The Great Sage Returns from Ten Years of Imprisonment

Around 6 p.m., Ling Yun drove out of the west gate of Haizi and headed straight for the headquarters of China Investment Corporation (CIC) near Dongzhimen.

As soon as the car entered Fuyou Street, he immediately reached out and took the special pass that was placed on the windshield, and put away this amulet with boundless magical power.

While at Haizi, he gave a brief report to several SZ (Shanxi) officials about the impending global financial crisis.

Based on the numerous intelligence reports received from Europe and America, the higher-ups had no doubts about this conclusion they reached.

In addition to giving a report, Ling Yun also proposed several new strategies for how the domestic financial market should respond to this huge crisis.

Several SZ executives highly praised his performance and the astonishing investment results he achieved during this period.

Through this small-scale briefing, Lingyun also obtained a lot of first-hand information, which can be used as a basis for investment decisions.

In this way, his subsequent investment decisions will seem more reasonable.

Twenty minutes later, he arrived safely at the CIC headquarters.

Then I took the elevator upstairs and went straight to the United Securities investment team's office area.

Upon seeing him enter, several traders near the door immediately stood up from their chairs, their eyes shining as they greeted him.

Good afternoon, Lingyun.

Hello, Lingyun

Ling Yun looked at these guys, smiled, and nodded in greeting.

"Hello everyone, you'll all have a long night to go, but thankfully tomorrow is the weekend, so you can have a good two-day rest."

As they spoke, many traders and analysts in the inner part of the office area stood up one after another to greet Ling Yun.

As everyone moved, a small wave of people formed on the scene, rising and falling.

Upon seeing this scene, several investment directors and Zhou's secretary, who had come out of the office after hearing the news, were all speechless with astonishment and filled with envy.

They understood that Lingyun had completely won over every member of the team with his outstanding performance and phenomenal investment results.

Even those troublemakers who had previously been resentful were now completely in awe!

As they were talking, Ling Yun had already arrived at the office door.

He greeted the directors and then changed the subject.

"Everyone, come to my office in five minutes. I need to make some adjustments to tonight's investment strategy."

"OK"

Several investment directors responded in unison.

Ling Yun nodded, turned around, opened the door, and walked into the office.

After entering the room, he tidied up briefly, then turned on his computer and checked the situation in the international financial market.

After several days of sharp declines, the international financial market has regained some rationality today, seemingly hitting the brakes.

The sharp decline has stopped, and it has even begun to rebound slightly.

In particular, many energy stocks performed exceptionally well, which was key to stabilizing the market.

Although the banking sector is still declining, the decline has narrowed significantly, giving many bulls a chance to breathe.

Seeing this, Ling Yun shook his head dismissively.

He knew perfectly well that the performance of the international financial market was an illusion, nothing more than a final burst of energy before his death!

As they were talking, several investment directors knocked on the door and came in.

After greeting them upon entering, Ling Yun gestured for them to sit down in the chairs opposite the desk, and then got straight to the point.

"Now let's talk about the adjustment to our investment strategy tonight. Lehman Brothers is beyond saving; we no longer need to pay attention to this junk stock!"

"Once Merrill Lynch's stock price falls to around $17 after the US stock market opens tonight, immediately have all investment teams close out their positions, leaving no short positions."

"Then we'll completely reverse our short positions and go long on Merrill Lynch with 5x leverage, investing around $300 million. We must complete this position building before the US stock market closes this morning..."

Director Xie and the others were all stunned and didn't react for a moment.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, they came to their senses and immediately began to ask for the reason.

"Why go all-in on Merrill Lynch at this critical juncture? If the financial crisis breaks out early next week, Merrill Lynch stock should plummet!"

"Exactly. Merrill Lynch has plummeted by nearly 40% this week, and it will only fall even more sharply after the financial crisis erupts. Is it unwise for us to go long now?"

"I also have doubts. If we reverse our position and go long now, we might lose all the profits we made from Merrill Lynch, and all our hard work would be for nothing!"

Ling Yun glanced at the directors and smiled as he gave his explanation.

"My reason for making this adjustment is very simple: Lehman Brothers was doomed, so Merrill Lynch could not go bankrupt, otherwise this financial crisis would completely spiral out of control."

"Given this, the US government and Wall Street will definitely bail out Merrill Lynch, and all indications suggest that this extreme rescue should be completed by the end of this week."

"It is highly likely that a larger, top-tier financial institution will step in to acquire Merrill Lynch, and at a high premium, in order to suppress all opposition."

"Once this blockbuster acquisition goes through, even if the financial crisis breaks out on Monday, Merrill Lynch's stock price will surge against the trend, and we can reap a huge profit..."

Director Xie and his team were stunned again, but fortunately they reacted quickly this time.

They were all seasoned professionals, and after a quick glance around, they understood the enormous opportunity hidden in Ling Yun's words.

The only thing I don't understand is why he's so certain that Merrill Lynch will be acquired by a large financial institution at a high premium this weekend!

This is not important; similar miracles have happened to Ling Yun countless times.

They had long been accustomed to it and could only attribute it to Ling Yun's extraordinary investment acumen and his incredibly sharp and accurate judgment.

"That's fantastic! If Merrill Lynch really gets acquired at a high premium this weekend, a surge next week is practically guaranteed, and we'll make a fortune!"

"Given such a great opportunity, isn't investing only $300 million with five times leverage too little? We should at least throw in $1 billion!"

Several investment directors began discussing it animatedly, each one eager to get started.

Ling Yun looked at them, smiled, and gently shook his head.

"This timing is too sensitive. The global financial crisis has erupted, and Merrill Lynch has been acquired at a high premium. If we invest too much, we might attract the attention of the SEC."

"More importantly, we have an even better investment opportunity: shorting stock index futures in Europe and the United States. With the extremely high leverage of stock index futures, we are sure to make even more money."

Therefore, one should not tie up too much capital in a long position in Merrill Lynch, to avoid losing the big picture for a small gain—that would be a huge loss!

After his explanation, the investment directors finally understood.

They quickly exchanged a glance, then nodded in unison.

"That's true. The leverage in stock index futures is at least ten times, maybe even a hundred times. That's the real money!"

"Well! Now that you mention it, I'm so excited I can barely sit still."

While nodding in agreement, they were all astonished by Ling Yun's ambition and ruthlessness!

After chatting for a while about going long on Merrill Lynch, Lingyun changed the subject and brought up another matter.

"Besides Merrill Lynch, our other key target tonight is AIG Group, but not going long; we're going short on a large scale."

"Based on all available information and data, I predict that AIG Group's stock will plummet by at least 30% tonight, and by next Monday, the single-day drop could very well exceed 50%!"

"AIG Group is large enough, holds an extremely important position in the US financial market, and is a 'too big to fail' behemoth; we can take it on without hesitation..."

Upon hearing this, the investment directors became even more excited.

Without prior arrangement, they all asked the same question.

"What happened to AIG Group? This is the world's largest insurance giant, with assets exceeding one trillion US dollars, and is known as an indestructible financial empire!"