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

Chapter 251 Panic Selling

At the same time, inside the New York Stock Exchange.

Peter Pan, a floor trader at Paine Weber Securities, had just returned to his company's floor desk when he received a new order to buy 2 shares of New York Fire Insurance.

Peter Pan frowned, his face full of displeasure, and said, "I just bought 2 shares."

His colleague at the counter said to him, "So what? Just as you were buying, the New York branch sent two more buy orders for 2 shares each, and we had to send someone else to complete them."

Peter Pan's face showed surprise, then he frowned and said, "That damn stock of New York Fire Insurance today, there's definitely something wrong with its price! Someone's shorting it at any cost, I bet they've heard something!"

His colleague at the counter handed him the latest order for 2 yuan, sighed, and said, "There's nothing we can do about it. Since a customer wants to buy, we just have to do it."

Peter Pan took the order form, glanced at it, and nodded slightly.

"Oh, by the way, if you have time, do this order too! It's an order to buy 1 shares of New York Central Railroad, also from the New York branch." The colleague handed over another order.

Peter Pan unfolded the request form, glanced at it, flicked his fingers, and then nodded.

"That's more like it! When I passed by the railway section just now, I noticed that the stocks there were constantly rising. My first pre-market order was to buy China Railway, and the stock is doing well today."

His colleague at the counter nudged him, "Hurry up and get to work! The customers make money, but they don't share it with us; we just need to do our jobs!"

Peter Pan nodded, then took the two forms and walked towards the counter.

The two largest counters on the New York Stock Exchange were the financial counter and the railroad counter. These were also important sub-sectors and pillars of the American economy at that time.

Peter Pan took the order for 10,000 shares of New York Central Railroad to the railroad counter. By then, the stock price had soared to $112 and a quarter. Peter Pan, following his client's order, bought 10,000 shares.

This deal went smoothly and pleasantly!

Then, he leisurely walked to the financial counter.

Actually, my colleague is right.

As floor traders, they only need to fulfill their clients' orders; they don't get a share of the profits or losses.

But Peter Pan also had a very simple mindset: he didn't like taking on deals that resulted in losses. He didn't like it even if it meant his clients losing money.

He didn't want to buy New York Fire Insurance stock, or rather, he resisted buying it.

Based on his own intuition, he felt that the tall, thin man had come prepared, and that buying the stock now would make him a sucker and a target for a scam.

But this was a client's request, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Peter Pan reluctantly walked to the financial counter and peered inside.

The tall, thin man continued to dump shares at the financial trading counter.

Panic began to spread as he relentlessly dumped shares. People didn't know what had gone wrong with New York Fire Insurance that caused such a sell-off, and some timid traders had already started selling their stocks.

Some floor traders have even received orders from clients to follow suit and short sell.

Strangely, apart from New York Fire Insurance, other stocks—including Atlantic Insurance and United Gas—were also affected and fell, but the selling pressure was far less concentrated and frenzied.

Their sell orders are scattered and from multiple sources, with the decline hovering between 2-3%.

But only here, because of this trader's presence, was the suppression of the stock extremely thorough.

The tall, thin trader's continuous selling has attracted widespread attention and made him the focus of the market.

He completely ignored the horrified, angry, and even pleading looks from the other agents around him.

He would even occasionally pick up a glass of water and take a slow, deliberate sip, as if the financial carnage he had personally orchestrated had nothing to do with him.

This absolute calm and indifference was more oppressive and arrogant than any hysterical shout. His backer seemed to be declaring to the entire market: I've set my sights on this prey; it must die, and you can only watch.

Peter Pan squeezed to the front, took out his buy order for 2 shares, and was about to place an order...

Suddenly, he heard a window outside the exchange vibrate slightly. Not only the window, but the floor, the lamps, and the price board all vibrated in unison at the same moment.

Peter Pan looked towards the window in confusion; the sound must have been coming from the east.

Many people at the stock exchange also heard the dull sound and looked towards the window in confusion, but they did not receive any other instructions.

