Chapter 17: Balancing Customer Profitability

Qian Caiying opened her account with an initial deposit of half a million. She hadn't made many trades before getting trapped, her holdings sinking into a loss of around three hundred thousand, with the remaining two hundred thousand perpetually stuck. Recently, under Zhang Long's guidance, she injected an additional million. Over three trades, she managed to net a profit of three hundred thousand, fully recouping her earlier losses. With her previous position now cleared out, she cut her losses without a second thought, freeing up her entire one and a half million for unrestricted use.

"Has the money come in yet?"

Liang Xue shook her head. "If there's no further deposit by the market close at 11:30, I'll give her a call."

Zhang Long nodded. The follow-up funds from Qian Caiying were a verbal commitment, but if she couldn't move the money around for the time being, or simply didn't want to follow through, there was nothing they could do.

The client is king; you can't force it.

But if that's the case, then the attitude towards future account management would have to change—no more special favors.

Letting obedient clients earn a little extra is no harm, but making every effort to help a disobedient client profit is sheer folly—overindulgence breeds arrogance.

Desire is a sickness; it mustn't be indulged.

Zhang Long kept a mental scale. In the trust-building phase, it was fine to let the client earn a bit more—weekly gains of twenty or thirty percent weren't a problem. But once they settled into a steady pattern of following his guidance, profits and losses needed to balance out.

That is: some wins, some losses, but overall, still profitable.

If, in a week, they bought ten stocks, with seven or eight turning a profit and two or three taking a hit, as long as the final tally was in the black and the client followed instructions without fuss, it was enough.

After all, if someone takes the money and runs, so be it. But those who refuse to cut their losses might end up stuck, slowly sinking further.

But no matter—after losing a few times, they'd surely learn to follow instructions, bringing profits and losses into balance.

The market is regulated. In a bear market, if every trade turns a profit and every client under your name comes out ahead, you'd have to be out of your mind.

Zhang Long considered himself sane and shrewd. However sharp his intuition, he couldn't afford to be too conspicuous.

Yes, best not to invite unwanted attention.

...

The morning slipped by. Before the market paused at 11:30, there was still no sign of Qian Caiying's funds. Without hesitation, Zhang Long made a call, but it went unanswered.

He tried twice, but there was no response.

"We'll wait for the afternoon."

Liang Xue furrowed her brow. All they could do was see if the money arrived later; if it didn't and she still refused to pick up, things could get complicated.

"Don't worry, she won't run."

Zhang Long smiled calmly. As long as Qian Caiying wanted to keep making money, she'd have to keep her word.

Otherwise, she'd be left to fend for herself.

In a week, he'd helped her earn three hundred thousand—a tempting enough profit. Even for someone as wealthy as Qian Caiying, it was hard to ignore a windfall.

As the afternoon session began, there was a sudden turn.

Takumi Energy had steadied yesterday, drawing in bargain hunters this morning and closing up 3.5%. But the good times didn't last. Within twenty minutes of the 1:00 opening, the stock crashed to the daily limit—a sharp, unexpected plunge.

It had finally broken through the five-yuan support.

That very morning, Zhang Long had called Chen Youwei once more to warn him, but Chen stubbornly refused to listen. Now, he was left dumbfounded.

When a key support is breached, a bloodbath usually follows—no medicine can stop it.

Zhang Long knew that tomorrow, Friday's opening, would bring another limit-down, with no chance to escape.

Unless there was a breakthrough in the proposed weekend merger, the stock would keep falling. But if the merger was progressing well, it wouldn't have tanked in the first place.

Zhang Long couldn't understand why Chen Youwei, who never missed a call, was so obstinate in his trading.

The first time he bought Takumi with an extra million, he could've pocketed over two hundred thousand but didn't. When the price fell back to five yuan, he added another million and made fifty thousand more, but still wouldn't sell. How rich did he have to be to disregard fifty thousand in profits? Zhang Long couldn't make sense of it.

Chen Youwei—he should be called Chen Greedy.

...

"Xiao Zhang, you're amazing."

Zhang Lizhen's voice brimmed with joy. She knew exactly what it meant for Takumi to break through the five-yuan support—any novice could see the bloodbath coming.

She was deeply relieved that she'd listened to Zhang Long yesterday and sold off all her trapped holdings.

"Zhang, it was just luck," Zhang Long replied modestly. "When the unusual happens, there's always a reason. If the fundamentals are stable but the stock hits the daily limit, then the chances of breaking support rise dramatically. Rational analysis leads to the truth; it's just that many people don't want to face it and cling to false hope."

"Zhang, for the three stocks we bought today, it's best to exit before the close, regardless of profit or loss."

"Thursday and Friday tend to be volatile."

On the other end, Zhang Lizhen nodded repeatedly. It was impossible to make money on every trade, but by following Zhang Long's guidance, she was ahead overall, and that was enough.

Her account now held around 1.6 million. She aimed to push it back up to two million before the National Day holiday next week.

A hundred percent profit in September! The thought startled her. Turning one million into two by the end of the month might not be remarkable in a bull market, but in these bearish times, with such poor conditions, this level of return was extraordinary.

She'd chosen the right person. Brother Long truly had real ability.

"There's hope at last."

Zhang Lizhen was visibly excited. If she could make steady profits from stocks, why bother running a company? With stable income, she could sue the distributors without a care for her livelihood, and her husband wouldn't have to lower himself every day, chasing investors or collecting payments, drinking heavily and wearing himself out.

Yes, it was entirely possible.

...

"It's getting a bit out of hand," Zhang Long muttered, rubbing his face. He'd let Zhang Lizhen earn too quickly. With a week left in the month, her account couldn't exceed 1.8 million by the end of next week—anything more would be excessive.

If the account held ten million, a profit of one million would only be ten percent. But turning one million into 1.8 million was an eighty percent gain—the scale was entirely different.

"The same goes for other clients."

Zhang Long reviewed his clients' monthly trading profits. The uncooperative ones barely made anything and generated little trading volume.

Take Chen Youwei, for example. His account was sizeable, but he made few trades, resulting in pitiful commissions.

The focus was on clients who were trusting and obedient.

Gradually, Zhang Long looked over their account balances, positions, and trading profits, sketching out a plan for operations through the end of the month—controlling overall profit rates while encouraging more trading.

After some calculations, he determined that each client would net at least a thirty percent gain compared to the start of the month, with no one exceeding a hundred percent.

Zhang Lizhen would be capped at eighty percent.

"Perfect. It's in."

Suddenly, Liang Xue exclaimed.

Qian Caiying had deposited four million more, keeping her promise. The account now stood at 5.5 million.

Time for the team to place a major order.

"Yes, Sister Qian, you were saying..."

Zhang Long wasn't excited for long before Qian Caiying called. "The funds are in. As we agreed, five million is fine, but let me be clear."

"Whether it's position losses or cut-losses, the most I'll tolerate is 1.5 million. No more. Also, try to call after ten each day. One trade per day is enough—I don't have time to watch the market and follow along. That's all."

Zhang Long confirmed—client is king.

One trade a day it would be. After buying in, he'd set the sell price to lock in gains or losses. No pressure at all.

Trading volume and commissions—a win-win for both!