Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 510

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

510. See? I told you this company isn’t the kind that crumbles so easily.

“I’ve brought your coffee.”
“Ah. Thank you.”

As Na Seong-mi set down the teacup with a slight smile and stepped out, Seok-won remained seated in his chair, reading the article from today’s Hansung Daily News in his hand.

[Bluehole Venture Capital Sells Off Goldbank Shares in Bulk… Nets 210 Billion Won]

Alongside yesterday’s interview article, the fact that I had sold off my stake in Goldbank was featured prominently in a separate section.

“I didn’t tell them how much profit I made, but they got it pretty close.”

I folded the newspaper in half and set it down, then turned my head to look at the stock price window displayed on the monitor.

[Goldbank: 14,350]

Confirming it was still at yesterday’s closing price since the market hadn’t opened yet, I picked up the teacup and took a sip of coffee, muttering to myself.

“Whether caution will break the stock price here and send it falling, or whether greed will overcome fear and inflate the bubble even larger. The decision will come soon.”

Having invested 1 billion won and earned 210 billion won, I had little to lose even if the remaining stake’s value plummeted. At this point, I hoped individual investors would regain their senses and not inflate the bubble any further.

* * *

“Kim. Did you see the article in today’s Hansung Daily News?”

A man in a floral patterned shirt held a rolled-up newspaper in one hand, speaking with visible agitation.
The middle-aged man standing before a terminal installed on one side of the trading floor, jotting something down in a small notebook, turned his head to look at the man in the floral shirt and replied.

“You mean about Bluehole Venture Capital selling off their Goldbank stake?”
“The major shareholder pulled out. Isn’t that dangerous?”

The man in the floral shirt spoke with a pale face.
He had liquidated not only the cash he’d been holding days ago but also borrowed funds on margin, pouring everything into Goldbank. No wonder his stomach was churning after seeing the article.
The middle-aged man called Kim, too, had gone all-in on Goldbank using full credit, yet his demeanor remained oddly composed.

“If it’s made good returns, there’s nothing wrong with selling it off.”

I had naturally expected him to be anxious like myself, but the man in the floral shirt was taken aback by such a composed response.

“We’re not talking about just anyone—a major shareholder holding over half the stock just dumped their shares. Isn’t this supposed to be a big deal?”

But the Middle-aged Man simply spat out his words with an indifferent tone.

“So are you going to sell your Goldbank shares?”
“Well….”

The man who had been making a fuss as if the stock price would plummet any moment hesitated at the Middle-aged Man’s question, unable to answer readily. He was anxious about being stuck at the peak as the stock price was high, and at the same time fearful—he had sold out of panic—but now he couldn’t easily dump his shares, worried that if the price didn’t fall and instead climbed higher, what would he do?
The Middle-aged Man closed the notebook in his hand and tucked it into his pocket, speaking as if to prove his point.
The middle-aged man covered the notebook in his hand, stuffed it into his pocket, and spoke as if to say, “Look at that.”

“You’re worried about it too, so wouldn’t others be the same? I’m sure there are more people waiting to quickly snatch up cheap deals from those who panic and dump their shares than there are people trying to sell.”

Then he pulled out a pre-written order form from his pocket and showed it to her.

“Like me.”

The middle-aged man shrugged his shoulders at the unknown photographer in the floral shirt staring at him with wide eyes.

“Look, I won’t say anything about your investment since it’s your call to make, but don’t sell too hastily and regret it later.”

The man in the floral shirt watched that composed retreating figure and his expression grew conflicted.
Hearing what the Middle-aged Man said, this wasn’t bad news but rather good news to buy cheap shares from those dumping in panic—had he been the only one making a fuss? He felt confused.
Not just the man, but individual investors across the board were caught in a frenzy of indecision over how to respond to the sudden news of the major shareholder’s share sale.
Not only the Unknown Photographer, but individual investors also appeared flustered about how to respond to the sudden news of the major shareholder’s stake sale.

