I am Hollywood

[Chapter 1161: A Dazzling Display of Wealth (2)]

After finishing the lengthy column that spanned over ten pages, Eric chatted on the phone with Chris for about half an hour. Once he hung up, he sat at his computer, contemplating the possible issues he might face in the coming days, when he heard a knock at the door.

He looked up to see Cindy standing at the door, studying his expression with concern. "Eric, is something wrong?"

Eric leaned back in his chair and spread his hands, prompting Cindy to come in. She smiled and settled into his embrace.

Gently stroking Cindy's slightly rounded belly, Eric leaned his chin on her shoulder, inhaling her enticing fragrance. "Why don't you rest a bit longer?"

"It's already eight," Cindy said, nuzzling his cheek with her face. "Breakfast is ready."

Eric glanced at the time in the lower right corner of his computer screen but didn't get up. "Let's have Linda stay here for a while. She can still help take care of you."

"Actually, she's already moved in," Cindy nodded and stood up, pulling Eric with her. "Let's go eat. I have work to do this morning."

Eric opened his mouth but didn't urge Cindy to stop working. The recording for the new season of America's Next Top Model would finish next month, and then Cindy could take maternity leave until their little one arrived at the end of the year.

After a quick washup, Eric and Cindy went to the dining room, where Linda, dressed in a pale pink long t-shirt that showcased her long legs, was arranging breakfast. Upon seeing Eric and Cindy walk in, she shot Eric a glare over last night's incident, then kindly pulled out a chair for Cindy.

Eric sat at the table, just grabbing his utensils when he remembered something. "I'm going to Australia at the beginning of August. The Firefly Group's executive meeting is going to be held there this year. Would you two like to come?"

"It's winter in Australia now, right?" Linda immediately shook her head. "No way, I hate the cold."

Cindy, however, remembered that Virginia and the others were still in Australia. Eric surely had reasons for scheduling the meeting there. When he said he wanted to bring them along, it was clear he intended to showcase them.

Confirming her identity in front of the core executives of the Firefly Group would be immensely beneficial, both for her and for the baby. After a moment's hesitation, Cindy shook her head as well. "Never mind. It's not ideal for me to fly right now, and Linda and I have a few projects in production that we can't leave."

Eric nodded. "Then that settles it. We'll discuss it next time."

Linda then realized that since Cindy had decided not to go, she shouldn't speak up either. Instead, she quietly rubbed her flat stomach, her eyes revealing a hint of sadness.

...

After breakfast, Eric sent Cindy and Linda to the production company, then headed over to the Firefly Investments headquarters.

By the time Eric arrived at the office area of Firefly Investments at Rockefeller Center's 50th building, it was already past nine o'clock. Following the staff's direction, he pushed open the door to a conference room and found Chris standing by a large conference table, staring intently at a wall-mounted TV.

Upon noticing Eric's arrival, Chris nodded and immediately pointed at the screen.

Eric recognized the middle-aged judge he had seen on video a few days earlier.

Standing beside Chris at the conference table, they both watched as Thomas Jackson appeared on CNN, discussing the evidence he had gathered. "...With the evidence we've collected so far, we can conclude with 100% certainty that Microsoft has been engaging in very serious monopolistic practices. In my opinion, the only way to avoid further hindering fair competition in the industry is to break Microsoft up and impose stricter regulations..."

Listening to the judge confidently address the CNN host, Eric glanced at his watch; it was now 9:15, leaving just 15 minutes until the Nasdaq opened.

Chris noticed Eric's movement. "It's already too late. Even if some people catch on, it won't be possible for them to respond effectively."

Eric nodded in agreement, understanding Chris's point.

According to weekend statistics, the total short futures position against the Nasdaq index worldwide was conservatively estimated at over $60 billion. Such a vast capital force poised to strike made it difficult for any stock market worldwide to withstand.

However, the current total market capitalization of the Nasdaq had reached $9 trillion. Investors certainly wouldn't want such a significant amount of wealth to vanish with a stock market crash. So, if they could foresee the layouts of the short-selling forces in advance, they could respond effectively.

Too many people, however, were still reveling in the Nasdaq index breaking 5,000 points without being vigilant enough regarding recent sentiment shifts.

