Chapter 185: Market Sentiment

Lionel’s gaze sharpened.

“Same timing, same position?”

“To be precise, they’re far more aggressive than us.”

The man seemed somewhat tense.

He swallowed nervously.

“…It’s too precise to be a coincidence.”

In fact, they had already planted false public opinion poll results in Reuters and the Financial Times for this operation.

False articles were exposed at the exact timing ahead of the Brexit vote.

This allowed them to immediately take a short position when the pound surged.

But did another force already know about this delicate timing?

“Where? What’s the source?”

“We’re still tracking the exact source, but it’s clear that it wasn’t just one place. Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands, the Virgin Islands, Luxembourg, Malta… at least hundreds of accounts moved simultaneously.”

Lionel’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Hundreds? What’s the scale?”

The man continued, looking at the list he had prepared.

“The amount of funds deployed in each account isn’t that large.”

The smallest was around $0.2 billion, the largest about $0.5 billion.

Upon hearing the scale, Lionel’s expression momentarily relaxed.

Then he looked incredulous.

“What? Only $0.5 billion? What’s the problem with that?”

“I reported it because there are many similarities with the position we took.”

Of course, this was when all the accounts were combined; looking at each one individually, they were not a particularly large force, targeting only specific assets.

Lionel shrugged lightly.

He felt almost ridiculous for having been tense even for a moment.

“Looks like some small funds got lucky and tagged along, but they’re nothing more than ants that will soon be crushed.”

Once the Brexit vote results were officially announced,

starting with the pound,

the entire global financial market would rapidly freeze as major European financial institutions’ stock prices plummeted.

But that would only be the initial shock.

‘The market will rebound as if it were a lie, not even lasting a full day.’

A V-shaped rebound.

This was the final design that Golden Edge and Lionel himself had prepared.

The market would plunge like a rollercoaster and then soar back up,

but funds that simply followed them into short positions would face bankruptcy due to the rapid asset rebound.

A deep smile spread across Lionel’s lips.

“Whether they’re lucky or just copying us, all the newbies who went all-in on short positions will be destroyed, so don’t worry and proceed as planned.”

“Yes, understood.”

“More importantly, are the cooperation channels with the central banks set to give the market a reversal signal intact?”

“The Fed, the ECB, and the Bank of England will all move as planned. We’ve already coordinated with EU headquarters.”

They had already pre-arranged for the Bank of England, the European Central Bank (ECB), and even the Federal Reserve (Fed) to move immediately after Brexit was approved.

They would swiftly absorb the immediate shock through currency swaps and massive liquidity injections.

That way,

‘It’s only natural that the money of those who took even more aggressive short positions than us will end up in our pockets.’

The heavy atmosphere in the meeting room settled back into calm.

However, there was something Lionel and his team hadn’t anticipated.

What they had dismissed as ‘small funds’ were actually part of a massive network connected through a single fund,

and they, too, were just as thoroughly prepared as Golden Edge.

DJ Capital, Trading Room.

Dozens of monitors were lined up like a control tower.

“The vote results are in!”

At Lisa’s shout, everyone in the meeting room turned their eyes to the screen.

There, in red letters, was the breaking news.

[UK Confirms EU Exit]

The room fell instantly silent.

Tension flashed across Lisa and Grant’s faces.

In contrast, I quietly folded my arms and stared at the monitor.

“It really… the result is to leave.”

Seong-hwan glanced at me with an admiring look.

The numbers on the monitor began to fluctuate wildly as soon as the Brexit confirmation was announced.

“The pound is collapsing!”

“UK’s FTSE index down 5%! Germany’s DAX index plunging 4.5%!”

The charts on the monitor began a vertical freefall.

The financial market panicked in an instant.

Lisa and Grant quickly checked their positions.

“Pound short, 120% return!”

“UK bank stocks and major European financial stocks short, over 80% return!”

“Still rising.”

The onlookers’ faces alternated between shock and excitement.

