ACB reports 1.2tr dong profit from securities investment in 2007

Saturday, May 10, 2008
Up to December 31, 2007, Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB)'s total securities investment capital was over 9.636 trillion dong including more than 8.474 trillion dong invested in bonds (T-bills, G-bonds, state commercial banks' bills of exchange and bonds, electricity bonds), 4.8 billion dong invested in Nha Be Garment Co's corporate bonds and the remaining 1.178 trillion dong invested in shares.
The bank's vice chair Nguyen Duc Kien said that, the share investment capital of nearly 1.178 trillion dong accounted fro 2.8% of total investment portfolio and lending, and only 1.38% of its total asset of 101 trillion dong.
Last year ACB also earned about 1.2 trillion dong profit from share investment and withdrew all securities investment items so far within 2007 already.

MB issues bills of exchange in US dollar for plus interest rate

Saturday, May 10, 2008
In next two months, Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB) will issue the US dollar bills of exchange for bonus interest rate from May 6 to July 6 with the payment method in cash or account transfer. The bills of exchange have a term of 3, 7 and 11 months with the minimum face value of US$100 and its multiple.
The book entry bills carry a post-paid interest rate of 5.8% per annum.
Accordingly, the bonus interest rate is 0.01-0.1% per annum for each term whereby the interest rate of bills of exchange will be higher 5.6-5.8% pa of ordinary US dollar saving rates.
The bills can be mortgaged or sold back to the bank.
In addition, the bank also announced that it would pay a 2007 dividend of 30% in shares.
The deadline to close a list of shareholders receiving the dividend is 5pm on May 30, 2008.
Last year MB posted a chartered capital of two trillion dong, total ownership capital of nearly 3.550 trillion dong, increasing 2.57 times over the start of 2007.
As targeted, MB's chartered capital will be raised to 3.4 trillion dong within this year.

WTO entry challenges

Saturday, May 10, 2008
When Viet Nam entered into the World Trade Organisation (WTO), there were different warnings about the biggest challenges. At that time, trade minister Truong Dinh Tuyen said that the biggest challenge was retail sales, which, however, would happen in next several years.
Some experts said that the biggest challenge was labour and employment because the country would see bankruptcy of many businesses with weak efficiency and competitive capacity. However, such impact would be limited because the ratio of labour in the agriculture-forestry-seafood sector is high, and the scope of private economic sector has significantly developed. Setsuko Yamazaki, director of UNDP in Viet Nam put forward remarkable opinions, which have been becoming realistic. When being asked about the biggest challenge when Viet Nam enters into WTO, she said that "experience from other countries show that globalisation promises great awards such as accessing larger markets, more technologies and investment capital however globalisation also brings about significant risks. In my opinions, the financial sector has to face up the biggest risks. By now, Viet Nam is undergoing unexpected financial changes, which is demonstrated through inflation and price hike."

