Rebirth in Hong Kong: From Dessert Shop to Industrial Empire.

Chapter 257 Taking the Pockets and Securing the Win (4K) (Seeking monthly votes, recommendations, and subscriptions!)

January 18, 1980, 6:30 pm, Hong Kong Island.

The investment department on the top floor of the Weiye Building.

Xie Jianming's eyes were bloodshot as he stared intently at the expensive Reuters terminal on the table.

This machine was purchased urgently by Chen Bingwen through special channels at great expense, so that he could obtain real-time price quotes from the London market and global news from Reuters as soon as possible.

At this time, although the Reuters terminal could not place orders directly, it could already view and discuss London gold futures and spot prices.

The screen displays the London gold fixing price, futures and foreign exchange quotes, and news in real time. Each brokerage firm submits its buy and sell prices into the system, and traders can use the keyboard to call each other "point-to-point" to inquire about and counter-quote prices.

However, the terminal itself does not have a matching function; the final transaction instructions still need to be confirmed and executed via telephone or telex.

Reuters did not launch a direct matching trading system until 1981.

On the Reuters terminal screen, green characters flashed continuously, showing the latest London gold fixing price at $838.50 per ounce.

This machine is the heart of the room right now, connected to the distant London trading pool, and determines the fate of hundreds of millions of dollars.

This was the most advanced financial information tool in late 1979 and early 1980.

The receiver of another phone was placed on the table and put on speakerphone. David Smith's somewhat hoarse voice occasionally came through, reporting the latest off-exchange quotes and the dynamics of the trading floor.

There is an eight-hour time difference between London and Hong Kong Island. At this time, the time in London is 10:30 a.m. on the 18th.

"Buying activity remains strong, primarily driven by brokers in the Middle East and Europe —"

"The spot market is very tight, and the willingness to take delivery is very low —" Chen Bingwen sat on the sofa in the corner, seemingly calmly flipping through a financial report, but every ten seconds or so, his gaze would uncontrollably sweep towards the terminal screen.

The ashtray in front of him was already piled with several cigarette butts.

Only he knows the pressure he's under.

With triple leverage and a position of HK$900 million, every dollar fluctuation translates to tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars in profit or loss.

Even though he knew the course of history, the feeling of being personally caught in the turmoil still sent his adrenaline soaring.

He kept reminding himself: Discipline, discipline, eat the middle part of the fish, leave the tail for others.

But the allure of seeing wealth expand exponentially is astonishing.

"Chen Sheng, you're up here again!"

840!

It's broken 840!

Xie Jianming's voice trembled uncontrollably as he grabbed the phone and shouted into London, "David!"

What's the current situation on the London Metal Exchange?

Is the buying pressure still strong?

David's excited voice came from the other end of the phone: "Very fierce!"

I can't stop!

Many short sellers are being forced to liquidate their positions, and the spot premium is still widening!

"Thank you, are we—" Chen Bingwen abruptly stubbed out his cigarette.

It's $840 now.

It's very close to the historical peak he remembers.

Market sentiment has gone completely mad, which is usually a sign that the feast is about to end.

He couldn't wait for that precise number any longer; he had to take action.

The advantage of rebirth lies in direction, not in precise single-digit points.

Greed is a major taboo for speculators.

"Manager Xie."

Chen Bingwen's voice was exceptionally clear in the room, slightly hoarse from staying up all night, but remarkably stable.

Xie Jianming immediately turned his head to look at him, his face still flushed with excitement.

"Begin closing out positions," Chen Bingwen commanded without room for argument. "Don't rush, and don't attract market attention."

Every five to ten minutes, flatten a portion of it.

The goal is to release all 900 million in positions before today's market close.

Xie Jianming paused for a moment, then subconsciously said, "Chen Sheng, the momentum is strong right now, it might even go higher—"

"Execute the order." Chen Bingwen interrupted him, looking intently at Xie Jianming and said, "Remember what I told you, we make money from trends, not by betting on the last penny."

Now, let's begin.

"Yes, Mr. Chen!" Xie Jianming snapped out of his daze and immediately realized his lapse in composure.

The boss's decisiveness far surpasses my own.

He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, picked up the broker's phone, and began issuing instructions.

The liquidation process has begun.

This decision eased Chen Bingwen's inner pressure slightly, but it did not completely disappear.

After all, a huge position is still in the market, and anything can happen.

He recalled the case of this gold bubble he had studied in his previous life and knew that gold would reach its peak in the next few days.

