Reinventing the Millennium.

Chapter 1461 Opening (6k)

"Gotcha, I see ya."

"Gotcha..."

"Got...cha..."

The calm voice turned ferocious!
Griffin suddenly woke up, gasping for breath as if his neck was being strangled.

Then he realized that he had just fallen asleep on the private plane flying to New York, and he just heard Mr. Fang's voice in his dream.

Griffin rubbed his face, looked at the brightening sky, and his mood became heavy again.

Washington has made all the necessary efforts, all the media that could be pushed have been pushed, and those who are still alive in the same camp have contacted people and made efforts.

The problem is that the irrational retaliatory rebound that Yi Ke can create does not seem to be suppressed by mere gambling!

From yesterday to today, from yesterday's after-market to today's pre-market, the stock price was first 14.5%, then 6.3%. This damn stock price has risen by 21.7%!
Before YiKe officially opened for trading, its stock price had already driven up the losses of some highly leveraged institutions.

Once the market opens...

Griffin was anxious.

Although some friends have pledged to quickly put pressure on Europe, Washington seems to be turning chaotic as the election results come in.

In addition to shorting the company this time, he also invested private funds. Although the hype was quite fierce before, fortunately the leverage was not high and he could continue to wait.

The question is whether you can wait until the situation you want.

Irrational market sentiment is the most troublesome thing because no one knows what kind of monster will emerge.

perhaps……

Griffin got off the plane, got into the car, and thought about the possibility of another direction.

It is impossible for retail investors’ short squeeze to continue forever. This group will not be truly united. In addition to the fact that YiKe does have major positive news, their hatred for institutions is also an internal drive.

But this short squeeze is different from the previous two. The previous two times, YiKe cleverly created a procedural run, but this time it is a real positive, an expectation of stronger major business.

Once the stock price rises, retail investors will gradually disperse in the face of high returns and lock in profits at different psychological price points. If at this time there are short-selling institutions that are widely publicized to close their positions, the internally driven hatred of retail investors will probably dissipate a lot.

As long as it can hold out until the 15th, as long as it can survive this less than a week, Yike's Q3 financial report will definitely be released. If it can drive the European market to ban Yike from entering the market, the situation will be turned upside down.

At 7:30 in the morning, Griffin arrived at the Edition Hotel and met the short-selling master Chanos who was waiting there.

Chanos' eyes were bloodshot and his expression was numb. When he saw the head of Castle Investment, he asked, "Can Yike still be open? How is Washington doing?"

Griffin was about to speak when he saw two people he was waiting for hurried in at the hotel entrance. He quickly trotted over to inquire about the situation.

"Jeffrey, Jeffrey, how is it? How is it?" Griffin asked Jeffrey, the director of Nasdaq.

Jeffrey walked hurriedly and answered in a muffled voice: "I'm going to have a small meeting upstairs. Well, a meeting."

Griffin was not satisfied with this answer. He grabbed Jeffrey's arm and said forcefully, "Jeffrey, do you know what the situation is now?"

Jeffrey frowned, glanced at his colleague next to him, motioned her to go up first, then moved Griffin to the side and explained the current situation seriously: "Griffin, I know what the situation is. In fact, I know the situation better than you, but Yi Ke has submitted detailed information disclosure of this incident, and they have no problem with the procedure!"

Griffin grabbed the Nasdaq director's arm and stared into his eyes: "You need to know what the situation is now!!"

"We need to discuss the handling of Yike's shares now." Jeffrey took a breath and said with difficulty, "But it's a bit difficult. Someone disagreed on the conference call."

Griffin growled in a low voice: "You can ask Yi Ke about his purchases from Bingxin International!!"

The ice core is now on the BIS's select list.

"Influence, influence, pay attention to the influence!" Jeffrey said a little excitedly, "Do you think I can decide this alone?"

Griffin calmed down a bit and stared into Jeffrey's eyes: "Do your best!!"

Jeffrey pursed his lips tightly, broke free from the tycoon's hand on his arm, and hurried to the elevator.

Griffin walked back to the sofa only after he saw the important client's figure was blocked by the elevator door. Then he saw Chanos's bloodshot and expectant eyes.

"How's it going?" Chanos asked.

"Wait for news." Griffin sat down and took out his phone again. "I'll call my friend again."

He also called Citadel's congressional clients to emphasize the unusual nature of the incident and asked them to put pressure on Nasdaq executives who were in a meeting.

This time, Chanos did not ask about the situation. He just rubbed his face and muttered, "I don't think I'm suitable for short selling."

