manynovel Chapter 189 Bull and Bear Manipulation
Chapter 189 Bull and Bear Manipulation
Chapter 189 Bull and Bear Manipulation
If one's only concern is profit, then one is not worthy of calling oneself a businessman.
At the very least, they don't deserve to call themselves qualified businessmen.
The ability to weigh the benefits and risks and make the most advantageous decision is an essential quality of an excellent businessman.
Although young, Leo has mastered this art.
When an opportunity presents itself, Leo is always quick to recognize the risks involved.
This time, his collaboration with the man nicknamed "Know-It-All" was not a blind move either.
But the risk he saw was an abyss.
Once he slips and falls, he will never have a chance to recover.
However, he ultimately decided to cooperate.
This was a huge gamble, a chance for him to realize his life's dream.
He might not have such an opportunity again, so he absolutely cannot miss it.
There was less than half an hour left until the time he had agreed to meet with Daniel Clark.
Know-it-all is always punctual, so Leo doesn't need to worry about whether the other party can arrive on time.
Instead, he needs to figure out how to kill that half hour.
Leo found the book "Disqualified Contract" and began to study its contents.
Ever since that time in the tavern when he accidentally signed a contract with a mysterious being using the method described in the book, he knew that the power recorded in the book was not just nonsense.
Extraordinary power truly exists.
And so he stepped into the realm of the extraordinary!
A book that records such incredible power must be priceless.
However, Leo found it incredible that Mr. Mosley had handed it over to him so easily.
Mr. Mosley said the book would help Leo.
It not only helped, it even saved Leo's life.
But why was Mr. Mosley able to hand the book over to Leo so easily?
From a businessman's perspective, he doesn't believe anyone would make a sacrifice for someone they've never met before.
Therefore, Mr. Mosley must have some motive.
However, Leo couldn't be sure what the motive was.
Is the intention to enable Leo to make money through the power of the book, so that Mr. Mosley can receive a share of the profits?
Or was he trying to warn Leo that he, who could so readily bestow such power, possessed even more terrifying strength, and that Leo shouldn't try anything clever?
But no matter what, as long as Leo doesn't do anything stupid and go against that man, there shouldn't be any problems.
Now that he has the book in his hands, Leo absolutely cannot waste its value.
Leo intends to master the power in the book so that it can be used in crucial moments.
But he wouldn't practice it, since the book clearly stated that using power carries risks, and the benefits of practice weren't enough for him to bear those risks. The Disqualified Contracts contained a great many contracts, and the mysterious entities he encountered were equally numerous.
It also records that different contract partners have different strengths, likes, and dislikes.
Leo thus learned that this power could not only be used for fighting or self-defense, but if mastered well enough, it could even be used to assist in his life.
But that's a story for later. Right now, Leo is just getting started and is still a long way from that stage.
Suddenly someone knocked on Leo's room door. Leo put away his books, got up and opened the door.
The door opened, and there stood Daniel.
Daniel walked into the room naturally and sat down in a chair without waiting for Leo's invitation.
They were already quite familiar with each other. Although they were both wary of each other and didn't completely trust each other, there was no need to be overly polite, as this would only distance them from each other.
Leo asked, "How is it?"
"It's confirmed," Daniel smiled. "He bought them all!"
"That's good," Leo said. "Then let's start the process tomorrow, otherwise the interest alone will be enough to bankrupt me."
1
“I’m the one who went bankrupt,” Daniel shrugged. “I took on the loan. You’re just an unknown traveling merchant. I bet you can borrow no more than ten gold coins.”
Daniel is overestimating him. Back then, Leo had to beg countless people just to borrow a large silver coin as start-up capital.
Although he is no longer the ignorant and foolish Niu Xu of yesteryear, the amount he can borrow is no more than one gold coin. After all, traveling merchants travel far and wide, and lending money to such a person means being prepared for the money to go down the drain.
However, Leo did not entirely agree with what Daniel had just said:
"The all-knowing man lives up to his name, managing to borrow so much money, although the interest rate is quite high," Leo said. "But don't forget, the principal and the original contract used for leverage were provided by me. If it fails, I'll have nothing."
In other words, Daniel only lost his reputation and incurred debt, but he could still live a comfortable life if he changed his identity and the city he lived in.
After all, Daniel Clark, the know-it-all, possesses a wide variety of skills, making a living would be a piece of cake for him.
What Leo lost, however, was real money.
But if a merchant loses his last asset and has no other skills, he often has no chance of recovery.
"So this time we're in the same boat," Daniel shrugged. "We need to work together."
Leo and Daniel's goal in collaborating is to seize the spice agency rights from the Green-Eyed Chieftain.
Daniel proposed a three-step plan: for Leo to establish a friendly relationship with the chief, to sow discord between the green-eyed man and his kingdom's brother-in-law, and finally, to destroy the brother-in-law.
The first step requires Leo's effort, and a businessman who doesn't know how to gain the trust of others will go bankrupt sooner or later.
So this step went very smoothly.
Of course, although Leo learned a few words of Green Eyes' language, it was not enough for him to communicate, so Daniel still needed to act as a translator.
The second step, however, relied entirely on Daniel's own actions.
Therefore, Leo didn't know exactly how he did it.
But Daniel had mentioned that his brother-in-law was a womanizer, so Leo could probably guess what kind of scheme Daniel was planning to use.
As for the last step, it's also the most difficult.
Destroying a person is not easy, therefore, this step requires the combined efforts of both parties to complete.
Daniel mentioned his motivation for wanting to destroy the con artists.
The familial ties between the conman and the chief cannot be easily severed.
And that brother-in-law is a cunning swindler, so he could take back the agency spot at any time if he wanted to. Therefore, Daniel must make sure that brother-in-law completely loses his competitiveness in this area.
