Chapter 55
“I learned a lot.”
Jonathan broke the silence, and he was looking down at the book with wondering eyes. As I had won over Jonathan, a specialist in the field, the public would fall for this. The entire book was a masterful piece of misdirection. Just like how a stage magician diverted the attention of the audience away from the actual trick, I used knowledge of financial theories not yet published, analysis using economic models not yet created, to provide an extensive, exhaustive and completely plausible explanation of our success. All this was designed to hide the real trick. My return from the future.
I saw that everyone was enthusiastic about the publication, and several highly respected financial journals were already talking about this book.
“How do you feel?”
“We are on our third reprint, and this will be translated in Korea soon.”
“You should be even more popular now.”
“People who can build cities in deserts are calling me now.”
Oil money was contacting Jonathan.
“So, we should gain government approval soon. What about Blue Rock and ANC?”
“They called us to wait with our pencils sharpened.”
“And?”
“We did so, and they pushed mergers more than client buyouts, as they realized that Jonathan Investments is just beginning.” So, they’re already trying to slow our growth.
“You didn’t forget that the offshore companies’ shares can be “merged” to New York thus making it seem we’re merging with them, right?” (EN: They’re pretending they’re “merging” with other companies, though they’re actually “merging” with their paper offshore companies they own. ^_^ )
“We just finished the client buyouts because of that and we just said we were focusing on mergers already in progress when they began to talk about management systems. It’s not a lie. We can use fifty billion dollars alone in New York after government approval, and Sun, about England…”
“No. Weren’t you suspicious about Jillian’s abilities?”
“Let’s straighten things out. How can I evaluate the group account manager of the Morgan Group? I was comparing him to you. I then learned that he had contributed a lot to the Morgan Group’s system. You knew that?”
“I told you Jillian will manage our private finances.”
“Yes.”
“So, Jonathan. Focus with Jeffrey Kay buying investment companies and place your less competent friends in sales. Go work with the best in Wall Street.”
“About that… The elites have nothing to learn under me. I have to learn from them.”
“They all are looking to go on their own and they don’t want to learn anything from you. They want seed money and fame, and after getting government approval, the fame is coming to us.” They’re coveting our fame, and would use us if we let them.
“Sun, you are…”
Jonathan looked at me.
“You are clearly in danger. Use what you need from me, and I’ll take care of the rest.”
I agreed, as I was still terrified of going back into the dungeon.
“I apologize for belittling your friends, as we only looked at loyalty as I specified.”
“You don’t need to. I refused to let them manage our funds. They are where they belong, but don’t worry about them because they are loyal and grateful to us.”
***
Someone else may recognize Jonathan, so we ordered in. However, the place Jonathan remembered from before seemed to have closed due to the foreign firms leaving this building, who had been their previous customers. It was a common enough story.
“This place is not good.”
Jonathan lowered his spoon.
“You said you did not like this country?”
“I was speaking rashly.”
“Really?”
“What I meant was that the Korean people sacrificed so much for this country after the IMF, because the government had placed them in such a drastic situation. Nothing else.”
Jonathan mentioned the Gold Collection Campaign, which had gathered 200 tons in total. He had even seen housewives bringing their gold wedding rings, and while the gold had helped Korea, there had been those who had filled their pockets. I did not mention that since he would again tell me to come to New York.
“Have you thought about it?”
I turned to the computer, and Jonathan answered while he followed me.
“About what?”
“Where the foreign funds came from, that had come not only to Korea but to Asia.”
Jonathan took a seat next to me, and he looked at the websites I opened with interest. Stocks in Eastern Europe and Latin America were thriving.
“Are those our next investments?”
Jonathan asked but answered himself.
“Aren’t we too late?”
He was accurate, as even though we had several opportunities, we had kept quiet as we hid or laundered the money we had earned in Hong Kong. Europe and Latin America would be only appetizers, and the main dish was somewhere else.
“The money used to burn Asia and the money that came from the people taken by surprise and got taken to the cleaners are going to Eastern Europe and Latin America right now.”
I spoke as I pointed at the screen, and Jonathan looked like he was anticipating what magic I would use next. I spoke on.
“There is another place, Russia.”
