2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 728 Investment Opportunities Arising from the Largest Single-Day Loss
P.S.: Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, guys! Since I didn't miss an update during the holiday, how about giving me a vote?

"This pregnancy came at the wrong time, otherwise we could have gone to see the World Expo."

The biggest and most talked-about event in May was undoubtedly the World Expo.

Oh, right, and Kim Jong-un visited yesterday. I'm so used to hearing about Kim Jong-un, it was a bit strange to suddenly see Kim Jong-un.

“It’s okay. It looks the same on TV. I’ll have the World Expo team take lots of photos and bring them back for us.”

Just like the Olympics, the World Expo also needs electric vehicle sponsors.

As a sponsor of the 2008 Olympic Games, it is only natural that they continue to serve the 2010 World Expo.

The two parties signed an agreement as early as last December. Compared to 2008, FlashDrive's electric vehicles have a more stylish design and more mature battery technology.

The batteries supplied to the World Expo will still be the full range of lithium batteries.

In the lead-acid battery sector, everyone uses the same suppliers, and there's not much difference in technology. However, in the lithium battery sector, Flash Technology is definitely ahead of all its competitors, with Yadi being the only one it can compete with.

Yadi previously had a battery cooperation project with Guoxuan and Shanchi in Luzhou, and Yadi can also use the joint venture's technology.

At the World Expo site, 300 two-wheeled electric vehicles and 120 four-wheeled electric vehicles bearing the Flash brand shuttled between the various pavilions, serving as mobile advertisements.

"Okay, let them take as many detailed photos of each exhibition hall as possible, so we can take a good look."

"That's no problem, I'll have Uncle Lin arrange it; let's go for a walk."

Aside from the high-level official publicity that required Tan Jincheng's cooperation, Lin Yumin was in charge of all other publicity for the World Expo. If this was entrusted to him, he would definitely be able to take beautiful photos.

"You don't need to keep an eye on me. Just keep busy with the company. You must be quite busy lately too."

"It's nothing, it's alright. I've been scheduling meetings with some shareholders of Weilai Auto and Jinxin these past few days. Once we've arranged a time, I'm going to merge these two companies. There's nothing else major I need to take care of."

Now that Flash Group has reached its current size, Tan Jincheng's focus is on strategic matters: where the company should invest, which companies to acquire, or how to cooperate with local governments, conduct inspections, or give speeches.

He can be really busy, but as long as Boss Tan doesn't have that much desire to show off, he's actually quite free.

The older of the two, Ma, is full of ambition, flying all over the world giving speeches. How can he not be busy?
Tan Jincheng only attends events he can't refuse, or those that would substantially help the company's business. He generally declines invitations whenever possible. For example, some universities in his hometown have invited him to give speeches several times, but he has refused them all.

Teacher Ma has great eloquence, and besides, he was actually a teacher, so he definitely has some knowledge. He's not afraid to boast at all.

Family members know their own background. They have little education in both generations. In this life, they rely on information asymmetry to do business and can impress people with their boasting. If they were to give a speech on stage, they could fool people once or twice, but if they did it too many times, they would definitely be exposed.

The fact that he emphasized being down-to-earth during the interview is also a sign of his poor ability to boast.

If Boss Tan had even half of Yu Da Zui's abilities, whether it was holding a press conference or giving a speech, he would certainly dare to boast.

"If these two companies were to merge, it would cause quite a stir, involving so many shareholders."

"That's right. It's fortunate that Jinxin was registered in Beicang back then, otherwise it would have been even more troublesome."

The place of registration of a company is also very important. If Jinxin was originally registered in Beijing or Luzhou, then this merger would most likely not be able to be completed. This involves tax issues. Few local governments are willing to move the main body of a large-scale company.

"Yes, that's why I said earlier to move your shell company over here as soon as possible, or we can just register a new one. Otherwise, it will be difficult to move it once it reaches a certain size."

The weather in Ningbo in May is nice, neither too cold nor too hot.

