Nigerian immigrant accepted by all 8 Ivy League schools

Harold Ekeh is a senior at Elmont Memorial High School in Elemont, New York.

Now comes the really hard part: Deciding where to go. He actually got into all 13 schools he applied to, including MIT and Johns Hopkins.

"I am leaning toward Yale," he told CNNMoney. "I competed at Yale for Model UN, and I like the passion people at Yale had."

Some of the Yale students he met became his friends and mentors, offering advice on the college application process. Now Ekeh is trying to do the same thing.

Ekeh, 17, founded a college mentoring program at his school, Elmont Memorial High School on Long Island in the New York city suburbs. His goal is to get more students into top universities.

Related: Harvard rejects about 95% of applicants

American dream: Ekeh was born in Nigeria and came to the United States when he was eight. He wrote his main college essay about the struggle to adjust, including being clueless in U.S. history classes at school. He said he would ask his parents repeatedly why they moved.

"We had a fairly comfortable life in Nigeria, but they told me we moved to America for the opportunities like the educational opportunities," he recalled.

The salutatorian is quick to credit his parents, school and community for his success.

"I am very humbled by this," Ekeh said. "It's not just for me, but for my school and community. We can accomplish great things here."

Related: 17-year old rejects Duke's rejection letter

A passion for science: He wants to major in neurobiology or chemistry in college and later become doctor and, ultimately, a neurosurgeon. He was named a 2015 Intel Science Talent Search semifinalist earlier this year for his research on how the acid DHA can slow Alzheimer's.

For Ekeh, the cause is personal. His grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's when he was 11. One of his proudest moments was running home to tell his mother and aunts about the breakthroughs he was finding with DHA.

"When other kids would say, 'I want to be a superhero or police officer,' I would say, 'I want to know what is on the inside of us,'" he said.

Related: Stanford offers free tuition for families with less than $125,000

The key to success: Outside of the lab, Ekeh directs a youth choir at his church, plays the drums, is part of Key Club and Model UN and was elected to the Homecoming court. He speaks Ibo and Spanish and has a 100.5% GPA. He's proud of acing the AP History Exam despite his early struggles with the subject.

Elmont High School is 99% minority. Ekeh is the second student in recent years to win a prestigious Intel Science award.

Principal John Capozzi calls Ekeh "one of the most humble young men I've ever hadn't the opportunity to meet." The lab where Ekeh did his award-winning research is modest and only staffed part-time by a passionate chemistry teacher, but the community makes the most of what it has.

Ekeh will spend the coming weeks visiting all the schools before making his final decision.

His advice to other high school students is simple: "Like my parents always told us, the secret to success is unbridled resolve."

Related: Private college with the biggest payoff

Related: University of Phoenix has lost half its students

CNNMoney (New York) April 4, 2015: 5:11 PM ET

15.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

'Furious 7' on track for $150 million opening weekend

Analysts are now saying it could make $150 million throughout North America by Sunday night.

A week ago, they were predicting $115 to $125 million for this weekend -- and even those projections were turning heads in Hollywood.

Then, after seeing some of Friday's results, the projections nudged up to $130 to $140 million.

On Saturday morning, expectations soared even higher, thanks to sellout crowds at some theaters on Friday night. $148 to $150 million now looks likely.

The film is having the biggest opening of 2015 to date, easily overtaking February's $85 million opening of "Fifty Shades of Grey."

It's also driving right past last year's $95 million opening of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" -- which was, until now, April's biggest opening in movie history.

"Furious 7," starring Vin Diesel and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, marks the unofficial start of the summer movie season.

The film franchise has been hugely popular for over a decade. Its loyal following has helped it make $2.4 billion worldwide since 2001.

This time around, there's even more interest, partly because the seventh film is the last to include the actor Paul Walker.

Walker died in a 2013 car crash while the film production was still taking place.

Related: Buckle up: 'Furious 7' will be emotional for Paul Walker fans

The film is being released by Universal, a division of NBCUniversal.

Coincidentally, February's "Fifty Shades of Grey" was also a Universal picture.

Industry estimates indicate that "Furious 7" made about $16 million during special Thursday night showings.

By Friday night, it had made more than $67 million, which was even higher than originally expected. (That total includes Thursday's screenings.)

Universal will wait to publicly celebrate until sometime Saturday or Sunday. The studio is officially projecting $149.5 million, just slightly below the $150 million mark.

