The China Hustle

After the financial crisis of 2007–2008, as investment firms in the United States look for ways to improve clients' investment performance while earning money for themselves, they chance upon the idea of selling opportunities to unsuspecting Americans who want to get rich by participating in the "China growth story" but do not know much about the country or its companies. They do so by getting small nondescript Chinese companies (like Orient Paper and Advanced Battery Technologies (ABAT)) to do reverse mergers with defunct American companies (like Buffalo Mining) and thus get listed in the NYSE overnight. The hype that accompanies this is aided by paid guest appearances by the likes of Bill Clinton and Henry Kissinger at so called "investment conferences" organized by B level investment firms (Roth Capital is one such firm featured in the documentary), thus adding a garb of respectability and reliability. The stocks of these companies see spikes, investment firms goad their investors into buying them, siphoning off brokerages on the way. When the prices of these stocks crash to their real value, unsuspecting savers are left holding large amounts of worthless stock in their 401(k)s.