Hong Kong variety show: The mastermind behind the scenes is emerging.

As October progresses, increasing signs indicate that the US stock market is in trouble.

After hitting a record high of 2,722 points on August 25, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was unable to continue its upward momentum and instead began to fluctuate wildly at high levels.

By early October, the market had fallen nearly 10% from its peak, and a very clear "M-top" pattern had emerged in the technical chart, indicating a breakdown.

On the policy and diplomatic front, Washington officials have been dropping bombshells.

On Wednesday, October 14th, the U.S. Congress suddenly introduced a draft bill to eliminate tax breaks for leveraged buyouts (LBOs).

As soon as the news broke, the phone lines of M&A departments at major Wall Street investment banks were immediately overwhelmed with calls.

It's important to understand that the bull market that lasted for several years in the 1980s was largely propped up by leveraged buyouts and hostile privatizations—companies borrowed money to acquire, split up, restructure, and then relist to cash out, with each round of operations driving up stock prices.

Now that Congress is going to cut off this pillar, it's like shutting down the engine of the M&A market at its source.

On that day, all stocks related to mergers and acquisitions plummeted, with a flood of sell orders.

Then, on Saturday, October 17, Finance Minister James Baker publicly criticized West Germany's move to raise interest rates in a televised press conference, declaring in front of the global media, "If West Germany does not cut interest rates, the United States will allow the dollar to depreciate."

This is not ordinary diplomatic rhetoric; it is a blatant ultimatum.

Baker's outburst was for a very simple reason: twenty-four months had passed since the Plaza Accord was signed two years ago, but the dollar's depreciation was far more out of control than expected.

In an effort to stabilize the dollar, the Louvre Accord was finally signed again in Paris at the beginning of this year. However, at the roundtable meeting, each country had its own ulterior motives—Germany was extremely worried about domestic inflation and insisted on raising interest rates to tighten liquidity; the United States, on the other hand, was deeply afraid of falling into recession and strongly demanded that other countries lower interest rates to stimulate the economy.

The two sides have argued countless times in the first half of the year, and now the finance minister has simply overturned the table.

The results were immediate. Before the weekend was even over, international investors' confidence in the US dollar and US stocks collapsed overnight. Forex traders in Europe and Asia couldn't even wait for Monday's opening and had already begun frantically selling off dollar assets in the grey market.

The first domino has fallen.

……

Hong Kong Island, Luk Family Estate.

On the night of October 17th, a wind rose on Victoria Peak. The magnolia trees in the garden rustled in the wind, and the French windows in the living room were half-open, the curtains billowing in the draft before retracting.

Lu Chen leaned against the headboard of the large bed, holding a half-cold cup of Pu'er tea. Laura lay beside him, wearing a light gray silk nightgown, her hair spread out on the pillow, flipping through a fashion magazine.

Just then, the cell phone on the bedside table rang.

"Lu!" Martin's voice came from New York across the Pacific, carrying a tense excitement. "I just came from the Chicago Board Options Exchange. The volume of put options trading this afternoon was unusually high—almost three times the open interest at the same time last Friday. Not just us, but others are also shorting heavily."

"That's normal. We're not the only sharks that smelled blood." Lu Chen leaned against the headboard, slowly turning the half-cold teacup in his left hand.

"Furthermore, a bill regarding leveraged buyouts is already being drafted in Congress, and with the Treasury Secretary's direct threat to West Hans this afternoon, market sentiment has reached its limit. The VIX closed at 38 today—its highest level in the past five years."

"Do you trust my judgment now?"

"Hahaha, my good friend, when have I ever doubted your judgment..." Martin's voice carried the unique joy of a gambler who had won a bet. "At most three days, the stock market crash is coming."

"How are the arrangements?"

"As per your instructions, all short positions have been established. The cost basis of out-of-the-money put options on the Chicago, London, and Tokyo exchanges is all at the lowest possible level of the current market price. All tech stocks were liquidated by the end of last month, leaving not a single share."

"Very good." Lu Chen showed a satisfied expression.

"There's one more thing. This afternoon, Gaozhuo Group added another short position through its offshore account in Switzerland, and Mr. Cheng Yiyan has approved it."

"It's alright, he already told me." Lu Chen put the transfer back on the bedside table, sat up slightly, and looked through the half-open curtains at the lights of Victoria Harbour ruffled by the night breeze. "This is a 'service fee' for some big shot."

"Understood!" Martin replied with a look of realization on the other end of the phone.

This situation is common in Europe and America. After all, for politicians, giving cash directly is easy for opponents to use against them. But if the capital is earned legally and legitimately in the financial market through their "foresight and wisdom," then no one can find fault with it.

"From now on, pay close attention to the stock market's movements and report back promptly."

"clear."

Lu Chen put his phone back on the bedside table. Laura closed the magazine and turned to look at him: "Work?"

"Yes. I'll be quite busy these next few days."

Laura nodded, placed the magazine on the bedside table, and reached out to pull the blanket up for him. Her fingertips paused briefly on his collarbone, then she withdrew them, turned over, and buried her face in his chest.

"Let's go to sleep~"

"it is good."

Lu Chen casually turned off the bedside lamp, placed his hand on Laura's back, and slowly slid his fingers down her spine.

Outside the window, the wind from Victoria Peak blew through the garden, and the fragrance of magnolia blossoms drifted in through the open window.

In the distance, the lights of Victoria Harbour blend into a blurry golden line in the night.

……

At the same time, in New York.

The sky over Manhattan had just brightened, a thin layer of morning mist floated on the Hudson River, and the sunlight slanted in from the East River, turning the Collins columns on the front of the New York Stock Exchange building into a golden hue.

Martin Channing hung up the phone and casually placed it on his desk. He picked up his coffee, took a sip, and stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.

Hot dog vendors set up their stalls on the sidewalks with metal food carts, wisps of smoke rising from them; young coffee shop employees carried a blackboard to the door that read "Today's Special: Blueberry Waffles"; hundreds of stock traders and analysts poured out of the subway entrances one after another—some clutching bagels they hadn't even taken a bite of yet, some with their ties askew and not properly tied, and others walking hurriedly while quickly flipping through research reports that had just been faxed from London in the early morning.

Martin opened the blinds, walked back to his desk, and picked up another direct-dial phone.

"Get me to Chicago."