Chapter 14 - Wall Street Bloodbath
Wednesday morning, 9:15 AM. The floor of the New York Stock Exchange was buzzing with electricity. Financial news channels were broadcasting live from the trading floor: **'APEX DYNAMICS STOCK EXPECTED TO PLUMMET AS HAYES CAPITAL LIQUIDATION BEGINS.'**
In his glass office overlooking Wall Street, Charles Vance sat behind a massive mahogany desk, sipping espresso. Charles was sixty, with silver hair, sharp blue eyes, and a ruthless reputation. On his computer screen, he had his trading portal open, prepared to execute a massive 50-million-share short trade against Apex Dynamics.
Beside him stood Robert Hayes, looking disheveled and desperate.
'Are you sure this will work, Charles?' Robert asked nervously, wringing his hands. 'If Margaret controls the holding company, she might freeze the stock release.'
'Margaret is a housewife who hasn't looked at a balance sheet in twenty years,' Charles sneered coldly, not even looking up. 'And Nathan is demoralized. Once the market opens and my high-frequency algorithms smash the stock price down to twenty dollars, Apex will face a margin call. They will be forced into receivership, and I will buy the entire AI portfolio for pennies on the dollar.'
The clock struck 9:30 AM. The opening bell rang.
'Execute,' Charles ordered his head trader.
Millions of short orders flooded the electronic market. Apex stock immediately dropped from $120 to $95 within two minutes. Panic began to spread across the financial networks.
Charles chuckled, taking another sip of espresso. 'Look at it burn. Magnificent.'
Suddenly, at 9:35 AM, a massive, unprecedented buy order slammed into the market. A wall of fifty billion dollars in capital stepped in, buying every single short share Charles was offering at full market price.
The stock price didn't fall to twenty dollars. It shot up like a rocket—$130... $150... $180!
Charles spilled his espresso across his desk, jumping to his feet. 'What is happening?! Who is buying that stock?!'
His head trader's face was white as a sheet. 'Sir! It’s a short squeeze! A consortium led by Hayes Capital and a Swiss sovereign wealth fund just bought up ninety percent of the available float! There are no shares left to borrow!'
Charles stared at the screen in pure horror. The stock was at $220 and climbing. Because he had shorted fifty million shares, every dollar the stock rose cost him fifty million dollars.
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'Cancel the orders! Cover the positions!' Charles screamed.
'We can't cover, sir!' the trader yelled back in panic. 'Nobody is selling! We're facing a margin call of three billion dollars in ten minutes!'