Since last year, inflation has happened in all over the world because of the increase of petroleum price, the depreciation of greenback. Inflation in almost all countries has been higher than previous years. Nevertheless, inflation in Viet Nam has been higher than other countries because of some factors. An important factor is that appraising prices of goods and services must be based on the market mechanism in line with commitments on deeper and wider integration into the world's economy. The growth of petroleum price at the end of last November pushed consumer price index in December by 2.91%, far higher than November's figure and December of previous years. Additionally, the hike of petroleum price at the end of February raised CPI in March by another 2.99% while the growth of CPI in March of previous years was negative. That has not yet mentioned other goods and services, which the government asked relevant agencies not to hike prices until June. If all things had increased as petroleum, inflation would not have been 12.63% in 2007 and 11.6% in the first four months but far higher.
Another factor is the dong/US dollar rate. With the strong inflows of US dollars into Viet Nam as in 2007 and early 2008, if the forex rate had been further revised downward in line with the depreciation of US dollars, Viet Nam would not have reported trade deficit of US$14.12 billion in 2007 and US$11.1 billion in the first four months but US$16 -17 billion and US$13 -14 billion respectively.
Additionally, if the government makes stronger monetary tightening, lending interest rates will climb to more or less than 25% and many small banks will go bankrupt, many businesses will shut down.
Particularly, over the last one-year, Viet Nam's stock market has gone ups and downs unexpectedly. Since the start of 2008, prices of shares have slashed sharply. The market capitalisation has reduced by hundreds of trillions of dongs. While reining inflation is now the top priority, monetary tightening is a necessary tool. When money is tightened, the amount of money that many investors borrow from banks to inject into the stock market will reduce, share prices will decline accordingly. When share prices are lower than mortgage prices, lifting mortgages will inevitably push down share prices. If lifting mortgages is not required to stop, share prices will further go down.
Financial risks will become dangerous if there is no foreign indirect investment management mechanism in order to direct into long-term investment, not only the stock market, the real estate market but also the forex rate and others will present unforeseeable changes.
The above issues require urgent reforms for public fiscal and financial policies, careful analysis in order to build proper policies and minimise risks. (Thanh Nien)

VIB Bank launches E-Savings product

Saturday, May 10, 2008
Vietnam International Bank (VIB Bank) recently launched E-Savings product to all transaction sites nationwide whereby customers are allowed to receive a higher interest rate when their saving balance increasing respectively (progressive interest rate).
E-Savings was connected two-way automatic money delivery with payment deposit accounts to ensure payment capacity and receive progressive interest rates.
This product is suitable to all customers, especially those who prefer using modern technology

MHB securities arm to issue bonds

Saturday, May 10, 2008
Mekong Delta Housing Development Bank's securities arm MHBS recently announced that it would retail three million ensured non-convertible bonds worth 300 billion dong at 100,000 dong par and the selling price of 100,000 dong per bond for the first phase under the bank's payment guarantee.
These five-year bonds have a coupon rate of 10% per annum for the first year and that of following years negotiated based on Vibor interest rate (Vietnam interbank offer rate) on April 5 yearly.
The coupon rate will be paid yearly on May 5 and the principal will be paid once on the mature date.

Chuong Duong beverages firm to buy back 100,000 fund shares

Saturday, May 10, 2008
Chuong Duong Beverages Joint Stock Co (coded SCD) recently announced that within one-month from May 15 to June 15, the company would buy back 100,000 SCD-coded shares to make fund shares under the mode of order matching or negotiating, bringing the company's total fund shares to 106,950 shares.
Ending the trading session on May 8, SCD-coded shares closed at 19,700 dong per share, increasing 200 dong in comparison with the previous session with 34,880 shares being traded.

Descon construction firm to pay 15% dividend

Saturday, May 10, 2008
Descon Industry Construction Joint Stock Co (coded DCC) this year targets to reach 457.04 billion dong in revenue, 37.24 billion dong from pre tax profit, 26.322 billion dong from after tax profit and dividend of 15%.
The shareholders' meeting also reported the business result of 2007 with 387.759 billion dong in revenue, 27.059 billion dong from pre tax profit and 19.504 billion dong from after tax profit.

Ry Ninh II hydropower firm to pay dividend of 20%

Saturday, May 10, 2008
Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE) yesterday May 8 announced that the registration deadline for Ry Ninh II Hydropower Joint Stock Co (coded RHC) to close the list of shareholders is on May 26 and the ex-interest date on May 22.
The company will pay a dividend of 20% for 2007 on August 9, 2008.

Yen Bai Cement to list on Hanoi Securities Trading Center

Saturday, May 10, 2008
Yen Bai Cement and Natural Minerals Joint Stock Co (coded YBC) will officially list on the Hanoi Securities Trading Centre from May 20. After that, the company will sell shares to strategic shareholders including Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank.
Being restructured from Yen Bai cement plant, last year the company reached a revenue of 161.1 billion dong, profit of 9.2 billion dong and return on equity at 26.87%.

