Let me get this right. Last Friday, the Government withdrew billions of dollars from the Exchange Fund - that is taxpayers' money - to go on a spending spree in the stock, futures and options markets.
Something I, frankly, would not have minded doing: 'Yes please, can I have 500,000 of those Hutchison shares, a couple of million of Hongkong Telecom, some Cheung Kong over there and how about some Hang Seng Bank?' It is all a bit like shopping in a local supermarket. The only difference is, I cannot put a pot noodle back on the shelves the next day and make a gain - or loss.
Anyway, if press reports are to be believed, Financial Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen bought more than 30 leading stocks with between $3 billion and $4 billion. If my calculations are correct, this means you and I now have, approximately, $538.46 worth of shares in the stock market.
'As usual, I haven't the foggiest idea what you are talking about, Kevin,' a friend said when I tried to explain to him why we were going to become wealthy this week.
Well, to be honest, neither have I. But that is not going to prevent me from becoming stinking rich.
'You? Stinking, yes. Rich? No,' my friend laughed.
But the point here is not how many showers I take a day but why the Government has, out of the blue, intervened in the Hong Kong stock market with such a massive injection of funds.