Griffin was considering whether to make another call when he heard these words of loss of faith. He turned around and saw the short-selling master who had shorted Enron and profited from the 08 financial crisis and had been famous on Wall Street for more than years, standing with his head down in a daze.

He narrowed his eyes, and said in a gentle tone, "Hey, Chanos, don't you use ETF funds to hedge the volatility risk of your overall investment portfolio?"

"YiKe's negative impact is very obvious." Griffin covered his face with his hands and emphasized, "It has lost the market, has no production capacity, and its financial report is ugly. Its negative impact is very obvious! We are more aggressive this time..."

Griffin had to comment: "Then you may have made some unprofessional decisions. We must control our risks at all times."

He quickly made up his mind and advised: "I'm afraid it's really not going to work this time. Yi Ke can't stop it."

Chanos looked up blankly: "Is the news confirmed?"

Griffin was about to come to a conclusion when he saw Vice President Ferry, who was sitting on the sofa on the other side, rushing over.

"Miga Fund's Kong Yu accepted a telephone interview with The New York Times. He believed that we would suffer huge losses if we shorted Yike. He attacked us for using 7 times leverage, which would lead to huge losses for investors. He said he was already shorting our stock!"

"Our stock price has fallen 3.7% in pre-market trading!"

As soon as Fei Rui finished saying this, another phone call came in.

He briefly responded with a few words and reported another new piece of news: "The company has received many calls from customers asking about the relevant situation. Some people have also requested that redemption be opened quickly this month..."

Griffin stood up. Is Yi Ke targeting him? Are they going to short Castle's stock?

Just as he was trying to organize his thoughts, his phone rang. It was Masayoshi Son from SoftBank.

"Hey, Griffin, our deal needs to be put on hold," Son said straight to the point. "Saudi Arabia has questioned your ability to operate, and Vision Fund needs to re-evaluate its decisions."

The Vision Fund is a $1000 billion fund jointly established by Masayoshi Son, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates this year, of which Saudi Arabia contributed $450 billion.

This fund shocked the industry as soon as it was established, and many people were watching its use, including Castle Investment Group.

However, apart from buying companies that SoftBank has invested in, Son is more cautious about using funds externally, because of Saudi Arabia's $450 billion investment, $423 billion is loan financing with a term of 12 years and an interest rate of 7%.

How to use this money and how to use it well is a question that Masayoshi Son has been thinking about.

Basically, there have been initial contacts and cooperation with many major funds in the world, such as Castle Investments and MIGA Fund, and Castle Investments is also a target for acquisition.

"Mr. Sun, the operation of Citadel Investments is actually being questioned?" Griffin couldn't help but get a little excited. "Citadel Investments is the best multi-strategy hedge fund in the world! I don't think Vision Fund should make such a decision!"

Son said regretfully: "Griffin, this is not a negotiation, it is a notice from the Vision Fund."

Griffin: “…”

"In addition, Bridgewater or MIGA should also be included in the discussion of the world's best funds," Son said. "I hope there will be opportunities for cooperation."

The phone hangs up.

Griffin's thoughts raced. MIGA was going to short Castle Investments' shares, SoftBank was terminating the partnership, and users were considering redeeming their funds...

There is no doubt that the root cause is that Castle Investments participated in this massive short-selling of YiKe.

Chanos looked at Griffin, who had been relatively calm just now, and his face turned livid.

He couldn't help but remind them: "You need to calm the customers down and avoid continuous doubts and negative news!"

Castle Investments certainly uses leverage. If it encounters extreme situations such as major losses, customer redemptions, and public opinion blows, even if it is a multi-strategy risk hedging strategy, it will be very troublesome in the future.

Griffin came back to his senses, slowly sat down on the sofa, and whispered, "We really can't let Yi Ke rush up like this."

He is almost certain that the news of the termination of cooperation between SoftBank and Castle will soon appear in the market, and he will probably face more questions from customers by then. However, once Yike opens for trading, Castle will definitely suffer losses this time.

Chanos asked the question that had not been answered before: "Is all the news about Yi Ke confirmed?"

His Knicks United Fund is already on margin call.

Griffin did not give an answer this time, and his voice was no longer gentle. Instead, he said viciously: "Wait, just wait for the final decision."

The head of the Castle is waiting, the "short master" Chanos is waiting, the former "No. 1 hedge funder" Paulson is waiting, and many short sellers who have contacted each other are waiting...

However, some short-selling institutions have already thrown in the towel and joined the ranks of pushing up Yike's pre-market share price.

At 8:20, Griffin and Chanos, who had no intention of even going to the suite, received the latest news from the meeting upstairs.

Even though there was strong opposition from Jeffrey and other senior executives, Nasdaq CEO Robert decided not to ask Yike to temporarily suspend trading and it would still open normally.

