Chapter 10
Translator: Dreamscribe
As the market opened, Team Leader Park Hong-seo stared at the monitors where data flowed chaotically.
Clearly, this was where his focus should be, but his eyes kept drifting elsewhere.
“.......”
Jung Jin-ho.
Park Hong-seo had intentionally arranged his seating so that he could see Jung Jin-ho clearly. But ever since the market opened, Jung Jin-ho wasn’t doing anything in particular.
‘He’s just staring blankly at the screen, isn’t he?’
Park Hong-seo was curious.
What kind of investment secret did Jung Jin-ho possess?
What kind of method did he use to invest that resulted in such high returns?
Would that really work in real trading?
“.......”
That was why Team Leader Park kept staring intently at Jung Jin-ho.
Yet he did nothing.
Truly nothing.
***
'What is all this stuff?'
Now that the monitors had increased to six, it was more overwhelming than during the mock trading.
Among these countless stocks, I had to pick one appropriate stock, but that was easier said than done.
‘Weird. Last time, when I was checking the stocks, I got a strong feeling.’
But this time, that wasn’t happening.
Even scrolling quickly through the stocks, no feeling was coming.
As a result, I just stared blankly at the screen, doing nothing, and before I knew it, time had flown by and it was already 12 PM.
"Jin-ho ssi....... Are things going well?"
Then Deputy Manager Lee Hye-rin walked over to my desk with a gloomy face.
“Is it okay for you to be away from your seat?”
“Ugh. Don’t even mention it. I’ve already lost 3% today and got suspended from trading.”
“Ah....... They suspend your trading just for losing 3%?”
“Of course. Even 3% is a big number for a securities firm. The risk managers monitor our traders’ profits in real time, and for beginners like us, they say if you lose even 2%, they stop you right away. At least for veterans, they allow up to 5%.”
Warren Buffett once said this.
First, never lose money.
Second, follow the first rule.
This was the golden rule that every securities firm constantly emphasized to us.
“People think us prop traders are obsessed with short-term trades and raking in profits, but in reality, it’s the securities firms who emphasize safety the most. They look at long-term returns, not short-term ones. That’s why they always stress risk management.”
That’s also why the team leader always emphasized risk management in every meeting.
Because this isn’t our personal money, but company capital.
Someone might ask what kind of risk management applies to short-term trading, but here, trades are conducted with minimal risk.
If that rule is broken, the system was such that the risk manager who monitors our trading would impose restrictions.
"For example, if we judge that stock A will rise, we take a position in stock A, but anticipating that stock A might fall, we buy put options. Usually we set the ratio at 7:3 or 8:2."
She also explained in detail about diversified investment across various sectors using VIX or ETFs for risk management.
“Ugh. What’s the point of saying all this. I only know the theory. In actual trading, I just end up losing and getting suspended. I’m so pathetic, aren’t I, Jin-ho ssi? Even with thorough risk management, this happened."
“No, it’s not like that. You can’t be perfect from day one. I’m sure you’ll do well tomorrow.”
“Thanks. But what about you, Jin-ho ssi? How’s your return rate so far?”
“Ah. I.......”
Deputy Manager looked at my trading screen, which was completely empty, and blinked.
“Wait a second. Jin-ho ssi. You haven’t made a single trade yet?”
“Uh...... yeah.”
I scratched my head awkwardly.
But an unexpected reaction came.
“Wow. Jin-ho ssi, you really are an investment master.”
"Huh?"
“You knew it was going to be a bear market today, didn’t you? They say in this kind of market, doing nothing is how you make money.”
“.......”
Is that how the story goes?
“I just didn’t get any strong feeling.”
But that didn’t mean I could just do nothing.
The problem was, I really wasn’t getting any feeling.
It was the first time something like this happened, so it was a bit unsettling.
Was I doing something wrong?
It felt like something was missing.
“Intuition is important. But when you don’t feel anything, try going over today’s briefing material again.”
"Briefing materials?"
“Yes. Didn’t I tell you? You need to have good meta-awareness in the stock market. And the Research Department, which you could call ultra-elite, already laid out today’s trends for us in their material. Just reading that properly can give you more than half the edge.”
Come to think of it, I had been suddenly promoted to senior today, so I didn’t hear a single word of the meeting.
I was so focused on that, I hadn’t registered anything the team leader said.
What we were supposed to focus on today, what to be cautious about.
I hadn’t heard any of that, and I had just been thrown into this battlefield with nothing but my body.
“Sigh. I’ve vented enough, so I’ll go back to my desk now. Ah, I hope I don’t get demoted back to junior on my first day as a senior.”
“There’s no way that’ll happen. No one gets it right from the start.”
