Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 354

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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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354. The Hong Kong authorities seem to be getting a bit too greedy.

The Fund Management Department Office of Daeheung Investment was bustling with activity from the morning.

Ring! Ring!
“Sell 200 units at 5,500!”
“What? I can’t hear you well—say that again.”

The team members gripped their phone receivers and raised their voices, but the trades weren’t going through as smoothly as expected.
Manager Choi Ho-geun, his white shirt sleeves rolled up, popped a mint tablet into his mouth and crunched it while watching the monitor before him—the Hang Seng Index was plummeting over 136 points in the wake of the currency attack.

[HSI : 16,011.36 (
136.75)]

As I moved the mouse to check the trading window, buy orders had vanished like rats startled by wildfire, and everyone was shouting to sell, their voices overlapping in chaos.

“Tsk. The Hong Kong authorities raised short-term interest rates by 1.5%, so of course everyone’s dumping their stocks first and asking questions later.”

The expert traders flying through Tokyo, Hong Kong, and New York futures exchanges couldn’t possibly be unaware of something I could anticipate.
Manager Choi Ho-geun, furrowing his brow and crossing his arms, paused briefly in thought before turning his head to call out to Jung Hwan-yeop, who had just hung up the phone.

“Did you manage to sell any?”

Jung Hwan-yeop shook his head while fanning himself with one hand, as if feeling the heat.

“Not a single bite, even with orders placed 500 points lower.”
“Everyone’s playing it safe, it seems.”

Jung Hwan-yeop leaned back against his chair, speaking with a hint of fatigue in his voice.

“If I were in their position, I’d liquidate my entire position and just wait it out in a situation like this.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”

Manager Choi Ho-geun nodded slightly, as he felt the same way.
Even as the team members continued wrestling with their phone receivers, Manager Choi Ho-geun glanced around and, as if having made a decision, clapped his hands lightly and called out.

“Everyone, stop what you’re doing and pay attention!”

At that, Yu Seok-hyun and Hong Jae-hee, who had been holding receivers and placing sell orders, along with Noh Hee-won, who was copying documents, all turned to look at Manager Choi Ho-geun with puzzled expressions.

“From now on, don’t place any more orders. Wrap up all remaining trades as they are.”
“Pardon?”

The team members hesitated, exchanging confused glances with one another.
Everyone’s face betrayed their bewilderment at this unexpected directive.
Even Manager Jung Hwan-yeop had expected to be told to place orders at lower index levels, so when he heard to stop trading altogether, he wondered if he’d misheard and asked for clarification.

“You’re saying not to place orders to close as many deals as possible before the index drops further—you want us to stop placing orders entirely?”
“That’s right.”
“Surely you’re not ending our futures selling here.”

Manager Jung Hwan-yeop spun his chair around to face Manager Choi Ho-geun directly and asked.
Manager Choi Ho-geun then answered with his arms folded across his waist.

“That would be far too good an opportunity to waste.”

Manager Jung Hwan-yeop and the team members looked even more confused upon hearing this.

“Besides, if we place orders now, there’s no one willing to buy anyway, so nothing will sell.”
“That’s true.”

At Manager Jung Hwan-yeop’s response, Yu Seok-hyun and Hong Jae-hee nodded their heads while remaining seated.
It was only natural—everyone had been struggling precisely because buy orders weren’t being executed.

“Everyone except those holding long positions after taking on the futures we sold has withdrawn from the market and adopted a wait-and-see stance. If we lower the index and place orders, trades won’t go through—we’ll only drive the bid prices down further.”

Indeed, with everyone else having stopped trading, the only ones remaining in the market were those holding long positions trying desperately to reduce their exposure. Everyone nodded in understanding.
Manager Choi Ho-geun spoke with a serene smile, as if his mind had been completely emptied of concern.

“In times like these, stepping back from the market for a moment might not be such a bad idea.”

Hong Jae-hee, her hair tied back, asked with a somewhat worried expression.

“But what if the decline deepens and we miss the opportunity to sell futures entirely?”
“Don’t worry about that. No matter how severe a crash is, the market never falls indefinitely. There will always be temporary rallies in between, and when buying pressure returns, we’ll quickly dump our position.”

