In 1989, as the year drew to a close, it was the second to last week of December, with less than seven days until Christmas.
During this period, the Japanese stock market, influenced by the Singapore futures, had been rising for six consecutive weeks, from 35,500 points in November to 38,200 points in December, a cumulative increase of nearly 10%. As the New Year approached, everyone optimistically hoped that the index would continue to rise to 40,000 points in the final two weeks.
No one knew where the limit was, but most people hoped for a continued surge, even though they knew it was impossible.
Throughout the January futures contract, Jim and his team had consistently avoided direct confrontation, always selling a small portion of short positions at relatively high prices and operating within an acceptable range, exiting the market in a timely manner to cut losses. As a result, the Japanese financial conglomerates had no opportunity to challenge him.
In this situation, the contradictions within the Japanese financial conglomerate alliance began to surface.
People can share hardships but not prosperity, a common flaw in the majority of the world, especially in East Asian culture, where individual combat is emphasized over teamwork.
The representatives of Japanese financial conglomerates in Singapore began to demand the division of profits and the dissolution of the temporary alliance.
This was understandable. After the short sellers had disappeared and with over a billion dollars in profits in the joint account, no one wanted to relinquish control and share the credit, as they did not want to bear the stigma of incompetence.
The first to propose this was Ota Zetaro, who had initially supported the alliance, followed by Watanabe Ryoichi of the Mitsubishi Group. Seeing the situation, the other conglomerates also rushed to request the dissolution from Iwamoto Kaoru.
In fact, the profits from these two battles had already exceeded the total profits they had made in the past year. Some even calculated privately that their share of the profits would exceed their total earnings in Singapore over the past three years.
Many people adopted a cautious attitude, hoping that the final two weeks would pass smoothly, so they could enjoy a good holiday and secure a leading position in the upcoming year's job adjustments.
In the same place where they had formed the alliance, with the same people, even the same geishas, the content of the discussion was now completely different—dissolution.
"Gentlemen, are you really going to do this?" Iwamoto Kaoru was unwilling and made a final effort. He knew very well that although the short sellers had been defeated, they had not been crushed and were likely to return.
"Mr. Iwamoto, we are very certain and grateful for your help during this period. I will report this to Tokyo, and Mr. Iwamoto can look forward to leaving this stifling place!"
Ota said with a smile. He deliberately referred to Iwamoto's help rather than leadership, implying that he did not acknowledge the alliance, and that the defeat of the short sellers was the result of the sincere efforts of all the financial conglomerates in Japan, thus erasing Iwamoto's credit.
"Indeed, Mr. Iwamoto, you have worked hard. You know, the end of the year will be very busy for us at Mitsubishi. My superiors in Tokyo have repeatedly urged me to report our achievements to the shareholders. Mr. Iwamoto, to be honest, I am in a difficult position. I hope you will be lenient and help us out!"
Watanabe Ryoichi bowed deeply, his expression serious as if entrusting his last wishes.
Iwamoto Kaoru quickly stepped aside to avoid the bow, sighing inwardly, knowing that the situation was beyond saving.
"Mr. Iwamoto, thank you for your efforts during this period. The future of Japan is in your hands!"
"Yes, at the rate Mr. Iwamoto is going, it won't be long before you become the president, and entering the Ministry of Finance won't be difficult."
"..."
The others were not to be outdone, showering Iwamoto with praise, trying to elevate him to the heavens, but their words also clearly indicated their desire to quickly recover their funds and corresponding profits.
"Thank you all for your support during this period. I will return and transfer your contracts and profits to your accounts as soon as possible. I won't say more. I'll drink to the future of Japan."
Iwamoto Kaoru was silent for a moment, then suddenly stood up, bowed deeply to the people kneeling on the tatami, and drank the sake in one gulp.
The low-alcohol, clear and sweet sake turned bitter in his throat and stomach, making him cough and almost cry.
"Uh... Mr. Iwamoto, I will no longer hold my contract. I will close all my positions. I won't be staying in this hellish place much longer, so I'll leave these troubles to the next person."
Most of the people present coldly watched Iwamoto's "performance," offering no comfort. After Iwamoto sat down, Watanabe Ryoichi suddenly said, "What? You're going to close your long positions?" Iwamoto was shocked, sobering up a bit, and cold sweat broke out on his body. "What about you? Do you mean the same?"
