Rebirth in 1985

Chapter 1: Financial Storm ()

In fact, a few days earlier, on September 1997, 9, the day after Lu Shaohua ordered the evacuation from Thailand, Indonesia began to make movements. This was the first turmoil after the Southeast Asian financial market stabilized after the outbreak of the Asian financial crisis.

After the shocks in July and August, the financial market in Southeast Asia began to stabilize in September. In mid-September, the World Bank held a meeting in Hong Kong, where participants reached a consensus on the financial risks faced by developing countries in the process of globalization and preventive measures.

The situation then seemed to be improving. Even the usually cautious Philippine President Ramos said that he believed the currency and financial crisis in the Philippines would soon “disappear into thin air”, and that this day would come sooner than people expected.

The President of the Philippines gave an enthusiastic speech, but not long after his speech, on September 9, the day after Lu Shaohua evacuated from Thailand, the second wave of the Asian financial crisis finally began.

First, international credit rating agencies downgraded the financial ratings of Malaysia and the Philippines. People began to question the economic situation in Southeast Asia, feeling that the situation was not good and that the currencies were still weak and somewhat vulnerable.

On September 9, the exchange rate between the Indonesian rupiah and the US dollar reached its historical lowest point. When it closed, it was 26 to 3125 US dollar. The decline was so large and abnormal that it set a new historical record.

This situation did not end there. On the 27th, the next day, the Indonesian rupiah hit a new low and continued to fall. Not only did the Indonesian rupiah fall, but the Malaysian ringgit was also unable to escape. In the early trading, it fell to an all-time low of 1 ringgit per dollar. It then stabilized slightly and 3.2015 dollar was exchanged for 1 ringgit when the Southeast Asian market closed.

The decline of the Indonesian rupiah became a fuse, which triggered a chain reaction. The Malaysian ringgit was unable to escape and fell sharply, creating a historical low.

However, this phenomenon did not end. Then, Southeast Asian markets panicked and sold their own currencies and bought US dollars to cover their positions. By September 9, the ringgit, Indonesian rupiah and Philippine peso fell to new lows, with the ringgit falling the most. Before the end of Asian trading, the ringgit fell to a record low of 30 and closed at 3.25 points that day.

Southeast Asian currency markets had a miserable day on October 10. The Indonesian rupiah, Philippine peso and Malaysian dollar fell to record lows. Even the normally volatile Singapore dollar fell to a 1-month low, as the chain reaction caused by Indonesia's turmoil expanded to include Singapore.

The original trigger was Thailand. On October 10, the Thai baht closed about 1% lower against the US dollar than on July 7. This was the last record. Yes, the total decline of 2% is the total decline of the Thai baht since the Asian financial crisis. However, this has nothing to do with Lu Shaohua, because Lu Shaohua had evacuated Thailand five days ago.

There are other things worth noting, such as the Malaysian ringgit's dramatic fall in the early trading hours. On October 10, within less than two hours of the opening of the market, it had fallen by more than 1%. By the close of the market, the Malaysian ringgit fell to 4 and closed at 3.4080 points.

This is the lowest price of the Malaysian ringgit against the US dollar since it began floating before 1973. The fall of the ringgit has once again impacted other regional currencies, which have also fallen, and has played a chain reaction effect.

The Indonesian rupiah fell to its lowest point in history at around -3.445. By October 10, three months after the outbreak of the Thai financial crisis, the Indonesian rupiah had fallen by 3%, making it the second most devalued currency in the world's history, second only to the Turkish lira, which depreciated by 53% that year.

In the statistics of this day, the world's five most depreciated currencies were also released at this time. In Asia, the Turkish Lira ranked first with a decline of 63% that year, which was far ahead and won the championship. The second place was not bad either, the Indonesian Rupiah rose to the second place with a decline of 53%, which was ten percentage points less than the Turkish Lira.

The third place is the Thai baht. The source of the Asian financial crisis ranked third with a drop of 32.69%, ranking third. It is an honor that if it were put in the Olympics, it would only get a bronze plate as a reward.

The fourth place is far behind, the Malaysian ringgit, which ranks fourth with a margin of 25.01%, and is also one of the best currencies. As for the fifth place, it is the Philippine peso, which ranks only 5.27%.

Of course, these data are all Lu Shaohua's memory. It is his memory that tells Lu Shaohua these data. Now it is only October 10st, which is the initial stage of the second wave of attacks. The final data has not yet appeared. Lu Shaohua can only know it in his heart and has not said it in public.

