National Tide 1980.

Confidence is always the most valuable thing in financial markets, sometimes even more so than capital.

Take the Japanese stock market in 1989 as an example. Even though the Bank of Japan kept raising interest rates, the entire Japanese public believed that Japanese companies had become the best in the world and were living in a self-delusional fantasy. Therefore, the restraining effect of the interest rate hikes was negligible.

When the market stops falling, just a few simple, thought-provoking questions are enough to reignite the excitement of speculators across Japan.

"You want to sell your shares in the Japanese company?"

"OK, alright."

"But what can you buy with the money after you sell it?"

Yes, those are the sentences.

Given the current market conditions and company financial reports, what financial asset in the world is better than the stock of a Japanese company?
The answer is no.

Why sell your shares in a Japanese company to buy shares in a European or American company?
Only a fool would do that. European and American companies are already on the verge of collapse, okay?

Sooner or later, the Japanese will steal all the business from the Westerners.

In short, neither Japanese securities firms nor ordinary stock investors care how Japanese companies generate their profits, nor how much of these astonishing profits are dividends derived from the economic bubble, nor how much is a "miracle" created by Japan's unique new accounting standards.

They only need to see that Japanese companies' monthly profits and the mirror restaurant business are expanding.

This was enough to convince them that Japanese company stocks were the assets that investors worldwide were chasing, and the only right choice.

Therefore, they came to a whimsical conclusion—that the law of gravity does not exist in the Japanese stock market.

And they firmly believed it.

In late November 1989, the Nikkei Shimbun predicted that "supported by the current economic situation and a good supply and demand relationship for stocks, the Nikkei index is expected to rise to 44000 points by the end of the year."

The headline of a recent stock market article in the Asahi Shimbun was, "See you at 45000 points in a year."

As the saying goes, three consecutive positive lines can change one's beliefs.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Japanese stock market investors were still trembling in fear a few days ago because of the interest rate hike that caused the index to fall. But the Japanese are no different from speculators in any other country. They also have the common problem of forgetting the pain once the wound has healed.

In reality, as long as the index stabilizes and the overall trend is upward, these speculators will blindly become optimistic again, hoping that the index can rise to outer space in one fell swoop.

This is why, after a sharp drop and stabilization, the Nikkei 225 index quickly embarked on a journey of continuously reaching new highs.

Most stocks have a different price every day, only going up and never down, soaring to the sky, making stock investors all over the world extremely envious.

Although the market is still some distance from 40000 points, by the last day of November, the Nikkei 225 index had broken through the historical peak reached on December 29 during Japan's bubble economy, surpassing 38925 points and reaching a new achievement of 38944 points.

From the perspective of surpassing historical achievements, this is indeed quite exaggerated, and it definitely belongs to the expanded impact of the butterfly effect.

At this moment, it seems that among all those involved in the Japanese stock market, Ning Weimin is the most miserable one.

After selling all his stocks and missing out on the rally, he only had Kenichi Sagawa buy back less than 100,000 shares for him, all of which were bought at a high price of nearly 60,000 yen.

After that, they apparently stopped making a move because of their fear of heights.

In contrast, EIE International's stock price is now close to 68,000 yen, having long since broken through the 3 trillion yen market capitalization mark.

From the perspective of most people, especially from the perspective of Ning Weimin's enemies, his tragic end is probably inevitable; sooner or later he will lose all his wealth in one go.

As a result, those who were eager to see him suffer, whether it was Takahashi Harunori or Goto Hiroji, had already begun to laugh at his foolishness behind his back.

But is that really the case? Will God truly grant these people their wishes?

No, of course not.

If God himself were to say, Ning Weimin would be the one He has carefully nurtured and protected.

On the contrary, this kid is the one who feels extremely happy.

why?
Because he's the biggest cheater in the world, he knows too many things that others don't.

For example, he knew the real reason behind the Bank of Japan's interest rate hikes; the Japanese government's actions were not merely a pretext to curb the stock market bubble.

The more important underlying reason is that the US started raising interest rates and reducing its balance sheet this year, causing the dollar to strengthen.

This will cause the previously appreciating yen to turn around and depreciate, and foreign capital will shift from inflows to rapid outflows, inevitably leading to a crisis in Japan's foreign exchange reserves.

Therefore, in order to stabilize the exchange rate, Japan has no choice but to raise interest rates in the hope of retaining foreign investment and promoting the real economy.

But can they achieve this ideal goal?

Of course not, because the Americans used a combination of tactics.

If the US raises interest rates, foreign capital will resolutely withdraw from the Japanese stock and real estate markets, leaving the Japanese economy in a mess.

To put it bluntly, now that Japan has fattened up like a pig, the Americans have decided to slaughter it and eat it before the end of the year.

