economic indicators are showing accelerated decline. The production at some enterprises has encountered difficulties, especially enterprises that focus on exports," he said.

Zhang was speaking a day after China announced a 108-basis-point interest rate cut -- the steepest in 11 years -- and a few weeks after an unprecedented four-trillion-yuan (590-billion-dollar) stimulus package.

With China's economy headed towards what could become its biggest crisis in two decades, observers said Zhang's remark was significant and a warning of bleak economic data for November, to be published in the coming weeks.

"Zhang certainly gets to see November figures earlier than the rest of us," said Ma Qing, a Beijing-based analyst with consultancy CEB Monitor Group.

October figures were already far from stellar, demonstrating just how vulnerable China was to the global financial meltdown.

In one example, China's industrial output grew by just 8.2 percent in October from a year earlier, a steep decline compared with 17.9 percent year-on-year growth in October 2007.

China's economy, the world's fourth-largest, expanded by 9.0 percent in the third quarter, the lowest level in more than five years.

The World Bank this week said it expected the Chinese economy to grow by 9.2 percent in 2008 before hitting a 19-year low of 7.5 percent in 2009.

Amid the slowdown, Zhang warned there would be more job losses and potentially a rise in social unrest across the nation of 1.3 billion people.

"Some companies have stopped all or part of their operations, and this will naturally have an impact on employment. In some areas we're seeing rural workers returning back home to the countryside," said Zhang.

He defended measures taken in the south of China to support struggling enterprises, with reports of local governments earmarking major funds aimed at keeping them in business.

"I think it's necessary. If too many enterprises suspend business or stop production, it will result in large-scale unemployment, and it could trigger social instability," he said.

Warnings have increased recently from senior Chinese policy-makers about the impact the global economic crisis will have on the domestic economy.

Last week, social security minister Yin Weimin said the employment situation was already "critical" and that the full fall-out from the crisis still remained to be seen.

In Chinese cities, there is a need for 24 million new jobs every year, but currently there is only capacity to create half that number, according to official estimates.

In an indication of the kind of unrest that might be in store for China, 500 workers stormed a toy factory in the south this week, smashing windows and computers, in protest over what they called meagre severance packages.

S.Korea to spend another $11 bln to boost economy

* South Korea to spend $11 billion to help economy
* GDP growth may fall to lowest in a decade without stimulus
* Export growth hits 13-month low as demand dries up

By Cheon Jong-woo

SEOUL, Nov 3 - South Korea said on Monday it plans to pump an extra $11 billion into its economy next year to help soften the impact of the global financial storm, which is beginning to hit exports -- the country's economic lifeblood.

The pledge coincided with news of lower-than-expected inflation, which analysts saw as possibly paving the way for another interest rate cut this week after last week's record 75 basis point cut to prop up Asia's fourth largest economy.

"The Bank of Korea will likely cut the rates further, at least by 25 basis points this Friday. If not, it may push the financial market into a tailspin again," said Park Jong-youn, fixed-income analyst at Woori Investment & Securities.

Lessons from 1929 stock crash

Oct. 24 - Analysts say investors had better beware false rallies like the one that occurred after the 1929 stock market crash.

The Dow rallied 24 percent over the next five months following the stock market crash, only to turn south again. Stocks fell 89 percent from their peak. Fred Katayama reports from New York.

SOUNDBITES:
# Philip Roth, chief technical market analyst, Miller Tabak
# Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist, Standard & Poor's

Singapore Exchange and Bahrain Stock Exchange sign MOU to foster closer relationship

Singapore and Manama, Bahrain, 14 October 2008 – Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) and Bahrain Stock Exchange are pleased to announce that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today to collaborate for the benefit of the financial services industries in Singapore and Bahrain.

The MOU aims to foster a closer relationship and develop channels of information exchange in the areas of operations, regulatory framework, and the equities products traded on the respective markets.

The MOU was signed by Mr Fouad Rashid, Director of Bahrain Stock Exchange, and Mr Gan Seow Ann, Senior Executive Vice President and Head of Markets at SGX.

Mr Hsieh Fu Hua, Chief Executive Officer of SGX said, "As the Asian Gateway exchange, SGX looks forward to working with our Bahraini counterparts to grow and strengthen our leadership positions in our respective geographies."

Mr Fouad Rashid, Director of Bahrain Stock Exchange commented, "We are delighted to have signed an MOU with Singapore as a key exchange in the Asia Pacific region. We are looking forward to a close working relationship and to exchanging knowledge and expertise, to our mutual benefit. We anticipate that the MOU will lead to increased capital flows between Bahrain and Singapore as leading financial markets in their respective regions."

All that money you've lost — where did it go?

NEW YORK - Trillions in stock market value — gone. Trillions in retirement savings — gone. A huge chunk of the money you paid for your house, the money you're saving for college, the money your boss needs to make payroll — gone, gone, gone.

Whether you're a stock broker or Joe Six-pack, if you have a 401(k), a mutual fund or a college savings plan, tumbling stock markets and sagging home prices mean you've lost a whole lot of the money that was right there on your account statements just a few months ago.

But if you no longer have that money, who does? The fat cats on Wall Street? Some oil baron in Saudi Arabia? The government of China?

Or is it just — gone?

If you're looking to track down your missing money — figure out who has it now, maybe ask to have it back — you might be disappointed to learn that is was never really money in the first place.

Robert Shiller, an economist at Yale, puts it bluntly: The notion that you lose a pile of money whenever the stock market tanks is a "fallacy." He says the price of a stock has never been the same thing as money — it's simply the "best guess" of what the stock is worth.

"It's in people's minds," Shiller explains. "We're just recording a measure of what people think the stock market is worth. What the people who are willing to trade today — who are very, very few people — are actually trading at. So we're just extrapolating that and thinking, well, maybe that's what everyone thinks it's worth."

Shiller uses the example of an appraiser who values a house at $350,000, a week after saying it was worth $400,000.

"In a sense, $50,000 just disappeared when he said that," he said. "But it's all in the mind."

