dkrc Chapter 54: Let's Check the Market
Chapter 54: Let's Check the Market
After registering, Yu Wei will be sleeping in the dormitory tonight. He hasn't checked out of the guesthouse room yet, and Huang Xiaochuan will be staying here again tonight. Tomorrow morning, Yu Wei and Yu Xiang will accompany him to Shanghai University of Finance and Economics in the YP area to register.
In the afternoon, after Yu Xiang took Yu Wei and Huang Xiaochuan back to the guesthouse, she gave them a few words of advice and then returned to her school. Her summer internship was over, but the summer vacation was not over yet, and she still had homework to do, so she had to hurry back to do it.
After buying the book, Yu Wei didn't go anywhere else; he just stayed in his room at the guesthouse all afternoon with the book in his arms.
Seeing Yu Wei engrossed in his book, Huang Xiaochuan asked him, "Yu Wei, I'm going out for a walk, do you want to come?"
Yu Wei's eyes never left the book. He raised one hand and waved it casually, indicating that he knew, but he wouldn't go.
Seeing Yu Wei's expression, Huang Xiaochuan knew that he couldn't leave the set of books for the time being, so he went out by himself. He hailed a taxi at the entrance of the guesthouse and went to buy a pager first.
After arriving at the store, I listened to the salesperson's introduction and bought two digital pagers without saying a word. These things are really expensive nowadays. A digital pager costs more than 1,000 RMB, plus an annual paging service fee of 120 RMB.
After getting the digital pager, Huang Xiaochuan hailed a taxi and headed straight for the apartment he had recently rented. In a city as big as Shanghai these days, it's really inconvenient to go out without suitable transportation.
The distance between the XL and YP zones is enormous; a taxi ride there would easily cost at least twenty yuan.
It seems I'll still need to buy a bicycle after registering at school. Not a new one, just an old one to ride.
It's really a waste to always take taxis out.
He took out his key, opened the door, went inside, headed straight for the kitchen, opened the stove door, and touched the area under the counter. Huang Xiaochuan felt relieved; most of his wealth was still there, safe and sound.
After locking the door behind him, Huang Xiaochuan walked to the roadside and hailed a taxi.
Lu Gong hasn't been there for a while, but since he has some time, he might as well go and check out how the market is.
On the way to Lu Gong, Huang Xiaochuan turned on the old mobile phone that he had bought but never turned off.
As a result, just a few minutes after turning on the computer, a phone call came in.
The taxi driver couldn't help but glance at Huang Xiaochuan a few more times in surprise through the rearview mirror. Who is this young master? He even has a mobile phone. I can't earn the price of a mobile phone in a year of driving a taxi.
As soon as Huang Xiaochuan put the mobile phone to his ear after the call connected, a surprised and delighted voice came from the other end.
"Ogawa, is that you?"
"Old Ge?"
"Oh my god, I finally got in touch with you! Where are you now?"
"I'm on my way to Engineer Lu now."
"Engineer Lu? Okay, okay, I'll head over now. Let's meet at the door later."
Twenty minutes later, Huang Xiaochuan met Ge Changli, who had rushed over, at Lu Gong's door.
Huang Xiaochuan's first words to Ge Changli were: "Old Ge, why are you running?"
Old Ge didn't bother with pleasantries with Huang Xiaochuan and went straight to telling him about the recent market situation for 80 monkeys and the prevalence of high prices but low supply.
He even specifically asked, "Xiao Chuan, what's going on here?"
Huang Xiaochuan knew that the reason for the situation of high prices but no market was simply that the market was too small, and sellers were reluctant to sell, leading to this situation. However, this situation wouldn't last long, as many out-of-town stamp dealers would bring this information back to their respective cities. Gradually, more and more people would realize that the purchase price of 80 monkey stamps in Shanghai was currently very high, and someone would eventually sell them for profit.
Once people keep dumping large quantities of goods into the market, the price of 80 monkeys will definitely be driven down. This is something that off-market investors are happy to see. Only when the price comes down will they continue to enter the market to buy. Otherwise, if no one is buying and selling, how can they make any money?
However, Huang Xiaochuan cannot make his point clear just yet. He needs to pretend to observe the market trend for a few more days before sharing his views.
"Old Ge, I haven't been here in ages. You're asking me? How would I know? Can you wait and see?"
Ge Changli realized that he was indeed a bit too hasty. Watching a large sum of money slip away from him was an indescribable feeling; anyone would be annoyed in that situation. That's why he became anxious as soon as he saw Huang Xiaochuan.