“The major shareholder sold—shouldn’t we dump ours before it crashes?”
“Shit, I used margin to buy 500 more shares yesterday! So why is this article coming out now of all times!”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“I’m going crazy.”
I’m going crazy.

In small clusters, people gathered with those they knew, discussing the situation gravely or pacing anxiously between the ticker board and their terminals, their worry mounting with each passing moment.
As the opening hour approached amid this unsettled atmosphere, everyone fell silent, their faces taut with tension, their eyes fixed on the massive ticker board mounted on the wall.
Time seemed to crawl unnaturally slowly that day, until at last the bell signaling market open rang sharply through the speakers.
With sweat beading on their palms, people swallowed hard and waited for the numbers on the massive ticker board to shift.
The man in the floral shirt, after much deliberation, had ultimately refrained from placing a sell order, and now stood beside the middle-aged man with clasped hands as if in prayer, his heart trembling with anxiety.
As the numbers displayed on the massive ticker board began to change one by one, sighs and groans erupted from the crowd.

[Goldbank : 13,950 (▼400)]

“No!”
“Damn it. It’s dropping!”
“I should have sold yesterday.”

Regretful murmurs about not having sold sooner poured forth, and people began clutching their heads in despair.
The man in the floral shirt’s face drained of color in an instant, his hands trembling.

“Should… should I sell right now?”

He then grabbed the middle-aged man’s arm and cried out.

“Kim! What do we do now! Wasn’t selling the right call after all?”

The middle-aged man’s expression hardened as tension gripped him as well.

“The market just opened. Let’s wait a bit longer.”
“This is driving me insane…”

The man in the floral shirt bounced on his feet, unable to abandon hope that the stock might rebound, and remained standing at his post.

[Goldbank : 13,600 (▼650)]

But contrary to their desperate hopes, as Goldbank’s stock price continued its downward slide, people who could no longer bear it began rushing to the trading windows to sell.

“That’s it. I have to sell before it drops further!”
“Damn it. How much am I losing?”

Seeing this, others began murmuring anxiously among themselves, their resolve wavering as panic set in.

“What am I supposed to do?”
“If it drops any further, I’ll end up on the streets. Damn it.”
“Please go up. Please.”

As the chaos intensified and anxiety threatened to tip into outright panic, the man in the floral shirt could bear it no longer and spun urgently toward the trading window.

“This won’t do. I need to cut my losses here!”

And just as he was about to take a step, the Middle-aged Man beside him cried out.

“Wait! Look at that.”

The man in the floral shirt turned his head to see what he meant, and his eyes widened as he gazed at the Goldbank stock price displayed on the massive electronic board.
The stock that had seemed destined to plummet to the lower limit was suddenly reversing course, the decline slowing dramatically as it began to climb back up.

“…!”

[Goldbank : 13,900 (▼450)]

“Oh!”
“The stock is bouncing back!”
“Look at that trading volume. I shouldn’t have sold… it’s going right back up.”
“At this rate, we’ll recover all the losses.”
“See! I told you this company wouldn’t collapse over something like this.”
“That’s it!”

The atmosphere on the Trading Floor, which had been spreading fear and teetering on the edge of panic, transformed in an instant.
Amid cheers and sighs of relief erupting throughout the room, those who had hastily sold their shares cursed under their breath and, wearing expressions of regret, scrambled frantically back to the trading windows to buy Goldbank stock again.
The man in the floral shirt, who would have been pounding the ground in regret just like them if he’d waited even a moment longer, let out a long breath and wiped his chest with relief.
Then, watching the stock price chart that had already recovered nearly all of its losses, he clenched his fist tightly.

“That’s it. Exactly that!”

* * *

At the same moment.
In the Fund Management Department Office of Bluehole Venture Capital, where tension had been hanging thick in the air, a sigh of relief burst forth as the Goldbank stock price, which had been streaming downward since the market opening, began to rebound and climb back up.

“The decline is rapidly narrowing!”

At Yu Seok-hyun’s words, Manager Choi Ho-geun, who stood before the massive market ticker with his shirt sleeves rolled up, monitoring the stock price movements, posed a question.

