Chapter 873: Jiang Xue’s Investment Debut (Part 2)

New York. NASDAQ Stock Exchange!

After leaving the VIP lounge, Li Yi led Li Yunbao, Zhang Ziqiang, Punk, and the others into the trading floor, where they began closely observing the performance of the major companies listed there.

Unlike the NYSE, the Nasdaq is primarily home to tech companies such as Apple, AMD, and Intel, which is why it has long been regarded as the hub for tech stocks.

However, after taking a look around, Li Yi realized with some resignation that the stocks of those world-renowned tech companies from the future were currently underperforming.

Take Apple, for example—the company that had created four billionaires in just the previous two years. Since the beginning of this year, its stock price had been on a steady decline.

It has now been falling for nearly half a year, with its market capitalization evaporating by one-fifth—a truly dismal situation.

The situation for other tech companies wasn’t much better; most stock prices had fallen, and very few had managed to hold steady compared to last year. Profitable stocks were few and far between, a mere handful.

It can’t be helped—the current macroeconomic environment is simply unfavorable. After more than two decades of low inflation and high growth following World War II, the nation’s competitiveness and corporate vitality have begun to decline.

The shock to crude oil supplies ushered in the Second Oil Crisis, plunging the local economy into a prolonged period of stagflation.

Compounding this, in the 1970s—aiming to revitalize the economy after the Vietnam War—the Federal Reserve largely pursued loose monetary policies, while the government implemented universal social welfare programs. Together, these measures drove aggregate demand to grow too rapidly, transforming the U.S. from a net exporter to a net importer and sowing the seeds for long-term inflation.

It was truly a combination of natural and man-made disasters that nearly brought the economy to its knees.

With the overall economic environment in poor shape, the stock market naturally suffered as a result—meaning that the New York stock market is currently in a bear market.

Making money in a bear market like this is no easy feat.

Thinking of this, Li Yi couldn’t help but wonder which stock Jiang Xue would choose.

Although most of the dozen or so stocks he had selected for her had performed reasonably well—even if they didn’t yield huge profits, they certainly didn’t result in significant losses—

Of course, there were some that could see significant gains; as far as Li Yi knew, at least three of those stocks were poised for a major rally in the near future.

Now it was up to his wife to see if she could pick out the real gold from a pile of scrap metal.

After wandering around the trading floor for nearly half an hour, Li Yi lost interest in the place; tech stocks in a bear market were truly a sorry sight.

The only upside here was that it was a good place to buy the dip; as for making money in the short term, forget about it.

So Li Yi decided to head over to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) later. After all, compared to the Nasdaq, the NYSE primarily lists shares of traditional large-cap companies like IBM, Coca-Cola, and ExxonMobil.

By comparison, there were more opportunities over there…

Just as Li Yi was deep in thought, Navini came over and told him that Jiang Xue had already picked out some stocks and wanted him to come over!

With a touch of curiosity, Li Yi and the others returned to the VIP lounge!

As soon as they got back, Li Yi looked at Jiang Xue and asked, “Have you picked one?”

“Yes, I have!”

“How many did you pick in total?” Li Yi asked with a smile.

“Two—one is Coca-Cola, and the other is Pepsi!” Jiang Xue replied.

Hearing this, Li Yi was completely taken aback. He turned to Naveen and asked, “Was that your suggestion?”

Naveen immediately shook her head and said, “No… no, it was your wife who chose them herself. I just gave a brief overview of the two companies; I didn’t say anything else.”

Pang Feiyan chimed in, “Boss, Navine really didn’t say anything—I can vouch for that!”

Li Yi nodded, then turned to Jiang Xue and asked, “Why did you choose these two companies?”

“I don’t know much about these companies, and I have no idea which ones are profitable—especially those tech companies; I know absolutely nothing about them. So I asked Navine to help me find companies that sell food and beverages, since those kinds of businesses usually don’t lose money.”

Jiang Xue continued, “As long as their companies aren’t losing money in their actual operations, they shouldn’t lose money on the stock market either. And according to Navine, among all food and beverage companies, both Coca-Cola and Pepsi are performing quite well, so I chose these two stocks.”

At this point, Jiang Xue lowered her head slightly, feeling a bit embarrassed. She was worried that her choice might not quite satisfy Li Yi.

More importantly, Navini had just told her that the two companies she’d chosen weren’t listed on the Nasdaq; to buy these stocks, she’d have to go to a different exchange.

So as she spoke, Jiang Xue couldn’t help but wonder if her choice might cause some trouble…

However, what Jiang Xue didn’t know was that Li Yi’s mind was already in a state of turmoil.

He truly hadn’t expected his young wife’s investment acumen to be so precise—she had actually picked two out of the three stocks poised for a major surge.

Of course, that wasn’t the point. After all, everyone has moments of serendipity or gets lucky by chance—even Yang Bailao gets to eat dumplings once a year during the New Year.

The key point was the method his wife used to select stocks—a method typically reserved for top-tier investors.

She didn’t go for those flashy, overhyped tech stocks, but instead chose consumer goods companies—and that was absolutely the right call.

At the very least, for the next decade, this was definitely the right bet.

With that thought, Li Yi’s gaze toward Jiang Xue changed…

Feeling rather uneasy under Li Yi’s gaze, Jiang Xue couldn’t help but ask, “Did I pick the wrong stocks…?”

Before she could finish, Li Yi shook his head and said, “That’s not what I meant. Since you’ve chosen these two stocks, let’s get in!”

“I heard from Navini that these two stocks aren’t available here; we have to go to another exchange!” Jiang Xue said.

“Right, the NYSE. It’s not too far from here!” Li Yi replied.

“Are the two stocks I picked okay? Will they…”

Seeing Jiang Xue’s lack of confidence, Li Yi smiled and said, “Since you’ve made your choice, don’t hesitate. The worst thing in stock trading is a lack of decisiveness.”

“Besides, I told you before—I won’t give you any advice. It’s all up to you. Now just tell me: are you sure you want to invest in these two stocks?”

Jiang Xue paused for a moment, then clenched her teeth and said, “I do!”

“All right, then. Let’s head to the NYSE right now!”

Immediately, at Li Yi’s command, the group left the Nasdaq and headed straight for the New York Stock Exchange.

A dozen minutes later, the motorcade arrived at the NYSE!

Unlike the electronic trading system used at NASDAQ, the NYSE still employs traditional trading methods—that is, open trading on the floor.

This meant that traders and brokers conducted transactions in a designated trading floor, communicating through hand signals and verbal calls.

So as soon as they walked in, everyone noticed that the NYSE side was more crowded and livelier.

Li Yi then had Navine open two trading accounts at the NYSE in the company’s name—one for Jiang Xue and the other for him to manage.

Since Navine was the top trader at Green Brothers and represented the firm—a rising star in the investment world—the exchange gave her the green light throughout the entire process.

The two trading accounts were set up quickly.

Li Yi then transferred $4 million into the account for Jiang Xue, and $50 million into his own account.

Next, Li Yi had Navine take Jiang Xue to the trading floor to buy stocks, while he began trading himself…

……