Stock Exchange. VIP Room No. 9!
Dawson said gravely, “That bastard has set his sights on Hang Seng. Let’s discuss what we should do!”
Henry, the head of Huifeng, said with a grim expression, “Is that despicable guy going to do the same thing he did a few days ago—drive Hang Seng’s stock price up to a high and then cash out?”
Smith added, “It’s possible. That’s exactly what they did last year, driving Hang Seng’s stock price to a record high of 200 Hong Kong dollars. That single move cost us over a billion Hong Kong dollars!”
“So are we just going to sit here and do nothing, watching that guy go on a buying spree for Hang Seng shares?” asked Jason, Chairman of Hang Seng’s Board of Directors, with a touch of anxiety.
At that moment, the elderly man standing beside Dolsen suddenly spoke up: “Jason, you need to stay calm. Hang Seng is different from Huifeng—we have plenty of time to consider our options!”
Dawson nodded in agreement. “That’s right. Although Hang Seng’s shares are also widely dispersed, Huifeng still controls 39% of Hang Seng’s shares—making it the absolute majority shareholder.”
“As long as we acquire just a little more, we can easily reach a 51% controlling stake. I’m just hesitating right now about whether to compete with that guy for it!”
Jason immediately replied, “Why not? Setting aside whether Star Company can actually secure a controlling stake in Hengsheng, even if they become the second-largest shareholder, that wouldn’t be good for us either!”
Dawson stared at Jason for a moment before saying, “We need to look at the bigger picture. Remember, our funds are limited right now, while that guy has over 60 billion. In terms of capital, we’re definitely no match for him.”
“With our funds already tied up in the battle for control of Huifeng, if we continue to compete with him for Hang Seng, it won’t be long before our limited resources are completely drained.”
“If that guy keeps attacking us then, we’ll be completely helpless—unless we’re willing to open up the Hong Kong market to our members in Southeast Asia and elsewhere in exchange for their financial backing!”
Upon hearing this, everyone—including Henry, Smith, Jason, and the Duke—fell silent.
Although they were all members of the Alliance, each had their own turf. It wasn’t as if anyone could simply come to Hong Kong Island to develop their business; cooperation was the primary relationship between them.
Alliance members from Southeast Asia, Japan, and South Korea would love nothing more than to expand into Hong Kong—it’s just that no one here is exactly welcoming them with open arms.
After all, the Hong Kong market was only so big. If those people came, they would inevitably compete with them for market share, business, and profits. Only a fool would welcome them.
“Looking at your expressions, I can tell you won’t agree to let them come. Since that’s the case, we’ll just have to find another way!” said Dolsen.
“What other ways?”
Dawson paused briefly before saying, “Previously, we bought at the peak. This time, we can use Hang Seng as bait to get Li Yi to buy at the peak!”
“By then, Star Company will inevitably have spent a massive amount of capital, and we can use this opportunity to recoup some of our funds.”
Jason said despondently, “Mr. Dolsen, are you suggesting we abandon Hang Seng?”
“Jason, this is called sacrificing the rook to save the king!”
Dawson continued, “More importantly, Hang Seng’s shares were split last year, increasing the number of shares by five times. Although the share price has dropped significantly, the overall market capitalization has risen to nearly four billion.”
“If we can push the price up a bit, the market cap could even break through fifty billion. At that price, even if we sold Hang Seng, we wouldn’t lose out.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Henry stood up and said, “I agree with Dolsen’s strategy of sacrificing the pawn to save the king. Trading Hang Seng for a complete victory for us is a great deal!”
Smith added, “I think it’s a great idea too. Let’s give it a try!”
“I agree too…”
Seeing that most people agreed with his idea, Dolsen immediately said, “In that case, let’s first compete with Li Yi to drive the stock price up. Smith, I’m leaving this to you!”
“Alright, I’ll get started right away!”
Dawson nodded and said, “Good! But remember, the price can’t rise too quickly, and we must constantly watch out for those on the other side cashing out and exiting the market. The moment we see any signs of that, we must strike first!”
“Yes!”
As the British-funded group reached a decision, the situation where Starry Sky Company held a monopoly quickly began to shift.
With Smith and his team entering the fray, the price of Hang Seng shares began to rise.
When Star Investment entered the market, Hang Seng’s share price was HK$16.80 per share. After Smith and his group joined the fray, the price quickly reached HK$17 and soon climbed to HK$17.50.
But in less than ten minutes, Star Investment Company had placed a bid of 18 Hong Kong dollars per share, and the tension between the two sides was palpable.
However, unlike the previous days, there were very few speculative retail investors entering the market to disrupt the situation today, and certainly no brokerage firms taking advantage of the chaos.
For one thing, Li Yi’s “escape act” combined with his aggressive selling spree yesterday had been so ruthless that the brokerage firms and speculative retail investors who had tried to profit from the chaos had all been badly burned; many were now scrambling to figure out how to break even.
For those who entered at lower prices, it’s still possible to cut losses and exit the market—after all, it’s just a small loss or simply a smaller profit, which is acceptable.
But for those who entered late and bought at higher prices, exiting now wouldn’t be cutting losses—it would be cutting off their own livelihood.
After yesterday’s lesson, who would dare to snatch food from this big shot’s plate today? They must be out of their minds…
Without the hype from these speculators, although the Hang Seng Index rose significantly, it didn’t skyrocket as rapidly as Huifeng had done previously.
Plus, the battle had barely begun when the closing bell rang, and Hang Seng’s share price finally settled at HK$18 per share.
But everyone knew this was just the beginning—Hang Seng would now become the focal point of the battle between the two sides!
While Li Yi took the initiative to ignite the battle for Hang Seng’s shares, the futures war in London had also reached a fever pitch.
Due to the influx of massive capital from financial conglomerates, both the metal futures and spot markets in London entered a phase of frenzied surges.
At yesterday’s close, steel prices stood at 198 pounds per ton; by the opening bell today, they had already surpassed 200 pounds.
Compared to the prices when Li Yunbao and his group entered the market, prices have already risen by a quarter.
More importantly, this was not the final price; prices for various metals were still climbing.
For Li Yunbao and his team, this is a bittersweet experience—a true case of mixed emotions.
The good news is that with metal prices rising, the contracts they had previously purchased have generated significant profits, especially the initial batch of steel.
They had purchased 660,000 contracts at an average price of 169 pounds per ton, earning 1.98 billion pounds from this batch of futures contracts alone.
And that doesn’t even include the profits from copper, aluminum, and spot steel. All told, their returns on this deal have nearly doubled.
But the downside is that as prices rose, the cost of acquiring new contracts became increasingly high.
It was still manageable with steel, whose base price wasn’t high to begin with, but the normal prices for copper and aluminum were already over £1,000 per ton. Now, they were rising by several hundred pounds per ton at a time, which meant each contract was costing tens of thousands of pounds more.
In just a single day, a third of the over 7 billion pounds in capital held by Zhang Qiusheng and his team had been depleted.
At this rate, their funds would be completely depleted in three days at most. If that happened, the first phase of their “banbanhaobang” mission would be successfully completed.
Now, everyone—including Li Yunbao—is waiting for this moment…
……….