Subsequently, it plummeted, experiencing a catastrophic decline.

He must evacuate safely before the collapse occurs.

Over the next few hours, the trading proceeded in an orderly fashion amidst high tension.

Xie Jianming demonstrated excellent execution ability, strictly following Chen Bingwen's instructions to close out positions in batches with small orders.

Gold prices on the Reuters terminal fluctuated wildly above $840, sometimes surging to $841 or $842, and sometimes falling back to around $838.

Around 9 p.m., Fang Wenshan walked in carrying several takeout orders. Seeing the tense atmosphere in the room, he moved quietly.

"Mr. Chen, Manager Xie, please have something to eat first."

Chen Bingwen nodded, took a simple bowl of char siu rice, and ate it without really tasting it, his eyes still glancing at the terminal from time to time.

"Director Fang, please have a seat." Chen Bingwen gestured. "How's the coordination between Manager Lin and the mainland government regarding the school donation and construction?"

"It's going very smoothly. Both local governments are very supportive. The land and construction team have been secured. We're just waiting for our first payment to arrive so we can lay the foundation and start construction."

Manager Lin suggested, "Could we invite one or two leaders from the Overseas Chinese Federation or the education department to attend the groundbreaking ceremony to amplify its impact?"

Chen Bingwen thought for a few seconds and shook his head: "Not for now."

Now that we're so popular, we need to keep a low profile and focus on building solid and beautiful school buildings; that's better than anything else.

Once we have tangible results, we can invite people to come and see.

Tell Manager Lin that quality is the top priority. Speed ​​is acceptable, but absolutely no work that fails to meet quality requirements can be completed.

"clear."

Fang Wenshan wrote this down.

At this moment, Xie Jianming completed another position liquidation. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and reported to his supervisor: "Mr. Chen, we have liquidated another position worth 50 million US dollars, at an average price of 840.5."

The market didn't react unusually.

"Very good, keep this pace." Chen Bingwen nodded approvingly.

He knew that this orderly retreat was much safer than a panicked escape.

Time passed second by second.

At 3 p.m. London time (11 p.m. Hong Kong Island), gold prices seemed to encounter resistance around $844 and began to stagnate.

David reported over the phone that some profit-taking had begun, and although buying pressure remained, it wasn't as intense as before.

Chen Bingwen knew that the crucial moment was approaching.

He stood up, walked to the Reuters terminal, and watched the numbers on the screen change.

"Manager Xie, speed things up. Close out the remaining positions in three to four installments. As soon as possible!"

Chen Bingwen gave the order, "Yes!" Xie Jianming also sensed the change in atmosphere and quickly dialed the brokerage firm's number.

The next hour or so became the most crucial phase of the battle.

Every time a closing order is issued, it means that huge profits are secured, but it also carries the risk that gold prices may turn downwards at any time.

The air in the room seemed to freeze, with only Xie Jianming confirming instructions with the broker and the slight noise of the terminal's characters jumping.

At 11:40 p.m. (3:40 p.m. London time), Xie Jianming put down the phone, let out a long sigh of relief, and almost collapsed into his chair, completely exhausted.

"Mr. Chen — the last batch of orders — completed — all positions — closed!"

Xie Jianming reported to Chen Bingwen in a hoarse voice.

Chen Bingwen's tense nerves relaxed instantly, and a huge sense of accomplishment surged into his heart.

He walked to the window, looked at the night view of Victoria Harbour, lit a cigarette, and took a deep drag.

"What's the average transaction price?" he asked with his back to Xie Jianming.

"All things considered, the average price is $843.7 per liter!"

Xie Jianming's voice was still trembling.

$843.7! Compared to his average cost of around $350, the profit exceeds 140%!

Multiply by three times the leverage — Chen Bingwen quickly calculated in his mind.

With a principal of HK$900 million and leveraged three times, the gross profit of this transaction exceeded—

"Mr. Chen, preliminary calculations show that, excluding the cost of HK$300 million, the gross profit exceeds HK$1.26 billion! After deducting interest and transaction costs, the net profit is at least HK$1.2 billion!"

Fang Wenshan had already calculated the approximate number with a calculator and said incredulously.

Upon hearing the result, the entire investment department was initially silent, then erupted into an uncontrollable cheer.

Xie Jianming was so excited that his eyes reddened.

Looking at his subordinates who had fought alongside him day and night, Chen Bingwen smiled with relief.

HK$1.2 billion!