Though something, of course, is disappearing as markets and real estate values tumble. Even if a share of stock you own isn't a wad of bills in your wallet, even if the value of your home isn't something you can redeem at will, surely you can lose potential money — that is, the money that would be yours to spend if you sold your house or emptied out your mutual funds right now.

And if you're a few months away from retirement, or hoping to sell your house and buy a smaller one to help pay for your kid's college tuition, this "potential money" is something you're counting on to get by. For people who need cash and need it now, this is as real as money gets, whether or not it meets the technical definition of the word.

Still, you run into trouble when you think of that potential money as being the same thing as the cash in your purse or your checking account.

"That's a big mistake," says Dale Jorgenson, an economics professor at Harvard.

There's a key distinction here: While the money in your pocket is unlikely to just vanish into thin air, the money you could have had, if only you'd sold your house or drained your stock-heavy mutual funds a year ago, most certainly can.

"You can't enjoy the benefits of your 401(k) if it's disappeared," Jorgenson explains. "If you had it all in financial stocks and they've all gone down by 80 percent — sorry! That is a permanent loss because those folks aren't coming back. We're gonna have a huge shrinkage in the financial sector."

There was a time when nobody had to wonder what happened to the money they used to have. Until paper money was developed in China around the ninth century, money was something solid that had actual value — like a gold coin that was worth whatever that amount of gold was worth, according to Douglas Mudd, curator of the American Numismatic Association's Money Museum in Denver.

Back then, if the money you once had was suddenly gone, there was a simple reason — you spent it, someone stole it, you dropped it in a field somewhere, or maybe a tornado or some other disaster struck wherever you last put it down.

But these days, a lot of things that have monetary value can't be held in your hand.

If you choose, you can pour most of your money into stocks and track their value in real time on a computer screen, confident that you'll get good money for them when you decide to sell. And you won't be alone — staring at millions of computer screens are other investors who share your confidence that the value of their portfolios will hold up.

But that collective confidence, Jorgenson says, is gone. And when confidence is drained out of a financial system, a lot of investors will decide to sell at any price, and a big chunk of that money you thought your investments were worth simply goes away.

If you once thought your investment portfolio was as good as a suitcase full of twenties, you might suddenly suspect that it's not.

In the process, of course, you're losing wealth. But does that mean someone else must be gaining it? Does the world have some fixed amount of wealth that shifts between people, nations and institutions with the ebb and flow of the economy?

Jorgenson says no — the amount of wealth in the world "simply decreases in a situation like this." And he cautions against assuming that your investment losses mean a gain for someone else — like wealthy stock speculators who try to make money by betting that the market will drop.

"Those folks in general have been losing their shirts at a prodigious rate," he said. "They took a big risk and now they're suffering from the consequences."

"Of course, they had a great life, as long as it lasted."

Price Limits For SGX CNX NIFTY INDEX FUTURES

10 October 2008 – In the interest of maintaining a fair and orderly market, Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) would like to inform Members and customers that it will amend the price limits for SGX Nifty Index futures as follows:

a. an Intermediate Price Limit will be introduced at 15%;
b. when the Initial Price Limit at 10% is reached, the Exchange will only signal a Cooling Off Period if the underlying cash market for the Contract is closed;
c. Cooling Off Periods for all price limits (10%, 15% and 20%) will be reduced to 5 minutes.

For the avoidance of doubt, there shall be no price limits for the remainder of the trading day after the final Cooling Off Period. There shall be no price limits on the Last Trading Day for an expiring Contract.

This measure will take effect from 3.30 pm Singapore time today and will be reviewed on 10 November 2008, or earlier as the need arises.

Source: SGX

Asia Stock Market Trading Hours

Time indicated below are in GMT+8 format

AUSTRALIA - 10:10 ~ 16:00

CHINA - 09:30 - 11:30 - Lunch break - 13:00 - 15:00

INDIA - 09:55 - 11:25am - Lunch Break - 12:10 - 3:30pm

INDONESIA - 9:30 - 12:00 - Lunch break - 13:30 - 17:00

JAPAN - 09:00 - 11:00 - Lunch break - 12:30 - 15:00

MALAYSIA - 09:00 - 12:30 - Lunch break - 14:30 - 17:00

PHILIPPINES - 09:30 - 12:00

SINGAPORE - 09:00 - 12:30 - Lunch break - 14:00 - 17:00

SOUTH KOREA - 08:00 ~ 15:00

TAIWAN - 09:00 - 12:30 Lunch break - 13:40 - 14:30

THAILAND - 9:55 - 12:30 - Lunch break - 14:25 - 16:35

VIETNAM - 08:30 - 11:00

Philippine bourse extends trading hours

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Stock Exchange has approved a plan to extend to the afternoon its trading hours as part of its overall strategy to increase market liquidity and elevate its practices to global standards.

As approved by the PSE Board, the PSE’s morning session will be 9:00 to 9:30 a.m. (pre-open) and 9:00 to 12 noon (morning trading). But under the Board-approved plan, the PSE will resume trading from 2 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. with a 10-minute run-off period from 3:50 to 4:00 p.m. In-between the morning and afternoon sessions, the PSE will observe a two-hour break from 12 noon to 2 p.m.

The new trading hours is expected to be implemented on or before June 30, 2009.

Francis Lim, PSE president and chief executive officer, said that the Board also decided that the afternoon session will be conducted through off-floor trading.

“The decision of our Board to extend the trading is part of a coordinated strategy to level our Exchange with its peers in the region and develop our local stock market to its full potential," Lim said.

“It is also a response to observations from foreign investors who pointed out that since the Philippine stock market is small, they first look at the bigger markets in the morning but by the time they get the opportunity to look at our market, the PSE is already closing, so why bother at all," added Lim.

He added that the afternoon trading session is also aimed at preparing the PSE to take full advantage of market-friendly legislation that is being put in place by the government such as the Personal Equity Retirement Account (PERA) Law.

The PERA Law, which was recently signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, gives tax incentives to people who invest portions of their retirement funds in the stock market.

