Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 50

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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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50. The team leader must have his reasons.

The next afternoon.
Though a day had passed, the stock market continued its relentless plunge, unable to overcome the shock of the real-name financial system implementation.

Ring! Ring!

The office, where telephone bells rang without pause, was nothing short of absolute chaos.

“How much further is this going to fall?”
“Damn it! No matter how many orders I place, nothing’s getting executed. What do you expect me to do?”
“We’re finished.”

With sell orders pouring in relentlessly, I struggled to offload inventory, but the market—completely devoid of buyers—was filled only with those desperate to dump their stocks.
As buying pressure vanished, panicked investors rushed to shed their holdings at any price, each cut triggering further declines and amplifying the market’s terror in a vicious spiral.
Like the ashen faces of the employees, the stock market sank deeper into an endless abyss, drained of all color.
Amid the pervasive despair and panic, there was one team that stood apart—Investment Team 4, led by Yu Seok-hyun.

“The index has dropped another 20 points from yesterday, now trading at 673.57.”

Yu Seok-hyun, with two computer monitors positioned on his desk, reported swiftly.
Despite his bear-like massive frame, his eyes darted rapidly between the two screens, tracking the constantly shifting numbers.
I stood with arms crossed, my shirt sleeves rolled up to the elbows without a tie, then turned to Jung Hwan-yeop seated at the desk to my left.

“What about Korea Electric Power?”

Jung Hwan-yeop, who had been staring intently at the price chart, turned to answer, his usual playfulness completely gone from his face.

“16,500 won per share.”
“Sasung Electronics has also dropped to 19,300 won.”

Choi Ho-geun added, his eyes bloodshot as he looked at me.
While my team members were wound tight with suffocating tension, I remained composed.

“It’ll fall further. Let’s wait.”
“Yes, sir.”

Even he could see that now wasn’t the right time to buy, so Choi Ho-geun nodded in agreement.

‘Catching a falling blade is madness.’

The index graph plummeting downward showed no signs of stopping anytime soon.

“Let me know the moment Sasung Electronics hits 9,000 won.”
“Yes.”

Watching my team members hunched over their desks, eyes fixed intently on their monitors, I recalled a conversation I’d once had with Manager Oh.

“Did you polish a lot of shoes today?”

I looked up at the familiar voice. I’d been sitting in my chair, using a lighter to carefully singe the leather and bring out its shine, when Manager Oh approached with a toothpick wedged between his teeth, one hand casually tucked into his pants pocket in that characteristic slouch of his.
He plopped himself down on the plastic chair as if he owned the place, having apparently just finished lunch.
His natural, uninvited familiarity left me momentarily speechless.
I set down the well-polished shoes beside me and glanced sideways at Manager Oh.

“You want your shoes polished?”
“I had them done two days ago. Why would I need them polished again? Just get me some coffee.”
“This is a shoe repair shop, not a coffee house.”

Grumbling despite myself, I turned and poured water into the coffee pot on the side, heating it up.

“Come on, how many times have I had my shoes polished here? You should treat a regular customer with a little respect, don’t you think?”
“That’s exactly what I’m doing right now.”

I tore open a packet of instant coffee and replied flatly, prompting Manager Oh to let out a heavy sigh.

“Where did my cute little shoe repair shop kid go? All that’s left is this prickly character. That kid had a rough story, sure, but he was sharp and fun to mess with!”
“Pitiful? My parents passed away early, but I’m doing just fine on my own, thank you very much. Besides, what does ‘cute’ even mean coming from a man?”
“Back then, you’d react to every jab, and that was fun. Now that you’ve grown up a bit, there’s no entertainment value anymore.”
“Which is exactly why this place is a shoe repair shop, not a playground.”

I shook my head as I listened to Manager Oh, who seemed to be conducting both sides of the conversation himself.
The water finished boiling just in time. I dumped the instant coffee into a paper cup, stirred it quickly, and handed it to Manager Oh.

“Here’s your coffee.”
“Oh, thank you.”

Manager Oh took a sip of coffee, his expression relaxing into contentment.

“Sweet, just the way I like it. This is the real deal.”

I chuckled at Manager Oh’s easygoing demeanor, then cautiously probed further.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”
“About what?”
“ST Telecom’s stock price dropped significantly today.”
“What else would I be worried about?”

Manager Oh suddenly flashed a knowing smile and responded with a swagger in his tone.

