thenovelthief Chapter 114
Chapter 114
Translator: DreamscribeThe aides were getting headaches.
That crazy old man Trump had issued another bizarre directive.
It wasn’t enough that from the beginning of his term, he was talking about launching nukes at North Korea.
Or that he wanted to withdraw U.S. troops.
Even though it was blatantly clear that South Korea was the best option to keep China and North Korea in check, he was giving orders without thinking, making everyone from the Secretary of Defense to numerous generals break out in cold sweats.
And now, he was trying to delegate a national issue to foreign institutions and companies.
Even if it was the United States, there was absolutely no reason for them to follow such irrational and unreasonable orders.
And that wasn’t all.
The opponent held vaccines.
That was practically an asymmetric power.
Wasn’t the one holding vaccines now the one with the greatest authority?
“So what happened?”
“Th-the thing is.......”
But even the aides giving the report couldn’t believe what had happened.
“They said they would do it.”
“Kwangwoon?”
“Not just Kwangwoon, even the National Pension Service sent word that they would do exactly what our U.S. government wants.”
At those words, Trump clapped. Clap!
“I told you. Those bastards would have no choice but to do as we say. They dare try to threaten America, no, me? Not a chance.”
The aides were honestly dumbfounded.
If Kwangwoon and the National Pension Service entered the stock market now, it was structured in a way that they would absolutely take a loss.
Hasn’t it been a continuous bear market?
If they put in money, they’d be watching their accounts drop like a rock.
“How about it? We just saved a bunch of taxpayer money with this, right? This is how politics should be done. We can now use the money saved through Kwangwoon and the National Pension Service elsewhere.”
“Uh, where are you planning to use it.......”
“Where else? The Mexico wall construction.”
“.......”
That damn wall again.
The aides could only blankly stare at Trump, who was beaming with pride.
“Mr. President. But doesn’t something about this seem off? Doesn’t it seem way too suspicious?”
It was the Chief Secretary who gathered the courage to speak.
“What?”
“Anyone can see that this market is a loss. Isn’t it suspicious that they followed our words without a hint of resistance? And the opponent is Kwangwoon, no less.”
Kwangwoon’s investment track record was nothing short of shocking.
In other words, they were the kind of people who would never do a losing deal.
And now those kinds of people were entering this market without hesitation?
And with the National Pension Service?
“It’s over a trillion dollars. Even a 1% drop would cause massive losses, yet entering without any conditions feels way too strange.”
“As if there are no conditions. They dared to short-sell against the U.S. and tried to threaten me, emboldened by their vaccine. But because of my threats about US military withdrawal, tariffs, FTA withdrawal, and all the negotiations with North Korea this time, they probably lowered their tail on their own.”
On the surface, it looked that way.
The U.S. government had forced investment by threatening Kwangwoon and South Korea.
But who was Kwangwoon?
They were the kind who would never yield to anyone.
They didn’t stop at going head-on against a nation. They were lunatics who would cause financial crises to stop governments from functioning properly.
“When the EU forcibly dismantled Kwangwoon’s shipping business, the reaction was exactly like this. They didn’t resist at all and sold the shipping division at a very high price, in line with the EU’s demands. And you know well what happened after that, don’t you, Mr. President?”
Kwangwoon was now in the process of buying back that company for less than 20% of the price they sold it for.
“Isn’t the situation different this time? Those highly educated experts told me that investing in the stock market right now would only lead to losses.”
“Well, that’s true, but.......”
“What else did they say? If we inject a massive amount of money, the market will temporarily rise, but unless we invest only in the stocks that will go up, we’ll definitely take a loss, right?”
“.......”
“You think I’m not thinking this through? I have my own intentions. Right now, the global stock markets are like a minefield. Can those bastards really drop money while avoiding every single one of those mines?”
There’s a saying.
Buy in fear.
And everyone knows it.
That you should buy when there’s fear.
But when one actually faces real fear, 99 out of 100 people hesitate.
Because they're afraid they might suffer tremendous losses if they put money in wrong now.
Even institutional investors were throwing away their holdings in a panic.
Even if one trillion dollars were suddenly injected here, some would rise, but some would inevitably fall.
Just like Trump said, it was a minefield.