“With the extended trading hours, overseas Filipino workers in the Middle East can now catch our market live through our online brokers," Lim said. “And they can invest in our market with special incentives they will get from the newly-enacted PERA Law.

“I vividly recall one overseas Filipino working in Abu Dhabi who said that he has to wake up at 5:00 o’clock in the morning just to be able to trade in the Philippines because the PSE is open only up to 12 noon. With the special incentives for them under the PERA Law and afternoon trading hours, we hope to tap overseas Filipinos as active players in our stock market," he added.

Asian investors will also find the overlap advantageous, because the afternoon session will allow them to catch the trading hours in Asian and European markets such as Euronext, Deutsche Boerse, OMX, Bolsa de Madrid, and the London Stock Exchange.

“The implementation of the extended trading hours will coincide with our timetable in commissioning our new trading system next year which is tentatively scheduled to go live on or before June 30, 2009," he pointed out.

The PSE tried in 2002 to hold an afternoon trading but it stopped after eight months. The extension then was very limited as it only extended from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Moreover, the extension under the previous attempt coincided with the mid-day trading break of exchanges in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Thailand. Worse, it caught up with the overall market decline around the same period.

“Times have changed. We have to consider also that markets are much different now as trading has become more global," Lim said. “But we decided to implement the extended trading hours next year to give the PSE market players enough time to make necessary adjustments in their operations." - Cheryl M. Arcibal, GMANews.TV

Source: gmanews

Thai bourse launches FTSE SET Index Series

Today (June 24), The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) officially launched FTSE SET Index Series to benefit both domestic and foreign investors and support development of new financial products.

“The creation of index-linked products has been popular in various capital markets, especially in Asia. In Thailand, fund-managers are increasingly demanding access to tradable and benchmark indices for portfolio management. The FTSE SET Index Series is part of SET’s strategy to furnish the Thai capital market with internationally-recognized benchmark indices as well as to provide innovative investment products and services for local and foreign investors. This is yet another competitiveness-enhancing measure for the Thai capital market,” said SET President Patareeya Benjapolchai.

FTSE SET Index Series is the result of collaboration between the Exchange and FTSE International under the FTSE Group, a world-leader in the creation and management of indices. The product, specifically tailored for the Thai capital market, consists of six separate indices:

(1) FTSE SET Large Cap,
(2) FTSE SET Mid Cap,
(3) FTSE SET Small Cap,
(4) FTSE SET Mid/Small Cap,
(5) FTSE SET All-Share and
(6) FTSE SET Fledgling, SET Senior Vice President Santi Kiranand said.

FTSE SET Large Cap Index, calculated every 15 seconds, is a tradable index which can be used as an underlying asset for financial products. All other FTSE SET indices are calculated every 60 seconds and are benchmark indices for portfolio management, measuring the performance of listed companies in the Thai stock market. FTSE SET Index Series is fundamental in supporting transactions made on the Thai market,” Mr. Santi added.

The product uses February 29, 2008 as its base date, starting at 1,000.00 points. Index constituents will be reviewed in June and December each year by the index advisory committee.

Information on the series has been available at the Exchange’s website, www.set.or.th, and Settrade.com’s www.settrade.com since April 2008.

India may raise cap on single investors in bourses

MUMBAI, Aug 20 - India's capital markets regulator is examining a proposal to raise the limit for single investors in stock exchanges to 15 percent from 5 percent, the Economic Times said on Wednesday, citing an unnamed official.

"The decision to revisit the existing norms on investment in stock exchanges has been prompted by the fact that the current cap on equity holdings could act as a deterrent to potential promoters of new exchanges," it cited the official as saying.

The proposal was discussed at the regulator's last board meeting, and it was decided that a final view will be taken "after seeking wider comments", the official was cited as saying.

A spokesman for the Securities & Exchange Board of India said he could not immediately comment on the report.

The new cap would be applicable for local and foreign investors, the paper said, and would enable existing investors to raise their stakes further.

India now caps total foreign investment in stock exchanges at 49 percent. The Economic Times said within that limit, total foreign direct investment in exchanges be up to 26 percent and total foreign institutional investment could be up to 23 percent.

Deutsche Boerse and Singapore Exchange acquired 5 percent each in the Bombay Stock Exchange last year.

Goldman Sachs owns 5 percent in the National Stock Exchange, as does NYSE Euronext , which also has 5 percent in Multi Commodity Exchange, India's largest commodity bourse.

In commodity bourses, too, single holdings of foreign companies, funds and exchanges are capped at 5 percent. Citigroup and Merrill Lynch also have 5 percent each in MCX.

Interest in India's exchanges has been high, and had tracked a recent wave of consolidation attempts among bourses around the world as the volume of trade soared and operators sought global reach and greater economies of scale.

China regulator says to help stabilise stocks

SHANGHAI, Aug 16 - China's securities regulator said it was concerned about the plunge of Chinese stock prices and would work to stabilise the market.

"We are paying close attention to the fluctuations in the market," a spokesman for the China Securities Regulatory Commission said in a statement carried on the front pages of major business newspapers on Saturday.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index <.SSEC> hit a 19-month closing low on Thursday and is down 60 percent from last October's record peak, dragged down by high inflation, slowing corporate profit growth and heavy supplies of fresh equity.

Regulators have issued periodic statements this year pledging to help stabilise the market. It was not clear if the measures outlined in the latest statement would have an impact.

The commission said it would tighten supervision of sales of shares made tradable by the expiry of lock-up periods related to initial public offers and the reforms of state shareholding structures. Tens of billions of dollars of such shares will become tradable this year and next, pressuring the market.

Restrictions on large-lot sales of the shares will be enforced with a new monitoring system, and the commission will seek to limit the impact of disposals via the use of instruments including exchangeable bonds, it said without elaborating.

The commission said it would pay close attention to supply and demand when approving new issues of shares, and pledged to promote more long-term investment in the market by institutions such as foreign funds and Chinese insurers and pension funds.

Procedures for companies to buy back their own shares would be streamlined, and regulations would be improved to encourage firms to pay dividends. The commission added that it would crack down further on abuses such as insider trading and inaccurate valuation of assets during corporate restructurings.

