Golden Spoon Investor

New York, Madison Avenue 555.

The trading desk, which was usually filled with the loud ringing of phones and traders yelling at the top of their lungs, was unusually quiet today, likely due to the approaching Christmas holidays. The spacious office, decorated with Christmas trees and ornaments, buzzed with the relaxed chatter of employees discussing how to spend their recently received year-end bonuses.

"Check this out. Isn't it sleek and sexy?"

Ray, a trader for Quantum Fund with jet-black hair and a stout build, was idly killing time after wrapping up all his positions early. He took a pamphlet offered by his colleague sitting next to him.

"Oh, this is the Porsche 911," Ray remarked, eyes widening at the glossy image of the car printed on the pamphlet.

Tony, his curly blond-haired coworker, smirked proudly. "Yeah, isn't it awesome? Brand-new model, too."

"This is the new Carrera S, right?" Ray asked.

Tony nodded enthusiastically, his excitement bubbling over. "Exactly! It's got a 286-horsepower air-cooled engine."

"Wow, that's incredible," Ray said, admiring the sleek design of the car with its iconic 911 silhouette and lowered headlights for a more aerodynamic look. "So, you're using your year-end bonus to buy this?"

Tony grinned smugly. "Already signed the papers."

"Must have been expensive."

"With all the options, it came out to about $80,000."

"That's reasonable," Ray commented.

"You should get one too," Tony suggested, coaxing. "It's a Porsche, man. Drive this to a club, and you'll have slim beauties lining up to ride with you."

Ray, tempted, studied the pamphlet more intently, a glint of interest in his eye.

Around the trading floor, other traders were similarly abuzz, discussing how they planned to splurge their hefty bonuses on luxury goods, sports cars, or vacations to warm, exotic destinations with their significant others. The booming stock and bond markets, fueled by low interest rates throughout the year, had turned Wall Street into a festive playground, awash in end-of-year celebrations.

On a large sofa overlooking the Manhattan skyline through floor-to-ceiling windows, Quantum Fund's CIO, Rodney, set aside some papers and spoke.

"This matter can be handled as planned," he said.

Seated on the left, Chief Manager Ian nodded. "Understood."

After signing off on the documents, Rodney inquired, "The holidays start tomorrow. Any special plans for the year-end?"

Ian, holding the signed papers, smiled leisurely. "I'm planning to spend Christmas with my family at our villa in the Caribbean."

"Ah, yes, your place in the Bahamas," Rodney recalled.

"Yes, my wife fell in love with it when we visited a couple of years ago, so I ended up buying a villa there," Ian replied.

"Good choice. There's nothing like a tropical retreat with stunning beaches to unwind," Rodney remarked.

"Where do you plan to go"

"My kids want to go skiing, so we're heading to Switzerland this year," Rodney shared.

"I went to see the Matterhorn in Switzerland last year," Ian said. "The snow-covered landscape was breathtaking. My wife, though, wasn't thrilled—she couldn't understand why anyone would choose to vacation somewhere even colder during winter."

Rodney chuckled. "Unfortunate, but that's the plan for us. We'll stay in Lucerne through New Year's. Have a great holiday, Ian."

"You too, sir," Ian replied as he stood, but something seemed to cross his mind.

"By the way," he said, turning back to Rodney, "about your suggestion to keep an eye on Eldorado Fund…"

Rodney leaned forward slightly, his interest piqued. "What about it? Noticed anything unusual?"

"Well, as you know, they recently liquidated all their bond holdings," Ian began.

Rodney nodded. "I recall you mentioning that. They reportedly made a hefty profit."

"They did," Ian confirmed. "Thanks to their early move into European bonds, they made profits not only from the difference between short-term and long-term interest rates but also from the difference in long-term bond prices."

Ian was licking his lips, regretting that he had not snatched up European bonds first from the Eldorado Fund.

"Seeing that, I think the Eldorado representative is very lucky."

"Well, luck alone can't produce results like this."

"Are you saying they had this in mind from the beginning?"

Rodney's lips curled into a faint smile. "Otherwise, it would be difficult to make such a bold and precise bet."

Although they didn't know the exact amount, both knew that the Eldorado Fund had leveraged and invested hundreds of billions of dollars in bonds.

Even if leverage is taken for granted, it is a risky investment to the point of being reckless if you aren't confident.

"Even if it was just luck, if it happens repeatedly, it becomes a skill."

"That's true." Ian agreed.

Ian, who was honestly impressed, said as he recalled the story he had heard from Rodney last time.

"Didn't you say that the head of the Eldorado Fund is a young kid who is not even thirty years old?"

"I heard he graduated from Harvard this year."

Rodney recalled Seok-won's face, whom he had met by chance at an investment seminar in New York. The confident and upright gaze was so impressive that it still lingered in his memory.

"There's no way a kid like that would make such an investment decision. I heard that Andrew, who used to work at Goldman, was the senior chief, but I didn't know he was this good."

Then Rodney, who had been sitting with his arms crossed, thought for a moment and shook his head.

