Counselors expected a surge in the number of stock addicts in the future.

Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Even Centre problem gambling counseling service supervisor Chan Mei-lo said the number of stock addicts had increased from 10 in 2005 to 21 in 2006, and further to 29 last year.

The center had received a few enquiries this month amid the fluctuating stock market, with a 20-year-old griping that his parents had incurred HK$500,000 in debt because of stock investment.

Chan said the center had staff with expertise in the stock market operations and they had warned about the potential harm in the market's over-indulgence.

Fearing the problem of addicted investors might worsen in the near future, she said: "The consequences will unfold when these problematic investors need to repay the debt."

Caritas Addicted Gamblers Counselling Centre supervisor Joe Tang Yiu-cho also said the problem would get worse.

Tang's center had received as many as 61 help requests over the past four years. Some of these investors had knowledge in the financial markets. Talking about financial loss, he said an investor had nearly lost all of his savings in the 1997 financial crisis.

The man had decided not to invest in the financial market at that time, but he could not resist the temptation of red-hot market sentiment last year.

"With the prevailing fluctuating market, he is very worried that the 1997 financial crisis will happen again. He is concerned that he is too much into the stock market and asks for help," Tang said.

Tang also aided people in different sectors, including university students who had invested in the stock market.

Richard Pang, a student in Chinese University of Hong Kong, had started studying the financial market since he was in secondary three, and invested in foreign currency since secondary five.

Once admitted to university, Pang had used his about HK$30,000 annual scholarship to invest in the stock market.

Pang said he had two separate stock market investment portfolios. One portfolio was for short-term investment which he had sold off on Monday.

"I am only using the scholarship to invest. My life will not be significantly affected even if I lose the scholarship, which is my spare money. I can still pay my tuition fees," he added.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong Baptist University president Ng Ching-fai said the university had not yet received any help request related to stock loss by any students.

(HK Edition 01/23/2008 page2)