On October 11, the Swedish Academy announced that Chinese author Mo Yan had won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature. As Mo is the first Chinese citizen to be bestowed this prestigious honor, the sensational news led to many of his books selling out within hours of the announcement.
But Mo's historic Noble victory attracted more than just the attention of Chinese readers. Even the mainland stock market reacted to the news.
During the first trading day after the news, the cultural and media sector got a huge lift and opened the morning trading with a 4.25 percent jump. By the end of trading, Shanghai Xinhua Media Co had surged to the daily limit; while Changjiang Publishing & Media Co increased 6.29 percent on the day.
But the performance in the A share market is just another instance of hype around a topical sector.
If investors dig a little deeper, they will find that most of the companies that notched the biggest wins at the market following the Swedish Academy's news have nothing to do with the writer and many publishing houses in China have never printed any of Mo's books. It is still too early to say what benefit China's Nobel Prize-wining writer will bring to the industry.
Graduates willing to take less for first position
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