On January 1, Goldman Sachs, which had conquered Europe for half a month, temporarily suspended its operations, and the whole building fell into crazy joy.
Clear away the haze left by the subprime mortgage crisis.
"Cheers, David!"
John Waldron smiled and raised his whiskey.
"Cheers, hahahaha."
David Solomon drank the wine in one gulp, his face flushed.
"After selling the CDS, we should ask Deutsche Bank for the insurance compensation from the Greek CDS."
John Waldron smiled from ear to ear as he watched the first results of Goldman Sachs' short bet on Dubai and Greece.
"I have asked people in Europe to start it, no more, no less, at least 2 billion euros!"
David Solomon held up two fingers.
When the Greek debt crisis broke out, the value of CDS insured by Greece's solvency doubled. In the layout, the possibility of Greece being unable to repay was taken into consideration, so Deutsche Bank bought a 20-year credit default swap, which is equivalent to
Goldman Sachs is just waiting to reap the benefits of the Greek CDS CDS.
"It's not enough, it's not enough. There are Ireland, Italy, Spain, and then the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the Eurozone. We can eat at least 10 billion euros from this cake!"
John Waldron waved his arms: "David, you don't look happy?"
"I'm happy, of course I'm happy! But when I think of Huaxia Land getting rich after us, I'm not happy at all."
David Solomon filled the cup with wine.
"Then let me tell you something happy. The news came back from the Dubai office that China Land is in Dubai these days."
"Dubai? What is he doing in Dubai?"
"He provided $1.5 billion in loans to Dubai."
"What! Is the news reliable?"
“Absolutely reliable!”
"Huaxia Lu is crazy! Doesn't he know that Dubai is a time bomb now, with debt and real estate bubbles detonating at any time, so he is investing money in the fire pit of Dubai at this time?"
"Maybe he is a genius, after all, he is the 'Stock God'."
"Stock God? It's enough to ask God at that time. Who does he think he is? God's illegitimate son? Do you think God will be on his side every time? Or will God choose Dubai?"
"In short, it's good news for Goldman Sachs. The Trisolaris Fund invested 1.5 billion in Dubai, which reduced its cash reserves by 1.5 billion, and also reduced the power to support Penguin's stock price. We can be more confident and bold in shorting Penguin.
"
John Waldron grinned.
David Solomon poured him wine, "I have contacted Castle, Melvin, and Citron Capital. As soon as either Blizzard or Penguin announces the end of cooperation, we can take action immediately and strive to knock off 5% in the first wave."
shares!”
"This is just an appetizer. This time we are going to recover the losses caused by shorting Penguin last time, including the original profit!"
John Waldron clinked glasses with him and said, "Huaxia Lu shouldn't mind, he's already so rich, Jie Jie Jie~"
Just when Goldman Sachs convened senior management to deploy the plan to short Penguin, Lu Fei arrived in the United States on a private jet, loaded with goods.
Although the US$1.5 billion loan to Dubai is not as good as the US$10 billion in Abu Dhabi, it is interest-free within two years. Such a timely help is more than just a clean stream compared with the outflow of capital and debt collection.
It's simply a warm current.
As a result, he received a reception far beyond the standards from the Dubai royal family.
The cooperation is naturally quite smooth. In addition to e-commerce and online payment, the biggest achievement is that in the future, ZTO Airlines will be able to land at Dubai International Airport for both cargo and civil aviation, and it will help recommend cooperation with Emirates Airlines.
As for logistics, we won a prime location at a very low price.
In the future, Feigou.com can use Dubai as its warehousing hub and extend its main outlets in Saudi Arabia and Riyadh to the Middle East.
During my busy schedule, I gave Jingtian an injection, which was as green as a green apple, and ripened it into a delicate and delicious red apple, sweet and juicy.
"Then I'll go first, bye."
Jing Tian had flaming red lips and kissed Lu Fei a few times before reluctantly getting in the car, sticking his head out of the window and waving.
"Bye-Bye."
Lu Fei waved his hand, and out of the corner of his eye he noticed the evil smile on John Paulson's face who was picking him up at the airport, "Ahem, what's wrong?"
John Paulson pointed to his cheek, then took out a handkerchief and said: "Lu, I didn't expect you to enjoy it so much."
"I have worked hard for so many years, can't I enjoy it?" Lu Fei wiped off the lipstick mark on his face.
When John Paulson thought about it, it was indeed true.
But then I thought again, "Now is not the time to enjoy it. There are so many fat sheep in Europe waiting for us to slaughter!"
"How is the operation going? Has everything been thrown out?"
Lu Fei put his hands in his pockets and got into the car.
