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

Chapter 272 This time it's a real windfall!
If Henry Goldman had another choice, he would never have come to Paine Weber Securities to watch Larry place orders and make money!

It's incredibly painful to watch someone make a fortune from a stock market crash!

What's that proverb from Queens?

"I can't bear to see my brother eating hard bread in the hold, but I also fear he might ride past my door in a gilded carriage!"

Henry Goldman harbored an extremely complex feeling towards Larry, a mixture of conflicting emotions—Goldman despised him for being born in Boston yet daring to venture into Wall Street alone; he despised his young age and lack of experience, yet envied his ability to time things perfectly, like a seasoned Wall Street fox capable of seizing his prey by the throat; he despised his inability to effectively manage money at such a young age, yet envied his ability to make money like a tidal wave, his greed begetting even more greed!
Watching others make a fortune was the most painful thing for Henry Goldman, a Jew!

Don't rush! Don't panic! And definitely don't be jealous! I still need to use him to make even more money!

Henry Goldman kept trying to comfort himself...

At that moment, Larry was talking to Mr. Potter who had just arrived, while Goldman sat there, his hands gripping the back of the seat in front of him, his knuckles turning white!

He was filled with horror and pain. When his gaze swept over the $5 and gold coins he had bet with Larry, he felt an unbearable, gnawing pain in his heart...

But when Larry asked Mr. Porter to transfer all his remaining funds to his bank account and then turned around, Henry Goldman's face immediately broke into a warm smile, even his eyes and brows radiated sincerity.

He stood up, beaming, and said to Larry, "Congratulations, my dear brother! Your shorting of General Electric was a stroke of genius! You made over forty dollars, that's ten thousand shares!!"

Ten thousand shares?
Larry was slightly taken aback when he heard the number, but then he remembered that Henry Goldman probably only knew that he had sold 1 shares at around $88 today, so he just smiled and didn't say anything.

Henry Goldman continued with a smile, "But I'm sorry, I don't understand why you would reverse your position and buy General Electric at the end of the trading day. Wasn't that stock plummeting?"

Larry nodded, quickly calculating in his mind that Henry Goldman probably only saw him buy the shares and didn't know how many he had bought! Of course, he couldn't tell Henry Goldman everything.

After thinking for a few seconds, Larry smiled and said, "I think... well, this stock is, after all, a stock that Mr. JPMorgan is consolidating. How could Mr. Morgan just stand by and do nothing? So I think since the stock has fallen to a low point, then... maybe it would be better to go long on the stock. What if it goes up on Monday?"

"So you dare to buy another 1 shares?" Henry Goldman's eyes sparkled, but a regretful smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Oh dear! What I was about to tell you... but you were too focused on the quotes... The person I met on Wall Street today was Mr. Morgan, whom I mentioned to you. But do you know what Mr. Morgan said?"

"What did he say?" Larry was also curious. Judging from Henry Goldman's expression, he seemed quite eager to share this news with him...

Henry Goldman struggled to suppress the urge to laugh before saying with a regretful expression, "...He told the reporter who interviewed him that Morgan's banks were not going to help General Electric out of its predicament unless they could change their own situation or make a substantial effort to change it!"

"Ah! Mr. Morgan really said that?" Larry feigned panic, his face showing a pained expression.

“Yes! What a pity… You placed the order in a hurry without letting me finish telling you about Mr. Morgan! Hey, brother, I’ve been trying to stop you!” Henry Goldman’s eyes widened when he heard Larry’s words, but his face was full of regret and sympathy.

Larry also showed a look of deep regret. He put his hand on Henry Goldman's shoulder and said sincerely, his tone full of remorse,
“I knew it! Henry, you have the best heart! You're the only big brother I can rely on on Wall Street! It's such a pity I didn't heed your advice. Alas, it seems my 1 shares of long stock are doomed…”

As Larry spoke, seeing the sympathetic look on Henry Goldman's face, he added, "...I guess they'll all lose back what they made today! Sigh."

