Even the ghosts are bullish

Part of my induction onto the main trading floor of the Philippine Stock Exchange was an intro to the phenomenon of “Ghost Month”.

According to Chinese tradition, which is exceptionally strong in the Philippines, late August ushers in Ghost Month on the Chinese lunar calendar.  If folklore is to be believed, it’s bad luck to buy things, bad luck to start new business, and bad luck to do much of anything during Ghost Month.

As a result, investor activity dries up so much the mutual fund managers pack their bags and go on vacation.

A glance at any annual stock chart sure seems to confirm something funky about the past few Augusts, although I suspect the Sub Prime and Credit Crisis ghosts had something to do with it.

In any event we weren’t anticipating fireworks on the trading floor.

Ghost Busters?

Since the beginning of Ghost Month last week:

• Benpres Holdings (BPC) just hit an 18 month high
• FilInvest (FLI) just hit its 2 year high
• Nihao Mineral Resources (NI) hit its 16 month high
• Paxys Corp (PAX) hit its 12 month high
• Pepsi (PIP) hit its 10 month high
• Universal Robina (URC) hit its 10-month high
• Vista Land (VLL) hit its 2 year high…

Meanwhile real estate firms (previously dead as a zombie), construction firms (formerly as promising as a haunted house)  and cement firms (dried and petrified for 2 years) have all come to life and unmistakably turned up.

Even my Chinese colleagues are wondering what’s going on (although I have to confess the strategist lobe in my brain asserts we’ve been had,  this is a Sun Tzu, Art of War thing).

Undaunted, the old-timer at our trading desk quipped, “It’s a good sign when even the ghosts are buying.”

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E. M. M.

August Philippine Stock Market Update:  Good to Gargantuan

E. M. Murray--Managed Accounts featuring Fixed Downside Risk