Wake up at five o'clock.
Arrive at the company at six o'clock, hold an analyst meeting, and issue trading instructions.
At seven o'clock, the Singapore stock market opens.
At eight o'clock, the Japanese stock market opens.
At nine o'clock, continue to monitor the market, basically confirm the day's market trend, and begin to read various reports submitted by the analyst team.
After several months, such a fixed routine was easily formed.
It was fine in summer, but late June in Melbourne was the middle of winter, which inevitably made her feel some resentment towards a certain person. She was very afraid of the cold and loved to sleep in during winter.
Her father and elder brother knew her temperament well and even suggested that if she couldn't stand it, she could move to Singapore.
No way.
What if he suddenly came to Australia and couldn't find her?
She liked that she could still have such innocent, girlish thoughts, so she became even more determined.
However, if the prince never came to find the princess, she would have to transform into an evil dragon and fly over to devour a certain person herself.
Hmm….
Can't eat him all.
She couldn't bear to.
Well, at least leave him alive.
In the Johnston Holdings headquarters building on Elizabeth Street in downtown Melbourne, Janette stood by the office window, holding the latest balance sheet of Columbia Savings and Loan Bank. The thought that had just flashed through her mind made her chuckle, and she refocused on the document in her hand.
On the 22nd of last month, after maintaining ultra-low interest rates for more than two years, the Bank of Japan finally belatedly implemented its first interest rate hike, raising the benchmark interest rate from 2.5% to 3.5% in one go.
This rate hike was considered by many to be a significant turning point for the Japanese stock market, and it indeed caused a month-long fluctuation in both the Japanese stock and real estate markets.
However, amidst the fluctuations, the Japanese stock market as a whole still showed an upward trend.
As of yesterday's close, the Nikkei 225 index had reached 36723 points, leaving only 277 points of manoeuvring room before reaching the 37000-point exit index set by Cersei Capital. Barring any surprises, Cersei Capital would begin liquidating its various investment portfolios by early July at the latest.
The turmoil in the Japanese financial market intensified, and risks significantly increased.
Under the combined suppression of Simon and Anthony, Janette could no longer operate as wildly as before, and Cersei Capital's operations began to lean towards conservative stability.
Coincidentally, the financial turmoil triggered by the Bank of Japan's interest rate hike led to a substantial increase in short-selling capital. Cersei Capital seized this opportunity to aggressively establish long contracts for Nikkei 225 index futures. For a month straight, the total value of Nikkei 225 index futures long contracts established by Cersei Capital with 10x leverage on the Singapore and Osaka exchanges had reached $13.6 billion.
A massive long contract position of $13.6 billion means that every percentage point increase or decrease in the Nikkei 225 index will result in a profit or loss of $136 million for Cersei Capital.
On May 22nd, the day the Bank of Japan announced the interest rate hike, the market index was around 36100 points.
Based on this index, up to the 38000-point upper limit where Cersei Capital will fully exit, the Japanese stock market can still rise by another 5%. Although they will start liquidating positions from 37000 points, Cersei Capital expects to profit at least another $500 million throughout the entire process.
This batch of long futures contracts held by Cersei Capital only utilized about half of its funds; the other half of the funds, invested in a portfolio of financial products, will also yield decent profits.
In last week's statistics, Cersei Capital's net asset value was $2.51 billion. Including these upcoming profits, after completing the first phase of operations in the Japanese financial market, Cersei Capital's net asset value will have doubled compared to the initial principal of $1.57 billion.
Of course, the basis for all this is that Simon's judgment must not be wrong.
The fundamental reason Cersei Capital achieved nearly $1 billion in profits over the past few months was based on Simon's judgment. If Simon had not steadfastly maintained a bullish outlook on the Japanese stock market, Cersei Capital would not have adopted an operational strategy that outsiders considered very aggressive.
For example, now, with the general market consensus that the Japanese stock market is precarious, many hedge funds, even if they still believe the Nikkei 225 index has room to rise, would never let their long positions exceed 30% of their actual capital, with most perhaps only having 10% or 20%. Moreover, for insurance, other hedge funds generally opt for a two-way position strategy, holding both long and short contracts simultaneously to hedge against potential risks.