No matter what the final total, it's clear that "Furious 7" will become the biggest opening in "Fast" series history, passing the $97.3 million "Fast & Furious 6" launch in May 2013.

The first film in the series made $144 million overall, not adjusting for inflation. No. 7 is likely to beat that figure in its first weekend.

"Furious 7" will also set the template for what Hollywood hopes will be a hot season after last year's dismal U.S. summer box office.

CNNMoney (New York) April 4, 2015: 12:49 PM ET

15.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

UVA four months later: 'Rolling Stone didn't do its job'

That's the feeling at the University of Virginia, four months after Rolling Stone magazine published and then all but retracted a story detailing an alleged gang rape at the campus.

Now the magazine is preparing to publish an independent review by Columbia University of what went wrong in the making of the story. For UVA, that means yet another round of news coverage.

Journalism students at UVA have seen up close how a news organization can hurt a community. Professors have thought about incorporating the lessons into classes.

Perhaps most importantly, student activists are working overtime to correct persistent misperceptions about college sexual assault and support victims.

"Rolling Stone didn't do its job," said UVA student body president Abraham Axler. "And in some ways our community was responsible for the cleanup of that mistake, and that's what people are angry about."

Related: How UVA story became a national issue

The 9,000-word story, titled "A Rape on Campus," focused on the alleged gang rape of a freshman named "Jackie" in 2012. It also asserted that the university failed to meaningfully respond to the crime and connected this to systemic problems across the country.

When the article came out in late November, "everyone was affected deeply," said Siva Vaidhyanathan, a UVA media studies professor. "The vividness of the story was gut-wrenching."

But Vaidhyanathan had doubts right away because, he said, the story "demonized" administrators who were sincerely trying to improve UVA's handling of rape cases.

The writer, Sabrina Rudin Erdely, soon came under scrutiny.

"It was as if she came into the story with the plot already lined up, and she was just looking for that killer anecdote to fill in the gaps," Vaidhyanathan said.

By early December, the gang rape story had unraveled. Amid mounting doubts about some of the details in Jackie's story -- seven attackers over a period of hours -- and widespread criticism of Rolling Stone's decision not to contact the alleged rapists, the magazine apologized and said it would investigate further.

The magazine asked Columbia's graduate school of journalism to lead a review.

In March, the local police said they could find no evidence the rape had occurred, but also said it remains possible something very traumatic happened. Jackie has not spoken publicly.

Alex Pinkleton, a friend of Jackie's who was interviewed for the original article, said her primary disappointment is that the story's image of "such a brutal, bloody rape is what many people, including legislators, still have in their mind when they are creating new sexual assault legislation."

But "the reality of campus rape is that around 70% of sexual assaults are by an acquaintance or someone the person knows, alcohol is usually present, and it is rare (if it happens at all) to see any sort of beat down (especially one to the degree of the fabricated story)," she wrote in an email.

Experts generally agree. And the point was unfortunately reiterated at UVA earlier this week: On Friday students were alerted that a female student had reported being sexually assaulted by a male student at the end of March. The two students had previously dated.

"The university has taken immediate measures to protect the safety of the victim and is investigating the incident in accordance with Title IX and the Violence Against Women Act," a message to the UVA community said.

Vaidhyanathan said the existence of the campus-wide message is an example of the nuanced reforms that are being implemented.

On-campus activism has continued out of the national media spotlight.

"What Rolling Stone did is gave us the mandate to really work on things that needed to be worked on," said Axler, the student body president. "I think we would have gotten there eventually, but it gave us a sense of urgency. Something we had to do. In some ways, for the long term, that might be a small benefit of an otherwise horrific saga."

Axler added, "The facts of it were wrong, but it wasn't impossible to believe it. What she wrote was fiction, but it was such a believable and horrific thing, it led people to institute reforms."

Vaidhyanathan said he's planning to review the discredited story and its fallout with a class of UVA students next spring in a course called Reporting Crime and Punishment.

One obvious lesson for his journalism students has to do with necessary skepticism, he said.

"Sources, especially sources who have gone through trauma, might not tell you the truth, even if they think they are. That's a hard lesson for reporters who care about people to grasp," Vaidhyanathan said.

"So you have to be the most cynical person you can be, while still having a connection to the deep human feelings that motivate people. Making yourself into that journalist is really hard."