This means that Yike’s stock price will experience a retaliatory rise.

Chanos looked pale.

Griffin's eyes flickered.

There is still a chance to save the situation. As long as the false news becomes true, Yike's stock price will be hit.

At 8:50, BIS announced the latest news, saying that it would consult with European friends on the scope of the restrictions and would strongly recommend a security review of Yike's business, but this would take time.

"We are running out of time!" Griffin stressed during the call, "Can you release some substantive and important news first?"

"Substantial and important news will also take time." The voice on the other end of the phone said, "Oliver from the European Commission may be able to help first."

Griffin said decisively: "Contact him, contact him, no matter what the cost, contact him first!"

call ended.

Griffin felt his heart beating faster and faster, and it seemed like time was running out.

At 9:05, Yike once again released news that it was negotiating IC design matters with Yike Optoelectronics and discussing the joint design of a new mid-to-high-end chip series to help the latter occupy more global markets.

This is seen as a greater challenge to Qualcomm.

In addition, when SMIC has 10nm process technology and Bingcore breaks through the capacity problem of 16nm, the advantages of YiKe's industrial collaboration will be further released.

This is undoubtedly good news.

At 9:20, Griffin could no longer hold back and called BIS again for more help.

However, with only ten minutes left before the Nasdaq opened, it seemed that help was completely unable to stop Yi Ke's short squeeze.

At 9:25, Griffin hurried out of the hotel and made the final decision.

At 9:30, when everyone was looking forward to the opening of Nasdaq, the stock market failed to open at the normal time and was directly paralyzed.

This special situation quickly caused a stir.

At 9:33, when the Nasdaq Stock Exchange was investigating the problem, Oliver, the European Commission's "Neighborhood and Enlargement Affairs Commissioner", was interviewed by the media and believed that Europe should become a market that bans Yi Ke from entering after the United States.

Five minutes later, Fang Zhuo, the head of Yike, started his second live broadcast in this period with the opening remark "Someone is crazy", and this time it was broadcast live on both YouTube and Douyin platforms.

"Let me read the reply from Mr. Robert, CEO of Nasdaq."

"He said the problem might be with a data transmission line that carries market data for listed companies."

"That is, if I understand correctly, there was a problem with a physical data transmission line, which caused Nasdaq to come to a standstill."

Fang Zhuo, who was watching the live broadcast, finished reading the message on his phone, glanced at the camera lens, and smiled as he repeated what he had said at the beginning of the broadcast: "Someone is crazy, really crazy."

He picked up the tablet handed to him by his secretary and continued, "It's not clear how long the outage will last. The exchange is actively investigating and solving the problem. Let me see. The last large-scale outage was in 2013. It was a technical failure that lasted for three hours. The last time was in 3. It was because a squirrel caused a large-scale power outage in Trumbull, Connecticut, and the exchange's main server center is located there."

“Now let’s see how long this shutdown will last.”

Fang Zhuo glanced at the time on his wrist: "It's 9:42 now. I hope I can recover as soon as possible. I believe many people are already impatient. However, I happen to have some time today, so I will respond to some fake news."

"There is a widely circulated financial report in the market that is made to look very real, um, fake news."

Fang Zhuo showed the fake financial report of Yike reported by the media on the live broadcast screen, clarifying a negative news.

He then took out his mobile phone and showed the chat with Larry, the head of Google.

"There is no official communication between Google and BIS. Larry doesn't think there is any problem with the cooperation between GMS and Yike. Therefore, Google has various reports. In fact, I am also using the live broadcast function of YouTube now. Um, Fake News."

“I just saw an irresponsible call from the European side for a ‘neighborhood and enlargement commissioner’. Well, I never understood that such a position should speak for Yi Ke’s affairs. It is both unprofessional and sinister.”

"If we need to talk about policies against Yi Ke, we should ask more specific authorities like Germany and France. As far as I know, we have not received any inquiries or warnings in this regard."

"Or maybe I should call now to get an update."

Fang Zhuo stared at the live camera and said this.

In addition to the retail investors, media, and onlookers who flocked in, the short sellers who heard the news and had renewed their expectations due to the Nasdaq trading failure were all shocked.

Especially Griffin, his Nasdaq clients were unable to give Yike a temporary suspension of trading from a procedural perspective. However, he could inform certain key physical equipment of the exchange to create a de facto suspension, thus buying some time for his friends to continue to exert pressure.

Is it crazy to let all Nasdaq stocks stagnate like this?

Maybe, but I can’t care about that now.

"It's impossible for him, Fang Zhuo can't get any guarantee." Griffin looked at the Oriental man on the phone, not believing that he could get overwhelming news at such a moment.

