'Adam Cheng' effect? Hong Kong's stock market falls after actor's new drama debuts

Is it mere coincidence or the 'Adam Cheng' effect?

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 193 points on April 30, a day after the first episode of Adam's new show, Psycho Detective 2, started airing on ViuTV.

This led many viewers to associate the incident with Ting Hai, an iconic character that Adam played in 1992 TV series The Greed of Man.

In the show, Ting Hai made an immense fortune with his four sons during a bear market, but they were eventually defeated and jumped off the stock exchange building to their deaths.

In response, the 72-year-old actor told Apple Daily Hong Kong last week "The stock market has been like this ever since Trump changed his stance" and predicted that the stock market prices would rise again.

Meanwhile, co-star Michael Tao said that the stock market phenomenon "had nothing to do with Adam Cheng."

"Adam once joked about it and said, 'If stock prices fall every time I appear on air, then I don't have to act or sing anymore. I can just start selling stocks during a bear market," Michael added.

Looking back at previous statistics, however, one can make an interesting observation.

Ever since The Greed of Man was broadcast, stock market prices in Hong Kong would experience an unexplained fall whenever a new film or television series starring Adam was released.

It became a popular topic among stockbrokers worldwide, with French bank Credit Lyonnais once writing a report on it.

asiaone@mm2entertainment.com