Chapter 148: Stock Market Bubble

At nine in the morning, an Audi drove into the courtyard of the Nanjing City Government. After parking, Zhou Ming got out of the car and went straight into the city government building, heading directly to Mayor Chen Yunfei's office.

Upon seeing Zhou Ming enter, Chen Yunfei quickly waved him over, "Zhou Ming, you're here. Come over here. The Nanjing Securities Daily reports that there's an underground black market for stocks in Nanjing, and that the stocks traded on the black market have a higher market value than those on the securities market. Is this true?"

Zhou Ming was accustomed to this kind of situation. Since the stock frenzy in Nanjing had erupted, he had been coming here almost every day to consult with Mayor Chen on stock market issues. Even though there was now a securities newspaper, Chen Yunfei still preferred to hear Zhou Ming's opinions, making it impossible for him not to diligently fulfill his role as a development consultant.

Zhou Ming nodded, "Yes, Mayor Chen. However, I believe that black markets are unavoidable. After all, many transactions cannot be conducted openly. Additionally, our securities market is still underdeveloped, and people's understanding of stocks is insufficient. Many only know that stocks can make money but don't understand why stocks make money or the mechanism behind them. This lack of understanding makes it easy for illegal activities to exploit the situation."

Zhou Ming sighed as he spoke, "Many people exploit the fact that others don't understand stocks. They sell stocks at prices higher than those on the securities market, and some even sell fake stocks. This creates a black market."

"The black market is not protected by law and will lead to many illegal activities. It must not be tolerated," Chen Yunfei said sternly. "Zhou Ming, do you have any good solutions for this black market?"

Zhou Ming shrugged, "Mayor Chen, this is no longer my issue. It's up to you to instruct the relevant city government departments to increase their crackdown efforts and enhance public education and awareness about securities."

Zhou Ming thought for a moment and suggested, "Mayor Chen, you could use city government funds to print a lot of securities knowledge newspapers and flyers, then distribute them on the streets."

Chen Yunfei glared at Zhou Ming and said irritably, "You really are a capitalist. You never forget to make money, even trying to get the government to fund public service activities?"

Zhou Ming chuckled. Chen Yunfei was scolding him because the Nanjing Securities Daily was run by Zhou Ming himself.

The Nanjing Securities Daily was something Zhou Ming had come up with on a whim. After all, although Zhou Ming was a reborn person, he was not a deity and could not anticipate everything. When he thought of the booming Nanjing stock market, he had forgotten about the need for a securities media. It was only when he saw so many stock investors crowding the securities company early every morning to check market trends that he suddenly remembered the need for a securities newspaper.

So, Zhou Ming discussed with Du Peng to set up a securities newspaper. Although it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, Zhou Ming was committed to doing it well. The newspaper's layout and management were shared with the Nanjing Daily, and the reporters were hired with Lin Muqing's help from the financial media in Hong Kong.

Of course, it would have been easier to find reporters through Shen Xin, but Zhou Ming couldn't figure out how to handle a female reporter he had had a complicated past with, so he had Lin Muqing handle it instead.

Thus, riding the wave of the stock frenzy, the Nanjing Securities Daily, as the only professional securities newspaper, quickly established its brand. It could be said that among the hundreds of thousands of stock investors in Nanjing, no one was unaware of the Nanjing Securities Daily.

"Zhou Ming, you've made quite a bit of money from the stock market and the securities newspaper. You should stop thinking about more money!" Chen Yunfei said.

"Mayor Chen, you can't say that! All my money is earned through hard work and legality, not stolen or robbed. You can't exploit people like this!" Zhou Ming protested.

But Chen Yunfei was not concerned and wore a "I don't care, do what you want" expression. Zhou Ming had no choice but to say, "Mayor Chen, how about this? The securities company has also earned a lot from trading commissions and account opening fees. As the only legal securities trading institution in Nanjing, it has an obligation to promote securities knowledge to investors."

Chen Yunfei waved his hand dismissively, "Do whatever you want, as long as you don't make me spend money."

Well! The city government's affairs, and this mayor doesn't want to spend money. Zhou Ming felt helpless.

Chen Yunfei thought of something else and asked Zhou Ming, "By the way, I saw a comment in the newspaper saying that the growth of every stock in the securities company is too rapid and not a normal phenomenon. What does this mean?"

"It's a typical bubble economy," Zhou Ming explained. "In simple terms, the stocks traded on the securities market are not actually worth as much as their current prices. The current trading system, combined with the fact that our securities market is still in its infancy, leads many people to buy stocks blindly without understanding them, causing stock prices to be driven up too high."

