The roller coaster-like index turmoil lasted for more than half a month. On September 23, when the S&P 500 index fell below 310 points, Noah Scott finally received Simon’s order to close his position again. From September 23 to September

On the 25th, in three days, the 6,000 short contracts held by Westeros Company were cleared at an average of around 307 points, and Simon once again made a profit of US$76.26 million.

In addition, one month after "Run Lola Run" was released, as the two parties still maintained a close cooperative relationship, Orion Pictures did not deliberately delay and readily paid the total box office of 32.51 million U.S. dollars due to the Westeros company in accordance with the contract.

divided into.

Therefore, excluding the loan that was no longer ready to be used, Simon's total funds before the final layout had reached US$387.33 million.

When Noah Scott and others were still wondering about Simon's conservative operating intentions in September, the liquidation was over, and after a few days of brief silence, on September 30, Simon suddenly transferred Westeros's assets from Lehman Brothers' accounts.

All funds are transferred out.

Noah Scott also finally realized that whether Simon discovered Lehman Brothers’ intention to follow suit or not, the other party was wary of them.

After all, Wall Street is not that big. What’s more, the stock index futures market is still using the on-site manual outcry trading mode at this time. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s trading order for stock index futures is actually very obvious. Therefore, after a little observation and inquiry, Noah·

Scott basically concluded that Simon had dispersed the funds to several other brokers and began to build short positions aggressively again.

However, Simon's "missed" operation in September caused Lehman Brothers to have doubts about whether to follow up. Moreover, Quantum Fund, another major client of Lehman Brothers, almost simultaneously with Simon in early October.

He began to build large-scale long contracts that were completely opposite to those of the Westeros Company, which further aggravated the hesitation of Noah Scott and others.

Although it is not as famous as it was later, George Soros's Quantum Fund has achieved an average return rate of more than 30% per year for more than ten years since its establishment, which still makes him famous on Wall Street.

On one side are hedge fund tycoons with outstanding performance, and on the other are Hollywood geeks who have suddenly emerged.

The operations of the two people are completely opposite.

After several hesitations, James Robinson, who was making the decision behind the scenes, still couldn't make up his mind and just asked Noah Scott to watch from the sidelines.

US$500 million in cash cannot be underestimated for any company in this era. If the funds controlled by Noah Scott fall into losses, black market operations will be more easily exposed. By then, James Robinson's CEO of American Express

Don't even think about doing it anymore.

Lehman Brothers is stuck on the sidelines, but time will not stop at all.

In the last ditch effort, Simon completely let go.

Starting from October 1, several futures brokers that Simon secretly re-identified began to build positions at a rate of 2,000 contracts per day. At the same time, the North American stock market also began to accelerate its decline after entering October, and the S&P 500 Index

In just two weeks, it fell to a low of nearly 280 points again.

…

Here in Los Angeles.

While "Pulp Fiction" was wrapping up, "When Harry Met Sally" officially started filming in New York on September 14.

Simon completed the filming of "Pulp Fiction" and neither immediately entered into the post-production of the film nor rushed to New York, because the final editing of "The Last Day" was also completed in late September, and the film was not released until October 23.

There is only one month left in the release date.

With the supervision of Amy Pascal, Simon is not worried that Fox will not do its best in the promotion and distribution of "Dead Man". However, in order to gain some experience in film distribution for Daenerys Pictures, Simon still participated in these matters personally.

At work.

With a lot of work to do, time inevitably flies by.

These days, Paramount Pictures' drama thriller "Fatal Attraction" starring Michael Douglas is an unexpected hit at the box office.

Although it was left in the unpopular schedule at the end of September, which is also a graveyard level, in just four weeks, "Fatal Attraction" has already grossed nearly 50 million U.S. dollars at the box office. It has no doubt become the 1987 film of the year following "Run Lola Run" and "Butterfly".

After "The Effect" and "Beverly Cop 2", it is another film with a North American box office expected to exceed 100 million.

The box office success of "Fatal Attraction" made Simon think of another more famous film by Michael Douglas, "Basic Instinct".

After several successful internal test screenings of "Dead Man", Fox began to urge Simon to complete the last script in the original contract as soon as possible. After being reminded by "Fatal Attraction", Simon has written the script for "Basic Instinct" in recent days.

The outline of the script was written.

In the blink of an eye, it’s Monday, October 19th.

Inside the Palisades mansion.

Simon woke up just after four o'clock in the morning, and he was completely sleepless.

After getting up, he went directly to the study next to the master bedroom and leaned back in the large leather chair. Simon did not rush to pick up the phone, but once again flipped through the recent trading reports of several futures brokers and the stock market market reports of these days.

.

From October 1st to October 16th, during the 12 trading days, Westeros Company established a total of 26,700 short contracts between 300 points and 280 points of the S&P 500 Index, and all positions in each account were

A staggering 100%.

With all 387.33 million US dollars invested, even if he was absolutely sure, Simon would inevitably feel uneasy when things came to a close.

Fortunately.

Some things in my memory still happened on time.

