Chapter 9: The Art of Trading

"Northern Navigation' opened at quite a high level!"

While Wang Liling hesitated whether to talk to Su Yue, in the trading room, Fang Wanqing glanced at the market's opening situation, her eyebrows slightly furrowing as she hesitated, "Entering at this level, even if this stock hits the daily limit today, there's barely any room for profit left. Ah… it's really difficult."

"Sister, are you judging a stock solely based on its one-day trend?" Su Yue switched to his personal trading account and responded, "Stock prices follow emotions and expectations. As long as a stock's expectations and sentiments are still on the rise, its price hasn't peaked yet. Moreover, the expectations and sentiments for 'Northern Navigation' have just begun to brew. The probability of them continuing to heat up is quite high."

"Emotions and expectations?" Fang Wanqing pondered.

Su Yue nodded gently and continued, "The performance of stock prices on the market affects our emotions and judgments. So… in trading, I think focusing on these two factors and combining them with the performance of trading volume can help us more intuitively determine the buying and selling points."

"Impressive!" Fang Wanqing thought about Su Yue's words for a while and praised.

Comparing Su Yue's perspective, she realized that her own criteria for judging market buying and selling points were indeed too narrow.

Understanding this, Fang Wanqing immediately responded by placing a pre-market order for 5,000 lots, totaling over 6.9 million yuan, at the limit-up price for 'Northern Navigation,' awaiting execution once the market officially opened at 9:30 AM.

"Su Yue, how do you see the trend of 'Rich Shun Special Steel' today?" After placing the buy orders for 'Northern Navigation,' Fang Wanqing's gaze turned to another stock of interest in her portfolio. She asked in a hushed tone, "Do you think there's a possibility for this stock to hit the third limit up?"

"It's probably difficult," Su Yue said, "Short-term profit-taking is heavy, but the emotions and expectations for this stock are still increasing. Most likely, after a wave of short-term profit-taking, the dominance of emotions and expectations will drive the stock price higher. Also, take a look at the type of funds entering later. If institutional funds get involved, the upward trend of this stock and its future growth potential might still be considerable."

"Understood!" Fang Wanqing replied, "Then I'll wait a bit more for the buying opportunity for this stock."

After saying that, she turned her gaze back to the market.

By this time, it was already 9:30 AM, and the market had entered the continuous auction trading session.

As the temporarily stagnant market started moving again, under the influence of multiple major buy orders, the stock price of 'Northern Navigation' rapidly surged, hitting the limit-up price within half a minute.

Seeing 'Northern Navigation' hit the limit-up price and the market sentiment being further ignited, Su Yue immediately sold all his 'Rich Shun Special Steel' stock in his personal account. After his funds returned, he turned around and fully invested in 'Northern Navigation' at the limit-up price. At the same time, Fang Wanqing continued to increase her position by 2,000 lots around the limit-up price for 'Northern Navigation,' pushing her holdings of the stock closer to the individual stock holding limit.

With both of them chasing, at 9:31 AM, 'Northern Navigation' reached its limit up price of 13.48 yuan within a minute of the market opening, with a trading volume of over 3.6 million lots, effectively sealing the limit-up.

"What's happening? Limit up within seconds!" Deng Yajie, sitting beside Fang Wanqing, also noticed the movement of 'Northern Navigation.' Due to her hesitation, she missed the opportunity to place orders and exclaimed in surprise, "There's no clear news yet, but the market is going crazy to snatch. Is everyone going mad?"

"It seems like 'Northern Navigation' hit the limit-up, can't it be sealed?"

"Unless something unexpected happens, this stock should receive regulatory intervention, maybe today at noon, or after the market closes."

"It's obviously false news, I don't know why everyone is crazy about this stock."

"Stocks driven by news like this, I wouldn't dare to follow. Just wait… as soon as the regulatory notice is issued and 'Weapon Group' starts clarifying the market rumors, the stock's price will fall back just as quickly as it rose."

"Compared to that, the rising logic of 'Rich Shun Special Steel' should be more solid."

