Air France airplane from Air France-KLM Group arrives at Princess Juliana international airport on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin at Maho Beach, Sint Maarten on February 12, 2023. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Some are in it just for the money, others to help buy a meal. Then there are those who trade for fun or to spend time among friends. Millions of investors – pensioners, security guards, high-school students – dominate China's stock markets, conducting about 80 percent of all trades. Retirees gather in brokerage houses dotted around China also to enjoy some company and savour the air conditioning on hot days. Some start as young as 13, trading from home with an eye on future careers in finance. Winning isn't guaranteed. This year, among the most turbulent in China's financial history, its stock markets more than doubled in the six months to May, only to crash amid concerns that growth in the country, which makes everything from cars to steel, is slowing faster than previously thought. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

A boy runs with a burning barrel soaked in tar at the annual Ottery St Mary tar barrel festival on November 5, 2015 in Ottery St. Mary, England. The tradition, which is over 400 years old, sees competitors (who must have been born in the town to take part) running with burning barrels on their backs through the village, until the heat becomes too unbearable or the barrel breaks down, starting with junior barrels carried by children and continuing all evening with ever larger and larger barrels. The event, which has been threatened with closure on previous years due to increasing public liability insurance costs, raises thousands of pounds for charity and attracts spectators from around the world. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Street artist Irony’s mural of a young woman on Jamaica Street in Liverpool, UK on September 22, 2019. The city has recently been transformed with bold murals painted by local artists on walls and buildings. Recognisable faces including those of the Beatles, Jürgen Klopp and Stephen Hawking. (Photo by Peter Byrne/PA Wire Press Association)

A view of sunken tank which promotes scuba diving tourism with its location at an artificial reef of Guvercin Island region of Kas district of Antalya, Turkiye on December 04, 2022. The sunken tank, situated at a depth of around 15 meters, is visible to both seasoned divers and those undergoing basic diving training. (Photo by Mahmut Serdar Alakus/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A cat and a dog stray along a side street in Las Pinas city, Metro Manila, Philippines, 02 July 2023. A significant number of dogs and cats left wandering in streets could lead to potential health hazard due to rabies. Amidst Covid-19 pandemic, displaced pet owners who lost their job because their employers closed or lost business were forced to leave their animals in the city as they migrate elsewhere. (Photo by Francis R. Malasig/EPA)

A woman tour skates on the frozen lake of Orlangen, south of Stockholm, Sweden, on December 23, 2016. Tour skating is recreational long distance ice skating on natural ice particularly popular in the Nordic countries. (Photo by Tobias Roestlund/AFP Photo/TT News Agency)

Bystanders look at MV Wakashio bulk carrier that had run aground and from which oil is leaking near Blue Bay Marine Park in south-east Mauritius on August 6, 2020. The carrier, belonging to a Japanese company but Panamanian-flagged, ran aground on July 25 and its crew was evacuated safely. The ship was empty at the time but was carrying 200 tonnes of diesel and 3,800 tonnes of bunker fuel, according to the local press. (Photo by Dev Ramkhelawon/L'Express Maurice/AFP Photo)