Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 131

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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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131. If that happens, I’ll truly become an investment genius for the ages.

“Is there anything else you need?”

Rodney, who had visited George Hamilton’s residence in Southampton, Long Island, New York, smiled at the question from Ayla, Hamilton’s wife, and replied.

“The dinner was so delicious that I’m completely full—there’s no room left for another bite.”
“My goodness.”

At that, Ayla, a beautiful woman with dark hair and an intellectual air, smiled softly.
With a seventeen-year age difference between her and Hamilton, her beauty remained radiant and unblemished.

“Then please, both of you, talk at your leisure.”

Ayla wrapped her arm around the neck of George Hamilton, who sat on the plush leather sofa, and whispered affectionately.

“Don’t drink too much whiskey.”

After leaving a light kiss on his cheek, Ayla closed the study door and stepped outside.

“Everything’s perfect except she nags me like that sometimes.”

George Hamilton withdrew a thick Cuban cigar from a wooden case on the table as he spoke.

“Isn’t that simply a sign of how much she loves you?”
“Heh.”

Rodney, dressed in a three-piece suit, offered a subtle compliment, and Hamilton chuckled softly before cutting the tip of the cigar with a cutter.

“Care for one yourself?”
“I’d be delighted.”

Hamilton retrieved a fresh cigar from the case and handed it to Rodney across from him.

“A Cohiba Behike, I see.”
“That’s right. Only a few are produced each year—a truly magnificent specimen.”

Cohiba cigars, crafted from premium tobacco grown in Piñar del Río and ranked among Cuba’s three most prestigious brands, were extraordinarily expensive.
Among them, The Cohiba Behike was the crown jewel—a limited edition produced from only the finest tobacco leaves, with merely 100 boxes of 4,000 cigars manufactured annually.

“It’s a cigar that’s difficult to obtain even with money. My palate is being thoroughly indulged today.”

Rodney lit the thick cigar and drew the smoke deep into his mouth, savoring its essence.
The rich aroma of the cigar diffused pleasantly through his nostrils.
Observing Rodney’s refined appreciation, George Hamilton smiled and reached for the rocks glass filled with whiskey and ice.

“There’s no spirit that pairs with cigars quite like whiskey.”

Rodney lifted his own glass in response.

“Add jazz to the mix, and one could ask for nothing more.”
“Indeed.”

George Hamilton took a sip of whiskey, the ice clinking softly, then reclined into the plush sofa.

“So Goldman Sachs is moving in concert with us?”

Rodney, meeting his gaze, nodded solemnly.

“Yes. JP Morgan and Bear Stearns have each agreed to lend us one billion dollars.”

George Hamilton smiled coldly, the thick cigar poised between his fingers.

“The fact that Wall Street investment banks are voluntarily providing capital suggests they’ve caught the scent of profit quite acutely.”
“It’s evident that the Bank of Japan is being progressively cornered. They’re betting on what appears to be the winning side.”
“Naturally.”
“When we factor in the hedge funds that will follow our lead, we should be able to deploy at least four billion dollars without difficulty.”

George Hamilton’s eyes gleamed at the figure.

“For the Bank of Japan, barely holding on as it is, that would feel like a nuclear bomb detonating.”
“Much like the Bank of England, they’ll have no choice but to surrender and cut interest rates.”

George Hamilton let out a cold laugh, his voice turning glacial.

“Even if they hold out longer, it doesn’t matter. We simply tighten the noose until they surrender, just as we dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki to end the Pacific War.”
“The more the Bank of Japan depletes its foreign exchange reserves defending the exchange rate, the more it accumulates directly into our profits. That’s not a bad outcome at all.”

Having already secured a decisive advantage in the battle against the Bank of Japan, neither man harbored even a fleeting thought of defeat.
In fact, both among other hedge funds and throughout Wall Street, the prevailing view was that the Bank of Japan’s surrender was merely a matter of time.

“Then let’s proceed as planned and drop Little Boy on the Bank of Japan.”
“Understood.”

Little Boy was the name of the atomic bomb dropped in actual combat for the first time in human history during World War II.
If the attack led by George Hamilton’s Quantum Fund proceeded as planned, it would strike the Japanese archipelago with an impact rivaling the atomic bomb that fell on Hiroshima.
With the thought of bringing Japan, the world’s second-largest economic power after the Bank of England, to its knees, George Hamilton’s face broke into a satisfied smile as he held a cigar between his lips.
Rodney, observing George Hamilton, suddenly opened his mouth with a thought that had occurred to him.

“By the way, do you remember Park Seok-won?”

George Hamilton, who had tilted his head in thought, soon recalled who was being mentioned.

“You mean that young fellow who co-authored a paper with Professor Frank Harvard?”
“That’s correct.”
“Why bring up that fellow all of a sudden?”

At George Hamilton’s puzzled gaze, Rodney moistened his throat with whiskey and continued.

“He’s currently operating the Eldorado Fund, which has been drawing attention on Wall Street lately, as I mentioned to you before.”
“Yes, I remember now.”
“The Eldorado Fund is selling some very interesting option products to Japanese companies.”

Since George Hamilton had already been keeping an eye on Seok-won, he showed interest and asked.

