Investing in the stock market is a different ball game fraught with risks and uncertainties. If one is new to this market and quite in the dark about basics of it, the risks just attain the epic proportion. We all know how the innocent and general investors were affected during the share market crash in 1996 and again during the crash in 2010-11. So, an investor needs to be well-informed and know the basics of the market and the risks associated with every investment decision. If the investors are well-informed, it will not only benefit them, but also the stock market and thus the economy. For, if a stock market is founded on a sound footing, it can be a good source of financing for projects in areas like infrastructure development, industrialisation and so on. So, an investor having sound knowledge about the stock market is very important for it. But when it comes to the education of investors, there is always a dearth of books which provide that much insight into the local stock market and analyse different aspects of it. No doubt, the newly-launched book 'Bangladesh Share Market: Looking Ahead After Two Big Crashes' by Md Toufique Hossain, a young professional, will fill that void to a great extent. The book is the outcome of three years of untiring efforts the author put doing research on the stock market in Bangladesh.
This book contains eighty articles, divided into 17 chapters based on the similarity of the topics and mainly concentrates on the happenings in the stock market of Bangladesh before and after 2010, the reasons behind the two big share market crashes, first in 1996 and then in 2010-11. These two debacles are like two deep scars on the capital market in Bangladesh. It is not possible to overlook the causes and consequences of these two big-bang events, if we want to found the market on a sound footing. The policy planners need to cure the ills first before planning big with the capital market. In view of that importance, much of the focus of this book has been put on the two crashes-their comparative analysis based on the relevant facts and figures. Most of the articles of the book were published in The Financial Express on different occasions showing what really happened on the ground and providing insights into the problems and the way out.
In compilation of the articles a forward-looking approach based on past experiences has been valued most, so that the readers have a better understanding of the capital market trend, what is actually happening underneath the visible exterior, the past stock market crashes, their causes and consequences, policy responses and the factors that can lead to market instabilities.
The pieces in the book have encompassed topics like the stock market history, derivatives, mutual funds, private equity, share buy-back, demutualisation, banks' exposure to the stock market, budgetary measures for capital market and the overall market environment. How the investors became rich overnight and then turned paupers has also been in focus here.
Share market crashes happened in Bangladesh also as elsewhere in the world. But there was no analysis available in the book form on those two incidents. However, the availability of this book will resolve that problem to a great extent. It is our firm belief that university students, investment professionals and research firms having interest in the capital market would find the book worth browsing at least while it would be helpful for all students from the finance and accounts background, who want to learn about the asset market crisis, because the stock market is part of the asset market.
In the foreword of the book, Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), an independent research organisation, summed up it and put it into perspective before commenting that the book will definitely serve as a benchmark study for any future research on this subject. He expressed his hope that the author would demonstrate his sustained interest in this theme, which he has addressed impressively in his first endeavour.
In the overview of the book, Editor of The Financial Express, Mr Moazzem Hossain, says: books of this type are not many in number in Bangladesh and hence, the book is a welcome venture. It covers a wide range of issues and concepts in the domain of the capital market in Bangladesh. As a financial journalist, I expect that all those who are involved in this market in Bangladesh will find it useful.
Finally, to write on any area of the economy in a comprehensive way is really a difficult task. In view of the complexities and dimensions of the share market, the articles have been presented in the simplest way and duly illustrated for the valued readers' easy perusal providing insights into the two big crashes in the local share market. Pie charts, tables and different diagrams have been added to the articles here to help the readers understand the topics easily while regressions, econometrics, variance etc have been avoided.
A good aspect of the book is: each chapter or article of it is independent of the other. Readers can choose any chapter or article of the book for a read without the necessity of going through another piece. This has been done, so that people from any background can read it like a story book.
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