The Fourth Financial Crisis

Seeing that both Li Qingning and Yang Lu were shocked by the financial report produced by themselves, He Mingyuan's smile became more and more confident.

However, what he didn't know was that what Li Qingning hated most was that others looked down upon her. She directly characterized He Mingyuan's confident smile as a mockery of her own lack of ability.

So Li Qingning slammed the account book on the conference table and asked loudly: "Manager He, your Luoxia City branch has hardly contributed any profit to the headquarters in the past three years since its establishment. Don't you have your own problems here? ?”

The eldest lady couldn't find any objective questions, so she began to directly question the other party's motives.

However, Li Qingning's performance with a fierce look and a soft heart cannot deter He Mingyuan, a business veteran with more than 20 years of experience.

Hearing Li Qingning's heart-wrenching question, He Mingyuan was not afraid, but responded loudly: "Miss, this is a cruel commodity market! If the money in the commodity market is so easy to make, all traders can make sure profits without losing money. How can there still be poor people in this world?"

He Mingyuan was actually changing the concept secretly.

Commodity markets are indeed cruel, but only for speculators.

The Qingning Chamber of Commerce is a trader who engages in physical transactions. Although such traders cannot make huge profits like speculators, they are not unable to make no money for two consecutive years.

He Mingyuan seemed to know that there were loopholes in his logic. He did not give Li Qingning any time to react, and pursued the victory: "I, He Mingyuan, have worked hard for so many years. I purchased all goods according to the market and did not embezzle a penny from the Qingning Chamber of Commerce. You can replace me with someone else. There is no way this chamber of commerce can handle matters better than me!"

Manager He's impassioned speech, combined with his clean account books, made him look like a national hero who was unjustly killed by a foolish king.

Li Qingning pursed her delicate little mouth, stared at He Mingyuan for a long time, and finally sat down in his seat: "Is it true that the Qingning Chamber of Commerce is unlucky, and every time it purchases grain, it catches up with the high price of grain?"

Seeing that Li Qingning's attitude softened, He Mingyuan said with a sincere expression: "Miss, this is why the Haiya Chamber of Commerce never engages in procurement in person, but outsources the procurement business to major suppliers. This is all to avoid price fluctuations. Profitability is uncertain. In business activities, victory or defeat is a common occurrence in military affairs. No one can succeed casually!"

Li Qingning sat blankly on the chair. She looked a little lost, and it was obvious that the loss of more than 10,000 spirit stone coins had hit her hard.

She really couldn't understand why she couldn't make any money even in such an open and transparent business as food procurement?

Obviously other chambers of commerce can more or less make some hard-earned money!

Is it really because of my bad luck?

Li Qingning's mood was already a little depressed because of Li Qingyang's incident. After learning about the huge losses in the grain trade of Luoxia City Branch, she felt even more depressed, and subconsciously turned to Yang Lu for help.

Seeing the eldest lady's pitiful look on the verge of tears, Yang Lu knew it was his turn to appear.

He took the account book and glanced at it briefly, then threw it aside and clapped his hands softly: "I didn't realize that there is such an honest and upright cadre like Manager He in our Qingning Chamber of Commerce! "

As if he didn't hear Yang Lu's sarcasm, He Mingyuan said righteously: "When I was down and out, it was the eldest lady who personally promoted me from the market to the chief steward of the Luoxia City branch. For this kindness, I, He Mingyuan, will live forever. Unforgettable! Sharing the worries of the eldest lady and the Qingning Chamber of Commerce is exactly what I, He Mingyuan, should do!"

He Mingyuan's upright face, coupled with his brilliant and upright speech, is simply a model actor on earth.

Yang Lu lightly knocked on the table, interrupted the other party's impromptu performance, and said with a smile: "Grain trading is highly standardized. If all transactions are spot transactions, the cost fluctuations will be too drastic. Not to mention the Qingning Chamber of Commerce, I guess The vast majority of downstream merchants will go bankrupt as a result..."

Seeing that Consultant Yang, who had never spoken out, finally took action, He Mingyuan quickly cheered up and asked: "Commodity prices fluctuate with supply and demand. This is natural. I wonder what Consultant Yang has to say?"

Yang Lu looked at He Mingyuan meaningfully and said slowly: "As far as I know, most of the grain transactions in Luoxia City are not based on the spot price, but are settled based on the forward contract price signed in advance between the buyer and the seller. To avoid large fluctuations in food prices in the future and causing unnecessary losses to major chambers of commerce, I don’t know if I’m right?”

Li Qingning obviously didn't know that there was such a thing, and immediately cast suspicious eyes on He Mingyuan.

The professional level of the questioner can be seen through the questions raised by Yang Lu. The specific affairs questions raised by Yang Lu were obviously of a higher level than Li Qingning's "air versus air" questions, which made He Mingyuan feel nervous.

However, his "righteous face" remained unchanged, and he spoke generously: "Manager Yang is indeed familiar with the ways of bulk commodity trading. Yes, many grain purchasers will sign purchase contracts with manufacturers in advance for the next few months. Lock in future transaction prices. Our Qingning Chamber of Commerce has also done this before. For example, last year we signed four forward purchase contracts, and the year before last we also signed three forward purchase contracts, which are recorded in our account books."

Yang Lu asked with interest: "Oh? Then why didn't you sign a forward purchase contract this time?"

Regarding this issue, He Mingyuan was also prepared.

"There is also a problem with the forward contract!" He took a deep breath and slowly explained, "The Luoxia City branch received a purchasing request from the headquarters seven months ago, requiring us to purchase 20,000 tons of japonica rice. It was delivered to the Haiya Chamber of Commerce every month. At that time, the spot price of japonica rice was about 4.1 yuan per ton, which was much higher than the historical average."

Li Qingning is not a completely hands-off shopkeeper. He still has an understanding of the general situation of the japonica rice trade.

She nodded and confirmed He Mingyuan's statement: "Yes, in previous years, the price of japonica rice rarely exceeded 4 yuan of spirit stone coins."

He Mingyuan and Li Qingning agreed with his statement, and continued to introduce: "According to the regulations of Luoxia City's grain trading, when signing a forward contract, we as the buyer must increase the price to complete the transaction. This is the so-called forward premium. Therefore, the forward contract was signed at that time The comprehensive cost of the futures contract has reached as high as 4.6 yuan of spiritual stone coins per ton of japonica rice. Compared with the price quoted by the Haiya Chamber of Commerce of 5 yuan of spiritual stone coins, the profit margin is only 8%."

Li Qingning raised her eyebrows and said, "You think the profit margin of this transaction is too low, so you bet on the price of japonica rice falling?"

"Young lady is wise!" He Mingyuan looked ashamed and bowed his head to apologize, "Due to the high cost of storing japonica rice and the high warehouse rent, and the price of japonica rice at that time was at a historical high, we judge that the spot price of japonica rice is unlikely to rise above 4.6 yuan. , the spot price is more likely to fall, so we refuse to sign a forward contract... It’s a pity that God doesn’t fulfill his wishes!”

According to He Mingyuan, because the spot price of japonica rice was too high when the Haiya Chamber of Commerce placed the order, after careful consideration, he decided not to sign a forward contract, but to purchase in the spot market at that time. As long as the spot price of japonica rice does not increase in the next six months, Above 15%, He Mingyuan's decision can significantly increase the profits of the chamber of commerce.

Unfortunately, unforeseen circumstances, such as sudden floods, caused the price of japonica rice, which was already at a historically high level, to once again experience a rare surge. This has led to the current passive situation of the Qingning Chamber of Commerce.