Chapter 627: Let the Show Begin!

Thief Eagle. New York!

Due to the time difference, just as night was falling on Hong Kong Island, it was still just beginning to get light over Thief Eagle.

In the estate’s bedroom, Li Yi was fast asleep when he suddenly heard a series of urgent knocks at the door.

Startled awake, Li Yi stumbled to the door, still half-asleep, and opened it.

When he saw that it was actually Li Yunbao and Zhou Xinghua standing there, he yawned and asked, “It’s not even 6:30 yet. Why are you up so early?”

Zhou Xinghua immediately replied with a grave expression, “Mr. Li, we just received an urgent telegram from the boss in Hong Kong. The British-funded group has made their move—they’re planning to ambush us here in New York!”

Hearing this, Li Yi was taken aback for a moment, then said, “Take us down? In New York?”

“That’s right. According to confidential intelligence the boss received, they’ve raised over a billion US dollars and plan to drive up the gold price until we’re forced to liquidate our positions!”

Li Yi rubbed his eyes and asked, “Is this information accurate?”

“It’s definitely accurate. The boss told me to inform you immediately. He also said he’s already raising funds and will get the money to you as soon as possible!” Zhou Xinghua said.

However, Li Yi replied calmly, “Send a telegram back to Old Li right away. Tell him there’s no need for him to raise funds—I can handle this!”

“Mr. Li, it’s highly likely that the British-funded group has already made contact with the financial groups here. Our enemies aren’t just those bastards—they even include quite a few financial firms on this side. If they join forces, their power will be formidable. We…”

Before he could finish, Li Yi cut him off and said, “Just follow my orders. I’ll handle the rest myself!”

Zhou Xinghua was about to say something else, but Li Yunbao, who knew Li Yi well, immediately interjected, “Brother Xinghua, just reply to my old man exactly as Brother Yi said!”

“Alright, then!”

With that, Zhou Xinghua hurriedly left Li Yi’s room, leaving only Li Yi and Li Yunbao behind.

“Aren’t you going back to get some more rest?” Li Yi asked, yawning.

The time difference between Hong Kong and New York is exactly 12 hours. Just as our nightlife is getting started, people over there are just waking up and heading to work.

Because of the time difference, Li Yi hadn’t been able to sleep for the past few days and felt particularly miserable.

“I’m not sleepy!”

Li Yunbao then asked again, “Brother Yi, aren’t you really worried about us getting wiped out? That’s 2 billion US dollars! If we get wiped out, we’ll lose everything!”

Li Yi glanced at him and said, “Do you know how high the price of gold would have to be driven to wipe us out?”

“Um… I don’t know!”

Li Yunbao worked in legal affairs and didn’t know much about investments.

“It would have to reach $720 per ounce!” Li Yi said.

“That’s not that much!”

“Haha, it does sound reasonable—it’s only about a $120 difference. But do you know how massive the entire Thief Eagle gold market is?”

Before Li Yunbao could answer, Li Yi continued, “In the New York gold futures market alone, as much as 70 tons of gold are traded daily. And there are several other gold markets like New York’s in the U.S., including the world-renowned Chicago Gold Exchange!”

“To put it bluntly, it would take billions of dollars just to push the futures price of such a massive gold market up by a single dollar. To raise it by 120 dollars? That’s simply impossible without tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars—unless…”

Li Yunbao hurriedly asked, “Unless what?”

“Unless they mobilize state power to create certain circumstances—only then would it be possible to send gold prices soaring!” Li Yi said.

“I’ve heard that over there, the government is controlled by financial conglomerates. They might actually do something like that!” Li Yunbao said.

“Haha, you think that way because you don’t understand finance, let alone economics. Such things might have happened in the past, but now? The likelihood is minuscule—almost negligible!”

“Why?”

“You wouldn’t understand even if I explained it. Go wake up Lan Xinyi, George, Billy, and the rest. In a little while, I’ll take you all to watch a show!” Li Yi said.

“What kind of show?”

“You’ll find out in a moment. Hurry up!”

“Alright!”

With that, Li Yunbao got up and left Li Yi’s room.

