Quick look at the week ahead

The first half of the week is going to be dominated by analyst and press briefings from some of the PSE’s bluest of blue-chip companies. Someone from the MB team will be able to cover some of these events, but if any MB readers attend and have any comments, please let me know your thoughts and I’ll include your comments in a post. The first of the true calendar events happens on Wednesday, and that’s the MSCI rebalancing announcement. On the same day, the PSE will start its STAR Investor Day event, with Day 1 kicking off at 10AM. The event will continue on Thursday for a second and final day, which is when the BSP’s Monetary Board will meet and decide on whether to raise rates, and also when the 365-day lockup for the majority of the outstanding shares for Alternergy [ALTER 0.92 ?1.1%; 163% avgVol] will expire.

MB BOTTOM-LINE: I’m a huge proponent of the PSE’s STAR Investor Day program and its aim to increase the engagement of non-professional investors in the workings of the exchange, and to likewise encourage the listed companies to engage directly with the public and with shareholders. Check out this link to register for the free event. I know the rebalance crew is going to be getting excited to hear what MSCI will do, but for me, my attention is all on the Monetary Board and what it will do on Thursday. I think it will be a little anti-climactic now, though, when you combine the BSP’s off-cycle hike with a surprisingly low October inflation print, the surprisingly high Q3 GDP print, and the US Fed’s decision to not raise rates. The PHP/USD exchange rate is even chilling out in the high ?55s, nowhere near BSP Governor Eli Remolona’s redline of ?57/$1. I don’t expect the BSP to do anything. I think the focus now is probably to set the table for the government to try and save the full-year GDP growth rate with a strong Q4 showing, and another rate hike (on top of a rate hike that might have been extraneous) would not help that agenda at all.
 

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Merkado Barkada's opinions are provided for informational purposes only, and should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any particular stock. These daily articles are not updated with new information, so each investor must do his or her own due diligence before trading, as the facts and figures in each particular article may have changed.