Such an operational approach can minimize risks, but it also means that fund profits cannot be too high.
In comparison, Cersei Capital's long contracts, totalling 13.6 billion US dollars, represent a position ratio exceeding 50%, and it still maintains a net long position. Therefore, Cersei Capital's current 'conservative stability' is actually only relative to Janette's previous wild operations.
Without strong confidence in the market, few hedge funds in the industry would adopt Cersei Capital's current operating strategy.
Cersei Capital's confidence is precisely what Simon provided.
The miraculous operation in the North American stock market two years ago and Cersei Capital's nearly $1 billion in profits over the past few months have also made the partners of Cersei Capital unwavering in their almost blind support for Simon.
Now, the first phase of Cersei Capital's operations is nearing its end, and Janette is also preparing to shift to North America.
Columbia Savings and Loan Bank is one of the largest clients of the 'Junk Bond King' Michael Milken, who is currently under investigation. The total issuance of junk bonds accumulated in North America currently stands at around $200 billion, and Columbia Savings and Loan Bank alone holds over $6 billion in junk bonds. Moreover, according to investigations in recent months, the risks of these bonds far exceed their apparent ratings.
If the North American junk bond market collapses, Columbia Savings and Loan Bank will be the first to suffer.
Furthermore, Cersei Capital has collected more than one case similar to Columbia Savings and Loan Bank during this period.
The $200 billion junk bond market, coupled with companies like Columbia Savings and Loan Bank themselves, is enough for Cersei Capital to feast on the choicest 'fat meat' after shifting its focus to North America.
As she was pondering these matters, she felt the office door open. Janette turned her head and saw the man who had been haunting her thoughts smiling as he walked towards her.
Is it an illusion?
"Janette".
The man came closer and called her name. Feeling his presence, she finally confirmed it wasn't an illusion.
So she casually dropped the documents in her hand and clung to him.
After an unknown amount of time, Janette was still nibbling on Simon's face and neck like a little mouse when Anthony Johnston, hearing the news, rushed over from his office.
Simon then held Janette and walked out, greeting Anthony Johnston, "Tony, I'll leave this to you".
Anthony Johnston smiled and nodded, pleased that Simon had suddenly come to see his sister and even more satisfied with their affection. He accompanied Simon and Janette through the outer office area and said, "I'll have the driver take you. Also, will you come home for dinner tonight?"
Simon rubbed his face against Janette's, who had snuggled up to him again, and said, "We'll see. Let's have some alone time first".
Anthony Johnston had no objections and said with a smile, "Alright, come home whenever you're free".
As they chatted, the three took the private elevator to the underground parking lot.
Anthony Johnston handed his car keys to Neil Bennett, who had accompanied Simon, and watched his sister and future brother-in-law leave before returning to his office.
Raymond Johnston had recently gone to Western Australia to discuss a business deal. Anthony Johnston called Perth to inform his father about Simon's arrival in Australia, then called the mansion, and then took over Janette's position to monitor the market.
Anthony was originally responsible for the family's European business. In recent months, to assist Simon and Janette in managing Cersei Capital, he had not left Melbourne for a long time and had accumulated a wealth of financial knowledge.
However, Anthony only helped to monitor and did not issue trading instructions from time to time like Janette. His main job was still to manage Cersei Capital's finances, which Simon had specifically requested to avoid a tragedy like the Barings Bank collapse, caused by traders unauthorizedly establishing positions and trading.
Watching the usual 'demoness' clinging to the man like a koala and being carried away, the employees in the office area whispered among themselves, gossiped about their two bosses for a few moments, and most returned to work. However, some found excuses to temporarily leave the office and, through various channels, spread the news of Simon Westeros's sudden arrival in Australia.
Subsequently, within just an hour, the news of Simon Westeros's appearance in Melbourne spread among some well-informed capital circles.
Affected by Simon's operations in the North American stock index futures market in 1987, for several months, even though Simon did not stay in Melbourne, Cersei Capital remained a target for many capital forces trying to penetrate and follow.
