Chapter 5
Translator: Dreamscribe
"Heave-ho. Heave-ho."
“What are you doing, Jin-ho ssi?”
"Ah, yes. I'm warming up my body."
When the market opens, I have to drag this cart around here and there.
Lee Hye-rin once told me that.
“The two most important things in the stock market are mental strength and speed, remember?”
Mental strength is something the senior traders who directly handle trades have to manage, and we are responsible for speed. Just yesterday, I ran around so much that I almost got a cramp in my calf, and I realized how badly I needed to exercise.
Ah. But when am I supposed to exercise, anyway.
Exercising after work? That’s horrible.
These days, I hear office workers all do it after work.
Does that even make sense?
Especially Team Leader Park.......
“Whew.”
I shook my head side to side.
Even when I lived like a game addict, I never exercised once. How could this body start working out after work now?
“Jin-ho ssi. But I don’t think we’ll need the cart today.”
“Huh?”
“At least for today, we won’t have to touch the cart.”
If juniors like us aren’t dragging the cart around, then who else would be?
“Team Leader already spoke to another team. So today, the juniors from the other team will be running around instead of us.”
All of a sudden?
If that was the case, he should’ve done that yesterday... Though I shouldn’t say such things, it still felt strange that this was happening.
I don’t think it’s because I’m a parachute hire.
“Instead, today we’ll be doing mock trading until the market closes. Team Leader told us to do that. I think he’s giving us a chance because of that insurance stock.”
“Ah......”
“Thanks to you, Jin-ho ssi, I got a chance too. Thank you.”
“No, I was just lucky, that’s all.”
“But was it really luck? Hm. No, it must be a trade secret. It’d be rude to keep asking, right?”
There wasn’t anything I could even call a trade secret.
It’s not like I had some amazing analysis skills.
‘So today, we’ll only be doing mock trading.’
It seemed like this would be a very important time to test my ability.
“The meeting will start soon. You should perk up your ears and listen carefully. Big securities firms like ours are always clear about their meta awareness.”
“Meta?”
“Yes. Hot stocks, theme stocks, stocks of interest, skyrocketing stocks and so on. These things don’t usually come from multiple directions. Most of the time, they overlap in a single sector, right? That’s why it’s called a meta.”
Hearing a game term here felt strange.
In games too, things that become trends are called metas.
It seemed that in securities firms as well, the trend of the day was called a meta, and they would dig deep into that sector.
“Today, we’ll check who plays the role of leading stock, and who benefits from it behind the scenes. That’s what we check during meetings. The Prop Trading Department is the most sensitive to those things.”
We prepare the materials, but in reality, we mostly receive them ready-made.
Inside the company, there’s the Research Department.
There, they gather and analyze information from both domestic and international sources every day, and study how that information will affect the stock market.
Once those reports are filtered once over there, we receive them, distribute them to the team members, and make briefing materials for meetings.
“To me, all of it still looks like an alien language.”
Global, by industry, by company, market trends.
These are crazy reports analyzed entirely through numbers.
How could I possibly understand them just by looking?
“Hoho. What are you saying? You’re sounding weak again. Didn’t you learn all of that at school? Plus, you must’ve gotten sick of seeing it while studying for your certifications.”
“.......”
I just said nothing in response.
“Oh. Looks like everyone will gather soon. Let’s go in.”
“Yep.”
Meta awareness.
So meta awareness is important.
I perked up my ears as I reflected on Lee Hye-rin’s words.
Because it was based on a trend report created by elites from prestigious universities, we could hear on the spot what today’s meta was.
These were incredible pieces of information you couldn’t hear even if you paid money on the outside.
“You all read the report, right? The most prominent issue right now is the EV sector. Especially, risks are growing across the entire value chain. Each of you, say one thing you know.”
Ah. I don’t understand a thing from the start.
“After the electric bus fire, it seems inevitable that global OEMs will have to reassess their safety standards... Especially, the price of nickel, one of the battery materials, has dropped 45% compared to six months ago, weakening the overall sector momentum. It’s fallen much more than expected, Team Leader.”
“Oversupply is also serious. In the case of China's LYD, even though their operation rate dropped to 60% compared to last year, inventory still exceeds 400,000 units. The ASP for entry-level models is down over 30% year-over-year. It’s like they’re telling us not to do business.”
“But the EU and the US still have firm policies, right? A bill banning sales of new internal combustion engine vehicles from 2035 has already passed.”
I kept my mouth shut and quietly followed the flow of conversation.
I listened with my ears while quickly rereading the report with my eyes.
Today’s meta was the electric vehicle sector.
Even though Europe and the US have passed ultra-strong bills that will ban sales of new internal combustion engine vehicles in the future, it is said that internal combustion cars are still selling well.
Also, the US has introduced subsidy policies, and the same goes for our country.
However, due to battery fire incidents happening all over the world and the inconvenience of needing to charge, not as many people are looking for EVs as expected.
“Even if the EU and US policies are firm, to people who trade by the second, those are just meaningless promises. There’s also the fear that those promises could be overturned at any time.”
The Prop Trading Department is a place that does 100% short-term trading.
For them, long-term promises are nothing but illusions.
It’s the same for the retail investors active in the stock market.
“Take short positions across the entire EV value chain, but manage the risk thoroughly. Hedge by selling ETFs with a high proportion of battery stocks.”
“Got it. How much leverage should we use?”
“More than 2x is dangerous. Keep it conservative around 1.5x. If we get a margin call, that’ll be trouble.”
“What about the internal combustion sector?”
