Chapter 7: Winds of Market News

When he finished replying and switched the computer interface back to the forum's homepage, it was already 11:30 AM. The midday closing was approaching for the stock market. The Shanghai Composite Index, Shenzhen Component Index, and the ChiNext Index were all hovering near the flat line. The overall trend was a clear narrow-range oscillation. Apart from the 'military industry' concept, which was still relatively popular and speculative, other industry sectors and concepts were stagnant, with no visible profit-making effects.

"Thank goodness I listened to you yesterday and reduced my holdings in 'LeTV' stock," just after the market closed, the female trader sitting beside Fang Wanqing, Deng Yajie, let out a sigh of relief. The tense expression on her face gradually relaxed as she continued, "The stock dropped again today. I really can't understand who's been consistently selling it."

"Did you completely liquidate your position?" Fang Wanqing asked upon hearing the voice, realizing that the market had already closed.

Deng Yajie nodded and said, "Following Manager Wang's trading strategy instructions, I've sold everything. It's a good thing I did because I think this stock might continue to drop in the afternoon. The problem is I don't know the specific negative news affecting the stock. The vague negative expectations are tormenting for those holding the stock."

With that, Deng Yajie got up from her workstation and pulled Fang Wanqing to go have lunch.

Before leaving, Fang Wanqing glanced at Su Yue and saw that he was still at his workstation, not moving. She was about to invite him to join them but hesitated. In the office, with so many people around, if she were to actively invite him to lunch, it might lead to unnecessary speculation among colleagues. Thus, she held back and refrained from saying anything.

After Fang Wanqing left, Su Yue surveyed the trading room. Seeing that only he and Zhou Kai were still there, he knew that the two of them, as newcomers, hadn't completely integrated into the trading team yet due to their unfamiliar relationships with everyone else.

"Let's go eat," Su Yue stretched and got up from his workstation. He walked over to Zhou Kai's workstation, patting his shoulder. "You, my friend, used to work so diligently in the Investment Strategy Research Department. I've never seen you neglect your meals and sleep. What happened now? Did last night's date not go well? Did you get dumped?"

"How could I get dumped?" Zhou Kai turned to see Su Yue, got up from his seat, and replied, "With my charm, it's always others who get dumped."

"That's not charm," Su Yue chuckled. "It should be called 'financial ability.'"

"Only by investing money can you reap rich rewards," Zhou Kai said. "It's the modern era now, and 'financial ability' is a kind of personal charm. Let me tell you, with this skill, if you're willing to spend money on a girl, even if your personal appearance, figure, and age aren't exceptional, you'll still have a chance."

"Is that so?" Su Yue smiled.

After thinking about it for a moment, Zhou Kai suddenly felt that his statement seemed one-sided, so he emphasized, "But for someone like Chief Fang in our trading room, that probably won't work... Ordinary 'financial ability' might not impress her. However, I think for someone like you, Su Yue, you don't need to challenge the 'hell-level' difficulty from the start. Let's just stick with the 'beginner's village' level."

"What's the 'beginner's village' level?" Su Yue asked.

With a sly smile, Zhou Kai leaned in and whispered a few words to Su Yue. Then, he shook his Apple phone and continued, "I still have a few resources among the girls in my WeChat. Do you want me to introduce one or two to you? Don't worry, with our relationship, I'll definitely introduce you to girls with excellent looks, figures, and abilities."

"I don't have that kind of hobby," Su Yue declined with a smile. "You should save that for yourself."

"Tch, you... you just like to act all proper," Zhou Kai lightly snorted. While he knew that Su Yue was rather dull when it came to his lifestyle, he didn't try to persuade further. Changing the subject, he said, "Today, 'Fushun Special Steel' had two consecutive limit-up moves. Su Yue, do you think there's still potential for this stock in the future?"

