Chapter 41
Chapter 41
The Black-Haired Investor Who Awakened as a Superhuman 041
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The moment of truth is just around the corner.
Back when I bet against the COVID-19 pandemic using the TVIX volatility index, I predicted a crash, but I couldn't pinpoint the exact date.
But this time, it's different.
The clear deadline of one day before the futures expiration is right in front of me.
Today is the day of reckoning.
9:30 AM.
The moment the regular session began, the lively chat room suddenly went silent.
Everyone is watching the same chart.
The opening price is $17.73.
The curve on the chart trembles slightly each time the number is updated.
In the beginning, it seemed to rise slightly.
'$17.85… $17.90.'
However, that slight increase didn't last even five minutes.
Sell orders poured out like a waterfall in the order book, and new sell orders piled up on top of each other as soon as they were filled.
Even though the chaotic battle unfolding in the order book is irrelevant to me.
For the players here, it was like a full count in the bottom of the ninth inning.
The futures expiration date being just around the corner meant exactly that.
The outcome of the game could be decided by a single swing or a missed swing.
The selling comes down hard like a fastball. The buying is barely holding on with foul tips.
In fact, not only I but many others have been warning about today.
Nevertheless, there are always those who take the opposite position.
For them, today is the day they must prevent the price from falling at all costs.
Ding!―
The notification sound at that moment sounded to me like a foul ball being tipped away.
[Price Alert] WTI: Downward Break of $15
Momentarily, buying pressure came in.
But such a thin line of defense cannot stop the decline.
The price broke through the $15 mark and went further down.
$15.
That price is my entry line, and I'm betting on it falling further.
From the moment it broke through the entry line and went down, the account started to turn red in earnest. I captured the exact moment it touched $14.
[ AlphaHelp (Non-profit Welfare Foundation)
• Investment Funds: $10 million
• Investment Size: $30 million
(3x Leverage)
• Holdings: WTI APR20 15P
• Contract Quantity: 50,000 Contracts
• Market Price: $14
• Purchase Price: $0.2
• Current Price: $0.8
• Valuation: $40,000,000
• Profit/Loss: +$30,000,000
• Return: 300% ]
Just a $1 drop from $15.
The option return reached 300% in an instant.
The reason why the option value jumps several times with just a $1 movement is due to the leverage characteristic of options.
For this reason, people often forget the original purpose of option products and use them as speculative tools.
'If you get the direction right just once, it comes back several times over.'
Of course, in my case, I didn't come to this gambling den to make just a few times my money.
With this account, I need to earn enough to take over the giant pharmaceutical company, Belmont Health.
I have to see it through to the end.
I have to stick to my seat and watch until the moment madness bursts the market.
It was around noon when it sank to a historic price level.
* * *
An emergency was declared on Goldman Sachs' prop trading floor.
"This is fucked up, goddamn it!"
Indignant curses erupted from everywhere.
At the same time, somewhere, something shattered with a crash.
Finally, oil prices touched an all-time low.
The $10.42 recorded on March 31, 1986, reappeared after 34 years.
The problem was that Goldman Sachs' prop team was deeply involved, as it was an event everyone had been waiting for.
The bigger problem was that their strategy was based on the assumption that the historical low would not be broken.
$10.42 had been an absolute support line for over 30 years.
"Everyone calm down. Is there anyone here who doesn't know that it's not going to break easily?"
A senior trader tried to calm the team members with a calm voice.
However, oil prices bounced above the support line and plunged below it repeatedly. It was testing their mentality.
"It's going down again!"
Along with the sound of hitting the desk, the faces of the traders became increasingly hardened.
"It's working, it's going up!"
For a moment, a glimmer of hope flashed in the eyes of the traders.
But that hope didn't last long. The numbers plummeted again, crushing them.
"$10.39… No, $10.35!"
This time, instead of shouting, someone let out a deep sigh.
"Haa… It's going to break at this rate. I'm getting out of here."
A moment of silence passed.
And the sound of clicking a mouse followed.
It was the sound of taking a loss and leaving the market.
Normally, opinions would have been divided at such a moment. Some would have said to wait longer, and some would have argued that now was the opportunity.
But this time was different.
Because the situation where Hyun-woo's warning was being realized was unfolding before their eyes.
He said that an unprecedented situation in the history of the capital market would unfold.
If the historical support line was broken, such a thing could really happen.
The fierce battle over the support line lasted for about 30 minutes.
But without any warning—
Probably because other institutions had also surrendered. In the blink of an eye, the numbers plummeted off a cliff.
There wasn't even a small rebound.
In an instant, it fell 50% further from the support line.
Papapapat!—
[Price Alert] WTI: Downward Break of $5
The same alarm window popped up on the trader's monitor in succession.
"5 dollars, is this even possible?"
Someone muttered in disbelief. The trader who said that had already taken a loss and left the market.
