Sure enough, just as the economists predicted in the pre-market news, Apple's stock price soared by 14% immediately after the market opened. It rose from 3.74 to 4.26 and continued to rise. Investors cheered. They had been holding back on Apple's stock for too long and had lost too much. Now, they could finally see the light!
At the same time, Li Ziwei was on the phone with Tim Cook and was telling him about Li Mu's decision. Li Mu was sitting in the Makino Technology conference room discussing the follow-up details of the acquisition of Apple. Louis Martin suddenly received a message. When he opened it, he was instantly shocked. He blurted out, "Li Zong, there's an emergency!
Li Mu asked him, "What happened?"
Louis Martin said, "The news of our acquisition of Apple has spread to the market. Now Apple's stock price is rising rapidly. It's almost at 4.50 dollars now."
Li Mu instantly frowned and said, "This news is definitely the biggest benefit for Apple investors right now, right?"
Louis Martin nodded and said, "If the stock price soars, the cost of our privatization will increase along with the rapid rise of the stock price."
Lin Ching-ah, who didn't know much about the US stock market, asked him, "Mr. Martin, as long as we get the majority of Apple's shares, we can apply for a forced delisting. There's no need to pay for the inflated stock price, right?"
Louis Martin said, "We have to pay the bill. If our shares and votes exceed 66.6%, we do have the power to force the company to be delisted, but the prerequisite is that Nasdaq agrees. When our share price is 4.15 USD, we proposed to Nasdaq to sell the company at 150% of 4.15 USD. Nasdaq naturally has no objections. After all, this will protect the interests of their investors. But if the share price rises to 6 USD, and we request to be delisted at this price, Nasdaq will definitely not approve it in order to protect the interests of their investors. In that case, our total acquisition cost will increase a lot."
Lin Ching-ah frowned and said, "In that case, won't we have to pay a lot of extra money?"
Louis Martin said, "If the stock price continues to rise, we will have to pay more and more money. Those institutions are obviously trying to get a free ride to make a fortune."
Lin Ching-ah hurriedly looked at Li Mu.
If the acquisition and privatization were carried out according to the previous framework agreement on the acquisition of Apple, the money in Makino Technology's hands was just enough after deducting the normal operation.
However, if the cost of privatizing Apple suddenly increased, then Makino Technology would once again fall into a situation of insufficient funds, and that would be too passive.
Just when everyone was a little nervous, Li Mu, who had been silent all this while, suddenly asked Louis Martin, "The main players on Nasdaq should be going all out to attract funds, right?"
Louis Martin nodded and said, "Although I don't know the specifics, I'm sure that these major investment institutions must be crazily sucking in funds because they know how much profit can be brought by privatization.
Li Mu nodded and lightly said, "Let's pause the meeting for now. There's no need to rush. This matter may not be a bad thing for us."
No one dared to respond, because in their opinion, if this was not a bad thing, then it was not a bad thing.
Li Mu was still calm as he said to Louis Martin, "Louis, find a reliable source of information immediately. I want all the current movements of Apple shares on Nasdaq."
Louis Martin nodded and said, "No problem, I'll find out now."
Immediately, Louis Martin mobilized his network and grasped the current situation in detail.
The stock price had broken through $4.60 at this time, but at this time, a large number of rumors began to affect the individual investors on Nasdaq.
Some said that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Under the stimulation of this good news, Apple's stock price would definitely rise sharply. If they bought Apple shares at this time, not only would they be able to take advantage of the market and make a fortune, but they would also be able to earn a share price premium when Makino Technology started to privatize. After all, there were frequent privatizations of listed companies on Nasdaq, and investors would be given a certain premium when buying back their shares. This was basically the practice of Nasdaq.
Some held the opposite view. They said that all of this was actually a conspiracy of securities funds. They had a large number of Apple shares in their hands and suffered heavy losses. They urgently needed to recover their losses and recoup their funds. That was why they released fake news to make investors frantically buy Apple shares so that they could take the opportunity to raise the stock price and sell their shares. After Makino Technology refuted the rumors, the stock price would fall in retaliation, and all the investors who bought Apple shares would be doomed forever.
Some people believed that this acquisition rumor would be the best opportunity for Apple. Others believed that this was a trap specially dug for individual investors, a trap that would cause people to die without a burial place.