ASX to include foreign exempt firms in stock indices

SYDNEY, Aug 11 - Foreign exempt companies listed on the Australia Securities Exchange will be eligible for index inclusion from Sept. 1, the ASX and indices provider Standard & Poor's said in a joint statement on Monday.

Companies that are foreign exempt are not required to comply with ASX rules provided they comply with the listing rules of their home exchanges.

Eligible companies will need to have a primary listing on a major exchange within a developed market, the statement said.

"This change removes a key impediment to large international listings on the ASX," said Richard Murphy, ASX General Manager Equity Markets.

Murphy said there was a strong interest from Australian fund managers, investment banks and brokers in expanding the international side of ASX-listed equities to keep pace with the growth in funds held by Australian pension plans.

Companies that may be eligible for future index inclusions include Alcoa Inc <AAI.AX>, Anglogold Ashanti Ltd <AGG.AX>, Constellation Brands Inc <CBR.AX>, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company S.A. <CHB.AX> and Newmont Mining Corp <NEM.AX>.

These companies have primary listings on major exchanges whose disclosure requirements are broadly comparable with those of the ASX.

In May, 2007, the ASX and Standard & Poor's decided to allow foreign-domiciled companies with Australian listings to be part of the Australian market's indices.

That decision paved the way for U.S. domiciled media group News Corp <NWS.AX> to be reinstated in the top 50 companies index. News Corp had been removed from the ASX indices after changing its domicile to the U.S. from Australia in 2004.

Pakistan to launch share market stabilisation fund

KARACHI, July 22 - Pakistan hopes to start using an equity market stabilisation fund worth 20 billion rupees , finance minister Naveed Qamar said, in the wake of 30 percent fall on the benchmark index <.KSE> since April.

Speaking at the Karachi Stock Exchange on Tuesday, he said the National Investment Trust will manage the fund.

"We intend to move through NIT and give a substantial amount of boost to the stock market through the NIT, I think we can start with 20 billion rupees and hopefully start in this week," Qamar said.

The fund was proposed earlier this month by the Karachi Stock Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan . The KSE index fell to 10,036.14 last week from a life-time high of 15,739.25 points on April 21.

Qamar, the privatisation minister who also took charge of the finance portfolio after a coalition partner pulled out of the cabinet in May, said the three-and-a-half-month-old government was focussed on the macroeconomic challenges facing Pakistan.

Inflation running at over 21 percent is at its highest in three decades, the fiscal and current account deficits are unsustainable, and foreign exchange reserves barely cover three months imports.

Qamar said Pakistan was in talks with Saudi Arabia to defer payments for crude oil sales during the current fiscal year.

"There will be an announcement soon from Saudi Arabia, which will have a very positive affect on our current account position," he said.

Earlier this month the Financial Times newspaper reported that Saudi Arabia had agreed in principle to defer payments for crude oil sales to Pakistan expected to be worth about $5.9 billion during the current 2008/09 fiscal year .

Qamar said there were hopes that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani's visit to the United States later this month will help raise prospects for non-military aid.

Last week, two U.S. senators unveiled a $7.5 billion, 5-year aid bill for Pakistan aimed at boosting civilian ties.

The government also plans on bringing its net borrowing from the central bank to zero percent to reduce pressure on the bank to maintain a tight monetary stance.

As of June 28, with two days left until the end of the 2007/08 fiscal year, the government's incremental borrowing from the State Bank was 633 billion rupees .

The State Bank Governor Shamshad Akhtar had her first visit to the KSE on Monday and dealers said she reinforced expectations that interest rates will be increased.

Qamar said the KSE's demutualisation was passed in the Finance Bill and the SECP chairman Razi-ur-Rahman said it should be completed in the next 3 months.

By Sahar Ahmed

Singapore c.bank sees more downside risks to markets

Singapore's central bank said it is closely monitoring financial markets in the wake of the crisis surrounding U.S. mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and warned of big downside risks in global markets.

"Significant challenges and downside risks in the international financial markets remain and financial institutions and investors should stay vigilant," the Monetary Authority of Singapore said on Monday.

"The direct impact of the credit crisis on financial markets and financial institutions in Singapore has been relatively modest so far," the central bank said.

Singapore's Straits Times stock market index <.FTSTI> has fallen 16 percent this year. The country's three banks have suffered relatively modest writedowns on their debt investments as a result of the credit crunch.

The U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve called on Sunday for sweeping measures to lend money and buy equity, if necessary, in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which own or guarantee $5 trillion in debt -- close to half the value of all U.S. mortgages.

The U.S. government plan to bolster the government-sponsored mortgage financiers helped calm markets on Monday, but did little to allay fears about the health of the U.S. financial system.

The MAS declined to comment on whether any of Singapore's foreign reserves are invested in debt from Fannie and Freddie.

Singapore had about $177 billion in its foreign reserves as of the end of June.

Foreign central banks, mostly in Asia, hold $979 billion of the $5 trillion bonds and mortgage-backed bonds sold by Freddie and Fannie.

SGX switches to new QUEST-ST system

SINGAPORE : The Singapore Exchange rolled out a major upgrade to its trading engine on Monday with little trouble.

The exchange switched entirely to its new QUEST-ST system, which replaces the old Central Limit Order Book (CLOB) trading engine that has been in operation for 19 years.

Officials at the Singapore Exchange could breathe a sigh of relief as trading on the new QUEST-ST system went 'live' without a hitch on Day One.

The new system is said to be able to handle much higher trading volumes.

Last year, average daily trading volumes stood at 2.5 billion shares.

M Ramaswami, Chief Operations Officer, SGX, said, "If you dealt with more than a billion shares in a single counter or in a single trade, we had some issues dealing with that...so those are the kinds of limitations we get over with this (new system)."

One such blip occurred in October last year.

When more than billion shares of membrane filter company Memstar were traded, the old system failed to keep up.

With the new system, SGX is hoping that it can prevent such problems.

