Reborn in America, I am a legendary short seller on Wall Street.

Chapter 135 A small profit

"American sugar industry, $106 and a quarter of a dollar!!"

With a powerful shout from the quoting clerk, the trading hall of the Metropolitan branch was once again filled with waves of exclamations.

Customers carrying beer and sweetened black tea were asking questions of each other, and the lobby was filled with a noisy chatter.
"My God, what's wrong with the American sugar industry today?"

"Didn't this stock just rise 10 points? How can it continue to rise?"

"Hey, have you heard anything? Is American Sugar Chairman Havemeyer manipulating the stock price again?"

……

Even more shocked than the customers was the front desk manager of the Metropolitan Casino. He stared at the price list, his face filled with astonishment, his mind in turmoil.

No! That shouldn't be the case. This stock opened 10% higher today. How could the price just keep rising without any pullback?

The front desk manager suddenly remembered the teller's reminder and focused his gaze on the fat man's back.

Mr. Fat remained in the same sitting posture, his eyes fixed on the price list, one leg propped up on his knee and still swinging back and forth; his two subordinates, on the other hand, remained vigilant, glancing around frequently.

The front desk manager bit her lower lip lightly, trying to suppress the shock on her face, staring at the price list, secretly hoping that the sugar company's next price wouldn't go up again...

"US Sugar, $110.25!"

"US Sugar, $110.5!"

The young man guarding the quoting machine would occasionally pull out paper tapes, but it was clear that the sugar industry was a hot stock today, so its quotes came in particularly frequently.

Even the grumpy clerk couldn't stand it anymore. He stood behind the counter and gestured to the front desk manager, asking him to look at the sugar company's quote.

"I'm watching... damn it..." the front desk manager muttered under his breath.

But the grumpy teller kept gesturing, and just as he was gesturing, another quote came in from the sugar company, this time jumping to a full $112.

Sweat beaded on the front desk manager's forehead. The teller's anxiety further exacerbated the manager's panic. He shifted his left foot back, preparing to return to his office to call headquarters and report...

The Rothschild gang is very strict about these kinds of things. If it attracts the attention of the gang's internal investigators, regardless of whether the customer is cheating or not, he, as the manager, will be the first to suffer.

I've only been a month since I finally climbed to the position of manager of the largest sales department at the Metropolitan Casino, so I absolutely can't afford to make any mistakes!

Yes, it's just a coincidence; sugar stocks will fall.

The front desk manager was still having a fierce internal struggle. He prayed that the price of sugar wouldn't rise any further, while glancing at the fat manager, thinking that this might also be an unannounced money laundering operation...

The grumpy teller couldn't stand being behind the counter any longer. She pushed open the door, took a few steps out, and whispered in the manager's ear...

"What are you still hesitating for? Report this to headquarters immediately!"

The front desk manager turned blankly to the teller and asked in a deep voice, "...Do you think this is necessary? Could it just be a coincidence? The stock price will drop soon!"

The grumpy teller got impatient. He glared at the manager and said angrily, "Remember that guy named Edward Robinson from a few days ago? He held 3500 shares and only made 3 points, yet he took $8000 from us... But this fat guy has already made 7 points! How much money does our branch have to pay them back?"

The receptionist was startled, a look of fear crossing her face. Without further hesitation, she strode to her office and reached for the phone...

The moment his hand touched the phone, it rang!
The shrill ring of the phone startled the front desk manager. His hand trembled slightly, but he still picked up the phone and put it to his ear...

"hello……"

"Fuck your mother's head!! Tell your manager to immediately stop all stock orders, right now!!" A furious shout came from the phone.

The front desk manager was startled. He didn't have time to explain that he was the front desk manager. Instead, he quickly agreed a few times and turned to run out the door.

The grumpy teller was glaring at the fat man, her brow furrowed, when suddenly her manager stumbled out, shouting at her.

"Stop all commissions!!"

The grumpy teller was startled and hurriedly asked again, "...Sir, do you mean to stop all transactions now?"

The front desk manager nodded, his face deathly pale, and pointed to the counter, saying to the clerk...