Su Yue responded, "From a short-term perspective, given the overall sentiment in the current market, it will definitely be challenging for it to achieve a triple limit. However, the 'military industry' mainline trend hasn't fully fermented or erupted so far. This means... if the overall market sentiment warms up again and the 'military industry' trend continues to ferment and break out, 'Fushun Special Steel,' as one of the leading stocks in the current market's 'nuclear power' and 'domestic aircraft carrier' concept hotspots, still has significant speculative potential to the upside."

"'Military industry,' 'nuclear power,' 'domestic aircraft carrier'..." After hearing Su Yue's analysis, Zhou Kai murmured these concepts to himself, feeling a bit dazed. He then asked, "Wasn't 'Fushun Special Steel' following the logic of 'steel industry's turnaround, infrastructure revival'? Why does it sound like what you're saying has nothing to do with that?"

"Is that how you understood it?" Su Yue couldn't help rolling his eyes at Zhou Kai.

"Damn..." Zhou Kai noticed Su Yue's expression and suddenly felt like a fool. He said, "That's exactly how I understood it, and I spent half the morning researching that logic."

"You're impressive!" Su Yue heard Zhou Kai's words and couldn't help admiring his trading mindset and market analysis ability. He said, "Apparently, you didn't fully grasp the point when the Master advised us to focus on the 'military industry' mainline before the market opened this morning."

Sighing, Zhou Kai said, "I heard it, but I didn't think that far ahead."

As they talked, they had already arrived at the cafeteria on the 32nd floor.

Since Su Yue reminded Zhou Kai that 'Fushun Special Steel' was following the speculative expectation logic of 'military industry' combined with 'nuclear power,' he had been constantly pondering the issue and contemplating the subsequent trading opportunities in the 'military industry' trend. He wasn't in the mood to eat, so he took a few bites and quickly returned to the trading room with Su Yue.

Observing Zhou Kai's enthusiasm for his work, Su Yue couldn't help but send a string of messages to him on WeChat. He roughly explained the speculative logic behind the 'military industry' trend and the many market expectations associated with it. Of course, he didn't mention the specific target stocks. After all, every trader had their own interpretation of stock selection, and Su Yue didn't want to interfere too much with Zhou Kai's thinking.

"Wow, Su Yue, you're truly amazing," Zhou Kai exclaimed after listening to Su Yue's explanation. Many of his doubts instantly cleared up, and he praised, "No wonder you're Manager Wang's direct disciple. Your analytical approach is simply remarkable. Indeed... the 'military industry' trend is so strong for a reason!"

"The market is always right; there are no inexplicable rises or falls," Su Yue replied. "Market performance is fundamentally driven by massive capital flows, and within the torrent of funds, every unit of real money represents an expectation. If we truly want to understand the market and accurately grasp its pulse, we need to analyze the direction of expectations behind the movement of major funds."

"I've learned, I've learned!" Zhou Kai responded. "To thank you for your guidance, I'll treat you to dinner tonight and introduce a girl to you as well."

"Leave out the girl; we're good colleagues," Su Yue replied.

"A proper girl!" Zhou Kai emphasized.

"Forget it!" Su Yue replied simply. "I don't trust your judgment."

"Damn." Zhou Kai couldn't help but use a colloquial phrase, "You can doubt my character, but you can't doubt my judgment. After all, I've been through the sea of flowers and am known as the 'Prince of Nightclubs' in the Magic City."

"Is that so?" Su Yue chuckled, knowing that Zhou Kai was likely boasting.

"Absolutely!" Zhou Kai replied. "Consider it settled. Don't rush off after work; I must show you something today."

"Let's see about that," Su Yue replied briefly.

Then, seeing that the market had resumed trading, he quickly shifted his attention back to the trading screens.

During Su Yue's continuous monitoring, the afternoon market performance appeared even more sluggish compared to the morning. Both individual stock trading volumes and speculative sentiment for hot concepts were gradually declining. Although the major indexes maintained their narrow oscillation patterns, many core stocks had already hit new phase lows intraday. Among them... 'LeTV' stock, which had maintained high market attention, continued to decline and closed with a 6.75% drop.

