National Tide 1980.

The most terrifying trap is the slow, steady dripping water trap, also known as the frog being boiled in warm water.

Despite its impressive appearance, its moves are actually not complicated.

Moreover, it doesn't look scary at all; it's usually a low-risk, high-return opportunity.

However, the danger of such a trap lies precisely in its use of gradual environmental changes to weaken people's sense of crisis, ultimately leading to a qualitative disaster.

By the time those who have fallen into the trap realize that they cannot bear the consequences, it is often too late for regrets, and they have already missed the opportunity to cut their losses in time.

For most investors, the stock market is really just a shitty place.

This is the situation that Harunori Takahashi and Iwasawa are currently facing.

As for Ning Weimin, he was a little lucky.

Since he had seen the Heavenly Card, he was naturally invincible.

It can be said that as someone with extraordinary abilities, he could easily crush any opponent by leveraging the capital market.

Not only can they take advantage of market trends and exploit the other party's desire to go long to sell high and low for arbitrage, thus strengthening their own power.

They even deliberately concealed their own strength, leaving the opponent with hope of turning the tables, causing the opponent to become mired in the situation and ultimately unable to extricate themselves.

Yes, it was the kind of death called being cut with a dull knife; that was Takahashi Harunori's fate.

On February 22, 1990, despite their failure to boost the stock market, Takahashi Harunori and Iwasawa both had trouble sleeping. But the next day, as dawn broke, they mustered their strength and prepared to fight again.

Hold on! We have to hold on!
For Harunori Takahashi and Iwasawa, the situation is bad, but it's not quite at the point where they should jump off a building.

Not to mention that they still have 150 billion yuan in funds, which they can use to fight to the death.

The key is that the market rebound is still ongoing, which is their biggest source of confidence.

Yesterday, although EIE's stock price moved in the opposite direction to the overall market rebound, they successfully stabilized it above 20,000 yen. Furthermore, they urgently disseminated some positive news about the group through media channels in the evening.

As a result, the situation was quite good when the market opened today.

The stock opened 500 yen higher and then continued to rise, showing a catch-up upward trend.

They managed to stabilize EIE International's stock price at around 20,800 yen without investing much capital.

Retail investors are even more prone to forgetting past mistakes. Despite the losses they incurred yesterday, they may see the market performing well today without any signs of a sharp drop, and they may simply be rebalancing their portfolios to take short-term profits.

They believed that the risks associated with EIE stock had been fully released.

Naturally, a lot of speculative capital flowed in, hoping to make a quick buck.

Half an hour later, as the market index continued to rebound, Iwasawa easily raised Takahashi's stock price to around 21,500 yen with a expenditure of about 10 billion yen.

At the current price, if we can calculate it directly using addition and subtraction, Takahashi Harunori's investment during the two days of rebound not only didn't result in a loss, but also yielded a small profit.

However, the stock market is not a simple matter of addition and subtraction, and retail investors are often extremely indecisive arbitrageurs.

Today, EIE stock has risen by about 7%, and many retail investors who have made short-term profits are eager to exit.

In addition, there are too many trapped investors above, and even more people are eager to get out of their trapped positions.

Their upward momentum is waning, and they need to consolidate sideways to allow time to buy space and let some of the profit-taking pass.

Therefore, continuing to rush upwards is not advisable, and given their financial strength, they dare not continue to launch an upward offensive.

The best approach is actually to distribute shares sideways, sell some to make a profit, and then use the strategy of buying low and selling high to strengthen the position, shake out weak hands, and then continue the upward trend.

"It seems there aren't any big players left in the EIE..."

Iwasawa carefully analyzed the market and reported to Takahashi Harunori, who had been monitoring the market throughout the day, "Apart from us, all the buying and selling were small orders."

"Have the Americans left too?"

"That's probably true. Even if there are still some, there won't be many. Moreover, Japanese financial professionals are saying that the Americans are suppressing our Japanese stock market mainly to make money from stock index futures. Now that the market is rebounding and rising, it means that they have already made enough money and are withdrawing. Naturally, there is no reason for them to suppress us anymore. Even if there are still some stocks that have not been cleared out, it is more worthwhile to reverse the trend and sell them."

"Okay, so what should we do next?"

"Sell some of the stocks we bought at low prices first, recover some funds, and also wash out some speculative followers to reduce the burden of the upward surge. Then, depending on the situation, decide whether to push the price up again in the afternoon," Yan Ze suggested based on his professional knowledge.

"How much can you get this afternoon?"

"Twenty-two thousand yen shouldn't be a problem..."

The highest single-day price increase can reach 10%, which is already quite high.

However, Harunori Takahashi was clearly not satisfied. "Is this all you can do? Can't you go any higher?"

