"It's up!"
"It's up—it's up again!"
Watching the frenzied stock exchange floor, Thor was speechless for a long while. He truly could not understand these people's feelings. So the stocks had risen—so what? Why did they have to shout and holler?
"Want to buy a few shares and give it a try? I've been bullish on oil stocks lately. Once international crude prices go up, they won't come back down so easily!" Cleon suggested.
Madness could be contagious too. Cleon clearly could no longer hold himself back and wanted to go inside for a look.
"Not interested. Everyone's playing so crazily—what if the market crashes?" Tov said, shaking his head.
"Don't worry. The market will indeed crash, but definitely not now. As long as the index hasn't passed 1,500 points, it's safe!
Where are we now? We've only just passed 1,000 points; 1,500 is still far away. There are at least two more years of a golden age ahead. When the time comes, we just need to run a little faster and get out before the crash.
Almost no stocks are falling right now. What is there to worry about? Buy it, and you profit!"
Cleon's analysis was orderly and convincing, but Thor's brow furrowed tighter and tighter. In his view, Cleon had been poisoned by it. A stock market that only rose and never fell—was that even a stock market?
"Cleon, calm down. As one of the capitalists, do you really not understand capital's greed?
With such a perfect chance to make money, do you think those great consortiums are just going to watch you make a fortune? Have they gone into charity work?"
Tov offered the reminder in good faith.
"Thor, you're right. But even if they intend to harvest, they have to wait until the crops