In the first half of 1998, Hong Kong's economy plummeted, even recording a negative growth of 2%.

First of all, the property market, showing a wave of decline below the wave, Cheung Kong Group invested two plots of land at a low price, which is the best proof; Subsequently, the Hong Kong government froze the land sale plan for 9 months, waived the payment of rates for the fourth quarter, increased the $3.6 billion set aside for 'first home loans' to $7.2 billion, and increased the number of home loans from 4,500 to 10,000, which will cost Hong Kong's treasury HK$19 billion. And the 85000 program was also essentially stopped.

As of early July, it has fallen to more than 8,000 points, more than half of the index has fallen from its peak, down nearly 10,000 points.

Finally, there are various industries, and bankruptcies abound due to the tightening of bank policies and high interest rates.

In the summer, the economies of China's neighboring countries shrank sharply.

The yen has fallen again and again, putting great pressure on the Hong Kong dollar and the renminbi;

Indonesia's ongoing crisis;

financial turmoil in Russia;

In Hong Kong, there are signs that the upcoming unemployment rate and the interim results of listed companies are extremely disappointing.

A dealer at Sakura Bank in Tokyo said, "According to reports, Mr. Dai, the president of RM Bank, said that the RMB will depreciate slightly. ”

For a while, news unfavorable to RMB came one after another, and people began to wonder how long RMB could last.

Speculators are rumored to have "RMB depreciation", which is Xiang Zhuang's sword dance, which is intended to be Pei Gong, and Hong Kong is Pei Gong.

The depreciation of the renminbi is bound to deal a heavy blow to Hong Kong's linked exchange rate system.

This information further stimulated Hong Kong's stock market and foreign exchange market, coupled with the weakening of the New York stock market, the daily decline once reached 299 points, and will continue to decline; Japan's new government is powerless, Hong Kong-listed companies have announced interim results, unfavorable news followed, Cathay Pacific lost money for the first time in more than 50 years, and Swire and HSBC's profits fell sharply; Rumours and rumours in the Hong Kong market have spooked investors. These have undoubtedly become a signal for international financial speculators to attack Hong Kong.

Since August 5, several European and American investment banks and hedge funds have simultaneously attacked the Hong Kong foreign exchange market, the stock market and the Hang Seng Index futures market, and frantically sold Hong Kong dollars and Hang Seng Index futures in Hong Kong.

It is reported that its elite unit is the largest hedge fund in the United States under Wall Street speculator George Soros - Quantum Fund. On the 5th, more than 20 billion Hong Kong dollars were sold in the Hong Kong market; On the 6th, another more than 20 billion.

According to the plan of Soros and others, they first shorted the Hong Kong dollar in the foreign exchange market, forcing the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to adopt the old trick of raising interest rates, and to suppress the stock market.

As interest rates rise, the stock market is bound to fall.

HSI futures will also fall at the same time, and then speculators can short HSI futures at a lower price in the futures market, and both the foreign exchange market and the stock market will make a profit.

The drunkard's intention is all in the Hang Seng Index Futures. Why?

Investors buy and sell HSI futures by trading the rise or fall of the Hang Seng Index on a future date (i.e. the delivery date of the contract), and the price of each HSI futures contract is the Hang Seng Index multiplied by HK$50 on that day. For every point drop in the Hang Seng Index, buyers of the futures contract lose HK$50 per contract, while sellers make HK$50 per contract. According to this calculation, if a financial speculator sells a Hang Seng Index futures expiring in August when the Hang Seng Index is 10,000 points, and then tries his best to knock the Hang Seng Index down to 6,000 points, the speculator can buy and close the contract and make a profit of 200,000 yuan.

If the speculator has 10,000 contracts in his hand, the return is 2 billion yuan. With such high returns, financial speculators have tried their best to suppress the Hong Kong stock market and the Hang Seng Index at any cost.

In mid-August, Mr. Dong held a press conference.

"Maintaining the exchange rate is the most unswerving policy of the special KU government."

"If anyone thinks we're going to waver, they're wrong! We absolutely have the ability and determination to maintain the linked exchange rate, and we will certainly be able to do so. Maintaining the linked exchange rate will ensure the long-term economic vitality and benefits of Hong Kong, and the short-term pain is acceptable. In the end, Mr. Dong was quite sad and said heavily.

Why is there short-term pain in maintaining the linked exchange rate?

