MTLNOVEL Chapter 197: Unpredictable Process
On the other side of the ocean, a pale dawn broke on the horizon, and the first rays of the morning sun fell upon Wall Street.
Amid the blistering summer heat, a new day was about to begin, but the participants from the eight major institutions couldn't feel the warmth of the sunlight.
Years of planning for the "Return to Asia-Pacific Strategy" had failed, and the so-called Invincible Fleet, the Li Gen, had retreated.
Upon hearing this news, the participants' hearts chilled instantly as if someone had doused them with cold water on a freezing day.
Cold in body, and even colder in heart, a bone-chilling cold emerged from the depths of their souls, and everyone felt their scalps tingle as calamity loomed.
Lu Liang had only been developing for one year, holding just two funds, with all told maybe thirty billion dollars in assets.
But they had been developing for many years, managing assets that were at least ten times, or even a hundred times, more than Lu Liang's, if not more.
The yen was only part of the battlefield; if Lu Liang hadn't been involved, they would have invested just a few billion dollars at most.
After all, the funds had to go where they were needed, like International Crude Oil, International Gold, Offshore RMB, and even major trading commodities like soybeans.
After all, with a GDP of 74 trillion and a 6.5% annual growth rate, being touted as the world's second-largest economy, there was simply too much to harvest, even more so than with Japan back in the day.
The total capital they invested was at least one zero more than thirty billion dollars, perhaps even more.
However, the Invincible Warship Li Gen that had such high hopes pinned on it had fled, scared off.
They no longer had time to worry about Lu Liang; the only thought in their minds was to close positions, stop losses, and take the opposite side of the trades.
Once the market caught on, the unaffiliated third parties would raise their scythes and harvest their wealth.
But they could also strike first; better for a Daoist friend to die than to die poor themselves, to become harvesters rather than the harvested.
So-called allies were just temporarily in agreement; once opinions differed, it was time to see whose scythe was sharper.
At this moment, in the building where the Quantum Fund was based.
Soros's gaze was complex, watching the fund managers busy about, with hoarse shouts of anger often ringing in his ears.
He did not blame the others for their loss of composure because he had been far crazier when he was young, fortunate not to have encountered Lu Liang.
Soros let out a deep sigh, silently walked out of the trading room; he no longer had the energy to monitor the markets personally and had just come to see the turn of events.
Looking out the window at the slowly rising sun, he suddenly said, "Andy, I've looked into it, and I think the saying shouldn't be 'dynasties change, new talents arise,' but rather 'the waves behind drive on those before, with the foremost ones to die on the beach,' right?"
His Chinese-American assistant remained silent for a long while; "Sir, maybe my Chinese isn't that good."
"It's your mother tongue; you should study more when you have the time, as China's development has become unstoppable."
Soros was filled with mixed emotions; he had a premonition that this event might be a crucial turning point for the world order.
Running away happens either once or countless times. Once the Li Gen retreated, the Return to Asia-Pacific Strategy became a joke.
At least the smaller countries in Asia wouldn't believe the slander anymore; the Philippines was the best example, with the Americans fleeing, Japan and South Korea followed suit.
They were probably breaking out in cold sweats now, thinking of how to apologize, and how they might be forgiven, since the trouble down south had been stirred up under their names.
The female assistant nodded firmly; "I will, sir."
She suddenly wanted to visit her ancestral home in Funan and to meet that legendary Lu Liang.
What kind of person could force the globally dominant short-sellers into feeling emotions usually reserved for pondering retirees?
...
The news of the US Army's retreat was very secret, so far it had only spread within a small circle, and had not reached the outside world.
But as the yen's exchange rate suddenly collapsed, and gold prices plunged, opportunistic investors realized that Lu Liang seemed to have won again.
A mass of institutions closing their positions at the same time meant that, except for a few individual investors, there was no longer any sign of advocates for a stronger yen in the market.
Their will to long the yen was as strong as their current determination to short it; they had to explain to their investors.
Since Lu Liang talked down Japan's economy and shorted the yen, they would lend him a hand and make a bigger issue out of it.
If they couldn't take down the Eastern Country, they'd hit the two smaller countries in the East; after all, they had to recoup their losses.
