"Mr. Smith, thank you for expediting this."
"Mr. Hall, it's always a pleasure doing business with you."
Vincent shook hands with the manager of Countrywide Bank. The trip had been fruitful.
Leveraging his current holdings of Stark Industries stock, Vincent had secured a loan of $300 million.
In the West, connections greased the wheels of finance. Mr. Smith knew Vincent was a high-value client. Even if Vincent's investments tanked, the collateral (the stock itself) was solid. The bank wouldn't lose a dime.
With this loan, Vincent's war chest swelled to $800 million.
Smith walked him to the door, a thoughtful expression on his face. He knew exactly what Vincent was planning.
"He's doubling down on Stark Industries," Smith mused. "Bold. He shorted it with 20x leverage on the way down, and now he's buying the dip on the way up. If Stark announces any good news, this kid is going to be richer than God."
Smith returned to his desk and pulled up the charts.
Stark Industries (SIA)
Current Daily Change: -5.1%
The volume was stabilizing. Someone was quietly accumulating shares.
"Three hundred million is a lot of ammo," Smith analyzed. "He won't just buy stock. He's going to the futures market. He's going to leverage that cash to buy Call Options."
Smith logged into his personal trading account.
Sure enough, the futures market was lighting up.
Interactive Brokers Dashboard.
Vincent transferred the $300 million loan into his brokerage account.
He allocated $200 million to the futures market.
Leverage: 20x.
Position: Long Call Options.
Total Exposure: $4 Billion.
The market sentiment was overwhelmingly bearish. Everyone was betting against Tony Stark. Because of this, Vincent's massive buy order was filled almost instantly by eager sellers who thought they were taking money from a fool.
The spot price of SIA was hovering at $5.60.
Vincent checked his balances.
Futures: $200M Margin.Stock Account: $140M Cash remaining.
He transferred $4 million out to his personal bank account for living expenses—luxury cars and penthouses weren't cheap.
Then, with the remaining $136 million, he went to war.
He started buying shares on the open market. Aggressively.
This time, no leverage. He was buying ownership.
He swept up 24 million shares in minutes. His aggressive buying acted as a catalyst. The "invisible hand" of the market woke up. Other algorithms detected the buy pressure and joined in.
The price spiked.
$5.60... $5.80... $6.00.
It broke yesterday's closing price. The daily chart flipped from Red to Green.
[Current Status]
Stock Portfolio: 107 million shares (Total). Average cost ~$5.70.Futures Portfolio: $4 Billion position. Unrealized Gain: +7% ($280 Million).
"Futures are where the real money is," Vincent smirked. "But if I hadn't used that $136 million to ignite the rally, the whales wouldn't have followed, and my calls would be worthless."
He now owned 1.07% of Stark Industries.
He was officially the third-largest individual shareholder.
Stark Industries HQ. Executive Office.
CRASH!
Obadiah Stane swept a glass sculpture off his desk, shattering it against the wall.
"Find out who is ruining my plan!" he roared.
For weeks, he had been orchestrating the decline. He used the media to amplify the fear, driving the price down so he could consolidate power.
His assistant trembled, holding a tablet. "It's... it's a new player, Mr. Stane. A Vincent Hall. He's just eighteen. A student."
"A student?" Stane paused, his eyes narrowing. "A Chinese kid?"
"Yes, sir. He now holds just over 1% of the company."
Stane exhaled slowly, regaining his composure. "1% is annoying, but not fatal. I've already secured the proxy votes from the board. I have enough to remove Tony as CEO."
"Shall we... handle him, sir?" the assistant asked, the implication clear.
"Not yet," Stane waved a hand dismissively. "He's a mouse. Let him eat some crumbs. My priority is the armor."
Stane knew the Arc Reactor was the key, but without the suit tech, it was just a battery. He needed the Mark I prototype designs. And he needed to keep the stock price low for just one more day.
"Keep buying," Stane ordered. "Use the reserve funds. The Wall Street vultures enter the game tomorrow. We need to soak up as much equity as we can today."
Once he ousted Tony and restarted weapons manufacturing, the stock would triple. He would be a king.
"As for this Vincent Hall..." Stane sneered. "Let him make money for me. When I have the Iron Monger suit, I'll pay him a visit. I'll take his shares—and his life—free of charge."
Penthouse.
Vincent sneezed.
"Someone's thinking about me," he muttered, rubbing his nose. "Probably Stane."
He didn't know Stane was targeting him specifically, but he knew the villain's playbook.
"Stane wants to play games? Fine."
Vincent leaned back in his ergonomic chair.
"If he tries to crash the price again to squeeze my margin positions, I have a nuclear option."
He tapped his phone.
"I can leak the existence of the Arc Reactor. Cold Fusion technology. That news alone would send the stock to the moon and bankrupt every short-seller instantly, including Stane's hidden positions."
"Your move, Obadiah."