Translator: Dreamscribe
A terror attack struck directly at the capital of Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh was the most developed city among the Middle Eastern countries and was also considered the safest place, so this kind of terror attack delivered a great shock.
“Thanks to Iran quickly releasing a statent saying it absolutely wasn’t their doing, the market didn’t shake too badly.”
Iran is currently engaged in a power struggle with the United States over the nuclear issue.
Well, to be honest, that’s just from Iran’s perspective.
In reality, they’re just getting beaten up unilaterally.
The U.S. is already cooperating with various countries to completely cut off all trade with Iran, thereby applying pressure.
On top of that, they have to get involved in the civil war in Yen, so Iran was in quite a troubleso situation in many ways.
And then, all of a sudden, a terror attack on the capital of Saudi Arabia occurs?
Seeing that news, Iran must’ve felt chills down their spine.
Even if it wasn’t their doing, if the other side concluded it was Iran’s and declared war, then the nation would be in jeopardy.
“Back during the 9/11 terror attacks, North Korea was the fastest to strongly insist that it wasn’t their doing. It’s the sa thing.”
Thanks to that, the market looked like it would take a huge dive but quickly returned to normal.
However, because of this incident, so prices increased even more.
“Safe asset prices just keep climbing endlessly.”
“Yeah. Even treasury bonds, which usually don’t move much, kept going up.”
There are the top two most highly rated governnt bonds in the world.
They are U.S. treasury bonds and German treasury bonds.
They are classified as the most creditworthy and safest assets among all governnt bonds.
Because of that, when the market becos all about safety, these two see the highest trading volu among governnt bonds.
“But what’s going on with the franc.......”
However, the franc’s price is practically frozen.
Due to a Swiss governnt financial regulation called the price ceiling system, the franc’s price remained still.
“It looked like it would go up a bit, then went down. Then it seed like it was dropping too much, and it went back up. The price is basically just stuck.”
“Well, it’s the franc after all. There’s a reason it’s considered the top safe asset, right? If the price rises too much, the Swiss governnt releases supply to bring it down again. And if it seems like it's dropping too much, they buy it up to push it back.”
There was a reason the Swiss franc maintained its position as the top safe asset.
“But why did the Departnt Head buy this?”
“Hmm. My lacking guess is, even before the terror incident, the market was totally frozen. So, maybe he didn’t want to just hold on to capital, and decided to convert everything into francs to observe the situation.”
Everyone nodded.
It was the most plausible theory.
“What do you think, Manager?”
Manager Seo is soone who would jump into a fire pit if Departnt Head Jung Jin-ho told him to.
His trust in Departnt Head Jung Jin-ho was unmatched.
“I don’t know the Departnt Head’s intentions either. No one in this company can fathom that man’s insight. But there’s one thing I know for sure.”
The employees perked up their ears.
“W-What is it?”
“That the Departnt Head has no brakes.”
No brakes?
“Even the new people here must’ve experienced it. Has anyone seen our Departnt Head doing risk managent when he does short-term trading?”
“.......”
Co to think of it, no one had.
They just followed what the Departnt Head ordered, without thinking about risk managent, just as Manager Seo had said.
On top of that, the short-term trades were so fast-paced that there wasn’t even ti to think.
“But isn’t it dangerous to not do any risk managent?”
Even when investing with 5 billion won, thorough risk managent is a must.
If not, the Risk Managent Team imdiately halts the trade.
But here, he’s doing short-term trading with 500 billion won, and doesn’t even care about risk managent?
It was truly a dangerous investnt without brakes.
“Yeah. From our perspective, it looks insanely risky. But in the Departnt Head’s eyes, that is risk managent.”
"What? How is that risk managent?"
“Because he wins.”
“......?”
“You don’t get it? If you only fight battles you win, that in itself is risk managent.”
The people who had originally worked on the team with Departnt Head Jung Jin-ho were nodding.
In contrast, the newly joined employees tilted their heads with expressions that showed they couldn’t make sense of it.
It was as if these people had all fallen under so kind of group hypnosis.