"Go and tell them right now that we are not accepting any orders from this moment on... Not only are we not accepting orders, but you also need to tell the clients to terminate their transactions immediately and make them line up to cash out their orders!"

The teller's face tensed up after hearing this; he knew the consequences of stopping all transactions at this point.

This will not only bring an irreversible credit crisis to the betting companies in the metropolitan area, but may also trigger a run on the betting companies.

A run on a betting company is just like a run on a bank!
If customers believe the betting bank will be unable to withdraw their money, a bank run could easily occur. And at that point, if anything goes too far, it could easily provoke customer anger or even a looting spree!

"Sir... how dare you stop the transaction? This will cause a bank run!" The teller's sour face vanished, replaced by shock and panic...

The front desk manager was also deathly pale. He pointed to the office and said in a trembling voice, "...The orders from above, execute them immediately, and quickly!!"

Helpless, the clerk took a few steps into the counter of the gambling house and shook the copper bell on the table.

This copper bell is usually used to urge customers to hurry up and reach the end time. At this moment, he rang the copper bell, attracting the attention of everyone in the business hall.

"Gentlemen! This branch is temporarily suspending trading due to a major event. All clients with outstanding orders are requested to come to the counter immediately to cash out!"

The teller's voice was like a bomb thrown into the business department, instantly causing the customers to roar in anger.

"No! You can't do this! My order just started making money!"

"It's only 10:35! Are you guys crazy?"

"You bastards! You're all cheating!"

"Yes, you have no right to cancel my order. I just bought 300 shares..."

...The customers' roars ignited the Metropolitan Casino.

In the heat of the moment, the furious shouts instantly drowned out the sound of the bell on the counter.

The Metropolitan Casino's employees and even security guards were stunned.

Two security guards in black uniforms, who were originally standing in front of the cashier's counter, tremblingly pulled out their batons from their sheaths. However, facing the agitated crowd, they tacitly slung the batons behind their backs, not only failing to move forward to stop the crowd but also quietly watching for their escape route at the main entrance.

Seeing the excited expressions on everyone's faces, the front desk manager gritted his teeth, stepped onto a chair, and shouted loudly at the crowd.
"Don't panic, everyone! Listen to me..."

After the voices in the branch office lowered slightly, the front desk manager continued, waving his hands, "This is an emergency, and our branch will compensate everyone... How about this: those who lost money today can withdraw their principal, and those who made a profit will receive one percent of their earnings for free. How does that sound?"

The front desk manager's words brought a brief silence to the sales department. Everyone secretly considered whether these conditions were acceptable.
Some people held a few hundred shares, thinking they could easily make a few hundred dollars more—it was like a windfall!
While everyone was pondering their own plans and remained silent,

Mr. Fat stood up from his seat, looked around at everyone, and said loudly, "No way! God above, you damned betting companies, you can't break your contracts just because a client makes a little money. When you were making money off us, did we have the opportunity to cancel orders like you are now?"

Mr. Fat's loud rebuke made the person who was just contemplating today's unexpected gain start anew...

"That's right! When we were losing money before, you weren't like this at all. You would coldly tell us that our transactions were invalid... Why are you acting like this now that it's your turn to lose money?"

At this moment, some agitated customers have already begun to voice their protests.

"No!! You can't cancel my order, there's definitely going to be a big market move today!"

The customer's shouts were echoed by a crowd.

Of course, some customers, tempted by a bargain, lined up directly at the counter, ready to cash out their money and run away...

One of Mr. Fat's henchmen strode to the counter, grabbed the first person who demanded to have their transaction processed, and slapped them across the face...

The customer screamed as he was knocked to the ground, covering his face and staring intently at the man with fear in his eyes.

Mr. Fat's two henchmen simply opened their coats and revealed their pistols.

"No one is leaving until the gambling den gives us an explanation!"

Seeing the three menacing figures, both the casino employees and the previously noisy customers fell silent...

The front desk manager swallowed hard, took a few steps to Mr. Pang, and pleaded, "Sir, you can't do this... This is the city center. If you assault and extort money, the police will arrest you! I'm willing to compensate you with an extra 10% of your profits, please leave now..."

