Chapter 68: Becoming a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle?

"Ugh... my stomach's about to give out."
A familiar, sharp pain shot through him. Su Hao clutched his stomach, his face turning green.
Sure enough, ordering spicy crayfish delivery late last night was a huge mistake!
Anyone who's played games, especially those who've raided large dungeons or led raiding parties, understands.
After a high-intensity "battle," you're exhausted and starving.
That's exactly what happened to him last night. As soon as the forex trading ended and his adrenaline subsided, he was so hungry he was practically starving, so he immediately ordered 24-hour delivery.
And guess what? He impulsively ordered super spicy crayfish. It was delicious while eating, but now...
His stomach felt like it was churning, and he felt like he was about to burst into flames.
As the saying goes:
His chrysanthemum was withered, wounds littered the ground, and his smile had faded!
"A 5% return yesterday... I practically gave it my all!"
This was a result he achieved from the moment he opened his eyes at dawn until four the next morning.
Working non-stop, his eyes were practically bloodshot, he painstakingly carved out this victory from the seemingly calm market!
Before, because his funds were temporarily frozen, he had all the skills he needed but nowhere to use them, which was incredibly frustrating.
Until yesterday, his forex account access was finally restored.
He was like a wild horse unleashed, galloping off at full speed!
He plunged headlong into the international forex market, making seven in-and-out trades, turning the world upside down!
It was exhilarating!
"It was great, but the market was too flat, a little unsatisfying."
He clicked his tongue, feeling somewhat unsatisfied.
Unfortunately, the global financial markets are currently frozen solid, stagnant and devoid of any movement, leaving him with no opportunity to utilize his formidable skills.
Most of the time, they're trading within a narrow range, a phenomenon known as "box trading," making it difficult to find any decent opportunities.
Even the forex market, boasting daily trading volumes in the trillions, is in such a sluggish state, demonstrating just how poor the current global economic situation is.
If market volatility were greater, he was confident he could easily add a zero to that figure, let alone five percent!
"Although it's a bit of a disappointment, this is a pretty good start, and I should be content."
He told himself, don't panic, don't be impatient, take it slow.
Through this period of playing with candlestick charts, he's come to a simple truth:
The so-called major trend in candlestick charts,
is that after a long surge, a crash will inevitably occur,
and after a long crash, a surge will inevitably occur!
The market can't remain stagnant forever; there will always be some restless forces stirring things up.
Somewhere in the world, at some unknown time, a momentous event will suddenly erupt.
These events, like depth charges dropped into a calm lake, will instantly trigger a chain reaction in global markets, creating massive waves.
Of course, the Chinese stock market…
Well, sometimes it's unconventional and doesn't follow the rules, but that's another story.
But now, he's no longer just playing around with small-scale domestic affairs.
What he needs to do is sit back and observe the global landscape unfold.
He firmly believes that a momentous event is already brewing.
And that will be the beginning of a highly volatile market frenzy!
The real hunt is about to begin!
"President Su, everything in the conference room is ready," Li Huilin reported, knocking as she entered.
"Oh, okay, I'll be right there."
Back when he was just a junior manager, meetings were crammed into a tiny office of less than ten square meters, like a makeshift internet cafe.
Now, things have changed dramatically. He's been promoted to the head of a "top-tier" core department, and even his meetings have their own luxurious conference room. Wow, that's some treatment!
"Everyone, please feel free to speak your mind, even about the smallest anomalies."
Inside the meeting room, Su Hao sat at the head of the table, his gaze sweeping over everyone as he spoke in a deep voice.
Frankly, if it weren't for activating and strengthening his almost precognitive, almost supernatural, intuition, he wouldn't bother with this kind of abstract meeting.
He'd rather use that time to plunge into the foreign exchange market and engage in a fierce battle.
But he couldn't help it; his "intuition" was somewhat special, requiring a constant stream of external information as "fuel" to function at its best.
Therefore, this daily "intelligence summary meeting" was indispensable.
The various pieces of information collected and organized by his elite subordinates served as the "catalyst" and "amplifier" for his supernatural intuition.
"Mr. Su, according to the latest intelligence, although the domestic authorities are forcibly stabilizing the market by restricting short selling and other means, it seems to have the opposite effect, making the market even more volatile and causing widespread panic."
