Chapter 236: No matter if it goes up or down, you lose money

'Consultant Zhou, it's bad! There's a rumour going around the stock exchange that the stock market is about to crash!'

Li Hong, the general manager of An Guo Securities Company, rushed into the company's meeting room, yelling as he ran, while at this time Zhou Ming was sitting here looking over the company's recent performance. Although Zhou Ming is not any leader of An Guo Securities Company, nor is he even an official of the competent government department, at this moment in time, no one would find it strange that he would want to check the company's performance.

Hearing Li Hong's voice, Zhou Ming looked up, 'Manager Li, please speak more clearly, what kind of gossip is being spread on the stock exchange?'

Li Hong was anxious, but he still explained to Zhou Ming in detail: 'It's like this. Just now, a stockholder who transferred his account to our securities company called and said that many people at the stock exchange were spreading the news that the stock market was going to crash, so he called to ask us for confirmation. I know this person, Zhou Guanyu. He is an honest farmer in Nanhu District, and his words are completely trustworthy.'

Zhou Ming nodded silently and then asked, 'So what did you tell him?'

'I told him that it was a complete fabrication, and that someone must be spreading rumours. However, it cannot be ruled out that it might be some opportunists or hostile foreign forces deliberately spreading rumours to create panic in the market, in order to prepare the ground for guiding the stock market downwards and profiting from it,' Li Hong replied.

Zhou Ming nodded, saying that this was a good response. Li Hong then said, "Consultant Zhou, what do you think this is all about?'

'I said, Mr Li, haven't you already told that stock investor? Why are you asking me now?" Zhou Ming laughed.

This took Li Hong by surprise: 'Consultant Zhou, are you saying that someone deliberately released this news to prepare for an attack on Nanjiang? But right now, there are still many imperfections in our stock market, and it is not truly open to the outside world. It is difficult for foreign capital to enter, and they may not be willing to enter this immature and closed market. Could it be that Jiang Chunhua is behind this?'

Zhou Ming shook his head, however: 'I'm afraid Jiang Chunhua alone can't achieve such an effect. It's fine to find a few people to spread rumours, but what happens after that? Our Nanjiang stock market now has tens of millions of yuan in transactions every day, and the market value has exceeded 100 million yuan. To move such a stock market, he would need to come up with tens of millions of yuan at least. However, such a huge sum of money is beyond what the family can do.'

'Then who can do it?' Li Hong asked.

Zhou Ming pointed his finger up: 'Of course, only those people above Jiang Chunhua. Those guys have to mobilise funds to give the Nanjiang stock market a head start in order to stop the development of the Nanjiang Stock Exchange.'

Li Hong let out a gasp. He could understand who those people were, so his tone was a little frustrated: 'If it's those people, it's going to be trouble. They are the political group that will control the central government in the future. They control at least 10-20% of the wealth in the country now! More importantly, they have the political say. Once they find a loophole, it will be hard for our Nanjiang stock market!'

Compared to Li Hong's panic, Zhou Ming was very calm: 'It seems that way, but there's nothing to worry about. Yang Lao is still here, and even if he retires in the future, he will still have a very strong influence. And they haven't really entered the central government yet, so they can't be too blatant. As for the funds they can mobilize, I also have ways to deal with them.'

'According to what you said, once there is a problem in the stock market in Nanjiang, the city government will come to the rescue, right?' Li Hong asked.

'Not really. Although our city is a special zone that enjoys national support, it is still impossible for the city to come up with tens of millions of yuan to save the market.' Zhou Ming's answer made Li Hong's heart, which had finally let go, rise again. However, Zhou Ming did not explain too much to him, but just told him again, 'Okay, Li Zong, come with me tomorrow to meet with some guests from Hong Kong. As for the stock exchange, let Li Yang go and check the situation.'

...

Li Yang arrived at the stock exchange a few minutes later. Lao Yang was still waiting at the phone booth. Li Yang saw him at a glance and immediately trotted over to say hello. 'Hello, comrade. You are Lao Yang, right? You just reported to the company that someone is spreading rumours about the stock market crash here at the stock exchange. The company sent me to check it out. I am the lobby manager of An Guo Securities Company. My name is Li Yang.'

'Hello, Manager Li,'

Lao Yang greeted Li Yang, but he was a little puzzled by Li Yang's youthfulness. Li Yang saw Lao Yang's concerns and immediately explained to him, 'I came from the Renmin University of China in Beijing, and I majored in securities and economics.'

'So you're a talented student from the capital. How do you do. I'm really sorry,'

Lao Yang said apologetically. He meant it from the bottom of his heart, because for an honest farmer like him, the capital is the holiest place, and Li Yang is a university student in the capital, which in the past was the top student! How could he not feel ashamed when he doubted his youth?

