Simon woke up close to noon the next day, having been surrounded and plied with drinks by the crew at the wrap party the night before.
After washing up, he went downstairs. The Kendall Hotel felt empty. It was already lunchtime, but there were only a few people in the restaurant. After more than three months of intense work, filming had ended, and everyone had clearly made plans to relax. Some people had already rushed back to the United States.
Peter Jackson, who had been waiting in the restaurant, stood up and greeted Simon when he saw him. The two then sat down together.
Simon had told Jackson after the crew wrapped up yesterday that they should chat at noon today, which was why he was waiting there.
Having spent more than three months together, Simon found Jackson to be a very capable assistant director; intelligent, diligent, and socially adept. What was even more remarkable was that despite being 28 years old, he hadn't lost his passion for film and still possessed a very strong sense of curiosity and desire for knowledge.
If Simon didn't have greater expectations for Jackson, he would have definitely brought him back to Hollywood to train him as a signed producer for Daenerys Entertainment. Compared to directing, Simon felt Jackson seemed more suited to the role of a producer.
After they ordered their meals and chatted casually for a few minutes, Simon asked Jackson, "Peter, have you thought about what you plan to do next?"
Peter Jackson smiled, looking at Simon with a hint of slyness, and said, "Simon, I still haven't figured out why you hired me in the first place".
Simon had no intention of explaining this to Jackson, simply saying, "Many things in this world have no answers".
"In that case", Jackson hesitated for a moment, then said, "Perhaps, I still hope to continue staying in New Zealand".
After saying this, Jackson visibly looked relieved. He thought Simon was likely trying to recruit him to Hollywood today, an opportunity that every filmmaker probably dreamed of. After the wrap party last night, although he had some drinks, he stayed awake all night thinking about this matter.
Now that he had voiced his decision, the struggle that had tormented him all night finally dissipated.
Simon was a little surprised by Jackson's proactive decision but quickly became relieved.
In his memory, Peter Jackson had also missed many opportunities from Hollywood to stay in New Zealand. Simon admired people who had convictions, regardless of the reason for those convictions. If Jackson had been very eager to go to Hollywood during their conversation today, Simon might have actually taken him to Los Angeles.
However, if that were the case, Jackson would have been destined to miss certain opportunities.
Seeing Simon fall silent, Jackson thought the young Hollywood mogul was displeased with his answer and quickly explained, "Simon, I'm very grateful for the opportunity you gave me on the 'Batman' set, but I don't think I'm suited for Hollywood. I'm someone who dislikes restrictions, and Hollywood has too many rules and regulations that limit filmmakers".
Simon heard Jackson's somewhat anxious explanation and understood his thoughts. He went along with it, no longer 'persuading' him, and smiled, saying, "Alright, in that case, I respect your choice. Also, although the filming of 'Batman' has ended, Daenerys Entertainment's Australian branch will continue to operate, and we'll probably invest in a batch of local Australian films every year. I've seen your 'Bad Taste,' and it's very interesting. So, do you have any ideas now?"
Peter Jackson noticed that Simon's attitude hadn't cooled off because of his refusal. Although he didn't know what Simon was truly thinking, he began to talk about his concept for an alternative puppet show with a black comedy style.
Simon knew this was Jackson's highly mischievous film, 'Meet the Feebles', a very imaginative puppet movie about a group of seemingly glamorous variety show animal stars who secretly have dark and depraved sides.
The two discussed it during lunch, and Simon even helped add some mischievous gags. Finally, he readily agreed to invest $1 million in Jackson's project under the name of New World Pictures' Australian branch.
After lunch, Simon rushed to the Johnston Holdings headquarters.
Throughout the lunch, including the previous months of work, Simon and Jackson had not discussed anything related to 'The Lord of the Rings'. Jackson's current capabilities were far from sufficient to manage a large-scale production series like 'The Lord of the Rings'. Although he might have had the idea of filming 'The Lord of the Rings' very early on, the current Jackson clearly had self-awareness. Far away in New Zealand, he probably didn't even know who held the rights to the Tolkien series, so he naturally didn't bring it up rashly.
In the original timeline, Jackson began his directing career with 'Bad Taste' and accumulated ten years of experience before starting the production of 'The Lord of the Rings', which made him famous and created an unmatchable fantasy epic series in film history.
Now, although Simon had similar expectations for Jackson, he had no intention of forcing his growth.
By the time he arrived at the Cersei Capital office at Johnston Holdings headquarters, it was already past two in the afternoon, and the Singapore and Tokyo stock exchanges had already closed.
