Shaun T. Dy's Business & Economics Perspective Blog

Forex Factory I was looking at my GInvest funds and wondering, "Should I still be buying more?" Right now, what I'm doing is to value cost average . That is, it's best to invest a certain sum per month and buy more during a crash. Though, some people prefer to keep it safe by cost averaging. I was looking at my three recent investments (aside from AXA Chinese Tycoon Fund) are namely the ATRAM Philippine Equity Smart Index Fund, and the two feeder funds namely (1) ATRAM Consumer Trends Feeder Fund, and (2) ATRAM Global Technology Feeder Fund. So far, my invested amount has had a slight profit as technology stocks have rallied. The Investopedia defines the bear market rally as: Bear market rally refers to a sharp, short-term rebound in share prices amid a longer-term bear market decline . Bear market rallies are treacherous for investors who mistakenly come to believe they mark the end of an extended downturn. As the primary bearish trend reasserts itself, the disappoin

  I think it can be a heated debate at times between (1) cost averaging and (2) buying low and then selling high strategies. I was looking at what Warren Buffett said with this: If you like spending six to eight hours per week working on investments, do it. If you don’t, then dollar-cost average into index funds . I prefer to call it simply cost averaging. It's where one puts the same amount of money per month for a selected period of time. It's like the PHP 8,000.00 rule where one may choose to invest PHP 1,000.00 for eight months or PHP 2,000.00 for four months in buying stocks. Meanwhile, Buffett advises that most people should buy index funds instead. I decided to get the Philippine Equity Smart Index Fund via cost averaging and did some lump sums during the crash.  Cost averaging is pretty much a safer way to avoid timing the market . The market moves not just during the opening but also during the closing . That's why I pretty much want to avoid playing casino with da

I remembered writing some time ago about people who panic sell (read here ). It's amazing how these know-nothings try to show themselves as "financial managers" (read here ). I find it really amazing these people talk like they know better than Warren Edward Buffett. Months ago, I remembered this was what the stock market looked like... Business World Online There were lots of panic and sarcastic yeheys when the figure above happened last May 2022. I'm amazed at the economic literacy of the comments in regard to the stock market's status . I bet these people bought stocks in bulk when everything was in green. I bet they were expecting that all the money will return fast. Though, there's the possibility that these people were doing day-to-day trading--something that I wouldn't recommend (read here ) I think they want to get rich quick out of stocks. Chances are they probably sold all their stocks at a loss and are probably gambling instead (read here ). Som

One of the biggest misconceptions that I kept hearing is "Investment is only for the rich." It's a very common thing when I told some of my fellow Filipinos to learn to invest their money. Why is investment often thought of as "just for the rich"?  Here are some reasons I feel are  misconceptions that many Filipinos have   concerning investments: Investment is often thought of as investing in huge amounts of money. This has been true whether the investments would be bonds, stocks, and/or insurance.  Investment is often thought of as building a million-dollar business.  It's very easy to hear the statement, "Invest? I don't have a million pesos!" This brings up the irony that I've observed about turning down investment in favor of gambling (read here ). I remembered laughing while writing that article (all the while I was having my house repaired). Are they waiting until they win a million PHP in the lottery, jueteng, mahjong, etc. before th

It's nearly the end of July and I feel we need some lessons in temperament n investing. I wanted to recall some bad experiences I had with finances (as well as other life decisions) due to a bad temperament. It was a bad temperament that caused me to get cheated out of cash by a family friend. It was a bad temperament that caused me to nearly join pyramiding scams (read here ). Now, I decided to take a look at a post on Facebook a few weeks ago   that shows so much economic illiteracy and poor temperament ... Simply, I just can't help but laugh (or cringe) at the comments written here. Dare to read them on Facebook if you dare. What can truly be astounding is the bad temperament of those people. It's very contradictory to what Warren Edward Buffet said namely, "The most important quality for an investor is temperament, not intellect. You need a temperament that neither derives great pleasure from being with the crowd or against the crowd. " Yet, the cringeworth

I think one of the most misunderstood rules is the PHP 8,000.00 rule. One reason why I decided to reach at least PHP 8,000.00 for my three GInvest funds (ATRAM Global Consumer Trends Feeder Fund, ATRAM Global Technology Feeder Fund, and the Philippine Equity Smart Index Fund) is because of that rule. Though, some people tend to misinterpret it that they shouldn't enter the stock market (in any way either through DIY trading or buying an index fund) until they have PHP 8,000.00. Personally, I took advantage of GInvest's minimum start-up for the local fund (start with PHP 50.00 but it's not going to grow big with just that) and the feeder funds with PHP 1,000.00 each. What I did (instead) was to slowly invest money until the minimum was met.  Why do I feel waiting until you have PHP 8,000.00 before you invest in a bad rule? The fees are there, yes, but you may not be able to take advantage of the low dips . The market is rather unpredictable with the supply and demand. Stocks

It's the bear market which is where financial experts like Warren Edward Buffett would recommend buying undervalued stocks from good companies (read here ). Recently, I decided to invest in the Philippine Equity Smart Index Fund (read here ). It's pretty much the recommendation of Buffett for most investors who don't have the time or energy to do so. Buying the Philippine Equity Smart Index Fund from ATRAM would give bits and pieces of the Top 30 companies that comprise the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi). I also felt it would be time to discuss daily stock trading. I heard of people who trade stocks daily. However, hearing Buffett's advice to buy and hold for the long term with this quote: If you aren't willing to own a stock for ten years , don't even think about owning it for ten minutes .  Such a principle is all about long-term investing. I decided to go through Motley Fool and found on why day trading differs from investing:  Day trading vs. inves

123RF The bear market is far from over, right? I wouldn't be surprised if some people are now blaming incumbent Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. for the stock market condition. Some people even blamed former Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. Maybe, some people felt that the late Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III was to credit for the stock market going up in the first 100 days-- something I find ridiculous. The bear market is in and it's no surprise that social media gossipers are spreading, well, gossip, on Facebook . That's why I wrote about how social media gossipers are poor economists (read here ) and terrible financial advisers (read here ). Sadly, some social media gossipers are even highly educated people . So, we're still in the bear market and it's far from over .  Here's the latest report for today to think about... The latest update has it that the PSEi has closed with a score of 6,209.53 where it went down by 53.86 point