'It's okay, but let's first take a look at the situation here. I think our general manager Li has also told you that this is most likely an attempt by hostile foreign forces to undermine our fledgling stock market,' Li Yang said to Lao Yang.

Upon hearing Li Yang's words, Lao Yang also immediately took them seriously. He immediately brought Li Yang to the front of the securities company. Lao Yang pointed out to Li Yang, 'Manager Li, you see, over there is the owner of the newsstand, as well as the older Kong Yiji, and those young hooligans. It was them who spread the rumours that the stock market was going to collapse. I saw them here spreading the rumours as soon as they arrived in the morning.'

Following the direction of Yang's finger, Li Yang looked over and saw the people he was talking about still there spreading rumours. Li Yang and Yang just quietly watched as they did this, until almost noon when one by one these people left the stock exchange and all came to an alley nearby. Li Yang and Yang followed them and saw a Santana parked there. These people were all here to collect their money.

'This damned Kong Yiji, he actually colluded with hostile foreign forces, he's nothing but a son of a bitch!'

Lao Yang said angrily, and he was about to go over and teach Kong Yiji a lesson, but Li Yang pulled him back: 'Lao Yang, what are you doing? I know you're angry with your fellow villager, but if you go out there, we'll blow our cover and spook the snake.'

Lao Yang was stunned at first, and then reluctantly sighed and said, 'This Kong Yiji is really a fool. I used to think that he was a bragger who just liked to go about things in crooked ways, always thinking of taking small advantages when things happened. But he wasn't a bad person at heart. I never thought that he would actually collude with these hostile forces. After all, he was sent down from the city, and he was an educated person. Could it be that he couldn't even tell the difference between right and wrong? What a beast!'

Li Yang patted Lao Yang on the shoulder and comforted him, saying, 'The people over there are just trying to spread rumours and mess with our stock market. It doesn't make much difference whether they are there or not.'

'But it seems that they have definitely put in a lot of effort. And now that they are spreading rumours, it is likely that their actions have already begun. We are completely unprepared, and I'm afraid that there will be a round of stock market falls in the next few days. Coupled with the impact of the rumours, I'm afraid the fall will be significant. Lao Yang, you'd better sell the stocks you have these days to avoid suffering losses,' Li Yang said to him.

'Thank you, Manager Li, but if they do this, won't the country care?' Lao Yang asked, surprised.

'Of course it will care. They can't make any waves. Don't you see that they are jumping for joy now? That's because we weren't prepared. Once we are ready, the stock market will not only stabilise, but there will also be a new bull market. They will pay for their actions!' Li Yang said confidently.

Yang also became confident: 'Then I'll trust the country. Since the stock market will rise again, I'll just keep my money in it.'

'Yang, it's better if you sell first and take the money out, because whether the stock market goes up first and then down, or down first and then up, you'll still lose money, not to mention that it may still plummet in the future,' Li Yang said. 'So you'd better take it out before it falls, and buy it back in when it goes up again, so you can make sure you make the most money.'

'But the money to save the market has all been invested by the state, so how can I make money off the state? No, no, I'd rather follow the state and rise and fall together,' Lao Yang said.

Li Yang felt that Lao Yang was really honest, so honest that it was simply unbearable to lie to him and let him suffer losses. His honesty even made people feel that they were in the wrong.

So Li Yang had to say to him, 'Comrade Lao Yang, in fact, you don't need to do this. The money you make is not the country's money, because you forgot what I just said? Whether the stock market goes up first and then down or down first and then up, the result is that investors lose money. The same applies to hostile elements that try to mess with the market. So it's them that lose money, and you make money at their expense.'

'Really? But why do you lose money no matter if the stock market goes up and then down, or down and then up?' Lao Yang is a little confused.

'It's very simple. When the stock market goes up and then down, it goes down from the higher price, and when it goes down and then up, it goes up from the lower price. So it's impossible to go back to the original price.'

Li Yang saw that Lao Yang still didn't understand, so he gave an example: 'Let's say the stock market rises from 100 points to 105 points today, which is a 5% rise. Then if it falls 5% again, it will only be 99.7 points, which is a loss of 3‰. The same applies in reverse: if the stock market first falls 5%, which is 95 points, and then rises 5%, it will still only be 99.7 points, which is still a loss of 3‰. And this is still an example using 100. What if it's 11 million? The loss would be much greater, wouldn't it?'

Lao Yang suddenly realised: 'So there are such subtleties in it. You educated people are still clever. If it goes up or down, as long as it's the same increase or decrease, you will still lose money.'

'This is all just petty cleverness. Only your character is truly rare and wise!' Li Yang praised him, saying, "So Lao Yang, you'd better listen to me and pay the money first. We'll let you know when you can buy it.'

'Okay, I believe in the country," Lao Yang said.