As the mayor of a special economic zone, Chen Yunfei was certainly not ignorant of economics. After hearing Zhou Ming's explanation, he immediately frowned, "If that's the case, it's not good news. Once this bubble bursts, it could easily cause panic."

"Mayor Chen, you don't need to worry about that. I already have a solution," Zhou Ming said.

"You have a solution?"

Chen Yunfei's eyes widened in disbelief. Even Western countries with mature market economies struggle with bubble economies. How could Zhou Ming have a solution? But Zhou Ming seemed genuinely confident.

Chen Yunfei didn't understand where Zhou Ming's confidence came from, and Zhou Ming didn't explain much. After a few more questions, Chen Yunfei's office visit ended, and Zhou Ming left.

After leaving the city government, Zhou Ming drove to the immigration office to pick up Tang Ran for lunch.

Zhou Ming and Tang Ran arrived at the Dongmen Hotel, where Du Peng had already reserved a private room. As they entered the room, Tang Ran threw a copy of the Nanjing Securities Daily onto Du Peng's table and complained, "Du Shao, this newspaper you're running is getting worse and worse. It used to have some content, but now look at it—there's nothing useful at all."

Facing Tang Ran's criticism, Du Peng immediately protested, "Sister Ran, you're being unreasonable! Our Nanjing securities market is still in its early stages. There aren't many real shareholding companies, so where would there be much news to report? I've already included a lot about the black market in the newspaper."

Du Peng paused and continued, "Besides, Zhou Ming is just the behind-the-scenes big boss. He doesn't want to be exposed, so there won't be many news articles about him!"

Tang Ran wrinkled her nose, "I don't care. Anyway, Du Shao, you're not doing your job properly!"

The Nanjing Securities Daily was set up by Zhou Ming and Du Peng, similar to the Jinpeng Industrial Co., Ltd. format, where Du Peng was the legal person of the newspaper, and Zhou Ming was the hidden shareholder.

"Du Shao, you should listen to Ran Ran. After all, she's evaluating it from a reader's perspective," Zhou Ming said to Du Peng. "Our newspaper needs to be sustainable. Right now, our paper sells well because we're the only ones in the market. We must not become complacent, as competition will come eventually. We need to keep improving and become the leading newspaper in securities."

Du Peng nodded, "Don't worry, Zhou Ming, I'm aware. But right now, the Nanjing securities market really doesn't have much going on, so there isn't much to write about."

Du Peng admired Zhou Ming for coming up with the idea of the securities newspaper, and what impressed him most was Zhou Ming's pricing strategy of one yuan per copy. Du Peng thought it was absurd, but the result was surprising: the newspapers were snatched up as soon as they were delivered to the stands, with demand far exceeding supply.

"However, Zhou Ming, since our securities newspaper's sales are so good, should we increase the print volume?" Du Peng asked.

Zhou Ming shook his head, "No need. We sell expertise, not volume. We're building a brand, and we want readers to feel that spending one yuan on our newspaper is worthwhile. Even if competition arises, it won't affect our position in Nanjing's securities newspaper market."

"Alright, we're making a good profit every day, so it's fine," Du Peng said, then added, "By the way, Zhou Ming, this morning, a reporter from Hong Kong told me that our stock market is all a bubble and is about to collapse?"

"Yes, I discussed this issue with Mayor Chen this morning," Zhou Ming said. "The current stock prices are excessively high, far beyond the true value of the stocks. Most stock investors are new and don't understand stocks, so the prices keep rising. If there's even a small disturbance, the stock market will collapse."

Over the past month, Du Peng had learned a lot about securities from Zhou Ming and was now anxious, "What should we do? We need to withdraw our funds quickly."

Zhou Ming shook his head, "We

 can't do that. This stock frenzy was originally driven by us. We currently have nearly ten million in the market, which is a crucial part of sustaining the bubble. If we withdraw it, the whole market will collapse immediately. If investors who lose money cause trouble, you and I will certainly be held accountable."

"So what should we do?" Du Peng asked.

"Find a fool who can put up ten million to help us fill the gap," Zhou Ming said.

This answer left Du Peng stunned. He had anticipated various solutions from Zhou Ming but never expected such an answer.

Find someone to put up ten million? What kind of fool would do that?

Just as Du Peng was about to speak, his pager went off. Zhou Ming heard the sound and said, "If I'm not mistaken, the fool is coming now."