Terror on Wall Street, a Financial Metafiction Novel Read Free

Manhattan, North Broadway Street in Chicago, Coral Way Shopping Center in Miami, Central Expressway in Dallas, Edgewater Drive in San Francisco, and Evans Avenue in Denver were hit with comparable casualties, and bombers in trucks filled with explosives took out three of the company’s major distribution centers.  War had been declared on the American economy.
     
     

 
     
     
     
    CHAPTER TWO
     
    TERROR ON WALL STREET
     
     
     
    The terrorist attacks were on everyone’s lips among the brokers and salesmen at J.C. Mortenson.  How was anyone going to be safe?  What was the president going to do?  The events had turned the usual dull roar at the office at J.C. Mortenson into a hysteria-driven explosion of conversation mixed with guttural expressions of frustration, despair, and grief.  On the screen above their cubicles, the horror was playing and replaying itself out on videos taken from the cell phones of survivors of the Walmart massacres.  On the bottom of the screen the ticker ran the bad financial news, adding a component of financial carnage to the damage.
         “Whoa!  George, look at those numbers!”
         Transportation and grocery retail giants’ stocks were dropping in real time.
         “Transportation and retail stocks are tanking!”
         “I told you someone knew something.”
         “Holy crap, George: it has to be insider trading on the terrorist attacks.”
         Dumbfounded, Bob stared at the screen, feeling serious pangs of regret that he had jumped on the bandwagon and was now profiting from the terrorist attacks.  A news announcer came on screen with an exclusive report:
         This is Barry Schneer, reporting from New York. We’ve been showing you video feeds from the terrorist attacks at Walmart stores across the country, which appear to have been coordinated.  ISIS has claimed responsibility for the bombings, and the president has called it an attack on all humanity.  She has vowed that the United States will make a swift and appropriate response.  Walmart stock has been plummeting, and other stocks in the transportation and retail sectors are reporting sharp drops, which have sparked a selling frenzy on the market.
         “Red arrows all over the place!”
         “Bob, look!  Major banking stocks are dropping.  JP Morgan, Citigroup, Bank of America…”
         Stocks of the “too big to fail” banks are also dropping.  JPMorgan Chase is down ten points.  Citigroup is down by five and Bank of America is down by four in the selloff.
         The normally-busy phones at the office rang double time in succession from the hundreds of callers who must have been in queue.  And sell orders were racing through J.C. Mortenson's  online website.
         As the course of the short trading day played out, the tickertape was almost solidly red.  Retail, transportation, and bank stocks had lost over 50% of their value, representing trillions of dollars of shareholder wealth.  Bob fidgeted in his seat, watching the clock as he became more and more anxious about the banking news.
         “I’m with B of A.  I’d better cash out while I can!"
         Panic has hit the markets, with investors liquidating positions in the major banks, grocery retailers, and transportation.  
         “Dude, don’t worry. Bank of America is one of the biggest banks in the world.”
         “That’s a reason to worry, George.”
     
    ***
    When Bob got to the bank, the line was out the door and around the block.  A bank manager came out to the sidewalk to settle the crowd of impatient, angry, worried customers.
         “Does anyone have a straight deposit, no cash transaction?”
         The growing crowd was restless and impatient. A man in the line raised his voice.
         “We want our cash out, not in!”
       This prompted murmurs of protest from all the waiting customers. The manager reacted with a nervous smile, kept walking