Starting with a fully invested A-share portfolio to become a capital...

Chapter 290: A Reversal of Public Opinion – A Newcomer's Journey in Fuchun: Please Guide Me

When Zhang Yang's trading ideas were validated by the market, a large number of retail investors flocked to the site, and Caiyan.com experienced another surge in registrations.

Less than 30 hours after Zhang Yang admitted to being "Fuchun Road", the number of registered users on Caiyan.com had doubled, and the number of new members had surged.

Is a monthly membership of 120 yuan expensive?

To be honest, it's expensive!

In 2009, 120 yuan was enough to cover a college student's breakfasts for a month, and those with smaller appetites even had leftovers.

However, for stock investors, 120 yuan is still within an acceptable range, because as long as they catch one upward move, they can make back their principal and profits.

Many people resist paying tuition fees, not because they are stingy with the money, but because they are afraid that they will not receive the expected return after paying the fees.

Take learning to cook, for example. In the past, when information was scarce, a new chef who wanted to learn a dish had to pay an experienced chef, and some even had to work as a kitchen helper for a period of time.

Do you think you can learn something just by paying money?

wrong!

The saying goes, "Teach your apprentice and you'll starve yourself." Many experienced chefs secretly hold back some of their skills, only teaching 70-80% of the techniques. The key to whether a dish is authentic or not is something they simply won't teach.

This is why chefs rarely pay to learn how to cook nowadays, because even if they do pay, they may not necessarily learn the essence of the dish. Secondly, the internet has eliminated the information gap, and some secret recipes have already been made public online.

"19 users registered in half an hour! My God, are retail investors registering in droves?"

"Mr. Zhang's trading talent is undeniable. I saw his post this morning and decisively went all in, making 1.3 yuan, which is more than my salary."

"No, we're all just ordinary office workers, why can you get two extra months' salary? I want to trade stocks too, waaaah!"

"Haha, if you're not investing in stocks during a bull market, what are you waiting for? A bear market?"

"We've reached 1266 million users. If this growth rate continues, I feel that by the end of December, our Caiyan.com registered users will reach 15 million!"

"No less, how about 2000 million?"

"3000 million, be bolder!!"

With the A-share market already closed today, the workload of various departments at Caiyan.com has instantly decreased significantly, and employees are now discussing Zhang Yang's trading strategy posts during their free time.

If we could turn back time by 48 hours, who would believe that Zhang Yang was the "evil Zhuang Fuchun Road"?
However, all of this happened too quickly. Zhang Yang not only admitted that he was from "Fuchun Road", but also successfully whitewashed the derogatory term "Fuchun Road" with his excellent oratory skills.

In the CEO's office on the other side, Xu Zhirou, who had just finished a meeting of senior management and doubled the price of business advertisements, was crossing one leg and opening Zhang Yang's post about his trading ideas with great interest.

She was very curious about what kind of post could stir up retail investors' emotions and cause a significant increase in the number of registered users on Caiyan.com.

"Policy aspect..."

"Economic aspects..."

"Technical aspects..."

"Funding situation..."

After reading Zhang Yang's trading strategy post in its entirety, Xu Zhirou felt a pang of regret and whispered, "Posts of this quality should be in the market research report section. No, I have to remind Zhang Yang that at the very least, his periodic posts should be made paid."

Without hesitation, she opened her QQ contact list, found Zhang Yang's QQ account, and sent a message.

[Xu Zhirou]: Are you busy?

Not a moment.

Zhang Yang replied to the message.

[Zhang Yang]: I'm still organizing the relevant information about the debt cycle. What's wrong?
[Xu Zhirou]: It's nothing, I just wanted to remind you that content like debt cycles can be set as paid viewing. Our financial research website's market research report section is short on traffic.

[Zhang Yang]: Okay, I'll go back to the research report section and set it to 1 yuan, okay? Consider it a benefit price for retail investors, and also a way to attract more users.

[Xu Zhirou]: Either is fine.

[Zhang Yang]: Okay, you go ahead and get busy. Try to raise funds as much as possible in the next ten days or so. The auction date for the 'Securities Sales License' has been set for the 15th of next month. It is conservatively estimated to be 100 billion.

