Skip to main content

I'm Trying to Understand the Tech Stock Decline (and Why I Might Recommend Buying More Tech Stocks)

Live Index

Yes, the global stock market is currently down. There's no use for the Filipino people to blame President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. for that matter. At this point, I'm still invested in the ATRAM Global Technology Feeder Fund (read here). Right now, I've observed the trend went downward. After the CrowdStrike outage and some problems at Microsoft--I expected that there would be a downward turn. The reasons why stocks appreciate and depreciate are company performance, investor sentiments, industry performance, and economic factors. All these drive the supply and demand up and down. With what happened to Microsoft and CrowdStrike, the setback may have caused people to sell off their Microsoft stocks. In turn, the supply of Microsoft stocks will increase again and the demand will lessen due to investor sentiments.

As I Googled "Why must the stock market go down", I ran across the four reasons that the stock market is plunging this 2024. One of the reasons is because of the technology stock sector. Here's what's written and it would make sense why technology stocks are currently down, blaming it on high expectations:

Some of the worst-hit stocks during the rout can be found in the tech sector, with the so-called Magnificent Seven, a group of tech stocks including Amazon, Apple and Nvidia, among the market's worst performers on Monday. Nvidia, the chip company whose technology powers artificial intelligence, has shed 23% of its value since July 31. 

Prior to last week, these stocks had been among the year's best performers, which meant that Wall Street had lofty expectations for their revenue and profit growth. And while their earnings reports have been solid so far this year, they haven't wowed investors.

"Even if earnings come in as expected, the valuation multiples are so high that it's hard to sustain" those prices, PNC's Agati said. "Investors are panicking, and this is a really rapid sentiment shift."

She added, "We don't think the underlying fundamentals support this shift. For the most part, the Magnificent Seven have been fine in terms of earnings results."

It's easy to have high expectations in the tech sector. I invested some money in the ATRAM Global Technology Feeder Fund and the AXA Global Opportunity Fund for that reason. However, we must understand that what goes up, must come down. The Microsoft problem is just one of them. People have been using Microsoft for a long time.  

May 2022


If we take a look at this sample allocation done by ATRAM--it can be easy to tell why it went down. Microsoft and Apple are in the list. You have Alphabet (Google) and Amazon. It would mean that these sectors are all affected. If the companies are reliant on Microsoft and Crowdstrike--I can just expect that a global outage shifted consumer sentiments. It can say, "Oh no! What are we going to do?" for those companies. Flaws and setbacks are bound to happen every now and then. That's why there's always the need for updates and double-checking. For some people, they may be looking at this as a temporary setback. They would think that Microsoft will eventually bounce back.

Pretty much, here's what CBS News' Aimee Picchi would recommend for those who are currently invested: 
First it's important to understand that stock downturns — even sharp ones — are common. Although the S&P 500 is down roughly 8% from its peak in July, drops in equity prices of 5% or more have occurred at least once a year for the past four decades, according to Oxford Economics. Market corrections, or a drop of at least 10% from their highs, occur an average of every one and half to two years, the firm said in a report

But even bear markets, or when stocks decline at least 20% from their peak, are normal and aren't a reason to panic, experts say. While the temptation might be to sell, it's best to resist that urge, especially for people saving for the long-term such as for retirement. Market timing, or trying to buy and sell stocks to capture gains and avoid losses, is notoriously difficult and can lead to lost opportunities, research from Charles Schwab has found.

"If you are a long term investor, take a deep breath — it is very scary, I get it," Jill Schlesinger, the business analyst for CBS News, told the network. "As long as you are in a long-term portfolio, you shouldn't worry."

Moving into cash "is never a good investment," added PNC's Agati. That's especially the case when the Fed is widely expected to cut rates as early as September, which will reduce the returns for savings accounts and money market funds. 

"If you are worried about your retirement plan, I wouldn't be pulling the plug and moving to cash," Agati added, noting that he would look at investment-grade fixed income investments or U.S. Treasuries because they may provide more attractive yields moving forward.

