WITH booming markets more college students are buying stocks, but are they ready?

    About 31 percent of Chinese college students have invested in stocks, according to a recent survey conducted by the Xinhua Daily Telegraph.

    This is raising concern among parents — who often loan their children the money they invest — and among college professors, with some saying that the students don’t understand the risks they are taking.

    Chinese media has highlighted investment success stories. Some recent headlines: “A student earns 200,000 yuan (US$32,700) trading stocks,” “In one class, 15 students make money trading stocks” and “‘King of stock’ student sees investment double in six months.”

    It’s media coverage like this that pushes college students into investing, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.

    And some of the students are investing quite a bit. Of the students who invested in the market, 26 percent have made investments of more than 50,000 yuan. Students that invest that much money usually need to borrow from family, according to the report.

    Speaking to Shenzhen Special Zone Daily, parents and college professors had mixed reactions to students investing in the market. Some approve, others are against it, but they all warned against stock market investment becoming a sort of gambling.

    A woman surnamed Liao thinks it does more harm than good for a college student to trade stocks.

    “Studying should always come first for a college student,” Liao said.

    “Stock markets are highly unpredictable and it’s just like gambling for college students who don’t have a good understanding of the market.”

    Amid the current bull run of China’s stock market, almost anyone can make money without much effort, Liao said.

    She is worried that the booming market might skew her son’s ideas about saving money. Liao warned her son against investing, but he invested anyway and says he made thousands of yuan in less than three months.

    Liao’s son, identified as Xiao Qi, said he spent a lot of time watching his investments. He said his emotions used to be like a “roller coaster” as the stocks went up and down.

    “I’m interested in news broadcasts now. I’m keeping a close eye on government policies,” he said. “Stock trading also taught me a lot of lessons.”

    A Daily investigation found that some college students trade stocks for fun, and others do it because it’s trendy.

    Wang Xiaohua with the College of Mass Communication of Shenzhen University said stock trading gives students a chance to manage money and learn about the market, but parents should offer guidance.

    It is common for college students in the U.S. to enter the stock market, information shows, but they invest rationally. American college students tend to invest in funds and use money that they’ve earned by working.

    In contrast, college students in China aren’t aware of the risks, the Daily report said.

    (SD News)