Spy Wars: Red Shopkeeper

Chapter 263 Price Limit
However, before that, it's more important to open short positions.

Wu Sibao went to find Ye Jiqing.

"Sister-in-law, judging from what Gu Yansheng said, the Japanese could make a move at any time. I'm going to open an empty order first thing tomorrow morning. Do you want to come with me?"

The price has plummeted from over 400 yuan, haha, we're about to make a fortune!

We put in $100,000, and now it's $300,000. This could very well turn into a million, and with leverage, it could even reach two or three million!

Ye Jiqing was also considering this matter.

The Japanese are forcibly requisitioning cotton yarn, which will inevitably cause the price of cotton yarn futures to plummet. This is a sure-fire way to make money, and there is no reason not to participate.

Is it appropriate for Gu Yansheng to partner with Wu Sibao without his own participation?

He sized up Wu Sibao with his eyes.

Wu Sibao was annoyed by her dawdling. "What's there to consider? It's just cotton yarn that costs over 400 yuan. Do you think it will last?"

Even if the Japanese don't intervene, the price should have already fallen. Don't forget, the big players have already run away. Only the foreigners don't know yet. Once they find out, they'll all have to run.

"If you don't want to participate, I'll go myself. You can lend me the money; I'll pay you the normal interest."

If it weren't for needing to borrow money to expand his gambling capital, Wu Sibao wouldn't have bothered coming.

"I'll trust you this once." Ye Jiqing took out the money box and handed it over, "But you're not allowed to use leverage for me, I only need to make a little profit."

"You're being too cautious; you're wasting the market."

Wu Sibao rolled his eyes, then smiled ingratiatingly, "Lend me some more, please?"

"You should take less of it. It's not like you're short of money. Why put such a huge bet on one go?"

Despite saying that, Ye Jiqing still took out the money and gave it to him, saying, "One hundred thousand silver dollars, this is for expenses, and it needs to be repaid."

"A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, of course we must cherish it!"

The next day at the exchange.

Wu Sibao led his men to disperse and buy short positions.

Having been in the stock exchange for so long, he was well aware of the importance of not making large purchases to avoid attracting the attention of market manipulators.

The stock market is indeed booming now, with significantly more investors than when he first entered the market.

However, watching the stock market investors enthusiastically watching the cotton yarn market rise, Wu Sibao had a strange feeling of being the only one sober in a world of drunks.

That's the magic of insider information.

At the same time, several veteran stock investors who knew Wu Sibao greeted him with smiles, saying, "Mr. Wu is losing money again."

"Can't you fucking talk? Cursing me first thing in the morning."

Seeing Wu Sibao get angry, everyone laughed and showed no fear whatsoever.

It's been widely known that Wu Sibao works for the Special Agent Headquarters. He comes here every day, and he's also a stock market beacon. As a seasoned stock investor, one would definitely consult the beacon's advice before making any stock purchases.

Buy four treasures in reverse, and you'll own a villa by the sea.

Among the seaside villas in Shanghai, those along the Bund are the most expensive.

Why not use what you have?
As for the fact that Wu Sibao was a member of the Special Agent Headquarters, they had figured it out over time. As long as it wasn't too excessive, and since this was a concession, Wu Sibao didn't want to cause trouble, so they could make a few jokes.

"Mr. Wu, do you think the price of cotton yarn will go up or down today?"

Why should I tell you?

"Buying you some coffee."

I'm bearish.

"Hey, bosses, today's the day is all set."

"Ha ha ha ha."

Wu Sibao was already used to this and laughed, "I bought one lot of shares that fell, and I also bought one lot that rose. Hey, you guess."

"Oh no, the market's been trading sideways today, everyone can go home now."

"Ha ha ha ha."

Meanwhile, upstairs in the private rooms.

Sato Seiken's assistant came to report what he had heard.

He joked, "President, we found out. It seems we're not having much luck today. The one who bought the short positions was that unlucky guy, and he bought quite a lot."

Wu Sibao thought his dispersed buying behavior wouldn't be detected, but in reality, at this stage, there are very few people besides the Japanese who suddenly open a large number of short positions.

Especially when short positions are bought all at once early in the morning, it's hard not to notice.

