Spark

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In this world, there are some big turning points that always come with a bang, and even months, if not years, before it actually arrives, its legends and rumors are already swirling.

For example, the beginning and end of the war, such as the new king's enthronement and the old king's abdication.

But this time, everything came quietly.

Even, everyone didn't even realize that things had started.

When the body of the first victim fell from a tall building, most people were still laughing at his cowardice and stupidity, and thanked themselves for their wisdom and foresight.

But soon, someone realized the seriousness of the matter.

Financial markets began to plummet, the curve that had made them proud and that had brought them everything took a sharp angle, and then began to fall steeply at an almost incomprehensible speed.

The wealth accumulated over the years disappeared in an instant, and the number in the financial account was reduced by digits instead of rolling.

Ultra-high leverage was originally a magic weapon for them to get rich overnight, but now it has become the sickle of death.

In just half an hour, the price of CDS plummeted by hundreds of points, and under the leverage of up to 30 times, those trading accounts with positions exceeding 50% were liquidated instantly.

And if the position exceeds 50%, it means that in this round of slump, the account owner not only lost all his principal, but also owed the bank a large amount of security deposit.

——

This should never have happened.

But it is a pity that in the crazy upsurge in the early stage, there were not a few accounts that operated like this.

As a result, an unprecedented large-scale stock loss occurred.

One by one, the finished products fell down in pieces, and behind every suspended account, there may be a bloody corpse.

In the office, Paulson stared excitedly at the computer screen in front of him.

It is undeniable that at this moment, he was very nervous.

Of course, it wasn't the impending collapse of the economy that made him nervous, but the rising numbers on his account.

Just now, from the beginning of the decline to the present, in less than an hour of trading time, the total number on his account has doubled.

This also means that after excluding the income that needs to be handed over to investors, he has earned a full 1 billion US dollars!

"It's a pity, if I knew it earlier, I should be more crazy."

Paulson sighed, feeling a little regretful.

Originally, his year-long layout had almost reached the moment of victory, but just three months ago, his capital chain was stretched to the limit, and the continuous losses almost destroyed his self-confidence.

As a result, he had no choice but to accept investment from several international investment institutions on extremely favorable terms.

Before and after, the amount of funds injected by these institutions reached an astonishing tens of billions of dollars. He dispersed the money into hundreds of trading accounts. Taking advantage of the overheated market and weak supervision, he almost sold the largest empty order in the market. All the chips were swept away.

It was these funds that helped him through the most difficult time.

Logically speaking, Paulson should be grateful to these mysterious capitals.

But in fact, there was only resentment in his heart.

The reason is simple, he does not allow others to have the same vision as himself.

——

He doesn't want anyone to make money in this market except himself.

Of course, it's too late to say anything now.

Things have happened, the profits have been distributed, and all I can do is to fulfill the agreement according to the contract.

Paulson shook his head lightly, picked up the phone on the table, and called his assistant into the office.

Seeing the assistant's face full of excitement, Paulson smiled slightly and asked:

"Well, I haven't lied to you, have I?"

"As I said, the avalanche is right in front of us. All we have to do is add the last snowflake to it."

"Now, tell me, did we succeed?"

"Successful!"

The assistant replied excitedly.

At this moment, in his eyes, Paulson is a god.

A god who can predict the future.

Yes, if this is not the case, how should all this be explained?

When everyone was frantically chasing the rising trend, only he went against the trend, desperately placing short orders on one peak after another.

Everyone thought he was crazy, that he was dazzled by huge losses, and made the mistake of "not knowing how to stop losses" that only newcomers in the investment world would make.

What's more, those colleagues in the past didn't care about their past affection. After their own funds entered the market, they took a fierce and ruthless attitude and quickly took more than one bargaining chip, driving up the price, so that Paulson's losses always followed .

For more than a year, I have almost completely lost confidence.

If Paulson hadn't always given him the greatest tolerance and encouragement, it is very likely that he would have left on the eve of victory.

The greatest favor in the world is nothing more than this.

The assistant secretly made up his mind that after that, no matter where Paulson was going or what he was going to do, he would definitely follow in his footsteps.

He watched Paulson expectantly, waiting for him to deliver a pep talk.

However, after hearing the assistant's answer, Paulson shook his head calmly.

"No, we haven't succeeded yet."

"Or, we just took a small step forward."

"The downturn in the CDS market has not yet spread to the stock market, property market, futures market, let alone other real economic industries."

"How is this enough?"

"If the downside is limited to CDS, then strength in other areas will quickly feed back into CDS."

"It's going to stop quickly and that's not what we want."

The assistant was taken aback for a moment, then said decisively:

"Mr. Paulson, if you need to do something, you can safely leave it to me!"

Paulson nodded approvingly. Sure enough, after putting down his dignity and being a clown once, his assistant has grown up rapidly.

So, after thinking for a while, he stood up, picked up the oil-based pen, and began to write his plan on the whiteboard.

"First of all, we must continue to make efforts in the CDS field, throw out all our last chips, and continue to smash the market."

"Secondly, CDS fluctuations must be transmitted to the property market. If it is not transmitted or is cut off by some people, then we must connect it at all costs."

"Also, we're going to keep spreading the word."

"Whether it's the end of the world, the collapse of America, or whatever."

"I want everyone, not just investors, to know that we have fallen into the abyss and there is no going back."

"It's only when everyone realizes this that the whole economy is at risk of collapsing, and we."

"To earn more."

