With the deep blue East River visible through a large floor-to-ceiling glass window that filled one wall, Seok-won sat in the middle of a sofa in his office, facing Landon and Andrew.
The atmosphere was unusually upbeat, reflecting just how successful their short position against Enron had been.
"I heard Moody's and Fitch have announced they're reviewing a downgrade of Enron's credit rating."
At Seok-won's question, asked as he sat with one leg crossed, Andrew, as always dressed in a white dress shirt with suspenders, answered with a smile.
"That's right. The moment the SEC announced it had confirmed evidence that Enron committed accounting fraud for four full years, from 1997 through last year, and that it was launching a formal investigation, the agencies immediately signaled a downgrade."
Landon, seated across from him, shrugged and added,
"Now that the accounting fraud has been confirmed, a credit downgrade is inevitable. The real question is how many notches they'll cut it by."
Seok-won lifted the coffee cup in front of him, took a sip, then set it back down.
"How many levels do you think it'll drop?"
"At least two notches, I'd say."
Landon nodded in agreement with Andrew's assessment.
"I feel the same way. At the very least, Enron will be kicked out of the investment-grade category."
Leaning back, Seok-won quietly agreed.
"A company that's been exposed for committing deliberate accounting fraud over many years can't possibly be allowed to remain investment grade."
"Exactly."
"If the downgrade actually goes through, it'll be another blow to Enron's stock."
Landon picked up the thread.
"It will be negative news, as you said, but the stock has already fallen sharply from its peak. On top of that, over the past week, most of the reverse short sellers have already dumped their Enron holdings, so the impact won't be that significant."
"Enron's stock is hovering in the twenty-dollar range now, right?"
At Seok-won's question, Andrew answered with a broad smile.
"It was at twenty-one dollars and forty-eight cents per share when I checked before coming in. A stock that was over ninety dollars at the start of the year, plunging more than seventy-six percent in just a few months… no one could have imagined Enron ending up like this."
"To be the first to predict Enron's collapse, something no one on Wall Street—no, in the entire world—saw coming, and to hit the jackpot again by shorting it… that's incredible."
Landon laughed loudly as he praised him.
"The major Wall Street investment banks that rushed in without knowing what was coming and showed their teeth this time took massive losses and got a brutal lesson. They won't even think about standing up to you again."
At Andrew's remark, Landon let out a snort of schadenfreude.
"They must have been tearing their hair out trying to unload all the Enron stock they gobbled up to trigger a short squeeze. Hahaha!"
Seok-won, too, curled one corner of his mouth as he pictured Goldman Sachs and the other major investment banks scrambling to dump their Enron shares.
"I heard the losses were pretty severe. How bad was it?"
Landon nodded eagerly and replied in an excited voice.
"They realized things were taking a dangerous turn and rushed to get out, but I hear they still took losses of at least seventy percent."
As Landon grinned with clear satisfaction, Andrew narrowed his eyes behind his silver-framed glasses and added,
"With not only the major investment banks but also investors and hedge funds that had joined the reverse short all dumping their holdings at once, they were lucky just to unload everything they were holding. Of course, they had to sell at fire-sale prices, so the losses were enormous."
"What's almost ironic is that Goldman Sachs, which led the reverse short in the first place, ended up with the smallest losses. Though 'smallest' is relative."
Landon snorted loudly.
"Goldman Sachs was the first to dump Enron stock, right?"
"That's correct. They pulled other major investment banks into the reverse short, then, once the situation turned against them, stabbed everyone in the back and ran for it alone."
"And because of that, the resentment of the major investment banks that sold late and suffered massive losses is being directed not at us, but at Goldman Sachs. Merrill Lynch, which took the biggest hit, is reportedly grinding its teeth in fury."
At Andrew's explanation, Landon's face lit up with vindictive pleasure.
"They tried to screw us over behind the scenes and ended up losing a fortune and tearing each other apart. Couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch."
"There's a saying for this. You reap what you sow."
Watching the two of them chatter excitedly, Seok-won let out a chuckle.
"I heard that the stock prices of the major investment banks, including Goldman Sachs, still haven't shaken off their weakness after all this."
"Yes. News that they lost billions of dollars in the failed reverse short has already spread throughout the market. On top of that, it came out that JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs had directly loaned Enron 1.9 billion dollars and 1 billion dollars, respectively, which sent bank stocks across the board sharply lower."
With a cheerful grin, Landon answered, and Andrew adjusted his glasses upward with a smooth motion as he spoke.
"We're already up more than ten percent on the bank stocks we shorted in advance on your instructions. What would you like to do?"
"There's still plenty of upside left. Keep the positions open."
"Understood."
At that moment, Landon, seated to the right, leaned forward and asked,
"You're planning to keep the Enron short position as well, right?"
"Of course. It still has a long way to go before it reaches our target."
"Wow. If it were me, my heart would be pounding too hard to hold on. You really are something else. Then again, you need that kind of nerve to make bets this bold."