The reason is that Joseph Yam, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, has been jokingly called "any move" by the media circles, which means that whenever financial speculators are about to come to the market, the only move of the HKMA is to raise interest rates and increase the cost of financial speculation, so as to resist the sniping of speculators and maintain the linked exchange rate.

The side effects of this law are becoming more and more obvious, and it is too lethal to the stock market and property market. Because interest rates are higher, investors will tighten monetary policy, because loan interest rates are so high.

Without investors, the property market will be cold, investors holding shares will sell their shares, repay their loans, and no new investors will enter the market to buy shares.

At this time.

The international giants are also paying attention to the dynamics of things in the office buildings in Central. Because it was a decisive battle, Soros also personally brought his assistants to Hong Kong to supervise the battle.

After seeing Mr. Dong's speech on TV, Soros raised his glass and said to the investment giants: "Gentlemen, this time we have shattered the confidence of Hong Kong, and the attitude of the new head of Hong Kong has shown that they even feel miserable." Well, those investors have become frightened birds, and as soon as we fire the guns, they will flee in a swarm! Ha ha! ”

A group of middle-aged and elderly whites laughed one after another, and anyone who saw that look couldn't help but hate it.

"The first two times, we were only tentative, but we have already achieved good results. And this time, we are going to break the Hang Seng Index to 5000 points, and we are going back to the West with the banknotes! ”

"Haha"

Everyone laughed!

Time flashed by, and another six days passed.

Thursday, August 13.

On this day, the Hang Seng Index fell again by 188 points to the position of 8005 points.

Hong Kong's stock market is about to rain. At this time, "predictions" such as "RMB is about to depreciate" and "Hong Kong stocks will fall to 5,000 points" flooded the media, which made investors' confidence extremely shaken. If there is another bad news from Japan and Russia, the Hong Kong stock market is likely to burst into panic selling.

In the evening, the Hong Kong government held another press conference.

The Financial Secretary, Mr Tsang, said at a press conference: "Hong Kong is not an ATM. ”

The scene is very symbolic, with Donald Tsang in front, Yam Chi-gang and Hui Shi-yan on the left and right, slightly behind, forming a stable and solid triangle. Mr Yam is the Chairman of the HKMA and Mr Hui is the Secretary for Financial Services. They represent the determination of the Hong Kong government.

Donald Tsang's speech was full of eloquence: 'The authorities have a lot of resources to repel speculators in one fell swoop.' ’

A reporter asked: "The yen has fallen to a new low in eight years, will it put pressure on the Hong Kong dollar linked exchange rate?" Will the RMB be lost? ”

Mr. Zeng said: "The Chinese government has made it very clear that there is no need to change the RMB exchange rate. In the short term, there will be no pressure on the RMB to depreciate. But the uncertainty of the yen is a fact, we have known it for a long time, so there is no need to panic. ”

A reporter asked: If hedge funds all over the world come to work against the Hong Kong government, will the Hong Kong government still have confidence? ”

Ren Zhigang smiled: "We are very welcome!" ”

"We have no choice! ”

Late at night, the Hong Kong God of Wealth Iron Triangle quietly came to Hengfeng Plaza.

"Director Zeng, the two bureau chiefs, Lin Sheng is already waiting for you!"

"Okay, I'm sorry for President Lin!"

"Please"

The financial secretary of the Hong Kong government can visit with two subordinates, and naturally the only one who has retired is Lin Zhichao.

At this time, Lin Zhichao, Lin Ruihuan, father and son, were waiting for the three to visit.

"Lin Sheng"

"Director Zeng"

After a brief pleasantries, everyone sat down in the conference room.

Director Zeng couldn't wait to say: "Mr. Lin, you are the leader of Chinese businessmen in Hong Kong, and now with you taking the lead and cooperating with our Hong Kong government to rescue the market, you will definitely be able to defeat those international speculators without fail!" ”

Lin Zhichao said calmly: "I talked to Dong Du that if Hong Kong's economy wants to recover quickly, the stock market cannot lag behind. So this time I chose to save the market, with great determination, and I must teach international speculators a lesson. ”

The Iron Triangle was shocked and taught a lesson to international speculators, I am afraid that this one dares to say it.

Even if the Hong Kong government doesn't dare to say this, it is already good to be able to repel national speculators!

Director Zeng said: "How much money does Mr. Lin plan to enter the market? ”

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "If the Hong Kong government enters the market with 100 billion Hong Kong dollars, my personal investment company can cooperate with 50 billion." ”

The three were amazed!

