Business Channel 2007-0624&26

Script:

Thank you. And with that, it is the start of another day of trade.

Also I thought, here at the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, it takes more than a few bangs of the gong to get things going. Various VIPs make a go and champagne¹ is served. I stay away from the red feast but keep my eyes fixed² on the board. Even though the floor may not be full of action, this is one of the hottest markets on the planet.
In 2006, the exchange soared nearly 145%. It’s gained an additional 40% through June this year.
In terms of total market cap it was roughly half a billion dollars at the start of last year. Today it's about 15 billion. And according to the head of the Exchange, it's just gonna get bigger.
"By the end of the year, the market cap will double."
Vietnam is gripped by stock market mania³. Here at Saigon Security Inc. or SSI, punters rush to counter to place their orders. I check up the man with the red sack. He takes out bundles and bundles of cash until 1 billion Dong is on the table, that's just over 60,000 dollars. After the orders are placed, the punters simply hang around, on the ready for any sudden moves.
Internet trading is not allowed in Vietnam. So this is what you get. A stuffy⁴ room crammed⁵ with hundreds of people who can just stare at the screen for hours.
SSI also caters⁶ to 2000 overseas investors⁷, eager for exposure to one of Asia's fastest growing economies. Everyone wants in. And Hanoi is on alert. Worried about a speculative⁸ frenzy⁹ and possible collapse¹⁰, the government is considering whether to order foreign investors to keep their capital in Vietnam for one year. There's plenty of talk about bubbles, but the big guns are taking a long-term view.

"I think the best is still to come. You have in the existing 200 listed company probably less than 10 major stocks which used to be state-owned companies, but a few hundreds are to come in the coming 2-3 years."

"For me, Vietnam is one of the single most interesting markets and economies in Asia within the context of frontier markets. For me it remains¹¹ the most compelling 10-year buy."

But any sudden slide would likely hurt the little guy, like 25-year-old student Vienun with his 2000-dollar investment.

”No, I lost. I'm actually losing.”
Ouch! And it’s not even bear season yet.

Kristie Lu Stout¹², CNN, Ho Chi Minh City

notes:

Market capitalization, or market cap, is a measurement of corporate¹³ or economic size equal to the stock price times the number of shares outstanding of a public company. As owning stock represents owning the company, including all its assets, capitalization represents the public opinion of a company's net worth and is a determining factor in stock valuation. Likewise, the capitalization of stock markets or economic regions may be compared to other economic indicators¹⁴. The global market capitalization was $51.225 trillion in March 2007, indicating a dominant¹⁵ force in the global economy.

1 champagne   

n.香槟酒；微黄色

参考例句：

• There were two glasses of champagne on the tray.托盘里有两杯香槟酒。
• They sat there swilling champagne.他们坐在那里大喝香槟酒。

2 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

3 mania   

n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好

参考例句：

• Football mania is sweeping the country.足球热正风靡全国。
• Collecting small items can easily become a mania.收藏零星物品往往容易变成一种癖好。

4 stuffy   

adj.不透气的，闷热的

参考例句：

• It's really hot and stuffy in here.这里实在太热太闷了。
• It was so stuffy in the tent that we could sense the air was heavy with moisture.帐篷里很闷热，我们感到空气都是潮的。

5 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

6 caters   

提供饮食及服务( cater的第三人称单数 )； 满足需要，适合

参考例句：

• That shop caters exclusively to the weaker sex. 那家商店专供妇女需要的商品。
• The boutique caters for a rather select clientele. 这家精品店为特定的顾客群服务。

7 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

8 speculative   

adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的

参考例句：

• Much of our information is speculative.我们的许多信息是带推测性的。
• The report is highly speculative and should be ignored.那个报道推测的成分很大，不应理会。

9 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

10 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 stout   

adj.强壮的，粗大的，结实的，勇猛的，矮胖的

参考例句：

• He cut a stout stick to help him walk.他砍了一根结实的枝条用来拄着走路。
• The stout old man waddled across the road.那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。

13 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

14 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

15 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。