Starting with a fully invested A-share portfolio to become a capital...

Chapter 55 Finding a Matchmaker
Commercial street outside Shanghai University of Finance and Economics campus.

A semi-open private room in a coffee shop.

After explaining the details of the internship, Tao Yuang glanced at Lai Weijie, Xu Zhiruo, and other students, and asked, "Does anyone have any questions?"

"Senior Tao Yuang, you just said the internship period is three months, so what is the conversion rate to full-time employment?" Lai Weijie asked first.

"About 20%."

Tao Yuang replied without hesitation.

Getting an internship is only the first hurdle; to become a full-time employee at Huaxin Securities, you still have to rely on your own abilities.

Tao Yuang got his internship at Huaxin Securities through Yue Shuxue's family connections. Even though his performance was mediocre, he was able to stay on. That's the advantage of having connections.

To succeed in the financial industry, you either need exceptional personal abilities or an extremely powerful family background; otherwise, you'll have to resort to selling your body.

This is why the financial world either doesn't have any scandals, or when they do, they're as explosive as those in the Korean entertainment industry.

"what???"

"Ten of us went for the internship, and only two can stay in the end? That's so cruel!"

"This almost inhuman elimination mechanism is truly worthy of Huaxin Securities; only the best of the best can stay!"

"That's it! He Jing is 100% guaranteed a spot, and the nine of us are competing for the other one. The elimination rate is 88.89%!"

"How hopeless!"

With an elimination rate of 88.89%, Lai Weijie, Xu Zhiruo, and other students were in despair; it was simply too cruel.

“You’re wrong.” Tao Yuang shook his head first and corrected, “It’s not 10 people competing. Your competitors also include students from prestigious universities in the Yangtze River Delta region, such as Fudan University and Jiangsu and Zhejiang Universities. I estimate there are more than 40 people.”

"Ah this..."

"so many people?"

"My God!"

For a moment, they didn't know whether to be sad or happy.

If there are a total of 40 people, with a 20% conversion rate, that means 8 people will be promoted to permanent positions.

If they're lucky, only one of them will be eliminated, but if things don't go their way, they might all be eliminated.

At that moment, Lai Weijie recalled a post from Tianya Forum, a discussion about the strength of the heavenly soldiers and generals in "Journey to the West," and one of the popular replies was…

[You were born in a magical world brimming with spiritual energy. You were exceptionally talented and had incredible opportunities, eventually becoming the strongest being in that world, ascending to the Immortal Realm, and standing in the 71st row of 100,000 heavenly soldiers. Just as you were about to peek out to see who was causing havoc in the Heavenly Palace, you saw no one, only a massive, sky-covering staff approaching.]
"It's too complicated, do I even think I can pass?" Lai Weijie was already losing confidence.

In order to secure the internship, he spent 6.5 yuan on Zhang Yang.

Now, the crucial step of getting a permanent position involves competing with top students from other universities. I really don't know how much money that will cost.

The others were also a little uneasy, as they hadn't expected the elimination rate to be so high after making it through so many rounds.

Among the nine students, Xu Zhiruo was relatively calm.

She wanted to be in the top ten of the demo account rankings, mainly because she thought Zhang Yang would also be in the top ten. That way, the two of them could not only be classmates but also colleagues, and who knows, their relationship might even take another step forward in the future.

However, after learning that Zhang Yang did not make it into the top ten, Huaxin Securities became much less attractive to her, and she is now considering whether to give up the spot.

"Drip-"

Tao Yuang's phone beeped.

"After you go back, you can prepare more and enjoy these last days of university life." Tao Yuang, having been through it all, knew the confusion of graduating students. After offering a word of comfort, he checked his QQ messages on his phone.

"Zhang Yang?"

Upon seeing the sender, he paused for a moment, then quickly clicked to open it. [Zhang Yang]: Senior Brother Tao Yuang, are you free? I have something I'd like to ask you.

