The Green Brothers’ decision to short gold had a significant impact on the New York gold futures market.
No one could have imagined that, with gold prices having already plummeted nearly $150 from their peak, anyone would dare to short the market at this time.
What’s more, the scale of the Green Brothers’ operation this time was truly staggering!
Starting on November 8, they dumped massive quantities of gold futures contracts onto the market every day—from 11,000 contracts on the first day, to 30,000, then 50,000, with the volume increasing day by day.
At the height of the frenzy, they sold nearly 200,000 futures contracts in a single day, worth nearly $8 billion.
Such reckless trading left every investor in the New York gold futures market stunned.
To onlookers, this all-or-nothing, gambler-style investment strategy was certainly thrilling, but if their judgment were wrong, the Green Brothers—an investment firm with nearly a century of history—could be reduced to ashes in an instant!
However, Reggie Green, having made up his mind, paid no heed to others’ opinions. Once he entered the market, he executed his pre-planned strategy with meticulous precision.
After nearly a week of trading, Reggie Green and his team finally sold off the 456,000 gold futures contracts they had borrowed.
On November 17, after liquidating every single futures contract in their portfolio, Reggie Green hosted a small victory celebration at his Manhattan estate.
That’s right—a victory party!
Although the final settlement hadn’t yet taken place, their frenzied selling had sent the price of gold futures contracts on the New York futures market plummeting once again.
The price per contract has now fallen to $40,500, equivalent to $405 per ounce.
The average selling price for the Green Brothers firm was around $44,500 per contract, meaning that so far, they have made a profit of about $4,000 per contract—totaling $1.82 billion for 456,000 contracts.
Of course, there is a difference between paper profits and actual settlement funds.
After all, if they were to settle, they would have to repay all the futures contracts borrowed from financial institutions, which would require them to purchase gold futures contracts on the market.
Such a massive purchase volume would inevitably drive up the price of gold futures contracts, so the actual profit would not reach as high as $1.82 billion.
Nevertheless, this short position on gold can be considered an initial victory; the next step depends on the trend of international gold prices.
If international gold prices continue to slide, the Green Brothers will undoubtedly make a fortune; but if prices rise against the trend, the outcome is anyone’s guess.
Under these circumstances, a small celebration is certainly in order!
In the days that followed, Reggie Green visited the futures market almost every day, closely monitoring the fluctuations in gold prices and standing ready to close out his positions at any moment.
In contrast, Li Yi seemed completely unconcerned about a potential rise in gold prices. After helping Reggie Green liquidate all his futures contracts, he took Billy, Li Yunbao, Zhou Xinghua, and the others straight to the Nasdaq.
Li Yi’s initial capital was only $15 million, but on the Nasdaq, he operated as if he had $150 million. No matter which stock he set his sights on, he immediately applied financial leverage and struck with force.
Moreover, his eye for opportunities was exceptional; every move he made was bound to yield a profit.
In just a few short days, his $15 million had ballooned to $45 million—more than tripling in value.
The speed at which he made money left Billy and the others speechless.
It’s important to note that the Nasdaq market is entirely different from the futures market. While financial leverage is also used here, stock price fluctuations aren’t as extreme as in futures trading; daily gains or losses are typically only a few percentage points.
As a result, the potential for profit or loss in the stock market is relatively modest, unlike the futures market where one can become a millionaire or lose everything overnight.
Consequently, there is a consensus in the investment world: conservative investors play the stock market, while risk-takers gamble on futures.
But Li Yi was now doing both—playing the stock market and gambling on futures—and he was excelling at both. This left Zhou Xinghua, Billy, George, and the others not only stunned but also increasingly impressed by him.
Before they knew it, Li Yi’s standing within the team had grown significantly…
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Beijing. Eastern Suburbs!
Just as Li Yi was going on a rampage in the New York stock market, An Hong, Jiang Longcheng, Ye Jianhua, and others in Beijing were also swamped with work.
After Li Yi left, they began preparing for the industrial products trade fair according to their pre-established plan.
To ensure the success of the fair, An Hong withdrew 100,000 yuan from Jiang Xue to fund the venue renovation and subsequent promotional efforts.
While the venue was being renovated, An Hong and her team conducted on-site inspections of the industrial manufacturers invited to exhibit. Only those that passed their evaluation were eligible to participate in the exhibition.
After more than a month of preparation and evaluation, a total of 121 large state-owned factories had now passed An Hong and her team’s review and become official exhibitors.
After finalizing the list of exhibitors, An Hong, following Li Yi’s instructions, immediately launched a comprehensive publicity campaign for the exhibition.
They made full use of promotional platforms such as newspapers and magazines, and through Jiang Longyin’s connections, they even ran a television advertisement on CCTV.
To distinguish this fair from others, An Hong and her team directly added the words “Fine Products” to the title during their promotional efforts, highlighting the event’s product positioning.
Thanks to their tireless promotional efforts, the National Light Industry Premium Products Exhibition had already generated significant buzz even before it began.
On November 20, after a month and a half of preparation, the fair officially began!
On the opening day, thanks to Jiang Longcheng’s connections, they not only invited Jiang Longyin, the district leader, but also brought in a large contingent of media outlets—including CCTV and Beijing Television—to bolster the event’s prestige.
The results were immediately apparent: on the opening day alone, over 50,000 people visited the fairgrounds to browse and shop.
Once these ordinary citizens arrived at the fairgrounds, they realized that this event was indeed completely different from any other trade fair they had attended before.
First of all, the exhibition halls were unique; not only had they been renovated inside and out, but they also gave off a high-end, grand atmosphere.
More importantly, each participating company had its own booth, which not only displayed the products for sale but also provided detailed company profiles.
The company’s name, its province of origin, product specifications, and achievements were all clearly outlined.
In addition, to ensure the success of this exhibition, An Hong had temporarily borrowed 200 sales staff from the Second National Cotton Mill and the Yanjing Television Factory.
These salespeople, all uniformly dressed, were active throughout the exhibition, enthusiastically welcoming every visitor and providing exceptional service.
Citizens, who were accustomed to clearance sales for surplus inventory, had never seen anything like this before and were stunned by this novel approach.
Combined with the fact that the quality of the products on display was truly impeccable and the prices were quite favorable, visitors rushed to place orders.
On the very first day alone, the 121 participating companies generated 9.66 million yuan in sales, marking a spectacular start…
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