Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 111

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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111. Should we really take on the Bank of Japan?

While the two men exchanged bewildered glances, Seok-won sat calmly in his chair.
Then Andrew spoke up, his voice tense.

“You’re not thinking of attacking the Bank of Japan like George Hamilton did, are you?”

At this staggering proposition, Landon Shore swallowed hard, his face etched with anxiety as he stared at Seok-won.
Though the Bank of Japan’s standing had plummeted considerably due to the bubble’s collapse, it still wielded influence and commanded a position rivaling the Bank of England—hardly a foe to dismiss lightly.
Despite two consecutive years of spectacular victories that had elevated the Eldorado Fund’s stature, the Bank of Japan remained a formidable adversary far beyond their current weight class.
As tension filled the room, Seok-won answered with unhurried composure.

“Just as George Hamilton earned his reputation as the man who toppled the Bank of England, it wouldn’t be so terrible for me to accomplish something that astonishes the entire world before my time is done.”
“!”

Landon Shore and Andrew’s hearts sank—their worst fears seemed about to materialize.
They understood Seok-won’s capabilities were formidable, but to challenge the Bank of Japan itself was recklessness incarnate.
Just as both men moved to intervene urgently, Seok-won spoke first.

“But I’m not foolish enough to charge headlong at the Bank of Japan alone like some aging lion—unlike the Bank of England, which has only its past glory left.”

Indeed, while the bubble had burst, the Bank of Japan—unlike the Bank of England, which had merely coasted on faded splendor—remained in only the early stages of what would become a prolonged economic stagnation, with reserves of foreign currency unmatched anywhere in the world.
The two men, who had been anxiously wondering if Seok-won’s continued success had bred overconfidence, finally exhaled in relief.
Seeing their reaction, Seok-won feigned disappointment as he spoke.

“What’s with that response? Are you saying George Hamilton could do it, but I can’t?”
“No, no, of course not.”

Landon Shore quickly waved his hand in denial.

“There’s no reason to suggest you’re inferior to George Hamilton based on what you’ve accomplished so far.”

Andrew nodded vigorously, lavishing praise on Seok-won.
Then, mischief glinting in his eyes, Seok-won let out a thoughtful hum and tilted his head slightly.

“So then, should we really take on the Bank of Japan?”

The two men, who had been catching their breath, immediately waved their hands in protest upon hearing those words.

“Good heavens. Please, boss, reconsider.”
“It’s not that we doubt your abilities—we’re already in profitable territory. There’s simply no need to take such unnecessary risks, is there?”

Watching both men dissuade him while beads of sweat dripped down their faces, Seok-won let out a soft chuckle and broke into laughter.

“I was just throwing the idea out there, so don’t worry.”
“Phew….”

Landon Shore exhaled a long, weary sigh as if he’d aged a decade in an instant.

“I genuinely thought you were planning to wage war against the Bank of Japan. You gave me quite a fright.”
“I feel like my lifespan has been shortened by at least a year.”

Even Andrew, normally composed, visibly paled in the span of mere moments.

“But here’s the thing.”
“Yes?”

Seok-won’s eyes narrowed slightly as he responded to the two men, who were now staring at him with curiosity about what he might say next.

“I said I wouldn’t take the initiative and start trouble—but I never said I wouldn’t bleed the Bank of Japan dry.”
“Wait….”
“What do you mean by that?”

As the two men exchanged confused glances, Seok-won’s smile vanished and his expression turned grave.

“George Hamilton will be clashing with the Bank of Japan very soon.”
“…!”

Stunned by this unexpected revelation, both men fell silent, their eyes wide with shock.

“If the exchange rate gets stuck at around 95 yen per dollar as we anticipated, and the yen fails to rise any further, showing signs of stagnation—then George Hamilton will step in earnestly and push the yen upward.”

Andrew then regained his composure and offered a skeptical response.

“The Quantum Fund led by George Hamilton has been betting on a strong dollar by selling yen and purchasing dollars in massive quantities. Would he really sabotage his own position like that?”

Landon Shore nodded and added his thoughts.

“That’s right. If the yen strengthens, we lose money, so shouldn’t we be trying to drive the price down instead?”

Though neither spoke it aloud, both sensed that Seok-won had misread the situation this time.
Seok-won, catching their unspoken doubt immediately, leaned back against the sofa and spoke.