How could that be considered risk managent...
Beep-!
At that mont, notification sounds went off here and there.
It was a signal that the stocks they had selected were rising.
“Huh? Wait a minute. W-What’s going on?”
“Wasn’t the franc supposed to be capped due to the price ceiling? But it’s going up like crazy right now?”
“Sothing must’ve happened. Check the news, fast!”
The Swiss franc, which should never have gone up in price due to the ceiling set by the Swiss governnt, suddenly began to surge.
As the graph shot skyward with no sign of stopping, the employees' jaws practically dropped.
“Th-They just announced that Switzerland is abolishing the ceiling!”
“What? This suddenly, with no prior notice?”
“It’s going up. Already 5%... 7%... No, 10%!! The speed is insane!”
Only then did the departnt employees all look over toward Manager Seo.
“I told you, didn’t I?”
He grinned as if to say he had known it all along.
***
[Due to the craze for safe assets, Switzerland has ultimately announced the abolition of the price ceiling. The sudden announcent, made without any prior notice, has delivered a major shock to the foreign exchange market, and franc prices are soaring. In addition, the price of the euro is also……]
They had been on edge all the way through Friday.
And finally, it exploded.
The franc, considered the safest currency in the world, had stabbed everyone in the back like this.
The ceiling policy was literally intended to prevent the price from rising or falling beyond 1 euro = 1.20 francs.
But there was one thing they had overlooked.
It was demand that exceeded all expectations.
The China Shock and Greece’s default.
From that point, money had already started flowing into the euro and franc.
Switzerland was barely suppressing the surging value by injecting money to stabilize its currency.
Then ca the terror attack in Saudi Arabia.
That was the beginning of the domino effect.
Upon seeing the attack on the Saudi capital, people feared an escalation and rushed to safe assets, which resulted in such overwhelming demand that price defense beca nearly impossible.
“So in the end, Switzerland raised the white flag.”
“Wow. But even so, how can they suddenly make such an announcent like this? Hedge funds and securities firms that trusted the ceiling policy must be in chaos.”
“You think it’s just them? Swiss companies and places that import their products are getting hit too.”
Normally, removing a ceiling like this would require advance discussion.
That’s the only way to soften the impact.
But perhaps Switzerland was so desperate that they detonated it without any warning.
“Isn’t this level of shock second only to the subpri crisis in FX history?”
Just as Deputy Manager Lee Hye-rin said, a shock of this magnitude is the first since the subpri crisis.
The franc’s price had risen by a whopping 20% at that point.
The key was how much further it would go from here.
Because of that, despite it being Friday, neither I nor my employees were able to leave work.
“But Departnt Head, how on earth did you predict this?”
“You foresaw that Switzerland wouldn’t be able to hold out, right?”
“Phew. As expected, such insight...!”
"This is why we need to develop the ability to see the forest."
“.......”
Even without responding, the employees were busy beating the drums and cymbals on their own.
“Departnt Head, when should we sell this?”
It had gone up by 20%.
In the foreign exchange market, where a 5% daily increase is considered significant, 20% was a crazy level.
Selling here would net a massive 100 billion won in profit.
Anyone else would’ve lost their mind and sold imdiately.
“.......”
But even when hovering the mouse over the sell button, there was no signal.
That ant it would go even higher from here.
“Don’t sell yet. Keep holding it.”
***
The terror attack in Saudi Arabia that had made CEO Hwang Dae-woon’s heart sink.
When he saw that news, it was so shocking that it felt like his life flashed before his eyes.
But now, that mory didn’t even register in his head.
“Right. S-So what happened?”
It was a nerve-wracking mont, enough to make soone bite their nails.
That feeling was not limited to Hwang Dae-woon, every executive gathered in his office felt the sa.
“He’s still holding.”
At the staff mber’s report, sighs burst out from all directions.
“What? Still?!”
“Didn’t it go over 30%? And he’s still holding on?”
Since Friday, the price of the franc had been skyrocketing.
And Jung Jin-ho had been holding onto it from even before the surge, with over 500 billion won invested.
