Chapter 456 No One Can Escape: The Great Collapse
October is not a rainy month on the Korean Peninsula, but when the weather decides to rain, it doesn't care about the season, and all living beings can only endure it.
With a deafening "crack!", lightning tore through the sky, and torrential rain, accompanied by thunder, poured down.
The Han River seemed to swallow the entire city in an instant, and the cars on the road became like small boats tossed about in the wind and rain.
The taxi driver gripped the steering wheel tightly and finally managed to drive the car to the hotel entrance.
Zhou Liang thanked them in English, and as he paid the bill, he couldn't help but think to himself, "This is South Korea after all. South Korea is one of only two industrialized countries in Asia, the world's eleventh largest economy, and a member of the WTO in 1995 and the OECD in 1996."
Only economically developed countries with good public security would dare not install barriers in the driver's seat of taxis.
This would absolutely not happen in China. There are far too many taxi drivers who have been kidnapped and murdered; no one would dare take that risk.
Of course, it's also possible that cars in South Korea are indeed cheaper. South Korea is the world's fifth-largest automobile producer and exporter. On the streets of Seoul, Zhou Liang has barely seen any imported cars since he arrived in September.
This is truly a prosperous, developed, and proud country.
When he was getting his change, Zhou Liang blurted out, almost as if by magic, "Why is the South Korean stock market always falling? It's fallen especially hard today, it's really a headache."
The driver didn't seem to care, emphasizing in broken English, "It's just a minor inconvenience, it's fine, it won't affect Korea."
The taxi drove away, and Zhou Liang stood at the hotel entrance, waiting for a hotel staff member to put a bag over his black umbrella, while watching the Kia car quickly disappear into the rain.
He silently asked himself: "Driver, do you know how much debt Kia Motors owes? If it hadn't been forcibly designated as a bankruptcy protection entity by the South Korean government in July of this year, it would have gone bankrupt long ago!"
Is this really just a minor inconvenience?
He carried his umbrella, turned around and entered the hotel. Just as he reached the elevator, he bumped into Tang Yicheng coming downstairs for dinner.
Upon seeing him, the latter immediately called out, "Eat, hurry up and eat, I'm starving!"
This hotel is close to Seoul's financial district, and there have been a lot of foreign guests staying here lately. The hotel restaurant is very attentive to service, and even the variety of food has increased.
But Zhou Liang had just returned from the heavy rain and all he wanted was a steaming bowl of Korean ginseng chicken soup; he didn't feel like eating anything else.
Watching Tang Yicheng devour his food, he couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Tang, how did the talks go today?"
"Talk my ass!" Tang Yicheng said, his face full of displeasure, his words utterly impolite. "These people really don't know their own limitations; it seems they still don't understand just how dangerous their company is!"
How can someone be so confident? He was completely impressed.
What's the point of constantly talking about "body and land are inseparable"? Look at the actual situation; he's worried about the Koreans.
Zhou Liang nodded and said, "The South Korean stock market fell sharply today."
Actually, it has been falling all along.
On October 20th, the governor of the Bank of Korea, unable to withstand the pressure, resigned, immediately triggering market turmoil. While the Hong Kong stock market began to crash, Seoul's financial district was also in turmoil.
Tang Yicheng put a piece of beef in his mouth and said indistinctly, "I reckon it's only at the beginning, and things will get even worse later. With their stubborn pride and willingness to suffer for it, who knows what kind of people they really are?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than an exclamation erupted in the restaurant: "A staggering $60 billion in unaccounted debt!"
They were speaking English.
The two people dining face to face at the table subconsciously turned around and saw that it was indeed a blond, blue-eyed foreigner.
He was holding a newspaper in his hand, and even though the restaurant windows were tightly closed, preventing any wind or rain from getting in, the newspaper was trembling.
The shaking was so bad that Tang Yicheng's excellent 2.0 vision was so bad that he could no longer make out the words on the newspaper, and could only vaguely make out the huge Arabic numeral 600.
Someone nearby shouted, "Liar! Damn liar! South Korea is a country of liars; it's hiding its true debts!"
