Hollywood Hunter

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Washington.

In a mansion near Rock Creek Park on the northern outskirts of the city, Richard Mellon Scaife immediately greeted the guest when he heard his assistant inform the guest to arrive. The guest's name was Martin Mendels, a man in his fifties. Caucasian middle-aged, slightly fat, wearing rimless glasses.

In addition to this, the most important point is that Martin Mendels is one of the seven executive members of the Fed.

After a warm chat, the two came to the reception room and took their seats. Skeff poured the coffee that had been prepared for Martin himself, with the same smile: "Martin, how are Melissa and the children doing?"

Martin Mendels took the coffee and nodded slightly: "Very good, how about your side?"

"Not bad," Skeff responded, took a sip of his coffee, and continued, "Martin, well, let's be honest, we've known each other for years, haven't we?"

Martin Mendels glanced at Skeff with a smile: "Of course, Richard..."

"Charlie, call me Charlie."

"Okay, Charlie," Martin Mendels said, but he put down his coffee cup and stopped beating around the bush: "I'll also confess, Charlie, I'm sorry I can't help you this time."

Richard Mellon Skeff saw Martin Mendels straight to the point, and his expression remained calm: "Don't be so absolute, Martin, you also saw the closing of the Nasdaq yesterday, 6317 points, and the total market value reached 7.6 Trillions, this is completely crazy, for the federal economy, Martin, the Fed has to stop the bubble from continuing, doesn't it?"

"Charlie, I'm just one of the seven members of the Fed's executive committee, with the deputy chairman on top, and the White House and Congress on top. Do you think we can make arbitrary decisions?" Martin Mendels said. He stared at Skeff: "So, even if you can't do anything at the White House, you should try to lobby Congress instead of me."

"I know you don't have the right to decide," Skeff paused, then continued: "Then, Martin, I hope you will help me once in other ways, just once, and if you agree, I can give you some compensation. ."

Martin Mendelston paused before saying, "You talk about it first?"

"To give an interview on the Fed's imminent move to raise interest rates."

As soon as Richard Mellon Scaife finished speaking, Martin Mendels immediately shook his head: "I'm sorry, Charlie, I can't help you with this, you know, I'll retire in five years. , I also have a wife and three children."

"$1 million. After you leave, I can arrange for you to enter the Andrew Mellon Foundation as a director."

"It's not just about money," said Martin Mendels, who had stood up: "Charlie, I'm guessing you've been short on tech stocks recently, and we've known each other for so many years, there's only one piece of advice I can give you, clear your positions as soon as possible. ."

Having said that, Martin Mendels has already walked directly to the door.

Richard Mellon Skeff had to get up to see him off, and seeing Martin Mendels hurried away as if being chased by a devil, he suddenly kicked the door panel, and then there was a sound of ping-pong-pong in the reception room. Out, the assistant and servant just appeared, and immediately avoided far away in the roar of Skeff.

Clearance?

Richard Mellon Skeff certainly would if it could be cleared.

However, it is now completely difficult to ride a tiger.

From the end of the presidential election in early November last year to the present, Richard Mellon Skeff has raised nearly $300 million in funds through mortgage loans and other methods, all of which have been put on short positions in technology stocks one after another.

In the initial forecast, many people thought that technology stocks would turn around before New Year's Day this year, and it would not last until mid-January at the latest, because during this time, many new technology companies will release quarterly or full-year financial reports one after another. Many forces that have been linked for several months have worked together in all aspects. I don’t believe that the already shaky technology stocks will not collapse.

As a result, today is January 25th, and technology stocks not only show no signs of collapse, but are still surging forward.

Especially after Igreit's 1996 full-year earnings press conference on Wednesday, the new technology giant has risen sharply in the next two trading days.

