Chapter 9: Steady
After confirming the details, the HSBC Investment Department placed a short sell order for 600,000 HKD worth of Bluewater Commercial shares. It wasn't long before this order was absorbed by other institutions, which reassured Xia Yu.
A short sell order is essentially a sell-first-buy-later transaction, similar to a credit sale in business. Such orders are mostly taken up by institutions. The institution that took this 600,000 HKD short sell order was likely to incur losses. For those institutions, this amount was relatively small, and a loss wouldn't draw much attention to Xia Yu.
Moreover, since it was HSBC's investment department that handled the order, Xia Yu had no reason to worry about being exposed over such a small amount.
After setting up the short sell order, Xia Yu bought a notebook and pen, found a spot, and began analyzing to familiarize himself with the current Hong Kong stock market.
Meanwhile, at another position in the Kowloon Stock Exchange, an employee monitoring Bluewater Commercial's news showed an expression of shock. He quickly stood up and walked towards the manager's office.
"Boss, besides us, someone else has placed a short sell order for Bluewater Commercial. A 600,000 HKD order has already been filled," the staff member whispered to the manager.
The manager frowned, his gaze sharpening as he muttered, "Could it be that the news has leaked?"
Thinking quickly, the manager asked, "Have we completed our target?"
"Boss, we're still 2 million HKD short of the target. The remaining short sell orders have been taken up, and we expect to complete the plan by this afternoon," the employee replied, having kept track of every order.
"Don't wait until the afternoon. Get all the orders placed this morning to prevent others from grabbing the profits!" the manager ordered with a wave of his hand.
"Got it, boss. I'll get on it right away!" The employee nodded and went back to his position to place the short sell orders.
The manager, not idle, went to the office to make a call: "Zhang Sheng, there might be a problem with our plan; the news might have leaked. Other institutions have noticed... So to avoid complications, I need your side's news released by noon today, not tomorrow... Thanks, Zhang Sheng."
After the call, the manager felt a bit relieved and monitored the progress of the employee's orders.
During this time, the manager also inquired further and found out that the short sell orders were from HSBC.
The manager was startled to learn that it was HSBC. If HSBC got involved, they would definitely be a significant competitor, and they had the capability to compete. In Hong Kong, HSBC was a giant, and even its securities investment department was more formidable than many large securities firms. The manager had no doubt that HSBC had access to accurate information.
Realizing this, the manager urged his team to expedite the placement of orders.
Once the 2 million HKD short sell orders were filled and the morning approached its end, with the market officially closing for a break, the manager finally relaxed and smiled.
"It seems that someone from HSBC was suspicious and placed a 600,000 HKD short sell order as a trial. This is better than expected. Fortunately, our target has been completed ahead of time."
Of course, Xia Yu had no idea that his 600,000 HKD short sell order had caused such a stir with a securities company's department manager. Even if he knew, he would just smile it off, as it was HSBC's reputation, not his.
The morning passed quickly.
Despite the short sell orders, Bluewater Commercial's stock price had risen slightly, causing Xia Yu some floating losses. However, he paid little attention to it, knowing he was still far from a margin call.
Moreover, Xia Yu could see this as a sign of upcoming action.
As expected, during the midday market break, TVB's news featured a report about Jiu Sheng Commercial, which aligned perfectly with Xia Yu's analysis.
Seeing the news, Xia Yu's lips curled into a slight smile.
Steady!
As anticipated, shortly after the market reopened in the afternoon, Jiu Sheng Commercial's stock price soared like a rocket.
Simultaneously, other companies in the same industry suffered. The industry was relatively small with only a few listed companies, and Jiu Sheng Commercial was the leader.
With the leader announcing favorable news, the market was expected to seize more opportunities, which translated to bad news for the other companies in the industry.
Indeed, the stock prices of the other companies began to fall.
Among these companies, Bluewater Commercial, with its weaker position and simpler profit model, had the poorest risk tolerance. Much of the damage from Jiu Sheng Commercial's positive news fell on Bluewater Commercial.
Coupled with institutional short selling, Bluewater Commercial's stock price plummeted dramatically.
As Bluewater Commercial's stock price crashed, the institutions holding short sell orders responded, but given the overall trend, the risk was too great, and they chose to give up rather than struggle futilely.
When Bluewater Commercial's stock price began its freefall, Xia Yu sat back and waited, ready to collect his profits.
The trend was set; Bluewater Commercial was destined to be trampled by Jiu Sheng Commercial, with no chance of recovery!
Although Xia Yu was confident about making a profit, he didn't waste time. He continued to analyze the stock market's situation and look for opportunities.
Over the next three days, while the market remained open, Bluewater Commercial's stock price continued to decline, with negative news about the company appearing daily in minor newspapers. Despite being in smaller papers, these reports still impacted Bluewater Commercial's stock price.
Xia Yu knew without guessing that these news pieces were likely released by institutions shorting Bluewater Commercial, aiming to maximize their profits by draining as much from Bluewater Commercial as possible.
As for whether Bluewater Commercial would go bankrupt, it was none of their concern!
Their sole focus was: Making money! Making money! Making money!!!
Xia Yu had nothing to do but ride the coattails of other institutions, letting them work hard while he reaped the rewards.
This is the power of capability—someone skilled in stock trading can still profit as a retail investor, avoiding risks and withdrawing funds in time.
Unskilled traders rely only on luck, fate, and the whims of market makers, never knowing when they'll incur significant losses.
Over these three days, Xia Yu spent his days at the Kowloon Stock Exchange analyzing stocks and recording useful information, filling an entire notebook.
In the evenings, he transcribed novels at home, copying 60,000 words over three days, adding to the previous 420,000 words, totaling 480,000 words—making significant progress toward completion!
Of course, the number of words copied wasn't the main point; the key was that after three days, Xia Yu had made a significant profit!
The total funds had increased to…