If he had held out until the end, he would have lost everything by now.
He swallowed hard and looked around.
Some had let go of the mouse and were half out of their minds, while others had buried their faces in their hands and were only breathing raggedly.
They seemed to have no more thoughts of doing anything, nor the energy to do so.
Everyone took losses and escaped.
There were individual differences in how many percent or tens of percent were lost, but in any case, they had escaped before the vortex had swept through.
For them, the current loss was not simply a minus expressed as a number.
It was surviving.
That was the most important meaning.
There was no reason to panic.
Rather, now was the time to be grateful for being alive.
It was natural to feel like it was a blessing to have gotten out before losing everything.
So the atmosphere on the floor wasn't too bad.
But just one person.
Eric was different.
Eric was staring at the monitor with a pale face.
"Are you crazy? You're still holding on? Are you out of your mind? Huh? You even added to your position."
Even the jeering from around him was not heard by Eric.
Eric couldn't hear those jeers right now. He was just constantly muttering to himself.
'Just as $10.42 had been the support line for over 30 years, now it's $5.
The absolute historical low that will never be broken has been rewritten. If you hold on, it will recover. If you hold on. If you hold on. If you hold on…….'
At that time, Eric's liquidation price was $0.
He bet everything.
In the end, he had pushed in all of his operating funds.
'Even if humanity goes to hell, will it really go to zero dollars? It's crude oil, not something else. Only idiots are losing money and running away, I'm safe.'
He firmly believed.
That those who had left the market now were just losers who had succumbed to fear.
That he was the only winner left with reason.
'Just you wait. Hyun-woo, I'll show you that he's not the real deal this time.'
* * *
Not only Eric, but also Hyun-woo's former colleagues at Goldman Sachs.
As is typical of an industry where the success of others feels like one's own failure, there were an increasing number of people who, even if they didn't know Hyun-woo personally, wanted him to fall.
At least they wanted his reputation to be tarnished.
Kyle Huntington, who runs the traditional Lucrezia Partners and has numerous Family Offices under his wing, was one of those people.
So he hoped that Hyun-woo's warning was wrong and expected oil prices to hold steady.
But.
'Did he get it right again? Damn it.'
Oil prices broke the historical low of $10 and fell to $5.
As Hyun-woo predicted, the capital market was facing an unprecedented situation in history.
Kyle's stomach was turning more and more at the thought that Hyun-woo's name would rise even higher now.
Even now, people were already excitedly calling Hyun-woo 'Michael Burry 2.0'.
Michael Burry.
The one who predicted the subprime mortgage collapse during the 2008 financial crisis and made huge profits by shorting.
He made accurate judgments based on data at a time when everyone was ignoring the crisis, and that strategy is being talked about like a textbook.
But Hyun-woo has succeeded twice in a row in doing something that is difficult to do even once in a lifetime.
Now, rather, Michael Burry will be called 'Hyun-woo 2.0'.
Kyle's head became hot, so he jumped up from his seat and headed to the bathroom. He took a large amount of cold water in his palms and splashed it on his face.
But unlike his face, which was cooled by the water, his head could not be calmed down at all.
The suppressed thoughts eventually leaked out of his mouth.
"He's not going to stop until he's finished. Either he dies, or I do."
Looking at his reflection in the mirror while saying that made him even more nervous.
Wet hair was sticking to his forehead.
His eyes were burning with an inexplicable anger. It was as if he was looking at someone he hated the most.
'Why do I have to be like this because of that one young punk?'
Kyle burst into resentment and spat at the mirror.
"Just die."
The voice was low, but the murderous intent contained within was as thick and clear as poison.
He glanced at the mirror one last time and turned around.
When he put on a slight smile on his still-expressionless face.
Partners gathered around him one by one.
"Please make a decision quickly."
Kyle made an even brighter smile and replied.
"We'll go in for a buy at the zero dollar mark."
A moment of silence passed, but Kyle continued.
"Have you heard the news from Wall Street? There's talk that AlphaMind is looking even lower."
For a moment, Kyle clenched his teeth.
'How dare you.'
Hyun-woo Na?
Of course, he's a figure who's been making headlines on Wall Street lately.
But in Kyle's eyes, he was just a small fry that couldn't be compared in terms of operating scale.
Kyle then realized. The reason why he was so nervous about such a small fry.
Not only is a rookie small fry becoming a hot topic across the sea, even in his territory.
But also because it's emerging as a topic that questions his judgment—
But Kyle was a man who could thoroughly hide such feelings.
Rather, with skillful skill, a wonderful smile was drawn on his handsome face.
"Hieon is a friend who makes a living by shorting. What can't he say?"
Kyle said calmly.
"Crude oil is the heart that moves the world. Zero dollars means that the heart has stopped, but that's a story that can't become a reality."
So when that price comes, you have to take it.
Because, as some say, there is always opportunity in crisis.