But you can't really blame him for being greedy; it was mainly due to the pressure of the situation.

It should be noted that Takahashi Harunori deliberately drove up the stock price in order to squeeze out Ning Weimin's short sellers. The average cost of each share that Iwasawa bought was as high as 45,000 yen, not even counting the financing interest.

If you do the math, the amount of money he borrowed outside, including high-interest loans, to inflate stock prices has reached nearly 400 billion yen.

It can be said that during this stock market crash, both Takahashi Harunori's personal wealth and the value of his company's assets have reached a dangerous red line.

The current EIE is far more fragile than it appears. If it makes a single wrong move, it could be utterly disastrous for both Harunori Takahashi and the entire group.

He was naturally eager to raise the stock price as soon as possible, which is why he spared no effort yesterday to use all media resources to promote the "good news" that EIE Group's golf business was "just getting started".

To put it bluntly, when faced with a life-or-death situation, what he was actually seeking was not wealth, but a way to survive.

"Then twenty-two thousand five hundred yen?" Iwasawa hesitated for a moment. "After all, our funds are limited..."

Harunori Takahashi turned to look at him, "...A little higher, is that alright?"

Iwasawa looked back for a long time, then said more bluntly, "...We don't have much money left. I can't guarantee it will work, I can only try my best..."

However, Takahashi Osamu never showed any consideration for his subordinates, and he demanded with glaring eyes.

"The rebound has been going on for several days now? We don't have much time left. If we don't push the stock price up quickly, our situation will be even more difficult once the rebound ends. We need to at least bring the stock price back to 40,000 yen. Do you know how much I paid yesterday to announce those good news in time? I don't care what you do, the group needs you to create a miracle right now. Otherwise, what makes you think you deserve this position? You're a top graduate from Keio University, and I hope you can live up to my high regard for you. Otherwise, we have no future. You know best what situation we're facing..."

Faced with his demanding boss speaking so bluntly, Iwasawa finally made up his mind, realizing that he actually had no other choice.

"Alright. Let's set the target at 23,000 yen then."

In this situation, both of them were in a bind and had no choice but to gamble everything.

"Place an order! No matter what, sell 100,000 shares first and see how things go. Listen up, we need to hurry up and recover our funds, but we must be careful not to panic and cause a market crash. While selling shares, be sure to maintain the stock price..."

As time passed, nothing unusual happened.

After the 2 billion yuan was returned, Iwazawa had another 100,000 shares issued.

Aside from their own selling pressure, there were no major sell-offs. The initial surge in volume followed by a decrease in volume is a positive sign in the market. Fewer and fewer short-term profit-takers are exiting, suggesting the market correction is nearing completion. Although retail investor buying power is also weakening at the same time, the market correction should be ending soon. If there's a favorable market trend in the afternoon, a further rise of one or two thousand yen shouldn't be difficult, indicating there's still potential for further gains.

So despite his current predicament, Iwasawa is somewhat at ease.

But is it really possible for things to go as smoothly as they hope?

At the same time, in the VIP room of Daiwa Securities' business department, Ning Weimin finally assigned tasks to his subordinates.

The market crash has begun!
It turns out that because of the positive news reports last night about EIE Group's smooth progress in the golf industry, Ning Weimin guessed that the other party could no longer hold on.

Clearly, this was a tactic employed by his opponents who desperately needed to boost the stock price.

So from the start of the trading day, Ning Weimin didn't let anyone make any moves, but instead quietly observed the market.

From around 9:00 AM to 9:30 AM, the market stabilized for a while.

He saw some impulsive retail investors starting to enter the market, followed by deliberate price manipulation by opponents with small amounts of capital.

The stock price easily rose by 1,500 yen, and judging from the market, it seems that the downward trend of EIE Group has been reversed.

Another surge, another sharp rise, seems to be because EIE International's golf dream is about to begin.

As a result, those who were watching this stock began to anticipate further price increases and were eager to make a move.

That's human nature. As the saying goes, "three positive lines can change one's beliefs." Seeing even the slightest clue, one assumes it's the answer, fearing to miss out again...

After watching for a while, Ning Weimin discovered that once the stock price was driven up to a high level, some funds were controlling the pace, playing the high-sell-low-buy arbitrage game.

Without asking, I know who it is.

If things continue like this, the opponent might actually catch up, and at the same time, lure in more retail investors, causing them to perish along with them...

Takahashi is a bit of a rascal.

Skin? Then I'll deliver a heavy blow in return.

I'm the only one who can take advantage of others like this, how could it be your turn?

Ning Weimin then made up his mind and quickly issued the order that "only officials are allowed to set fires, while ordinary people are not allowed to light lamps."

