Mr. Lynh agrees to find him a buyer, especially for the cable company, which makes fiber-optic lines for telephones and data transmission. Stock analysis is a crude art in Vietnam. Few companies report sales or earnings, and the law doesn't require that such data be released. Investors get most of their information from friends or managers who work at the companies that interest them. Gauging their market value is next to impossible.
Insider trading is rampant.
In his cubbyhole of an office in the attic of the restaurant, Mr. Lynh opens a file cabinet full of balance sheets, company memos and earnings figures that he lends to regular customers. Many of the reports are from company managers who are regular customers. But it's not really illegal here. Meanwhile, bulls and bears continue to graze at Indexx House. Over a plate of spiced chicken, a young banker asks Mr. Lynh for his advice on a company that makes telephone poles.