Sato Seiken frowned upon hearing this. "Why would he buy so many short positions at this time? Has our information been leaked?"

Sato didn't believe in bad luck; there were plenty of people who lost money in the stock market every day, and Wu Sibao was just one of the richer ones.

If the money is less, this person will be eliminated after losing a couple of rounds, and naturally, they won't be able to attract attention like Wu Sibao for a long time.

Are they not unlucky?

That's pure stupidity.

"President, I think it's impossible." The assistant laughed, "This person is known as a 'wise man,' and no one knows what he's thinking. You see, everyone else is buying the rise, so he should be buying the fall. If he buys the rise, wouldn't that be unreasonable?"

Furthermore, our internal decisions were known to no one outside Japan; they were limited to the presidents or managers of each company, so there was no possibility of a leak.

I think he was just lucky.

Sato thought about it and realized that Wu Sibao really had no reason to get their inside information; it must have been luck.

Thinking of this, he chuckled, "I didn't expect this guy's luck to come back. Let him win this round then."

According to reports from various sources, the cotton yarn spot market has been almost completely sold out. Currently, cotton yarn merchants from all over the country are in Shanghai. Once a contract is signed and payment is made, it is considered sold out to them.

As for whether they can take it away, that's none of their business.

It's best if it can't be taken away; that way, it'll be easier to retrieve it later.

"Contact the brokers of all major players. As usual this morning, make a large short sale twenty minutes before the market closes. Get ready to go into battle!"

They want to make their stance clear and unequivocal, announcing the entry of Japanese capital starting today!
"Hi."

downstairs.

The exchange was packed with people.

The cotton yarn industry remained booming in the morning. With such a large amount of capital taken over by the concession, they naturally needed to create momentum to keep the cotton yarn market going.

The newspaper's extensive publicity campaign highlighted the importance of cotton yarn to all parties involved today.

Chinese, British, American, and German experts in the concessions unanimously agreed that cotton yarn today is not merely a necessity for clothing and warmth; its importance must be elevated to that of a strategic military supply.

The irreplaceable role of cotton products in keeping warm means that the military not only needs cotton yarn for warmth, but it is also an indispensable raw material in military production and a core component of bullets and shells.

Moreover, multiple layers of cotton quilts can be made into simple armor to block bullets and shrapnel. Given the current state of the war and the preciousness of manpower on both sides, this can greatly increase the survival rate of soldiers.

To win the war, both sides would use any means necessary. Although the income of ordinary people could not sustain a large amount of cotton yarn worth more than 400 yuan, the army had plenty of money.

As more soldiers survived, their daily demand for cotton yarn increased, which in turn drove up the consumption of cotton yarn.

Cotton yarn can also be made into bandages, and the consumption of bandages on the battlefield is, of course, enormous.

The shelling by both sides resulted in the burning of numerous cotton yarn warehouses, making a price increase for cotton yarn inevitable.

The expert's words make perfect sense.

From a scientific and logical perspective, we will explain the reasons for the rise in cotton yarn prices.

Next came the stock market investors who had been assigned to the group, who enthusiastically boasted, explaining both the reasons behind their decisions and the returns they had made.

As long as he talks about how much money he has made recently and how quickly he can make that money, he can be surrounded by a crowd of people who will worship him as a stock market god. Nothing is more tempting than making money.

Of course, the most important and final step is the volatile upward trend in cotton yarn futures prices.

The price increase has given the market tremendous confidence, attracting a continuous inflow of funds from outside investors who were waiting on the sidelines.

The price of cotton yarn has stabilized at 450 yuan, and it looks like it could break through 460 yuan today.

Making money effortlessly while lying down, stock market investors are already discussing where to go out and have some fun tonight.

As for the slight dip in cotton yarn futures in the last twenty minutes of trading, the price eventually rose to 460 yuan, only to be hammered down to 448 yuan.
This is definitely a market manipulation tactic!

This isn't the first time; the main players are trying to scare people again. It's really bad.

Upstairs, in several private rooms owned by people from the foreign concessions, the agents all noticed something was wrong.

Their expectation today was to push the price up to 460 yuan, but now it's clear that large funds are borrowing and selling, which means shorting the market. After discussing it, the group realized something was wrong and immediately called their backer.

