After thinking for a long time, I let out a hollow laugh.
"Now I think I get it."
Taek-gyu looked at me and asked.
"What?"
"The reason why Grace Rothschild told me a financial crisis was going to happen."
"And what reason is that?"
OTK Company started as a financial capital, but now it has taken the form of an industrial capital. Its assets have grown thousands, tens of thousands of times, but as its size has increased, its movements have become sluggish.
"If we stay as we are, OTK Company will suffer a huge loss. To reduce the loss even a little, we have to bet on a crisis, but what do you think will happen then?"
"That's..."
The market is already being weighed down by bad news. In this situation, even a small move from me will cause a big reaction in the market.
Even if I move as carefully as possible, Rothschild will notice immediately, and the rumor will spread throughout the world in no time.
"Wait, wait. In any case, according to the foresight, a financial crisis is going to happen, right?"
The foresight I saw was exactly 'The Beginning of the Global Financial Crisis.'
I nodded.
"The financial crisis has already begun. We just don't know where it will end."
What will happen will happen.
No investor will stand still knowing they will suffer a loss, especially when there is an opportunity to profit.
"If it becomes known that OTK Company invested in anticipation of a market collapse, it will cause a huge shock."
"So that would be helping Rothschild?"
"Correct."
If I join in, it will be even easier to cause a financial crisis, and the scale of the crisis can be further increased.
"Think about it. If we're going to do that anyway, it's better to join hands with Rothschild. That way, we can maximize our investment returns."
Grace is probably hoping that I will reach out to her.
I have used crises to gain financial benefits, or intangible benefits such as fame and honor. Brexit, the collapse of Hoseong Savings Bank, Ronald's election, the Big One, the PAS airbag defect, the damage to the North Sea oil field facilities, the Nishida Securities order error, and so on.
But I did not create any of these things. Even if I used the crisis, I did not have any involvement in the occurrence of the crisis itself.
However, this case is completely different.
The moment I move, a crisis occurs. I become the main culprit who causes the financial crisis... in other words, the trigger.
Whether that's true or not, the world will believe it. And Rothschild, as they have done for a long time, will take care of their own interests in the shadows.
If I stay still, I can't avoid losses, and if I move, I will be helping Rothschild. And there's no way to stop it either.
Whichever I choose, I'm playing into Rothschild's hands.
I recalled Grace's gaze as she looked at me.
"They've set the stage for this to happen from the beginning."
***
The crisis that began in finance was, little by little, but surely, bringing the world down.
The Chinese stock market, which had been in a lull for a while, began to plummet again. The Shanghai Composite Index broke through the 3,000-point level, which was considered a psychological support line.
China tried to prevent the crisis by introducing various stimulus measures.
It provided emergency funds and regulated companies' dollar holdings and remittances to increase foreign exchange reserves. Companies that had been delaying currency exchange in anticipation of a continued strong dollar had no choice but to convert their dollars into yuan under government pressure.
The financial authorities even conducted a search and seizure of securities firms, saying they would investigate short-selling. Business people and financiers known to have participated in short-selling were summoned one after another and subjected to intense investigation.
Nevertheless, the short-selling balance continued to increase, and even state-owned enterprises went bankrupt or applied for a rollover because they could not repay their maturing bonds.
As much of a problem as the stock market collapse was the real estate market.
Until now, the Chinese real estate market was a business where you could make money just by putting your foot in the water. After setting up a company, you could raise money through borrowing, and as long as you built and sold houses and buildings, you could make as much money as you wanted.
As a result, more than 100,000 developers sprang up, and the financial sector lent them a huge amount of money.
But as problems such as a recession, an aging population, an oversupply, and a rise in interest rates all broke out at once, a whopping 857 companies went bankrupt in January alone.
In the midst of this, Yinteng Construction, one of the top five construction companies in China, also filed for bankruptcy, pouring cold water on the market. The banks that had provided loans and guarantees for the various development project financings that Yinteng Construction had been carrying out were struck by lightning.
The Chinese government had turned a blind eye to some of the companies' insolvencies for the sake of employment. But when they opened the lid, the insolvency was much more serious than expected.
In the past, the government would have stepped in to prevent it, but now it was too busy trying to prevent bank insolvencies to be able to do anything.
As it became known that the bonds maturing in the real estate industry in the first half of the year alone amounted to 800 billion yuan... more than $100 billion, the market was thrown into chaos.
As the news of the stimulus measures falling short of market expectations and the bankruptcy of real estate companies was reported, the Shanghai Composite Index plummeted 8.23 percent, recording its largest drop.
To make matters worse, the US-China trade dispute, which had been settled after the Zhou Auto incident, flared up again.
It was the US that drew its sword first.
With the continued strength of the dollar due to the benchmark interest rate hike, US companies' export routes were blocked, and as a solution, they targeted China.
"China must stop subsidizing its domestic companies and abolish non-tariff barriers. Until these measures are implemented, the US will impose tariffs of up to 50 percent on over 6,000 Chinese products."
In addition, it listed all past cases suspected of technology theft and even mentioned trade restrictions with Chinese IT companies and designation as a currency manipulator.
China, in a situation where it could not back down, reacted strongly.
"If the US imposes tariffs on Chinese products, China will have no choice but to impose retaliatory tariffs."
The media all reported on the possibility of the Chinese economy collapsing.
[Chinese Economy, the Myth is Over!]
[Shanghai Composite Index Plummets Over 40 Percent from its Peak!]