Tan Jincheng and Gu Qingqing strolled around the villa area, occasionally running into acquaintances, who nodded in greeting.

There aren't many people living in the villa area; most of them are well-known people in the Beicang District, belonging to a group of wealthy and influential individuals.

The main urban area of ​​Jeonbuk-kwang is very small, and there is only one villa community in this area. In the past, they used to sell some, but now they don't sell anymore, and they have to be very selective about who rents them out.

There are no dramatic plot twists. The people who live here, even their families, are generally low-key and unlikely to offend anyone.

The Tan Jincheng and Zhang Xupeng families are probably the youngest homeowners living here. People often talk about these two families in private, and they often see the Tan couple.

Gu Qingqing saw him more often after she became pregnant, while Tan Jincheng, who left early and returned late, was rarely seen.

"I rarely see Boss Tan, and I didn't realize that the young couple had such a good relationship."

"They're really good. The way they look at each other isn't fake. They're both so young and have such a good relationship. It's really good that they're living a simple life together."

"She seems to be due soon, right? We're neighbors, should we send her a gift?"

"I heard from Xiao Tan's mother last time that it will be in July. It would be nice to send a small gift when the baby is born."

"Then you can tell me about it later."

"Okay."

Tan Jincheng was unaware that the two people he had just met were gossiping about them. After wandering around for a while, he went home. The housekeeper was already preparing dinner, but the old Tan couple were nowhere to be seen.

I asked and found out that he went to visit his maternal uncle's older cousin. His maternal uncle, who is born of the same mother, had a son who was Tan Jincheng's older cousin. He graduated from high school last year, but his grades weren't great and he only got into a junior college.

In his previous life, this kid studied logistics, and he was lucky enough to catch the golden age of logistics. He got a job at SF Express, which was tiring, but he benefited from the era's boom and earned a pretty good income.

This kid's grades were just so-so in this life. Spurred on by Tan Jincheng's reward, they improved a little compared to his previous life, but they still weren't high enough for undergraduate studies.

However, Tan Jincheng still managed to get him into the Engineering College of Ningbo University to study computer science; he still had that little bit of power.

"Bringing him food? This kid is so fat he's unrecognizable, and you still bring him food? What a kind aunt."

Boss Tan was speechless. He had never heard of someone bringing food to college students. It's not like they can't come over normally.

"Hehe, I guess Dad and Mom just want to go out for a walk. Let them be."

Gu Qingqing couldn't help but laugh when she thought of her older cousin's physique. He was just over 1.7 meters tall and weighed over 160 pounds, almost 170. The key thing was that he could eat a lot and was almost round.

“Hey, this won’t do. This kid has a lively personality, good speaking skills, and can endure hardship. I was thinking of putting him to good use at Orange Technology in the future, but his current image is definitely not suitable.”

"How do you know he can endure hardship? He's only just started university."

"I know a bit about my cousins' personalities."

Working in logistics and delivering packages is a very hard job. This guy has been doing it for many years since graduation. He doesn't squander the money he earns but saves it. He has a very good character.

Tan Jincheng learned by chance that Tan Jincheng had saved over 100,000 yuan in just a few years after graduation and had even bought a car worth tens of thousands of yuan. Upon further inquiry, he discovered that Tan Jincheng usually saved all his money except for food and drink.

There's nothing to it with Alipay or credit cards. You have to understand, this is the era when Jack Ma was everywhere, promoting advance consumption, and countless young people have suffered because of it.

Young people with limited education but some money in their pockets are not easily fooled; it's not just about being frugal.

"In that case, after he studies at school for two years, we can put him on the cusp of being established at TiMi. If he does well, we can put him at Orange Technology after he graduates."

The two of them just had a chat, and it was decided that TiMi Studio would be temporarily affiliated with Orange Technology and managed by Gu Yanning.

