America's No. 1 financial conglomerate

Chapter 639 Market Crash

Ernst's assassination caused countless people across America to lose sleep.

The man at the heart of this storm, however, still has the leisure to lie in the hospital and flirt with women.

"Um... Ernst, shall we be discharged from the hospital?"

Annie had woken up and, after learning that she was alright, first called home to let them know she was safe, and then planned to leave the hospital to go home and rest.

It wasn't that she disliked the hospital environment, but Ernst's current enthusiasm made her feel warm all over, her body tense, and her voice trembling.

"You are injured. Although it's not serious, we still need to prevent infection and you must stay in the hospital for observation for a period of time."

Annie bit her lower lip, her eyes darting around. "Then...then you should go back and rest."

She simply couldn't bear Ernst's gaze at such close range; that gaze, which seemed to devour her whole, made it almost impossible for her to breathe.

"How can I leave?" Ernst refused without hesitation, his tone carrying a feigned seriousness and reproach. "You were injured because of me, how can I leave? I must stay and take care of you personally to put my mind at ease."

"But...but..." Annie's cheeks were flushed crimson, she couldn't bear to look him in the eye, and her voice was barely audible, "Then we don't have to sleep in the same bed, do we?"

"There's no other way. Hospital beds are in short supply, so we'll just have to make do. I can't stand all night, can I? I'm not an owl."

Wenger is right. If a woman is willing to die for you without hesitation, then she has no faults at all.

Moreover, Annie has completely changed and is no longer the naive and innocent girl she used to be.

Another point is that if the two had been married, this assassination attempt would have been absolutely impossible.

New money has its own rules, and old money has its own standards.

The Boston Group may have declined, but it was still one of the eight major financial groups in the United States, with its reach extending to every corner of the country.

If you want to take action against Lao Qian, you'll have many concerns.

Who knows when a missile might land in your yard? Nobody dares to gamble.

Connections are the greatest asset of the Lao Qian family.

So whether it was for personal gain or because Annie bravely stepped in to take the bullet for him.

This woman left an indelible mark on his heart.

If that's the case, then what are we waiting for?

He has never been a person who drags things out.

"But your...your hand." Annie's breathing became much heavier.

"Then why did you only check..." Annie couldn't finish her sentence because Ernst kissed her.

Her mind went blank until she felt Ernst's large hand conquer the lower town, and then both of them froze.

Annie froze, embarrassed and unsure how to face the other person, wishing she could disappear into nowhere.

Ernst was stunned, completely shocked.

Pulling out my large hand, I looked at the glistening water droplets on it. Was this being a bit too sensitive?

Is it a bit of an exaggeration to say that just touching it causes this much damage?

If this happened to a man, he would probably feel so inferior that he'd ejaculate instantly.

But if you put it on a woman, she'd be absolutely awful, and you'd spray her instantly.

Annie, realizing what was happening, felt like she was on fire, and pleaded, "Let's go to sleep, okay? Please."

Ernst looked at him strangely. "You mean sleeping, but it's not the same thing I think it means, is it?"

However, seeing the bandage on Anne's arm, Ernst knew she couldn't be too stimulated, which would accelerate blood circulation, so he could only suppress his thoughts.

Ernst got out of bed and kissed her forehead. "I'll go get someone to add another bed and buy some clean clothes while I'm at it."

Annie didn't dare to look him in the eye; her expression was a mixture of secret delight, shyness, and disappointment.

Ernst slept soundly through the night, but the trading room at Ernst Asset Management was brightly lit.

At six o'clock in the morning, O'Shea Ricardo, who hadn't slept all night, stood in front of the control panel, with twenty carefully selected traders behind him, each with a map of Long-Term Capital's holdings spread out in front of them.

He downed his coffee in one gulp; he'd lost count of how many cups he'd had that night.

"First step, the government bond market." O'Shea Ricardo issued his first instruction while looking at the large screen: "Notify the traders in London to immediately short 50 billion Italian government bonds, and simultaneously go long German government bonds in Frankfurt. Widen the spread further, by at least 50 basis points."

The moment the order was issued, Italian government bond futures on the London Stock Exchange began to plummet.

Long-term capital accounts holding large long positions immediately incurred unrealized losses, and Deutsche Bank's risk control system automatically issued a second margin call.

An hour later, O'Shea Ricardo looked at the widening interest rate spread on the screen and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

He rubbed his slightly sore eyes and issued another order, initiating the second deployment: "Increase the selling pressure on emerging market currencies such as the Russian ruble and the Mexican peso. Utilize our agency seats in the global foreign exchange market to conduct large-scale selling, with the goal of depreciating these currencies by more than 5% in the short term."

Emerging market currencies are inherently fragile and lack sufficient support. Now, with the Russian debt default looming, the Russian ruble and Mexican peso have fallen rapidly due to concentrated selling by Ernst Asset Management.

Meanwhile, at the headquarters of Long-Term Capital Management, Merryweather also received an urgent notification from the head of trading.

He stormed into the trading room, his face ashen, his eyes immediately drawn to the frantically flashing red numbers on the terminal.

Those red figures representing losses were like venomous snakes, constantly devouring the company's assets, making him tremble with fear.

"Who's dumping the stock?" he roared, his fingers pressing hard on the table.

The trading manager was deathly pale. "We can't find the specific counterparty, but the sell orders are concentrated at our position price, it's like...it's like they know our hand."

Merryweather suddenly remembered the agreement he had reached with Ernst Asset Management the night before, and a chill ran down his spine.

"Impossible, I don't believe it." He shook his head desperately, refusing to believe it was true.

From a purely profit-driven perspective, the long-term returns from acquiring long-term capital are clearly far greater than the profits gained from short-term market suppression.

Ernst Asset Management had no reason to do this; otherwise, it wouldn't have so easily handed over Long-Term Capital's holdings details and risk control model.

He was right, but he underestimated the greed and bottom line of capitalists.

"John, quickly check MGM's CNBS news."

Someone shouted something, and someone immediately pulled up the relevant footage. The host was reporting on the details of Long-Term Capital Management with a serious expression, against a background of the company's logo and various complex financial data charts.

"This station has obtained Long-Term Capital Management's holdings details and risk control model. The United States may be entering another Great Depression because of Long-Term Capital Management..."

The trading room was completely silent.

That's true, because MGM released some of its holdings data, which even had Long-Term Capital Management's corporate seal on it.

"Ernst." Merryweather's voice sounded like a ghostly wail, but then he collapsed to the ground.

He knew it was all over.

The market panicked instantly because of MGM's report, especially after the interest rate spread between Italian and German government bonds was released, which was amplified again.

But that's not all; O'Shea Ricardo is now continuing to suppress the market.

At 9:30 a.m., he issued the order again.

"Sell 100,000 call options expiring in January in the S&P 500 options market and drive down the implied volatility!" he shouted, staring at the real-time data on the screen.

At the Chicago Board Options Exchange, a flood of sell orders instantly overwhelmed the market, causing long-term capital to suffer massive losses in volatility trading.

Volatility trading is Long-Term Capital Management's most important holding asset, accounting for more than half of its risk exposure.

The entire Wall Street and the entire United States were completely engrossed in Ernst Asset Management.