The Neo-Market Report

By stereolab

And now let's drop in on Neopia's leading financial experts for this week's edition of "The Neo-Market Report." Joining Neil and Maria this week is a very special guest... the one and only Arvid Grundospeck, Chairman of The Neopian Reserve. Today, Mr. Grundospeck will be discussing his decision to lower interest rates and the impact it will have on the future of the market. And now, here are our hosts…

KAUVUTO: Hello and welcome to this week's edition of "The Neo-Market Report." I am your host Neil Kauvuto, Financial Editor of The Neopian Times, and yet again I am joined by my lovely co-host Maria Blumaroono, who comes to us from the floor of the exchange with word of today's hectic trading. Maria, what exactly is going on?

BLUMAROONO: Well Neil, I have to say that the floor is absolutely buzzing with activity. I haven't seen things this busy since back before Thanksgiving, when the slowdown began. Of course, the big story has been Wednesday's decision by Neopian Reserve Chairman Arvid Grundospeck to lower interest rates a half a percentage point--a decision which has sent investors into a buying frenzy. Since Wednesday's decision the Neodaq has shown a steady rise, and is now twenty-three points higher than last Friday's miserable close at 71.

KAUVUTO: As could be expected, this sudden emergence of a Bull Market has sent a number of stocks soaring. Leading the charge are Techrobatics Fitness Videos, which rebounded from last week's 334-point plunge with an equally stunning 337-point vault, and The Unis Beauty Salon, which managed to turn around a two-week slump with an impressive 271-point burst. Then there's Chia Steel, which last week's guest Hans Usul named as a stock to watch; they put up a sixty-point gain, doubling their value in under a week.

BLUMAROONO: As improbable as it may seem, there have actually been a couple of companies that have failed to take advantage of this recent surge in the economy. One such company is Mynci Imports, who was the surprise gainer of last week's report. Apparently investors have followed Hans' advice, moving their money from smaller, less experienced companies like Mynci Imports and Kau Kau Farm to perennial powers like Techrobatic Fitness Videos and Chia Steel. Another loser this week is Yippee! who looked to be making strong improvements until stumbling with a ten-point loss this week. It looks like it's back to the drawing board for those guys…

KAUVUTO: We're very fortunate to have Neopian Reserve Chairman Arvid Grundospeck as our special guest today. As the one who pulled the trigger on this drop in interest rates, The Chairman has single handedly jump-started the economy. Mr. Chairman, we're quite pleased to have you here today…

GRUNDOSPECK: Neil, I'm very happy to be here.

KAUVUTO: Of course, the question we all want to ask is, "What prompted you to make this decision?" If you could, please take us into the process that went into deciding to lower interest rates...

GRUNDOSPECK: Well, as you and Maria know, the economy had been in a bit of a "funk" since the whole Chiatech Password situation happened. And then, there was this kind of a weeding out process that occurred, where you saw a lot of these outrageous price-to-earnings ratios come back down to earth…

BLUMAROONO: Now, why didn't you step in and do something earlier? Like say, in January?

GRUNDOSPECK: Well see, that was the whole thing… we had to let those companies stumble a bit before we could really step in and do something. And now, with the corrections having taken place, I felt that we really needed to offer the investors an incentive to get back in the saddle and give this economy a boost, but at the same time make sure that they still had the lessons of this winter fresh in their minds.

KAUVUTO: So Mr. Chairman, what do you think the future has in store for the market?

GRUNDOSPECK: As far as the future, I think a lot of that has to do with the investors. If everybody piles onto Techrobatics or Unis Salon, I think we'll be in the same boat all over again within a matter of months. On the other hand, if people invest with caution and make pragmatic choices about where they put their money, and buy according to results rather than hype, I think we can truly say that happy days just might be here once again.

BLUMAROONO: Well, that's going to do it for us this week. For Chairman Grundospeck and Neil Kauvuto, this is Maria Blumaroono saying thank you and so long…