The newly established TiMi Studio is separate from Orange Technology's existing game division. It mainly develops large-scale mobile games such as Honor of Kings and Onmyoji, especially Honor of Kings, which involves game background, hero design, game modes, and item development.

Tan Jincheng has indeed played games like Honor of Kings, Onmyoji, and PUBG, and he can explain the game mechanics in general terms, but he knows nothing about how to develop them.

However, having an idea is better than having no idea at all.

"Speaking of which, some of the game developers at Orange Technology were sent over by Tencent through business cards. We'll get some more stock when those two are really fighting it out."

The 3Q War was still in its early stages at this time, and Tencent was only making some small, clandestine moves.

However, for 360, their browser market share is currently average, and they only have 360 ​​Security Guard and 360 Antivirus. 360 Security Guard is the company's lifeline, and Tencent should have noticed it even if they made a small move.

Even Gu Qingqing noticed; if Zhou Hongyi hadn't been paying attention, he would have been finished long ago.

Out of curiosity, Tan Jincheng even called Lei Jun to find out what was going on. Speaking of which, Lei Jun and Zhou Hongyi, who are from the same hometown, are old friends. Their wives are also best friends.

The two haven't arranged a fight in the park yet. Being from the same hometown and both having started their businesses in antivirus software, competition is inevitable, but it hasn't affected their relationship.

What year was the fight supposed to happen? It must have been when 360 was making phones.

Back then, Zhou Hongyi would call out to Xiaomi on Weibo every day, which amused netizens and earned her the nickname "Xiaomi Customer Service Number 2."

These two best buddies have a love-hate relationship.

Oh, right, our current protagonist in this fight incident, Little Ma, is also involved. This guy seems to genuinely hate Zhou Hongyi, seizing every opportunity to make sarcastic remarks, which is completely different from his usual demeanor. In this era of short videos, Zhou Hongyi's Douyin account has posted dozens of videos, which can be summarized into three things: sharing his music listening equipment, telling entrepreneurial stories, and studying Lei Jun's behavioral science.

This guy seems to be following Lei Jun's lead every step of the way, from antivirus software to mobile phones, and then to cars—it's a complete imitation.

Zhang Yong, the current CEO of Weilai Motors, has suffered greatly under Zhou Yongkang's leadership.

He's clearly a big shot in the automotive industry. Even if he's not particularly good at marketing, he shouldn't be being lectured like a greenhorn just starting out in the workplace.

He truly lives up to his reputation as a chivalrous internet personality; he's capable of anything for marketing.

night.

Tan Jincheng, who was still sleeping in the study, was woken up by a phone call. He answered the phone groggily.

"what happened?"

"Boss, Apple's stock price plummeted by 27% intraday, falling below $200."

Cheng Linfeng's voice was somewhat hurried. Ever since the boss's wife became pregnant, he hadn't dared to call the boss in the middle of the night.

Today's unexpected event was just too big. In a short period of time, the stock price dropped from $258 to $199, with a fluctuation of nearly 30%. ByteDance's overseas accounts and Jinqing Xiangjiang suffered heavy losses.

"Huh? What's going on? Why?"

Tan Jincheng was also a little confused. Knowing about the future was one thing, but in his previous life, as a mere leek (a term for someone easily taken advantage of), he couldn't possibly remember that there was such a thing before the release of the iPhone 4.

"HTC released its new flagship phone, the G10, and also announced its entry into the domestic market. In addition, contracts are expiring, so some people should have reduced their holdings."

"Oh, is that all? The losses were huge?"

It's said that both ByteDance's stock trading accounts and Jinqing Xiangjiang's securities accounts have heavily invested in Apple. Four or five months have passed, and both accounts have made a lot of money on Apple.

"Yes, the losses are huge. In just a short time, the ByteDance account lost more than 3 million yuan, and Jinqing Investment lost even more."

Cheng Linfeng was truly terrified. Both of his securities accounts had 70% of their positions in Apple, and just tonight's fluctuations alone would result in a loss of 11.34 billion yuan.