[Xu Zhirou]: As for 100 billion, it depends on your fundraising speed. Caiyan.com currently only has 6300 million in its account. Most of the money has been invested in building a fund sales platform and a securities platform, as well as developing a mobile APP.

[Zhang Yang]: I will.

[Xu Zhirou]: Yeah, keep it up.

Sitting in the trading office area on the 7th floor of Building A, Zhang Yang casually closed the chat window. He had never really counted on the funds in Caiyan.com's account, because there were too many areas to invest in at this stage, especially the construction of fund sales platforms and securities sales platforms. Most importantly, and also the most expensive, was the development of the mobile APP.

Chinese internet companies are now developing mobile apps, all hoping to seize the market as quickly as possible.

Previously, development was limited by hardware and network technology.

2G network speed is too slow; it takes several seconds to load an image. Websites like Baidu Tieba, Weibo, and Taobao have a poor user experience on WAP, let alone on mobile devices.

Take Taobao for example. With a 2G network, it can't possibly only display text, right?

However, if many images are loaded, 30MB of data is simply not enough.

Due to various limitations, feature phones have very few network applications; only instant messaging tools like QQ can meet the needs of low-speed network environments.

……

While Caiyan.com was thriving, Eastmoney, the leading financial website, was in a less than ideal situation.

Eastmoney meeting room.

An executive meeting is underway.

An Chenliang, the operations manager, looked worried as he reported to Shen Jun, "Ever since Caiyan.com held its briefing yesterday, our traffic has plummeted. Our previously stable daily active users, in the tens of millions, have now..."

He hesitated.

Everyone present knew the answer.

Shen Jun, sitting in the main seat, had a gloomy face and gestured, "Just say it."

"The daily active users dropped by nearly 200 million, and the average user time spent on the app decreased by half an hour. The situation is very bad."

An Chenliang said in a deep voice.

He has been with Eastmoney for four years, and this is the first time he has seen such a severe drop in traffic. He has no idea how to remedy the situation.

The atmosphere in the meeting room was terribly oppressive; no one dared to speak.

Shen Jun's eyes grew increasingly gloomy. He hadn't expected that his clever scheme would backfire and actually help Caiyan.com threaten his core base.

If no one had been there, he would have slapped himself twice right now.

It's worth noting that since Eastmoney became the leading financial website by relying on its "Stock Forum," its daily active users have been steadily increasing, and in the past year, it has stabilized at tens of millions of daily active users.

Why is it so stable?
The reason is simple: most stock market investors are men, and men tend to be dependent. Unless it's a matter of principle, they will stick to their habits.

Take haircuts for example. If a man gets a good haircut at a particular salon, he will likely choose that salon more often in the future, based on his habit of choosing a particular salon.

Take restaurants for example. As long as the food suits one's taste, and one is not tired of eating the same food, one will choose that restaurant first.

Those who run businesses catering to men often need to consider sustainability, because once a customer habit is established, the number of loyal customers will only increase.

In fact, starting a business boils down to two things: retaining old customers and attracting new customers. Whoever can do these two things well can make a fortune.

After a long silence, Shen Jun broke the silence and asked, "Does anyone have a good idea to reverse the downward trend in traffic?"

quiet!
Still no one responded!

The senior executives in the conference room looked at each other, none of them willing to be the first to speak out.

Being a "workplace troublemaker" is a high-risk behavior. Once a problem arises, you can easily become the target of your boss's anger. If ordinary people want to earn a salary, they have to learn to bury their heads in the sand like ostriches.

"Does nobody have any ideas?"

Shen Jun was filled with anger. He hadn't expected that at this crucial moment, no one in his company could shoulder the responsibility, which greatly disappointed him.

Under continuous pressure, someone couldn't withstand the pressure and tremblingly said, "Why not increase the traffic investment budget and organize some more activities to try to stabilize users before the IPO?"

As a leading internet finance company, Eastmoney submitted its IPO application as early as 2007. However, it was unlucky and encountered the global financial crisis, which delayed the relevant process and left it without a response for a long time.

Not only Eastmoney, but also Tonghuashun's IPO application has been stalled.

Since the resumption of IPOs in July 2009, investors of Eastmoney and Tonghuashun have been trying their best to smooth things over and strive to go public and raise funds as soon as possible.

"Manager Wang is right. We can increase our advertising budget and continuously optimize content quality to stabilize our user base first."

