Chapter 9: This kid has connections everywhere?
"Is it time to seriously consider buying a car?"
Su Hao had this thought for the first time, a truly serious one.
Even he himself found it absurd; a newcomer who hadn't even received his first month's salary dared to think about buying a car?
It was simply a pipe dream.
But now he truly understood why the suited, seemingly refined traders in this building, if they had any means, would commute by car whenever possible.
It was too early. The working hours were ridiculously early.
How early?
If he missed the first subway train, he would definitely be late.
Even if he got incredibly lucky and squeezed onto the first train on time, he would usually only have a few minutes to catch his breath upon arriving at the company, his heart pounding like a drum, sweat not yet dry, before having to dive into work.
The only thing to be thankful for was that those old hands—the senior traders—usually didn't arrive so desperately early.
Little fish like Su Hao could avoid some critical glances.
At least, that's how it usually was.
However, today, there was an unusual strangeness in the air!
"Huh?"
The moment Su Hao stepped into the office, his steps instinctively paused.
A thick, unresolvable tension, like a tangible wave, washed over him, making his breath hitch slightly.
Looking around, the entire floor was bustling with people!
From bottom-level employees as green and naive as him, to those senior staff with meticulously combed hair and eagle-sharp eyes, and even the usually elusive heads of various teams...
Good heavens, every single one of them, as if by prior arrangement, stood uniformly in the office!
"Could it be... that the stock market opened early today?" He muttered to himself, filled with doubts.
Everyone was scurrying around like wound-up grasshoppers, footsteps, keyboard clicks, and hushed, urgent conversations mixed together, and the air was thick with an unresolvable anxiety.
The air seemed to be filled with silent gunpowder smoke; no shouts of battle were heard, yet everywhere there was the oppressive feeling of an impending storm.
This was definitely not a typical workday scene!
"Su Hao, you're here?"
A slightly hurried female voice spoke; it was Li Huilin.
"Ah, Sister Huilin, I'm sorry... am I late?"
He responded a little awkwardly, with the caution and unease typical of a newcomer, "I didn't expect everyone to be here so early."
Li Huilin forced a smile that wasn't much better than a grimace, and quickly waved her hand:
"No, no, you're much earlier than the scheduled time. It's... there was a big incident last night, that's why it's like this."
"Big incident?" Su Hao's heart tightened.
What kind of incident could make the entire company act as if facing a formidable enemy?
"Mm." Li Huilin nodded, speaking faster, "The Indonesia government, without any warning... dropped a bombshell—they announced they're cutting their domestic nickel production by 30%!"
"Oh..." Su Hao instinctively responded, but his mind was a bit muddled.
Indonesia cutting nickel production... is that a big deal?
To be honest, as a rookie who had only been in the industry for a few days, he didn't immediately grasp how terrifying the chain reaction behind this was.
However, this didn't prevent him from reacting.
He knew that Li Huilin, who was gentle and almost always responsive to requests, and whom he privately called the "Newcomer Savior," would always patiently answer his questions.
Sure enough, Li Huilin took a deep breath, her speech noticeably faster, and began to explain:
"Just yesterday! Yesterday, all of us generally believed that the battery sector was in an overall decline, and related stock prices could only fall in the short term, right? Short selling was the mainstream idea! But with Indonesia doing this, the entire logic has completely reversed!"
She gestured, trying to make Su Hao understand the crucial point:
"Think about it, companies that hold large inventories of nickel, or are closely related to nickel mines, wouldn't they suddenly become hot commodities overnight? Their stock prices soaring is almost a certainty!"
"But, yesterday several teams built significant short positions in battery stocks... you know, right? Short positions, once the direction is wrong and the market moves in the opposite direction, the losses..."
She didn't finish her sentence, but the alarm in her eyes was enough to explain everything.
Su Hao had indeed been cramming basic stock knowledge recently, and some technical terms were no longer gibberish to him.
He understood that an institution establishing a "short position" was, in layman's terms, "short selling."
This is a trading strategy that anticipates a specific stock price will fall, thereby profiting by "selling high and buying low."
Many large institutions use it to hedge risks or for speculation.
But its risks are like dancing on the edge of a cliff.
Once the judgment on the market direction is wrong, betting on a stock price drop, but the price not only doesn't fall but instead skyrockets unreasonably due to some sudden factors, then theoretically, the short seller's losses are... infinite.
The scene before him: everyone, rushing to the company before dawn, entering a state of emergency almost like wartime, was a true reflection of this fatal risk.
They, or rather, those unfortunate teams, firmly believed in the decline of battery stocks and boldly shorted them, only to run headfirst into the "black swan" of the Indonesia government flapping its wings.
