Today is a day to give thanks for and recognize some notable happenings to empower investors.
Businss Daily: I was skeptical about the newspaper at the start but it has come through and is a great read, with all the major stories posted online (the site also has RSS feeds). I don’t know if/when it will break even and I also fear that it become ”online subscriber only once it reaches a critical number of readers.
Hisanet: Is one of the many upcoming platforms that aspires to offer online trading at the Nairobi Stock Exchanges (and so investors wont have to queue for IPO shares). It’s still not possible to trade in real time (i.e. you can’ place orders till nest day, unless you’re a major player) but this is something that has been lacking at most stockbrokers and will be a welcome avenue for Kenyans living abroad.
NSE site: The new web site of the Nairobi Stock Exchange has been a great improvement with daily price lists and some corporate news, conference reports and presentations and is also easier t navigate. The only drawback has been its massive PDF scans instead of simple text files. E.g. a one page statement on the collapse of Francis Thuo was 1.13 MB in size.
CMA wakes up: The collapse of Francis Thuo and alleged misdeeds at other stockbrokers has turned the heat up at the Capital Markets Authority who have now turned the heat on to other entities such as stockbrokers, insiders, and directors of companies.
In proposed new rules posted at the CMA site (which is also due for a spruce up) the CMA;
– Cracks down on misbehavior such as insider trading by raising possible penalties to 15 million shillings ($214,286) for companies, 10 million for employees and 5 million for directors. They will also have to reimburse their gains and have their names published. it’s about time
– Locks in management of companies coming up for IPO’s. While owners/managers at Equity, Access Kenya and Scangroup voluntarily agreed to stay on, the CMA has now formally endorsed that they can’t sell their shares for two years following listing
– The new rules also clear the way for other country shares to be cross listed on the NSE
Kudos indeed to BDAfrica. Good reporting, and the RSS feeds are super. I noticed that they do a good job of following up on stories. Like the Telkom sale article… another one followed up the next day with even more info.
All this is such good news. I can see the legal structure around the stock market shaping up.
I believe it is because a lot more politicians have their money in the countries stock market and so it is piting one persons greed against another. Greed coupled with antagonistic ends is one of the few things I have come to trust in the establishment of good govenance.
Another notable entrant is mystocks.co.ke. I use it to track my portfolio from the states.
Kudos to bdafrica. this could prove very effective and even if they decide to charge for the content, I think they might get quite a bunch of people.
CMA. This is now what every investor wants to hear. Some control by this body has been long overdue and I am glad to hear that they are planning to take some action. Somebody please tell them to build up a new website, the current one is just terrible.
information they say is power.
several avenues for information available.
I also hope bdafrica remains free.
I also use http://www.stockskenya.com for info and to discuss stocks stuff with other people.
pity is looking at the brokers websites – very few and rarely updated. they should style up
Great news from CMA! Thanks for posting.
wsup banks: but on the real did you lower your standards ama ur being bribed for this post
BDaily has very broad business coverage. Big kudos to them.
NSE: They need to borrow a leaf from the USE, who already have a great site but are going ahead with an upgrade project.
@Banks, on a sidenote I got to visit Kampala Serena a few weeks ago and it is indeed lovely. The decor, food, service, everything. And their broadband internet connections were superfast, didn’t miss the US one bit!
bdafrica… wa wa wa wa…. sa la la la. Quality, I meam, what can I say.
Well I guess I just said it. They are really on the ball with that. I have noticed some items are already being marked as premium content. If they keep that quality going, I would be happy to pay… to a point.
Since the juicy BD started only one hard copy has landed on my hand, I always read online. Starting todya they are posting stories by brief, I guess they want to make it fully premium. I wont think twice on getting a hard copy daily.
AfroM: dedicated staff who do research, not just recite what company MD’s or PR staff say
home to find it: IMHO Politics has little to do with it (greed). wil look up mystocks.co.ke
Gitts: The subscriber model is shot. agree on the CMA site
PesaMob: It shoudl remain free. I advocate for it to be made part of the daily newspaper, since I don’t see it standing alone at 50/= per day. stockskenya.com is great forum but watch out for planted stories & know who you’re chatting with
Ryan Shen-Hoover: You’re welcome. They’re trying to right some wrongs
Anonymous: real cheap to bribe me
Mitzy: Previouse NSE site paled in comparison to USE, but the new one is comparable. Hope to see kampala Serena soon
Jakarumba: I also read most issues free (free at the vendor) when I buy the nation or standard and notice that the major stories also run online. But premium content online is not going to work.
bankelele, i didnt know u wear spects, hehehhe watchin u …….
i have found that the bdaily newspaper is more fun reading than the online version. the paper version has some very interesting small business stories that are both motivational and inspiring. all in all these guys have surprised me too.
in fact am beginning to think that they are the ones who have stolen the thunder from bloggers
Odegle, that could be true to some extent, I’m always on BD. maybe bloggers should seriously consider having a consortium and pull the carpet under BD’s feet. Am sure its possible; imagine a combination of Riba, Banks, Odegle Vituvingi, Cold Tusker, Pesa Tu et al!!
