Chapter 510: The underground bar is really exciting
A few days later, Ian Ball sold the borrowed stocks and came to see Lu Yiming again.
The wind and snow outside still did not stop, but the villa was still as warm as spring.
The top chef invited was helping Lu Yiming cook steak, while Li Yiwen was making coffee.
Seeing Ian Ball coming, Li Yiwen joked: "You really know how to pick the time. We are just about to have a big meal."
Ian Ball sat on the sofa for a while and suddenly felt warm all over.
Li Yiwen brought over the freshly brewed coffee, placed one cup in front of Ian Ball, and said, "No sugar."
"Thanks."
While sipping delicious coffee, Ian Ball reported to Lu Yiming: "Mr. Lu, the stock price has risen again today. Although the rise has slowed down a lot compared to last month, there are still risks after all."
As the saying goes, once bitten by a snake, one will be afraid of ropes for ten years.
Ian Ball suffered a heavy loss from short selling before, so he is naturally still in fear, fearing that he would suffer the same fate again.
However, Lu Yiming didn't care about the rise and fall at all. He said to Ian Ball, "Find someone to write an article. I don't care whether it's by paying someone or using a back door. I will find a way to publish this news in Barron's."
While speaking, he had already handed over to Ian Ball some of the information that he and Li Yiwen had collected in the past few days.
"Take a look at these first. You are a smart person. I believe you don't need me to teach you how to write, right?"
Barron's was founded in 1921 and is affiliated with the Murdoch News Corporation. Although its circulation is only 300,000 copies, it is not noticeable among a lot of well-known weeklies with sales of millions. However, as a professional financial weekly, Barron's has a huge influence in the financial industry and is an important reference for many professional and institutional investors in the United States to grasp the development direction of the financial market.
Ian Ball took the information handed over by Lu Yiming, and after just a few glances, he was shocked and couldn't help asking, "Is this true?"
Lu Yiming said calmly: "Of course it is true. Anyone can verify it. We don't need to tell lies. As long as the truth is revealed, everything will fall into place."
On February 20th, the heavy snow that blocked the roads had just passed, but a report published by Barron's directly overturned the entire stock market, because this article directly tore off the last fig leaf of Nasdaq and pointed out without any concealment that among the 207 Internet companies listed on the U.S. stock market, 51 will face cash flow depletion within 12 months.
As soon as this news came out, panic spread throughout the market. Many people were looking for information everywhere and asking the relevant Internet companies whether this incident really happened.
What is the difference between a stock with a shelf life of less than twelve months and waste paper?
What makes investors angry is that these Internet companies that are questioned by the public either remain silent or hysterically refute, but cannot provide any strong evidence to prove themselves.
Now that the lid can no longer be kept on, public opinion naturally explodes.
Countless angry citizens took to the streets in the cold wind to protest, saying that this was a scam, a robbery, and a ruthless plunder of their property!
Amidst the clamor and roar, the Saltwater Company, the instigator, was quietly making a fortune.
As Lu Yiming said, there is no need for lies or falsification. As long as the cruelest truth is revealed, the U.S. stock market will usher in the most tragic avalanche.
As expected, countless retail investors soon began to frantically sell their stocks, and panic spread rapidly.
The CEOs of those Internet-related companies that have not encountered any problems, such as Intel, Yahoo, and Amazon, may come forward and explain to shareholders that their companies do not have such problems.
But will the irrational retail investors in the United States believe it?
Once confidence is lost, it is not something that can be regained simply by talking.
And this is exactly the situation at the moment.
Amidst countless doubts, Intel's stock price began to plummet. In addition, all companies related to the Internet were affected to varying degrees.
At this point, Saltwater Fund became famous overnight, and Ian Ball's name began to appear on the desks of countless North American bigwigs. He became a household name in the stock market and attracted the attention of countless people.
One day, Ian Ball had just returned home when he saw a group of people rushing out from some corner of the yard.
He instinctively raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
Then the first thought in my mind was: If I don’t die today, I must hire two bodyguards tomorrow... No, eight!
When he finally calmed down and looked carefully, he found that the people who came were reporters. They were afraid of alerting the enemy, so they quietly hid in the blind spot . This behavior was simply outrageous!
Standing guard at the door all night in such a cold weather, I have to say that the media people in the United States are quite dedicated. At least criminals may not have such patience and perseverance, but reporters do.
Just as Ian Ball was daydreaming, a female reporter rushed over and almost stuffed the microphone into his mouth.
"Mr. Ball, how do you feel about becoming a billionaire? I heard that you were almost on the verge of bankruptcy, and the bank was even going to confiscate your house and auction it off."