Meanwhile, next door, Sato smiled when he saw the closing price; the real show was about to begin.

Those who run out today have their last chance to escape.

He returned to Mitsui Company, called Fu Xiao'an, and announced the establishment of the Cotton Yarn Control Committee to implement price controls on cotton yarn.

"You must hold an emergency press conference immediately and announce this news. I'm talking about today. This matter must be completed today, and I want it in the papers tomorrow."

Although Fu Xiao'an had been waiting for this day for a long time, he chose to refuse this request.

This is seriously damaging to our reputation.

He's the one who caused the cotton yarn price hike, selling it to merchants for a few hundred yuan. Now he's being asked to cap the price at 70 yuan. Does he even care about his reputation?

Anyway, he didn't believe the Japanese could endure it on their own, so he would still announce it as planned, and why be the bad guy?

“Mr. Sato, unless it is an order from the Asia Development Institute, I am afraid I am powerless to help.”

A businessman trying to boss him around? Fu Xiao'an wasn't that soft-hearted.

Sato hadn't expected Fu Xiao'an to be uncooperative. Notifying the Xingya Institute at the last minute was too troublesome, since the Xingya Institute was a member of the cabinet.

The process is too slow.

Sato chose to hold his own press conference.

Sato, along with several presidents from Mitsui & Co., and Mitsubishi Kawasaki, made the announcement to reporters.

"The price of cotton yarn in SH City has been fluctuating abnormally recently. The municipal government and consulate have received many complaints from citizens that the surge in cotton yarn prices has affected the daily needs of SH citizens."

In order to stabilize the market and protect the living environment of citizens, our Mitsui Company has decided to establish a Cotton Yarn Control Committee starting today to limit the price of cotton yarn. The price ceiling for standard cotton yarn components will be limited to 70 yuan.

Those who offer prices higher than this will be severely punished!

"70 yuan?"

The price announcement caused an uproar among the reporters. The recent boom in cotton yarn prices had made many people rich, and the speed at which they were making money made even reporters who didn't trade stocks envious.

They were aware of the price of over 400.

But now, the price is limited to 70 yuan as soon as you open your mouth?

Sassoon House, top floor.

Representatives of the concession capital gathered here.

The news that the Japanese had set price limits on cotton yarn had already reached their ears.

Ding-ling-ling. Ding-ling-ling.

Sassoon answered the phone, listened for a moment, and quickly put it down, saying to the others, "It's been verified. Today, the main sellers were brokers from several Japanese chambers of commerce, and they were also the ones who placed the most short orders."

Keswick, the British director of the Municipal Council, could no longer contain himself and smashed the wine glass in his hand on the ground, shattering it into pieces.

He roared in fury, "So Fu Xiao'an was plotting against us from the very beginning?"
The price of 450 has been reduced to 70.

Sassoon! You were the one who introduced him, you're responsible for this!

"calm down."

Eric Kadoorie of the Kadoorie family said with a stern face, "He wants revenge. It was our own greed that made us believe his lies. You can choose not to participate, but if you do, you can't blame Sassoon alone."

“You can be indifferent if you buy less, but I bought 1500 million! 1500 million US dollars!” Keswick glared and shouted angrily.

When it came to money, no one had a pleasant expression. After checking their accounts, they discovered that they had received goods worth 180 million from Fu Xiao'an.

Adding the chips they've acquired along the way, the total is probably no less than 250 million.

If the Japanese were to impose price controls in this way, all of them would suffer significant losses, and no one would be immune to the pain of such a financial blow.

“Sassoon, what do you say? We can’t just let this go, and we can’t let Fu Xiao’an get away with it.”

"Yes! Fu Xiao'an must be punished!"

At this moment, Sassoon, who had been gazing out the window in thought, came back to his senses, turned around and said, "The stock market is a place where strength matters. We were deceived by Fu Xiao'an and fell into his trap. That's his skill, and there's nothing to punish him for. We have to accept the consequences of our bets."

We will definitely retaliate, but not against Fu Xiao'an, but against Japan.

I'm currently considering a problem: even though the stock exchange is located in a concession, it feels like it's constantly being influenced by Japanese orders, which is very unpleasant.

For example, we have suffered losses for two consecutive years in the cotton yarn business alone.

