Shares in a Chinese company whose name in the local language sounds like “Trump Victory” soared to their daily limit during the first debate between the two candidates in this year’s US presidential election.
WiseSoft’s Chinese name, “Chuan Da Zhi Sheng,” sounds like “Trump’s Big Victory” to Mandarin speakers, sent its shares soaring 10% in Shenzhen on Friday after President Joe Biden appeared to falter during a meeting with presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in Atlanta.
Chinese investors are known for speculative trading based on such homonyms, and their interest in the U.S. vote has been heightened by geopolitical tensions between Washington and Beijing.
“As the debate over the U.S. election heats up, these small-cap Chinese meme stocks tied to the U.S. election may start to attract retail investor attention,” said Marvin Chen, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “Stock prices may experience significant volatility in the coming months depending on whether Trump or Biden is likely to win.”
Shares of software and device maker WiseSoft Inc. similarly soared when Trump won the 2016 election, while a stock modeled after Barack Obama rose 43% in four days in October 2008.
Of course, the stock prices of small and medium-sized companies can fluctuate significantly on a given day due to various factors. For reference, two stocks that Chinese people associate with Biden’s name, Huaiji Dengyun Automotive Parts Holdings Co., Ltd. and Shandong Denghai Seed Co., Ltd., rose less than 3% each Friday.