"On the 'military industry' theme, today's hot spot shifted to 'North Navigation' and 'Domestic Aircraft Carrier.' 'Northern Navigation' is gaining even more attention and popularity, almost surpassing 'LeEco' to become the market's number one hot stock."

Accompanied by Deng Yajie's astonishment, discussions among other traders in the trading room continued in fragments.

Amid these fragmented discussions, the market trading session continued to move forward.

At 10:00 AM, the Shanghai Composite Index turned from a weak opening to an upward trajectory, with the 'military industry' theme becoming more intense. The 'North Navigation' and 'Domestic Aircraft Carrier' concepts exploded, with the core concept stock 'Northern Navigation' maintaining its limit-up and order closures totaling 3.6 million lots, while the heavyweight component stock 'Aero Engine' rose over 3%.

At 11:00 AM, the Shanghai Composite Index's gain expanded to around 0.5%, but influenced by the substantial drop of core startup component stock 'LeEco,' the overall Growth Enterprise Market Index was still underwater. The market showed a clear '20/80 split,' with a more distinct split between the two market sections.

At 11:30 AM, the midday closing moment arrived. The Shanghai Composite Index settled at a 0.42% gain, while the Growth Enterprise Market Index fell 0.78%. As for the performance of core popular stocks… 'LeEco' hit the lower limit on heavy volume, 'Northern Navigation' maintained its limit-up, and 'Rich Shun Special Steel' fluctuated around a 3% gain, trapped in intense oscillations.

During lunch break, market news and sentiment continued to ferment.

The much-anticipated regulatory notice didn't appear in response to 'Northern Navigation,' and in the face of the sudden limit-up in stock prices, neither the controlling shareholder 'Weapon Group' nor the involved party 'Ali Baba' publicly addressed the market. This left more room for the market to speculate on 'Northern Navigation,' fueled by ambiguous expectations and imagination.

In the afternoon, the market reopened for trading.

'Northern Navigation' has become the most highly watched stock in the market, with the number of orders continuing to increase. The sell orders on the market have further diminished, preventing many large funds with advantageous positions in the order book from absorbing a large amount of chips.

At 2:00 PM, the market experienced a brief dip.

The stock price of 'Rich Shun Special Steel' briefly touched the flat position during the session's low point, then quickly rebounded to around a 3% gain.

At 2:30 PM, as more and more limit-down orders piled up for 'LeEco,' many other similar internet-related stocks were affected and began to tumble. This caused the Growth Enterprise Market Index to plummet rapidly during the last half hour of trading, resulting in an increasingly divergent performance compared to the Shanghai Composite Index.

Finally, at 3:00 PM, the market closed.

The Shanghai Composite Index settled at 2046.96 points, a 0.42% gain, with a trading volume of 86.452 billion yuan. The Growth Enterprise Market Index, on the other hand, closed down 1.13%, forming a clear contrast with the Shanghai Composite Index.

In this scenario of divergent index performance, the performance of large-cap stocks today was evidently better than that of small and medium-cap growth stocks.

Of course, the market's core theme still revolved around the 'military industry' sector, with 'Northern Navigation' and 'Aero Engine' driving the 'North Navigation' and 'Domestic Aircraft Carrier' concepts, becoming today's leading thematic hotspots.

With such a closing situation...

Su Yue's personal stock account's net asset value grew by 3.23% to reach 491,006.56 yuan. He held 355 lots of 'Northern Navigation' with an average cost of 13.81 yuan. Additionally, his managed fund account's net asset value increased by 2.02%, returning to a scale above 10 million yuan. Simultaneously, due to the rapid growth of the account's net asset value, the trading permission limit increased to 8.04%.

Similarly, when Su Yue's personal stock account and the managed fund account both significantly increased their net asset values...

Benefiting from the relatively strong performance of the Shanghai Composite Index today and Wang Liling's effective guidance to trade around the 'military industry' theme, the account net asset values of other traders also experienced varying degrees of growth. The company's fund net asset value trend continued to outperform the market.

