Chapter 803: A Two-Pronged Approach: The Frenzied Li Yi!

10 Liverpool Street, London Futures Exchange!

A light drizzle fell over London today, and the weather felt a bit chilly and gloomy, but inside the futures exchange, the place was buzzing with activity.

As the world’s largest non-ferrous metals exchange, it currently trades metals such as copper, aluminum, lead, zinc, and nickel. The exchange’s prices and inventory levels have a significant impact on global non-ferrous metals production and sales, which is why it attracts the attention of investors from around the world.

Here, in addition to the common sight of tall, burly Caucasians, one can also spot Asian faces, and occasionally even dark-skinned African men, though they are relatively few in number.

Just as investors in the exchange were busy watching the market, a group of more than ten Chinese people, flanked by several white men, walked into the exchange and quickly secured access to a VIP lounge.

Their arrival went largely unnoticed, but in less than ten minutes, trading volume for steel, copper, and aluminum surged.

In less than an hour, over 8,000 contracts of steel—each contract representing 25 tons—were traded.

However, with current steel inventories in the market exceeding 30 million tons, a mere 200,000-ton trading volume did not attract much attention given such a massive stockpile.

Even the price showed little fluctuation, rising only from 166 pounds per ton to 166.8 pounds.

In contrast, the price fluctuations for copper and aluminum were somewhat more pronounced.

After Zhang Jinqiu and his team purchased 800 lots of copper and 1,100 lots of aluminum, the price of copper rose from 1,228 pounds per ton to 1,236 pounds, an increase of 8 pounds per ton.

The price of aluminum rose from 1,027 pounds per ton to 1,032 pounds, an increase of 5 pounds per ton.

In light of this, Zhang Jinqiu immediately ordered his team to suspend the purchase of copper and aluminum contracts and instead focus all efforts on acquiring steel contracts, particularly high-grade rebar and channel steel.

With Zhang Jinqiu and his team stepping up their efforts, trading volume in steel contracts on the London Metal Exchange surged.

Especially as the market neared closing, more than 3,000 contracts were traded in less than half an hour.

Throughout the afternoon, the trading volume of steel contracts increased 120-fold compared to the previous day, reaching over 28,000 contracts.

As a result, by the close of trading on the 23rd, the price of London steel futures had risen slightly to 169 pounds, an increase of 3 pounds from the previous day.

The price increases for copper and aluminum were even more pronounced, rising by 18 pounds and 12 pounds, respectively.

Meanwhile, Zhou Xinghua also made significant progress.

Over the course of the entire afternoon, he signed cooperation agreements with three brokerage firms, arranging for them to procure steel from the market for Zhou Xinghua in exchange for a commission of £2 per ton.

That afternoon, steel companies and building material suppliers across London received a flood of orders, and this trend was rapidly spreading throughout the British Isles.

For these brokerage firms, simply signing a contract guaranteed a commission of two pounds per ton—they didn’t have to worry about anything else. It was a windfall, a stroke of luck that had literally fallen from the sky.

Driven by the prospect of huge profits, they sent all their salespeople out to scour the market for orders.

The steel and building material suppliers who secured these orders then passed them on to various steel mills, which in turn placed orders with iron ore and coal mines.

In this virtuous cycle, in less than half a day, every industry linked to steel had secured orders to some extent and made a profit; the entire sector seemed to have suddenly returned to springtime…

Yet they failed to see the hidden danger lurking beneath this windfall—an invisible hand was manipulating the metal markets across the British Isles!

……..

Hong Kong Island!

It was already 7:00 a.m. when Li Yi received a call from Li Futiao.

Upon learning the situation, Li Yi was in high spirits!

Although Li Yunbao and his team had only purchased a little over a million tons of steel yesterday—which was practically nothing compared to a country like Britain that had already undergone two industrial revolutions—

But one million tons today could mean ten million tons tomorrow.

By his estimate, the total steel inventory across the British Isles wouldn’t exceed 90 million tons at the moment—after all, their national steel output was currently less than 30 million tons.

Given the prevailing economic conditions, having steel inventories at three times the annual output was already the absolute limit—it couldn’t possibly be any higher.

As long as they could secure 50% of the spot market and two-thirds of the futures contracts, they could dominate the entire British steel market.

Once hostilities break out between Britain and Argentina, prices for all kinds of metals are bound to skyrocket—at that point, it would be hard not to make a profit.

However, before that happens, they must play their part convincingly; they absolutely cannot let those British-funded conglomerates sense anything amiss.

If those guys ever realize that his so-called 60 billion in capital is nothing but a sham, they’ll surely strike back.

If they were to dump tens of billions of dollars into the market, the consequences would be dire.

To put it mildly, the New Territories warehouse he’d just acquired might change hands.

Furthermore, the other members of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce have entrusted me with the majority of their working capital; if their companies come under attack, they might not be able to survive.

What’s even more troublesome is that those British bastards and the European conglomerates are intricately connected. If they found out that the Chinese Chamber of Commerce’s main funds were all tied up in long positions on steel and other metals across the British Isles, they might well band together to take him down.

Don’t underestimate those conglomerates—their influence is far greater than you might imagine.

If those major conglomerates catch on too early, there’s a real chance they could launch a takeover bid against them.

Therefore, we absolutely cannot let those British-backed bastards catch their breath.

With this in mind, after breakfast, Li Yi, under the protection of Zhang Ziqiang and the others, set off once again, full of fighting spirit, for the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Just like yesterday, Li Yi and his group’s arrival once again drew everyone’s attention; everyone was still waiting to see what he would do.

And Li Yi did not disappoint them. As soon as the opening bell rang, he immediately ordered his men to continue buying shares of Huifeng Bank.

Seeing Li Yi take the lead, the others immediately set aside their reservations and followed suit.

Soon, a new round of bidding began.

Driven by a massive influx of investors, Huifeng’s stock price soared once more, reaching a high of HK$40 per share by the close of trading on the 24th—nearly three times its previous value.

By this point, some of the weaker speculative funds were already feeling the strain; after all, the current stock price had far exceeded its actual value.

If either the British-funded group or Star Investment were to pull out, these investors risked being trapped with their positions.

Consequently, Huifeng’s stock price rose much more slowly after the 24th.

Some investors, believing the stock price had peaked, began gradually offloading their previously acquired shares to cash out and exit the market.

And just at this moment, Star Investment made a new move: over the two days from the 25th to the 26th, they once again—unexpectedly yet predictably—added to their positions at high prices.

In just two days, they added another 80 million shares, raising their stake in Huifeng to 14%.

By this point, they had driven Huifeng’s share price up to HK$62 per share—nearly five times its original value.

Such reckless behavior not only startled Dolsons and his associates, but also stunned other investors across the entire Hong Kong stock market with Li Yi’s reckless, gambler-like investment style.

Having witnessed Li Yi’s “determination,” a furious Dolsen could only repeatedly curse Li Yi as a madman while continuing to raise funds to battle him for control of Huifeng.

What they didn’t know was that this was the only time Li Yi could afford to go all out—the 3 billion in funds was nearly depleted, and it was time to close the net…

……….