"Release 500,000 shares first. Drive the stock price down. From now on, I want EIE's stock price to decline unilaterally, regardless of the overall market trend. Even if all the shares are sold off, don't give the other side a chance."

"Should we just dump the shares?" The trader hesitated slightly upon hearing Ning Weimin's instruction.

After all, the other party is selling 100,000 shares at a time. If we follow them and sell slowly, the price won't drop too quickly, and it will be more economically advantageous.

Moreover, this leaves no room for concealment; the true intentions are revealed, and the trader is worried about scaring the other party away.

“I know what you mean, but I’ve already made enough money on stock index futures. I can afford to lose this amount. The important thing now is that I don’t want to give the other party a chance to withdraw their funds.”

Ning Weimin naturally understood the other party's thoughts, and in a good mood, he offered a few words of explanation.

"As for whether the other party will run away, there's no need to worry. From the day they raised funds to wage a financial war against me, they were destined to lose. They've invested too much and have to keep going, otherwise they won't be able to recover their losses or pay the interest on their financing. In other words, it's just a matter of whether they die sooner or later. A margin call is an inevitable outcome."

So cruel?
The trader was taken aback and stood there for a few seconds, even though he didn't know what grudge Ning Weimin had against EIE, nor did he understand why Ning Weimin was so determined to kill him.

However, this did not prevent him from understanding one thing: the other party was already on the verge of death, and Ning Weimin had the absolute power to fulfill this wish.

Since that's the case, he naturally didn't ask any more questions or try to persuade him further, and began to carry out the orders.

…………

Anyone who invests in stocks knows that in any stock market, only stocks that experience wild price swings are most likely to attract attention.

Especially stocks that move in the opposite direction to the overall market trend, or that experience unusual events such as "limit up from limit down" or "limit down from limit up".

Just like on February 23, 1990, the stock of EIE International on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Japan.

The overall market trend is clearly upward, and all conditions are favorable.

The stock price maintained an increase of about 10% shortly after the market opened.

However, suddenly, the stock experienced a strange and dramatic drop.

21,800 yen, 21,200 yen, 20,800 yen... and the stock price just plummeted like that.

Five minutes later, when the stock price fell below the 20,000 yen mark and turned from red to green, countless eyes were fixed on this stock.

Even in Japan, where the economic bubble had just burst, such a sudden drop from a 10% increase to below the opening price was still somewhat incomprehensible.

Needless to say, this unusual clarity of mind was exactly what Harunori Takahashi and Iwasawa feared most at this moment.

"How is this possible?! Who is this person, and how can there be so many listings?"

Takahashi Harunori, who had been resting on the sofa, suddenly jumped up and grabbed Iwasawa by the collar. "Didn't you tell me there were no more big spenders?"

Stunned, Iwasawa frantically offered a haphazard explanation, "It really shouldn't have happened. Could it be that this surprise attack... was orchestrated by someone else..."

"Damn it, I don't care about who else is involved, I just want to know what we do now! What do we do now!"

"There's no other way; to stabilize the stock price, we have to use funds to buy it!"

Iwasawa said somewhat dejectedly, "However, judging from the betting odds, the other side is coming on strong, and our funds may not be enough. What if we can't pull it back..."

Takahashi swayed, struggling to breathe, his face ashen, and he spoke as if clutching his chest.

"I know, of course I know that! But we still have to try! Buy now, buy now! We can't wait any longer, otherwise once a large number of followers appear, it'll all be over..."

With Takahashi Harunori's words, Iwasawa no longer hesitated. Unfortunately, after buying 400,000 shares, another 600,000 shares were sold off. In just half an hour, 40 billion yen was spent, all for the sake of stabilizing the stock price at 20,000 yen.

Even so, it failed to hold this important level. In the afternoon, the price fell below 20,000 yen as soon as the market opened, with millions of shares being dumped, causing the stock price to drop by 3%.

19,400 yen!
The number was alarming, and Harunori Takahashi was almost driven mad with anxiety. He became hysterical, just like when he danced on the table, yelling and venting his emotions on his subordinates.

"Buy now! Buy now! Do whatever it takes to bring the stock price back up. If you can't do it, Iwasawa, I'll kill you."

"President, we only have 80 billion yen in funds, which is probably not enough."

Feeling heartbroken that he couldn't do anything about it, Iwasawa, who had been slapped, burst into tears.

“I’ll raise the money. If all else fails, I’ll borrow it. If all else fails, I can even do an internal share issuance. But today, you have to stay calm for me no matter what! Do you hear me?”

Takahashi Harunori was clearly talking nonsense, but the problem was that Iwasawa was also caught up in it. Both he and Takahashi had become typical gamblers.

When gamblers are blinded by greed, who can rationally restrain themselves from betting their last penny? (End of Chapter)