Reborn in America, I am a legendary short seller on Wall Street.

Chapter 5 Closing a position
The two arrived at the gambling den, both panting heavily.

The price they were presented with surprised them.

$6 and a quarter of a dollar! That's down 25 cents from $6.5 at the opening.

Logan was keeping the transaction slip. Now, he took it out and looked at Larry with a hint of helplessness.

"What should we do? Sell it? It's already doubled in value! That's fine too."

Larry carefully examined the price list, then glanced at the wall clock, and decisively said, "Let's wait a bit longer!"

Logan scratched his head, puzzled by Larry's intentions. He glanced at the price board, then at the noisy crowd in the betting house, paused for a moment, and then spoke.

"It's already gone up a lot... My sources, well, the person who gave me the inside information, said that Barrington might have an extra dividend, but this extra amount is barely worth it, so a one-dollar increase in the stock price is already the absolute maximum!"

Seeing that Larry remained unmoved, calmly awaiting the latest quote from the telegraph machine, Logan continued,

"The manipulators of this stock must know this, so I think we should sell now before it falls back to $6!"

Larry turned his head and gave the red-haired Logan a deep look.

Although Logan was four years older and taller than Larry, he still unconsciously touched his cheek under Larry's gaze, as if there was something dirty there.

Larry looked at him and said calmly, "Wait a minute, after Brorington's stock price opens high, there will definitely be people like you who will sell at the high point, which will cause the stock price to fall..."

Larry then turned back to look at the price chart and continued, "However, since the stock opened high, it means that the buying frenzy has begun. As long as the stock price can stabilize, we will see even higher prices today!"

Logan hesitated for a moment before reluctantly saying "Oh".

Larry thought to himself that Logan had truly inherited the Celtics' naiveté; he was impulsive in everything he did, but became incredibly cowardly when it came to personal gain.

They ignore the overall trend, fail to analyze the causes and consequences, and disregard the true logic behind stock price increases, relying solely on assumptions.

You won't make big money this way!
The two men stood side by side watching for a while, then the telegraph machine began to click. The young man with black hair, responsible for reading out the rates, held a strip of paper and called out to the rate scribe,
"Breakton, $6.5!"

It went up; Brorington's stock price returned to its opening high!

Logan clenched his fist in excitement, while Larry remained calm.

The stock price has just returned to its opening high, and there was already a lot of buying interest. If they see that the price can't be pushed down, they will naturally step up their buying.

Sure enough, in the next half hour, Barrington's stock price soared, from $6.5 to $6.6, $6.75, and finally to $6.9.

Even Larry smiled at this moment.

The two of them have now made a net profit of $14.85!
However, for the next half hour, the stock price of Barrington remained at $6.9, without any further increase.

Logan was getting impatient. He patted Larry on the shoulder. "Let's go! Let's sell Barrington! We've been out for over an hour, Mr. Potter will be furious!"

Larry didn't even look at him this time, and said coldly, "If you think a 75-cent job a day is more important, then what are you doing at the betting company?"

Logan was speechless.

The two of them had already skipped work today, and whether they went back now or in the afternoon, they would definitely be scolded by Mr. Porter, the sales manager. So there was really no need for them to rush.

The truth is, Logan couldn't sit still as the stock price rose to $6.9; he was eager to cash in his profits!
But Larry remained unmoved.

For some reason, Logan felt a deep-seated fear of this blond 14-year-old boy. Larry's calm and confident demeanor always made Logan feel as if he were inherently inferior to him.

Previously, when redheaded Logan was looking for a partner for "speculation," Larry was the first person he thought of. Now, although he had the trading order in his pocket, he didn't have the courage to sell and close the position without Larry's consent.

The morning session was nearing its close, and the clock was already pointing to 11:45.

The quoting machine kept clicking away as always.

Stock quotes are not sent at a fixed frequency. Some popular stocks may experience continuous buying and selling, which means that for a long period of time, the telegraph tapes will all show the same stock name. Barrington is a popular stock today; for the past five minutes, its price has been consistently at $6.9.

But at that moment, after the telegraph meter sputtered its tape again, the black-haired boy responsible for announcing the prices suddenly shouted towards the price display.
"Breakton, latest price $7.2!!"

An uproar erupted in the lobby of the betting company's business department.

Because popular stocks like Barrington generally don't experience dramatic rises and falls; their fluctuations are usually quite subtle.

But at this moment, near the midday close, Brorington's stock price suddenly jumped 30 cents from $6.9 to a high of $7.2, which is extremely unusual!
Even the manager of the betting company walked over, pressed his monocle with one hand, and began to seriously verify the price of Barrington stock.

After checking it several times, the manager put down the paper tape.

The price is correct, it's $7.2!

Logan's face flushed with excitement!

Larry held out his hand, palm open, and said, "Give me the transaction record!"

Logan paused for a moment, then gently placed the neatly folded transaction slip from his pocket into Larry's palm.

At 11:49, a new offer came in.

"Breakton, $7.25!"

11:52,
"Still Barrington, $7.5!"

The onlookers in the trading hall couldn't sit still any longer. Some rushed to the counter and shouted at the clerk, "Buy me 10 shares of Barrington! I have $13 here, buy as many as you can!!"

Clearly, Barrington's unusual surge has excited many people.

"There must be some unknown positive news about this stock, otherwise it wouldn't be able to rise so much!"

"This is what one of the customers, dressed in sugar factory work clothes, analyzed."

Logan's face was flushed; he felt certain that this time, the deal was in the bag.

Larry remained unmoved and waited quietly.

At 11:57, the telegraph machine clicked and sputtered, and the latest paper tape was dispensed.

The black-haired boy glanced at the paper strip, was about to speak, then glanced at it again to confirm, before calling out,
"Breakton, $8.5! Oh my God!"

Boom! The sales department was thrown into chaos, as if a bomb had been dropped on it.

Everyone was amazed by Barrington's jump of up to $1!
But at that moment, Larry walked to the counter with a blank expression, slammed the transaction slip on the counter, and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"I want to close my position! Barrington, $8.5!"

The clerk at the counter was the same one who had filled out their purchase prices two days ago. That person seemed a little dazed; he looked at the price list, then at Larry.
Are you closing your position now?

“Yes, Barrington!” Larry’s tone left no room for argument.

At that moment, Logan followed. He saw the Barrington stock explode and wanted to stop it, but due to Larry's current momentum, he never said "Wait a minute, we'll talk about it this afternoon."

Finally, after careful verification, the counter clerk found the line on Larry and Logan's transaction slip.

The following words were filled in under the statement "Buy 9 shares for $5 and a quarter, with a margin of $1 per share".

"Close position at $8.5!"

He then signed his name.

(End of this chapter)