Chapter 33: Clearing Out Changan Automobile

Arriving at the study area of the financial analysis lab, Zhang Yang skillfully connected his laptop to the network jack and opened Sina Finance to check for the latest favorable market news.

The major positive development for April 9th was that the Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee was scheduled to hold its first-quarter regular meeting on April 10th.

Why would a meeting on the 10th be considered major positive news on the 9th?

It comes down to one word: speculation.

In the stock market, one speculates on future expectations. It is much like buying a scratch-off lottery ticket; due to the opaque coating, you do not know how much money is underneath. You might spend five yuan and win a thousand, or even tens of thousands.

This is speculating on the unknown, speculating on expectations—the fundamental logic of the stock market.

With the monetary policy meeting set for April 10th, no one could say for sure if there would be a preview of another "Four Trillion Yuan Stimulus Plan." Even if it were just an adjustment to interest rates or the reserve requirement ratio, it would be enough to stir up the market.

The moment Zhang Yang saw the headline "Central Bank Monetary Policy First-Quarter Regular Meeting," the phrase "continue to implement a moderately loose monetary policy and maintain ample liquidity in the banking system" flashed through his mind. This was the core content of the meeting.

In his previous life, he hadn't yet gone abroad at this time, so he had naturally paid close attention to this high-stakes meeting.

"It seems I have insider knowledge this time," Zhang Yang smiled faintly.

He quickly searched his documents, identified stocks related to the banking and financial sectors, and conducted an initial screening.

If his memory served him correctly, this meeting did not directly adjust interest rates or the reserve requirement ratio, nor was there a "New Four Trillion Yuan Plan," but the market still bought into the six words: "loose monetary policy."

...

9:10 AM.

Zhang Yang had already screened several potential stocks:

1. Ping An of China.
Established in 1988, it was China’s first joint-stock insurance enterprise. Initially focused on life insurance, it gradually expanded into property insurance, banking, and other fields. In 2004, Ping An went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and in 2007, it listed on the A-share market, becoming the first financial enterprise in the country to have an "A+H" dual listing. Starting in 2005, it proposed a "comprehensive finance" strategy, building three major business pillars—insurance, banking, and investment—through acquisitions such as Shenzhen Development Bank (later integrated into Ping An Bank) and Ping An Trust.

2. The Big Four Banks.
These are the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China Construction Bank (CCB), Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), and Bank of China (BOC). The Big Four are the pillars of China’s financial economy. Taking ICBC alone, it had added 1.04 trillion yuan in new loans in the first quarter of 2009, primarily supporting infrastructure projects like railways, highways, and power grids, driving a 35% year-on-year increase in credit scale for related enterprises.

3. Shaanxi International Trust (Shaanguotou A).
The full name is Shaanxi Provincial International Trust Co., Ltd. Founded in January 1985, it is a state-owned enterprise controlled by the province. It issued shares to the public in 1992 and was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in January 1994, making it the first non-bank financial enterprise to go public in the country and one of only two listed trust investment companies in China at the time.

Without a doubt, these were all stocks with short-term growth potential.

After organizing the list, Zhang Yang opened Baidu Tieba, logged into his "joker" account, and updated his personal feed with the stock information.

Within moments, followers began leaving comments.

[Mao Tou Xiao Zi]: "Joker, are you bullish on the banking and insurance sectors?"

[Tonight Fighting Tigers]: "Ping An of China and the Big Four banks are almost synonymous with the broad market index. Does this mean you think the Shanghai Composite has room to rise? I’m not sure if I’m reading this right."

[Shi E Lu Ye]: "Want to go all-in! Need an answer!"

Zhang Yang picked a comment at random and replied: "There is a routine monetary policy meeting on April 10th. It’s worth a tentative gamble on positive news. Even if there isn't any, the authorities won't pour cold water on the market. The opportunity outweighs the risks."

His response was conservative, clarifying only the general direction and leaving the rest for his followers to judge.

Even if Zhang Yang weren't a "reborn" person, he could have analyzed from a macroeconomic perspective that tomorrow’s meeting was highly likely to bring good news; even if it didn't, there would be no bad news.

2009 was a critical year for emerging from the shadows of the subprime mortgage crisis. Every nation was scrambling to revive its economy; no one would suddenly stop in their tracks.

Even if inflation appeared, it would still be better than economic deflation, the impact of which could last anywhere from a few years to several decades.

After replying to his followers, the time reached 9:20 AM.

The 9:20 to 9:25 AM window for centralized bidding allows order placement but forbids cancellations. These five minutes are akin to the "showdown" in a gambling movie—often called "all-in." You can roughly judge your opponent’s hand based on their visible cards, but their hidden cards could still change everything.

At this moment, Changan Automobile was once again showing a daily limit price of 10.79 yuan.

Zhang Yang opened the bidding board for Changan Automobile. It had two indicators: the bidding white dots and the buy/sell volume momentum.

Each white dot represented a bid, occurring every nine seconds. The denser the dots, the higher the stock's popularity and capital activity. The buy/sell volume chart was divided into two parts: the top showing unmatched volume and the bottom showing matched volume, split into red and green bars.

If the top red bars grew, it meant buy orders exceeded sell orders and the bottom buy orders were not being matched. Similarly, if the top green bars grew, it meant sell orders exceeded buy orders.

During the five minutes from 15 to 20 past the hour, Changan Automobile’s buy orders were significantly larger than sell orders. As real-money trading began at the 20-minute mark, the red volume bars surged again, and the matched volume below also increased.

As time passed, the red volume bars below grew taller and taller, which caught Zhang Yang’s attention.

"If it were to continue hitting the limit, we shouldn't be seeing the volume below increase like this. The buy orders at the top are shrinking—could this be a bull trap?"

While analyzing this, Zhang Yang immediately placed an order to sell all 3,300 of his shares of Changan Automobile at 10.79 yuan.

In his view, the risk of Changan Automobile now outweighed the opportunity; he sensed the risk of a potential "broken board" (a sudden drop from the daily limit). Once a broken board occurred, the major players might dump their holdings without hesitation.

As a star manager who had spent decades on Wall Street, his trading style was always focused on steady profits.

When 9:25 AM arrived, the board still showed a daily limit, and Zhang Yang checked his transaction record, which confirmed that all 3,300 shares of Changan Automobile had been sold.

On Monday, April 6th, he had entered at the lower limit price of 6.63 yuan. It then hit the daily limit, yielding a 22.22% gain.

On April 7th, 8th, and 9th, it hit the daily limit for three consecutive days, bringing the price per share to 10.79 yuan.

After clearing his position, Zhang Yang’s total profit on Changan Automobile was 13,728 yuan, a total gain of 62.74%.

In other words, Zhang Yang had turned 21,879 yuan into 13,728 yuan in profit. After deducting various transaction fees, his available account balance reached 35,600 yuan.

Taking advantage of the five-minute break from 9:25 to 9:30, he quickly scanned the bidding boards for the Big Four banks, Ping An of China, and Shaanxi International Trust. Analyzing the bidding trends of the major capital, he found that the upper volume was in an upward trend, indicating that a high opening was a certainty.