Ting Hai effect

Ting Hai effect
Traditional Chinese 丁蟹效應
Simplified Chinese 丁蟹效应

The Ting Hai effect, also known as the Adam Cheng effect, is a stock market phenomenon[1] in which there is a sudden and unexplained drop in the stock market whenever a film or a television series starring Hong Kong actor Adam Cheng is released.[2] It still remains as a popular topic among stock brokers, years after the television drama The Greed of Man was broadcast in Hong Kong in late 1992. The effect is named after Ting Hai, the primary antagonist in the drama, who was portrayed by Cheng.

Origin

In late 1992, the television series The Greed of Man was aired on TVB in Hong Kong. The drama centered heavily around the stock market, featuring dramatised schemes and plots by the main characters who aim to become rich through trading in the market. Ting Hai (Adam Cheng), the primary antagonist, made an immense fortune with his four sons by selling short derivatives and stocks during a bear market. Many people went broke, but the Ting family became richer and richer until their eventual defeat by the protagonist Fong Chin-bok (Sean Lau).[3] The Ting family's demise involves Ting Hai throwing his four adult sons off the stock exchange building before jumping after them, and the gruesome scene came to be seen as a curse on the stock market that recurs whenever a television series starring Adam Cheng is aired.[4]

The Ting Hai effect, namely the uncanny effect Adam Cheng has on the stock market, can be traced even before Greed of Man and back to 1973, when Cheng starred in Romance in the Rain, a TVB drama series based on a novel written by Chiung Yao. That year, Hong Kong's stock market fell 91.53%.[5]

Occurrences

Initially, the Ting Hai effect occurred whenever The Greed of Man or its loose sequel, Divine Retribution (produced by ATV), was broadcast in Hong Kong. However, it was observed later that the phenomenon also takes place whenever a new film or a television series starring Adam Cheng is released.

1990s

2000s

2010s

Exceptions

There were a few times when the Ting Hai effect did not occur. In April 2006, when Bar Bender was aired on TVB, there was a sudden rise in the Hang Seng index by 258 points.[2] The index also rose over the course of the following series' airing cycle: Chor Lau-heung (1995), The Driving Power (2003), and The Conqueror's Story (2004).[7]

Legacy

The Ting Hai effect has led to Adam Cheng attracting much attention from the press. Whenever a new film or television series starring Cheng is about to be broadcast, some stockbrokers and investors in Hong Kong anticipate a drop in the market. Cheng himself does not believe that he is the cause of the stock prices falling, but has come to terms with phenomenon.[4]

While some investors have argued that the effect is no more than a series of coincidences and amounts to nothing more than a self-fulfilling prophecy, the phenomenon is regarded by some as more than coincidental. The French bank Crédit Lyonnais wrote a report on it.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 丁蟹效應累恆指瀉663點. Ming Pao (in Chinese). 2009-03-31. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Big5.Chinanews.com. "Big5.Chinanews.com." 何謂「丁蟹效應」. Retrieved on 2009-08-11.
  3. ↑ Yesasia.com. "Yesasia.com." The Greed of Man summary in English. Retrieved on 2009-08-11.
  4. 1 2 "Hong Kong actor Adam Cheng says stock market influence is just fiction". South China Morning Post. 30 April 2015.
  5. ↑ 秋官「衝擊」股市 早於1973年. Ming Pao (in Chinese). 2015-04-14.
  6. ↑ Sina.com. "Sina.com." 香港股市現「丁蟹效應」 鄭少秋喊冤:股民又賴我. Retrieved on 2009-08-11.
  7. 1 2 3 Sina.com. "Sina.com." 《榮歸》「鄭少秋效應」令全國股民開運？. Retrieved on 2009-08-26.
  8. ↑ Ent.people.com.cn. "Ent.people.com.cn." 鄭少秋顛覆以往形象做小人物 搞笑《御用閒人》. Retrieved on 2009-08-26.
  9. ↑ Ent.big5.enorth.com. "Ent.big5.enorth.com." 鄭少秋新劇播出 香港股市又現『丁蟹效應』. Retrieved on 2009-08-26.
  10. ↑ "'Ting Hai' jitters befall investors". Retrieved Dec 28, 2013.
  11. ↑ 恒指瀉６１０點收２１７２６四個月低，成交７７２億. Hong Kong Economic Times (in Chinese). 2013-04-05. Retrieved 2013-07-27.
  12. ↑ 丁蟹效應震散亞洲　恒指最多跌近700點. Ming Pao (in Chinese). 2015-04-20.
  13. ↑ Wong, Jill (2004-04-01). "Hong Kong stocks to hit bottom April 1-7 on 'Adam Cheng effect' - CLSA". Quamnet. Archived from the original on October 7, 2007.
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