Huang Xiaochuan also realized this, but he wasn't in a hurry. There would be plenty of opportunities to come. He had only mentioned it briefly last time to get Ge Changli to take the matter seriously, and now it seemed that he had achieved his goal.
Forget about this year's 80 Monkeys (referring to stocks in the 2018-2019 zodiac); the price has already gone up, making the cost of building a position too high. Short-term traders will earn relatively less unless they are willing to hold it for the long term.
At the beginning of next year, I advised him to stock up on some low-priced miniature sheets and Japanese stamps and philatelic items. The prices are not high, but once the market starts to rise sharply, the value can increase tenfold or twentyfold.
According to a newspaper article titled "A Record of the Stamp Market Frenzy" dated November 2, 1991, a person who rarely visited the stamp market heard that the "Night Banquet" stamp was on sale, so he spent 15,000 yuan to buy 500 sheets, which was 30 yuan per sheet. He went home, didn't even open his bag or count the stamps, and threw them into a drawer. Three days later, he returned to the stamp market untouched, and the price per sheet had risen to 60 yuan. He resold them, taking home 30,000 yuan. Another person bought several hundred postage cards one day at 5 yuan each. The next morning, he went to the stamp market to inquire about the price and was both surprised and delighted: each card had risen to 12 yuan. He immediately sold them for 10 yuan each, and many people rushed to buy them, even damaging his bag. Overnight, his investment doubled. Some said, "The Lu Gong stamp market is full of money; the rake in front is scooped up, and the back is covered in more." People's views on stamp collecting also changed; some people collected stamps not out of love, but simply for "preserving and increasing value, and investment."
This attracted even more ordinary people to the stamp market. To put it bluntly, even the old man who used to watch bicycles at the entrance of the stamp market asked someone to exchange his hard-earned money for stamps, which shows the crazy scene during the stamp market frenzy.
The 1991 stamp market boom consisted of four phases. The initial phase began with the 1980 Year of the Monkey stamps, and the market really took off in March 1991. The boom started with the 1980 Year of the Monkey stamps, followed by the early JT stamps (commemorative postage postcards) and low-priced miniature sheets.
This wave lasted for nearly a year. In that short period, some people became rich overnight while others became poor overnight. In the end, those who knew when to withdraw from the limelight were the ones who had the last laugh.
Ge Changli led Huang Xiaochuan around the stamp market, and every now and then someone would approach them and ask, "Friend, are you planning to sell something?"
Huang Xiaochuan would counter with, "Do you have any 80-yuan monkeys? What's the price?"
"Want some? Ten of them (100 yuan)."
"Isn't the market price only 60?"
"Friend, please help me out! The market price doesn't matter anymore. If you have any 80-yuan monkeys to sell me, I'll give you 80 yuan a piece, but how about that?"
After wandering around for a while, the basic situation was the same. The market price was no longer a useful reference. Huang Xiaochuan also realized that the current 80 monkeys were really just a case of having a price but no market. It was still necessary for someone from outside the market to suppress this market and pour cold water on it.
The two wandered around for more than an hour, and after understanding the situation, Huang Xiaochuan decided to leave.
Ge Changli stayed by Huang Xiaochuan's side the whole time. He wasn't sure if Huang Xiaochuan had figured anything out, so he could only wait for Huang Xiaochuan to speak.
After leaving the market, Huang Xiaochuan said, "Old Ge, just like you said, there's a price but no market for the '80 Monkey' stamp right now. But I estimate this is temporary. Think about it, the price of a single stamp is already 100, which isn't low. Since there's a price but no market, someone will definitely come from other places to resell them. Once that volume comes down, the price will definitely come down."
Upon hearing Huang Xiaochuan's words, Ge Changli was overjoyed. However, Huang Xiaochuan seemed to have guessed what Ge Changli was thinking and suggested, "If the price of 80 monkeys drops a bit, you can buy some according to your means. It would be better to sell some when the price rises later and keep the rest for long-term holding."
Then Huang Xiaochuan added, "I estimate that the good market performance of the 80 Monkey stamps will inevitably drive up the prices of other stamps. When we were browsing the stamp market just now, many early JT stamps also started to rise! Give me some time, and I'll analyze it carefully. There will definitely be some stamps with high price increases. After all, not everyone can be focusing on the 80 Monkey stamps, right?"
Huang Xiaochuan's words were like sweet nectar, and Ge Changli immediately calmed down. Yes! Since there's a market trend, let's wait and see. After all, this trend won't just bloom and then fade away like a fleeting flower.