Judging from Ning Weimin's experience, whenever the Americans wanted to exploit Japan, Japan never escaped unscathed and was ruthlessly fleeced by American conglomerates.

Unsurprisingly, Xiao Rizi's chubby little body simply couldn't withstand the strain.

Japan will inevitably face repercussions from American financial groups, have its bubble burst, and enter a "lost 30 years."

So all in all, Ning Weimin never really intended to go head-to-head with Takahashi Harunori from the very beginning.

During the final frenzy of the Japanese stock market, he insisted on using his own hard-earned money to short EIE International's stock against the trend.

Just thinking about it made him feel that doing it was incredibly stupid.

That would be a waste of effort and yield little result; it would definitely be counterproductive.

In reality, the reason he sold his Nomura Securities shares was not short selling at all, but rather to escape the market peak.

Anyway, he's definitely on the right track in terms of the general direction. Selling now means making a profit, and he'll definitely be able to buy it back at a rock-bottom price later.

If he really wants to short the market, wouldn't it be wonderful if he waited for the Americans to strike first and knock Japan down, and then took advantage of the situation to launch an attack?

It's safer, more satisfying, and more effective to beat a dog when it's down than to rush into action now.

Moreover, he was well aware of what kind of company Nomura Securities was.

Having learned his lesson once, how could he possibly believe that Nomura Securities had any integrity?

How can you possibly trust that the other party can protect your interests?
On the contrary, he absolutely believed that Nomura Securities would disclose his trading data to Harunori Takahashi and keep him informed of his movements at all times.

Given this, the only reason he continued short selling at Nomura Securities was to deliberately provoke and confuse the other party.

Yes, he intended to use a counter-strategy to make the other party make incorrect judgments based on the activity of his account, thereby leading them to take the wrong response.

Don't forget, he also has an account with Daiwa Securities, where he put all 200 billion yen he borrowed from Sumitomo Bank.

During his time away from Japan, his people had already planted these funds in batches in EIE stock. He also raised 80 billion yen from Daiwa Securities and bought a significant amount of additional shares in Dentsu Group.

So what can he do with this account? Is there even a question?
This is called "openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing the Chencang pass".

If the other party mistakenly believes that he has sold off his EIE shares and is trying to drive up the stock price to squeeze him out, then he can make his opponent suffer a heavy blow.

At the same time, they can make a fortune before the market crashes, leaving Nomura Securities with a huge hole that it can't fill.

What does "killing three birds with one stone" mean?

This is.

Sure enough, after he sold all the EIE shares he had raised from Nomura Securities, some people couldn't wait any longer and started pouring real money into driving up the stock price.

So he went along with it, happy to let these fools carry his sedan chair.

The more aggressively the other party pulled, the more enthusiastically another group he arranged at Daiwa Securities sold for him.

As we all know, the two most difficult and crucial aspects of stock market manipulation are accumulating shares at low prices and distributing them to realize profits.

Ning Weimin's EIE holdings in his Daiwa Securities account amounted to as much as 8%.

If he hadn't placed a portion of his funds in Keiko Matsumoto's account, he would have had to issue an announcement long ago.

Therefore, for a big player like him, if there aren't enough buyers, who would he sell his chips to?

Does it rely on retail investors?

Now that he was able to sell his shares smoothly at a high price, and seeing the stocks he bought at a low price turn into cash with profits, he was overjoyed. He was truly grateful to Hiroji Goto and Harunori Takahashi from the bottom of his heart.

They're really nice people; there's no one more considerate than them.

Of course, he also had to thank the Americans who were also pumping up the price to sell off their shares. These guys would also push up the stock price while selling off their shares in order to mislead Japanese speculators. This was like providing cover for him, allowing him to sell off his shares at a better price and in a more relaxed manner.

At the same time, Dentsu's stock price was also boosted by these American talents.

There are no more perfectly matched international teammates than them.

To be honest, Kenichi Sagawa, who was responsible for misleading the opponent, sold his stock holdings just in time for the Bank of Japan's interest rate hike in November, making a profit along the way. This was not something Ning Weimin could have predicted.

Even if he were incredibly capable, he couldn't possibly remember the exact dates of the Bank of Japan's interest rate hikes during the bubble economy period.

It can only be said that God was kind to him, deliberately giving him money; it's all just good luck.

In any case, during the most beautiful twilight of Japan's bubble economy, Ning Weimin's top priority was to sell! Sell! Sell!

Although the Nikkei 225 index has broken through the psychological point he regarded as the final node and gained excess returns, this is a good thing.

Conversely, it can also be concluded that the stock market situation is becoming increasingly precarious, and after accelerating to its peak, a complete collapse is imminent.

