It was five o'clock in the morning.
Without an alarm, Simon still woke up on time. He had been getting up at this hour ever since the fund started building its position.
The woman clinging to him and the fragrant scent in the bedroom instantly made Simon realize this wasn't his apartment in the Century Tower.
Held by Janette like a pillow, Simon didn't get up immediately. He turned his head to look at the woman still sound asleep, a few strands of blonde hair draped across her fair, rosy face, her lips slightly pursed, and long eyelashes, her sleeping posture exuding a sense of idleness and contentment.
Gazing at her for a moment, Simon also inexplicably felt a sense of peace.
Perhaps.
This was his 'place of peace'.
So he leaned over and gently kissed Janette's lips before carefully freeing himself from her embrace.
The villa's decor was exactly as he had left it last time.
After washing up, Simon went for a half-hour jog in the gym. By the time he had showered, it was already six o'clock.
There weren't many types of futures available in North America at the moment. Simon had fully bet on the S&P 500 index futures, which he could predict and which also had the largest trading volume in the market.
S&P 500 index futures were launched by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in 1982. Currently, the daily contract trading volume ranges between 80,000 and 100,000, occasionally exceeding 100,000. Therefore, Simon's 'butterfly' wouldn't be too conspicuous hiding among them, which was also the source of his confidence that the S&P 500 curve in the coming months wouldn't deviate too much from the data he remembered.
Since electronic trading systems hadn't yet emerged, stock index futures were primarily still very old-fashioned, manually traded in the pit, from 8:30 AM to 3:15 PM, Monday to Friday.
Chicago is in the Central Time Zone, two hours ahead of Los Angeles. At six in the morning for Simon, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange was already nearing opening.
Simon brewed himself a pot of coffee, went to his study, sat behind his large desk, and holding a cup of coffee, dialled Noah Scott's number.
As the two were quietly discussing the trading plan after the market opened today, Janette, dressed in pyjamas, drifted lazily into the room. Seeing Simon, she immediately came over, her soft body curling up in Simon's arms like a kitten, and then she closed her eyes again.
Simon lowered his voice and continued talking on the phone with Noah Scott for a while before hanging up. He smiled and patted Janette, asking, "Want some coffee?"
Janette shook her head: "I haven't brushed my teeth yet".
Simon said, "Then I'll carry you back to the bedroom to sleep a little longer?"
"No," Janette shook her head again, perking up slightly. She lifted her face and asked, "Did you just have Noah buy another 800 contracts?"
Simon nodded and said, "Yes".
"That makes 4,500 now" Janette squinted and did some quick mental math. "4,500 contracts, with an entry range of 270 to 275 points, requires roughly $60 million in margin. The position ratio exceeds 80%, leaving only $15 million in available funds. Hmm, now Noah will think you're even crazier. Little rascal, you're not going to keep adding to the position, are you?"
Simon held the woman's soft body and said, "No more, this is it".
Janette's small hand caressed Simon's chest, her eyes shining as she looked at him, saying, "But, little rascal, you're still very likely to lose money this way. Is it really okay?"
With Simon's current position, every 1-point fluctuation in the S&P 500 index meant a gain or loss of 2.25 million US dollars.
Although current futures trading isn't settled daily without debt, if the accumulated book loss in Westeros Company's account exceeds the remaining $15 million in available funds, Simon would need to add margin. Otherwise, the broker would forcibly liquidate a portion of his contracts to ensure sufficient account funds.
Based on this calculation, with Westeros Company's 4,500 long contracts, in addition to the $60 million fixed margin, even with all the chips from the $20 million dollar loan, Simon could only withstand a drop of about 15 points in the S&P 500 index, equivalent to 5% of the overall market.
In reality.
From the beginning of the year until now, in just four months, the S&P 500 index has experienced two major surges and drops between 250 and 300 points, with the maximum fluctuation approaching 20% of the overall market.
Given this amplitude of fluctuation, Simon's current position is completely unsustainable.
After all.
If the S&P 500 market experiences another major drop of around 20%, a decline of over 50 points, the theoretical loss per contract at the lowest point would exceed $25,000. For 4,500 contracts, the loss would be $112.5 million, far exceeding the $75 million principal in Westeros Company's account.
