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 2026 Iran War Audit vs. OFW-Reliant Pinoy Pride Economists

It's a shame, really, that I didn't think about writing this article on OFWs again. I got somewhat fixated on the  gas prices , and my mind was exhausted. I thought about how I even asked, " Will #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba economics even lower down the prices of gasoline? " It's one thing that the Philippines has been overly reliant  on the Middle East for gasoline. What I overlooked was the OFW phenomenon again . It was so easy to hype on the OFW phenomenon, like what happened with the Filipino nurse, Ello Ed Mundsel Bello, way back in 2015. The OFW hype would've compounded the Philippine economy's "reliance model" to a whole new level of bottleneck!  Analyzing the bottleneck of relying on the Middle East It's already a known fact that several OFWs are sent to the Middle East. I even remember running across a presumably retired dancer who would be 64 today, on Facebook. The guy actually bragged about how he was a dancer at the Excelsior Hotel in...

A Destructive Obsession with Ayuda (Cash Handouts)

IBON Foundation Yesterday, I decided to write about how Pinoy Pride won't help pay that enormous PHP 13.42 Trillion debt . I thought I'd probably take a bit of a break to do some more research. However, I feel the need to write this post today since one of IBON Foundation's articles says that there's a destructive fetish for foreign investment . Then, another of IBON Foundation's articles says that there's money for Ayuda . I really feel insulted reading these since I'm a Masters Degree graduate in the School of Business and Economics. This really shows the destructive obsession with ayuda (cash handouts) and protectionism. IBON Foundation Above is one of IBON Foundation's charts. Some people on Facebook have gone as far as to call them Birdbrain Foundation. So what if there's money for ayuda or cash handouts? The problem here is that "think tanks" like IBON Foundation want to make it look like ayuda is more important. If asked to account ...

How is IBON Foundation Viewing and/or Representing FDI in Their Articles?

Some time ago, I wrote about why I can't take IBON Foundation seriously . As the battle for economic charter change is on, I believe it's time to tackle them again. They're tweeting here and there. Okay, I'm no researcher or organization. However, it doesn't mean that I can't do some basic research, share the research of others, and read other books. Even an intellectually stupid person can actually make sense if they gather the best materials. I even recall someone I know who's not intelligent but he actually spoke well about career opportunities, in the very school where he wasn't performing well! Trying to understand IBON's data presentation  I would like to address how IBON Foundation presents FDI growth. They would say stuff such as the claim job creation weakened despite FDI growth .  I was looking at IBON Foundation's claim (above) where it says that job creation allegedly weakened despite FDI inflows. Sure, they named sources but do they ...

"Will #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba Economics Lower Philippine Gas Prices?

Inquirer Gasoline prices have increased again, haven't they?  A few days ago, I wrote  why #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba's view of gas prices is questionable . Today, I feel like writing this after several complaints on Facebook. I would like to create a follow-up post. People are complaining too much without understanding the real reason why some countries have lower prices of gasoline. Real talk. We need to talk about economic policies,  and  of course, please do a study on supply-demand analysis  on supply chain management . Let's examine the complaints made by Bulatlat Bulatlat Here's a chart from Bulatlat that compares the increase in prices of gasoline between the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia. It's always problematic when people ignore simple economics. It's funny, but Bulatlat mentions this on their website: Note also how expensive our diesel and gasoline products are compared to those of our ASEAN neighbors. The estimated common price today of diesel in...

Why I Don't See IBON Foundation as a Real Economic "Think TanK'

It's one thing to criticize presidents for their performance. It's another without analyzing the data. Sure, we need to study mathematics but the way it's presented can be a reason why it's hated. I felt that high school mathematics focused too much on numbers. Mathematics, in all its aspects, is part of life. Trigonometry is part of life. Calculus is part of life. Statistics is part of life. Speaking of statistics, I was thinking about how IBON Foundation has given its assessment of Duterte's administration. This isn't to say that outgoing President Rodrigo R. Duterte hasn't made mistakes. Rather, this is to point out how IBON Foundation has that tendency to be illogical. IBON Foundation (click to enlarge) This data by IBON Foundation was gathered. I'm not saying that the figures are lies or manipulated. My problem with how IBON Foundation works is their failure to account for the cause and effect  more often than not.  Malaya Business Insight It's ...