CNNMoney (New York) April 4, 2015: 4:32 PM ET

15.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

'Mad Men' brings prestige, if not powerful ratings, to AMC

Much has been made about the final season of the critically acclaimed drama such as a "Mad Men" style bench outside the Time-Life Building in New York City.

The AMC drama is beginning the second half of its final season on Sunday. Over the years it has won 15 Emmys, including Outstanding Drama Series, four years in a row.

But in the ratings last year it ranked a lowly #21 among all the dramas on cable. Add all the dramas on broadcast TV, and it would rank even lower on the list.

During its seven episodes last spring, the first half of the final season, "Mad Men" averaged 3.7 million viewers in the Nielsen "Live+7" ratings that combine live viewership and a week's worth of delayed viewership.

The live average viewership was just 1.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen. That means more than half the audience used digital video recorders and video-on-demand systems to catch up.

With 3.7 million "Live+7" viewers, "Mad Men" ranked below shows like FX's "Fargo," BET's "Being Mary Jane," TNT's "Perception," and USA's "Suits."

Based on all the awards and press acclaim, you might have guessed its audience was a lot bigger.

What the series lacks in sheer audience size, however, it makes up for with influence and affluence, something advertisers crave.

"Mad Men" kicks off the second part of its final season on Sunday.

"Mad Men" is one of the most upscale shows on ad-supported TV. 53 percent of "Mad Men" viewers ages 25 to 54 are from households with incomes that exceed $100,000.

According to AMC, no other prime time series comes close to that level of affluence. It helps the channel charge more for ads on the show.

AMC said earlier this week that ad space on the May 17 finale is sold out.

The show has been valuable for other reasons, too. It -- and "Breaking Bad" -- made AMC a real player in the cable programming business.

"'Mad Men' had an immediate impact and quickly became a calling card for AMC. It helped lay the foundation for everything that followed," Charlie Collier, AMC's president, said in an email.

"It also set a standard with respect to its ability to reach and connect with very difficult-to-reach audiences including the most upscale influencers and tastemakers across the worlds of media, music, fashion, design, politics and more," he added.

Related: 'Walking Dead' helps 'Better Call Saul' set cable record

The series has spawned fashion tastes, college courses, and Internet memes, not to mention the countless marketing materials that the network has produced to celebrate the second half of the final season.

This includes a exhibition at the Museum of the Moving Image, a "Mad Men" Dining Week, and a bench outside of the Time-Life Building with the iconic silhouette of the show's anti-hero Don Draper. And that's just in New York.

TV historian Tim Brooks affirmed that Nielsen ratings alone mask the true significance of the series.

"It paid off as a marquee program," Brooks said. "It drew a lot of attention to itself and AMC by bringing in that upscale audience and the attention and awards that came with it. It serves a different purpose."

CNNMoney (New York) April 3, 2015: 1:49 PM ET

17.42 | 0 komentar | Read More

Wal-Mart exec: Credit card upgrade a 'joke'

The new "chip & signature" program is barely an improvement on security and fraud, said Mike Cook, Wal-Mart's assistant treasurer and a senior vice president, at this week's Electronic Transaction Association's Transact conference in San Francisco. Cook said Wal-Mart would have preferred a "chip and PIN" system that Europe and Africa have, since PINs would protect cards from being stolen.

"The fact that we didn't go to PIN is such a joke," Cook told CNNMoney.

Cook said signatures on checks were sufficient 100 years ago, but they're outdated today. PINs on debit cards were a major improvement to stop thieves decades ago. They'd do the same for credit cards -- which is why banks should use them for all cards.

"Signature is worthless as a form of authentication," Cook said during a presentation at the conference. "If you look at the Target and Home Depot breaches ... not a single PIN debit card needed to be reissued in those breaches. The card number was worthless to the individual thief and fraudsters, because they didn't know the PIN."

This comes from a company that's been adamant about adopting technology to stop fraud. Wal-Mart (WMT) has been ahead of the curve -- more so than any other U.S. retailer. It started installing EMV-capable payment terminals at its stores eight years ago, and they're already active today. That means you can dip a chip-enabled card there, a safer way to pay than swiping.

New chip credit cards are using signature, instead of more secure PINs. One Wal-Mart executive isn't happy.

Related: What hackers know about you

Retailers in general have been critical of the U.S. banking industry's decision to avoid PINs on credit cards, calling it a half-step in the right direction.