Hapaco to buy back 500,000-1m fund shares

Saturday, May 10, 2008
Hai Phong Paper Joint Stock Co (Hapaco) and its subsidiaries announced that they would buy back from 500,000 to one million HAP-coded shares to make fund shares, said the listed firm's chair Vu Duong Hien.

The company's shareholders' meeting also released the business result during the first four months of the year with a revenue increasing 43.87% and profit up 61.48% against the same period of last year.

In the period of 2008-2010, Hapaco has been investing in three big realty projects including 21-storey HAP-REE building, International Maternity Hospital project and Dinh Vu South industrial zone project.

US stocks decline as AIG reveals need for cash, oil surges

Saturday, May 10, 2008
Wall Street ended the week with a big decline as investors grappled with two of the biggest threats to the economy: fallout from turmoil in the credit market and surging energy prices. All three major indexes suffered losses for the week.

Insurer American International Group Inc. helped send the Dow Jones industrial average down about 120 points after posting a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss that rekindled anxiety about the strained state of the global financial system.

AIG reported it lost $7.81 billion — its second straight quarterly loss — and revealed plans to raise $12.5 billion in the coming months. The world's largest insurer, like many of its peers in the financial services sector, has seen its investments in the credit markets plunge in value.

Meanwhile, rising crude oil prices remained a source of worry for investors, as they had much of the week and in recent months. Oil futures rose above $126 a barrel for the first time, further stoking Wall Street's concerns about inflation that could curtail consumer spending. Light, sweet crude rose as high as $126.20 on the New York Mercantile Exchange before settling at a record $125.96. For the week, oil jumped nearly $10.

Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors said investors retreated primarily because of the AIG news.

"That news came as something of a surprise to some and a wake-up call to most that the financial-service companies are not yet out of the woods."

But Orlando noted that the market has pulled back this week after a sizable rebound in the last two months and that some investors might be eager to lock in profits while Wall Street irons out some concerns about the financial sector.

"Our view has been that the market, generally speaking, is in pretty good shape with the exception of the financial service companies and the consumer dictionary companies," he said, noting that the news from AIG is an important reminder of the troubles remaining among financials.

The Dow fell 120.90, or 0.94%, to 12,745.88.

Broader stock indicators were also lower a day after the stock market notched a modest advance. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 9.40, or 0.67%, to 1,388.28, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 5.72, or 0.23%, to 2,445.52.

For the week, the Dow fell 2.39%, the S&P 500 declined 1.81% and the Nasdaq lost 1.27%.
Bond prices were little changed. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, stood at 3.78% late Friday, unchanged from late Thursday.

Gold prices advanced, while the dollar traded mixed against other major global currencies.

The economic figures arriving Friday underscored the slowdown in the U.S. economy. The Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit narrowed in March as demand for imports registered the biggest decline since the last recession was ending. The deficit stood at $58.2 billion, a decrease of 5.6% from February. The 2.9% drop in demand for imports was the steepest monthly decline since December 2001 — a month after the last recession ended.

Noman Ali, portfolio manager of U.S. equities for MFC Global Investment Management in Toronto, doesn't expect the market will test its March lows and said some of Wall Street's angst over rising oil prices is overdone.

"Our view is still positive on the market. Obviously oil is hurting but I think the consumer fiscal stimulus package is going to help," he said, referring to rebates the U.S. government is now distributing.

He contends the wealthier Americans who account for an outsize%age of U.S. consumer spending won't stop reaching into their wallets because of higher oil prices and that overall spending hold up better than some on Wall Street are predicting.

In corporate news, AIG fell $3.87, or 8.8%, to $40.28 after reporting its loss. The stock was by far the steepest decliner among the 30 that comprise the Dow industrials.