He took the newspaper from the trembling foreigner—or perhaps the Chinese man to him—and began to read it aloud.
As market panic intensified, international banks and investors became increasingly hesitant to trust South Korea's financial disclosures and began independently verifying the true debt situation of South Korean banks.
The investigation revealed that South Korean banks had $60 billion in short-term offshore borrowings, and that these borrowings were not even registered with the Bank of Korea.
Even more alarming is that these debts were primarily borrowed by the overseas branches of major South Korean commercial banks. Under South Korea's foreign exchange control law at the time, they were not required to be reported to the Bank of Korea.
What does this mean?
Some people were already clutching their heads in despair, muttering to themselves, "When you find one cockroach in a room, it means there are already 100 cockroaches in the room!"
$60 billion? Is South Korea's true hidden debt really only $60 billion?
No! It might actually be worth 600 billion.
The entire restaurant seemed to have been thrown into a boiling pot of oil, and it instantly exploded.
Zhou Liang sensed something was wrong. Forgetting about the remaining chicken soup, he quickly wiped his mouth and hurriedly said, "I'll go upstairs and make a phone call first."
Tang Yicheng kept saying "Hey, hey," and he was thinking of packing up the leftovers and catching up with them—just kidding, South Korea can't be self-sufficient, a lot of the food is imported, and things are really expensive, it would hurt to waste them.
But when he stood up and saw the excited crowd around him, he pulled his raised foot back down.
Well, I might as well stay here and learn more about the situation.
South Korea really keeps everything hidden, forcing others to dig up their secrets.
Zhou Liang took the elevator up and down, then rushed to his room and immediately called Yang Tao, who was across the Pacific Ocean: "Manager Yang, how's the situation in America? I mean, what's everyone's reaction?"
Stock price changes alone are just cold, hard numbers and don't tell the whole story.
The situation in the United States is actually somewhat similar to that in Hong Kong. The rise and fall of currencies and stock prices are mainly determined by the confidence of holders.
It was sunny in California, and it was early morning when Yang Tao received the phone call. She was puzzled: "What could possibly happen in America? Everything's fine."
The vast majority of American technology companies, especially small and medium-sized ones, are concentrated in California.
She flew over in early September and has been visiting and inspecting various places non-stop, and it feels like everything is thriving.
In September, the US stock market surged, perfectly demonstrating its strength as the world's leading economic power.
Zhou Liang was not surprised by the surge in the US stock market in September. The Asian financial crisis had spread to other emerging regions, and it was perfectly normal for investors to withdraw their funds and move their money to markets they perceived as more stable and safer.
In a sense, this is a typical example of island prosperity.
But this prosperity was, to some extent, built on the suffering of other regions. The influx of capital did not stem entirely from the explosive growth of productivity within the United States, but rather from global panic.
Panic is contagious, and Zhou Liang felt he needed more direct information to supplement his judgment.
So he immediately emphasized, "Manager Yang, you have to do me a favor. Today, the US stock market is bound to fall, and I want to know the reaction of American stock investors, specifically the reaction of people you can see around you."
Yang Tao was astonished. How could he predict the direction of the US stock market?
If it's true that everyone has their own expertise and professionals can make accurate judgments, then even someone as intelligent as Newton was still swindled by the London stock market and questioned his existence.
To this day, she still suspects that Newton's eventual belief in God was entirely due to his fear of being burned by the stock market.
Zhou Liang said firmly, "Yes, I said it. Just you wait and see. You have to help me see everyone's reaction."
Although Yang Tao didn't understand what he was planning to do, she readily agreed: "No problem, I'll definitely keep an eye on things for you."
Although the concept of a global village exists now, she is separated by thousands of miles and is currently in the United States, so she must have a clearer understanding of the situation in the United States.
She felt it was her duty.
The reasons for focusing on the stock market are readily available: observing the trends of tech stocks helps her determine which tech companies are worth investing in.
Otherwise, it's meaningless to just listen to what they say and look at the information they provide.
Just like her boss reminded her before she left for the United States—don't take so-called compatriots who take the initiative to get close to you too seriously.
