Chapter 829
Vaughn clearly knew his stuff-it made sense why Hank had brought him along. His knowledge of Wall Street was impressively deep.
As they arrived at the Weston National Exchange, Vaughn suddenly turned to Hank. “This is the very exchange you visited two years ago. Man, you lost your shirt so badly that when you went back p>
Hank threw a punch at him. “Keep spouting nonsense and you can pack your bags right now p>
Vaughn easily dodged it, leaping back about fifteen feet. “I’m just speaking the truth! You didn’t even have enough for a plane ticket home p>
“Shut up! I said shut your mouth p>
Hank charged at him, utterly exasperated.
But the more he tried to stop it, the more Vaughn egged him on. “You showed up at my place looking completely defeated p>
“I said shut up p>
After letting them wrestle around for a bit, Owen finally interjected. “It’s normal to get the urge to trade, and it’s completely normal to take a hit. Everyone makes impulsive decisions sometimes.
Come on, Hank. What’s the big deal p>
Hank’s expression finally softened. “I guess it’s not some top-secret classified information.
Yeah, I was in Javenaire for business, passed by Wall Street, and got a little curious, so I came to check it out.
When I walked past the exchange, the brokers were pitching stocks like crazy. Naturally, my curiosity got the better of me, and I went inside p>
“I figured it was a legitimate exchange—if I didn’t invest, it wasn’t like they could rob
me, right? So I just found a spot and watched people trade.
Right then, someone made a killing. I started watching the daily charts, and honestly, it was addicting.
So, I opened an account, put down a hundred bucks, and picked a stock that had been performing well.
I pulled out pretty quickly on that first trade and made a cool fifty.
Honestly, if I had lost money on that first try, I would have walked right out those doors and never touched stocks again. The tragedy was that I won.
Encouraged, I picked another stock, threw in two hundred, and an hour later, I was up by forty bucks.
Even though the profit margin wasn’t as high as the first trade, I felt like the money was just too easy. I figured if I just made a few more trades, I could cover all my expenses for the entire trip.
For a second, I even considered giving up my real-world businesses.
So I pulled out five hundred and went back in.
But I was a total novice. I had no idea what I was doing. Most of my subsequent trades tanked, and my gains were practically non-existent.
The more I lost, the more desperate I was to win it back, and the deeper I sank into the hole.
After a week, I hadn’t just lost all my pocket money. I wiped out years of savings and even blew through cash I had borrowed from friends.
I literally had to borrow airfare from Vaughn just to get home p>
“I was kind enough to bail you out, and you repay me by throwing punches p>
Vaughn grumbled indignantly.
Hank glared right back at him. “Damn right I’m throwing punches. Who told you to be a smartass? You asked for it p>
It turned out Hank had quite an ego to protect. Men, it seemed, always retained a bit of childish pride.
Afterward, Vaughn led them around, pointing out the major banks one by one. Of course without legitimate business to conduct they couldn’t just wander inside. The security guards would assume they were up to no good and toss them out.
The exchanges were open to the public, but the moment they stepped foot inside, several brokers swarmed them, pushing various stocks.
The major exchanges were centrally located, completely surrounded by a cluster of smaller, regional trading floors.
Mira and the team took note of how each exchange operated. On the surface, they all looked similar, but the larger ones were clearly more streamlined and offered better amenities, albeit with much higher commission fees.
“If you’re moving massive capital, you stick to the big exchanges. The comprehensive services make everything smoother,” Vaughn explained. “If you’re playing with smaller sums, the regional ones are more cost-effective. After all, their commissions are a point lower p>
Among the heavyweights, the Javenaire Exchange boasted the highest trading
volume, followed closely by Weston National. The key difference was that Weston
National functioned primarily as an international exchange.
However, profiting off the Javenaire market essentially meant siphoning wealth away from their domestic players, which would inevitably step on the toes of powerful
powerful logar local.
syndicates. It was wiser to maintain a low profile.
Mira and Owen decided Weston National was their best bet.
“Are we setting up our accounts today p>
Hank asked.