Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Gun-Ho sat at his desk in front of his computer to sell his stocks.

“Maybe it’s too early. I still have three months until the presidential election. Let’s wait a little bit more.”

“Maybe I should sell now. The stock price might drop soon. Who knows? I’d better sell them now while I could still make money.”

Gun-Ho put his hands on the computer keyboard and retrieved his hands off the keyboard repeatedly.

Once the one-day trading curb on EE-HWA Construction stock was lifted, its price started increasing again without a hitch. Sammok-Jeong Company’s stock received the same warning as EE-HWA Construction from Korea Exchange.

The presidential election campaign was heating up as the election neared. The stock market was fluctuating abnormally. The presidential candidate, Myung-Bak Lee continuously promoted the Four Major Rivers Project drastically while the opposing candidate, Dong-Young Jeong fiercely attacked the project by asserting that it would cause a disaster in this country. The stock price related to the Four Major Rivers Project kept fluctuating in an unusual pattern.

Gun-Ho felt great about his stock’s price which kept increasing, but the abnormal movement of the price scared him as well.

“The stock market is going crazy. The country is going crazy.”

The next day and the following day, the stock price of EE-HWA Construction and Sammok-Jeong Company continued increasing dramatically.

The media covered the abnormal activity of certain stocks including the stocks of EE-HWA Construction and Sammok-Jeong Company. It said that people kept irresponsibly investing in these stocks without knowing the necessary information about the companies. The stock prices kept going up regardless of what they said.

Circuit breakers were triggered in an effort to calm the overheated stock market.

“Whew, let’s take a break.”

Gun-Ho opened his stock account. His stock value exceeded 6 billion won. Gun-Ho shivered, and he was having goosebumps. The stock money didn’t seem to increase much in the beginning, but once it passes a certain amount it goes up exponentially; it was like a snowball.

Gun-Ho received a phone call from Min-Ho who he met at Suk-Ho’s bar in Gyeongridan Street the other day.

“Gun-Ho? How are you doing? Did you find a job?”

“No, not yet.”

“Then come and meet me at Gwanghwamun Gate tomorrow.”

“For what?”

“We are having a large-scale protest tomorrow against the Four Major Rivers Project. Many civic organizations will join us. You should come too.”

“I don’t know…”

“What are you talking about? You should come if you worry about this country! That project will be a disaster. If you are a true Korean, you should come!”

“I think… that project could benefit us. It can help prevent a flood.”

“Ha, you dumb idiot! Because of people like you, a pseudo like MB could get power. Do you know why I am doing all these? I’m not doing this for money because I am not making any by protesting. But I do this for our posterity. Come tomorrow. I won’t take no for an answer!”

“I think I gotta do something tomorrow.”

“Do what? Is it more important than preventing disasters? Why can’t you see it? We are breathing the same air under the same sky. That’s why you don’t have a job yet. We have to stop MB’s election. The candidate, Dong-Young Jeong must win.”

Gun-Ho suppressed his desire to say ‘I want MB to win.’

“Why don’t you say anything? You are coming tomorrow, right?”

“Okay.”

After getting off the phone with Min-Ho, Gun-Ho talked to himself.

“I don’t know whether the Four Major Rivers Project would bring a benefit or a disaster to the country. I don’t know which candidate among Myung-Bak Lee or Dong-Young Jeong has to win for this country. I am just a stock investor. I have to make money. You have no idea how I had lived my life when I had no money. You have no idea how terribly I had to suffer all these years just because I didn’t have money. I must make money. I know you still look down on me from the bottom of your heart.”

Gun-Ho clenched his fist and hit the wall with it.

“I will make money!”

It made a loud noise and Gun-Ho’s fish got swollen right away.

Gun-Ho stayed in his office-tel staring at the computer monitor all day long. He didn’t even go out. Timing was very important in stocks. The stocks that keep going up abnormally in price like the ones Gun-Ho had, could drop in price in any minute if a group of investors who influence the price decided to sell them.

“Unless I get solid red candlestick, I will keep these stocks!”

Gun-Ho purchased one more computer and monitored the stock market using two computers. He kept the one-minute charts, candlestick charts, and tick charts open on his computer screens and kept observing their movements. When his eyes became blurry, Gun-Ho looked at his eyes in the mirror.

“My eyes are very red. I think the blood vessels in my eyes had burst.”

