Light and shade for punters

Starved of speculative opportunities, the stock market features large in the lives of many Shanghainese. Because of this, the government has always had a bit of a love-hate relationship with it.

It wants prices to be strong, but not too strong. It wants people to invest, but not too much.

So it seems appropriate that the latest move in the development of this end of the capital markets should be characteristically ambivalent.

Last week, the authorities effectively gave the go-ahead to something that has been cautiously talked about for some time. It is referred to by a catchy four-character phrase which roughly translates as "lend money lend share".

What it actually means is that the average punter will be able to purchase shares on margin from his broker and also borrow stock to indulge in short selling.

One can see why the introduction of margin trading would be popular with everyone, particularly brokers. But introducing short selling at a time when it has been blamed in global markets for the collapse of many a financial institution's share price might seem a little eccentric.

But China is all about balance and harmony. Yin and yang, light and dark. So you introduce one mechanism to encourage prices up, and another for down. Net result, harmony and more choice for the investor.

Actually, in this case it was also a question of timing. The government wants to make the securities markets more sophisticated and has had this proposal on the stocks since 2006.

It realised that introducing a short-selling mechanism might have a negative impact on prices and it did not want to upset the great bull market of 2006-7.

With the market bumping along the bottom and little activity, now is a better time to introduce it.

* One asset class that has taken a bit of a tumble recently is the poodle market. Formerly this year's must-have pet for Shanghai ladies, the poodle is just too high maintenance in the current climate. Owners are returning or abandoning their pampered friends and some pet shops are even offering free ones.

* Another casualty is the landmark Isetan store on Huai Hai Road, which closes its doors next week. Opened in the early Nineties, for a long time it fitted out the wealthy of Shanghai with imported products. Now, with the likes of H&M just down the road, it has simply lost out to the competition.