Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 409
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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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409. These Eldorado bastards
After ending the call with Seok-won, Landon Shore pocketed his phone and lifted his gaze toward the massive market ticker mounted directly ahead.
[USD/KRW : 2,067.01 (
160.33)]
Lowering his eyes again, he surveyed the expansive Trading Floor where more than thirty traders sat at their stations, all watching him intently.
Andrew and Dan, the investment senior chiefs in silk neckties, had also come to the office despite the late hour.
Landon Shore’s gaze fell upon Tyler, the bearded head of the foreign exchange trading team, who wore a headset microphone.
“Everything’s ready?”
“Yes.”
Landon Shore gave a subtle nod before issuing his command in a quiet but unmistakable voice.
“Then let’s show our Wall Street friends that the game isn’t over yet—the ones who think they’ve already won and are popping champagne right now. Let’s go. Begin.”
“Understood.”
Tyler clapped his hands sharply, flashing a broad grin as he turned around.
“You all know the drill. Hit them relentlessly so they can’t even think of resisting—knock them down hard. Set hut!”
As he barked the quarterback’s signal from American football, the traders responded in unison and immediately commenced their trades.
“Roger!”
“Alright, let’s warm up a bit.”
“Show them the heat.”
Observing this, Tyler issued another command.
“First, hit them with a big one—break the upward momentum in the exchange rate!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Entering won purchases simultaneously in the spot and forward markets.”
Traders with heightened alertness poured out orders through the headset microphones on their heads and telephones, their focus absolute.
Simultaneously, the thunderous clatter of keyboards erupted across the Trading Floor like gunfire raining down on a battlefield.
“Sold 20 million dollars at 2,030 won!”
“Okay. Dan!”
“50 million dollars more at the same price!”
The Trading Floor trembled with the shouts of traders calling out from all directions.
Amid the chaos, Landon Shore stood with his arms crossed, quietly observing the massive price board.
Shortly after, Dan, the Chief Trader beside him, spoke first.
“We’re getting immediate reactions.”
[USD/KRW : 2,030.21 (
123.53)]
As the Eldorado Fund indiscriminately poured dollars into the market to buy Korean won, the sell orders for won hanging in the trading window rapidly filled and disappeared.
The exchange rate chart, which had been climbing steeply, faltered momentarily before bending downward and beginning to slide.
Seeing this, Andrew shrugged his shoulders.
“The hedge funds must be in complete chaos by now.”
“Hehehehe. They certainly must be.”
Landon Shore answered with a smug laugh.
* * *
At the same moment.
John Miller, CEO of P&P Partners Fund, climbed onto his desk and popped champagne as traders surrounding him erupted in cheers that nearly shook the office apart.
“Everyone did great work. Your year-end bonuses are going to be quite generous, so look forward to it.”
As Miller spoke with a flushed face, the traders whistled and cheered with joy.
“Woohoo!”
“John Miller! John Miller!”
John Miller spread both arms wide, savoring the cheers calling out his name from all around.
“Hahaha!”
John Miller showed no sign of regret as he sprayed the expensive champagne—each bottle worth well over two thousand dollars—as carelessly as water.
He had just raked in over a hundred million dollars in profits from short-betting the Korean won, so his extravagance was well earned.
Since this windfall completely offset his losses in Hong Kong, Miller felt as though he were floating on air.
After finishing his champagne spray and stepping down from the desk, the blonde Chief Trader approached him.
“Shouldn’t we close out our positions now and lock in the profits?”
Miller’s toad-like face broke into a broad grin as he spoke.
“Now that we’ve breached the 2,000 won level, the panic will only intensify, and the exchange rate will keep climbing for a while. There’s no rush.”
“That may be true, but….”
“Tsk, tsk. Why are you always in such a hurry?”
Miller cut off the Chief Trader mid-sentence and draped one arm casually over his shoulder.
Then, with a smug expression, he continued.
“This game is already won. Just sit back and savor the victory.”
The Chief Trader still thought they should secure a clean finish, but it was also true that the Korean government, with its foreign reserves depleted, had no way to reverse the situation in the short term.
So he fell silent, and Miller handed him a canned beer from a box he’d apparently prepared earlier.
“Have a drink yourself.”
“Yes.”
Just as the Chief Trader was popping the tab and bringing the beer to his lips, an urgent shout erupted from behind him.
“What? What’s happening?”
“The won is rising!”
“What!”
“65… 50… Damn it! What’s going on?”
The traders, who moments before had been intoxicated with joy, scrambled back to their stations with expressions of panic.
[USD/KRW : 2,020.10 (
113.42)]
Miller’s face, which had been beaming with laughter, suddenly froze as the situation shifted dramatically.
“What the hell is happening!”
The Chief Trader glanced at the monitors with a pale face and answered urgently.
“Won purchases are flooding in! The volume has already exceeded 500 million… no, 900 million dollars, and it keeps climbing.”
“That’s impossible!”
Miller shouted harshly, as if desperately trying to deny the situation. He lunged forward with a rough gesture, pushing the Chief Trader aside, and checked the trading monitor himself.
There, an enormous volume of won purchase orders filled the trading window, literally hammering down the soaring exchange rate with relentless pressure.
Then, an enormous volume of Korean won buying orders filled the trading window densely, literally pressing down the soaring exchange rate.
“This… this can’t be…”
As Miller’s legs gave out from the dizzy feeling and he staggered, the Chief Trader beside him quickly steadied him.
“Damn it.”
