Hollywood Zenith

" It had been a rough few months for the team. The rally is still going strong." Abigail said, addressing Samuel.

It was already May which was a couple of months later than expected. Samuel had seen the market analysis and Manan's report on the US market. He was surprised but nonetheless, he was happy about it.

Due to unknown factors, the Bubble was still inflating. It might be due to Samuel's intervention, as big players were playing safe, but the regular investors were still bullish about the tech sector.

But it was better for the firm, as they could blend their frenzy selling. As long as someone was willing to buy, Achilles Firm provided company shares.

They have already processed fifty percent of their investments to book enormous profits for a few months of work. Due to the time difference between both regions, the company traders had to change their daily routines.

The US market would open at nine-thirty in the morning, but it was already evening in the UK time zone. So, they had to pull several night shifts to accommodate the work.

For the moment, they were only targeting the US market, but they would expand to different markets worldwide after this. The Asian Market would be on the rise in the future, and Abigail wanted to focus on other regions when they would open to the public.

" Don't worry about it. What about our progress?" Samuel turned to Abigail and Marilyn for answers.

Marilyn had been following Abigail for these few months to learn more about the business side of things. With Samuel busy with his acting preparation, she didn't have much to do.

Samuel also supported her; they were getting along much better than the first time they met.

" We have sold most of our long position as you instructed. For the list of companies, Globe.com, we invested about fifty million pounds and made nearly double our investment in a few months. The company is trading for ninety dollars and is expected to reach a hundred in the coming week.

Second, for infospace.com, it was a more drastic jump; nobody expected the share to surpass the thousand-dollar mark. We entered around four hundred and exited the trade at approximately eleven hundred; the claim is currently trading for more than thirteen hundred dollars. We could have stayed in the trade; many were unhappy about it." Abigail stated.

" I know, but we are not a gambling store; we have to minimize the risks as much as possible. As soon as you see any downtrend short the share with everything we have gained from the profit. That way, we could earn some more with our put positions. Use the leverage this time, and don't mask your movements." Samuel instructed.

" But that would give up our presence. Won't it be bad?" Marilyn asked. She was fascinated with Samuel's knowledge of the subject.

" It is irrelevant, everyone has been rallying up to this point, but only someone crazy would go against the trend and would simply ignore it." Abigail elaborated.

" Right. What about the others?"

" For Etoys, we have some shares left to trade; it was very profitable; we invested about thirty million and, hopefully, book a profit of about a hundred million. The share price has constantly been rising and is set to reach ninety dollars per share."

" Good."

" Same with Intel technologies, it is trading around seventy dollars. We are still in the trade. But today, we are getting rid of all our long positions. The company's market capitalization is enormous, so we have invested about a hundred million in different trading accounts. We are looking at a profit of about three hundred million pounds.

Same with cisco, we have a leverage of about ten times, so most of our money is in this company. It is the biggest company with a market cap of about four hundred billion. For this reason, we went all in with about five hundred million long positions and is already looking at the floating profit of around one billion dollars."

" That is perfect. Everything is going according to the plan."

" Yes, Manan is also investing in some smaller companies, but it is smaller amounts, and the list is too big to mention."

Manan walked into the room holding a few documents that Samuel had requested. He looked much better, with a happy smile plastered over his face. Just a few months ago, the company was nothing compared to other hedge funds, but now he could safely say he could also be counted in that category.

He was grateful for his past self for not rebelling against his new boss. Although the work environment was brutal, they were making money which was all he needed. It was good to know that his hard work was paying off.

" Boss, here are the details about Webvan company. It doesn't look very appealing to me. Their finances are a mess, but their idea is quite unique." Manan handed Samuel the papers.

Samuel scanned the documents and nodded his head. It would be the perfect bait for the big fish.

" Marilyn, take charge of this. Buy substantial shares of this company. If you need help acquiring the shares, ask Alastair. He could guide you in this field." He handed the paper to Marilyn.

" This-, Is it alright? I know the fundamentals, but negotiation is not my forte."

" It is not a big contract. You can do it. But you have to act fast and discreetly. Don't let others notice your movements."

Marilyn nodded. She didn't understand the urge to buy a failing business, but she believed in Samuel. Maybe something was special about it.

Webvan was a Grocery Delivery service that expanded to 8 cities in 18 months, raised $375 million, and was valued at $1.2 billion. The stock went to $.06 per share, and the company was forced to lay off 2,000 people. The company closed in the year 2001.

The problems with the business were rooted in the fact that no Senior Executives or notable investors of the company had experience in the supermarket vertical.

The company also invested a lot of money in building its fulfillment infrastructure and expanded too fast without proving its business model.

Samuel knew that Amazon would eventually acquire the business, which also swallowed the infrastructure to start its own grocery business. But this time, Samuel would be the first to make a move.

He knew that the craze was high right now, but in one year, the share price would fall so low that he could acquire the whole business for dirt price. He had enough capital to hire competent people to build the most prominent food empire to serve the country.

For now, he had given Marilyn the task of looking into the shareholders. When the time is right, he could swoop in to gobble up their shares and slowly swallow the company. The problem was that big sharks were involved in the initial investment rounds and would be challenging to deal with.

For them, it was all about profit. But Samuel was ready to put pressure with his bearish position to force them into submission. His firm was unknown, but when he released their report of trading during this crisis, he was sure their reputation would soar to new heights.

" Manan, now that we are reaching the inevitable. You must start preparing to put out our strategy and different fund options we would release to the public.

Abigail, start preparing for our branch office in Wall street. We can't be sitting here. I know it is convenient, but we must step up our game to dominate the financial sector."

"That's a bold statement. But somehow, I feel like we could do it." Manan fired up.

" Well, I, for one, am still a realist. We are doing good because we caught the right momentum, but such a situation is not common. If you look at our competitors, they have hundreds of billions in assets. You need a lot more than people to run those types of companies. You will need all the help you can get, especially in the banking sector." Abigail dropped the bucket of cold water on Manan's happy face.

" Yeah, I still remember what happened with HKSBC," Marilyn remembered her experience with Ryan.

They knew that without proper infrastructure, someone would always be there to halt their momentum, just like what HKSBC did. Abigail, as well as other employees, understood their new boss's stance on this type of matter.

Abigail witnessed how Samuel resorted to asking for help as his last move. Samuel was incredibly proud, and he was only a child now. As he grows up, he becomes increasingly reluctant to make such moves.

" What if we have our own bank? That would be convenient, right?" Samuel said as he looked at their faces change. Everything was bizarre when it came to Samuel's suggestion on the matter.

Was it that easy to buy a bank? Hell no!