Chapter 707: Going long on oil futures
During this period of time, he has been buying and buying extravagantly, and funds are flowing away like water.
It is not possible to just bleed without replenishing blood. An opportunity that he has been eyeing for a long time is about to arise, and it is about huge profits. He is going north soon, so Xia Yu cannot help but be concerned.
Arriving at Galaxy Fund, Xia Yu gathered his capable subordinates and asked about the details.
In the meeting room, Liu Jiao introduced, 'Boss, according to the news from Xue He and Song Yang and others who have returned from the United States, the $400 million taken to the United States has leveraged ten times, and a total of $40 billion has been used to buy oil futures, with an average price of 20.4 dollars per barrel.
'The whole process took two months and eight days. Now the daily trading volume of oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange has exceeded 50,000 lots, with an average daily trading volume of over one billion U.S. dollars...'
After listening to Liu Zong's introduction, Xia Yu's mouth curled up slightly, his mood pleasant.
'Not bad. After the meeting, let Song Yang and Xue He and the others continue to persevere. If they have nothing to do, they can improve the New York branch and study the New York financial market more, which will be very beneficial to them!'
'Okay, I will definitely convey your words to them!'
Liu Yao immediately replied.
This time, Xia Yu was eyeing the international crude oil futures market, planning to make a killing.
At the end of last year and the beginning of this year, due to political unrest in Iran, the country stopped exporting oil for 60 days, and Xia Yu also speculated heavily on the international gold price.
At that time, it was because the timing was not ripe, and the New York Mercantile Exchange only officially launched oil futures contracts in November last year. At that time, when the market was first opened, the trading volume was too small, and Xia Yu had to give up going long on oil futures.
But now it's different. After nearly a year,
the New York Mercantile Exchange's oil futures market has expanded by an unknown multiple. The average daily trading volume has exceeded 50,000 lots, equivalent to a daily trading volume of 50 million barrels. At the current price of more than 20 US dollars per barrel, the average daily trading volume has reached one billion US dollars.
The market has expanded, so Xia Yu will certainly not ignore it.
Because he knows that, according to historical trends, an event that will shock the world will occur, and that is the Iranian hostage crisis.
At the beginning of this month, the United States, despite protests from the Iranian authorities, allowed former Shah Pahlavi to travel to the United States for medical treatment, which once again provoked strong resentment among the Iranian people towards the US government.
The US government never imagined that on 4 November, a group of Iranian students would storm the US Embassy in Iran and kidnap 63 embassy personnel.
This was undoubtedly a slap in the face for the world's policeman.
In order to maintain the dignity of the United States as a great power, then-President Jimmy Carter announced on November 12 that the United States would no longer import oil from Iran, and on November 14, all Iranian accounts and deposits in the United States were frozen, totalling $8 billion in assets.
In response, Iran also announced an oil embargo against the United States.
What happened in just over ten days would lead to chaos in the global oil supply and demand relationship, and in turn spread panic throughout the market.
In order to prevent possible oil shortages and price increases, users in Western oil-consuming countries scrambled to buy oil and increase their inventories, resulting in a daily demand for 3 million more barrels of oil than usual, which exacerbated the situation of oil supply and demand.
In addition, in September next year, the Iran-Iraq War broke out again, and oil production in the Gulf region once again decreased, further pushing up international crude oil prices.
At the end of last year, the international oil price was only 13 US dollars a barrel, but it has now risen to 20 US dollars a barrel.
Xia Yu knew very well that this was far from the upper limit of international oil prices. By the end of next year, international oil prices could rise to 39 US dollars a barrel.
Such a good opportunity only requires continuing to buy oil futures now, and waiting a year will be able to generate profits of 4 to 5 billion US dollars. You can't find such a good thing even if you search high and low!
If this opportunity to accumulate capital by overtaking in a curve is missed, then Xia Yu, as a reborn person, would be a great failure.
There are so many places where money will be needed in the future, he has to dig holes everywhere to prepare for the rainy days.
Harvesting the profits from international gold at the beginning of next year will be enough for him to spend for a year, and harvesting the profits from international oil futures at the end of next year will replenish his ammunition in time.
After reminding Liu Yao and the others of a few things, Xia Yu finally left with peace of mind.
On November 1st, the sky was clear and it was a good day to travel.
Xia Yu dressed in casual clothes, low-keyly boarded the ship heading north with his master Li Chunqiu and a group of subordinates.
Xia Yu had already communicated that this trip would be low-key, and the name was to check on the company's operations in Pengcheng. The general itinerary had also been set, also to facilitate the mainland's arrangements for personnel to meet.
When he stepped off the ship and onto Pengcheng, Li Chunqiu couldn't help but tear up.
'I've finally set foot on this land again...'
Li Chunqiu, with his white beard fluttering in the wind, muttered to himself, and Xia Yu felt a surge of emotion.
'Old sir, the motherland welcomes you back!'
One of the accompanying staff members said smartly.
'Thank you!'
Li Chunqiu said gratefully.
After his emotion, Li Chunqiu gathered his thoughts and followed Xia Yu to attend the welcome luncheon prepared by the local authorities.
After the luncheon, Xia Yu's group began to disperse, each following their original work arrangements.
Among them were Zhang Gufeng, the general manager of Taiji Pharmaceutical, and Wang Bowen, the general manager of Yangshengtang, who went to places such as Yunnan, Guizhou and Hunan in turn to find suitable places to build Chinese herbal medicine cultivation bases.
Another group of people dispersed to various regions of the mainland to acquire ancient Chinese medicine formulas, striving to acquire as many as possible before the Japanese.
Xia Yu, however, had not yet had time to inspect his own business on the mainland, and so he went to Mount Wudang with the impatient Li Chunqiu.
When they arrived in Hubei Province, they were inevitably blocked again, and Xia Yu had to have another meal as he could not refuse the hospitality.
During the meal, Xia Yu took the opportunity to find out more about Wudang Mountain.
In the afternoon, accompanied by staff, Xia Yu and the others finally began to climb the mountain.
However, the sight of the dilapidated and long-neglected railings and statues from the foot of the mountain made Li Chunqiu look unhappy.
Xia Yu, on the other hand, was prepared for this and knew why Wudang Mountain was like this.
Walking along the stone steps, they did not meet a single person, and the road looked very desolate.
It was a far cry from the bustling scene of Wudang Mountain in later generations.
'Are there no plans to allocate funds to repair Wudang Mountain?'
Xia Yu's eyes flashed with a trace of thought as he asked the accompanying staff member while walking.
The staff member was embarrassed and stammered, 'We have applied to the higher authorities, but there are so many places in need of funding across the country that we are not sure when the funding will be approved.'
Xia Yu nodded slightly, glanced at his master's unsightly and sad face, and a thought came to mind.