TASE Herd Makes My Day

My portfolio has climbed another notch ומחליפים קידומת

Let me copy and paste part of the bottom line of my end of day's bank statement:

97.10 סה"כ תיק בש"ח

Meaning: Total Portfolio Made 97.10 % in shekels on original investment.

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange herd is nervous, very nervous. Stanley Fisher, our Bernanke (he was supposed to head the Fed but made aliyah - a true Zionist), said that the GNP may grow only 4% this year, instead of 4.5% as thought. TASE's nerves gave out and broke down and the index slided and fell. Then Clal Finance Batucha Ltd., a respected Tel Aviv investment house came out with its analysis that

Israel’s financial market is entering a stormy period. Evidence of this were the falling prices on the TASE at the end of last week, as well as yesterday. In view of the almost 7% depreciation of the shekel against the dollar in the past month and the rise in yield on ten-year US T-Bills to over 5%. The investment house says that the recent changes favor export-oriented companies, and are unfavorable for importers and highly leveraged companies. In addition, ordinary forecasts of the effect of changes in the exchange rates are liable to be “unexpected” because many companies hedged against the earlier shekel appreciation against the dollar by buying derivatives and options. Now that the shekel seems to be depreciating, these hedges are liable to result in heavy losses.

Immediatamente there was a sale off of importers and a 3 - 5% rise in export oriented shares like TEVA, Makhteshim, ICI, Africa Israel. These "heavy" shares make up more than 60% of my portfolio, so the panicked reaction of the herd made my day, putting another fistful of dollars in my pocket.