Despite being mentally prepared, the number still made Chen Bingwen's heart skip a beat.

With this money, we will have a completely different foundation for integrating Hutchison Whampoa, advancing the Red Project, and even making further plans in the future!

"Tonight, the Peninsula Hotel, it's my treat! We'll drink until we drop!" Chen Bingwen announced with a wave of his hand.

Cheers erupted again.

That evening, the atmosphere was lively in the Peninsula Hotel's largest private room.

All core team members were present, raising their glasses in celebration of this unprecedented victory.

Even David Smith, who was far away in London, received a huge bonus that Chen Bingwen had wired to him by Fang Wenshan.

Xie Jianming, holding a wine glass, walked up to Chen Bingwen and said sincerely, "Mr. Chen, I'm convinced! Completely convinced!"

If it weren't for your decisive action, we might have been greedy at that high point, and then—"

Chen Bingwen patted him on the shoulder and laughed, "Jianming, you did a great job."

This success is the result of the team's efforts.

Remember this lesson: discipline is always more important than prediction.

"Yes, Mr. Chen, I've got it!" Xie Jianming nodded emphatically.

After the celebration banquet, Chen Bingwen had Zhao Gang drive him to the top of Victoria Peak.

As the night breeze blew and he looked down at the dazzling night view of Victoria Harbour, he felt a surge of pride.

With this huge sum of HK$1 billion, he has enough confidence to face any challenges ahead.

His blueprint for a business empire will thus begin a new chapter.

In the following days, Chen Bingwen's pace of life did not slow down after the end of the Golden Battle; on the contrary, he became even busier.

With a huge profit of HK$1.26 billion arriving in succession, Sugar Heart Capital's account suddenly became incredibly full.

Vincent Fang practically lived at HSBC, coordinating fund clearing, transfers, and compliance reviews.

Such a large-scale capital flow inevitably attracted the attention of HSBC's senior management, especially Sir Michael Sandberg.

Shen Bi personally called Chen Bingwen, his tone more enthusiastic than ever: "Mr. Chen, I heard you've made great strides in the London market recently?"

Congratulations!

"Sir Sir Michael Sandberg was well-informed; it was just a bit of luck."

Chen Bingwen smiled.

"Luck always favors the prepared mind," Shen Bi said with a smile.

"Thank you for your support, Sir Michael Sandberg."

After exchanging a few pleasantries and learning about the source of Chen Bingwen's large cash flow, Shen Bicai reluctantly hung up the phone.

Meanwhile, rumors began to circulate quietly among Hong Kong's top financial circles that "Sugarheart Capital has made huge profits in the London gold market."

Although the exact figures are unknown, keywords such as hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars and accurate timing of the market top are enough to make everyone who hears the news take notice.

With this battle, Chan Ping-man's status and reputation in the Hong Kong business community were quietly elevated to a whole new level.

Li Jiacheng naturally heard the news as well.

In his office at Cheung Kong Holdings, he listened to Zhou Jinqian's report, his face so gloomy it could drip water.

Are you sure?

How big is the number?

"It's widely rumored in the industry that, although there's no exact figure, it's estimated to be at least HK$1 billion."

Zhou Jinqian said in a low voice.

After a long silence, Li Jiacheng slowly said, "Young man, you're really bold—and incredibly lucky too."

He felt immense pressure.

With such a huge amount of cash at his disposal, Chen Bingwen will have a greater advantage in the struggle with Wong.

His plan to use Hutchison Whampoa's tight cash flow to check Chan Ping-man is likely to fail.

He even suspected that Chen Bingwen's previous holding of Cheung Kong shares was for this moment, to use his financial advantage to pressure him.

Chen Bingwen had no time to pay attention to the outside discussions. He was in the conference room of Weiye Building, listening to Li Ming's detailed report on the North American market.

Li Ming appeared to be in high spirits, and after the FDA controversy was successfully resolved, sales of "Pulse Thunder" continued to climb.

"Mr. Chen, based on market feedback, we have initially selected two new flavor options: one is a fruity tropical storm, and the other is a refreshing polar spring with a touch of mint."

This is the sample and Professor Zhou's taste test report.

Chen Bingwen tasted the sample and carefully read the report.

"Hmm, Tropical Storm" is good, more suitable for the general public's taste, I'll recommend this one first.

"Polar Ice Spring" can be used as a technological reserve, and then launched next summer.

Remember, new products are icing on the cake; the core focus should still be on maintaining the reputation and quality of the Pulse series.