Aren’t hundreds of companies still shutting down every day?
“In the end, those bastards will lose money, and we’ll win again. Just like always.”
Trump chugged his drink and smiled in satisfaction.
Truthfully, nothing Trump said was wrong.
How could they possibly invest while dodging every single mine scattered across this chaotic stock market? No matter how hard they tries, it’s a situation where they are bound to step on a mine eventually.
Unless you had the ability to see the future.
But there’s no such person in the world, is there?
“.......”
The aides forced themselves to go along with the self-congratulatory mood Trump was enjoying, while also feeling a strange sense of unease.
The U.S. stock market was being dragged into an abyss.
The moment you dip your foot in, it’s a black hole that pulls you in too.
But... if it’s Kwangwoon, could it be?
***
“CEO-nim, this is the current overall status of the U.S. stock market.”
When it comes to the overall status of the U.S. stock market, there are three main indicators to know.
The Dow Jones, S&P, and Nasdaq.
These three are what you have to look at, but once you start breaking down the data, that’s where the advanced analysis begins.
“We’ve pulled data on market capitalization, sector-specific indicators, internal market metrics, investor sentiment indexes, and bond volatility, etc. We analyzed the liquidity.”
Maybe I’ve got enough experience now.
Even just glancing over the data, I could quickly grasp the market situation.
“To put it in one word, it’s hellfire. Not the kind where prices are rising and burning, but literally, money is burning and disappearing.”
Putting money into the U.S. stock market right now was the same as tossing cash onto an open flame.
In fact, the U.S. had poured in tens of billions of dollars trying to save its crumbling market, but didn’t it all evaporate in no time?
“To prevent cash from burning in the fire, what’s ultimately important is selection. We have to be able to distinguish whether it’s a ticking time bomb or an ore that turns into money.”
“If we pick well, we can make money, right?”
“Yes. The problem is that it’s extremely difficult. The one saving grace is that no matter how much money we inject, they won’t interfere.”
Normally, when a large amount of money is poured into a stock market, the Financial Supervisory Services in each country suspend trading.
But the U.S., under the pretense of financial bailout, had given us full freedom to inject funds.
In other words, just like the U.S. government injected tens of billions of dollars at once to save their financial system, we could do the same without any issue.
“To be honest, it’s a pretty ridiculous situation.”
There have been instances of governments injecting trillion-level funds into financial markets, but this was the first time in history that an institution was stepping in to provide a bailout.
“However, as long as we distinguish the gems from the rubble, this could be a golden opportunity for us. Didn’t you want to enter the market more than anyone else, ceo-nim?”
Now that the scrutinizing eyes and shackles were gone, I could finally unleash all the investment urges I had been suppressing.
“These are the stocks we’ve selected and organized.”
I took the documents and opened them.
“.......”
The first page was practically on fire.
It was covered in red so completely, it felt like the paper itself was heating up.
I quickly flipped to the next page.
This one was a bit better.
“They attached conditions in exchange for letting us inject cash into the U.S., right?”
“Yes. Since we might do short-term trades, their condition was that whatever we buy, we must hold it for at least three months.”
If we poured in too much money, it could cause major market disruption, and if we started repeatedly entering and exiting positions, the U.S. feared that possibility and set conditions from the start.
A minimum of 3 months.
For a securities firm that primarily handles short-term trades, this was a fatal condition, but to be honest, I was already looking ahead to six months.
‘From here, things look completely different.’
Because, as you can see on the page after the next.
The U.S. stock market will hit rock bottom and rebound into a massive boom.
In simple terms, an unprecedented golden age is coming.
Looking at the data, it felt like it could drill right through the mantle, but at the very least, my intuition was telling me so.
‘I need to load up on all the large-cap stocks.’
Sure enough, the blue-chip stocks still had an enticing shine.
It’s not for nothing that Warren Buffett advised to only invest in companies that would never go bankrupt.
So I flipped through the pages one by one and checked the stocks.
Anything that seemed vague, I cut out completely, and only picked the ones that looked solid.
This wasn’t just about putting in our company’s money, National Pension Service funds were going in as well, so I had to be even more cautious.
Then, as I was nearing the end.
“......?”
There was one stock that shone brighter than anything I’d seen so far.