Now, everyone was like ants on a hot pan, frantically checking positions, assessing risk exposure, trying to find a glimmer of hope before the storm completely swallowed them.
"What's the most terrifying thing? Do you know?" Li Huilin's voice trembled slightly, a reverence for the immense power of the market:
"The most terrifying thing is that no one can predict right now! Exactly how much will each stock rise? How much will each fall?... The market is completely in chaos."
These words made Su Hao's heart strangely tighten.
Man will conquer nature?
Perhaps in the face of the unpredictable and strangely rules-based capital market, this was more like a pale self-consolation.
The stock market is like a capricious ocean; even the most precise analytical models and the most comprehensive risk contingency plans cannot fully withstand a sudden storm like a natural disaster.
Human power is sometimes limited, which is evident here.
"Our team... didn't really touch battery stocks yesterday, did we?" Su Hao asked.
Upon hearing this, Li Huilin seemed to genuinely let out a big sigh of relief:
"Thankfully, thankfully. Thanks to the manager's keen intuition, he felt something was off yesterday and told us to stop while we were ahead and pull out in time. So our losses here shouldn't be significant. The truly miserable ones are the other departments; now, I estimate... oh, it's a complete mess."
Su Hao secretly felt lucky that Zhou Yi, who was usually taciturn and muscular, truly had an extraordinary market sense.
However, at the very moment this thought flashed, he suddenly remembered something—
Wait.
"The stock I bought yesterday... in that simulated investment account... wasn't that a battery-related concept stock?"
So... what would happen?
"Li Huilin! Su Hao! What are you standing there for? Can't you see everyone's busy? Hurry up and sort out this data! Quickly!"
A slightly hoarse, sharp shout came from not far away, interrupting his thoughts.
It was another senior trader impatiently urging them.
"Ah, yes! Yes! Su Hao, let's go quickly!" Li Huilin seemed to awaken from a dream and quickly pulled him.
Never mind.
Su Hao quickly pushed that thought out of his mind.
It was just a simulated investment anyway, virtual numbers. It didn't count for real.
Right now, the most important thing was to be low-key, very low-key, and do his trivial but error-free duties, not to cause trouble at such a critical moment.
At the same time, in the Trading Department One manager's office, the atmosphere was even heavier than lead.
Zhou Yi, the team leader known for his iron fist, composure, and almost cold demeanor, now had a rare deep frown, his profound eyes fixed on the frantically flickering market display screen before him.
His team members also held their breath, not daring to make a sound.
On the screen, a tragic scene was unfolding, utterly overturned by Indonesia's sudden "policy sneak attack."
If it were an outsider, they would surely think, it's just news about a certain metal production cut in a distant country, why such a fuss?
It seemed overly dramatic.
However, only those truly within this special ecosystem of the stock market could deeply comprehend the terrifying destructive power hidden behind such seemingly nonsensical events.
This market has its own unique, even bizarre, operating logic.
Historically, Cloud Horse gained attention because its name was similar to the founder of Alibaba, Far View Valley hit the limit up because its name was phonetically similar to Winter Olympics champion Gu Ailing, and Sichuan University Wisdom Victory was sought after because its name was similar to the Chinese translation of Trump in the US election...
This phenomenon is half-jokingly, half-helplessly referred to as "keyword investing" or "thematic speculation" by industry insiders.
It might be rare in the capital markets of other mature countries, but in China, it's commonplace, almost a part of the market's DNA.
At its root, on one hand, it's due to the extremely high participation rate of individual investors in China, leading to intense emotional market fluctuations;
On the other hand, the culture of speculating on "thematic stocks" and "concept stocks" is deeply rooted and ingrained.
Coupled with the deep-seated, powerful herd mentality, this irrational emotion can often push the prices of certain stocks to astonishing heights in a very short period, completely detached from fundamentals.
"
And right now, the biggest problem lies precisely here.
How will this powerful, irrational collective emotion, strong enough to distort the market itself, interpret and digest Indonesia's statement?
What kind of crazy response will the market give?
"Ah... it's rising! Still rising!"
"Damn it! Is it crazy? Is this thing going to hell?"
The market opening bell was like igniting a long-suppressed powder keg.
Instantly, various uncontrollable exclamations, wails, and vulgar curses erupted like boiling water in every corner of the hall.
"This price... where the hell is it going to rush to? Stop! Stop for me!"
Senior traders from other teams were completely out of control now, their faces flushed, veins bulging, roaring almost maniacally at the screens.
