Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 332

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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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332. There’s always a basement beneath the ground floor.

The Sydney Foreign Exchange Market, which had started in a relatively calm atmosphere, erupted into feverish activity just five minutes after opening as a sudden flood of Malaysian Ringgit sell orders crashed down.

“Selling 20 at 3.02 Ringgit!”
“Okay. Done!”
“3.02 Ringgit… no, selling 15 at 3.04!”

Neil Brewett, a foreign exchange trader at Macquarie Asset Management, watched the Ringgit plummeting on his monitor like a cliff diver and cried out in alarm.

“It’s pouring in. I think the hedge funds have chosen Malaysia as their next prey.”

Mac Kinnon, seated right next to him with a headset microphone, had just placed an order and now lowered the receiver as he spoke.

“Can’t tell yet. Damn. They’re coming in hot from the start.”
“The sell volume has already exceeded 200 million dollars. Looking at how the orders are coming from one place, it seems like a single big player moved first, but where the hell are they?”

Neil continued the conversation while his hands flew rapidly across the keyboard.
At that moment, Michael Hills, the head of Macquarie Asset Management’s Foreign Exchange Trading Center, stood up from his desk in a white dress shirt, finished his call, and lowered the receiver before shouting loudly.

“Listen up, everyone. The one shorting right now is the Eldorado Fund!”

Upon hearing this, Neil muttered to himself.

“Figured as much.”

He had suspected from the beginning that it was one of the two—since the big players leading the foreign exchange speculation in Southeast Asia were the Eldorado Fund and the Quantum Fund.

“The Quantum Fund landed a blow in Thailand, and the Philippines followed a beat late, but now it looks like they’re falling behind the Eldorado Fund.”
“Yeah. George Hamilton doesn’t seem to be his old self anymore.”

Mac seemed to share the same thought and picked up the conversation.
Until then, whenever someone asked which was the greatest hedge fund, everyone unanimously placed the Quantum Fund at the very top without question.
However, after going through this Southeast Asian currency crisis, many opinions had shifted dramatically.
Even now, people were paying far more attention to the movements of the Eldorado Fund, which had generated the largest profits in Thailand and the Philippines, than to the Quantum Fund.
Sure enough, Michael, the center director, raised his voice and ordered an attack on the Malaysian ringgit, following the Eldorado Fund.

“Before it’s too late, we’re going in! Everyone, sell the ringgit!”

At that, the foreign exchange traders on the trading floor moved like an orchestra following a conductor’s baton, launching a coordinated assault on selling the Malaysian ringgit.

“Sold 11 million at 3.11!”
“How much ringgit are we holding? That’s barely anything.”

Michael, the center director, shouted with a furrowed brow, phone pressed to his ear.

“That’s nowhere near enough. Pull in everything we’ve got, every last bit of it!”

Not only Macquarie Asset Management, but currency speculators who had failed to make significant gains and withdrawn from the peso when the Philippines requested IMF assistance now eagerly followed the Eldorado Fund’s lead, launching an indiscriminate assault on Malaysia.

* * *

Daeheung Venture Capital, Yeouido, Seoul.
As the ringgit selling that had started in Sydney intensified through the Tokyo Foreign Exchange Market, the Fund Management Department office was likewise filled with palpable tension.

“It’s dropped to 3.12 ringgit per dollar—no, 3.11!”

At Yu Seok-hyun’s exclamation, Jung Hwan-yeop turned his head slightly and spoke to Manager Ho-geun, who stood with arms crossed, intently watching the large market board.

“Seeing that the selling volume has already exceeded 400 million dollars, they’re pushing hard right from the start.”

Manager Ho-geun kept his gaze fixed on the board and replied matter-of-factly.

“Compared to the battle we fought over the Thai baht, this is just the opening bet. What’s all the fuss about?”
“You’re right.”

Then Hong Jae-hee spoke, her voice clearly tense.

“Large buy orders for the ringgit are coming in!”

Manager Choi Ho-geun stood and leaned forward, examining the monitor before him.
Just as Hong Jae-hee had said, buy orders were flooding in, halting the Malaysian ringgit’s relentless decline.

“It looks like Bank Negara Malaysia is starting to defend.”

At Jung Hwan-yeop’s words, Manager Choi Ho-geun straightened his posture and nodded.

“Starving wolves are beginning to swarm like bees. If you don’t want to be torn apart, you’d better raise your guard quickly.”
“So we’re becoming wolves too?”

Manager Choi Ho-geun glanced sideways at him.

“Isn’t that better than being prey?”
“Fair point.”

Jung Hwan-yeop answered with a grin.

“If we were the ones being attacked in a situation like this… just thinking about it gives me chills.”
“Anyway, enough small talk. The KLCI index is at 1,077 points right now, correct?”
“Yes.”

Hong Jae-hee answered immediately.

“Then sell KLCI futures at 900 as planned.”
“Understood!”
“Yes!”

Jung Hwan-yeop and the team members answered in unison, picking up handsets and tapping keyboards as they began placing orders.
Manager Choi Ho-geun watched his team move with flawless coordination, drawing in a deep breath and exhaling slowly.
Then he gazed at the Malaysia Composite Index (KLCI) displayed on the large market board, his eyes gleaming with intensity.

“Good. Now it truly begins.”

* * *

[MYR : 3.09 (▲ 0.23)]

Seated at a spacious desk, Seok-won watched the Malaysian ringgit exchange rate chart on his monitor, a subtle smile playing at the corners of his mouth as he murmured to himself.

“Their response was quick, but you can’t hold back a massive tidal wave by standing alone.”