When Lu Shaohua arrived at the headquarters, Li Yunqing and the others were busy. Li Yunqing and Liu Mingzhang stood there motionless, staring at the big screen. At this time, the big screen showed the trend charts of the Indonesian rupiah, Philippine peso and Malaysian kyat, which were switched into three major blocks.

Lu Shaohua also took a glance, then looked away and turned to the side to look at Li Zongen. Li Zongen was not idle at this time either. He was moving in front of four or five computers, looking at this and that from time to time, and was very busy.

"Zong En, you can also switch out the Singapore dollar and take a look. Singapore's situation is not good today." Lu Shaohua's voice was neither loud nor soft. It spread in the hall just now and everyone could hear it.

Just look, when Lu Shaohua's voice sounded, everyone looked over, and when they saw it was Lu Shaohua, they nodded slightly as a greeting, and then started their own work. However, Li Zongen seemed a little special. After nodding, he came to a computer with a black screen, hit the Enter key twice, and removed the screen saver.

"Alas... the Singapore dollar seems to be falling as well." Li Zongen sighed, then switched the trend chart to the big screen and shouted to Liu Mingzhang's wife, "Notify the people below to pay attention to the Singapore dollar."

Singapore is also a country in Asia. Although this country does not cover a large area, it does not mean that it is a weak country. On the contrary, Singapore's economy is in a very advanced position in Asia. When making the layout, Lu Shaohua also emphasized the need to respond to Singapore.

Lu Shaohua did make a plan for Singapore, but considering that the Singapore dollar did not fall much, he did not invest that much. He did not even assign him a team of traders specifically for Singapore. He just let it develop as it pleased, which was a bit like laissez-faire.

To put it simply, invest some money in the layout, and then leave it alone, let it develop freely. When the time is right, free up a few people to operate it, sell off, and clear the inventory. It is a very simple thing.

"It did fall, but the magnitude of the fall was not that big." Li Yunqing sighed indifferently, and then said, "With this magnitude of fall, combined with our investment in Singapore, we won't make much money in the end."

Li Yunqing's mentality is completely different now. After making big money for a long time, he doesn't care about small money anymore. This is a change in mentality, a change in state of mind, and it is also human nature. Like Lu Shaohua, he also has this mentality.

But now Lu Shaohua is standing outside the game. As the saying goes, outsiders are clear-headed. Li Yunqing's mentality is unacceptable. Lu Shaohua reminded him. "Small money is also money, no matter it is big money or small money, as long as we can make money, we can't underestimate it."

Li Yunqing scratched his head, smiled awkwardly, nodded seriously, and said, "I understand."

"Yeah." Lu Shaohua smiled and said, "Well, it's nothing, just be careful about your attitude. Oh! By the way, you have to clear all your positions before the closing of Singapore the day after tomorrow. You can't stay. With Singapore's economy, it will recover very quickly. If you stay, there may be accidents."

As Lu Shaohua said, Singapore's economy is strong, and the Singapore dollar has always been known for its stability. Even though the Asian financial crisis was so severe, it has never reacted too much. Now that there are fluctuations, they are only temporary and will recover soon.

"Okay, we will just arrange two people to operate it, and it will be ready soon." Li Yunqing no longer cared about the big screen, turned around and said seriously.

Seeing Li Yunqing's serious look, Lu Shaohua knew that Li Yunqing had taken this matter to heart. If Li Yunqing took it to heart, he would not forget it and would not ignore it, so Lu Shaohua could rest assured.

"How's the situation today?" Lu Shaohua changed the subject and asked again.

Situation, what is the situation? Lu Shaohua asked about the situation at this time, just wanting to know the trends in various countries, and wanted Li Yunqing to give him an answer.

Li Yunqing did not disappoint Lu Shaohua. He came to sit next to Lu Shaohua and said, "Generally speaking, the Indonesian rupiah has fallen the most, with the largest drop. The Malaysian peso is second, with a large drop as well. The last one is the Philippine peso, which has the smallest drop."

Although Li Yunqing did not tell you the specific ratio, it was enough for Lu Shaohua to know the situation. He nodded with satisfaction and pondered for a long time before changing the subject. He also wanted to test Li Yunqing.

"How long do you think this wave of turbulence will last? When should we liquidate our positions?"