Citigroup Inc. said it hopes to shed between $400 billion and $500 billion in assets and increase revenue by 9% over the next few years as it tries to recover from big losses tied to deterioration in the mortgage and credit markets. Citi, one of the Dow 30 stocks, fell 67 cents, or 2.8%, to $23.63.

General Motors Corp., also a Dow component, fell 86 cents, or 4.1%, to $20.29 after reporting in a regulatory filing it would provide financial support to help settle the 10-week strike at auto parts supplier American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc.

Consumer electronics chain Circuit City Stores Inc. said it received a letter from suitor Blockbuster Inc. that the company's largest shareholder, financier Carl Icahn, is prepared to buy Circuit City even if the video rental chain can't win the necessary financing or shareholder approval.

Circuit City jumped 28 cents, or 5.9%, to $5.07, while Blockbuster slipped 2 cents to $2.66.

Investors' caution Friday precedes what will likely be a busy week of economic news now that the flow of quarterly earnings reports is beginning to ebb.
"Next week I think will be a fairly important economic week," Orlando said, pointing to expected reports on retail sales, retail inventories, industrial production and regional manufacturing.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 8 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 3.40 billion shares, compared with 3.70 billion traded Thursday.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 0.50, or 0.07%, to 720.05.
Overseas, Japan's stock market fell 2.06%. Britain's FTSE index fell 1.05%, Germany's DAX index fell 0.97%, and France's CAC-40 fell 1.88%.
___
The Dow Jones industrial average ended the week down 312.32, or 2.39%, at 12,745.88. The Standard & Poor's 500 index finished down 25.62, or 1.81%, at 1,388.28. The Nasdaq composite index ended the week down 31.47, or 1.27%, at 2,445.52.

The Russell 2000 index finished the week down 5.69, or 0.78%, at 720.05.

The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index — a free-float weighted index that measures 5,000 U.S. based companies — ended Friday at 14,040.05, down 211.01 points, or 1.48%, for the week. A year ago, the index was at 15,259.58. (AP)

SE Asian Stocks - Mostly higher on week but Singapore falls

Saturday, May 10, 2008
Most Southeast Asian stock markets gained this week as surging oil prices lifted commodity plays such as Malaysia's Sime Darby, but Singapore fell as financials such as Singapore Exchange floundered.

The region's markets closed on Friday mostly flat. Malaysia .KLSE and the Philippines .PSI edged up 0.38 and 0.68% on Friday to bring the week's gains to 1.08 and 2.07% respectively.

Singapore eased 0.31% on Friday and Indonesia .JKSE closed 0.01% down, but the Jakarta index gained 1.4% for the week, while Singapore's Straits Times slid 2.3%. Its losses were outdone only by Viet Nam, which fell a further 4.2% this week.

Thai shares .SETI closed 0.41% lower despite expectations that energy shares would rise on record oil prices CLc1, but top energy firm PTT closed flat.

Analysts said global share markets were generally softer over the last week due to to high oil prices.

"We expect a renewed bout of weakness over the next few months as credit markets remain difficult," said Shane Oliver, Head of Investment Strategy and Economist at AMP Capital Investors.

He said deteriorating global economic conditions will lead to profit downgrades.

In Singapore, bourse operator SGX led losses, falling 3% to end the week 6.2% lower.

The exchange also had to deal with complaints over technical glitches. Traders said on Friday they could not see buy and sell orders entered by other dealers for four hours.

SGX said it was due to "connectivity issues at the primary telecommunications provider".

Bucking the downtrend were commodities firm Noble Group, which rose by as much as 10.6% before paring those gains to close up 1.2%. The firm said on Thursday its first-quarter earnings nearly quadrupled on strong demand for food, energy and raw materials.

Palm oil producer Wilmar International also rose 1.7%, while Malaysian plantation giant Sime Darby gained half a% or 2.2% for the week.

Banks in Kuala Lumpur also rose after a 25% stake in the country's fourth largest lender RHB Capital was sold to Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank ADCB.AD. RHB gained half a% intraday but closed 1% down, while top lender Maybank gained 1.3% and third ranked Public Bank climbed 1.7%.