Ian Ball came back to his senses and talked to the camera calmly: "It's true. I almost lost everything at that time. But now, you can see it. I just want to say that I have encountered setbacks, but I survived because I never gave up the pursuit of truth and facts."
Whatever a loser says is just sophistry, whatever a winner says is just a proverb. Ian Ball's words were just plain and simple, but they made the eyes of the reporters present light up.
However, in the United States, there is no shortage of people who argue with you. A female reporter said sharply, "I'm Karen from the Washington Post. You shorted dozens of Internet companies in one go, even big companies like Intel and Yahoo. Don't you think your behavior is no different from that of a robber?"
Because of her interview with Lu Yiming, Kailin successfully gained attention in the industry and even switched to the Washington Post, where her salary and benefits increased by several levels.
Moreover, there is much more news material in New York than in Los Angeles.
Ian Ball immediately retorted angrily: "What nonsense! Short selling is a commercial activity permitted by U.S. law. How can you say I am robbing? When I lost money before, why didn't you say others robbed me? What's more, it is these companies that have problems with their own operations. If you want to talk about robbery, they are the ones who are unscrupulously robbing investors and shareholders!"
After hearing Ian Ball's rebuttal, Kailin raised the corner of her mouth and said with a smile: "So, you admit that you are cheating on your fellow thieves?"
Black eats black, the words are rough but the truth is there.
Internet start-up companies went public and defrauded investors, and Ian Ball cut profits from these scammers. It was really a case of black eating black. To put it bluntly, only ordinary retail investors suffered the most.
Because no matter who wins, they are essentially the ones losing money.
But how could Ian Ball admit such a thing?
He immediately refuted loudly and righteously, saying: "I reiterate, this is not robbery, but a redistribution of social resources. What we should focus on now is how to find more problematic companies and urge them to get back on track so that our economy can develop in a healthy and orderly manner."
Ian Ball could speak eloquently and he must have learned a lot from Lu Yiming. He had already made plans to deal with any difficulties he might encounter.
After refuting several pointed questions, he then answered several routine questions. At this time, a cold wind blew and heavy snow fell. Ian Ball took the opportunity to say to the reporters in front of him: "It's too cold today. You have worked hard. This is the end of the interview. Goodbye."
After saying this, he returned to his villa without waiting for the reporters to react.
Although the interview was brief, it did not faze this group of highly professional and dedicated reporters. After they returned, based on their own imagination and referring to Ian Ball's answer, they immediately produced one report after another.
After these true and false reports were spread, they immediately caused panic, and more and more investors were afraid of losses and frantically sold their stocks.
As a result, too many people sold, and the stock price continued to plummet, triggering a new round of panic selling.
A vicious cycle has begun and the overall situation has collapsed. At this point, even if God himself came out to call for action, he could not stop the U.S. stock index from plummeting.
In Silicon Valley, Ian Ball's name is cursed by countless Internet practitioners, especially those unlucky people whose careers went bankrupt because of him, who can't wait to come to his house and give him a brainwave.
There are even quite a few people who have called and threatened to send Ian Ball to hell.
A few days later.
Saltwater Funds, Inc.
In Ian Ball's office, Lu Yiming fiddled with the globe on the table and said jokingly, "You'd better hire a few more bodyguards. In this country where guns are rampant, I don't want to see your portrait on the front page of the newspaper one day."
Ian Ball smiled helplessly and said to Lu Yiming, "I've received several envelopes with razor blades and bullets recently. I don't dare to go out alone now. If I fail, I'll die. If I succeed, I'll die too. What's wrong with this beautiful country?"
Lu Yiming laughed out loud at this: "Blades and bullets? That's really uncreative. If it were me, I might send you a few rotten and smelly dead rats. That would be more exciting."
“…”
Ian Ball trembled at the mere thought of it, feeling that his new boss had too much of a bad taste.
Lu Yiming looked nonchalant again and asked, "How is it? How does it feel to be a billionaire?"
By shorting more than 30 companies in one go, Lu Yiming made a profit of more than 500 million US dollars. Ian Ball, as the founder of Saltwater Fund and the mascot put on the stage, also made a lot of money and has now become one of the billionaires in North America.
When this matter was mentioned, Ian Ball became very excited and instantly forgot the death threats just now.
"First of all, of course, I no longer have to worry about banks and creditors coming to repossess my house. Secondly, I have become the enemy of many people, haha. To be honest, I still have to thank you, Mr. Lu. If it weren't for your accurate intelligence and first-hand information, I would never have achieved such a brilliant result."
Lu Yiming had long been immune to this level of flattery, so he waved his hand and said, "Alright, there's no need to say these polite words, and let's focus on the real business. The revolution has not yet succeeded, and comrades still need to work hard."
Although things have started now and everyone has made a lot of money through the Salt Water Fund, Lu Yiming believes that this is just the beginning.
