Reports and forecasts good for…?

Thursday, April 10, 2008
On April 7, when the stock market was on the rise after a long time of sliding, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) released a report with pessimistic forecasts about the world’s stocks, including Viet Nam’s. The report has raised questions about the consistency of HSBC’s reports about Viet Nam’s market.

In its report released in early January 2008 about investment strategies for the first quarter of 2008, HSBC, as an investor, did not put high expectations on Vietnam’s market. High risks from inflation and high stock prices were the two factors that made the group decide to lower its investment ratio in Vietnam from 2% to 0.5%. However, the report still predicted that the VN Index would hit 1,100 points by the end of 2008.

The report was named: “Pan-Asian Equity Strategy: Snakes and Ladders”.

In the first quarter of the year, the group continuously released reports about Vietnam or reports that mentioned Vietnam’s situation. On February 29, 2008, HSBC, for the first time, added Vietnam to the list of recommended Asian investment addresses (referred to as ‘OverWeight’).

The report said that Vietnam’s stock market was in the final stage of its period of decline, advising investors to buy stocks at that moment, especially technologies stocks.

The report was named: “Al-Asia Insight”.

In “Vietnam Monitor” (the latest volume was released on April 2, 2008), the group reiterated its prediction that the VN Index would hit the 1,100 point threshold.

As such, through the end of the first quarter of 2008, HSBC’s viewpoint about Vietnam’s stock market was always consistent, though the market frequently fluctuated during that time.

Abrupt about-face

However, in its Q2 report released on April 7, HSBC forecast that the VN Index would only hit 600 points instead of 1,100 points by the end of 2008, and 750 points instead of 1,300 in 2009.

There was no big change in the team that made the series of reports. The team of the February 29 report was Garry Evans, Steven Sun, Akane Nishizaki, Jacqueline Tse, Vivek Misra, and Leo Li. All except Vivek Misra contributed to the report released April 7.

Reports good for…?

In early January, when the VN Index hovered around 900 points, HSBC gave an optimistic prediction that the VN Index would be 1,100 points by the end of 2008. After that, the index began sliding continuously sliding, under 870 points, 850 and then 800.

At the end of February, HSBC advised investors to buy stocks, but the market dropped even further, bottoming out below the 500-point threshold, at 496.64 points, on March 25.

Its latest report, released on April 7, HSBC advised investors to reduce share purchases. However, investors did not do as advised. Foreign investors still purchased big volumes. On April 9, foreign investors purchased nearly 1/3 of the total trading volume at the HCM City Stock Exchange. (VNN)Vietnam Business Finance - http://www.vnbusinessfinance.com
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Reports and forecasts good for…?

On April 7, when the stock market was on the rise after a long time of sliding, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) released a report with pessimistic forecasts about the world’s stocks, including Viet Nam’s. The report has raised questions about the consistency of HSBC’s reports about Viet Nam’s market.

In its report released in early January 2008 about investment strategies for the first quarter of 2008, HSBC, as an investor, did not put high expectations on Vietnam’s market. High risks from inflation and high stock prices were the two factors that made the group decide to lower its investment ratio in Vietnam from 2% to 0.5%. However, the report still predicted that the VN Index would hit 1,100 points by the end of 2008.

The report was named: “Pan-Asian Equity Strategy: Snakes and Ladders”.

In the first quarter of the year, the group continuously released reports about Vietnam or reports that mentioned Vietnam’s situation. On February 29, 2008, HSBC, for the first time, added Vietnam to the list of recommended Asian investment addresses (referred to as ‘OverWeight’).

The report said that Vietnam’s stock market was in the final stage of its period of decline, advising investors to buy stocks at that moment, especially technologies stocks.

The report was named: “Al-Asia Insight”.

In “Vietnam Monitor” (the latest volume was released on April 2, 2008), the group reiterated its prediction that the VN Index would hit the 1,100 point threshold.

As such, through the end of the first quarter of 2008, HSBC’s viewpoint about Vietnam’s stock market was always consistent, though the market frequently fluctuated during that time.

Abrupt about-face

However, in its Q2 report released on April 7, HSBC forecast that the VN Index would only hit 600 points instead of 1,100 points by the end of 2008, and 750 points instead of 1,300 in 2009.

There was no big change in the team that made the series of reports. The team of the February 29 report was Garry Evans, Steven Sun, Akane Nishizaki, Jacqueline Tse, Vivek Misra, and Leo Li. All except Vivek Misra contributed to the report released April 7.

Reports good for…?

In early January, when the VN Index hovered around 900 points, HSBC gave an optimistic prediction that the VN Index would be 1,100 points by the end of 2008. After that, the index began sliding continuously sliding, under 870 points, 850 and then 800.

At the end of February, HSBC advised investors to buy stocks, but the market dropped even further, bottoming out below the 500-point threshold, at 496.64 points, on March 25.

Its latest report, released on April 7, HSBC advised investors to reduce share purchases. However, investors did not do as advised. Foreign investors still purchased big volumes. On April 9, foreign investors purchased nearly 1/3 of the total trading volume at the HCM City Stock Exchange. (VNN)