10/6/11

The Ting Hai Effect - Actors appearance causes market turmoil?

Adam Cheng as Ting Hai in The Greed of Man

Is there is correlation between an actor's televised appearances and dramatic drops in the Hong Kong stock market?

Television actor Adam Cheng, who was the star of the Hong Kong 1992 TV series The Greed of Man, played a character named Ting Hai; a greedy stock trader who's evil schemes make the market fall while he reaps the rewards.

Oddly, this actors very appearance is said to cause the Hang Seng Index, Hong Kong's equivalent to the Dow Jones, to plummet like bad television ratings.

While not exactly accurate, debut's of new shows staring Adam Cheng do seem to curse the market from time to time.

Examples from Wikepidia of the Ting Hai Effect . . .

1990s

  • October 1992: The drama series Greed of Man made its debut on TVB. During the time it was broadcast, the Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 598 to 600 points
  • November 1994: Instinct (笑看風雲) made its debut on TVB. The Heng Sang Index fell more than 2,000 points.
  • September 1996: Once Upon a Time in Shanghai (新上海灘) premiered on TVB. The Hang Seng Index fell 300 points.
  • June 1997: Cold Blood Warm Heart (天地男兒) made its debut on TVB. The Hang Seng Index accumulated 735 points in losses.
  • December 1997: Legend of Yung Ching (江湖奇俠傳) was followed by a fall of 1.4% in the Hang Seng Index.
  • June 1999, Lord of Imprisonment (神劍萬里追) was followed by a fall of 6.5% in the Hang Seng Index.

2000s

  • September 2000: A loose sequel of The Greed of Man, Divine Retribution aired on ATV. Due to the Tech stock bubble at the time, the Hang Seng Index fell an accumulated 1,715 points, with other stock markets around the world falling as a result also.
  • March 2004: Blade Heart (血薦軒轅) premiered in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell 550 points over 3 days due to high oil prices and instabilities in the Middle East.
  • October 2004: The Conqueror's Story (楚漢驕雄) premiered in Hong Kong, followed by a 198-point drop in the Heng Seng Index on the day of the premiere.
  • March 2005: The Prince's Shadow (御用閒人) broadcast of the first episode, the hang seng dropped 100 points by noon, then rose back 90 points by the end of the day.
  • July 2007: Return Home (香港傳奇-榮歸) broadcast and the market to fell 1,165 points.
  • March 30, 2009: The King of Snooker (桌球天王) premiered in Hong Kong. The Heng Seng Index fell 663.17 points.
Strange occurrences aside, let us hope that the actor is not a curse on money markets, and that his career and personal life prosper.

- Mark

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1 comment:

  1. Maybe a show called The Greed of Men left investors considering, then remembering the actor and the show he was associated with left people thinking about more important things whenever he has a new roll come out.

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