Jung Hwan-yeop, catching on to Choi Ho-geun’s intention, finally relaxed his stiffened expression and responded.

“It’s probably more efficient than forcing something that won’t work anyway.”
“Exactly. If you fixate on just one thing, you’ll miss opportunities.”
“Sometimes it’s important to step back and see the bigger picture.”

Yu Seok-hyun and Hong Jae-hee nodded in agreement, their tense nerves finally easing.
As the atmosphere shifted to one of collective relief, Jung Hwan-yeop leaned back in his chair, interlacing his fingers behind his head in a leisurely pose.

“Then we just wait patiently until the market shifts.”

Choi Ho-geun shot him a sideways glance at his deliberately relaxed demeanor and launched into a lecture.

“You fool. Who knows when the market will swing again? You need to keep your backside glued to that chair and watch the monitors until the closing bell rings!”
“Aw, come on.”

Jung Hwan-yeop smacked his lips with a rueful expression.

“I thought I could finally grab something other than noodles for lunch today, but so much for that.”

With the market fluctuating constantly and the need to monitor not just Hong Kong but also the Malaysian stock market and exchange rates from their earlier futures investments, there was no way anyone could leave their post.
As a result, the Fund Management Department staff had been subsisting on Chinese restaurant deliveries to the office for over two months now on weekdays.

“I’ve eaten so much Chinese food that just looking at noodles makes my stomach turn.”

Hong Jae-hee made a face of disgust.

“Fried rice was bearable at first, but even that’s getting old.”

Even Yu Seok-hyun, who rarely complained, shook his head with a grim expression.
Choi Ho-geun was equally tired of Chinese food, but with the market potentially shifting at any moment, he couldn’t leave the office empty, so he forced himself to console his team.

“I’ll order sweet and sour pork today, so stop your grumbling.”
“Come on. Sweet and sour pork? Think bigger—go all out with shrimp fried rice and kung pao chicken!”
“Ooooh.”

As Jung Hwan-yeop led the charge, his teammates looked up with bright, eager eyes.
Unable to ignore their hopeful gazes, Choi Ho-geun let out an inward groan and spoke.

“Fine. I understand—order whatever you’d like.”
“Yes!”

As everyone cheered, Jung Hwan-yeop thrust his thumb upward with a sharp gesture.

“Now that’s what I call a real man!”

Jung Hwan-yeop, shouting about what a magnanimous person I was, turned to Noh Hee-won and called out.

“Miss Noh! Did you hear? The manager’s treating us. Order the fried rice with cashews and crispy chili chicken—one large of each—and don’t forget to bring two plates of the complimentary dumplings. How many people are here? What are we supposed to do with just one plate?”

Choi Ho-geun watched Jung Hwan-yeop’s enthusiastic ordering with narrowed eyes.
Regardless of what the other team members thought, he felt like stuffing pickled radish into Jung Hwan-yeop’s mouth to shut him up.
Just as everyone was noisily debating the lunch menu, Na Seong-mi, dressed in a neat one-piece suit, entered the office with two delivery workers.

“You can set them down over there.”

As Na Seong-mi pointed to the conference table on one side, the delivery workers unpacked steaming clay pots and side dishes from their metal carriers and arranged them in a row.

“What brings Deputy Manager Na here?”

Choi Ho-geun quickly approached the suddenly appearing Na Seong-mi and asked.

“The chairman said you’ve been working hard trading in this heat, so he had ginseng chicken soup delivered. In weather like this, if your health deteriorates, it could be serious.”

Na Seong-mi answered with a smile.
Jung Hwan-yeop, who had suddenly jumped from his chair and rushed to the conference table, lifted the lid, and white steam billowed up from the ginseng chicken soup bowl.

“Ah, perfect. I’ve been living on flour-based food and feeling drained, but how did he know exactly what to send? There’s no one like the chairman.”

The other team members then rushed over, sniffing eagerly and making a fuss.

“This looks absolutely delicious.”
“Look at that creamy broth! The aroma alone is incredible.”
“I’ll bring some newspaper to put under the table.”

