The Genius Grandson of the Loan King - Chapter 86 (86/840)
< Bring Fear to New York. >
#86
Bring Fear to New York.
#86
Bring Fear to New York.
"Is it strange that Dream High Investment is moving?"
"Yes, boss. They are suddenly buying all the short positions on the stock market, regardless of whether it's in the U.S., Europe, Japan, or any other country."
George Soros, who had been focusing all his attention on the attack on Hong Kong, stopped what he was doing and fell into thought upon hearing his secretary's words.
'What are they thinking?'
But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't understand their actions.
Unless the global stock market were to crash dramatically all at once, there was no way to benefit from such actions.
October 19, 1987, Black Monday.
If something like that didn't happen again, it would be like turning all the money into scraps of paper.
"Are we still attacking Hong Kong?"
"Yes, our attack on the foreign exchange market is proceeding as planned."
After pondering, George Soros gave instructions to his secretary.
"Let's follow Dream High for now."
"All the stock index futures and options on the market are being swept up by Dream High."
"Try to get as many as you can without overextending yourself. I need to see what's happening."
"Understood."
"Focus on monitoring Dream High's movements and report back to me. Don't worry about Hong Kong anymore."
George Soros decided to follow his gut feeling.
But he was already one step too late.
* * *
— Muhyuk! It's a big deal!
"......Why?"
The urgency in Han Kyung-ryeong's voice made me feel uneasy.
— Hong Kong... Hong Kong... did something crazy. They raised the short-term interest rate to 300%. It's all over the news. Is Korea quiet?
"Ha......"
Although it was a day later than the original history, Hong Kong ultimately abandoned the stock market.
This happened when speculative capital, believing that the Hong Kong dollar would fall due to the inability to withstand the stock market decline, launched a final assault.
— The global stock market is reacting. It's another Black Monday! It's insane, this is a miracle!
"Bro, let's talk later."
— Hey! Muhyuk!
I ignored Han Kyung-ryeong's desperate calls and hung up the phone.
I threw my phone on the bed and covered my face with my hands.
'I can't do it twice, really.'
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority abandoned the stock market instead of defending the currency.
A 300% increase in short-term interest rates.
No one, not even the Wall Street elites or the economic leaders of various countries, could have predicted this choice.
Who could have expected such an event to happen in Hong Kong?
After organizing my thoughts, I called Han Kyung-ryeong again.
— Hey, Muhyuk. It's chaos here.
"Bro, when the market opens next Monday, sell all the stocks you have."
Without any explanation, Han Kyung-ryeong was silent.
"Morning trading will likely be calm, but the afternoon will see a panic. It will be a massive crash. Europe and Japan will follow the U.S."
— ...You had a plan? I thought you were crazy.
The crash in the New York stock market was predictable. But I intended to make the decline even more severe.
"Sell everything. If we don't have enough, borrow from other securities firms. Borrow and sell everything. Bring fear to New York."
Once fear takes hold, it eats away at people's minds. A brain paralyzed by fear cannot think clearly.
— Okay.
"Stop the attack on Hong Kong. We won't suffer much, but other hedge funds will be in a mess. They borrowed money to attack. A 300% interest rate is a death sentence for those who didn't use their own capital like us."
The Hang Seng Index fell 10.4% in a single night, closing the market.
Speculation is no different from gambling. Not only did many lose their capital instantly, but investors who suffered huge losses were abundant. The stock market was in a panic.
The hedge funds were not the only ones affected. American funds invested in the Hong Kong stock market also suffered enormous losses.
They ended up taking actions they shouldn't have to pay the enormous interest.
And the fateful October 27th.
I stayed up all night, talking to Han Kyung-ryeong and focusing on the U.S. stock market.
The profits from Hong Kong were peanuts compared to what we would make in the U.S.
The difference in markets cannot be ignored.
"Bro, let's start. Sell everything the moment the market opens. Even if you incur losses, it's fine. The more you lose, the more we will gain. Have you explained it to the staff?"
— Yeah, they're all excited. How many investment firms can win against the U.S. while being in Wall Street? This will be a career-defining and history-making event.
"Keep selling at the lowest price. Induce the stock market to fall."
— Okay.
I checked the U.S. stock market through the slow internet.
I always felt inconvenienced at such times.
'If only a few years had passed, we could check almost in real-time like before.'
I waited for Han Kyung-ryeong's call, grumbling about the slow internet.
The call came just before the morning session ended.
— Stock trading has been halted. It's already down 150 points.
Stock trading was halted for 30 minutes. The Dow Jones Index had fallen by more than 150 points.
It was much faster than before. The fear I instilled made them sell their stocks even faster.
When the Wall Street speculators who were attacking Hong Kong started selling U.S. stocks, retail investors were swept up in the herd mentality. Everyone started selling their U.S. stocks.
"Good job. Did you sell everything?"
