The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 408



Only Noblemtl

408. Good misunderstanding (3)

The meaningless conversation continued for over 20 minutes.

Jerry King kept presenting his cards to find out what I wanted.

Every time I shook my head, he secretly handed me the charter fee card.

“I don’t know if Taewoo Group will be interested as it has not entered the shipping industry, but the charter fee contracted with a Korean shipping company can be renewed on its own terms.”

“Did CEO Jerry Wang even have that kind of authority? Isn’t Sespen the company that signed the contract with the Korean shipping company? I understand that the representative there is a member of the Washington family.”

Washington family.

It was a family active in Canada and the United States.

The first president, Danny Washington, was a man of wealth who was often ranked among the richest people selected by economic magazines.

“Sespen is a company co-founded by me and Cale Washington, the eldest son of the Washington family. I also have that level of authority.”

“I see. Then, may I make an interesting suggestion?”

“What is your suggestion?”

“I understand that Sespen and Hyunjin Shipping have a charter contract worth more than $3 billion remaining.”

“For us, they are very grateful customers.”

I’d appreciate it.

Hyunjin Shipping was the customer that signed a long-term contract at a time when charter rates were the most expensive.

Currently, Korean shipping companies were paying as much as 10 times more charter fees, and it was safe to say that most of their sales were being used for charter fees.

The shipping company does the work.

It was the shipowner’s responsibility to make money, and the largest of them was Sespen.

“Korean shipping companies kept wanting to renegotiate charter rates, so I guess they had an intention to do so.”

“In fact, we have no plans to renew contracts with Korean shipping companies. It was decided at a management meeting to maintain the current contracts even if Korean shipping companies go bankrupt.”

The shipping industry was more complicated than expected.

It was a place where the cartel was strong, and it was a place where the entire Korean shipping industry could be pushed off a cliff for the cartel’s benefit.

“But are you saying that you can renew the charter fee contract with me?”

“I can reduce it by about 10%, if not much.”

The day robber is here.

The charter fee is over 10 times higher, but they will only reduce it by 10%.

Of course, Sespen, a party to the negotiations, was not under short selling attack.

It was said that the Chinese shipping company owned by Jerry Wang, one of the co-representatives, was under attack, but the negotiation plan was too weak.

“I told you, right? I’m giving you a very interesting offer. If Hyunjin Shipping goes bankrupt or sells, I’d like to renew the contract at half the price.”

“Does Taewoo Group plan to acquire Hyunjin Shipping?”

“I have no intention of doing so right now. However, if Hyunjin Shipping goes bankrupt, there may be interest. I am making this offer in case that happens.”

It was Jerry Wang who was lost in thought for a moment.

From his perspective, it wasn’t a bad offer.

The money was not going out right away, and the possibility of Hyunjin Shipping going bankrupt seemed almost non-existent right now.

It was Hyunjin Shipping, the center of the Korean shipping industry.

Would the government just let such a company go bankrupt?

You’re probably thinking this.

“Good. If Hyunjin Shipping goes bankrupt and Taewo Group takes over Hyunjin Shipping, we will renew the charter fee at a 50% reduced price.”

“This is a question I am asking just in case. Is this a matter that Representative Jerry Wang can decide on his own without consulting the Washington family?”

“It is a problem that I can fully resolve with my authority. And the Washington family will not necessarily want to create an angle with the Taewo Group.”

The Washington family was not limited to shipping.

Railroad, road, and transportation industries in Canada and the United States.

It was safe to say that it was an American company, and it was not good to have a bad relationship with a company that had entered the US, such as Taewo Group.

Of course, this was me and Jerry Wang’s idea.

It remained to be seen how the Washington family would judge it.

“As long as the contract is concluded, I will immediately persuade the short-selling forces to stop short-selling attacks on CEO Jerry Wang’s company. However, there is nothing I can do if forces other than Wall Street attack.”

“Most of the short sellers attacking our company are Wall Street financial companies. If you do that, we can fully defend ourselves.”

“Then, when can the contract be concluded?”

“Please sign the contract today. As the representative of Sespen, I am signing it myself, so there is no need to doubt its validity.”

Although Sespen’s actual owners are said to be the Washington family.

Legally, the current representative of Sespen was Jerry Wang, so there was no need to question the contract itself.

Problems may arise later.

That was a matter for King Jerry to take care of, and the contract could be activated as is.

* **

two days later.

I came back to Korea.

When I arrived at the airport, the atmosphere was very different from before, perhaps because of MERS.

“The atmosphere in Korea is definitely quite chaotic.”

“The MERS situation is becoming increasingly serious. The number of infected people has not yet exceeded 100, but looking at the social atmosphere, it is recognized as a pandemic-level infectious disease like the new flu.”

MERS was clearly not very contagious.

However, the fatality rate of over 20% stimulated public fear, and all kinds of rumors were spreading.

“The floating population has definitely decreased a lot, and most people are wearing masks.”

