Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 132

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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132. Your father would be absolutely delighted to see this.

The next day.
Inside the Trading Floor on the first floor of Yeouido Daeheung Securities Headquarters, investors of all ages and backgrounds crowded together as usual, radiating palpable energy and heat.
Even as shoulders collided in the crush of bodies, every eye remained fixed on the massive ticker board mounted on one wall of the Trading Floor.
People stared at the screen as if trying to pierce through it, and with each rise and fall of their invested stocks, their mouths released bursts of joy, disappointment, and weary sighs.

“That’s right! It keeps climbing.”
“Sigh. I bought Hyunwoo Construction because everyone said it was good, but why is it so weak?”
“Damn it! It was doing fine until I bought it, and now it’s dropped 5%! This is manipulation, pure manipulation!”

A middle-aged man suddenly bellowed from among the murmuring crowd.
After finally cutting his losses and switching to a new stock, he watched in disbelief as the price plummeted the moment he bought it, and his frustration erupted.
The scowling middle-aged man, still fuming, glared at Boseong Communications, which was surging noticeably with bright red numbers on the ticker board, and turned to speak to the man beside him.

“Hey.”
“What?”

A bald man, whose own invested stock was also falling and whose expression reflected his irritation, replied curtly.
The two had become close after discovering they were similar in age while frequenting the Trading Floor.
But lately, as if cursed, everything they touched resulted in losses, and they’d taken to joking that they might need to perform a gut ritual at this rate.

“Boseong Communications. Wasn’t that the stock that plummeted not long ago because new product production was delayed?”
“Yeah.”

The bald man looked up at the rising Boseong Communications stock price as he spoke.

“But why is it suddenly surging like that? Is there some good news I don’t know about?”

It was natural to find it strange when a stock that had crashed spectacularly and caused retail investors to cry out in anguish was now climbing again.

“Hmm….”

The bald man stroked his chin thoughtfully and murmured.

“I think that rumor might have been real after all.”
“What rumor?”

When the middle-aged man looked at him with curiosity, the bald man glanced around before leaning in and whispering in a low voice.

“Boseong Communications is in the middle of negotiating an OEM supply contract with a French electronics company worth over 40 million dollars annually. Word is they’ll announce it soon.”
“Is that really true?”

The middle-aged man’s eyes widened as he exclaimed, then he quickly covered his mouth with a gasp.

“You’re saying there’s been talk of this?”
“Yeah. I only caught wind of it in passing, so I wasn’t sure, but seeing it climb like this two days straight since yesterday—it must be real.”

It was true that if it were just a baseless rumor, it might spike for a day, but climbing two consecutive days would be difficult.

“And there’s also the matter of production delays due to quality issues.”
“Right.”

The middle-aged man leaned in with intense focus.

“But there’s talk that it’s not as big a problem as the articles made it out to be.”
“Then it could climb even higher, couldn’t it?”

The bald man nodded at the middle-aged man’s words, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

“Exactly. At minimum, it should reach the previous high, right?”
“The previous high would be… 17,600 won.”

The middle-aged man turned his head to look at the price board.
Boseong Communications stock, which had plummeted to 10,500 won before hitting bottom and reversing upward since yesterday, had already surpassed 14,000 won.
The thought that it could climb another 4,000 won from here made the middle-aged man’s heart race, and he began shifting his weight from foot to foot.

“This won’t do! We shouldn’t be standing around like this.”
“Are you going to buy Boseong Communications?”
“With positive news like this, of course I have to buy!”

If the rumor had already spread this far, it was only a matter of time before it reached everyone else’s ears.
Once he’d made that judgment, the middle-aged man rushed urgently toward the Trading Floor counter as if he could no longer contain himself.

“I’m coming with you!”

The bald man hurried after him.
The two of them placed consecutive buy orders with the Trading Floor staff, then turned back with expressions brimming with anticipation.
As rumors of positive news regarding Boseong Communications spread quietly beneath the surface, and the stock price continued to climb, more and more investors began to show interest and purchase shares.
Someone was observing the Trading Floor’s atmosphere intently from one corner—it was Seok-won.
Dressed in a deep navy three-piece suit with his arms crossed, leaning against one wall, Seok-won listened to the investors on the Trading Floor frequently mention Boseong Communications and murmured softly to himself.

