Reborn in America, I am a legendary short seller on Wall Street.

Chapter 119 Plan B, Dutch Gamble
From Tuesday to Thursday, in just three days, Larry made $4200 from Henry Williams's news.

After deducting the $1400 "profit share from learning to trade stocks" that was given to Henry Williams, Larry still made a net profit of $2800.

He now has more than $5000 in cash on him.

As usual, Larry put $150 in his pants pocket as his starting capital for the day, and kept the rest of his money in his wallet.

Mr. K has earned even more these past few days. He now has 14 young men running errands to place orders at the betting company, and his profits in just three days have exceeded $8000.

After deducting the "labor fees" allocated to employees, Mr. K's net profit for these three days was $7100.

However, following Larry's instructions, Mr. K kept a very strict eye on these young men, and each of them was never allowed to appear at the same betting shop twice.

Anyone who leaks secrets is severely beaten and kicked out of the team.

Therefore, the remaining fourteen people all seem trustworthy at present.

By employing both kindness and strictness, Mr. K won the loyalty of the young men. A job that could earn more than $35 a day was unheard of, and the young men all knew the principle of making a fortune quietly.

The only ones who get hurt are the betting companies...

However, Larry had already made targeted preparations in advance. Mr. K's guys could earn at most $500 at a betting shop, a conservative amount that a lucky ordinary customer would not arouse suspicion from the betting shop.

Besides Metropolitan Casino, Mr. K's men also visited more than thirty other casinos of all sizes throughout Boston.

So even though Larry and Mr. K were making a fortune, the betting company failed to realize in time that they had fallen into a series of traps, simply assuming that some of their clients were having a lucky streak...

However, it was the Metropolitan Gaming Company that first realized something was wrong.

Because they can easily discover that the stocks they used to manipulate to fool their victims are now actually losing money.

Because the Metropolitan Casino has the most branches in Boston, it is also the one that suffered the biggest losses in this "bookmaker getting fleeced" situation.

The betting company's management realized that the person giving the betting advice might be the culprit, but they were unable to quickly identify which of the six advisors they had assigned was the one causing the problem...

So they adopted a targeted strategy: starting from Friday, they only provided stock tips to the "spot signalers" without indicating buy or sell directions.

After the market opened at 10 a.m. on Friday, Larry was still sitting next to Henry Williams, drinking tea and smoking a cigar, while Mr. K pretended to casually buy 50 shares of Brorington Railroad at the trading counter.

After a while, the clerk called out a name.

"Hilton boiler, $18.75!"

Henry Williams straightened up abruptly after hearing this, but after waiting for two more minutes, a look of confusion appeared on his face…

Larry had been observing everything and had a rough idea of ​​what was going on. After a while, he asked, "Mr. Williams, is this stock a good buy?"

Henry Williams hesitated for a moment, then said carefully, "...It should be possible, but I don't know whether to short or long."

Larry thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "I think the stock you've got your eye on will definitely go up a lot. I'll place the order!"

Larry then stood up, walked to the transaction counter, took out $50 from his pocket, and loudly said to the teller behind the counter,
"Buy 50 shares of Hilton Boiler!"

When the clerk saw that Larry was the one placing the order, her expression darkened. She frowned and began filling out the form according to the latest price on the price list.
"Buy 50 shares of Hilton Boiler at $18.75, with a margin of $1 per share."

While the teller was filling out the form, Larry's thumb was tightly clasped with his middle finger on the counter.

Mr. K, who was pretending to look at the price list behind the counter, understood and put his transaction slip back into his pocket, then walked straight out of the betting shop...

The teller took the 25 cents transaction fee from Larry, handed him the transaction slip, gave him a stiff smile, and said,
"Good luck, Mr. Edward Robinson!"

Larry has made a lot of money here in the last few days, and the front desk manager and tellers at the Metropolitan Casino have taken notice of him.

At this moment, Larry has transformed into Edward Robinson, a Yale freshman from Cambridge, and because he starts with $150 a day and occasionally loses money by buying random stocks.

The top executives at the Metropolitan Casino couldn't immediately determine whether Larry was a skilled bettor or simply lucky.

Larry smiled, took the order, and returned to his seat.

On the other side, Mr. K turned into a quiet alley.

Upon seeing Mr. K, the fourteen young men immediately stood up straight, fearing they might displease him.

Mr. K took out US dollars, gave $100 to each of the seven people, and $50 to each of the other seven people, and then said,
"Two of you go to a betting shop. Today's stock is Hilton Boiler. Go short if you get $100 and go long if you get $50. Be careful, stagger your trades by a few minutes, and don't get caught!"

The fourteen young men looked puzzled, but they dared not question Mr. K's decision, so they agreed and left quickly.

Mr. K put the dollars back in his pocket, took out a cigar, lit it, and put it in his mouth. A smile appeared on his lips as he muttered to himself,

"Boss, is this your Plan B? Simultaneous orders, two-way trading..."

Larry devised Plan B on Tuesday night: to engage in two-way trading when he only knew that the Metropolitan Casino was going to cheat the stock but did not know which side to buy or sell!
Larry's decision to buy Hilton Boiler for $50, which he just slammed on the table, reflects his observation of the stock price and his belief that it is unlikely to continue rising. In other words, Larry considers the stock's rise to be a low probability event.

When Mr. K saw that Larry only placed a $50 long order and noticed that he had his thumb and forefinger clenched, he knew that this was the signal that Plan B was about to be implemented. Furthermore, Larry requested that the $100, which had a greater risk-reward ratio, be placed on the side with a higher probability of success.

