My 1999

Li Jinling nodded and said, "Institutions are fighting each other, there is no question of who is innocent.

However, the overall deterioration of the real estate market and the skyrocketing loan default rates have resulted in a large number of homeless people.

Banks and various credit institutions took away their houses, and many people had to set up tents in the park with their families or sleep in their cars.

I don’t know which colleague who lost all his money posted the estimated list of short-selling profits on the Internet.

Now all these homeless people have gathered online to denounce Wall Street short sellers. They believe that it is these financial capitalists who have made huge profits that have caused their families to live on the streets. "

"joke!"

Zhang Hongwei sneered: "We can only blame the government for having too loose a credit environment in recent years, allowing anyone to get a loan.

Banks and other credit institutions that securitized subprime assets are also guilty, and the investment banks that underwrote these bonds caused global investors to suffer heavy losses.

Of course, low-income homebuyers are indeed victims of the subprime mortgage crisis.

But don't forget, didn't they have no house a few years ago?

It's the proletariat!

Since you never had it in the past, how can you talk about losing it?

Just think of it as a dream. At least I don’t have to pay rent to live in a big house for a few years.”

Xu Liang looked at his indignant head bodyguard, "Old Zhang, you are very knowledgeable, you hit the nail on the head."

Zhang Hongwei touched his head in embarrassment and said, "I just listened to you a lot and learned a little bit."

“It’s superficial, but it’s not wrong. However, the lower class people are limited in their vision and knowledge, and rarely have the ability to distinguish right from wrong.

They are the least thoughtful group of people and the easiest to be instigated.

At present, the voices of condemnation online are not loud, the impact is limited, and no offline rallies have been initiated.

But if the property and financial markets continue to deteriorate like this, sooner or later something bad will happen.

So we have to prepare in advance.”

Xu Liang said slowly.

Hanhua's success over the years has certainly made countless people profit, but it is seen as an outlier by many old white men on Wall Street. Those gamblers who lose money, such as Soros, will definitely not be reconciled.

It would be fine if they didn't have the opportunity under normal circumstances, but this time the public sentiment is surging, and they will definitely take advantage of the situation and get themselves into trouble.

If you put yourself in Soros's shoes, you will make the same choice.

"Mr. Xu, how can we get rid of this vortex of public opinion?" Li Jinling asked.

Xu Liang smiled and said, "It's very simple. Whoever makes more money can attract the public's attention."

Li Jinling's eyes lit up and she clapped her hands, saying, "This is great. Paulson is now both famous and wealthy.

You know, last year his fund only had $1 billion in assets under management, which was less than ours. Now it has expanded to a behemoth with $28 billion in assets under management.”

The size of Paulson’s first short-selling fund was only a few hundred million dollars, not even a fraction of Hanhua’s.

But they kept announcing their performance, and countless funds poured into the Paulson Fund, which could earn $500 to $600 million in management fees every year.

And Xu Liang also made a contribution to this.

While continuously expanding the asset management scale of Paulson Fund, Xu Liang also continuously reduced the scale of investment in CDs under the name of Hanhua.

So, on the surface, Hanhua Pacific Fund only made a profit of US$16 billion.

But Hanhua himself made more money.

Xu Liang smiled and said, "Paulson must be feeling both pain and happiness right now."

"Mr. Xu, the outside world speculates that we have made more than $16 billion."

"We certainly made more than $16 billion, but the rest was dividends from Paulson Fund, Thain Capital, Frontpoint Partners, and Thiel Fund. They were the ones who shorted U.S. subprime mortgages, and it had nothing to do with us," Xu Liang said with a smile.

"You are wise."

Li Jinling complimented.

Xu Liang smiled and changed the subject.

"Is the flight arranged?"

"It's already been arranged. I'm flying to New York at three this afternoon."

Li Jinling nodded and left.

"Brother Zhang, have your people arrived?"

"arrive."

"Let's go and take a look."

After agreeing, Zhang Hongwei took him to the security center on the third underground floor of the manor, which was where the bodyguards of the entire Jiulongyu Xu Manor worked.

It has the world's most advanced security equipment.

The monitoring room here can cover all corners of the Xu’s manor and everything within a five-kilometer radius around the manor.

"boss……"

Seeing Xu Liang coming, the bodyguards hurriedly greeted him.

After nodding in greeting, Zhang Hongwei took him to an empty office.