"He was a pretty capable guy, but not to that extent."

"So are you saying there are other people over there that we don't know about?"

As Ian tilted his head and looked at him, Rodney unconsciously recalled Seok-won's face in his mind.

He could tell at a glance that Seok-won wasn't ordinary, but Seokwon was still very young.

No way.

Rodney muttered to himself, trying to deny the thought.

I guess you have a great assistant helping you out.

Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense to achieve such investment performance in such a short period of time.

"I don't know who is leading the investment, but if it's someone with such outstanding skills, it won't be long before their identity is revealed."

Ian nodded in agreement.

"I wonder what kind of person he is."

Rodney was curious about that too.

Rodney uncrossed his arms, leaned back in his chair, and glanced at Ian.

"What were you trying to say?"

Then Ian remembered his original purpose and straightened his posture.

"They're now taking short positions on bonds."

Rodney's eyebrows knit together. "Shorting bonds?"

"Yes."

"Any idea how large their positions are?"

"I couldn't determine the exact figures, but it's clear they're building sizable positions," Ian explained.

Because exposing positions and sizes in derivative investments was fatal, it was difficult to obtain accurate information.

It was only possible for Ian as Chief Manager of Quantum Fund to find out that Eldorado Fund was shorting bonds.

Rodney tapped a finger on the armrest, deep in thought. "Shorting bonds... Are they betting on an interest rate hike?"

As the CIO in charge of Quantum Fund's investments, Rodney immediately understood Seok-won's intentions.

Ian seemed sceptical.

"It's possible, but there's no sign of that happening anytime soon. And with midterm elections coming up next year, even if the Fed considered a rate hike, the White House would likely intervene."

Rodney nodded slowly. "Raising rates before an election would indeed be political suicide."

"Exactly," Ian agreed, but unease lingered in the air.

"Then why take short positions on bonds?" Rodney mused aloud.

Ian shrugged. "Maybe they've grown overconfident after a string of successful, high-risk bets."

"Or maybe there's something we're missing," Rodney murmured.

After a long pause, he instructed, "Keep monitoring Eldorado Fund closely. Report any unusual activity immediately."

"Yes, sir," Ian replied.

***

Late at night, in the garden of his family's estate, Seok-won stood quietly, gazing at the moonlit landscape.

"Someone must be talking about me," he muttered, scratching his ear as if brushing off the thought.

A soft meow broke his reverie. Looking down, he saw three cubs—one tabby and two calicos—rubbing against his legs and mewling for food. Nearby, their mother, a calico cat, sat gracefully, observing her offspring with what seemed like approval.

These were the same strays Seok-won had stumbled upon the previous year. He had fed the mother cat, and eventually, she settled down with her cubs under the garden's wooden deck.

Originally, there were five cubs, but two died, and the three that survived remained.

"Meow."

"Meow."

The cubs seemed to notice that Seok-won was momentarily lost in thought and began to whine, tapping his legs with their forelegs.

"Ugh. Now I guess you think of me as a food shuttle."

Seok-won grumbled as he poured the can of wet cat food he had brought into a large earthenware dish and set it down.

"Okay, so stop meowing. If you make too much noise and Dad gets angry, you'll all get kicked out."

"Meow."

"Meow."

The cubs, who had somehow managed to come up with something resembling an answer, put their heads in the bowl and started eating the tuna.

Then, the mother cat behind them also came over, took a seat, and put her mouth on the food.

"Looking at how big they are now, I guess these guys are all grown up."

Seok-won was sitting on a chair at a parasol table on one side, watching the cats, when suddenly his cell phone rang in his pocket.

Picking up, he heard Landon's familiar voice.

[Boss, I wanted to report before I leave for Miami,] Landon said.

"Go on," Seok-won replied.

[We've completed the short positions against JP Morgan and other major banks,] Landon reported.

"Good work," Seok-won said calmly.

A bond market crash would have had a negative impact on the big Wall Street banks that had provided excessive leverage to hedge funds.

Seok-won, who could not possibly miss such an opportunity, ordered short selling of the major Wall Street banks.

[I spent all the money we earned last time. Aren't you nervous?]

Seok-won answered leisurely, looking down at the cats licking the plate while making a slurping sound.

"What are you worried about? It will soon come back several times bigger."

[I'm so anxious that I can't even sleep because I'm afraid something might go wrong.]

"That won't happen, so just relax and enjoy your vacation."

Then Landon let out a small sigh.

[It's too late to turn back now, though.]

Landon spoke in a deliberately bright voice as if pledging himself.

[I believe the boss's bet will be successful this time too.]

"That's what will happen. Next year will be very busy from the start, so get plenty of rest in advance."

[Okay, boss, have a merry Christmas too.]

Then Landon hung up the phone.

Seok-won put down his phone and smiled broadly as he gently stroked the fur of the cub that had finished eating and jumped up onto his lap.

"By next year, the entire Wall Street will have the name Eldorado Fund etched vividly in their minds."