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Don't believe market rumors—carefully distinguish between truth and falsehood.
Source: Compiled from the Investor Education Base of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange
[“Investor Protection: Understand the Rules, Recognize the Risks” Series]
The self-media landscape is booming, with information sources coming from all over the place. Investors need to be vigilant and carefully verify the authenticity of any information they encounter—absolutely avoid being led astray by so-called “insiders.” Those snippets of unofficial news, top-secret rumors, and bombshell revelations are very likely bait planted by individuals with ulterior motives.
There’s a publicly listed company about which rumors have been circulating in stock forums, suggesting that the company is planning a major restructuring. At the end of April 201X, a post appeared on the WeChat public account for Oriental Wealth Stock Forum, under the banner of Company W, stating: “Company W will launch a significant asset restructuring. Several private equity funds are already plotting to take a substantial stake in Company W, aiming to gain control and carry out large-scale business integration and restructuring. As a result, the company’s secondary-market valuation is expected to soar. The controlling shareholder is now in a very passive position and has been frantically reaching out overnight to multiple securities firms, seeking ‘white knights’ and high-quality assets to inject into Company W, in order to fend off the private equity funds’ takeover bid and safeguard their control.” Another post added: “After confirming with insiders at the company, we’ve learned that senior executives have recently imposed strict gag orders—any discussion related to the asset restructuring must be kept strictly confidential and no one is allowed to speak about it. Such an unprecedented level of secrecy specifically targeting the asset restructuring has never been seen before. Now that the company’s stock price has surged dramatically, it’s not impossible that the controlling shareholder has joined the battle in the secondary market, launching a counteroffensive to defend their stake.”
In mid-May, the account that had previously made the above remarks posted again on Eastmoney’s stock forum, stating, “This reverse takeover may have already been finalized.” The post further noted, “Rumors suggest that Company W has been in frequent contact recently regarding its restructuring and may have already reached an agreement. The stock price in the secondary market has already fully reflected the implications of this reverse takeover and restructuring.” Both posts each received over 3,000 views. Two days later, Company W issued a clarification announcement, addressing the rumors circulating online about a major asset restructuring.
At first glance, it seemed perfectly fine—little did anyone know that this whole charade of rumors and denials was actually a play orchestrated—and even directed—by the chairman himself. Seeing that W Company’s stock price had surged dramatically over the past two months, the chairman told the secretary to issue a clarification statement denying any restructuring plans in order to cool down the stock price. The secretary pointed out that there were no rumors of restructuring circulating in the market, making such a clarification statement rather tricky to issue. But the chairman retorted: “If there aren’t any conditions, then we’ll just create them! We’ve got to find a way to get that clarification statement out there.” After some back-and-forth negotiation, the two finally came up with a plan: first, they’d arrange for someone to post on stock message boards, and then follow up with the official clarification statement.
After the clarification announcement was issued, the company’s stock price did indeed drop by 4%. However, the chairman and the company secretary, along with other relevant personnel, also received a penalty notice from the China Securities Regulatory Commission. The chairman and the company secretary were fined 200,000 yuan each for fabricating and spreading false information that disrupted the securities market, while the poster who originally posted the misleading information was fined 50,000 yuan. This incident has also tarnished W Company’s corporate image.
After seeing eye-catching news, investors should first do a quick online search to check the source of the information. If it’s just an online post, its credibility should be questioned. Next, they should search for key terms mentioned in the report and gather information from multiple sources to get a well-rounded understanding of the current situation, thus avoiding biased or one-sided reporting. When it comes to stock market rumors, investors must avoid adopting the mentality of “better to believe it exists than to doubt it.” Instead, they should always consult multiple sources, rely on information from official media and authoritative sources, and refrain from taking any single source at face value—this will help prevent unnecessary losses.
(Disclaimer: The information provided in this column does not constitute any investment advice. Investors should not rely on this information as a substitute for their own independent judgment, nor should they make investment decisions solely based on this information. The contributors strive to ensure that the information contained in this column is accurate and reliable; however, no warranty is given as to its accuracy, completeness, or timeliness, and no liability is assumed for any losses arising from the use of the information in this column.)