How A Ride-Hailing Driver Comes To Dominate The World? [EN]: Chapter 598

From the moment Goldman Sachs announced its short position on the Dragon Country’s [China’s] gold market, Starlight Investment had already begun preparing its counterattack.

With a command from Yang Chen, Starlight Investment released a research report on the gold market.

Goldman Sachs’ reasons for shorting the Dragon Country’s gold market were primarily threefold.

First, the gold price was at $1,750 per ounce, a relatively high level. Compared to the gold production cost of $1,200 per ounce, there was a potential downside of over $500 per ounce.

Second, over the past three years, the Dragon Country’s government had brought back a total of 2,600 tons of gold from overseas. However, the Dragon Country’s annual gold consumption was only about 600 tons. Even if the Dragon Country stopped gold production and procurement, this amount of gold would be enough for more than four years. Therefore, the Dragon Country’s gold market would steadily decline over the next five years.

Third, the Dragon Country’s government had spent too much of its reserve funds purchasing gold from overseas and no longer had sufficient funds to stabilize the gold market. Once gold prices fell, the Dragon Country’s government could only watch helplessly.

Starlight Investment’s research report refuted Goldman Sachs’ shorting arguments point by point.

First, the price of gold was not high. As international instability increased, the demand for gold as a universally accepted hard currency would continue to rise. International gold prices were expected to rise further to $2,300-$2,500 per ounce before its actual and hedging values reached equilibrium, at which point gold prices would fall back.

Second, the gold brought back by the Dragon Country’s government was intended for strategic reserves and would not be easily released into the market. In the current uncertain international situation, holding any foreign debt was unsafe, while holding the international hard currency gold was very safe. Therefore, there was no situation where the Dragon Country’s gold market would not be used up in the next few years. Moreover, it was currently around the Dragon Country’s New Year [Lunar New Year or Spring Festival], and according to custom, many engaged and married couples would need to buy gold jewelry, so the demand in the gold market was strong, which would definitely drive gold prices to rise steadily.

Third, most of the gold brought back by the Dragon Country’s government was from overseas reserves and margin accounts, not entirely purchased with foreign exchange reserves. In other words, most of the gold brought back already belonged to the Dragon Country and did not need to be purchased, so there was no issue of the government lacking funds to stabilize gold prices. If gold prices did experience significant fluctuations, the Dragon Country’s government could continue to buy in or release the gold brought back into the market, thereby stabilizing gold prices.

Simply refuting Goldman Sachs’ shorting arguments with words was obviously not convincing, nor was it Yang Chen’s style.

The latter half of Starlight Investment’s research report clearly stated Yang Chen’s and Starlight Investment’s future operational plans.

First, Yang Chen personally would follow the national will and convert the foreign currency he earned into gold to be transported back to the country for reserve purposes, in preparation for future needs. Currently, Yang Chen had already stored approximately $200 billion worth of gold in the Dragon Country’s bank vault, all of which came from foreign currency earned in overseas capital markets. Yang Chen would continue this operation in the future, converting foreign currency earned in overseas markets into gold to be transported back. Paper money was ultimately unreliable; gold was the hard currency.

Second, Starlight Investment would open at least 1,000 tons of gold long positions in the international gold futures market in batches. Goldman Sachs and other firms with the same views as Goldman Sachs were welcome to continue opening short positions and compete to see who would have the last laugh.

Starlight Investment’s research report quickly spread throughout the global capital market, rapidly sparking a wave of discussion.

Dragon Country netizens commented:

“Wow, Boss Yang is too awesome! His gold reserves in the Dragon Country’s bank alone are worth 200 billion US dollars. Doesn’t that mean that these gold reserves alone are enough to make him the richest man in the world?”

“I always thought Boss Yang was awesome, but I didn’t expect him to be even more awesome than I imagined. He has earned 200 billion US dollars from abroad in the past few years alone. Doesn’t that mean he earns tens of billions of US dollars a year? He’s making too much money.”

“Haha… It has to be Boss Yang who refutes Goldman Sachs’ shorting arguments one by one, and finally uses practical actions to prove to everyone that gold will definitely rise. What are you waiting for? Boss Yang is unprecedentedly openly leading everyone to make money. If you can’t seize this opportunity, it can only mean you don’t have the luck.”

