Chapter 4 Stop-loss Selling

Jack didn't expect that Henry would have such great ability. Just by relying on the business card that Henry gave him, he effortlessly obtained a driver's license.

He didn't go to a driving school to study, nor did he take the subject exams. He didn't even pay the tuition fees. Jack just waited in the office of that deputy director of the vehicle management office for a little over an hour and then got his driver's license.

After leaving the vehicle management office, Jack looked at the not-too-congested street and thought that it was after 2000, especially after 2005 when the vehicle purchase tax was lowered, that a large number of private cars would flood the streets.

If you want to drive on the road, you have to get a driver's license, and to get a driver's license, you have to go to a driving school.

Should he open a driving school?

When chatting with that deputy director of the vehicle management office, Jack learned that there were several driving schools affiliated with the vehicle management office, but they were all of small scale. Starting a driving school at this time should be a good idea.

Most importantly, from what that deputy director of the vehicle management office meant, he also had the idea of opening a driving school. Jack thought that with the support of the deputy director, it wouldn't be difficult to start a driving school itself, but the funds were a big problem.

If he could solve the funding problem, he probably wouldn't have to worry about the remaining matters.

Money. He urgently needed a sum of money now.

When Jack returned to the bank, it was just lunchtime. He invited Tom to have lunch together, and then the two of them went to the stock exchange together.

G&S Commercial Bank strictly prohibited its employees from stock trading because it was worried that employees might embezzle funds. But almost every employee had a stock account because when the stock exchange was first established, in order to expand its influence, all financial practitioners were uniformly required to open accounts on the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ Stock Exchange.

Although they had accounts, it didn't mean that everyone would come to trade stocks. Moreover, the bank would send people to the securities business hall for inspections from time to time, so there weren't many people in the bank who traded stocks.

But Jack and Tom were exceptions. Both of them were veteran stock investors. Tom thought he had mastered a formula for calculating the rise and fall of stocks, so he often took a few die-hard stock investors from the security department and sat there calculating. The buttons of a calculator as big as a palm were pressed so much that the numbers could hardly be seen clearly.

Jack, like several other colleagues, was initially influenced by Tom to trade stocks. Later, he did make some money following Tom. As a result, the few of them became even more obsessed with stocks.

However, the trading hall today seemed a bit unusual. First of all, there were no bicycles parked so densely in front of the business hall that it was almost impossible to find a place to stand, and there were no uncles and aunts who were more punctual than going to work.

Jack glanced at Tom and thought that his moment of glory had arrived.

After walking into the trading hall, Jack saw that the screens on an entire wall were all green, like a vast prairie, and couldn't help laughing out loud.

Tom was first shocked, and then he heard Jack's laughter.

"Everything is in the red, and you can still laugh."

"Should I cry instead of laughing?"

Tom gave him a glare, then looked at the screen that was like a prairie and muttered to himself, "Damn it, those guys from NATO—"

Affected by the incident of NATO bombing the embassy, the stock markets of the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ Stock Exchange had both hit rock bottom.

Seeing that Tom was still in a daze, Jack strolled to a row of trading machines placed against the wall and then entered the account number that he would never forget. This was an account number on the New York Stock Exchange, and Jack would never forget it in his life.

After entering the account number, Jack began to enter the password. He didn't know if the password still worked, but he just pressed the buttons one by one.

After entering the six-digit password, the screen switched, and Jack's eyes lit up.

Both stocks were already trapped, having basically dropped by more than one-third. But there were still a few thousand dollars of idle funds in the account.

Without thinking, Jack looked at the one with the lowest price among the two stocks and used all the funds to buy that stock.

This was an automobile stock. At this time, the stock price was only a little over three dollars, and Jack bought nearly 2,000 shares.

After buying, Jack exited the trading interface. When he turned around, he found that there was actually a person standing next to him. Jack took a look and found that it was Henry.

"Chief Henry, why are you—" Jack didn't finish his sentence and then looked towards Tom, who was standing in the middle of the hall.

It was no secret in the sub-branch that the people in the security department traded stocks. Rather than being suspected, it was better to join your team.

Henry said it very casually, but Jack thought that if Tom knew about this, he would definitely be more confident when he talked back to Henry in the future.

"Oh— Are you going to buy or sell?"

Jack glanced at the screen in front of Henry and found that the trading interface was open.

"Sell, sell everything. When it's time to cut losses, cut losses. Don't hesitate—"

"How much have you already sold at a loss?"

"Thirty thousand dollars. I estimate that I'll have to lose another ten thousand dollars when I finish selling everything."

As soon as Jack heard this, he quickly put his hand over the screen in front of Henry. "Chief Henry, think about it again!"

"What's there to think about? I don't even know how many days I have left to live."

Jack was a bit stunned. He thought, Is this your final act of madness? By emptying the stock market?

The problem was that he still had something to ask Henry for help with, and Henry couldn't give up now!

After thinking for a while, Jack said, "Chief Henry, have you read the financial section of today's Financial Times?"

"Yes, I read it, and that's why I'm here to sell at a loss."

Jack was stunned again. He thought, I don't know how you read it to come up with the idea of selling at a loss.

However, it couldn't be blamed on Henry. Usually, the trading hall was crowded with people, but at this moment, there were only himself, Henry, and Tom, who was standing in the middle of the hall in a daze.

If it were usual, it would have been impossible for Tom to stand in that position. He could only stand on the side and stretch his neck to see the scrolling numbers on the screen.

"Chief Henry, have you ever heard the saying, 'Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful'?"

"No. Was it published in this morning's Financial Times?"

Jack smiled and said, "How could such a saying be published in such a formal newspaper? However, I also read the newspaper this morning. At the bottom of the financial section, it said that the number of stock investors in our country has reached 70 million."

Henry stared at Jack. He thought, I've read the entire financial section, and I don't think there's such a sentence!

Jack's hand was still covering the screen. "Chief Henry, think about it. 70 million stock investors. Behind these 70 million people, there's a family. Calculating three people per family, that's more than 200 million people—"

Before Jack could finish, Henry interrupted, "There are four people in my family."

"Yes, there are four people in your family, one more than some families. Let me ask you, if you sell at a loss for forty thousand dollars, will your family members be heartbroken when they find out?"

"Heartbroken? Of course they will be. I just won't tell them."

Jack smiled and said, "Not telling them is one thing, but actually losing forty thousand dollars is another. Let me ask you, if you bring home forty thousand dollars, will they be happy?"

Henry straightened up and said, "Happy? Of course they will be happy."

"That's right. Listen to me. Don't sell at a loss anymore. Use the remaining money to buy all stocks. Buy the stocks that have dropped the most. I guarantee that you will not only be able to earn back the money you've already lost but also earn a few more ten thousand dollars."

Upon hearing this, Henry was stunned. But seeing Jack's confident look, he was somewhat tempted.

"You guarantee it?"

"I guarantee it."

After saying that, Jack took his hand away, and the trading interface was revealed in front of Henry again.

Seeing that Henry was still a bit hesitant, Jack whispered, "70 million stock investors are related to more than 200 million people. And most of these more than 200 million people live in the city. At this time, think about how the country will consider this. I've heard that the Ministry of Finance intends to support the stock market."

This was something that Jack made up on his own. Many years later, these words were never confirmed. But in 1999, Jack did say this.