Chapter 236: The Last Straw?

New York.

At 4 PM, the North American stock market closed for the day, marking the end of the week's trading. While Wall Street's elite were contemplating their weekend plans, a sudden announcement from Westeros Corporation disrupted their recently relaxed mood.

The announcement from Westeros Corporation wasn't long, but it was significant. The company planned to reduce its holdings in six technology companies, including Apple, due to corporate development needs.

After liquidating its Motorola stocks at the beginning of last year, Westeros Corporation had been quiet in terms of public movements. The total value of the six stocks Westeros was planning to reduce wasn't particularly high. Based on the closing prices that day, even a complete sell-off would only amount to about $500 million, with more than half of that coming from Apple stocks alone.

However, nobody could forget the tech stock investment frenzy triggered by the 'Westeros Portfolio,' nor could they overlook the young man behind Westeros Corporation, who had created a series of financial miracles in just two years.

Did the decision to reduce holdings in six tech stocks indicate that Simon Westeros was no longer optimistic about the tech sector? Or was there some unknown turmoil within these six companies? Or was Simon Westeros raising funds for some other endeavors?

With these questions, many investment banks and brokerage firms convened emergency meetings to discuss the potential impact of Westeros Corporation's announcement on the stock market the following week. The office phone of Westeros Corporation's President, James Rebulard, was inundated with calls.

Apple and the other five companies involved became the focus of attention in the following days.

Westeros Corporation's choice to announce the reduction after the market closed on Friday was, in fact, to give everyone time to prepare and avoid a panic sell-off in the tech sector.

After the announcement, Apple held an emergency high-level meeting overnight.

In recent years, Apple's market share, revenue scale, and profits had been climbing steadily. CEO John Sculley wasn't overly worried about Westeros Corporation's sudden announcement.

After an emergency meeting, Apple pre-released its annual financial report for 1988 on Saturday afternoon.

As of December 31, 1988, Apple's total annual revenue was $2.661 billion, a 39.9% increase compared to $1.901 billion in 1987. The net profit for the year was $218 million, up 41.5% from $154 million in 1987.

Additionally, Apple's market share had increased from 9.3% in 1987 to 12.1%.

Apple's impressive annual financial data reassured many investors, and the other five companies similarly took measures under Apple's influence.

James Rebulard, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Saturday, publicly supported the companies, stating that Westeros Corporation still saw a promising future for these tech companies. However, he did not give a clear answer when asked where the funds from the sell-off were being allocated.

His evasiveness triggered speculation in the media, leading to further investigation into the inner workings of the decision.

The new Monday.

Amidst the discussions about Westeros Corporation's announcement, an article on the front page of The Wall Street Journal caught everyone's attention.

"Beware, Westeros is Up to Something Big!"

The article discussed Daenerys Entertainment's financial performance and speculated on Simon Westeros's intentions. It suggested that Simon was not lacking funds, considering the profits from Daenerys Entertainment and dividends from his tech stock investments. Yet, Simon had opted for bank loans for his recent major investments.

The article speculated that Simon's next target might be the Japanese stock market, given the rapid rise of the Nikkei 225 index and the parallels to the North American stock market's frenzy in 1987.

The immediate consequence of the article was a shift in focus from Westeros Corporation's tech stock sell-off. The tech sector in the North American stock market did not experience the significant downturn many had feared. Apple's stock price even rose by 1.7% on that Monday, supported by its strong financial report released the previous Saturday.

On the other hand, The Wall Street Journal's article suggested Simon Westeros was shorting the Japanese stock market, but in reality, he was going long.

Due to the time difference, it was already Monday evening in Tokyo when the article was published, narrowly avoiding immediate repercussions. However, if the viewpoint propagated, the substantial long positions Simon had already established in the Nikkei 225 futures would face significant losses the next day.

Simon even suspected that some hedge funds shorting the Japanese stock market might have been behind the article.

With the Japanese stock market's bubble far exceeding North America's, many short sellers had already entered the market. Despite his personal disdain for Japan, Simon, motivated by self-interest, couldn't afford to be the 'last straw' that broke the camel's back.

