Joseph had just acquired a small bank on the verge of bankruptcy two days earlier, then renamed it the France Reserve Bank. The renaming and registration process had been swift—after all, he had people in high places.
The bank's premises and staff were already in place, so it had begun normal operations yesterday.
The next day, at Brent's request and after receiving a substantial payment, the Paris Stock Exchange assigned five additional traders specifically to handle Paris Angel Company's business.
The pace of stock transactions immediately picked up. As the market neared closing at four in the afternoon, a mysterious buyer suddenly swallowed up all 430,000 remaining shares of Paris Angel Company.
When the transaction notice appeared—Buy, Paris Angel Company, 2 Livre, 430,150 shares, total 860,300 Livre—the entire trading floor fell silent.
More than ten seconds later, a new entry appeared on the trading board: Sell, Paris Angel Company, 2 Livre 2 Sou, 40 shares, total 84 Livre.
A record immediately appeared beneath it showing that those forty shares had been bought.
Soon, more sell orders appeared. In less than ten minutes, the asking price had already reached 2 Livre 5 Sou, and every share was snapped up in an instant.
Early the next morning, Paris Angel's stock price shot straight to the lofty level of 2 Livre 8 Sou, yet demand still far outstripped supply. Stock trading immediately became feverish.
On the trading floor, a young man from the United States sat in a corner, surrounded by seven or eight bodyguards, watching the transaction information.
After a moment, he gave the assistant beside him a meaningful look. The assistant immediately went to a trader and listed 8,000 shares for sale at 3 Livre.
The investors paid little attention. The price was simply too high; it should have been difficult