Everyone lowered their heads, avoiding his gaze. Clearly, they had the same plan as Watanabe.
"Don't you know the consequences of this? If we close our long positions, the short sellers will definitely return, and all our efforts will be in vain! Mr. Ota, say something!"
Large beads of sweat poured down Iwamoto's forehead. He never expected that not only would they dismantle the alliance, but they would also completely lose their fighting spirit and withdraw.
If this were a battlefield, it would be like using all their strength to capture a key city, only to hand it over to the enemy before the smoke had cleared.
Everyone understood. Yes, they had been in the market for some time; how could they not understand this simple principle?
"Ha ha ha ha, I understand. So, the future of Japan's economy is not as important to you as your own interests. Ha ha ha ha ha..." Iwamoto, looking at Ota Zetaro who turned away, suddenly lost his composure and burst into uncontrollable laughter.
His laughter was sudden and bitter, even the geisha playing the shamisen stopped, looking at him in confusion.
"Damn, who are you to represent Japan's economy and call us the sinners of Japan's economy? Iwamoto, you've gone too far!" Ota, enraged, slammed the table and pointed at Iwamoto's nose, loudly accusing him. "If you know what's good for you, do as we say, or don't blame us for being ruthless!"
"Understood!" To everyone's surprise, Iwamoto did not argue but agreed immediately. As he spoke, tears finally streamed down his weathered face.
Seeing Iwamoto agree, the others all breathed a sigh of relief, exchanged a few more pleasantries, and then left one by one.
The banquet ended in discord.
Iwamoto was left alone, kneeling on the spot, drinking sake in large gulps and muttering to himself.
"Sir, don't drink anymore?" The geisha, who had been standing aside, finally could not bear to watch and held Iwamoto's right hand that was holding the sake cup. "Mr. Iwamoto, what happened? Your friends are all gone!"
"It's you, Miss Eiko. Do you know? Just now, those people have doomed Japan's economy. If Japan's economy collapses!" Iwamoto, feeling a pause in his arm, opened his blurry eyes and saw the geisha who had been playing the shamisen holding his hand. He smiled bitterly and said with great bitterness.
"Mr. Iwamoto, you're drunk." Eiko, the geisha, was confused and did not understand what Mr. Iwamoto was saying. She subconsciously thought he was talking nonsense.
She did not know much about these middle-aged men who often came to the shop, but they were generous and not as rough as other Japanese customers, so she had a good impression of them.
"Will Japan's economy collapse?" Iwamoto ignored her and continued to drink, soon falling unconscious on the tatami.
"Ah, another typical Japanese man!" Eiko sighed and called the waiter. She had been in Singapore for some time and had seen men from other countries come to drink, but none of them drank until they were completely drunk like the Japanese. Therefore, she had a somewhat negative view of this behavior of Japanese men.
In Japan, it was normal for men to go drinking after work. If they went home directly after work, they would be ridiculed by their colleagues and even looked down upon by their wives.
Japan was an extremely patriarchal society. Once women married, they stayed at home to take care of their husbands and children and rarely went out to work, while men were responsible for all household expenses.
Therefore, to understand the hardships of men working outside, women not only had no complaints about their husbands drinking and socializing but also carefully prepared condoms for them when they were on business trips.
These things that seemed unimaginable in other countries were commonplace in Japan. It could only be said that in some aspects, Japan was very different from most other countries.
Returning to the main point, in the third to last week of 1989, Iwamoto Kaoru closed most of his long positions and transferred the funds to the others.
The appearance of such a large number of long positions in the market caused a significant shock.
Everyone was guessing what had happened, including Jim and his team in Kobe.
Was it that the bulls had received some insider information, or were they preparing to leave the market, or were they planning to go all-in in other months?
Unlike most people, Jim almost immediately felt that his opportunity had come when the large long positions appeared! (First, I would like to thank the reader "xiaohai2" for the tip! Also, I want to add a few words: I originally hoped to release this book as soon as possible, but due to the editor's suggestion not to write about immigration to Hong Kong, I am currently making significant changes to some chapters. During this period, I can only update once a week on weekends. I hope for your understanding. Of course, if the number of recommendation votes exceeds 4,000, I will still fulfill my promise to add an extra chapter, so there will be two updates tomorrow.)