Chapter 397 Cutting Leeks in the United States
Lao Bai sold his shares in Gray Matter to Gretchen and Elliott for a mere five thousand dollars. Now, the market value of Gray Matter has reached two billion U.S. dollars, and Lao Bai missed hundreds of millions of dollars in profits. Seeing the name of Gray Matter, or hearing five thousand dollars, he would feel deeply unwilling.
"Good luck!" Lao Bai raised his glass and touched Shen Long again, but for some reason, the fine wine in the past turned bitter today, Lao Bai was spoiled by the words five thousand dollars , I didn’t sit for a long time and went home.
Shen Long also turned and left, rested at the hotel for one night, and drove west along the famous Route 66 to the next-door Arizona State early the next morning. Albuquerque has flights to all parts of the United States, but since the time is not so tight However, Shen Long didn't mind taking this opportunity to visit the scenery of the United States.
Across the vast expanse of arid grassland, into the colorful hills of Arizona, north at the junction of Arizona and California, into the familiar yet unfamiliar Nevada, here is my base in the world of "The Godfather", but now and then It has been very different.
When he came to Las Vegas, where the paper fans are drunk, Shen Long collected a little information, went to the casino to win some money, and then signed up for a high-bonus Texas Hold'em tournament. The first place in this game will get a thousand It is technically not difficult to win 10 million US dollars in a casino, but it will cause some unnecessary troubles. There is no such problem in participating in the competition, and it is not the casino's money to win anyway.
After paying an entry fee of 10,000 US dollars to enter the game, after a long and fierce battle, Shen Long defeated many legendary sharks, easily won the 10 million US dollars bonus, and got enough start-up funds.
However, it may not be a problem to acquire a small company with this tens of millions of dollars, but it may still be a little short of helping Lao Bai realize his wish, so Shen Long took another flight to New York.
Wall Street is already in turmoil. The subprime mortgage crisis that broke out last year swept across the major financial markets such as the United States, the European Union, and Japan, causing heavy losses to those high-ranking giants. Up to now, the subprime mortgage crisis has not only not eased, but also intensified. howling.
Merrill Lynch had a net loss of US$19.6 billion in the first quarter, and Citigroup had a net loss of US$51.1 billion in the first quarter. According to the International Monetary Fund, the global losses due to the subprime mortgage crisis have exceeded US$1 trillion so far.
However, this is still not the point. There are still bigger bombs that have not detonated, but no matter what the market environment is, someone can make money from it. How terrible the financial crisis was in 1929, the Wall Street giant Livermore could make money by shorting 100 million US dollars, and this time Shen Long intends to play the role of Livermore to cut the leeks of the Americans.
I found a reputable securities company and asked them to open an account for themselves and provide leverage and traders.
Shen Long personally sat in the trading room and announced his goal, "From now on, I will short Lehman's stock."
With a history of 158 years, Lehman Brothers is one of the top behemoths in the financial market. It once ranked fourth in the US investment bank. Up to now, Lehman Brothers has assets of 69 billion US dollars. Although its performance has been declining in recent years , and was affected by the subprime mortgage crisis, but who would have thought that this behemoth would collapse unexpectedly?
The representatives of the securities company did not try to persuade Shen Long. Now that the market is depressed, there are better short-selling targets. Why should they target Lehman Brothers? If something goes wrong with such a behemoth, both the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve will come out to save it.
However, Shen Long knew that the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Board did not save Lehman Brothers, but invested their funds in Bear Stearns. In the end, Lehman Brothers had to file for bankruptcy protection, and the U.S. stock market ushered in a single day after 911. Maximum drawdown in points and drawdown.
Under Shen Long's insistence, the trader still followed his request. Not long after, Lehman Brothers fired two executives and announced that the expected loss in the second quarter of this year was about 2.8 billion U.S. dollars. On the day the news was announced, Stimulated by multiple adverse news, Lehman Brothers shares fell 442 to close at $2,270.
By the end of June, Lehman Brothers shares had fallen by as much as 11% to $1981. At this point, the company's share price has fallen to its lowest point since May 2000.
All the investors who held Lehman Brothers shares cried bitterly, but Shen Long made a lot of money and cut off a wave of American leeks.
Then he resolutely chose to withdraw. Although the stock of Lehman Brothers would fall to 1449 US dollars in a few days, everyone is now on the verge of despair for Lehman Brothers, and I am afraid that there will be no one who is willing to take the short position.
Moreover, Shen Long's mission is not to become the world's richest man. The current income can basically meet the needs of the mission. Besides, Lao Bai's lung cancer can't afford to delay it. He has to return to Albuquerque as soon as possible.
"Mr. Shen, why don't you wait any longer? If you wait any longer, your income will definitely be higher!" People from the securities company had advised Shen Long not to short Lehman, but now they are persuading him to continue.
"No, I entered the stock market just to raise funds. Now that I have raised enough money, why continue to take risks?" Shen Long resolutely refused.
The securities company could only endure the pain and let him go. Now that the stock market is bleak, there are very few clients who can make money like him, and even fewer can make so much. It is their loss to let him go.
However, compared with those real crocodiles, Shen Long's profit is nothing. In this subprime mortgage crisis, a dozen hedge funds that shorted subprime mortgage bonds earned tens of billions of dollars. Paulson earned $24 billion for his hedge fund and $4 billion himself.
They provided cover for Shen Long very well, so that Shen Long could avoid the flashing lights and return to Albuquerque with a relaxed mood. After getting off the plane and looking at the familiar city, Shen Long smiled.
When he left here more than two months ago, he only had 5,000 dollars robbed from drug dealers, but now he has hundreds of millions of assets. Sure enough, compared with robbery, he still makes money by cutting leeks in the stock market Hurry up.
So now is the time to start thinking about buying a company, but I'm new to Albuquerque, who do I go to for help?