ryethenovel Chapter 402 911
Chapter 402 911
September 11, 2001, around 9 p.m.
Jinan, Xinghuo Group office building.
It was already dark; there were no stars, no moon, and the clouds hung low.
But Ling Yun was still sitting at his desk, his computer screen lit up, showing a live CNN broadcast. The screen showed the New York skyline, with two skyscrapers billowing thick smoke, black plumes of smoke shooting straight into the sky, turning the blue sky gray. The camera was shaking, and someone was shouting, but it was impossible to make out what they were shouting. At the bottom of the screen, a news clip scrolled, white text on a red background: "America Under Attack".
Ling Yun was looking at the screen when the phone suddenly rang. He glanced at the caller ID; it was an American number. He answered it.
"Mr. Ling," Sophia's voice came through the receiver, trembling slightly, "New York has been hit by a terrorist attack, and the stock exchange is closed. We don't know when it will reopen."
"Okay, I understand. I'm watching the news." Ling Yun watched the news footage, which cut to the Pentagon, where a corner of the building had collapsed and was smoking. The camera then cut back to New York, where people were running in the streets, shouting loudly, and the scene was chaotic.
But Sophia's focus was clearly not on the attack. She was trembling slightly, unable to suppress her excitement. "Mr. Ling, we're going to make a fortune from this short selling. When the stock market reopens, it will definitely crash. The fear index has already skyrocketed, the VIX has risen from the twenties to the forties and it's still going up. I just don't know what measures the US government will take, or what the Federal Reserve will do."
Ling Yun said with some disdain, "The Federal Reserve will cut interest rates, and the US Treasury will cut taxes. That's about all the tricks they have; they don't have any new tricks up their sleeves."
Sophia remained noncommittal to Ling Yun's answer, then mysteriously said to him, "Mr. Ling, I have received information that the US government deliberately condoned this attack and escalated the situation, mainly because the military-industrial complex wants to launch a war abroad."
Ling Yun simply said, "The information we receive from public channels is a mix of truth and falsehood; it's just what the US government wants us to see. That's not important. What we should focus on is whether our investments are profitable and how much profit we make."
Sofia asked him, "So what's our next step?"
Lingyun said, "After the market reopens, don't rush to close your positions. Wait a week. On Friday of the week later, close all your positions. Then go long and hold until the end of December. In early January, continue shorting."
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone, then Sophia asked, "Mr. Ling, I want to know why. Why wait a week until Friday to close out the short positions?"
Ling Yun leaned back in his chair, looking at the ceiling, and said, "This week is mainly for the market to digest the panic and the negative news. A week is basically enough time for the market to digest the panic. It's not that the panic is gone, but that it's been mostly digested. Those who wanted to run have run, those who wanted to sell have sold, and those who wanted to lose have lost. Those who couldn't run haven't run, and those who couldn't sell haven't sold."
"Then why short it? Will it rebound so quickly?"
"Once the panic subsides, the market will start to consider how much this event will affect future lives. In reality, the impact isn't that significant; it's just that the US created a rather frightening atmosphere. Once everyone calms down, they'll assess the magnitude of the impact. People will realize they overreacted, and many stocks were unfairly sold off, leading to a rebound. Coupled with the Fed's interest rate cuts and the US government's tax cuts, the market will experience a quarterly rebound."
"But this is not a reversal. A rebound is driven by sentiment, while a reversal requires a change in fundamentals. Currently, the fundamentals haven't changed; the problems remain the same. The internet bubble was too big and hasn't fully deflated. The economy is weak, businesses aren't making money, unemployment is rising, and consumers lack confidence. These problems can't be solved by interest rate cuts or tax reductions. So after the rebound, it will fall again. It will fall until the bubble is completely deflated. Only when the bubble is deflated can it rise again."
Sofia didn't speak. After about ten seconds, she asked, "How long can the rebound last?"
Lingyun said, "It should last for two or three months. From the end of September to the end of December, that should be about it. Starting in January next year, the rebound will end, and it will continue to fall according to the previous trend. By July or August, it should be near the bottom. There are two conditions for building a position: first, the time window, which is next September; second, the index level must be lower than the lowest point of this wave. In September, you can slowly build a position, not all at once, but in batches. Buy a little when it dips, and buy more when it dips further. Don't try to catch the bottom, don't guess the bottom. The bottom is formed by the market, not by guessing."
Sofia said, "I understand."
Ling Yun continued, "The main targets for building positions next September are the tech companies that survived the bursting of the dot-com bubble, such as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Nvidia. We can increase our investment in these companies. Especially with Apple and Google, I will keep my existing shares and continue to buy more. We will not participate in the operations, and the voting rights will continue to be delegated to the CEO."
Sophia replied, "Yes, Mr. Ling, I understand."
Ling Yun asked, "Is there anything else?"
Sofia said, "Recently, many companies have experienced significant cash flow problems due to the bursting of the internet bubble. They have sent us acquisition offers. I think many of these companies are still very valuable, and their technology may provide a technological boost to the owners' industrial investments."
Ling Yun's eyes lit up when he heard this. "Could you briefly introduce which companies are involved, what they do, and what their technological advantages are?"
Sophia explained in detail: "One company is VMware, which makes virtual machines. Their technical level and experience are quite good. I had a professional third party evaluate them, and they gave them a very high rating, believing that their technology is excellent and their future prospects are bright. Another company is Salesforce, which proposed the SaaS model. From the current verification, it is promising. Although it has not yet been commercially deployed on a large scale, the report from the third party shows that it is a model with great potential."
VMware is the future leader in virtual machines, a tool that every computer enthusiast has used. It hasn't been acquired by EMC yet, and Lingyun has managed to snatch it up in advance. With the support of VMware, its own cloud computing can be accelerated ahead of schedule.
Although I haven't heard of Salesforce, I'm quite familiar with the SaaS model. It's a cloud computing service model where the software is deployed on the service provider's servers, delivered via the internet, accessible from multiple devices, and uses a subscription-based payment model. This is also an operational direction for cloud computing.
Ling Yun suppressed his joy and calmly said, "Well, both companies have good directions. If you think there are no other major problems, then go ahead and acquire them. Don't worry about the risks. For these early-stage startups, if you like them, just invest."
Sophia happily agreed because she had gained Ling Yun's approval and Ling Yun had given her a great deal of autonomy.
After hanging up the phone, Ling Yun glanced at the news broadcast, which was still running. Behind the reporter, there was still a scene of panic and chaos.
Lingyun turned to look out the window. Outside was the night in Jinan, with orange streetlights casting the shadows of plane trees on the ground. In the distance, car lights streamed by on the road, red and yellow, never stopping.
He picked up his phone from the table, found An Shiyu's number, and sent a text message: "Still awake? A dozen seconds later, the phone vibrated, and a message popped up on the screen: "No. My daughter just fell asleep. Are you still in the office?" He replied with a single word: "Yeah." A few seconds later, another message popped up: "Come back early. Be careful on the road." He looked at it for a few seconds, then locked the screen.