readsfreenovel Chapter 179 NDF Closing
Chapter 179 NDF Closing
At nine o'clock in the morning, Sophia pushed open the door to Lingyun's office.
She was carrying three folders, the top one was black with a red label on the side. She didn't knock, but walked in and placed the folder on Ling Yun's desk.
"NDF unrealized profit of $790 million." She opened the black folder, the first page of which was a table: "The average profit of the positions in the Malaysian Ringgit, Indonesian Rupiah, Thai Baht, and Philippine Peso is 420 percent."
Lingyun took the spreadsheet. The numbers were dense, but the key data were highlighted in red: cost basis, current market price, profit/loss ratio, and leverage ratio.
"What about stock index futures?" he asked.
Sofia opened the second folder, which had a blue cover.
"A principal of $6.54 million, leveraged tenfold. Primarily shorting the Thai SET Index and the Philippine PSE Index. Currently showing a profit of $150 million, representing a 23% return."
"Only twenty-three?"
"Countries are intervening." Sofia pulled out the third page. "Thailand announced a ban on short selling financial stocks, Malaysia restricted offshore ringgit trading, and the Indonesian central bank directly intervened to buy stocks. Short selling is becoming increasingly difficult and costly."
She paused, then added, "Moreover, funds are being withdrawn."
Ling Yun raised his head.
"Who's retreating?"
"Some Goldman Sachs funds, two Morgan Stanley products, and several European family offices," Sophia pointed to a note at the bottom of the table. "They started closing positions last week, and the funds are flowing back to the United States."
"What reason?"
"The official reason is risk control. Privately..." Sofia lowered her voice, "there are rumors that a certain country may implement capital controls to restrict the outflow of foreign capital. The rumors don't specify which country it is."
Ling Yun put down the form. He stood up and walked to the window.
He thought for about a minute, then turned to Sofia and gave the order, "Close all positions."
"all?"
"NDF, stock index futures, all Southeast Asian positions. To be completed within one week."
Sofia's pen stopped on the notebook.
"The current profit is just unrealized. If we close the position early, we will actually receive 5% to 10% less due to liquidity discounts and early termination fees."
"I know."
"Moreover, the market may still have room to fall, and Quantum Fund is still increasing its holdings."
"Let them add it." Ling Yun walked back to his desk and circled a date on the calendar: October 8th. "Let's go. Soros is different from us. They represent the will of the United States. Making money by shorting is not their primary goal."
Sofia was puzzled. "Isn't their job just to make money?"
Ling Yun chuckled, "They mobilized so much capital, yet they didn't make as much money shorting as we did. Are they stupid?"
"Why is that?"
"They're not making money, they're making an industry—an industry that money can't buy. Without the financial crisis, businesses wouldn't be short of cash, and there wouldn't be a bankruptcy crisis. Who would sell the goose that lays the golden eggs?"
Sofia looked at him for three seconds, then closed the folder.
"So what should we do?"
"First, liquidate the stock index futures, as they have better liquidity. Liquidate the NDFs in batches, with a daily limit of no more than $100 million, to avoid attracting attention."
"Time window?"
"Five days. All positions will be wiped out by next Monday."
"What should we do with the funds once they're back?"
"Transfer back to the Icecloud account. The Singapore company doesn't need to keep any funds there. US dollars in cash; no investments for now. Cash is the safest option right now." Lingyun sat down, turned on her computer, and said, "We'll look for opportunities after the storm passes."
Sofia quickly jotted notes in her notebook. Her handwriting was small but neat, and each entry was marked with a checkmark.
"There's one more thing," she said, looking up after writing. "Our local Thai trader advised us yesterday to go long on gold as a safe haven. He said he felt the winds were about to change."
"Give him three months' salary as a bonus, then terminate his contract."
Why?
"He knows too much," Ling Yun said. "Moreover, if capital controls are implemented, foreigners will be the primary targets. I don't want anyone revealing our positions in the interrogation room."
Sofia nodded and made another note in her notebook.
When will the closing order be issued?
"Now." Ling Yun took out an encrypted USB drive from the drawer. "Here's the authorization document. You fly to Singapore today to personally oversee the process. Report back to us by phone twice a day, morning and evening."
Sofia took the USB drive. The USB drive was silver and very light.
"What are you worried about?" she asked. "What exactly are you worried about?"
"I'm worried that the money won't be able to get out," Ling Yun said. "If a country announces a freeze on foreign accounts, our money will just become numbers on paper."
"Would this really happen?"
"I don't know," Ling Yun said, "but I can't afford to gamble."
Sofia put the USB drive into a compartment in her bag. She tidied up her folders and stood up.
"I booked an afternoon flight."
"it is good."
The office fell silent. A soft whirring sound came from the air conditioner vents, and the hard drive indicator light on the computer case blinked.
Ling Yun stood up, walked to the small refrigerator in the corner of the office, and took out a bottle of water. The water was cold, and water droplets were condensed on the bottle.
He took a sip and glanced at his watch.
11:20 a.m.
Sofia's plane should have already taken off.
He walked back to his desk and opened another account—the account of Star Technology. It contained $7000 million in cash, the company's operating capital.
He picked up the phone and dialed a number.
"Zheng Bin," he said, "how's things going on your end?"
"I'm in Hong Kong," Zheng Bin's voice came through the receiver. "The atmosphere here is a bit strange. A friend in Thailand said that the central bank is investigating foreign exchange records."
"Have you left yet?"
"Half of them have been evacuated. We'll do as you say, finish the rest this week."
"Um."
After hanging up the phone, Ling Yun sat down in a chair and closed his eyes.
The Southeast Asian financial crisis is still ongoing, but for him, it's over.
Next, it's time to pack up the spoils and then watch the show.
Let's see what happens to those who haven't left yet.
He hoped he was wrong.
Hopefully there will be no capital controls, no frozen accounts, and no foreign capital being exploited.
But he knew he was probably right.
Because history always repeats itself.
It's just a different time and a different place.
He opened his eyes, turned on his computer, and began writing an email.
Recipient: Carly.
Subject: Additional budget for the Star Language Project.
Content: $20 million was allocated from the icecloud account for the expansion of the instant messaging team and server capacity.
Click send.