Naturally, the executives who knew that fact had no choice but to gather in the CEO’s office.
Truthfully, they wanted to go down to Jung Jin-ho’s departnt and enjoy the mont live, but no one dared to interrupt him, so they assembled here instead.
“But isn’t the maximum 30%?”
“Tsk. Seriously. Even with the heart of a beast, to be this greedy at this point...”
CEO Hwang Dae-woon looked at the executives who had gathered one by one after hearing the news about the franc and were now using his office as their hideout, discussing and analyzing the situation. He was speechless.
It was absurd, yet strangely entertaining, that was the catch.
“Hey. Didn’t you guys say earlier that 25% was the peak?”
“That was a misjudgnt. But this ti it’s for real. 30% is definitely the ceiling-”
“Whoa, it’s going up again! It’s broken past 33%!”
“What the hell! How high is this crazy thing going?!”
The franc, which had stalled in the 30% range, finally broke through the resistance line.
With the percentage continuing to climb, CEO Hwang Dae-woon involuntarily swallowed dryly.
“What about Jin-ho? Did Jin-ho sell?”
“Not yet.”
“Ugh.”
“He’s still not selling at this point? What does Departnt Head Jung think the peak is?”
At this point, it was the executives whose palms began to sweat and mouths dried up.
Even the most cold-hearted investor would have pressed the sell button at 30%. But Jung Jin-ho was holding out to the end.
It was Saturday, yet no one even thought about going ho. They were all huddled together, staring at the chart.
The franc, which had gone up to 33%, looked like it was dipping again, only to shoot up once more.
“Ugh. This is driving insane. The swings are too big.”
From 30%, then 33%, then at tis crashing down to 20%.
It was such extre volatility that it made them doubt whether this was even the FX market.
“No need to ride a rollercoaster. Just watching this is on the sa level.”
Then, in one mont.
"Huh? Huhhh?"
The franc, creeping upward again, hit a new high.
“40%!?”
They turned their heads toward the staff mber monitoring the real-ti trading volu of Jung Jin-ho’s departnt.
“...He sold!”
Finally, Jung Jin-ho had dumped all the holdings.
And, as expected of the world’s largest market, the 500 billion won position was instantly sold off.
The recorded profit rate was an astounding 40%.
“Wow-”
“This is seriously unreal. It’s not even a ga…”
“Even in a ga, you couldn’t pull this off, unless you used cheats.”
The executives exhaled the breath they had been holding and shook their heads.
They, too, had spent their lives in the world of investnt, but they had never seen a beast like this before.
No, how could anyone hold on through these wild price swings, up and down like tap dance steps, without selling?
It was not sothing a sane person could do.
“If I worked with Departnt Head Jung, I don’t think my heart could handle it for long.”
“Seriously. When it climbed to 30% and then dropped to 15%, I thought I was going to faint.”
“And even after that, he didn’t sell and held on till the end... Phew. I could never do that.”
Being able to make decisions that others can’t, and having the ntal fortitude and nerves to endure until the right mont arrives, that’s why Jung Jin-ho alone was managing an enormous sum of 500 billion won.
“But... doesn’t that an the capital Departnt Head Jung Jin-ho is handling has now surpassed 700 billion?”
“Right. It hasn’t even been that long since the departnt was established, and it’s already 700 billion?”
“At this rate, won’t it soon exceed our company’s net assets?”
Currently, Kwangwoon Securities manages 1 trillion won in total assets.
That’s the amount excluding the 700 billion being handled by Jung Jin-ho.
But now, his investnt funds were on the verge of surpassing the company’s net assets.
“At this rate, he’s really heading for the trillion-won mark...”
To do that, another 300 billion would be needed.
In a world where earning even 3 billion is tough, a whole 300 billion?
And yet, for so reason.
Once the na Jung Jin-ho was attached to it, even that 300 billion felt small.
***
“This SUV model has a spacious trunk and is perfect for camping or travel. It also has four-wheel drive. Once you try driving it, you’ll really feel the difference. And this particular model is a hybrid, so if you’re looking to reduce costs...”