Of course.
As long as there isn't a major crash with a direct plunge as he remembered, Simon could still liquidate his position early and escape, but he would definitely face huge losses.
If such a situation really occurred, even losing half would still be $37.5 million.
In this era, US dollars were still quite valuable.
The Palisades mansion where Simon and Janette currently lived would be unimaginable without two or three tens of millions of dollars twenty or thirty years later, but even at the peak of the 1980s US real estate bubble, its price was only $4 million.
It's clear.
Simon was currently in a dangerous state where he could lose 10 of the most luxurious mansions of this era at any moment.
No wonder, he was considered a lunatic by Noah Scott.
However.
Danger and opportunity always coexist.
Although many Wall Street analysts now judged that the stock market was losing momentum and could turn to a major decline at any time, and this was indeed true, Simon clearly remembered that the S&P 500 index, currently around 270 points, was the lowest point in the next four months.
Compared to the repeated large rises and falls of the previous four months, the S&P 500 index would show a very stable upward trend in the next four months, with basically no significant fluctuations.
Therefore, Simon might not even need to use that emergency loan; the remaining $15 million in available funds in Westeros Company's account would be enough to withstand minor fluctuations within the overall upward trend of the market.
At this moment.
Looking at Janette in his arms, whose eyes were wide open, trying to show a worried expression, Simon couldn't help but lean down and peck her lips, smiling as he said, "You're not secretly hoping I lose everything, are you? Then Westeros would have to use herself to pay off the debt".
Janette raised her small hand to push Simon's head away, her worried expression instantly vanishing, replaced by a radiant smile. She then reached out and caressed his cheek, saying, "I'll be very good to you, little Simon".
It was indeed like that.
Simon sighed inwardly, then suddenly reached out and squeezed Janette's outstretched arm, feeling the woman instantly melt into his embrace. He said, "See, face reality".
Janette's eyes, glistening with moisture, stared at Simon, and she murmured softly, "Little rascal".
Simon smiled and pulled Janette, who was almost sliding out of his arms from exhaustion, closer. Listening to her completely harmless complaints, he inadvertently noticed a pair of beautiful feet with burgundy nail polish peeking out as she moved, and a sudden idea sparked in his mind.
Cupping the woman's fair face with one hand and examining it for a moment, Simon suddenly felt a sense of having found what he was looking for after a long search.
Janette was the type who preferred a bare face; the woman's perfectly maintained beauty was enough for her to appear in public without any makeup.
However.
As long as she applied bright red lipstick and adjusted her way of speaking, then the seductive, charming, accented, and even the suppressed danger and madness beneath the surface, this was exactly the taxi driver Simon needed.
He leaned down again and pecked her lips, saying, "Darling, my movie is still missing a character. How about you play it?"
Janette, having recovered a little, squirmed slightly and asked softly, "Which one?"
Simon said, "Esmeralda Villalobos".
Janette's eyelashes fluttered a few times, and she said, "Okay, but I can't act".
"It's okay, I'm the director. Mr. Director loves to personally guide actresses".
"Hehe, little rascal," Janette laughed and gently pinched Simon, then added, "Oh, right, what happened with that animated film you mentioned last time? I'm really looking forward to it".
Although they hadn't met recently, Simon had Neil transfer the manuscript to Janette the day after that phone call. The two had also discussed this matter more than once over the phone during this period.
Simon heard her, and regrettably shook his head, saying, "Disney only wants to buy the script; they're unwilling to produce it for us".
Janette tilted her head: "Then what should we do?"
Simon thought of an animation company still tucked away in a corner of San Francisco and said, "That's fine too. Perhaps we can try to produce this movie in a different style".
Janette was puzzled: "Hmm?"
Simon didn't hide anything and said, "What do you think about making this animated film in 3D?"
Janette's eyes flickered again, clearly unfamiliar with the concept of 3D animated films. This was not surprising; to date, 3D animation was still in its infancy, and Pixar had only produced a short film of just over two minutes, "Luxo Jr".
Simon patiently explained, "Do you remember the animated opening sequence of 'Run Lola Run'?"
