Negotiations are always very boring. The only foreign female employee is not attractive, and her figure is not impressive either. Feng Yiping stayed for a while, and took the opportunity to answer the phone to go for a long walk.
He had explained the bottom line, and Jin Ling and Lao Bao volunteered to be interpreters, so there were no communication problems, and he didn't need to worry about it.
The phone call was from Li Ruiyuan. He asked Lao Bao to bring a plan, which Feng Yiping had already seen but had not given him a reply.
Li Ruiyuan's idea was something Feng Yiping had thought of on the way to buy a car the other day. This year, the mainland stock market is a bull market. Feng Yiping has been following Feng Yiping's advice and buying US technology stocks. Li Ruiyuan, who has been building a small position in crude oil futures, can't sit still as he watches the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets flourish.
'Mr Feng,' he said, no longer calling him Yiping, but Feng Zong, which is supposed to show respect, 'according to news and data in the newspapers, GDP in the first quarter grew by 8.1% year-on-year, an increase of 1.3 percentage points over the fourth quarter of last year, and the macroeconomy is improving.
Judging from the financial reports, the performance of listed companies is also generally good, especially the state-owned enterprise large-cap stocks in sectors such as steel, cement, and electricity, which are showing an encouraging trend, indicating that the infrastructure industry is beginning to strengthen, and this is also a sign that the macroeconomy has started.
Even more favourable news is that the management has changed its mindset and is supportive and encouraging of the development of the securities market. It no longer views it as mere speculation, and has introduced a number of favourable policies, especially allowing commercial insurance funds to indirectly enter the market.
All of this, combined, is a guarantee of a bull market. Combining all factors, I think that in this wave of the market, the Shanghai stock index will at least break through 2,000 points. Are we just going to stand by and watch, or is this a rare opportunity that we should not waste?'
Although Feng Yiping had made it clear to him during their tea gathering at Lu Yu Tea House that he was not very willing to get involved in the mainland stock market, as the head of the financial department, Li Ruiyuan felt that he needed to remind Feng Yiping. At the same time, he also hoped to make achievements and show his value.
'Mr Li, do you remember last year's Army Day? Oh, you may not be familiar with it, it was 1 July. On that day, the Securities Law was officially implemented. In theory, with such a law to ensure the healthy development of the securities market and protect the interests of investors, the stock market should have risen at the mere mention of it.
However, on that day, the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets both fell sharply, with the Shanghai Composite Index falling even more sharply by 7.6%. This actually truly reflects our securities market, which is irrational and unregulated. Therefore, I still maintain my opinion that in principle, I will not get involved in the mainland stock market.' Feng Yiping spoke very slowly, but he did not leave any room for manoeuvre, saying only that in principle, he would not get involved.
The development of our stock market is, to put it mildly, really chaotic.
Later, Feng Yiping, who started working in 1997, did not pay attention to the development of the stock market. Now Feng Yiping, from high school, can watch TV every day and has access to newspapers. Since then, he has been quietly following the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets. He has seen many situations that make him feel incredible, and even see cold sweat.
Those people who say that the stock market was not regulated after more than ten years and who cry foul, if they look back at the present, will feel that the stock market was really regulated at that time.
For example, a year or two ago, the serious violation of securities companies misappropriating margin led to frequent emergencies in the futures market, which was actually not as terrible as other things.
The most frightening thing is that although the state clearly stipulates that venues for stock trading must be approved by the State Council, there are still 18 provinces and cities across the country that have boldly set up over-the-counter securities trading venues without central approval. Among them, the listed stocks have not been approved by the central regulatory authorities, and the transactions are not supervised by the central regulatory authorities. To put it bluntly, the listed company stocks traded in these venues are actually not listed stocks in the strict sense.
However, there are more than 3 million investors engaged in such trading, and the market value involved is more than 30 billion yuan!
Illegal trading is carried out so blatantly and on such a large scale, and you're still talking about whether it's regulated or not.
'Then I think now is the time to get involved in principle,' Li Ruiyuan heard the meaning in his words and immediately fought for it, 'If you have concerns, we won't invest too much money, can you see if it's possible?'