The short-selling model is somewhat similar to subprime mortgages. When Greece's ability to pay is not suspected, it purchases a large amount of debt CDS, and then launches an attack on Greece's credibility to pay, causing the price of CDS to rise, and then waits for the price to rise and sells it.
"All positions were closed, and all CDS were cashed out at the highest point. Conservative estimates are at least US$1.2 billion!"
John Paulson said: "This is just Greece."
"Unsurprisingly, it will soon spread from the periphery countries of the Eurozone to the core countries. When the European debt crisis completely breaks out, the US dollar and the RMB will rise strongly, hot money will flow to US and Hong Kong stocks, and the good days of gold will be over.
"
Lu Fei shook out two cigarettes from the cigarette case and handed him one.
"Indices, spot and futures, and gold-related derivatives, I will have them all disposed of when I get back."
John Paulson lit the fire and took a puff.
"The next step is to go long on the Hang Seng Index and acquire high-quality assets in Europe." Lu Fei narrowed his eyes.
"This is the Piraeus Port information you want, and this one, this is from the French semiconductor industry, this is from Germany, this is from the whole of Europe. I believe there must be something you like."
John Paulson took out a stack of papers from his bag.
"Thanks."
Lu Fei flipped through the materials and browsed up and down.
"Greece has nearly 300 billion in debt."
John Paulson said, "Just last year, it was decided to privatize Guoyou's assets and sell them for cash to reduce its debt. Not surprisingly, as long as it is operated properly, you want to take control of the Piraeus port
It’s not a problem, and even the entire Greek shipping and logistics industry is not impossible.”
Why do I feel itchy on my neck...
Lu Fei licked his lips greedily, "John, there is one more thing I have to ask you."
"you say."
"The day after tomorrow, Blizzard will announce the suspension of the agency authorization of "World of Warcraft". You also know that its proportion in Penguin's entire game revenue will definitely affect the stock price, and there are signs of a slight decline. I hope you can help me protect Penguin.
plate."
"No problem at all!"
In a blink of an eye, it was the third day.
Blizzard issued a statement on the front foot, saying that it had peacefully separated from Penguin, and the agency rights for the Chinese region of "World of Warcraft" have since been transferred to NetArt.
On the back foot, less than 1 minute apart, Penguin also issued a similar announcement, generously blessing Blizzard and NetEase, and then announced that the future of the game business will be transferred from MMO online games to MOBA e-sports, focusing on DOTA2 and LOL.
At the same time, the full-year game revenue and global market share in 2009 increased from 6% to 4%.
The market reacted quickly, with the stock price falling slightly.
As expected by Lu Fei, John Paulson was prepared to let his funds start to protect the market when it fell from US$8 to US$33 per share, keeping it at around US$33.
That is, the decline is controlled within 5%.
However, Penguin's stock price fell at an unimaginable speed. It fell below $34 in just one hour, and the resistance to its rise was huge. It was obvious that a huge amount of short sellers had gathered.
John Paulson sensed something was wrong and immediately contacted Lu Fei: "I suspect that Penguin's stock is being shorted."
"Short?!"
When Lu Fei received the call, he was at Muddy Waters Institution, a subsidiary of Trisolaris, paying close attention to the trend of Penguin's stock price.
Carlson Bullock got the hint from his eyes and used his contacts to track and investigate. As long as there is short selling, there will be traces to follow.
Because of short selling, you have to borrow stocks from a brokerage firm to sell them, and then buy them back to the brokerage firm when the stock price drops.
After a while, it was discovered that Penguin's shares were being lent to short sellers by brokers, and the short-selling funds involved could not be disclosed.
But one thing is certain, Wall Street is eyeing Penguin again.
"Who gave them the courage to short penguins?"
Lu Fei stared at the red stock price and smiled coldly.
"Bosch, it's definitely not a sudden move. These short sellers are completely prepared. According to our previous plan, we will definitely not be able to protect the market. Do we need to increase our efforts?"
Carlson Bullock looked sideways.
"Since they came prepared, what do you think they will do next?" Lu Fei's eyes flashed sharply.
Just when John Paulson acted as Penguin's first white knight and expressed his optimism about Penguin's "Moba" game strategy on Twitter, which caused a stir in public opinion, the first wave of Wall Street's long-planned offensive followed.
Come on, be aggressive.
Analysts from many Wall Street institutions criticized John Paulson on Facebook, Twitter, Line, and YouTube, and angrily complained that Penguin should not let go of the agency rights for "World of Warcraft".
Not questioning
The growth of Penguin Game business is sluggish. Online games such as DNF, CF, and Bubble Hall cannot make up for the profits of "World of Warcraft". They are just mocking LOL. How much can DOTA2 sell for by selling skins?
The words are different, but the core meaning is exactly the same——
I’m not optimistic about Penguin’s money scene at all!
