Chapter 45#

With a low and pleasant electronic ringtone, Chen Yuanming opened his eyes. Reaching out to stop the alarm clock, he stretched on the bed, and his upper arms and back muscles immediately responded with a burst of soreness. Lactic acid accumulation, the bitter fruit of overtraining yesterday.

Crawling up from the soft mattress and moving his limbs slightly, Chen Yuanming pulled open the heavy curtains of the bedroom. Behind the entire floor-to-ceiling window was a towering concrete jungle. Although no noise could be heard, the road dozens of floors below was crowded with various vehicles and office workers waiting to cross the street. Different skin colors and ages mixed into a mottled ribbon, rushing towards their predetermined battlefield.

Looking from here, the skyscrapers in the center of the field of vision reflected the rising sunlight, like a pile of sculptures made of gold, containing a breathtaking beauty in their magnificence. There, the financial heart of the United States was beating, and every sum of money flowing through made an intoxicating sound. Wall Street on Manhattan Island, a temple that drives financial professionals all over the world crazy.

Chen Yuanming took a deep breath. In his previous life, he had never been able to go abroad, let alone come to New York City and stand here to watch the legendary Manhattan Island. Therefore, even if he saw such a scene every day for three months, he could not suppress the fluctuating emotions in his chest. Facing this huge financial empire, his assets and power could only be said to be insignificant at present, not as powerful as a drop of water. But this unrestrained sense of pleasure was definitely not something that the tight domestic financial market could experience.

It is only 1993 now. In the next ten years, the New York Stock Exchange will usher in an ecstatic bull market. Various hedge funds and investment banks will develop rapidly in these years, ushering in glory and prosperity. Although they will eventually hit a wall again and fall into decline or panic, it is not now, not at this moment. In the textbooks he once studied, in the countless biographies and records of the times he had read, opportunity was like the seductive song of the Siren, graceful but full of devouring crises. And now being personally in this era, mastering the memories from the future, how could it not make his heart flutter and his emotions uncontrollable.

Standing in front of the window for a long time, Chen Yuanming moved his arms and turned into the bathroom next door. It was time to start a new day.

Dressed neatly and walking out of the bedroom, Chen Yuanming saw at a glance the man sitting upright on the sofa in the outer suite. This man was only in his early 30s, with his hair shaved into a neat crew cut, his beard shaved clean, revealing a bluish jaw. His appearance could not be called handsome, but his steady posture revealed a compelling pressure, as if he could draw a full bow at any time and shoot a fatal blow at the enemy.

This was his current security consultant Zhang Gang, who came from the Northeast Tiger Special Forces of the Shenyang Military Region and retired due to an accidental injury during a mission. Because the salary after retirement was really not high and his family was in difficulty, he was recommended to him by Xiao Yun. After coming to the United States this time, this man almost stayed by his side every step of the way. He refused to stay in the arranged guest room, and finally could only choose a presidential suite, letting him live in the guest room in the outer room.

“Boss.” Seeing Chen Yuanming’s figure, Zhang Gang stood up instantly.

Chen Yuanming’s mouth twitched slightly. Every time he heard him call him that, he felt uncomfortable, but this person was a standard diehard. He couldn’t change the address no matter what, forcing a layer of hazy tycoon style on him.

“Brother Zhang, go have breakfast first. I have an appointment later and need to go talk.”

In Wall Street, most transactions rely on telephone communication, but some people have to meet directly. Today Chen Yuanming met such a person. Sitting in the newly bought convertible Land Rover Defender, the humid air of Manhattan blew into the car. Chen Yuanming leaned against the window, thinking about the matters currently underway.

After arriving in the United States, he did not choose short-term stocks, but directly invested the money in Goldman Sachs and started European bond trading. At this time, the 1992 pound sniping case had just passed not long ago. Through precise grasp of the situation, Soros used 10 billion US dollars to heavily short the pound, causing the exchange rate of the pound against the mark to fall all the way below the bottom limit of 2.778. The British government used foreign exchange reserves worth 26.9 billion US dollars, but ultimately failed to hold the collapse and was forced to withdraw from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.

This battle allowed Soros to personally net 6.5 billion US dollars, and also made the Quantum Fund led by him the most famous hedge fund in the world. For this act of successfully subverting the central bank of another country, Wall Street people proudly called it “White Wednesday”. However, the battle was not over. Subsequently, there were operations against the Swedish krona and the Italian lira, until the foreign exchange market gradually stopped in 1993.

However, letting go of the foreign exchange market, bond trading became a new hot spot, and investors toured the European continent like bloodthirsty great white sharks. Unlike the magnificent performance of sniping foreign exchange, the swallowing of bond trading was quiet, which also made many bystanders forget this fact. Through excellent investment in bonds of France and other countries, the Quantum Fund obtained a return rate of 63% in 1993, which was not inferior to the 69% in 1992 at all.

So as soon as he arrived in the United States, Chen Yuanming cut into this vortex. After a period of cautious observation, he chose to buy a large number of Spanish and Italian bonds. More than 100 million RMB sounds like a lot, but converted into US dollars, it is only more than 20 million. Fortunately, at this time, the private placement threshold for hedge funds was only 1 million US dollars, so as soon as this generous Chinese investor appeared at Goldman Sachs, someone smelled the trend.

