diymy Chapter 37: $2 Million in Cash
Chapter 37: $2 Million in Cash
Back in my office in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, the floor-to-ceiling windows offer a view of perpetual sunlight and the silhouettes of palm trees.
Jiang Yu was stationed at the North American headquarters of Chasing Light Holdings, reviewing the team expansion report submitted by Wu Na.
Despite the early signs of the financial crisis, Guangying Digital's employee count exceeded four hundred.
It's not just about quantity, but also about quality. Wu Na is like a calm hunter, specifically picking out the pearls that flow into the market due to the parent company's layoffs.
The team includes an algorithm master who worked on the fluid simulation for The Lord of the Rings, a senior material artist who created the ghost ship for Pirates of the Caribbean, and even a core engineer poached from Pixar's render farm.
"Mr. Jiang, based on the progress of 'Iron Man' and the reserve of subsequent projects, this scale can support three Class A production lines to operate simultaneously."
During the video conference, Wu Na's dark circles were clearly visible. "I adjusted the management structure and established three core laboratories: cutting-edge algorithms, real-time engines, and biological and fluid effects, reporting directly to me. What we want is not just to take on projects, but to define the visual language of the next decade."
"Approved." Jiang Yu nodded. "The budget will be increased by 20%, mainly for hardware investment in the lab and incentive stock options for top talent. Tell the team that 'Iron Man' is our battle to establish our authority; only success is acceptable."
After hanging up Wu Na's call, he spent the entire day reviewing the script for "Black Swan".
The scriptwriting team has solid skills and creates an atmosphere of artistic obsession and psychological breakdown in a very detailed way.
Based on his memory, Jiang Yu left annotations at several key turning points:
Scene 47: Nina's Illusion of Black Feathers】The visual presentation here could be bolder. Suggestion: A close-up of feathers 'growing' from under the skin, combined with subtle subcutaneous twitching CG effects, suggests that the 'alienation' is occurring from the inside out. Consider the delicate balance between biomimicry and the uncanny valley effect.
[The final solo climax requires a 30-second pure stream-of-consciousness visual symphony. Completely abandoning the real stage, it uses abstract particles, distorted space, and shattered mirror images to express Nina's momentary ecstasy and ultimate destruction as she breaks free from her body and discipline. The technical department needs to be involved in the concept design from the outset.]
He sent back the revised suggestions, along with two brand-new project concept outlines – "Lucy" and "Hearty Girl".
The former is a science fiction thriller action film based on the development of the human brain's potential, with the core being the use of visuals to express the abstract evolution of thought; the latter is a warm and delicate drama focusing on a deaf-mute family, aiming to prove that we can not only create visual spectacles, but also master profound human nature.
When the head of the scriptwriting department received the email, he gasped in surprise, then excitedly called a meeting with all staff.
The boss's ideas are imaginative yet get straight to the heart of the matter; Light Chaser Pictures' content landscape is transcending genre boundaries.
.......
At the beginning of 2008, the global financial markets appeared to be in a state of prosperity.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average appears to be stabilizing after its decline at the beginning of the year, with optimists talking about how "the worst of the subprime crisis is over."
The Wall Street dinners were still glamorous and elegant, with champagne towers reflecting an ethereal glow.
On the top floor of an unassuming office building in Midtown Manhattan, Chen Jingming and his team, like a group of underwater listeners diving into the deep sea, clearly captured the increasingly imminent prelude to collapse from countless noisy data streams.
"President Jiang, the model simulation is complete."
In Chen Jingming's encrypted video call interface, his face appeared particularly serious under the cold light of the screen.
On the huge screen behind him, a complex financial network diagram flickered like a neural network.
"Based on our triple penetration model of 'subprime loan defaults - derivatives exposure - key institutional liquidity,' the probability of systemic risk erupting in the mid-to-late 2008 has risen to 78.3%. The most vulnerable link... is here."
On his user interface, several key nodes were highlighted in red and the lines were thickened.
Behind him lies a complex web of credit default swap contracts worth trillions of dollars. Every line represents risk and commitment, as well as a potential chain of destruction.