Hmm. Maybe I shouldn’t have co alone.
I should’ve brought soone who knows about cars.
My father’s birthday was coming up soon, and I wanted to buy him a car, so I was looking around alone. The problem was, I didn’t know much about cars, so even after listening to the explanations, I wasn’t confident about what was good.
I had been searching online, visiting various dealerships...
Maybe I should’ve just called my sister.
But she didn’t co ho this weekend, she went to the office, probably because sothing urgent ca up at work.
-Departnt Head, I’m sorry to bother you on the weekend. Do you have a mont?
While walking around, I got a ssage from Deputy Manager Lee.
-What’s the matter?
-Ah, you replied right away...! I think I sent you the wrong version of the data summary file. So I made urgent revisions and sent it again. Please double-check that one.
-Okay. I’m out right now, so I’ll check it when I get back in.
-Oh, you’re out? I thought you’d be resting at ho. Especially since you worked late yesterday on Saturday…
On Saturday, the mont the price peaked at 40%.
My intuition gave a screaming signal, and I sold all the holdings.
At that ti, it was already night, so my team and I all got off work quite late.
-Yeah. I was planning to get so rest too, but actually-
I gave a rough explanation of why I was out and about now.
-Choosing a car is tough, right? When I was picking one, I spent ages researching. Would you like so help?
-Huh? Really?
-Hehe. I don’t know much, but because of my job I’ve done so much research. Where are you? I’ll get ready and co over.
It was a developnt I hadn’t expected.
If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve dressed up a bit more.
-It might take a little while, so please be patient. I’ll get ready as fast as I can, Departnt Head!
Since we were eting unexpectedly, I figured she’d need so ti to prepare.
eting Deputy Manager Lee alone like this for the first ti, I felt a bit nervous, maybe a little excited, and it was a curious feeling.
“While I wait, then…”
This was the dealership I was going to enter before ssaging her.
That famous German company, Stummwagen.
One of the key criteria for the car I was choosing was the body fra.
How well could the car hold up in the event of an accident?
Maybe I really had beco a proper securities man, safety was my first concern.
Although, to be honest, I don’t pay that much attention to safety when investing.
“Our Stummwagen models are known for their top-tier safety. Especially this new line, the optional features are excellent as well.”
As soon as I walked in, a dealer approached and began explaining in detail.
“Can I try sitting inside?”
“Of course. Please, go ahead. The ride quality is exceptional.”
Sure enough, the ride felt great.
No wonder people go for foreign cars.
“Do you like it? Our Stummwagen brand is actively producing eco-friendly models, passed the recent emissions tests with top marks, and above all, fuel efficiency is excellent.”
Should I go with this one?
Dad tends to like these thick-bodied SUVs.
For now, I should put this one on the candidate list and bring him over next ti to ask his opinion…
“Ugh!”
While holding the steering wheel, I was startled and let go as a sharp spark suddenly popped.
“Are you okay, sir?”
“Ah, yes.”
What was that just now?
Was it just static electricity?
No. It felt different from static electricity.
In that case, could it be-
“Could you explain the car you just introduced one more ti?”
“Ah, of course. Our Stummwagen was recently selected as Europe’s top eco-friendly vehicle, and especially this ti, the emission output is reduced by 20% compared to all previous models-”
Zap-!
Right at that mont, there was another spark-like signal.
“C-Custor?”
“Thank you for the explanation. I’ll co back another ti.”
I quickly left the dealership.
I didn’t know the reason, but I clearly got a signal the mont I heard the word “eco-friendly”.
And it was a very strong one.
Was there a problem with the car?
But Stummwagen’s vehicles had excellent reviews in many areas.
“…Is Stummwagen listed on the stock exchange in Korea?”
*****
For 30 or more extra chapters, you can check out my Patreon here --> patreon/dreamscribe
If you enjoy this novel, please review and rate it at Novelupdates. Thanks! 😊
To receive the latest update notifications or report mistakes, join our Discord server linked below.
Reviews
All reviews (0)