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Chapter 705 The Quantum Fund Gets Tricked Instead!

As the president of Motorola boarded the company car and drove from Chicago O'Hare International Airport back to Motorola headquarters, a new day was also dawning in New York, more than a thousand kilometers away.

The morning sunlight in New York shone through the floor-to-ceiling windows on the 38th floor of the Quantum Foundation, bathing the conference room in a dazzling golden light.

George Soros stood by the window, overlooking the bustling Seventh Avenue, his chest brimming with unwavering confidence.

After three consecutive days of precise media suppression and short-selling operations, Motorola's stock price has collapsed from a market value of nearly $50 billion to around $31 billion, a cumulative drop of more than 37%.

Soros knew that the time was almost right.

Today is the day when the lavish feast he has been looking forward to begins.

He has spent a lot of time and money these past few days trying to cause Motorola's stock price to plummet.

Getting financial experts to publish articles and getting some media outlets to predict Motorola's future bleak requires paying them.

That's just how the world is; if you don't pay, who will do things for you?
With enough money, you can command any kind of monster or demon; that's just how reality is.

This phenomenon is particularly pronounced in the United States, where capital markets are the primary driver of growth.

Soros withdrew his gaze, turned to face his core team who had been waiting, and said in a deep voice, "Gentlemen, the stage is set, the panic has reached its peak, today is our moment to reap the rewards. There are half an hour left. Are you all ready?"

Chief Trading Officer David immediately understood: "Understood, George. We have sufficient funds ready and are ready to enter the market and buy up stocks at any time!"

They did not make any pre-opening purchases because it was unnecessary. According to Soros and his team, Motorola's stock price would continue to fall today, only at a slower pace.

If they wanted to conduct pre-opening trading, they wouldn't have had to wait until today; they could have started yesterday.

With limited funds, Soros aims to maximize his profits.

As for how to maximize profits, the answer is simple: use limited funds to buy Motorola when its stock price is at its lowest!
Meanwhile, the scene at Motorola's headquarters in Chicago was quite different.

President Robert Galvin's return from his triumphant trip to Hong Kong was now tinged with sadness.

Although Lin Haoran's explanation and buyback suggestion over the phone brought him some comfort, seeing the horrific data of the company's market value evaporating still made him extremely anxious.

His hotline was nearly overwhelmed with inquiries from board members.

Upon returning to the company, Robert Galvin immediately convened an emergency meeting of senior executives.

"We can't wait any longer. Initiate the stock buyback program immediately, with a cap of $1 million. Enter the market today, while this damn low price range is in full swing!" Robert Galvin said to a dozen core executives at the conference table.

He must be accountable to shareholders and also convey confidence in management to the market.

Meanwhile, in a building near Times Square in New York, there are the offices of Universal Investment Company.

The office staff wasn't large, but they were all elites in the financial industry and extremely loyal to Lin Haoran.

Over the past year, under the management of Huanyu Investment Company, Lin Haoran has held an increasing number of shares in listed companies such as Coca-Cola, Intel, Citibank, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and even Citibank.

They usually absorb funds very slowly, not only because of financial constraints, but also because they cannot let anyone notice.

Just like how they acquired Motorola's shares, they secretly and slowly accumulated them over the past few months. In all that time, they only acquired 5.23% of the shares. This slow pace was so slow that no institution or force would notice it.

However, in the past few days, as Universal Investment Company increased its acquisition of Motorola shares, even Quantum Fund, the institution that orchestrated the Motorola deal, noticed that other forces were also eyeing Motorola's stock.

However, even if they noticed it, they didn't know who the power behind it was.

Su Zhixue listened to the exchange staff's report on Motorola's real-time stock price. Although they had been accumulating shares for three days, they did not intend to stop. Instead, they continued to accumulate shares while the stock price was still low, but they needed to be more discreet.

"Today is a critical window of opportunity, speed up the operation! Small orders, spread out, and absolutely no touching the market!" Su Zhixue gave the order to the Motorola project team's trading group.

Huanyu Investment's goal is clear: to take advantage of the last time difference and grab the last piece of the pie before the positive news breaks.

After the frenzied buying spree of the past few days, Huanyu's shareholding has reached an astonishing 14.35%, making it the largest shareholder. If this news were to be released, it would definitely shock the entire United States.

This could even raise concerns among many American capitalists.

Of course, Lin Haoran never intended to make it public.

It's better to make money secretly.

Otherwise, it may easily arouse jealousy from others.