Eric had anticipated this, but the Firefly Group had no intentions of being the first to act. Moreover, they lacked the strength to do so. The bubble of the Nasdaq index's imminent crash was inevitable; going against the tide would only lead to destruction.

...

While Eric and Chris maintained calm demeanors as they observed the situation from the Firefly Investments conference room, it was clear that it wouldn't be a quiet day in the securities industry.

As Judge Thomas Jackson's comments during his CNN interview spread rapidly, combined with a series of pessimistic opinions about the Nasdaq over the weekend, stock managers across North America and globally quickly noticed a significant uptick in sell orders for tech stocks, regardless of whether it was premeditated or a sensed crisis.

Finally, at 9:30 AM, just as the Nasdaq opened, sell orders exceeding $1 billion caused Microsoft's stock price to drop by more than 3%.

But that was far from the end. In the following hour, major tech stocks on the Nasdaq, like Yahoo, Cisco, Intel, and Amazon, all faced significant sell orders.

As the demand for tech stocks, which far surpassed the ability to absorb the selling, was rapidly negated, heavy sell orders began to pile up, continuously driving down the prices of various tech stocks.

Panic began to spread.

More investors, hearing the news, joined the selling frenzy, quickly creating a terrifying domino effect.

By 4 PM Eastern Time, the Nasdaq index closed at 4,960 points, reflecting a drop of 9%. However, the mainstream tech stocks that faced huge sell-offs incurred severe losses.

Microsoft's stock dropped by 3% in a single day.

Cisco's stock fell by 6%.

Yahoo's stock decreased by 5%.

Intel's stock plummeted by 9%.

Amazon's stock dipped by 6%.

...

This series of declines represented hundreds of billions of dollars in wealth evaporating, only signifying just the beginning.

Meanwhile, in the face of a dismal Nasdaq market, Wall Street once again exhibited its shameless nature.

Just last week, investment bank analysts had been exuberantly predicting that the Nasdaq would reach new highs, pushing towards the 6,000 point mark. Now they practically all reversed their tone, disparaging the investment value of tech stocks.

In the subsequent four trading days, the chain reaction from the stock market crash further fermented, with the Nasdaq index declining by over 100 points each day.

Despite various attempts from the federal government down to start-up tech firms to stabilize the Nasdaq index using different methods, results were minimal.

Many investors, during the Nasdaq's final frenzy, had recklessly used investment leverage to maximize profits, significantly reducing their ability to withstand risk.

The typical leverage of five to ten times meant that investors could only endure a drop of about 10% to 20% in a stock.

Yet, in reality, many stocks frequently dropped beyond 10% within a single day.

As the situation continued to deteriorate, the decision to sell stocks was no longer something investors could control. To avoid losses that became unbearable, many financing institutions that backed leveraged investors had to forcibly liquidate their clients' stocks. The influx of sell orders further perpetuated the vicious cycle of declining stock prices.

...

By July 23rd, the nightmare of a week for the new tech market finally ended, with the Nasdaq index closing at 4,373 points, a drop of 5% compared to last week's peak of 5,056 points, which resulted in over a trillion dollars in wealth vanishing.

The leading tech stocks that had propelled the Nasdaq earlier fell even more drastically than the index itself.

Due to the influence of Judge Thomas Jackson's statements earlier in the week, Microsoft saw a cumulative decline of 7% over five days, plummeting from a peak market value of over $600 billion down to $469.9 billion.

Cisco, having just seized the title of the world's largest market cap, saw its stock plummet by 9% within the week, bringing its value down to $453.1 billion.

Yahoo, which Eric had been closely watching, also recorded a 5% decline over five days, which was still within Eric's threshold. The company's market value remained above $200 billion, reaching $215.5 billion.

Other Firefly Group companies like Amazon, Sprint, and Qualcomm all suffered varying degrees of declines.

In comparison, Nokia, which was simultaneously listed on multiple stock exchanges in North America and Europe, faced the least impact from the Nasdaq crash, and with solid earnings backing, its stock only declined by 9% at the close on Friday.

...

Later that evening, Bill Gates, who had been fraught and distressed all week over Judge Thomas Jackson's comments, hurried to Manhattan and all the way to the penthouse apartment Eric had at Sixth Avenue.