“What if George Hamilton doesn’t lose money even when the yen strengthens—what if he actually profits even more?”
“That’s absurd….”
“Surely not. How could such a thing even happen?”

Landon Shore and Andrew exchanged skeptical glances, each wearing expressions of disbelief.
Seok-won lifted his teacup with unhurried grace, took a sip of coffee, and set it back down.
Then, meeting the piercing stares of the two men, he spoke with measured calm.

“You’ve heard of knockout options, haven’t you?”
“What is that?”

While Landon Shore tilted his head at the unfamiliar term, Andrew’s eyes widened as a thought struck him like lightning, his mouth falling open.

“Knockout options! Good heavens, how could I have overlooked that? What a fool I am!”

Landon Shore, sitting across from him, furrowed his brow and asked.

“Don’t keep it to yourself—explain what it is.”

Andrew let out an exclamation, looked at him, and spoke with flushed excitement.

“You know the Quantum Fund—George Hamilton betting on dollar longs and yen shorts, right?”
“That’s common knowledge on Wall Street.”
“Exactly. But while selling yen and buying dollars, he simultaneously sold a peculiar derivative product to Japanese financial institutions and corporations.”
“Is that the knockout option?”
“Yes.”

As Landon Shore stared at him with a look demanding explanation, Andrew continued in his animated voice.

“A knockout option is structured so that if you set a certain price band and the exchange rate stays within it, nothing happens—but the moment it breaks outside that band, the buyer’s rights vanish and they absorb all the losses. That’s the knockout option.”
“…!”
“It’s essentially a gamble where the winner rakes in enormous profits and the loser gets knocked out—utterly devastated.”

Landon let out a hollow laugh, his expression one of utter bewilderment.

“Why on earth would anyone purchase such a dangerous instrument?”

Seok-won, who sat with his hands clasped together, answered in Andrew’s stead.

“As long as you remain within the predetermined range, you can hedge away the risk from exchange rate fluctuations. And if fortune smiles upon you, you can even pocket currency gains. Wouldn’t companies and financial institutions that engage in frequent foreign exchange transactions find that rather appealing?”
“Ah, I see. You’re right—if used properly, it’s certainly a viable option.”

Landon nodded, as if convinced.

“Until the great earthquake, everyone was anticipating dollar strength, so the companies that purchased these options never dreamed the yen would skyrocket like this.”

Landon’s eyes gleamed as he listened to Andrew’s animated explanation.

“So George Hamilton intends to offset his losses from dollar purchases through knockout options, is that it?”

Seok-won’s voice dropped to a grave tone.

“George Hamilton wouldn’t be satisfied merely recovering his losses. He’ll push the yen higher and higher to maximize his profits.”

George Hamilton was renowned as a philanthropist, yet equally infamous for his ruthlessness in investment—a man who spared no means or methods in his assault on opponents.
So when Seok-won spoke of squeezing out every last grain of dust, both Landon and Andrew nodded in agreement.

“That’s why you mentioned the dollar-yen rate could reach 80 yen.”
“Exactly.”

Andrew, having regained his composure, spoke with gravity.

“But would the Bank of Japan really stand idle and allow that? Is it truly possible?”

Seok-won shrugged at the question directed toward him.

“George Hamilton alone would struggle.”
“….”
“As I mentioned before, even the mightiest figure on Wall Street cannot single-handedly manipulate the currents of such a vast market. And when the opponent is the Bank of Japan, which holds the world’s largest foreign exchange reserves, it becomes all the more difficult.”

Seok-won continued, observing the slightly bewildered expressions on both men’s faces.

“George Hamilton certainly understands that as well. He’ll deliberately make a bigger spectacle of things to broadcast to everyone that he’s pushing the yen upward.”
“…!”

Generally, if it became known where one had placed a bet, other investors could turn around and attack that position, so the principle was to keep one’s holdings concealed.
Yet if George Hamilton were to expose his position despite this, there could be only one objective.

“He’s raising a flag, saying ‘Here’s a tempting prey—let’s pool our strength and bring it down.'”

Landon Shore let out a small exclamation.
Seeing that he grasped the situation correctly, Seok-won nodded his head and spoke.

“Bringing the Bank of England to its knees wasn’t something George Hamilton accomplished alone—it was the result of speculative forces from Wall Street and across the entire world all descending upon it.”

Andrew, who had been at Goldman Sachs at the time and directly participated in that historic event when George Hamilton attacked the pound, felt his eyes gleam as he recalled those days.

