"As of yesterday's close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 508 points, and the federal stock market collectively lost $503 billion".
"Is 1987 going to be another 1929?"
"Panic continues to spread, SEC officials urgently clarify: there are no plans to temporarily close stock exchanges".
"James Baker should resign for his inappropriate remarks".
"CME S&P 500 index futures longs have a floating loss of $3.52 billion, facing immense margin call pressure".
"The Federal Reserve held an emergency meeting, requesting major banks to provide sufficient credit to exchanges to avoid transaction defaults exacerbating the market crisis".
"Leo Melamed, Chairman of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, issued a statement: CME clearing banks have cumulatively received $3.7 billion in margin calls, and the exchange will open as usual at 8:30 AM Central Time".
"…"
"…"
The almost identical plummeting curve to that of 1929 left countless people sleepless.
The series of severe chain reactions caused by the 1929 stock market crash, such as bank failures, factory closures, and deserted farms, once led to nearly one-third of the entire American population losing all income. During the most severe period, food shortages even caused nationwide malnutrition.
From 1929 to 1933, in just four years, the number of deaths in the United States reached 7 million, accounting for 7% of the total US population of 100 million at that time, with a mortality rate far exceeding the average level of normal years.
In 1987, the people at the top of the American pyramid basically still had vivid memories of the Great Depression era. Therefore, in just one day, the federal government swiftly launched a series of no-holds-barred bailout plans.
Early in the morning of October 20, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who had only been in office for just over a month, decisively 'opened the floodgates,' directly announcing a significant reduction of 0.75 percentage points in the federal benchmark interest rate and providing $12 billion in cash reserves to major North American banks through bond purchases.
Subsequently, from the White House down to local banks in various US states, substantive bailout measures began to be implemented.
Affected by this series of positive news, after the market opened on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average began to rebound, rising from 1738 points at yesterday's close to a high of 2035 points within half an hour.
However, a stock market bubble that had accumulated for five years could not be remedied immediately with one or two strong doses of medicine.
After a brief rebound, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted again.
On the other side, the S&P 500 index, which is closely linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, followed an almost identical trend after opening.
The S&P 500 index closed at 201 points on Monday, and after opening on Tuesday, it similarly surged to 245 points within half an hour, then plummeted again…
Los Angeles.
In the Palisades mansion, Simon cumulatively closed 8,300 short contracts yesterday at the low end of the S&P 500 index, between 200 and 210 points, earning over $350 million in a single day. At the same time, the Westeros Company account also established 3,500 long contracts between 200 and 210 points.
When the market opened on Tuesday, Simon patiently waited for the S&P 500 index to briefly surge, then decisively adjusted the closing range, locking in an index ceiling of 220 points to begin selling, while continuing to establish long contracts in the same range.
In addition, Simon also withdrew $200 million from yesterday's profits and moved to the New York Stock Exchange, beginning to aggressively bottom-fish and buy various stocks on his planned list… Chicago.
Time quickly moved to Thursday.
At seven o'clock in the morning, Central Time, Noah Scott, who had been getting less than five hours of sleep on average these past few days, rushed to the Lehman Brothers Chicago branch with bloodshot eyes.
As a vice president at Lehman Brothers, Noah Scott independently managed a trading team of six analysts and had his own private office.
Casually tossing his briefcase and today's newspaper aside, Noah Scott sat down behind his desk, opened his computer, but couldn't help but feel a little dazed: How much did that guy really earn?
After James Robinson made the decision to observe a while ago, Noah Scott secretly borrowed $1 million from his father and secretly bought 55 S&P 500 short contracts, which was also about 80% of Simon's previous position.
Noah Scott really wanted to take a gamble, to see if the man that the girl, whom all his classmates including himself had pursued unsuccessfully, had chosen was truly extraordinary.
Then, on Monday, Noah Scott had a small taste of becoming rich overnight.
With 55 contracts, all closed at the S&P 500 index bottom of 200 points, Noah Scott easily earned $2 million.
However, Noah Scott wasn't happy at all; his mind kept replaying the money Simon had withdrawn from the Lehman Brothers account, over $350 million. If it was still an 80% short position, that would be nearly 20,000 short contracts.
It was obviously impossible to close all 20,000 contracts at the lowest point of the S&P 500 index, but even based on Wednesday's closing price of 259 points, Simon Westeros's short positions would still generate a large profit.
What's more, if he wasn't too greedy, Simon Westeros could definitely close all his positions over two consecutive days, Monday and Tuesday. In fact, if he then took a long position, his earnings would certainly increase significantly.
Noah Scott was a very self-disciplined person. After closing those 55 contracts and earning $2 million on Monday, he decisively stopped trading.
Although the federal government had promptly taken a series of strong bailout measures, no one could be sure whether the US stock market would continue to plunge like it did in 1929. But at this moment, looking back at the S&P 500 index curve from Monday to Wednesday, and recalling that young man's past operations, Noah Scott was almost 100% certain that he would re-establish long positions and make another profit.
On Monday, the S&P 500 index opened with a gap down and closed at 201 points.
On Tuesday, after a brief surge, it plummeted again, with the S&P 500 index still closing at a low of 212 points.
On Wednesday, it opened with a gap up at 237 points and closed at 259 points, as the market stabilized.
So, if he were that young man, he probably would have completed all short contract liquidations on Monday and Tuesday, and if he had then taken long positions, he would definitely have made another large sum on Wednesday.
A principal of $350 million.
An 80% position.
Now, Noah Scott was increasingly eager to know how much Simon Westeros had earned in the past few days.
A billion dollars?
Even if he didn't earn that much, factoring in his previous principal, Simon Westeros, that young man who was still only 19 this year, should now be a billionaire.