If they really are as patriotic as they claim, and that's why they want to find Chinese investors, then why don't they go back to China?
To put it bluntly, the reason they're actively seeking you out is simply because they can't attract investment in the US.
Otherwise, given the booming information superhighway in the US and the popularity of technology companies among investors, they wouldn't even give you a second glance.
On her way to the trading center, Yang Tao couldn't help but purse her lips as she recalled her boss's words.
Indeed, just as the boss said, these people were clearly seeking investment, but the result was that they were saying, "I'm someone who's been immersed in Western culture, and it's an honor for you bumpkins to spend money on me."
I don't know where their arrogance comes from.
If it's a private event, Yang Tao can just roll her eyes at them and ignore them completely.
But this time she came to the United States to work for her boss, so she could only grit her teeth and bear it—after all, just like her boss said, doing business is about whether you can make money, not about character and morality.
Yang Tao got off the car and headed to the trading center, just in time for the market to open.
When she saw the numbers on the electronic screen, she didn't feel much. It wasn't until her temporary tour guide started stamping his feet and lamenting that she realized the stock market had truly crashed.
Yang Tao couldn't help but want to curse: "Damn! That's too amazing!"
I never would have guessed that Zhou Liang was even more brilliant than Newton.
The stock index continued to fall throughout the day, and by the time the market closed in the afternoon, there was widespread lamentation.
Yang Tao left with the crowd. Before leaving, she glanced at the time again. Today was Thursday, October 23rd.
That evening, she had dinner with the owner of the brokerage firm she had visited a couple of days earlier, accompanied by the owner's cousin, a local stock manager.
Yang Tao has every reason to suspect that this Chinese boss, who was sent abroad to study in 1982 and has stayed in the United States ever since, is using her good looks to seduce someone.
Although his cousin's appearance could be described as uneven, he is a native-born ABC (American-born Chinese) with a green card.
The boss probably thought she would be tempted to throw herself at him in order to marry this ABC (American-born Chinese) and get a green card to stay in the United States, so he was willing to use the group's money to invest in this struggling tech company for his cousin's sake.
Yang Tao didn't care whether others were dreaming or not; she didn't even mind dating this cousin, as long as he could provide her with the information she wanted.
For example, right now, she's curious: "I saw that the US stock market fell today, and it fell quite a lot, which is a bit scary."
My ABC cousin had no interest in putting on a show for the country bumpkin from China; he only came to keep me company because he could get a free meal.
He scoffed, "Those people are all delusional; they'll probably regret it tomorrow. This is America; there's no better investment market in the world. It's the safest and most secure place. Ms. Yang, if you're interested in investing, I can help you."
Yang Tao rolled her eyes inwardly: Thank you! Should I boost your sales figures, or are you helping me? Even selling insurance doesn't go this far.
My ABC cousin is still confidently saying, "Just wait, they'll regret it tomorrow. The stock market will definitely rebound tomorrow."
But the next day, October 24, the Hong Kong stock market rebounded, while the US stock market remained basically unchanged, showing no signs of a strong recovery.
However, it didn't fall much.
When Yang Tao called Zhou Liang, she guessed, "He probably didn't realize it today. I reckon the US stock market will rebound when it opens next Monday."
Zhou Liang, however, stated unequivocally: "No, it won't rise; it will only plummet."
He didn't have time to explain; he said goodbye and hung up. He needed to act immediately; the US stock market was sure to crash on the 27th.
This is not only due to the impact of the Hong Kong stock market turmoil, but also the impact of the South Korean financial crisis.
Yes, the world's 11th largest economy and one of only two industrialized nations in Asia is really in trouble.
Today, Standard & Poor's downgraded South Korea's long-term foreign currency sovereign debt rating from AA- to A+.
This is an extremely severe downgrade, meaning that the South Korean government's creditworthiness has been significantly diminished.
The crucial point is that, to Europeans and Americans, South Korea and Hong Kong are no different; they are both in Asia, and both are relatively developed countries and regions in Asia.
South Korea's credit rating downgrade will negatively impact Hong Kong's rating in the eyes of European and American investors, who tend to view the two as a single factor.