Gun-Ho rubbed his eyes and waited till 3 PM when the stock market closed before he went to see an eye doctor. The eye doctor examined Gun-Ho’s eyes and said,

“You should let your eyes rest. Do not use your computer or read books for a while. All the blood vessels in your eyes had burst.”

While he was receiving an electric thermal eye treatment in the eye doctor’s office, he still thought about his stocks.

“I don’t have time for this. The stocks related to the Four Major Rivers Project are still on the rise.”

As soon as he came back to his office-tel, he turned on his computers.

“I know the doctor said I shouldn’t use a computer for a while, but it should be okay. I won’t lose my sight by this.”

Gun-Ho looked at the stocks charts on EE-HWA Construction and Sammok-Jeong Company.

“The price has been rising so steeply. I guess it could go over 20,000 won per share. I wonder how many people who are holding this stock bought them at the bottom price as I did.”

Newspapers warned the investors about the stocks related to the Four Major Rivers Project. They said the price of those stocks was already too high, and that buying those stocks right now was suicidal. Despite the warnings from media, the price of those stocks continued to increase for the next several days.

“Those people who invested in these stocks will face the same fate as MB.”

Gun-Ho stayed in his office-tel and didn’t even bother to shop for groceries or go to a restaurant to eat. He just ate what he had in his refrigerator—rice, kimchi, and pickled radish. He couldn’t take his eyes off the stock charts because the price might start going downwards.

“For stocks like this, if some people start to throw out their stocks for some reason, the rest of those people will follow them by selling their stocks without hesitation. So I have to closely watch its movement. A solid red candlestick can appear within five minutes. Once that happens, I will start losing my money rapidly.”

Gun-Ho stared at the computer monitors while putting prescription eye drops in his eyes.

He sometimes laid down on his bed because of the pain in his eyes. He was laying down on his bed to rest his eyes when he heard the news on the TV. He usually kept his TV on even though he didn’t really watch it. There was a big accident in the sea near the Taean coastal town. A ship collided with an oil vessel, and it caused the oil to spill into the sea.

Gun-Ho jumped out of the bed.

“What? Oil spill into the ocean? A big accident? A river can be subject to this type of accident, and oil can be spilled in a river. This will adversely affect the stock price related to the Four Major Rivers Project!”

Gun-Ho was certain that people would start selling their stocks related to the Four Major Rivers Project tomorrow morning. The stock price increased a lot, and those people already made money. They wouldn’t risk the money they already made from stocks to make more money.

“They will begin selling their stocks during pre-market trading sessions.”

Gun-Ho believed that the people with the stocks related to the Four Major Rivers Project would start selling their stocks before the regular trading hours at 8:30 AM. The regular trading hours started at 9 AM.

Gun-Ho couldn’t sleep worrying that he might oversleep and miss the 8:30 AM pre-market trading hours. If that happened, he would lose all the money he invested in stocks.

“If a lot of people sell their stocks, it will cause a downward price movement, and there will be no buyer for a few days then. I wouldn’t be able to sell my stocks for a few days and the price will continuously drop!”

Gun-Ho didn’t sleep that night and endured the pain in his eyes. It was a long night. He spent the night dozing off in his chair and woke up repeatedly.

In the morning, Gun-Ho turned on his computer.

“It’s 8:30 AM.”

He was right. As soon as the pre-market trading session opened, the stocks related to the Four Major Rivers Project poured into the market. It was a heated moment.

Gun-Ho started selling his stocks frantically. He had so many shares and his offering price was going down. The stock price of EE-HWA Construction was once 25,000 won per share and it went down to 24,000 won and then to 23,000 won.

“Sh*t. I pressed the wrong key on the keyboard. I’m modifying the offer!”

Gun-Ho sometimes pressed a wrong key. The speed that other people were selling their stocks was faster than a cooling fan’s speed. Once Gun-Ho was done selling all his stocks of EE-HWA Construction and Sammok-Jeong Company, those stock prices started moving downward.

Gun-Ho screamed in pain. His eyes hurt a lot. He covered his eyes with his palm and opened his net account value window.

“The balance is 19.8 billion won! The number of stocks is 0.”

Gun-Ho invested 1.1 billion won and made 19.8 billion won.

“It’s all done!”

He felt drained, and then he passed out on the floor. His computers were still on, and he was still wearing clothes.