Mrs. Nii, and thousands of retail investors like her, make up 90 percent of trading volume on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. In this stock-obsessed nation, where more than 10 television channels exclusively follow market news and popular analysts garner celebrity status, individual investors still see Taiwan's economy as a special case, isolated from Asia's woes. The benchmark index in Taipei finished Saturday at 7,895.48, off 12 percent since the region's crisis began in July, compared with the 36 percent drop in Seoul or the 40 percent plunge in Jakarta.
Stocks come down for economic and psychological reasons.
Mr. Tsai regularly churns through his portfolio, making many trades each day to second-guess the psychological effect of news. This technique, typical of Taiwan investors, flourishes thanks to the low cost of making a trade. Although there are only 400 companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, the trading volume in dollar terms is higher than that of the Tokyo and Hong Kong exchanges combined. Mr. Tsai said, adding that he learned how to deal with falling markets during the stock plunge seven years ago. While among the world's top 20 traders, Taiwan remains a very closed economy with relatively low levels of foreign borrowing and a currency of limited convertibility.