This is equivalent to two storms merging together; the hurricane will break through Asia and sweep across the globe.
October 25th and 26th are the weekend.
Regardless of how many people in the world can actually achieve a two-day weekend, the global financial trading market will be closed for a break.
There were no transactions, but bad news and pessimistic expectations spread like wildfire within the financial world through the media and conference calls.
Almost all fund managers are working overtime, trying to calculate the value of their positions in Asia and raise as much cash as possible in the shortest time.
The weekend, marked by a constantly ringing telephone, a fax machine spitting out documents, and a relentless pounding of keyboards, passed by amidst headlines in major financial media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times, all proclaiming the "spread of the Asian crisis."
On October 27th, due to the time difference, the Hong Kong stock market opened first.
As soon as the market opened, Hong Kong stocks were met with a fierce and devastating catastrophe.
As Hong Kong entered the weekend, international short sellers massively sold off Hong Kong dollars in the London and New York overnight markets, forcing the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to raise interest rates sharply again after the market opened on Monday, the 27th.
Undoubtedly, Hong Kong stocks plummeted, wiping out hundreds of billions of Hong Kong dollars in market value in just one day.
Across 12 time zones, the United States welcomed its October 27th, which was also a brutal harvest.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fluctuated wildly as soon as the market opened.
Yang Tao couldn't resist coming to witness what the so-called crash was all about. She stared at it all morning and saw the numbers keep falling.
She was so hungry at noon that she ran out and bought a sandwich.
When she finished her sandwich and drank half a bottle of water and returned, the trading hall was filled with exclamations: "It's stopped! Everything has stopped!"
Yang Tao thought the plunge had stopped, but alas, the market dropped 135 points on the 23rd, and the stock market reacted as if it had lost its parents. As a result, it has already dropped more than 300 points in just one morning today.
Indeed, it's time to stop, otherwise the Americans will probably go crazy.
When she looked again, she was instantly dumbfounded.
It's not that the stock index has stopped falling, but rather that all stock, futures, and options trading has stopped.
What's going on here?
Yang Tao was completely dumbfounded. She had never seen anything like this before. Was this guy about to flip the table after losing all his money?
She tried to find out what was going on, but the traders were too busy to pay attention to her, and the staff outside the trading floor were busy maintaining order. No one had time to explain anything to her.
Every face she looked at was filled with anxiety and fear, even a kind of ashen, deathly stillness.
She had no idea how much time had passed when suddenly someone shouted, "It's starting! It's starting!"
The previously interrupted transactions have resumed.
Sadly, for most people in this trading hall, it would be better if trading remained frozen.
Because the stock market, after its recovery, not only failed to rebound, but instead plunged into an abyss, plummeting wildly with an even stronger and more intense momentum than before.
It was like falling into the 18th level of hell without any resistance.
"The market's closed! The market's closed!" someone shouted.
Yang Tao subconsciously raised her hand to look at her watch; it was just 3:01 PM.
That's not right. It's normal. Shouldn't the market close at 4 o'clock?
What happened? Why did the market close early?
She didn't get the answer to this question in the trading hall until that evening when she treated her stockbroker cousin to beer, and that's when Yang Tao finally got the answer.
"Circuit breaker, the circuit breaker mechanism has been triggered." ABC's cousin looked quite grim. He had indeed expected the US stock market to be affected, but he anticipated that it would be similar to the situation on the 23rd at most.
He didn't expect it to drop so drastically, falling below the 7% warning line.
In 1987, the US stock market established a circuit breaker mechanism. A full ten years later, it has been triggered for the first time today.
Although Yang Tao didn't understand finance, she couldn't help but say, "The situation seems very serious. I think everyone's reaction today is almost crazy."
ABC's cousin took a swig of beer and began to confidently declare, "It's just that people who don't know anything are getting carried away. You'll see, just like last week. After tonight, they'll regret it, and they'll definitely have a strong rebound tomorrow."
Yang Tao looked suspicious.
Perhaps because his expertise was being challenged by an outsider, his ABC cousin was unhappy that a country bumpkin from China dared to doubt his profound insights, so he added, "The Federal Reserve won't let it fall; it will definitely intervene."