“The rally hasn’t even properly started yet, and people are already getting restless. If the stock price begins to surge in earnest and rumors spread that a scheme is underway, individual investors will flock to it in droves.”

The retail investors who jumped in late, blinded by the sharp price surge, would soon suffer enormous losses and shed tears of blood.
But this time, I planned to step in before it reached that point.
As I crossed the lobby and walked out of the Trading Floor, my phone rang from my inner jacket pocket.

“Hello.”
[Director. Team Leader Choi Ho-geun from Investment Team 4 is here and says he has something to report. What should I do?]

My secretary, Na Seong-mi, asked in her crisp, precise tone.

“Ah, tell him to wait a moment. I’m heading up now.”
[Understood.]

I stepped into the elevator that had just arrived and headed straight up.

* * *

As I opened the door and entered my private office, Team Leader Choi Ho-geun, who had been waiting on the sofa, rose to his feet at the sight of me.

“I apologize for the wait.”
“Not at all.”

I unbuttoned my jacket and took the seat of honor in the center, and Team Leader Choi Ho-geun settled back into his chair.

“What is it you needed to report?”

Team Leader Choi Ho-geun then picked up the thin folder he’d placed beside him and slid it forward.

“We’ve completed the liquidation of all positions we held in O-Gwang Industries and Cheonho Steel.”
“Ah, I see.”

As I took the folder and opened it, Team Leader Choi Ho-geun spoke with barely contained excitement.

“Even while selling, the stock price continued to rise, allowing me to unload the entire position cleanly without any losses.”
“The average selling price was 742,000 won for O-Gwang Industries and 312,000 won for Cheonho Steel.”
“Yes. We achieved returns of 5.3 times and 10.4 times respectively.”

Choi Ho-geun continued, his expression flushed with excitement.

“In total, we secured 364 billion won in profits from O-Gwang Industries and 520 billion won from Cheonho Steel. Excluding the principal, we earned 292.4 billion and 470 billion respectively.”

After reviewing the meticulously organized profit statement, I looked up at Choi Ho-geun and spoke.

“You did well.”

Choi Ho-geun, who had been suppressing the corners of his mouth from twitching upward, suddenly brightened his eyes toward me.

“I pride myself on having accumulated considerable experience in the Yeouido market, but this is the first time I’ve actually witnessed such substantial profits from a single investment.”

Choi Ho-geun’s gaze was brimming with admiration and awe.

“You’re truly remarkable!”

While I was equally pleased, unlike Choi Ho-geun’s exuberance, I maintained a composed demeanor throughout.
And paradoxically, this restraint only evoked greater admiration.
Despite achieving the largest profit in Daehung Securities’ history, my serene attitude suggested this was merely routine—nothing extraordinary.
Choi Ho-geun inwardly marveled at this aspect of mine, considering it truly impressive.

‘If it were me, I would have shouted with joy. His caliber is simply different.’

Once again, he genuinely admired my exceptional skill and composure.

“It must have been challenging to liquidate such a large position. You worked hard.”

I closed the document folder in my hand and set it down.

“Honestly, with such massive volumes exceeding hundreds of billions, I was quite concerned the price might drop significantly during the sale.”
“Both stocks were in an overbought state anyway. That would have been the case.”

Everyone already understood that both stocks had far exceeded their fair value, becoming excessively expensive.
Yet as prices continued climbing relentlessly, everyone held their positions without selling, merely watching and waiting nervously.

“If a massive sell-off occurs at such a juncture, there’s a significant risk it could trigger panic and spark a market collapse.”
“That’s correct.”

Choi Ho-geun nodded, shaking his head slightly as he replied.

“That’s why we executed the sale in tranches over nearly a month, but I can’t tell you how anxious I was, never knowing when the stock price might plummet.”

The volume we needed to liquidate amounted to hundreds of billions of won, so if the stock price had crashed, our losses would have been measured in tens or hundreds of billions.
There was no way the stress could have been anything but immense.