“I think optimizing content quality is a key priority. Also, Li Daxiao, although he has a lot of traffic, his style of predicting rises and falls is more like guessing, and his audience is limited. I suggest signing a new brand ambassador.”

"I agree to sign a new brand ambassador, just like Sina Finance, which has Hu Xijin for entertainment and Yang Delong for professional analysis."

"I agree."

"I agree."

"I agree."

"I agree too."

In no time at all, everyone had expressed their opinions, and even those who couldn't think of anything joined forces to muddy the waters.

Shen Junwei closed his eyes. He had neglected stock trading for eight or nine years, and it was impossible for him to pick it up again now. He could only find another spokesperson. He opened his eyes again and looked at Ma Yueze, the executive who had proposed changing the brand image, and asked, "Do you have any candidates to recommend?"

“Liu Jipeng and Lu Qiyuan are both good choices. Or, we could also consider hiring Zhao Danyang. There are rumors that he seems to be leaving the private equity industry,” Ma Yueze said, revealing the information he had.

No one knows why Zhao Danyang chose to retire so suddenly. One explanation is that he couldn't adapt to the rapid changes in the A-share market style. After failing to find a suitable stock in Hong Kong, he decided to retire and wanted to retain his title as the "top private equity investor".

Of course.

There is another explanation.

That's because Zhao Danyang has made too much money. With the title of "Private Equity King", his "Pure Heart Private Equity Fund" has been sought after by a large number of high-net-worth individuals in recent years. As the fund manager, he can earn hundreds of millions of RMB a year.

Don't think it's an exaggeration; the top earners in every industry have extremely high incomes.

Take recycling as an example. Even if you don't reach the top, the top 50 in the country can earn over 100 million yuan a year, and the income of the top 10 is terrifyingly incalculable.

"Zhao Danyang".

Shen Jun muttered to himself.

If the "first person in China's private equity industry" could be brought to Eastmoney, it might truly save the company from collapse and prevent a major disaster.

……

While Shen Jun, Ma Yueze, An Chenliang, and others were still trying to find solutions, Eastmoney continued to lose users.

Besides Eastmoney's users, financial websites such as Tonghuashun, Sina Finance, Tencent Finance, NetEase Finance, and Xueqiu have all experienced varying degrees of user loss. In fact, even Li Daxiao's fan base is being lost.

Where did they go?
Financial Research Network!
At this point, the Joker investment channel had already surpassed one million followers.

A large number of retail investors posted on the channel, eager to know Zhang Yang's trading strategy for A-shares tomorrow. This morning, they had read Zhang Yang's trading strategy post and boldly bought in, making a fortune.

[Little Rabbit]: I'm a new user. Does any veteran fan know when Joker updates? I registered specifically to learn from him.

[He Li Duxing]: When I was young, I didn't know how good Fuchun Road was. I mistakenly took Li Daxiao as a treasure. If God could give me another chance, I would never curse Fuchun Road's mother. Instead, I would treat the mother of the Fuchun Road boss as my own mother.

[Soy milk with milk]: Following the advice of the stock market guru Zhang Yang, I feel like the A-share market has entered an easy mode, where you can just go all in without thinking.

[What the hell is this surprise?]: I made 5 yuan today! Thank you, Fuchun Road! I was blind before, but from now on I will be your most loyal follower! Xi Hai!!
[Loves Dumplings]: I want to join the "Rich Family Army" and ruthlessly harvest money from retail investors. I'm willing to bear all the infamy, but only if I can drive that damn BBA (BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi).

The discussion on the channel intensified, and the reputation of "Fuchun Road" was completely whitewashed during a sharp rise, even to the point that it was wildly sought after by retail investors.

Why is it so popular?
money!
Money can quickly change a person.

Nowadays, if Zhang Yang's trading strategies can help retail investors make money, they will naturally follow in his footsteps, thereby changing public opinion.

At this moment, in the trading area on the 7th floor of Building A, Liao Guopei, Lin Guangchang, Zeng Lingshan, Feng Weiqiang, and Chen Xiaoqun did not rush to leave. Instead, they came behind Zhang Yang and watched him write a market research report on the debt cycle.

"Pap-ta-ta-ta-"

Zhang Yang types on the keyboard at lightning speed.

