Chapter 4: Making a Small Profit

At this moment, the transaction records showed that there were constantly people preparing to buy the two hundred and something lots of the three-dollar sell order.

Three lots, five lots, ten lots, twenty lots.

Clearly, these were small traders preparing to scalp.

Scalping, as it's called, involves swiftly buying just as a stock is about to break through a certain price level, then selling immediately after the breakthrough for a quick profit. Though the profits are not substantial, this quick in-and-out strategy is quite popular among small traders and forms a significant part of their profit-making approach.

Chen Wei used to rely mainly on scalping for profits and had a good deal of experience with this approach.

Looking at the market for Neon at the moment, Chen Wei frowned.

From the daily chart, Neon was in a downward trend, and the three-dollar mark happened to be suppressed by the moving average.

Another whole number!

Generally, these whole dollar marks are quite difficult to break through, especially for a stock in decline.

Although there was a five hundred lot buy order at 2.99, it seemed like it was intentionally placed there by the market maker to entice retail traders to buy into the two hundred lot sell order at 3.00.

In Chen Wei's experienced judgment, this two hundred lot sell order was likely the market maker's entry for short positions!

Once the market maker completes their short positions and the retail traders' long positions are filled, the market maker would withdraw the five hundred lot order at 2.99, and the market would plunge immediately below!

Then, the market maker would follow through with selling pressure, and the stock price would plummet.

As for the retail traders and small traders who entered long positions, they would end up losing money!

Seeing that Zhou Yi had entered a long position of fifteen lots, Chen Wei wanted to warn him, but considering the attitude Zhou Yi had toward him, he decided not to bother.

Let him learn his lesson!

Chen Wei didn't enter a long position himself; instead, he placed a short position for ten lots at the three-dollar mark!

As soon as he placed it, it got executed.

It seemed there were quite a few small traders preparing to scalp.

The two hundred and something lot sell order at three dollars was quickly absorbed.

The stock price broke through!

Zhou Yi cheered excitedly on the side!

But Chen Wei was not concerned at all!

Because after the breakthrough, the upward momentum of the stock price was clearly weak!

The price at 3.01 only had a few lots traded and then stopped...

At this moment, the market for Neon showed 3.00 on the bid side and 3.01 on the ask side.

There was a brief pause in the market...

The five hundred lot order at 2.99 was still there, and there were only scattered buy orders at 3.00 and not many sell orders at 3.01. Altogether, there were about twenty to thirty lots in various channels.

At this point, Zhou Yi also sensed that something was wrong, but seeing the five hundred lot order at 2.99 gave him some confidence.

Zhou Yi's stop-loss order was set at the 2.99 price level. He thought that if things went south, he could exit at 2.99, with a loss of at most fifteen dollars.

However, he underestimated the market maker...

In Zhou Yi's anxious wait, the five hundred lot order at 2.99 suddenly disappeared!

Zhou Yi was visibly stunned for a moment, and his hand hesitated for a beat.

By the time he pressed the enter key, the stock price had already dropped...

Instantly plummeting by twenty cents, Zhou Yi's fifteen-lot long position directly lost three hundred dollars!

Meanwhile, Chen Wei had already made a profit of two hundred dollars!

Chen Wei couldn't help but sigh. If it weren't for Zhao Yang reducing his trading privileges, he would have definitely entered with at least twenty lots. With such a good opportunity, he could have made four hundred dollars!

But there was no point in being angry; his privileges had been reduced, so he had to stick with ten lots for now. Once he made some money, he would directly ask the boss to restore his privileges.

At this moment, Neon's market showed 2.80 bid and 2.85 ask.

There were quite a few buy orders at 2.80, but not many sell orders at 2.85.

However, judging from the market, the stock price still needed to go down, and the buy orders at 2.80 couldn't hold for long.

Sure enough, in less than a minute, there was another large red candlestick on the market!

This time, it dropped straight to 2.50!

Zhou Yi was more decisive this time, and he exited at 2.80, losing three hundred dollars.

There were quite a few buy orders at 2.50, and it seemed unlikely to drop below that anytime soon. Moreover, after the consecutive drops, it was due for a rebound, so Chen Wei didn't wait any longer and exited at 2.50.

Profit of five hundred dollars!

Although he felt a bit regretful, if Zhao Yang hadn't reduced his privileges, he could have made even more. But making five hundred dollars in one go was still quite satisfying.

He had been trading for more than a year, and he could count the number of times he made five hundred dollars on one hand!

What's more important was that his skills were still useful!

Glancing at Zhou Yi, who was cursing angrily after losing three hundred dollars, Chen Wei gloated for a moment, then continued to look for opportunities.

Zhao Yang came over again.

He had just made a profit of over two hundred dollars and was quite happy. He wanted to take a break before trading again, so he came to see how the others were doing first.

"Zhao, making money?" Someone noticed Zhao Yang's beaming face and asked.

"What money? Just a bit over two hundred dollars." Zhao Yang replied politely, but the smugness on his face couldn't be concealed.

"Wow, Zhao, impressive! You've made over two hundred dollars in less than half an hour. Looks like you're going to make over a thousand tonight!"

Someone immediately praised.

"Alright, enough from you. Hurry up and mind your own business!" Zhao Yang laughed and scolded.

Then he came to Zhou Yi's side.

As soon as he approached, he saw Zhou Yi lose three hundred dollars!

Zhao Yang frowned immediately.

First, he looked at Zhou Yi's transaction record and asked, "What was the situation at that time?"

Zhou Yi was still upset about losing money, but when Zhao Yang asked, he patiently replied, "There was a five hundred lot order at 2.99, and there were over two hundred lots at the three-dollar mark. I entered with fifteen lots, hoping to scalp, but after entering, the price didn't move at all. The five hundred lot order at 2.99 was then removed, and the price dropped by twenty cents."

After hearing this, Zhao Yang patted Zhou Yi's shoulder and comforted him, "It's okay. In such situations, anyone would lose money! That market maker is just playing with people!"

Zhou Yi felt a little better after Zhao Yang's comfort.

Zhao Yang then turned to look at Chen Wei, but when he saw that Chen Wei had made five hundred dollars, he was stunned!

He quickly stepped forward and took a closer look. Chen Wei was trading Neon as well!

Suddenly, Zhao Yang felt as if he had eaten a fly.

He had just said that anyone would lose money in such situations, but Chen Wei immediately proved him wrong...

Zhao Yang felt a burning sensation on his face and angrily said to Chen Wei, "What's wrong with you! Why did you short Neon? Don't you know Zhou Yi had long positions?"

On the other side, Zhou Yi hadn't noticed what Chen Wei had done. Now, upon hearing Zhao Yang's words, he immediately leaned over and saw that Chen Wei had made five hundred dollars!

Zhou Yi's expression turned sour instantly.