45. Where have I heard that before?
Three days later, Mr. Park reported that JD was begging him to meet again.
“I’ve gotten at least ten calls from him since this morning, begging me to give him a second chance if the situation is serious.”
“Hmmm—.”
“What do you think we should do?”
“What do you think, Mr. Park? I know those guys acted a little out of line that day, but the JD situation is more serious than I thought, and it’s going to take a lot of money to get things back on track. Is it worth it?”
“The reason I recommended JD is because, along with True Apparel, we can maximize the synergies when we acquired it from Daesung. Even if the company is in trouble, the brand value is still there, and the sales network is still there. But if we fail here, and the company collapses further, those advantages are gone. I think you need to make a decision now.”
“And this president?”
“I want you to buy it, even if it costs more money. There’s no overlap with our main submission, and the material is the same as ours, so I think it would be a productive acquisition.”
“You think so?”
“Yes.”
So we see eye to eye after all.
That’s why I wanted to acquire it.
“Okay, I’ll take it.”
“So, do you want to make another appointment?”
“Just so you know, this time I’m not going out.”
“What? You’re not going out?”
“Yeah, I don’t want to see it twice. You guys handle it, and just report back.”
“Okay.”
“Mr. Lee.”
“Yes.”
“Here’s the number, and you’re going to move with them.”
“Who are they?”
“They’re a law firm that specializes in mergers and acquisitions. They’ll have lawyers and accountants who specialize in this area.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“Just don’t ask for too much, and if you don’t feel comfortable, walk away.”
“Okay.”
Or not.
Who said that?
That there’s no company in the world you have to buy?
Then, a day before I flew to the US.
It was reported that a deal had been struck.
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JD’s president, Chul-hwan Kim, held out for a few pennies at first, but eventually raised his hands.
“Run the company, bro.”
“Okay. I’ll do my best.”
“Okay, then.”
After encouraging his brother Jae-ha, who came out to see him off by himself, he boarded the plane for Los Angeles.
December 26th.
2017 is almost over.
“Boeing closed at $295 today, I think it’s going to break $300 soon.”
I’m spending the end of the year with John in his office in our new home.
The bad thing about this industry is that we still have to work on December 26, the day after Christmas, when everyone else is usually off for the holidays.
Of course, we compensate our employees accordingly, but hey, we’ll take what we can get.
But as long as the U.S. stock market is up, we’re stuck with it.
“When do you think John should sell?”
“Well, a company like Boeing doesn’t skyrocket the way tech stocks do. If it doubles in a year or so, that’s great. Personally, I think it’ll go to $400, but it seems inefficient to sit on it until then.”
“Well?”
“Why don’t you start selling when it gets above $350, although I think you’ve accomplished your objective?”
“Okay, I’ll do that.”
Boeing wasn’t in it for the long haul anyway.
If we buy it at $150 a share and sell it at $350 in a year or so, we’ll be fine.
They’d invested $800 million, and with John’s skillful buying and selling of shares, they’d get back more than $2 billion after selling at $350.
“Oh, and Scientific Games is already over $50, I think it’s gone up enough, why don’t you get rid of it?”
I bought $300 million at an average price of $14.45 and now it’s over $50, so I’ve eaten a lot in a year.
“Clean it up.”
“Yeah, I’ll clean it up above $50, and then the next one is Tesla, which went up to $70 and then it’s just been going sideways. It closed today at $63.”
“Hold Tesla until I say otherwise.”
“hahahahaha, I agree with you. But I’ll continue to buy and sell in the short term.”
“Sure.”
Yin Zhu’s view is that Tesla is still a few years away from really blowing up.
It would be better to tinker with it and wait for further buying.
“AMD hasn’t been much fun this year. It peaked at $15 at the end of February and has been going up and down, and now it’s down to $10.46, which is actually down about 9% from last year’s close of $11.34.”
“I saw Lisa the other day, and she told me to look forward to next year.”
“I’ve been told, too, that once Q4 2017 earnings are back in the black for the first time since 2011, and they announce a 32-core TR around the start of the summer, they’ll let us go to $20 if we trust them, so please don’t mess with us.”
“John’s in trouble, so am I, pooh-pooh!”
“I guess he got on my nerves because I kept buying and selling at the 50% mark.”
“Still, we have to do what we have to do, right?”
“Of course, right? hahahahaha!”
“hahahahaha!”
Seriously, we don’t have a favorite stock like AMD.
And I can see Intel’s castle wavering.
I wondered how far Lisa’s magic would go.
“Well, Nvidia closed at $49.36 today, and I think it’s going to stay that way.”
“Think of Nvidia like AMD. It’s a stock we’re going to be worried about for a long time.”
“hahahahaha! Okay, and Netflix.”
Netflix is a $1.5 billion stock they’ve poured money into, even taking out a loan.
“We bought it heavily in June and July and ended up buying it at an average price of $153. It closed today at $187, which isn’t bad so far. But it looks like it’s about to start rallying, so I’d like the boss to keep an eye on it.”
“Sure. After all, we didn’t take out a loan just to eat $35 a share.”
“You’re right.”
“So, John, where do you think you’re going to organize this?”
“Well, it’s going to go for $400 this year, no questions asked, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to get rid of it before then.”
So $400 is like 2.6x?
That’s a great return in a year or so.
And that’s in a large-cap stock like this.
“And after that?”
“I wouldn’t look at it again. Netflix can go up later, but I think in the long run, there’s just too many competitors, and the list gets bigger. I think it’s better to just eat clean this time and get it all out of the way.”
“hahahahaha, let’s do that.”
Netflix is reaping the rewards of being the first OTT service, but as John says, it was never meant to be a long-term play, as the big boys are getting ready to jump in.
