My Age of Investment

The next day, evening.

Xia Jingxing said goodbye to Kristina and his son, boarded the Gulfstream private plane, and took off from the San Francisco Airport in the sunset.

After a flight that lasted more than five hours, when the plane landed at New York's LaGuardia Airport, the sky outside was already pitch black.

When Xia Jingxing stepped off the plane from the gangway and stepped on the ground, he subconsciously raised his hand and looked at the time on his watch.

The hour hand has just passed the number "12". To be precise, it is already twelve o'clock and one minute.

A brand new day!

Xia Jingxing walked out of the airport with excitement and saw Liu Hai who came to greet him late at night.

It was late at night, and there was no trace of sleepiness on Liu Hai's face, and his whole person looked extremely excited.

As soon as they met, he took Xia Jingxing's hand and said, "There has been news from many parties that Lehman Brothers is dead this time!"

Xia Jingxing nodded slightly, indicating that he already knew the news.

In fact, Blankfein and Mack had informed him of this "insider" information yesterday in order to outsell him.

On the night he left for the United States from Hong Kong Island, a dinner party was held at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York.

Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Paulson, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, Citigroup, Mellon Bank and a large number of well-known investment and commercial bank CEOs attended the meeting.

The theme of the meeting was only one: saving Lehman.

Treasury Secretary Paulson was the first to make a statement: As the plenipotentiary representative of the president, the government will not use taxpayers’ money to rescue Lehman.

These words made Fuld's blood pressure soar on the spot!

However, Paulson still gave Lehman a glimmer of hope. With the dignity of the finance minister, Paulson persuaded the major CEOs present on the spot to give money to the wealthy ones.

Everyone was more respectful to the Finance Minister and did not refuse bluntly. They said that the matter could be discussed, but they also made a request: to see Lehman's family background first.

The surprise audit lasted several hours and the quality of Lehman's assets scared off most investment banks.

Now they are like a Bodhisattva crossing the river, and they really have neither the intention nor the ability to help their good brother Lehman.

Among many investment banks, only Bank of America expressed interest.

Just at noon the day before yesterday, when lawyers from both sides started drafting the agreement, Bank of America suddenly broke the contract and stated that it would not acquire Lehman because they were going to rescue Merrill Lynch. Merrill Lynch offered a purchase price that they could not refuse.

Fuld was angry and helpless about this. He tried his best to save Lehman. As a result, Bank of America and Merrill Lynch knew each other, got together, and used the platform he built to complete the transaction.

In desperation, Fuld placed his last hope on the British bank Barclays.

The day before yesterday afternoon, Lehman and Barclays signed an intention to acquire the agreement.

But a few hours later, the British Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) rejected the transaction on the grounds that the risk was too high.

The British's behavior was another kick in the teeth for Lehman Brothers, which was on the edge of the cliff.

Because this is equivalent to the British official endorsement, saying that Lehman has serious problems.

Who the hell would dare to buy it?

Therefore, no matter how loud Fuld shouted, no one came to rescue Lehman.

Just yesterday, Bernanke issued an ultimatum to Fuld: the government will not rescue Lehman Brothers, and will use Lehman as a typical case to warn those reckless and misbehaving institutions in the market.

At this point, Lehman Brothers, who was already in the ICU ward, failed to receive emergency treatment for 48 hours, the electrocardiogram stopped beating, and the countdown to bankruptcy entered.

Well-informed people, including Xia Jingxing and Liu Hai, received relevant news yesterday.

"Tell me, what is Fuld doing now?"

After getting into the car, Xia Jingxing asked Liu Hai, who was sitting in the back seat with him.

"I heard that an emergency board of directors is convening to discuss the bankruptcy conditions proposed by the Federal Reserve."

Liu Hai raised his hand and glanced at his watch, "The meeting that started at seven o'clock yesterday evening has been held for more than five hours, and it should be almost over!

As soon as the meeting ends, the bankruptcy news should be officially announced to the outside world. "

Xia Jingxing smiled and said, "Their board meeting is very long, from evening to midnight."

"After all, this is the last board meeting, so it's good to say goodbye."

Liu Hai had a teasing look on his face, and at this moment, his spirit that had been suppressed for more than half a year finally relaxed.

I think they were nervous when they shorted Lehman. After all, this is a century-old company and a well-known top investment bank on Wall Street.

But with the release of the second quarter financial report, Lehman officially began to take off its fig leaf, the stock price plummeted, and both Vision Capital and Greenlight Capital made a fortune.

The short-selling behavior against Lehman did not stop after that. Not only were their two hedge funds aggressively short-selling, but other institutions also joined the short-selling army and beat up the lost dog together.

The market trend is like this. Wherever there is an opportunity to make money, just go wherever it is. There is no friendship or stance at all.

A few days ago, Lehman released its third-quarter financial report. This time, the loss was as high as US$3.9 billion, which was US$1.1 billion more than the US$2.8 billion loss announced in the second quarter.

The market was in turmoil, and Lehman's stock price plummeted from more than a dozen dollars to $3.65, which was a complete death knell for Lehman.

At this moment, Fuld began to let go of his dignity, let go of all psychological baggage, and hurriedly sent out a distress signal to all the forces that could ask for help.