Jonathan turned on another computer, and he started chasing my hint. He looked at several reports from the Russian Finance Bureau and several other Russian financial institutions. It was then Jonathan came to an inevitable conclusion. Like those who had been deceived by my book, global financiers were being deceived by Russian data.
Worst of all, the Russian government itself also believed in their own data, and Jonathan spoke like he was trying to oppose his conclusion.
“Do you know how many nuclear weapons Russia has? They must not go down.”
Jonathan was accurate and to the point. That was how people generally saw Russia, as a holdover bogeyman from the Cold War. I moved up to see Jonathan’s monitor and confirmed the reports he had read. I found what I wanted and took my hand off the mouse. I spoke as I straightened my back.
“The short-term interest rate rose to 40%. That’s a symptom.”
“The market thinks differently.”
Of course, Jonathan was not opposing me but expectant.
“That’s because of the IMF. Some of the foreign funds from Hong Kong and other international monies from various sources are going into Russia. You can check by confirming the position of the hedge funds regarding Russian government bonds.”
“And?”
“That’s not the only reason why I’m focused on Russia. Their current regime is not doing anything right, and the newly rich in Russia are doing everything they can to take their money out of the country.”
Jonathan spoke as he looked at the report again.
“The export data is wrong, then? If what you’re saying is true, their foreign currency reserve would be empty.”
Jonathan now realized how serious the situation in Russia was.
“Let’s see something else.”
“There’s more?”
“About the effects of the IMF. What do you think will happen to the Russian bonds Korea has? Korea is selling everything from real estate to whole companies, and Russian bonds are not important to us.”
Jonathan then spoke with excitement.
“If your country begins to sell Russian bonds, then something like Hong Kong will happen again!”
I nodded.
“Russia will then go bankrupt.”
There were other reasons I had not explained to Jonathan. We earned so much money in the Asian financial crisis because I had known the exact tipping point where the fall began. Using the highest leverage without knowing that was suicide, as an investment like that could only be executed by the Almighty One, who the Eight Virtues had fervently believed. (EN: Leverage-use borrowed capital for (an investment), expecting the profits made to be greater than the interest payable.)
I had been able to use that method before, but I needed more data now, because of the butterfly effect due to my time traveling. Knowing Jonathan he would go. To Jonathan, it was gathering data to see if Russia would go bankrupt, and to me, it was confirmation that the general trends were still going on, proving my knowledge was still valid.
Jonathan spoke as he put back his cell phone.
“Government officials cannot follow global trends. When will they stop using fax machines for everything? They’ll commit adultery by fax at this rate and divorce using the same method.”
“Calm down.”
“I have to go by the quickest plane. I can’t receive faxes here. I’ll spend tonight near the airport.”
“See the investment proposal before you go.”
“You really think that Russia will go down!” Jonathan finally realized we had gone from speculation and theories into risking our money.
Betting on things is easy, but there was a massive amount of work to be done by qualified professionals to exploit the situation and walk away with the pot.
Jillian, who was in the Isle of Man, would be waiting for the proposal to come.
***
To Jillian, the Isle of Man was not really home, as he was born in north London. Since the island was administratively independent, it was ambiguous whether he was back in the country of his birth. However, they shared the Irish Sea and the same Queen. Jillian went to his favored pub. Foreigners who had come to a place like this normally did not venture out of their hotels or offices, and Jillian stopped going to his hotel’s bar after discovering this pub.
The place reminded him of his student days, as there was always an EPL game on, and men would watch to get angry despite the games being reruns. (EN: The Premier League, often referred to outside the UK as the English Premier League, or sometimes the EPL, is the top level of the English football league system. )
He would come here alone without other employees, as he considered soccer holy. However…
“Jessica? What are you doing here?”
“I followed the noise.”
Jessica looked at the television, and Jillian was surprised. He could have been anywhere, but Jessica had followed him just by the sounds of Manchester United thrashing the Arsenal. She was smart and could have succeeded anywhere. Therefore, he believed she would be even more of a star in the financial world, and that was why she was entrusted with access to his business email account.
It was then Jillian realized that something was different about her, and she looked flushed despite always being calm.
“Has the investment proposal arrived?”
Jessica spoke with excitement.
“I don’t want to use the word genius easily, but they really are!”
Edited by Userunfriendly