1928: The rise of giant merchants

In early October 1929, the bleak autumn came earlier than usual.

The bankruptcy of Hartley \u0026 Co. had a huge and continuous impact, affecting not only London, England, but also the United States across the sea.

In the past few days at the end of September, the stock market was like a naughty child, jumping up and down, sometimes rising and sometimes falling, giving speculators a heart-wrenching taste.

Like a diligent student, Liu Xuenong came to the New York Stock Exchange to report every day. His eyes, which were red from staying up late, stared at the big blackboard, always paying attention to the dynamics of each stock.

Unfortunately, the stock market failed to go as he wished. Although the Dow Jones Index has been hovering around 320 points, most stocks are heading downwards. The bear market is obviously unstoppable.

What troubled him the most was that penny stocks that had been doing well before suddenly collapsed. At the end of September, nearly a hundred penny stocks were inexplicably delisted, leaving speculators dizzy with losses.

This is not the end.

Since the FBI began to frequently intervene in the internal operations of the New York Stock Exchange, Amax has not been spared, and its water meter has been checked every three days.

Although there have been no thunderstorms in Aimeix so far, such high-frequency visits made the speculators feel like they were on a roller coaster. They couldn't bear it at all, and they all withdrew their capital and left this former dream park.

October 2nd.

Liu Xuenong went to the headquarters of Hongxing United Group early in the morning.

Looking at the towering buildings and the Empire State Building, which was under construction diagonally opposite, he suddenly felt extremely strange.

It seems like I haven’t been back for a long time

Today was the day to send money back to the Republic of China. He had to keep an eye on his finances, and Zao Huixin arranged things properly in one step.

Otherwise, if the $19.19 million deficit was exposed, he would not dare to imagine how miserable his ending would be.

"Vice President, good morning!" The newly recruited white girl at the front desk bowed and saluted him. This was simply unthinkable in New York in 1929 -

A white girl was actually respectful to a Chinese man.

But Liu Xuenong didn't feel any excitement. He waved his hand casually and walked straight to the office.

Several confidants from the Finance Department had already gathered in the office, all with gloomy expressions. When they saw him, they gathered around him as if they had seen a savior.

"Vice President, how should this batch of dividends be paid?"

"If the true situation is to be followed, most of these shareholders will lose their money."

"Do you need to disclose to them the fact that you almost lost all your equity due to your investment in Hartree Company?"

There were too many questions. Liu Xuenong sat down on the boss's chair and suddenly felt a little hot.

He finally realized that this seat was not that easy to sit in.

"Profit dividends. Execute according to the original plan. There are more than 200 people, and 100 people are selected to share the dividends. The average person is 100,000 oceans, which is 20 million oceans. It can be done with almost 4 million US dollars."

Liu Xuenong gritted his teeth and whispered to them,

"You must not tell anything about Hartree Company before the accounts are settled. You should understand, right?"

Several people were obedient and had no choice but to obey.

At this point, we are all in the same boat, and no one can even think about getting off the boat to feel better.

"But there are some difficulties with the US$4 million in the accounts." The Finance Minister said boldly, "Basically all our money is in the stock market."

"Are there no other funds that can be misappropriated?" Liu Xuenong was stunned for a moment, but he didn't expect that he couldn't even get out a mere US$4 million!

"Yes, there is a deal." The finance minister lowered his head and did not dare to look at him.

"Then you tell me!" Liu Xuenong slapped the table.

"The money that just came in came from that Edward Sassoon. Didn't he entrust us with 5 million US dollars to continue buying stocks?" The Finance Minister lowered his voice to a minimum.

Liu Xuenong was stunned for a moment and immediately understood what he meant.

Pretend to buy stocks, but actually misappropriate funds to distribute dividends to shareholders.

This is an act of making the hole bigger and bigger!

If the stock market cannot recover its capital, it will really be doomed.

Now we have a showdown with Sister Huixin. If we can invite Ye Luo back, maybe we can be saved.

An idea popped into his head.

But it was quickly rejected by Liu Xuenong.

