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

The first week of June.

Crude oil is like a bull injected with stimulants. The WTI main contract pushed from $128 to $134 in less than five trading days without any significant pullback. Every slight retracement in the Asian session was absorbed by larger buy orders in the London session, and then pushed up again at the New York opening.

270 Park Avenue, Farstar Capital.

At 10:17 a.m., a bold red notification popped up on the Bloomberg terminal.

[Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke at a Boston Federal Reserve Bank symposium, stating that the Fed will be highly vigilant about upside risks to inflation and will take action to maintain price stability if necessary.]

The coffee cup in Lin Tao's hand was suspended in mid-air.

He quickly pulled up the full text of the speech, his eyes scanning the key phrases: significantly rising inflationary pressures… persistently high energy and food prices… a stable dollar exchange rate is crucial… close monitoring… decisive action…

He worked at Bear Stearns for three years. He knew what it meant for a central bank governor to use such a high degree of hawkish rhetoric.

Crude oil prices immediately fell, dropping from 135 to 133.

Lin Tao stood up and walked towards Isabella's workstation.

Did you see that?

"I saw it." Isabella didn't look up.

"If the Fed does indeed shift its stance, the dollar will strengthen, putting pressure on commodities. Our positions—"

"Go ask the boss," Isabella interrupted him, looking up. "Don't ask me."

Her expression was calm, but Lin Tao had known her long enough to see a very thin tension beneath that calm.

When Lu Ze walked out of the office, he was holding a coffee in his hand, and his pace was neither hurried nor slow.

He glanced at the crude oil price movements and a summary of Bernanke's speech on the large screen, then sat down in the empty chair in the center of the trading room.

He rarely sits in this position. Sitting here means he intends to say something that everyone needs to hear at the same time.

The three people instinctively turned their chairs towards him.

"You've all seen Bernanke's speech," Lu Ze said in an extremely calm tone. "Tell me your judgment."

Lin Tao spoke first: "If the Federal Reserve really shifts to tightening, it will put significant pressure on crude oil. A stronger dollar and contracting liquidity—"

"There won't be a shift," Matt interjected, "at least not in the short term. The credit markets are still deteriorating, Bear Stearns just died three months ago, and they wouldn't dare raise rates now. Today's speech was about managing expectations, not announcing action."

Lu Ze looked at Matt and nodded.

"Matt is right. Bernanke's words today were a warning sign to the market, not a threat. He's telling those who are long on commodities—I see you, don't go too far. But he won't actually change interest rates. Not because he doesn't want to, but because he doesn't dare."

Lin Tao breathed a sigh of relief.

"So, what about our position—"

"I've started losing weight."

The way Lu Ze said those three words was exactly the same as the way he said "The weather is nice today".

Lin Tao was taken aback.

"Reduce? Now?"

"Starting today, we will gradually reduce our holdings."

"Boss, didn't you just say that Bernanke wouldn't actually raise interest rates? If policy doesn't change, oil prices should still have room to rise in the short term—"

"It has nothing to do with Bernanke."

Lu Ze interrupted him and took a sip of coffee.

"This position has had an exit plan from day one. When it reaches this price range, we start reducing it. Not because of anything that happened today, but because the plan states that we should reduce it when it reaches this point."

He placed the coffee cup on the table next to him.

"Oil prices rose from $105 to $135, nearly 30%. With five times leverage in futures and ten or even dozens of times the return in options, those profits are more than enough."

"With each day we continue to hold, the risk we bear increases, but the marginal return decreases. The risk-reward ratio is no longer the same as when we initially established the position."

He looked at Lin Tao.

"Moreover, this money has a more important use."

The last sentence was spoken very softly. Lin Tao noticed that Isabella's finger paused on the tablet when she heard it.

"How do I lose weight?" Matt asked. He wasn't discussing whether it was right or wrong, just how.

"In batches. Rhythmically." Lu Ze stood up and walked to the large screen.

"From now on, gradually reduce exposure. Do not pre-set specific liquidation prices, and do not try to guess the top. Sell in batches at regular intervals. The core principle is—at any given point in time, the profits already realized must exceed the risk exposure still in the market."

"Futures contracts are sold first, options contracts are sold later. Those deep in-the-money options bought earliest with near-zero costs are saved for last. Whatever the price rises, that's fine; even if it goes to zero, it doesn't matter."

He turned around and looked at the three people.

"The goal is to convert the vast majority of our major positions into cash before oil prices reach a clearly overheated level."

He did not give a specific number.

Lin Tao noticed this. Previously, when Lu Ze issued trading orders, he would usually provide extremely precise parameters—strike price, expiration date, and budget amount. But this time…

He used the words "gradually", "a section", and "the vast majority".

This surprised Lin Tao slightly, but he didn't think much of it. The boss said to reduce the number according to plan, so he would.

"Understood," Lin Tao said.

"There's one more thing."

Lu Ze paused before walking back to his office.

"Don't touch the cash you get from the clearance sale. Don't buy anything. Keep it in the account."

He looked at Isabella.

"Once our positions are reduced to a certain level, we'll sit down and discuss the next steps."

Isabella nodded.

She understood the meaning behind those words—"the next step" didn't refer to the next move in crude oil. It meant a completely different direction.

The door closed.

The sound of keyboards clicking filled the trading room again.

On the big screen, crude oil briefly dipped to $133 after Bernanke's speech, but then began to stabilize and rebound. $134... $134.5...

The market absorbed the warning and continued its upward momentum.

Lin Tao turned back to the screen and began executing the first batch of sell-off orders.

The iceberg is split into two parts, the algorithmic trading system is activated, and the trading volume is controlled within a reasonable proportion of the daily average trading volume, leaving no obvious traces on the order book.

The movements were clean and efficient.

He didn't hesitate at all. Oil prices were still rising to $135, but the boss was cutting prices—that was discipline. Besides, it wasn't a complete sell-off; he was just starting to reduce his exposure in batches. Perfectly reasonable.

The only thing he cared about was Lu Ze's last sentence, "Let's discuss the next step."

This money has a more important use.

What is it used for?

Lin Tao didn't know. But he vaguely sensed that what was about to happen might be far greater than the money he made on crude oil.