After the market closed, everyone saw that their account values and fund net asset values had simultaneously increased, and they had all outperformed the Shanghai Composite Index's gains for the day. They were deeply excited and their trading confidence quickly recovered. At the same time... they developed a greater sense of agreement towards Wang Liling, the newly appointed fund manager.

While comparing the profits from today's trading accounts and actively discussing the outlook for the next market move...

As the end of the workday approached, Wang Liling returned from a meeting at the fund trading department. After carefully reviewing the position data for the various sub-accounts of the fund, she singled out Su Yue and Fang Wanqing.

"Both of your trading accounts have reached the red line of the holding limit for the same stock today." Wang Liling looked at the two of them and smiled as she asked, "Tell me about the reasons for this approach? Also... why are you so confident about 'Northern Navigation'?"

Fang Wanqing knew that she needed to explain her decision to Wang Liling, given that she had chased and accumulated 'Northern Navigation' at the limit-up price, reaching the individual stock holding limit. As a fund manager, Wang Liling would definitely ask about the rationale behind this. After thinking about it, Fang Wanqing preemptively explained the logic behind her trading actions and her expectations for 'Northern Navigation.'

"Su Yue, what about you?" Wang Liling turned her gaze to her disciple.

Su Yue smiled at Wang Liling and responded, "Master, I think you've already had a good idea of what's going on. Otherwise, you wouldn't wait until now to ask us."

"But I still want to hear your trading logic and the reasons for choosing this stock." Wang Liling said.

"As Sister already mentioned, our thoughts are quite similar," Su Yue replied. "As for the reason for choosing this stock, it's mainly because, in the current market stage, under the direct stimulus of positive news related to the 'military industry' sector that the market has already heated up, 'Northern Navigation' is the stock with the strongest expectations and emotions. Market funds wouldn't miss out on speculating on it."

"But about this stock, the positive news on the surface might not necessarily be true," Wang Liling said with a smile. "If nothing unexpected happens, there should be regulatory intervention news about this stock tonight. And if the positive news turns out to be false, after the company clarifies it, do you think the logic behind the rise in this stock's price would still exist?"

Su Yue responded, "Master, you probably also know that the underlying speculative logic for the surge in this stock's price isn't really about this piece of positive news. It's more about the overall expectations in the 'military industry asset restructuring' and 'military industry asset securitization' policy directions, the breakthrough in key technologies like 'North Navigation,' and the future expectations for the commercial market... these are the fundamental logics supporting the stock's surge. The positive news is just the trigger."

"This trigger ignited emotions and instantly propelled this stock to the forefront of the market trend."

"If we analyze solely based on emotions and ignore the underlying expectations, it would be like 'seeing a leaf and missing the mountain.'"

With the support of these underlying logics...

Even if this piece of positive news turns out to be false, there's still a high probability that the stock price will continue to break through.

Because apart from the impact of the positive news, the future expectations for this stock are still on an upward trajectory. Combine that with the fact that this stock has been dormant for a long time during its bottoming process, and its internal chip structure is quite clean. When future expectations continue to grow while the stock price and the reaction to those expectations show a significant disparity, the smart institutional funds in the market won't miss the chance to exploit this opportunity and bridge the gap between the stock price and the expectations.

After listening to Su Yue's analysis, Wang Liling's smile gradually widened, and she felt a sense of satisfaction. She knew her disciple had gained a deep understanding of the core market dynamics. She praised, "You analyzed it very well. It seems you're fully qualified to be a trader at the company. However, your trading approach is a bit too aggressive. You go all in so easily... you're not leaving much room for error!"

"Master, you've mentioned before..." Su Yue smiled and replied, "Trading rules aren't set in stone. Different opportunities match different trading strategies. Considering the current situation of our fund, we don't have the luxury of time to selectively invest in long-term opportunities that might take six months, a year, or even two to three years to materialize. We can only follow the core market trends for trend trading or speculation. And I believe this is also why you chose the strategy for us to focus on the 'military industry' theme."

Wang Liling heard Su Yue's words and was slightly taken aback. She felt as if he had precisely analyzed and guessed her inner thoughts and intentions. After a moment's pause, she smiled and replied, "When did I say that? But you both understand the risks of this kind of trading approach, and that's good."