A few days later, Lehman Brothers' public shareholder meeting.

John looked solemnly at the man talking on the stage, his eyes were full of unwillingness and remorse.

I am just an ordinary investor who can no longer be ordinary, and even among the many investors who have fallen into madness in this country, I can definitely be regarded as the extremely rational one.

Did not participate in futures, did not participate in high-risk financial management, and did not participate in the CDS derivative investment that countless people call the wealth code.

He only traded stocks, and only the most sound and conservative bank stocks.

An exception is Lehman Brothers, which is not a bank but an investment institution.

However, this institution has excellent credit, high profits, and stable operating conditions.

So, after weighing it over and over again, John invested all his funds in the company's stock.

For a long time, his decision was regarded by his family as a genius investment.

Since 2005, the stock of Lehman Brothers has risen from the initial price of 40 US dollars to the current price of 90 US dollars, which has more than doubled.

And with the blessing of leverage, my own funds have also changed from the initial 200,000 US dollars to the current nearly one million US dollars.

——

In other words, it was nearly a million dollars a week ago.

Just within this week, as one of the largest investors in CDS tools, the stock price of Lehman Corporation plummeted for 7 consecutive days, and has shrunk to only 500,000 US dollars.

During this decline, John wanted to sell his stocks more than once.

However, the fluke at the beginning made him miss the best opportunity, and when he finally made up his mind, the trading market had already fallen into a downturn.

At the price he can accept, no one is willing to take over, unless he bites his teeth and offers a price far below the market price, otherwise, his stock will be considered as being in his own hands.

The situation is critical. If the stock price continues to fall, it may take only two weeks for the funds in my account to be completely emptied.

——

It's not as simple as starting from scratch.

I have to repay the leveraged debt and bear a loan of two hundred thousand dollars!

Thinking of this, John's emotions collapsed a little.

He took a few deep breaths and comforted himself:

"It's okay, there's still a chance, there's still a chance"

"Lehman is a big business, as long as they don't file for bankruptcy, it's still too late"

"They'll get through it, and I'll get through it."

After repeated persuasion several times, John finally had the courage to raise his head.

Then he discovered that in this huge office, there were not a few people who bowed their heads and prayed like himself.

On the stage, the representative of Lehman Company was still chattering about the situation of the company.

He has a calm expression and a steady voice, as if everything that happens in the financial market has nothing to do with him.

"We have indeed encountered difficulties in operation. Due to the failure of the CDS market, it is conservatively estimated that the company's net loss this time is more than 30 billion U.S. dollars."

"In contrast, the company's total liquid assets are $7 billion."

"We're going to have to make more difficult decisions"

"Stop talking!"

Suddenly, someone from the audience interrupted the representative's question.

Then the man continued to ask:

"We just want to know, is Lehman going to file for bankruptcy?"

After the words fell, everyone looked at the representatives on the stage with full expectation.

But the representative who was still eloquent just now suddenly became quiet.

He just stood there quietly, staring at the front, as if there was something there that attracted his attention.

Everyone looked at him puzzled, and after a long time, his eyes moved.

Then, he looked at the time on the electronic display hanging on the wall of the hall.

He said in a low voice:

"Now. There's still time."

In an instant, everyone understood what he meant.

At this moment, the building collapsed.

John rushed to the trading desk with the surging crowd, but by the time he arrived, it was too late.

In just a few minutes, the stock of Lehman Brothers fell by nearly 80%, and all his assets had been emptied.

John walked out of the trading floor in a daze.

He didn't know where else he could go.

go home?

But how do you explain it to your family?

How do I tell them that I have lost everything and that I won't even be able to pay off next month's mortgage? ——

yes, house.

That damn house!

If it weren't for the rising housing prices, I would never choose to buy a house at such a time.

If it wasn't for the pressure of the loan, I would never lose the most basic judgment and want to rely on luck to keep the hard-won profits!

Damn it! Damn it!

At this moment, John realized in a trance that the gears of fate had actually started turning.

It's just that I, who was in the gear, never realized the fate of being about to be crushed.

He was sitting on the side of the street in a daze, and there were not a few people who were in a daze like him.

No one knows where to go, and no one knows what to do next.

——

Just then, a man stood up.

He walked forward with a firm gaze, and almost subconsciously, John followed his footsteps and walked into the building.

Afterwards, more people followed the man into the elevator.

They were surprised to find that after the man stepped out of the elevator, he walked straight in one direction.

——

rooftop.

Suddenly, John's heart was clear.

He guessed what a man was going to do, and he also understood what he should do.

He followed the man over the railing, and one step forward was the abyss.

The man lit the last cigarette, and the remaining cigarette butt fell down the tall building first.

Mars floats in the sky.

After a few seconds, the man passed the spark.

John poked his head and glanced down, the ground was already blood red.

He suddenly felt a little nauseous.

——

It's not disgusting because of his upcoming fate, but he thinks that his body is going to be mixed with him?

Maybe, it's no big deal.

John fumbled in his pocket. He wanted to light a cigarette for himself, but he couldn't find his lighter.

He saw the lighter that the man left on the roof, so he crawled over carefully and lit the cigarette on his mouth.

Then, he solemnly put the lighter back in place.

During this short period of one cigarette, he thought a lot.

Family and friends.

Money in the account, unpaid debts.

too messy.

He didn't want to think about it anymore, so he jumped down.

It's like taking the next step, without any hesitation.

Twenty minutes later.

At the same location on Wall Street, six corpses were piled up.