During this period, the Japanese stock market continued to rise with fluctuations.
Simon kissed Janette on the cheek, who was still holding the phone, and then looked at the stock display terminal in the office. As of the afternoon close, the Nikkei 225 index had reached 34,793 points, only 2,207 points away from Simon's planned 37,000 points.
It was still only the end of April, and it was clear that due to Simon, this big butterfly, the Japanese stock market's growth rate had far exceeded that of the original timeline. Simon also knew that this was not due to Cersei Capital's more than one billion US dollars in capital.
His presence was more like a catalyst that spurred the entire market's accelerated growth.
According to statistics from some Wall Street investment banks, in recent months alone, the global hedge fund size has more than doubled.
Compared to the trillions of dollars in the hedge fund sector in later generations, before Simon entered the Japanese stock market, the total global hedge fund size was only $30 billion, and Soros's Quantum Fund, with less than $2 billion, was already the largest among them.
However, a few months later, the total size of publicly traded hedge funds alone had already approached $70 billion.
Simon's 'overnight wealth' in the US stock index futures market two years ago had stimulated too many people. These hedge funds were clearly formed in a hurry under his influence, and then, like sharks smelling blood, they followed Simon to Asia. Coupled with the entry of other larger capital forces such as mutual funds, pension funds, investment banks, and commercial banks, it was not difficult to understand why the Japanese stock market's growth accelerated.
At the current growth rate, it would only take two months at most for the Nikkei 225 index to reach 37,000 points, and it could probably exceed 38,000 points by July or August.
Due to the frantic entry of a large number of speculative and blind 'leeks,' Cersei Capital's profits became increasingly substantial.
In last week's statistics, Cersei Capital's net asset value had already surpassed the $2 billion mark, reaching $2.23 billion. The profit rate had also exceeded the 30% demarcation line Simon had initially set, reaching 42%. Simon had initially directly abandoned the industry practice of charging investors a 2% management fee, instead establishing a tiered commission plan.
Now, for the portion exceeding 30%, Simon's commission share increased from 20% to 30%.
After finishing her call, Janette hugged Simon again, then picked up a stack of documents and pulled him into a small office next door.
Entering the office, Janette pressed Simon into a leather chair, sat on his lap, and opened the documents she had just brought in, saying, "Two analysts from Fund No. 5 recently did some research on the Michael Milken incident. They believe that because Milken is under investigation, the junk bond market is cooling down, and there might be a wave of junk bond defaults in the US in the second half of the year. Take a look".
Simon took the documents from Janette's hand, one arm around the woman's slender waist, and began to read. After several months of accumulation, he could now easily understand these analysis reports.
From the capital scale, it was not difficult to see that the hedge fund sector was still in its early stages of development. In his memory, it was probably after the 1990s, especially after Soros became famous for his attack on the British pound, that the hedge fund industry experienced explosive growth. Now, Simon felt that many hedge fund managers' experience might not even be as rich as his own.
What's more, Simon also had the foresight advantage of two lifetimes.
Carefully reading the documents in his hand, Simon easily recalled some information about the North American junk bond market from his memory.
Indeed, as the two analysts in the document stated, in his memory, around October in the second half of this year, the junk bond market experienced a series of chain reactions due to the defaults of some companies, which once caused a sharp decline in both the North American stock and bond markets, and was called a 'mini-crash' after the 1987 stock market crash.
After reading the materials in his hand, Simon asked Janette, who was in his arms, "What are you planning to do?"
"Didn't you say we should start pulling out at 37,000 points?" Janette said, wrapping her arms around Simon's neck. "If that's the case, we'll only operate here in Japan for two or three more months at most. During the market's turning point, Cersei Capital can conveniently avoid it and go play in North America, shorting junk bonds".
Although he couldn't explain why, Simon hadn't hidden his judgment from Janette, only stating that he believed the Japanese stock market would at most reach 40,000 points. He wanted to leave enough room for Cersei Capital to operate, so he would start exiting at 37,000 points and completely leave before 38,000 points.
After 38,000 points, Simon could no longer predict the direction of the Japanese stock market, so temporarily stepping aside and waiting for the situation to become clear was indeed a good opportunity.
Then, when the Japanese market truly turned, they would re-enter and short the market.
However, hearing Janette talk about shorting junk bonds, Simon couldn't help but recall the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis from his memory. He didn't want Cersei Capital to cause the collapse of the Japanese stock market, nor did he want the federal government to believe that he had brought down Wall Street's junk bond market.