Not long after, three figures, all over 1.8 meters tall, walked in.

Although they were dressed differently, they all had one thing in common: they looked very similar to Xu Liang, at least 60% to 70% similarity.

"Boss Xu, this is the stand-in we found for you recently. We have been training them hard recently and trying to build up their muscles as much as possible."

Xu Liang has been practicing martial arts for many years, and he is born with a strong body, so he is extremely strong.

So even if they look similar, if they are physically very different, they can be seen at a glance.

As he spoke, Zhang Hongwei opened the box next to him and pulled out something that looked like a gray jacket.

"This is an inner armor specially made of carbon fiber material. After putting it on, it will not only make them more similar to your body shape, but also provide a certain degree of protection."

Xu Liang took it, shook it, and found it a little heavy.

"Let them wear it."

Zhang Hongwei waved his hand.

The three of them quickly took out a piece of clothing from the box at the back and put it on, then put on a loose casual sports shirt on the outside, and the shortcomings of their body shapes were instantly made up for.

"Where's Sister Liu?"

His personal makeup artist Liu Xiao hurried in from outside.

"boss."

"If I put makeup on them, can they look like me?"

"It's definitely impossible to be exactly the same, but it can be 90% similar. People who are not particularly familiar with you will definitely not be able to recognize it." Liu Xiao affirmed.

Xu Liang nodded and took a few steps forward.

Looking at the man standing in the middle, who is of similar height to me.

"May I have your name?"

The other party didn't dare to look him in the eye, and his expression became uneasy.

"Boss, my name is Zhao Cheng."

"Zhao Cheng? Judging from your tone, you're from Zibo?"

Zhao Cheng nodded quickly, "From Bujia Town, Zhangdian, Zibo."

"Did you go to college?"

"I was not good at studying, so I followed my cousin to drive a truck in junior high school."

“Is it hard to drive a truck?”

"I'm not afraid of hard work, as long as I can make money."

Xu Liang patted his shoulder with a smile, asked the two people next to him, and said to them with a smile.

"Everyone comes out to work to make money. I don't like to play games. The basic salary for the three of you is 20,000 yuan per month. If you have a mission, you will receive a one-time subsidy of 50,000 yuan. If you encounter danger, medical expenses will be fully covered, and you will receive a subsidy of 200,000 yuan.

If you unfortunately pass away, the 2 million subsidy will be given directly to the family members you designate. At the same time, I will also bear the cost of your children's education and work, and the support of your parents.

In addition, there is a bonus of 100,000 yuan every year.

Do you understand everything?"

The three of them nodded quickly, their faces full of excitement.

There is no way they can get such favorable conditions outside.

"Lao Zhang, continue to train them. Appearance is just the foundation. You also need to have them imitate the tone and rhythm of my speech. When they attend public events, at least they should not appear to be unusual on the surface."

"clear."

"Also, give me a copy of their information and that of their families, especially their immediate family members."

"OK."

After returning to the study.

"Gangzi, after Lao Zhang submits the information of the three people, you will pass them to Lao Zhou."

Huo Gang nodded.

Zhou Kai manages 'Black Impermanence' and monitors the daily lives of all the bodyguards and their relatives around him through the Internet and communications.

This is to prevent someone from planting thorns around him through threats or inducements.

After staying in his hometown for another two days, Xu Liang took a plane to Beijing.

He first went to his father-in-law's house for a meal and then spoke to the executives of Hongmeng and Hanhua before flying from Beijing to New York.

Xu Liang was in good health, full of energy, and not at all tired from jet lag.

After a brief rest at his apartment in Manhattan, New York, he left home with his team of bodyguards.

After driving for a while, the car stopped in front of a small white building between 69th Street and Park Avenue.

Several security guards in suits came forward to check, and after seeing the membership card in Huo Gang's hand, they respectfully made a gesture of invitation.

Xu Liang walked through the slightly worn door and entered the New York United Club.

Introduced by a number of financial tycoons including Blankfein and Mai Jinheng, Xu Liang also became a member here some time ago.

The annual fee is not high, only a few tens of thousands of dollars per year, but not everyone with money can join.

Hanhua is now also a big boss on Wall Street. Although a bunch of old white men may not accept it in their hearts, they still have to admit that a yellow man has achieved what they can only achieve in their lifetime in just a few years.

