Studwell stood up in shock, turned around and walked to an empty telephone, quickly dialing a number.
He hoped a large sell order would appear to suppress the abnormal rise in stock price, but when this 7,000-lot sell order appeared, Studwell felt his heart almost stop for a moment!
Aside from the Lin Family and Jardine, no one else could place a sell order for 7,000 lots. Each lot contains 400 shares, so 7,000 lots would amount to 2.8 million shares, equivalent to nearly 3% of Xizhen Properties's shares! At the current share price of HK$1.85, these 7,000 lots are worth Hong Kong dollars 5.2 million. No other shareholder besides the Lin Family and Jardine could possibly place such a large sell order! And if the Lin Family intended to sell their shares, they couldn't be unaware. Could it be Jardine? Planning to sell a small portion first to test the waters? Or perhaps the share buyback agreement between Jardine and the Lin Family failed and completely collapsed?
"Mr. Lin, there was just a sell order for 2.8 million shares on the exchange. How are things going with the Lin Family's talks with Jardine about the share buyback?" Studwell took a deep breath to make his voice sound calm as he spoke to Lin Xiaoze on the other end of the phone.
Lin Xiaoze seemed startled by the number 2.8 million shares on the other end of the phone, pausing for a while before speaking, "Today, Asen, Ahe, and I are preparing to have lunch with Joseph Keswick, the tycoon of Jardine Matheson. Jardine Matheson cannot put its shares on the stock market without formal contact. What's the current situation at the exchange?"
Studwell recounted to Lin Xiaoze on the phone the large number of buy orders for Xizhen Properties shares that appeared on the exchange that morning. "In any case, the rising stock price is beneficial to the Lin Family. At the very least, it will make it more difficult for Song Tianyao to launch a hostile takeover. If he wants to acquire shares, he will need to pay more and more cash."
"It's probably other shareholders who hold shares in Xizhen Properties who saw an opportunity to make a profit and are therefore eager to sell. It's not Jardine or the Lin Family," Lin Xiaoze said after listening.
"Okay, I hope so. As long as it's not Jardine, there shouldn't be a problem," Studwell said into the phone. "I'll investigate. It might be another shareholder holding more than five percent of the shares."
Before the call was even disconnected, Tang Boqi was already standing in front of him. Studwell put the receiver down, frowned, glanced at the entrance of the trading hall, and then looked at Tang Boqi, who was looking at him.
"You... you're Mr. Tang? How did you get into the stock exchange?"
Tang Boqi pulled a name tag hanging around his neck from his shirt. "I bought a seat a long time ago. Here's the thing, I suspect that the 7,000 sell orders just now were released by Song Tianyao."
"Mr. Tang, I don't know what you're talking about. I remember you were the one who first warned Mr. Lin and me that Song Tianyao was planning a hostile takeover of Xizhen Properties. And now you're telling me that he dumped 7,000 shares as soon as the stock price started to rise. Has he gone mad?" Studwell straightened his back and said arrogantly to Tang Boqi in front of him.
Tang Boqi pointed to the blackboard.
Studwell turned his head to look at the blackboard and immediately froze.
The order was erased when he dialed the number, leaving a blank space where a new buy order had appeared!
"When you made the call, those 7,000 sell orders were quickly absorbed, followed by even more buy orders. I suspect it was Song Tianyao who did it," Tang Boqi said to Studwell. "But I don't know why he did it."
Studwell turned his gaze from the blackboard to Tang Boqi in front of him, pondered for a moment, and then changed his tone. "What you said makes some sense. I still suspect he's shorting the stock. That large sell order might have been placed by him, and the subsequent buy orders that immediately appeared were also placed by him. His aim was to drive up the stock price, and once the price was high enough, he would sell all his shares and cash out."
Tang Boqi came to the exchange to keep an eye on things as soon as it opened in the morning. Unlike Studwell seemed to have expected the series of buy orders, Tang Boqi found it very strange. Someone like Song Tianyao, who had his eye on Xizhen Properties, couldn't have been unaware of this situation. Song Tianyao would probably release some negative news when the buy orders increased and the stock price rose too quickly, to suppress the stock price and then continue to buy at a low price. So Tang Boqi had been waiting for some news at the exchange, but instead of news, he saw a large sell order appear. Almost in the blink of an eye, this 7,000-lot sell order was like a piece of fat being torn into pieces and devoured by buy orders of varying sizes like piranhas. After these piranhas were full, they disappeared, but more piranhas smelled the blood and began to swim around, looking for prey.
The stock price didn't stagnate at all because of this large sell order; in fact, it rose even faster than before!
If the large sell orders and these buy orders are manipulated by the same person behind the scenes, then that person is definitely a master of securities. This kind of stock market manipulation, which is both overt and covert but does not violate exchange regulations and leaves no room for criticism, is truly brilliant. If Studwell hadn't been in the exchange hall, Tang Boqi would have been prepared to believe that it was the Lin Family who played this trick, raising the stock price themselves to make Song Tianyao's acquisition more difficult.
"Let the Lin Family find a way to raise the cash," Tang Boqi suddenly said to Studwell after a moment of silence.
Studwell frowned. "You mean buying back Jardine's shares?"
"If Song Tianyao is manipulating the stock price, and if he really just wants to short it, then it's impossible for it to fall back in the short term. It will be extremely difficult for the Lin Family to acquire the shares held by Jardine Matheson. Think about it, once the stock price reaches five or ten yuan, even if Song Tianyao makes his money and leaves, and the stock price falls again, it will be impossible for the Lin Family to buy back the shares from Jardine Matheson at a lower price. Moreover, we don't know how long this surge in stock price will last, but based on Song Tianyao's appetite and my understanding of him, trying to satisfy him with three or five times the profit and get him to leave is like a pipe dream. Therefore, the Lin Family should consider buying back the shares as soon as possible. The longer it drags on, the more willing Jardine will be to wait for a higher price."
As Tang Boqi spoke, a sudden thought flashed through his mind, and he felt he had grasped something. He blurted out, "Is the Lin Family planning to mortgage their land and property to borrow money from banks and then repurchase the shares through stock swaps or bonds?"