He's been investing in funds for so long, but he's never experienced anything this exciting before.

He can make decisions on fluctuations of 100 million or 200 million, but he really doesn't dare to make decisions on fluctuations of 1 billion, even though the boss had previously instructed him to make the decisions.

"Huh, just because HTC released a new phone? And that contract expiring thing, the stock price plummeted?"

Tan Jincheng also woke up at this moment. He had just lain down for a short time when Cheng Linfeng woke him up. He was a little resentful at first, but it was just that the stock price dropped a little.

He knew about Apple's position, and now that he thought about it, it made sense. With a fluctuation of over 10 billion, if Cheng Linfeng hadn't informed him, he would really need to consider whether he could keep this vice president in charge of securities investment.

"Boss, this is a fluctuation of over 10 billion, and you still call this a trivial matter?"

Cheng Linfeng was both amused and exasperated. His two securities accounts had lost over a billion yuan in just half an hour, and the boss actually called it a trivial matter. How could he be so careless?

"It's okay, it's not a big problem. If you still have money in your account, you can buy more now. If you don't have money, you can use margin to buy more. Then you can find an opportunity to make a profit from the price difference. One HTC won't affect Apple."

HTC has indeed been incredibly successful in the past two years. Just last month, HTC's market value soared to $335 billion, surpassing Nokia and RIM to become the world's second-largest mobile phone manufacturer, second only to Apple.

While chatting with Cheng Linfeng, Tan Jincheng picked up another phone to browse the news. HTC's new phone launch was one reason, but another reason for Apple's sharp drop in stock price was probably media reports that the iPhone 4 had not obtained network access permission from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and would still not enter the mainland market.

Look at Nokia, look at Motorola, and look at HTC. Which mobile phone manufacturer doesn't covet our market?

Apple will release the iPhone 4 at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco on June 7. Recently, spy photos have been circulating everywhere. When it comes to marketing, Apple is in no way inferior to other mobile phone manufacturers.

If the iPhone 4 really fails to obtain network access permission from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, it will definitely have a significant impact on Apple's stock price. However, Tan Jincheng knows that the iPhone 4 is intended for the domestic market.

If I remember correctly, it was indeed a few months later. Before the Chinese version was launched, models like the Hong Kong version and the Japanese version were very popular.

"Adding more shares? You're already at 70% leverage. Isn't this too risky, boss?"

Goodness, this boss really plays the game like a retail investor. He goes all in on a single stock. ByteDance has invested 1 billion yuan in the stock market, of which 700 million yuan went to Apple. Jinqing Investment has sold off its BYD shares and other stocks, totaling 2 billion yuan, of which 14 billion yuan (70% of its portfolio) went to Apple.

With a principal of 34 billion yuan alone, they even plan to increase their investment!

"What are you afraid of? That news is fake. What do you mean it can't enter the country? Apple products will definitely be able to enter the country. Don't worry, just buy more."

Since the development of the iPhone 4 began, Apple's stock price has risen at least seven or eight times from its low point, once reaching $700. This is just the beginning; any major drop is a good opportunity to buy more.

With a principal of 34 billion yuan, this wave of investment should easily generate 200 billion yuan, and everyone should be able to reap a substantial profit from this wave of dividends.

"Boss, are you so sure Apple can enter the Chinese market? Have you heard something?"

Cheng Linfeng also saw the news. Who knows if it's true or false? He's done things like releasing fake news to shake out weak hands before, but if it's true, it could indeed affect Apple's valuation.

After all, not being able to enter the domestic market has always been Apple's biggest pain point. There are actually many iPhone 3GS models available in China, but the money can only be made by scalpers.

"Add to your position. As long as you don't get liquidated, just add to it. I'll let you know when it's time to sell. You don't need to worry about any other information."

It was the middle of the night, and Tan Jincheng was too lazy to chat with him; there were some things he didn't need to tell him.