Led by the waiter, Xu Liang walked into a spacious and bright room with luxurious decoration and British style.

Blankfein and Mai Jinheng were drinking coffee and chatting. When they saw him come in, they both stood up and greeted him.

"Xu, long time no see. Hanhua was very popular last year. When the market was wailing, it rose against the trend. You made a lot of money again. It's really enviable."

Mai Jinheng shook hands with Xu Liang with a smile on his face. Looking at the other person's overly young face, the old man couldn't help but feel envious.

He witnessed how Hanhua rose step by step on Wall Street. When it first moved to New York, it was just an inconspicuous small company.

As a result, he made huge profits through the capital market in just a few years, and in 2005 he even surpassed Soros to become the king of global hedge funds.

Unfortunately, the old aristocrats within Morgan Stanley did not believe that a Chinese person understood the American financial market better than they did.

I don’t believe that the stable real estate market will collapse.

So I sold a lot of CDs to Hanhua, but ended up losing a lot of money.

Xu Liang took a closer look at Mai Jinheng. He obviously had a lot more white hair and his face looked much more haggard, which was probably caused by the sensational fourth quarter financial report last month.

This is the first time in 72 years that Morgan Stanley has suffered a quarterly loss since it was spun off from JPMorgan Chase \u0026 Co. in 1935, and the loss was an astronomical figure, close to $10 billion.

Xu Liang guessed that Mr. Mai must be under a lot of pressure recently because the CEOs of Citibank and Merrill Lynch, which also suffered serious losses, resigned for leading their companies into the subprime mortgage crisis.

Although the old man in front of him has not been dismissed, his position is already precarious.

"John, I've heard about Morgan Stanley's recent difficulties, but I believe you can lead the company out of this predicament."

Xu Liang looked at Mai Jinheng and said sincerely, "You are a responsible CEO. You did not choose to withdraw at this time. You are much better than those professional managers who took high severance pay and pensions and ran around the world to live a carefree life.

If you need help, please feel free to ask. Hanhua is willing to help you and Morgan Stanley through this difficult time."

Hearing these words, Mai Jinheng felt warm in his heart, but he didn't take it to heart.

We are all old hunters in the fan circle. Who will help you if you don’t have money?

It's good enough if you don't add insult to injury.

"Morgan Stanley's current situation is inseparable from my aggressive leverage expansion strategy."

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

Mai Jinheng said quietly: "I will take due responsibilities. Maybe one day I will leave Morgan Stanley, but I will not leave with the reputation of a coward and a loser."

The old man turned his gaze towards Xu Liang and said with a smile, "Xu, thank you for your comfort. All I have heard during this period of time are accusations and insults against me, including from my former friends.

Your encouragement has helped me regain some confidence.

Hahaha..., but speaking of help, Morgan Stanley's stock price has not been very stable recently. If it is convenient for you, you can invest in us to boost market confidence.

It doesn’t have to be a big number, $2 billion or $1 billion will do.”

Xu Liang was thinking, "Fuck!", how rude of you!

Financial stocks were the hardest hit by the crash. He didn't even have time to short sell, so how could he possibly go long?

Even as a long-term investment, the investment returns of financial stocks are far lower than those of the Internet and technology industries.

But you still have to pretend on the surface.

“No problem, but we need to wait a little bit. Didn’t CIC invest in you just last month? Market confidence should have been restored to some extent.

I estimate that the subprime mortgage crisis will intensify and market sentiment will become even more pessimistic.

At that time, we will take action to achieve the best effect of boosting market confidence.”

Mai Jinheng is a smart man. He heard that Xu Liang was unwilling to invest now, so he was waiting for the opportunity to buy at the bottom.

If we wait until then to take action, the effect will definitely not be as good as it is now.

However, finance is not charity. It is a great honor for others to be willing to buy at the bottom. It can also bring some substantial help to the recovery of Morgan Stanley's stock price.

"Xu, thank you very much. Even if I leave one day, Morgan Stanley will remember your friendship and help."

Xu Liang smiled and nodded. He didn't care much about friendship. He just considered that the second wave of the "Zhurong Plan" would still require Morgan Stanley's cooperation.

Wait until you make a lot of money, then you can just buy the bottom of Morgan Stanley in the short term. It doesn’t matter if you make less money. The important thing is to ensure that you make a lot of money in the second wave of action.