“The foolish are still discussing, the smart ones have already lined up to grab gold. I am now queuing at the Dragon Country Gold next to my neighborhood. Only now do I realize that there are so many rich people in the Dragon Country. They are really taking it with their eyes closed. If you didn’t know better, you’d think it was cabbage [buying something very cheap].”

“Oh my god, the old ladies at Lao Miao Gold’s Lujiazui store have gone crazy. They are really using canvas bags for groceries to pack gold. The store has been emptied and they are taking things out of the warehouse.”

…

As everyone knows, older women love gold the most.

First, wearing gold and silver makes them look rich, indicating that they have a good life.

Second, gold holds its value and can be passed down to their children as heirlooms in the future.

Therefore, major gold stores were quickly occupied by the old ladies.

They didn’t care about gold bars, gold bricks, or gold jewelry. They just took whatever they could afford.

At the same time, the Dragon Country’s State Reserve Administration issued an announcement.

The Administration reached a gold sales agreement with Yang Chen and Starlight Investment. The Administration would sell 500 tons of gold to Yang Chen and Starlight Investment, and Yang Chen and Starlight Investment guaranteed that this batch of gold would be used for reserve purposes and would not be sold for at least five years.

As soon as this announcement came out, it directly ignited the Dragon Country’s gold market.

Boss Yang really took out real money to buy 500 tons of gold. If they continued to wait and see or doubt, they would really miss this wave of market conditions.

As a result, a wave of buying gold as “New Year’s goods” swept across the entire Dragon Country.

Today was the last stock market trading day before the Spring Festival, and the gold sector collectively hit the daily limit [maximum allowed price increase]. Even stocks with a bit of precious metal concept rose sharply. The gold sector even drove the broader market to surge 150 points, and the sluggish A-shares [shares of companies based in mainland China] finally ended this year’s market with a hard rise.

After getting off work in the evening, another wave of buying frenzy swept through major physical gold stores, and then major gold stores hung up “Sold Out” signs.

At this time, in the United States.

The United States does not celebrate the Spring Festival, and the stock market trades normally.

At the Goldman Sachs Group’s morning meeting, everyone looked serious.

President John looked at the report sent by the Dragon Country branch, his brows furrowed.

“Yang Chen and Starlight Investment purchased 500 tons of gold for reserves, promising not to sell it within five years.”

“A wave of buying gold has swept across the entire Dragon Country, with women over 50 becoming the main consumers, buying gold and packing it home in shopping bags as if they were buying groceries. Currently, most gold stores across the country have sold out and stopped operating.”

“We have learned insider information from several gold processing companies that they will collectively raise prices tomorrow and will ignore international gold prices, directly pricing according to their market forecasts.”

…

Seeing the contents of these reports, John didn’t know what to say.

After a long silence, John finally spoke.

“Everyone, express your opinions. Feel free to say anything, it doesn’t matter,” John said weakly.

Since the president had spoken, everyone actively discussed.

“The Dragon Country people are all crazy. How can they buy gold like this! They have emptied the gold stores. Why are they so obsessed with gold?”

“I have lived for more than fifty years, and this is the first time I have seen the people of a country buy gold like this. Aren’t they a developing country? Why can they buy gold like cabbage? We are a developed country, and the people don’t have this purchasing power. I’m a little confused now. Which of us is the developing country and which is the developed country?”

“This is related to their values. In the Dragon Country people’s view, parents have to earn property for their children, and gold is undoubtedly the best reserve choice.”

“I think the main reason is that Yang Chen really did what he said and bought 500 tons of gold with real money, and others followed suit. Alas… It’s our own fault for underestimating Yang Chen’s wealth and his influence in the Dragon Country.”

“So what do we do now? Continue to fight hard, or admit defeat quickly?”

“There’s no need to admit defeat so early, right? Let’s wait for the market to open and see what the trading situation is. If the price of gold really soars to a level we can’t afford, we can only stop the loss in time and admit defeat. If the situation isn’t too bad, we’ll hold on a little longer.”

…

Everyone looked at President John, who still had to make the decision.

John didn’t speak, quietly waiting for the market to open.

Half an hour later, the market opened.

Unsurprisingly, gold futures prices rose straight up, quickly jumping from $1,720 per ounce to $1,860 per ounce.

The stock market was the same. Gold concept stocks rose across the board. Even Dragon Country companies with a connection to gold rose.

The reason for this wave of gains was Yang Chen’s counterattack against Goldman Sachs, so Dragon concept stocks also rose to varying degrees.