“I’ve learned a few things working in this business.”
“What’s that?”
“No matter how hard the rain falls, those destined to leave will leave.”
“…?”

Then, pulling one corner of his mouth upward, he continued.

“And the real jackpot opportunity comes when everyone else is panicking and dumping their shares.”

I tilted my head in confusion, not quite understanding.

“The news said the ST Group chairman might face prosecution.”
“That might be true.”

At Manager Oh’s nonchalant response with a shrug, my expression grew even more bewildered.

“That would be catastrophic.”

Wouldn’t the stock price just plummet further with this bad news?
As I was thinking this, Manager Oh responded with an unbothered face.

“It may be noisy for a while due to owner risk, but that does not mean that ST Telecom’s fundamentals have been seriously damaged.”
“There will certainly be some noise from owner risk for a while, but that doesn’t mean ST Telecom’s fundamentals have suffered serious damage.”
“That may be true, but….”

As Director Oh said, they may be criticized, but there was little chance that people would not use ST Telecom, which had the best and most convenient service among telecommunication companies.
Manager Oh was right. We’d take our share of criticism, but the likelihood of people abandoning ST Telecom, which had the best coverage and most convenient service among all telecom companies, was slim.
Rather, the prevailing forecast was that the early activation of LTE service would explosively increase both subscriber numbers and the rate of migration to more expensive plans.

“Noise is literally just a passing noise.”
“Noise is just temporary static that passes in time.”
“….”

Seokwon, who received attention, spoke as if he were a student answering in front of a teacher.

“With the addition of what hasn’t been able to go up so far, it’s going to be a big jump.”

Then, a sly smile appeared on Director Oh’s lips.

“Tsk tsk tsk. I heard it’s worth teaching.”
“Ha ha ha. It’s gratifying to see my teaching bear fruit.”
“Is that the right answer?”

Director Oh said while sipping the remaining coffee in a paper cup.

“You said last time that the real-name financial system was suddenly implemented and stock prices plummeted, right?”
“I mentioned before how the stock market crashed when the Real-Name Financial Transaction System was suddenly implemented, didn’t I?”
“Yes.”
“Sasung Electronics, which trades at 900,000 won now, fell all the way down to 9,000 won back then.”

Seokwon opened his eyes wide in surprise.

“It’s a total bargain.”
“That’s practically a steal.”

Manager Oh put aside the paper cup he had finished drinking from and took out a cigarette out of habit and put it in his mouth.

“I’ll light it on fire.”
“Let me light that for you.”

When I turned on the lighter and held it out to the front, Manager Oh stroked my head with his large hand.

“Why are you doing all these cute things?”
“When did you start pulling cute tricks like this?”
“It’s the price of listening to my story.”

Manager Oh smiled softly and continued what he was saying.

“But the people who had been anxious to buy Sasung Electronics until just before that didn’t do anything because the stock price plummeted. Instead, they were busy throwing away the stocks they owned at a loss.”
“But right before that, people who were desperate to buy Sasung Electronics stock wouldn’t touch it once the price crashed. Instead, they were too busy taking losses on the shares they already held and dumping them.”
“Like now?”
“Exactly.”

When Seok-won pointed out that it wasn’t the same situation, Manager Oh snapped his fingers.

“It’s not wrong. But will the fundamentals of Saseong Electronics or Korea Electric Power Corporation change with the introduction of the real-name financial system?”
“You’re not wrong. But does the financial real-name system change the fundamentals of Sasung Electronics or Korea Electric Power?”

Seokwon could not refute and kept his mouth shut.

“At first, everyone was busy dumping their stocks, but after a few days they realized it and the index that had fallen quickly rebounded and went up like crazy until the IMF came.”

Director Oh said while exhaling white cigarette smoke.

“Investors who boldly picked up fallen stocks from the bottom made huge profits, but those who noticed late had to suck their fingers and watch as stock prices soared.”

Director Oh’s gaze, which was moving along the smoke scattering in the air, soon turned towards him.

“Don’t forget that the winner is the one who has the courage to grab the opportunity when it comes before him.”

At that time, Seokwon woke up from a long reminiscence when he heard someone’s voice calling him.

“……Blind sir. Team leader!”

When I turned my head to look, Manager Choi In-ho spoke hastily.

“Saseong Electronics stock price has fallen to 19,000 won.”

Seokwon asked with a bright smile in his eyes, thinking that the time he had been waiting for had finally come.

