Chapter 146 Making Dumplings

In addition to investing part of its funds in the process of absorbing Manchester United, DS Capital's current main operation is to close its previous long positions on international crude oil and gold prices and concentrate its funds on shorting crude oil.

In fact, the trend of international gold prices before and after the Iraq War was very similar to the trend of crude oil prices.

In the first half of last year, the international gold price continued to be below US$300 per ounce. By the beginning of 2003, the international gold price had risen to around US$340 per ounce.

As the war atmosphere continued to deepen, by early February, the international gold price rose to more than 390 US dollars per ounce, and was once close to 400 US dollars per ounce - this was the highest gold price in the past six and a half years.

It was near this position that DS Capital, under the command of Barron, began to liquidate their free funds and the private equity Mars Fund's long positions in gold and crude oil.

Gold will also fall next.

However, the magnitude is not as large as the price of crude oil. Therefore, DS Capital's main operation in the short term is to short-sell international crude oil after closing positions.

This time, in addition to the 200 million pounds owned by DS Capital, in order to raise funds, DS Capital closed all positions, including long-term London copper, in addition to long-term stocks. 200 million pounds of funding.

In addition to the Mars Fund, which initially had a starting capital of 50 million pounds, in less than half a year of operation, after closing its long positions in gold and crude oil futures, its capital has reached 120 million. Sterling, the scale increased by 240%!

Coupled with the 200 million pounds Barron just received from Barclays Bank by mortgaging his own assets...

This time DS Capital will use up to 520 million pounds in short selling!

However, among them, the Mars Foundation is shorting the international gold price, and the 400 million pounds from its own funds and loans is shorting the international crude oil price.

The main reason is that the funds of the Mars Fund are managed by Barclays Bank. Relatively speaking, DS Capital’s own funds are more convenient for concealing positions.

…

"Happy Chinese New Year, Laura."

February 1st this year is the Chinese Spring Festival. After getting into the Rolls Royce, Barron said this to his personal assistant Wang Wanting.

"Happy Spring Festival, Your Highness the Duke. I almost forgot if you didn't tell me."

Mainly because she now lives in Kensington, near Barron's home. If she were in Chinatown in Soho, the Spring Festival atmosphere would still be quite strong.

"It's a pity that we can't eat dumplings during the Spring Festival..."

Barron said with some regret.

Also because of the Chinese Spring Festival, he gave his Chinese chef two days off to reunite with his family. As for himself, he could make dumplings, but he could only make them. He was far away from mixing the dough, rolling out the dough, and adjusting the fillings. beyond his capabilities.

"If you want to eat dumplings, Mr. Duke, I can make some more for you then."

After hearing Wang Wanting's words, Barron's eyes lit up and he said with a smile:

"Are you making dumplings while preparing dinner? Well, you can go to my house and make them together. This way the atmosphere will be better. I have learned a little bit about making dumplings."

"Won't I disturb you and Miss Bonnie?"

Barron shrugged and said:

"Bonnie is on a business trip, and my Chinese chef is also on vacation. I originally planned to find someone to go to the Chinese restaurant to buy some dumplings to eat..."

Bonnie is indeed not in London now, because she has gone to Callan Castle in advance - in two months she will start preparations for the filming of the second season of the reality show "The Traitors", because this season of "The Traitors" "The filming location will be changed from Chatsworth Manor to Callan Castle, so she needs to go to Callan Castle in advance to make some renovation plans there for the filming of the show.

…

"Barron, I'm very glad I made my choice."

Today, as agreed in advance, the Crown Prince came to DS Capital. After learning about the current rate of return of the Mars fund, the crown prince was very happy. He patted Barron on the shoulder and asked:

"I'm going to invest more, when can I do it?"

"Originally, we were planning to settle the Mars fund after the one-year period is up. However, in addition to you, there are also many investors who want to invest in the Mars fund again, including previous investors and new investors. Therefore, We are preparing to open investment channels for Mars funds again in early April."

Barron has also considered this matter. After all, in his view, the current scale of the Mars fund is still too small.

In the past, DS Capital did not have sufficient qualifications and record, and was not very attractive to investors. However, in less than half a year, Mars Fund’s outstanding results have also attracted more investors. Some people have been asking When can he invest in the Mars fund, he made such a decision.

"Okay, remember to inform me when the time comes, Barron, I am ready to invest another 20 million pounds."

"No problem, Your Highness."

Barron is also willing to tie the interests of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince more deeply to himself. After all, many things in the future will also require the influence of the other party.

For example, because the time was not yet ripe, he had not yet been told that he was planning to acquire O2.

You must know that O2 was spun off from British Telecom, which itself was originally a state-owned enterprise. Later, it sold 50% of its shares to the public and became a private company, but 50% of the shares are still state-owned.

As for the O2 company that was spun off from it, state-owned shares also account for a large proportion. It can be said that if Barron's wants to acquire O2 company, the government's attitude is absolutely crucial.

In this regard, Barron has prepared a dual strategy. One is to use the influence of the royal family to persuade the management of O2 Company; the other is that he is preparing to participate in the Iraq War after Britain participates in the Iraq War, and when domestic anti-war voices rise one after another. , on the condition that their media would not "make trouble" in this regard, and reached a "tacit understanding" with the Prime Minister in exchange for their approval of the O2 acquisition.

Of course, these alone are not enough. Barron's will also have a dedicated acquisition team to communicate and negotiate with O2's management.

After getting off work, Barron took Wang Wanting directly back to his residence.

His home is well stocked with Chinese food-related ingredients, and he also asked his butler Ramos to prepare some corresponding vegetables in advance.

As for dumplings, Barron's favorites are cabbage meat and leek meat. It can be seen that Wang Wanting has indeed been experienced in making dumplings before, and the fillings she prepared smell very tempting.

Ramos had become the butler of his London residence at this time. He had never seen the noble Duke enter the kitchen in person, so he quickly took the maids to help.

But making dumplings was too difficult for them. In the end, Barron exerted the majesty of the Duke and drove them all out of the kitchen.

"I didn't expect you to be really good at making dumplings, Your Highness the Duke."

Seeing that although Barron was not very skilled, at least the dumplings he made looked pretty, Wang Wanting was also greatly surprised and praised him.

For Barron, this scene at this time reminded him of similar scenes in his previous life.

Perhaps it is a mark engraved deep in the soul, but Chinese people always have a warm feeling when it comes to making dumplings.