3: Start

George watched the intraday chart of ShineGold Technologies and felt a bit baffled. Not only did it hit the limit-up as Alex had predicted, but the specific intraday trend also closely matched Alex's analysis. It seemed that the big players in this stock had launched a surprise rally towards the end of the day.

"Have I encountered a master?" George wondered. He was genuinely impressed and began to think that Alex might be a stock market expert. He ruled out the possibility of mere luck because Alex had the courage to go all-in, and the intraday trend aligned almost perfectly with his analysis. This couldn't just be luck, could it?

"He mentioned that there might be consecutive limit-up days for this stock, and if it happens, that would practically confirm that he's a stock market expert, especially a short-term one," George muttered to himself. However, it was Saturday, and the A-share market didn't open on weekends. In stock trading lingo, "tomorrow" referred to the next trading day.

The weekend passed, and it was now Monday, July 14th.

Around 8 AM, George arrived at the internet cafe. He had come early, hoping to run into Alex.

He looked around the internet cafe but didn't find the person he was looking for. Instead, he returned to the same computer he had used the previous day. The cafe was quite crowded during the weekend, but on a workday morning, there were fewer people.

"Hey buddy, you had to come, didn't you?" George sat at the computer and didn't do anything but waited. He wasn't in the mood to play games, and StarCraft didn't seem as appealing.

George was starting to think that Alex might be a stock market expert. If that was the case, missing out on this opportunity would be a real shame. He regretted not asking for Alex's contact information the previous day.

Around 8:40 AM, George saw a young man approaching the row of computers, and it turned out to be Alex.

Seeing Alex, George was thrilled and quickly greeted him, "Hey, you came early, huh?"

Alex recognized George as the guy from the previous day and nodded with a smile, "Yeah, internet cafes don't have built-in trading software, so I had to come early to download it."

At that moment, Alex had a clear understanding of George's intentions. It was likely that George had seen the limit-up in ShineGold Technologies and believed he had encountered a stock market expert. People's curiosity about the stock market was strong, and that's one of the reasons why teaching stock trading was so profitable. Most people were driven by the desire to get rich.

How to dispel worries? Only by getting rich!

In a brief moment, Alex had a series of thoughts. With his limited initial capital, he needed to accumulate capital quickly, especially with the semester starting in two months. He had to provide startup capital for Oliver, Leo, and the others, who wanted to venture into the emerging mobile internet industry.

Alex couldn't use leverage from his family; getting money from them would be difficult, especially in a market perceived as gambling by most people. Banks wouldn't provide the solution either, as large-cap A-shares weren't eligible for margin trading until 2014.

George had become Alex's target during this short period. The plan was simple: demonstrate his trading skills convincingly, and when the time was right, propose that George provide the necessary funds to get rich together. George wouldn't likely refuse, and with his age and over a decade of stock market experience, he could probably contribute a few thousand dollars, even if it was just a couple of thousand. Every little bit counted.

Alex's intentions were well hidden from others, and he appeared to be calmly downloading trading software. George watched in silence, realizing that Alex was thoroughly focused on scanning the market. If he truly was a stock market expert, George didn't want to disturb him.

Alex quickly logged into his trading account. The opening call auction was about to start. Before checking the market, he reviewed his current holdings.

[Held Stock: ShineGold Technologies (600735)] [Number of Shares Held: 1700 shares] [Average Purchase Price: $4.91] [Current Market Price: $5.46] [Portfolio Market Value: $9,282] [Daily Profit/Loss: +$82.98 (+0.87%)] [Floating Profit/Loss: +$935 (+11.20%)]

Looking at the current profit and loss of his holdings, it was clear that Alex had made a brilliant move. He had cleared the previous owner's stock, which had dropped to near its daily limit-down, and replaced it with ShineGold Technologies, resulting in an impressive gain. He had not only recovered the previous owner's losses but also turned a profit on the same day.

As the call auction began, George watched Alex, who seemed to be conducting his trading activities with great concentration. His speed in scanning the market was impressive, and he quickly selected a few stocks to add to his temporary watchlist.

Is this the work of a short-term trading expert? It seemed pretty impressive...

George, quietly observing, couldn't help but marvel at Alex's actions.