Family of Four

Quicksand and Reflux

Just when you thought it was safe to get back into the waters…..

After a mere five days, the Bursa is back in quicksand and suffering from a reflux of losses. Early morning trading saw the Bursa took a terrible beating with a shocking loss of more than 30 points on the index. The gains of the last 5 days for most counters were drastically reduced or erased. By 12.00 p.m., the Bursa lost 39 points.

As expected, those who made the most gains like Genting, Resort, DIGI, Transmil and Bursa took the brunt. Second liners also ceded back almost all of their gains. Except for a few counters which made substantial gains and you could profit-take yesterday morning, most of the recent players are just “not out of the woods” yet. They can only take losses if they exit at this point.

So, what is eating the market again? Wall Street? It again shows that our market lacks depth. The local fund managers and institutional buyers are insufficient in numbers and capacity to vigorously stem off any ‘blood-letting’ caused by heavy selling by foreign funds. It’s about time that the local investing community put together their act to ensure this yo-yo effect be minimized by some rules. Study best practices overseas and apply it but be transparent.

With baited breath, I await the afternoon session. Will it go into remission and bounce back or slipped away further into terra infirma?

The afternoon saw the same trading pattern. Global markets all went south. The loss leaders remained the same. Maybank lost 50 sen and Bursar 70 sen. Market ended down 33.63 points.

Predictions for tomorrow? I see there will more selling until the fears of the 'mortgage debacle' lifts in world markets. The good news is Wall Street has recovered though European markets are still on a losing streak!

We can only hope that selling will cease soon for the market to quickly find a new base and possibly regain some losses.

Quote of the Day:

“If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up.” J.M. Power

Heartsong