Although the shareholding ratio has already reached a terrifying 14.35%, according to the boss Lin Haoran's instructions, this is not enough; the more shares held before cashing out, the better.

No one expected that just when everyone was pessimistic about Motorola's future, three forces had already begun to target Motorola's stock today, including Motorola itself.

At 9:30 a.m., the opening bell rang at the New York Stock Exchange.

Soros's trading team operates like a sophisticated machine.

David anticipates some panic selling and bargain hunting, but the Quantum Fund's massive size will allow it to dominate the situation and stabilize prices within their predetermined low range.

"Place 3.5 shares in batches, with the price set at $42.10," David instructed.

However, the traders' feedback was tinged with confusion: "Report, the buy orders at $42.10 suddenly increased, and our orders... were instantly wiped out? It seems we weren't the only ones buying."

Soros frowned slightly and leaned closer to the monitor screen: "Try lowering it a bit, try $42.00."

"$42.00...sold instantly! And there were also a lot of buy orders rushing in!"

On the screen, green buy orders lit up frequently, indicating that the trading volume was much more active than expected.

Compared to Hong Kong, the United States is clearly far ahead in technology, especially in the stock market.

The United States began using the Intermarket Trading System (ITS) in 1978, an electronic network connecting major U.S. stock exchanges.

It allows brokers and market makers to trade directly on different exchanges without going through a broker, connecting multiple exchanges including the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, and the Boston Stock Exchange.

Some powerful investment companies, such as Quantum Fund, have already implemented electronic trading, enabling them to monitor market dynamics in real time and execute trading orders quickly.

In this respect, however, Huanyu Investment Company cannot compare.

To keep a low profile, Huanyu Investment Company has not yet applied to the stock exchange for an electronic trading interface, and continues to use the traditional manual order placement method.

However, this does not mean that Universal Investments will be slow to react, because Universal Investments has traders stationed at major stock exchanges in the United States.

They contacted the exchange directly by phone and telegram to ensure that orders could be executed immediately.

At that moment, Soros keenly sensed something amiss: "Someone is trying to steal our shares! Investigate the source of these buy orders!"

The anticipated panic selling did not materialize; instead, some moderate sell orders were quickly absorbed as soon as they were placed.

Motorola's stock price, after a slight dip at the open, seemed to be supported by an invisible force, managing to halt its further decline.

"What's going on? Where did all these buyers come from?!" The risk control manager stared at the abnormal transaction flow.

Panic should have spread; Soros's script was "panic selling -> buying at low prices".

They had been planning for three or four days, just to wait until today when the price could drop to its lowest point before taking action.

"We've discovered large institutional orders secretly taking over the shares; this isn't retail investor activity! The transaction speed is too fast, it's like...like a professional trader!" an analyst exclaimed, pointing at the data stream.

"Let's see!" Soros said in a low voice, a bad feeling creeping into his heart.

The time moved forward to 11 a.m.

During what should have been a period of widespread panic and continued sharp declines in stock prices, Motorola's stock performance appeared unusually "resilient."

Although the upward momentum was weak, the decline narrowed significantly, and even showed signs of a slow upward climb in the last few minutes before midday!
“George, the stock price… has rebounded! It’s rebounded nearly 2.5% from the intraday low!” David’s voice was filled with disbelief.

Soros frowned, puzzled as to why the stock price had behaved this way.

The worst thing that could happen was happening—other powerful forces were competing with him for food!

For the first three days, he knew that some forces were accumulating Motorola stock, but the pace of accumulation was not fast. Therefore, although he was surprised that someone had the same idea as them, he was not flustered.

He even felt that the other party had taken over too early and at too high a cost, and would definitely regret it later.

Therefore, Soros waited until today to take action in order to lower his own costs so that he could earn more!

"Is it those damn hedge funds? Or those long-term investors waiting to buy the dip? I haven't heard any news of a large-scale shift on Wall Street... Wait, there's unconfirmed news that Motorola is buying back its own shares!" The chief analyst of Quantum Fund quickly flipped through the intelligence messages sent by the intelligence department via fax.

"Stock buyback?!" Soros's expression changed.

If Motorola were to conduct a large-scale buyback at this time, it would undoubtedly be the most powerful counterattack against the short sellers.

But this shattered their Quantum Fund's plans.

“Not only that, we can also sense from the pace of the trading that the force that was accumulating Motorola shares yesterday and the day before is still accumulating them today,” another trader added.

Suddenly, Soros thought of a name.

