Chapter 923
Opening Champagne Halfway Through
Perhaps yesterday's slight rebound after a sharp drop gave many investors who were heavily invested a chance to break even.
Today, the Nasdaq stock market as a whole showed a trend of opening in a deep abyss.
In Shenzhen, right now, the darkness outside the window is the thickest.
Xiao Jun was wide awake, his eyes were bloodshot, and his dark circles were like brand marks.
He sat stiffly in front of the huge curved screen computer like a statue. On the screen, the real-time trend chart of Nasdaq resembled a ferocious black python with its jaws wide open.
Earlier today, because of the Nasdaq's slight oversold rebound last night, he thought he had seized the opportunity and issued an almost crazy order: to buy at the bottom as soon as the market opened, betting his last $2 million, like a gambler going all in, on the little prodigy's stock!
However, the scene on the screen at that moment made his blood seem to freeze instantly.
Call auction phase!
The curve representing the little prodigy's stock price was not the soaring success he had imagined, but rather like being slammed into an abyss by an invisible giant hammer!
A massive, overwhelming, and cost-insensitive flood of sell orders surged in before the market opened, instantly creating a huge, heart-stopping downward gap in the stock price!
It opened lower! And it opened nearly 80 points lower!
This is no longer a simple correction or fluctuation; this is panic! It's a stampede! It's the wailing of a complete collapse of market confidence!
“It’s over… The opening day has already crashed like this…” Xiao Jun’s throat tightened, and his heart felt like it was being gripped by an icy hand, each beat bringing a suffocating pain.
He stared intently at the screen, his fingers unconsciously gripping the expensive leather armrest so tightly that his nails almost dug into it.
That final $2 million!
He could almost see them being swallowed up and evaporated instantly by this terrifying wave of selling during the pre-market auction!
If the trader really did carry out the orders he gave during the day...
The phone rang suddenly like a death knell, shattering the deathly silence of the room.
Xiao Jun shuddered violently, almost lunging to grab the phone. His voice was hoarse and distorted with extreme fear: "Hello?! How is it?! Is it... is it already... bought in?!" He asked cautiously, with the last glimmer of hope in his eyes.
On the other end of the phone came the trader's grave and urgent voice, tinged with a mixture of relief and lingering fear: "Boss! Something's very wrong! There was a massive panic sell-off during the pre-market auction, resulting in a huge gap down at the open! I... I suggest we immediately stop yesterday's plan and wait and see! Absolutely no bottom-fishing now!"
Xiao Jun felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head, which was then overwhelmed by an indescribable ecstasy!
He didn't act! He didn't buy in immediately!
"You...you didn't buy in the opening auction? You didn't follow my orders?" Xiao Jun's voice trembled, filled with disbelief.
"No, boss!" The trader's tone was unusually firm. "Market sentiment is completely out of control! Such a large gap down will only exacerbate the panic! Going in now is like catching a falling knife! It's absolutely a dead end! I dare not execute this order... I'm afraid... I'm afraid I'll lose your last bit of capital..."
"Good! Good! Good!" Xiao Jun exclaimed three times in a row, his immense fear receding and replaced by a lingering sense of exhaustion and an almost morbid gratitude. "Thank you! Thank you so much! You saved me! You saved us! You did the right thing! You were absolutely right!"
He was incoherent, and was extremely grateful to the trader who dared to disobey his "decree".
"Listen, from now on, I'm handing everything over to you! Hold back! Absolutely hold back! I... I'm completely confused, I have no ideas! I'll follow your orders! Please!"
The trader on the other end of the phone clearly sensed the heavy trust and the life-or-death entrustment from his boss, and his voice became somewhat impassioned: "Yes, boss! Don't worry! I will do my best to find the safest opportunity!"
After hanging up the phone, Xiao Jun felt as if all the bones in his body had been removed. He slumped into the large executive chair, his back already soaked with cold sweat.
Outside the window, the sky was beginning to lighten, and a sliver of grayish-white light shone in, illuminating his pale, still-shaken face.
The terrifying scene of the market opening into an abyss was deeply imprinted on his retina, impossible to erase.
New York, trading floor.
A suffocating sense of panic filled the air.
Yesterday's faint, illusory "dead cat bounce" bullish candlestick, which brought a brief respite, now seems more like a carefully laid trap.
The market plummeted immediately upon opening! It opened nearly 80 points lower!