We compete fairly based on our abilities and accept the consequences of our bets. But now the Japanese are trying to force us to submit through administrative orders, so we can't continue like this.

With global conflicts currently raging, the Shanghai stock market is actually an undervalued investment opportunity with significant potential.

If we cannot take the initiative, the Japanese capital will completely control the economy of the concession, and we will not be able to benefit from the money coming in from outside.

Therefore, I believe it's time to expel the Japanese from the concession.

"Do you have a way?" Erica asked, casting a questioning glance at him.

Sassoon nodded. "Of course, but it requires our concerted efforts."

Keswick's face twitched with hatred. "As long as we can teach them a lesson, we're open to any kind of cooperation!"

"Okay, you guys go back first. I still need to meet with two people. I'll contact you later."

"Who else do you want to see? Just call them over, won't that be enough?"

"Zhang Xiaolin, Gu Yansheng."

About half an hour later, at Sassoon House.

Gu Yansheng walked in. He had never shown his face regarding the cotton yarn matter, nor was he a stock market enthusiast, so naturally he knew nothing about it.

"looking for me?"

Sassoon took out a money box, smiled, and pushed it over: "One hundred thousand US dollars, please do me a favor."

"What kind of favor is so expensive?" Gu Yansheng asked with a curious smile.

Sassoon smiled faintly and said, "I heard that the Japanese have imposed a price limit on cotton yarn. I originally thought cotton yarn was too expensive and didn't know where to get it this year, but now that the Japanese have set a price limit of 70, this price is very reasonable."

So I'd like to buy a batch of cotton yarn. Many cotton yarn factories are located in western Shanghai. Could you please help me contact their owners and get them to sell to me? Anyway, the price is capped at 70 yuan per kilogram, so it's the same no matter who I sell to, so why not sell to me, right?

The situation sounds normal, but it's really hard to guess what Sassoon is up to.

Gu Yansheng thought for a moment and smiled, "I can help with this, but I have to give them something in return for persuading them. After all, the price has suddenly dropped from over 400 to 70 yuan, which is unacceptable to many people. They might want to wait and see. But what if the Japanese change their policy and it goes back to 400? Wouldn't that make me look like the bad guy?"

"I can offer them 90 for your sake, but only for today."

"Is my face only worth 20 yuan? I might as well make it 100."

“Okay.” Sassoon nodded readily. “We’ll do it at the price you said. Contact the boss and we’ll sign the contract now.”

"So soon?" Gu Yansheng joked, "You don't happen to have an inside contact with the Japanese, do you? The price will go back up in a few days, will it?"

Sassoon shrugged and smiled: "Of course, it's possible that the Japanese are involved. It's a gamble. If I win, I make money. If I lose, I'll lose 30 yuan per piece of cotton yarn. Ten thousand pieces would be 30 yuan, which is not a small amount."

Gu Yansheng didn't bother guessing what Sassoon was up to; he was happy to make more money.

Call Lu Bowen and ask him to have the manufacturers from each factory come over to sign the contracts.

Sassoon seemed very anxious, fearing that these people would back out. He not only demanded that they move their meager inventory overnight, but also pre-ordered the inventory for the next two months.

Furthermore, a penalty of ten times the amount in damages for breach of contract was agreed upon.

Leave Sassoon House.

Lu Bowen was confused. "What's the Sassoon up to?"

Gu Yansheng chuckled, "I don't know, but it won't stop you from making money. The production capacity for the next two months can be sold out in 100 batches. You definitely won't lose money on this deal."

That's definitely a good deal. Lu Bowen would be laughing his head off. The money from so many factories' production capacity coming in ahead of time is just too good to pass the time.

"Let him take the goods away; we don't care about anything else."

"Okay, I see."

Afterwards, Zhang Xiaolin's men drove trucks and hauled all the goods away overnight.

In the blink of an eye, the next day arrived.

"Newspapers for sale! The Japanese have announced the establishment of a Cotton Yarn Control Committee to impose price controls on cotton yarn! A stock market crash is imminent!"

"Great news! Starting today, the ex-factory price of cotton yarn is limited to 70 yuan! New clothes for the New Year will be cheaper!"

(End of this chapter)