The United Kingdom, for example, implemented chip-and-PIN and saw a dramatic decrease in fraud stemming from counterfeit cards and stolen cards. By using chips alone, the American upgrade would only cut down on counterfeiting.

However, both companies leading this upgrade -- Visa (V) and MasterCard (MA) -- note that counterfeiting makes up the vast majority of credit card fraud anyway. So, they're tackling the biggest problem currently hurting banks and annoying shoppers, who keep getting reissued cards.

Banks don't want to add a PIN to your credit card for other reasons too. Banks fight to be your most frequently used card. A PIN-required card might annoy you enough to make you relegate it to second place. No bank wants to be card number two -- even if it's safer, said Martin Ferenczi, a top executive at one of the world's largest card makers, Oberthur Technologies.

Also, it's expensive. Attaching PINs to credit cards is an extra batch of data running along the credit card network. That tiny addition requires a multi-billion dollar software upgrade at credit card companies, banks, makers of payment terminals and merchants, experts say.

Besides, better technology has already come around, like Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, tap-to-pay features that use your phone. They hide your credit card number from retailers, and they use unique one-time codes that are useless to hackers and thieves. Banks hope these will become main payment methods in just a few years.

"We don't see a need for it," said Visa vice president of risk products Stephanie Ericksen. "[Chip-and-PIN] will have a shorter shelf life. We're moving to new technologies and innovation."

Did someone steal your tax refund? Share your story with CNN.

Related: You're about to get a new credit card - and it's an epic failure

Related: Credit card of the future could stop fraud

Related: Apple's plan to change how you pay for everything

CNNMoney (New York) April 3, 2015: 3:28 PM ET

17.42 | 0 komentar | Read More

'Furious 7' revs up for biggest box office opening of 2015 to date

After seeing some of Friday's results, industry analysts now expect the film to earn $130 to $140 million throughout North America this weekend.

Earlier, they were predicting $115 to $125 million -- and even those projections were turning heads in Hollywood.

The film is sure to have the biggest opening of 2015 to date, pretty easily overtaking February's $85 million opening of "Fifty Shades of Grey."

A $130 to $140 million box office total would also drive right by last year's $95 million opening of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" -- which was, until now, April's biggest opening ever.

"Furious 7," starring Vin Diesel and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, marks the unofficial start of the summer movie season.

The film franchise has been hugely popular for over a decade. Its loyal following has helped it make $2.4 billion worldwide since 2001.

This time around, there's even more interest, partly because the seventh film is the last to include the actor Paul Walker.

Walker died in a 2013 car crash while the film production was still taking place.

Related: Buckle up: 'Furious 7' will be emotional for Paul Walker fans

The film is being released by Universal, a division of NBCUniversal.

Coincidentally, February's "Fifty Shades of Grey" was also a Universal picture.

Industry estimates indicate that "Furious 7" made about $16 million during special Thursday night showings.

Variety reported that it is expected to earn another $58 to $60 million on Friday. These totals, even higher than originally expected, are what's driving the total projections above $130 million.

Universal will wait to publicly celebrate until sometime Saturday or Sunday.

No matter what the final total for opening weekend, it's clear that "Furious 7" will become the biggest opening in "Fast" series history, passing the $97.3 million "Fast & Furious 6" launch in May 2013.

It will also set the template for what Hollywood hopes will be a hot season after last year's dismal U.S. summer box office.

CNNMoney (New York) April 3, 2015: 9:58 PM ET

17.42 | 0 komentar | Read More

Wal-Mart exec: Credit card upgrade a 'joke'

The new "chip & signature" program is barely an improvement on security and fraud, said Mike Cook, Wal-Mart's assistant treasurer and a senior vice president, at this week's Electronic Transaction Association's Transact conference in San Francisco. Cook said Wal-Mart would have preferred a "chip and PIN" system that Europe and Africa have, since PINs would protect cards from being stolen.

"The fact that we didn't go to PIN is such a joke," Cook told CNNMoney.

Cook said signatures on checks were sufficient 100 years ago, but they're outdated today. PINs on debit cards were a major improvement to stop thieves decades ago. They'd do the same for credit cards -- which is why banks should use them for all cards.

"Signature is worthless as a form of authentication," Cook said during a presentation at the conference. "If you look at the Target and Home Depot breaches ... not a single PIN debit card needed to be reissued in those breaches. The card number was worthless to the individual thief and fraudsters, because they didn't know the PIN."