[Tao Yuang]: Yes, I'll get it sorted out right away. Wait for me in the underground parking garage of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.

He replied quickly.

Afterwards, Tao Yuang didn't say much to Lai Weijie, Xu Zhiruo, and the others. He exchanged a few simple pleasantries and then left.

……

Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.

Underground Parking Lot.

Due to the humiliating history of modern China, Chinese universities are often equipped with air-raid shelters, either proper air-raid shelters or underground parking lots that can be used daily.

After leaving Bao Xingwei's office alone, Zhang Yang sent a message to Tao Yuang, wanting to inquire about the margin trading company.

In 2009, it was not an easy thing to leverage. Although the law supported securities companies to carry out leveraged financing business, no securities company had taken the lead. Investors who wanted leveraged financing had to find off-exchange financing institutions.

There is a risk associated with off-exchange margin trading institutions: if you encounter an unregulated company, you may be absconded with your money.

This is because off-exchange margin trading requires you to transfer money to the other party's company account. For example, if you use 20 yuan to leverage 5 times, you need to first sign a contract with the other party specifying the leverage ratio, then transfer the 20 yuan to the other party's bank account, and finally the other party will deposit your 20 yuan and the leveraged 80 yuan into the designated securities account according to the contract, totaling 100 million yuan.

It's worth mentioning that the securities account used for margin trading is not directly used by the client, but is held by the margin trading company. If a client wants to place an order, they need to communicate with the manager at the margin trading company first.

Because of these restrictions, some unscrupulous margin trading companies use demo accounts to fool customers. Once the company has amassed enough money, they will abscond with the funds and disappear without a trace.

Finding the right margin trading company is very important, which is why Zhang Yang chose Tao Yuang.

The other party has been in the financial field for almost ten years, so it's not like they can't find a reliable margin trading company.

"Junior brother."

In the empty and quiet parking lot, Tao Yuang's voice was exceptionally clear.

He quickly approached Zhang Yang and asked, "Why are you in such a hurry to see me? What problem have you encountered?"

"I want to leverage my investment, and I'd like to ask you, Senior Brother Tao, to recommend a margin trading company to me." Zhang Yang didn't beat around the bush and stated his thoughts directly.

"Leverage?"

Tao Yuang was somewhat surprised, and then advised, "Why don't you wait a little longer? I have reliable inside information that Huaxin Securities will launch an on-exchange financing channel next March, and you only need 50 yuan to open the account."

“Off-exchange margin trading companies are extremely risky, and their annual interest rates are very high, generally above 20%, or even up to 30%. Even if I negotiate on my behalf, I can only get it down to around 13% at most.”

Charging an annual interest rate of over 20% is no different from borrowing money at exorbitant interest rates to speculate on stocks.

In Tao Yuang's view, those who dare to leverage their investments in stocks at this time are basically ruthless people.

He's quite happy to recommend other people, as he can get a 3%-5% commission as an intermediary.

But Zhang Yang is different. Tao Yuang and Zhang Yang have business cooperation. If Zhang Yang goes bankrupt and jumps off a building, who will write market research reports for him?
It should be noted that since the two reached the "Co-creation Agreement", his two latest research reports on plagiarism have been submitted, and the senior management of Huaxin Securities Shanghai Branch is very satisfied with them and is already creating a separate promotional column for him.

"I don't want to miss this round of recovery bull market, and I hope Senior Brother Tao can introduce me to it." Zhang Yang was very clear that this round of recovery bull market would last until July, and then enter a technical bear market in August. He had to seize the opportunity.

"you…"

Tao Yuang hesitated for a moment, but finally relented and said, "Tomorrow, I'll pick you up from school first thing tomorrow morning, and then we'll go to Hangzhou."

He was afraid that if he refused, Zhang Yang would go to find a margin trading company himself, and if he found a fraudulent one, it would be a loss for him.

"Okay, I'll get ready."

Zhang Yang responded.

(End of this chapter)