Chanos remained silent. He was completely numb. If the conclusion was useful, Yi Ke would have already said "impossible", but it just broke this.

What about the “impossible” now?
Fang Zhuo in the picture began to look for the number.

Griffin suddenly had a sense of remembrance. Was this the expression he had when he was looking for Fang Zhuo's number on the show before?

He took a long breath and suddenly said, "Fang Zhuo's live broadcast guidance is wrong. It is an incitement to market sentiment and he should be punished!"

"Yeah, if he's dead, he's dead. Why torture him anymore?" Chanos looked at Fang Zhuo who had already started making a phone call. He was as calm as if he was already dead.

Fang Zhuo's call went through and he greeted the person on the other end.

Soon, the identity of the person on the other side was revealed in the live commentary. It was Gabriel, Germany's federal official in charge of economics and energy.

"Germany certainly welcomes Yike's business and investment, and this will not change due to external pressure. Any reasonable and legal business behavior should be protected, whether it is Yike or other companies."

“This is key to our competitiveness in the market.”

Griffin listened to the voice coming from the screen and let out a long sigh. It was gone. It was meaningless. Friends in Washington were meaningless, and the pressure from BIS was meaningless.

Now this physical suspension is meaningless.

In the video, Fang Zhuo thanked Gabriel for his confirmation and called the French side again. The person he got was Sapin, who was in charge of the economy and had just taken over from Macron in August. The former has become an independent candidate.

"Eco is a world-renowned mobile phone brand. We have always had a good cooperation. Everyone should believe that the French free market respects brands like Eco."

"YiKe has been operating in France for more than ten years, has 3200 employees, and has partnerships with more than a dozen French universities and research institutions, all of which are worth cherishing."

"We hope to have more pragmatic cooperation with Yike and more international brands. We believe in this and the opportunities brought by multilateralism."

Sapan spoke eloquently, knowing that the live broadcast scene here was as if he was giving a public speech.

He talked about cooperation, investment promotion, the free market, and France in Europe, and he narrated like this for half an hour alone.

Fang Zhuo thanked the person for his speech and did not make any further contact.

He pointed to the watch on his wrist: "Fortunately, the exchange quickly found the problem and is about to solve it, so..."

Fang Zhuo shrugged, suppressing his urge to incite.

At 1:22, one hour and minutes after the Nasdaq was physically shut down, it had a difficult opening.

As soon as the market opened, the share price of YiKe, whose negative news was repeatedly identified as fake, soared, rising by 12% in just half an hour, and its market value approached US$2900 billion.

It was also at this time that Griffin finally received a call from his BIS friend.

"I'm sorry, Griffin, we can't reach a consensus internally. I've tried my best to push for it. It's very difficult to push it forward at a time like this. Maybe we can wait until next year."

Griffin looked at the 11% drop in the share price of Castle Investments and remained silent. Next year? If they couldn't handle Yike this year, why would they bother with it next year?
He hung up the phone without saying a word.

Chanos, who was with him before, rushed out of the hotel the moment the Nasdaq opened. It was not known whether he was going to add margin or to climb to the roof.

Griffin sat in the hotel lobby in a daze, watching people in suits and leather shoes coming in and out, and remembered the mysterious man's warning not to short Yike...

He sighed and slowly covered his face.

The physical suspension of trading could not limit the positive news of Yike. The stock price rose rapidly as soon as the market opened. The irrational short squeeze was exactly the same. Knicks United Fund was forced to close its position, Greenlight Capital announced its surrender, and Castle Investment issued a statement admitting the failure of short selling, but advised investors not to run...

There was new blood splatter in Times Square, but it was quickly cleaned up.

Fang Zhuo, who turned off the live broadcast, received a call.

"YiKe's stock price will fall back! As long as you release the Q3 financial report!"

"Will you post it? Will you post it? Do you dare to post it?!"

"Where is Yike's Q3 financial report? I ask you, where is the Q3 financial report!!"

The phone was filled with angry roars.

Fang Zhuo didn't know who was calling, but he guessed that the person who was in this mood was probably a short seller, so he could only answer honestly: "Wait a little longer, it will be the worst quarterly financial report in Yike's history."

There was a sneer and a miserable laugh from the other end of the phone, and the worst financial report that came too late.

After a while.

"boom!"

Fang Zhuo hung up the phone with regret. He still had no idea who was on the other end of the phone. The voice sounded familiar. Maybe he had come to Hang Lung 23 to make an appointment before.

Unfortunately, although I can get an appointment at Hang Lung 23, it can’t cure the disease after all, so I’ll just let it go.