Quick takes from around the market

1. The Philippine Stock Exchange [PSE 177.00, up 0.3%; 30% avgVol] [link] is working with “foreign counterparts” to introduce a derivatives trading market on the PSE by mid-2025, according to reporting from Inquirer’s Bizz Buzz. The rumors say that the PSE is focused on delivering an index futures contract market as its initial derivatives product, but the longer-term roadmap could include things like options and warrants.

MB quick take: In my experience, futures and options are the ultimate battleground of personal control. Derivatives can be a great way to reduce risk, churn income, or make speculative bets, but they can also be a quick and easy way to nuke an otherwise well-maintained portfolio if they’re not respected and handled correctly. I’ve seen more peers get nuked out of the game trading options than any other investing product. Part of the reason for this, in my opinion, is that the added layer of abstraction actually increases the gambling-like elements of investing to levels that can easily trigger gambling addiction-like behavior in traders. I’m not clutching my pearls, though. I love trading options and would appreciate the chance to use these in my PSE trading life. I just know that it will introduce an entirely next-level set of problems for retail that will require a good deal of information and education to navigate.
 

2. Alternergy [ALTER 0.83, up 0.0%; 34% avgVol] [link] reported that its subsidiary, Alternergy Tanay Wind Corp., signed a lease contract with the Rizal Provincial Government that comes with a revenue sharing clause. The land is related to one of ALTER’s two onshore wind projects that were just recently awarded to ALTER during the Department of Energy’s most recent Green Energy Auction. No specific terms of the revenue-sharing deal were provided.

MB quick take: Without knowing the actual terms of the lease it’s hard to say how much of a win this is for ALTER, but a revenue-sharing lease can be a great sign for a project as it gets the landlord (in this case, the province) to have a shared interest in the project’s success. It also usually lowers the baseline lease rate, which is great, especially for the period of development