Yang Tao was completely confused: "The Federal Reserve cares about this? So when stocks rise, does the Federal Reserve also prevent them from rising? Or does it only allow them to fall and not rise?"
Her ABC cousin was speechless when she asked him, and could only vaguely say, "Anyway, you know that the US stock market is very safe, and you can definitely make money by investing."
The next day, October 28, the US stock market still plummeted as soon as it opened, dropping like a plunge.
During a live television interview, a financial expert confidently stated, "This is merely a short-term lag in the market's reaction. I predict a rebound as early as today. The market is currently clearly oversold, which is completely inconsistent with the actual economic situation."
Many viewers in front of their televisions felt this made sense; the US economy is booming, and there's really no reason for the stock market to plummet. Let's wait for the rebound today.
Sadly, the rebound they had anticipated did not materialize. Throughout the 28th, short positions were flooded into the exchange like snowflakes.
All the funds that thought they had finally caught the opportunity to buy at the bottom were immediately hammered into a quagmire by a flood of short orders.
Investors were stunned. What happened to the prediction that excessive short selling would lead to a quick rebound?
Why is the market falling in the morning and continuing to fall in the afternoon? It just keeps falling, and there's widespread despair everywhere.
What happened to the promised intervention from the Federal Reserve?
But instead of intervention from the Federal Reserve, they faced fierce opposition from the financial community.
Some economists, in interviews, have strongly urged the Federal Reserve not to intervene arbitrarily.
Investment is a market activity and should be regulated by the market. The existence of the circuit breaker mechanism is sufficient. How the market moves should be determined by investors.
Some economists believe that the stock market crash of the past two days is not necessarily a bad thing, because the Asian financial crisis led to a large influx of hot money into the United States, and the stock market surged all the way up, clearly indicating a huge bubble.
An economist on television emphasized to the audience: "This is not a good thing. This is very dangerous, just like the Asian crisis before it broke out. Stopping it, even if it causes a temporary stock market crash, will allow market values to return to normal. If it continues, the United States will face a huge hurricane, a crisis ten times worse than what we are facing now."
It's unclear whether it was because these economists stepped forward to obstruct the Fed's decision that it hesitated, but ultimately, by the end of the 28th, eager investors did not receive the Fed's bailout plan.
That night, while people with regular sleep schedules were already fast asleep, the international online finance forum was buzzing with excitement.
Some believe that this is just a temporary impact of the Asian financial crisis on the US stock market, and that it will recover soon.
Some argue that the strong performance of US tech stocks is overvalued. When it comes to fabrication, scientific research results are the easiest to falsify. Even if the results themselves aren't fabricated, their actual value is easily misrepresented.
Who knows how much they're actually worth? Maybe they've all been inflated, just like the price of celebrities.
The debate raged on various forums all night, with everyone holding their own opinions, but the general consensus was that the Federal Reserve should not intervene. This is because freedom is the most important principle in international finance.
The last week of October 1997 was destined to be filled with turmoil.
After three days of bizarre stock market crashes in the US, on Wednesday evening, October 29th, a television station interviewed a businessman who claimed to be from Thailand.
He bluntly stated that there is indeed a short-selling force from the East in the market that has been continuously shorting US stocks.
The host exclaimed, "You're going against the trend! You're bound to lose money, you might even go bankrupt!"
"We don't care." The Thai tycoon said fearlessly, "Our goal has never been to win, and we don't want to make money. We just want him to die, to lose everything!"
The host pressed further, "Who is he? Why do you hate him so much?"
“Soros!” the Thai tycoon said indignantly. “That despicable and greedy hyena has destroyed the stable financial order of the entire Asia, he has destroyed our homeland, and he must pay the price!”
The host pointed out a flaw in the other party's statement: "If what you're saying is true, then your target for revenge should be Soros, why are you attacking the entire US stock market?"
The Thai tycoon explained, "We shorted stocks invested in by the Quantum Fund; the rest of the market reaction has nothing to do with us. Even if it did, we would have absolutely no remorse! Because you failed to control your vicious dog, letting it roam freely and bite people indiscriminately, you should bear the responsibility!"
