A $50 million margin call? I'll short Wall Street.

"boom--"

It was as if a bomb had exploded in the conference room.

Richard suddenly stood up, and the chair slid back more than a meter away from his violent movement, making a screeching sound.

"What...what nonsense are you spouting?!"

His voice had completely changed, and large beads of cold sweat instantly appeared on his forehead.

That gentle, deceptively charming face was now distorted like a torn mask.

"How could you possibly know... No, that's impossible!"

"You can't even understand financial statements, how could you possibly know the specific asset structure of the underlying CDO package?! How could you possibly know that S&P's rating was fraudulent?! How could you possibly know that I bypassed compliance reviews?!"

John McLeish, standing next to him, was ashen-faced and sweating profusely.

As Goldman Sachs' chief legal counsel, he knew all too well what the phrase "valuation dispute review" meant.

Emilia Walker bit her lip hard, her fingers flying across the IBM ThinkPad keyboard as she brought up the full file of the CDO transaction.

Three seconds later, her face turned ashen.

"Richard..."

Her voice trembled

，「他说的……编号GS-CDO-2008-02-25-007A这批底层资产的真实违约率数据……我们提交给合规部的报告里，写的是6.8%，但实际监控数据显示……已经突破了14.2%……」

"There's also the qualification assessment. Yuanxing Capital's actual net assets are 23 million, not the 80 million stated in the report..."

"Shut up! Emilia! Shut up!!"

Richard turned his head sharply, roaring like a wild beast cornered in a desperate situation.

Lu Ze watched this scene coldly, as if he were watching a farce whose ending he knew in advance.

He sat back down in his chair, picked up the Montblanc pen, and fiddled with it in his hand.

"Richard, I'm very curious."

Lu Ze's voice returned to calm, yet carried a chilling, almost deadly quality: "Do you think that if I were to submit all this evidence to the SEC now..."

He paused, a cruel smile curving his lips:

"Do you think that big shots like Dick Fuld of Lehman Brothers, John Thahn of Merrill Lynch, and Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs... might cleanly and decisively cut you off as a pawn in order to appease the SEC and Congress?"

Richard was struck dumb; his legs went weak, and he slumped back into his chair.

Cold sweat dripped down his temples, soaking the collar of his custom-made shirt, which cost five thousand US dollars.

"What...what do you want?"

Richard's voice was hoarse and trembling, and the arrogant condescension he had displayed just moments before was gone.

Lu Ze did not answer immediately.

He slowly picked up the stack of liquidation documents and neatly piled them together under everyone's gaze.

"Rip—"

In front of Richard, Lu Ze tore the entire document in half without any expression.

"I need you, right now, immediately, to use your Goldman Sachs vice president's exposure limit to take over one of my large options transactions."

Lu Ze's voice was as cold as iron.

Richard jerked his head up, his pupils contracting sharply: "Options...? What options?"

Lu Ze leaned back in his chair, his deep eyes like an abyss:

"First, immediately withdraw the margin call notice against Yuanxing Capital."

Second, unfreeze the remaining US$5,124,782.33 in the Farstar Capital offshore account.

"Third, this $512 million will serve as the entire premium. I will purchase Bear Stearns put options from Goldman Sachs' options counter."

Richard was stunned. John, the legal counsel, and Emilia, the risk manager, were also stunned.

Bear Stearns?

Richard's mind raced, and he blurted out,

"Its stock closed at $63.47 yesterday! What strike price do you want to buy?"

"Strike price: $25."

Lu Ze leaned forward slightly, like a madman throwing all his chips at the poker table.

Expiry date: March 21, 2008.

Dead silence.

An eerie silence fell over the conference room.

After a brief moment of astonishment, the despair and fear in Richard's blue eyes suddenly receded like a tide, replaced by an uncontrollable, extremely greedy ecstasy!

He was screaming inwardly: Has this kid lost his mind?!

今天是3月1日。 距离3月21日只剩下不到三个星期！贝尔斯登作为华尔街第五大投行，市值高达110亿美元，股价还在63块钱以上！

To expect the stock price of this 85-year-old financial giant to plummet by more than 60% to $25 in just 20 days? That's less likely than a comet hitting Manhattan!

In option pricing models, such deep out-of-the-money end-of-term options are practically worthless!

If Goldman Sachs acts as the counterparty, selling these put options to Lu Ze.

This means that as long as Bear Stearns' stock price does not fall below $25 by March 21, Lu Ze's $512 million will be completely wiped out.

Goldman Sachs, or rather the trading desk managed by Richard, will make a pure profit of $512 million!

This isn't extortion at all; it's a "free lunch" that fell from the sky!

"Lance..." Richard suppressed his wildly beating heart, swallowed hard, and tried to make his voice sound strained.

"If you just want to do this deal, I can use my VP privileges to directly take your order through an over-the-counter block trade. I can even bypass the cumbersome compliance department review. But are you sure you want to throw your last 500 million down the drain?"

"That's my business."

Lu Ze looked at him coldly.

"I not only want you to accept the order, but I also want you to promise that this transaction will be a 'naked sell' on your trading platform, without needing to hedge Delta in the spot market. Are you willing to accept?"

Richard almost burst out laughing.

Go to the spot market to borrow securities and short sell to hedge risks? Are you kidding me! Hedging comes at a cost.

He simply did not believe that Bear Stearns would collapse, and he wanted to take all of the $512 million in profits into his department's performance!

With this windfall, he can not only fill the previous hole, but also get that sky-high year-end bonus this year!

"Okay! I'll take it!"

Richard, fearing that Lu Ze might change his mind, sat up abruptly and grabbed the Montblanc pen from the table.

"Amelia! Connect to the trading floor immediately and generate the electronic contract according to his request! John, prepare the seal!"

Richard's eyes were as fanatical as a gambler who had just taken drugs.

Just five minutes later, a confirmation of a large-volume options transaction bearing the official seal of Goldman Sachs Electronics was placed in front of Lu Ze.

Lu Ze picked up the contract and carefully checked the exercise price, expiration date, and the $512 million premium already paid.

Everything was perfect.

"It's a pleasure doing business with you, Lance." Richard had now fully reverted to his arrogant Wall Street elite demeanor.

He straightened his tie and looked down at Lu Ze.

"Although you used some underhanded tactics to get leverage over me, it turns out you're still a complete idiot when it comes to trading. I'll be celebrating your bankruptcy with champagne on March 21st."

"Yeah?"

Lu Ze stood up and carefully tucked the priceless contract into the pocket of his deep-sea blue suit jacket.

He looked at Richard, a dead man's smile playing on his lips.

"Richard, do you know when a 'free lunch' is most deadly on Wall Street?"

Lu Ze sat down and leaned back in his chair.

"It's like when you think you're the one setting up the game, but you don't realize that the road roller is already in your face."

Richard sneered, "You idiot, what a charlatan. Let's go."

He turned and left with those men.

Outside the window, the torrential rain in Manhattan had stopped, and the sky was so gloomy it seemed to crush the entire city.

Lu Ze watched him quietly until he disappeared from his sight.