The next day.
Black Friday across the sea. The opening bell was almost upon them.
This day felt infinitely drawn out for everyone present, each minute and second stretching on like a century.
Besides the traders, Gu Yebai and the others were all on site as well. They had brought their own laptops, connected to external networks, trying to find the news they were hoping to see.
Finally, it happened just as they had hoped.
Suddenly!
Zhou Muchen leaped up from his chair, pointing at his screen, shouting excitedly.
"It's here! Sister Yutong! Look! It's out!"
His excited shout immediately drew the attention of everyone nearby. They all rushed to his computer, staring at the content on the screen.
Although the news headlines were in English, most of them could understand, as several among them had studied abroad.
Once they confirmed their eyes weren't deceiving them, excitement surged through them one by one.
On the computer screen, one urgent financial news story after another instantly swept across the headlines of all major portals.
"Breaking News: Lehman Brothers Fails to Find Buyer, Faces Likely Bankruptcy!"
"Wall Street Panics as Interbank Lending Rates Skyrocket!"
"Weekend Emergency Meetings Fail to Save Lehman, Century-Old Investment Bank on the Brink of Collapse?"
"........."
Each headline was more shocking, more horrifying than the last!
This news was no longer mere speculation or warning; it was the bloody truth.
Anyone watching the markets across the sea could sense what scene would unfold once trading began.
But even if they realized it now, it was too late.
"Hahaha!" Someone suddenly burst into laughter.
"Sister Yutong, you're a genius!"
"We're going to be rich!"
"........"
The Yunshan Club had almost emptied its entire coffers, even borrowing significant sums, all to bet on this very moment.
It could be said their future fate was already inextricably tied to those massive short positions with leverage reaching dozens of times.
Success would mean creating a financial legend.
Failure would mean the 4.7 billion RMB they invested would vanish into thin air, and they would lose everything, including Liu Yutong.
During this period of waiting, not just Liu Yutong, not just Chen Mo, but everyone, including the traders, had slept poorly, all tense with anxiety.
Fortunately, they were finally about to welcome their own spring.
Liu Yutong stood before the main console, arms crossed, watching the large screen. Outwardly, she appeared calm and unruffled, but her blood was gradually beginning to boil as the moment approached.
This moment had finally arrived!
"Everyone, final check on system connections, account status, contingency plans!"
Chen Mo's voice echoed through the hall. Though he was also trying hard to maintain composure, the slight tremor in his voice betrayed him.
After issuing the operational instructions, he couldn't help but look towards Liu Yutong standing before the large screen, his heart filled with admiration.
This pillar of their group, her sense of smell was truly too sharp, her vision too keen!
Most crucially, she possessed a daring spirit ordinary people lacked!
Right then, someone shouted.
"It's open!"
On the large screen, the Nasdaq 100 Index Futures pre-market trading started, a sea of dismal green.
But it held for less than five minutes before the entire index plummeted like a kite with its string cut, falling in a straight line.
-1%, -3%,..... the numbers jumped wildly.
Red!
The color most beloved by the people of Long Country, bar none.
In the Long Country market, this color represents gains, but across the sea, it's just the opposite.
At this moment, all they saw was a blinding red!
No, this was no ordinary red anymore; this was the color of blood!
Suddenly!
Another major news pop-up appeared, as if a nuclear bomb had been dropped on the global capital markets.
"Lehman Officially Announces Bankruptcy Filing!"
After this news appeared, panic spread through the market like a plague.
It wasn't just Lehman. AIG, Merrill Lynch, Washington Mutual Bank..... the names of one financial giant after another appeared in the news.
-5%! -8%! -10%!!
With almost no meaningful resistance, the index fell like a free-falling object.
"Nasdaq Index Plunges 12% in Single Day! Largest Single-Day Drop in History!"
"Dow Jones Plummets Over 500 Points!"
"Global Stock Markets Synchronize in Crash, Fear Index VIX Soars to Record High!"
"........"
For many around the globe, there was no good news to be seen today, only bad news.
Investors across the sea were also in lament, as countless people's wealth was instantly wiped out in this financial storm, leaving only despair!
However, in the operations center atop the Cloud Peak Club, the atmosphere was completely different.
Time passed bit by bit.
On the large screen, the numbers representing their profits were wildly jumping and growing at a staggering, mind-boggling speed!
Chen Mo was the first to report the latest capital situation to Liu Yutong.
"Miss Liu, our main capital's short positions on the Nasdaq 100 Index have a notional value exceeding 27.2 billion USD. Current floating profit... over 400%."
"Some key shorted tech stocks have floating profits exceeding 600%!"
"Those out-of-the-money put options... some varieties have returns already exceeding.... percent..."
"........"
Zhou Muchen and the other non-professionals didn't fully understand, asking somewhat confused,
"What does this 'notional 27.2 billion USD' mean? How much have we actually made?"
Chen Mo took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement in his heart, and explained, "The notional value of 27.2 billion is not our principal, nor is it profit. You can understand it as us using margin to leverage a massive bet with a total value of 27.2 billion USD!"
He went directly to a whiteboard, picked up a marker, and quickly wrote down several numbers.
"Our initial total capital was 4.7 billion RMB, approximately 690 million USD. Currently, after several months of adjustments, our main capital has grown to about 920 million USD. Of that, the margin we invested for our main positions is roughly 500 million USD."
Using this 500 million USD as a deposit, through leverage of around 50 times, we control this fund worth approximately 250 billion USD!
"Now that the market has crashed, we've won this big bet. 'Floating profit 400%' means our 500 million USD principal has already earned over 2 billion USD. And that's just the main capital portion. If we include the profits from the remaining 400+ million USD in put options and other channels... conservatively, our gains today should exceed 3.5 billion... well, USD!"
"Hiss!!!"
Although everyone had braced themselves, when the number was actually announced from Chen Mo's lips, the entire operations center still echoed with a collective, sharp intake of breath.
"This is insane, the world has gone mad! We... we've gone mad too!"
