FOR many average Malaysians, the stock market is not something they track everyday- Housewives would probably much rather track prices of chicken and fish- One father that this reporter met talked about the price of diapers and where to get the best deals- He should know - he is in charge of buying goods for a major retailer- Maybe it is a good thing that many don't pay attention to the stock market because it could further sap their spirits- Because stock market investors are always buying or selling on what they think the future will be, recent tumbles may mean that we could be looking at more bad news- Earlier this week, the market's main benchmark FBM KLCI closed at its lowest in two months- Yesterday, it tumbled another 1-5 per cent- Stocks in the US, which pretty much always affect how investors feel, had their worst day on Thursday- The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped more than 4 per cent, its biggest percentage drop in more than two years- Investors also sold stocks in Europe, a region that is facing problems with government debts- The main concern is the strength of economic recovery in the world's biggest economy- According to The Economist newspaper, the US' gross domestic product (GDP) was expected to grow by 2-6 per cent this year, but this number has now been cut to below 2 per cent by some analysts- Some are even saying a return to recession, or the double-dip in economic lingo, is possible- Add the sovereign debt problems of Europe and we have a strong brew to undermine confidence- Where does this leave Asia? Slower growth or even contractions in rich economies will undoubtedly affect global economic growth- It would even slow Asia's economic growth as much of the stuff made in this region is also bought by our rich neighbours in the West- But Asia is also where investors look for growth- The region did not suffer the same financial crisis that had badly hurt developed nations, and it has a powerhouse in China, which grew GDP by 9-6 per cent in the first half, and an emerging Asean- The region is home to a rising number of middle-class population that are driving demand for anything from cars and bikes to smartphones and homes- A recent visit to Indonesia, a country with 238 million people, has really made an impression on this reporter- The number of motorcycles seems to have exploded over the last three years, clogging the roads of Jakarta further- And yet, carmakers there were confident they could sell more and overtake Thailand as Southeast Asia's biggest auto market- Indonesians typically buy big cars because of their large families, but at the recent motor show in Jakarta, you can see droves of young families checking out smaller cars- Closer to home, there have been early indications about the prosperity of Indonesia- More friends of this reporter are complaining about well-paid maids returning home and not coming back- Plantation firms are also seeing the same thing- In Malaysia, car sales are still expected to stay above 600,000 this year, while property developers still report steady profits- Our own big companies are also keen to invest more at home, thanks to the government's prodding- So, there will be more bad news coming from abroad and, yes, it will hurt our economy to a degree- But Asian economies should be resilient enough to handle it- And if you do have to look at the stock market, maybe now is a good time to close one eye and think about these two words - bargain hunting- ...

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