About half an hour later, at 4 p.m., just after the Hong Kong stock market closed, Zhang Yang stopped typing and muttered to himself, "The first draft is almost done. Next is to optimize the details."

Just as he was about to get up to pour himself a cup of coffee, Liao Guopei suddenly spoke up from behind him: "Joker, you're too professional! By the way, what exactly does 'debt cycle' mean?"

He wasn't formally trained in economics and didn't know much about macroeconomics. Liao Guopei was better at finding undervalued stocks and buying them when no one else was interested.

Hearing the sound, Zhang Yang glanced to the side and was somewhat surprised to find that Liao Guopei, Lin Guangchang, and the other four were still there. He asked, "You guys haven't left yet?"

“You’re typing so fast, we’ll stay and watch,” Lin Guangchang said.

As one of only two people here with a formal finance background, Feng Weiqiang asked, "Boss, please tell us honestly, what is the actual debt situation in China? Is there really still room for us to borrow more?"

“The US, Europe, Japan and South Korea have all speculated on real estate. When the housing prices in Tokyo, Japan were at their peak, they could have bought the entire United States. China has never seriously speculated on real estate, so of course we have room to borrow.”

After a brief explanation, Zhang Yang continued, "If you look at the policy changes from 2007 to 2009, they all aimed to attract people to cities. To stay in a city, you have to buy a house. Ordinary people who want to buy a house will definitely need to take out a loan. Once you take on a long-term loan, banks, real estate companies, and upstream and downstream industries will all be affected. I am very optimistic about China's economy."

"So, as JPMorgan Chase predicts, we will recover economically before developed countries in Europe and America?" Feng Weiqiang asked again.

"Without a doubt."

Zhang Yang smiled faintly.

China's real estate market hasn't accelerated yet, so there's no need to worry about this debt reservoir having problems. With just a little regulation, it's only a matter of time before China emerges from the shadow of the subprime crisis.

Before anyone else could speak, Zhang Yang added, "Tomorrow is the first trading day of December. Go back and rest early. We need to reduce the holding costs of our securities accounts as much as possible."

"By the way, there's one more thing."

He suddenly remembered something and said, "The 'Securities Sales License' will be auctioned in Yanjing on December 15th. If funds are tight at that time, I may use the funds in our securities account to fill the gap and ensure a smooth acquisition."

"Of course, this isn't free money. We'll register a company and use that identity to hold the corresponding shares in Caiyan.com. Wuyingjiao and Yangjia, do you want to invest?"

The current share of funds in the "Zhangjiang Gang" is 50% held by Zhang Yang, 30% by Liao Guopei, and 20% by Lin Guangchang. Zeng Lingshan, Feng Weiqiang, and Chen Xiaoqun do not participate in the profit sharing. If all the funds are to be used, their consent will definitely be required.

"So, we can use this money to invest in Caiyan.com?" Lin Guangchang asked.

"Is this what primary market investment is?" Liao Guopei had only invested in the secondary market and had never tried primary market investment.

"Yes, if we're going to invest, the Industry and Commerce Bureau is still open right now. We can finalize the shareholding, register a new company, and use the new company's name to invest. This way, we can maximize our interests. In addition, through the shareholding structure, we can link it to my Shengtian Group in Hong Kong and legally transfer the money to the Hong Kong market."

Zhang Yang explained it again.

They cannot directly transfer the money they personally hold into Caiyan.com; if they want to use it, they must create a new equity structure under a new identity.

"cast!"

Liao Guopei did not hesitate.

He watched Caiyan.com rise step by step. Now, Caiyan.com's fund sales platform is already so powerful even before it's been built. Once it obtains the "securities sales license" and adds fund sales, wouldn't that be like adding wings to a tiger?
The primary market is quite different from the secondary market; its entry barriers are very high, and sometimes even if you want to invest, they may not let you in.

“I have no objection. If Joker wants to use it, he can have it. However, we need to properly divide the equity. We can’t let other capital benefit from it for nothing,” Lin Guangchang added.

Both of them knew the potential of Caiyan.com, and investing now was undoubtedly like finding a hen that would keep laying eggs. If it went public in the future, their net worth might skyrocket.