At such a moment, even managers, usually full of authority, wouldn't be so tactless as to provoke them.
Watching the numbers in their accounts pour down like a waterfall, real money rapidly evaporating before their eyes, who could maintain that ridiculous rationality and composure?
Even though they were operating company accounts, the profit and loss of every single trade was directly linked to their personal performance, and to their year-end bonuses, which they regarded as their lifeline.
For these professionals who considered trading their life, the feeling at this moment was no different from being slowly cut by a dull knife, or dying by a thousand cuts.
"Manager, battery-related stocks... are almost all in the red now, and the rise is very strong."
A team member's fingers flew across the keyboard, reporting nervously to Zhou Yi.
Zhou Yi's voice was low and calm, a stark contrast to the surrounding frenzy:
"This is just the first wave of emotional impact; differentiation will appear soon. Only those companies that truly possess large nickel resources will gain long-term, substantial benefits from this event. As for our side, have the preliminary results of the loss assessment come out?"
"It's good! The few short positions we established yesterday were all quickly stopped out at the first opportunity, and losses were controlled within the expected range." That subordinate seemed to have regained some composure because of this:
"The main problem is... those short positions held by other teams... judging by this momentum, the short squeeze... has completely erupted."
Short squeeze.
These four words, for traders, were nothing short of the most terrifying nightmare.
Its power was so horrifying that many people usually avoided mentioning it, even speaking of it carefully, fearing that it would become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
"And, it's not just our company, I just saw news that several other large private equity firms also have large short positions completely trapped."
Another subordinate added, his face equally grim:
"I heard... I heard that at various brokerage firms, forced liquidation notices are constantly being triggered! The entire market is in a complete mess!"
Zhou Yi nodded slightly, already understanding the situation in his heart.
A short squeeze, in essence, is a death spiral:
Short sellers originally expect stock prices to fall, but the prices unexpectedly surge.
To prevent infinite losses, they are forced to buy stocks in the market to cover their short positions.
However, this forced buying further pushes up already rising stock prices, leading to even greater losses for other short sellers, triggering more panic liquidations...
This vicious cycle ultimately pushes stock prices to a completely irrational and insane height.
At this moment, numerous institutions that had established short positions expecting battery stocks to fall, had created a large number of short orders, but were caught off guard by Indonesia's "black swan."
As stock prices soared against expectations, they were eager to "cut their losses" but found that the market was flooded with buying interest, with simply not enough selling interest to absorb it.
Their own covering buys became fuel for the stock price increase, making the losses on their short positions snowball.
The only thing to be thankful for, or rather, the only thing that could slightly limit the infinite spread of this disaster, was the stock market's daily 10% price limit system.
But this layer of "protection" did not truly allow one to rest easy.
In such extreme market conditions where everyone loses their mind and frantically buys, a stock could very well be locked at the upper price limit for several consecutive days, with no selling orders flowing out at all.
For those holding short positions, this meant they could only watch their losses expand infinitely day after day as time went on, powerless to do anything.
And right now, there was one such stock, conspicuously locked at the upper price limit:
[Greenmei +10%]
After the market opened, in just a very short time, this stock soared like a rocket, directly locked at the 10% upper limit by massive buy orders!
On the screen, only astronomical numbers of buy order Delegation were still continuously and endlessly piling up, forming a desperate wall of buying interest.
"..."
Normally, as long as the market was in trading hours, Zhou Yi's entire focus would be immersed like a rock in the sea of numbers and the fluctuations of K-lines, undisturbed by any external factors.
But today, he rarely felt a hint of vexation, finding it difficult to fully concentrate.
So, after quickly handling a few necessary risk-hedging operations, he ended most of his trading instructions early.
Anyway, right now, market funds were pouring into specific battery and resource sectors like crazy, causing liquidity in other areas to almost dry up, and trading volume to shrink.
Aside from sitting there and staring blankly, there really wasn't much meaningful to do.
"But how... how did that newcomer... know in advance?"
A thought, like a ghost, uncontrollably surfaced in his mind.
Zhou Yi's gaze, sharp as a knife, cut through the noisy crowd, involuntarily falling upon the figure in the outer area who was still meticulously busy running errands, doing odd jobs, and copying documents—Su Hao.
Could it be that this kid had such incredible connections? Did he actually have an insider in the Indonesia government?
This was too ridiculous!!
If not for that, how could he have precisely chosen that stock when almost all market institutions disregarded it, or were even unaware of it, and... with an almost insane full-position buy?
"..."
His gaze was firmly fixed on that back, with scrutiny, with inquiry, and even with a hint of... barely perceptible burning intensity.