12/26/2008

A niche stock market?

The world is increasingly interconnected with businesses and money flow all intertwined in a complex web. The pulling of one string will affect every corner of the web. Talking about a niche market maybe a nonsensical whim and fancy proposition. It is better to be like everyone, be everything, and be part of a big web. But being in a niche market in the midst of a bigger complexity is nothing new. Every small biz is trying to differentiate itself, to find their own niche. Can our stock market differentiate itself and find its own niche instead of being a little flotsam that drifts with the tide and taking directions from everyone? In recent years our stock market has been a non player for all its worth. It is lost in an ocean that is too big for its own good. Now is the time to reflect and seek a new direction as to its role and reason for its existence. Forget about being everything or like everyone else. Carve out its own niche and find a path for its own existence. The interdependency is there. The world's economy will affect everyone and us. The money flow will still affect the tide. Here calls for the exceptional talents of supertalents to be different, just like being a safe haven for funds to be parked here. We need a stock market that can shield itself from the tsunamis, be resilient and stay afloat for its own reasons. Small can still be beautiful and useful in its own ways. We can select our own stocks, dictate our own rules, play a game that is designed for our own good, or be lost and perished in the ocean that we have no control. Under the present crisis, the funds managers must be looking for exactly such a market for safety. Unfortunately there is none around. If our stock market is seen as a safe haven, we would have provided the funds a way to safety in trouble times.

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