Dangerous times
From what has been happening in the market and elsewhere, the times are getting more and more dangerous. To the horror of businessman and friend Albert de Rivera, he was burglarized in his visit last week to the Valle Verde Country Club in Pasig City where he is a regular patron and long-time member of good standing.
When he came back to dress up after a dip in the pool, he was shocked to find out that his locker had been forcibly opened inside the country club’s private dressing room. He was already distressed when his wallet and two cellular phones were missing. He was further terrified to discover that the keys of his car were missing as well.
To his relief, his car was still at the parking lot where he left it. A closer inspection, however, showed that the car had been opened. It was a puzzle why the burglar did not steal the car. Most likely, he may have his own ride and that the “loot” in his hands was already “a good catch for the day” that he decided to leave the car along with Rivera’s wrist watch and pocket wifi.
The answer to the question—and to Rivera’s further horror—came the following day. The thief went on a shopping spree, mostly in the Greenhills area. The thief “bought units of the latest smart phones from Apple and Samsung, three travel tickets from Agoda Hotels and Travels, took a break at Starbucks, gassed up his ride, bought jewelry on sale in pawnshops,” to mention a few.
The total bill charged to his credit cards amounted to “about P221,000” and the buying binge happened “in short time intervals of about 15 to 20 minutes,” according to Rivera.
One of the credit cards was actually a debit card. The thief seemed to be well informed and knew how to use the debit card without the required PIN—he went online.
The purchases are now the subject of resolution between the credit card companies and Rivera. The latter claims he had properly reported the loss and gave instructions to block the use of the credit cards. And if there was ever any miscommunication committed, Rivera insisted that the frequency and magnitude of the purchases alone should have been warning enough of their irregularity. It should have been incumbent upon the credit card companies to disallow the transactions.
Also, a personal verification protocol should have been applied immediately. Inaccessibility of the cardholder should have triggered a block on the use of the credit card, he added. The circumstances surrounding the matter, according to the credit card companies, still have to be investigated and verified more closely.
Latest investigation report showed the thief was caught in CCTV footage in the gas station, in the various stores he visited and in Valle Verde Country Club. The thief seemed to be in his forties and appeared properly dressed. Accordingly, the images may lead to the thief’s identification and, possibly, immediate arrest.
The incident is proving to be a harrowing experience to Rivera and his family. The action he has received so far from concerned parties has not been as encouraging as he had wanted. They are now sapping him physically and mentally.
Parallel situation
We have a similar situation in the market. Its continued weakness is sapping the energy and prospects of investors. The market tried to rally last Tuesday and Wednesday but didn’t have enough volume and amount of business turnover to sustain its momentum. As a result, the market fell back to 6,850.61 last Friday and ended with a weekly loss of 66.94 points or 0.97 percent.
Three weeks ago, the market showed some promise to a comeback trail. It made a strong weekly gain that catapulted it back to the bullish psychological level of 7,000. This happened on the back of a large inflow of local money that entered the market during the week. The transactions came from special block sales on selected stocks.
These transactions even neutralized the usual decline experienced by the market when foreign investors’ trading activities turned south as net sellers in the market. The market had an average daily transaction of P18.8 billion.
The gain was completely lost two weeks ago when average daily transaction reverted to P7.15 billion and foreign investors’ continued to be net sellers for the period. The market continued to slide lower last week with average daily transaction further going down to P6.54 billion. The market’s decline was largely caused by the net selling activities of foreign investors, whose market participation also rose to 55.93 percent from an average 48.61 percent in the prior two weeks.
With this development, the market appears to be precariously moving closer and closer to a reversal of status and trend.
As of last Friday, the market was down 15.81 percent from its peak, which is about 3.59 percent away from a possible bear market, following the general rule that a 20-percent drop from the peak of a market is the common technical definition of a bear market.
Bottom line spin
Actually, when the market reached the peak of 8,136.97 on April 10, it has also dropped since then. Its lowest close for the year was at 6,791.01 on Aug. 24. Between the two points, the market has fallen by as much as 1,345.96 points or 16.54 percent. This makes the market only 0.73-percent higher than last Friday’s close.
Again, this week should be crucial for the market as with my friend Albert de Rivera. It could prove to be a period of quick recovery to normalcy. Or, it could continue to be a slow crawl toward a fruitless effort of recovery.
The writer is a licensed stockbroker of Eagle Equities Inc. You may reach the Market Rider at [email protected] , [email protected] or at www.kapitaltek.com