This is not just a numbers game; it is a lament for countless fortunes vanishing in an instant.
Panic spread like wildfire. Traders, their faces ashen, screamed "Sell! Sell!" into the microphone, their fingers furiously pounding on the keyboard, trying to escape the capsizing Titanic before it sank completely.
Bad news came like snowflakes:
Inflation data exceeded expectations! The stark figures shattered the market's last glimmer of hope that the Federal Reserve might intervene to rescue the economy. Higher interest rates? Tighter monetary policy? This is undoubtedly rubbing salt into the already bleeding wounds of tech stocks.
Leverage-driven sell-off! Investors who heavily leveraged their investments in tech stocks earlier are now facing a margin crisis after the continuous market crash.
The sudden plunge at the opening bell was like the last straw that broke the camel's back. Margin calls, like death knells, rang throughout countless offices. Those unable to add funds could only watch helplessly as their positions were forcibly liquidated by their brokers—a relentless sell-off regardless of cost! This forced selling further exacerbated the market decline, creating a terrifying vicious cycle—a wave of liquidations!
Panic is self-reinforcing; each drop triggers another, and the abyss seems endless.
Somewhere on Wall Street at this moment.
The atmosphere was as heavy as lead. On the huge screen, the Nasdaq Composite Index's thick bearish candlestick, representing today's performance, was plunging downwards at an almost 90-degree angle!
The stock price of the child prodigy was even more disastrous, with a drop far exceeding that of the broader market index.
The Harvard graduate and former Goldman Sachs elite, who had been entrusted with an important task by Xiao Jun, had fine beads of sweat on his forehead at this moment.
He stared intently at the screen, his eyes sharp as an eagle's, his brain racing.
"Boss, still no movement," an assistant reported in a low voice. "Should we continue to hold back?"
The trader nodded slightly, his voice low: "There's no sign of the panic subsiding, and leveraged liquidation orders are still pouring in. This is an irrational stampede. Entering the market now is tantamount to suicide."
His professional skills and intuition were screaming an alarm: Stop! Get away!
Throughout the morning, this elite team acted like the most patient hunters, or like sailors clinging to rocks in a stormy sea. Despite the market's raging storms, they withstood immense pressure and temptations, refusing to use a single penny of their account to buy at the bottom.
Time ticked by, and the numbers on the screen relentlessly jumped downwards.
Nasdaq decline: -200 points... -250 points... -300 points!
The stock price of the child prodigy plummeted even more alarmingly: after a sharp drop at the open, it continued to decline steadily, with the decline rapidly widening to 15%... 18%... and finally, during the afternoon trading session, it even broke through the terrifying 20% mark! The stock price was driven down to a staggering low of below $36! This was far below its initial offering price!
A suppressed gasp filled the trading room.
$36?
It has already been cut in half from its glorious high of $69.5. This can no longer be described as an oversold condition; it is a bloody and gruesome collapse!
The trader's eyes lit up at that moment, like a beast that had spotted its prey.
His clenched fist loosened slightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.
"Boss, the drop is over 20%! It's hit a record low! It's fallen below the issue price from three years ago!" The assistant's voice trembled with disbelief.
The trader took a deep breath and forced himself to analyze the situation calmly:
The decline far exceeded that of the broader market: the Nasdaq fell by about 9%, but the little prodigy fell by more than 20%? This is unreasonable! The huge scissors difference indicates irrational selling and overreaction.
What is the root cause?
He quickly accessed the data.
Besides the global tech stock panic, a key factor has surfaced—the continuous reduction of holdings by major shareholders! Mr. Lu's Century Group, Mr. Mou's Nande Group, and even my own client, Mr. Xiao, the current president of this prodigy, have all cashed out and left with large sums of money when the stock prices were high in the past few months!
The selling pressure from these "insiders" was like cutting off the fuel supply, completely destroying market confidence and, coupled with panic, causing a sharp drop far exceeding the industry average!
A return to value? $36! This price is even lower than the IPO price a few years ago.
For a company with a monopolistic product, whose sales of VCDs alone exceeded 500 million units last year, with a huge user base and revenue still skyrocketing, isn't this a serious underestimation?
"Technical indicators have long been oversold, and the market has been in oversold territory for quite some time," he muttered to himself, a decisive glint in his eyes. "Extreme panic often breeds opportunities for a rebound. Such a deep drop must have resulted in a large number of shares being sold off unnecessarily! Especially after breaking through the important psychological and technical level of the issue price!"