You know, this is cash flow, not asset value, the former richest man in the world has a cash flow of up to 50 billion, which is incredible.

"That's great! With Mr. Lin taking the lead, there is no problem with the Hang Seng Index at 9,000 points when it is delivered at the end of August. The cost of opening a position for international speculators is 8,200 points, so it must be a big lesson for them! Ren Zhao said excitedly.

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "I will also let Cheung Kong Group take the lead and call on Hong Kong tycoons to join in the bailout." As for my personal investment funds, I will not consider selling them for three or five years, so you can rest assured. ”

Mr. Tsang said: "Lin Sheng's affection for Hong Kong is something we admire. ”

Lin Zhichao has always shown a love for Hong Kong, which is different from other Hong Kong tycoons, who may use Hong Kong as a place to make money, and Lin Zhichao also showed the idea of letting Hong Kong develop together - such as slogans such as cultural Hong Kong, science and technology to rejuvenate Hong Kong, etc., were passed on by Lam.

After a simple communication, everyone dispersed, and tomorrow is a critical day.

August 14th.

The battle to defend Hong Kong has begun!

The Hong Kong government suddenly took action, using the Exchange Fund and the Land Fund to enter the stock market and the Hang Seng Index futures market at the same time.

International speculators unanimously believe that it is impossible for the Hong Kong government to buy a large amount of money, because the Exchange Fund is a shield and credibility, and if too much investment goes into the stock market, there will be problems.

So, they stepped up their efforts to sell!

However, Lin Zhichao's funds quickly joined the battlefield and made a judgment completely, and the bulls broke the shorts on the same day, and the Hang Seng Index rose by 720 points, giving international speculators a disadvantage.

In the next few days, the two sides went back and forth, and the transaction volume every day was refreshing the record!

The Hang Seng Index is pinned to 9,000 points, which makes international speculators more determined to fight with Hong Kong capital, otherwise they will lose a lot of money.

During this period, the HKMA made a probing: the government army, which had always played the role of buyers, changed its face and suddenly closed all stock spot and futures index purchases, and took the initiative to short the HSI futures, causing speculators to hurriedly follow the trend and chase after the selling. In just two minutes, the Hang Seng Index plunged 160 points, and the Hang Seng Index futures fell nearly 300 points. At this time, the government army suddenly turned around, re-entered the market to regain lost ground, bought a large number of stocks and futures contracts, and pushed the stock index and futures index back to their original levels.

This time of temptation, the Hong Kong government secretly took a breath of cold air, the strength of the speculators should not be underestimated, and a vicious war is imminent, and it is about to break out.

On the eve of the decisive battle.

In the early hours of the morning, Soros's aide Juken Miller was interviewed by a reporter from CNN, and he said with great confidence: "The Hong Kong government will fail!" ”

"Our view is that whatever the Hong Kong government wants to do in the market, waking up next Monday morning will still be in recession," Jukenmiller continued. ”

The reporter immediately asked: "Have you shorted Hong Kong stocks?" ”

Jukenmiller replied: "You can draw conclusions for yourself. ”

The conclusion is self-evident.

One morning in September 1990, Juken Miller woke up Soros from his dream and said excitedly, "George, you just made $958 million. "This is the moment when Soros sniped the pound with great success.

So, on the last Monday morning of August 1998, what will Jukenmiller report to Soros?

No one dared to prophesy but himself.

"I can't sleep in Hong Kong today, do you know, the decisive battle is tomorrow."

"What are you talking about?"

"The gamble of the century! The special KU government and international financial predators have put on a posture, you wait and see tomorrow! ”

Such news abounds on the phone calls of relatives and friends between the mainland and Hong Kong, and between Hong Kong and overseas.

At this time, the international speculators Hang Seng Index opened positions at an average of about 8,200 points, while the Hang Seng Index closed at 8,961 points on the 27th.

The special KU government cannot be said to have won, because the number of days with more than 1,000 points of ups and downs has been several times; Not to mention, in the Armageddon, the selling is like a rolling torrent, not to mention 1000 points, even 2000 points are not impossible.

Friday, August 28.

Today is the settlement day of HSI Futures, and the victory or defeat is here!

The settlement price of HSI futures is the average of the Hang Seng Index quotations for every 5 minutes on that day, so in order to raise the settlement price, it is necessary to ensure that the Hang Seng Index moves smoothly. To achieve this, government forces will have to do everything in their power to defend to the death.