The big three Wall Street credit rating agencies, Pu'er, Moody's, and Fitch, took the lead in attacking with an "objective and fair" stance, citing China's initial success in developing new energy industries as the reason to criticize the automobile industry of Japan and South Korea for potentially facing a catastrophic blow.
He listed various factors, describing the annual export volumes and economic shares of Japanese and Korean cars, as well as the proportion of imports in China.
He predicted that next year's export volumes would drop by 15% compared to the same period, and within the next five years, Korean cars might be abandoned by the Chinese market, and sales of Japanese cars would halve and then halve again.
The three articles, totaling nearly 50,000 words of research reports, could essentially be summarized in one sentence: the economies of these two countries were not doing well, and their national credit ratings were set to be downgraded.
As soon as the articles were published, a large number of institutions caught wind of it and unreasonably swooped into the foreign exchange markets of both countries, brandishing their scythes and feverishly reaping the wealth of the nationals.
At that moment, in the Tianxing Trading Room.
"I can always guess the outcome, but not the process."
Lu Liang's face showed melancholy as he thought Zhong was starting to settle scores, but it turned out to be infighting, with Japan and Korea being sacrificed.
But on second thought, it made sense. They had just repelled the US Army, and if they started settling scores directly, it would undoubtedly cause others to be wary.
Moreover, the principle of the Silk Road was joint development and breaking US Dollar hegemony. If they settled scores, wouldn't that be just like the US Army?
"Managing a large country is like cooking a small fish; one must not act impetuously."
A sly smile curled the corners of Lu Liang's mouth, revealing his not-so-kind intentions. Zhong might not be able to show his face, but that didn't mean he couldn't.
He glanced at the USD/JPY exchange rate, which had dropped 10.12 yen, a daily loss of 8.75%, already exceeding predicted figures.
The eighteen accounts they managed had all turned losses into profits, with nearly 20 million dollars in earnings for each account.
Lu Liang thought for a moment, then forwarded the short-selling articles from the three major rating agencies, accompanied by a photo of the Hong Liu surveillance aircraft over Yan Shi Island.
He wanted to know where the floor was for the yen's fall, whether it would break below 120, or even more.
The moment his status updated, Lu Liang's smile was still unwavering; he hadn't had the chance to read the comments and messages from netizens around the world.
The smile on his face abruptly stopped as a system notice alerted him that his account posed a risk and was temporarily banned for 72 hours.
"Screw you."
Lu Liang was uncontrollable in his anger, realizing after much thought that he seemed to have no countermeasures.
"Damn Twitter, if I use it again, I am a dog."
The more Lu Liang thought, the more stifled he felt. He took a screenshot and sent it to Little Wang, asking him to help repost it, then stormed back into the trading room, fuming.
"Liquidate everything! Don't worry about the market impact, don't leave a single contract."
Since they miffed him, he might earn less, but he was determined to make others feel discomfort as well.
Eight institutions had jointly invested 30 billion dollars. Lu Liang estimated it wasn't quite that much, but there should be 20 billion.
They hedged against Lu Liang at the 104 level, which was now up to 114.52.
That meant a loss of at least 2 billion dollars.
Now, they were short selling at the 110 level. If the short selling capital was double that of the long capital,
they would need the price to rise to 120 at least to recover the cost.
As Lu Liang began selling off without regard for the cost, the yen's exchange rate started a rebound from its lows.
It rose 100 basis points every second, forcibly curbing the downward trend.
Numerous people cursed aloud, but had no choice but to begrudgingly buy in and support the market.
The market operates on momentum; a decline after the initial push, then exhaustion on the third try.
If they didn't buy Lu Liang out, allowing him to continue his massive sell-off leading to a yen rebound, the losses they had incurred from going long previously would solidify from paper losses to actual losses.
Once the market momentum was gone, not to mention stopping losses, even closing positions would be exceedingly difficult.
"Asshole."
Countless people cursed Lu Liang in their hearts. With such market conditions and him holding so many chips,
aside from the Japan Central Bank, probably only Lu Liang had such power.
Unlike the Japan Central Bank needing to issue public announcements when they wanted to spend money to save the market, Lu Liang didn't need to do that.
He could have left quietly, but instead, he made a spectacle; after filling his own plate, he flipped the whole table, utterly inconsiderate of others.