Janette paused, then said, "I remember now, Pixar".
In fact, Janette thought of a bit more.
For example.
A newspaper clipping she had once seen in Simon's study, clearly marked with Pixar's name.
Hmph.
That little rascal must have had this idea for a long time.
And he used the excuse of giving a gift to trick me.
Hmph hmph hmph.
However, a smart woman would definitely not expose these things.
So, I won't expose it then.
Simon didn't know Janette's thoughts. Looking at the woman's charmingly naive expression in his arms, although he instinctively felt that Janette was harbouring some small intentions in this state, he likewise didn't press her. He nodded and said, "That's Pixar. If possible, we'll buy it then and produce a 3D animated version of 'The Lion King'".
The original 'The Lion King' had a global cumulative box office exceeding $900 million, maintaining its position as the highest-grossing animated film for over a decade until it was surpassed by 'Toy Story 3' and 'Frozen'.
Now.
Unless he was willing to give up the script, it was unlikely that Disney's original team would 'OEM' 'The Lion King' for him. Michael Eisner was right at the time; outside of Disney, it would be almost impossible for Simon to find another excellent 2D animation film team.
So, these days, Simon gradually developed another bold idea.
To produce a 3D animated version of 'The Lion King'.
Although, based on Simon's understanding of current 3D animation technology, achieving the smooth effect of 2D animation would not be easy, Simon was not in a hurry. At worst, he could just delay it for a few more years.
Technical problems, as long as they can be solved, are not problems.
Too many excellent animated films later on proved that Pixar definitely had the technical capabilities to solve these issues.
As for whether the future 3D version of 'The Lion King' could still achieve the box office miracle of the past, Simon wasn't too worried.
Film is one of the riskiest businesses in the world.
But at the same time.
Film is also one of the purest businesses in the world; as long as a film is of sufficient quality, audiences are willing to buy tickets to go to the cinema.
Therefore.
Whether 2D or 3D, 'The Lion King' is 'The Lion King'.
Even if Simon perfectly replicated the original 2D version of 'The Lion King', there would still be too many variables as to whether it could achieve its past box office success. In comparison, a 3D version of 'The Lion King' could actually add more selling points to the film.
After chatting about 'The Lion King' for a while, Simon and Janette left the study.
Janette went to change and wash up, while Simon went downstairs to prepare breakfast.
Around 8:30 AM, the two left the Palisades mansion. Simon rushed to the headquarters of Daenerys Entertainment in Santa Monica, while Janette's destination was her studio on Venice Beach.
Their sudden reconciliation after a month apart inevitably led to another chase by the paparazzi.
However, having grown accustomed to this situation, neither of them was too affected.
It was already mid-May.
The next day, the Columbia Pictures film "Ishtar" officially opened in 1,139 theatres, signalling the official arrival of the 1987 summer blockbuster season.
'Ishtar' starred Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman, and French actress Isabelle Adjani, costing 55 million US dollars. Simon saw the film's budget in the newspaper and felt nothing but emotion.
Last year, half of the top ten films at the North American box office had production costs of no more than $10 million.
Now, it seemed that suddenly, Hollywood had entered the era of blockbusters.
Kathryn's first theatrical feature, 'Near Dark', which Simon had just watched yesterday, was also scheduled for release on June 19th. Although it had Simon, the 'assistant director,' as a selling point, and managed to squeeze into the summer slot, De Laurentiis Entertainment only secured 500 opening screens for the film.
Simon had raised this question to Martha Schumacher, the president of De Laurentiis Entertainment, yesterday.
Simon didn't mind Kathryn's film using his name for some promotion. However, it would have been better to release the film later in August or September, as competition in off-peak seasons is not as fierce, and it could have secured at least 1,000 opening screens.
Martha Schumacher told Simon that 'Near Dark' was likely the last film De Laurentiis Entertainment Group would release before bankruptcy, and they simply couldn't wait a few more months.
Simon could only feel helpless about this.
After instructing Noah Scott to buy the final batch of long contracts, Simon temporarily put that matter aside and devoted all his energy to the production of Daenerys Entertainment's three films.