On average, the SGX spends S$20 million to S$30 million a year to maintain and upgrade its systems and networks. - CNA/ms

Source: CNA

SPH, SGX AND FTSE LAUNCH NEW FTSE ST CHINA TOP INDEX

Singapore, 7 July 2008 – Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), Singapore Exchange (SGX) and FTSE Group (FTSE) are pleased to announce the launch today of a new index within the FTSE ST Index series.

The FTSE ST China Top Index is a tradable index that currently tracks the 20 largest China stocks listed on SGX. To be eligible for inclusion in the new index, companies must have either at least 30% ownership by the Chinese government, companies or nationals; or derive at least 50% of revenues from China.

The inclusion of the new revenue criterion allows companies that were previously not eligible for the existing FTSE ST China Index to be included in the new FTSE ST China Top Index. Such companies include Ferrochina, Hsu Fu Chi International and Yanlord Land Group.

“The FTSE ST China Top Index is created in response to demand from institutional investors and fund managers in China and around the world for an index that will give them instant exposure to a smaller, readily tradable basket of highly liquid Singapore-listed China stocks. This is part of our commitment to making the FTSE ST Index series a comprehensive barometer of the Singapore securities market,” said Mr Ignatius Low, Money Editor of The Straits Times newspaper under SPH.

Both the FTSE ST China Index and the FTSE ST China Top Index will offer opportunities for the creation of and investment into China index-linked products, including exchange traded funds (ETFs), structured products and other derivatives. The FTSE ST China Index, with its larger basket of 50 component stocks, will continue to act as a general market barometer of the state of China companies listed here.

Companies in both indices are selected based on their market capitalisation levels as of 20 June 2008. They are subject to the same index calculation methodology, free float weighting and liquidity screening criteria as the revamped Straits Times Index (STI) and other FTSE ST indices which were launched on 10 January 2008.

The full list of the new index's constituents is at Annex 1.(See below)

The FTSE ST China Top Index will be added to the real-time, intra-day values of the STI and other FTSE ST indices displayed at the following websites:

SPH http://btstocks.asiaone.com/keyIndices.html
SGX http://www.sgx.com
NextView http://www.investasiaonline.com
ShareInvestor http://www.shareinvestor.com and http://www.listedcompany.com

FTSE will also display the end-of-day index values on its website at http://www.ftse.com/st

The FTSE ST China Top Index will also be covered by Xinhua Finance Limited, China’s premier financial information and media service provider, with whom SGX is working to profile the component stocks of the FTSE ST China Index. Xinhua Finance will report regularly on the China companies listed on SGX that make up both China-themed indices through the “FTSE ST China Index Stock Alerts” e-mail service. Subscribers will be able to receive the latest news and exclusive C-level interviews on their desktop computers or mobile devices. Details of this free news service are available on SGX’s website at http://www.sgx.com/ftsestchina

Click here for full detail

Annex 1

FTSE ST China Top Index starting constituents (20 constituents)

BIO-TREAT TECHNOLOGY	FERROCHINA *
CAPITARETAIL CHINA TRUST *	FIBRECHEM TECHNOLOGIES
CHINA AVIATION OIL (S) CORPORATION	HONG LEONG ASIA *
CHINA ENERGY	HSU FU CHI INTERNATIONAL *
CHINA HONGXING SPORTS	MIDAS HOLDINGS *
CHINA SKY CHEMICAL FIBRE	PACIFIC ANDES *
CHINA XLX FERTILISER	PEOPLE’S FOOD HOLDINGS *
COSCO CORPORATION (S)	SYNEAR FOOD HOLDINGS
DELONG HOLDINGS	YANGZIJIANG SHIPBUILDING HOLDINGS
EPURE INTERNATIONAL	YANLORD LAND GROUP *

* Stocks not included in the FTSE ST China Index

Source: SGX

Taiwan eases rules on financial investment in China, HK

TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan on Thursday announced that it will relax restrictions on financial investments in China and Hong Kong by local firms amid improving ties between the rivals.

The government will scrap a rule that requires local brokerages to own at least a 25 percent stake in the mainland companies they invest in, said Susan Chang, deputy chairwoman at the Financial Supervisory Commission, the island's top financial regulator.

In addition, securities firms will be allowed to invest an equivalent of up to 20 percent of their net worth in China, doubling the current ceiling of 10 percent, Chang told reporters after a weekly cabinet meeting.

Under the new rules, Taiwan will open the domestic market to listings of Hong Kong exchange-traded funds, and also plans to allow Taiwanese ETFs to list in Hong Kong, she added.

Hong Kong-listed companies, except those that are at least 20 percent-owned by Chinese investors or based in China, would be able to list shares in Taiwan.

The cabinet will also remove a regulation that requires foreign mutual funds investing in Taiwan to prove that they are not funded by Chinese investors.

"The relaxation (of the rules) will be conducive to rejuvenating Taiwan's capital market and will make it more international," Chang said. "The opening will also allow Chinese investors to invest in our stocks, indirectly."

The new rules, which will take effect within a week, come amid thawing tensions across the strait following the presidential victory of Ma Ying-jeou of the China-friendly Kuomintang earlier this year.

The commission gave the go-ahead in April for Fubon Financial Holding Co. to acquire a 20 percent stake in Xiamen City Commercial Bank for 34 million US dollars through its Hong Kong subsidiary -- the first time a local bank has been allowed to invest in the mainland.

The investment proposal is under review by Chinese financial authorities.

Taiwan's economic ministry is also reportedly mulling raising the cap on local corporate investment in China to 50 percent of a company's net worth from the current 40 percent starting in August.

China's securities watchdog to better regulate listed companies operation

BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhua) -- China's securities regulator has vowed to better protect investors after naming and shaming two listed companies for misappropriating capital, Tuesday's China Securities Journal has reported.

Fan Fuchun, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission(CSRC), said on Monday that the CSRC would intensify investigations into capital misappropriation by large shareholders.

Fan said two companies -- the Shenzhen-listed Zoje Sewing Machine Co., Ltd and the Shanghai-listed Shandong Jiufa Edible Fungus Co., Ltd -- had been referred to the police for further investigation into alleged misappropriation.