Indeed, Bank Negara Malaysia’s urgent ringgit purchase orders were quickly overwhelmed by the deluge of sell orders pouring in from the Eldorado Fund and other hedge funds.
As a result, the ringgit exchange rate, which had momentarily stabilized, surged upward once again.

[MYR : 3.10 (▲ 0.24)]

“Looking at how they’re selling as if it was planned from the start, it seems they didn’t make much profit in the Philippines and are all itching for revenge.”

Unlike the Eldorado Fund, which had entered first and exited before the Philippine government requested IMF assistance, most other hedge funds had missed their timing.
While they hadn’t suffered losses, the peso, which had been plummeting, stopped falling and rebounded, preventing them from earning the profits they’d anticipated.
Moreover, as hedge funds reaped substantial gains by wreaking havoc in Thailand and then the Philippines, even other Wall Street investors who had merely been watching until now actively participated in currency speculation, further intensifying the selling pressure on the ringgit.

“At this rate, Malaysia might abandon its fixed exchange rate system faster than I remember.”

Just then, a keyphone rang loudly on one side of the room, and Seok-won picked up the receiver.

“Yes.”
[Chairman. This is Manager Choi.]

At the sound of Manager Choi Ho-geun’s voice, Seok-won leaned back against the plush chair’s backrest and spoke.

“Is the betting proceeding well?”
[There’s a slight problem with that.]

With the receiver pressed to his ear, Seok-won’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“A problem?”
[We’re continuing to place KLCI futures sell orders from Tokyo and Hong Kong, but they’re barely being executed.]
“There’s no one willing to accept the orders.”
[That’s correct.]

Seok-won immediately moved his mouse and brought up the KLCI futures trading window on his monitor.
Just as Manager Choi Ho-geun had said, he could see sell orders piling up while the price continued to decline.

[It seems everyone is being cautious, expecting the Malaysian stock market to plummet as the ringgit comes under attack.]
“At what price did you place the order?”
[900 points.]
“The fact that there’s no interest even at that price suggests buying sentiment is weaker than anticipated.”
[That’s precisely why I’m suggesting we lower the order price further. What do you think?]
“What price are you thinking?”

Manager Ho-geun carefully broached the subject.

[In the last meeting, you said Malaysia wouldn’t surrender easily like the Philippines, didn’t you?]
“That’s right.”
[If the situation unfolds as you predicted, the Malaysian stock market will continue to plummet in the meantime. I believe if we lower the selling price to 750, the transaction will go through.]

Considering the current KLCI index stood at 1,077, that was a staggering 327 points lower.
Seok-won, phone pressed to his ear, stroked his cleanly shaved chin as he spoke.

“At that level, even in a bear market, there should be some interested parties.”
[Exactly my point.]

It was a risky bet—if the Malaysian stock market failed to drop below 750 points contrary to expectations, we could suffer significant losses.

‘But without taking on that much risk, there may be no one willing to accept the sell order, and we’d be left sitting idle in this game. That’s why he’s willing to gamble.’

From Manager Ho-geun’s perspective, this was clearly a trump card born from considerable deliberation.
Seok-won tapped his fingers lightly on the desk, gathering his thoughts for a moment, then adjusted his grip on the phone and spoke.

“If we’re going to gamble anyway, let’s place a bet so aggressive that other investors simply can’t afford to sit it out.”
[Pardon?]
“Instead of 750, lower it another 100 points and sell the futures at 650.”
[…!]

Startled by this even bolder instruction, Manager Ho-geun asked in surprise.

[Did you say 6… 650?]
“Yes.”

Manager Ho-geun made no attempt to hide his bewilderment, expressing his concerns.

[For profits to materialize that way, the index would need to drop by half. Is that even possible?]
“That’s precisely the level needed to tempt market participants who are currently sitting on the sidelines. If Manager Choi finds it difficult, then everyone else will certainly be intrigued.”
[That may be true, but….]

Manager Choi Ho-geun trailed off, his expression still bewildered.

“Whether it’s 750 or 650, we’re taking on risk either way with our bet. So it makes more sense to sell as many futures as possible to maximize profits.”

The thought rose to my throat—that a hundred-point difference meant the risk we’d have to bear would double. But since Manager Choi Ho-geun himself had been the first to suggest taking on risk and betting boldly, I couldn’t bring myself to voice it.
But since it was Manager Choi Ho-geun himself who had first suggested taking the risk and betting boldly, he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud.

“Under normal circumstances, absolutely. But that’s not the situation we’re in right now.”
“Under normal circumstances, that would certainly be possible, but that’s not the situation we’re in right now.”

Seok-won replied with a relaxed expression on his face.

“The ringgit is collapsing under attacks from hedge funds. It won’t be easy for them to casually take long positions in KLCI futures just to squeeze us.”
“The ringgit is collapsing under attacks from Hedge Funds. It won’t be easy for us to hastily take a long position in KLCI futures to catch it.”

Even if he felt confident, Manager Choi Ho-geun nodded his head because it seemed like that would be difficult.

“Once the Malaysia stock market opens, the atmosphere could shift again, so we need to hurry and start selling futures before that happens.”

Manager Choi Ho-geun swallowed hard and answered in a stiff voice.

I understand.

Seok-won, who had hung up the phone moments ago, stared intently at the KLCI index, which remained frozen as the market had not yet opened.

“You might think it’s unlikely to drop another 50% from 1,200, but there’s always a basement below the floor.”

To others, it might look like I was recklessly gambling, but that wasn’t the case at all.
I could make such bold bets because I knew the Malaysian stock market would plummet repeatedly, falling below 400.
Seok-won was able to make such a bold bet because he knew the Malaysian stock market would plummet repeatedly and fall below 400.

“Considering that the attacks from currency speculators are fiercer than before, the index could potentially fall even faster.”

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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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