Hollywood Hunter

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Washington.

In a mansion near Rock Creek Park on the northern outskirts of the city, Richard Mellon Skeff immediately greeted the guests when he heard his assistant tell them to arrive. The guest was Martin Mendels, who was about fifty years old. White middle-aged, slightly fat, wearing rimless glasses.

In addition, the most important point is that Martin Mendels is one of the seven executive committee members of the Federal Reserve.

After a warm greeting, the two came to the reception room and took a seat. Skeff personally poured Martin the coffee he had prepared, his smile unchanged: "How are Martin, Melissa and the children?"

Martin Mendels took the coffee and nodded slightly: "Very well, where is your side?"

"Not bad," Skeff replied, took a sip of his coffee, and then said, "Martin, well, frankly, we have known each other for so many years, haven't we?"

Martin Mendels smiled and glanced at Skeff: "Of course, Richard..."

"Charlie, call me Charlie."

"Okay, Charlie," Martin Mendels said, but put down the coffee cup and stopped oblivious: "I'll be honest, Charlie, unfortunately, 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 have also seen the situation of the Nasdaq closing yesterday, 6317 points, the total market value reached 7.6 Trillions, this is completely crazy. For the federal economy, Martin, the Fed must act to curb the continuation of the bubble, right?"

"Charlie, I'm just one of the seven members of the Federal Reserve Executive Committee. There are vice-chairs on it, and the White House and Congress on it. Do you think we can make arbitrary decisions?" Martin Mendels said, eyes tight Stare at Skeff: "So, even if you can't do anything on the White House, you should try to lobby Congress instead of finding me."

"I know you don't have the right to decide," Skef paused, and then said: "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, then said: "You talk about it first?"

"Accepted an interview to comment on the Fed's upcoming interest rate hike."

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

"One million dollars, after you leave, I can arrange for you to join the Andrew Mellon Foundation as a director."

"It's not just a matter of money," Martin Mendels said that he has gotten up: "Charlie, I guess you must have bet on short positions in technology stocks recently. After so many years of familiarity, there is only one suggestion I can give you. Clear the position as soon as possible. ."

After that, Martin Mendels has walked directly outside the door.

Richard Mellon Skeff had to get up to see him off, seeing Martin Mendels hurriedly leaving like being chased by the devil, suddenly kicked on the door panel, and then there was another ping-pong-pong sound in the reception room. After that, the assistants and servants just appeared, and they immediately avoided amid Skeff's roar.

Clearance?

If it can be cleared, Richard Mellon Skeff will of course.

It's just that now it's completely overwhelming.

From the end of the presidential election in early November of last year to the present, Richard Mellon Skeff has raised nearly $300 million in funds through mortgages and other means, and all of them have been pressed on short positions in technology stocks.

In the initial prediction, 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. During this period, many new technology companies will release quarterly or full-year financial reports one after another, plus other Many forces that have been contacted for several months have worked together in all aspects, not believing that the already shaky technology stocks will not collapse.

result,

Especially after Igreat’s 1996 annual financial report press conference on Wednesday, the new technology giant rose sharply in the next two trading days.

In the end, as of the closing of the week on Friday yesterday, the Nasdaq index reached a new high, reaching 6,317 points, which is a cumulative increase of 16% compared to 5,426 points on November 6.And the most watched Eaglet company, compared with the market value of 579.6 billion US dollars on November 6, the market value at the close of yesterday was already as high as 751.9 billion US dollars. In less than three months, the cumulative increase is as high as 29. %.

Richard Mellon Skeff’s US$300 million funds have been mainly used in the past few months to establish short Nasdaq futures contracts and short-selling technology stocks such as Igreat. Initially, Skave was relatively conservative in avoiding leverage. , But with more and more losses on the books, in order to cover the cost, Skeff gradually increased the position.

So the loss continued to increase.

By the end of the day yesterday, Richard Mellon Skeff’s various short positions have exceeded 50%. The original capital of 300 million US dollars has now been left with less than 150 million US dollars.

Last year’s "Forbes" US 400 rich list, 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 The stock assets, and the 300 million US dollars of funds he borrowed, are all secured by these assets.

Now, once the capital of this 300 million US dollars is lost, it not only means that Skef’s fortune will be severely reduced, but also means that he will lose control of the stock representatives in his hands. The Mellon family controls Alcoa. The board seats of companies such as Chevron and Chevron are not only because of their family background, but mainly because of the intertwined shareholding.

The same is true for the Mellon family's influence on federal politics and economy through these corporate giants.

Therefore, if he fails this time, only his own branch will be damaged.

If you can regret it, Richard Mellon Skeff has vowed that he will never be arrogant, but unfortunately, there is no chance for regret in this world.

I smashed all the furnishings in the reception room of the mansion. Richard Mellon Skeff, who was sitting alone in the "Ruins", calmed down a bit, and called the head of the Tiger Fund Julian Robertson. .

