Vietnam's stock exchange has outpaced every other Asian bourse this year as investors in a country with a passion for betting have discovered the newest game in town - equity trading.
Eager to cash in on booming economic growth of 8.4 percent last year, the urban middle class has fuelled nascent exchanges in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, and a flourishing "grey" market of as-yet unlisted stocks.
The HCMC Securities Trading Centre, set up in the communist-ruled country in 2000, is still in its infancy, with just 37 listed companies and a market capitalisation of 1.94 billion dollars.
BUT IT'S GROWING RAPIDLY: trading has exploded in a share market that was worth just 250 million dollars a year ago. So far this year, the VN Index has gained over 80 percent, closing up 0.4 percent at 545.39 points Friday.
Studying the numbers recently on the electronic board of a major broker, Saigon Securities Inc, was Nguyen Quoc Truong, 49, a restaurant owner who said he has invested five million dong (300 dollars) so far.
Truong said he understands only the basics of stock-trading and sometimes takes advice from his teenage nephew while sticking to simple, prudent rules.
"The market goes down when many people sell, and it rises when many people buy," he said. "I choose the biggest company. It's safer." "With a lottery ticket," he added, "you have less chance to win."
Truong is part of a new wave of rookie investors discovering the rules of capitalism in Vietnam which hopes to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) this year. Without access to company reports or an aggressive financial press, most investors rely on rumours, friends' advice and gut-feelings.
Many shares are also traded on the informal or "grey" over-the-counter market, where people put their money on whatever as-yet unlisted company is thought to be the next big thing.
Merrill Lynch fuelled the excitement in January with a bullish report on the emerging market of 83 million people, where it said "wealth is being created at a turbo-charged rate," labelling Vietnam shares a 'ten-year buy.'
Foreign investors, too, have discovered Vietnam, calmly buying low during a sudden dip last week when some local investors experienced their first market wobble.
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