Click here for full report

Factors Affecting or Influencing Share Prices

Share prices are dependent on many factors. So, it is quite hard to point out just one or two factors that affect or influence the shares prices. As you know, shares prices are extremely vulnerable to market volatility, coming off badly when the stock market dips.

There are so many factors that affect the prices of stocks like market news / rumours, company failed to repay hugh debts (usually in billions of US$ dollars as a guideline) when deadline is dued, broker's recommendations, market analyst's reports, listed companies / firms added or removed from MSCI Index, dual-listing, economy reports (GDP, Jobs data ...), company announcements (e.g. price-sensitive information), inflations (CPI), interest rates, election results, domestic political turmoils, riots, revolts, military coups, anti-government street protests, strikes, war, tensions and confrontation between countries, terrorism, crude oil or energy prices...Just too many to named it here.

Obviously, foreign investors or institution fund managers with big funds will dump their portfolios if negative news continues. Their action impact quite a lot to shares prices fall or rise.

Regardless of these factors, the price of stocks is quite liquid and it's determined by how much buyers are willing to buy and how much sellers are willing to sell for their shares.

Take note that an in-depth study into this subject is beyond the scope of this blog. Nevertheless, allow me to share with you although most of it are common sense.

Here are some factors (not in the order of importance) are my personal views.

- Market Sentiment
Many investors are taking one day at a time depends on current situation, they will make their investment decisions based on current market sentiment about the global economies, regional crisis, interest rate, recession, soaring inflation, crude oil prices, supply and demand...depends on what they hear, watch and read. Our feelings change frequently whenever latest news surfaced. So, investors are normally watch and see and try to sort things out daily. This impacts shares prices daily.

- Investors' Confidence of the Health of the Economy
Confidence here does not refers to blind faith about any data accuracy or completeness. I'm referring to the confidence in an economy. The stronger the economy, the stronger or more stable its currency. The higher the shares prices.

Strength about any economy can be estimated or projected from the leading economic indicators such as GDP(Gross Domestic Product) growth, Consumer Price Index (CPI), employment data, government policies changes, trade balance, current account balance, productivity...

Companies have good balance sheet, favorable financial ratios(assuming not window-dressed) like P/E, P/B, earning per share, impressive profit after tax..., budget surplus, consistently making profits despite bad economy...

Investors will likely to invest their money for listed-companies with histories of strong earnings track records like blue-chips and push up these companies shares prices.

However bear in mind that a company has made profits in the past not necessary mean it will continue to do so. Sometimes, the company may defending an upcoming big legal lawsuit, employees may threaten to go on strike or quit, profit margin has shrunken but generally the percentage of such things from happening are quite low. 5 per cents?

Judging from uncertainties ahead, risk-averse investors will most likely to put their investments to listed-companies with a steady cash flow and long history of earning track records.

- Local and World Economic Trends
An uptrend like anticipated business growth or economy recovery whilst a downtrend like a world recession. Generally, when US is in recession, this will impact global countries and push the shares prices down. Likewise, when US announced a better-than-expected growth or confirmation of out-of-recession, the global shares prices will likely follow-up with good news.

Therefore, investors will take their cue form key US economic data and acted on it.

- Regional Crisis
We have learned from sub-prime debacle, it started out just a domestic US mortgage problem but the effect spread so fast across the global like tsunami, this crisis triggered sell-offs in Asian equity market. Regional currency crisis back in July 1997 also caused similar problem in Asian equity markets.

- Inflation
Investors generally are concerns or worry about soaring inflation spurred by rising crude oil or high energy prices, combined with continues slowdown in the US economy will have a significant impact on regional economies and in turns the shares prices.

If government announced a harsher-than-expected tightening of monetary policy to fight inflation, this will further impact the shares market.

- Human Psychology
Human greed generally pushes up the shares price and fear of uncertainties and panic selling will generally pushes it down. Take note, greed can turns into grief if one do not take the opportunities to take profits when market is overheating. Bull run never last. Take the profits if the prices of the stocks are reasonably high within a short period. Likewise, reconsider accumulate good fundamentals stocks like blue-chips if prices fall unreasonable low within a short period. Consult your consultants when necessary.

- Market Rumours/Speculation
Generally it will drive the shares up or down depends on whether it is positive or negative news, novice investors or beginners should stay out of market rumours or speculations simply it is usually involves with a lot of uncertainties or risks.

Most of the time, rumour-mongers are up to something to achieve their motives, unfortunately this are true. When market rumours become too hot, these stocks become hot-stocks and people get burnt especially it has already passes down to many levels and it finally becomes distorted. Beware, blindly chasing the last passed-out rumours is as risky as playing with Russian's roulette. Amateur investor should minimize the market risks by not following the crowds.

Do your own research and understand companies fundamentals. Better relies on reliable information than rumours.

- Dividends Payout/Dividend Policy
When combined with low fixed/saving interest rate and inflation, shrinking dollars will likely to cause investors to park their money on high-paying dividends stocks or bonds to enjoy better return of their investments. Although the yield may not be high enough to shout about but it does provides a credible return under the current quiet market conditions. So, as long as the dividend return or yield is much higher than current bank interest or inflation rate, investor looking for regular returns will likely to invest these companies' shares and in turn pushes up these shares prices.

- Crude Oil Pricing.
By now, we probably heard enough of this, soaring crude oil prices had already pushed up inflation higher and cause essential household items to rise. When inflation level reaches to a critical stage, this will trigger trickle-down effect on goods and services, the opposition and ordinary people will vent their frustrations to their government, anti-government street protests will cause country to go chaotic and affect the sentiment of investors and affect shares prices.

Skyrocketing fuel prices will hurt almost all companies especially so to transport-related companies like airlines businesses because of higher operating costs, fuel accounts for more than 30 per cent of an airline's operating costs, which means most low-cost budget carriers already operating without much fat, so there is little left for them to trim. They will likely announce a significant drop of bottom-line figures, may even turn into big loses. Without doubt, this will affect their shares prices. Not surprisingly, most investors already dump these listed-companies' shares.