"Lin Haoran?!"

The name struck a chord with Soros.

Could it be that the person behind this is Lin Haoran? He had investigated Lin Haoran's past investment history, and it could be said that every investment was incredibly precise, buying at the low point and selling at the high point, making huge profits.

If he's orchestrating this in secret again, then it seems quite normal.
He immediately recalled the intelligence report about how Lin Haoran accurately predicted the market.

Could it be that... all my efforts to suppress the stock price and create panic have backfired, allowing Lin Haoran to increase his holdings at an even lower price?
Moreover, was Motorola's buyback also prompted by Lin Haoran's reminder?

After all, Motorola and Lin Haoran are now partners!
If Lin Haoran were to remind Motorola to repurchase its shares, it would seem quite reasonable!

This thought irritated Soros, but if it was really as he thought, he would truly admire Lin Haoran immensely.

That's how the world is: the strong will always be respected.

Even though Lin Haoran was only in his twenties, he himself was already over fifty.

Soros quickly adjusted his mindset, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

He gave a direct order: "Stop dumping shares to try and drive down the price. The Motorola shares we sell will only benefit others. Do as you please. Today's goal is to spend all of our $1.8 million!"

That's right, Quantum Fund is going to buy a full $1.8 million worth of Motorola stock, of which $6 million is principal, leveraging 3 times to raise $1.8 million.

Soros originally planned to buy at the lowest point, but now it seems that his plan has been disrupted.

Inside the trading room, the analysts at Quantum Fund looked at each other in bewilderment.

Chief Trading Officer David hesitated, "George, isn't it too risky to change our strategy now? What about our previous short-selling positions?"

"It's no longer something we can lower the price at will. There's an unknown force constantly absorbing us, and now Motorola is buying back its own stock. If we wait any longer, the costs will only keep rising!" Soros said, shaking his head.

He is also a decisive person. Since he cannot lower the price, he will take advantage of the current low stock price and buy as much as he can.

Moreover, the fact that he suspected Lin Haoran's forces, as well as Motorola's stock buyback, gave him even more confidence in Motorola's stock price tomorrow.

As expected, Motorola should see very good results in its first pre-order lottery, just as it predicted!
As a result, Motorola's stock price will soon skyrocket.

So, no matter what, they won't lose out this time.

However, their goals fell far short of their expectations.

On the trading floor, the combined forces of multiple parties are beginning to emerge.

The panic selling was offset by mysterious buying and company buybacks, while some astute off-market funds, sensing the "nothing can fall any further" signal, began to tentatively enter the market.

Although the increase was not significant, the "narrowing of the decline" or even "stopping the decline and rising slightly" after three consecutive days of sharp drops was enough to significantly increase the cost of Quantum Fund's "bottom-fishing" today.

"Fuck!" David cursed under his breath, looking at the portfolio report where the cost price was far higher than expected. "Where did they come from?! All the planned low-buying points are ruined!"

Soros stared intently at the slowly rising stock price curve on the rudimentary screen, gradually calming down.

The meticulously designed two-way harvesting plan was severely hampered in its first step, and the golden opportunity to easily buy at the bottom was largely filled ahead of schedule.

Motorola's bizarre resilience and eventual slight increase were like a silent slap in the face to Quantum Fund, leaving many of Quantum Fund's executives feeling very aggrieved.

They have put in a tremendous amount of effort these past few days to develop Motorola.

These kinds of institutions may seem to make money easily on the surface, but in reality, every penny of profit is the result of meticulous calculations and huge risks.

It's fair to say the workload is enormous.

On the contrary, Soros, the boss, gradually accepted the facts.

He felt that if Lin Haoran was indeed involved, then the whole thing would make perfect sense.

Time passed slowly, and soon it was four o'clock in the afternoon in New York.

When the stock exchange bell rang, many people breathed a deep sigh of relief.

The bustling trading hall seemed to be paused, and then a noisy discussion broke out.

The electronic screen hanging on the wall clearly displayed Motorola's final closing data for the day.

After a brutal three-day plunge totaling 37%, the tech giant's stock price, like a reef after the tide recedes, finally managed to halt its downward spiral thanks to the combined efforts of Soros's team's all-out buying spree, as well as subsequent mysterious buying and company buybacks.

Surprisingly, the stock price did not continue its panic selling; instead, it rose 5.1% from yesterday's closing price.

This means that Motorola's market capitalization has struggled to climb back to around $32.5 billion from its initial low of approximately $31 billion at the time of trading.

