Taking advantage of the Japanese foundation's eagerness to exit the market, Jim gradually sold a significant number of short positions, step by step suppressing the Nikkei index. This was a strategy Jim employed after thoroughly understanding his opponent's psychology.
When the market had absorbed most of the selling, he would then aggressively sell large amounts of short positions, completely undermining the confidence of the bulls, thereby affecting the performance of the Japanese market and achieving his goal.
Jim and his team performed exceptionally well, fully demonstrating the professional qualities of excellent traders and their grasp of timing. The once bullish Japanese stock market was thus forcefully pushed into a decline.
So far, they had spent about $3 billion, with nearly $3 billion still in hand, planning to continue selling in the following week to create a turning point in the Japanese stock market trend.
Having achieved their phased goals, Jim and his team were eager to fly back to their respective countries for Christmas to celebrate with their families.
However, their celebration came a bit too early.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
The knocking continued, annoying Jim, who kicked his foot in frustration, muttering, "Damn it, which bastard is disturbing my sleep so early in the morning!"
With a groan, a woman's shrill scream followed, and Jim's drowsiness dissipated. He looked up to see a disheveled, naked Japanese woman lying on the floor, glaring at him angrily.
"Honey, what's wrong?" Jim was taken aback, then burst into laughter, realizing that his kick had sent the woman flying off the bed. He reached out to help her up, but this action startled another woman sleeping in his arms. She moaned in dissatisfaction, then found a more comfortable position and fell back asleep.
"What happened last night?" Jim shook his head, looking around. He saw underwear and bras scattered on the floor, used condoms, and the air was filled with a decadent atmosphere.
The knocking continued, causing Jim's head to throb. "Honey, go open the door," he said, then slammed his head back onto the pillow, feeling the hangover pain.
The woman on the floor grumbled, but didn't say anything. She stood up naked, her perfect body exposed, her breasts proudly erect, and the inner thighs still showing the marks from last night's activities.
The door opened, revealing a worried Maxim. He didn't expect to see a naked woman, and before he could appreciate the scene, he rushed into the room, shouting, "Jim, it's bad, the Japanese stock market..."
His words trailed off.
In front of Maxim was a luxurious bed, with Jim lying naked, holding a blonde woman, also naked, in his arms, her private parts clearly visible.
The room, once tidy, now looked like it had been hit by an earthquake, with women's clothes scattered everywhere. Maxim carefully avoided stepping on anything, fearing he might crush Jim's offspring.
The scene shocked Maxim, and he felt a mix of envy. He had never experienced such a group activity, and he subconsciously swallowed, his eyes scanning the women's bodies, his breathing quickening.
The woman who opened the door closed it, ignoring Maxim, and sat on the sofa, lighting a cigarette and smoking casually.
Maxim then noticed the black-haired Japanese woman, who looked unhappy, blowing smoke rings. Seeing Maxim's greedy gaze, she deliberately pushed her chest out, her fingers slightly bent, looking seductive.
"Hey, Max, want to join our party?" Jim, half-asleep, saw Maxim rush in and noticed everything. He felt no displeasure, but rather a hidden excitement, finding such a group activity even more stimulating.
Hearing Jim's words, Maxim suddenly calmed down, remembering his purpose. The heat in his lower abdomen subsided. "Jim, it's bad, the Japanese stock market opened high and is surging."
"What?" Jim's hands, which had been roaming over the blonde's body, suddenly stopped. He slapped her firm, round buttocks without any tenderness. "How is this possible!"
"Yes, what should we do now?" Maxim ignored Jim's actions, looking away but couldn't help stealing glances.
The blonde woman, suddenly attacked, woke up completely. She wanted to say, "I want more," but seeing Jim's serious face, she got up, flipped him the bird, and went to take a shower.
Jim stood up, hurriedly putting on his clothes. In his panic, he accidentally put on a woman's lace underwear, which made the woman smoking on the sofa laugh out loud.
"What's going on, tell me slowly!" Jim stopped, snatched the cigarette pack from the Japanese woman, and lit a cigarette, trembling. As the nicotine calmed his mind, he regained his composure.
"40,000 points!" Maxim's words instantly threw Jim's calm mind into chaos again. His hand trembled, and the cigarette fell to the floor, burning a small hole in the beautiful carpet.
"Technical rebound?" The same thought appeared in both Jim's and Maxim's minds.
A technical rebound occurs when, during a stock price decline, many people try to buy at the bottom, causing the price to rise again. However, for a market as large as Japan's, this could only mean one thing: there were many bullish investors, and their combined strength could even influence the world's largest market.
"Return immediately, no, recall everyone, no, report this to the U.S. first." Jim, in a panic, kept giving orders to Maxim, but his words were incoherent, leaving Maxim unsure which to follow.
"Money! Money!" As Jim was about to leave with Maxim, the Japanese woman, who had been watching coldly, said in broken English.
"Take it, bitch!" Jim pulled out a thick wad of yen from his wallet, threw it on the floor without counting, and left with Maxim, slamming the door behind them.
As Maxim had seen, the Nikkei index opened with a long green line (a bullish line, as the color is opposite in China) on Christmas Day, and then continued to rise, showing an unstoppable momentum. It reached 38,466 points during the day and closed at 38,423 points, rising 383 points, or 1.01%, on Christmas Day.
Don't underestimate this 1.01%. Given the large base of the Japanese stock market, this seemingly insignificant percentage represented a rise of over 380 points. On the Singapore futures market, this meant a loss of about $1,000 per short contract, resulting in a loss of over $200 million for Jim's 200,000 contracts.
All their efforts from the previous week were in vain, and all their paper profits vanished.
Jim and Maxim watched the Nikkei index rise, feeling helpless and unable to do anything. What scared them even more was that this momentum showed no signs of stopping. Even the brokers were excitedly discussing whether the Nikkei index would break the 40,000-point historical threshold in the last few days of 1989.
They stood on the cold streets of Tokyo, feeling a wave of despair.
The Singapore market was closed today, but they could imagine that when it opened tomorrow, it would follow today's Nikkei trend, and their losses would be even greater.
The most terrifying thing was not the loss itself, but the fact that their position was far too large to be liquidated quickly. If they had only a few thousand contracts, they could easily cut their losses and exit, but with 40% of the market's short positions, it was impossible to liquidate them all at once.
"What?"
Jim called the U.S. for instructions on what to do next. It was around 4:00 AM in the U.S., but Jim didn't care if he woke anyone up; he needed a clear plan.
To his shock, the first words from the person on the phone made him lose his composure.
"Add more positions, continue shorting!"
A cold voice instructed, filled with dissatisfaction, whether because Jim had disturbed his sleep or because of the rise in the Japanese market.
"Is the world crazy?"
Jim looked at Maxim, who was equally stunned, hoping to find an answer from him.
According to their previous plan, they should gradually reduce their positions and go long to mitigate the risk. But they had no choice.
Why was the person on the phone so confident, ignoring the ongoing losses? They didn't know. They only knew that if it were their own money, they would immediately switch to going long. (Thank you for your continued support, I appreciate it very much!)