“What are they selling that warrants such a comment?”
“Knock-In and Knock-Out options.”

George Hamilton narrowed his brows, his expression showing slight disappointment.

“We already made a killing off that. They’re selling it belatedly?”

Then Rodney spoke with a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

“Similar, but different.”
“…?”
“What we sold was a knockout option that expires if the exchange rate falls below a certain range, but what Eldorado is selling is a structured derivative combining knock-in and knockout options.”

George Hamilton’s reaction was lukewarm upon hearing the explanation.

“They’re betting on the exchange rate falling after the battle with the Bank of Japan ends. But Japanese companies that have already taken a major hit once aren’t fools—they won’t fall for such an obvious ploy.”
“I thought the same way, but after seeing the conditions Eldorado is offering, I realized quite a few companies might actually sign the contract.”
“What kind of conditions?”
“A fixed exchange rate of 90 yen with a fluctuation range stretching very wide—from 78 to 100 yen.”
“…!”

George Hamilton looked at Rodney with an expression of disbelief.

“Did you just say 100 yen?”
“Yes.”

Rodney gave a small nod and continued speaking.

“When I first saw the terms, I checked multiple times to make sure it wasn’t a mistake.”
“100 yen? That’s absolutely insane.”
“Isn’t this the kind of condition that would be tempting?”

George Hamilton shook his head in utter astonishment at Rodney’s question.

“Even after the confrontation with the Bank of Japan ends, the exchange rate will inevitably fluctuate for a while. If they can almost certainly exchange at 90 yen, I’d probably sign the derivative contract myself.”
“I feel the same way.”

George Hamilton muttered, his face showing incomprehension.

“What on earth are they thinking, selling such an option?”
“Before the Kobe earthquake, the exchange rate remained almost fixed around 100 yen, so perhaps they’re betting it will return to that level.”

George Hamilton snorted at Rodney’s casual response, delivered with a shrug.

“Do you think that’s actually possible?”
“If the White House and the Federal Reserve continue pushing a strong dollar policy, perhaps, but now that they’ve changed course, it won’t be easy.”

In fact, the White House, which had suffered defeat in the midterm elections the previous year, had pursued a strong dollar policy by significantly raising the base interest rate to suppress inflation.
However, when a financial crisis erupted in Mexico shortly thereafter and adverse effects multiplied, it became difficult to push the strong dollar policy aggressively.

“It seems Park Seok-won has grown intoxicated by his recent string of successes and is making a reckless move this time.”

Rodney shared George Hamilton’s cynical assessment.

“He’s been hitting jackpot after jackpot, so it’s about time he took a tumble.”
“That’s how one learns about the world.”

Of course, he would have to pay a steep tuition for that lesson, but that was his burden to bear.
Then Rodney spoke with a slight smile.

“The probability is virtually nonexistent, but if the exchange rate suddenly plummets and the yen weakens to exceed 100 per dollar, that would be quite the jackpot.”

It was a completely unrealistic hypothesis, just as Rodney had said.
George Hamilton chuckled as if he’d heard an amusing joke and replied.

“If that happened, he’d truly become an investment genius for the ages.”

Yet George Hamilton was certain such a thing would never come to pass.

* * *

A brilliant morning.
Sunlight streamed through the expansive windows with dazzling brilliance.
While I sat at my desk handling the backlog of work accumulated during my European business trip, Na Seong-mi knocked and entered.

“Here is the mail that arrived for you, Director.”

Na Seong-mi approached the desk and set down the mail.

“Thank you.”
“Would you like me to brew you a cup of coffee?”
“No, that’s fine.”
“Then please let me know if you need anything.”

Na Seong-mi turned and left the room.
As the door closed, Seok-won reached for a yellow envelope among the mail.
It bore only the recipient’s address and name, with nothing on the sender’s side, sealed firmly shut.
When Seok-won tore open the envelope and extracted its contents, a thin booklet the size of an A4 sheet emerged.
Inside were not merely stock listings, but unreleased insider information spanning politics, economics, entertainment, sports, and media—every sector of society imaginable.
It was what they called a “jjirashi”—a private securities district newsletter.
The premium edition Seok-won received cost over two million won monthly and arrived by courier each week.
It contained movements from the Blue House and government circles, rumors about politicians.
Chaebol family gossip, real estate development intelligence, entertainment scandals—the scope was breathtakingly comprehensive.
While some content bordered on fiction, it also contained genuinely confidential information known only to insiders.
That was precisely why he paid the premium—to acquire information marginally faster than others.
As Seok-won scanned through the jjirashi’s contents, something caught his eye and he paused.

[Boseong Communications in discussions with France’s Alstom for bulk OEM wireless telephone orders.
Contract value exceeds 40 million dollars annually.]

The moment he read it, Seok-won recognized it instantly as false information planted by the manipulation syndicate to inflate Boseong Communications’ stock price.

“So they’ve finished shaking out the retail investors and are ready to push the price up in earnest.”

Setting down the jjirashi, Seok-won swiveled in his chair toward the computer on his desk to check Boseong Communications’ stock price.
As expected, the stock that had plummeted from 17,600 won to 10,500 won was suddenly surging again, trading volume exploding.
Seok-won’s eyes gleamed with cold calculation as he observed the movement.

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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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