Finally, as of the close of the week on Friday yesterday, the Nasdaq reached a new high, reaching 6317 points. Compared with 5426 points on November 6, the cumulative increase has reached 16%. And the most eye-catching company, Igret, compared with the market value of 579.6 billion US dollars on November 6, the market value at the close yesterday was as high as 751.9 billion US dollars. In less than three months, the cumulative increase was as high as 29%. %.

Richard Mellon Skeff's $300 million capital has been used for several months to build short Nasdaq futures contracts and short technology stocks such as Igret. At first, Skeff was relatively conservative and avoided the use of leverage. , but with more and more floating losses on the book, in order to recover the capital, Skeff gradually increased the position.

As a result, losses continued to increase.

By the close of yesterday's market, Richard Mellon Skeff's various short positions had exceeded 50%, and the original $300 million capital now had less than $150 million left.

Last year's "Forbes" list of America's 400 richest people, as one of the six Mellon family members, Richard Mellon Skeff's net worth is 700 million US dollars, most of which are inherited from his parents. Stock assets, and the $300 million in funds he borrowed from these assets are used as collateral.

Now, once the $300 million is gone, it means more than just Skye

Husband's net worth will be seriously shrunk, and it will also mean that he will lose control of the stocks in his hands. The Mellon family holds board seats in companies such as Alcoa and Chevron, not only because of their family background. The main reason is the intertwined shareholding.

The same is true of the Mellon family's influence on areas such as the federal political economy through these corporate giants.

Therefore, once this failure, just his own team, will be fundamentally damaged.

If you can regret it, Richard Mellon Skeff swore that he would never act impulsively at the beginning, but unfortunately, there is no chance to regret in this world.

After smashing all the furniture in the reception room of the mansion, Richard Mellon Skeff, who was sitting alone in the 'ruin', calmed down a little and called Julian Robertson, the head of the Tiger Fund. .

In the past few years, millions of dollars were spent to excavate Clinton's black material, and the White House must have no role. On the Congress side, although the Westeros system was quite restrained last year, the 'chaos' of Simon Westeros in the 1994 midterm election was still Let the active members of Congress have lingering fears, coupled with the increasing influence of many companies under the Westeros system on the US economy, no one seems to be offended.

The last resort, trying to start directly from the Fed, still failed to work.

Now, on Washington's side, there's nothing he can do.

We can only look forward to Robertson's efforts. After all, compared to his 300 million US dollars, Tiger Fund has tens of billions of dollars of huge funds that are all on short positions at this time. Scaif does not know what the current floating loss of Tiger Fund is. , I think it's just as bad.

In any case, it's time to give it a go.

Simon came to the East Coast as usual over the weekend.

The news of Richard Mellon Skeff's Saturday afternoon meeting with Martin Mendels, one of the seven members of the Fed's executive committee, Simon got the news that night, in order to prevent the member from doing 'stupid things' , passed the message directly to the White House.

I believe that Clinton, who has been dug up by Scave for a few years and has not yet completely gotten rid of it, will definitely "appease" the committee member.

Probably guessing that the short side is about to exert force, Simon's schedule rhythm has not been affected at all.

On Saturday night, I invited Natasha Richardson, whom I had met at the Sundance Film Festival last time, to dinner as agreed, and then things went a little bit logically.

The next day is Sunday, January 26.

It was still cold in New York at the end of January. In the morning, you could see the snow-covered Central Park from the restaurant. Natasha Richardson got up a little late. When she sat in the restaurant, the man had already eaten half of his breakfast and was waiting for the waitress to deliver it. After leaving after the last lunch, the woman couldn't help but give someone a blank look and said in a distinctly British accent: "Simon, I find you so evil."

Although accusing someone, Natasha Richardson herself blushed first.

Just last night, the two were in the bedroom. After all, they were similar for a while, so they were quite nervous. When a guy suggested watching a movie to relax, she agreed.

As a result, someone played a "Zoom".

This is a work by Italian film master Michelangelo Antonioni in 1966, 30 years ago. Of course, that's not the point, the point is that the heroine of Zoom, Vanessa Redgrave, is her mother.

