I LOST 15.5 MILLION NAIRA IN INTERCONTINENTAL, FINBANK AND CONOIL. NOW AM DEPRESSED AND SICK, IT TOOK ME SEVERAL YEARS OF HARD LABOR (WORKING ROUND THE CLOCK) TO RAISE THIS MONEY. WHAT SHOULD I DO? I WAS WRONGLY ADVISED TO INVEST IN THIS FIRMS  AND HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THE PRICE TO PICK UP, BUT NOW THERE IS NO MORE HOPE FOR ME COS OF THE MERGER AND INSTABILITY OF THE ECONOMY, BOUGHT CONOIL AT 178, NOW IT IS 35 NAIRA, IB @2.53 PER UNIT, NOW I WILL GET 20KOBO EACH AFTER MERGER, FINBANK AT 75KOBO, NOW WILL GET LESS THAN 10 KOBO,
SHOULD I SELL THEM OFF OR LEAVE THEM TO SEE WHAT THE FUTURE MAY HOLD, I AM REALLY DEPRESSED AS I INVESTED ALL I HAVE IN THOSE STOCKS. NOW I AM KOBOLESS.

You are not alone. Lots of Nigerians home and abroad lost their hard earned savings or ill-gotten wealth on the NSE disaster.
Just brace yourself and start afresh.
If you need the remaining money or have a better investment plan, then sell off all the stock and move on.
Or you can just count it as an expensive learning curve, forget the stocks and go for better investments such as real estate.

I suggest you sell all the stocks and buy a piece of land somewhere if possible. The value of the land will never depreciate.

Also know that there is risk in every investment.

To me i will advice to hold on to future,this is stock,things might change anytime.Don't afford to loss that hunge amount of money just bcoz of the merger."Look before you leap".

Controversially Speaking, the stock did not do anybody wrong but they did it to themselves.

Contrary to what people say,right?

What did you know about the stock market before you invested that money? I will beat my chest and say you know nothing about it. But you dived into the ocean without knowing how to swim.

I that had no money to invest in things like the stocks at that time was studying it like the bible. How many of you here educate yourself financially? The problem is not the stock market. The problem is you and your lack of financial education cost you this.

So many people have money but don't know how to invest. Investment101: Never put your money in what you don't understand.

Its really an Irony. Some people have knowledge about business and investment that can bring in more money but they lack the start up capital.

The market crashed because it was saturated with people who simply and hope increase in value and nobody was selling.

I read about Warren Buffet's method of isolating himself from such disaster many years ago. A shoe shiner was showing some stocks to buy and after Buffet left there, he thought to himself that if an ordinary shoe shiner could be trading in the stocks, then he had to exist. He sold all his stocks and a week later,the market crashed.

Frankly, when the meltdown started, I wasn't surprised because I had read about it somewhere from the guys in the GAME.

Get a copy of Buffetology. It was written by Warren Buffet's daughter-in-law and you will see that doing the opposite of what 90% of the people do will save you from future disaster.

Invest in your education FIRST. That is the secret. At 23, I had studied alot of business function.

If I have money now, I will buy a lot of stocks but in places where most people do not invests. Thats what financial education can do to you.

In forex, we have what we call realized and unrealized profit or loss.

If you sell, the profit or loss becomes real or realized.

If you leave it, the profit or loss becomes unrealized; it is not yet a reality. I think you should leave them for another 20 years. pretend they don't exist. I am sure that their values will pick up and turn unrealized losses to unrealized profits which you can then sell for realized profits.

We who are into forex use this principle everyday. On Friday, I was in a trade that closed the week at $650 in unrealized loss. By the time I finished work and came home yesterday night, the trade had moved in my direction for $2,070 profit (unrealized), which I now closed to realize the profit.

So please, leave it alone. Anything else you do will be disaster at this time; selling the stocks will just turn the unrealized N15m loss to reality.

It would be very bad if you decide to sell your stock,you should know that in the capital market investing in stocks should be seen as a long term investment and not as a venture to make super quick money ,it is true that the value is not the same but then see it that in the long run the prices of the shares are going to escalate so it is advisable to get a good stockbroker to help you arrange your portfolio , have a swell time investing in the stock market

8 bolz and stagger, I concur. You can imagine the op saying he wants to sell the stocks and that means nothing learned from stock.

If I had money OP, i would have asked you to sell them to me.

8 bolz and stagger, I concur. You can imagine the op saying he wants to sell the stocks and that means nothing learned from stock.

If I had money OP, i would have asked you to sell them to me.

Stock brokers will always advice you to re-strategise and buy more stocks even when the thing is falling into abyss.

Most of the stocks prices as at 2006 - 2009 were based on inflated speculations.

But you should shine your eye well well before you invest again.

As they say "once bitten twice shy".

Question, you are likely to fail ,too, if you don't improve your financial education.

You really think the problem is the stock market right?
Did you hear their name? They are STOCK BROKER. And who is broker? One who bring a buyer and a seller to do business. They often earn commissions by doing this. So,if you lose or gain, they make money. Majority of them don't have any stocks in any company.

How many people ever study businesses before they dive in?

If you sell the shares now, how much do you think you will realise? You will lose heavily.

Hold onto those stocks. Do not sell them. The bones shall rise again. Remember that "the world belongs to the patient".

Assume you invested for the next 10 years.

Thank you all for your advice. I will hold on to the stocks for another years to see what happens.
I really made a costly mistake, but in everything i give thanks to God.

@OP the stock market will rise again but it may take up to a 2 decades 'cos the Nigerian economy is seen as a safe-haven to attract foreign investors. Just keep yourself updated with the world's financial markets which the leaders would do everything possible to avoid a crash.

Jakpayen, could you give us a pictorial analysis for that projection? What are the economic pointers?

2decades? Ha ba take am easy lol.

^^ Many factors still slows down the growth of the stock market such as:

- People's perception about the market after the crash has dwindled and this may take a long time to convince the public to buy shares after the losses they've experience.

- There's instability in the economy which would make foreign investors back-out and concluding that the whole country is not safe.

- With the new strategy from CBN to reduce the supply of money in the economy, I don't think I'll be willing to invest the little I have anywhere the stock market.

- The international financial system is gradually recovering from the 2008 recession which back-fired on our stock market and I think until the international market fully recover that we can get a stability.

- The All Share index has continue fall from the beginning of the year to a low of about 20K.

If you have the money, now would be the best time to buy and keep for future generations unborn.

Its only in d time like dis dt people emphasize on financial education,although its essential but when d market was crazily bullish,every investor had little recourse to financial education cos every share was appreciating including those that lack fundamental.
My advice to you is to remain calm and be determined not to exit market at a loss.even if u decide to sell at the current market prices u may not be able to sell,cos demand is weak across board.
On the last note the state of d market is a reflection of the economy,its my believe d economy will improve and we shall have course to smile again in d market