In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnamese stocks .VNI slid 1.5% to close at 500.33 points on Friday, bringing its losses this year to 46%, but analysts said it could have
been worse.

"The index remains above 500 points thanks to foreign investors who saved the market from plunging by pumping in more than 4 trillion dong in ... April," said Bui Ngoc Long, Marketing Director at International Royal Securities.

"Investors are expecting room for expansion by foreign investors." (Reuters)

Mobifone to build additional transceiver stations

Saturday, May 10, 2008
To maintain the title of the best mobile network in Vietnam, the Mobile Telecom Services Company (VMS MobiFone) plans to build an additional 6,000 base transceiver stations (BTS) nationwide, bringing the total number of its BTS to nearly 10,000 by late 2008, said the company on May 5.
The company also plans to improve the quality of its services for customers and to have 6.5 million new subscribers in 2008.
In the coming time, the company will also equip its networks with modern technologies.

Securities companies cut staffs

Friday, May 9, 2008
The golden age of securities companies is over. This time last year, companies were trying to recruit more staffs, while they are trying to cut staffs now.

The director of the HCM City branch of a securities company, who asked to remain unnamed, said that the income of the company is not enough to pay staffs.

He said that the brokerage fees the company collects from clients have been decreasing due to the market’s continued falls. “Last year we could earn VND300mil a day and VND40bil a year, while we paid VND10bil to the staffs. Nowadays, the brokerage fee is just VND20mil a day.”

The branch, which previously had 30 brokerage officers, now has 20 only, as the company is trying to cut expenses. The number of investors has dropped by 50%; a lot of investors are going to the trading floor just to explore the situation, while not making transactions.

In fact, securities companies have other sources of revenue, including revenue from share trading activities. However, as stock prices keep falling, the trading activities do not bring profit. Sources say that some companies still hold a huge volume of shares which now have market prices of only 40-50% of the prices at which they purchased stocks.

In late 2006 and early 2007, securities companies noisily expanded networks and opened more branches and transactions points, employing more staffs. The situation is quite different now: many companies have had to cancel their network expansion plans and cut jobs.

Last year, a new staff who just graduated from university was paid VND4-5mil a month, while he is now paid VND2.5-3mil/month only. A company reportedly paid VND1,500-2,000 at least for a division head, and the high pay has become a heavy burden on these companies now.

However, optimistic securities companies’ leaders say that now is a golden opportunity for securities companies to ‘filter’ staffs. Previously, when companies rushed to recruit staffs to serve the developing business, they did not have enough time to examine candidates.

Foreigners Net Buyers Of VND51.6 Billion Of Shares

Friday, May 9, 2008
Foreign investors were net buyers of VND51.6 billion ($3.2 million) of Vietnamese stocks Friday out of a total VND127 billion traded, the Ho Chi Minh Securities Trading Center said.
Volume was 2.78 million shares, with foreigners accounting for 37.1% of the total, according to the stock market operator. (Dow Jones)

Habubank links up with Banknetvn

Friday, May 9, 2008
The Hanoi Building Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Habubank) yesterday celebrated its link up with the Vietnam National Financial Switching Joint Stock Co (Banknetvn).
Habubank’s customers who use debit cards will be able to do transactions at 2,000 ATMS belonging to Banknetvn members, including Agribank, BIDV, VietinBank, and ABBank. Habubank is also a member of Vietnam Bankcard (VNBC).

City to hold investor convention

Friday, May 9, 2008
A three-day financial seminar and exhibition will begin in HCM City on May 30 as part of co-operation between Singapore’s NextVIEW Group and the HCM City Stock Exchange.

"This year’s Asia Trader&Investor Convention (ATIC) is more evidence of our commitment to HOSE and Viet Nam to provide investor education, data services and international marketing expertise," Stephen Lai, CEO of NextVIEW Group, said at a press briefing on Wednesday.

