Chapter 874: Jiang Xue’s Investment Debut (Part 2)
After leaving the NYSE, Jiang Xue seemed deep in thought.
Just moments ago, she had invested all 4 million US dollars in the stock market—3 million in Coca-Cola and 1 million in PepsiCo.
It felt pretty thrilling while she was buying, but once she’d actually poured several million into the market, she started to worry.
Seeing her like this, Li Yi immediately tried to reassure her: “What’s wrong? Afraid of losing money?”
“Well, that’s 4 million dollars. Even if the stock price drops just a little, our losses would be huge!” Jiang Xue said.
“That’s just how the stock market works—high risk, high reward. Since you want to learn how to trade stocks, you have to be mentally prepared for this!” Li Yi said with a smile.
“But…”
“No ‘buts.’ It’s your first time in New York—I’ll take you to see the sights around here!” Li Yi said.
“Alright, then!”
Then, as if she’d just remembered something, Jiang Xue turned to Li Yi and said, “I saw you over in the lobby earlier. It looked like you were buying stocks too!”
“Yeah, I’ve invested in a few stocks myself!” Li Yi replied.
“Which stocks did you pick, and how much did you invest?” Jiang Xue asked curiously.
“I’m not going to tell you which stocks I picked, but I can tell you I’ve invested a total of 50 million dollars!”
“Whoa, 50 million?”
Jiang Xue knew that they had only brought a total of 57 million US dollars with them on this trip.
After setting aside the 4 million for her and reserving funds for upcoming expenses, Li Yi had essentially invested all his available capital—that was just crazy.
Li Yi wanted to test Jiang Xue’s emotional resilience, so he didn’t want to discuss stocks with her too much. Instead, he took her to see the sights in downtown New York.
Li Yi spent the entire afternoon showing Jiang Xue around downtown New York. They visited Central Park, Times Square, and saw the Statue of Liberty.
They also went to City Hall and Broadway, though unfortunately, time was tight, so they didn’t go inside to see a show.
By the time they returned to Green Manor, it was already past six in the evening.
As soon as they got back, Li Yi saw Reggie Green waiting for him in the living room downstairs.
Knowing that Green Reggie had called him over to discuss something, Li Yi told Jiang Xue to go upstairs to shower and rest, while he went to the conference room with Green.
As soon as he walked in, Green Reggie said to Li Yi, “Li, I went over the numbers with the company’s finance department today. We’ve recovered 8.2 billion in funds. If we use our shares as collateral, we could borrow about 5.5 billion, but this will take some time!”
“How long?” Li Yi asked immediately.
“At least twenty days!”
Li Yi shook his head and said, “That’s too long. Ten days at most. If it takes longer than that, there’s no point in taking out the loan!”
As far as he knew, the British government had announced an adjustment to the pound’s exchange rate in the middle of the second month following the end of the Falklands War.
At the very latest, they had only 15 days left.
Therefore, they had to raise sufficient funds and convert all of it into pounds before the decision was officially announced at 10 Downing Street.
This was by no means an easy task for the average person.
After all, currency speculation was strictly prohibited in the UK. For an ordinary person, converting tens of billions of US dollars into pounds was virtually impossible.
Although Li Yi believed that with Green Reggie’s networking skills and connections here, it was certainly possible, they still had to allow for enough time.
“It’s a bit of a challenge. The bank’s review process alone won’t be completed in ten days!” Green Reggie frowned.
Li Yi didn’t answer his question but changed the subject: “What’s the current interest rate on loans?”
“5.6%!”
“What if we raise the interest rate to 7%?” Li Yi said, making a startling suggestion.
Hearing this, Reggie Green’s expression froze.
Although the increase from 5.6% to 7% was only 1.4%, the loan amount was substantial.
A whopping 5.5 billion US dollars—which meant they’d have to pay an additional 77 million US dollars in interest.
If the return on this investment didn’t meet expectations, that interest alone would be enough to give them a headache.
“With such high interest rates, some banks might indeed cooperate with us and disburse the funds quickly, but our cost of capital would be much higher, and the pressure…”
Before he could finish, Li Yi interjected, “I’m very confident in this investment. A 50% return is just a conservative estimate!”