After watching Li Yunbao leave, Li Yi couldn’t help but let the corners of his mouth turn up slightly, revealing a faint smile.

Li Yi hadn’t expected those bastards from the British-funded conglomerate to travel all this way just to team up with a local financial firm to ambush him—they really went out of their way for this.

Despite this, Li Yi wasn’t the least bit worried; on the contrary, he felt a surge of excitement.

Originally, Li Yi had felt a bit of regret—even if this market-crashing scheme succeeded, it would merely serve to teach the British Capital Group a harsh lesson, without dealing them a crippling blow.

After all, no matter how capable he was, he couldn’t possibly drive the gold price down to zero.

Even if international gold prices did indeed plummet by half as he’d anticipated, those guys’ losses would still be limited.

But now that they’d come here to try and thwart him, there was room to maneuver.

You see, before coming here, Li Yi had already anticipated what might happen once he arrived—including the possibility of others trying to undercut him.

This was New York, the city of the “Predatory Eagles,” where financial titans and all manner of speculative funds were in no short supply—think Jim Rogers’ Quantum Fund, the “Oracle of Omaha” Warren Buffett, and the like.

These people are like sharks roaming the open sea; the moment they spot the slightest opportunity, they swarm like sharks sensing blood, devouring their prey until nothing but scraps remain.

That’s precisely why Li Yi didn’t opt for higher leverage—because higher leverage means a lower margin requirement, which translates to greater risk.

Five times leverage is considered relatively low in the futures market, and this ratio is sufficient for him to deal with those with ill intentions.

More importantly, Li Yi believed that the gold price could not possibly sustain its current high of nearly $600 per ounce; the downward trend was very clear and irreversible in the short term.

The reason is simple: gold’s monetary attributes are fading, meaning the factors that once supported its high price are being stripped away.

As is well known, the surge in gold prices began with the rapid rise of the “Hawkish” economy, particularly after the dollar was pegged to gold. The price of gold soared from $80 to a peak of $850 per ounce—an increase of more than tenfold.

However, over the past few years, the relative shortage of total credit supply ultimately led to the collapse of the gold standard.

The reality in the world today is that US dollars are flooding the market everywhere. Not only the US, but even if the entire world were mobilized, it would be incapable of redeeming this deluge of US dollars with gold.

Under these circumstances, humanity faces two choices: first, to cling to the gold standard, which would stifle economic development due to a shortage of credit supply.

Second, to meet the demand for credit growth required for economic development, we could abandon the gold standard and base the monetary system on credit-backed paper currency rather than gold.

The credit provided by paper money is artificially created and is virtually limitless.

Of course, this approach carries risks, making the economy more susceptible to economic bubbles and monetary instability. Fortunately, humanity has finally found means other than gold to stabilize the economy and maintain currency value—such as oil.

At this point, gold was no longer humanity’s only option, and the demonetization of gold had become inevitable.

It was precisely against this broader economic backdrop that humanity chose to de-monetize gold.

After years of progress, the demonetization of gold has had a significant impact on changes in the contemporary structure of gold supply and demand.

First, on the demand side, there has been a shift from a demand dominated by gold as currency to one dominated by gold as a commodity.

A prominent manifestation of this is that gold has lost its dominant position in international settlements and as the main component of national foreign exchange reserves; central banks are no longer the primary buyers in the market but have become purely sellers, and the total gold reserves of various countries are gradually decreasing.

In short, with more sellers and fewer buyers, the market is experiencing an oversupply of gold, making a price decline inevitable.

Second, there are national policy factors at play. In the U.S., inflation is extremely severe, currently running at double-digit levels—the highest in decades.

High inflation inevitably leads to currency devaluation. To protect their purchasing power, many people choose to invest in gold.

However, if national policy shifts and the government moves to curb or resolve high inflation, gold will lose its appeal.

And now that the U.S. is about to take action to address this issue, gold prices will plummet as a result.

At this point, no one can stop the decline in gold prices—and whoever steps in is doomed.

So, Li Yi isn’t afraid of those people targeting him—he’s afraid they won’t show up!

Now that these guys have come, they shouldn’t even think about going back!

This time, he’s determined to show them exactly who they can provoke—and who they simply can’t afford to cross!