'Both of them have effectively retired from the business world in which they have been members,' the court heard yesterday.

Ostracised and left on the heap? Not quite. He may have thought twice about taking on a directorship in the past six years, but we note Mr Tose has managed to find himself a consultancy role - complete with office space and desk - in the offices of Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Whampoa.

A Hutchison spokeswoman confirmed that Mr Tose has been engaged as a consultant to Hutchison and his role is to advise on the expansion of its overseas businesses.

blue bloods to the core at cosco

Shares in red-turned-blue chip Cosco Pacific have risen almost 25 per cent in the past month, and closed yesterday at a five-month high of HK$12.95.

Taking advantage, four directors at the Hang Seng Index constituent including vice-chairman Liu Guoyuan and managing director Sun Jiakang cashed out of a total of 2.3 million shares.

Having exercised the shares at $9.54 and selling at prices between $12.20 and $12.60, they reaped a total profit of $6.8 million.

It doesn't take long to turn a red capitalist into a blue blood.

denway drives media around the bend

Denway Motors meets the press but once a year - at its annual general meeting.

Having recently been designated a Hang Seng Index constituent stock, however, there was reason to believe the Guangzhou government-controlled company would at last come out of its shell. No such luck. On the occasion of its interim results announcement on Wednesday, the company sent out a terse note telling reporters to bugger off - to its website.

'Denway will publish the result announcement on our website ... There will be no news media meeting as we think the above new measures will be more effective,' it said. Welcome to the limelight, Denway.

taking stock of a good name

BNP Paribas Peregrine's head of Hong Kong research, Mohan Singh, is usually a market bull. In his latest research note, he wrote that seven years of post-handover famine have passed, with seven years of feasting to follow.

As if a fortuitous analogy to the Old Testament were not powerful enough, Mr Singh noted that he also has 'a very good name for projecting the stock market'.

'Mohan Singh' sounds like 'unlimited upside' (mou-han-sing) in Cantonese.

hsbc in the money

We are happy to report that some property-related assets held by HSBC, like Lai See's flat, have at last emerged from negative equity.

Yesterday, The Bank successfully raised $2.18 billion by selling its 5.94 per cent stake in Ronnie Chan Kai-chung's Hang Lung Properties.

HSBC off-loaded its 196 million shares at $11.10 - the same price its brilliant investment banking arm (surprise, surprise) acquired them at eight years ago at the height of the property bubble, after a $3.44 billion underwriting assignment for then Amoy Properties took a sour turn. HSBC Investment Bank Asia was left with a large chunk of unplaced shares, which tumbled to as low as $3.72 during the ensuing Asian financial crisis.

elderly pay dearly trying to get rich

Ever wonder whether that pajama-clad granddad blocking your way on the sidewalk is a local Warren Buffet in disguise?

Well, he's probably not, according to a Salvation Army survey of Hong Kong seniors' investment habits.

In a canvass of 167 elders, over 57 per cent of the people aged 50 or more dabbled in the markets, with about half of them saying low current deposit rates gave them no other choice.

Most (49 per cent) punt foreign currencies, while 46 per cent play with stocks.

Unfortunately, only about one-third of respondents said their experiences had taught them investing could create more wealth, while two-thirds said they had been badly burned at least once.

Perhaps they can take some comfort in the knowledge that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, and the meek will inherit the earth.