This comes from a company that's been adamant about adopting technology to stop fraud. Wal-Mart (WMT) has been ahead of the curve -- more so than any other U.S. retailer. It started installing EMV-capable payment terminals at its stores eight years ago, and they're already active today. That means you can dip a chip-enabled card there, a safer way to pay than swiping.

New chip credit cards are using signature, instead of more secure PINs. One Wal-Mart executive isn't happy.

Related: What hackers know about you

Retailers in general have been critical of the U.S. banking industry's decision to avoid PINs on credit cards, calling it a half-step in the right direction.

The United Kingdom, for example, implemented chip-and-PIN and saw a dramatic decrease in fraud stemming from counterfeit cards and stolen cards. By using chips alone, the American upgrade would only cut down on counterfeiting.

However, both companies leading this upgrade -- Visa (V) and MasterCard (MA) -- note that counterfeiting makes up the vast majority of credit card fraud anyway. So, they're tackling the biggest problem currently hurting banks and annoying shoppers, who keep getting reissued cards.

Banks don't want to add a PIN to your credit card for other reasons too. Banks fight to be your most frequently used card. A PIN-required card might annoy you enough to make you relegate it to second place. No bank wants to be card number two -- even if it's safer, said Martin Ferenczi, a top executive at one of the world's largest card makers, Oberthur Technologies.

Also, it's expensive. Attaching PINs to credit cards is an extra batch of data running along the credit card network. That tiny addition requires a multi-billion dollar software upgrade at credit card companies, banks, makers of payment terminals and merchants, experts say.

Besides, better technology has already come around, like Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, tap-to-pay features that use your phone. They hide your credit card number from retailers, and they use unique one-time codes that are useless to hackers and thieves. Banks hope these will become main payment methods in just a few years.

"We don't see a need for it," said Visa vice president of risk products Stephanie Ericksen. "[Chip-and-PIN] will have a shorter shelf life. We're moving to new technologies and innovation."

Did someone steal your tax refund? Share your story with CNN.

Related: You're about to get a new credit card - and it's an epic failure

Related: Credit card of the future could stop fraud

Related: Apple's plan to change how you pay for everything

CNNMoney (New York) April 3, 2015: 3:28 PM ET

15.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

'Mad Men' brings prestige, if not powerful ratings, to AMC

Much has been made about the final season of the critically acclaimed drama such as a "Mad Men" style bench outside the Time-Life Building in New York City.

The AMC drama is beginning the second half of its final season on Sunday. Over the years it has won 15 Emmys, including Outstanding Drama Series, four years in a row.

But in the ratings last year it ranked a lowly #21 among all the dramas on cable. Add all the dramas on broadcast TV, and it would rank even lower on the list.

During its seven episodes last spring, the first half of the final season, "Mad Men" averaged 3.7 million viewers in the Nielsen "Live+7" ratings that combine live viewership and a week's worth of delayed viewership.

The live average viewership was just 1.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen. That means more than half the audience used digital video recorders and video-on-demand systems to catch up.

With 3.7 million "Live+7" viewers, "Mad Men" ranked below shows like FX's "Fargo," BET's "Being Mary Jane," TNT's "Perception," and USA's "Suits."

Based on all the awards and press acclaim, you might have guessed its audience was a lot bigger.

What the series lacks in sheer audience size, however, it makes up for with influence and affluence, something advertisers crave.

"Mad Men" kicks off the second part of its final season on Sunday.

"Mad Men" is one of the most upscale shows on ad-supported TV. 53 percent of "Mad Men" viewers ages 25 to 54 are from households with incomes that exceed $100,000.

According to AMC, no other prime time series comes close to that level of affluence. It helps the channel charge more for ads on the show.

AMC said earlier this week that ad space on the May 17 finale is sold out.

The show has been valuable for other reasons, too. It -- and "Breaking Bad" -- made AMC a real player in the cable programming business.

"'Mad Men' had an immediate impact and quickly became a calling card for AMC. It helped lay the foundation for everything that followed," Charlie Collier, AMC's president, said in an email.

"It also set a standard with respect to its ability to reach and connect with very difficult-to-reach audiences including the most upscale influencers and tastemakers across the worlds of media, music, fashion, design, politics and more," he added.

Related: 'Walking Dead' helps 'Better Call Saul' set cable record

The series has spawned fashion tastes, college courses, and Internet memes, not to mention the countless marketing materials that the network has produced to celebrate the second half of the final season.

