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Why it is important to stayed invested in the stock market with a long-term outlook

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The stock market may appear daunting at first. As much as there are success stories in the news of the Warren Buffets and the Dhammika Pereras of the world, there are also tragic accounts of loss and hardship.       In order to understand the stock market, it is important to initially recognize the premise of capitalism. A profit-seeking entrepreneur’s goal is to make a higher rate of return on his/ her equity investment than the rate offered by low risk assets such as government bonds or fixed deposits. In other words, if the per anum fixed deposit rate at a financially prudent bank is 11%, as is currently the case in Sri Lanka, an entrepreneur would seek a return in excess of 11% for the risk that he/she assumes.   The shareholders of publicly enlisted companies naturally have the same goal. Although companies in the stock market as a group may fail to make a suitable return in the short term, they will make a return in excess of low risk assets in the long run.  
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Tourism and the bullish case for the Rupee

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The pessimism around the Sri Lankan economy and its currency continues for another year. FDI inflows are sluggish at sub $1B, exports are stagnant at 13% of GDP, and total external debt levels are 10% higher at $26B. These indicators, coupled with the government's inability to push liberalization policies through interest groups, such as the GMOA and the ports union, have dented business confidence, doomed Sri Lanka for a consecutive year of below 5% GDP growth and depreciated the Sri Lankan Rupees 6% against the dollar on a rolling 12-month basis. In the midst of the gloom, however, there is a bright spot in the economy which has the potential to propel its currency to a greener pasture largely unfettered by the woes of the rest of the country. That is the tourism sector. The tourism industry in Sri Lanka is in a self-perpetuating cycle of growth. Despite the lack of an extensive government or private sector-led advertising campaign, the travel sections of media outlets, such
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