Chapter 328: Shorting the Dollar/Yen
Chapter 328: Shorting the Dollar/Yen
Lu Jiaxin had opened foreign exchange accounts at three major banks: HSBC, Standard Chartered, and Bank of Communications. Initially, she intended to diversify her risks, but later decided that with her limited capital, it wasn't necessary.
After selling off her stocks, Lu Jiaxin converted all her money into US dollars, totaling $30 million. She had the best impression of the manager at HSBC, so she decided to deposit her funds there.
With the bulk of her money now in the HSBC foreign exchange account, Lu Jiaxin was left with only HK$1.6 million in her everyday account. However, her biggest expense, rent, was already paid for a year in advance, and the remaining funds would be more than enough to cover her living expenses and the bodyguard's salary for at least half a year.
Wu Ziyu was astounded by her request, "Miss Lu, a 30-times short on the dollar/yen, any rise of 3% in the exchange rate will result in a margin call, and you'll lose everything."
In the past six months, Lu Jiaxin had also asked him to help her trade foreign exchange, but the account only had $600,000. There had been losses and gains, but overall, it had broken even. Suddenly bringing in such a large sum of money to trade foreign exchange, and with such high leverage, was truly overwhelming for him.
Lu Jiaxin said, "Trading foreign exchange is a gamble, so let's go big. Manager Wu, can this deal be done? If not, I'll go to another bank."
Wu Ziyu continued to advise her earnestly that even if she wanted to short the dollar/yen, such high leverage was dangerous, and a 10-times leverage was already very high. But no matter how he tried to dissuade her, Lu Jiaxin remained unmoved.
Understanding his good intentions, Lu Jiaxin said, "Manager Wu, I know you're advising me out of concern. But I have my reasons for making this bold move. Please place the order for me!"
In truth, she wanted to go even higher with a 50-times leverage, but she knew the bank would never approve such a risky venture. So, she settled for the next best option, a 30-times leverage.
Wu Ziyu looked at her doubtfully, "Miss Lu, could it be that you've received some insider information that the dollar/yen will drop?"
Lu Jiaxin smiled and said, "Manager Wu, I recall that you have a confidentiality agreement. I'll need to sign one as well. Aside from you and me, no one else can know about this."
Wu Ziyu confirmed that they did have such an agreement, "Miss Lu, regardless of whether this trade turns out profitable or not, with such high leverage, I'll need to get approval from the chief manager. But rest assured, HSBC has never leaked any customer information in all these years."
"Then go ask your general manager!" Lu Jiaxin urged.
After more than ten minutes, Wu Ziyu returned and informed her that the chief manager had approved the loan. But as Lu Jiaxin was about to sign the contract, Wu Ziyu stopped her once more, "Miss Lu, please think this through. $30 million, if there's a margin call, you'll lose it all."
With a smile, Lu Jiaxin replied, "I studied finance, and I'm aware of the consequences of my actions."
Without any hesitation, she signed the contract. After racking her brains, she finally recalled a friend mentioning the Plaza Accord and joking about how the agreement was signed on a Sunday, wondering if they got paid overtime.
Lu Jiaxin did some research and discovered that the Plaza Accord was signed on the 22nd, but the markets were closed on weekends. After some thought, she chose the 23rd as the starting date. From that day on, the dollar/yen began its descent, falling nearly threefold by the mid-1990s. America achieved its goal of reducing its trade deficit, while the Island Nation, flooded with foreign capital, faced an economic bubble. When the bubble eventually burst, their economy suffered a long stagnation, even slipping into recession.
Having signed the contract, Lu Jiaxin left the bank with a smile on her face.
Seeing her relaxed demeanor, Wu Ziyu became even more convinced that she had inside information.
After much hesitation, he still reported the matter to the general manager of HSBC, who thought Lu Jiaxin was foolish to bet her entire fortune based on unverified information.
As the weather turned cooler, Lu Jiaxin needed to buy some clothes, shoes, and socks. While shopping, she unexpectedly ran into He Mingzhu, whose appearance remained unchanged.
Lu Jiaxin took the initiative to greet her, "Sister Mingzhu."
Previously, when He Mingzhu had taken the videotape and written documents, Lu Jiaxin thought there would be some action, but nothing happened. She wondered if He Mingzhu lacked the courage to resist or if the time wasn't right yet.
He Mingzhu noticed that Lu Jiaxin had become even more beautiful after not seeing her for a while, and wondered if it was because of the nourishment of love, "Why are you shopping alone? Isn't Young Master Nie accompanying you?"
Lu Jiaxin smiled and replied, "He's busy with work and can't always accompany me. I also need some personal time."
She had already rented a place near the school and hired three professional teachers to give her private lessons. As she could keep up with the school's curriculum, she wanted to accelerate her progress and finish the next semester's courses in advance. Having worked hard to get into the school, she aimed to avoid failing, if not making it to the honor roll.
He Mingzhu thought she was very perceptive and regretted not having discovered this during their limited interactions in the past, "How has Fourth Auntie been lately? Is she doing well health-wise?"
Lu Jiaxin politely indicated that she was doing fine, "She suddenly expressed her desire to return to Shanghai, and no amount of persuasion could change her mind. I had no choice but to agree."
Lu Jiaxin believed that this matter would eventually come to nothing.
He Mingzhu said worriedly, "The family has been dealing with a lot lately, and I haven't been able to get away. Given her health, will she be able to handle the trip to the mainland?"
Lu Jiaxin scoffed at her reasoning. It wasn't as if they were separated by thousands of miles. Shanghai was just a short drive away from Hong Kong, less than an hour's travel time even with traffic. Clearly, they didn't take Auntie seriously and didn't truly care about her well-being. Their praise of her was merely a case of the tallest dwarf.
Despite her contempt, Lu Jiaxin's face showed none of it.
She feigned helplessness and said, "Naturally, the doctors advised against the trip to Shanghai, but she won't stop pestering me about it. Oh well, old people are like children sometimes."
"I'll go and see Fourth Auntie later," He Mingzhu said.
After shopping until noon, Lu Jiaxin went to the appointed restaurant, only to find that it was Wang Yadan who had come to meet her. Seeing her, Lu Jiaxin knew that her date with Nie Zhantan had fallen through again.
Wang Yadan had come specifically to find her, "Miss Lu, the mansion called the boss ten minutes ago saying that the chairman had fallen. The boss was worried and rushed over."
Old Man Nie was in his seventies now. It was common for the wealthy of Hong Kong to enjoy long lifespans, and many people his age were still full of vigor. She wondered why his health was so frail.
Lu Jiaxin nodded and asked, "Sister Dan, you haven't had lunch yet, have you? Why don't you sit down and join me? If you're free this afternoon, we can go shopping together after we eat."
"Sure," Wang Yadan readily agreed.
During the wait for their food, Wang Yadan smiled and said, "After the boss returned from his vacation, many people asked me if he was dating someone. They also inquired about my identity, but how could I tell them? The boss even bought the photos taken by the paparazzi to prevent them from affecting you."
Lu Jiaxin had long suspected that Nie Zhantan was suppressing the news. Otherwise, their initial meeting at school, which had been photographed, would not have been suppressed from appearing in gossip magazines. Now that they were dating and meeting more frequently, it was strange that the paparazzi hadn't picked up on it at all. However, since Nie Zhantan hadn't mentioned it, she pretended to be unaware as well.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
