A self-proclaimed "legendary" stock market adviser in China who ran his service over the Internet has been detained by authorities for operating without a license, press reports said yesterday.
Wang Xiujie (王曉), 35, was arrested in China's Jilin Province this month for allegedly providing stock tips online to more than 900 people in exchange for payment, the Beijing News reported.
Wang, who used the online moniker "bellwether brother 777" and claimed to have worked in the securities industry for several years, earned 13 million yuan (US$1.7 million) for his services, the newspaper said.
In China, only licensed professionals are allowed to provide investing advice in an industry long troubled by corruption.
Wang claimed to have worked as an analyst for some of China's major securities firms, but one firm cited by the Shanghai Morning Post denied having ever heard of him.
His daily forecasts were described in one newspaper as bold and aggressive but dismissive of anyone who questioned his picks.
"What are you asking? Just buy what I told you to [buy]!" Wang said.
The newspaper did not say whether Wang was betting on his own picks.
China's booming equity markets has prompted people from all walks of Chinese society to try their luck in the nation's roaring stock market which has tripled in value since January last year.
But nervous regulators have called on investment houses to better inform the public about the risks involved in playing the stock market amid concerns that a sudden slump could see punters lose everything.
China's stock market jumped more than 40 percent this year after gaining about 130 percent last year.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary