Chapter 359: The Great Suppression of Short Sellers

The atmosphere in Fanghuan Investment's conference room was electric.
"We've been discussing the plan to open our asset management business to individual investors internally lately.
However, the group's board of directors feels it's time to open our asset management business to ordinary investors."
As soon as Liang Haiyuan finished speaking, Liu Bo asked with some concern:
"But once Fanghuan's asset management business is open to ordinary clients, wouldn't that be like issuing a direct challenge to traditional mutual funds? That's going to cause a huge problem!"
"Liu Bo, your vision is too narrow," Liang Haiyuan chuckled. "That's not called issuing a challenge."
"Then what is it?"
"It's called issuing an ultimatum." Liang Haiyuan grinned, looking like an old farmer ready to harvest his profits.
"It's announcing to the world, from now on, we'll take all the meat in your bowls!"
"Hiss..."
A collective gasp filled the conference room.
This wasn't just boasting.
Fanghuan Investment's asset management company remains elusive, existing only in legend.
This is because it currently only manages funds from behemoths like the national team, making it inaccessible to ordinary investors.
However, rumors have already circulated in the industry.
Once this behemoth, Fanghuan Asset Management, is unleashed, every other asset management company in China will likely have to prepare to close down and retire.
"But... if we wipe out all the other asset management companies right from the start, won't that have a negative impact?"
"Hmm, that's a problem..."
Instantly, everyone's gaze instinctively turned to Su Hao, who had remained silent throughout, at the head of the conference table.
"Chairman Su?"
"..."
However, this discussion, capable of shaking the entire industry, didn't reach Su Hao's ears at all.
His mind was already preoccupied with something else.
'That thing… what the hell is it?!'
Yesterday, from his intuitive perspective, a stock called "GameStop" was acting in a way that was utterly bizarre.
Other stocks, regardless of whether they were rising or falling, displayed the usual red or green, bright or dim light.
But this one was like an overturned palette, its colors bizarre, its shape erratic, its aura chaotic…
It felt like a mentally ill person performing a ritual in a public square, muttering incantations you couldn't understand a word of, yet strangely, there seemed to be some truth to what they were saying.
This was a "strange phenomenon" Su Hao had never seen before, leaving him completely bewildered.
The question was, what was his intuition trying to tell him through this?
He was utterly clueless.
"Where's the information I asked you to look up yesterday?"
Su Hao finally spoke, his voice calm, yet instantly silencing the entire conference room.
"Ah, here it is! Chairman Su, you mean the report on Game Station? It's ready."
Liang Haiyuan quickly stood up and respectfully handed over a document.
"This company's main business is selling physical game discs offline."
Opened in 1984, it once enjoyed a glorious era, with stores all over the US at its peak, a symbol of nostalgia for a generation.
But… Mr. Su, as you know, times have changed.”
Liang Haiyuan explained cautiously,
“The internet wave came and swept it ashore.
These days, who would travel a long way for a game?
What's worse, YiQing's blow was a death sentence, and now the whole market is saying it's about to go bankrupt and liquidate.”
Indeed, the iron heel of the internet shattered the golden age of countless brick-and-mortar stores.
And the widespread adoption of smartphones delivered the final, fatal blow.
An era where everyone can stay home and everything can be bought online has arrived in full force.
The pandemic was merely the final straw, accelerating this irreversible elimination.
"Precisely because they saw this, those Wall Street vultures with noses sharper than hyenas have already caught the scent of blood and are launching an unprecedented large-scale short-selling attack on Game Station.
Many hedge funds have placed heavy bets, sharpening their knives, causing the short-selling ratio to soar every day."
"What's the short-selling ratio?"
"According to the latest data, it's already exceeded fifty percent."
The words had barely left his lips when the traders present were all dumbfounded.
"Holy crap, fifty percent?!"
"These bastards are too ruthless! They're trying to destroy it completely, even scattering its ashes!"
In the capital markets, a short-selling ratio exceeding 20% ​​for a stock is already a red alert.
Exceeding 30% is considered being besieged by a massive short-selling army.
50%? That's like bringing out the Italian cannons, ready to blast them to smithereens!
"What's even more terrifying is that this is probably just the beginning," Liang Haiyuan swallowed hard.
"Right now, all kinds of capital are acting like madmen, scrambling to get a piece of the pie.
There are even rumors in the industry that this ratio could eventually reach 70%, or even higher!"
Once targeted by these Wall Street vultures, Game Station's future is basically sealed.
It's foreseeable that soon, a deluge of negative news will spread like a virus, and major forums and communities will begin spreading "insider information" that it's going to collapse tomorrow.
“Old tricks,” someone scoffed. “The Wall Street bigwigs just need to set up their guns, and the media will obediently hand over the bullets, shooting wherever they’re pointed at.”
That’s a crude but true statement. The media, after all, has always been the mouthpiece of capital.
They can be icy to ordinary people, but to their big spenders, they’re absolutely warm and welcoming.
“The stock price is currently $30…”
“Yes. The market generally predicts it will drop below $20 within a few days.
Chairman Su…should we follow suit and get a piece of the pie?”
Liang Haiyuan asked tentatively.
Su Hao slowly shook his head.
Firstly, if they jumped in now to short the market, they wouldn’t even get a taste of the spoils; they’d only be left with scraps. The main prize would have already been taken.
Secondly, for a behemoth like Fanghuan Investment, this small sum wouldn’t even fill a tooth gap; it would be embarrassing to even mention it.
Even so, he decided to rely on his intuition for a final confirmation.
'Short?' he silently asked himself.
The chaotic energy swirling deep within his soul remained unresponsive.
That meant, no participation?
The instant this thought arose, a faint yet clear flash of lightning streaked across his mind!
Wait… this feeling, could it be… telling me to go long?
As if to confirm his guess, that strange intuition trembled again, clearer than before.
'How much should I buy?'
He began setting a figure in his mind, starting with one hundred million US dollars and steadily increasing it, but his intuition remained unmoved.
He then began decreasing, from one hundred million US dollars to fifty million, ten million…
Finally, at a number so small it seemed unbelievable to him, the tremor stopped, conveying a clear "this is it."
"...?"
Su Hao stared at the number in his mind, his face full of question marks.