A look of regret crossed Goldman's face. "Oh my God! Oh, God... Is that really the case? That's such a shame..."

Larry quickly stepped forward and grasped Goldman's hand, saying sincerely, "But, Henry!! I see your sincerity! I thank you for coming all this way to tell me who the short sellers are... Really, thank you so much! Oh, by the way, haven't I paid you for the information yet?"

“No need!” Goldman said righteously, “...It’s not convenient for you here. You should prepare how to deal with General Electric on Monday. It’s alright! I believe Mr. Morgan will eventually be unable to resist and step in to support the market!”

Larry quickly thanked him for his kindness and said that he would like to work with Henry Goldman on other projects in the future if the opportunity arises.

Henry Goldman nodded, picked up his top hat and cane, and said goodbye to Larry.
"Larry! My brother... don't overthink it. If the stock keeps falling and your losses get worse... you can come to me, and I'll help you borrow money to pay off the brokerage's margin calls. Oh, of course, the interest won't be low, since short-term lending rates are generally high right now..."

“Okay, okay! Thank you, thank you, my brother!!” Larry gripped Henry Goldman’s hand tightly.

As he was leaving, Henry Goldman glanced at the $5 he had lost to Larry on the table, but ultimately said nothing. He simply said goodbye to Larry and went down the stairs.

Larry watched Henry Goldman walk downstairs and out the door. When Goldman reached the front door and looked back again, Larry waved excitedly to say goodbye once more…
.
After Henry Goldman left, Larry's face gradually calmed down. He put away the gold coins and the $5 on the table, a faint smile appearing on his lips...

At this moment, the traders at Paine Weber Securities had already handed Larry his final trade confirmation.

Larry glanced down and saw that his short position of 3 shares had been filled at exactly $40. At the same time, the floor trader also opened a long position of 3 shares for him on the spot. Because it was a downtrend at the time, and both "buying to close the short position of 3 shares" and "buying a long position of 3 shares" were actually buying, the process of acquiring shares was very smooth and completed instantly without any effort.

This is why it is very easy for long positions to be closed out in a bear market.

After dismissing the trader, Larry picked up a piece of paper, took the quill pen he had just used to write the trade order, and began to calculate his actual profits from shorting General Electric.

Larry wasn't incapable of mentally calculating the profit; rather, he felt he had genuinely made money this time, and writing it down was a way of respecting his own success.

His first two sell orders of 1 shares each were placed on Wednesday. He sold 1 shares when the stock price fell to $105, and then sold another 1 shares when the stock price fell to the $100 mark.

Although the two sales prices weren't exactly $105 and $100, but differed slightly after the decimal point, Larry no longer needed to calculate such details. Later, the third sale today had an average transaction price of $88 and three-quarters, which is beyond doubt, and there are transaction records to prove it.

Ultimately, the short positions of these 3 shares were closed out at a price of $40.

The first transaction involved 10,000 shares, with a profit of $65 per share, resulting in a total profit of $650,000. The second transaction involved shorting shares at a cost of $100, with a profit of $60 per share, resulting in a total profit of $600,000 for the 10,000 shares.
Larry sold his third share today at $88.53, closing at $40. The profit per share was $48.75, and the total profit for 10,000 shares was $487,500.

三笔总盈利为65万加60万加48.75万美元，一共173万7500美元！

Larry already had a pretty good idea of ​​the figure before he calculated it, but when he saw the $173 million he wrote down, he was overjoyed!

That's nearly $200 million in profit!! This is the most I've ever earned!
Larry unconsciously gripped the quill pen tighter, even feeling that the money possessed a magical power that could make him ascend to immortality.

However, the transaction fees for buying and selling 30,000 shares this time are not cheap. At a rate of 1%, Paine Weber Securities, his former employer, will charge him a total of $41,375 in transaction commissions!
Larry did the calculations again, and it was true. Brokerages calculate commissions based on total trading volume. His first sale was a volume of 105 million, and the commission was $10,500.