This is why Mr. K asked the young man with $100 to short sell... Ten minutes later, Mr. K returned to the Metropolitan Casino and saw Larry pacing back and forth in front of the quote board, looking extremely anxious.

Mr. K then looked at the price chart. The price of Hilton Boiler was now exactly $18, which was 75 cents lower than Larry's purchase price. This meant that if it dropped another 25 cents, Larry's long position would be wiped out!
This time, Henry Williams chose to sell. He was as vocal as ever in his calls for action, but there was little joy on his face today…

Two more offers came in, both for Hilton boilers at $18, but Larry remained standing under the price board, refusing to sit back down.

等到11点35分，一直弱势的希尔顿终于跌破了18美元，跌到了17.5美元。这意味着在18.75美元做多的拉里已经爆仓出局。

Larry looked dejected, crumpled the transaction slip into a ball, and threw it angrily on the ground.

By the time the market closed at noon, Hilton Boiler's stock price had fallen to $15.50. A few clients who followed Henry Williams's short-selling recommendations today were already happily cashing in their profits at the counter.

Henry Williams glanced at Larry, then walked heavily to the counter to cash in his profits from shorting 200 shares of Hilton Boiler, but there was no sign of joy on his face.

Mr. K smiled slightly, tossed away the cigar butt in his hand, and began to calculate in his mind.

Today, a short position of 100 shares of Hilton Boiler will earn approximately $2 per share. Even after accounting for the $50 margin loss from the long position, the entire position will net a profit of $150.

Of course, if Hilton Boiler rises today, there's no need to worry, because the $50 for long positions will at least cover the $100 cost for short sellers, ensuring a steady profit for both parties.

Betting on both sides, placing a higher bet on the side with the higher probability, aiming to avoid losses, and making more money if you guess correctly—that's what the boss calls Dutch betting.

From Friday to Saturday morning, Plan B was implemented for a day and a half, and Mr. K's men brought back a profit of more than $1800. Although it was not as profitable as the previous two days, Mr. K was already beaming with joy.

After distributing $420 to the young men as "service fees," Mr. K pocketed the remaining $1400, thinking to himself,

If I had the same abilities as my boss back then, would I have been chased so badly by the Moore gang at the docks?

That boss is fucking amazing; making money is like drinking water for him. Looks like I really need to stick close to him from now on...

Just like the boss said, following him will make you rich sooner or later!
Monday, October 2.

Larry arrived at the Metropolitan Casino at 10 o'clock sharp, but was stopped by Henry Williams shortly after entering.

Henry Williams was a large, imposing man who stood in front of Larry like an iron tower.

Larry raised an eyebrow, tilted his head back, and asked, "Sir, is there anything I can help you with?"

Henry Williams, his face flushed with excitement, lowered his voice and said mysteriously to Larry, "...Come on, let's go outside. I'll share some inside information I just heard with you..."

The two left the Metropolitan Casino and walked to a quiet corner of the street.

Henry Williams, his face flushed, asked excitedly, "Hey Edward, how much money did you bring today? Want to go big?"

“Oh! Mr. Williams, are you absolutely certain?!” Larry smiled and looked directly into Henry Williams’ eyes.

Mr. Williams nodded heavily and said in a deep voice, "Absolutely reliable inside information! There will be an insider-manipulated drop in the US sugar industry today, which could fall by as much as 10 points... My brother, if you make a fortune this time, don't forget me!"

Williams' implication was simple: I've given you inside information, so you have to continue giving me a third of the profits.

Larry nodded emphatically. "Okay! But what exactly do you mean by 'playing big'?"

Henry Williams smiled and said, word by word, "I'm going to bet all the money I've made lately! After this, I'll leave Boston..."
.
The stock market opened promptly at 10:00 AM.

The betting machines at the Metropolitan Casino started clicking away, and the customers, who had already consumed large amounts of sugary drinks and alcohol, instantly became excited, pulling out their dollars to place their bets...

As Henry Williams had instructed, the two sat several rows apart today to avoid any appearance of impropriety.

At 10:07 AM, the latest price quote from the US sugar industry came in: $106.

Henry Williams stood up, glanced at Larry, and instead of calling out orders to the crowd in the trading hall as usual, walked straight to the trading counter, pulled out a wad of dollars, and said in a deep voice,

"Sell me 2500 shares of U.S. Sugar!"

The teller behind the counter was still the same expressionless, cold-faced teller.

Upon hearing Henry Williams' sell order, the teller abruptly looked up, glaring at him, his voice sounding like it was being forced out through clenched teeth.
"Are you fucking crazy... selling so many?"

There were quite a few people at the trading counter. No one expected that the Metropolitan Casino, which always accepted all orders, and whose tellers always regarded Henry Williams as a clown, would insult a customer to his face like this.

Henry Williams was also taken aback, but then his face turned ferocious, and he solemnly said, "Yes, 2500 shares of U.S. Sugar, short it! Right now!"

The teller glanced at him, then turned to look at the indifferent front desk manager, took a transaction slip, and filled in "Sold 500 shares of U.S. Sugar at $106, with a margin of $1 per share".

500 shares is the maximum limit for a single transaction order, and the teller wrote five identical orders in a row.

The teller then filled in his name and handed the five transaction slips to Henry Williams.

　The next chapter will recreate a famous scene from "Reminiscences of a Mastermind".

　　
　
(End of this chapter)