Tag: optimism

Papal Visit Philippines 2015 Special: Investing in the Haiyan – Ravaged City of Tacloban

This is a post, a part of a series, to commemorate the Pope’s visit to the Philippines on January 15-19 2015.

 

The highlight of the Pope’s visit in the Philippines was his trip to Tacloban, otherwise known as ground-zero of the Haiyan devastation. On the day the Pope visited Tacloban, another storm hit the city. Interestingly, the storm was named locally as “Amang”, which translates to Father in English. The storm cut the Pope’s Tacloban visit short, killed a woman volunteer, and caused a plane carrying government officials to skid off the runway.

The Pope in a raincoat, as he waves to a crowd after holding a mass in an airport in Tacloban City, Philippines on January 17, 2015. Image from Damir Sagolj/Reuters

 

The Pope’s visit gives residents of Tacloban hope and inspiration as they continue to rebuild their city.

There’s another thing that Tacloban needs — Investment. As the parable goes (and I am paraphrasing here), the people of Tacloban don’t only need fish, they also need the means to fish. On the 20th of November 2014, another event gave the people in Tacloban hope. It was the opening of a large mutli-level grocery store. Continue reading Papal Visit Philippines 2015 Special: Investing in the Haiyan – Ravaged City of Tacloban

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It’s January… time for the “January effect”.

The January effect pertains to the stock rally usually observed during the first month of the year. These are some of the reasons attributed to this:

 

  • Investors sell off their stocks in December to create losses to offset some of their gains for the year. They do this to reduce taxes. Investors start buying again in January which leads to a rally.
  • During the holidays, people are busy with holiday-related activities such as shopping, partying, vacationing, etc. People also use most of their available funds for holiday spending. In January, people may be more focused on the market. Those who experienced spending “fatigue” may use their available funds to invest instead when January comes.
  • People  who “promise” to themselves that they will start investing will likely do so at the start of the year. After all, “New Year’s resolutions” are executed in January. This is the time when people start doing responsible activities such as exercising, dieting, taking up a new hobby, organizing stuff… and investing.
  • Investors tend to be optimistic at the start of the year. This optimism leads to a rally.

 

Start watching the markets, and you might just catch a rally.