Although Cersei Capital's detailed operations were not leaked due to strict confidentiality overseen by Anthony himself, the hedge fund's performance could not be hidden because Cersei Capital announced its net asset value to its partners every week.
From February to now, in just four months, Cersei Capital's profitability has exceeded 60%, a goal that most hedge funds might not achieve in a year. Although Simon Westeros did not replicate the madness of 1987, no one dared to underestimate such performance.
Compared to the rapid progress of the previous months, the Japanese stock market has shown severe volatility since the Bank of Japan raised interest rates. The industry has been trying to pinpoint an accurate signal for the Japanese stock market's true collapse.
Now, Simon Westeros's sudden return to Melbourne most likely means that Cersei Capital will make a big move.
Evidently, this matter must be related to the Japanese stock market.
Is the real turning point coming?
Simon and Janette went to their villa by the Yarra River in the northern suburbs and stayed indoors. However, during the remaining trading hours of June 23rd, influenced by the news of Simon Westeros's sudden appearance in Melbourne, the trading frequency on the major exchanges in Japan and Singapore sharply increased, leading to drastic fluctuations in the single-day market curve.
Many uninformed capitals were also drawn into the suddenly volatile market, and panic trading further amplified this fluctuation.
By the end of the day's trading, several times more stock index options and futures long sell orders and short buy orders than usual, along with a surge of stock sell orders, directly pushed the Nikkei 225 index down by nearly 200 points. At the close, compared to yesterday's high of 36723 points, the Nikkei 225 index had fallen back to 36537 points.
Amidst such significant market fluctuations, Cersei Capital naturally could not escape unscathed.
With the boss suddenly abandoning his post, the front-end traders could not receive instructions or react flexibly.
Thus, a seemingly insignificant 0.5% single-day market decline directly resulted in an unrealized loss of over $70 million for Cersei Capital.
Fortunately, today is Friday.
Otherwise, it's hard to imagine whether the market would have 'charged ahead' and completely crashed the Japanese stock market due to the accidental event of Simon Westeros appearing in Australia.
Cersei Capital's operations ultimately could not be kept completely secret, and the scale of funds secretly following its lead had reached tens of billions of dollars. Although most capital dared not be as bold as Cersei Capital, the overall sentiment remained bullish on the Japanese stock market.
After today's false alarm, many people immediately became unsettled.
Simon Westeros's personal contact information could not be found, so everyone from the Johnston Family members to Amy and others in Los Angeles, and James Raybould in New York, became targets for inquiries. Some people even stopped hiding the fact that they were following Cersei Capital's operations.
The question now is, is Cersei Capital really going to exit?
If so, everyone will run away next week.
If not, then measures must be taken to stabilize the market.
Simon did not know that his spontaneous trip would have such a significant impact on the Japanese stock market. After returning to their villa by the Yarra River in the northern suburbs with Janette, the two huddled together on the large bed like hibernating mice, not leaving the house all day.
Even dinner was sent from the mansion by Janette's mother, who was worried they would go hungry.
Holding Janette in his arms, the restlessness Simon felt in Los Angeles gradually subsided. He realized again that the woman in his arms was indeed where his heart found peace. Simon also had to admit that, despite living two lives, he was not as strong as he imagined; the inherent detachment and a certain sense of insecurity towards this world had never dissipated.
It wasn't until the evening of the next day, seeing that the two were still planning to stay indoors, that Anthony Johnston had to personally come and call them out.
Simon and Janette's affection made Anthony very happy. However, a $70 million shrinkage in fund profits in one day was also incredibly painful; this was equivalent to the annual net profit of many large enterprises. Moreover, although he had learned the general operational strategy from Simon, was Simon's sudden arrival now, as speculated by outsiders, an intention to change the original plan and have Cersei Capital cash out and exit early?
No matter what, they had to discuss it.
Janette felt that it would be best if she and Simon could cuddle in bed throughout the winter and was quite displeased by her brother's interruption. Simon carefully soothed Janette's minor emotions, and after tidying up, everyone went to the mansion for dinner and to discuss Cersei Capital's affairs.