“You’re saying he intends to replicate exactly what was done against Britain, but this time targeting the Bank of Japan.”
“Precisely. This time, it’ll be more like the Tokyo firebombing.”

Seok-won answered with a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
Though spoken lightly, it meant that an enormous battle of capital would unfold—a true war of money with two massive forces clashing head-on—and tension surged across both men’s faces.
Yet beyond their rigid expressions, excitement and anticipation simultaneously flooded in as they contemplated just how much profit could be generated this time.
Andrew, who had briefly run the numbers in his head, immediately narrowed his eyes sharply and spoke.

“If the boss is right and George Hamilton raises that flag, profit-hungry hedge funds will swarm in like a pack of jackals—we have more than enough winning odds.”
“Shaking Japanese corporations and financial institutions with knockout options, then immediately attacking the yen to maximize profits—truly, his reputation is well-earned. He’s ruthless and brilliant, nothing more to say.”

Landon Shore, freshly appreciating George Hamilton’s renown, clicked his tongue in admiration.
Anyone else would have been scrambling to minimize losses after failing on their initial bet.
But George Hamilton instead conceived a reverse strategy and swiftly flipped the entire game—Seok-won was equally astounded by such quick thinking.

‘Truly worthy of being called a titan of Wall Street.’

Even as I would endure countless tribulations ahead, I could now clearly understand how George Hamilton had managed to survive to the end in that jungle called Wall Street.

“If we’d known this was coming, we could have sold a ton of knockout options ourselves and made a killing. What a shame.”

At Landon Shore’s murmur, Andrew also smacked his lips regretfully.
There was easy money right in front of them—money as simple as crawling on the ground—yet why hadn’t they known about it sooner? Regret was written all over both their faces.

“There’s no need to regret it. We haven’t completely missed our opportunity.”

At that, both men turned to look at him with puzzled expressions.

“When George Hamilton and the other hedge funds attack and the dollar-yen exchange rate spikes dramatically. That’s when we sell knock-in options.”
“…?”
“With knock-in options, unlike knock-outs, if the exchange rate moves within a certain range, we can sell dollars at a designated rate. But the option only activates once the rate crosses above the upper barrier, correct?”
“Exactly.”
“But… after Japanese financial institutions and corporations have been badly burned by knock-out options, would they really want to buy options like this again?”

Landon Shore tilted his head skeptically, his expression doubtful.

“After taking such a beating, they’d be even more desperate to find any way to recover their currency losses.”
“That does have merit, but….”

Seok-won spoke to Landon Shore, who trailed off without being fully convinced, his tone subtle and measured.

“If we set the barrier range from 75 yen to 95 yen—a wider band—they won’t be able to resist.”
“What?”

Landon Shore exclaimed in surprise.

“If we do that, wouldn’t we need the exchange rate to plummet below 95 yen for us to see any profit?”

With no sign of the yen’s strength abating, and considering the imminent assault from hedge funds like George Hamilton, it was an absurdly unfavorable bet.

“Boss, that seems far too risky.”

Andrew also regarded him with concern, but Seok-won remained unperturbed.

“The current yen strength is the result of multiple adverse factors converging simultaneously. That means once fear and uncertainty dissipate from the market, the rate must inevitably reverse course.”

Both men then recalled that before the great earthquake, the dollar-yen rate had remained in the 100 yen range.

“Most critically, the United States government, which wants a strong dollar, won’t simply allow this extreme yen strength to continue unchecked.”

Seok-won spoke with unwavering conviction.
Though Landon Shore and Andrew remained uncertain, they recognized the logic wasn’t unreasonable, and more importantly, they trusted in the capabilities Seok-won had demonstrated thus far, so they ceased their objections.

“We need to rush the product development so we can start selling options by March at the latest.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Proceed as quickly as possible, but don’t forget to carefully verify that there are no legal pitfalls or loopholes that could cause problems down the road.”
“I’ll handle it personally, so don’t worry.”

Landon Shore, a former lawyer, answered with confidence.
Seok-won then picked up the teacup before him with a satisfied expression and murmured to himself.

‘While George Hamilton and the other hedge funds face all manner of criticism, I’ll quietly sweep the money away from behind the scenes.’

Unlike George Hamilton’s Quantum Fund, my low profile could lower the vigilance of Japanese financial institutions and corporations.
I was able to devise this plan by taking advantage of that point.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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