Blankfein had been watching Xu Liang and Mai Jinheng chatting with a smile. When the two finished chatting, he held out his hand and said, "Xu, congratulations. Hanhua has achieved another enviable achievement. In addition, we at Goldman Sachs are also in a difficult situation right now. Would you consider helping us?"

Xu Liang turned his gaze to Blankfein. The radiant look of the Goldman Sachs CEO formed a sharp contrast with the depressed look of Mai Jinheng.

In short, I can't see where the other party's difficulties are at all?

Mai Jinheng smiled and said, "Lourde, as the big winner, you should stop mocking us losers.

If even you need help, Wall Street can just close down."

Blankfein smiled faintly: "That's not the case. Except for the self-operated department, our other businesses have suffered a lot of losses. After offsetting the profits and losses, our performance has declined a lot compared with previous years.

The overall environment is so bad, no one can be sure what will happen next, so it is better to be prepared! "

Blankfein glanced at Xu Liang and said, "Xu, don't you think so?"

Xu Liang glanced at Mai Jinheng, who had a forced smile on his face, and felt that the two old men seemed to be competing with each other.

After thinking about it for a while, I quickly understood what the two were arguing about.

Xu Liang did not respond to Blankfein's words. This guy is indeed a bit Versailles. Among the five major investment banks on Wall Street, only Goldman Sachs has the most comfortable life.

Other institutions suffered heavy losses from subprime mortgage derivatives and were even on the verge of bankruptcy. Only Goldman Sachs not only did not lose money, but also achieved a profit of US$3.22 billion in the fourth quarter. Its total net profit for the whole year of 2007 reached a record high of US$11.6 billion.

This guy still says he is in trouble, which is really too pretentious.

If I were Mai Jinheng, I would not be nice to such a pretentious person.

However, he also knew that what Mai Jinheng was unhappy about was not this, but something else.

Under the gaze of the two old men, Xu Liang did not rush to express his opinion, but invited them to sit down together.

After sitting down, Xu Liang ordered a cup of coffee and took a sip. "Not bad, authentic Jamaican coffee."

Blankfein smiled and did not urge them. The only thing he wanted was to prevent Morgan Stanley from monopolizing such a large business.

Mai Jinheng felt helpless when he saw this. Hanhua had been doing business with both of their investment banks all along, being impartial and fair.

Although he is young, he knows the art of balance very well.

Looking at Xu Liang pretending to sample the coffee, Mai Jinheng sighed slightly in his heart and had to give up those unrealistic fantasies.

"Xu, just tell me, what do you want to do next?"

Xu Liang glanced at the other person. Old man Mai still didn't have enough self-control. Look at Blankfein, he was still sipping his coffee calmly.

But this is normal. Morgan Stanley has been losing a lot of money. If I were the CEO, I would also urgently need to improve the performance and come up with some good news.

“The total return swap cooperation agreement drawn up last time needs to be refined.”

After hearing this, although Blankfein and Mai Jinheng were mentally prepared, they were still secretly shocked. How much did they earn?

“Previously, the maximum leverage was five times, with a maximum stock position of US$50 billion.”

Xu Liang put down the cup, leaned back in the soft and comfortable chair, looked at the two old men with eyes full of expectation, and said calmly: "The leverage does not need to be changed, the upper limit of the amount can be changed to 100 billion US dollars. If the situation is ideal, we may add more numbers.

It’s still the same old rule, one agency gets half of the orders.”

Hearing such a terrifying number, even Blankfein's breathing became rapid.

"Xu, such a large short position will cause serious market panic, and regulators may even intervene."

Mai Jinheng nodded slightly, rarely agreeing with Blankfein:

"What about free financial trade? That's all nonsense. Once there are losses that cannot be borne, no government will stand aside."

"There is also leverage, which must be reduced. I think 1:3 is more appropriate. $20 billion can leverage a $60 billion plate."

"Even so, it's still very difficult to operate, like a giant beast turning over in a pool, which will cause huge waves," Blankfein said.

Xu Liang smiled and said, "That's why we hope to use the global branches of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to invest and achieve the effect of diversifying funds."

Blankfein remained silent. He knew that the other party wanted to use Goldman Sachs to cover up its own actions. Goldman Sachs would earn some commissions and financing interest, while the other party would achieve the goal of shorting the global financial market efficiently and quietly.

He glanced at Mai Jinheng, who was also looking at him.

