Thursday, January 7th.
GME closed at 38.60 cents the day before, and pre-market trading has pushed it to over 42 yuan.
When Zhao Chen arrived at the office, in front of Lin Shicheng, in addition to regular data, there were also three monitoring panels for Short Sellers's positions open on Bloomberg Terminal -
Real-time position changes of Melvin Capital, Point72 and Citadel.
Shen Zhiyi has been sitting at the Legal Department's workstation for a while, with the updated version of the exposure monitoring report spread out in front of him and a cup of cold coffee beside him.
"Trading Volume exceeded 20 million shares before the market opened."
Lin Shicheng transfers data to Zhao Chen,
"The number of people online at WallStreetBets Forum has exceeded 120,000, setting a new record again.
GME Discussion Board's posting speed is so fast that it requires manual review to ensure that the page does not crash.
The forum administrator posted a pinned notice - 'Due to excessive traffic, this forum temporarily restricts new user registration.'"
Zhao Chen put Zisha Pot on the table, and Su Wantang went to the tea room to boil water.
He opened the exposure monitoring report sent by Shen Zhiyi--
After yesterday's close, the total exposure was 8.9%, which is still 1.09 percentage points away from the red line of 9.99%, corresponding to about 760,000 shares.
Zhao Chen Put the report on the table,
"Starting today, don't chase prices higher. If the stock price fluctuates violently during the session, the buying pace will slow down.
Save the last 760,000 shares for the most critical time."
At nine-thirty, NASDAQ opens.
GME gapped higher and opened to 43.2, which was 12% higher than the previous day's closing price.
Trading Volume exceeded 15 million shares in the first minute after the market opened.
The K-line on Time-sharing Chart continuously exceeded 44, 45, and 46 yuan within fifteen minutes after the opening.
Buying Pressure from retail investors poured in like a tide, and every integer level was eaten up within a few seconds.
But the difference from yesterday is that today there was the first wave of decent Short Sellers resistance--
Intensive selling orders began to appear above 46 yuan, with large orders of more than 50,000 shares each placed between 46 and 47, trying to push the stock price back.
"Short Sellers has set up a defense line near Block 46."
Lin Shicheng stares at the transaction data,
"The sales were concentrated between RMB 46.5 and RMB 47, with each transaction ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 shares.
This is Algorithmic Trading from Melvin Capital--their style is to concentrate orders and use large orders to suppress the stock price."
"Our buying cadence?"
"I bought about 200,000 shares fifteen minutes after the market opened.
The rest is scheduled to be completed by 2:30 pm.
If the intraday stock price is pushed back below 44 yuan by Short Sellers, we will speed up the pace;
If it continues to rise, we will slow down the pace and not chase the high."
On WallStreetBets Forum, a post named "Forty-Six-Dollar Line" was pushed to the top of the homepage.
The text of the post reads--
"Short Sellers placed a large number of sell orders at 46 yuan, trying to push the stock price back.
But Era Vanguard hasn't started buying on a large scale yet.
They also have a lot of room for space.
When they fire the last bullets, the 46-block defense line will be directly penetrated."
Someone replied below the post--
"Short Sellers placed a sell order at 46 blocks, and Era Vanguard placed a buy order at 44 blocks. This is a game of who blinks first."
Another reply read--
"Short Sellers places a sell order to suppress the stock price. Era Vanguard places a buy order to support the stock price.
But Era Vanguard still has bullets, what about Short Sellers? All the stocks they can borrow have been borrowed."
During CNBC's 11 a. m. live broadcast, the host cut the camera to a big screen in the studio.
On the screen is a picture of GME's Short Selling proportion change--
From 95 percent on Monday to 87 percent on Tuesday, to 79 percent on Wednesday, it has dropped to 70 percent today.
Next to the chart is a line of words--
"Short Sellers is accelerating the closing of positions, but the speed still cannot keep up with the rise in stock prices."
The host used an analytical tone--
"The rapid decline in the Short Selling ratio means that Short Sellers is being forced to cover.
Melvin Capital closed down 5 million shares yesterday, and Point72 closed down 3 million shares.
But GME's total Short Selling position still exceeds 50 million shares.
Short Sellers set up a defense line near $46 to try to prevent the stock price from rising further.
The question is - do they still have enough ammunition?"
Commentator Bloomberg invited a senior Market Maker on the midday show.
