Shares of a Chinese company whose local-language name sounds like “Trump wins big” jumped by their daily limit during the first debate between the two candidates in this year’s U.S. presidential election.
Wisesoft Co., whose Chinese name “Chuan Da Zhi Sheng” sounds like “Trump wins big” to Mandarin speakers, surged 10% in Shenzhen on Friday. The stock gained as President Joe Biden appeared to falter in his exchanges with Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump in Atlanta.
Chinese investors are known for speculative trading based on such homophones. Their interest in the U.S. vote has been piqued by geopolitical tensions between Washington and Beijing.
“These small-cap Chinese meme stocks related to U.S. elections may start to get the attention of retail investors as the U.S. election rhetoric heats up,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Marvin Chen. “The stocks may see large volatility in the coming months based on the perceived chances of Trump or Biden winning.”
Software and equipment maker Wisesoft’s shares saw a similar bump when Trump won the 2016 election, while a stock that sounds like Barack Obama enjoyed a four-day rally of 43% in October 2008.
Of course shares of smaller companies can move a lot on any given day on a variety of factors. For reference, two stocks that call Biden’s name to mind for Chinese people, Huaiji Dengyun Auto-Parts Holding Co. and Shandong Denghai Seeds Co., rose by less than 3% each Friday.
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