“Zoom?”
“Ah, Zoom. It’s a video conferencing program. With the recent outbreak of the coronavirus, more and more companies have started working from home. Various video conferencing programs are in use now, and one of them is Zoom.”
As the ratio of remote work increased dramatically, video conferencing programs were becoming a trend.
The problem was, there was already fierce competition in that space.
“But this Zoom stock... its price has dropped quite a lot?”
“Yes. There are many other chat programs out there, and more importantly, the entire market is currently plummeting like crazy, so it’s likely Zoom couldn’t avoid the same fate.”
But of all things, this one was shining with a brilliant light.
I circled that stock several times.
“Take a good look at the stocks I’ve marked, and put together a plan on how to allocate investment ratios. Once reviewed, send it over to the National Pension Service.”
“Ah, yes, ceo-nim.”
Zoom...
It’s not even a company with a very high market cap.
If it’s glowing that much...
‘Could the stock go up three to four times?’
***
At first, the executives at the National Pension Service were very pleased.
After initiating massive short selling, their capital had grown to 1,000 trillion won.
And since the great powers, including the United States, were closely watching the National Pension Service and Kwangwoon, they had held all their funds aside, doing nothing but minimal investments.
So they naturally believed all of the NPS’s capital would flow into bonds and safe assets.
“Chairman, this- this is insane!”
But something completely unexpected happened.
“We’re putting 1,000 trillion into the U.S. market all at once?!”
“That’s right! It’s not even a matter of building positions over a few months. Injecting 1,000 trillion at once is beyond what the U.S. stock market can even absorb. The biggest issue is that it’s a blatant market disruption.”
The chairman knew all of this already.
He was a seasoned veteran, more than anyone else in the room.
“That’s why I told you. This is something the United States permitted. From none other than the White House itself.”
It was unbelievable.
That the White House would actually push the National Pension Service to freely disrupt the market!
“But if we go in now, we’re in real danger. We could lose all the money we worked so hard to earn.”
“That’s why Kwangwoon gave us a selection of stocks to follow. Just stick to that.”
“Y-yes, but...!”
Before things could get any louder, the chairman raised his hand and silenced them.
“Then what do you propose we do? Go knock on the doors of the White House and try to negotiate? Over there, they’re already bringing up issues like U.S. troop withdrawal, the FTA, the South Korea–U.S. alliance... all things that could negatively impact our diplomacy. Can you handle that?”
“.......”
“I know what you’re all worried about. But once we’ve decided to trust Kwangwoon, we need to follow through to the end. It seems they were prepared for this situation from the start.”
“Are you saying that Kwangwoon was actually waiting for this to happen?”
“That’s just my gut feeling... but yes, that’s what I think.”
Did Kwangwoon actually wait for this insane move?
Given their actions so far, it wouldn’t be surprising if they did.
But the market right now was terrifying to enter.
“So get things ready quickly. Kwangwoon also said to prepare for the fastest possible money injection. You all know, right? In financial markets, timing is everything when it comes to winning or losing.”
The executives could no longer argue.
Even the government, after hearing about the expected outcome of this, decided to leave the chairman in his position for now.
They agreed to hold a hearing and determine right or wrong only after the situation had somewhat stabilized.
For now, isn’t making money the most important thing?
In other words, there was only one person who could overturn the chairman’s decision.
That was none other than Jung Jin-ho.
But Jung Jin-ho was actually encouraging them to go even crazier.
“Are we really going ahead with this?”
“Ha... This is insane... Isn’t that Trump guy totally nuts too? He’s handing out a free pass for this?”
After the meeting ended, the executives were holding their heads.
Things that completely defied their common sense were happening one after another.
“But seriously, what happens if we inject 1,000 trillion all at once?”
“What do you think? It’s a literal bombing, a bombing! It’s not 100 trillion, it’s 1,000 trillion won! There’s never been anything like it in financial history.”
The U.S. government would at least space things out over time.
They would never drop 1,000 trillion won into the financial markets all at once.
“And Korea’s National Pension Service is doing it? With permission from the U.S., no less?”
It still felt like a lie.
“Frankly speaking, isn’t this basically a massive air raid?”
That was a perfectly accurate description.
A massive air raid.
But this time, with dollars...