Allow a correction phase to naturally run its course in the market

The small individual investors do need to appreciate the hard realities in the stock market. They need to be educated properly even if through a painful process that they must make truly informed decisions while buying stocks and should not invest in stocks of dubious value and, more importantly, they should be encouraged pro-actively to look at the market not as a way of making quick money, but as a vehicle to increase the value of their investments by investing on worthwhile shares for the longer term. If they are not willing to play by such rules and go on trying for a fast buck-- buying today and selling tomorrow and buying again the day after-- then it is better that they do not remain in the market for its overall well-being and development. The main imperatives in the present context of the market in Bangladesh should be one of allowing a natural corrective phase in the market to run its course, regardless of the consequences on a class of the so-called investors. After the correction phase is over, the likelihood would be that the investors--old and new-- from that period would not make the same mistakes again. In the new phase, greater participation should be sought from institutional investors who are generally prone to making investment more prudently than the individual investors and have more staying power in the market. A great deal of more institutional investments will help to build up the bedrock of the market on durable lines. Mustafa Mobin (Chanchal) Banani, Dhaka