Learn how Philippine investing actually works
Plain-language guides for Filipinos at every stage — from "I've never bought a stock" to "I'm building a real portfolio." Published in both English and Bisaya, because every Filipino deserves serious financial content in their own language.
English
- Beginners · 6 min read
The Best PSE Brokers for Beginners, Compared
An honest, neutral comparison of the SEC-licensed online stock brokers most Filipino beginners use — COL Financial, BPI Trade, First Metro, AP Securities, Philstocks, and investing through GCash — and how to choose the one that fits you.
- Beginners · 5 min read
How to Invest in Stocks Using GCash (GStocks PH and GFunds)
If you have GCash, you already have one of the easiest ways for a Filipino to start investing — right inside the app. A plain-English guide to GStocks PH and GFunds, how each works, and which to begin with.
- Beginners · 6 min read
What Trading on the PSE Really Costs: Fees and Taxes Explained
The full list of charges on a Philippine stock trade — broker commission and VAT, the small exchange and clearing fees, the stock transaction tax you pay only when you sell, and the tax on dividends — with a plain worked example so you know exactly what reaches your pocket.
- Beginners · 6 min read
Common Beginner Mistakes on the PSE (and How to Avoid Them)
The handful of avoidable errors that cost new Filipino investors the most — chasing tips, overtrading, no diversification, panic selling, and confusing a cheap share price with a cheap company — and the simple habits that prevent each.
- Beginners · 6 min read
How to Buy Your First Stock on the PSE: Placing the Order
A step-by-step plain-English walkthrough of buying your first share on the Philippine Stock Exchange — funding your account, board lots, market vs limit orders, what settlement means, and the confirmation to check before you click buy.
- Beginners · 7 min read
Stocks vs Time Deposits vs Pag-IBIG MP2: Where Should Your Money Go?
A plain-language comparison of three places Filipinos park money for the long term — PSE stocks, bank time deposits, and Pag-IBIG MP2 — across risk, return, liquidity, taxes, and guarantees, so you can match each to the right job.
- Beginners · 6 min read
Bull Markets, Bear Markets, and Corrections: Reading the Cycle
What the terms bull market, bear market, and correction actually mean, why markets move in cycles of optimism and fear, and how a long-term Filipino investor should think and behave through each phase.
- Beginners · 6 min read
What Is the PSEi 30 — and Why Those 30 Companies?
How the 30 companies in the Philippine Stock Exchange's main index are chosen — the liquidity, size, and free-float rules behind membership, how often the line-up is reviewed, and what the list does and doesn't tell you about the wider market.
- Fundamentals · 5 min read
Fundamental Analysis Basics: Reading the Numbers on a Stock
A plain-English guide to the four numbers that matter most when judging a stock — EPS, P/E, P/B, and ROE — what each one means, how to read them honestly, and the traps that fool beginners. Built around the figures shown on this site's stock pages.
- Getting Started · 5 min read
How to Open Your First Stock Brokerage Account in the Philippines
A step-by-step walkthrough of opening your first PSE brokerage account as a Filipino — choosing an accredited broker, what documents you need, funding the account, placing a first order, and the scams to avoid along the way.
- Fundamentals · 5 min read
Reading a Company's Financial Statements: The Three That Matter
A beginner's tour of the income statement, the balance sheet, and the cash flow statement — what each one tells you, the handful of lines worth finding, and how they feed the ratios you see on a stock page. Where to find them on PSE EDGE, too.
- Strategy · 5 min read
Risk, Diversification, and Peso-Cost Averaging: Investing Without Gambling
The three habits that protect ordinary Filipino investors from ruin — spreading your money, sizing positions sensibly, and buying on a fixed schedule instead of guessing the market. Plus the money rules to settle before you buy your first share.
- Income · 6 min read
Understanding Dividends: How Stocks Pay You to Wait
What dividends are, the dates that decide whether you get paid, how dividend yield works, which kinds of Philippine companies pay them, and the tax you actually keep — explained for the ordinary Filipino investor.
- Income · 5 min read
Understanding REITs in the Philippines: Earning Rent Without Being a Landlord
What a REIT is, why Philippine law forces them to pay out most of their income, how Filipinos use them for regular passive income, and the real risks — explained plainly for the beginner who wants property exposure without buying a condo.
- Beginners · 5 min read
What Is the PSEi — and Should You Just Buy the Whole Index?
The PSEi in plain terms: what the 30-company index measures, why it's weighted the way it is, and the case for index investing — owning the whole market instead of trying to pick winners — for ordinary Filipino investors.
- Beginners · 9 min read
How the Philippine Stock Exchange Actually Works
A plain-English walkthrough of what the PSE is, how buying and selling stocks really works, what the PSEi measures, and what every Filipino should know before opening their first account.
- Intermediate · 11 min read
Reading a Stock Chart Without Getting Fooled
What candles, volume, moving averages, and patterns actually tell you about a stock — and the most common traps that lead retail investors to misread them.