Gold futures

A young man, perhaps excessively so, arrived at the Goldman Sachs Group headquarters at 200 West Street on Wall Street, New York.

That's right, this young man was Wang Xiuyuan.

After completing the formalities for his leave of absence, Wang Xiuyuan rushed to New York without pause, all because a massive opportunity was waiting for him here.

In the short five months from late August 1979 to January 1980, gold skyrocketed from $212 per ounce to $850 per ounce. A fourfold price difference—this was a monstrous feast of wealth.

In 1971, the Bretton Woods system collapsed, and the US dollar was decoupled from gold. The world's monetary system entered the era of floating exchange rates, and gold's monetary attribute as a hard currency was severely undervalued for a long time.

It wasn't until 1979, when the American government's fiscal deficit and foreign trade deficit continued to expand, that gold's monetary attribute rose once again.

The credit of the US dollar worldwide was severely weighed down by these two pieces of bad news. To cope with the risk of dollar depreciation, a large number of investors bought gold as a hedge, leading to a systemic demand for gold as a safe haven.

If this were the only reason, gold wouldn't have surged so crazily, but the problem was that the superposition of multiple pieces of bad news made things particularly interesting.

In the first half of 1979, America's CPI index rose by more than 13% year-on-year. The CPI is the Consumer Price Index; in plain English, it means prices fucking rose again, and they rose by double digits.

In the same year, the Islamic Revolution broke out in Iran, the world's third-largest oil exporter. Oil production dropped from about 6 million barrels per day to about 2 million barrels per day, a decrease of roughly two-thirds.

This massive production gap dealt a huge blow to the global oil market.

Something even more interesting happened after the Pahlavi dynasty was overthrown: Iran directly stopped exporting oil to America and European countries. This supply cut forced America and European countries to urgently find alternatives.

It would have been fine if OPEC, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, had stepped up to declare an increase in oil production, but OPEC member states had long been unhappy with the Western camp, led by America, suppressing oil prices.

So, these member states tacitly voted to stab America in the back, directly staging a reverse maneuver.

They cut production.

And then, the Second Oil Crisis arrived.

Most crucially, in December 1979, the Soviet Union sent troops into Afghanistan under the guise of protecting an ally. This severely intensified global instability, and gold's safe-haven attribute was fully activated, further pushing up the price of gold.

It must be said that the international financial market from the late 1970s to the early 1980s was a place of shifting winds and clouds. During this period, the number of people who became overnight millionaires or suddenly went bankrupt was countless.

Wang Xiuyuan's rebirth at this time could be considered good timing; after all, he was a transmigrator.

Excluding the intervention of external factors, so-called strength is a joke in the face of an absolute information gap.

With ten million dollars in hand, Wang Xiuyuan could completely take advantage of this gold surge to strike it rich.

"Hello sir, how can I help you?"

As soon as Wang Xiuyuan walked into the lobby of the Goldman Sachs Group, someone immediately came forward to greet him. This wasn't because Goldman Sachs employees were so well-mannered, but because his outfit wasn't cheap.

Although everything from his clothes to his shoes were mass-produced industrial products and not as prestigious as custom-made items, they were enough for the Goldman Sachs employees to look at him with respect.

"I have some money I need to invest, mainly in futures. Please help me find a reliable futures trader, thank you."

"No problem, sir. This way, please."

Wang Xiuyuan was first taken to a reception room. The person in charge of reception was a white beauty—a great beauty by Western standards, but in Wang Xiuyuan's eyes, she was just average, as he couldn't quite appreciate the look.

Upon learning that Wang Xiuyuan had a full ten million dollars sitting in his bank account available for futures investment, the white woman's enthusiasm skyrocketed, and the faint sense of detachment she had previously shown vanished instantly.

If Wang Xiuyuan asked for her contact information now, he would definitely succeed. After all, who could refuse a young millionaire? Even forty years later, not many people could refuse.

After a brief communication, Wang Xiuyuan finally met a famous futures trader who had left his mark on Wall Street in his previous life: Curtis Faith.

Although Curtis Faith didn't become a legendary financial figure like Soros, Buffett, or William Eckhardt, he was a student of the legendary futures trading master Richard Dennis. He once earned $35 million in profit through futures trading in a single year, and that was in the early eighties.

Every financial practitioner whose name could still be mentioned forty or fifty years later was once a leader on Wall Street, and Curtis Faith was naturally no exception. It just so happened that Wang Xiuyuan knew of him.

Although Curtis had not yet become Richard Dennis's student, being able to join Goldman Sachs as an official trader at this time was enough to prove his extraordinary strength.

Besides, Wang Xiuyuan's investment in gold futures this time was just to find a reliable trader to help him execute buy and sell orders, not to hand the money over to a futures trader for full management.

"Hello, Mr. Wang. My colleague just told me that you have ten million dollars you intend to invest in futures. Have you dealt with this type of investment before? Do I need to explain the risks involved?"

As soon as the two sat down, Curtis went straight to the point to talk business, without even shaking Wang Xiuyuan's hand.

If the receptionist hadn't warned Wang Xiuyuan earlier, he might have almost thought Curtis didn't want to deal with him. However, this somewhat socially awkward way of doing things did fit the image of a top-tier trader.

"No need to bother. I understand the rules and risks of futures, stocks, and foreign exchange trading. My purpose in coming here is simple: to find a reliable futures trader to help me execute trades."

"What?" Curtis was stunned for a moment, seemingly unable to believe his ears.

"You heard correctly. I'm not a layman; I just need a reliable trader to help me execute buy and sell orders.

I have ten million dollars in cash in my account. I'm bullish on gold futures. You just help me go to the exchange and buy them. It's that simple."

The expression on Wang Xiuyuan's face was very calm, as if he didn't care at all what Curtis thought.

Curtis was also somewhat bewildered at this moment. It wasn't uncommon for investors in mutual funds and stocks to have clear investment targets, but this was the first time Curtis had seen someone trading futures with such a clear goal. How could this not make him question his life?

"Mr. Wang, I have an obligation to remind you that the current futures market is very chaotic, especially gold and crude oil futures, which are the most dangerous.

Although I also have a bullish stance on gold futures, I still suggest you be cautious. After all, you are the largest client I've encountered so far, and I don't want to see you suddenly margin called."

(PS: Brothers, please collect, follow, and give free recommendation votes. Thanks for your support.)