An opportunity! A tremendous opportunity masked by panic! An opportunity with a potentially extremely high risk-reward ratio!
"Move!" he finally gave the order, his voice resolute and filled with a determination that risked his professional reputation. "Attention everyone!"
He quickly made arrangements:
"In the 36-segment area, tentatively buy 5 lots!"
"It's gone up! 36.5 yuan! Buy another 100,000 shares! In batches!"
"37 yuan! It's back to the issue price! Go all in! At any cost, keep pushing the stock price up! Hold on! We must hold on to this psychological threshold!"
The trading room instantly became bustling with activity. The sound of keyboards clattering was like a whirlwind, and massive buy orders poured into the stock price, which was already ravaged by panic selling.
A miracle seems to have happened!
With massive funds buying up shares regardless of cost, the stock price, which had been in freefall, was suddenly caught by an invisible hand, and its downward momentum abruptly slowed! $37... $37.5... $38... The buying frenzy continued to push the stock price upward!
The closing bell rang!
The Nasdaq Composite Index is stuck at a terrifying level, having plummeted by 9.1%.
The stock price of the child prodigy, like a survivor who was forcibly pulled back from the brink of hell, stubbornly closed at $40.1!
Although the intraday decline was still as high as 7.11% (compared to yesterday's closing price), compared to the intraday low of below $36, this is already an encouraging V-shaped rebound of more than 11%!
Especially in the thrilling half hour at the end of the trading day, their $3 million acted like a fire brigade, pulling the stock price back from the brink of collapse!
"Boss! I've accomplished my mission!" The trader immediately dialed Xiao Jun's number, his voice filled with exhaustion from the intense battle and barely suppressed excitement. "All the funds were injected into the market at the close, just as planned! We precisely caught the peak of panic! The stock price was driven down to below $36, but we bought heavily to support the market, and it finally closed at $40.1!"
On the other end of the phone, Xiao Jun, his eyes vacant and numb as he stared at the news of the global stock market crash scrolling across the television, suddenly jumped up from the sofa upon hearing this: "40.1?! Closing above 40?! Then... then we..."
“Yes, boss!” The trader’s voice was full of pride. “Our last $3 million bottom-fishing not only didn’t result in a loss, but because of our precise timing, buying at an extremely low point, we generated a 12.89% unrealized profit by the close! That’s about $3600 million, or over 3 million RMB!”
He paused, then added, "This profit is enough to cover the paper losses we incurred from our previous attempts to 'buy the dip' at the halfway point of the market, and even leave a surplus! Boss, we succeeded! We fought a brilliant counterattack when the market was at its most panicked!"
Success? A counterattack? A profit of $3600 million?!
An overwhelming surge of joy engulfed Xiao Jun like a tsunami!
The exhaustion from a sleepless night, the extreme fear at the opening of the market, and the anxiety throughout the day all transformed into unparalleled excitement at this moment!
"Great! Excellent! Well done! Great job!!" Xiao Jun paced back and forth in the empty living room, waving his arms as if he wanted to embrace the whole world.
"I knew it! I knew opportunity favors the prepared! You all doubted me, but I'm determined to prove you wrong. Humph, those who wanted to see me fail? Haha! Watch! Watch how I turn the tables!"
A burning ambition rekindled in his eyes, and his voice trembled with excitement: "As long as we can stabilize the stock price at $40! As long as we weather this panic! By the end of the year, at the board meeting! My position as president will not only be as secure as Mount Tai, but I'll also be on the chairman's throne..."
He could almost see himself standing atop the pinnacle of power as a child prodigy, receiving the awe-inspiring gazes of everyone. Lu Yang? Mu Qizhong? Then, who would dare underestimate him, Xiao Jun?!
As dawn broke, Xiao Jun felt full of energy and high spirits, despite having slept for less than three hours.
Yesterday's gloom has vanished, replaced by a sense of self-satisfaction and an urge to show off.
He eagerly dialed Mu Qizhong's number, his voice filled with undisguised smugness:
"Brother Mou! Good morning! Haha, did you sleep well last night? I have some fantastic news for you! But let me keep you in suspense for a moment! How about it, the weather's nice today, how about we go out to sea for a bit? I'll arrange it, I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"
On the other end of the phone, Mu Qizhong had clearly already learned through his own channels about the storm in the US stock market last night and the little prodigy's thrilling late-day surge.