No.
Perhaps, Janette Johnston should also have a share in this.
But.
A billion dollars!
No matter what, Noah Scott understood that perhaps he would never be able to reach the wealth those two possessed in his lifetime.
However, a billion dollars, how would that guy plan to spend it?
Perhaps, six months ago, there were rumours that Simon Westeros and Janette Johnston were about to go to court over the profit distribution of 'Run Lola Run'. Now, with such a massive income, even if the two had been in love before, there might be some disputes in the face of such immense wealth, right?
As Noah Scott thought this with a hint of anticipation, the door to his office was suddenly pushed open, and one of his analysts rushed over, saying, "Noah, this is bad. There are rumours all over the exchange that we're going to sell thousands of contracts after the market opens?"
Noah Scott was still a bit stunned and subconsciously asked, "What?"
The analyst said, "Someone leaked the news about us selling those Quantum Fund contracts in advance".
In early October, George Soros's Quantum Fund and Simon's Westeros Company both began to aggressively build positions. However, the Quantum Fund had continuously bought over 30,000 long contracts over half a month.
After the crash began, some of Quantum Fund's contracts were forcibly liquidated in the past few days, and after margin calls, some more were liquidated yesterday after the situation stabilized. But at this point, Quantum Fund still had a total of 9,000 contracts remaining in its account.
Even if the federal government's bailout measures had started to show initial results yesterday, everyone understood that the S&P 500 index could not return to its high of 300 points in the short term, and Quantum Fund had no other choice but to cut its losses and exit the market.
Lehman Brothers certainly didn't have only Noah Scott's trading team.
A major client like Quantum Fund was actually personally handled by Noah Scott's direct superior, a senior vice president at Lehman Brothers.
Hearing his subordinate's explanation, Noah Scott relaxed and said, "Charlie, this has nothing to do with us, does it? Will messed up, that's his problem." As he spoke, Noah Scott checked his watch, clapped his hands, and said, "Alright, let everyone come in. We're about to get to work. Let's have a meeting first".
8:30 AM Central Time.
When the Chicago Mercantile Exchange officially opened, Noah Scott realized how detrimental the premature leak of news about Lehman Brothers selling thousands of contracts had been.
Due to prior knowledge that Lehman Brothers was about to dump a large number of contracts, after the market opened, all other brokerage desks at the CME began to take a wait-and-see approach, completely refusing to accept sell orders from Lehman Brothers. As a result, under the accumulated selling pressure, the S&P 500 index plummeted again, dropping from 256 points at yesterday's close to 197 points in just over ten minutes.
Los Angeles.
In the Palisades mansion, it was still early morning, and Janette, who was already a little numb, didn't get up early today.
On Monday and Tuesday, Westeros Company's 26,700 short contracts, far exceeding Noah Scott's imagination, were now less than 5,000. At the same time, Simon had established a total of 7,000 long positions between 200 and 220 points on Monday and Tuesday, and had closed 2,000 long contracts at a high of 250 points on Wednesday.
Hearing the anticipated news of the S&P 500 index plummeting again over the phone, Simon decisively issued the order to liquidate his short positions.
If his memory served him right, Simon had less than three hours left. In the afternoon, Central Time, after the morning's selling pressure was digested, the S&P 500 index would rebound again.
After a few days, the traders at Goldman Sachs and other firms had become familiar with Simon's trading intentions, so there was no need for much explanation.
Simon then turned his attention to New York.
In the previous two days, Simon had withdrawn a total of $400 million, all of which was poured into the New York stock market. His buying strategy was also very simple and clear, tech stocks.
Before his last major move, Simon had already compiled a list of tech stocks he planned to buy. Apple, Microsoft, Intel, Oracle, Sun, and other companies were naturally all included. Of course, Simon didn't forget to mix in some 'sand' as well.
In his memory, after a brief decline, the North American stock market would generally show a steady upward trend until 2000. Therefore, this major crash at the end of October 1987 could be said to be Simon's last opportunity to buy at the bottom.
Due to very detailed planning beforehand, the $400 million Simon invested was all converted into stocks within two days. After the market closed yesterday, Simon again withdrew $200 million from his futures account for today's buying operations. He would continue to invest funds for continuous buying.
Even if he wouldn't hold them for more than ten years, after surviving this major crash, the North American stock market would quickly rebound, and these stocks would still generate very considerable profits in the coming months.
The volatile day quickly ended.
The next day was October 23, Friday, the release date of 'Final Destination'.
The S&P 500 index closed at 237 points on Thursday, and after opening on Friday, there was no more negative news from the market, and the S&P 500 index rebounded above 250 points. Simon completed his short position liquidation on Thursday, and on that same day, he also cleared all the long contracts he had hastily bought in the previous few days.
And so, it was finally time to tally the final gains.
A thrilling moment.
From October 19 to October 23, over five days, Westeros Company cumulatively sold 26,700 short contracts established at a high of around 290 points, between 200 and 220 points, accumulating a profit of $1.068 billion. At the same time, Simon cumulatively established 8,000 long contracts between 200 and 220 points during the same three-day trough, all of which were closed above 250, generating another $165 million in profit.
Including the original $387 million principal in Westeros Company's account, after 5 months of stock index futures operations, Simon's initial $75 million had now surged to $1.62 billion.
After meticulously tallying the final financial data, both Simon and Janette were utterly dumbfounded for several minutes.
Simon remembered a rumour about someone turning $7 million into $2 billion in the futures market. But now, seeing his capital suddenly multiply by more than twenty times in just 5 months, he still found it somewhat unbelievable.
Janette's reaction was even more direct. After a long daze, the woman leaned over and curiously touched and squeezed Simon all over, then said, "You little rascal, I regret it".