Choi Ho-geun chuckled at everyone’s delight and turned to Na Seong-mi.

“Thank you, Na Seong-mi. I’ll enjoy the meal.”
“I only ran the errand. It’s nothing.”

Na Seong-mi bowed her head slightly and offered a gentle smile.

“Then I’ll be on my way. Please enjoy your meal.”
“Of course.”

As Manager Choi Ho-geun replied, Jung Hwan-yeop, who had already torn open his chopsticks and popped a piece of pickled radish into his mouth, called out to Na Seong-mi.

“Na Seong-mi! Next time the president orders lunch again, could you get eel rice bowl? That’s the best for stamina.”
“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Don’t forget—make sure you remember. Really!”

Na Seong-mi left the office barely suppressing her laughter.
Seeing his subordinate’s shameless behavior, Manager Choi Ho-geun covered his face with one hand and muttered.

“Good grief. That fool.”

* * *

At the same moment.
Seok-won sat in the back seat of a Mercedes luxury sedan, speaking with Eric Burnas, the branch director of Eldorado Fund in Hong Kong.

[…Following the sharp increase in short-term interest rates, rumors are circulating that Hong Kong authorities are preparing extraordinary measures to support the exchange rate and stock prices.]
“What would that be?”
[They plan not only to purchase Hong Kong dollars that hedge funds are selling in both spot and futures markets, but also to massively buy up severely depressed stocks to prop up the market.]

Seok-won asked, his expression slightly taken aback.

“I understand about the Hong Kong dollar, but they’re going to purchase stocks as well?”
[Yes. And not just modest purchases—the scale is expected to reach at least tens of billions of dollars.]
“Even with ample foreign reserves, defending the exchange rate while simultaneously supporting the stock market seems like Hong Kong authorities are being overly ambitious.”
[I agree. That’s why there are rumors that Beijing is backing Hong Kong’s bold moves.]

Seok-won’s eyes lit up as he spoke.

“You mean China will provide support?”
[Precisely. The Communist Party leadership in Beijing wouldn’t be pleased to see Hong Kong collapse under attacks from hedge funds right after the handover.]

Eric continued with a notably serious tone.

[I naturally assumed they’d sacrifice the stock market to defend the exchange rate. But seeing Hong Kong authorities come in strong from the start… I can’t simply dismiss the rumors of some understanding with Beijing.]

It was certainly a reasonable concern, but Seok-won, who knew from his memories before regression that China would hold back and adopt a defensive posture, didn’t give it much thought.

“Whether true or false, the mere circulation of such talk would put considerable pressure on the hedge funds shorting the Hong Kong dollar.”
[That’s likely. China, with its 126 billion dollars in foreign exchange reserves, is far too significant to ignore.]
“Conversely, that very expectation could become an opportunity to sell more Hang Seng futures.”
[If expectations arise that China will support Hong Kong, there will certainly be those looking to buy Hang Seng futures in hopes of profiting from the rebound.]

Seok-won nodded slightly and spoke.

“Contact me immediately if there’s any new information.”
[Understood.]

After ending the call, Seok-won folded his mobile phone and slipped it into his inner pocket, his expression turning contemplative.

“A few years from now might be different, but with the situation still unstable and their foundation not yet fully solidified, China won’t be able to move hastily.”

Still, he thought it wise to prepare for any contingency.
Meanwhile, the Mercedes sedan carrying Seok-won arrived at its destination—the Namsan Hilton Hotel.
As the car came to a halt before the hotel entrance, a doorman in uniform and cap stood waiting, then opened the rear door with practiced courtesy.
Seok-won stepped out, extending his long legs, and walked into the Hotel Lobby alongside his Attendant Secretary, Han Ji-sung.
Taking the Elevator to the third floor Korean restaurant, Seok-won was guided by the Manager into a private dining room, where Choi Jin-woo—who had recently become Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy after serving as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology—was already waiting to greet him.

“Welcome.”
“It’s been a while. I hope you’ve been well.”

Seok-won approached with a smile and exchanged a handshake with Minister Choi Jin-woo.

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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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