“Pick undervalued stocks among the catalyst material stocks. But don’t put them all in one basket, spread it out. It might already be partially reflected.”
“Then should we start by taking shorts in the morning, and go long in the afternoon? Everyone can decide the timing on their own.”
“Let’s do that. While watching how the trends move. This one has to be done with instinct. Just don’t get greedy. I know you all haven’t met the monthly performance properly this time, but if you push it, you might lose even more. Okay?”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
When the meeting ended, everyone rushed out.
Team Leader gave some instructions, but I didn’t understand a single thing.
Then, on the way out, one senior called out to Lee Hye-rin sunbae.
“Hye-rin ssi. Gather data on catalyst material stocks with Jung ssi and send it over to me.”
“Ah, yes!”
Just as the two of us were about to go out and gather the data.
“Wait. Ask another team junior for that.”
“Huh?”
“Those two have other work today, so don’t assign them anything.”
“Ah....... Okay. Understood.”
Team Leader said that to the senior and then nodded at us.
He was telling us to hurry and jump into the market too.
***
“Phewwww-.”
Lee Hye-rin’s fingertips were trembling.
This feeling she hadn’t experienced in a long time.
She felt like a hungry ghost returning to the gambling den.
“I can’t make any mistakes.”
Team Leader had said it clearly.
This is an evaluation.
In other words, if she screws up here, she’ll remain a junior for quite some time.
She’d just spend her days running errands, playing the role of a maid.
“It’s okay. I can do this!”
Lee Hye-rin repeated that to herself.
This was the long-awaited opportunity, and she was fully prepared to seize it.
Now, once the market opens, all she have to do is click the mouse like crazy.
‘But I wonder if Jin-ho ssi is doing okay.’
She tiptoed and glanced toward Jung Jin-ho in the next cubicle.
Lee Hye-rin was busily rechecking everything from the report provided by the Research Team to the catalyst material stock data and the contents of today’s meeting.
But Jung Jin-ho was just sitting still, staring at his monitor as if he were frozen solid.
No matter how you looked at him, he seemed like someone who had mentally shut down because he didn’t know where to start.
She guessed that insurance stock really was just a coincidence.
‘Should I go help him once things calm down a bit?’
It’s the senior’s duty to look after the junior!
***
Just like athletes waiting at the starting line, everyone seemed to be waiting for the gunshot to fire.
Before long, a signal sound echoed through the entire company like a state of emergency alert.
It was time for everyone to charge straight ahead.
“.......”
But I didn’t do anything.
I’m not saying I was just standing there smiling like a cheetah.
I was literally just sitting blankly because I didn’t know what to do.
‘I have no clue where to start.’
If this were a probability-based gacha item, I could just stare at the item until I felt something and then pull.
Or if it were enhancement, it would be the same.
But stocks were different.
There were too many things to consider.
‘I have no idea if it’s going to go up right now, tomorrow, or a year from now.’
With Item Boxes and enhancement, you get immediate feedback on whether you succeeded or failed.
But stocks weren’t that kind of thing.
‘Let’s say I bought a stock based on a gut feeling. But what if it doesn’t go up until a year later?’
And there are so many stock names, I don’t even know what to look at until I feel something.
It feels like trying to find a scale in a desert.
‘Calm down.’
It’s the phrase I always tell myself when my mind gets clouded with mental dust.
Though the problem is, I only ever used it while playing games.
Anyway, for now, I need to stay calm and go through it one step at a time without panicking.
‘They said today’s meta was electric vehicles and batteries.’
Let’s start with that.
As Team Leader said, I should at least show that I’m working hard.
I boldly opened the report given by the Research Team.
“Hmm.......”
Am I really reading Korean?
There was also a full list of stocks related to today’s meta displayed on the screen, and just as Team Leader predicted, they were all showing blue.
‘I think he said earlier to go short in the morning and long in the afternoon.’
Short and long positions.
How am I even supposed to take those positions and manage the risk?
Ah. If I’d known it would be like this, I should’ve invested alongside others and gained some experience.
‘But if all of them are showing blue, doesn’t that mean I absolutely shouldn’t buy them right now?’
There were more EV and battery-related stocks than I expected.
But they were all flashing blue, and it looked like entering now would lead to disaster.
‘Let’s look for stocks with red signals and try those.’
There’s a term called 'sang-tta'.
It means chasing stocks that are hitting the upper limit.
‘Rather than putting money into these, it’d probably be much better to put it all into one of those.’
Let’s not do what I’m not supposed to do.
Thinking that, I was about to scroll past the battery-related stocks filled with blue.
“......?”
Very faintly, but I felt a tingling sensation starting at my fingertips and spreading through my whole body.
This feeling... it wasn’t unfamiliar.
“No way.......”
I reopened the window I was about to close.
Then I slowly checked the stock names one by one.
Among the list full of negative numbers, the mouse wheel stopped on one.
<Daehan Solution>
A company that manufactures batteries using nickel as a raw material.
“.......”
This intense sensation spreading so strongly that it made me swallow dryly.
It was unmistakable.
It was that feeling I knew.
‘But this is.......’
The loss is way too severe, isn’t it?
And didn’t they say that jumping into battery-related stocks right now would be a total disaster?
It sounded like there was no chance of it going up for a while.
But this strong, trembling feeling in my fingertips was telling me it was this one.
‘Yeah. It’s just mock trading anyway, right?’
Thinking that made me feel a bit more at ease.
Just this once, I’ll trust my gut again.
Click-
I firmly pressed the buy button.