The host felt extremely wronged: "Soros is a financial tycoon, and his market attacks don't discriminate by country. He's attacked the US market too."
"So what?" the wealthy businessman said dismissively. "If a vicious dog bites someone in your house and you do nothing, and then it runs out and bites someone else, do you think you can get away with it? No, it's still your responsibility!"
Viewers in front of their televisions were absolutely horrified.
The impromptu tour guide who had invited Yang Tao to have a late-night snack suddenly realized: "So the Asians are here to get revenge on Soros!"
No wonder he said there were no problems with the fundamentals of the US economy.
The plunge in US stocks was entirely due to speculators.
That evening, the International Financial Forum was in an uproar again, with even those who had previously supported the Fed's market intervention arguing that the Fed should not have intervened at this time.
If the US economy is in trouble, it should be saved.
Why would the Federal Reserve bail out speculators? They have no conscience, no morals. They want Americans to bail them out, to empty their own pockets to save their precarious wallets.
In return, they will still take a bite out of the Americans.
If they can make money through speculation, why can't they lose money through speculation? There is no such thing as a sure thing in this world.
Just one night later, on October 30, Soros issued an urgent statement emphasizing that he was absolutely not a so-called executioner, that his actions were normal market investments, and that he had already left the Thai market long ago.
Several months have passed, and Thailand's current economic downturn cannot be attributed to him, but rather to insufficient reforms.
What Thais should do now is strictly adhere to the bailout plan provided by the International Monetary Fund so that the Thai economy can grow normally and healthily.
The Thai tycoon, who appeared on television, also spoke out publicly on the evening of the 30th: "A murderer stabbed the victim and then left. When this murderer left the scene, the victim suffered excessive blood loss, fainted, went into shock, and even died. Does that mean the murderer isn't a murderer?"
His tone was indignant: "Fine! Since you say it's a market behavior, then we'll fight back with market behavior. Since you're calling for financial freedom, then let's have a showdown in a country with financial freedom!"
This public challenge has caused an uproar across the United States. Many people interviewed believe that it is Soros's fault; if he hadn't been so aggressive, things wouldn't have escalated to this point.
Posts on international online forums continued to appear, and gradually, a voice gained the upper hand, claiming that Soros had not actually made much money in Asia.
Didn't he say he left the Thai market a long time ago?
But in reality, the Thai baht's plunge in July and August wasn't that severe; the subsequent market reaction was much worse.
As for his investment in the Hong Kong stock market, yes, yes, the Hong Kong stock market did indeed crash, so theoretically he must have made a lot of money.
The problem is that, precisely because of the Hong Kong stock market crash, there are no buyers, and Soros's huge profits are currently just paper profits. If he needs to realize these profits or use them as collateral, he will have to liquidate his positions.
But how can he possibly close out his positions now?
So now Soros and his Quantum Fund simply can't come up with the money.
He kept bragging about how much money he had made, his sole purpose being to inflate his own value. He wanted everyone to mistakenly believe that he was invincible, capable of turning iron into gold, and that money would magically multiply in his hands.
Only someone lacking economic acumen would foolishly hand over their money to him and let him manage it.
But the essence of this is a Ponzi scheme. As long as people keep giving him money, it means that he can always use the money from later people to fill the holes in the earlier ones.
The questions raised about Soros, the Quantum Fund, and other large Wall Street funds shifted from international financial forums to newspaper articles, and then changed again on online forums, with people starting to discuss just how wealthy the Asian tycoon who was retaliating against Soros really was.
Many people confidently assert that the Asian wealth visible to outsiders is merely superficial and does not reflect their true net worth.
In fact, almost every wealthy person has a basement, a basement made of pure gold bricks, and even the candlesticks for worshipping Buddha are made of gold.
A glittering photo also appeared on the forum, purportedly showing the home of a wealthy person. Such residences, filled with gold, are said to be standard for them.
Good heavens, they are not nouveau riche with no real foundation.