But at the exchange, they couldn't see anything; this was still the closest...
Peter Pan even doubted himself, wondering if he had misheard. He turned to look at the crowd around him, and saw that many floor traders had already resumed their work. Was it just his imagination?
Peter Pan looked up at the large chandelier above the stock exchange and noticed that the crystal pendant on the chandelier was still swaying gently.

This proves it wasn't a hallucination.

Peter Pan squeezed in front of the tall, thin man and asked loudly, "How much are you offering here? I mean the New York fire."

The tall, thin man looked at him as he returned and said with a smile, "The price is now 12 and 1/8. If you're willing to buy, you can continue."

“Okay, that’s the price, 2 shares.” Peter Pan readily bought 2 shares.

After the stock transaction was completed, Peter Pan squeezed out of the crowd.

Peter Pan had just acquired these stocks; the process wasn't difficult, given the large-scale selling by some investors. However, the sellers' relentless selling, regardless of cost, was truly aggressive. Peter Pan planned to go back and rest, and besides, it was almost closing time.

The person at the next counter was from another brokerage firm. Seeing that he had just returned from the financial services counter, that person jokingly asked, "I heard there's a big shot there who's been selling off fire insurance company stock, is that true?"

“That’s certainly true,” Peter Pan nodded in agreement.

The man laughed and said, "Is this guy crazy? Does he think some huge disaster is going to happen in New York, so much so that the insurance companies won't have time to pay out?"

Peter Pan did not answer, but looked at him and asked, "How do you know there is such a person?"

The trader said, "That kid has a reputation! I heard the broker is British."

Peter Pan nodded and picked up his cup to drink some water.

However, at that very moment, Peter Pan could clearly sense a change in the atmosphere within the venue.

A message entered the meeting room like a sprout, and then began to spread rapidly from a single point to a wider area.

The traders in the room seemed to have been infected by some kind of virus, and soon everyone was talking in hushed tones.

Peter Pan had a special ability: when he was away from the crowd, he could clearly see the trend.

He was unaware of any rumors circulating in the crowd, for he could clearly sense a complex emotion spreading among them.

There's really a problem with this situation.

Peter Pan could hear their whispers and observe the crowd slowly moving toward the central counter.

Something must have happened!

Peter Pan put down his cup, turned around, and plunged back into the crowd.

"What's the rush?" He grabbed a trader he knew well, watching him squeeze toward the financial counter.

The man looked at him, then whispered in his ear, "There was an explosion at the fishing port. It looks like the fire compensation will be particularly high."

Was that the slight tremor just now? Was that an explosion?
At the dock... it's not too far from here.

Peter Pan turned to look at the tall, thin trader. In fact, not only him, but the entire exchange's attention was now focused on him. Because of this stock and this ruthless trader, trading in other stocks had almost come to a standstill.

Fear spread like a plague: because this person's short selling was like an execution.

Who will be the next target to be "executed" in this way?

At the financial counter, all buying interest in New York fire insurance evaporated, leaving only a few scattered, desperate attempts to buy at the bottom.

Like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, it was instantly crushed. The stock price of New York Fire Insurance Company seemed to plummet down a cliff, spiraling downwards.

The tall, thin man completed his final sell-off and finally stopped.

He straightened his tie and whispered to his assistant, "Close out any excess short positions before the market closes."

Then, he picked up his hat, expressionless, and left the noisy, chaotic, battlefield-like trading hall, leaving behind a mess and countless fearful speculations about him and his mastermind.

People hurriedly sold their New York fire insurance policies. They had heard rumors that there had been an explosion or arson at the New York docks, which would trigger a payout from the New York fire insurance companies. After the payout, the stock would no longer pay dividends!

The rush to sell turned into arguments, arguments into panic, and panic into a stampede-like sell-off.

Finally, New York Fire Insurance's stock price exploded, just three minutes after the tall, thin trader left.

(End of this chapter)