“Anyway, I’m heading back. I need to reflect on what I did wrong today while reviewing my trades... I lost, but Jin-ho ssi, I hope you make money today! Or at least hold on! If you do, I’ll buy dinner tonight.”
“I will absolutely make a profit!”
Suddenly, I started to feel motivated.
I began reviewing today’s briefing material.
‘International oil prices are falling, and the US stock market is also down, interest rates are rising, the Chinese stock market is falling, and foreign investment is decreasing.’
It also mentioned that foreign investors were pulling out their capital in preparation for the domestic market’s upcoming increase in the upper limit from 15% to 30%, and more importantly, that rising interest rates were causing money to flow into the bond market.
On top of that, the shipbuilding industry took a major hit, triggering a strong psychological impact. That’s why the overall market was bound to continue declining today.
That's what was written in the briefing materials.
'The team leader said in times like this, we should rather profit from short selling.'
But how do you even do that?
I didn’t really know how to go about short selling.
I knew which button to press to initiate a short, but I had heard that to short, you also needed to manage risk by buying specific stocks and hedging to reduce losses.
‘I don’t know enough to start doing stuff like that.’
Risk management, shorting, hedging, and all that.
To someone like me who’s practically a stock newbie, it all sounded like an alien language.
If I messed with the wrong thing, I could end up losing all my money.
‘Let’s just do what I’m good at.’
That meant trusting only in this sharp intuition.
I quickly finished reviewing the material and closed it.
Then I began looking through the stocks again.
‘Huh?’
But the feeling that wouldn’t come no matter what earlier suddenly tingled from the very first stock.
‘Nothing worked before, no matter what I tried.’
Could it be because I read the briefing material?
It was too precise to be a coincidence.
Looking back, I always thoroughly read the briefing materials before I made any investment.
And my intuition always struck when I focused on something related to that.
Getting data in a specific field sparked intuition.
I learned something new today.
‘So this is why they say if you listen to your senior, you'll get rice cakes even in your sleep.’
That wasn’t something I came up with; it was a line Lee subbae had said to me.
‘Alright, let’s buy... Wait. I was told not to go all-in like last time.’
Spread your investments across different baskets.
Diversify your investments.
This was all necessary for risk management.
That way, even if one goes down, you can profit from another.
‘Diversify. I need to diversify. But how much?’
Moderately... maybe three stocks should do?
***
“Ah. Today’s market is just insane.”
“Ha. Let’s go smoke.”
“Tsk. It’s basically forced quitting. You can’t even smoke while watching the market.”
“Then why don’t you go upstairs to the Futures floor? All they do there all day is smoke.”
“Ugh. I’m too nervous to go up there. I’d rather quit smoking entirely.”
As the market closed, curses burst out here and there.
There’s nothing you can do on a bear market day like this.
Even if you bought a few put options for risk management, it wasn’t enough to protect against the losses. That’s how wildly the market fluctuated today.
The problem was that things would likely continue like this until the price ceiling gets raised.
“Ughhh.......”
But forget the market.
There was someone groaning and biting her nails over a completely different problem.
‘Ahh. I’m seriously going crazy!’
There’s a golden rule when working at a company, especially a large corporation.
Don’t mess with the royal family.
Parachute hires may be annoying, but never touch them.
Because from the very beginning, they are on a different starting line, with a completely different background from regular employees.
The issue is, if you get into a conflict with one of those people and try to move to another securities firm, even the competition won’t take you.
Even if it's a rival company, they’re reluctant to accept an employee who went against someone from the owner’s family, no matter how good your resume is.
But Deputy Manager Yang Mi-joo had messed with exactly that kind of royal family.
To put it bluntly, she was screwed.
‘No. There’s still a chance to recover.’
Deputy Manager Yang Mi-joo calmly tried to settle her mind.
Today’s return rate:
-1%
Well, not bad.
In a market like today’s, -1% was actually decent.
Other traders had such big losses that their trades got suspended and chaos broke out, but because Yang Mi-joo had been too distracted watching Jung Jin-ho, she ironically ended up with fewer losses.
“Ahem! Jin-ho ssi~.”
Yang Mi-joo approached Jung Jin-ho with a bright smile.
He flinched slightly at her approach.
“I was a little harsh earlier, wasn’t I? Sorry. The market’s been wild lately, and I’ve been so obsessed with results that I got a bit worked up. You understand, right?”
“Ah... yes.”
“I knew you’d understand. You seemed like such a kind and good person from the very first impression. So let’s get along well from now on.”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Oh, right. With how the market was today, you must’ve taken a hit too, right?”
From what she heard, Lee Hye-rin had her trades suspended today.
