Mountain of idle cash behind rebound in markets
Strange things are happening.
The Hang Seng Index has rebounded 1,000 points in two days and is now back to the level of two weeks ago when people were predicting a correction.
In the residential property market, people were expecting a mini-boom this year, but few predicted it would turn into a rally - prices are up about 20 per cent year to date - that would last more than six months and show no signs of softening.
Even Shih Wing-ching (below), the chairman of Centaline Holdings, was caught on the wrong side of the market.
The man who has been bearish for most of the year had to admit yesterday in an editorial column in his am730 newspaper that he would no longer be insisting there was no solid reason behind the home price rally.