Popular posts from this blog

The Tragic Windfall of the Late Flor Contemplacion's Family

PEH.ph Last year, I wrote an article talking about Flor Contemplacion crybabies spreading fake news for 30 years . I noticed that the movie could be watched for free on YouTube (which is one hour and 52 minutes long), and the one that you had to pay for via rent or personal soft copy ( which is two hours and two minutes long). I was looking into the film and realized the "for free" version lacks the exaggerated water dunking and electrocution torture scene, which I believe is available, which is a ten-minute difference. I remember seeing the old version where Flor was tortured by Singaporean police via water dunking and electrocution, to get an answer out of her. The famous line by the late Nora Aunor was, "I did not kill anybody!" It's 31 years, and I don't expect the fake news about Flor to stop just because  it's past 30. No, fake news is that hard to kill even in the digital age. It reminds me of the fate of Flor's sons , where one of them, Sandr...

Trying to Plan Out What to Do as a Bull Market Starts

I was laughing just thinking about ignorance about the bear and bull markets. Yes, we know about social media gossipers (seldom called a marites in Filipino) tend to spread gossip. I ran into several people panicking when the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) was mostly red. Others would panic but Warren Edward Buffett recommends, "Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful." That's the best market timing. Some people do cost averaging because it's practically less risky in contrast to lump sum investing. Buffett recommends that non-technical people should periodically invest in a low-cost index fund over a period of ten years.  Now, the Philippine Star has an article by Wilson Sy, where the first paragraph talks about the Philippines' entry towards the bull market : Most stock markets have undergone a dramatic shift to start the year, transitioning from a bear market to a bull market. Peak inflation, a slower pace of interest rate h...

Is Jollibee "Invading" South Korea Now as It's About to Acquire 70% of Shabu All Day?

I must confess that I find this new rather hilarious . It's because the word shabu is often associated with drugs. All the while, shabu shabu is a Korean delicacy! Well, I'm going to say that Jollibee Foods Corporation has now become a multinational buyer . Jollibee acquired 70% of Compost Coffee back in 2024 . This year, Jollibee as a multinational corporation is now acquiring Shabu All Day for PHP 5.1 billion pesos. Is Jollibee checkmating South Korea or is the Philippines conquering South Korea not just by OFWs but als through Jollibee? The answer is still no. From GMA News , we can read this article by Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas: Under the deal, Shabu All Day will be consolidated into Jollibee Foods Corp.’s (JFC) financial statements immediately upon completion of the acquisition for a total consideration equivalent to KRW127 billion. Completion of the transaction is subject to closing and financing conditions. The acquisition is expected to lead to a 2% jump in revenues, incre...

Sentimentalism Over Adobe Could've Killed My Finances

Why did I drop Adobe? It's because the subscription rate is rather ridiculous (read here ). That's why I'd recommend shifting to Affinity Photo for a one-time purchase (that's probably until a super new version comes out). I looked into this video, thinking about how Adobe was once my get-go. I remember recommending Adobe Photoshop to people--whenever I saw people using Microsoft Paint. Adobe Photoshop was the get-go. I often called it "MS Paint but much better."  Eventually, I Googled for "Adobe Photoshop substitutes" and discovered Affinity Photo . True, Affinity Photo can't do animated GIFs . However, one could still draw several frames and get some other program, or an online service to create animated GIFs. I tried Affinity Photo and got convinced that buying it at USD 25.30 (price may increase any time soon). Affinity Photo was learning all over again. However, it was worth relearning since I'm not a professional graphic artist. I just ...

Trying to Understand More About the Philippine Equity Smart Index Fund

There was a time when I had some excess savings. I was worried my money was getting idle . Sure, savings is king but letting it sit idle in a savings account can be a bad thing. Sure, I'm having my AXA Chinese Tycoon Fund for some time and I haven't withdrawn a single cent from it. I decided to use GCash and found out how it's actually convenient. With GCash, there's also GInvest. One of GInvest's greatest products for me to indirectly get into stocks would be the Philippine Equity Smart Index Fund. I placed a few pesos at first because of the low rate. However, I decided to aim to invest at least PHP 1,000.00 per month (or more during a dip but not too much either) or reach a certain target before the year ends. Of course, I've got to curb my impulsive behavior by choosing not to invest too much and not have savings. The ATRAM Philippine Equity Smart Index Fund combines both active and passive investment. Some people prefer purely active or purely passive. It...