He wanted to make Ian Ball into a perfect "stock market butcher" who would constantly wield his butcher knife to hunt targets in the stock market and cut flesh and bleed.
Just as Lu Yiming was about to discuss the next steps with Ian Ball, Epstein called.
To be fair, Lu Yiming really doesn't want to have anything to do with Epstein.
After all, he is a person with normal values and who cherishes his reputation. He is really not the same kind of person as Epstein.
"Mr. Lu, congratulations. You must have made a lot of money by shorting the stock market recently."
Lu Yiming said calmly: "It's okay, as expected, and you have made a lot of money."
Epstein quickly got to the point and said, "Are you free? I want to meet you. There's an important person who wants to meet you."
If possible, Lu Yiming really didn't want to have anything to do with this guy, but now he was still needed , so he had to accept it. The key point was that Lu Yiming didn't know how big the big man Epstein was talking about was, and where he was big, so he had to go, otherwise he would shoot himself in the back seven times tomorrow.
After all, this is the magical and beautiful country, where all kinds of strange things can happen.
After the call, Lu Yiming couldn't help but say to Ian Ball: "Epstein, this guy, actually said he would introduce me to a big shot. You see, as long as you make money, all kinds of cats and dogs will come to you."
“Epstein?”
Hearing this name, Ian Bower suddenly became a little excited and asked, "Mr. Lu, can I go with you?"
Epstein was very famous in New York's financial circles. The line of people who wanted to meet him could circle New York three times.
"Can."
After all, he is the most useful chess piece in his hand. As for Ian Ball's request, Lu Yiming is willing to fulfill his little wish.
Seeing Lu Yiming nod, Ian Ball was very excited.
Even though he was once a multi-millionaire, people like him could not even get a rank in New York. He could not get into the real top social circles even if he tried his best.
Because he has no guide!
But now, he finally has such an opportunity!
On the appointed day, Lu Yiming brought Zhao Tiezhu and Ian Ball with him.
What Lu Yiming never expected was that the place where Epstein asked him to meet was actually an underground bar!
When Lu Yiming arrived, as soon as he walked into the box, he saw Epstein chatting and laughing with a short, thin man who looked like Jack Ma. The two men were each hugging two hot beauties and chatting enthusiastically.
When he saw Lu Yiming, Epstein stepped forward and introduced him enthusiastically: "Mr. Lu, this is my good friend Alex Acosta. He is the dean of the Florida International University School of Law and also holds important positions in the Department of Justice and the Florida Prosecutor's Office."
“Alex, this is Mr. Lu who helped me make money recently.”
When Lu Yiming heard the introduction, he immediately exclaimed, "Wow," this was bringing the hyena directly into the "house."
The words that instantly come to my mind are collusion between officials and businessmen.
But after being surprised, Lu Yiming was also very happy. After all, with people from the Ministry of Justice joining in, would he still be afraid of being investigated in the future?
We are all family now, so it would not be appropriate to investigate further.
After realizing this, Lu Yiming's expression immediately became enthusiastic and he stepped forward to shake hands with Alex Acosta.
"Sir, you look like a gentleman! Very suitable for your job!"
Alex Acosta had obviously heard of Lu Yiming. After all, the recent big moves by Saltwater Fund had made many people sleepless and unhappy.
As a politician and law enforcement officer who deeply loves his country, what should I do when I encounter such a cruel thing?
Of course, choose to join !
At that moment, after a few pleasantries, Alex Acosta said, "Mr. Lu, I have a sum of money in my hand now, which is my savings over the years. I hope you can help me operate it."
Obviously, people in the Department of Justice also have to eat. In the United States, everyone loves Franklin.
The funds in Alex Acosta's hands were actually the slush funds of some bigwigs in the Ministry of Justice. When they saw Lu Yiming making huge money from the stock market, they couldn't sit still. So they used their connections with Epstein to try to get a piece of the pie.
Lu Yiming naturally would not refuse this, and immediately pushed Ian Ball out and said, "Sir, you are really good at judging people. Our Saltwater Fund is a private equity fund company with professional ethics. We will definitely keep confidentiality for our clients. This is my partner Ian Ball. You can contact him for specific business matters."
Alex Acosta was very satisfied to hear that the Saltwater Fund had maintained good confidentiality.
In the United States, corruption is a very serious charge, so taking the money directly is something only a fool would do.
So if you want to make money, you have to use roundabout ways, such as stock investment or purchasing financial products.
But even so, if you make money, you should still try to keep a low profile to avoid attracting public attention and dissatisfaction.
"Well, cheers to our upcoming collaboration."
"cheers!"
" Tonight, I have prepared some hot girls for you two..."