Now all Dragon concept stocks have an additional theme concept, which is “Yang Chen concept stocks.”

Therefore, as long as it rises because of Yang Chen, there is a high probability that all Dragon concept stocks will rise.

It was the first time that one person had influenced the stock prices of so many companies, thereby affecting the entire stock market. It was truly a spectacle.

Even Buffett, who is revered as a stock god by people all over the world, does not have such ability and influence. Yang Chen is truly the first person to break new ground.

At this time, Phil Tass, president of the Lion Fund, saw the Dragon concept stocks all in the red and angrily smashed the coffee cup in his hand on the table. After calming down for a few seconds, he quickly wiped the coffee spilled on the table.

The video of Chen Jianbin’s version of Cao Cao, which was very popular on the Dragon Country’s Internet, knocking a bowl of rice on the table and then sweeping it back into the bowl, was especially suitable for Phil Tass now.

After wiping the table, Phil Tass couldn’t control his emotions and cursed, “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Why did those idiots at Goldman Sachs short the Dragon Country’s gold at this time? Our battle with Yang Chen was already in a headwind state, and now they have caused Dragon concept stocks to rise collectively, making it even more difficult for us! Fuck! A bunch of idiots! Damn it!”

At this moment, the secretary came in.

Secretary: “Mr. President, Luckin Coffee has risen again, and our short positions are about to be liquidated again. Should we continue to add cash to support it, or close the positions?”

Phil Tass: “We have already paid such a high price, of course we have to continue to support it. Wouldn’t closing the positions at this time be the same as admitting defeat? Wouldn’t the short positions opened before really be a loss? As long as we don’t close the positions, we are just floating losses on the account. Once we close the positions, it will be a real loss. Yang Chen has spent so much money, he definitely can’t withstand us shorting ten Dragon concept companies at the same time next. Hold on, victory is in sight. Continue to add cash, we must wait for the final battle to come.”

The secretary nodded and quickly followed Phil Tass’s orders to operate.

Phil Tass couldn’t bear that Goldman Sachs had increased their difficulty, so he couldn’t help but call John, the president of Goldman Sachs.

Phil Tass: “Mr. John, what the hell are you doing? Look at what you’ve done. Dragon concept stocks have risen collectively, all thanks to you. We were already having a hard time, and you still have to increase the difficulty for us.”

John was also in a bad mood. Goldman Sachs was not only going to lose money in this wave, but also lose face all over the world.

The dignified Wall Street giant was defeated by the Dragon Country’s old ladies, losing all face.

He was already depressed, but Phil Tass actually called to condemn him, which he couldn’t stand.

“Fuck! Do you think I want this? We opened 400 tons of gold short positions, and now they have been liquidated. I don’t even know whether to add margin to continue or close the positions and admit defeat. I don’t even know who to scold, and you actually called to condemn me?” John said angrily.

Phil Tass: “But you didn’t investigate clearly and consider all the issues before shorting. Now that it’s like this, you deserve it. But we are wronged!”

John: “You’re talking nonsense! Fuck! You deserve it, I wish you will be harvested by Yang Chen until you go bankrupt! Fuck!”

After speaking, John hung up the phone.

Haha, the presidents of the two major Wall Street investment banks actually lost and started cursing each other. If people all over the world knew about this, it would definitely provide them with all the laughs of the new year.

Seeing that gold futures prices were about to break through $1,900 per ounce, Starlight Investment’s gold long positions arrived as scheduled.

I saw that there were suddenly large orders in the gold futures trading market, and the price of $1,900 per ounce was easily broken. The long orders continued, and it only took five minutes to push the gold price to $1,990 per ounce.

At this time, the long orders decreased, and the gold price began to fluctuate up and down. Looking at the market, the battle between the long and short sides was very fierce.

If Yang Chen completely relied on real money to raise the price of gold, his costs would be very high, and the risk would be very high. It was very likely that he would be suppressed by the shorts.

Therefore, when the price reached here, he should stop spending money and use another method to raise the price.

Seeing that the price of gold was about to break through the sky-high price of $2,000 per ounce, the US government began to sell goods.

As everyone knows, countries all over the world store a lot of gold in the United States.

This gold is not easily shown to others, nor is it taken out for trading, nor is it allowed to be transported back by other countries.

This creates a certain amount of room for manipulation, and those who understand will understand.

