William White had to admit that he had overreacted this time. If he started cashing in on stocks now, he would at least increase his earnings by 15%.
For investments in the hundreds of millions, the loss was clearly quite substantial. His think tank and fund managers quickly became a joke on Wall Street.
About the ridicule, William White remained unfazed. There couldn't be such a thing as a perfect investment forever.
"Sir, the craziness of the stock market far exceeded our expectations."
"Ha! Who cares? I remember a guy once said to be fearful when others are greedy. Now, with the way things are, I really want to know if he feels fearful right now," William White replied with a smirk. Some things just seemed easy to say.
"Are you talking about Buffett? Well, he's still cautious, basically one of the more rational guys," Filson commented, hinting that while it's easy to talk about being fearful during greed, acting on it isn't so simple.
"Well, it's already hard enough. To maintain some calm in such a great economic environment is quite the feat. Filson, if I didn't have so much money, to be honest, I wouldn't be able to control my emotions either."
Filson found himself at a loss for words. It was clear what the boss meant: his wealth was substantial enough to avoid taking risks.
"Sir, your initial decision was still right. If we shorted the market, the floating losses would be enormous."
"I believe we might see a pullback this time, but it won't be a severe drop. The abundance of U.S. dollars makes systematic risks unlikely."
...
The U.S. had climbed out of the economic slump. The semiconductor-driven industry was developing rapidly. Even though the Japanese were causing a stir in dynamic memory, it didn't affect the overall picture.
Everything seemed quite wonderful. Most people firmly believed that with the appreciation of major world currencies, U.S. exports would vastly increase.
Sure, there was still the wildcard of the Japanese.
However, not many paid attention to their thoughts. Americans were set on disregarding logic; how good could what they produced really be?
After suffering one blow after another, the Japanese seemed to have learned their lesson. Since Big Brother said to stimulate domestic demand, they would go ahead and do just that. They wouldn't dare spark any price wars anymore.
"Ha ha, William, it looks like you misjudged this time. The Japanese are even planning to set up factories in the U.S. How about we set up an assembly plant in Texas?"
"Ugh, fine, I admit I misjudged, but I'm really curious, why are they watching my trading account?" William White said, looking distressed. He wasn't too concerned about the teasing from Bush Jr..
"Why wouldn't they? Everyone says you're a stock god; not keeping tabs on you would be crazy!" Bush Jr. remarked, his expression strange, wondering if the guy was really that oblivious.
"Uh, what did you just say? Stock god?" William White exclaimed, barely having time to wipe the coffee off his face in disbelief.
"You're kidding, right? Didn't your staff fill you in?"
"Damn, is this some kind of prank?"
"Ha ha, ha ha, I wouldn't rule that out."
"Ah, let them be. Honestly, I could just go out and say this: my pals made so much money they're about to throw up. I really don't want to earn any more, just let me be."
"Pfft." The little assistant covered her mouth as she left, walking with a bit of grace.
"Cough cough, do you have to hit me where it hurts? Alright, if you insist on saying that, a lot of folks may just faint."
"Alright, George, there's no denying the economy is overheating, or we can say the stocks are. It's a fact that nobody could sell at the top."
"Yeah, my old man seemed to have told me that. But nowadays, you don't hear economists saying that."
William White thought to himself, hearing someone say it was like encountering a ghost; those guys were paid to say things. Now that it was time to cash out, who would dare pour cold water on it?
If things went against the plan, there was a chance institutions might take it out on someone. Facing these jabs, William White chose to remain silent. After all, Bush Jr. was there today, and he didn't need to pretend too much since that guy wasn't involved in finance.
"Alright, enough about that. The bottled water plant needs expansion. What do you think?"
"Then let's expand. Do we need to find a new site?"
"No need. We're a high-end product; we don't rely on volume. The expansion is just for the IPO." Nowadays, the Ice Age wasn't the niche product it was a few years back. It was sold in both the European and American markets, and expansion in Asia was going quite well.
"Ha, with this move, it seems we could hit it big." Bush Jr. was excited; those early investments were clearly paying off handsomely.
"Don't worry, it'll exceed expectations, and this industry is really solid. Believe me, it's definitely much better than oil."
"Ugh, looking back, you were right to give up on oil. The prices really stunk."
"Not so bad; it's just that right now, it's not doing well, but it will in the future. I'm not in it because I'm not familiar with it; your family is different."
*****
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