— Yeah, all sold.
"Start buying back slowly from tomorrow."
— Got it.
"In a few days, you'll be a legend on Wall Street. Congratulations. The investment god, James Han."
— Hahaha. Crazy. That's you.
With just 1% of the shares Han Kyung-ryeong owned, he could probably be called the richest person in South Korea.
Every 1% drop in the stock index brought us astronomical profits.
"I'll always be in the background."
— The U.S. government will start watching us. Your identity will eventually be revealed. How about getting U.S. citizenship? You're exempt from military service, right?
"I was thinking about it, but not yet. We can't deceive the U.S. government, but I still have things to do in Korea. It will be fine after a while."
Now the world is starting to function as a single economy under the name of a global village.
What happened in New York, the center of world finance, was not just a problem for the U.S.
An event that would have ended with a 7% decline turned into a 15% crash due to my intervention. It was the first time in the history of the U.S. stock market.
The largest decline in stock index and the second-largest in terms of the drop since the Black Monday 10 years ago.
The crash in the New York stock market led to a simultaneous crash in the global stock market.
The profits we made in Hong Kong, the U.S., Europe, and Japan were beyond imagination.
Although we didn't invest all our capital, we contracted as many options as possible, making it possible.
"Let's start liquidation."
— Okay.
I was the winner of this gambling game.
This was just the beginning.
With my unparalleled wealth as a weapon, I will stand above everyone.
In the future I desire.
* * *
This victory made the Clinton administration aware of Kim Muhyuk's existence.
Discussions about the stock market crash were ongoing at the White House.
"Kim Muhyuk?"
"Yes, Mr. President. A 24-year-old young businessman in Korea."
"Why should I know this name? He's just a businessman."
"He made a lot of money from this stock market crash. More than the U.S. annual budget. You know what it means for an individual to have that much money, don't you?"
The mention of more money than the U.S. annual budget piqued Clinton's interest.
"Wow, some kind of Superman, huh?"
Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin frowned at Clinton's playful response.
"Mr. President, this is serious. It means that American wealth has been transferred to a man from a small country on the periphery of Asia."
"What's the problem? Was it illegal?"
"No, but......"
"Rubin, we don't hold people accountable for what happens within the bounds of the law. If it was illegal, we could stop it, but if it was a legitimate investment, we can't do anything about it."
Rubin raised his voice, frustrated.
"It's an amount that can bankrupt a country's economy. The person holding that much money is not an American citizen but a citizen of another country."
"Then we can make him an American citizen."
Rubin hit his chest at Clinton's casual words.
Of course, Rubin himself knew he couldn't hold Kim Muhyuk accountable.
"I want to proceed with what I mentioned before. This failure has made Wall Street investors cautious."
"About Korea?"
Kim Muhyuk's actions, which were not just for profit, triggered the Korean financial crisis.
The U.S. acted quickly.
Robert Rubin, a former Goldman Sachs chairman, immediately issued instructions to all investment banks on Wall Street.
The hyenas of Wall Street saw this as an opportunity to recover their losses from Hong Kong.
They withdrew all their investments in Korea at once.
* * *
The Korean economy was collapsing faster than expected, a result of my actions.
— The U.S. Treasury Department contacted me. They already know about you.
"So what?"
— They'll keep quiet for now. But if you plan to withdraw large amounts of capital from the U.S., they want you to inform them in advance. I've never seen a Treasury Department official be so humble.
It's not surprising that the U.S. Treasury Department is cautious.
"Unbelievable. First, come to Korea quickly. Have you set up a Korean branch?"
— Yeah, I bought a small building and finished the remodeling.
"Let's buy a private jet now."
— Huh, a private jet? Really?
"Now we need to travel around the world. Order one from Boeing and come to Korea."
Han Kyung-ryeong chuckled on the other end of the line.
I also smiled.
"You don't have to worry about money, right? Order everything to be the best."
— I'm good at that. I'll wrap things up here by next week and come to Korea. I need someone to take over for me. I have someone in mind.
"All the money will be executed with your approval, right?"
— Of course. I've already allocated 10 billion dollars for stock investment. We can't let people idle without a big event.
"Good job. Let's meet in Korea."
— Okay.
In the end, South Korea surrendered to the IMF.
The humiliating result of handing over economic sovereignty to the IMF did not change.
No, the U.S. government and the IMF made even more humiliating demands than before.
But the South Korean government could not resist.
The IMF demanded clear answers from the presidential candidates. They threatened that there would be no support without answers from the three presidential candidates.
At that moment, an unexpected wild card appeared.
The unification of conservative candidate Sung Dae-gyu and patriotic candidate Choi Chang-geun.
'I didn't expect this. I never thought Sung Dae-gyu and Choi Chang-geun would join hands.'
With progressive candidate Kim Hak-gwon's victory likely, their unification changed the direction of the presidential election.