In fact, they have a history of thousands of years, and they have accumulated astonishing wealth over the generations, wealth that outsiders simply cannot imagine.
As for why the war didn't cause this wealth to flow out?
That's because there's a mysterious power in Southeast Asia.
Have you ever heard of Thai amulets? Have you ever heard of mysterious incantations? For thousands of years, they have guarded the wealth of that land.
Anyone who dares to meddle will suffer the backlash of the curse.
All robbers will be punished.
Yang Tao stared in disbelief at the comments on the forum.
Good heavens, is there really such a bizarre thing? This is the first time she's ever heard of it.
However, it is true that the Buddha statues in Thailand are glittering with gold, and Thais are particularly willing to spend money on worshipping Buddha.
However, she remains highly skeptical of the veracity of these statements.
But the Americans she came into contact with, the native-born Americans, seemed to believe this wholeheartedly.
They had little interest in the Thai tycoon's indignant outburst on television—human joys and sorrows are never truly shared.
They were single-mindedly focused on finding out where all those gold bricks were and how to escape the mysterious and terrifying curse.
It truly is the mysterious and ancient East; it's so exciting!
Yang Tao felt a pang of unease. Indeed, this world was a social Darwinist place. No matter how pitifully the weak wept, the strong remained unmoved, not even bothering to glance at them.
On the contrary, curiosity as a form of entertainment is more likely to arouse their interest.
It's like the interest in cats and dogs that have some special skill.
She was sighing, scrolling through her mouse, when suddenly a new post caught her eye—"Hunt, a hunt from Asia!"
The poster confidently asserted that a mysterious alliance of wealthy individuals from Asia, enraged by the robbery of their homes, had organized a powerful armed force to hunt down short sellers targeting Asia globally.
They possess immense power, much like the Jews after World War II who hunted down Nazis. Regardless of whether the latter were tried or served their sentences, the Jews would not let them go.
Their only fate was death.
Many netizens were terrified.
Some people, still possessing a modicum of reason, believe this is all nonsense, clearly a copy of the Mossad story, then repackaged and deliberately sensationalized.
But just as the post's popularity was waning, on Friday, October 31st, a stockbroker was shot in the back on his way home from the exchange, and the assailant escaped.
Instantly, the post resurfaced, and people online kept shouting: "Asia's revenge has begun."
This public opinion quickly spread from online to offline, and even elderly women who couldn't use computers heard similar claims.
The police were forced to hold an emergency press conference on Sunday evening to emphasize the suspects they had identified.
The suspect killed the stockbroker out of revenge, suspecting his wife of having an affair with him.
However, the most popular and talked-about sex murder case in the past failed to attract public attention this time.
Online, someone quickly responded: If you're willing to believe that Lee Harvey Oswald, the killer of Kennedy, acted alone, that Oswald was shot and killed by Jack Ruby during a prison transfer, and that Jack Ruby died of cancer in prison a few years later—and that it's all true and just a coincidence—then continue to believe this sex scandal murder case!
Don't make things difficult for yourself. With your intelligence, you don't need to get the real answer.
Yang Tao stared in disbelief at the post. Could there really be such a mysterious revenge organization?
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Note: According to the "Trading Analysis Report of October 27-28, 1997" published on the official website of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. implemented a circuit breaker mechanism in 1988. The first time the circuit breaker was triggered occurred on Monday, October 27, 1997, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 554.26 points (7.18%), falling to nearly 7161.15 points. This plunge was also the tenth largest drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1915.
According to reports, at 2:36 PM that day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) suspended trading of stocks, futures, and options for 30 minutes after falling 350 points. Trading resumed at 3:06 PM, but the DJIA continued its sharp decline, reaching a 550-point drop at 3:30 PM, triggering the circuit breaker mechanism and thus closing half an hour early.
The following day (October 28), after a sharp and continuous decline, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded quickly and closed at 7498.32 points.
Furthermore, the economists in the article argued against intervention based on "market fundamentalism," which was indeed one of the mainstream views at the time. Ultimately, the Federal Reserve coordinated behind the scenes (encouraging banks to continue lending, etc.) without directly intervening in the market.
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