Upon seeing Eric leisurely seated next to the rooftop garden, with his legs crossed, reading the newspaper and sipping coffee, Gates felt a wave of frustration wash over him.

As the owner of immense wealth from Microsoft's success, he should have been one of the proudest people in the world, yet before this young man, he found it hard to feel any superiority.

Sitting unceremoniously in a chair, Gates glanced at Eric's newspaper and said, "Eric, you better give me a reason that satisfies me."

Eric neatly folded the newspaper and placed it in front of him. He poured Gates a cup of coffee, pointed toward the direction of the Hudson River, and said with a smile, "I suddenly thought we should have a fireworks show recently, so I bought a whole boat of fireworks, starting at eight."

Bill Gates didn't touch the coffee in front of him but adjusted his glasses, instinctively responding, "Eric, don't you think that's boring?"

"Alright," Eric feigned a sigh, though he clearly appeared helpless. "Let's talk business. The current situation is dire. Yahoo needs some good news, and so does Microsoft. So, how about we collaborate?"

Gates shot him a scornful glare. "And then?"

Eric handed Gates a folder and opened up his laptop beside him. "I've already drafted the contract. But first, let's look at this. I'm sure you'll be interested. It's a bit long, so let's just watch right here."

As Eric said this, he adjusted the progress bar, turned the laptop screen toward Gates, and pressed play.

A familiar voice immediately filled the speakers -- the voice of someone Gates knew well.

"Making statements in public that resemble courtroom remarks is a serious violation of judicial procedure and could ruin my career. Therefore, $200,000 is simply not enough; if we succeed, you will need to pay me another $300,000."

"Thomas, you're too greedy. $200,000 is already a hefty sum."

"Don't think I'm ignorant, Dean. Given your scale of shorting, if the Nasdaq crashes, you could make billions. So, that's non-negotiable."

After a moment of silence, another voice chimed in, "Alright, I agree to your terms."

Eric watched as William Gates' eyes widened, and with a swift motion, he slapped the laptop shut and pulled it back to his side.

Bill Gates, seemingly jolted from a dream, quickly lifted his head, glaring at Eric before realizing his predicament and dropping his expression. "Eric, that's illegal."

Eric pointed toward the door and shrugged. "If you're not interested, feel free to leave."

Gates gulped hard, maintaining a gaze lock with Eric before finally opening the folder he had just handed over.

He quickly skimmed through the contents and set it down. "I can give up that stock purchase contract, but Yahoo maintaining its original status on the Microsoft platform is absolutely impossible."

"I never expected such a good deal," Eric replied. "You must not have read it carefully; Yahoo can pay Microsoft $1 for every operating system pre-installation fee."

"But that only amounts to less than $50 million annually, Eric. Would you accept that?"

"I certainly wouldn't," Eric tapped on his laptop before proceeding, "so this counts as compensation from Yahoo to Microsoft."

"This video might not even help Microsoft," Gates scoffed. "Once it's out, it could backfire."

"Well, as of now, the number of people who have seen this video, including you, is hardly a handful," Eric pointed out. "Lately, I've been pondering this. From our position, it's challenging to act freely sometimes, and too often, we must compromise. Like this video; my initial thought was to expose it and watch the chaos unfold. Yet, I've realized that not exposing it might yield greater benefits -- at least for Microsoft. The Firefly Group won't use such tactics."

Gates narrowed his eyes. "Eric, are you implying I should threaten the Justice Department?"

"It's just negotiation," Eric shrugged. "Microsoft is currently the victim, even a persecuted one. So, even the President has to compromise. Remember, Clinton cannot withstand another political storm right now. But as it stands, a certain middle-aged judge, for his own selfish interests, has caused the entire Nasdaq market to crash, vaporizing trillions of dollars in wealth. I've heard there have already been reports of investors jumping off buildings due to bankruptcy this week. Once the scandal from the video breaks, Thomas Jackson will surely become a target, and the Clinton administration, which has strongly advocated for an investigation into Microsoft, won't be able to stand aside. Even if a second impeachment doesn't occur, the numerous angry investors suffering massive losses during this stock market crash would be enough to terminate the political careers of Bill and Hillary Clinton, which is precisely what they fear the most."

*****

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