America 1919

Jesse Livermore nodded and said, "That's right, I have to say, your opponent is definitely a formidable person who is frightening! He has taken everyone's psychology into account!"

As Jesse Livermore had said, Donnie could not bear the thought of ABC's share price falling below its initial offering price upon its listing, which would be very detrimental to his subsequent plans.

Obviously, the other party had guessed this.

And because the manipulator had aligned interests with his business partners, in an era where stock market laws were not robust, although he did not know who the opponent was, he was certain that this opponent was an immensely powerful figure. He could infer that the opponent would short ABC in violation of the laws, turning 20 million shares of ABC into a force of 40 million shares.

This reminded Donnie of a line from a comedy master he used to like in the movie "Shaolin Soccer," where the villain says, "The referees, the ball witnesses, the co-organizers, everyone is on my side. How can you play against me?"

Now he had fallen into the very trap that Jesse Livermore had set up.

He either had to abandon his previous plans and let ABC's stock languish, but if the stock price fell below the offering price upon listing, even if he wanted to recover the value in the future, it would be a difficult and protracted process. This was the same problem Harry Sinclair faced when he was shorting Sinclair Oil Corporation.

Everyone knew oil stocks would eventually rise again, but as a party involved, he could not afford to wait.

Who knew what the future held?

More importantly, Donnie chose to list ABC to raise more funds for more significant actions. If the listing was unsuccessful, then why list at all?

But if he chose not to give up, he would need to secure more funds to support ABC's stock price. However, if he could come up with so much money, why bother raising funds through an ABC listing?

The opponent must have thought this through.

"It looks like the opponent really is about to make a move!" Donnie said to Helen after sending Jesse Livermore off.

"Jesse Livermore's words also represent the current thoughts of everyone. They just want to use this incident to achieve their own objectives with ABC or me personally, which means they wouldn't want to put too much money into this matter," Helen nodded in agreement.

Everything was as Donnie had anticipated. The next day, Donnie suddenly received a call from Owen Young, proposing a board meeting for ABC. Find more to read at My Virtual Library Empire

"They want to showdown with you!" Helen said while helping Donnie adjust his clothes.

Donnie nodded, "It's about time!"

This morning, New York's major newspapers were still predominantly publishing bearish reports on ABC. Before they could only hint at it, but now they were outright stating the theory.

Barry Company's investigative report and Goldman Sachs's withdrawal convinced them they had achieved their desired outcome.

"Do you think there will be a new person today, or will it be the same ones?" Helen asked Donnie.

Donnie replied, "I reckon there should be one more person. If it's still the same people, such a big scene might not be easy to stir up."

Helen nodded, "That's what I think too. So, are you going into this battle alone?"

Donnie laughed, "Who said I'm going into battle alone? Aren't you standing behind me? With you all at my back, I will never be alone."

Helen smiled happily, "I just hope you can think that way, because you are never alone."

Donnie left the hotel he was staying at and went to ABC's New York headquarters. He took the elevator and was the first to arrive at the conference room.

Today, this would be Donnie's battlefield!

Although Donnie had just said he wasn't fighting alone, at this moment, in this situation, Donnie was indeed about to face the onslaught of everyone else in the conference room.

Following Donnie, the first to arrive at the conference room was Charles Merrill of Merrill.

Since the shorting of ABC shares began, Donnie had not seen Charles Merrill.

"Mr. Block!"

"Mr. Merrill!"

The two exchanged pleasantries and shook hands, with no visible awkwardness. Both men had smiles on their faces. After shaking hands, Charles Merrill took his seat.

"Mr. Block, I hope you understand that this matter is not my personal wish..." Charles Merrill said something similar to what William Mellon had said before.

"Of course, business is business, and personal is personal. I can still make that distinction," Donnie replied politely and then added, "Mr. Merrill, regarding your decision, I believe you must have your own judgment. But do you really believe that I will definitely lose in the end?"

Charles Merrill shook his head, "I cannot be sure, but I know that if I don't do this, I will certainly lose!"

Donnie said, "Have you never considered that if we could work together, you might not necessarily lose? Or if you choose to do this and I end up winning, then you will have to pay a higher price to buy back ABC shares from me."

Since the other side used 20 million ABC shares for shorting, if Donnie did not lose in the end, they would need an equal number of shares to cover their positions. But ABC's shares were limited, and if he refused to sell, they would have none, even though they were underwriters and guarantors who could extend the covering time.