Mathematical Proof that a Stock's Beta is Equal to the Slope of the Linear Regression using Excel

For this exercise let's say the stock we are trying to study is SM Investments Corp (PSE: SM) and the benchmark is Philippine Composite PSEi Index (PCOMP)

From our readings we've learned that SM's Beta is equal to the Covariance of SM's daily returns vs PCOMP's daily returns divided by the PCOMPs stadard deviation squared.

In addition we've also learned that SM's beta can be derived by getting the slope of the linear regression of the daily returns between a SM and the PCOMP Index.

Let's find out if that is indeed true.

BPI Branch Open on Saturday or Sunday

There are times when we really have to do our banking transactions on the weekends (Saturday or Sunday) due to our work schedule on the weekdays. Hence knowing what specific BPI branches are open on Saturdays and Sundays to facilitate our transactions would be very helpful for us.

Based on our research, we've come up with the list below for BPI branches that are open on the weekends (Saturday or Sunday).

If you think our table on BPI branches that are open on Saturday or Sunday needs some information update please hit the comment section below so we can update the list. We hope you find this useful.

BPI branches open on Saturday or Sunday:

Luzon / Metro Manila

Branch Name:	BPI Glorietta Mall Third Level
Address:	3rd Level Unit 3006 Glorietta 2 Mall, Ayala Center, Makati City, Metro Manila
Phone:	(02)5775497 / (02)4781967
Banking Schedule:	Tuesday - Saturday 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM

Branch Name:	BPI Shangri-La Plaza Mall
Address:	5th Flr Shangri-La Plaza, EDSA cor Shaw Blvd., Mandaluyong City 1552, Metro Manila
Phone:	(02) 2170022 / (02) 6877032
Banking Schedule:	Monday - Friday & Saturday 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM

Branch Name:	BPI Ayala Malls Serin
Address:	Space G-49 Ground Floor, Ayala Malls Serin, Tagaytay-Nasugbu Road, Tagaytay City 4120
Phone:	(046)5126025 / (046)4605609
Banking Schedule:	Tuesday - Saturday 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM

How to Withdraw Funds in COL Financial through Email a.k.a. Online Withdrawal in Three (3) Easy Steps

I've been getting a lot of emails/questions recently on how to easily withdraw funds in COL Financial through email so you do not have to personally go tho their office in Tektite Towers, Ortigas everytime you want to withdraw some of your funds in COL.

So here's how to withdraw your funds with COL Financial in three (3) easy steps:

1. Make sure you have the cash in your portfolio to withdraw. According COL:

An individual can withdraw the proceeds of a stock transaction sale in three days (T+3) after a stock is sold subject to the procedures on the withdrawal of funds. An unused cash balance longer than three days dormant can be withdrawn anytime thereafter, allowing for one day notice with a cut-off time of 12 Noon to prepare the check payment for that day.


2. Download, fill-up and sign the Fund Withdrawal Form, indicate that you want the funds deposited to your registered bank account - this is the bank account you've nominated when you applied for your COL account.

Log-in to your COL account and go to Home > Forms > WithdrawalFund.pdf

Sample of filled up and signed Fund Withdrawal Form

The Cost of Trading Stocks in the Philippines with Sample Computations

Below is a sample computation of the trading cost incurred when you buy and sell a stock listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange with your online stock broker. The numbers presented are based on the actual (rate of) brokerage/tax/handling fees as presented by COL Financial Group Inc. Enjoy!

Breakdown of computation assuming you buy and sell EDC:

Stock Ticker: EDC

Company Name: Energy Development Corporation

Number of shares bought/sold: 20,000

Price bought/sold: PHP 5.00*

*The current market price of EDC as of this writing is 8.65, we used 5.00 in our sample computation for demonstration purposes.

Description (Buying)	Formula/Computation	Breakdown (PHP)
Number of Shares	# of shares bought	20,000
Stock Price	price bought	5
Trade Value	Stock Price * Number of Shares	100,000
Buying Cost 1: Commission	0.0025 * Trade Value	250
Buying Cost 2: VAT	0.12 * Commission	30
Buying Cost 3: PSE Trans Fee	0.00005 * Trade Value	5
Buying Cost 4: SCCP (Clearing Fee)	0.0001 * Trade Value	10
Total Cost of Buying (TCofB)		295
Total Cost of Buying as % of Trade Value		0.30%
Description (Selling)	Formula/Computation	Breakdown (PHP)
Number of Shares	# of shares sold	20,000
Stock Price	price sold	5
Trade Value	Stock Price * Number of Shares	100,000
Selling Cost 1: Commission	0.0025 * Trade Value	250
Selling Cost 2: VAT	0.12 * Commission	30
Selling Cost 3: PSE Trans Fee	0.00005 * Trade Value	5
Selling Cost 4: SCCP (Clearing Fee)	0.0001 * Trade Value	10
Selling Cost 5: Sales Tax	0.005 * Trade Value	500
Total Cost of Selling (TCofS)		795
Total Cost of Selling as % of Trade Value		0.80%
Description (Total Buying and Selling)	Formula/Computation	Breakdown (PHP)
Total Cost of Buying AND Selling	(TCofB + TCofS)	1,090
Total Cost of Buying AND Selling as % of Trade Value	(TCofB + TCofS) / Trade Value	1.09%*

*Assuming you bought and sold stock EDC at the same price, you will lose 1.09% of your money due to the cost of trading - This is precisely the reason why newbie Traders, or even the experienced Traders should really avoid over-trading. 1.09% may seem a little, but do it 10 times (assuming you bought and sold at the same price) and you've lost 10%, do it 50 times and you've lost 50% - of course I'm simplifying the math, but you get the point. =)

So what can we do to minimize the transactions costs? Bearing in mind that a LOT of small things is actually a LOT.