Gradually, the ratio of these discussions changed from 50/50 at the beginning to 20/80 later. Most of the rumors were leaning towards the idea that this "opportunity" was actually a super big trap. Gradually, it made the less determined individual investors lose their confidence.
Therefore, the stock price began to fall after reaching a peak of $4.66.
Louis Martin told Li Mu, "The fall of the stock price will lead to a round of selling. It should be the main force trying to attract funds."
"Attract funds?" Li Mu's expression was a little erratic.
Louis Martin nodded and said, "The main force must be more optimistic about the market after we buy Apple. They spent so much effort to trick individual investors into selling, and then attract funds at a low price. Then, they will lock in the subsequent market.
Li Mu suddenly understood. He stood up and said to everyone in the conference room, "Everyone, continue to pay attention. I'm going to make a call first."
…
Li Mu's phone call lasted for 20 minutes. Because he went back to his office to make a call, no one knew who he called and what he wanted to do.
After Li Mu arrived in the conference room, the rumors in the market quickly began to upgrade.
The new opinions focused more on "Li Jufu." From the perspective of business, strength, future development, and character of Li Mu, they analyzed and interpreted it in all aspects. In the end, they came to the conclusion that it was impossible for Li Mu to acquire Apple. All of this might be just a conspiracy.
For example, they analyzed the business situation of Apple in depth. They believed that the overall situation of Apple was not beneficial to Makino Technology. Makino Technology had no reason to buy Apple.
Another example was that they believed that the mess of Apple would cause huge losses to the buyer. Li Mu never made unprofitable investments. Why would he invest in Apple?
Another example was that they believed that Li Mu would never buy someone who had lost to him. Apple was destroyed by him. No matter what, it was impossible for Li Mu to help Apple rebuild.
Therefore, more and more people began to believe that this "opportunity" was actually a "death spiral". Taking advantage of the fact that the stock price was still improving and had not started to fall, it was wisest for them to cut their losses and leave as soon as possible.
When the retail investors started to have this thought, a large number of retail investors started to dump their shares. To them, the share prices had risen by a lot, and they should quickly sell their shares to get rid of Apple's plummeting shares and recoup some of their losses. This was the most important thing to do.
Under this psychological influence, there was a selling frenzy in the market. Apple's stock price continued to fall. It soon fell to the $4.31 range. The decline was very fast.
However, what was interesting was that no matter how many people were selling Apple's shares, there was someone behind the scenes silently buying all the selling orders. They were like a huge sponge, desperately absorbing every drop of water that they could come into contact with.
No matter how many people put up their selling orders, they would immediately be bought by unknown investors. This caused the turnover rate of Apple's shares to soar. It was particularly eye-catching.
At this time, another rumor spread. "The turnover rate of Apple's shares is shocking. It seems that the main force has already fled!"
When the rumor of the main force fleeing came out, almost all the individual investors could not remain calm. What they were most afraid of was being the one to take over. It was just like how water ghosts had to find a scapegoat to be reborn. The one who took over was the unlucky one who took over the water ghost's eternal slumber in exchange for the water ghost's reincarnation. The individual investors would rather cut off their own flesh than be reduced to such a state.
Just when the individual investors were panicking, the market was filled with a new rumor. "The main force is successfully fleeing. The foolish individual investors are still thinking that the stock price will continue to rise. They are buying Apple's shares like crazy. This is the best opportunity for the main force to flee. It won't be long before the main force is completely liquidated and the entire mess will be left to the individual investors."
The individual investors became even more nervous. Most of the individual investors were independent individuals. They had no way of knowing what the individual investors were doing in the market. In fact, the current situation of the market was that individual investors were constantly being fooled. Because they were afraid of being bought, they were afraid of being bought, so they sold their Apple shares and prepared to stop their losses in time. Meanwhile, the main force that spread the rumor was greedily absorbing every individual investor's Apple shares.
The reality was completely opposite to the rumor. Not only did the main force not flee, but they also realized that this was a great opportunity. Therefore, they were prepared to absorb more chips.
However, the number of chips in circulation was ultimately limited. If no one was willing to sell in the market, others would not be able to obtain more chips. Moreover, if the price was raised too high, the main force's cost of absorbing chips would also increase. Therefore, the main force began to deceive the individual investors through various operations, making them believe that the stock was about to fall or even crash. Thus, they would induce the individual investors to sell their shares so that they could absorb more chips.