- Syndicates
Although it's pretty hard to pin-point who are they. They generally push penny stocks to astronomic heights and make it a 'hot-stock' with 'news' like company receiving big contracts, bonus issue, stock split, take-over or acquisition news but only to sell down later to make profits from unwary investors and finally the shares prices collapsed when the fact is out and small investors get caught with holding this high P/E penny stocks they purchased.

Beware of stocks suddenly traded record high volumes of activities without valid and satisfactory explanation. Don't follow the crowds.

- Interest Rates
Interest rates changes generally will impact sectors that are price-sensitive to their kind of business like banks and real estates, this in turn will affect their shares prices.

A big rise in interest rate will generally cause a sell-off/plunge of shares prices if all things are equal. The reverse is also true.

- Substantial Shareholders Transaction
When you see heavy 'insiders' buying/selling through price-sensitive announcements or 'intelligence' information, this is a strong buy/sell signal. Likely, the shares prices will go up/down even if the information is not acted on for a couple of months. Success investment is about how 'intelligence' is put to use. Some people are privileged to know what is about to happen. They make use of this 'intelligence' legally or illegally to their advantage. This is what happen in the stock market when the market 'insiders' get to know ahead of the public that certain company ‘will soon come to the primary market’ to raise money. In a bid to take full advantage of the discounts of the public offers, they will push the market price appreciably before technical suspension is imposed on the shares price.

- Buying/Selling Patterns of Institutional Investors
Institutional investors backed by big investment companies generally have big funds to change the course of action on a particular shares. Be it foreign funds, pension funds, mutual funds, unit trusts... Their buying/selling patterns in particular stocks are generally make stock prices rise or fall. Therefore, the amount of stocks they owned or dumped are generally a key factor investors should never overlook.

- Cutting-Edge Technology
One example is Apple's iPhone, Apple's shares price has gone up quite a bit when they announced this latest technological products last year.

- Holiday Sentiment
People do needs money to celebrate special festive seasons like Christmas, New Year celebration, long vacation holiday... So, in order to raise money to celebrate with this occasions, investors may sell some of their stocks into the market for sale. If majority of holiday makers do the same things, this may cause the shares prices to drop a bit, simply there are more sellers than buyers. This might explain why market tends to drop when long holiday is near.

Whatever the outcomes, be psychological prepared, a big rise in shares prices during the bull run may be a good time to unload especially penny stocks and turn paper gains to real profits, a dip in shares prices during bear run may be a good opportunity to pick-up bargains stocks like blue-chips left by those who have panicked.

Do analyze the market when investing. The market is your best teacher for shares investment, it is an instant feedback mechanism. If you make a mistake in shares investment and lose money, ask yourself "Where did my analysis go wrong? If each time you use 1 per cent of your investment money, you can afford to make 100 mistakes, instead of being wiped out by the first mistake. You should nibble in small amounts instead of committing large reserves.

Remember higher returns are accompanied by higher risks. Be prudence about your investments!

By the way, stock markets up/down are cyclical. No one can accurately 'predict' the market. If anyone who claims to is either a charlatan or naive. Although the market is quite cautious at the moment, I think one still can make money in the stock market during this periods, but one may have to climb a wall of worries and uncertainties to do so. Be a contrarian but cautiously beware the risks involved.

All the best with your investments!

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The Ten Biggest Stock Market Crashes of All Time

Some investors might think they have had a rough ride on the stock market over the past three or four months. But the recent share price gyrations pale into insignificance when compared with the biggest stock market falls of all time.

10) Wall Street 1901-03 -46% The market was spooked by the assassination of President McKinley in 1901, coupled with a severe drought later the same year.

9) Wall Street 1919-21 -46% There were fears that the new automobile sector was becoming overheated and that car ownership had reached saturation point.

8) Wall Street 1906-07 -48% Markets took fright after President Theodore Roosevelt had threatened to rein in the monopolies that flourished in various industrial sectors, notably railways.

7) Wall Street 1937-38 -49% This share price fall was triggerd by an economic recession and doubts about the effectiveness of Franklin D Roosevelt’s New Deal policy.

6) London 2000-2003 -52% The UK took sixth place in the table with a 52 per cent market fall between 2000 and 2003 as investors suffered the consequences of the collapse of the technology bubble

5) Hong Kong 1997-98 -64% The Hong Kong stock market’s heavy fall in 1997-1998 came as investors deserted emerging Asian shares, including a very overheated Hong Kong stock market

4) London 1973-74 -73% Next came the UK stock market’s 73 per cent drop in 1973 and 1974. set against the backdrop of a dramatic rise in oil prices, the miners’ strike and the downfall of the Heath government.

3) Japan 1990-2003 -79% In third place, with a 79 per cent decline, was the Japanese stock market, which suffered a protracted slide in price from 1990 to 2003 as a share and property price bubble burst and turned into a deflationary nightmare.

2) US Nasdaq 2000-2002 -82% The second biggest collapse came from the technology-rich US Nasdaq index, which fell by 82 per cent following the bursting of the dot.com bubble in 2000

1) Wall Street 1929-32 -89% The Wall Street Crash heads the list, with the US stock market falling by 89 per cent between 1929 and 1932. The bursting of the speculative bubble led to further selling as people who had borrowed money to buy shares had to cash them in in a hurry when their loans were called in.

David Shwartz, the stock market historian, says: “The very big stock market crashes are invariably triggered by a series of different events which unfold one after the other. For example the biggest UK stock market slump in 1973-74 was started by the fear of stagflation, but was then fuelled by the dramatic rise in oil prices of late 1973, followed by the Miners’ strike and the downfall of the Heath government.”One heavy blow is not enough to produce a market crash. It requires several different blows to bring a market to its knees.”

Source: www.investment-blogs.org

Signs of market overheating and impending stock market crash

When you hear the following signs in stock market, you know the market is overheating and the major correction or market crash is not far away.

1. Stock market soars to record high levels. Most stock analysts are very positive to forecast another record high level in the headline news. You hear every other days analysts forecast another new record high level. Rarely the warning of risk of investment are mentioned in their articles. They are overly-optimistic.

