Stock market boom entices new investors
By Guo Qiang (chinadaily.com.cn)Updated: 2007-05-10 16:46
For some ambitious Chinese investors, the May Day holiday is not a right time to enjoy the warm weather; on the contrary, it is prime time to flex their financial muscles for a heated fight for shares in the scorching stock market.
Shi Changxing, a monk at a temple in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province opens an account at a securities firm and soon rises to fame. [huash.com]
The country's main stock Index surged over two percent to close at 4,012.52 points on Wednesday, breaking the four thousand point barrier two days after the Labor Day market recess
Despite economists' warnings of a possible bubble burst, an army of determined Chinese investors have thrown themselves into the market, in hope of making a bundle. Even some monks, who are generally considered austere, cannot resist the financial temptation.
A monk named Shi Changxing made news on Wednesday when he opened an account at Guotai Jun'an Securities firm in northwestern Xi'an.
Shi promised to do good deeds if he made a profit.
"It signals religion has contributed to the development of China's economic growth", explained Wang Yarong, head of the research center for religion with the Shaanxi Institute of Social Science. "Religion will extensively prop up economic development in the future."
Shi has a monthly-stipend of over 100 yuan and doesn't pay for food or accommodation. "After inquiring several friends, I am keen to invest in the market to do more good deeds," he said.
Investors have opened some 95 million accounts on the Chinese mainland, which means at least 30 million individual investors in the countryare dabbling in the market, according to the latest data released by China's main stock bourses in Shenzhen and Shanghai.
The frenzy among Chinese investors has driven some pranksters to circulate a text message replacing the patriotic lyrics of the country's national anthem with appeals to invest in the stock market.
The "March of the Volunteers" calls for citizens to defend the nation against enemies. But the modified version sent to Beijing' mobile phones in recent days urged citizens to "rise" and "invest all of their funds in the tempting stock market," the Beijing Evening News reported on Wednesday.
Shi's modest investment is considered minute compared to other frantic Chinese investors who dream of cashing in on the bullish trend of the market.
A 52-year-old cleaner surnamed Gu has been named"the goddess of stocks" after she jumped into the market. "Ten years' work will not be an equivalent of what I have earned so far," she told the China News Agency.
While some are becoming the nouveau riche, others have to pay dearly for their bold entry into the market.
Previous reports said an investor surnamed Li poured all his savings valued at 300,000 yuan into the stock market, only to land her in utter despair.
She learned from the staff at an exchange center that what she bought were just stock warrants, which give the holder the right to purchase a certain amount of stock at a stated price. Without purchasing any stock in time, she found all her money had disappeared.
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