This way, their hard-won position won't be threatened.
This requires three conditions to be met: Leo must own a respectable large ship, destroy the conman's shabby ship, and make the conman penniless.
However, none of these three conditions are easy to achieve.
But things have to be done step by step; they are now trying to figure out how to make that swindler lose all his money.
That swindler made at least several hundred gold coins off a ship full of spices.
Such a large sum of money cannot simply vanish with a few words.
Therefore, Leo and Daniel discussed many countermeasures.
It wasn't until Daniel mentioned that the conman was extremely greedy, with his desires constantly expanding and seemingly never being satisfied.
Inspired by this, Leo devised a countermeasure, formulated a plan, and has successfully implemented it to this day.
Only one final step remained: "Success or failure hinges on this."
"Can it succeed?" Daniel asked. "You know, even though I'm nicknamed the know-it-all and have met countless businessmen, I've never seen anyone pull off something like what you're doing."
"Because there are just too many risks," Leo replied, "affected by too many factors: climate, environment, situation, territorial laws, and especially, the unpredictable human heart."
"And you're saying that even if things go smoothly, you'll probably not make any money?" Daniel countered.
“That’s right,” Leo said. “I only hope not to lose too much, but our goal is not to make money, but to act as bait to make that swindler lose the last penny in his pocket.”
"Now that you've made your purpose so clear, I feel a little more at ease," Daniel said with a smile. "So, you really ordered that much wine?"
“Not that many,” Leo said. “Only the initial wine order worth thirty gold coins is redeemable; the rest are all promises made out of thin air.”
Daniel asked, "But what if they want cash for the wine, and you don't have the money?"
"The golden grapes aren't fully ripe yet, let alone the golden wine, so those contracts can't be redeemed," Leo said. "Futures can only be redeemed when the contract expires, which means we have to complete all the operations before that day comes."
"What's going on?"
"Close the position," Leo replied, "buy back all the contracts that were issued."
"But what's the point?"
“The prices for buying and selling are different, and the price difference is income or loss,” Leo said. “And generally speaking, as long as the contracts are traded, the person who controls the most orders or the most capital can ensure that they make money.”
Why?
"He can control the price movement of futures contracts. Whether he wants to go long or short, it's all under his control, so he can profit from both sides," Leo said. "And this, in essence, is also taking advantage of human greed."
"greedy?"
Those who go long expect prices to rise, while those who go short hope prices will fall, but they cannot control price movements.
Rio Road,
"As long as the price trend meets their expectations, their greed will make them give up closing their positions. But once large capital starts to cash out and the price changes drastically, they will find no one to take over their positions when they want to close them out."
"Until the price crashes and you lose everything, it's a gamble. It's all about whether you can make a large move before the price collapses."
Leave the venue promptly.
Daniel nodded, seemingly understanding, and then asked:
"However, this time I have over three hundred gold coins on hand. Doesn't that count as a large position?"
"Calculate!"
Daniel frowned. "If that's the case, why do you say we can't make money?"
"Because just getting these contracts circulating has already cost us a lot of money," Leo said. "I first sold all the contracts at below-market prices, and then bought them back at higher prices, allowing some people to profit, in order to attract more people to enter the market."
Daniel asked, "Could it be that we're already losing money?"
"Yes."
"How much did you lose?"
"About one hundred and fifty gold coins."
Upon hearing this, Daniel's usually composed face finally showed a look of surprise:
"One hundred and fifty gold coins! Gibson, you should know that all of this money came from loans! And I'm still paying exorbitant interest!"
"Of course I understand," Leo nodded.
"Will you be able to earn it back later?"
Leo shook his head: "Relying solely on retail investors will be difficult. After all, the cost of this scheme is too high; a second round of hedging is necessary to have a chance to make money. However, the high interest rates aren't enough for us to hold out until then!"
"and you-"
"Isn't that what you said?" Leo said. "Our goal isn't to make money, but to make that conman lose money."
"And I successfully lured him into the game—"
"That's right," Leo nodded. "I will use his money to cover our losses. I may not make a profit, but I shouldn't lose too much either. The only ones who can make money this time are those who entered the market earliest."
Daniel asked, "How much will he lose?"
"I've lost everything."
Daniel laughed: "Gibson, you always seem so kind, but you're colder than I thought."
“Merchants are heartless,” Leo said. “Gold is our only family.”
“But you’re not that kind of person,” Daniel said. “I can see the warmth in your eyes, which is why I’m working with you. It’s just that your talent far exceeds my expectations, and you seem to possess extraordinary powers.”
“My skill level is pretty much set,” Leo shrugged, “while the know-it-all has at least nine thousand nine hundred talents that he hasn’t shown me yet.”
"Hahaha!" Daniel laughed. "After all, it's a nickname, a bit of an exaggeration, but it's not too much, is it? However, Gibson, although I've helped many people, I've rarely collaborated with anyone. This time, it was definitely my best collaboration experience ever."
Leo nodded: "If you are a completely trustworthy partner, then I will feel at ease wherever I do business."
"It's good that we get along. I think we should be able to succeed this time, and then we'll continue to get along for a while?"
Leo was a little confused. What was Daniel referring to?
In fact, Leo had long suspected that this know-it-all was hiding something from him and had other motives.
But Leo didn't presume to ask, after all, everyone has secrets.
Regardless, both he and Daniel are currently burdened with huge losses and debts, and at least until their futures positions are liquidated, they will not betray each other.
If they're lucky, they might make a small fortune this time, which would secure them a better boat.
However, Leo couldn't think of a single way to destroy the conman's ship.
He asked Daniel, who smiled and said:
"Don't worry, I already have an idea."
"What method?"
"Do you know that that ship was a pirate ship—"