“However, measures such as emergency holidays or recommendations to work from home have not yet been taken.”

“I would say the fear is exaggerated compared to the actual damage.”

They were office workers who prioritized going to work over the fear of MERS.

Therefore, compared to the issue, there was no significant change in real life.

It’s just that government approval ratings are falling and distrust is building.

“Chairman, we have arrived.”

I arrived at the financial tower while talking with the planning director.

When I took the private elevator up to the president’s office, a vice president was waiting.

I went into the president’s office with him, sat down on the sofa, and started talking.

“Shall we listen to the situation report?”

“First of all, as instructed by the Chairman, we stopped short selling only for Jerry Wang’s company. All financial companies in the financial tower participated.”

“You didn’t object?”

“There was no opposition at all. Compared to other industries, shipping companies are not that interesting, so everyone agreed without any opposition.”

Half water, half meat.

This was the current situation in the Chinese stock market.

You could make high profits by short selling any stock, so there was no need to risk your life by short selling shipping companies.

“Starting in August, stock prices will fall even more severely. So, be a little more aggressive than you are now.”

“The mainstream opinion in the financial tower is that the explosive decline in stock prices is now over. Although stock prices have fallen somewhat for a few days, there is a feeling that they have stabilized.”

In June and July, the Chinese stock market continued to trend downward.

However, entering August, it continued to rise and fall repeatedly, maintaining a certain level.

“It appears that stock prices have stabilized following the news of the yuan devaluation.”

“That’s right. It is said that the yuan will begin to devalue around August 10th. So, there is talk that short selling must be liquidated and profits realized before August 10th.”

“We are not left out. Any financial company that wants to liquidate can do so. We will continue short selling until January of next year. The liquidation period is February.”

The Chinese stock market will continue to decline until January of next year.

The trade dispute between Korea and China will begin in earnest starting next year, so they had to make the most of it now.

“But it doesn’t seem good to have money tied up for too long.”

“There is no need to realize profits as there is no place to put the funds right now. If you are anxious, liquidate in September and reinvest at the end of the year.”

“Then, we will liquidate about 30% in September and reinvest at the end of the year.”

After meeting Lee Kang, I became convinced that I could short sell more aggressively.

It seemed as if they didn’t care about short selling at all, as long as the high-ranking officials lobbied enough to not be offended.

* * *

The long-awaited August has arrived.

On August 11, the Chinese government implemented measures to devalue the yuan.

This meant that the price of the yuan became cheaper, which was not a good situation for the Korean economy.

In particular, the manufacturing industry suffered a major blow to exports as it lost price competitiveness compared to Chinese products.

I endured it for 15 days like that.

On August 24, the Chinese stock market crashed again.

“Chairman, today alone, the Chinese stock market fell 8.5%. An amount worth 780 trillion won was lost in one day.”

“Financial companies that have liquidated their short sales and realized profits are probably holding on to their stomachs.”

“About 60% of financial tower financial companies are following us and continuing to short sell, but close to 40% have been liquidated.”

I can set the table for you, though.

It was the responsibility of financial companies to scoop up the slack.

What more can I do for financial companies who choose to put down their cutlery because they are full before even eating the main course?

“Financial companies that stopped short selling may be preparing to jump into short selling again.”

“They came to see me last night and apologized. They say they are going to raise a large amount of money again and proceed with short selling.”

This too was a kind of taming.

I did not order the financial tower to stop short selling.

I just told financial companies that wanted to realize profits to do it themselves.

And now you know.

What happens if short selling is stopped on its own without a stop order being issued?

These financial companies must have realized this on their own because they were missing out on huge profits right in front of their eyes, and they would never make the same mistake again.

“But if 780 trillion won had evaporated in one day, short selling profits would have been quite high.”

“Yesterday, Taewoo Securities alone made a profit of close to 10 trillion won.”

“It’s not bad.”

In fact, the rate of return was never that high.

Considering the funds Taew Group had prepared through this short sale, the rate of return was not satisfactory.

“The amount of money that can be shorted was limited, so the profits were not that high. However, we are making additional profits by targeting the yuan, which is led by Quantum Fund.”

“As the Chinese government continues to devalue the yuan, the profits will be quite good.”

“Because it has not been liquidated yet, the profit that can be made from short selling is at least 100 trillion won.”

A satisfactory answer has finally been found.

A profit of approximately $100 billion was enough to prepare for the future.

Moreover, with the profits earned from the oil war, it seemed unlikely that the Taewo Group would run out of reserves.

“Until the end of the year, Vice President Han can manage his funds as he wants. However, once the end of the year comes, short selling must be resumed.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. And I have one more piece of good news for you!”

“What news?”

“It is said that Centrion has almost succeeded in developing a MERS treatment. It is said that the first clinical trial has been completed.”

I jumped up from my seat.

The news of the development of a MERS treatment was more welcome than when short selling profits of close to 100 trillion won were made.

“We should go to Centrion right now!”