In the past few years, millions of people smashed Clinton’s black material. The White House is definitely no play. On the Congress side, although the Westeros system was quite convergent last year, the'chaos' by Simon Westero in the 94 midterm elections was 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 offend.

The last trick, to start directly from the Fed, still failed.

Now, on Washington's side, he has nothing to do.

I can only look forward to Robertson’s efforts. After all, compared to his 300 million US dollars, the Tiger Fund has a huge amount of tens of billions of dollars, which are all on the short at this time. Skeff does not know the current floating loss of the Tiger Fund. , I think it is equally disastrous.

In any case, it's time to let go.

Simon came to the east coast as usual on weekends.

The news of Richard Mellon Skeff’s meeting with Martin Mendels, one of the seven members of the Federal Reserve Executive Committee, on Saturday afternoon, Simon got the news that night, in order to avoid that member’s “stupid thing” , Directly passed the news to the White House.

I believe that Clinton, who has been dug up by Skeff for a few years and has not completely gotten rid of it, will surely reassure the committee member.

Presumably, the bears are about to make an effort, and Simon's schedule rhythm has not been affected at all.

On Saturday night, as agreed, I invited Natasha Richardson, who had met at the Sundance Film Festival last time, to dinner together, and the following things were a little more logical.

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 I sat in the restaurant, the man had already eaten half of his breakfast, waiting for the waitress to deliver it. After leaving after the last lunch, the woman couldn't help but cast a blank look at someone and said in an obvious English accent: "Simon, I found you are so evil."

Although accusing someone, Natasha Richardson blushed first herself.

Just last night, the two of them were in the bedroom. After all, they were similar not long ago, and they were still quite nervous. When a guy suggested to relax while watching a movie, she agreed.

As a result, someone played "Zoom in".

This is a work by Italian film master Michelangelo Antonioni in 1966, 30 years ago.Of course, this is not the point. The problem 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 said again: "But you are still too evil."

"But," Simon looked innocent: "I think you were also very excited last night?"

Natasha who had just picked up a small loaf of bread heard the word, grabbed a piece and threw it towards the man opposite.

Simon took it casually, put it in his mouth, and said: "Well, only evil people can see evil. For me, what I see is only beauty. Didn't you find it? The fashion of the 60s, put It’s not out of date at all. I have just asked A to recommend this movie to Melisandre, so that they can look for some inspiration. Well, the solid color straight skirt is really beautiful, and you should try it too. Your style fits well."

When Natasha Richardson heard the words, she gave someone a sideways look: "You mean, I am suitable for a straight skirt?"

"Yes, because you are very straight."

Then another piece of bread smashed over.

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

Natasha just glared at someone.

After eating breakfast, Simon didn't immediately throw away the woman who had just been ONS. He happened to have a meeting in the morning and brought him with him. On the other side was Martin Scorsese.

About "New York Gangs".

The original "Gangs of New York" was produced by Miramax, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day Lewis. It cost 100 million U.S. dollars. As a result, the global box office was less than 200 million. The tepidity of a blockbuster "Cold Mountain", the Weinstein brothers later parted ways with Disney, is also largely due to this.

The two brothers have always wanted to make a blockbuster with a large investment and a large budget. Unfortunately, anyone with a little brain should understand that this is not the way to do literary films.

Unfortunately, people who are swollen are often irrational.

This is also a lesson for Simon.

For any literary film, Simon's innermost investment limit is 50 million US dollars, whichever is higher, unless there are other special reasons.

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

Until now.

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

Of course, there are other more important reasons.

Little plum, one of the leading actors.

The current little Li has just finished filming "Titanic" and has been tossed by Cameron for more than half a year. Now he is correcting. Now that the big ship is about to come, once the project achieves the glories that it once was, "New York Gangs" will become Little Li's first place after the big ship For a film, the effect is definitely imaginable.

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

On the other hand, Simon does not plan to give Martin Scorsese 100 million US dollars this time, only 65 million. After all, this is a feature film that does not require special effects. Now Xiao Lizi signed the film contract in advance before the ship. The pay is also very cheap, as is the case with Daniel Day Lewis, 65 million is more than enough.

In terms of schedule, "New York Gangs" will definitely not 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 will definitely have no time this year, and will have to wait until next year at the earliest. Similarly, on the side of Xiao Lizi, It’s better to start filming next year. As long as the big ship is released, "New York Gangs" will receive wide-spread attention worldwide from the start of filming. Coupled with Martin Scorsese and gimmicks that have been brewing for more than 20 years, it is almost foolproof. .

Finally, since I brought Natasha Richardson, it was easy, and the heroine also booked in advance.

As for the original Cameron Diaz, Simon did not feel anything. From the beginning of "Ghost in Disguise", Simon never thought of using each other. This actress who was supposed to be in the 1990s is still in obscurity. In short, he couldn't reach Simon's vision.