Eirene Joy V.

Patingo ACFINA2
11049782 REFLECTION PAPER

The Investment and Stocks Seminar by Mr. Marvin Germo was interesting and full of
information. Personally, years back, I was interested in investing stocks through the program
offered by Bank of the Philippine Islands, I even took an assessment test to know if I am a risk
taker or not. But due to lack of time, I did not invest on it. This seminar gives me a wider
perspective on the benefits of investing stocks. Practically speaking, investing in stocks,
preferably on good company, will give you a higher return that putting your money in a time
deposit or in a bank with a very low interest rates. Now, I realized that I should invest that
money instead of buying something that I wanted to. But, it is not too late to invest in stocks
since I am only in my early 20s.

In the seminar, Mr. Germo, listed and explained the 7 misconceptions about investing in
stocks. This topic is very helpful for someone like to enhance my knowledge about stocks. The
first misconception is: Stock Market is gambling. Gambling is defined as the wagering of
money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary
intent of winning additional money and/or material goods. Stock market is not gambling because
it allows privately owned companies to be owned publicly. Companies go to stock market to sell
the company shares to raise money so that they will be able to fund their expansion. If they are
able to expand, it will lower the unemployment rate, since they will offer new jobs to the people.
As a result, it is helping our economy to grow. For example, in 2012, Puregold had its initial
public offering, wherein they sold 600 million shares at Php 12 that gives them Php 7.2 Billion.
They used the money so that they can expand, that is why we can notice that there are many
branches of Puregold already. That is why, stock market is all business. Why would be a
gambling if it is a great business?

Second misconception is: Practically speaking, investing in stocks, preferably on good
company, will give you a higher return that putting your money in a time deposit or in a bank
with a very low interest rates. Stock Market is just for rich. The truth is anyone can invest in
stocks. Investing in stocks does not require you to have millions of money. You can just even
buy at least 10 stocks or the minimum requirement in buying stocks which will depend on the
company. For good and big company, you will expect a high return for a long-run investment.
For example, in 2000, Jollibee shares were selling at Php 10.25 and in 2013, their shares were
selling already at Php 162.

Third misconception is: Stock Market is just for analyst. Honestly, people can
participate on it. People dont need to be analyst to be part of the stock market. Attending
seminars about stock market or reading books about stock or even enrolling to short courses
about stocks will be helpful for someone whos interested in investing stocks so that he will be
able to understand how it works. On the bright side, I am thankful on my course because it
covers some topic about stocks. I am so happy that I did a good choice in taking a Financial
Economics elective two terms ago and Financial Management in Accounting because it also
teaches me important lessons that Ive learned that I can apply when I invest in stocks.

Fourth misconception is: I have to watch my stock every minute. Mr. Germo explained
that you dont need to watch your stock every minute. There are fluctuations in the stock market
price due to economic conditions but for a long-term investment you will really get a higher
return. It feels great that our economy is getting better because our credit rating has been
improved from BB to BB+ last July 2012 due to robust economic performance and promising
fiscal revenue despite of global economic slowdown.

Eirene Joy V. Patingo ACFINA2
11049782 REFLECTION PAPER

Fifth misconception is: Stock market is a scam. Mr. Germo do a comparasion between
a scam and a stock market. If the return on invested is guaranteed, it is a scam while in stock
market it is not guaranteed. It is a scam if the interest rate is 101% higher than banks while in
stock market there is no interest rate. If the issuer is unknown, it is a scam while in stock
market; the issuer is the Philippine Stock Exchange. If the money place is unknown, it is a scam
but in a stock market, money place is one of the biggest companies in the country. Lastly, it is a
scam if there is no risk.

Sixth is: Stock Market is risky. The truth is, the risk in stock market is variable because
of the ups and downs in the stock market depending on the condition of the economy. Mr.
Germo explained that there is nothing to worry if you invested in good company who
continuously growing such Jollibee, Ayala, SM and many more because their stock price is
increasing. He told one story that he knows someone who owns a share in Jollibee before,
when the Global Financial Crisis happened in 2008, the stock price of Jollibee went down to
Pho 35 so that person decided to sell his shares in Jollibee, but now, the stock price of Jollibee
is around Php 162 last year.

Lastly, Stock market is too complicated. Mr. Germo explained that stock market is not
that complicated. You just need to know things about it, so that you can really understand it
better.

This seminar is full of learnings. I admire Mr. Germo on his advocacy that he wants to
help other people through imparting his knowledge on investing in stocks. He write a book Stock
Smart: Stock Investing Made Easy with a goal to inspire every Filipino to know what the stock
market is and how we can benefit from it financially, break misconceptions about what the stock
market is and what is not, show us Filipinos how we can actually start investing in the stock
market and teach basic principles on how each investor can earn and profit from the stock
market. I even admire him for not being selfish, for his passion in sharing his knowledge about
stocks to his fellow Filipinos and for his eagerness to help Filipinos to improve the financial
condition of an individual through investing in stocks. Because he is witty, discussed lively and
the topic is really interesting, it seems that 2 hours is short and I even wanted more time to
know more about the topic.

I commend JPIA for preparing and giving seminar like this. I hope that in the following
term they will still give seminars like this with different topics on stocks such as on how to invest
stock, when is the right timing to invest in stocks, how to determine if it is good or bad stocks
and many more related topics. I think JPIA also need a bigger venue next time because Andrew
703 was jam-packed. I can say that even though for other or most of the students there was
present because of incentive but based on what I see, each of us really learned a lot that day
and we were really listening to the speaker.

I hope that I can use and apply all the learnings that I have from my course and from this
seminar in the near future. Mr. Marvin Germo inspires me to save wisely and spend my money
correctly. I salute him!