The saying 'You don't need a sledgehammer to crack a nut' applied here. Wang Liling valued both Su Yue and Fang Wanqing as traders.

After this understanding, she knew that the two of them weren't trading whimsically but rather strictly adhering to well-thought-out trading logic. There was no need to emphasize further.

"Alright, you two can leave now." After a brief pause, Wang Liling continued, "I will further analyze what you both mentioned about the stock 'Northern Navigation' and the sustainability of the market trends related to the concepts of 'North Navigation,' and 'Domestic Aircraft Carrier.'"

"Okay!" Su Yue and Fang Wanqing replied in unison.

Subsequently, the two of them left Wang Liling's office. They returned to the trading room, closed their computers, tidied up quickly, and left together.

"Younger brother, you haven't been with Sister Liling for a long time since joining the company, right?"

As they walked out of the company, the two of them stood together in the corridor waiting for the elevator. Thinking about the situation just now, Fang Wanqing couldn't help but scrutinize Su Yue and said, "How did you grasp market analysis and trading skills so deeply? To be honest... based on your trading style, market analysis logic, and individual stock research ability, you don't seem like a rookie trader who just entered the market. Not just me, but from my observation, in some aspects, you seem even more capable than Team Leader Lu."

"Your words are quite overwhelming, Sister," Su Yue replied. "If Team Leader Lu were to hear this, life might not be easy for both of us in the company in the future."

Fang Wanqing chuckled and said, "Aren't you backed by your Master? Are you afraid of Team Leader Lu?"

"My Master prioritizes the company's interests and work. She won't interfere with me," Su Yue said. "Moreover, I'm a newcomer in our trading room. At this point, if my Master intervenes to help me and takes care of me everywhere, it might lead to gossip and even resentment among others. They might isolate me, which isn't what I want."

"You really have a subtle way of thinking," Fang Wanqing said as the elevator arrived. She smiled and walked into the elevator. Looking at Su Yue who followed, she continued, "With you as her disciple, always considering Sister Liling's interests, she's really lucky."

Thoughts from the past flashed through Su Yue's mind, and he responded, "Gratitude is the sign of noble souls. I couldn't have stayed in the company without Master's help. Even whether I could stay in Shanghai was uncertain."

In a way, Wang Liling played a crucial role in changing his life trajectory and shaping his personal survival skills. Now he had the ability to make some changes and repay some of the assistance Wang Liling had provided him. He believed it was his responsibility to do so.

While Su Yue was lost in thought...

As the elevator they were in was descending to the 7th floor, it suddenly malfunctioned. The button panel flashed urgently, and the elevator cabin instantly lost weight and plummeted.

Su Yue felt a strong sense of weightlessness, and his heart raced. But he quickly regained his composure.

Before he could react, the out-of-control elevator plummeted another two floors and then came to a stop on the 5th floor. The flashing button panel returned to normal.

At that moment, Su Yue finally had a chance to turn his head and look at Fang Wanqing.

In just under a second, he saw that Fang Wanqing's face had turned pale.

Before the elevator fully stopped, Su Yue steadied himself, quickly took a step forward, lit up all the buttons for the floors below the 5th floor, and simultaneously pressed the emergency button.

After doing all of this, the elevator door opened.

However, the position where the elevator cabin had stopped was clearly a few centimeters off from the 5th-floor corridor's position.

"We... should get out!" Seeing the elevator door open, Fang Wanqing looked outside, gritted her teeth, and tried to calm herself. "Staying here could be even more dangerous."

Finishing her sentence, without waiting for Su Yue's response, Fang Wanqing moved her body out of the elevator, her hands covered in sweat.

"Don't move!" Su Yue saw that the elevator's stopped position didn't match the corridor's position, realizing the elevator malfunction hadn't been fixed and another accident might happen any moment. He quickly held Fang Wanqing back.

Fang Wanqing was momentarily stunned, and before she could react, the elevator plummeted downward again.

Seeing that there was just a gap of less than three inches between her body and the plummeting cabin door, she went limp and collapsed into Su Yue's arms.

(End of this chapter)