Disney and HBO are rumored to be in the mix, and even Apple and YouTube are said to be in the mix.
Everybody else with content or a streaming network is jumping in.
If it gets to 400, it’s best to get out and stop losses.
And that’s a whopping $1.5 billion.
As John says, that’s a whopping $4 billion in profit just by getting out at 400, so it’s a great medium-term investment.
“What’s that?”
“What do you mean?”
“Wrestling.”
“Oh, you mean WWE?”
“Oh, yeah, WWE, that’s weird, it doesn’t stick in my mouth. It’s been going sideways lately, do you think that’s okay?”
“hahahaha, it doesn’t stick in my throat, but it closed at $29 today, and I bought it at an average price of $20. This is just the beginning, so we’ll see.”
“But I’m not really into pro wrestling.”
“You must have had a really unhappy adolescence.”
“Check out ——.”
How the hell did you come up with the formula that anyone who doesn’t like American professional wrestling must have had an unhappy childhood or adolescence?
I don’t want to hear you say pro wrestling ever again.
“Whatever, I’ll guarantee you at least 80 on this one, and I won’t sell it if the boss doesn’t like it.”
“I’m just going to live with it—.”
“Dreams for kids! Hope for adults! That’s what the WWE is all about, right?”
“Where do I hear that a lot?”
“Anyway, WWE is love.”
“——.”
I’ve heard that one before.
Anyway, let’s just leave it at that, because John swears by it, and he’s got a good prayer bead response.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t know what’s all the fuss about a really bad gostop.
“What’s next?”
“There’s Aviomed and Fortinet. First, Aviomed put in $700 million at an average price of $143. It closed today at $189. I think it’s safe to say that this one will go to $400+.”
“And if you go that route, what about Fortinet?”
“Fortinet put in $500 million, bought at an average of $7.50, and I’d like to see this one go long.”
“Hmm? Long term?”
“Yeah, you could probably double your money in a year or so, but it’s not a stock you want to put away. Give it another three or four years and I think it could go to $50 or more.”
“Ho-ho, that’s it?”
“Yeah, it’s looking very promising as they clean up their patents in the security solutions space in an acquisitive way. Why don’t we go long on this one?”
I don’t see why I’d object, do you?
“Let’s do that.”
“Thanks, boss.”
“Oh, you’re just trying to get my money, aren’t you?”
“Ah! Is that how it works?”
“hahahahaha!”
“hahahahaha!”
“Ah, the end of the year is December 29, right?”
“Yes, the 29th is a Friday.”
“So how long do you get off, this time?”
“We can take three days off. We open on Tuesday, January 2.”
“Well, after all your hard work, why don’t you take the day off until January 7th? We don’t really get to enjoy the Christmas holidays, do we?”
“Hmm, well. It won’t be too much of a disruption.”
“Then let’s do it.”
“Okay.”
“And John, you go ahead and give the short-term investment team a nice bonus. I’ll pay them as soon as I see them.”
“Got it.”
“And don’t worry about Jennifer, Roy, and John, I’ll take care of them.”
“hahahahaha! Okay, I’ll look forward to it!”
“Just don’t get your hopes up too high?”
“I’m going to look forward to it?”
“Well, so be it?”
“hahahahaha!”
“hahahahaha!”
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John has brightened up to the point where you wonder if this guy was really a junkie in the past.
His body seems to be back to its former glory.
I don’t think I’ll ever have to look for another drug again.
December 29.
We had our own closing ceremony and gave out a lot of bonuses.
As expected, the employees were excited about the bonuses.
It’s about rewarding them for their hard work.
That way, no accidents.
Again, Jennifer lunged, but this time with a light evasive maneuver that she had mastered.
“John!”
I called out to John, who was turning to leave.
“Yes, boss.”
“Are you coming to my house this year, too?”
“hahahahaha, if she’s lonely, she should come!”
“Bring Jane and Amy, too, because I’m going to make some delicious braised short ribs.”
“Okay.”
December 31.
It was a little after 6 p.m. when John came to my house with his daughter Jane and his wife Amy.
“Huh? I thought you said you were going to braise some ribs?”
“Don’t worry. I made a big batch.”
“What? I can’t even smell them.”
“Hmph! Here, have Jane and Amy come to the parking lot.”
“What? The parking lot?”
“They have somewhere to go with me.”
A few minutes later, Jane and Amy came to the parking lot, not knowing English.
“Uncle Alex, why did you call us here?”
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Jane, who gets prettier and more mature every time I see her, threw her arms around me and said.
“Just follow me, Uncle.”
“Huh?”
I followed John’s family to the five-minute drive away.
To a mansion almost as big as our house.
“What is this house, did you buy another one?”
“Yeah, I bought it.”
“Huh? It looks a little smaller than that house, but it’s nice, and the pool looks bigger?”
“It’s big. It’s for Jane to play in.”
“Huh?”
Boom!
I tossed the package of keys to a surprised John.
“Take this, John.”
“What’s this?”
“What’s this? It’s one of John’s bonuses, right?”
“What?”
“Oh, my God!”
“Uncle Alex, is this real?”
“Yes, it’s real, Jane, this house belongs to Miss Jane Smith!”
“Whoa!”
“Oh no!”
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John stood dumbfounded as Jane and Amy rushed in, kissing my cheeks, hugging me, and making a scene.
“John, don’t you like it?”
“Why not, I didn’t know if I deserved this—.”
“You deserve better, so cut the crap and enjoy the party. I’ve got ribs braised in John’s kitchen tonight.”
“Thanks, boss!”
“Come on, let’s hit the road for 2018!”
It’s fun to surprise someone.
Especially if that person is one of your closest confidants.