With the widespread adoption of 3G networks and the trend towards smartphones, whether Apple can enter the Chinese market is essentially a game of strategy. Nowadays, the entire mobile phone industry chain is like the automotive industry chain, and we can only get a small share.

Joint ventures in the automotive industry have driven the progress of domestic brands, and the introduction of Apple to promote the industrial upgrading of the domestic mobile phone supply chain is now imperative.

From a past God's perspective, Apple's entry created a catfish effect, causing even major manufacturers like Nokia and Motorola to suffer setbacks. Domestic mobile phone brands that did not want to be eliminated had to upgrade their industries.

Policy and market trends combined to give us our dominant position in the smartphone market, while the once-mighty Samsung has been driven out of the domestic market.

The introduction of Tesla is actually following the same pattern.

Apple wants our market, and Jobs defined Apple as a groundbreaking product, so they will definitely agree to our demands. Entering the domestic market may have some setbacks, but it is absolutely impossible for it to fail.

"Okay, then I'll listen to the boss. I'll add to my position as much as possible while keeping the margin call in place."

With the boss so confident, Cheng Linfeng was also going all out. Even if he lost all 34 billion yuan of principal, it wouldn't necessarily bankrupt the two companies. He was going to gamble big.

"Haha, don't be afraid. There's a saying among retail investors: bull markets are full of crashes, and bear markets are full of long bull runs. Just go for it."

However, this sharp drop in Apple's stock price is indeed the largest single-day decline since the establishment of ByteDance's stock trading platform. Goodness, it dropped by 11.34 billion in just half an hour, which is a quarter of the total market value of Shuguang Auto.

"Okay, go ahead and buy it. You guys can decide on the rest. That's all for now."

After hanging up the phone, Tan Jincheng couldn't sleep. He certainly didn't work in the mobile phone industry himself, but Apple's supply chain was only just beginning, and he could at least enjoy the benefits for another ten years.

Desheng Electronics currently has some iPod orders, but this is still far from enough.

We don't make phones, but we can get involved in Apple's supply chain. We have money in our pockets right now, so we can definitely invest in contract manufacturing. Luxshare Precision and O-Film are not listed yet, so there are plenty of opportunities.

Acquiring shares in some well-known companies in Apple's supply chain—not too many, just 5% or 10% would suffice. Including shares in Xiaomi Technology, FlashCheer has essentially secured a foothold in the smartphone sector.

Luxshare Precision and O-Film are currently preparing for their IPOs. For the time being, they are both considered to be genuine Apple supply chains, belonging to the same category of contract manufacturers as Dexian Electronics.

That's easy. Just talk to their major shareholders and issuers. No discount is needed. Just subscribe to the shares at the issue price. I don't believe any shareholder wouldn't be tempted.

"No, I need to talk to Huang Ming about this tomorrow and finalize the deal as soon as possible."

Hey, Cheng Linfeng's phone call was worth it, and Apple's fluctuations were also worth it, otherwise he would have forgotten about it because he's been so busy with the company merger lately.

No wonder Lao Lei mentioned Apple today, intentionally or unintentionally. That old guy must know something.

When it comes to doing business and building a career, it's essential to connect with well-informed big shots and combine that knowledge with what you've learned in your past life. This is much faster and more convenient than making decisions on your own.

In addition, Apple's unusual activity tonight made Tan Jincheng realize a problem: nowadays, any decision he makes can affect billions of dollars in assets, so he has to be more cautious about making decisions in the future.

Especially in the secondary market, as the amount of capital increases, the fluctuations become uncontrollable.

Lost in thought, Tan Jincheng drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, after having breakfast, Tan Jincheng hurriedly instructed Li Yaohui to drive to the headquarters building, which puzzled Gu Qingqing. Didn't they say yesterday that there wasn't much going on lately? What happened?
"Old Huang, how much money do we still have for primary market investment? Also, could you check the progress of Luxshare Precision and O-Film's IPOs and see if we can subscribe offline directly?"

(End of this chapter)