Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 627 Who Will Take Over?

That evening, a grand Christmas party was held at the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan.

"Tonight, this place seems to be a feast for Wall Street investors!"

Aaron clinked glasses with Leon Cooperman of Omega.

Many heavyweight financial figures were present, including Julian Robertson of Tiger Fund, George Soros of Quantum Fund, David Bondman and Jim Colter of TPG (Texas Pacific Group), and David Komansky, Chairman of the Board of Merrill Lynch!

Leon Cooperman chuckled. "Unfortunately, Nasdaq is booming right now, because Long-Term Capital Management suffered a setback due to its investment in Russia during the Asian financial crisis."

Aaron looked in one direction. "Tiger Fund isn't having an easy time right now!"

Since last year, Tiger Fund has been shorting technology stocks and going long on traditional stocks. However, as market funds continue to flow from traditional companies to technology companies, the stock prices of the traditional companies that Julian Robertson went long on have fallen sharply, while the technology stocks he shorted have risen against the trend.

Tiger Fund, which survived the Asian financial crisis, suffered heavy losses due to Julian Robertson's concerns about technology stocks, which led him to short technology stocks and invest in traditional companies.
Not far away, several angry investors were cornering Julian Robertson, head of Tiger Fund, in a corner of the banquet hall: "Look at Nasdaq, it's up 85% this year! And you're still sticking to investing in some crappy airline stocks?"

"Lucent's value increased by 165%, while American Airlines' value dropped by 40%!"

Julian Robertson, who had always been skeptical of the tech bubble, turned pale and gripped the report in his hand tightly: "Value may be late, but it will never be absent. The tech bubble is already quite frightening."

One investor, his face ashen, said, "Last year, the Quantum Fund also shorted tech stocks and suffered significant losses."

"However, George Soros also changed his strategy after this spring, going long on technology stocks. In just two quarters, he not only recovered his losses but also generated a 35% return for his Quantum Fund."

"Julian, you're too persistent!"

Julian Robertson opened his mouth, about to say something, when the investor smashed his champagne glass at his feet.

"Boom!" The commotion caused here immediately attracted everyone's attention!
Aaron Anderson and Leon Cooperman, who had been watching this closely, were also shocked.

Leon Cooperman shook his head. "Julian Robertson is probably even more convinced than Warren Buffett that a tech bubble is coming!"

Aaron's eyes were sharp, and his tone was calm. "Everyone knows about the tech stock bubble, but who can know when it will burst?"

"With the Nasdaq index rising, who can resist investing? Everyone thinks they won't be the last one holding the bag."

Of the four major hedge funds, Long-Term Capital Management has already exited, and now Tiger Global Management is also suffering losses in the tech stock frenzy.

Next, we'll see what Quantum Fund and Omega Advisors do, since both of them are investing heavily in tech stocks these days!
"Oh, Aaron, you also think the tech stock bubble has reached a tipping point?"

Leon Cooperman gave Aaron Anderson a meaningful look; this man's judgment was always very sharp.

Aaron shook his head with a smile. "No one knows when the bubble will burst, but I believe that one shouldn't be too greedy!"

As for Julian Robertson, Aaron just felt it was a great pity that the company had only $8 million in capital when it was founded in the early 1980s.
As of last year, Tiger Global Management managed $230 billion in assets and ranked second globally with an average annual return of 25%, second only to Quantum Fund. "Greedy?" Leon Cooperman felt somewhat helpless. Who in finance isn't greedy?
If you weren't greedy, who would invest in hedge funds?
"Nasdaq is truly insane, so insane that it's impossible to resist the temptation!"

Leon Cooperman took a sip of his drink. Wasn't Omega Advisors worried? Of course they were, but other funds were doing it, so how could they not?

Investors won't agree; without an attractive return ratio, how can investment be increased?
"By the way, I heard that JP Morgan is going to merge with Chase Manhattan Bank. This wave of bank mergers is getting more and more interesting!"

Aaron suddenly spoke up, saying that if these two companies really merged, they would surpass Bank of America and Citibank to become the world's number one.

Two years ago, Citibank merged with Travelers Group, and Bank of America merged with National Bank, becoming the first and second largest banks, respectively. Even earlier, UBS merged with UBS, and Chase Manhattan merged with Chemical Bank.

"Ha! The Financial Services Modernization Act officially replaced the Glass-Steagall Act this year, clearing the last obstacle for commercial banks to merge with investment banks!"

Someone like Leon Cooperman would definitely be happy to see this happen.

Julian Robertson's incident made the party atmosphere much more serious, and Aaron, not wanting to stay any longer, found Nicole Kidman and prepared to leave!
"So, have any investors invited you to invest?"

In the car, Aaron asked the driver to go directly back to his villa on the Upper East Side. Leaning back in his seat, Aaron asked Nicole Kidman a question.

"Yes, several bank managers have tried to sell me their funds, all of which are Nasdaq technology stock funds;"

"I'm so excited just thinking about it. It feels like investing in these stocks is like picking up money!"

Nicole Kidman couldn't help but say that she was indeed very unsettled.

“Haha,” Aaron chuckled, “Don’t you like investing in real estate?”

"You have properties in New York, Los Angeles, London, Sydney, and Melbourne. The stock market is very risky!"

Nicole Kidman nodded. "Yes, I don't have much cash on hand right now, and I don't plan to invest in stocks or anything like that."

As Aaron said, she has a great interest in investing in real estate and has acquired properties in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom in recent years.

After all, the Dawn shares she already owned were enough!

“That’s nice,” Aaron said, kissing Nicole Kidman as he groped from her thigh down to her chest.

"Phew," soon the car was filled with a strong sense of hormones, Nicole Kidman leaned lazily in Aaron's arms, "Are we almost home?"

Aaron smiled. "Yes!"

Upon entering the villa, Nicole Kidman, with her hair disheveled, went straight into the bathroom without even bothering to fix it...

(End of this chapter)