Chapter 144: Stock Trading Awareness

"Stock trading, stock trading!" 

Dozens of people, having just bought stocks from Zhou Ming at 21 yuan per share, chanted this new term they had learned from him and rushed out of the securities company's major clients' hall.

Seeing this scene, Tang Ran asked Zhou Ming with some uncertainty, "Brother Ming, do you think they'll help you with this?"

"Of course. As long as they want to make money, they will follow my instructions," Zhou Ming replied confidently. "As long as they make this initial move, everything will flow like a breeze."

"What does 'like eating Xuanmai' mean?" Tang Ran pouted in protest at Zhou Ming's cryptic words but soon became starry-eyed with admiration. "But Brother Ming, you're really amazing! I didn't expect you to have predicted so many people's thoughts over there. It's just like Zhuge Liang from the Three Kingdoms!"

Zhou Ming smiled. Indeed, everything today was orchestrated by him. The v0001 customer who had been buying and selling stocks was actually Zhou Ming himself. This code was inspired by the numbering system used in banks in later times, which effectively hid his identity. His continuous buying and selling of stocks was aimed at injecting funds into the market to stimulate it.

It was expected that some people would come to check things out. After all, since they didn't understand stocks, they would be curious about someone constantly buying and selling. Zhou Ming was here to wait for them.

So, whenever someone came to ask, no matter how many or who, Zhou Ming would directly tell them that the stock price would rise in the future, and that trading stocks could be profitable. Then, he would have them buy stocks from him to take back for resale, and he would buy back whatever they sold, ensuring a continuous flow of funds to drive up the stock price.

"I'm no Zhuge Liang. It's just that things that are meant to happen will eventually come to pass," Zhou Ming said, affectionately ruffling Tang Ran's head.

Tang Ran nodded vigorously, as if she would believe whatever Zhou Ming said: "But Brother Ming, now that those people have gone to the trading hall to sell stocks, what should we do? Should we buy them all back?"

Zhou Ming nodded: "Of course, we need to buy them back. Go tell the counter that no matter how many stocks are sold in the trading hall, as long as they are not above 25 yuan per share, we'll buy them all. If someone tries to raise the price, let them. On the first day, we need to establish a price baseline."

Tang Ran nodded obediently and then went with Kong Xiaolin to find the major clients manager. Zhou Ming then turned to Du Peng, who looked a bit anxious, and asked, "Why are you still worried, Du?"

"Of course, we're manipulating the market and the prices. If this were twenty years ago, we'd be executed!" Du Peng said.

Using financial advantages to continuously buy a company's stock and injecting funds to raise its price is a basic stock trading method, past, present, or future. However, in certain environments, it could be seen as speculation and even punishable by death. As a "red third generation" influenced by his family background, Du Peng was particularly sensitive to this, hence his concern.

Zhou Ming reassured Du Peng: "Don't worry. This method is quite common abroad. In fact, my first pot of gold was made using this approach. Do you see me being wanted anywhere now? Even the mature securities laws abroad can't do anything about it, so it's even more legal here."

Zhou Ming added, "Moreover, for safety reasons, we didn't use our own names for the transactions but rather Ranran's and her colleagues' names. There's no law that says I can't help my girlfriend trade stocks, is there?"

As Zhou Ming finished speaking, there was a commotion from the trading hall. Given that the major clients' hall was somewhat soundproof, it was clear that something significant was happening over there. Du Peng remarked to Zhou Ming, "Zhou Ming, you're really something. Selling a stock has caused such a commotion."

Zhou Ming smiled but remained silent, though he could easily imagine the impact of those dozens of people returning to the trading hall.

What was once considered scrap paper, now turned into a hot commodity worth tens or even hundreds of yuan per transaction, was a trivial amount to Zhou Ming but a significant sum for those who earned no more than three hundred yuan a month. This easy money made people go wild.

When Tang Ran and Kong Xiaolin returned, Zhou Ming asked about the situation. Kong Xiaolin reported, "We just received stocks worth over 50,000 yuan, priced at 23 yuan per share."

Zhou Ming scratched his head and sighed, "It seems our stock market friends are too conservative. I told them they could sell for 30 yuan, but they only sold for 23. I was afraid they wouldn't keep up the momentum. Looks like I overestimated them."