The first two-day ATIC was held by the group in the city last May, in co-operation with HOSE, attracting some 4,000 investors.

He said the event was targeted at high-quality investor education, a one-stop financial marketplace and investor networking.

This year 50 seminars and forums will feature 40 international and local financial experts delivering talks in Vietnamese, English and Chinese. Topics covered will include Viet Nam and global outlooks, stock market trading methods, money management, properties, gold and commodities investment, co-listing opportunities for Vietnamese companies and overseas investment opportunities. HOSE and NextVIEW will invite around 100 international fund managers, brokers and financial investors to participate in the Viet Nam Investment Summit event during the opening session.

Merging small banks to curb inflation?

Friday, May 9, 2008
Merging small banks to form bigger ones, loosening the conditions for bank refinancing and removing the ceiling interest rate are the three things suggested by experts to solve banks’ problems.
Dr Nguyen Chung Binh, lecturer at Harvard University:
The channels of distributing capital to the national economy are stuck, which is the result of the tightened monetary policy. With the low interest rates capped at 12% per annum, depositors are enjoying negative interest as the interest rates prove to be lower than the inflation rate. Instead of making bank deposits, people inject their money in short-term investments, gold, construction materials and rice, which has been distorting the finance market.

However, the removal of the ceiling interest rate scheme alone will not help much in making money circulate, though. If the ceiling interest rate scheme is removed, a new interest rate race will occur, which will certainly burden businesses and the national economy. It may happen that a series of people’s credit funds will collapse, the scenario that we once saw in 1990.

I think that the central bank should take necessary measures to reduce the number of banks in order to make the monetary market open and clear.

There are too many banks in Vietnam, while there is no powerful bank. Commercial banks have been trying to develop their business scope by expanding their networks to mobilise more capital. Therefore, they have been fiercely competing with each other in developing credit, while not paying attention to developing associated services. Banks have been focusing on expanding operation scales, while their corporate skills are not commensurate with the growing network. Banks cannot control their risks, while the central bank does not know what banks are doing. Therefore, state management agencies do not have reliable figures to make suitable policies.

It is necessary to merge small banks into bigger banks in order to improve corporate skills. Only the banks that can meet three requirements of big capital, good risk management system and transparent management should be maintained. South Korea, a $1,000bil economy, is an example. Prior to 1997, the country had 25 banks, and the number has been reduced by half.

Le Tham Duong, Head of the HCM City Business Administration Faculty under the HCM City Banking University:

The official capital channels for the national economy are getting stuck, while the unofficial channel, the black market, is now bustling.

If the ceiling interest rate scheme is removed, the deposit interest rate may go up to 17% in the highest scenario, while the lending interest rate 25%. If so, this would help improve the liquidity of commercial banks, while helping curb inflation and boost economic growth. With high lending interest rates, businesses will have to think carefully before borrowing money, and they will only get loans if they have feasible business projects. Those projects which do not have feasible projects will stay away from bank loans. Therefore, the demand for capital will decrease, banks will have to reduce lending and deposit interest rates.

Nguyen Dang Don, Deputy Head of the Banking Faculty under the HCM City Economics University:

The State Bank should loosen the conditions for refinancing banks in order to ensure the liquidity of banks. Interest rates must be decided by the market rather than the intervention of the Vietnam Banking Association.(PL TP HCM)

SBV warns against online money trading

Friday, May 9, 2008
The State Bank of Viet Nam has alerted people to the appearance of a lot of online money trading companies, and warned people about that kind of trading.

According to the State Bank of Viet Nam, in the last time, several companies, which only had the functions of giving consultancy and brokerage services, have set up websites to call for investment in gold and foreign currencies with the transactions carried out via the Internet.

Those who trade online have to pay $5,000 at least (equal to 5-10% of the transaction value), with payment in cash or by money transfer.

What attracts people to this sort of trading is the very high offered interest rates, 5-20% per month.

