With bull markets blooming around the world in recent years, the news of yesterday’s self-inflicted financial wounds in Thailand has delivered an unscheduled reminder that prices also go down.
The calamity started when the Thai Finance Ministry yesterday announced a “lock-up” program to restrict capital flows into the economy. Investors reacted by selling…and selling and selling some more. The Thai stock market crumbled by 15% by Tuesday’s close, although as we write this morning (New York time) prices have retraced the lion’s share of the decline.