Tang Ran huffed, "Brother Ming, do you think everyone is as rich as you? They're worried that if the price is set too high, they might not be able to sell."

"I understand, but they can't be this conservative. I need them to help me push the stock price up! Looks like I need to add some fuel to the fire," Zhou Ming said, pinching Tang Ran's little nose and then instructing Kong Xiaolin, "Manager Kong, please adjust our selling price to 25 yuan per share."

Kong Xiaolin was surprised: "Are we skipping 24 yuan and going straight to 25?"

Zhou Ming confirmed, "Yes, also raise our buying price to 26 yuan per share. We'll buy all stocks priced at or below this amount."

Kong Xiaolin nodded and went to handle the adjustments. Soon, the first vice president of the securities company, Luo Han, walked in, sweating profusely, and Zhou Ming joked, "Vice President Luo, weren't you shouting at the counter? Why do you look like one of those enthusiastic investors?"

Luo Han, a bit embarrassed by Zhou Ming's jest, took a sip of water and said, "Advisor Zhou, you haven't seen the trading hall. It was so chaotic that if the counters weren't reinforced with iron bars, they might have been smashed!"

Zhou Ming laughed, "That's to be expected. But today is just the beginning. The enthusiasm of our stock market friends is beyond your imagination."

If someone else had said this to Luo Han, he might have dismissed it. But since it was Zhou Ming, he couldn't help but believe it. Everything happening in the securities company today, from getting people to sell stocks to gradually increasing stock prices, was orchestrated by Zhou Ming. This was far more convincing than anything else.

Luo Han nodded repeatedly and then added, "By the way, Advisor Zhou, I've noticed that some people have secretly gone to the other buying window to buy stocks and then resell them or even started acquiring stocks from others on the spot."

Zhou Ming responded, "Oh? It seems our stock market friends are quick to spot opportunities. They've recognized the potential for profit in stocks. Good."

Zhou Ming genuinely meant this, as he remembered that in his past life, people were initially just passively buying stocks and waiting for prices to rise, without realizing the potential for profits from buying and selling. But now, as Zhou Ming gradually raised the prices, people were quickly realizing the profit potential.

This was the result Zhou Ming wanted because only when people became aware of stock trading could the securities market develop faster.

"As long as the first batch of people discovers the value of stocks, other investors will quickly follow," Zhou Ming said.

"Is this what you call the 'herd effect'?" Kong Xiaolin, who had completed the adjustments, asked.

Zhou Ming nodded, "Exactly. In fact, the herd effect was originally described in securities markets. When a stock starts to rise, people often follow blindly, just like now. Although I didn't intend for it to be this way."

Tang Ran comforted Zhou Ming, "Brother Ming, what you're doing is right. If you didn't guide them, they'd never understand how to trade stocks!"

"It's not as exaggerated as you say, Ranran," Zhou Ming said.

"Advisor Zhou, I think she's right," Luo Han said. "You know how bleak the sales of bank stocks were before. You weren't in the trading hall, so you didn't see what happened. If you hadn't guided them to understand stocks, they would have taken a much longer path."

Luo Han's words were not alarmist. Zhou Ming was well aware that, in his previous life, domestic investors had indeed taken a long and winding path.

Finally, Zhou Ming waved his hand to indicate they should stop discussing this. He told Luo Han, "However, Vice President Luo, no matter how the investors react, we need to accelerate the construction of our computer network. You see, because we lack computers, we're still using this primitive counter paper transaction model. It's not only time-consuming and labor-intensive but also inefficient."

"With only two listed companies in our securities firm, the counters are already overwhelmed. Imagine if we had hundreds or thousands of companies in the future. How many counters would we need to handle it?" Zhou Ming said.

Luo Han nodded, "I'm pushing for it, but due to the shortage of people skilled in computers and the rushed preparation, it's been slow…"

Before

 Luo Han could finish, Zhou Ming interjected, "There's no room for negotiation. The computer network must be built. If there's no money, just get a loan from the bank. Vice President Luo, aren't you also the first vice president of the Southern Development Bank? Can't you make this decision? This loan can be repaid with trading commissions."

"Alright, I'll get it done as soon as possible," Luo Han said.