On one side was the day's most popular piece of paper and on the other one of the oldest share certificates to have been received by the bourse.

Founded in 1912, BOC is the oldest bank in China, listing on the Shanghai stock exchange three years later. The 1915 10-share certificate was issued by the bank on November 30.

Nationalised by the communist government in 1949, the bank has had an ecstatic welcome back to the market judging by the 15.25 per cent rise in its share price and the record trade it produced.

trebles all round at top traders

How much are the top trading houses in Hong Kong actually making? If research from the Securities and Futures Commission is anything to go by, there aren't cash registers with enough digits to ring up what they're coining - estimated to be in the region of nine digits in just three months.

The study showed the top 14 firms in Hong Kong made $1.9 billion in the first quarter, up 348 per cent on the fourth quarter of last year. The firms - known collectively as 'category A' among HKEx players - clocked up trading worth $2.23 trillion, up 37 per cent over the same period.

The big boys accounted for about one-third of the total earnings of $5.73 billion in the Hong Kong securities industry in the first three months of the year, more than double the figure from the preceding quarter of last year.

With Bank of China accounting for $20 billion in turnover on debut, Central's heavy hitters are laughing like drains ... all the way to the bank.

not taking the reit bait

When you take a long, hard look at Champion Reit's dismal performance, Lai See wonders if it's time to start worrying whether the wheels are still rolling under that particular investment vehicle.

The Great Eagle spin-off has fallen 21 per cent in just nine trading days, with not a rebound in sight because, as one fund manager put it, the 'naked yield' (the time premium divided by the strike price) is still below 3 per cent.

Yet things could be worse.

Two big property developers - Sun Hung Kai Properties and Henderson Land - are packaging their reit spin-offs to Sun Millennium and Sunlight Properties respectively at a time when investors have started wondering how good the assets really are.

A six-hour tour invitation from Henderson Land reached many fund managers' inboxes yesterday, including a tour of Henderson's non-prime assets in Wan Chai, Mongkok, Sheung Shui, Yuen Long and Sheung Wan. The e-mail ended up in Lai See's rubbish bin within a minute.

'I have never understood the wisdom of buying property companies' offspring,' a veteran told Lai See. 'I mean, these guys sell you assets rich in valuations but take them back at only a fraction. What's the point?'

cathay's wong takes wing

One of Hong Kong's top spin doctors is about to leave his position for a new role in San Francisco.

Cathay Pacific general manager Alan Wong will become Cathay's senior vice-president for America in August following a five-year stint in corporate communications and a career which started when he joined Swire as a general management trainee back in 1973.

'Cathay has been growing rapidly in the past decade,' said Mr Wong, 'I can't think of a PR department busier than Cathay Pacific's - we have good news, bad news and everything else.'

Dane Cheng, Cathay's general manager in Japan, will step into his shoes. He will be working closely with Cathay's newly-appointed special adviser Kerry McGlynn, former Government Information Service deputy director.