Ice-Ice Fruit in Marvel

"Mr. Smith, thank you very much for your help this time."

"It's my honor to work with you, Mr. Hayes," Mr. Smith, the manager of Wells Fargo Bank, replied, shaking hands with Ethan Hayes.

This trip had been worthwhile. Ethan had just mortgaged his shares of Stark Industries to secure a loan from Wells Fargo Bank—300 million USD to be precise. It was a stroke of luck that Mr. Smith was already familiar with him, which made the process much smoother.

Even in the West, having connections can make things easier.

As Smith escorted Ethan out, he couldn't help but admire the young man. This wasn't the first time Smith had interacted with Ethan—he was a regular client, after all. And even if Ethan's investments didn't pan out, the value of his shares in Stark Industries was more than enough to cover the loan. The bank wouldn't lose a cent.

At this point, Ethan had 800 million USD in his hands, including the loan. No matter what happened, he could always repay the 300 million and the interest by the end of the year. But Smith knew that Ethan wasn't planning to lose. His goal was clear: acquire as many shares of Stark Industries as possible.

"What an amazing young man," Smith thought, reflecting on the stock of Stark Industries. Ethan had shorted the company with 20 times leverage, and now he was pouring funds back into the market to buy at the bottom. The next time any good news came out about Stark Industries, Ethan was positioned to make a killing.

"Should I buy some shares myself?" Smith pondered. Stark Industries wasn't as bad off as the media suggested. Tony Stark, the genius behind the company, had a knack for technological innovation. And as Stark Industries moved away from weapons manufacturing, the blue ocean of civilian technology markets—smartphones, electric vehicles, artificial intelligence—was ripe for the taking. These markets were growing faster than the military sector, and Tony Stark had the technical prowess to dominate them.

As a bank executive, Smith also knew that Stark had billions stashed away in overseas accounts—secret funds that weren't on the books. Stark Industries might appear weak, but it was far from it.

Smith quickly opened the stock information for Stark Industries. The stock was down 5.1%, but the trading volume was stabilizing. Someone was buying large quantities of shares, but they were doing it quietly.

"300 million is no small sum," Smith noted. "Ethan's clearly betting big—he'll likely use futures leverage for higher gains."

Smith logged into Interactive Brokers and, as he expected, saw betting orders in place. For the brokerage platform, whether clients went long or short didn't matter. It was all about facilitating trades.

Ethan had transferred 300 million USD to his securities account and used 200 million of it with 20 times leverage to buy long contracts worth 4 billion USD. With the entire market bearish on Stark Industries, his bullish contracts were quickly filled.

The stock was hovering around $5.6 per share, and Ethan had already lost over 2 million USD on his initial stock position. But with 140 million USD left in his account, he wasn't worried. He transferred 4 million USD to his bank account for daily expenses and then used the remaining funds to buy more shares in the market—this time without leverage. He planned to hold these shares long-term.

Even if the futures contracts didn't pan out, his stock holdings would protect him. It was a safe hedge.

Soon, Ethan had secured an additional 24 million shares of Stark Industries. As he bought, others followed, and the stock price quickly rebounded to $6 per share, surpassing yesterday's close.

With an average cost of $5.7 per share, Ethan was now sitting on a paper profit of 32.1 million USD. His futures contracts, even more lucrative, were up 7%, netting him an additional 280 million USD.

"Futures really are the way to make money," Ethan thought. But he knew that if he hadn't ignited the market with his aggressive buying, the institutional investors wouldn't have followed. It was his moves that had set everything in motion.

At this moment, Ethan had become the third-largest shareholder of Stark Industries, holding 1.07% of the company. With future dividends and stock price growth, his stake would bring him billions.

Meanwhile, at Stark Industries, Obadiah Stane was furious.

"Find out who ruined my plan!" Stane barked.

For weeks, Stark Industries' stock had been plummeting, and Stane had been quietly pulling the strings behind the scenes, manipulating the media to amplify the negative news. He knew Stark Industries had over 30 billion USD in cash sitting in overseas accounts, money that wasn't publicly disclosed.

"Mr. Stane, a Chinese investor named Ethan Hayes holds 1% of the company's shares. Should we take action?" one of his aides suggested.

Stane calmed himself. "For now, it doesn't matter. Holding 1% won't affect me. I'm already the largest shareholder, and I've secured enough institutional support to remove Tony at the next shareholders' meeting."

Stane knew that the key to his plan was obtaining Tony Stark's arc reactor and armor technology. He could steal the arc reactor, but Tony's armor was protected by J.A.R.V.I.S., making it much harder to access.

"Continue buying as many shares of Stark Industries as possible. We still have funds left. I want to solidify my control over the company," Stane ordered.

Stane had spent a fortune manipulating the stock, but tomorrow, Wall Street institutions would step in, and his actions would be reflected in the market. If the stock price continued to fall, his position would weaken. But if it stabilized or rose, he could cement his influence within the company.

Once he had control, he would reopen the weapons manufacturing division, and when the arc reactor and armor were fully developed, he would be hailed as a hero. The stock price would skyrocket, doubling his wealth.

As for Ethan Hayes? Stane thought with a sneer. "I'll let him make some money now, but once I have what I need, I'll take everything from him."

Ethan, unaware of Stane's intentions, was focused on his own plans. He had completed his stock layout, and even if the stock price dropped further, he had an ace up his sleeve: the arc reactor technology.

If Stark Industries continued to fall, he would leak the news of miniaturized cold fusion energy to the media. That would send the stock soaring, and there was nothing Stane could do to stop it.

"Stane wants to play dirty? Well, he won't get away with it," Ethan thought with a grin.

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