Chapter 262: Fanatical Followers

Meanwhile, on Wall Street, at Goldman Sachs headquarters.
In Goldman Sachs, the lair of Wall Street's top predators, the hierarchy is as rigid as a biological evolutionary chain.
Climbing from an ordinary analyst to a VP (Vice President), and then standing out from countless VPs to become an MD (Managing Director), is no less difficult than buying an apartment in downtown Shanghai by collecting bottles.
VP, seemingly prestigious, is in reality just a high-level "employee," a dime a dozen.
MD, however, is the true mark of entering the core of power, akin to a "local tyrant" on Wall Street.
Bell is one of Goldman Sachs' youngest MDs.
At this moment, he is frowning, looking at an urgent report.
"...Fanghuan Investment again?"
"Yes, Mr. Bell. Intelligence indicates they're on a buying spree, establishing massive short positions in the Japanese market."
Bell had long ago given his entire team a strict order:
No matter when or where, if any unusual activity by "Fanghuan Investment" is discovered, regardless of its scale, it must be reported to him immediately, at the highest level.
"Fanghuan Investment," this name from the East, is already a legend, or rather, a mystery, on Wall Street.
Its tentacles reach across Europe, Asia, and America, leaving no stone unturned.
Wherever it goes, nothing is left standing; the market landscape is completely rewritten, as if swept away by a massive storm.
Therefore, Wall Street has given it countless nicknames: nightmare, demon, the Grim Reaper's scythe…
But in Bell's personal dictionary, he uses only one word to describe this company:
"Black Swan."
An unpredictable, indefensible entity, but once it appears, the colossal waves it unleashes are enough to overturn everything.
"But why did they suddenly turn their attention to Japan?" Bell was utterly baffled.
"And wasn't this a game with a predetermined outcome?
All the analytical models showed that Japan was the clear winner!"
But "Fanghuan Investment" went against the grain, brazenly shorting Japan with a large position when everyone else was optimistic.
There must be something fishy going on here!
"Is there any potential negative news from Japan that we're unaware of?"
"Absolutely not, everything is normal."
"Impossible! Investigate thoroughly! Dig three feet into the ground to find out!" Bell's voice rose several decibels.
"Otherwise, tell me, why would they dare to pour astronomical sums of money into shorting at a time like this?"
"It certainly doesn't make sense..." The subordinate's voice was also filled with confusion.
"There are also reports that a mysterious force is building up a massive short position in the yen in the foreign exchange market."
Who is that force? Although it wasn't explicitly stated, it's obvious even to a fool that it could only be those lunatics at Fanghuan Investment.
This makes it even more perplexing.
Fanghuan Investment is known worldwide for its extremely aggressive, swift, and ruthless tactics.
They never fight battles they're not confident in, and they certainly won't waste ammunition on vague long-term value.
Aside from mergers and acquisitions, they almost never engage in any value investments requiring long-term holding.
They are wolves, vultures, seeking only to kill with a single blow!
"Is this the list of stocks they're shorting?"
"Yes, Mr. Bell."
Bell took the list, his eyes scanning it rapidly. Suddenly, his gaze froze.
"...Why so many bank stocks?"
"Yes, besides major export companies, a significant portion of the list consists of banks and financial institutions.
And...besides stocks, they're also heavily investing in the bond market, mainly...10-year government bonds."
"10-year government bonds...wait a minute."
At that moment, Bell felt like he'd grasped the end of a tangled ball of yarn.
"Isn't this directly linked to the YCC policy?"
YCC, the Japanese central bank's secret weapon for maintaining zero interest rates, is fundamentally based on the yield of 10-year government bonds!
The central bank's strategy is:
Once the selling pressure on government bonds intensifies, causing bond prices to fall and yields (i.e., interest rates) to approach a preset ceiling...
The central bank immediately intervenes, using its unlimited monetary power to massively buy government bonds, forcibly pulling prices back up and suppressing interest rates.
Right now, Fanghuan Investment is shorting bank stocks in the stock market, shorting the Japanese yen in the foreign exchange market, and simultaneously shorting 10-year government bonds…
These seemingly unrelated fragments clicked in Bell's mind, instantly piecing together a complete and insane picture.
He gasped, his eyes filled with horror:
"Damn it, these lunatics, they want to detonate the YCC! They want to dismantle Japan's central bank!"
"But… Mr. Bell, the YCC is too massive, with the Japanese central bank backing it up indefinitely. Destroying it is practically impossible, isn't it?"
"Normally, that's true. But Fanghuan Investment clearly doesn't think so!"
Bell's mind raced.
"They're betting that 'Bei'an Economics' has reached its dead end, betting that this giant pressure cooker, the YCC, has reached its explosive tipping point!"
Even so, to overturn the monetary policy of a sovereign nation single-handedly is simply a pipe dream.
The Japanese government isn't stupid; the YCC system must have multiple layers of security. It can't just collapse so easily.
Unless… there's a "trigger."
A fuse that could ignite everything.
"But what exactly is this trigger?"
Bello racked his brains but couldn't come up with any clues.
"Mr. Bell, there's something else.
Several funds have contacted us before, saying they must be notified if Fanghuan Investment makes any big moves. What do you think…"
Ever since Fanghuan Investment shocked the world with a series of miraculous operations, a large group of fanatical followers have followed them.
More accurately, they are the "believers" of Su Hao, the helmsman of Fanghuan Investment who directs everything behind the scenes.
Especially those equally aggressive and belligerent "short-selling funds," who practically worship Su Hao as a god.
The reason is simple: this "God of Investment" from the East has accomplished textbook-level, brutal investment strategies—things they only dared to dream of but never dared to put into practice—one after another, without ever suffering a defeat!
For them, every move Su Hao makes is a feast worthy of their utmost reverence.
Such a large-scale operation could undoubtedly have been personally directed by Su Hao!
This news was nothing short of a rallying cry for those bloodthirsty "empty-eyed vultures."
Thinking this, a chilling thought suddenly flashed through Bell's mind.
Could it be…
That Su Hao, this great god, had even calculated the actions of his fanatical "believers," turning them into pawns in his conquest?