Chapter 40: The Man Like the Wind

He Huanyu put down the eldest brother and silently drank another sip of noodle soup to relieve the embarrassment.

is different from Lu Tenglong's inconsistency, Xu Jianguo feels very reliable, but it's just that the problem of not being able to talk is really a bit big.

After breakfast, the two slowly and leisurely wandered to the Hong Kong City Futures Exchange.

As soon as I entered the door, I was greeted by a futures broker.

"Morning, sir! My name is Mary, M-a-r-y, Mary. You can call me Mary, Han, or Mary. Is there anything I can do for you?"

Poof, hearing Han Meimei's name, He Huanyu almost burst out laughing directly, and with his supreme perseverance, he restrained his urge to reach out and walk forward and say, "Hello, my name is Li Lei, let's start".

Since he had rehearsed many times on the way here, Lu Tenglong did not show his timidity at this time, but just hummed lightly and asked, "Can you do LME copper?"

Mary Han couldn't help but freeze when she heard this, and the professional smile on her face froze.

The LME (London Metal Exchange) has an international membership system, with more than 95% of its transactions coming from overseas markets. It has 14 member companies. Member brokerage firms can be self-employed, and at the same time, they can also act as agents for clients.

Perhaps due to the time difference, the Hong Kong Futures Exchange is not among the 14 member companies.

He Huanyu didn't take into account the time difference at that time, but in his previous life, he vaguely heard that the Hong Kong Stock Exchange had wholly acquired LME, and he estimated that he came here to try his luck, but it was a pity.

With a sigh in his heart, He Huanyu gave Lu Tenglong a look, turned his head and left.

Since you can't do it, there's no point in staying here.

After all, he only remembered this, and he didn't dare to do anything else.

In his previous life, Lao Liu Tou told them more than once about Sumitomo copper, a classic case of futures trading.

He Huanyu remembers that Liu Tou described the Sumitomo family in detail: as early as the 16th century, the Sumitomo family grew from strength to strength by founding and operating a copper mine on the island of Shikoku, and became the official copper supplier in Japan, mainly serving some of Japan's most powerful families at the time, including the Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled Japan for more than 200 years from 1603 to 1868. At the time, the head of the family proudly declared that Sumitomo Corporation was the world's largest copper exporter.

In the middle of the 19th century, the Japanese market gradually opened up to the West, and Sumitomo Trading Company developed more widely in the fields of steel smelting and steelmaking. By the early 20th century, the Sumitomo family had rapidly grown into Japan's third-largest financial chaebol.

In the '30s and during World War II, a number of politically influential monopolies became the main followers of Japanese militarism, and the Sumitomo Foundation was no exception. During this period, the concentration of the Sumitomo Foundation's family became more pronounced, and most of the Foundation's properties were concentrated in the hands of the Sumitomo Family. By 1937, the 16th generation of the Sumitomo family had owned 90% of the foundation's total share capital.

After Japan's defeat in World War II, the various zaibatsu disintegrated and reorganized into corporate groups under the restrictions of the United States. The Sumitomo family's political and economic influence in Japan has also been greatly diminished. However, with the recovery of the Japanese economy after World War II, the Sumitomo Foundation made a comeback and grew stronger and stronger. Since then, Sumitomo Corporation has become more involved in international finance. In the fields of machinery, petroleum, chemicals, food, textiles, etc., it has become a core company of the Sumitomo Foundation and one of the four major traders in Japan.

At that time, He Huanyu's feeling was that Lao Liu Tou was long-winded enough, and Balabala was so long that he couldn't hear him yawn. It can be summed up in a few words: the family has a long history, occupies an important position in Japan, controls many areas of trade, and most importantly is a lackey of militarism.

And there is a man nicknamed "Hammer" in this family - too difficult in the ice. He Huanyu remembered that he had also gone to Baidu to visit him, and the reason that really made He Huanyu remember this guy was nothing else, but the pronunciation of his name. That's right! That's the man who will kill himself if he doesn't do a lot of things!

The man, who sounded like Hasaki's name, was also not a fuel-efficient lamp, and industry insiders at the time estimated that between 1994 and 1996, the copper futures position in the ice was between 1 million and 2 million tons. At the same time, the price of copper in March futures in London soared from around $1,650/mt at the end of 1993 to a high of $3,075/mt at the beginning of 1995. From 1994 to the beginning of 1996, it was too difficult to control a large number of LME copper warehouse receipts for a long time by artificially controlling cash and goods. The LME copper warehouse receipts he controlled accounted for as much as 90% of the exchange at its peak, making the London copper futures market in a state of cash contango for a long time, and the forward is much lower than the recent one, so as to curb the market's forward selling and artificially raise prices.

He Huanyu still remembers that when Lao Liu Tou said this, he had to express his admiration. What he said at the time was that the man had done everything in the world in the field of LME copper, and at the same time suppressed the eons. Because of this, He Huanyu has always felt that Lao Liu Tou was secretly reading Dong Ge's novel "Covering the Sky".

Of course, this Mr. Hammer ended up disappearing like the wind-like man in Hasaki. In May 1996, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the London Metal Exchange announced that they were preparing to impose restrictive measures on Sumitomo, and rumors circulated that the ice would be forced to resign. The London copper price fell sharply from a high of $2,720/ton in May to about $1,700/ton in June, a drop of more than $1,000 in just over a month. Sumitomo Trading Company ended in complete failure, with an estimated loss of up to $4 billion.

He Huanyu always remembered the two numbers that Lao Liu Tou emphasized at that time. One for May and one for $2,720.

In May 1995, the London copper price rose from 2,720 to over 3,000 in August.

In May 1996, the London copper price plummeted from 2,720 to 1,700 in June.

Saying that, Lao Liu Tou said again, it is like a fixed number in the dark, and if you don't listen to the class, you will be named, He Huanyu, you get up and answer, which is the key change point of the LME copper price?

At that time, He Huanyu was calculating how much he still paid for the Internet, and he had just charged 900 to the Internet café where he charged 100 and got 200 free, plus the money in his own card, the number was quickly calculated.

Just like there is a providence in the dark, He Huanyu blurted out 2720, blocking the next few falls of Lao Liu Tou in his throat.

It's a pity, it looks like I'll only have to make one trip to London next year.

Walking out of the gate of the Hong Kong Futures Exchange, He Huanyu thought depressedly.

"Sir, please wait a minute. "That Li Lei's good friend, Miss Mary Han, chased after him.