Chapter 058: Electronic Order

As Chen Wei and Zhao Yang exited the stairwell, they coincidentally saw Sun Chong, the leader of Group Five, stepping out of the elevator.

"Hey, Lao Zhao, just the person I wanted to see," Sun Chong called out, hurrying over to them.

Zhao Yang turned to Chen Wei and said, "You go ahead." He then followed Sun Chong to his office.

Chen Wei didn't say anything and headed back to the trading room. Inside, many traders greeted him warmly. Chen Wei responded with a polite smile.

After Zhao Yang's earlier conversation, Chen Wei was now more vigilant. As he walked to his seat, he silently observed each colleague, particularly Zhou Yi.

It wasn't that Chen Wei had a particular bias against Zhou Yi, but if he were in Luo Chen's shoes, Zhou Yi would be the first person he'd approach. Zhou Yi and Chen Wei hadn't gotten along well before, and Zhou Yi was easily swayed.

When Zhou Yi saw Chen Wei, he greeted him enthusiastically, "Hey Chen, you're here?"

Since discussing their plans to start their own company the previous day with Chen Wei and Zheng Junpeng, Zhou Yi had been thrilled, eager to dive into the new venture. His attitude towards Chen Wei had shifted dramatically, now full of enthusiasm.

Chen Wei responded with a slight nod and sat down at his desk to open his computer. Zhou Yi didn't think much of it; Chen Wei had always been like this, so today didn't seem unusual.

Zhou Yi leaned over and shared some of his thoughts on starting the company, such as potential office spaces to rent. Chen Wei responded with casual, non-committal remarks.

Soon, the market opened. Chen Wei began looking for stocks to trade.

Before long, one stock caught his eye: HDSN.

The stock was trading at a bid price of 1.95, with about ten orders at that price, and an ask price of 2.00, where a string of orders was stacked.

EDGX, NASDAQ, ARCA, BATS, BYX, NQBX, EDGA…

Practically all the commonly used trading channels in the U.S. stock market had fifty to sixty orders each at 2.00.

Electronic orders!

Chen Wei glanced at the chart and saw that the 2.00 price was a recent high for this stock. He didn't hesitate and placed a hidden sell order of 500 shares at 1.99.

However, the upward trading volume for this stock wasn't very high at the moment. Even after placing his order, only a few shares were traded in the next ten minutes.

Someone noticed the hidden order at 1.99 and placed a visible sell order at that price. Although it was only five shares initially, soon a long string of sell orders appeared at 1.99.

The electronic program followed the downward trend!

This was getting interesting!

Chen Wei quickly withdrew his hidden order at 1.99 and placed another hidden sell order at 1.98.

This time, only five shares were traded before someone pushed the electronic orders down to 1.98 again.

Chen Wei was a bit frustrated. He wished they'd wait a little longer before pushing the price down.

But he understood that as long as he placed hidden orders, others would place visible orders, causing the electronic orders to follow down.

This time, Chen Wei decided to clear the ten or so buy orders at 1.95, dropping the bid price to 1.90. Then he placed a hidden sell order at 1.97.

Again, only five or six shares were traded before the electronic orders dropped to 1.97.

Chen Wei continued to push down, but as the price dropped, fewer shares were traded. Eventually, others were placing hidden sell orders before him.

Chen Wei sighed, realizing it would be hard to trade more shares under these conditions. He currently held only about fifty short positions, with a floating profit of over $200.

Seeing that there were still about twenty buy orders at 1.90, Chen Wei cleared them out, holding around eighty short positions in total.

The electronic orders kept pushing down.

Soon, the price dropped to 1.85.

There were about two hundred buy orders at 1.80, but only a few at 1.83.

Chen Wei tried placing a visible order at 1.84, but it was immediately bought. He placed another order, and it was bought again.

At this point, Chen Wei realized the price had likely bottomed out. However, from 1.85 up to 2.00, there was still a long string of electronic sell orders. Unless these were withdrawn, it would be hard for the price to bounce back.

Chen Wei wasn't in a hurry and decided to wait.

Soon, more orders appeared at 1.83, and the 1.85 orders were gradually being bought.

Feeling uneasy, Chen Wei decided to sell his remaining eighty short positions.

The electronic orders at 1.85 were dwindling, down to less than two hundred shares.

However, from 1.86 up, there was still a string of electronic sell orders.

Chen Wei hesitated for a moment and decided to buy fifty long positions.

Given the strong buy orders below, even if he had to stop out, it wouldn't be much. Besides, he still had his skills to rely on.

Chen Wei wanted to see if the electronic orders would be withdrawn.

Some electronic orders would withdraw automatically, but not all.

After buying fifty shares, the upward trading speed increased, and 1.85 was quickly cleared out. The 1.86 sell orders started being traded.

After a few trades, the five hundred or so electronic sell orders at 1.86 suddenly withdrew!

Chen Wei was momentarily stunned but quickly placed a series of buy orders at 1.87.

Because he already held fifty shares, he could only buy fifty more per order. In a series of quick trades, he bought a total of 250 shares at 1.87.

With the initial fifty shares, he now held 300 shares.

Just after he finished buying, the orders at 1.87 were all withdrawn, revealing orders at 1.88.

As the 1.88 orders started trading, they too were withdrawn.

Chen Wei was right; the electronic orders would automatically withdraw.

With the sell orders gone, the buy orders started to pile up, though not in large quantities, just ten shares or so at a time.

Chen Wei frowned again.

He held 300 long positions. If the situation repeated, it would be difficult to sell out of his positions.

Previously, he'd managed to sell about eighty short positions by pushing the price down.

The trading volume for this stock was still too low.

Chen Wei shook his head, realizing he'd been impulsive. He shouldn't have bought so much.

But since he had, and it had been almost two minutes, using his skill now seemed wasteful. He decided to wait and see.

Zhou Yi, hearing Chen Wei's rapid trading, thought he'd found a good stock and came over to take a look.

By now, the electronic sell orders for HDSN had mostly been withdrawn, leaving only a few scattered orders at 2.00.

However, the buy orders below were still sparse, only covering up to 1.88.

Zhou Yi looked at the screen, frowned, and asked, "Why did you buy so much of this stock?"