This small but significant increase was like a resounding slap in the face to those who firmly believed the crash would continue.

Many shareholders, especially those who had already sold their Motorola shares, were looking at the rising data with great confusion.

Today, news media and economic experts are still predicting a bleak future for Motorola.

Some media outlets have even claimed that Motorola's stock will plummet once Hong Kong Mobile Communications Corporation releases the reservation data tomorrow!
Having watched Motorola's stock price fall for three consecutive days, many shareholders naturally believed these reports.

Therefore, many investors rushed to sell their shares before the data was released in order to minimize their losses.

This explains why, despite three major players acquiring Motorola shares today, the stock price only rebounded by 5.1%.

This closing result was quite different from the market's generally pessimistic expectations, especially after a brief period of panic selling after the market opened.

However, some institutions or speculators had already received the news in advance.

In an effort to stem the sharp drop in its stock price, Motorola conducted a share buyback program.

This is also why many institutions and market makers have not entered the market.

They believe that if Motorola's buyback is merely a measure to stem the decline, it will not prevent Motorola's stock price from continuing to plummet after the news is released tomorrow!
All of this intelligence seemed to connect, ultimately causing Motorola's stock price to stop at this awkward and puzzling level.

In the Quantum Fund meeting room after the market closed in a commercial building on Seventh Avenue, Soros stared at the strange candlestick chart on an A4 sheet of paper, his fingers lightly tapping the table.

His gaze swept over every team member in the trading room, and everyone instinctively avoided his eyes.

However, Soros laughed at that moment.

Although Motorola's stock price did not continue to plummet as he had expected today, the company's $1.8 million quota was completely used up!

When they borrowed the stock, Motorola's market value was as high as $49 billion.

Today, the average price of the stocks they bought has fallen by a full third!

Even if they return the shares to the lending institutions now, they've already made a lot of money this time.

Furthermore, although he was initially somewhat confident that Motorola's stock price would rise, it was ultimately just speculation.

Now, Motorola's buyback program, and the forces behind it suspected to be "Lin Haoran's team," have made him even more confident that Motorola's stock price will soar tomorrow.

At that moment, seeing the gloomy faces of the company executives at the conference table, he burst into laughter.

This laugh left the subordinates present completely baffled.

They originally thought the boss was going to give them a good scolding!

After all, their strategy for Motorola this time was indeed somewhat unsuccessful, with the purchase cost being too high and far below their expectations. It's understandable that Soros would vent his frustration by lashing out.

But now, the boss's behavior was obviously a bit strange. Instead of scolding them, he laughed.

“Gentlemen,” Soros suddenly spoke, his voice unusually relaxed, “although today’s operation did not go entirely as planned, our core objective has been achieved.”

He walked to the head of the meeting room, looked around at the team members, and said, "We've secured all $1.8 million in chips, with an average cost of $42.3. Considering our previous short-selling profits, this is already a considerable gain, so don't be discouraged."

The chief analyst adjusted his glasses: "George, do you really think tomorrow's booking data will lead to a surge in the stock price?"

Everyone present held Soros in high esteem, but his Quantum Fund was not without its failures.

They are indeed making money right now.

However, they are worried that if Motorola has more bad news tomorrow, its stock price will definitely plummet.

The stock they now hold far exceeds the Motorola stock they borrowed just a few days ago.

Therefore, if Motorola's stock price continues to plummet, even if they have profits from short selling, these profits will be swallowed up by losses from newly purchased positions.

Soros stood up, walked to the window, and looked out at the New York sunset, a meaningful smile playing on his lips: "Do you remember when we shorted silver in 1980?"

The veteran employees in the meeting room nodded in agreement.

That was one of the Quantum Fund's most classic battles; they successfully predicted the bursting of the silver bubble.

“The market was in a frenzy at the time, and everyone thought silver would continue to rise, but I saw the weakness behind the Hunt brothers’ frenzied buying,” Soros continued.

He walked back to the conference table, tapping his fingers lightly on the surface: "The situation is quite the opposite now. The market is pessimistic, but three forces are secretly absorbing the market—Motorola's own buybacks, mysterious institutional buyers, and our Quantum Fund."

"What does this mean?" Soros looked around at everyone. "It means that real smart money is entering the market."

"Therefore, I am very confident. Just wait and see, Motorola will definitely announce some major positive news tomorrow. In fact, we might even receive the news tonight, because a new day is about to begin in Hong Kong!"

(End of this chapter)