On this day, millions of Hong Kong people are destined to lock in the channel, their eyes are firmly fixed on the fast-beating Hang Seng Index, and all of them are sweating.

New York, Quantum Fund.

Before the opening of the Hong Kong stock market in the morning, Juken Miller hurried to Soros's office.

"George, the European funds have agreed to enter the market, and I have already explained that they have a large number of short sales at the end of the morning, and they are caught off guard!"

Soros raised his head suddenly, smiled and said, "Okay, we've joined the new force again!" As long as the Hang Seng Index falls below 8,200 points tomorrow, it will be a victory for us. Then, the matter of sniping Xiangjiang is not over. I'm here to see what they can do next time! ”

After speaking, he showed a hint of ruthlessness.

That's right, if it is the international speculators who make a profit this time, then they will think that the Xiangjiang government still can't stop them, after all, more than half of the foreign exchange has been used this time; Then, you can still press the button again at any time in the future.

It's a battle of confidence!

At this time, the Hang Seng Index is 8961 points, and international speculators need to let it fall by more than 760 points to know how much they are preparing to sell today. You can also know that today's trading volume is going to be a terrifying number.

Zhu Kenmiller said: "Yesterday, the hidden predators of Xiangjiang handed over 10 billion, and today I am afraid that they have run out of ammunition!" ”

Soros said with a smile: "I think it should be, after all, he also copied a lot in the early stage, I think it should add up to two or three hundred billion!" I don't believe that he can still come up with 10 billion! ”

Lin Zhichao's family has never admitted that they were involved in this war, but everyone in Hong Kong knows that Lin Zhichao must be the 'big hero' behind it, otherwise how could the Hong Kong government win so easily.

Of course, other Chinese tycoons have joined in to defend Hong Kong, but their cash flow is limited and somewhat vacillating.

At 10 o'clock in the morning, the decisive battle began.

The government army and the financial predators immediately launched a fierce battle on the "HSBC Holdings", the "Cheung Kong Group", and the "Hong Kong Telecom". In just 5 minutes after the market opened, the turnover was as high as HK$3 billion! At the same time, the government army also set up a buying line on the 33 HSI constituents and defended them all.

However, five minutes later, there was an astonishing change in the intraday, the original government army was only in a defensive position, and the Hang Seng Index still fell slightly. Suddenly, a large number of buying orders poured in, and it only took five minutes to turn the situation around, pulling the Hang Seng Index 'green'.

"Oh my God, what a big buy, is this the government army planning to attack instead?"

"It's not like the style of the government army! It stands to reason that even if it falls slightly today, the government army will win a big victory, and the Hong Kong government has no reason to interfere so deeply! ”

"That's right, this style is domineering and domineering, there is a kind of style like Mr. Lin Zhichao, right?"

"Yes! Xiangjiang has this strength of the rich, only Mr. Lin Zhichao, he is a stock god, the former richest man in the world with very rich cash flow assets! ”

"The richest man in Lin is domineering! I like it! ”

For a time, this kind of discussion spread among Xiangjiang shareholders.

In fact, the people of Xiangjiang do not completely agree with the government's intervention in the stock market, and many people still have some complaints. After all, Hong Kong advertises a free economy, and if the government intervenes, it is obviously somewhat 'unfree'.

In fact, looking around the mountains and rivers around the Xiangjiang River, there are already bruises all over the body.

The gap between the overall technological level of the Japanese economy and that of the United States has widened. Japan's economic growth rate fell by 3.3 percent in the second quarter of this year from a year earlier. This is the third consecutive quarter of decline in the Japanese economy. Analysts are pessimistic that Japan has entered its worst recession in the last 50 years.

Indonesia lost the gains of a generation of development almost overnight, in foreign exchange terms. Indonesia's economy is estimated to fall by 15% this year compared to last year;

The Thai stock market has lost 90% of its market capitalization;

Malaysia has simply closed its doors, imposed exchange controls, and stopped dealing with foreigners on the capital account.

With the collapse of the Russian economy, Western economists are already talking about the bankruptcy of the entire concept of emerging markets. It is reported that the total amount of foreign debt owed by Russia will be as high as $200 billion, which is the largest foreign debt owed by a government in human history.

Statistics show that from the Asian financial crisis in July last year to the beginning of this year, about hundreds of billions of dollars have flowed out of Asia, and now it is only a lot more. The phenomenon of the bursting bubble economy, sluggish market demand, and low investment returns leading to the drying up of funds and the reluctance of banks to lend is like a ghost hovering over the Asian continent.

