How to Start Investing in Stocks in the Philippines

Investing in stocks is one of the best ways to get started if you’re new to the world of investments. Stocks are known as equity; companies sell their shares because they want additional funds to grow their operations. After buying the shares, stockholders partly own the company and have a claim to their assets and earnings.

In layman’s terms, investing in stocks simply means buying shares of ownership in a company with the expectations that the company will perform well, which will then lead to an increase in the share price. If the price increases and you wish to sell, you can sell on the Philippines Stock Exchange. Therefore, investing in a company’s stocks is putting faith in the company’s ability to grow, which means you must have some knowledge about the company’s current management, operations, welfare and future plans.

Can You Make Money from Investing in Stocks?

Yes, you can make money from investing in stocks. As with all types of investments, there is significant risk when you get involved buying stocks. If you do your research or speak to advisors, discount brokers and other financial professionals, they’ll regale you with stories of how stocks have helped to generate outstanding returns over the years, and how you can make generational wealth with it. But just as you can make money from investing in stocks, fortunes and inheritances have also been lost to wrong stockholding decisions.

It often depends on the percentage of stocks you hold, the kind of industries you choose to invest in, how long you want to hold them for, your tolerance for risks and overall, your investment goals. But none of these considerations can fully protect you from pitfalls. Take for example, the Dow drop from 2007 to 2009. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is a stock market index that keeps track of 30 big blue chip companies, all publicly owned.

DJIA trades NYSE and Nasdaq and is named after Charles Dow who created it in 1896 alongside Edward Jones, his business partner. The market dropped to about 50% during that period and many suffered losses. Most were retirement accounts with account holders aged between 56 to 65 taking the hardest hit because stockholders approaching retirement typically maintain the highest equity exposure.

They didn’t particularly do anything wrong but when a bear market surfaces, everyone feels the pain in their gut. It’s the nature of the market to be as unpredictable in its gains as it could be with its losses. As Peter Lynch said:

‘‘Far more money has been lost by investors trying to anticipate corrections, than lost in the corrections themselves.”

So how do people make their money? You have to be smart and well informed with your decisions, ride the winds sometimes and go with the flow when necessary. You can’t control all the outcomes. When you approach stock buying with this mindset, you put yourself in a very strong position for success.

Valuable Strategies for Investing in Stocks in the Philippines

Investing in stocks is a universally spoken language. The building blocks of stocks investment is the same in New York as it is in Manila. However, if you’re going to succeed in this stock investing, you need to understand how these blocks fit into the particular market you want to invest in.

Staying with the building analogy, the basics of building houses everywhere are the same. However, there are environmental differences that inform the regulations builders follow from country to country. Soil types, weather, water content, quality of materials, safety codes etc. It’s just the same with investing in stocks in the Philippines.

To invest in stocks in the Philippines, you have to first open a bank account. You could open an account with a Philippine bank or any of the other traditional financial services. Then you can start thinking of where to invest.

Meanwhile, as a side note, investing is not limited to stocks, many people also stake on real money casino games in expectation for a win. If you are interested in playing real money online casino games in the Philippines, you will need to use a casino that accepts all forms of payment methods, including credit cards. Before you sign up with any platform, look out for places that accept credit card Philippines. Pay for your game with visa or any other card of your choice. Some even give a free credit casino no deposit bonus Philippines, so you can play without spending your own money. Just pick a trusted platform and you’re good to go.

The Philippine Stock Exchange has over 200 stocks trading in it. Each of these stocks has a number of shares. The exchange reported about 1.91 million market accounts in 2023, compared to 1.7 million in 2022. To find the right stock on the PSE, you can use a number of strategies.

There are stockholders who like to buy stocks, hold for a short period of time, and sell. It could range between a day, a week, or a month. Some other investors buy and hold their stocks for long periods of time. It’s totally up to you which of the strategies you prefer to employ.

Here are some tips you can use:

• Start small: You don’t need too much to begin your journey into stocks investment. You can allocate a bit from your paycheck to stocks investment.

• Spread your options: Most investment professionals advise spreading your portfolio into a range of securities instead of focusing on a couple of stocks.

• Only invest what you can afford to lose: This one is pretty much self explanatory.

• Be Patient: As Warren Buffet said, “The stock market is a device to transfer money from the impatient to the patient.”

How Much Do I Need to Start Investing in Stock?

Just as we mentioned in the previous section, you don’t need huge amounts of money to start investing in stocks. There are brokerages that allow you to use at little as $1.

You could embrace similar options to have a feel of how the market works before you decide on how to proceed further. Tailor your investments to your plans/goals. Remember, losses in stocks investment are yours and yours alone to bear.

Final Takeaway

Investing in the PSE is a great idea at this time. The country has been projected to sustain it’s ongoing robust economic growth, with an expected growth rate of 6.0% in 2024 and 6.2% in 2025

Before you take a dive into the stock exchange market, take some time to arm yourself with all the knowledge and information you need about your chosen portfolio. Develop a stocks investment strategy that is well in line with your financial goals and your risk tolerance. Remember, you don’t need too much to begin. Smart small and work your way up from there.