Damn it.
Miller, who belatedly regained his balance and straightened himself up, glared fiercely with both eyes wide open.
“That’s unlikely, sir. Based on our intelligence, their foreign exchange reserves are nearly depleted. If they spent massive amounts of dollars now, they’d face an immediate moratorium.”
“That can’t be it. If our analysis is correct, our foreign exchange reserves are already nearly depleted. If we spend a large amount of dollars right now, we’ll face a moratorium situation immediately.”
Miller’s eyebrows shot up at the words spoken while shaking his head side to side.
“Then what kind of guys are they?!”
Just then, one of the traders shot to his feet and spun around, shouting.
One of the traders suddenly jumped to his feet, turned around, and shouted.
“What!”
“What?!”
Miller asked urgently, his eyes gleaming.
“Yes! They’re continuously pouring in purchase orders through Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, and Salomon.”
Yes! We’re continuously pouring out buy orders through Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, and Salomon without stopping.
“These Eldorado bastards.”
John Miller gritted his teeth as he recalled Seok Won-han’s face—the man he’d crossed paths with at the year-end party and developed an enmity with.
The memory of that handsome face, more striking than any Hollywood actor’s, standing at the center of attention as if he were the protagonist of the world itself, made his blood boil involuntarily.
“Oh no! The exchange rate has dropped below 2,000 won per dollar again!”
At the cry that sounded almost like a scream, Miller’s eyes hardened and he spoke with irritation dripping from his voice.
“How much money are we pouring in that we’re getting pushed back so weakly!”
The Chief Trader beside him answered with a darkened complexion.
“We’ve already exceeded one billion dollars. What’s more serious is that buy orders aren’t decreasing—they’re increasing.”
Miller crumpled his face and spat out a curse.
“Damn it!”
“At this rate, we could be pushed all the way back to the opening price in no time.”
Miller clenched his fists as the Chief Trader’s eyes urged him to make a decision quickly—either liquidate the position now or sell won against the opposing force. Either way, they needed to act fast.
“How are the other funds reacting?”
The Chief Trader answered Miller’s question immediately.
“More and more funds are liquidating their short positions by repurchasing the won they sold. At first, it seemed they were just watching, but once they saw the Eldorado Fund charging in ferociously, they quickly switched their positions.”
“This is maddening.”
Miller raised one arm and roughly swept his hair back.
Just minutes ago, they’d been popping champagne and raising toasts, but now that the situation had reversed in an instant, his teeth ground together.
“The atmosphere seems ominous. While we’re still in profit, wouldn’t it be wise for us to exit our position?”
The Chief Trader suggested carefully from beside him.
From Miller’s perspective, the Eldorado Fund was pouring out dollars with such deliberate ferocity that it was terrifying.
His animal instinct—honed from surviving in the jungle that was Wall Street all these years—continued to sound alarm bells.
But the regret of missing a jackpot right before his eyes, and more than anything, the sting to his pride at having to retreat before Park Seok Won-han, that detestable man, made him hesitate.
As Miller wavered without making a decision, a trader sitting in front of the monitors suddenly cried out urgently again.
“The 1,850 won—no, 1,800 won level has broken!”
“It just crossed 2,000 won a moment ago. How is it falling this fast?”
“Even 1,795 won is now in danger.”
“Damn it!”
Miller glanced at the trading screen and found it completely flooded with won purchase orders.
Whenever a sell order appeared—rare as rain in a drought—the transaction would execute and vanish in the blink of an eye.
Watching this, Miller muttered with an expression of utter disbelief.
“How much money is this madman trying to pour in?”
The Chief Trader then grew even more anxious, as if his feet were on fire.
“If we get pushed down to 1,600 won at this rate, we’ll enter loss territory.”
Just moments ago, I had been celebrating over 100 million dollars in profits. Now I had to worry about losses. It was infuriating.
Miller briefly considered selling additional won to fight back, but soon abandoned the idea.
No matter how much I disliked Seok-won, I couldn’t ignore the Eldorado Fund’s capital mobilization power.
Moreover, if major players like the Quantum Fund had joined the short betting, that would be different, but they had taken their initial profits and weren’t participating this time.
That’s why I couldn’t afford to rush in recklessly.
‘I could get trampled if I’m not careful.’
Though my pride was wounded, Seok-won and the Eldorado Fund’s position had grown so formidable that John Miller couldn’t even think of challenging them easily.
That’s why the other hedge funds attacking the won had quickly moved to liquidate their positions once they learned the Eldorado Fund had entered the game.
“There’s nothing about him I like.”
Miller, grinding his teeth, reluctantly issued an order to the Chief Trader, who was watching him with an anxious expression.
“Buy back the won immediately and close out the position quickly.”
“Yes, sir!”
The Chief Trader nodded eagerly at the words he’d been waiting for.
Then, worried that Miller might change his mind, he urgently shouted at the traders sitting at their stations.
“Sell the dollars and buy won again! Now!”
The traders, already anxious watching the exchange rate plummet so sharply, immediately began executing trades without hesitation.
“Twenty boats at ninety-five won, no, ninety won!”
“Buy ten boats at the current price!”
“Okay. We’ve purchased five million dollars at 1,790.”
The P&P Partners traders gripped their handsets and shouted desperately, racing against time to liquidate every remaining position before the exchange rate could fall any further.
As the Trading Floor erupted into chaos, Miller watched the won-dollar exchange rate plummet like a cliff face, curses pouring from his lips in an endless stream.
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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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