Andrew nodded in agreement, clearly acknowledging Seok-won's iron nerves.
"That aside."
Resting both hands on the armrests, Seok-won smoothly shifted the topic.
"How did the short bets on the U.S. and Japanese benchmark stocks turn out?"
Landon straightened his posture and replied immediately, as if he had been waiting for the question.
"The Japan side was handled by Branch Manager Porter, and the positions were fully established as of yesterday."
He slid a thin file folder forward and continued,
"This is the list of the stocks we shorted."
Taking the folder, Seok-won scanned through the list with a serious expression.
They had selected thirty representative stocks each from the U.S. and Japanese markets, shorting each name for roughly six to seven hundred million dollars or purchasing put options instead.
Toyota Motor, NTT, Sony, Nomura Securities, Mizuho Holdings, Takeda Pharmaceutical, Seven & i Holdings, and other sector leaders across finance, distribution, consumer goods, IT, and electronics were all included without exception.
The U.S. list was no different.
Shorting these companies was, in effect, no different from betting against the stock markets of both countries as a whole.
"Good work."
With a satisfied expression, Seok-won closed the folder and handed it back.
"Oh, and the New York City Fire Department asked if you would attend a donation ceremony they're planning as a gesture of thanks. What would you like to do?"
"Is there really a need to make such a big deal out of a ceremony?"
At his indifferent reply, Landon looked at him as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You donated not just one or two ambulances, but forty of them. And on top of that, twenty million dollars' worth of firefighting equipment, including oxygen tanks. It would be stranger to just let that pass quietly."
"That's true. I know you don't like drawing attention to yourself and that your intentions are purely altruistic," Andrew added, "but it would still be beneficial for your public image. I don't think attending would be a bad idea."
Landon nodded and pressed the point again.
"Exactly. The Bible says to let not your left hand know what your right hand is doing, but when a prominent public figure like you donates, it naturally draws attention. That's probably why the fire department wants to hold an event. And for the firefighters who risk their lives to protect citizens, I think it would be right for you to attend the ceremony."
Even so, Seok-won was not particularly inclined to go.
The reason he had donated forty ambulances and large quantities of firefighting equipment was that, during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, countless New York City firefighters had risked their lives to carry out rescue operations at the collapse site of the World Trade Center.
"Even though no one knew when the Twin Towers, struck by hijacked passenger planes in a suicide attack, might collapse, the firefighters of New York City ran into the buildings without hesitation to save lives."
Thanks to their courage and sacrifice, countless people were rescued from the disaster site.
But in the process, a tragic total of 343 firefighters lost their lives.
His donation of ambulances and firefighting equipment had been driven by the hope of reducing the number of such sacrifices, even by one, by better equipping rescue operations.
After stroking his chin and thinking for a moment, Seok-won finally shook his head.
"Thank them, but politely decline the ceremony. Instead, let's donate an additional ten million dollars' worth of emergency medical supplies."
It would have been a good opportunity to enhance his public image, but since he had clearly made up his mind, there was no room to press him further.
"I'll take care of it."
Landon replied with a hint of regret, smacking his lips slightly.
With that matter settled, Seok-won turned his head and looked at Andrew.
"Defense stocks like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies, and Boeing have taken a significant hit lately, haven't they?"
"Yes. With the Cold War long over and global disarmament underway, their stock performance hasn't been very strong."
"In that case, start buying up defense stocks as much as possible."
At the sudden instruction, both men looked puzzled.
"You mean defense stocks?"
"In this environment, when the defense sector as a whole is shrinking, you want to buy?"
At the back-to-back questions, Seok-won calmly explained his reasoning.
"Recent peace talks between Israel and Palestine have collapsed, and tensions in the Middle East are escalating. When that happens, arms exports to the region can increase. That's why I want us to accumulate defense stocks in advance."
It was true that the conflict between Israel and Palestine was intensifying, but unlike in the past, it was limited to sporadic clashes rather than all-out wars involving multiple Middle Eastern nations.
That level of conflict might boost defense companies' revenues somewhat, but not enough to cause a dramatic surge in stock prices.
It was hard to see how this could lead to major profits, and the logic naturally raised questions. Still, since it was Seok-won's directive, neither of them objected.
"We'll do that."
"Understood."
After continuing their discussion for a while longer, the two men left the office together. Left alone, Seok-won rose from the sofa.
Walking over to the floor-to-ceiling window, he gazed out at the remarkably peaceful scene outside, his expression growing heavy.
Thinking of the horrific catastrophe that would soon arrive, and of New York turning into a scene of utter chaos, his mood sank.
"So many lives will be lost, without any fault of their own."
A crushing mix of sorrow and helplessness bore down on him.
"Should I warn President Bush, even now, that there will be a terrorist attack?"
He muttered to himself, then shook his head.
There was no guarantee such a warning would actually prevent the attack, and more than anything, it would almost certainly only draw suspicion toward him.
Letting out a quiet sigh, Seok-won remained standing by the glass for a long time, trying to calm the turmoil churning inside him.