The portly man grinned, a cruel smile playing on his lips. He glanced at the receptionist, then turned to the customers in the lobby and shouted, "It's not fair to only compensate me. At least all the customers here should get 10% compensation, shouldn't they?!"

Everyone was still in a daze, but when they heard Mr. Fatty say that each person could win an extra 10 points, they cheered loudly!

The receptionist leaned closer to the fat man and said, "Sir, the owner of this company is Monk Rostan! You can't afford to offend him... I advise you to know when to quit while you're ahead."

Upon hearing the name Monk Rothstein, the fat man's facial muscles twitched slightly, but he still said, "I want to tell you solemnly that I am not extorting money. I am just doing business honestly! I just want to see how much money my American sugar business can make, that's all!"

As he spoke, the fat man turned and yelled at the young man in front of the price quote machine, "You damn brat! Why aren't you quoting prices? How long has it been since a new number was entered on the price quote board? Tell me, how much is sugar in the US now?!"

The young man at the price quote machine was startled. His hands trembled as he grabbed a handful of paper strips, touched the latest quote, examined it carefully for a moment, and then, holding the strip, said…

"Sugar, sugar industry, 158, again, again, three-quarters!"

"How much?! Impossible!!" The front desk manager nearly jumped up in surprise upon hearing the number. The price was just $110, how could it have become $158?
Meanwhile, Larry sat in the VIP seat at Reading Company, watching the constantly updated prices from the American Sugar Corporation, a faint smile on his face.

After a brief upward move at the opening, the US sugar market consolidated at high levels for nearly ten minutes.

This is easy to understand. After all, any stock involved in insider trading will experience a sudden surge at the opening, which will trigger profit-taking.

This is the moment to test the strength of this upward trend. If the stock price falls back below the opening price, it indicates weak support and insufficient buying power from insiders, and the market may not be able to continue rising.

But clearly, the sugar industry is not like that.

Well-informed insiders have ears that can reach deep into Capitol Hill, where every move that happens can instantly affect the stock price.

The Republican bill has a very high chance of passing; this was evident as early as 10 a.m. when the market opened...

Besides, the people who built positions in this stock before were none other than the many stock market gurus on Capitol Hill. How could these gurus possibly cash in their profits if the US sugar industry didn't rise?
So, not long after, the stock price broke through $110 and then jumped to around $150...

At that very moment, a trader from Reading delivered the stock transaction slip.

"Mr. Livingston, unfortunately your pre-market order this morning was not filled immediately. It ended up with 300 shares at $106 and 80 shares at $110..."

The trader looked apologetic, but Larry waved his hand dismissively, took the trade confirmation, and said casually, "Thank you!"

The trader frowned, surprised that the client was so agreeable. He looked up at the latest sugar prices in the United States and immediately understood.

Larry glanced at the report and asked, "Could you please check my current profit? Can I use my temporary credit account?"

The trader responded and quickly went back to check Mr. Livingston's account.

昨天93.25美元，利文斯顿买了650股；今天300股成本是106又四分之一美元，80股成本是110又四分之一……

The total profit was approximately $6.2.

Just as the trader was about to look up and tell Larry about the available temporary account limit, he noticed the chubby receptionist manager keeping quietly waving at him...

The trader paused, then understood what the manager meant: the volatility in the US sugar market was too great. They weren't worried about their clients making money, but rather about a potential sharp drop in sugar prices, which could drastically reduce their clients' profits or even lead to margin calls...

The trader thought for a moment, then walked over to Larry and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, sir! The stock is fluctuating too much today, and we can't use the temporary margin account for this kind of stock at the moment..."

Larry frowned, glanced at the clock on the wall—it was only 11:12 AM—then waved his hand and said, "Never mind, it's still early before the market closes. I think I can already make a small profit just from the stocks I hold now..."

The trader glanced at the latest sugar price quote, which had exceeded 162 yuan. He swallowed hard, thinking: "You've only made a small profit?!"

(End of this chapter)