After months of large-scale buying and selling, someone finally knocked on the door.

With a slight vibration, the Land Rover stopped by the road. A young man walked quickly out of the bright office building. He was Chinese, about 25 years old, dressed in a very spirited suit. Seeing Chen Yuanming and his car, the young man first showed a stunned expression.

“What a nice car, the soft-top Defender just listed?”

This Land Rover had been on the market in the United States for less than a week, but Chen Yuanming had been looking forward to it for a long time. He immediately replaced the previous Grand Cherokee. Nothing could offset his fear of sedans better than a convertible and high chassis. It’s just that such a car, amidst the streets full of conservative Bentleys, Mercedes-Benzes, and Lincolns, was inevitably somewhat out of tune with the Wall Street atmosphere and particularly eye-catching.

“Kevin.” Chen Yuanming smiled and went up to meet him, “What, kept you waiting?”

Coming to the United States, the first thing Chen Yuanming did was to find a translator proficient in Wall Street. He had learned some business English in his previous life, but he hadn’t used it for many years in this life, and had long forgotten most of it. Reading newspapers was okay, but conversation was really shabby. So through an intermediary, he selected this top student who had just graduated from Columbia Business School, Song Kevin.

The young man was very diligent. He belonged to the second generation of immigrants who immigrated with his parents. His family situation was not good, and he relied entirely on scholarships and student loans to finish the expensive Ivy League. It’s just that Wall Street is not friendly to Chinese people nowadays. After hitting a wall several times in interviews, he finally landed under Chen Yuanming’s nose and became his financial agent.

“Not at all, the other party just arrived too.” Song Kevin smiled. He had long learned to take it easy with his young employer. Only in his teens, he dared to venture into Wall Street alone with tens of millions of dollars, and all investment intentions were made without consulting advisors, cutting directly into the mess in Europe. Who knew that just after the bonds in hand rose by more than 40%, he sold them again, seemingly wanting to withdraw from the bond market. He really couldn’t guess the other party’s mind, but the profit was indeed real and allowed no falsification. This was not a stupid boss. With this recognition, Song Kevin worked even more diligently. Nowadays, a stable and promising job is not easy to find, and must be grasped firmly.

Of course, Chen Yuanming’s generous operations not only won the loyalty of his subordinates but also attracted hedge funds directly to his door. At this time, hedge funds were all private placements and needed to attract investors face to face. The shock of Soros’s Quantum Fund to the entire investment banking industry can be described as earth-shaking. Those well-known brokers of Goldman Sachs immediately became the reserve army of hedge funds. Various small funds were established continuously, but phone calls were made one after another, and Chen Yuanming never nodded until this time.

Gathering his thoughts, Song Kevin made a gesture of invitation and led Chen Yuanming into the building.

The meeting was set in an office building on Park Avenue in Manhattan. It was just time for work, and the passing offices were all busy, but the few people did not stop and went straight to the elevator to the conference room they had booked. Pushing open the door of the conference room, two men stood up and walked up quickly to greet them.

“Kevin, this must be your young employer! Indeed young and promising!” The man in the lead burst into a huge smile, extended his hand friendly, with no contempt or doubt in his eyes, and signaled to Chen Yuanming so frankly.

Chen Yuanming smiled and shook back politely, “I heard Kevin mention you. No one in Wall Street doesn’t know your big name, Mr. Robertson.”

Two hands were tightly clasped together, carrying a sense of friendliness and goodwill. Compared to the other party’s calmness, Chen Yuanming’s curiosity was heavier now, and he looked at the man in front of him seriously. In all financial textbooks of later generations, especially in the chapter on hedge funds, apart from the father of hedge funds Alfred Jones and the financial crocodile George Soros, this one has the biggest reputation.

He founded the Tiger Fund, which was as famous as the Quantum Fund, and once surpassed all funds to become the hegemon of the hedge fund industry. However, due to continuous failures in 98-99 and the collapse of the Internet bubble, he finally withdrew from the market sadly. It was still very exciting to see such a financial bigwig with his own eyes.

Consistent with industry rumors, this Mr. Robertson always had enough charisma and demeanor when facing potential clients that could be absorbed. The successive solo flight incidents of Tiger Fund brokers this year seemed not to have affected his mood, and he still maintained a perfect posture of politeness.

After the host and guests were seated, the topic circled casually around the recent financial situation. It seemed that this was not a meeting about private placement, but a loose interview, or just a popular cocktail party on Wall Street. Only during the chat, Mr. Robertson’s eyes became brighter and brighter, especially when the two reached a high degree of agreement on their views on General Instrument Corporation and Equitable Life Assurance Society stocks.

The chat slowly cut into the main topic from the periphery. Robertson sat up straight and asked somewhat seriously, “Choosing to withdraw from the European bond market at a high position now, and not cutting into the New York Stock Exchange, it seems that Mr. Chen has other intentions?”

Chen Yuanming smiled, “Not really, just want to find an opportunity to change lines. Now my capital chain is also relatively tight, and I still hope to do some profitable short-term trading.”

Robertson smiled slightly, “Short-term? Still old Europe…”