This kind of operation was not only common in the Hua Xia stock market and the US stock market. It was also extremely common in various coin speculation circles in the future. Today, there might suddenly be overwhelming news that a certain virtual currency was about to plummet. The entire market seemed to be criticizing this virtual currency. The investors were afraid of being bought, so they hurriedly sold their shares at a low price. At this time, the main force behind the scenes would quickly absorb the value of the virtual currency into their hands at a low price. Then, they would do something to raise the value of the virtual currency again and make a huge profit.
For example, a certain virtual currency fell from 1,000 USD to 700 USD, then from 700 USD to 1,100 USD, then to 650 USD, and then back to 1,000 USD. It seemed that the value of the virtual currency had returned to its original value. However, in the battle behind the scenes, some people had already made a lot of money, and some people had lost so much money that they committed suicide by jumping off a building.
The main force manipulated the virtual currency to fall from 1,000 USD to 700 USD. Among them, the individual investors sold their shares to bear the losses. The main force attracted funds at the 700 level, then pulled it up to 1,100 USD. Then, they created a false boom to make the individual investors think that the virtual currency would continue to rise. Then, they started to sell their stocks and earned more than 50% of the profits. After selling their stocks, they continued to manipulate the value of the virtual currency to fall, once again causing panic, and when the value of the virtual currency hit rock bottom, they would attract funds and pull it up again …
In short, every time the price fluctuated, the main force would buy low and sell high, while most of the individual investors would buy high and sell low. In the end, the individual investors would lose a lot of money, while the main force would make a huge profit.
Now, Apple's stock price was playing this way. The main force would create panic, push down the stock price, trigger selling, and then crazily attract funds. Everything was as smooth as flowing water.
To everyone's surprise, although Li Mu's expression was serious, he was not impatient at all. He did not even get angry. Ever since he made the phone call, he had been calmly paying attention to the general trend of Apple's stock price and trading.
In the afternoon, Apple's stock price had fluctuated like a healthy electrocardiogram. However, in the constant fluctuations, the overall trend was declining. The stock price fell all the way to 4.3 USD, 4.2 USD, and then 4.1 USD. It began a tug-of-war.
The overall downward trend strengthened the retail investors' trust in the rumors in the market. More and more people believed that Apple's stock price would continue to fall, so the retail investors put out more and more chips. In just half a day, the fierce Wall Street stock market almost sucked up all the Apple shares in the retail investors' hands.
Louis Martin told Li Mu a very important piece of data. According to his information, so far, more than 90% of the individual investors' Apple shares had been sucked away.
At the same time, Louis Martin lamented to Li Mu, "These main forces are too ruthless. They completely scared the ordinary investors. Almost all the floating shares in the market are in their pockets."
Li Mu smiled faintly and did not say anything. In his heart, however, he was thinking that although the main force was ruthless, they were far from being so detailed. From Louis Martin's point of view, those rumors must have been released by the main force. Half of them were released by Li Mu and Zhao Kang's water army! As for the rumors that scared the individual investors and convinced them, almost all of them were the masterpieces of Zhao Kang's water army!
In Li Mu's opinion, these main forces took the opportunity to pull up Apple's stock price, then created panic and crazily sucked in funds. The next step would definitely be to pull up the stock price again after the sucking was over. Then, they would rely on the high stock price and the premium compensation from privatization to reap huge profits.
What was the difference between this and knowing that a house was going to be demolished, then rushing to plant it and wait for more demolition compensation? With Li Mu's character, it was impossible for him to let these small forces succeed. Trying to take advantage of Li Mu was no different from daydreaming.
These guys were not the only ones who wanted to take advantage of Li Mu. Li Mu actually wanted to go to Nasdaq to take advantage of the leeks. But as a businessman with a strong social influence, he could not directly take advantage of the Nasdaq market, especially the individual investors' leeks. Because the individual investors' leeks were like the vegetable fields of their fellow countrymen. Everyone wanted to take advantage of them, but only the local tyrants and evil gentry could really bear to do it. Those who were really influential would definitely not put down their pride to take advantage of them.
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