Thumbs up to cross-listing on the NSE.
BDAfrica is good for breaking news but for analysis it aint worth it.They dont tell u what you dont know.
Just as a follow up to Pesatu’s point. I think blogger’s should use BD’s stories as a point of reference. Analyze these stories and add the personal side (validate BD’s stories). I don’t think BD’s coverage is a threat to blogger-traffic. Infact, bloggers have more to write about now.
I think people will always look to bloggers for validation. Blogger coverage is more personal and easy to trust – unless you are on stocksKenya forums, some of the postings on that site are questionable/suspicious.
As for the blogger-fraternity, we (your audience) are asking for more sophistication -> do some research like (bankelele, ribacapital and coldtusker). Bring us some new content – breakdown the stories/reports. The Blogger-role requires some commitment and the more you invest in the more we will come back to your blog.
As for the local stock sites – Stockskenya (has good forums & historical data)and Mystocks (good visual effect on charts and stock analysis) both of them are doing a good job with daily stock updates. Nairobist Stocks has rich research/analytical content and I noticed they are now covering Ugandan stocks(Way to go). Jijini and walapa – not sure if they are still alive. Eight -> kinda lost their steam.
NSE website – excellent website – need to do more.
CMA -> Someone should bring that site down immediately.
Pesatu -> You are slacking with your posts!
Bankelele, Coldtusker, Riba and Odeg(to some extent) -> very well written/researched posts. You are setting standards in the Kenyan business blogging fraternity. You are doing a great service to this audience and are pioneers of kenya business content online. You were here before BDAfrica came around. We owe you ONE!
Acces Kenya is a melon. I wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole.
From the prospectus:
1. So called “Lock-in” is a sham. only 40M shares are locked for 2 yrs. Enough time for the Directors to kula the 350M they will get from the IPO.
2. Target long term ivestors yet the future business prospects are bleak.
3. I think the directors want to cash out ASAP before EASSY / Wananchi acquisitiona and Telkom Priv.
4. They don’t know what they will do with the extra money. No strategy for expanding into the so called “services sector”. Hence your money will wasted burned on RnD and false starts.
6. This share is ridiculously OVER PRICED.
7. This is another “Eveready”.
8. The prospectus contains a lot of redundant garbage and clever legal wording meant to hide informationa and possibly fool ordinary investors.
I predict the following:
1. Under-subscription (if the targeted investors do their homework).
2. Low Post IPO demand with prices at below IPO levels.
3. Wailing and Gnashing of teeth by IPO speculators who dive in without understanding the Prospectus.
Bankelele,
Good news on the regulation front, cross listing and CMA upgrade (long overdue indeed) However, I would warn fellow investors agst Hisanet… these are the same fellows behind Francis Drummond & Co – Anne Kibebe… I was burned by FD&Co in terms of execution and the allure of online trading. The major differentiator we need to demand in Kenya is customer service I know I sound like a broken record… but what the hell. Anyone out there thinking of Hisanet, tread carefully – I will be happy to be proven wrong… but as they share once bitten, twice share. Keep up the good work!
@Nimechoka: True i’ve slackened.Am doing 3-4 posts a month unlike the earlier 8-10 posts.Got other stuff on my hands, so i’d rather do 2 good posts than do 8 bad/mediocre ones.
ia73Odegle: Nice read, but 50/= day is asking a lot
Jakarumba: We are not in competition with bdaily and welcome the increased information. the media has greater access to stories, and before, they were not many outlets for such stories. BTW, they now write about AGMN trivia like the food, and inane questions!
pesa tu: some stories are good, but they don’t do much indept now maybe once they get some solid adverts. As for posting, take your time & post at your pace.
Nimechoka: I use them as a point of reference a lot (as nation business stories are subscriber only and once they are archived, useless to link to). good point – to know whose posting to a forum
Maishinski: That’s your take. There’s some good, but of course some risk questions with every IPO
David: I thought Anne was one of the hard workers at FD. Anyway, we’ll judge Hisanet over time as it has just started