Rebirth 02, the Celestial Being Told Me to Stop Pretending

On July 16, Amazon released a product update announcement, declaring that it would accelerate its logistics infrastructure development.

The stock price fell slightly by 0.5 percent, and the options continued to depreciate.

On July 18, an analyst downgraded Amazon's rating, causing the stock price to drop by one percent.

His options fell below $350,000.

Wang Yan finally couldn't sit still any longer.

"Brother Lu, shouldn't we cut our losses? We still have 350,000 left; we could use that to make a short film."

"Don't cut your losses."

"but......"

"No buts."

Lu Chen's voice was even more composed than Wang Yan had imagined, but his fingertips were already ice-cold.

He put his hands in his pockets to avoid touching the mouse.

Because he was afraid he wouldn't be able to resist and would sell it at the last minute.

July 19th and 20th are the weekend.

With the US stock market closed, his options stopped depreciating.

For the past two days, he has locked himself in his office, neither going home nor going out, and he hasn't even eaten much.

Liu Yifei called, but he didn't answer.

He replied with a single word: "Busy" when I sent him a message.

She knew what he was doing.

She didn't bother him anymore, but every night at midnight, she would send him a message: "Still not asleep?"

He replied, "Not yet."

She said, "Good night."

He said, "Good night."

These two words were all it took to get through the toughest weekend.

Wednesday, July 23.

The night before Amazon's earnings release.

Lu Chen didn't sleep all night.

He went through all of Amazon's financial data from the past five years, reviewed the reports of its competitors, and examined every analyst's rating and prediction for Amazon.

All the data points to the same conclusion: Amazon's performance will exceed expectations.

But data doesn't lie, and data won't help him either.

The market is not driven by data, but by people.

People can change their minds at the last minute.

At 3 a.m., Liu Yifei sent a message: "Are you asleep?"

He replied, "Why aren't you asleep yet?"

She actually replied: "I'm awake. I dreamt that you lost money."

Lu Chen stared at the screen in silence.

"No, it won't happen," he replied with three words.

"You promise?"

"I promise."

She didn't reply.

But Lu Chen knew that she definitely hadn't fallen asleep again.

Thursday, July 24th.

Financial report release date.

Amazon's stock price rose slightly by 0.5 percent during the day, while option prices remained almost unchanged.

Wang Yan was restless at the company, refreshing the market information every ten minutes and sighing after each refresh.

Lu Chen got annoyed by him and closed the notebook.

"Go out for a walk."

"I don't want to leave."

"Then go downstairs and buy me a pack of cigarettes."

Wang Yan was driven away by him.

He was the only one left in the office.

He opened the window, and the July winds of Beijing rushed in, carrying heat and dust.

He stood by the window, not looking at the stock charts, not doing accounts, not thinking about anything.

Just standing there.

US stocks closed at 4:30 p.m.

Amazon closed at $43.20, with options priced at $3.10.

He had $420,000 left in his account.

The unrealized loss is 180,000, representing a 30% loss.

But the financial report hasn't been released yet; the real battle is in the after-hours market.

Lu Chen sat in front of the screen, pressing the refresh button no less than twenty times.

At 4:01, the financial report was released.

Revenue reached US$11.3 billion, a year-on-year increase of 31%.

Earnings per share were $0.19, compared to market expectations of $0.1.

Exceeding expectations by 90%, net profit hit a record high.

Lu Chen's hands began to tremble.

It wasn't nervousness, it was an adrenaline rush.

After hours, the stock price jumped from 43.2 yuan to 48.5 yuan, an increase of 12.3%.

His options, with a strike price of $45, were originally out-of-the-money but have now become in-the-money.

With a stock price of 48.5 yuan, an exercise price of 45 yuan, and an intrinsic value of 3.5 yuan, plus the surge in time value and implied volatility, the option price will at least double.

The $600,000 royalty is now worth at least $1.5 million.

After-hours trading lasted for two hours.

Amazon's stock price continued to rise, reaching a high of $51.

His options price rose to $5.80, and his account balance exceeded two million dollars.

The after-hours trading session for US stocks ended at 6:00 AM.

Lu Chen turned off the computer, sat down in the chair, feeling as if all the energy had been drained from his body, and his tense mind finally relaxed.

He looked down at his hands, which were still trembling.

The phone lit up.

Liu Yifei sent a message: "How is it?"

He typed: "We won."

Three seconds later, she replied with a smiley face.

"I knew you could do it."

The market opened on July 25th.

Amazon opened at 51.20 and briefly surged to 53 during the session.

Lu Chen sold call options in batches, with an average transaction price of 6.5 yuan.

One hundred and twenty-five options were traded, with a total payout of US$2,125,000.

Adding the remaining balance in the account, the total assets in US stocks exceeded two million two hundred thousand US dollars.

With an initial investment of 600,000, a net profit of 1.6 million was made.

The rate of return is 267 percent.

When the money arrived in his account, he didn't cheer, celebrate, or even laugh.

He locked himself in his office and stared at his account balance for a long time.

Finally, he decided to divide the $2.2 million into three parts.

The first one, one million dollars.

Converted to RMB, it's approximately 8.3 million. It will be transferred to a domestic account for investment in the next film and for industry chain development.

The second one, $800,000.

He will continue to hold the shares and wait for Google to go public. Google will hold its IPO roadshow in August, and he wants to grab shares on the first day of trading.

The third one, $400,000.

This is the "venture capital" he left for himself, to be used for the upcoming financial statement options trading.

He opened his A-share account, where 5.44 million RMB was sitting in a money market fund. With the newly transferred 8.3 million RMB, the total came to 13.74 million RMB.

He doesn't plan to invest this money in the stock market anymore; it's too slow.

He wants to turn it into investment for his next movie, into expansion funds for ringtone copyrights, into upfront payments for variety show projects, and into the first cornerstone of his vast business empire.

The $1.2 million in the US stock account is intended to be turned into even more.

In August, NetEase released its second-quarter report.

In September, Google went public.

Netflix's third-quarter report in October.

Each one is an opportunity, each one is a gamble.

But Lu Chen was no longer afraid.

Because he knew that these numbers had actually happened in his memories from his previous life.

Unless the butterfly effect is so great that it overturns the entire earnings season.

He closed the account interface, picked up his phone, and sent Liu Yifei a message: "The investment funds for the next film are enough."

She replied immediately: "When can I see the script?"

"soon."

"Are you going to stay up all night writing again?"

"I don't stay up late. It was already written a while ago."

Lu Chen took out a thick envelope from the drawer. The cover had four words written on it: "The Legend of Sword and Fairy".

In this lifetime, he managed to buy the film and television adaptation rights of the Legend of Sword and Fairy from Softstar Entertainment before Tangren Media could.

This is a story he was familiar with in his past life, and it is also the first super IP he plans to create in this life.

He stood at the office window and looked down at the traffic flowing by on the street.

The evening breeze in Beijing in July is very hot; it feels like fire on your face.

My phone vibrated again.

Liu Yifei sent a message: "There will be a reward if the script is well written."

He paused for a moment, then asked, "What reward?"

She sent a smiley face, then deleted it.

He posted another message: "Read the script first."

Lu Chen smiled.

He put his phone in his pocket and strode towards the subway station.

Twenty-three million.

There are still five months until the end of the year, that's enough.