It is even suspected that Penguin’s share price is watery and frothy!
The short sellers skillfully used the media to exaggerate the impact of Penguin's loss of "World of Warcraft" this time, as if Penguin relied entirely on "World of Warcraft" to survive. Then, newspapers, TV, and websites included both practitioners and senior experts.
A set of combination punches, the fight is smooth and smooth.
Although many short-selling funds claimed that there was no end, the voice itself represented an attitude. Penguin's stock price swayed and finally could not hold the $5 mark.
Fortunately, the market closed in time at noon, and the price was stuck at $37.
In just one morning, the market value evaporated by US$700 million!
"They connect very well."
Lu Fei had a gloomy face and raised the corners of his mouth.
"I just conducted a survey and found that there are at least seven or eight companies shorting Penguin, most of which are below US$500 million. Only two star funds, Point72 and Citadel, are relatively powerful."
Carlson Bullock came to the office in a hurry.
Lu Fei crossed his arms and said, "Goldman Sachs and Bear Stearns must have given these funds bonds, but the key question now is whether they will end, or have already done so."
"There is a possibility. For example, Goldman Sachs has many vests, and it is very possible to use those vests to short Penguin. Xu and I are investigating as much as possible." Carlson Bullock looked serious, "And we will be careful to avoid undercover agents deployed by Goldman Sachs."
"Wait a minute."
Lu Fei held his shoulders and suppressed the fire: "Tell John, I want to eat wolf meat, the meat of these wolves on Wall Street!"
When you are in New York, the media is everywhere.
Even though Mr. Lu tried his best not to accept interviews, there were still times when he was blocked. After all, based on his current wealth accumulation, he was the richest man in the world, but he just refused to admit it.
But when we get to this point, we have to speak out.
Put etiquette first before military service, put civility first before martial arts.
Lu Fei invited Lewis, who co-wrote "The Big Short" with him, to accept an exclusive interview with the "New York Times" during lunch, "I noticed that many institutions maliciously shorted Penguin."
"They are even inciting the media and misleading investors, saying that Penguin's loss of World of Warcraft is like the West losing Jerusalem. They even confuse right and wrong and slander the stock price as a bubble."
"This is a very dangerous behavior."
"I advise everyone and all institutions who are maliciously shorting Penguin to stop immediately and let bygones be bygones."
"As for the termination of the cooperation between Penguin and Blizzard, it is entirely due to future strategic considerations. Our independently developed League of Legends, Dota2, after years of operation and accumulation, the total number of users has been far greater than that of World of Warcraft, and we have launched a 'paid skin' strategy
After that, revenue and profits will continue to rise, and we will continue to hold global competitions to further expand our influence in the world."
"Especially for the League of Legends S2 event, Penguin plans to set the finals location at the Yanjing Olympics venue, the Bird's Nest."
“…”
"Finally, I would like to say one more thing. I believe in the principle of 'I will not offend anyone unless they offend me. If someone offends me, I will offend them.' I will not end well if I continue to do short selling maliciously!"
“Don’t say you didn’t predict what you said!”
Lu Fei faced the camera and issued a stern warning to the ill-intentioned short-selling institutions with a wicked smile on his face.
But no matter how alarmist it was, Wall Street not only didn't buy it, but felt that Lu Fei was scared, and he was ridiculed decisively.
Is Penguin’s stock price still wet? No way! No way!
Isn’t Huaxia Land a stock god? Don’t be a coward!
Since everyone is short-selling, why do you still do short-selling maliciously?
Are there any good people who are short sellers?
The more he shows weakness and releases his goodwill, the more the Wall Street wolves feel that Mr. Lu has a guilty conscience and is easy to bully. The short-selling funds are ready to sharpen their knives. Many institutions that have not caught up with Dubai and the Greek debt crisis are staring at Penguin fiercely.
put.
"Lu, you know me well. You are a shareholder of Goldman Sachs and a friend of Goldman Sachs. How could we go short?"
"Yes, even if shorting Penguin is profitable, we have never forgotten the price we paid for shorting Penguin last time."
"No, Goldman Sachs is definitely not involved in short selling!"
"I guarantee it with my integrity!"
David Solomon hung up the phone with Lu Fei, and kept laughing and cursing, "Lu Fei, Lu Fei, what the hell are you doing today!"
"What did Huaxia Lu say?"
John Waldron asked eagerly.
"I want to get under our skin and scare us not to make any attempt to short Penguin, otherwise we will bear the consequences."
David Solomon smiled coldly: "Who does he think he is! Does he really think of himself as a 'stock god'? Fake!"
"His bluff, ignore him, everything goes as planned." John Waldron showed a proud smile.
"It's time for us to appear."
David Solomon looked at him with a wicked smile on his lips.