An employee responsible for the Asia-Pacific market spoke first.
“What’s more troublesome is that global stock markets have entered an ‘ice age.’ Everyone’s terrified, afraid to buy or sell; the entire market is practically stagnant,” another intermediary responsible for the European and American markets explained.
“So, funds are frantically rushing into so-called ‘safe-haven assets.’
Gold prices have been creeping up, and the dollar is doing almost the same.
But the problem is, even these safe-haven assets are experiencing extremely low trading volumes and liquidity during this ‘ice age.’
“That’s right. Now, not only the domestic stock market, but even the major overseas markets are in dire straits.”
“So, everyone’s scrambling to flock to ‘safe-haven assets,’ is that what you mean?”
Su Hao listened, furiously jotting down keywords in his notebook.
This was an old habit of his, using these snippets of information to activate his almost supernatural intuition.
“Yes, Mr. Su. Gold, US dollars, Japanese yen, US Treasury bonds, and… Swiss francs, etc.
The hot money in the market is now pouring into these places like mad dogs seeing a bone.
Judging from this trend, I estimate that even more funds will follow, pushing the prices of these safe-haven assets to a new peak.”
Li Huilin reported clearly and logically.
Su Hao was writing furiously in his notebook, recording every safe-haven asset Li Huilin mentioned.
However, the instant a particular word from Li Huilin's lips reached his ears—
His hand holding the pen trembled violently, the pen tip leaving a glaring, twisted mark on the paper!
As if disturbed by an invisible force.
'Hmm? What was that feeling just now?'
He abruptly raised his head, his eyes sharp as an eagle's, staring intently at Li Huilin:
'Sister Huilin, could you please repeat what you just said?'
His voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable air of authority.
'Ah? Oh, okay.'
Although somewhat taken aback, Li Huilin immediately repeated:
'I meant that currently, funds are flowing in on a large scale into gold, the US dollar, the Japanese yen, US Treasury bonds, and the Swiss franc—these are generally considered safe-haven assets…'
That's it!
The Swiss franc!
When those two words came out of Li Huilin's mouth again, an indescribable, intense tremor, like an electric current, instantly coursed through Su Hao's entire body!
The feeling was so strong that he almost dropped his pen, and the handwriting on the paper trembled uncontrollably, as if some mysterious force was guiding him!
“The Swiss franc…isn’t it supposed to be the most trustworthy ‘safe haven’ in the financial world?”
A young trader interjected.
“That’s right. After all, Switzerland is a permanently neutral country, surviving both World Wars unscathed.
And during every global financial crisis, the Swiss franc has acted like a stabilizing force, rock solid.
Most importantly, their country has few political problems, making the risk extremely low.”
Another seasoned trader nodded in agreement.
“Moreover, another important reason why the Swiss franc is hailed as the ‘strongest safe-haven currency’ is its ‘exchange rate cap’ mechanism.”
The Swiss franc, abbreviated as Swiss franc.
Whether it’s a financial crisis or a global economic downturn like now, the Swiss franc is undoubtedly the “king of safe havens” in the eyes of investors.
Isn’t there often a joke online that when something happens, “deposit your money in a Swiss bank”?
The Swiss franc's unwavering position as the world's safe-haven asset is largely due to the Swiss National Bank's "ironclad floor" on its exchange rate:
Simply put, the Swiss National Bank stipulates that the euro-Swiss franc exchange rate, regardless of fluctuations, cannot fall below 1.20.
In other words, if the exchange rate approaches this threshold, the Swiss government will stop at nothing, even resorting to printing money to prop it back up!
This artificial intervention directly eliminates the possibility of a significant appreciation of the Swiss franc and removes its volatility.
It is precisely because of this "ceiling" system that the Swiss franc has firmly secured its position as the world's premier safe-haven asset, an unshakeable position!
"..."
Su Hao fell silent, his brow furrowed.
'Strange, why the Swiss franc of all people?' He was utterly perplexed.
Why did that damned, almost infallible, even somewhat sinister intuition give such a strong signal regarding the word "Swiss franc"?
Does this mean I should buy Swiss francs now, a kind of "turtle asset," and then just lie there like a "ninja turtle"?