Rebirth 02, the Celestial Being Told Me to Stop Pretending

Ten million two hundred and forty thousand.

The number flashed on the screen for two days, and Lu Chen never closed the interface.

Wang Yan thought he was enjoying the joy of victory, but he was actually calculating something else entirely.

At the current pace, he should have around 20 million by the end of the year.

Twenty million is enough to make a medium-budget film, but not enough for him to stockpile IPs, sign artists, set up cinema chains, and build the prototype of a streaming media platform.

"Are you planning to increase your investment in the stock market again?" Wang Yan walked over with a cup of coffee, seeing right through him.

Lu Chen did not deny it.

"I'm thinking, what other opportunities are there to double my money within six months?"

"Are you crazy? Six million turning into ten million isn't enough?"

"not enough."

Wang Yan placed the coffee on the table, glanced at him, and said nothing more.

He hadn't spent much time with Lu Chen, but he had already realized one thing: this man's ambition was beyond his comprehension.

Lu Chen reopened the three trading software programs and scanned all his positions.

A-shares: I'm currently holding no stocks; my 5.44 million yuan in cash is sitting in a money market fund with an annualized return of less than 2%.

Hong Kong stocks: 400,000 shares of Tencent, cost HK$3.70, current price HK$4.20, unrealized profit of HK$200,000.

He doesn't touch this money; Tencent is a long-term holding, at least until 2007.

US stocks: 20,000 shares of NetEase, cost $12.30, current price $15.80;

3,500 shares of Apple, cost 11.8 yuan, current price 13.2 yuan;

Two thousand shares of Netflix, costing $15.80 each, are now priced at $21.50.

Including cash and option profits, the total market value is approximately $380,000.

These are all high-quality assets, but they are appreciating too slowly.

He needs something faster.

High volatility, high leverage, short cycle.

He made a fortune in US stock options, nearly quadrupling his investment in Netflix.

But that was just a small test.

If you convert all five million RMB into US dollars and then use options leverage to bet on a stock whose earnings report exceeds expectations...

A name flashed through his mind.

亚马逊。

Amazon's financial results for the second quarter of 2003 will exceed market expectations.

He remembered the figures from his previous life: revenue growth exceeded 30%, earnings per share far surpassed analysts' predictions, and the stock price surged 12% in a single day.

It's now the end of June, and there's less than a month until the financial report is released at the end of July.

Five million RMB is approximately six hundred thousand US dollars.

If you use 600,000 to buy Amazon call options, you can leverage it by 10 to 20 times.

If you bet right, 600,000 becomes 6 million;

One wrong bet, and 600,000 is gone.

This is a gamble where the winner is decided in one go.

Wang Yan remained silent for a long time after learning about the plan.

"You told me before that you weren't trading stocks, but doing asset allocation."

I'm referring to A-shares.

"What about US stocks?"

"US stocks are for swing trading."

"Band?" Wang Yan's voice rose.

"You use all your cash to buy stock options in a company, is that called swing trading?"

Lu Chen did not answer.

He took a piece of paper from the drawer, on which a timeline was drawn.

On July 24, Amazon released its second-quarter earnings report.

Before that, he needed to clear out all his A-share holdings, convert the money into US dollars, and put all his money into Amazon options.

After that, there were two more things.

In August, NetEase released its second-quarter report.

In September, Google went public.

Every opportunity is a chance, but opportunities are for the rich.

What he lacks most right now is not information, but capital.

With an initial investment of over six million, it would only reach sixty million after multiplying tenfold.

He needs to accumulate enough resources in the first two years so that he can seize big opportunities later on.

"My mind is made up."

He folded the paper and put it in his pocket. "I'll start reducing my holdings tomorrow."

However, reducing positions is much more difficult than building them.

The 5.44 million yuan in A-shares is still sitting in a money market fund, which can be withdrawn at any time without any pressure.

The difficult part is the US stock market.

NetEase, Apple, and Netflix are all in an upward trend; selling now means giving up the potential for further gains.

But he had no choice; he needed to pool all of the $380,000 to raise $600,000 in ammunition.

On June 25th, he sold 2,000 shares of Netflix. The average price was $22.30, making a profit of $13,000. It hurt, but he didn't regret it.

On June 28th, he sold 3,500 shares of Apple. The average price was $13.70, making a profit of $6,600. Even more painful.

The most difficult one is NetEase.

He bought this stock from $12.30 and it's now worth $16.20, a profit of over $70,000.

He knew that NetEase's stock price would rise to fifty or one hundred yuan, so selling now would mean throwing away several times the profit.

He stared at the order page, his finger hovering over the mouse, without moving for a full ten minutes.

"Reluctant to part with it?" Wang Yan stood behind him.

"I can't bear to part with it."

"Then don't sell it."

"We have to sell."

He closed his eyes and pressed the confirmation button.

20,000 shares of NetEase were traded at an average price of 16.1 yuan.

All stock sold out.

With the cash in the account and previous option profits, the total balance of the US stock account is $607,000.

He transferred all the money into his options account and on July 2nd bought Amazon call options expiring in July for a premium of $7 per share.

The exercise price was $45, and Amazon's stock price at the time was $41.50.

This means that Amazon's stock price must rise above $48.80 within the next twenty days for his options to break even.

The more it rises, the more you earn.

If the price doesn't rise, the entire $600,000 will be worthless.

Wang Yan looked at the transaction, his face expressionless.

He didn't even bother to try to persuade him anymore.

"Have you finished shopping?" he asked.

"I've finished buying."

"Then tell me, should I come to work for the next twenty days?"

"Whatever."

"I think I need to see how you went from 600,000 to 6 million, or to zero."

Lu Chen glanced at him, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

"Bring plenty of nitroglycerin tablets with you when you come."

From July 3rd to July 23rd, Lu Chong experienced the most stressful twenty days since his birth.

Amazon's stock price fluctuated between 41 and 43, remaining stagnant.

His options depreciate by two to three percent every day, which is a natural decay of time value.

The closer to the expiration date, the faster the time value of an option decays.

At the opening bell, I lost 10,000.

At the close of trading, I lost 20,000.

The next day, they lost another 10,000.

By July 10, the $600,000 premium had shrunk to $410,000, resulting in a paper loss of $190,000.

The first thing Wang Yan does every day when he gets to work is to refresh his account balance, and then he gasps in shock.

By the fifth day, he had become numb.

"Brother Lu," Wang Yan finally couldn't hold back any longer.

When exactly will your Amazon price increase?

"have no idea."

"You didn't know? Didn't you say the earnings report exceeded expectations?"

"If the earnings report exceeds expectations, the stock price will definitely rise. However, it may decline gradually before the earnings report is released."

"So, we have to endure another nine days?"

Lu Chen did not answer.

He zoomed out on Amazon's candlestick chart to look at the weekly chart.

The stock price has been trading sideways between 40 and 44 for three consecutive weeks, with volatility suppressed to the extreme.

This pattern often foreshadows a major market move, either an upward breakout or a downward breakdown.

If the price breaks down, his $600,000 will be gone forever.