FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. STUDY - LATE AFTERNOON
The TV is on, broadcasting finance news. PETER has dozed off and then wakes up.
PETER (V.O.): The anchor and the interviewee are talking about the basics of supply and demand...
Pausing.
PETER (VO.) (Cont'd): After the closing of the Hong Kong stock market this afternoon, I bumped into this channel.
Pausing.
PETER (VO.) (Cont'd): After a fortnight, I've been relatively passive in following the Hong Kong stock market today.
Pausing.
PETER (VO.) (Cont'd): Today, the market opened low but closed high. I don't understand it and so I'm curious about any analysis.
Act 2
FLASHBACK
INT. STUDY - DAY (Sept 15, 2021)
Mobile in hand, Peter checks messages.
PETER (V.O.): Today, I've opened two Hong Kong stock trading accounts. My objective is to buy and own one lot.
Recalling.
PETER (VO.) (Cont'd): The other day, a radio anchor mentioned about the underperformance of a bank's stocks. Let me try that one then.
Peter taps on his phone screen.
INT. DINING ROOM - NIGHT
Peter chats with his WIFE over dinner.
PETER: Today, I've bought one lot of a bank's stock...
WIFE: Oh, you've actually bought the stocks of the one in the Mainland, not the one in Hong Kong.
Laughter.
PETER: I also offered to buy the stocks at a price that I thought should be easier for me to remember. But the lot was sold to me at the lower market price...
WIFE: OMG, you're going to throw your idle money away!
PETER (V.O.): I believe the Hong Kong stock market is bottoming and the spread of a company's stock price doesn't matter to me.
INT. STUDY - DAY (Sept 16. 2021)
Taping the Hong Kong Jockey Club phone icons, Peter checks numbers.
PETER (V.O.): Ah, in the lottery drawn on 9/11, I won a third prize!
EXT. MALL - DAY (Today)
Peter is In front of an ATM.
PETER (V.O.): For the past fortnight, I've bought stocks, a majority of them at low prices, with my idle money deposited in two banks.
Peter presses the keys on the machine.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As my buying power is diminishing fast, let me transfer the lucky money to one of my trading accounts so that I can invest in a few more lots.
Getting back his bank card, Peter looks pleased.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I won't miss the opportunities to buy in the declining market.
INT. STUDY - LATER
Peter is working behind his computer.
PETER (V.O.): I'd better do my professional work while waiting for my buying orders to be fulfilled.
Peter works and pauses.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But I don't hear any phone notifications.
Picking up his mobile, Peter checks stocks information.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, the opening low market has become a rising one. I don't want to sell my stocks to earn just a little profit.
Peter checks further.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But I know I won't be happy if I haven't bought any lots today. I'll buy one lot of blue chip stocks at the prevailing market price without bargaining then.
Having tapped on his phone screen, we soon hear: Ding!
RETURN TO PRESENT
Act 3
INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS
PETER (V.O.): After a fortnight, I've learned a few things. First, I've got to remember that investing in stocks isn't the same as buying the Mark Six lottery.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Second, I've to be mindful of the price of the stocks like buying groceries, not like paying my cars' repairs.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Third, for the first few lots of stocks that I impatiently bought, I bought high. I should control my emotion and manage the risk.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I begin to feel that the stock market is a platform for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): After a fortnight, I see a new life horizon. Would it just be a short-term fluctuation?
FADE OUT.
THE END
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