"Don't worry, I'll hire a professional corporate equity structuring expert to do the evaluation. You won't lose out," Zhang Yang said with a faint smile.

Although Zhang Yang holds absolute control of Caiyan.com, it also has shares held by Baidu, Alibaba, and Xu Zhiruo. It is impossible to directly misappropriate the funds of the "Zhangjiang gang" to bid for the "securities sales license". It is necessary to use the new company's identity to invest in order to ensure the personal interests of Zhang Yang, Liao Guopei, and Lin Guangchang.

Zeng Lingshan, Feng Weiqiang, and Chen Xiaoqun, who were standing nearby, were filled with envy. They also wanted to invest in Caiyan.com, but unfortunately, they didn't have any money in their pockets.

The returns in the primary market can be much higher than those in the secondary market, especially if the company goes public; returns can easily be dozens of times higher.

“Alright, Joker, you decide.” Liao Guopei wasn’t wary of Zhang Yang. After all, he was able to accumulate over 100 million yuan so quickly thanks to this young man’s decisive leadership. Then, he thought of something and said, “By the way, Joker, now that you’ve exposed your identity, do you want to join the speculative investment group? If we need to expand our group in the future, we can look for candidates in advance.”

"If Joker joins the group, I can't imagine how crazy those speculative investors will get, haha."

Lin Guangchang smiled.

They had wanted to invite Zhang Yang to join the speculative investor group before, but Zhang Yang was worried that it would expose his "Fuchun Road" identity, so he did not join.

Now that the identity of "Fuchun Road" has been exposed, Zhang Yang has no more scruples.

"You can invite me if you want."

Zhang Yang got up and poured coffee.

"I'll invite them, that'll scare those speculators to death, hehe." Liao Guopei quickly pulled out his phone from his pocket and searched for Zhang Yang's QQ.

……

And at the same time.

the other side.

In the QQ group "A-share Investors Association", various speculative investors were reviewing the market and chatting, and before they knew it, the topic had turned to Zhang Yang's thought post.

[Brother Zhao]: I have to say, stock trading is a real science. Have you guys seen Zhang Yang's trading strategy post? It's so exaggerated. He listed out the policy, economic, technical, and capital factors. I can't even imagine what reason he could possibly come up with to dump the stock.

[Hujialou]: Sigh, don't even mention it. I was originally planning to dump the shares today and then buy them back up in a V-shaped recovery. The market trend directly affected my sentiment in the stock market. You want to dump the shares? I'm worried that retail investors will shake me out.

[Tairan Jiulu]: I don't dare to make any rash moves today. Retail investors are too emotional. If I get shaken out, I'll have worked for nothing for half a month.

[Yanjing Speculator]: Putting aside Zhang Yang's trading skills, I think his analysis of the macroeconomy is among the world's best. He can attack Wall Street or defend Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

[Socialite Brother Min] (Shu Yimin): It's just information integration, you're exaggerating!
Every speculative investor has their own stocks they've been holding. Many of them originally planned to sell off today to force out some shares and shake out weak hands, but the market was just too strong.

[QQ Group Chat Notification]: Zen City Shadowless Kick invites Joker to join the group chat. Everyone is welcome.

The moment the group notification appeared, the once lively group chat fell silent. At that moment, Xu Kaidong, far away in Yanjing, exclaimed with wide eyes, "Holy crap! Is Zhang Yang???"

Zhang Zhenwu, the "Yanjing speculator," was also startled and shuddered, saying, "Was it really Zhang Yang who was brought in by the Shadowless Kick?"

"Holy crap, Fuchun Road is coming in!"

Even "Brother Zhao" Zhao Qiang couldn't help but swear, quickly clicking on Zhang Yang's QQ profile to see if it was really him.

Just then, Wang Tao, the "professional copyist" who was the group administrator, didn't see the group ID clearly and typed casually: "Welcome newcomer, newcomer, post a picture."

[joker]: Image.jpg.

[joker]: Hello everyone, I'm a newbie, Fuchunlu. Please give me your guidance. Oh, by the way, should I change my group nickname?
Upon seeing Zhang Yang's photo and the words "Fuchun Road," Wang Tao was jolted awake and blurted out, "Holy crap! Fuchun Road! Fuchun Road's in the group?!"

　I accidentally fell asleep while writing last night, sorry.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)