"It's another agonizing day!"

Seeing that after all the major indexes had experienced a substantial volume-led plunge yesterday, they were now forming reduced-volume bearish candlestick patterns today, lacking any rebound momentum. In the trading room, Deng Yajie couldn't help but exclaim, "Judging by this, the market correction is far from over. I'm afraid the Shanghai Composite Index will need to retest the 1800-point level."

"I also feel that the Shanghai Composite Index might not hold at 2000 points," another trader next to Deng Yajie responded. "However, luckily, our fund's positions have been completely reduced today, and the loss-making positions have been cleared. The fund's net asset value should temporarily... stop falling."

"Our fund's net asset value not only didn't fall today, but it also slightly increased," Wang Liling walked into the trading room without anyone noticing. She smiled as she joined the discussion and continued, "This suggests that the change in our trading strategy is effective."

"Did it increase?" Fang Wanqing was somewhat surprised.

In her memory, their fund product, 'Future Investment Mix Select,' hadn't outperformed the market index in a long time.

"Manager Wang, we didn't make any purchases today," Deng Yajie, also surprised by the increase in net asset value today, couldn't help asking, "Everyone is reducing and clearing their positions. Our account's buy-in permissions are all locked. How did the net asset value... increase?"

Wang Liling scanned the group of traders in the trading room and noticed their puzzled expressions. She smiled and explained, "The reason our fund's net asset value performed positively today, despite the overall market decline, is mainly due to the limit-up move in 'Fushun Special Steel' and the rebound of our fund's original heavy position stock, 'Dahua Group.'"

At this point, Wang Liling praised Su Yue for discovering 'Fushun Special Steel' and also commended Lu Changjun for promptly cutting the 'Dahua Group' stock during the intraday rebound when market liquidity was relatively ample.

"'Fushun Special Steel' was actually discovered by him!"

"He just arrived and already uncovered a market bull stock. His luck... is truly exceptional!"

"I thought Chief Lu had discovered this stock. I didn't expect..."

"Are newbies nowadays this strong?"

"It's really unexpected, but... can this guy accurately buy into these stocks and ride the momentum of two consecutive limit-up moves be luck?"

After hearing that 'Fushun Special Steel' was discovered by Su Yue, almost everyone in the trading room focused their attention on him in an instant. Each person had different thoughts, and their impressions and attitudes towards Su Yue changed accordingly.

Among them, Lu Changjun's gaze lingered on Su Yue for a while, then quickly turned to Wang Liling. He had a different perspective compared to everyone else.

He didn't believe that 'Fushun Special Steel' was discovered by Su Yue.

Instead, he suspected that it was very likely that Wang Liling had privately informed Su Yue and advised him to go all in on it. After all, everyone in the trading room knew that Su Yue was Wang Liling's protégé. He was certain that after Wang Liling took over the management of the 'Future Investment Mix Select' fund, she would naturally focus on nurturing her own people in the trading team. Without a doubt, Su Yue was regarded as one of those "own people."

"Ah... looks like I need to find a way out," Lu Changjun pondered in his heart.

Since the newly appointed Wang Liling didn't consider him a "core member," unreasonably restricted his trading account funding permissions, he saw no need to continue sticking around in a position that was almost at the point of liquidation.

"I hope everyone can work even harder, with a shared determination to change our current predicament."

While Lu Changjun was deep in thought, Wang Liling continued speaking, "Today, our fund's net asset value performed positively against the market for the first time this month. I think this is something worth celebrating. After work today, everyone, please don't rush to leave. I'll treat you all to dinner."

"Great! Liling sister is generous," Fang Wanqing immediately agreed with the proposal, "I want to go to Hai Di Lao, is that okay?"

"What about the others?" Wang Liling didn't respond directly. Instead, she turned her gaze to the other traders.

Seeing Fang Wanqing's suggestion, the other traders naturally didn't want to propose something else. They all agreed with Fang Wanqing's idea.

