Reinventing the Millennium

The conference hall on the 21st floor of Hang Lung Tower fell into silence as Mr. Fang announced his short position on Lehman.

As the first Chinese concept stock to be shorted in the United States, its press conference today was worth the money paid by media reporters!

Short? Counter short selling?

Putting aside whether Mr. Fang’s data and logic were correct, his move exceeded most people’s expectations!

However, in Zhihu's "Guide to Jiangshan", there is indeed an answer suggesting that Mr. Fang should short Lehman. However, such scattered articles are more like a gimmick and did not attract much attention.

At this moment, the reporters who were responsible for Zhihu's front-line experience officers all flashed in their minds the answers they had seen before - were they really guessed? Isn’t Mr. Fang too contentious?

No, it’s not all guesswork. Mr. Fang didn’t want one person to short Lehman. According to his intention, he wanted to bear the losses himself and let more people do the shorting together!

The participants were thinking about the "AAA priority" marked and reminded by Mr. Fang. Although they are not yet clear about the mystery in it, if it is true as Mr. Fang said, it is not impossible to short Lehman in an "early adopter style". Anyway, Has the highest immunity from breach of contract.

"Thank you for your attention to Yike. I believe that Yike can bring products that are more popular with consumers."

Fang Zhuo’s conventional last sentence ended the press conference’s presentation.

This also means that it’s time for the media’s favorite part to ask questions.

Mr. Fang raised his hand to drink tea, and all the reporters in the audience raised their hands to ask questions enthusiastically.

"Everyone is very enthusiastic. I really don't know which media to choose." Fang Zhuo put down his cup, glanced at the conference hall hesitantly, and said relaxedly, "Just this friend from Sina."

whispering sound……

The voices of the majority of people at the scene turned into smiles on the faces of Sina reporters, regardless of whose family Mr. Fang belonged to!

After he stood up, he was not polite at all: "Mr. Fang, do you think your shorting of Lehman will have the same impact on its stock price as Lehman's shorting of Yike?"

Judging from the current situation, neither Lehman report nor the two reports have had much effect.

Even if Wall Street giants are short-selling, what impact will Mr. Fang's suspected anger-making behavior have?

"There is no basis for what I say. Just put the stock prices of the two companies there and let's see." Fang Zhuo changed the topic, "If Lehman has the ability, let's see if the stock price of Lehman goes up and I can blow up my principal. "

There are many ways to short U.S. stocks. This time, Bank of China used a method that is directly linked to the stock price, borrowing stocks from brokers, selling them and then buying them back at maturity.

The current stock price of Lehman is around US$81, which is at a relatively high level since its listing. Even if it can rise in the future, the loss of principal will hardly be enough to liquidate the position. This is the difference between short selling of individual stocks and futures with built-in leverage.

The answers given to the Sina reporter's questions made everyone feel that this was Mr. Fang's move after he was angered. The bottom line for ordinary people to lose money is absolutely different from Mr. Fang's.

The second questioner came from China Securities Journal. The reporter asked about the compliance of this method: "Mr. Fang, what you said is to launch financial products through Bank of China so that they can face a wider group of financial management users. Is this true?" Suspected of violating regulations?”

If you say it will be launched, it will be launched. Is Bank of China run by your family?

Oh, is it the Bank of China where Mr. Fang serves as a director?

Let’s ask about the violation.

Faced with such an inquiry, Fang Zhuo replied seriously: "It must be in compliance, otherwise I would not say it on such an occasion. Generally speaking, this is a cooperation between Bank of China and Bank of China. I personally think it is relatively meaningful."

He has repeatedly communicated with the Bank of China and the Bank of China in the past few days to ensure that there will be no problems in this regard.

In fact, China is gradually relaxing restrictions on QDII investment entities, investment types, investment markets and foreign exchange purchases. As a bridgehead, Xiangjiang is also encouraged to cooperate with mainland banks to expand its business.

This is an encouraged approach, but it seems quite new when applied to shorting Lehman.

This is not the only thing that is trendy today. Media reporters are not familiar with the situation of U.S. housing prices, CDOs in the subprime debt market, and the development and cooperation of smartphone systems... These were all mentioned in the press conference on the "short selling incident". It seems that the amount of information is too dense.

Some reporters from well-known media and major newspapers did not have relevant majors, but many financial reporters who were full of confidence and knew about the short selling of U.S. stocks in advance were a little timid. After being called out by Mr. Fang, the questions they asked were more conventional.