When he thought of Sister Huixin, he thought of her plump and attractive body, and thought of her devotion to Ye Luo and her indifference to him, Liu Xuenong gritted his teeth.

"Okay, immediately send that money out to be laundered, add our own money, and send 4 million US dollars to the Republic of China, and then invest all the rest in stocks for me!" Liu Xuenong roared almost crazy, "GM Electrical, General Motors, U.S. Steel, Wireless. Continue to buy all the high-priced stocks that we can buy! It is no longer possible for us to recover our capital from mid-priced stocks and low-priced stocks.”

This is his last resort!

In the afternoon, a small restaurant next to the New York Stock Exchange.

Compared with the bustle of people in September, the restaurants near the New York Stock Exchange seemed a bit deserted at this time. Especially those mid-to-high-end restaurants, where originally there would be many speculators dining, drinking coffee, and talking about various stock-related topics.

But now, there are almost no people in mid-to-high-end restaurants. A large number of speculators crowd into such small restaurants, ordering the cheapest set meals, drinking low-quality coffee, reading newspapers with a frown, or calculating today's stock market prices. .

The Minister of Finance came over in a hurry with a briefcase under his arm. In front of him were Shi Jianqiao, who had changed into a suit and OL uniform and high heels, and Xu Wenqiang, who was dressed like a financial elite.

The two of them took him around the piles until they were sure that no one was following them, and then they introduced the Finance Minister into the small restaurant with relatively few people.

Ye Luo and Hui Xin were dining at the table at the back, eating the simplest croissant and coffee, looking relaxed and talking and laughing.

"Second Young Master, I'm here." Shi Jianqiao came over and quietly led the finance minister to the table.

Such small financial groups can be seen everywhere here. After dressing up in disguise, Ye Luo and Huixin are not easy to be recognized.

The only thing that stands out is that they are all Chinese.

"Hello, Second Young Master!" the Finance Minister said tremblingly, his voice trembling.

"Relax, I'm always polite to people who understand current affairs." Ye Luo pushed a cup of coffee to him, "Tell me about the situation."

The Finance Minister finished his coffee in one breath and his face became even more bitter.

Huixin on the side was secretly amused, but did not interrupt their conversation.

"This morning, I have followed your wishes and induced him to transfer the share capital of Edward and others," the Finance Minister said in a low voice in broken Chinese.

He has been living in the United States, and his Chinese is not as fluent as English. Coupled with his fear of Ye Luo, he finally finished explaining what happened in the morning.

"Well, you're doing a good job, continue to help me monitor his every move." Ye Luo took a sip of coffee, then stood up and patted his shoulder, "You haven't eaten yet, just order something. This store has been taken over by me. Once you buy it, you don’t have to worry about no one paying for it.”

The Finance Minister was stunned for a moment, watching Ye Luo and others slowly leave. He thought that a violent storm would come, or that the terrifying second young master might instruct him to do something dangerous.

None of this happened.

Looking at the remaining croissants on the table and a pot of steaming coffee, and recalling the second young master's words, he fell into deep thought.

Ignoring the finance minister's follow-up, Ye Luo took Huixin to the VIP room of the New York Stock Exchange in a comfortable mood.

Not long ago, Hoover and others stepped in to rescue the market, which made the stock market recover for a while, but this wind came and went away just as quickly.

Since the beginning of October, the stock has been falling, but the trading volume has not increased.

Stock bulls generally believe that this is just a normal correction and a good opportunity to add positions.

But at this time, the nerves of speculators are already extremely fragile, and the stock market will begin a nightmare plunge after a short-lived rise.

What Ye Luo has to do now is very simple.

He will use various means to continuously lure his enemies into the stock market so that their money is trapped and unable to get out. With $150 million in hand, he will use the terrifying 20 times leverage to give the United States a little bit in the last ten days of October. A small shock.

It is worth mentioning that, as we all know, the last ten days of October 1929 gathered a series of famous days in the history of securities.

But in fact, the bubble burst in the U.S. stock market began in early October.

It is now this time to start. (End of chapter)