'Mr Li, this really isn't the right time. I'm worried that operating in the domestic market will make you doubt and waver in your experience. Just stick to the plan. Don't be discouraged. There will always be opportunities.'
Feng Yiping said this based on his own experience. In the domestic stock market, apart from those who are clearly confident, most retail investors are really just gambling.
Two of his friends, one of whom had been studying stocks in his spare time, invested the money he would have spent on an Audi A4 in 2007, hoping to get out with the money he would have spent on an Audi A6.
The result was that he got out with the money he would have spent on an Oreo. The other friend, who had never paid any attention to the stock market and knew nothing about it, was influenced by the enthusiasm of everyone else for stocks that year and invested the money he would have spent on a BMW 3 Series.
Although the friend who had been studying stocks all along might be a half-baked, this still shows that in the domestic stock market, to make money, sometimes it really depends on luck.
'Mr. Li, don't feel sorry, don't worry, there are plenty of opportunities, you can pay attention to Hong Kong stocks and pay close attention to the movements of those institutions, maybe there is an opportunity in this,' Feng Yiping reassured, Li Ruiyuan's enthusiasm still had to be taken into account.
At the same time, there was a point to what he said. In the second half of the year, he and some international institutions and banks later joined forces to short sell the shares of some listed companies in China, just like short selling Evergrande. In the second half of the year, these institutions successfully sniped at a well-known mainland enterprise in the Hong Kong stock market.
'Okay then, Mr. Feng, I respect your opinion,' Li Ruiyuan hung up the phone with some emotional depression.
Feng Yiping didn't feel sorry. He really didn't want to get involved in the mainland stock market now. Many of the mainland's masters of capital operations did not get a good end. Not to mention those who went in, but those who had tens of billions of wealth, many committed suicide. Just think about it and you can appreciate the pressure they faced.
Possessing huge wealth, they might not be happier than the people at the bottom. This kind of life is definitely not what the reborn Feng Yiping wants.
In the meeting room, a fierce confrontation was also underway. Hamilton insisted on the global copyright for the Blue Ocean Strategy, while Lawyer Ye, acting on Feng Yiping's instructions, insisted on retaining the copyright for the Greater China region. The two sides were at an impasse. When they saw Feng Yiping enter, Hamilton immediately turned his attention to him. 'Mr Feng, our publishing house has always demanded the global copyright for the commercial books we publish, and this time, we are insisting on the same thing.'
'This is easy to understand. I guess your publishing house has never published a commercial book by a native Chinese writer before,' Feng Yiping said with a smile, 'I think we should compromise. We will retain the copyright in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, and we will give your publishing house the rights to the rest of the world.
The distribution in Hong Kong and Macau will definitely be handed over to his own publishing house. As for the mainland, Feng Yiping wants to wait and see. After the book has been hyped up in Europe and the United States, he will negotiate with publishers, including his own school, and should be able to negotiate more favourable royalty terms at that time.
There was no other way. He didn't mean to sound like a foreigner worshipper, but theories recognised by peers in Europe and America would generally be respected in China, not to mention that the originator of this theory was a Chinese national. If it was handled well, the print run for domestic sales could be high enough to rival sales in all other regions.
'Alright then,' after discussing it with his colleagues, Hamilton finally agreed to the terms. As the saying goes, rules are made to be broken, and what's more, they were the ones who were eager to publish the book.
However, according to their editorial process, the manuscript must be strictly reviewed before publication can be confirmed, so Feng Yiping should not expect to receive a partial advance payment or anything like that right now.
'That's not a problem,' Feng Yiping had never expected that anyway, "I only have one request, I hope it can be published no later than September, is that okay?'
Hamilton considered it for a moment, and figured there was still a quarter of a year to go, "No problem,' he also agreed readily.
At this point, both parties had no objections to any of the issues, and just after signing the agreement, Feng Yiping was still chatting with Hamilton when his phone vibrated again. He looked at it and saw that he had to answer the call. 'Sorry, I need to take this,'
and as soon as he answered the phone, a deep voice said, 'Yiping, I've run into a problem. Help me figure it out,'