Green Reggie looked at Li Yi’s serious expression, paused to think for a moment, and then said, “Alright, I’ll contact the bank as soon as possible and ensure this loan is finalized within ten days!”
“Great!”
Li Yi then asked, “By the way, Reggie, could you arrange to convert all our available funds into pounds for future use? Would that be difficult?”
“Pounds? Li, do you mean we’re investing in London this time?” Reggie Green asked, looking at him.
“Pretty much. Just tell me if there’s a problem,” Li Yi said.
“No problem, but converting such a large sum requires an application to the foreign exchange department, which will take about three days!”
“Alright, first convert all the company’s funds into pounds. Once the loan comes through, convert that into pounds immediately as well, then wait for my further instructions!” Li Yi said.
“Got it!”
Green Reggie agreed without giving it much thought. He knew that Li Yi had recently made nearly 10 billion pounds on the London futures market, so he assumed he was planning to stir things up over there again.
The two chatted for a while longer before Green Reggie left the estate and returned to his other large mansion in the city.
………
The night passed without incident!
Early the next morning, Li Yi felt an itch in his nose while still asleep. He sneezed several times in quick succession, and that woke him up.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Jiang Xue sitting cross-legged by the bed, smiling at him, a strand of hair in her hand.
Li Yi knew exactly what was going on—the little minx was teasing him.
Without hesitation, he reached out, pulled Jiang Xue into his arms, and prepared to give her a playful scolding.
Seeing this, Jiang Xue quickly pleaded, “Stop messing around! Get up quickly and come with me to the exchange!”
Li Yi glanced at his watch and said with a sigh, “The exchange doesn’t open until 9:30. It’s not even seven o’clock yet…”
“I… I’m just so anxious!” Jiang Xue said, looking a bit embarrassed.
Li Yi knew this was her first time trading stocks, and she’d invested a whopping 4 million US dollars all at once, so it made perfect sense that she was anxious.
With that in mind, he stopped teasing Jiang Xue.
After letting her go, he immediately got dressed and got out of bed…
At 9:00 a.m., Li Yi and the others arrived at the New York Stock Exchange once again!
Upon arrival, Li Yi first had Navine reserve a VIP lounge in the company’s name, then waited quietly for the market to open.
“Ring-ring-ring…”
With a series of rapid chimes, the New York Stock Exchange kicked off another busy day.
As soon as the bell rang, Jiang Xue couldn’t wait to lead Naveen and Pang Feiyan out of the VIP lounge to check the stock prices of Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
After five or six minutes, Jiang Xue rushed back to the VIP lounge like a whirlwind and excitedly exclaimed to Li Yi, “They’re up… they’re up… I made money…”
“By how much?”
“Coca-Cola is up 5%, and Pepsi is up 3.1%!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “So can you figure out how much you’ve made?”
“Isn’t it just 180,000 dollars? Don’t underestimate me—I’m a college student majoring in accounting, after all. If I can’t even figure out a simple calculation like this, what’s the point of going to college!”
Then Jiang Xue asked again, “Now that the stock price has gone up, what should I do?”
“If you think the stock price will keep going up, then hold onto it. If you think it might go down, then sell it—that’s called liquidating your position!” Li Yi said.
“So should I hold on or sell everything?” Jiang Xue asked again.
“It’s up to you!”
Hearing this, Jiang Xue shot her husband a glare, then fell deep in thought.
After a long while, she finally said, “I’m going to hold onto them!”
“Why?” Li Yi asked, a hint of curiosity in his voice.
“I don’t know much about other stocks either. Until I find better ones, I think it’s best to keep holding these two!” Jiang Xue said.
“Alright, then!”
Just then, Jiang Xue looked at Li Yi and asked, “By the way, did the stocks you bought go up or down?”
“They went up!”
“How much did it go up?”
“5%!”
“Which stock did you buy?” Jiang Xue asked again.
“Coca-Cola!”
Jiang Xue: @#￥%……
………