Bear and Bull of The Philippine Stock Market

Author: Dennison Uy

18 Aug

So I started trading stocks online via Philstocks.PH last week amidst a plunging market and ended with a loss. I was very hesitant as I have been monitoring the market for over a month and I did not foresee it going up any time soon.

So anyway I took my friend’s advice and bought some PLDT Stock (PSE: TEL). Check it out and notice the HUGE HUGE DIP mid-August. Yeah, that’s when I bought it. Not too shabby though because I will regain actually 76% of my loss back once they pay dividend.

As I am no stock expert I really appreciate the advice of veteran players likeBig Big Trade when it comes to this game. Yes it’s all just a game to me and I want to play smart. Here’s how it works:

On Thursday, August 16, I posted a BUY for 20 shares of TEL at 2,400 PHP when the share price back then was 2,630+ PHP. On Friday, the stock plunged down to 2,400 PHP so I was able to buy it from the suckers who sold it (just kidding!). It continued to plunge below 2,400 PHP closing at 2,295 PHP which is well below 2,300 PHP. However, PLDT is supposed to hand out cash dividends before the end of August, which, according to my friend, is going to be at 100 PHP per share.

So, I went in at:

2,400 PHP x 20 shares = 48,000 PHP

Right now, the value of my portfolio is at:

2,295 PHP x 20 shares = 45,900

So, I’ve lost a total of 2,100 PHP. HOWEVER:

100 PHP x 20 shares = 2,000 PHP

Hence, my loss is actually:

2,100 PHP - 2,000 PHP = 100 PHP

That, plus the fact that PSE will surely rebound in due time. At least, I hope it does! Anyway please do note that I am merely a sheep following my shepherd so I really don’t know anything about what’s going on.

I still have a lot of questions, such as the following:

Why did my friend say that TEL will be giving away a dividend of 100 PHP / share when on the dividends page it only says 60 PHP / share (regular) and 40 PHP / share (special)?
What’s the difference between “regular” and “special” dividends?
Why does my dashboard say that the net market value of my TEL position is 45,524 PHP when I own 20 shares at 2,295 PHP per share? I mean shouldn’t it be 45,900 PHP?

Can somebody please enlighten me?

4 Responses for "Bear and Bull of The Philippine Stock Market"

Dennison Uy - Graphic Designer August 29th, 2007 at 6:42 pm 1
Hey Luke thanks for the advice! I totally agree with you that it can be a great rush. I am constantly resisting the urge to buy a certain stock. It’s a good thing I always ask my friend for advise so he can put sense into me! By the way I see I commented on your blog before. Thanks for dropping by. Nice blog by the way. Cheers
Luke L August 29th, 2007 at 9:26 am 2
Playing the stock market can be a great rush, but just remember to be careful. I had one friend put their entire redundancy pay (£10,000) in shares only to lose it a week later. But for smaller amounts, it’s brilliant.
Dennison Uy - Graphic Designer August 20th, 2007 at 3:49 am 3
Hey thanks for dropping by Shawn.
shawn August 19th, 2007 at 4:50 pm 4
hey thats a great information and i really appreciate for providing so much information about trading stocks , i just hope that people keep doing such research on shares.
To share more information about trading in stock u can check this website which will provide different ideas in stock