Mr. Shangkong | Teacher Guo's pearls of wisdom on how to make easy money
Investors continue to be on losing end of bold suggestions from a CSRC chairman with perhaps the most bullish view about China's stock market
Who holds the most bullish view in the world about the mainland's stock market these days? My answer is Guo Shuqing, the country's top securities regulator.
Guo, a former central banker and a former boss at one of the Big Four state-owned commercial banks, has led the stock market as chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission for more than a year now. When he was appointed in late 2011, many had high hopes he would lead a market rebound partly because his predecessor Shang Fulin had been stuck in the job for perhaps too long.
Widely seen as being a strong reformer rather than a conservative politician, Guo came to the job aware of the high expectations and said he would try his best not to let his supporters down.
In a high-profile speech last year, Guo encouraged investors, particularly ordinary retail investors who drive about 90 per cent of trading volume on the mainland's stock market, to focus more on blue chips.
It was a bold suggestion since many investors had lost their money and faith in the market.
If the top securities regulator was asking you to buy blue chips, it should be okay to do so, right? So they bought some, and then they bought even more. The result? More disappointment.