Following urgent discussions with James Rebulard, several major North American evening newspapers publicized insider information: Simon Westeros had indeed entered the Japanese stock market, but as a bull, not a bear.

Unexpectedly, alongside Simon and Rebulard's arrangements, a CNN financial talk show featured a famous analyst from Lehman Brothers who, citing reliable sources, confirmed that Westeros was indeed going long.

Obviously, the news of Simon's earlier entries had already leaked.

Initially, everyone had been quietly following Simon's lead, even actively limiting the spread of the information. Without The Wall Street Journal's unexpected article, some might have continued to silently profit alongside Simon.

However, plans can't keep up with changes.

At this critical juncture, those who had heavily invested in the bullish market might have been worried about Simon's slow response and had to step forward to 'clarify' on his behalf.

Hearing the news, Simon could only smile wryly.

Since those events, Simon had had no contact with Lehman Brothers. But having witnessed Simon's miraculous futures trading in 1987, Lehman Brothers evidently never ceased their efforts to benefit from his moves.

With things escalating to this extent, there was no longer any need for secrecy.

James Rebulard directly contacted NBC's financial channel for an interview that evening, openly stating, "Westeros Corporation is still very optimistic about the growth potential of the Japanese stock market," effectively confirming Westeros Corporation's bullish position.

In Japan, The Wall Street Journal's article had already stirred up the political and business circles.

The Japanese government was aware of the severe bubble in their stock market and had been implementing various policies to curb blind growth following the 1987 stock market crash.

However, the situation involving Simon Westeros was different.

Although The Wall Street Journal's article predicted Simon could only mobilize a few hundred million dollars, which was insignificant compared to the massive scale of the Japanese stock market, Simon's recent activities in entertainment and finance could only be described as miraculous.

This enigmatic rising star was too significant to ignore.

In emergency meetings, some Japanese officials even called for major financial groups to prepare funds for market stabilization measures.

Amid this chaos, the situation reversed just a few hours later when it was confirmed that Simon Westeros was actually going long in the Japanese stock market.

After an agonizing all-nighter, a group of weary Japanese political and business leaders, with dark circles under their eyes, watched James Rebulard's interview on TV and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But it seemed there was more that could be done.

Since Simon Westeros was bullish on the Japanese stock market, it was a perfect time to form an alliance – there would certainly be many benefits.

With Tokyo only one hour ahead of Melbourne, it was still Monday evening in Tokyo. After a grueling eight-hour night shoot and just waking up, Simon was informed by Jennifer that the Japanese Ambassador to Melbourne had arrived at the Kendal Hotel before 8 AM, waiting in the restaurant to speak with him.

Simon understood that the Japanese just wanted him to publicly state his stance, which was not a problem. After all, when it was time to switch from bull to bear, he would still make the switch.

Descending to the restaurant, he met not only the Ambassador, named Takagi Tsutomu, but also a male journalist from the Asahi News and a female translator named Kosugi Yoko, who was unexpectedly beautiful and had surprisingly neat teeth.

Simon could speak some Japanese sufficient for everyday conversation, but Takagi Tsutomu and the journalist from Asahi News were fluent in English, so Simon chose to communicate in English.

This made Kosugi Yoko, the translator, somewhat redundant. However, during breakfast, she proactively sat next to Simon, appearing very attentive.

After answering a few questions from the Asahi News journalist and taking a photo with Takagi Tsutomu for the interview article, Simon was ready to leave. But before Takagi left, he naturally suggested that Kosugi could stay to help Simon with daily errands. He even mentioned that she was a Japanese exchange student at the University of Melbourne and suggested that Simon could consider this as giving her an opportunity for work-study.

Simon had been wondering why the Japanese, who are usually very formal and courteous, especially when they need a favor, would come empty-handed. It turned out they had brought a 'gift.'

However, even though Jennifer seemed indifferent, this 'gift' was obviously not something Simon could accept.

After declining the Japanese's offer and seeing them off, Jennifer's older brother, Anthony Johnston, called to invite Simon to lunch at the Johnston's home, which Simon accepted without hesitation.

Now that the news was out, these matters were unavoidable.

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