“This is… incredible. The pound is dropping so sharply you can’t even see the bottom.”

As market fear deepened, astronomical profits piled into our accounts in real time.

“Sir, from the $25 billion investment, we’ve already made nearly $20 billion in profit.”

Lisa’s voice trembled with excitement.

Grant breathed heavily, unable to take his eyes off the monitor.

“The market is completely… in a panic.”

Panic selling was happening among investors and institutions worldwide,

but some quick-witted institutions were swiftly abandoning long positions and jumping onto shorts.

Unaware it was a ticket to hell.

‘The central banks still haven’t moved.’

If things went as I knew they would,

soon the Bank of England, the ECB, and even the Fed

would announce emergency measures simultaneously to quell the chaos.

In just a day, perhaps even within hours, the situation could completely reverse.

“Lisa, Grant.”

Both turned their gaze to me.

“Yes, sir.”

Lisa was somewhat excited.

She seemed to think that if they just waited a few more days or weeks, the profits would grow even larger.

Breaking her expectations, I shouted,

“Liquidate all positions now.”

The trading room stirred.

Grant was just as surprised.

“Sir, you’re liquidating positions at this timing? The vote results were just announced… if we wait a little longer, profits could double.”

Lisa nodded in agreement.

“Right, sir. Just a few more hours could bring additional profits…”

I cut them off.

“No, the selling timing is now. Liquidate all positions and immediately switch to the opposite position.”

“…”

Lisa and Grant looked perplexed.

With all global financial markets plummeting due to the Brexit shock,

telling them to liquidate positions was hard to understand.

I added an explanation for the two.

“The central banks will intervene soon. Announcements will come out immediately, and within 1-2 hours, all indicators will rebound.”

Grant asked seriously,

“Are you sure… now?”

I nodded without hesitation.

“If we wait any longer, profits will turn into losses. Liquidate all short positions immediately!”

“Understood. We’ll liquidate positions and simultaneously enter long positions in the pound and European stocks.”

Grant gestured to Lisa, and she immediately gave instructions to the trading team.

“You heard him. Liquidate all positions as of this moment and switch to long positions in the pound and major European stocks.”

The trading room became bustling.

Traders swiftly liquidated positions and rebuilt them in the opposite direction.

“Bro, are you sure this is okay?”

Seong-hwan looked at me with a slightly anxious gaze.

“Trust me, the market will definitely move opposite to what the public thinks.”

This was one of the absolute truths,

and with so much money pouring into shorts now, it was the perfect chance to switch to long.

But knowing the market’s movements in advance,

I suddenly felt something was odd.

‘It feels too artificial.’

The Bank of England, the ECB, and the Federal Reserve had also, albeit with low probability,

prepared tanks and bazookas in anticipation of a Brexit exit.

Ready to unleash indiscriminate firepower if necessary.

But with no announcements even after the exit was confirmed,

it felt like they were deliberately timing their move.

‘If they give us time to switch positions, I’m grateful.’

As everyone watched with tense faces,

just after all position switches were completed,

“Breaking news: Emergency press conference from the Bank of England and the ECB!”

The monitor changed rapidly again.

[ECB Decides on Emergency Liquidity Injection for Market Stability]

[Bank of England Activates Unlimited Currency Swaps to Defend the Pound]

Gasps filled the room,

and the charts, which had been plummeting, hit bottom and began to rebound.

“Pound reverses and rises! Up 2%.”

“European stock indices also surging. Germany’s DAX recovers 3%!”

Lisa and Grant turned to me with shocked faces.

“Sir… it’s moving exactly as you said.”

Their expressions were filled with both shock and awe.

“The market sentiment has completely shifted in just a few hours. How is this… possible?”

I smiled.

“I told you, the market always moves opposite to what the public thinks…”

But the more I thought about it, the more artificial it felt.

Someone was moving the market against public sentiment to make a massive profit.

Who?