If you observe carefully, the biggest chunk of all the cost of trading is from the Sales Tax. Almost 50% of your trading (buying/selling) cost is from the Sales Tax and as name implies this only applies when you sell your shares of stocks as seen in the breakdown above.

Hence one of the best strategies to minimize your cost of trading is the Buy-and-Hold strategy, this strategy is a simple strategy to buy strong, fundamentally sound stocks at an attractive price and hold it for as long as the "strong fundamentals" haven't change. This is the investment strategy being implemented by the investment greats such as Warren Buffet, Philip Fisher, John Bogle etc. 

I remember a quote from W. Buffet saying,

 "Our favorite holding period is forever".

If we take Buffet's example to the extreme, buying a very strong, fundamentally sound company and holding it forever, this means Buffet will never have to pay any Sales Tax for the rest of his life! Compare this with a very active trader always getting in and out of a stock, every time he gets in and out - he has to beat that 1.09% hurdle just to break-even and he has to the beat that hurdle on every trade for the rest of his trading career - Just to break-even.

But of course even Buffet himself does not hold ALL of his stocks forever - it's just his ideal scenario. He sells from time to time, but after a pretty long holding period maximizing his cost of trading - of w/c when you check the math, actually makes a lot of sense.

Happy investing.

DISCLAIMER: 

This is not an investment advice and the author shall not be responsible or liable for any trading or investment decisions made based on this information.

The author hereby expressly disclaims any responsibility for any error or inaccuracy in the information.

Stock Broker Comparison: COL Financial vs BPI Trade

I encountered a detailed comparison between  BPI Trade and COL Financial by G. M. Domingo and thought it was pretty detailed hence It would be useful to guide the Filipino Investors out there in making their decision on choosing their first online Stock Broker.

Enjoy his comparison between the two from his personal experience. Cheers!

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I have accounts on both BPI Trade and COL Financial. Sadly, as much as I like the bank, BPI Trade has caused me lots of headaches, whereas COL is better in almost all criteria. I sincerely hope BPI does some bold moves to fix their processes.

Here are their comparisons based from my personal experiences:

BPI Trade

• Application: So hard and so complicated (this is the most tiring part, believe me -- you apply online, print, bring the form personally to any branch, wait for weeks for their email to arrive, then the email arrives but everything is confusing and you still won't be able to open your account, then finally you call their hotline to ask for the initial password. And as additional surprise, you still have to enrol your BPI Trade Account Number to your BPI Express Online so you can do fund transfer. To do this, you have to again enrol online, print, bring form to the bank then wait for days again until you see it in your Express Online account. Note that all of these take about 3-5 weeks to finish.

Ten Investment Advice for the Newbie Investor

This post was inspired by the Reader question below:

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Hi Filipino Investor Admin,

I'm John and I happen to come across your blog. I got interested with investing in the stock market a month ago and I can't help but read and learn everything I can. The thing is I am in Qatar working. I started saving enough to start my investments. Any advise you can give? More powers!

Regards, John

______________________________________________________________________

Hi John,

Thank you for query. I think a lot of new guys to investing have the same questions. Having this said. I'll answer your question through a blog post (and here it is. Haha).

The following are more of a general rule of thumb that I followed in the last 4 years of investing the PSE and it has served me relatively well. I hope you learn something valuable in one of them.

Best Stock Broker in the Philippines

Choosing your first stockbroker is one of the first hurdles that every self-directed investors/traders have to accomplish towards achieving their financial goals.

According to Wikipedia, a stockbroker is a regulated professional individual, usually associated with a brokerage firm or broker-dealer, who buys and sells stocks and other securities for both retail and institutional clients, through a stock exchange or over the counter, in return for a fee or commission.

Given this, the question: "Who's the best stockbroker?" is usually the first question the comes to mind. But in a relatively young stock market such as the Philippines, investors who are just starting out usually find themselves in a difficult situation on answering this question because there is very few information out there.

So our friends in PinoyMoneyTalk.com (PMT) conducted a survey on who is the best stockbroker in the Philippines to help guide those eyeing to open their first stock trading account. Below are the results as of this writing.

We hope this consolidated lists help you in deciding on w/c Philippine-based stock broker you will open an account with.

How to Donate in ABS-CBN Sagip Kapamilya Through BPI ExpressOnline?

"The purpose of money is to be able to enjoy life and share it with others" - Bo Sanchez

And we at The Filipino Investor ask, what better time to share than now?

Below are the easy steps to donate in ABS-CBN Sagip Kapamilya through BPI Express Online.

Step 1. Go to www.bpiexpressonline.com

Step 2. Toggle on Payments & Reloading tab and then click on  e-Donation

Step 3. Fill out the forms!

Step 4. Once everything's complete click on Submit

Once the transaction is completed and successful you will be navigated into a confirmation page with the summary of your transaction. Your donation is finally completed!

It is no secret that our fellow Filipinos in the areas hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda is in a very bad shape. Any amount of help will make their life at-least a little easier.