He knew that his old friend and colleague sitting opposite him had been interested, and Morgan Stanley currently needed such a big order to improve the company's performance.

Blankfein made a quick decision, "If you accept triple leverage, there will be no problem with Goldman Sachs."

“There’s no problem on Morgan Stanley’s side either.”

Xu Liang nodded slightly and decided to use triple leverage. After all, with such a large amount of funds, it is really hard to move them freely as in the past, and some risks also need to be prevented and controlled.

"Within three days, Hanhua will transfer the first deposit to your account."

Mai Jinheng asked, "So fast?"

Xu Liang smiled. This cooperation agreement had actually been negotiated for some time. The reason why it had not been implemented yet was because the investment income from the subprime mortgage derivatives market had not yet been delivered, and at the same time, the short-selling targets still needed to be investigated and studied.

Now everything is ready. If you don’t enter now, you won’t be able to eat a single hot bite.

Blankfein was very decisive in his work. "I will go back and hold a meeting and immediately arrange for the securities brokerage department to connect with you. You can choose investment targets and trading products in various regions and countries, such as the United States, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong...

Your people only need to do the research and issue the instructions, and we will be responsible for helping you borrow stocks and sell them short."

Mak Chun-heng also began to express his position, saying that he would take immediate action.

Xu Liang nodded slightly. In fact, there is no big difference between total return swaps and personal financing for stock trading. The only difference is that Hanhua’s name will not appear in the short position list, but two major investment banks will appear.

These two companies have strong brands and are not afraid of liquidation by financial regulatory authorities in various countries in the future.

But Hanhua is different. It has no big backing. If it wants to survive in the financial market in the future, it has to play the dirty trick.

Just spend a little money to hire two major investment banks to do the work, and the blame for disrupting the market can be completely put on the two scapegoats. Anyway, these two companies are not worried about having too many lice and too much debt.

…

After leaving the United Club, Xu Liang went to the Hanhua office headquarters in New York.

Xu Liang sat in the middle of the spacious conference room, with the monitors on the wall surrounding him in a circle.

Hanhua COO Jiang Xiaoyang, Qiu Heng who is responsible for the daily management of Pacific Fund, and Sun Zhenping, Jiang Ping, Zhong Lifang and Zhao Peng of Indian Ocean Fund.

Also included are Hongyan Fund COO Xia Changsheng and Financial Investment Department Director Wu Jing.

They are one of the core members of the two financial giants, Hanhua and Hongyan.

“Finally I’ve waited until this day!”

Zhao Peng was very excited to be able to participate in such a big operation right after joining Hanhua.

He has long wanted to be a big short seller. The financial reports of the five major investment banks are just the first fig leaf to be unveiled. There will be a second and third one next...

Jiang Ping remained calm and talked about his analysis over the past few months:

“The subprime mortgage crisis broke out in August last year, and governments around the world stepped in to rescue the market. Although the stock market fluctuated, the overall decline was not large.

If we act now, the risks are still very high, and we also need to be prepared for a long battle.

More importantly, if we want to make real profits, the impact of the subprime crisis has to continue to expand. "

Xu Liang looked at Jiang Ping with a smile and asked, "Do you think the impact will expand?"

Jiang Ping smiled and said, "It is highly likely that the impact will expand. The key is that we must be able to wait and hold on."

"Don't worry, I'm determined this time. No matter how the market rebounds or how much I lose, I will short for a whole year."

Xu Liang's eyes were firm. Lehman Brothers had not collapsed yet. Only when this giant fell would a financial tsunami and a waterfall-like plunge be brewing.

The trend is unstoppable.

After unifying everyone's thoughts.

"Xiaoyang, have all the assets under Hanhua been sold?"

“90% have been sold, and the rest will take another month.”

Xu Liang nodded.

"Old Xia, you stay, and the others can leave."

The figures on the screen disappeared one by one, leaving only Xia Changsheng.

"Old Xia, has the liquidation of Hongyan been completed?"

"Yes. It officially ended yesterday morning, and the details have been sent to your email."

"What stage has the Zhurong plan reached?"

"63% of the $76.8 billion in funds have been invested, and the rest are still being invested. It is expected that the 3rd bottom will be reached.

Triple leverage. ”

76.8 billion US dollars is the net profit obtained by Hongyan in the "Gonggong Plan", and Xu Liang has now invested this part of the funds in the "Zhurong Plan".