This includes a exhibition at the Museum of the Moving Image, a "Mad Men" Dining Week, and a bench outside of the Time-Life Building with the iconic silhouette of the show's anti-hero Don Draper. And that's just in New York.

TV historian Tim Brooks affirmed that Nielsen ratings alone mask the true significance of the series.

"It paid off as a marquee program," Brooks said. "It drew a lot of attention to itself and AMC by bringing in that upscale audience and the attention and awards that came with it. It serves a different purpose."

CNNMoney (New York) April 3, 2015: 1:49 PM ET

15.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

'Furious 7' revs up for biggest box office opening of 2015 to date

After seeing some of Friday's results, industry analysts now expect the film to earn $130 to $140 million throughout North America this weekend.

Earlier, they were predicting $115 to $125 million -- and even those projections were turning heads in Hollywood.

The film is sure to have the biggest opening of 2015 to date, pretty easily overtaking February's $85 million opening of "Fifty Shades of Grey."

A $130 to $140 million box office total would also drive right by last year's $95 million opening of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" -- which was, until now, April's biggest opening ever.

"Furious 7," starring Vin Diesel and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, marks the unofficial start of the summer movie season.

The film franchise has been hugely popular for over a decade. Its loyal following has helped it make $2.4 billion worldwide since 2001.

This time around, there's even more interest, partly because the seventh film is the last to include the actor Paul Walker.

Walker died in a 2013 car crash while the film production was still taking place.

Related: Buckle up: 'Furious 7' will be emotional for Paul Walker fans

The film is being released by Universal, a division of NBCUniversal.

Coincidentally, February's "Fifty Shades of Grey" was also a Universal picture.

Industry estimates indicate that "Furious 7" made about $16 million during special Thursday night showings.

Variety reported that it is expected to earn another $58 to $60 million on Friday. These totals, even higher than originally expected, are what's driving the total projections above $130 million.

Universal will wait to publicly celebrate until sometime Saturday or Sunday.

No matter what the final total for opening weekend, it's clear that "Furious 7" will become the biggest opening in "Fast" series history, passing the $97.3 million "Fast & Furious 6" launch in May 2013.

It will also set the template for what Hollywood hopes will be a hot season after last year's dismal U.S. summer box office.

CNNMoney (New York) April 3, 2015: 9:58 PM ET

15.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

The world's hottest stock market is in China

The Shenzhen Composite has surged a whopping 47% so far -- easily making it the world's hottest market in 2015. China's benchmark Shanghai Composite has also jumped a staggering 19%.

These giant market leaps are at odds with the broader Chinese economy -- GDP growth is clocking a slower pace and recent economic data points have been disappointing.

But experts say that Chinese investors are betting the central government will be forced to take stimulus action to revive the sluggish economy -- a move that is expected to keep lifting stocks.

"The equity market clearly believes the Chinese government will continue to take policy action to achieve its growth target, and poor growth statistics will lead to greater policy easing," wrote BNP Paribas equity strategist Manishi Raychaudhuri in a research note.

The country's banks have also been told they can keep less cash in reserve, and benchmark interest rates have already been cut twice this year. Both moves have boosted stocks, according to Michael Liang of Foundation Asset Management. Economists predict the central bank will cut interest rates even further.

Shenzhen, in particular, has been helped by its mix of listed companies -- the index is full of young tech, media and telecom firms. In Shanghai, large state-owned firms are the main attraction.

Experts say China's equities boom has also been fueled by renewed interest from retail investors.

Back in 2013, investors fled in droves after a series of fat-finger trading errors damaged confidence and raised questions over poor market regulation.

Related: Chinese investors trade way more often than Americans

Now, many individual investors are taking their money out of alternative investments -- such as the flailing property sector -- and putting it back into stocks.

About 170,000 new stock trading accounts are opened per business day in China, more than 10 times the average for last year, according to BNP.

China's massive stock rise is only lining the pockets of domestic investors -- foreign investment into Chinese stocks is still largely restricted. Trading volume through a program that launched last year allowing foreigners to invest in Shanghai has contributed a negligible fraction of daily turnover, Raychaudhuri said.

But for Chinese investors, "the wall of money seems destined to continue flowing, at least in the near term," said Raychaudhuri.

CNNMoney (Hong Kong) April 3, 2015: 4:51 AM ET

17.42 | 0 komentar | Read More