“What about the trading volume?”

Yu Seok-hyun, tapping away at his keyboard, lifted his head and answered while observing Manager Choi Ho-geun, who stood with his arms crossed.

“There’s still considerable selling pressure, but the buy orders are surging dramatically, and we’re absorbing all of it!”
“The moment the decline exceeded 6%, a wave of bargain-hunting buying came rushing in, and I can see the price floor is holding firm—so it shouldn’t plummet to the daily limit.”

As Jung Hwan-yeop added his thoughts, Manager Choi Ho-geun, who shared the same view, gave a small nod.

“We still have 15 million shares left to sell. If this buying-the-dip momentum continues, we should be able to offload everything without major difficulty.”

Jung Hwan-yeop offered an optimistic outlook while watching the monitor.

“I think that’s possible too.”

Hong Jae-hee cautiously agreed first, and Yu Seok-hyun, seated beside her, chimed in as well.

“The fact that the stock is holding up like this even after the major shareholder sold suggests there are still plenty of people eager to buy Goldbank, despite the price having risen this much.”

Then Jung Hwan-yeop interlaced his fingers behind his head, leaned back against his chair, and spoke.

“It’s human nature—people want to buy stocks that keep rising no matter how expensive, but they lose the appetite to buy falling stocks even if they’re undervalued.”
“That really seems to be the case. When a stock is surging, it feels like it’ll keep going up, but when it’s falling, people get scared they’ll end up in the red if they buy.”

Noh Hee-won, who had just shed her novice investor status, nodded in agreement.
Jung Hwan-yeop casually broached the subject with Manager Choi Ho-geun, who continued to gaze at the large market ticker.

“If we achieve a complete reversal here, wouldn’t we see a strong rally with follow-on buying momentum?”
“That does seem to be the picture.”
“At this pace, I think we’ll easily break through the previous high. What if we hold off on selling a bit longer and observe the situation?”
“Hmm.”

Manager Choi Ho-geun stroked his chin, his expression clouded with deliberation.
From what he could see, the stock was overcoming headwinds and rising with genuine momentum, so the temptation crept in that delaying the selling window slightly could substantially amplify profits.
If the stock price truly surpassed the previous high, he could earn over 1 billion won more—it was only natural to feel that pull.
But then he recalled Seok-won’s instruction to focus on liquidating all shares rather than chasing price if the stock price rises without collapsing, and he immediately resolved his dilemma.

“No. We’ll stick to the original plan. Today we’ll just monitor the situation, and starting tomorrow, we’ll begin unwinding our positions.”
“Yes, understood.”

Jung Hwan-yeop wore a disappointed expression but didn’t openly object and followed the directive.

“Instead, adjust the volume carefully so we don’t break the upward momentum when we sell.”
“That’s easier said than done, sir.”
“You little—”

Just as Choi Ho-geun was about to say something with a glare, Jung Hwan-yeop quickly intercepted him.

“You were about to say that’s why you pay us such generous salaries, weren’t you?”
“Smart mouth. Don’t get cocky.”
“Ah, I can’t even complain then.”

Yu Seok-hyun, who had been chuckling at the two of them bickering as usual, checked the monitor and raised his voice.

“We’ve completely recovered the losses and climbed back to yesterday’s closing price!”

[Goldbank: 14,350]

“Really? It’s true.”
“I thought it would take until the afternoon session to reach yesterday’s close. This stock has real strength.”

Jung Hwan-yeop shook his head in disbelief.

“Even though the price is clearly inflated, if I were in their position, my fingers would be itching to jump in and ride this wave.”

Choi Ho-geun, no matter how he analyzed it, knew this was a bubble, yet watching Goldbank’s stock price soar relentlessly skyward, he licked his lips with barely concealed appetite.

A sharp intake of breath.

The party was far from over, yet he wondered if he’d left the celebration too early. But he suppressed the urge and quietly reminded himself of Seok-won’s orders.

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