Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 125

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

125. What’s the name of the company that’s doing the operation?

5th Floor Trading Center, Daeheung Securities Headquarters on Yeouido.
In the spacious office with a massive market ticker board mounted on one wall, dozens of traders sat at their desks, monitoring market conditions and continuously buying and selling stocks as transactions flowed without pause.
Investment Team 4 was equally busy working to meet their assigned profit targets.
Jung Hwan-yeop, who had made a tidy profit from day trading that morning, had tossed his necktie into a corner of his desk and sat in a half-reclined position with his dress shirt unbuttoned.
If Team Leader Choi Ho-geun had seen him, he would have launched into another round of nagging.
Yet his eyes remained sharp as a hunter stalking prey as he watched the two monitors displaying an endless stream of moving numbers and graphs.
Just then, Hong Jae-hee, the team’s only female member, set a mug down on the desk and spoke.

“Here’s your coffee.”
“Thanks, Jae-hee. I appreciate it.”

Hong Jae-hee smiled faintly and brought coffee around to Yu Seok-hyun, who sat behind him.
Picking up the mug, Jung Hwan-yeop kept his eyes on the monitor while blowing gently to cool the hot coffee, then took a sip.
It was coffee brewed strong with two packets of creamer, tailored to Jung Hwan-yeop’s preference for something sweet.

“How is it?”
“Mm, delicious.”

Jung Hwan-yeop gave a subtle thumbs up and brought the mug to his lips again.
The drowsiness that had settled over him after lunch was gradually clearing away under the power of caffeine.
As he was sipping his coffee, Team Leader Choi Ho-geun returned, holding an approval document in one hand.

“Nothing happened while I was gone, right?”
“No, sir.”

Yu Seok-hyun answered briefly from his seat.

“I didn’t know you’d be back so soon, so I didn’t prepare your coffee. Would you like me to make some now?”
“Thanks, but I’m fine. I had some during a meeting just now.”

As Team Leader Choi Ho-geun waved his hand in decline, Hong Jae-hee nodded and carried the empty tray into the pantry.

“What are you doing sprawled out like that? You’ve got it easy.”
“Why are you like this? I worked hard this morning and I’m just taking a brief rest now.”
“Lunch break is already over, so what rest are you talking about?”

Choi Ho-geun leaned his arm against the back of Jung Hwan-yeop’s chair, mug in hand, his gaze fixed on the monitor screen.

“Any stocks catching your eye?”
“A few, but I’m still observing them for now.”

Choi Ho-geun let out a puzzled sound, tilting his head slightly.

“That’s strange coming from you. Usually, the moment you spot something worth eating, you bare your teeth first.”
“Come on, sir. I’m not a dog. Why would you say I bare my teeth first?”
“Did I lie? Your specialty is scalping—quick jabs instead of one big swing. Like a mosquito, right? Tap, tap.”

Choi Ho-geun threw quick punches through the air as he spoke, and Jung Hwan-yeop’s face contorted in exasperation.

“Scalping? I pull off big trades sometimes too, you know.”

Choi Ho-geun found it amusing to tease Jung Hwan-yeop, whose protests had a certain bite to them, and burst into laughter.

“Sure, sure. So if that’s the case, why are you hesitating this time instead of pulling off something big?”

Jung Hwan-yeop pouted slightly, spinning a pen in his hand as he spoke.

“There’s a stock that’s caught my attention, but it looks like someone’s manipulating it.”

Choi Ho-geun’s eyes sharpened with interest.

“A pump-and-dump scheme?”
“Yes. The financial statements aren’t great, and there’s no particular positive news, yet the stock price keeps creeping up. Just looking at the chart, it reeks of something fishy.”
“Which stock?”
“Boseong Communications.”

Jung Hwan-yeop answered while manipulating the keyboard, pulling up Boseong Communications’ stock price chart on the monitor.

“You can see the pattern immediately, can’t you, sir?”

Choi Ho-geun crossed his arms and examined the chart slowly, nodding with a stern expression.

“The stock price rises periodically whenever unusually large trading volumes spike. It’s clear they’re accumulating shares before executing their scheme.”

The stock price chart looked decidedly suspicious even to Choi Ho-geun’s experienced eye.

“Boseong Communications—isn’t that the company that got caught up in a scheme before?”
“Yes. About two years ago, it surged on acquisition and merger rumors, then lost half its value.”
“Tsk. The clueless retail investors will pile in again and get absolutely fleeced.”

Choi Ho-geun clicked his tongue disapprovingly.
Though it was clearly illegal, such schemes were commonplace in Yeouido’s financial district, so Jung Hwan-yeop responded with an indifferent expression.

“Probably so.”

Then Jung Hwan-yeop suddenly spoke as if something had just occurred to him.

“Oh, and it looks like Donghae Peregrin Securities is involved.”
“…!”

Choi Ho-geun, who had been about to lose interest and return to his desk, froze at the mention of Donghae Peregrin Securities.
Then he turned back around, his face hardening into rigid lines.

“Did you just say Donghae Peregrin Securities is involved?”
“Yes.”
“What are you basing that on?”

Jung Hwan-yeop’s expression turned puzzled at Choi Ho-geun’s serious tone as he answered.

“I was curious who was behind it, so I casually asked a friend at the exchange. Turns out all the bulk purchase orders are being routed through Donghae Peregrin Securities accounts.”
“…!”

Jung Hwan-yeop shrugged as he spoke.

“That means someone on their staff is involved in the scheme one way or another.”