It must be the "Apple Daily" from Hong Kong that is ambitious. After finally being called on, its reporter immediately asked a question that was more closely related to today's theme. He asked aggressively: "Mr. Fang, is there any financial fraud in Yike?" ?”

"It's strange that Lehman's short selling didn't even mention the words financial fraud. Why do you ask that?" Fang Zhuo wondered and gestured, "Oh, which media company are you from? How did you get in?"

Soon, the reporter was asked out of nowhere by a half-sentence of "Of course it's because Yike's financial report is about..." and a half-sentence of "What are you doing? I'm a media reporter."

Only two Xiangjiang media outlets have applied for today's press conference, one is "Xiangjiang Wenhui Daily" and the other is "Oriental Daily". I don't know how this company with the "Apple Daily" business license got in.

This small incident made many reporters look unhappy.

Fang Zhuo explained kindly: "Since the rules have been set, we must abide by them. There should be no uninvited media friends here, right? I'm not angry about his question, but today is a press conference for Lehman short selling. , when I have time another day, I will hold a 'Some Hong Kong media are listening to the wind or rain press conference', and then I can answer his questions."

Reporters from "Wen Wei Po" and "Oriental Daily" looked at each other, wondering if they wanted to address "some Hong Kong media". After hesitating for a while, they remained silent and did not express their opinions. The reputation of "Apple Daily" is not very good.

A reporter from the Sohu Portal raised the slightly awkward atmosphere with a question: "Mr. Fang, I heard that Lehman was shorting Yike. There is also some grudge between you and Lehman head Fuld. Whether it is Lehman shorting Yike." Or is it the other way around, is this more of a personal grudge?"

"Ford and I met in New York, and we didn't agree on certain views at the time, but it doesn't seem to be a personal grudge." Fang Zhuo replied, "As corporate decision-makers, we have different views on things. The judgment of opinions and trends often determines the actions of the enterprises below."

"You know Fuld, of course because he is Lehman's Fuld. I don't mind Lehman's short selling, and I believe Fuld won't mind my short selling either."

"Ford is a good man, bless him."

The sudden and polite reply from Mr. Fang made many reporters feel uncomfortable. Just now, he was so aggressive that they were kicked out.

And what’s with this somewhat condescending blessing?

Time is running out, and today I have a lot of doubts in my heart.

Another reporter stood up and asked a relatively vague question: "Mr. Fang, short-selling in response to short-selling. What do you think of short-selling as a financial method? And its impact on Chinese concept stocks in the future?"

With the first Chinese concept stock being shorted, there will definitely be a second one.

This short-selling incident has certain historical significance.

Fang Zhuo took a small sip of tea and muttered: "Short selling can bring profits, so more Chinese concept stocks will inevitably be targeted. For Chinese concept stocks, legal compliance is of course a must. Yes, you can’t just say it’s called a ‘medium concept’, but in reality…”

"The U.S. stock market doesn't know much about distant Chinese companies. They are likely to believe whatever the institutions with the right to speak say, because there is no more convincing channel of contact. This is an objective injustice."

"Because many of Yike's businesses are global, including the services we provide abroad with iMusic, they are also familiar to many consumers and institutions. Therefore, the actions of giants like Lehman only have a modest impact. If If it’s another company, that’s not necessarily the case.”

"It can only be said that we must not only regulate ourselves, but also speak out properly."

As Fang Zhuo said these words, he suddenly wondered whether this would lead to the emergence of short-selling institutions targeting Chinese concept stocks in China. This is actually a blank field that is rarely touched, and there are indeed problems with the business of Chinese concept stocks.

Compared with American institutions, institutions from China may be more persuasive in the U.S. market with their understanding of domestic companies.

Oh, yes, there is also a mainland fund that is suspected of cooperating with Lehman, but I don’t know which one it is yet.

Several regular questions followed one after another, including inquiries about the Yike mobile phone project.

"I have full confidence in Yike's mobile phones. I think this is no less than Yike's decision to choose Sony at the beginning."

"If nothing else happens, everyone will be able to see our mobile phones next year."

"I hope it can surprise everyone."

Fang Zhuo actually hopes that people will ask more questions about mobile phones, but unfortunately the media's interest is not as strong as he imagined.

He showed his friendliness towards the media: "I won't pick on the last two questions. You can discuss what you want to ask in one, and leave the other to Sina."