To put it bluntly, it is hard to say whether the basement where the gold is stored actually contains the gold handed over by various countries.

The current high price of gold was completely hyped up by Yang Chen. It would definitely not be able to stabilize the high price and would definitely fall back soon.

Therefore, some people played tricks. Why not take advantage of the current high price to sell some of it, and then buy it back when the price falls? In this way, they could make a profit from the price difference without anyone knowing it while ensuring that the reserves remained “unchanged.”

As a result, a large batch of gold suddenly flowed out of the US gold spot market. Under the impact of these spot gold, the price of the gold spot market began to fall, which in turn drove the price of the futures market to fall.

Dragon Country.

Today is New Year’s Eve, and most Dragon Country people have already returned home for reunion.

Yang Chen was preparing lunch with his aunt and cousin.

His aunt’s phone kept ringing. A phone call came in every now and then, and a video came in every now and then. She had to cook, which kept her very busy.

Li Xiaofei: “Mom, can you concentrate on cooking? I’m afraid you’ll mistake salt for sugar and vinegar for soy sauce.”

Chen Yuyan sneered and said, “Don’t worry, I promise not to poison you to death.”

Li Xiaofei: “Little Swallow, don’t go too far. If I die, who will take care of you in your old age?”

Chen Yuyan: “Am I counting on you to take care of me in my old age? I don’t know where you will marry in the future! I will be satisfied if you can come back to see me once a year. When you have children and have to take care of your work and family, you may not come back even once a year. Am I counting on you to take care of me in my old age? Don’t put gold on your own face [don’t overestimate yourself]. Raising a daughter is like this. Marrying her far away is the same as raising her for nothing. Alas…”

Li Xiaofei: “Don’t worry, even if I remain single for the rest of my life, I will never marry far away. I will definitely stay by your side and take care of you until you pass away.”

Chen Yuyan: “Haha… Nonsense, I’m still waiting to hold my grandson. How can you not get married? From the moment you were born, I have made the worst plan. As long as you are happy, even if you can’t come back to see me in the future, I will accept it.”

Li Xiaofei stepped forward and hugged her mother, acting coquettishly: “Little Swallow, don’t worry, I will definitely not marry far away.”

Chen Yuyan was about to speak when her phone rang again.

Chen Yuyan: “Who is it again? It must be someone asking me how the price of gold is going. I don’t care, I won’t answer it. Chenzi, can I still buy gold now? I see that there is already a trend of decline.”

Li Xiaofei came to Yang Chen, who was killing fish, and said, “Brother, I saw on the Internet that the US suddenly released a lot of gold. Those people are constantly lowering prices in order to sell the gold, and both the spot and futures markets have fallen. You said before that the price would rise to more than 2,000 US dollars. Do you still hold this view?”

Yang Chen: “Of course. My view remains unchanged, maintaining the original view. I calculated that the US would release goods to suppress prices. They are just following my ideas. Let them release more, and when the price rises later, they will have no money to buy it back. This time, I will not only harvest Goldman Sachs, but also harvest the New York Gold Reserve Center.”

Li Xiaofei: “Brother, awesome! Only you dare to do this. Others don’t dare to play like this, and they don’t have the ability to play like this.”

Chen Yuyan: “Chenzi, you said that foreigners have no contract spirit and change their policies at will. If it is not good for them, they will arbitrarily break the contract. If you harvest them, what if they break the contract and don’t recognize it, or freeze your funds? Wouldn’t that be a waste of effort and make clothes for others [benefit others instead of oneself]? Especially since you just said that they released too much and will have no money to buy it back later. Isn’t this forcing them to be unethical?”

Hmm?

Auntie has learned a lot of knowledge from watching the news every day.

However, can Yang Chen not think of the problems that even ordinary people like Auntie can think of?

Yang Chen had already thought of a way to get out before using a lot of foreign exchange, and it was impossible for them to calculate it.

“Haha… Even if they had ten thousand guts, they wouldn’t dare to freeze my account. Before deciding to play with them, I had already thought of a way out,” Yang Chen said confidently.

My computer is broken. I wrote this on my phone today, so there may be a lot of typos. Please bear with me. I will fix it when the new computer arrives. Also, who knows what’s going on with the Apple computer that suddenly won’t turn on or charge? I took it to the computer repair shop next door, but they couldn’t fix it either. It’s really annoying. It’s a 2017 MacBook Air. Is it too old and should be scrapped?