novelraw Chapter 17 Stocks
Chapter 17 Stocks
In August, pedestrians hurried along the streets of Macau, and the front pages of every newspaper at the roadside newsstands were printed with shocking, bold black headlines: Hang Seng Index Plummets, Soros Shorts, Financial Defense.
Zheng Hui pushed open the door of the Bank of China Macau branch. The lobby was noisier than usual, with many people gathered around the wealth management counters, waving passbooks and receipts, shouting that they wanted to redeem their funds and sell their stocks.
Panic, like the flu virus, spread rapidly through droplets and sweat in this space.
Zheng Hui went straight to the VIP room on the second floor. It was the same young female clerk as last time. She was explaining something to someone on the other end of the phone, her brows furrowed and fine beads of sweat on her forehead.
Upon seeing Zheng Hui enter, she quickly hung up the phone and forced a professional smile: "Mr. Zheng, you've arrived."
Zheng Hui pulled out a chair and sat down, placing the passbook on the marble countertop: "Check the balance."
The female teller took the passbook and her fingers flew across the keyboard.
"Mr. Zheng, after deducting the HK$1.2 million loan issued last time, your account currently has a usable balance of HK$5,384,200."
The 1.2 million yuan has already been transferred to the escrow account designated by the Swan Publishing House; that's the funding for producing one million cassette tapes. The remaining 5 million yuan is Zheng Hui's current total working capital.
"Help me open a securities account."
The female teller paused, her hands still, and looked up, her eyes wide with astonishment: "Now? Mr. Zheng, haven't you seen the news? The Hang Seng Index has already fallen below 7,000 points and is still dropping. Everyone's fleeing for their lives, and you want to enter the market?"
She kindly advised, "Going in now is like catching a falling knife. Our manager always advises clients to hold cash or buy some gold."
Zheng Hui stared at the numbers flashing on the screen.
6820 points, if I remember correctly, this is close to the bottom of 6660.
This month, the Hong Kong SAR government will use the Exchange Fund to enter the market, which is a fund of hundreds of billions of dollars, directly supporting the Hang Seng Index.
This is a national-level financial defense war, and the eve of the war is when gold is everywhere.
"Open an account."
Seeing that she couldn't persuade her otherwise, the female teller stopped talking and took out an account opening form: "Please fill this out. You need to copy the risk disclosure statement."
Zheng Hui picked up a pen and filled it out. Ten minutes later, the account was activated.
"What are you planning to buy? Futures? Shorting Hang Seng Index futures is the most profitable thing right now," she asked tentatively.
Zheng Hui shook his head. Futures? That's gambling. The leverage is too high, and the volatility is too great.
Soros and his ilk are financial crocodiles; they devour people without spitting out the bones. Even a slight fluctuation in the market can lead to a margin call in an instant.
He's going back to the mainland to develop his career, so he doesn't have time to stare at the market every day or pay attention to those nerve-wracking K-line fluctuations.
He wanted stability, so he opened the stock list and focused on three stocks.
HSBC Holdings (0005).
Cheung Kong Holdings (0001).
Hutchison Whampoa (0013).
These three companies are the pillars of stability in the Hong Kong stock market.
The current prices are appalling. HSBC has fallen to an unprecedented low, and Li Ka-shing's Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa are also plummeting along with the broader market.
But in Zheng Hui's memory database, this month, the Hong Kong SAR government will use the Exchange Fund to enter the market and launch that famous financial defense battle.
Government funds will buy these blue-chip stocks regardless of cost, thus propping up the Hang Seng Index.
By this time next year, the prices of these three stocks should at least double.
Moreover, in order to stabilize stock prices and investor confidence, these three companies have been extremely generous with dividends in the past two years, with an annualized return of six to eight percent.
Although he disliked the people in charge of these three companies, Zheng Hui did not hesitate at all.
"Buy HSBC, two million."
"Buy 1.5 million worth of Cheung Kong shares."
"Buy Hutchison Whampoa, HK$1.5 million."
With five million in funds, placed in batches, orders kept popping up amidst the panic selling.
"All transactions completed."
Putting this five million in is like making a fixed deposit. By this time next year, it will have grown to around eight million, plus a dividend of over three hundred thousand.
With this money as a safety net, his development in mainland China had the strongest backing. Even if the cassette tape business failed, even if he lost money making movies later, as long as he had this money, he would always have the capital to turn things around.
"Mr. Zheng, did you buy them all?" The female teller walked over with a glass of water, her voice trembling slightly as she looked at the holdings on the screen.
"I bought it." Zheng Hui stood up, took a sip of water to moisten his dry throat, and said, "Keep an eye on it for me. If there are any dividends, transfer them directly to my current account."
He straightened his collar, turned and walked outside.
"Mr. Zheng, don't you watch the market?"
"No need to look, we'll look at it next year."
……
After finishing his stock business, Zheng Hui didn't stay in Macau. He carried some wine and cigarettes, crossed the border, and boarded a long-distance bus to Fujian.
The bus bumped along the potholed national highway, and the scenery outside the window gradually changed from a bustling city to rolling green hills and red-brick ancient houses.
Fujian, Southern Fujian.
He wants to develop his career in mainland China, to plunge into the murky world of entertainment. He won't be able to do it without a few close, trusted people around him.
He didn't trust the bodyguards and assistants he hired from outside.
In the Minnan region during this era, clans still possess a strong cohesive and binding force. Knowing each other's roots, being related by blood, and the suppression of clan rules make betrayal too costly.
Upon returning to the village, Zheng Hui went straight to his third great-uncle's house.
Uncle San was drying tea leaves in the courtyard when he saw Zheng Hui and put down the bamboo sieve he was holding.
"Ah Hui? Why are you back again?"
Zheng Hui put down the gift box in his hand, which contained two bottles of foreign liquor and several packs of cigarettes.
"Third Uncle, I've come back to ask you for a favor."
When Third Uncle saw the cigarettes, his eyes lit up. He pulled Zheng Hui to sit down at the stone table and poured him a cup of Kung Fu tea: "Tell me, anything the clan can do."
Zheng Hui took a sip of tea, the bitterness followed by a sweet aftertaste: "I need to find two people to come to Guangzhou with me."
"Where are you going?"
"I'll be a bodyguard, and also an assistant."
Zheng Hui put down his teacup: "I'm developing my business in Guangzhou. My business has expanded, and I have a lot of cash flow. But there are many people involved, and it's a lot of work for me. I can't fight against so many people on my own."
I don't trust outsiders; I only trust those introduced by my own clan, those I know well.
Third Uncle nodded and took a puff of his pipe.
"What kind do you want?"
"They should be former soldiers, preferably recently discharged or downsized. They should be honest, discreet, and physically capable. Most importantly, they should have a family and loved ones."
The large-scale military downsizing happened only a few years ago, and now there are talented people from the military in various places.
Third Uncle squinted and thought for a while, then tapped his pipe on the sole of his shoe.
"have."
He stood up and shouted towards the outside of the courtyard wall.
"Afu! Go and call Lin Dashan and Chen Jianguo here!"