The State Bank of Viet Nam has stated that under the current laws, only institutions which are licenced by the State Bank are allowed to trade foreign currencies. Therefore, the said activities by the companies, including the brokerage and transaction services, are violations of the law.

In fact, online trading proves to be very risky, and the high offered interest rates prove to be utopian. No official investment channel can bring the interest rate of 20% nowadays. For securities investments, investors could only get 20% profit if share prices hit the ceiling prices for 10 consecutive trading sessions, something which is improbable now.

The State Bank has also warned that online trade organisers may try to swindle clients and disappear after they withdraw money from the accounts of the clients. “The biggest suffers in these cases are the clients,” the bank has warned.

The super-profit of 20% proves to be very attractive in the eyes of investors in the context of the falling stock prices, real estate prices and risky gold trading deals.

In fact, online trade companies once mushroomed in 2006-2007, and the names ‘Colony’ or ‘Golden Rock’ were well known at that time.

In 2006, the Chief Representative of Golden Rock Limited, a monetary online trading brokerage company, reportedly left Viet Nam with access to $10mil in investors’ money.

However, it seems that a lot of investors did not learn anything from the lesson.

The scenario repeated itself as $1mil of ‘investment capital’ disappeared with the director of Chien Thuat Service Consultancy Company. Chien Thuat was licenced in 2006, and had the chartered capital of VND5bil.

Not until April 2008, when the police examined the company, did the 150 investors of the company find out about the swindling. (Tien phong)

Small investors learn expensive lesson

Friday, May 9, 2008
Low-income groups are realising that the securities market wasn't the safest bet, as the figures continue to crash and they find themselves in debt.

"It's not only qualified, experienced people, but all of society who went crazy with the market. Lower income groups are suffering the most," said Vu Duc Nghia, vice director of Bien Viet Securities joint-stock company.

These people considered the securities market a gamble because they didn't know anything about even the basics, added Nghia.

In the mass rush to invest with promises of getting rich quickly, many people were pushed into investing. To them, joining the securities markets was like following a fashion trend, added Nghia.

Nguyen Thi Nga (not her real name), a tailor from Dong Da District learned a big lesson when she decided to take a risk by investing all of her money as well as borrowing off her friends and relatives to buy holdings.

Nga waited to sell to get more profit, but has now lost everything she had and is even in debt.

"Seeing people rush to buy, I thought I could take this chance to get rich," said Nga.

With similar ambitions Le Hung, a xe om driver, was determined to join the market simply because he believed his cousin who worked for a securities company could help him make some money.

"I gave money to my cousin to play with and hoped for the best," said Hung.

As a carpenter from the central province of Ha Tinh, Nguyen Van Tinh was barely making enough money to feed his whole family of seven.

After speaking with some friends, he figured the securities market was like gambling but with better odds. Tinh decided to sell all of his equipment, borrow money from friends and take the risk.

Now, he's looking for a way to pay back the debt.

"Now I have no equipment, I don't know what to do for money. The whole family was counting on my gamble and now they've lost their faith in me," said Tinh.

Specialised advice

To sort out this skewed image of the market, many people were pushing each other to join stock market training courses. This solution, however, proved to be a waste of time and savings as the students didn't really appreciate the long term benefits of the course.

"Low income people often want to earn money as quick as possible, so they don't take the course seriously," said Dao Lien Minh from the securities training centre under the Securities Boarding Committee.

Even when the centre offered free classes, few people were interested in joining. To them, time spent in class was time they should be spending earning money.

Recently, television stations have been pushing programmes providing securities market knowledge. Unfortunately, uninformed people often aren't interested in these programmes.

"Participants should see investing in the securities market like a business requiring information, direction and experience," said Nghia.