“How much is the index?”

Yoo Seok-hyun, who was looking at the index graph on the monitor, turned around in his chair and answered.

“Another 7.90 points away, now at 665.67.”

After confirming that it had reached the bottom, Seokwon gave instructions without delay.

“From now on, let’s sweep up all the items I mentioned!”

Then Manager Choi Ho-geun was surprised and asked back.

“Are you telling me to start buying when the decline hasn’t stopped yet?”
“The decline hasn’t stopped yet—are you telling us to start buying now?”

Seokwon urged them to hurry in a strong tone.
Seok-won urged them on with forceful intensity, a stark contrast to his earlier composure.

“Didn’t you hear what everyone said? Move quickly!”

Then, the team members started buying stocks as planned in advance.

“Uh, it’s me. Buy 15,000 shares of Sasung Electronics at the current price!”
“Yeah, it’s me. Buy 15,000 shares of Sasung Electronics at current price!”
“Buy 10,000 shares of Korea Electric Power at market price.”

Seokwon muttered softly as he looked at Manager Choi Ho-geun and his team members who were frantically shouting purchase orders while holding the receiver to their ears.

“I’m already looking forward to seeing how strong the rebound will be after the adjustment.”

The more severe the falling momentum, the stronger the rebound will be.
The fiercer the decline, the stronger the rebound would be.

“Okay. Confirmed.”

Assistant Manager Jeong Hwan-yeop put down the receiver with a sigh and turned around in his chair.

“I bought everything down to the last quantity.”

Then Seokwon, who was standing behind and watching the work, relaxed his arms and said.

“great job.”

The team members, including assistant manager Jeong Hwan-yeop, were all drooping with exhausted expressions.

“Tomorrow is the Liberation Day holiday, so take a good rest and see you again on Thursday. Now, and this.”

Seok-won said so, took out an envelope folded in half from the back pocket of his suit pants, and handed it to Manager Choi Ho-geun.

“What is this?”

When Manager Choi Ho-geun looked at me with a puzzled look, Seok-won smiled and said.

“It’s the cost of a dinner party. Since you worked hard, you should have a drink.”
“It’s for drinks. Since you’ve all worked hard, go have a round on me.”
“Won’t you be joining us, Team Lead?”
“They say a good supervisor knows when to bow out of these gatherings.”
“Still, going without you feels a bit…”

He waved his hand as if it was nothing and disappeared into his private office.
He waved his hand dismissively and disappeared into his private office.

“I just bought over 20 billion worth of stocks. Is that okay?”

I didn’t realize it when I was in the middle of placing a buy order, but after finishing it, I got scared.

“What if I continue to fall further like this?”

Hong Jae-hee also muttered with a slightly pale face.
Hong Jae-hee also muttered with a slightly paled face.
Her expression suggested that even imagining what would happen if things went wrong was horrifying.

“The team leader must have something in mind.”

Then Assistant Manager Jeong Hwan-yeop shifted his back, which was strained from sitting the whole time, and subtly changed the topic.

“I’ve been on edge all day and I’m starving. Manager! How much is in the bag?”

Yoo Seok-hyeon and Hong Jae-hee also looked at him curiously.

“I said it was for food, so I guess I put in a few 10,000 won bills.”

Manager Choi Ho-geun responded by telling me not to expect much and opened the envelope and took out the bills inside.
Choi Ho-geun spoke in a tone suggesting he shouldn’t expect much, then opened the envelope and pulled out the bills inside.
But instead of crumpled notes, what tumbled out were ten cashier’s checks worth one hundred thousand won each.
As Choi Ho-geun gasped and caught his breath, the other team members stared at the checks with expressions of utter shock.

“Oh my! It’s a check.”
“My goodness! These are checks.”

Following Hong Jae-hee, even Yoo Seok-hyeon smiled loudly and was pleased.

“Wow. As expected, because he is a third-generation chaebol, his hands are big.”

Assistant Manager Jeong Hwan-yeop, who had been complaining earlier that he was hungry, also gave a thumbs up.
Jung Hwan-yeop, who had been complaining about hunger since earlier, gave an enthusiastic thumbs up.

“Let’s go with beef instead of pork today!”
“Tonight we’re going for beef instead of pork!”
“Yes!”
“Finally, we can give our stomachs a proper treat.”

The team members forgot their worries for a moment and hurriedly finished their work.

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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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