"Don't worry, trust me, this price will be pushed down. Didn't you also say that someone who drives a tractor doesn't have much of a future?"
"Well, that's what I said, but there hasn't been any movement all morning. It's too strange."
In the past, whether selling stocks quickly or slowly, there would always be some data changes every now and then. But now, it had been three minutes since the three thousand lots of Vicks stocks were listed, and they remained as still as a monk in meditation.
Carter stared at the ticker tape machine in Kidder's office, not daring to blink. Seriously? If these three thousand lots didn't sell, or if the stock price didn't go down, he would have to return even more shares, which would mean no profit at all!
"It's still early, be patient. If Vicks wants to go down, they also need time to raise funds, and the retail investors need time to observe, right? It's not going to happen so quickly."
Julian continued to work diligently without lifting his head, and Carter couldn't understand how he could remain so calm at this point. Didn't he say he had already colluded with several financial institutions?
Why weren't they acting??
"If they go down too early, the price will drop quickly, but then what? Who will take over our stocks? You need bait to fish, right? If you just present a shiny hook to the fish, who's going to be stupid enough to bite it?!"
As if hearing Carter's inner question, Julian added without looking up.
Two minutes later, the ticker tape machine, which had been as still as an old dog, suddenly twitched. Carter, staring at the machine intently, was the first to notice that the three thousand lots of Vicks stocks had moved.
Two lots sold out at a time?!
Carter's mouth twitched. This data was really strange. If Vicks tried to rescue the market by buying two lots, it wouldn't do much, and if other people tried to buy low, it wasn't the right time. Who the hell was playing tricks here?!
At the same time, inside the New York Stock Exchange, Strick, who had previously called his companions, stared dumbfoundedly at his old baby, clearly puzzled by his own actions.
"Burke? Have you lost your mind? It's not the time to sell; you're still buying, and buying low isn't the right time either!"
Strick cleverly voiced Carter's doubts.
"Damn it, I didn't want to buy low; I just want it to stay still! You know my situation; I can't afford to lose! I want to give Vicks a little confidence; see, someone's still supporting them. If they want to save the market, they better do it soon!"
Watching the 2,998 lots of Vicks stocks on the board, Burke's eyes were red, and his neck veins bulged. As a veteran stock investor for over a decade, he had experienced the glory of the American stock market and witnessed its decline in recent years.
Coming from the South, he believed in the future of agricultural machinery, especially since there were quite a few retired soldiers coming back to start farms in his hometown. Wrong information led to wrong judgments directly. Even Vicks Company made the wrong judgment.
"Go ahead, sell some more, buy back as much as you can!'
Similarly listening to real-time reports over the phone, Doba Vicks sighed somewhat despondently and waved his hand to signal his assistant to get to work. The dismal state of the company's cash reserves made Doba Vicks want to give up on saving the situation.
But the sudden fluctuations in the stock market made him want to take one last gamble. At worst, it would be a stock buyback.
The stocks that were sold yesterday at $3.43 were now suddenly sold at $3.20. With Vicks Company entering the market, the price didn't rise, but instead, it fell.
As large quantities of stocks were sold, equally large quantities were bought back. Anyone with half a brain could see that someone was causing trouble, and someone else was trying to save the situation. Except for gamblers like Burke, retail investors were soberly watching the capital dogs biting each other.
The troublemakers won; they sold while the market was down, and they could even buy low, even if they lost a little. The market saviors won; they didn't lose anything. As for the stocks not selling, sorry, this wasn't the stock market crash of '29, they weren't worried about that.
Fifty lots, sixty lots, one hundred lots.
The numbers on the ticker tape machine were getting faster and bigger. With Vicks Company in the fray, the trading volume was rapidly increasing, and correspondingly, Carter's stocks were dwindling.
It wasn't until there were about 800 lots left that the trading slowed down. It seemed that Vicks Company had exhausted its efforts.
By this time, the stock price was about to break the $3 mark. But with Vicks' squeezing or retail investors following suit, the price continued to teeter at the $3 boundary line. Correspondingly, the money in Carter's account, or Julian's account, was going to be more.
At $3 per share, one lot was $300, one thousand lots were $300,000, and 2,200 lots of stocks meant $660,000. Carter didn't know how much Vicks Company had spent or how much the retail investors had spent, but Julian seemed to have a judgment. Only to hear him speak up:
"It's about time; Vicks Company should be squeezed dry. Get ready to harvest; what's your target purchase price?"
"$2?"
With only 800 lots left unsold, Carter was content. The quantity was already considerable, and now the key was to increase the profit per share, meaning to see if they could continue to push down the price of Vicks and at what level they should stop.
"Raise it a bit, $2.30 is more stable."
After a moment of thought, Julian reminded Carter.
"Okay, so when are they going to act? Or will the retail investors follow?"
The "they" in Carter's mouth naturally referred to other financial institutions. Although the current situation seemed not to need them, with just these three thousand lots, Vicks was already struggling to breathe.
Don't be fooled by the fact that the stock price hasn't fallen below $3 yet; that's because Vicks Company is holding it up. Once their funds dry up and the trading volume can't be maintained, it means they've lost.
Next, even if only retail investors sell off, it'll be enough to give them a hard time. But since they had come this far, Carter naturally wanted to be more cautious and push the stock price even lower.
To push the stock price lower, they could only increase the supply in the market and make it far greater than the demand. Retail investors couldn't be controlled, so now they could only rely on the financial institutions that Julian had communicated with in advance.
According to Julian, they still held nearly fifteen hundred lots of Vicks stocks, enough to deliver a fatal blow to Vicks at the most opportune moment!
"The retail investors will definitely follow; they're even better at sailing with the wind than you think. Don't rush; I'm just reminding you to prepare to stop, like having the money ready, even though you have more than enough now, hahaha."
As if on cue, just after Julian finished speaking, the ticker tape machine suddenly displayed information about more than five hundred lots of Vicks stocks being listed.
These five hundred lots seemed like a signal, as more and more stocks were put up for sale, one lot, two lots, ten lots, there were hardly any large amounts, but small amounts were abundant.
The teetering stock price couldn't hold on anymore. It plummeted from $2.97 to $2.95, then to $2.91, all the way down.
Watching this scene unfold before him, Carter felt assured, but he couldn't help but ask Julian. He hadn't seen Julian pick up the phone just now.
"When did you notify them to act?"
"No need to notify, it's all based on understanding!"