“Fortunately, the buying pressure was strong enough to absorb all the shares we sold, so we were able to complete the liquidation without any issues.”
“Both stocks are still holding their prices without breaking down, correct?”
“Yes. Whether it’s because they’ve risen too much or because of our selling pressure, I’m not entirely sure, but the upward momentum has noticeably slowed recently. Still, both are maintaining their gains today.”

Choi Ho-geun smacked his lips, as if lingering regret tugged at him.

“Looking at the prices now, I could have made even more profit. I’m a bit sorry we sold so quickly.”
“Excessive greed always comes with consequences.”

I smiled faintly as I spoke.

“Besides, you’ve already made more than satisfactory returns, so don’t dwell on it.”

At that, Choi Ho-geun scratched the back of his head with one hand, looking sheepish, and nodded.

“You’re right. If we’d made five or ten times our investment, that would’ve been an incredible windfall. Normally, once you’ve sold a stock completely, you don’t look back at it. I suppose I’m just too greedy.”
“The desire to generate greater profits is something every trader should naturally possess. However, when greed crosses the line into avarice, it clouds your judgment and leads to serious mistakes. You need to keep it in check.”

It was advice that sounded as though it came from a seasoned veteran who’d spent decades grinding away on the Yeouido trading floors.
It might have seemed odd coming from someone as young as me.
But in reality, I was the one who maintained cold judgment and refused to be seduced by further gains even as countless other greedy traders watched stock prices climb endlessly higher.
In this world where so many people kept chasing “just a little more” before crashing into ruin, there were few who could demonstrate through their actions the discipline to take their profits cleanly and walk away.
That’s why Choi Ho-geun nodded and replied.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good. By the way, what happened with what I mentioned last time?”

Choi Ho-geun immediately understood what I was asking and responded.

“Just say the word, and I’ll have the article released immediately.”
“I’m confident you’ll handle it without any issues.”

Seok-won’s satisfied expression conveyed his trust as he pulled out his wallet from his inner jacket pocket and extracted three checks for one million won each.

“Take these.”
“Pardon? Why would you…?”

Choi Ho-geun, caught off guard, accepted the checks and stared at them in bewilderment.

“You’ve all worked hard lately. Use this to take the team out for a meal today.”

Upon hearing Seok-won casually refer to three million-won checks as mere meal expenses, Choi Ho-geun’s jaw dropped.

“B-but the amount is far too generous!”
“I’m giving you extra so you can eat premium beef instead of regular pork belly. Use whatever’s left for taxi fare.”
“Even one check would be more than enough. Three is simply excessive.”

Choi Ho-geun tried to return them, insisting it was too much, but Seok-won waved his hand to stop him.

“Just take them. And just so you know, once all the settlements are finalized, I’ll give you a substantial bonus separately, so don’t worry.”

Seeing Choi Ho-geun’s face suddenly brighten, Seok-won asked playfully.

“You weren’t thinking I was trying to brush you off with just meal money after all the profits you’ve brought in, were you?”
“No, absolutely not!”

Choi Ho-geun denied it with a startled expression.

“Ha, I was just joking.”
“Phew… thank goodness. I was about to feel hurt thinking you actually misunderstood me like that.”
“There’s no way that could be true.”

Seok-won broke into a cheerful laugh.

“Anyway, use this to have a good time with the team for once. Order plenty of things you can’t normally afford.”
“Then I’ll gratefully accept.”

Choi Ho-geun pocketed the checks with a resigned expression and spoke.

“It would be nice if the department head could attend as well.”
“I’d like to, but I have an appointment this evening, so unfortunately I can’t make it.”
“I see.”

Choi Ho-geun replied with a regretful expression.

“If there’s nothing else to discuss, I’ll be going.”
“Yes.”

As Choi Ho-geun rose from his seat and left the office, Seok-won found himself alone and picked up the document folder again, unfolding it.

“Father would be absolutely delighted to see this.”

A deep smile spread across my face as I reviewed the profit amount earned from this investment once more.

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