[Chapter 602: Total Collapse, Ruthless Plunder]
"Has Soros always been this brazen and arrogant?"
"Boss, the financial market is a ruthless battlefield -- only the strongest win. It's all about the vision, timing, and strategy of the players. But most importantly, it's about financial muscle. Right now, Soros's Quantum Fund, backed by Wall Street, controls several hundred billion dollars. On certain fronts, they can wield enormous influence.
But their appetite is enormous. Robbing Southeast Asia alone isn't enough for them. Whenever there's an opportunity, they won't hesitate to crush other international speculators following the trend. In this latest move, they've swallowed up at least tens of billions from follow-up capital."
"What about our short positions in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines? Are they in danger?"
"The risk is low. Those countries' currencies are already spiraling down. There's so much short-selling capital pushing the trend that if Soros wanted to go against the grain, it would take not just hundreds of billions but perhaps trillions of dollars -- and even then, the risk is huge. They might fail and actually line someone else's pockets. Only in the Singapore forex market, where the battle is still undecided and the short-selling force is relatively small, do they rely on their capital advantage to act with impunity."
"What's your next move?"
"First, although the short-selling trend in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia is set, we still need to guard against Soros's madness. I plan to add margin to the relevant accounts. Also, the Singapore market can't be neglected. From what I know, the Singapore government's foreign reserves total about $50 billion. Over the past two weeks of this war, they've already burned through nearly $40 billion. They won't last much longer.
I'm preparing to inject another $1 billion, with half of that -- $500 million -- used for short-selling with 10 times leverage. Even if Soros tries to pull his usual tricks, he won't push the market up by 20 points again. I'll add more positions when the time is right."
"Alright, let's go with your plan."
"Boss, do you want me to send someone for talks with Soros's side?"
Linton thought he misheard and asked incredulously, "He just screwed us hard, maliciously eating $500 million of our money, and we're supposed to go reach out to him?"
"Boss, there's no choice. In finance, power rules. Soros has the backing of Wall Street's top five investment banks, the Federal Reserve, and the U.S. government. He's too strong to confront directly. Besides, I think the Asian financial crisis will spread further across Asia, meaning more opportunities later. It's better to avoid constant worry."
"What do we have to give up if we open communication?"
"Two main things: first, future moves have to follow their unified command. Second, we'd have to hand over a portion of our profits."
"Hand over profits? How much?"
"Roughly 5% to 10% of the gains from this short-selling operation."
"No way. Being slapped and then bowing down, even handing over profits? That won't fly with me. I'd rather you be more cautious in the future -- even if it means earning less. And don't you want revenge for how they played us?"
"Revenge? Boss, the financial market is a zero-sum game with no true friends or enemies. Actually, everyone is an enemy to everyone else. Plus, Soros is so powerful; there's no chance for revenge."
"That's never certain. The world's unpredictable. Anything can happen." Linton vividly remembered that when Soros shorted Hong Kong, he suffered some losses. He could probably use it.
...
A few days later.
Despite the various desperate self-rescue attempts by Southeast Asian governments, even appealing for external help, when their so-called protector, the United States, attacked them, who would dare to save them?
With their own weak foundations and having blindly pushed financial liberalization under Washington's influence -- removing controls over capital markets -- they made it incredibly easy for foreign capital to speculate wildly against their currencies.
Worst of all, American ambassadors brazenly relayed explicit orders from Washington: "Market economy and financial freedom are sacred and inviolable. Local governments must not overly interfere with financial markets or capital flows."
As a result, Southeast Asian resistance weakened sharply. Their currencies plunged wildly. Led by Soros, international speculators wielding over $5 trillion relentlessly assaulted the foreign exchange markets, ravenously stripping wealth from countries and regions.
In less than a week, Southeast Asia suffered enormous losses. Foreign reserves were devoured at a rate visible to the naked eye. Smaller countries lost billions, while the biggest losses ran into the hundreds of billions.
...
July 31st.
Malaysia's government was the first to exhaust its resources and was utterly overrun.
On that day, Malaysia's government announced it would give up defending the ringgit.
The ringgit's exchange rate against the dollar collapsed instantly, plunging 17.8% in a single day.
Thanks to Soros's Quantum Fund, along with Wall Street's top five investment banks and other speculators, the day became a total windfall.
Linton soon received an ecstatic call from Richard, "Boss, we hit it big in the Malaysian market. We put $500 million into short-selling at the start of the month. Now, with the current exchange rate, our profits have reached $1.2 billion -- and the rate is still falling, so our gains keep growing."
"Congratulations."
"I spoke with Willix. While there's still room to fall in Malaysia, we plan to close our positions tomorrow to lock in gains."
"Good. We've grabbed the fattest profits. No need to risk more."
The next day, after closing positions, Skycrest Capital Hedge Fund's short-selling profits on the Malaysian ringgit reached $1.26 billion.
...
August 2nd.
The Philippines followed suit, running out of foreign reserves and conceding defeat.
The peso dropped 15.3% against the dollar.
Skycrest Capital's profits grew by another $1.21 billion.
...
August 3rd.
Indonesia also fell into desperation and gave up resistance.
The rupiah fell 16.8% against the dollar.
Skycrest Capital's profits increased by $1.31 billion.
...
Even Singapore, the strongest player, couldn't escape. On August 6th, it exhausted all its reserves and was fully taken down.
The Singapore dollar plummeted 14.8% that day.
Skycrest Capital added another $970 million in profits.
...
As for poorer countries like Vietnam, Myanmar, and Laos, Skycrest Capital simply didn't bother. But other international speculators weren't so merciful.
By this point, all Southeast Asian nations were systematically pillaged.
Their wealth was completely looted, leaving behind devastation and pushing their economies back a decade.
...
By August 15th, Soros, Wall Street's top five investment banks, and international speculators had basically cleaned out Southeast Asia.
The U.S. then staged a intervention at a United Nations conference to discuss the crisis, all while directing their puppet institutions -- the World Bank and the IMF -- to execute a second, covert round of plundering.
American industrial giants flooded in, buying up Southeast Asia's mineral resources, ports, railroads, and real estate at rock-bottom prices.
They pressured these countries to open more sectors to American goods and slash tariffs even further.
Only then did they agree to massive dollar loans to help Southeast Asia's economic recovery -- setting the stage for the next cycle of financial exploitation.
...
This Asian financial crisis erupted on July 2nd when Thailand gave up its defenses. Lasting 45 days, Soros's Quantum Fund alone made over $30 billion.
Wall Street's investment banks and other speculators also made huge profits, ranging from tens of millions to several billion each.
The biggest winners were the Quantum Fund and Wall Street's top five banks, whose individual earnings even surpassed Soros's own fund.
Linton's Skycrest Capital Hedge Fund also had a sizable haul. Despite losing $500 million to Soros's ambush, its total profits soared to $7.55 billion.
With its initial $2 billion capital, Skycrest Capital's total assets neared $10 billion -- making it a mid-to-large hedge fund. Unlike others, all this money was Linton's own.
Reading the reports, even Linton, a multi-billionaire himself, couldn't help but feel ecstatic. This money was seriously satisfying.
But the Southeast Asian financial storm is just the first wave of this Asian crisis. In the original timeline, the crisis lasted over a year.
For Hong Kong's market, Linton's team would sabotage Soros alongside the Hong Kong authorities while making a big profit.
Next up are other big markets: the yen, won, and Taiwanese dollar. Those are juicy targets they definitely going to bite into.
*****
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