Facing the woman's anger, Simon said with a smile: "Nata, don't you think this is a great movie?"

"Of course," Natasha Richardson nodded subconsciously, and then added: "But, you are still too evil."

"But," Simon said innocently: "I think you were very excited last night too?"

Natasha, who had just picked up a small piece of bread, heard the words, took a piece and threw it at the man opposite.

Simon caught it, put it in his mouth, and said: "Well, only evil people can see evil, for me, all I see is beauty, haven't you noticed, the fashion of the 60s, put It's not out of date at all, I've just asked a to recommend this movie to Melisandre and let them look for some inspiration. Well, the solid color straight skirt is really beautiful, and you should try it too, Your style fits very well."

Hearing this, Natasha Richardson gave someone a sideways look: "You mean, I'm suitable for straight skirts?"

"Yeah, because you're straight."

Then another piece of bread smashed over.

Simon couldn't catch it this time, half-joking: "I should really send you to Africa to see those hungry people who can't eat."

Natasha just glared at someone.

After breakfast, Simon didn't immediately throw away the woman he had just had ons with. There happened to be a meeting in the morning, so he brought the other party with him, and Martin Scorsese was on the other side.

About Gangs of New York.

The original "Gangs of New York," produced by Miramax and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis, cost $100 million and ended up with less than $200 million at the global box office, plus other The lukewarmness of a blockbuster "Cold Mountain" and the Weinstein brothers' later parting ways with Disney were largely the reason.

The two brothers have always wanted to make blockbusters with big investment and big budget. Unfortunately, anyone with a little brains should understand that literary films cannot do this.

Unfortunately, people who are inflated are often irrational.

This is also a lesson for Simon.

For any literary film, Simon set an investment limit of up to $50 million, no matter how high, unless there are other special reasons.

As for this

"Gangs of New York" actually came from a novel of the same name published in 1928 that Martin Scorsese had read, and had the idea in the 1970s and promoted it for many years, originally because of the success of the "Godfather" series. , and then died because of the box office fiasco of "Once Upon a Time in America" ​​in the 1980s.

until now.

Old Martin has been obsessed with this matter. Simon happened to have a suitable amount of funds in his hand. In addition, the film was not an absolute failure in his memory. At least it was more than enough to make profits through subsequent distribution, so he decided to shoot.

Of course, there are other more important reasons.

Little plum, one of the male protagonists.

Now Xiao Lizi has just finished filming "Titanic", and has been tossed by Cameron for more than half a year. Now that the big ship is coming, "Gangs of New York" will become Xiao Lizi's first after the big ship. A film, the effect can certainly be imagined.

Therefore, as long as there is no accident, "Gangs of New York" is definitely a very profitable project.

On the other hand, Simon does not plan to give Martin Scorsese $100 million this time, but only 65 million. After all, this is a drama film that does not require special effects. Now the little plum has signed the film contract in advance before the big ship. The remuneration is also very cheap, as is Daniel Day-Lewis, and 65 million is more than enough.

In terms of schedule, "Gangs of New York" will definitely not be able to be produced this year.

After Simon agreed to the launch of "Shakespeare in Love", Ella Deutschman has successfully invited Daniel Day-Lewis, so the actor must have no time this year, and will have to wait until next year at the earliest. Similarly, on Xiao Lizi's side, It will be even better to start shooting next year. As long as the big ship is released, "Gangs of New York" will be able to get widespread attention from the beginning of the filming, plus Martin Scorsese and gimmicks that have been brewing for more than 20 years, it is almost foolproof. .

In the end, since Natasha Richardson was brought on, it was easy, and the heroine was also booked in advance.

As for the original Cameron Diaz, Simon didn't have any feeling. Since "Geek in Disguise", Simon never thought of using the other party. This actress who was supposed to be popular in the 1990s is now in obscurity. The state, in short, can not reach Simon's vision.

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