[Chapter 737: A Fury of Demons]
[T/N: This chapter focuses on the spread of fake news by the American media, claiming that China is boycotting the '96 Olympics. The main character prevents NBC from broadcasting the story, though other networks proceed initially. However, they later retract their coverage upon realizing it's false news and understanding that provoking China would be unwise and waking the sleeping dragon is bad.]
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[Chapter 738: Another Minefield]
"Tom, what's the rush? You're sweating like a pig. Planning to lose some weight?"
"Sir, I can't help it. This time, we're in deep trouble. The entire IT industry could be facing a major upheaval."
"Please, this can't be as bad as IBM laying off workers and that $8 billion loss. It's fine."
"Sir, although it's not that absurd, the losses this time won't be small."
William White grew serious. If it looked like the damage was in the billions, then Fat Cat Tom wouldn't be making such a fuss.
"Alright, Lisa, get this guy a bottle of ice water and a towel. Tom, it looks like you're going to need to lose some weight."
"Um, cough cough, sir, let's focus on the issue at hand. There's a problem with Intel's CPU. A university professor discovered a logical error."
"Great, we're doomed. What are those idiots waiting for? They need to recall them, like, yesterday."
"Sir, their internal engineers already found it. According to them, the chances of an error occurring are just one in a million. That professor wouldn't have encountered this issue unless he was calculating some numeric model."
William White found it amusing. What were those two bigwigs at Intel thinking? Did they really believe they were making gaming consoles?
"Heh, I think AMD should start popping champagne. They've barely taken the lead, but still, it's something. Tom, you're right; this is a colossal pit. If it isn't handled well, stocks for Compaq and Dell could plummet. By the way, notify the memory factory to adjust their production. Damn it, at least my game console is selling well. This is going to take at least a month to sort out."
Some might have argued that the issue wasn't that serious; just pass out a CPU to everyone, and they could swap them out at home.
But, DIY was pretty much a trend that began with the Pentium. Before that, CPUs were soldered directly onto motherboards.
For the bigwigs on Wall Street, that year was incredibly intense. They had just seen IBM post a massive $8 billion loss, and now Intel's latest CPU was in trouble.
Given the predicament, Intel's response was decent. Well, honestly, it wasn't much -- they were just covering the cost of swapping units for customers.
This was a rather odd situation. If you spotted a mistake and proactively accepted responsibility, there generally weren't repercussions. The public saw you as a responsible company. Of course, swapping CPUs wasn't exactly a simple task.
People very skilled in computers often didn't know much about hardware. They were far more versed in software code. The top students using the servers often acted rather clueless. It was like a keyboard warrior who couldn't handle a screwdriver.
IBM and HP were going to face tough times, and Oracle and Sun Microsystems weren't faring much better either. The first two were suppliers of small servers while the latter two provided database services. Despite the fact that not many servers based on Pentium CPUs sold, the user base was incredibly broad.
But clearly, the biggest losers were Compaq and Dell. If this kept up, their factory could very well get shut down. Seriously, where were they supposed to find that many customer service agents?
Honestly, these morons should count themselves lucky that they found out sooner rather than later. If this had exploded a year down the line, good Lord, they'd just be waiting to lose money.
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"Hey, that guy didn't short the Nasdaq. Has William White turned chicken, or does he think this crisis isn't that big of a deal?"
"Sir, if he did that, he might be crossing some legal boundaries."
Soros stared blankly at this subordinate. Man, you go check out what stocks he actually held before saying anything else. Everything he had was long-term. Shorting was just to hedge.
Besides, with so many legal experts around, surely they weren't just window dressing.
"Sir, maybe I misspoke."
"It's not that it was wrong, it's just that William White didn't care. As long as the amount used to short isn't outrageous, no one could really say anything. At the end of the day, he's not naked shorting."
"So you're saying he still has faith in the Nasdaq's future performance?"
"That seems to be the case. So it's better not to rush into shorts; after all, our forte is currency trading."
Soros had to feel fortunate. If he heavily shorted tech stocks, he would surely face blowback. Competing against William White in cash wasn't exactly a good idea. This was Intel's problem alone. The current decline was just market panic. In a couple of days, when nothing had happened, this money would come back with a vengeance.
If Soros faced such a situation, he'd genuinely find himself speechless.
Shorting involved significant risk. If you couldn't buy back in time to cover your shorts, you faced lawsuits.
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"Al, what's the situation now?"
"Bill, things are looking up. Outside of Intel's stock showing some weakness, everything else has shaken off the downturn."
"That's strange. Why are those greedy vampires acting this way all of a sudden?" Clinton felt genuinely frustrated. Who would have expected the booming IT industry to suddenly slam into a wall?
"Well, it's not wholly surprising; this is just panic selling. As for those titans on Wall Street, since William White, who holds the most stock, remains indifferent, they won't take any major actions."
Clinton felt a mix of frustration and disbelief. This guy was everywhere. Was this what they called fate?
Honestly, this guy was a little too jumpy.
Shorting the Nasdaq?
If William White hadn't lost his mind, he'd never do that.
His asset allocation was a bit skewed too; the largest part of his portfolio was in the IT industry. He wasn't insane about his own finances.
Plus, just how much could he really short? Going through all that trouble for such a small profit made no sense.
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"Honey, are you tired today?"
"How did you know?" The lovely Michelle Reis shot him a look. Normally, when she gave him a massage, he was always squirming.
"Your neck seems tight, relax a bit. Your shoulder muscles feel a little tense too."
"Yeah, a lot on my mind lately. This period's been a bit of an adjustment, but after the midterms, the Donkey will have its head back in the game."
"Honey, that guy is the president; he shouldn't have any issues, right?"
"Ha! What issues? In a few months, he'll turn into a lame duck. At that point, any new proposal will have a tough time passing."
Generally, William White rarely brought work home. Acting like a big shot at the office was enough. If he had to keep up the facade at home too, then he would truly be a cash machine.
"Honey, I just passed by MJ's mansion. Why did he move an amusement park into his home?"
"Ha! That's not a good idea. That guy seriously can't do anything but sing. It's almost like he's living in some sort of fantasy world, and that can be quite dangerous."
"Stop it, he has the money. If he wants to stay home and play games, even if it's a little bizarre, it's just a personal hobby."
What Michelle Reis said was basically true. Folks lived pretty casually. Generally, personal hobbies were widely varied.
Some liked firearms and owned tanks. Others were car enthusiasts and had garages that rivaled professional repair shops. They couldn't care less about bills when it came to their beloved hobbies.
But while it was fine to play at your own amusement park, inviting others over was another story entirely.
What if an accident happened? What if someone got hurt? Then it wouldn't be a laughing matter.
And who did you invite over? If it was a family, that wasn't a big deal. But if kids were involved? You'd have to be extra cautious.
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