A Small Test, Shorting US Stocks

After a round of chatting and joking around, Lin Qiye switched over to the Spring Flowers Autumn Moon Stock Trading Group.

It was extremely quiet there, though. That made sense when he thought about it. They were all middle-aged and elderly people; with National Day here, wouldn't they all be heading out on trips with their families? Who had time to spam the group chat?

Li Xiongye's QQ was still online, however, so Lin Qiye opened it and sent him a message.

"Boss Li, what are you doing?"

The other side actually replied instantly.

"Watching stocks. You're never too old to learn."

"You didn't go out for National Day?"

"My wife went abroad on a seven-day tour of Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. I didn't want to go. No point. I'm sick of it all."

"Then take your time studying. I'll keep sunbathing."

"You're living comfortably, kid. I heard from Nanguang. Camping by Erhai Lake in an RV, huh? Sounds pretty fun. I'll do that next year too."

"You really should come try it. The air's good, and the scenery's pretty nice too."

"Oh, right, Xiao Lin, I cleared out my positions too. What should I buy next?"

"We're still on vacation. What's the rush?"

Lin Qiye ended the chat, but Li Nanguang's words had piqued his interest.

After all, the first small goal of two billion was still a long and arduous road. He couldn't slack off.

He had nothing to do anyway, so he might as well communicate with Intelligent AI.

He put on his Bluetooth earphones, covered his mouth, and said in a low voice:

"During National Day, is there anything that can make money easily?"

[The entire domestic market is on holiday. Aside from real industries like retail, tourism, and dining, there are no investment opportunities, and those don't meet your requirements either.]

[There are opportunities overseas. I recommend opening a foreign investment account to invest.]

"I don't have foreign currency."

[Individuals have a foreign exchange purchase quota of fifty thousand US dollars. If the administrator needs it, I can handle the operation on your behalf.]

That was actually a good way to kill time. Fortunately, he had transferred the money in his mother's securities account to her bank card in advance. He dialed Mom Lin's number.

"Mom, it's time to split the profits."

"You brat. How much are we splitting?"

"We made over four hundred thousand in total. Give me two hundred thousand. The rest counts as my filial piety to you two."

"What filial piety? Mom will keep an eye on it for you for now and give it to you after you get married. Wait a bit, I'll go to the bank and transfer the money."

Half an hour later, two hundred thousand arrived.

Lin Qiye pressed his Bluetooth earphone and continued muttering softly.

"Exchange ten thousand US dollars first and try it out. Also, set up an account that can buy US stocks."

[The administrator's personal account has successfully exchanged 63,271 yuan. It has been transferred into a Tiger Securities account through formal channels.]

[Tiger Securities' trading software has already been downloaded and can be logged into at any time.]

The laptop was still with his girlfriend. On top of that, because of the time difference, the market over there had not opened yet.

Lin Qiye continued chatting casually with Intelligent AI.

"What investment opportunities are there over there?"

After a short while, the answer appeared.

[A pharmaceutical technology stock has been discovered: Shield Pharmaceuticals.]

[The company's main business scope is the research and development of innovative drugs. Its current main research direction is targeted liver cancer drugs.]

[Targeted liver cancer drugs refer to drugs that act on liver cancer cells through specific mechanisms and inhibit their proliferation, metastasis, and survival. They are also an important drug-based treatment method for liver cancer at present.]

[The drug developed by this company has already reached Phase III clinical trial. According to the information I have collected, some test subjects have experienced adverse reactions such as gastric bleeding, anorexia, and hypoglycemia. It is highly likely that it will fail FDA approval.]

"Isn't that negative news? Could it still go up?"

[This is not about buying for a rise. In the US stock securities market, you can buy for a decline and make money by shorting this stock.]

"Explain it more clearly?"

[There are three short-selling methods available for the administrator to choose from.]

[Method one: securities borrowing short sale. Borrow the target stock from a brokerage, sell it for cash, and buy it back to return before the agreed expiration time. If the stock price falls, the cost of buying the shares decreases and the short sale makes a profit; otherwise, there is a loss.]

[Method two: margin trading short sale. Purchase the target stock in advance, apply to the brokerage for securities lending, use the target stock as collateral to obtain a credit loan, and aim for the returns gained from the loan to exceed the mortgage interest.]

[Method three: option short sale. An ultra-high-leverage speculative product. Speculate by selling put options. Once the target stock price falls, it will yield returns of ten to a hundred times; if the stock price rises instead, the short-selling premium will be lost.]

This was an investment method Lin Qiye had never come into contact with at all.

He tried to understand.

The first method was actually just the opposite of buying stocks, only with an additional trading direction.

The second method suited people who held stocks long-term: pledging the shares as collateral to make other investments.

The third method had nothing to do with investing at all. It could only be called extremely risky speculation.

It was the kind of high-stakes gamble where winning meant luxury cars and mansions, and losing meant having nothing left.

He hesitated. Without a doubt, if the information was confirmed, the high risk of the third method would instead drop to the lowest level, while the returns would be extremely impressive.

"How many people know about the information you collected?"

[The company's Phase III clinical trial is in a closed state, and all participants have signed confidentiality agreements.]

[However, they did not erase the participants' related information. I found a list in the file recycle bin on the company's website, then conducted a big-data investigation following that list.]

[One of the test subjects had a severe drug reaction. Although he did not mention that he had participated in the trial, he posted on a private blog describing his physical reactions.]

[It was not only this one test subject. Other test subjects from the same period also left information online about physical discomfort, so there is reason to determine that the company's drug has a major problem.]

So that was how it was. Intelligent AI had obtained the information one step ahead through big-data analysis.

By the time other institutions learned about this, it would be time for them to short it on a large scale.

If he did not act now, then when?

Take a gamble, and turn a bicycle into a luxury car.

He gave the order.

"Use all the funds in the account to trade put options."

[Mission command received. The transaction is expected to be completed at nine o'clock tonight. At that time, please have the administrator log in to the trading software to check.]

After several hours of busy work, Tian Nina was filled with the joy of success.

The first section of the script had been completed.

The entire animation included narration voiced by her, as well as various interview recordings from the participants at the time. These voices blended perfectly with the animated characters, fully presenting what had happened back then.

The only person who did not appear was Lin Qiye. Li Xiongye's nickname, Little Zhuge, was already lame enough, and he strongly demanded not to appear in the video. In the end, Tian Nina, who could not argue him down, could only agree.

Once the first section of the video was finished, the sky was gradually darkening. The two of them got into the RV, went to nearby homes to borrow tap water and fill the water tank, then went to the market to buy five kilograms of yellow cattle beef.

By the time they returned, it was already seven o'clock. The RV's lights were turned on, and the two of them made dinner inside.

A large chunk of yellow cattle beef sat on the chopping board while Tian Nina flipped through her phone, researching how to cook it.

"Yellow cattle beef doesn't seem like it can be made into steak. It has to be cooked all the way through, or stir-fried over high heat. I don't know how."

She did not ask Lin Qiye for help, but instead made a phone call.

"Dad, how did you make that stewed beef last time?"

The phone was on speaker, and Father Tian's sour voice came through. "It's not like you're making it for me. I'm not teaching you."