"The scenario shows that once the downward trend in housing prices becomes self-reinforcing, the wave of subprime defaults and the collapse of derivative valuations will resonate, forcing rating agencies to downgrade CDO ratings on a large scale. For these institutions that are highly dependent on the short-term interbank lending market, their financing channels will be frozen within 72 hours."
Chen Jingming's tone was devoid of any emotional fluctuation, only a pure and cold analysis: "We have detected that some astute hedge funds have been quietly increasing their holdings of put options on financial stocks, but the scale and concentration are far from fatal. There is still a lingering sense of complacency in the market consensus."
Jiang Yu listened quietly in his Los Angeles office, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the solid wood table.
Chen Jingming's report perfectly matched the outline of the storm that swept the globe in his memory, even more precisely marking the exact location and time when the abscess ruptured.
"Short-selling tools and paths?" Jiang Yu asked calmly.
"Everything is in place." Chen Jingming switched the screen to show the organizational charts and fund flow diagrams of several offshore companies. "Mainly through multi-layered structures in the BVI and Cayman Islands, we have established independent channels with several European and Asian brokers, such as Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, and Nomura Securities, to diversify our short positions. The targets include: ETFs tracking the US financial sector, individual stocks such as Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, and AIG, as well as CDS index products that have been screened and have the highest correlation with subprime mortgages."
He pulled up a stress test table: "Capital utilization efficiency is controlled within safe limits, and the leverage ratio is set according to the liquidity of the underlying assets. Potential maximum margin call risk scenarios have been simulated, and reserves are sufficient."
"Execute." Jiang Yu uttered only two words, yet they carried immense weight.
.......
January 15, 2008, Moscone Center, San Francisco.
Steve Jobs walked onto the stage wearing his signature black turtleneck and jeans.
Amidst thunderous applause, he walked to a simple podium and picked up a common office kraft paper document bag.
"What's this?" he asked the audience with a smile, and then, under everyone's curious gaze, he slowly pulled a gleaming silver laptop out of the paper bag.
The entire audience held their breath for a moment, then erupted into a tsunami of gasps and applause!
Steve Jobs proudly declared, "This is the MacBook Air. It's so thin that it can even fit into a typical office envelope!"
Apple's stock price surged after the launch event, reflecting high market enthusiasm.
With the initial success of the first-generation iPhone still fresh in everyone's minds, this revolutionary thin and light laptop once again proves Apple's unparalleled innovative capabilities.
Analysts raised their price targets, retail investors rejoiced, and everyone was talking about Apple's unstoppable rise, believing that the company's miracle would continue.
Jiang Yu knew that history did not progress linearly.
The looming financial storm will indiscriminately envelop all non-essential consumer sectors, and even giants like Apple will not be spared.
The peak of prosperity is often the best time to withdraw.
"Starting at the end of the month," Jiang Yu calmly added in his next encrypted call with Chen Jingming, "we will clear all our Apple positions. Strategy: sell gently and continuously to avoid impacting the market, and complete the sale as close to the high end as possible."
At that time, Chen Jingming and his team were fully immersed in building and validating the doomsday model and did not pay special attention to the short-term trends of consumer electronics giants.
He didn't ask any further questions, but simply replied in a deep voice, "Understood. We will formulate a detailed plan to reduce our holdings and exit the market smoothly."
February and March 2008 were a calm but long spring. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined slightly amidst little volatility, market anxiety appeared intermittently, and the prevailing sentiment was still struggling to believe in a "soft landing."
During this period, Apple stock was systematically and continuously sold off through multiple brokerage accounts.
Traders followed instructions to break down large orders into smaller ones, mixing them into the massive daily trading volume, like streams flowing into the ocean, without creating a single unusual ripple.
The average profit-taking price is locked at around $185.
Jiang Yu has sold all 173 million Apple shares he had accumulated through early investments by the end of this spring.
The company repaid $2.34 million after offsetting leverage differences, fees, and taxes.
At the end of last year, Chen Jingming's team in Hong Kong also gradually reduced their holdings in Tencent Holdings, in accordance with an earlier plan.
With the two massive investments combined, after deducting the funds continuously injected into Light Chaser Pictures, Light & Shadow Digital, and the reserve funds supporting Chen Jingming's doomsday strategy, Jiang Yu's personal liquid cash assets quietly surpassed the $2 million mark.