While Soros was an idol to many, he was also a financial villain deeply hated by governments around the world.
Simon was a legitimate businessman and had no intention of being a hedge fund manager for life. If he became resented for being too aggressive in the financial market, and this in turn affected the development of Westeros Company in other areas, it would be a complete waste of effort.
After careful consideration, Simon confirmed one thing: this junk bond collapse would absolutely not be as massive as the one in 2008. This was because the credit default swap (CDS) financial derivatives that triggered the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis had not yet been invented.
A credit default swap (CDS), broadly speaking, is a type of insurance product. More precisely, it can be described as a form of gambling. The two parties to the contract bet on whether a certain bond will default. If it doesn't, the company that sold this financial derivative continues to receive 'premiums'. Once the debt defaults, the seller of the contract has to pay expensive 'claims'.
Compared to traditional insurance, the biggest feature of CDS is that the 'insured' party does not need to hold a certain bond. To use a common analogy, the buyers and sellers of the contract are completely standing on the roadside, casually betting on whether a passing car will have an accident, or whether a house by the roadside will catch fire, and then buying and selling. These cars and houses have little to do with the betting parties themselves.
Fundamentally, this is a kind of speculation.
In his memory, around 2008, the total value of the US subprime mortgage market was only $7 trillion, but the total size of the CDS market surrounding subprime mortgages was as high as $62 trillion. As a result, even with only a small portion of subprime mortgages defaulting, under the leverage effect, the global financial market almost went up in smoke.
Now, CDS products had not yet appeared, and Janette was only shorting junk bonds through traditional methods, so it was unlikely to cause too much of a stir.
Confirming his judgment, Simon patted Janette on her slender waist and said, "You can operate as you see fit, but one thing: don't take too many risks".
Janette felt that Simon was clearly holding something back from her, but she didn't press him. She leaned in and rubbed her face against his, saying insincerely, "I know".
Obviously.
Knowing is one thing; listening is another.
Simon was a little helpless and dared not tell Janette about the concept of CDS. Once he did, with her wild temperament, she would definitely create this thing prematurely. If the major crisis from his memories were to happen again in the future, and the origin was traced back to Simon Westeros being involved with CDS, that would be a huge joke.
The two stayed at Cersei Capital headquarters all afternoon and did not return to the Kendall Hotel. Instead, they rushed to the Johnston family mansion in the evening.
After staying in Melbourne for a few more days, dealing with some of the crew's finishing touches, it was time for Simon to return to North America. Janette would continue to stay in Australia to operate Cersei Capital.
Inside a luxurious mansion in the northern suburbs of Melbourne.
This was a property Simon and Janette had carefully selected and purchased recently. The mansion covered two acres, also located on the picturesque Yarra River, but closer to Melbourne city centre and not far from the Johnston family mansion, only about 5 kilometres away.
With the filming of 'Batman' concluded and the crew disbanded, Daenerys Entertainment naturally wouldn't lease the entire hotel anymore.
After Simon moved out of the hotel, he had been staying with Janette at the Johnston family mansion for the past few days. As Simon's assistant, Jennifer couldn't leave like the others, so she was temporarily arranged to stay here. This mansion would also be Simon and Janette's temporary home when they came to Melbourne in the future.
A few days were fine, but neither of them liked to stay at the Johnston family mansion for extended periods.
They were scheduled to depart for North America that afternoon.
In the living room of the mansion villa, Janette helped Jennifer pack their luggage. Most of it was actually Simon's, mainly gifts purchased for everyone in Los Angeles. Although not a gift-giving fanatic like Michael Ovitz, Simon paid great attention to these small details.
As the two women busied themselves, Janette noticed Simon lounging on the living room sofa, casually glancing at the TV while leisurely reading a document on his lap. She tucked a gift box into a suitcase, her eyes darting around, and suddenly said to Jennifer, "Jenny, I just thought of a very interesting Chinese name that suits you perfectly".
Jennifer, who was marking a gift, looked up in confusion: "What?"
Janette glanced at Simon again, then said with a smile, a strange name that was very difficult for Westerners to pronounce: "Xiren, what do you think?"
Jennifer was utterly confused and looked at Simon as well.
In private, to keep up with her boyfriend's pace, Janette had actually never stopped learning Chinese. She still frequently reread 'Dream of the Red Chamber' and could now even read it in both Chinese and English. Simon naturally knew this and, hearing her, simply turned and gave Janette a look, saying, "Then what name are you giving yourself?"