Ning Weimin naturally dared not relax in the slightest. In order to seize this last opportunity to leave safely, he not only sold off his stocks without hesitation, but also did not forget to take good care of Nomura Securities' business.

He deliberately acted as if he was blinded by losses and eager to win back his money, and went to Goshima Hiroji to continue negotiating, hoping to raise some more Dentsu stock so he could sell it and recoup his losses.

To everyone's surprise, Hiroji Goto actually agreed without hesitation.

He tried to hide his schadenfreude, saying that he would agree to lend the money as long as Ning Weimin could provide sufficient collateral in his account.

Ning Weimin was naturally pleased and accepted the offer, and unceremoniously used the extra chips to increase his profits.

That's not all. At the same time, Ning Weimin was also busy with real estate, and he also started to put up orders to sell.

He contacted several real estate agencies, including two he had previously worked with.

Not only were his own properties in Ginza listed, but his warehouses in Tokyo Port were also listed, and even the parking lots under Akakasa Parking Lot were listed in batches.

Of course, to be fair, the other partner, Xia, wasn't as open-minded about the complete retreat as Ning Weimin; she found it a bit hard to accept.

It wasn't that she didn't trust Ning Weimin's judgment of the market.

Having suffered losses due to her own overconfidence many times, she had long believed that Ning Weimin was better at stock trading than she was. This time, she listened to advice and began to gradually liquidate her stock holdings.

The problem is that parking lots are a real industry, something you can see and touch.

Not to mention the skyrocketing land prices, Xia has been managing the business for so long that she has not only gained relevant experience but has also unconsciously developed an affection for the properties under her company's name.

Moreover, parking lots in Japan are incredibly profitable. In the current economic boom, even in relatively remote areas like Koto Ward and Sumida Ward, the turnover rate of parking spaces is over 90%.

Opening a parking lot is like setting up a pinball machine on the street; cash is pouring in every day.

The phrase "making a fortune every day" doesn't even begin to describe the parking lot's income; it's more profitable than when she was running an underground bank.

This joy made her almost forget that Ning Weimin had initially asked her to partner with him in order to make speculative money.

She never imagined that making money so easily could be done in a legitimate business.

Therefore, what she is considering now is how to further rationally plan the space, improve the facilities, and break the profit growth space of each parking lot.

She even intends to acquire a company specializing in parking equipment in Japan to reduce the operating costs of purchasing facilities.

When Ning Weimin offered to sell the parking lot, she suddenly felt as if her own heart was being ripped out, and she couldn't bear to part with it.

So, just like Little Jew in the Hong Kong drama "The Greed of Man," she began to feel insecure and undecided.

Fortunately, Ning Weimin knew her well enough and had anticipated this situation. Seeing her ambiguous attitude, he realized she was considering backing down.

He told Xia, "It's okay if you like the parking lot business. Selling the parking lot in Tokyo doesn't mean we're giving up on this industry. We can just reinvest the funds in Hong Kong."

“That’s your territory. You can buy a parking lot in Hong Kong and continue to be the parking lot queen, even more so than in Tokyo.”

"Moreover, our departure is only temporary. Once the Japanese market collapses and Japanese real estate prices fall to reasonable levels, we can simply buy back the properties we sold today."

"By then, we won't just be buying parking lots in Tokyo. We'll be buying Osaka, Kyoto, Yokohama, Sapporo, Nagoya. We want to plant the Red Glow banner in the core areas of all the major cities in Japan. That's the goal you should strive to achieve in the future. Don't be reluctant to part with these small items; you need to be able to calculate the overall cost."

"The key is that the current price is good. If you sell a piece of land in the heart of Tokyo, it's enough for you to live in a five-star hotel for a lifetime. Is this price reasonable? Especially since real estate transactions take time, you never know when you'll find a suitable seller after you place an order. If you don't act now, it might be too late when the stock market crashes, because after a big drop, there will definitely be a shortage of money in the market."

“If you really can’t bear to part with it, then we can list it in a less expensive parking lot in a peripheral area. Because these slightly lower-quality assets are difficult to sell when the market is bad, we have to prioritize them and prepare in advance.”

"And that parking lot in Shinjuku, Maria introduced it to us, and she also has an investment and a share. Let's deal with that land first, otherwise she won't feel at ease staying abroad."

Thus, faced with Ning Weimin's polite and measured words and well-founded analysis.

Xia, who was initially reluctant to part with him, was finally persuaded.

Thinking about it, it makes sense. I seem to have been getting a bit stuck in a rut. From a broader perspective, it is indeed the most cost-effective thing to do as Ning Weimin said.

So they quickly took out their seal, stamped it on several authorization contracts, and sold!
It must be said that when Ning Weimin wielded the financial sickle with incredible skill, it was truly a once-in-a-millennium harvest. (End of Chapter)