The stock market was closed yesterday and most people in the country were enjoying the last day of the weeklong May Day holiday but that was not enough to stop an intrepid group from gathering under a sizzling sun in front of a share broker's office on Guangdong Road.

Most of them were gray-haired, passionate investors who assemble regularly to share what they learned about "stir-frying" stocks Chinese slang for speculation.

"They are diehard retail investors. They don't stop meeting here even during the holiday," said a book vendor in front of the office of Shenyin & Wanguo Securities Co.

Their zeal has been fuelled by the continuous bullish A-share market, which has almost tripled in value since 2006 on the back of structural reforms and the listing of large, relatively well-run State-owned companies, as well as rapid growth in the fund sector.

The surge is drawing hundreds of thousands of fresh investors to the market, from college students to pensioners.

Among them is "lecturer" Wang Jinlin, a 60-year-old retiree, who was surrounded by a dozen studious investors listening to his forecasts, which they say have always proved accurate.

"Stir-frying stocks makes fast money. That's why you see so many people, sometimes in hundreds and blocking the road, gather here," said a scholarly-looking Wang, dressed in a dark blue T-shirt with a logo of Fudan University.

"I have experienced numerous ups and downs in the share market. I will go on with this until my 80s," said Wang, adding that he studied the stock of each domestic-listed company during the holiday.

Wang said he has to support a wife with a chronic illness and a son pursuing a college degree.

His advice was not the only one on offer.

Hu Jun, a retail food business owner, and his wife came from Pudong to the downtown area yesterday to buy stock trading books.

"Speculating has become my hobby, part of my lifestyle," said the 26-year-old, who described himself as a new-stock gambler with about six months' experience in the market.

"I definitely want to get all the publications recommended by my friends today," said a determined Hu, who found five of the seven recommended books at a kiosk.

Elsewhere in the country, individual stock gamblers were busy sharpening their skills by reading books or listening to seminars during the holiday.

In Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang Province, stock experts met face-to-face with small investors at a series of free seminars from May 2 till yesterday which organizers said were greeted with an enthusiastic reception.

In bookstores nationwide, the newly published complete collection of the 2007 annual reports of listed firms is among the bestsellers.

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