EOD Update (8 Feb 2007)

Our CI managed to move up slightly again today. As for my portfolio, UEMWRLD and FABER were the major movers, both putting on close to 30c. For FABER, this can be considered the first real breakout day, but for UEMWRLD ... I just wonder at its relentless pace. I suppose this is normal for a genuine bull run. MUHIBAH also continued its recent move by putting on another 20c today.

Many people are now wondering just how long the good times can roll on like that. Most people I know are skeptical, but you can't argue with the market and it serves no purpose. Many who have been sitting patiently since 900 and waiting for a major correction are either pulling their hair out or are slowly pulling the trigger now. Just a quick trade here and there ... before long the positions build up and we all know how that ends when the major correction really comes.

Not that I'm saying no one should buy anything now though, generally things still look ok, but caution is required. A lot of people diligently monitor the US and Shanghai markets for signs of weakness, but I think they're missing something else. The Vietnam index has been on a multi-year bull run. Last year, its main index was up 144% and to date I think its up another 30% or so. Many pundits agree its being held up by irrational exuberance, a lot of free cash from a booming economy and an inexperienced retail public which has just discovered a fun new way to make easy money. I'm told a host of stocks have increased ten-fold in price.

All these could mean a major market bust somewhere down the line. There's nothing like a catastrophic emerging market bust to remind foreign institutions about the dangers which come with investing in this part of the world. We've all seen what even a policy change in Thailand did to Asian stocks recently. So, better keep an eye on the party over there...

No trades today. Oh yeah, some people have been asking me how come I trade so infrequently even though the market is so hot. I think when they just look at my recent posts, they've somehow forgotten that I have a portfolio which has been built over a pretty long time (this is probably partly my fault, since I do not post up my portfolio). So, by just looking at my recent purchases, they think I only have a few stocks in hand, which is not the case. It's just that I did a lot of my buying earlier. At the moment, I'm pretty happy just riding my portfolio, with some tweaks here and there.


/ichithekiller