This Market Maker said something in front of the camera--
"GME's Short Selling interest exceeded 100% annualized today.
Short Sellers Tens of millions US Dollar will be burned every day just to pay interest.
Melvin Capital's remaining Short Position shares are approximately 15 million, and its daily interest expense is approximately 20 million US Dollar.
Point72's position is similar.
Citadel has started to reduce its position, but slowly - their position is too heavy and they can't move fast.
If the stock price continues to rise, the insurance call pressure on Short Sellers will fall like an avalanche.
By then, the 46-block defense line will become a 46-block tombstone."
On WallStreetBets Forum, DFV published a new post at 1 p. m.
This time he sent a screenshot - a chart of Melvin Capital's position changes, from 50 million shares on Monday to less than 20 million shares today.
The accompanying text only has one sentence - "They are running. But they can't run fast enough." Within ten minutes of the post being posted, the number of replies exceeded 4,000.
The most popular reply read--
"It took Melvin three days to go from 50 million shares to 20 million shares.
They still have 20 million shares outstanding.
If they continue to level at this rate, it will take another three days. But after three days, the stock price may have risen to 60 yuan."
By two o'clock in the afternoon, GME's stock price was fluctuating around 46 yuan.
The selling orders of Short Sellers and retail investors' Buying Pressure started a fierce competition at this price.
The K line on Time-sharing Chart fluctuates back and forth between $45 and $47. Every dip is caught by Buying Pressure, and every surge is pushed back by selling orders.
Lin Shicheng completed half of the planned purchase volume for the day at two o'clock in the afternoon - about 600,000 shares, with an average price of 45.8 yuan.
At 2:45 p. m., GME's stock price dropped from 46 yuan to 45.2 yuan.
Lin Shicheng completed the last purchase of the day at around 45 yuan.
At the last quarter of an hour before the market closed, the stock price fell back to 46.5 yuan.
The closing bell rang, and GME was quoted at 46.30 cents, an increase of more than 20% throughout the day.
Trading Volume exceeded 50 million shares, setting a new historical record again.
Short Selling proportion dropped from 70% to 65%--
Short Sellers was partly flat during the session, but there are still more than 45 million shares of Short Selling holding positions.
After the market closed, Lin Shicheng pushed the transaction summary to Zhao Chen.
"Today Common Stock bought about 1.3 million shares, with an average price of 44.6 yuan.
Positions increased from 8.9% to 9.4%.
It is still 0.59 percentage points away from the upper limit of 9.99%, corresponding to about 410,000 shares.
Today Short Sellers's resistance near Block 46 is stronger than yesterday, but their ammunition is being consumed rapidly.
Melvin Capital closed another 5 million shares today, leaving less than 10 million shares remaining.
Point72 closed three million shares, and Citadel closed two million shares.
The overall Short Sellers liquidation volume is approximately 10 million shares."
Shen Zhiyi Open the exposure monitoring report.
"Total exposure after today's close was 9.4 percent.
It is still 0.59 percentage points away from the red line of 9.99 percent.
The exposure monitoring is running normally today. If we continue to buy at today's pace tomorrow, it is expected to hit 9.6 to 9.7.
The last three points from 0.2 to 0.0 are reserved to deal with the passive expansion of Options Delta."
And by the fireplace of the Explorers Club, the data in front of White-Haired Old Man showed--
GME's Short Selling ratio dropped from 95 percent on Monday to 65 percent today.
Short Sellers has closed its position of more than 30 million shares, but there are still 45 million shares that it is holding on to.
"Melvin's position is less than 10 million."
A person turns the phone screen around,
"They tied another five million today. Point72 still has twenty million.
Citadel still has 15 million. Our total Short Position has dropped from 70 million to 45 million.
If the stock price continues to rise, the insurance call line will be broken down near 50 yuan.
At that time, the remaining 45 million shares will be Forced Liquidation.
Buying back 45 million shares will push the stock price to over 80 yuan."
White-Haired Old Man was silent for a long time. The winter sky Manhattan outside the window was gloomy, and the wind above Hudson River pushed the clouds very low.
He picked up the GME data sheet on Bloomberg Terminal and turned to the page with the Short Selling scale.
He put the data sheet down and leaned back in his chair.
"Call Melvin. Ask them to speed up the closing process. Don't worry about the cost anymore. Close as many positions as you can."