Just yesterday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Baker claimed on a TV show that if the Federal Republic of Germany does not lower interest rates, the United States will continue to consider devaluing the U.S. dollar. It is obvious that the price of certain goods will definitely drop, and the holders will definitely choose to sell. If the U.S. dollar

Continued depreciation will naturally prompt capital to flee.

On the previous Friday, the North American stock market had already shown signs of collapse. On October 16, the Dow Jones Index fell from the highest point of 2,700 points in August to 2,200 points. The U.S. trade deficit and financial deficit worsened again in the third quarter.

This has already made North American stock markets look precarious.

Baker's completely inappropriate remarks on the TV show were like the straw that broke the camel's back.

Simon believes that many things never happen for no reason. Therefore, Baker's speech on the TV show yesterday and the subsequent media hype naturally reminded him of conspiracy theories.

Of course, these things have nothing to do with him.

Even if the U.S. economy returns to the Great Depression, he won't feel much of it.

The opening time of the New York Stock Exchange is 9:30 Eastern Time, and the opening time of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange is 8:30 Central Time, which is actually synchronized with the New York Stock Exchange.

As for Los Angeles, Simon only has to wait until 6:30.

However, just after 6 o'clock, the three telephones that Simon had specially installed in the study these days began to ring one after another.

Although the prescribed trading time is half o'clock, in fact, floor trading on the New York and Chicago trading floors often begins before the market opens.

Before withdrawing funds from Lehman Brothers, Simon had secretly opened stock index futures accounts at three investment banks with futures brokerage businesses: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and First Boston.

In fact, Simon still knew nothing about Lehman Brothers' previous secret follow-up, but he also believed that the other party must have noticed his actions during this time. However, when the matter reached the current stage, Simon could not care too much.

If Lehman Brothers follows suit, it will at most add some resistance to Westeros' liquidation of positions in the next few days. However, Simon does not believe that Lehman Brothers will easily expose Westeros' previous trading records to other investment banks.

, prompting several companies such as Goldman Sachs to follow suit and build positions.

The competition on Wall Street is very fierce. Once Lehman Brothers did this, competitors like Goldman Sachs would not mind dragging the fisherman into the water while eating the "bait" thrown by Lehman Brothers.

Traders from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and First Boston successively informed Simon on the phone that more than 20 minutes before the opening, a large number of long contract sales had already appeared on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and the lowest quotation had even reached 253.

points, compared with last Friday's closing price of 281 points, a plunge of 28 points, a drop of nearly 10%.

Simon had to wait a full month and a half for his first trade before the S&P 500 rose from 270 points to 290 points.

Now, just one weekend later, and just before the market opened, the quotation points of the S&P 500 Index had already fallen by 28 points. Even though he was thousands of miles away, Simon could imagine this moment on the floors of the New York Stock Exchange and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

What a scene with dark clouds over the city inside.

Janet didn't know when she walked in, still wearing suspender pajamas and bare feet. However, this time the woman was not the lazy kitten she used to be. Her eyes were bright, and she no longer leaned into Simon's arms. She was quiet.

I pulled up a chair and sat across from the desk, listening to Simon's continuous phone calls to Chicago.

Although the quotation had dropped by 28 points, more than any previous round of operations, Simon still decisively rejected the trader's suggestion to close the position.

After making three calls in a row, Simon put down the phone. Janet's eyes flickered and her expression was obviously a little uncertain as she asked: "How much is it?"

"It has dropped to 253 points."

Simon said, picked up the remote control, and turned on the TV that had just been installed in the study in recent days. The screen showed the boiling chaos in the New York Stock Exchange, and the host was almost vibrating.

explanation.

Through the host's words, starting at 9 a.m. Eastern Time, in just ten minutes, the New York Stock Exchange has also accumulated a large number of stock selling.

After listening quietly to the report on the TV screen for a while, Janet turned to look at Simon, her expression obviously filled with a little excitement that she was worried about the world being in chaos, and she whispered in a sly voice: "Hey, dear, do you think you will fall?"

How many?"

Simon looked at Janet's appearance and wanted to pinch the woman's nose, but he just shook his head and said: "It's such a mess, how could I know."

Janet's eyes flickered a few times, her lips curled up, but she stopped asking.

Although he understood that Janet must have been vaguely aware of something, in any case, Simon would never admit it head-on. This did not mean that he did not trust Janet enough, but that his own experience was too unbelievable, and Simon simply could not cope with something.

The consequences after these things are exposed.

On the TV screen, amid the chaotic scenes of continuous switching between major exchanges, the last ten minutes passed quickly.

At 6:30 Los Angeles time, the New York Stock Exchange and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange opened at the same time.

In New York, the Dow Jones index fell 67 points at the opening, and then began to plummet.

The situation inside the Chicago Mercantile Exchange is even more shocking.

The S&P 500 index jumped directly after the opening and plummeted from 281 points at the close of last week to 198 points, a drop of 29%.

The average number of short positions held by Westeros Company is around 290 points.
To be continued...