Choi Ho-geun, having heard the explanation, nodded heavily with his arms crossed.
The fact that bulk transactions were flowing through Donghae Peregrin Securities accounts meant someone inside was facilitating it.
And at this point in time, securities company employees participating in schemes wasn’t particularly unusual.
Of course it was illegal, but within Yeouido’s securities district, everyone tacitly knew and turned a blind eye.
Yeouido’s securities district was like a den of demons where multiple schemes, large and small, unfolded every month—the kind of place where you could simply let such things slide.
But the fact that Donghae Peregrin Securities, which Seok-won was watching with interest, was involved struck a nerve.
As Choi Ho-geun stared silently at the Boseong Communications stock chart displayed on his monitor with a complicated expression, Jung Hwan-yeop cautiously asked.

“Why are you asking?”
“It’s nothing.”

Choi Ho-geun hesitated for a moment before speaking again.

“Gather everything you’ve found out about Boseong Communications and bring it to me.”
“Are you planning to get involved in this?”
“Just got a bit curious, that’s all.”

Choi Ho-geun brushed it off casually, as if it were nothing.
Though it was obvious he was dodging the question, deepening Jung Hwan-yeop’s suspicions, the associate director simply nodded without pressing further.

“Understood. Should I have it ready by tomorrow?”
“The sooner the better.”

That meant he couldn’t even wait until tomorrow.
Jung Hwan-yeop smacked his lips and straightened his slouched posture, preparing himself to work.

“I’ll organize everything once the market closes and bring it to you.”
“Good. Thanks for the effort.”

Choi Ho-geun gave Jung Hwan-yeop’s shoulder a light pat and returned to his seat.
He then pulled up the Boseong Communications stock price chart on his computer and examined it carefully once more, confirming that a scheme was indeed in motion.

* * *

[Brad Cooper, Primary Culprit in Barings Bank Collapse, Arrested
Brad Cooper, the general manager overseeing Barings Bank’s Singapore branch—the institution that brought Britain’s oldest commercial bank to bankruptcy—was arrested at Frankfurt Airport in Germany last Sunday, the 12th.
German police authorities announced that they took Brad Cooper into custody in the form of voluntary accompaniment after he arrived at Frankfurt Airport aboard a Royal Brunei Airlines passenger flight that had departed from Brunei with his wife.
Once this fact became known, Singapore immediately requested the extradition of Brad Cooper, for whom an arrest warrant had been issued on charges of forging documents.
However, since Brad Cooper, a British national, wishes to return to his home country of Britain rather than Singapore, it appears that disputes over how to handle his extradition will continue for some time.
Meanwhile, Barings Bank, which suffered astronomical losses of 1.12 billion dollars due to Brad Cooper and subsequently went bankrupt, ….]

Seok-won, sitting at his desk in his private office, finished reading the article about Brad Cooper’s arrest and set down the afternoon newspaper in his hand, muttering to himself.

“A variable emerged and I thought the original history might change, but it seems things are flowing as they were meant to, just a bit delayed.”

Originally, he had hidden away at a beach resort in Malaysia, and after a week on the run, he had decided to turn himself in and boarded a flight to Frankfurt.
But this time, after three weeks had passed with no sign of him, I wondered if the history I knew had been altered because of his involvement.
Fortunately, the flow hadn’t changed drastically, but the very fact that things were diverging even slightly troubled me.
Of course, there was no problem with Brad Cooper being caught a bit later.
However, if something like this happened at a crucial moment when I had placed a very large bet, I could end up in a disaster.
Knowing this, Seok-won tapped his fingers lightly against the desk and murmured.

“I’ll need to be more careful with my moves going forward.”

Just then, with a knock, Na Seong-mi, dressed in a two-piece suit, opened the door and entered.

“Director. Team Leader Choi Ho-geun has arrived.”
“Tell him to come in.”
“Yes.”

After Na Seong-mi left and a moment passed, Team Leader Choi Ho-geun entered with a file folder in one hand, bowed his head briefly, and then spoke.
“What is this about?”
“I came to report something.”
“What is it?”

Then Team Leader Choi Ho-geun placed the file folder on the desk and spoke.

“First, take a look at this.”
“…?”

Seok-won, regarding Team Leader Choi Ho-geun with a puzzled gaze, straightened his posture from where he had been leaning back and took the file folder to open it.
After quickly scanning the contents written inside, Seok-won immediately recognized it as a hostile takeover attempt.
Then, furrowing his brows, he lifted his gaze to look at Team Leader Choi Ho-geun standing before him.

“Why did you want me to see this?”

Team Leader Choi Ho-geun, receiving his gaze, answered in a measured voice.

“As you’ve likely already noticed, someone is attempting to acquire shares in this company.”

Seok-won, with his arms crossed and his body leaning back again, wore an expression of indifference.

“So you’re thinking of dipping your toes in early and securing a quick profit?”
“Well, that wouldn’t be entirely unreasonable, but there’s something that bothers me, which is why I came to discuss it.”
“What is it?”
“It appears that Donghae Peregrine Securities is involved in this matter.”

At that, Seok-won’s eyebrows twitched as he looked up from his indifferent posture.

“Did you just say Donghae Peregrine Securities?”
“Yes. Given that dozens of their accounts are being used for concentrated trading activity, it’s clear they’re deeply involved.”

Seok-won’s eyes gleamed as sudden interest sparked within him.

“I see.”

Seok-won picked up the folder he’d set down earlier and flipped through it page by page as he asked.

“What’s the name of the company being manipulated?”
“Boseong Communications.”
“Hmm. That name sounds familiar somehow… Ah!”

Seok-won furrowed his brow, searching his memory, when a sudden thought flashed through his mind and he let out a low exclamation.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————