[China-Originated Crisis! What are the Countermeasures?]
[US-China Trade Dispute Reignites!]
[George Soros, 'There is a Big Bubble in China's Stock and Real Estate Markets']
[Hedge Fund Investors Unanimously Say Yuan is Overvalued]
- At this rate, China is really going to go bankrupt.
- Why is the Korean stock market falling so much? ㅜㅜ
- It broke 2500 too. Isn't it going to go back below 2000?
- The KOSPI will fall below 1000 like in the financial crisis. It's better not to think about buying until then.
- F***, I invested believing in Kang Jin-hoo and now I'm about to go broke.
- Hey, Kang Jin-hoo didn't tell you to buy stocks, so why are you blaming him?
- What is the government doing? Not buying stocks with the National Pension~
- The collapse is just beginning, so why are you already wailing?
***
While the Chinese economy was faltering, another piece of bad news broke out in Europe, as if in competition. It was the rumor of the bankruptcy of Germany's Deutsche Bank.
Deutsche Bank is Germany's largest bank, boasting a history of about 150 years.
This was not the first time rumors of Deutsche Bank's bankruptcy had emerged. It had been suffering for a long time due to a high cost structure, continuous deficits, lax management, a decrease in the lending-deposit margin due to zero interest rates, fines from the US, and failed investments in derivatives.
But this time, the situation was really serious.
There were two main reasons.
First, Deutsche Bank holds a huge amount of Greek government bonds. This was because it judged that a EU country would not default on its debts. But Greece eventually went bankrupt and accepted an austerity plan in exchange for debt relief.
Therefore, far from paying interest, the bonds had fallen to less than 70 percent of their face value. But this time, as Greece rejected the austerity plan and countered with a withdrawal from the EU, Greek government bonds plummeted again. If Grexit becomes a reality, they could become completely worthless.
Second, as the US benchmark interest rate suddenly soared, a huge loss occurred in the bond sector.
Deutsche Bank CEO Daniel Burwitz urgently announced that he would lay off 20,000 people and sell off 80 billion euros in assets.
The German financial authorities tried to extinguish the fire, calling them rumors. Nevertheless, depositors rushed to the bank to withdraw their money, and Deutsche Bank's stock price plummeted 42 percent in one day.
Even before the announcement, short-selling in Deutsche Bank had been concentrated at a rate nearly 10 times higher than usual.
The bigger problem is that this is not just Deutsche Bank's problem. It is known that almost all banks have suffered huge losses in bonds and stocks since last December.
If a bank goes bankrupt, the aftermath is beyond imagination. If things go wrong, a series of bankruptcies in the financial sector could follow.
Financial authorities and the heads of major European banks gathered in Belgium to discuss countermeasures. ECB President Luis Weidmann also attended this meeting.
A fierce debate raged for several days.
But the ECB was already lowering interest rates to zero and releasing money to stimulate the economy. Therefore, it was in a difficult situation to come up with additional measures.
***
The worst January had passed. But even in February, the situation showed no signs of improving.
The Chinese stock market fell by more than 50 percent from its peak, and with this plunge, the market capitalization of the Chinese stock market was once again reversed with that of the Japanese stock market. Considering that the situation of the Japanese stock market was not good before then, it was easy to see how much the Chinese stock market had plummeted in three months.
As the crises in Europe and China grew, the US was also not safe.
The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 3 major indexes plummeted by more than 20 percent, and it was an undeniable fact that a bear market had now begun.
***
The hedge fund managers of Wall Street gathered secretly in one place.
There were only about 10 people, but the amount of money each of them could move was in the tens of billions of dollars.
The person sitting at the head of the table was a white man in his late 40s, and his name was Carl Albert Singer. He was the CEO of Albert Management.
He looked around at the faces of the people gathered with a sharp gaze.
"I apologize for gathering you at such a busy time."
Indeed, the global financial market was on thin ice every day. A single misstep would immediately lead to falling into the water. Therefore, everyone was checking the market situation without even sleeping properly.
Nevertheless, the reason they had taken the time to come was because they had received great help from Carl Singer.
No one can know which direction the market will move in the future. But Carl Singer provided them with accurate information on how the market would move in the future.
Even those who did not believe his words at first belatedly began to sell off their assets. If it weren't for the information, the hedge funds would also have been swept away by this crisis and suffered great losses.
Albert Management had liquidated all its assets before December, and other hedge funds had also sold off their large assets to secure sufficient ammunition.
"It's only a matter of time before China collapses."
At those words, no one sitting in the room raised any objection.
The great ship of China has already begun to sink. The only way to reduce the damage is to get out as quickly as possible.
And in the process, it would be even better if you could grab something valuable on the way out.
Everyone knew what a great opportunity this was. Such an opportunity would not come again in a lifetime.
Dan Morhead, the CEO of Octa Capital, asked.
"How do you think Kang Jin-hoo will move?"
No one could deny that Kang Jin-hoo was the most outstanding investor of the 21st century.
He has earned the most investment returns in human history since the financial market was created. And that, in less than 10 years.
As the situation was what it was, everyone was paying attention to Kang Jin-hoo's every move.
He showed no signs of selling assets or investing somewhere. He also avoided media interviews and did not make any separate statements, so there was no way of knowing what he was thinking.
If Kang Jin-hoo moved with them, the probability of success would be even higher. But if he stood on the opposite side, the possibility of the situation being reversed could not be ruled out.
Carl Singer said confidently with a smile on his face.
"You don't have to worry. He won't be able to do anything."
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