Seeing that everyone's opinions were aligned, Wang Liling smiled and continued to offer words of encouragement before heading back to her office to call and order dinner.

"Ah, it looks like there's no chance to take you out tonight," after hearing about the dinner plans, Zhou Kai complained to Su Yue in a private message on WeChat, "I had just messaged a girl to meet up."

"No worries, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future," Su Yue replied.

He hadn't taken Zhou Kai's statement seriously from the beginning, so he didn't feel any regret.

"Su Yue, what do you think about 'Northern Navigation' and 'Aviation Power' stocks?" Just as Su Yue replied to Zhou Kai, Fang Wanqing sent him her entire day's research results in a private WeChat message. "One is related to the 'Beidou Navigation' concept, and the other is related to the 'Domestic Large Aircraft' concept. Both are stocks that underwent 'military industry asset reorganization' and are at the core of their respective hot concepts. They both have breakthroughs in the core technology routes of these concepts. They have broad potential in their future business development expectations."

Su Yue's gaze locked onto 'Northern Navigation' easily after Fang Wanqing reminded him, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. He thought, "Senior sister's ability to analyze the market and delve into individual stocks is quite impressive. She managed to find clear investment opportunities in the market so quickly."

"What are your thoughts?" Fang Wanqing asked when Su Yue didn't reply immediately.

After thinking for a moment, Su Yue responded, "The expectations for both stocks are quite positive. If the 'military industry' trend focuses on the 'Beidou Navigation' and 'Domestic Large Aircraft' concepts in the future, the stocks that you've uncovered, I think there's a high probability that they will become targets chased by speculative funds. This would enable them to outperform the market and the overall index."

"Which one do you prefer more?" Fang Wanqing continued to inquire.

Su Yue replied, "Compared to 'Aviation Power,' the free float of 'Northern Navigation' is much smaller. Additionally, it is a more pure military industry company with the 'military core asset injection.' The concept is more focused and, in terms of short- to medium-term price elasticity, 'Northern Navigation' is likely better.

Of course, 'Aviation Power' is also performing well in terms of expectations and its current market trends. However, given the current market's poor overall liquidity and the ongoing phase of existing capital competition, with severe lack of incremental funds, it's likely difficult for large-cap stocks like 'Aviation Power' to achieve continuous surges in the short term, even if there's speculative sentiment supporting them.

Therefore, I think for our trading strategy in the short to medium term, it would be better to focus more on 'Northern Navigation.'"

"Right, that's what I think too," Fang Wanqing replied.

Afterward, she began evaluating various factors for these two stocks, such as their historical trends, historical valuation levels, recent month's candlestick and trading volume changes, recent market news that may impact the companies positively or negatively, as well as the overall sentiment of the investor community towards these stocks. Based on this evaluation, she formulated relevant future trading plans.

Su Yue already had a clear plan for the next market moves.

So, while everyone else was busy reviewing the market and looking for clearer investment opportunities within the 'military industry' theme, he began idly browsing forums and killing time, waiting for work to end.

At 5:30 pm, the company's designated end-of-day time arrived.

Su Yue shut down his computer, stretched lazily, got up, tidied his desk and chair briefly, and then clocked out with the rest of the team.

Before leaving work, Wang Liling had already shared the location information for the dinner in the internal trading room group.

Su Yue left the company building and caught a ride with Zhou Kai, heading straight to the dinner venue.

Upon arriving, under Wang Liling's organization, the eleven members of the department gathered together, enjoyed a happy dinner, and also strengthened their relationships with each other. Around 9 pm, they dispersed and went their separate ways.

Back home, Su Yue hadn't even had a chance to freshen up.

His trading app popped up with an important news update about 'Northern Navigation.'

Feeling the vibration of his phone, he checked the screen and saw the message. His eyes instantly lit up, surprised as he said, "I didn't expect the market news about this stock to come so quickly!"

(End of this chapter)