Seriously! This is ruthless! Larry almost pierced the letter with his pen.

After all, a commission of $4 is really... that's almost enough to buy a luxury mansion in New York!
It seems the brokerage firm has really profited from my large-scale transaction!

Fortunately, Paine Weber also refunded 0.6% of the commission, approximately $24825...

However, the brokerage firm took a whopping $16550 in commissions! A few months ago, that was Larry's entire fortune, and now he's paying that much to the brokerage firm all at once!
Thinking of this, Larry cursed viciously again, "When I'm rich! I'm definitely going to acquire a securities company! Not for any other reason than so that I can recoup my losses through stock dividends after all the trading..."

Of course, Larry eventually reversed course and bought 3 shares...

The reason for only buying 3 shares is that Larry has a large sum of money to pay, so he cannot increase his position any further.

In short, I really made a fortune this time!

Larry's initial suspicion arose from short selling by others. He then seized the opportunity to short sell himself, colluding with Morgan to orchestrate a scheme that amplified his profits. However, his actual gains haven't fully materialized yet, as the profits from his 3-share long position in General Electric will depend on his strategy on Sunday…

In short, at Paine Weber Securities, his account previously held $101.25, but after selling three batches of stock totaling 3 shares, he had only a little over $16 in cash left.

Now, with the previous costs recovered, plus a profit of $173 million, and after deducting $41375 in transaction fees, the total is $2,722,525.

If we deduct the $3 margin required to buy 30 shares, then we can withdraw at least $242 million from the account!
This does not include the $24825 commission rebate for this transaction.

By the way, the last time I worked for the New York Central Railroad, the sales department still owed me $41790.

So, no matter how much money is actually left in your account, the branch will return $66615 to you!

Larry felt he couldn't be foolish enough to carry this money around anymore; he needed Mr. Porter to deposit it into his account at the National City Bank in New York!
Excellent! Excellent! With just this one transaction, I've earned enough to cover equity injections and fund follow-on investments, plus my own money to buy a house and the funds I plan to use to acquire Bausch & Lomb!

Larry felt very gratified and happy; his journey had truly been filled with...

Well, it seems like there haven't been any major ups and downs!
On the contrary, I have been calm and at ease all the way... I have never been in a hurry or stumbling!
Okay! Larry smiled to himself.

At this moment, Mr. Porter strode over and said to Larry, "You have a total of $2430750 in your account, plus 3 shares of General Electric stock. Are you planning to withdraw all the money?"

"243 million?" Larry tilted his head back and thought for a moment, realizing that he might have overlooked some odds, but the number wasn't too different from what he had imagined.

“Mr. Porter, let’s put $200 million in the bank account. I need it!” Larry confirmed with Mr. Porter.

Mr. Potter nodded, smiled, patted Larry on the shoulder, and softly praised, "Well done!"

“Thank you!” Larry replied with a smile.

Mr. Porter looked at him and nodded, then said, "My next task is to properly allocate all the money raised by the fund, and to transfer it to Kodak where appropriate. In addition, I also need to prepare my next investment plan."

“Yes, Mr. Potter, please let me know if you need anything,” Larry said.

Mr. Porter was about to leave, but he turned back to Larry and said, "I just looked at your trading order, and to be honest, I'm very curious why you put the final execution price at $40? I heard that when you placed the order, General Electric's stock price was only around $60. How were you so sure that the stock could continue to fall sharply?"

Larry smiled and gave Mr. Porter a deep look. "It's all thanks to your teachings, sir. You've shown me that stock market anomalies follow patterns. And that incredible prices often appear when the market is irrational. When the stock price reached $60, I foresaw an unimaginable drop in the last ten minutes before the close. Furthermore..."

Larry paused, then said, "It's often like this: for example, if the price of gold is to rise, the first 50% of the increase might take several months, but when it climbs the last 50%, because people have entered an irrational phase, the last 50% increase might be completed in just a few days. Right?"

(End of this chapter)