On the island of Taiwan, the authorities announced that anyone who sells the Soros fund can be sentenced to two years in prison.

Before the market closed at 12 noon, the battle intensified again, and many blue-chip stocks such as "Cheung Kong Industrial", "Wharf" and "Sun Hung Kai" were frantically sold by speculators, and a large number of European funds entered the market. The surging sea, the 'government army' is a pillar of optimism. At the close of the afternoon session, the turnover was HK$65.9 billion.

Among them, 15 billion funds came from Lin Zhichao's hands.

With such a huge amount of money, the Hang Seng Index only rose slightly by 36 points, and I couldn't help but sigh at the strength of international speculators.

If it weren't for the government's intervention, the Hang Seng Index would have fallen below 5,000 points, which would not be a problem!

As for the tycoons in Xiangjiang, although they have funds, their companies have been greatly affected, and the important thing is that the international speculators sniped at Xiangjiang Finance, which filled the atmosphere around Xiangjiang, and the tycoons in Xiangjiang did not dare to come up with cash flow to fill the big hole.

When the market opened in the afternoon, the battle situation became more intense, and the speculators' sellings rolled in, and the special KU government defended on all fronts. On average, $350 million worth of stocks change hands every minute.

At the critical moment, Lin Zhichao's funds poured in again and continued to raise the Hang Seng Index, rising by nearly 60 points.

Of course, don't expect retail investors, because everyone understands that after the delivery date of HSI futures, there is a high probability that they will fall; Because of the rise in the second half of August, the government army just used hundreds of billions of funds to target international speculators.

At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the Hang Seng Index was finally frozen at 9248 points!

It's a thrilling four hours!

The trading volume of the whole day reached the highest record in the history of the Hong Kong stock market - 128 billion Hong Kong dollars!

HSI futures eventually settled at 9,268 points.

International speculators have to lose more than 1,000 points per contract, that is, more than 50,000 yuan.

So this time, the international speculators lost a lot!

In the total of 10 trading days, the Hong Kong government used about 120 billion Hong Kong dollars in foreign exchange reserves, and Lin Zhichao also used 50 billion Hong Kong dollars to raise the Hang Seng Index by 1,562 points.

The government made a profit of about HK$2.8 billion in the futures market, and the loss of international speculators was estimated to be about HK$4 billion.

Immediately, Dong Du made a statement: "We have achieved our goal, thank you to all parties for jointly protecting Xiangjiang Finance!" ”

Next.

Hong Kong media have reported:

"The government army received the help of mysterious predators and obtained at least 30 billion Hong Kong dollars to enter the market"

Many media have pointed out that the Hong Kong government has received help from Chinese businessmen to jointly stabilize the stock market and futures market.

Some media even said: "International speculators should not come to provoke Hong Kong, because Hong Kong has capital predators!" ”

For a while, there was a lot of discussion.

Of course, Lin Zhichao did not come forward from beginning to end, and the Lin Qilin children did not admit it.

The only thing that can be known is that Cheung Kong Group and Jiucang Group entered the market to buy some stocks.

In October, after the financial crisis.

Governor Dong delivered the second policy address, clearly proposing 'rejuvenating Hong Kong with culture', 'rejuvenating Hong Kong with science and technology', and 'rejuvenating Hong Kong with Chinese medicine', which attracted the attention and discussion of Hong Kong citizens for a while.

"Cultural rejuvenation of Hong Kong, this is the slogan shouted by the media group, and now it is included in the government's policy plan, which is a great thing! In recent years, Hong Kong's cultural industry has developed very rapidly and has great potential. ”

"Yes, the earliest slogan was mentioned by Mr. Lin Zhichao! Hong Kong culture and Hong Kong comics are the foundation laid by Mr. Lin Zhichao, and then developed by Mr. Lin Ruikai. ”

"Hong Kong's variety shows are exported to dozens of overseas countries, such as "Millionaire", "Got Talent", "The Voice of Hong Kong", "Big Brother". Hong Kong's Hong Kong culture has swept Asia."

"Rejuvenating Hong Kong with science and technology is also the slogan put forward by Cheung Kong Industrial Group, and Mr. Lin Ruijiang is a technology tycoon"

When the economy was bad, everyone realized that Hong Kong had unconsciously had two 'pillar industries'.

(End of chapter)