Chapter Four: Market Research Email-Tornando-se um Capitalista a Partir de uma Posição Totalmente Alocada em Ações A-shares(Assassino Picante)

While Zhang Yang was still in the library organizing data, the students of the Investment major were experiencing a mix of joy and sorrow; some had captured "demon stocks," while others were already deep in the red.

In Dorm 307, right across from Dorm 308, all four roommates had fallen into a trap.

"Who said the infrastructure sector was a guaranteed win?"

"China Railway Construction shouldn't be doing this. It's actually showing a downtrend on shrinking volume. Once this breaks the consolidation range, it might trigger a panic sell-off."

"So, what do we do?"

"Sell it and switch to other infrastructure stocks."

After a brief discussion, they decided to rebalance their portfolios. The current loss of a few thousand yuan was a mere drop in the bucket compared to their 1 million yuan in virtual starting capital.

Meanwhile, in the women's dormitory building, Dorm 201.

He Jing, wearing only a spaghetti-strap tank top that exposed her shoulders, held her mouse, eyes glued to her laptop screen. She had invested 100,000 yuan in Changan Auto. As a top-five student in her major, her reason for consulting Zhang Yang the day before yesterday was mainly to confirm if their views aligned, hoping to secure an internship at Huaxin Securities.

For local students with connections, such an opportunity might be easily obtained. But coming from Xiangxi with parents who were both teachers, she had no family support to help her land a job in finance.

She had been watching Changan Auto for a long time. Before the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis, its share price had peaked at 24.58 yuan. After a year and a half of plummeting, it had bottomed out at 3.4 yuan, an 86.17% drop, putting it in a state of obvious oversold territory. Uncertain of the bottom and lacking technical support, she only invested 100,000 yuan, waiting for the news cycle surrounding the first-quarter reports to unfold.

It is worth noting that both Zhang Yang and He Jing were bullish on the automotive sector because, on January 14, 2009, the government had issued the "Automotive Industry Adjustment and Revitalization Plan," which not only mentioned lowering vehicle purchase taxes but also implemented policies like "Automobiles to the Countryside."

Compared to He Jing’s cautious approach, her three roommates were much more aggressive. For instance, Xu Zhiruo—who wore a matching white spaghetti-strap tank top and sported a single ponytail—chose to invest 700,000 yuan into an ETF tracking the automotive sector, with the remaining 300,000 reserved for future top-ups. Her other two roommates were also heavily increasing their positions in the automotive, infrastructure, and consumer sectors. After all, they were professional students and wouldn't invest blindly in uncertain sectors.

As the days passed, the returns of the 122 investment students began to diverge. The one with the heaviest losses was Lai Weijie. Having listened to market rumors, he went all-in on Rongfeng Holdings. After hitting two daily limit-ups, the company secretary issued a denial, stating there were no major business adjustments. This was followed by four consecutive daily limit-downs, trapping him completely with a total return of -20% and a loss of 200,000 yuan.

The top three in terms of returns were Wang Liu, Xu Jiafeng, and He Jing. Zhang Yang, because he hadn't made any trades yet, was only ranked 17th in the class.

In the Investment faculty office, Professor Wang Xingbang looked at the daily return reports and nodded with satisfaction. "In five trading days, 12 students have returns exceeding 10%. The quality of this class is quite impressive."

Another instructor, Chang Botao, nodded in agreement, analyzing, "Wang Liu must have been chasing limit-ups; he has a 24% return, leading the second-place Xu Jiafeng by 9%."

"How is Zhang Yang doing?" another teacher asked.

Wang Xingbang scrolled through the spreadsheet and replied, "7%. Overall, it’s not bad."

"7%?" A flash of disappointment crossed the teacher’s eyes, though they soon relaxed, saying, "It seems practice is the truth, and theory is just an aid."

"It's not over yet; it's hard to say," Chang Botao smiled. He had great confidence in Zhang Yang. He taught "Financial Market Analysis," and in the previous three years of final exams, Zhang Yang had always scored above 90. He didn't know the difficulty of other subjects, but he had intentionally made his own subject difficult; getting a 60 was already quite an achievement. A score above 90 meant Zhang Yang had a unique understanding of the market. Only by understanding the underlying rules of the financial market could one profit from it, which was why he remained confident in Zhang Yang.

Just as the teachers were chatting, the 121 students—excluding Zhang Yang—received a special email. The subject line was blunt and simple: "Post-Subprime Crisis: A-Share Sectors with Explosive Potential (Issue 1)." The sender was Zhang Yang’s 163 email address.

"Ding-dong—"

A notification popped up on He Jing’s laptop. She clicked it, only to see that the sender was her "old acquaintance," Zhang Yang.

"What is this guy up to?" she wondered, confused.

When Xu Zhiruo saw the email, she raised her voice, "Girls, Zhang Yang just sent me a market analysis email. Does he have a crush on me?"

"He sent it to me, too."

"I got it as well. Do you think it's possible he likes all three of us?"

Her two roommates poured cold water on her theory. Upon realizing it was a mass email, Xu Zhiruo picked up her Coca-Cola to hide her embarrassment and said, "Maybe he specially prepared this 'dumpling feast' just for me."

"Oh, wow!" Blue Sisi, who had short, professional hair and a few freckles, had already skimmed the email. She teased, "He did it for you... for your money, that is."

The sarcastic comment made Xu Zhiruo want to lash out, but since Blue Sisi was on the sports team, she chose to back down.

He Jing, meanwhile, quickly scrolled through the email's attachment. The document contained macroeconomic data, starting from various countries' economies and stimulus policies. It not only included CPI, non-farm payrolls, and unemployment rates, but also pointed out four major areas likely to recover first after the subprime crisis.

At the end of the attachment was a note from Zhang Yang:

[Organizing this data took a great deal of time and energy. If you wish to subscribe to the second issue of the market research reports and sector analysis, please call 134…9457 or add QQ 158…5771. I apologize for any intrusion.]

"Is he selling data?" He Jing squinted, struggling to understand his motives. All the students were fighting tooth and nail for the Huaxin Securities internship, yet this guy had turned into an analyst.

To get to the bottom of it, she opened QQ and sent him a message.

[He Jing]: How much?

A moment later, Zhang Yang replied.

[Zhang Yang]: Do you want to buy the domestic market report or the potential sector analysis?

He Jing looked at the message, thought for a moment, and typed: "Both."

[Zhang Yang]: 300 yuan.

[He Jing]: ???

A string of question marks filled the chat window. She had expected 50 or perhaps 100, but never 300! Subscriptions to market reports from institutions like Bridgewater, Moody's, or Nomura cost barely 7 dollars per issue—about 40 dollars a month. Zhang Yang was charging more than famous financial institutions!

His exorbitant price made He Jing feel like he was treating her like a fool.

[Zhang Yang]: There are ten reports in total, 30 yuan each. Here are screenshots of the detailed files. Let me know when you've decided.

[Zhang Yang]: Image.jpg

Zhang Yang’s pricing wasn't random. Analysts at Moody's and Nomura were top-tier, but their primary focus was on developed nations like the US, Europe, Japan, and South Korea. Simply put, Zhang Yang’s reports were better suited for Chinese investors.

Seeing that it was 30 yuan per report, He Jing calmed down. She clicked the screenshot; there were ten files on his desktop, covering not just the domestic market, but also energy, consumer goods, automotive, infrastructure, and home appliances.

"Should I buy?" He Jing hesitated. 30 yuan wasn't high—it was barely 4.39 dollars.

Acting rationally, she decided not to get them all, opting instead to spend 60 yuan to buy the automotive and infrastructure reports as a test run.