1928: The rise of giant merchants

"I know that company in England called Hartley."

After hearing Livermore's inspiring words, Ye Luo immediately spoke.

Anyone who knows something about Britain in 1929 must know that this once prosperous business giant company was founded by a top con man, Clarence Hartley.

The company name is the name of its boss.

The company primarily underwrites bonds for mid-sized companies and municipalities.

Hartley's business strategy is very simple, which is to seize market share from competitors through low prices.

In order to enhance the company's reputation, he also attracted some well-known figures, such as the 16th Marquess of Winchester, to join the company as shareholders and support the company.

Unlike the leather scam companies he had founded before, Hartley's company was based in the British financial industry. Thanks to the booming U.S. stock market, he easily made a lot of money.

The platforms of the Marquis of Winchester and others further helped him expand the company's momentum.

Just a few months ago, he invested a huge amount of money in the U.S. stock market and listed the U.S. branch of Hartree Company on the New York Stock Exchange.

Because of its extremely high reputation and excellent circulating assets, Hartley Company has successfully gained fame through this financial wave and has become a model for overseas companies to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Its stock price has been rising steadily, and it has entered the mid-priced stock category. .

Not long ago, Clarence Hartley set his sights on the United Steel Company. When Hartley formally proposed the acquisition plan, the executives of the United Steel Company were ecstatic because demand in the British steel market was weak throughout the 1920s. , United Steel is already heavily in debt and may go bankrupt at any time.

United Steel was valued at 17 million pounds, and the actual value may have been cut in half, but Hartley offered a high price of 18 million pounds.

The question is where will this huge sum of money come from?

Although Hartley Company is doing prosperously, just like the U.S. stock market, it is a prosperous but false bubble.

Hartree, who had insufficient funds on hand, could not raise 18 million pounds.

So he chose to take the risk.

He wanted to acquire United Steel and list it on the New York Stock Exchange like Hartley Company, and then rely on the now omnipotent U.S. stock market to bring it back to life, and then sell it for a heavy sum to earn the difference.

In order to obtain sufficient funds for the acquisition, Hartley embezzled public funds from the underwriting bond business, forged stock certificates to apply for loans from banks, and also used the same stock certificate to borrow from multiple banks.

Hartree's company borrowed money from Barclays and Lloyds Bank, and after taking out a loan at one Lloyds Bank branch, they used copies to apply for a loan at another branch.

However, an attentive employee of Lloyds Bank discovered this move, and Lloyds Bank immediately hired a certified public accountant to investigate. After the news came out, Hartree's company stock plummeted.

In order to turn the tide, Hartley made a desperate move and borrowed more money to buy his own company's stock, trying to save the situation. However, this only got him deeper into trouble.

Nonetheless, the truth could not be hidden, and the London Stock Exchange suspended trading in Hartree Group's shares.

Of course, the above events only happened in London not long ago, and some of them have not even happened yet.

It is estimated that it will take several days for this information to reach New York in the United States, and then the shocking scandal of Hartree's stock suddenly plummeting, and finally the company's bankruptcy leading to its direct delisting from the New York Stock Exchange will occur!

Hartley Co. kicked off the plunge in the U.S. stock market and also unveiled the last fig leaf covering the bubble in the U.S. stock market.

After listening to Ye Luo's brief introduction to the company, Franklin suddenly felt at ease.

This is the prelude to the victory horn that is about to sound.

"So, we are almost ready to enter?" Livermore was eager to give it a try.

Ye Luo smiled and nodded: "It's just my first try. Gentlemen, don't get too excited."

"Then what should we do? Ye, you must have made the most detailed plan!" Old Joseph had already withdrawn all his money from the US stock market.

He is an extremely staunch naysayer, but he is still extremely looking forward to and curious about Ye Luo and others' behavior of shorting U.S. stocks.

"First of all, we are going to borrow a large amount of high-priced stocks this afternoon, and then focus the huge funds on sniping the stocks of Hartree Company." Ye Luo said lightly, "When Hartree Company encounters a crisis, the stock will inevitably fall. As everyone knows, We all know it. But they still don’t know what kind of crisis Hartree Company is facing, how big the losses will be, and they don’t even think that the company will be delisted. No one will doubt it if they are short-selling.”

"Indeed, but if Hartree Company will go bankrupt in the near future, won't people who heard the news sell their stocks one after another? We buy a lot at this time and then sell them to the market, but no one will take the order." Little John asked doubtfully. road.

Livermore quickly explained: "My informant at BOE is not ordinary. This information is extremely private. Counting us, less than ten people in the United States know the current situation of Hartree Company. According to its current mid-price stocks, Who wouldn’t want to take over the trend of high-priced stocks?”

"Moreover, the building will fall forward, and what will be rampant must be the opposite remarks." Ye Luo added.

These operations will be carried out by the professional managers they hired. The abilities of these managers are much better than the Chinese workers that Ye Luo hired at the beginning, so they can have a lot more time when directing.

He specifically instructed that everything should be completed one hour before the stock market closes.

It’s not because I’m afraid of not being able to make it in time.

But today, September 3, 1929, the U.S. stock market will usher in the most exciting scene in history, and possibly in the next hundred years.

After experiencing yesterday's highest peak and today's normal fluctuations, the Dow Jones Index once again shocked everyone.

One hour before the market closed, the Dow Jones reached its final high, close to 390!

The 400 mark is just around the corner.

But it is estimated that Hoover did not dare to brag to the public that the Dow Jones Index could reach 400 points.

At this peak, almost all stocks were rising.

They don’t know whether it will break 400 points tomorrow.

But no one can resist the temptation of this rising bull market.

Realizing that Ye Luo speculated that today would be the final peak, Livermore only had admiration in his heart.

In his opinion, Ye Luo is a proper stock god.

Not only can it accurately predict the change curve and situation of US stocks, it can even be accurate to a specific time period.

Livermore regarded the set of theories and analytical strategies given by Ye Luo as a treasure, but even if he studied hard, he could not reach one-tenth of Ye Luo's level.

Therefore, he can only look at Ye Luo as a "stock god".

God is so unfair. Livermore looked at him and thought.

"After this battle, he will either be a stock god or a clown. Let's wait and see." Franklin looked at the young Chinese and felt a long-lost excitement in his heart. (End of chapter)