A Forgettable Anniversary

It has been a miserable year for Chinese investors.

Exactly, one year ago on October 16, 2007, Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index closed at its all time high of 6,092.06 points. When 2007 began, the index was at 2,675.47, that should give you a sense how fast and how much Chinese stocks have gained last year. At that time, more than half of the 10 most valuable companies of the world were Chinese companies. The soaring stock market has attracted countless number of people into the stock market, many with their life savings. Then all the sudden, just like somebody flipped a switch on October 17, 2007, the Shanghai index started its long march south since then. In one year, the index has lost more than 2/3 of its value to close at 1,909.94 on October 16, 2008, leaving many people with nothing left, despite a successful Olympics and rescues from the government.

Like people always say, what goes up, must comes down. For Chinease investors, it just happened too fast.