2. Majority of investors even common folks are very optimistic about stock market.

3. Media covers with many positive news about stock market. Stock market becomes the headline news. You see most stock market news are interpreted as positive, even occasionally negative news do not seem to affect the stock prices at all because the market is really 'hot'.

4. A lot of people talk about making 'fast and hugh' profit within a few days or even a single day. They are generally very optimistic about stock market than anything else. Stock market seem to be their first priority now.

5. Almost all stocks are over-valued and set another new record high, majority of investors are very positive even for high P/E penny stocks and expect a further rise in the stock prices. They are afraid of missing the 'bull ride'.

6. Many companies went IPO, almost all newly-listed IPO over-subscribed unprecedented.

7. Almost all newly listed IPOs stock surge in first day of trading. Some IPOs stocks even surge more than 50% within a day. Unbelievable but true.

8. Extreme high volumes traded almost on all stocks, historical low-volume stocks also see significant rise in volume traded.

9. Even ordinary folks who have very little knowledge about stock market suddenly just queue and buy stocks. They just buy stocks blindly based on rumors. They 'tasted' quick gain and most of the times they just have strong hope their stocks are likely to hit another record high, they will usually hold it instead of taking profit because greed already set in.

10. Suddenly a lot of new accounts are open with stockbroking companies so as to trade in the stock market. You hear, read and watch news about family took their life savings and put almost all in stocks investment and suddenly they give 'advices' to ordinary folks about getting rich with their money.

11. Most market experts will think market crash will falls to others but not them. They will say the bull market now is different from last time. The markets never change but they do. Despite their knowledge, they are still 'blinded' by the fact of risk of investment.

12. Maniacs and excessive irrational in stock market. People spends more times talking about making quick money from stock market than making decent living from their jobs.

13. When a lot of stock investors suddenly become 'rich' overnight. Making money appears to be so easy in stock market.

14. ....

When the above warning signs exist, you know the end of a bull market is very near and the start of a bear market will begin soon. Hopefully by learning these common warning signs, you can liquidate your stocks investment fast and take your profits early before the market heading for major correction or crash. Although you may not get out the best/peak time but you will be rest assured the money already cashed out to your banks. You don't want to get caught of still holding the over-valued stocks. When market crash, blue-chips stocks are not spared either.

There are always some warning/tell-tale signs before bull stock market heading to major correction or crashes. If you are astute enough to recognize these signs, likely you are already cashed out your profits and out for good.

When dealing with human psychology, greed pushes up the stock prices but fears pushed it down. Be cautious with your hard-earned money or life saving. Bull markets are not long-lasting. The reverse is also true.

All the best!


Attached video shows one of the investors invest all of her life saving in stock market. She voiced how she felt the pain of the markets recent tumble. Look like another painful lesson of not knowing the risks of investment when market is overheating. Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens every times when market is overly-optimistic. Someones will always get caught. Be cautious!

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Comparison of financial crises and Expected bank losses

(Click below chart to enlarge)

SIP versus active investing

By Vinod K Sharma

Systematic investment plan (SIP) is a popular investment strategy employed by a large mass of investors. Instead of making one lumpsum investment, investors put in a fixed sum of money each month, over a period of time. This system does away with the need to time the market.

Mutual fund managers find the strategy easy to sell because they harp on the age-old truth that nobody can time the market. Secondly, it addresses a large spectrum of clients ranging from anybody who can spare Rs 500 each month to the richest person in the world.

But there is a way of earning better returns than the SIP. We will come to that part later, but first, let’s understand the major features of the system.

SIP is only a methodology of investing. Investors must remember that merely investing through SIPs will not deliver the results. You need to choose the right scheme first. Money invested through a SIP will lose value if invested in the wrong scheme. So selection of the right scheme is the first job.

By opting to invest every month, you invest in a disciplined manner. This results in forced savings. As this is a monthly exercise, you tend to plan your expenditure and do not indulge in impulsive shopping.

Given an option, everyone would like to exit at the highest level and enter at the lowest. Unfortunately, no one has a crystal ball. So one can’t really time the market. But it is possible to give better returns than through SIP or investing in a lumpsum. Here’s how.

We turn the clock back and replay the current rally. It is May 1, 2003, the beginning of the rally. We give the SIP investor the benefit of hindsight and let him invest on May 1, 2003. Our SIP investor invests Rs 10,000 on the first of every month subsequently.

We save Rs 10,000 each month in our savings bank account. But we invest only 50 per cent of the amount saved if the Nifty falls 10 per cent from its high. If it falls another 10 per cent, we invest the rest. If, during the same month, the Nifty falls another 10 per cent, you have no money to invest and you have to let the opportunity pass as would happen to us in June 2006. You exit your positions only if you gain 50 per cent from the investment levels.

Here, our first opportunity to invest would have come only on January 22, 2004, when the Nifty finished 10 per cent lower from its January 9 high of 2,014. Bythen, we’d have accumulated Rs 90,000 in our savings bank account and invested 50 per cent of the money, that is, Rs 45,000 on January 23 in the Nifty. Though the low of Nifty on that day was 1,771, the actual closing was 1,847. And we have taken our investment at 1,847.

SIP V/S ACTIVE STRATEGY : How they compare
STRATEGY	Ann. Return over Period
	SIP	Nifty
SIP since May ’03	28%	39%
Invest at every 10% fall — from January 2004	33%	24%
Invest at 10% falls and book profit on 50% rise — from January 2004	48%	24%

Over all, during this period, we would have been rewarded with 12 such opportunities of investing and nine opportunities of disinvesting.

How do the returns compare? We find that the SIP has resulted in 28 per cent annualised return against 39 per cent of the Nifty. The annualised returns through an active investment plan were 48 per cent. You invested Rs 10,000 every month in an SIP, that is, Rs 5,10,000 and made a profit of Rs 4,16,000 as on Thursday, April 3, 2008.

In our theoretical active scheme, you had to invest only Rs 1,30,000 and would have still made Rs 3,88,000. Not a bad deal, I think. Source: business-standard.com