He was worldly-wise and naturally sensed the arrogance in Xiao Jun's words—a mixture of relief at surviving a disaster and an eagerness to prove himself.
A meaningful smile played at the corners of his lips, but his voice remained as warm as ever:
"Oh? Brother Xiao, you're in such high spirits? Good news? Haha, then I'm all ears! Going out to sea? Great idea! Perfect for a relaxing trip! But..."
He changed the subject abruptly, with a hint of probing, "What's the point of just the two of us men going out to sea? Why don't we invite your incredibly capable brother-in-law, our brother Lu Yang, along? The more the merrier!"
Mu Qizhong wanted to see how Lu Yang, who always seemed to be able to predict the future, would react after learning about Xiao Jun's seemingly successful "divine operation".
Upon hearing this, Xiao Jun felt even more smug, eager to show off his heroic feat of turning the tide in front of Lu Yang.
He suppressed his excitement and feigned modesty, saying, "Sure! Brother Mu's suggestion is great! However... as for Lu Yang, I've been trying to contact him these past two days, but he doesn't seem to be very interested in talking to me. I might not be able to get him to come out right away. How about... Brother Mu, you personally invite him? He has to give you face!"
"Hahaha, no problem, no problem!" Mu Qizhong laughed heartily, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes. "Leave it to me, brother! Perfect timing, I'm also quite curious to know what our brother Lu has to say about today's... well, 'deep V reversal' drama!"
The chairman's office on the top floor of the Century Building.
Through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, the bustling cityscape of Shenzhen is laid out before you, and sunlight streams onto the gleaming floor.
Lu Yang, dressed casually, sat relaxed on the sofa, toying with a warm, smooth piece of ancient jade in his hand.
Wei Shu stood aside and handed Lu Yang a well-organized report, which clearly recorded the Nasdaq crash last night, as well as the shocking intraday plunge and dramatic late-day surge of the little prodigy, and even provided special annotations on the source of funds.
"President Lu, President Xiao's side... has made quite a move. He gambled right at the end of the trading day, making a considerable profit and temporarily stabilizing the stock price. What... do you think?" Wei Shu's tone was inquisitive.
She knew that her boss was not optimistic about the future stock price of the child prodigy.
Lu Yang took the briefing, his eyes quickly scanning the shocking numbers. Instead of surprise or worry, a playful smile appeared on his face.
He gently put down the briefing, leaned back into the soft sofa, picked up a cup of tea, took a sip, and then slowly spoke, his tone as calm as if he were discussing a trivial matter:
"What do you think?" Lu Yang's smile deepened, carrying an all-knowing calmness and a hint of barely perceptible pity. "I'll naturally look at it with a smile."
He paused, his gaze fixed on the vast city skyline outside the window. His voice was calm, yet it carried a chilling certainty:
"This kid... isn't too stupid. At least this time, he knew to let the bullets fly for a while, wait until they fell deep enough, until the panic subsided, and even until there were signs of a reversal, before daring to jump in and 'buy the dip.' This patience and... well, or rather, the caution after being scared out of his wits, is a little bit better than before."
Lu Yang gently swirled the teacup, watching the emerald green tea swirl inside.
"He did win this gamble today, and the paper profits look quite tempting. But..."
He abruptly changed the subject, his gaze becoming deep and distant, as if piercing through the glass curtain wall before him to see a more distant and cruel future. He shook his head slightly, a movement that was light yet carried a heavy weight, as if the dust had finally settled.
"Some roads, once you go in the wrong direction, even the most brilliant tactical victory is just another step further down the wrong path. The echoes of the abyss never disappear because of a lucky rebound. The dust raised when the bubble bursts will eventually settle."
He didn't say anything more, but turned his gaze back to the glaring closing price of "$40.1" on the report. The smile on his lips gradually faded, turning into a silent sigh.
Wei Shu looked at Lu Yang's profile, which was calm and composed yet seemed to conceal a storm, and felt a chill run down her spine.
She knew that behind Lu Yang's unspoken "However..." lay a predetermined future that could plunge the currently smug CEO Xiao into an abyss of no return.
A brief silence fell over the office, broken only by the faint clamor of the city outside the window, like a looming, impending cataclysmic wave, brewing in the distance. (End of Chapter)