I'm in the county town, and you say I'm a big shot?

Chapter 674 We'll take them down one by one and crush these Wall Street tycoons!

Fang Qingye stayed up all night for the first time ever, and didn't take a shower and go to bed until 3 a.m. when LME trading finally ended.

He slept soundly and had a long dream in which he seemed to have returned to the time before his rebirth.

Inside an investment bank in Shanghai, seeing the massive losses on his computer screen, he was heartbroken. Standing by the window on the 101st floor of a skyscraper, looking down at the cars below that looked like matchboxes, he gritted his teeth, climbed out of the window, and jumped.
The sudden feeling of weightlessness gave him a sense of impending death, which startled him so much that he opened his eyes abruptly. He saw Bai Ou standing by the bed, holding her son and looking at him tenderly.

"Did you have a nightmare? You're covered in sweat."

"It's nothing." Fang Qingye smiled and habitually took out her phone from the bedside table. It was already 10 a.m., and there were several missed calls.

Fang Qingye ignored it and opened Toutiao (a Chinese news aggregator). The first news item in the financial category was: The State Reserve Bureau announced that it will purchase 50 tons of copper for strategic reserves starting today.

The government has finally taken action.

Fang Qingye checked the market on her phone again, and sure enough, LME copper futures prices began to rise sharply!
That's it.

Fang Qingye got up, dressed, and washed up, then sat in the living room to eat. She couldn't go to work in the morning; she'd go in the afternoon. Now she was eating breakfast and lunch together.

While eating a plate of noodles, Fang Qingye browsed various news on his phone. Just then, his phone rang again. It was Ouyang Shaoqiang from Hong Kong calling, and he pressed the answer button.

"Boss, the good news you mentioned yesterday is actually this? Haha!" Ouyang Shaoqiang laughed heartily, all his anxiety from yesterday gone.

"So, is this news good?"

"Some time ago, there were rumors in the market that the State Reserve Bureau would intervene to purchase copper in order to stabilize prices, but no one expected the scale to be so large, with 50 tons exceeding market expectations!"

"Why not buy up copper now while spot prices are low, and wait until they're higher? The State Reserve Bureau isn't that stupid," Fang Qingye laughed.

"The price of LME copper futures has now broken through the $4400 and $4500 marks, and judging by today's momentum, it will definitely hit the daily limit!"

In fact, LME futures do not have the same price limits as domestic futures, but rather a circuit breaker mechanism. If a futures contract fluctuates by more than ±10% in a single day, trading will be suspended for 5 to 10 minutes, but this can be extended.

That's exactly what Ouyang Shaoqiang meant.

“You’re right,” Fang Qingye replied. “No matter how the market changes, if the price stabilizes above $5000 in the next few days, we should gradually withdraw our funds. We can’t be greedy for profits!”

“I understand when Mitsui & Co. will release the false information. Let’s add fuel to the fire in this market!” Ouyang laughed on the other end of the phone.

"Tomorrow, at 8 a.m. Let the market digest this positive news from the State Reserve Bureau today. We'll release it one by one and crush these Wall Street bigwigs!"

Fang Qingye hung up on Ouyang Shaoqiang and then dialed Smith's number in the United States.

"Smith, has Kenjiro Kishida left the United States?"

"He left quietly with his wife and son three days ago," Smith said over the phone.

"Where have you gone?"

"He said he was going to Shanghai, China, because it was the safest place. He wanted to lay low for a while before deciding where to settle down."

"This guy knows how to pick a place," Fang Qingye said with a laugh, then added, "Smith, you've been working hard lately, so I'm giving you a break to take your wife and kids out for some fun."

"Thank you, boss!" Smith was overjoyed. "From now on, your consulting firm will specialize in collecting financial information, compiling it, and reporting it directly to me, with a focus on Wall Street!"

"OK!"

Today's LME copper futures market was completely one-sided, unlike yesterday's fierce battle between bulls and bears. The bulls were in full swing, pushing the price up to $4730 per ton, triggering the circuit breaker mechanism and halting trading for 20 minutes.

Trading resumed, and market enthusiasm subsided somewhat, but copper futures prices continued their upward trend, closing at 4800 yuan/ton in the middle of the night, recovering all the losses of the past month.

The next day, just as the short sellers were preparing for a major counterattack, a piece of news suddenly broke from The New York Times, Hong Kong's Sing Tao Daily, and London's Financial Times:
Mitsui & Co. fabricated substantial copper inventory figures in Busan, Singapore, and New York through a cyclical transfer method. This systematic "inventory manipulation" involved three batches, totaling 12 contracts and approximately 15 tons of copper. The aim was to create the illusion of excessive copper inventory on the market. The article also details the specific transfer routes for each batch, as well as the serial numbers and quantities of all storage certificates.
The article caused an uproar in the market, with countless emails and phone calls coming in to the LME regulatory committee and Mitsui & Co. headquarters, demanding a clear explanation.

The LME Regulatory Commission quickly responded on its official website, stating that an investigation team would be established to conduct a detailed investigation into all copper lots mentioned in the article.
Mitsui & Co. Building, 1-2-1 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo.

The Finance and Investment Division, the Non-Ferrous Metals Business Division, and several other departments related to copper were in complete chaos, with phones ringing incessantly.

Taro Takahashi, the executive director in charge of these departments, was in a real bind.

"Director Takahashi, Goldman Sachs, Red Kite, and other companies have all called to ask what's going on?" the assistant asked.

"How the hell would I know what happened? This is a company secret, how could it be leaked to the newspapers?" Takahashi Taro replied irritably.

Just then, an employee hurried over and whispered, "Takahashi-kun, the president is calling."

President?!
Startled, Takahashi Taro hurriedly entered his office, picked up the phone, and said respectfully, "Hello, this is Takahashi Taro."

"Hai!"

"Hai!"

Taro Takahashi bowed slightly into the microphone as he answered questions, unconsciously wiping the sweat from his forehead. Although the office was air-conditioned, his forehead was still covered in beads of sweat.

Two minutes later, Takahashi Taro came out with a gloomy face and looked at his assistant: "Have you checked the list of all the employees who came into contact with these batches in the metal division?"

"They're out. Everyone's on duty, ready to be questioned by headquarters, except for Kenjiro Kishida, the deputy section chief in charge of the New York warehouse management section," the assistant quickly replied.

Where did he go?

"I submitted a report to headquarters a week ago requesting to take annual leave, saying that I wanted to take my wife and children to Canada for vacation."

"Call him immediately and tell him to cut his vacation short and return to the company, to come directly to Tokyo for a work report!" Takahashi Taro said.

"I called, but the other party's phone was switched off, and I couldn't get in touch with them."

"Shut down?!" Takahashi Taro suddenly turned to look at his assistant.

Just then, his secretary rushed in again: "We just received the latest report from the Metals Division. After investigation, it was found that Kenjiro Kishida moved out of his rented apartment in New York three days ago."

"Damn it!" Takahashi Taro couldn't help but swear.

It turns out there was a mole inside!
(End of this chapter)