"Seeing the securities market as a get-rich fast scheme is a mistake that will usually end up badly for those who see it as a game," concluded Nghia. (VNS)

May 09, Stock market closes to 500 points

Friday, May 9, 2008
The Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE) today May 9 continued falling on the stock market when the VN Index slipped another 7.61 points or 1.49% to 500.33 points with the total matching order trade of nearly 2,784,140 shares and fund certificates.
Among 154 shares and fund certificates being listed on the southern bourse, the stock market recorded three shares increasing, three others stood still at the reference price and 148 shares decreasing.
Three shares increasing were SAF, BSH added 500 dong to 28,300 dong and 28,100 dong and ITA leaped 1,500 dong to 76,500 dong per share.
Three shares remained unchanged namely TMS, VPL and SFN.
DPM reached the biggest trading volume with 1,195,210 shares and followed by STB with 166,420, SSI with 114,880, PPC with 94,450 and PVD with 93,600 shares.
Foreign investors bought 56 share codes and two fund certificates with the total volume of over one million shares and fund certificates. Of which, DPM accounted for the largest volume with 525,520 shares, followed by PVD with 60,180, VHG with 50,000, VHC with 38,020, PPC with 33,980 and others like RAL, ITA, TRC and ALP.
Like the southern bourse, the Hanoi Securities Trading Center (HaSTC) today May 9 kept decreasing impetus on the stock market as the HaSTC Index lost another 3.19 points or 2.03% to end at 154.23 pts with the total market trade of 1.201 million shares worth nearly 44 billion dong.
Amongst 136 listed shares on the northern bourse, the stock market saw three shares increasing while 112 others decreasing, two shares stood still and 19 shares with no trade.
Three shares increasing were MIC added 3,200 dong and HPC and VC3 up 300 dong,
Two shares stood still including KBC and XMC.
ACB and S99 showed the strongest decliner when losing 2,200 dong and followed by VSP lost 2,000 dong. Others slipped below 2,000 dong per share.
ACB also took the pole place in trading volume with 222,900 shares, followed by TBC with 210,900 shares, and others with below 100,000 shares like BCC, NVC and HPC.

Economic growth forecast at 7.2 pct in 2008

Friday, May 9, 2008
Viet Nam is predicted to post gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 7.2% this year, compared with 8.84% last year.
In the most likely scenario forecast by Vietnam's Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), the institute also predicted the country's inflation rate of 19.4% and export growth of 26.2% in 2008.
In the most optimistic scenario, the country is forecast to record GDP growth of 7.6%, and inflation rate of 16% downwards, said the CIEM's Vietnam Economic Report 2007.
The report's most pessimistic scenario shows a drop of 6.6% in economic growth, and inflation rate of 22.3% this year.
Next year, Vietnam's inflation rate may fall to 10% downwards, and stay at 5-7% for several years.
The Vietnamese government has proposed the National Assembly of Vietnam, the country's top legislature, to cut its GDP growth target to 7% this year from initial goal of 8.5-9% due to unfavorable changes in the international and domestic markets.
Vietnam is estimated to post an economic growth of 7.4% in the first quarter of this year, compared with 7.8% in the same period last year.

Market regulator advises delay in share sales

Friday, May 9, 2008
State Securities Commission is encouraging companies to halt or delay planned share sales, after recent offerings were poorly received, a local newspaper reported.
Share sales this year by Hanoi Beer-Alcohol-Beverages Corp., Kim Long Securities Joint-Stock Co. and Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverages Corp. fell victim to bearish market sentiment.
No new licenses for sales have been granted in the past two months.
New listings on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange have also slowed, according to the report.
Ten companies received permission to trade this year and love yet to do so, the report said, citing Tran Dac Sinh, general director of the exchange.

Some shareholders in the Joint-Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, known as Vietcombank, oppose the bank’s plan to list its shares this year, Thoi Bao Kinh Te Viet Nam newspaper reported April 28.

Vietcombank, which held an initial share sale in December, said in April that it planned to list its shares on Ho Chi Minh City’s exchange by July. (Bloomberg)