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

Chapter 252 One Makes a Huge Profit, the Other Suffers a Huge Loss (First update, another chapter will be updated in an hour)
The worst thing a person can do is to think they are smart and treat others as fools.

Larry experienced this firsthand.

Looking at the embarrassed King Astor IV, he felt that such heartfelt advice was really a bit too much for the scions of wealthy families who were born with arrogance, haughtiness, and pride.

When New York Fire Insurance fell below $11, he impulsively wanted to buy nearly 4 shares. Although Larry didn't want to interfere too much, he still dissuaded him out of friendship.

As a result, Astor IV still bought 20,000 shares. This brought his total holdings in New York Fire Insurance to 100,000 shares.

At the time, Coral was unaware of this; he always believed that King Astor IV had only purchased 6 shares.

Larry focused on his trading, and as New York Central Railroad soared, he bought 10,000 shares at the opening price of $105.75, and later added another 10,000 shares at $112.75.

When the stock finally broke through $118, Larry determined that the stock was in a strong upward trend and bought another 1 shares.

However, his third purchase of New York Central Railroad shares was at a price of $118 3/4.

At this point, Larry has completed the three evenly spaced additions to his position in today's short-term upward trend. He has established a position of 3 shares in New York Central Railroad, which is the limit for short-term trading.

Around 2:35 p.m., the stock officially broke through $120.

Larry considered that the stock took a full day to break through $120, and although this price was higher than Saturday's high, it was easy to see that the stock price faced strong selling pressure.

So Larry simply liquidated his 3 shares of short-term stock, with the final transaction price being $120 and one-eighth.

The 30,000 shares yielded a profit of $242,500, with total commissions of $69650 charged.

Larry was stunned when he calculated the commission amount. He checked it again, and it was true. Because of the leverage, the total transaction amount for the three purchases of 3 shares was $330 million, while the total transaction amount for the one sale was $360 million. The total commission was indeed $69650.

Fortunately, the brokerage firm only charged a 4% commission, so Larry's actual commission was only $27860, and Paine Weber even had to return $41790 to him.

Larry was stunned when he calculated the commission amount. It seems that high leverage is a double-edged sword. Fortunately, he made money. Subtracting $24 from $2.78, he still made more than $20.

But what if we're losing money today? Such high commissions would only make things worse...

Larry thought of this and turned to look at King Astor IV, who was now suffering a double blow to his reputation and his pride.

King Astor IV sat on the sofa, watching the New York Fire Insurance's final closing price reach $8.5, remaining silent.

Larry went over to comfort him and said, "It's inevitable that the secondary market will fluctuate, John. This drop in New York Fire Insurance was really well-prepared... You don't need to worry too much about it."

King Astor IV's eyelids twitched, but he still pretended to be calm and said, "...It's just 14 shares, I can afford to lose them. At worst, I'll lock them up and not touch them; the stock will definitely come back up."

This time, Larry was startled. "Wait a minute, John, didn't you buy a total of 6 shares? 2 at first, and then you added two more, 2 shares each time..."

King Astor IV blushed slightly and patiently explained that while Larry was out checking his stocks, he had bought 2 shares twice more. When the New York Fire Insurance stock fell below $10 at the end of the trading day, he bought another 4 shares to "average down his cost."

Hearing this, Larry felt it was a bit too much; they had secretly bought an additional 4 shares without his knowledge.

People tend to think of stock trading as a game of averaging down costs, but often this misconception leads them to invest far more than they imagine and take on unnecessary risks.

Astor IV was such a person.

He viewed the stock price decline as an offense to himself and attempted to stop it with brute force. In reality, his final purchase was no longer for making a profit, but rather for averaging down his cost...

Rather, it's something purely derived from emotions, driven by spite, pride, or something else.

But there was no need to tell him that; Larry understood that you shouldn't hit someone in the face.

After thinking for a moment, Larry said, "Alright, John, just treat it as a long-term investment. Don't worry about these temporary losses."

King Astor IV turned around and quickly nodded. "Yes, I did intend to make a long-term investment!"

Larry thought to himself, "I wonder who it was this morning who kept yelling that they'd beat the short seller with a rally in the market..."

Now, after one failed move, they've switched to long-term investing.

Astor IV lost $42 today with ease, and if commissions are included, it's easily over $46...

