Chapter Three Hundred and Sixty-Eight at a Certain Moment

Due to the injection of a large amount of funds and Eric's "willful" request, the trading team began to increase the purchase of crude oil futures in the following days, expanding the original daily investment by more than 30 million US dollars.

As of mid-July, Eric had invested a huge sum of US$250 million in the futures market. Because the price of crude oil has been fluctuating up and down in the past two weeks, the money has not increased in value, so Chris is even more worried.

Early in the morning on July 16, a piece of news published in the New York Times quickly spread around the world.

In the early morning of July 16, local time, in the early morning of July 16, US Eastern Time, an elite armored tank division of the Iraqi Republican Guard with full Soviet-made equipment suddenly assembled on the Iraq-Kuwait border. Astonishing news came out that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein proposed new conditions, not only asking Kuwait to forgive the previous $14 billion loan, but also asking Kuwait to compensate $2.4 billion for the 'smuggling of Iraqi oil'.

Western countries, which have been paying attention to the situation in the Middle East, have not made any response, and the financial market, which is the most sensitive to the market, has begun to experience violent fluctuations.

On July 16, it was just another new week. After the opening of several major futures exchanges in the world, the price of crude oil, which had been hovering between US$18 and US$20 per barrel, quickly broke through the US$20 mark. It has already rushed to US$21, and the price of crude oil did not fall again for the whole day that followed. At the close of the day, it stayed at a high of US$21.4, an increase of 7%.

That night, Jeffrey and his son did not return to Chris' apartment, but gathered in Eric's hotel suite. Chris was not happy because today’s crude oil prices skyrocketed and Eric’s account reached a surplus of $175 million in just one day, but was even more worried.

The fax machine in the suite hummed non-stop, document after document kept popping up.

Jeffrey, Chris, and Eric all silently read the documents from the fax machine, and only Drew remained heartless on the sofa watching TV.

"That's all I can get in touch with. Eric," Chris said after passing all the documents to one side: "You see, almost all military experts think it's Iraq's bluff and the war broke out. It is very unlikely that this armored division equipped with Soviet-made T72 tanks is enough to push Kuwait. Iraqi want to invade Kuwait, there is no need to send an ace army such as the Republican Guard, an infantry division with ordinary equipment can Take Kuwait City. Saddam is doing this more just to blackmail more benefits.”

"I'm sticking with my initial guess."

"Eric, these news will be reported tomorrow. The corresponding crude oil price will fall again,

In order not to lose the money made today, I suggest to start selling early tomorrow morning, so that maybe we can keep a profit of about 100 million US dollars. "

"No, keep buying, Chris, I feel like the time is getting closer."

Chris glanced at Jeffrey, who didn't understand much of the conversation between the two, and said, "Then. Crude oil prices will definitely fluctuate more violently in the future, and I need enough spare margin in my account."

Eric knew that what Chris was saying was true, that the price changes were not that big compared to the first two weeks of July. With the participation of countries in the Middle East and the West, crude oil price fluctuations in the second half of the year will be more violent: "No problem, you can operate according to the situation."

Seeing that Eric was no longer stubborn this time, Chris was relieved.

On July 17, the analysis articles that Eric and others saw the night before appeared in major newspapers around the world one after another, and even a senior official of the U.S. Department of Defense was interviewed on a TV program. Openly agree with the argument that Iraq will never use force against Kuwait. Because of this view, crude oil futures fell back to $20.7 on the day. fell 3%.

But the next week, crude oil prices began to slowly rise again. Because Iraq deployed an elite armored division on the Iraq-Korea border, instead of stopping, it continued to increase its troops. In less than a week, 100,000 Iraqi troops have gathered on the Iraq-Korea border.

The Amir, the head of the Kuwait state, finally could not sit out, and began to beg the heads of the same Arab brother countries to mediate.

On July 22, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak visited Baghdad to speak for the Emir of Kuwait. He did not get any promise from Saddam, and quickly left in a daze. Subsequently, President Arafat of the Palestine Liberation Front visited Baghdad. Mu was warmly entertained, and when he saw the guest, he only asked Arafat to bring Emir a sentence, which meant very simple: pay.

Although up to now, most Western countries are still insisting that Saddam will not use force against Kuwait, but in the face of Iraq's aggressiveness, on July 24, the US aircraft carrier fleet in the Persian Gulf and the United Arab Emirates jointly held a joint military exercise.

At this time, the international crude oil price has risen to 23 US dollars, an increase of 15% compared to a week ago. Eric's principal invested in the futures market has also reached 400 million US dollars, and the weekly surplus is as high as 500 million US dollars. The profit is crazy, but Chris persuaded Eric to stop more than once, because as long as there is a major turning point in the situation in the Middle East, the money may be lost again at any time.

The US military exercises in order to deter Iraq seem to have played a role. The next day, Saddam urgently summoned the US ambassador to Iraq, April Glass, and Saddam made a solemn promise to the Arab female ambassador. , Iraq will never use force against Kuwait.

This news seems to be a turning point. In the following days, the price of crude oil began to fall slowly again, and most investment institutions began to look down on the price of crude oil. In this case, more and more speculators began to sell frantically. No matter how many buy contracts enter the market, they will be quickly digested.

In the last week at the end of July, Eric spent all his $700 million principal, because the crude oil price fell in the last week, and the original surplus of $500 million was little left.

Because of Eric's strong insistence, he bought the last crude oil futures contract of up to 20 million US dollars, and Chris almost collapsed on the seat. With a big bet of 700 million US dollars, 10 times leverage, and almost no spare margin, As long as the price of crude oil falls by $2, $700 million will be instantly wiped out. If the price of crude oil falls by more than $2, Eric’s account will be liquidated. Not only will the $700 million be swallowed up by the capital market, but Eric will also It will owe the futures company a lot of money.

At this point, many things must be hidden from Jeffrey. The old man was frightened by the number of 700 million US dollars for a while, but only a sigh remained.

Los Angeles, many people in Hollywood are paying attention to Eric's every move. Therefore, it is not so important that the box office broke 100 million in three weeks. Instinct is a highly controversial movie released. After that, not many media took the opportunity to attack Eric because of his identity as a screenwriter.

Everyone seemed to be waiting, waiting for some final judgment moment.

Finally, the indifferent bitch of Time twisted his waist and stepped into the grid of August 1990. (To be continued)