The question that everyone had discussed was raised, and it was quite unexpected and interesting to Fang Zhuo: "Mr. Fang, if you really make a profit from shorting Lehman, what do you want to do with the money?"

Invest in mobile phone research and development? Regular charity? Improving life like a rich man?

Fang Zhuo thought for two seconds under everyone's gaze before replying: "I want to buy an office building, but I don't know if it's enough."

Well, questions and answers that neither of us guessed.

Finally, the press conference ended with questions from Sina reporters.

"Mr. Fang, what is your most intuitive feeling about Lehman Brothers, a well-known Wall Street investment bank, short-selling Yike Company?"

Fang Zhuo sighed, spread his hands, and gave the last answer, which was also his most real and intuitive feeling: "Lehman is insane!"

Afterwards, President Yike stood up, laughed, and waved goodbye.

This is the end of Yi Ke's press conference.

I don’t know if Mr. Fang’s laughter is so charming, but many media have used Mr. Fang’s last sentence as a title or subtitle.

——"Mr. Fang: Lehman is insane!" 》

——"Lehman Brothers shorted Yike, Fang Zhuo called for counter-short selling!" 》

——"Which one is right or wrong?" Lehman VS Yike? 》

——"A great analysis of Fang Zhuo's views on the U.S. real estate market!" 》

——"Yike joins forces with three major operators and foreign giant Google to form the Open Mobile Alliance! 》

——"A press conference that makes people confused!" 》

——"Why is Mr. Fang laughing?" 》

The press conference was very compact and contained a large amount of information. For a while, except for "President Fang's opposition to shorting Lehman" which occupied the most coverage, reports in other directions were indistinguishable.

Is Yike going to enter the mobile phone market? No, it is the richest man in the Mainland who wants to join the competition.

Is Mr. Fang going to short Lehman Brothers? No, it was Mr. Fang who invited everyone to join us.

Did Mr. Fang ask people to expel reporters from the venue? No, ah no, yes, it’s Mr. Fang.

Major media outlets have reported one after another. The mainstream newspapers have described the incident in a relatively objective manner, while the financial media have stayed up late and worked overtime to analyze foreign real estate and CDOs.

As for the Internet media, the tone is relatively free and enthusiastic.

Zhihu, which was not invited to the scene but has the largest number of part-time reporters, posted several related questions as soon as the press conference ended.

Among these issues involving "mobile phones", "real estate" and "short selling", the most heated debate is the response method of "Mr. Fang's short selling".

Can such short selling work? Is it because of anger?

Except for the Lezi people, the two sides have very different views.

On the one hand, "Why are you shorting Wall Street giants?" "Even the richest man in the Mainland is not enough in front of such giants." "This is a show for the domestic media and audience." "This is a press conference used by Mr. Fang to divert attention." etc.

The other side is "Lehman can do it, but Mr. Fang can't?" "Because he is Mr. Fang" "I think Mr. Fang's data is true" and so on.

Discussions on Zhihu issues are intense, and are gradually heating up with the increase in media coverage.

Substantial investment was born when the two sides got into a real fight.

——"I dare to invest with Mr. Fang and short Lehman. Do you dare to short Yike?"

——"People in New York are short on Yike and have already borrowed securities to go short."

It is difficult to distinguish between high and low by just arguing with words. Different applications of different data can often lead to opposite conclusions. In the end, the real story is about investment returns.

As the co-founder of Zhihu, Xiong Xiaoge paid close attention to the popularity of the website and carefully read the various answers. In the end, he couldn't help but quit.

"Friends, I have always admired Mr. Fang's vision. I discussed the real estate situation in the United States with several friends, and I also believe that there are many bubbles in it."

"Mr. Fang jointly launched financial products with the Bank of China and the Bank of China this time, and the threshold was set very low. I even think this is an extremely meaningful testimony of short selling. This is Mr. Fang's invitation to us. Anyway, it is his capital that will be compensated first. gold."

"Thank you for the invitation. I will invest the 100,000 yuan in my pocket first. From today on, I will post the investment status every month."

"See you in half a year."

A sincere invitation from the richest man in the Mainland to all the fun-lovers and financial managers. This is a real invitation to losers and your gains.

A well-known investor spent all of his 100,000 yuan to live-stream the short-selling process on Zhihu. Suddenly, there was a wave of posts expressing thanks for the invitation and live-streaming the short-selling process.