Damn it, the stock market is really wild right now. He easily lost the principal he invested in the fund yesterday... But it's not good to say that anymore. As the saying goes, don't hit someone in the face. It won't look good if I say it again.

Larry kept reassuring Astor IV, not commenting on his own actions, but only emphasizing how cunning the short seller was.

Just then, news of the explosion at the New York fishing port reached the sales department...

Mr. Potter, having heard that Astor IV had oversold New York fire insurance, came personally to report this news that he had just learned.

King Astor IV was struck dumb upon hearing the news. He sat stunned on the sofa, pondering for a long time, before a smile spread across his face. He turned to Larry and said,
"Larry, you're absolutely right. They're absolutely ruthless and will stop at nothing... So, so my defeat is understandable..."

Larry was speechless, thinking to himself that the other party was a difficult guy, and he had warned Larry about this before.

But seeing the other person's pleading look, Larry nodded solemnly and quickly continued, "Yes, the other party is too cunning. I can guarantee that the explosion at the New York Harbor must be related to him."

"It must be, absolutely! That damned scoundrel, that devil! The NYPD must find him as soon as possible." King Astor IV's face was flushed with anger, and he clenched his fists and kept pounding the armrest of the sofa.

Larry wasn't having an easy time either; he felt a chill creeping up his spine.

Regardless of whether the other party is Jay Gould or not, this kind of cold-bloodedness full of violence, bloodshed and ruthlessness is something to be deeply wary of.

The other side must have made a series of arrangements immediately after learning that the bombing plot had failed.

He abandoned the other stocks that he couldn't fight back on, and gambled all his efforts to recover his losses on continuing to short New York Fire Insurance stock...

To be honest, King Astor IV was really unlucky... He just happened to run into this unethical guy who used a terrorist-like tactic to crash the stock price of New York Fire Insurance.

Larry is now extremely wary of this guy whose face he can't see—just what kind of cunning and ruthless opponent he is...

In short, from now on, you must be extremely careful in your operations. Even if you don't make money, you must never lose money; even if you lose money, you must never lose a life.

You have to be especially careful when dealing with this kind of opponent.

Thinking of this, Larry turned to look at King Astor IV, remained silent for a moment, and then said earnestly,

“John, forgive my bluntness… but our opponents are ruthless. The most important thing for both of us is to ensure our own safety…”

King Astor IV was still secretly annoyed by his recent stock market losses, but upon hearing Larry's heartfelt advice, he nodded and said...

"You're right, Larry, this guy is a monster!"

Larry thought for a moment and continued, "However, my judgment is that this guy will definitely stay quiet for a while. After all, his men have just been arrested, and the explosion at the dock will definitely attract the attention of the New York Police Department."

During this time, you must urge the NYPD and any NYPD officials you can contact to bring this man to justice as soon as possible… This guy will remain a threat to us until he's caught!

King Astor IV's face turned serious. After thinking for a moment, he nodded. "You're right. He's ruthless and operates in the shadows, and he also has unpredictable skills in the stock market... He's really too dangerous."

"You suspected Jay Gould last time, do you have a way to investigate him?"

King Astor IV nodded and said in a low voice, "I have already sent people to investigate him..."

“That’s good!” Larry stood up, putting on his coat as he said to him, “John, stop thinking about stocks. In the long run, after the New York fire insurance payout, the stock price will slowly rise... What you need to do now is stay hidden in your own estate as much as possible until the other party is caught…”

King Astor IV also stood up. "You're right, Larry! But I don't have anything else to do today..."

Larry nodded and said, "Then be careful. You go ahead and do your thing. I'm going back to the hotel... I have a bunch of men waiting for my orders there."

King Astor IV grabbed him, a smile spreading across his face. "Don't go! What I need to do today concerns you... And where is Mr. Dunbar?"

Larry was stopped by him, his face full of confusion, not understanding what Astor IV meant; he still needed to find Dunbar…

Larry leaned out and looked into the trading floor. Mr. Dunbar was still sitting in the leather chair at the entrance of Paine Webber Securities.

“My uncle is over there… Do you need to see him?” Larry pointed downstairs.

King Astor IV peeked out and saw Dunbar. Seeing his loyal and diligent appearance, he exclaimed, "Larry, you've really struck gold! He's a very responsible man... You must treat him well."

(End of this chapter)