"The collapse of Lehman Brothers will have a huge chain reaction on the market."

Liu Hai murmured to himself that with the series of critical attacks, Lehman's stock price had already hit the bottom, and Vision Capital's short-selling profits were basically locked in.

However, compared to the investment in Lehman, more of Vision Capital's funds were invested in a series of derivatives such as shorting bank stocks, buying put options, and shorting indices and stock index options.

How much profit can be achieved depends on the size of the storm caused by the fall of Lehman's body.

President Xia Jing exhaled, "The market will open in about nine hours, and all the answers will be revealed."

Liu Hai nodded slightly and didn't ask any more questions. In fact, he already had the corresponding answer in his heart, but he felt it was a bit too dreamy!

"Oh, by the way, how is the situation on Hong Kong Island? I heard that the battle is very stalemate? Lehman's fall should break the balance, right?"

Xia Jingxing glanced at Liu Hai and smiled faintly, "Some people outside said that the Li family was about to start a short squeeze, which made it impossible for me to close the position.

What if they withstand this financial tsunami and raise the stock price? "

Liu Hai smiled and said, "Even if the Li family has the will and the power, the market is not opened by their family, and they cannot control people's hearts and market confidence."

"Keep reading, the fun has just begun!"

…………

…………

The next day.

Early in the morning, Xia Jingxing arrived at No. 40 Wall Street Building, ready to witness the miracle.

Compared with usual days, employees were extremely active today.

Even those who are concentrating on their work can't help but chat with their colleagues at this time.

"Have you heard? At one o'clock this morning, Fuld officially declared Lehman bankrupt!"

"I've heard about it a long time ago. I was still discussing this matter with my friends in the middle of the night! To be honest, I still feel that this news is a bit like an April Fool's Day joke. Why did Lehman collapse just because he said it?"

"Whether it fails or not depends on whether the government is willing to rescue it! Lehman is a bit unlucky. The government has continuously bailed out Bear Stearns, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and has been criticized by public opinion, so Lehman can only become a victim. .”

"Lehman concealed it too deeply. If the risks had been disclosed earlier, like Bear Stearns did, it might have gone ashore long ago."

"Ford is entirely to blame!"

…

As soon as Xia Jingxing walked into the office area, he heard the chirping sounds of the employees.

However, when this group of people saw the big boss Xia Jingxing appear, they immediately felt that their throats were being strangled by an invisible hand, and they all closed their mouths.

The office area, which had been extremely noisy before, immediately became quiet.

Liu Hai, who was standing behind Xia Jingxing, walked out and shouted loudly: "Turn on all the TVs! Quick!"

Upon hearing the order, the employees acted quickly and turned on all the televisions.

Dozens of televisions are hung in the office hall that covers thousands of square meters, and all of them are playing the same picture.

Countless news and broadcast interview vehicles were jammed under the Lehman Brothers office building, with all kinds of guns and cannons aimed at the door of the building, filming Lehman employees who kept holding cartons and dragging suitcases out.

The faces of these financial talents who have lost their jobs no longer have the bright look of the past. They all have their heads lowered, their eyes are dull, and their expressions are numb, just like walking corpses.

Some people cried softly and hugged their colleagues at the company door to say goodbye.

Thick and dense crowds of laid-off workers scattered on the streets, blocking traffic.

Because there were so many people leaving Lehman Brothers, the police also dispatched a lot of police force to maintain the order on the scene.

The two workers looked frustrated and took down the signboard with "Lehman Brothers" from the door of the building...

Including Xia Jingxing, everyone in the New York office of Envision Capital silently watched the scenes on TV, and their hearts were greatly shocked.

Lehman Brothers, which was founded 158 years ago, ranks 132 in the Fortune Global 500, and has total assets of nearly US$700 billion, has really collapsed!

After watching the live TV broadcast for more than ten minutes, Liu Hai suddenly clapped his hands and said with a serious expression: "The market will open in half an hour. Now everyone should return to their respective jobs immediately.

What happened to Lehman tells us that nothing is too big to fail. If you want to survive on Wall Street, you have to work harder and harder than others! "

Hearing these words, all the employees felt a chill in their hearts. It is foreseeable that Wall Street will become more and more involved in the future. What about promotions and salary increases? It would be good if you can keep a stable job and not lose your job.

A company like Vision Capital that also pays out generous bonuses makes every position lucrative!

Soon, everyone returned to their respective posts, looking at the screens in front of them, waiting for the market to open.

At 9:30, US stocks officially opened.

In just nine minutes, Lehman Brothers' share price flashed from $3.65 to 29 cents, a 92% plunge.

The three major indexes have recorded their largest single-day point declines in seven years since the September 11 attacks.

The Dow Jones Index fell 504.48 points, or 4.42%.

The S\u0026P 500 index fell 58 points, or 4.6%.

The Nasdaq index fell 81.36 points, or 3.6%.

American International Group AIG's stock price fell 60.8% that day, and its market value of US$18 billion evaporated out of thin air.

Bank of America shares fell 21.3%.

Goldman Sachs fell 12.1%.

Morgan Stanley fell 13.5%.

Wachovia Bank fell 25%.

…

This was a day full of darkness and turmoil, so it was also called "Black Monday."