Jung Jin-ho must’ve been the same.
At times like this, it was a good chance to comfort him and show the warmth of a sunbae.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make enough to cover your losses too. And if there’s anything you’re unsure about, just ask me. I’ve been in this market for quite a while, so I know a lot......”
While saying that, Yang Mi-joo casually glanced over at Jung Jin-ho’s trading screen.
“Hmm?”
But something was off.
Jung Jin-ho’s trading screen, which should have been full of negatives, was glowing red instead.
“10%?! J-Jin-ho ssi, is this really your trading screen?”
“Ah, yes. Things picked up toward the end, so luckily I didn’t end up taking a loss today.”
Yang Mi-joo stared at Jung Jin-ho and the monitor back and forth in disbelief.
‘He didn’t even short, didn’t buy any put options. He just bought regular stocks and got 10%?!’
What the hell. Wasn’t he supposed to be from the royal family?
Wasn’t he a parachute hire?
So how is it 10%?
And in this crazy bear market?
‘What the hell is this guy?’
***
“10%.......”
At least on this floor, there wasn’t a single prop trader who could match Jung Jin-ho’s return today.
It was just that the amount was small, so it didn't get much attention.
“And he picked three out of the few stocks that actually rose during the bear market?”
He was the kind of guy who made you laugh in disbelief, even today.
Normally, in a bear market like this, stocks are only bought for the sake of risk management, most people generate profits by shorting.
But this guy was going against that standard, investing in his own way, all by himself.
“Team Leader. Were you okay today?”
“Why are you asking when you already know? Manager Kim, you know everything.”
“Haha. Just asking out of courtesy.”
As he was staring blankly at Jung Jin-ho’s trading screen, Risk Manager Kim appeared.
“I heard a lot of people got their trading suspended today.”
“Yes. Even the one who just got promoted to senior today had her trades suspended. It was probably her first day trading as a senior... must’ve been traumatizing.”
“Can’t be helped. It’s going to stay like this for a while. They’ll just have to endure it. But what brings you here?”
“Ah. Not about the one who got suspended, it's the other one.”
He meant he came because of Jung Jin-ho.
“That friend made a huge profit alone. In this kind of bear market, without even shorting, 10%. I can’t tell if he’s got nerves of steel or if he just doesn’t understand the basics of stocks.”
"Is there a problem with that?"
“Yes, there is a problem. Risk management is the top principle for all securities firms, isn’t it? But this friend... didn’t do any risk management at all. He just bought stocks. Only three of them.”
Just three.
Diversification exists for the sake of risk management, and the strategy usually involves distributing funds across 10 to 30 different stocks.
Even if the focus is on driven events like M&As or spin-offs, one typically handles at least 5 to 10 stocks.
But Jung Jin-ho only bet on three.
And his bets were right.
“Even if he succeeded in his bets, isn’t it just pure luck? And what if he doesn’t even know the basics of investing? The way he just bought stocks without any risk control, he’s acting like a clueless retail investor.”
“Well. Was it really luck? And do you think someone without the basics could become a senior?”
"Huh?"
“That’s just how he rolls. He doesn’t diversify much, he puts his money into specific stocks only. He’s not someone who doesn’t know what he’s doing. I’m sure he understands perfectly what diversification is and what risk management means. So if he still chose to act like this...?”
“That means he was confident those stocks would go up.”
Nothing else could explain his behavior.
If someone else had done something like that, they would’ve been kicked out of the team immediately.
But in a securities firm, no one evaluates a person based on personality.
Only the return rate matters, and performance is judged on that alone.
“You came here to warn him not to do that kind of thing again, right?”
"Ah, yes. It's good for young people to be confident, but risk management is essential."
“Leave him be for now.”
"Huh? But no matter how good the return rate is......."
“If you don’t understand why I’m saying this, ask your team’s team leader. Then you’ll get it right away.”
Manager Kim bowed with a puzzled expression and walked away.
Jung Jin-ho.
He blatantly ignored the securities firm’s basic principle of risk management, and even avoided diversification, pursuing only maximum profit.
What made that possible was that he had his own solid analysis algorithm, and another factor, his background.
Backing him was none other than this company’s CEO.
Even if he lost some money, he knew it wouldn’t affect him in any meaningful way.
‘So that’s how it is.’
Team Leader Park checked the capital distribution ratios among his team’s traders.
The typical amount allocated to a newly promoted senior is 1 billion won.
But today, the only person who made a profit was that total rookie senior.
“.......”
After a brief moment of consideration, he adjusted the ratio.
‘Might as well set the board properly.’
Starting tomorrow, the capital allocated to Jung Jin-ho would no longer be 1 billion won, but 5 billion won.
*****
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