Mediterranean hegemon

In his spare time, Livermore was also interested in calculating how much income tax the United Group had to pay, and found that if it was done properly, the amount of tax that needed to be paid was not very high. First of all, the income from the first convertible bond does not need to be taxed, because the United Group initially received a loan, and then turned it into investment money, and finally used this investment money to buy back the diluted equity-thickening the company. capital but not reflected as surplus; as for the United Group's stock trading gains, they must be offset by previous investment losses and continuous losses. In addition, it is a foreign institution. According to bilateral treaties on non-double taxation, the United States can hardly collect taxes. If we have to talk about taxation, then only the investment income of nearly 300 million U.S. dollars from the investment part of United Bank needs to be fully taxed, and the income from services provided by United Trust needs to be taxed.

But wait, although United Bank has 300 million U.S. dollars in investment income here, it paid "liquidated damages" for early recovery of customer loans. These liquidated damages also fell into the arms of United Group's shadow companies, and they also acquired some banks. The losses are included in the asset income statement, and after offset, they are pitifully small. The reason why we buy these bankrupt and liquidated companies is because they have losses that can be offset. This is a real way to reduce taxes. Counting left and right, there is very little room for tax.

And the tax on United Trust is even more of a joke. The 6 billion plate is not traded every day. How much is the fee income? It’s just a drop in the bucket!

Francisco finally took stock and found that the 8.7 billion income would require about $40 million in taxes—not even 0.5%! In the end, Contini decided that 40 million was too stingy, and was prepared to pay 100 million in advance.

Of course, this was because he was giving Hoover and Mellon face by not doing too much with the accounts. Otherwise, he would simply use the economic crisis as an excuse to write off all the bad debts of the United Department, and then add to the United Group's deposit loss (500 million) this year. If they were all calculated together, they could even wash out a big loss, but he believed that one should not be too desperate. The US$100 million must still be paid, otherwise it would be difficult for Mellon and Hoover to explain it, and at least they would not care about their face. Yes, is there a future? There are still opportunities to make money.

Mellon really can't blame the United Group for anything - US$100 million is already much more than the taxes paid by all American consortiums. Many companies used the stock market crash to make their annual income negative and did not want to pay any taxes. The government We can't do anything about them. So both Hoover and Mellon called specifically to express their gratitude. They are all people who know what to do and what not to do. United Group's performance is much better than that of Wall Street. Not only did it proactively declare 100 million in income tax in advance, it also promised not to lay off employees! ——This is a good safeguard for the government.

The media are not fools. They spoke highly of United Group's statement not to lay off employees. They also recognized United Group's acquisition of bankrupt assets and placement of employees. Without these acquisitions, these people would not even be able to survive Christmas, although they would inevitably be unemployed in the future. Dangerous, but at least that's next year. There are also a large number of lucky people who have been hired by United Group to work in Italy, and they are all elated and in high spirits - which shows that they are still valuable.

As a result, the song "Our Good President" was sung. Many Americans regretted being born in Italy. Those of Italian descent were busy packing their luggage to return home. After all, the air in the United States is not sweet...

On December 3, Antonio and Leo arrived in New York smoothly, and Contini hurriedly explained the next step of work to them:

First, he began to entrust Livermore to gradually buy stocks, focusing on those stocks that were included in the Dow Jones Index and had good foundations. Contini had a great appetite and asked Livermore to buy as much as possible without rapidly pushing up the stock price. On the one hand, he knew that the U.S. stock market would usher in a rebound from January to March 1930. This rebound was not small. It doubled in a short period of time and reached the height of 300 points again. However, A rebound is always a rebound, and in the end we will fall into the infinite abyss...

Buying these stocks, on the one hand, hopes to harvest again after the spring, and on the other hand, owning the shares of these large companies will increase the voice of the United Group, which will have a great impact on negotiations on equipment and assets. Change. The side effect is to enhance the persuasiveness in front of Hoover: Look, for the sake of the government's image, I have helped buy the stock. Are you going to help me to say something about the order?

Second, continue to clean up and purchase second-hand assets. Of course, the bulk of them is heavy industry, but light industries with good technical levels and new vintages can also be introduced - importing American industries into Italy, and importing some Italian light industries into Shenzhen Special Economic Zone to form echelon development . Contini even specifically mentioned that he could buy a batch of affordable, new-quality second-hand cars and transport them back to Italy.

Leo was puzzled and said: "I know second-hand assets. Purchasing them can promote the upgrading or expansion of domestic industries. What does it mean to buy second-hand cars? Doesn't buying second-hand cars hinder the domestic automobile industry? Although we produce small There aren’t many cars, but it will make Fiat think we are causing havoc!”

"This is the gift I plan to give to my employees. This year we will not give out other gifts for the first place. All qualified people will be given cars. We must use them to popularize car culture and promote the growth of the automobile industry." Contini said, "You You know, behind the automobile industry is the entire industrial and life chain. With automobiles, a large amount of metal and steel, tires and gasoline are consumed. Due to the current economic crisis, crude oil will soon be purchased and stored, and we need to increase our investment in fuel. Consumption, buying more American cars can create this kind of consumption. Don’t you think it’s interesting that an ordinary engineer or technician in the United Group can afford a car? As for Fiat, you have a lot of publicity! You can tell them that the follow-up maintenance of these cars will be entrusted to Fiat Automobile Service Company, and they can also make some money. The United Group will not be involved in mid- to low-end cars in the short term, and will only provide admiral-level high-end cars and 4S brand store services. ”

Leo understands, this is mainly a political account, not an economic account!

"Third, buy cheap freighters, passenger ships and oil tankers. Oil tankers that cannot be bought or oil tankers that charge a high price are all leased. Francisco has already explained the reason. As long as you control all the oil tankers, when the time comes, The pressure of purchasing and storing is not that great, and you can even make a fortune on the back - if you want to transport oil to Libya or Italy for purchasing and storage, I will give you a hard knock on the freight first, and either you don't come, or you accept your fate! Leo and others smiled knowingly, this trick is cruel enough!

Fourth, continue to negotiate with Wall Street about the 4.4 billion contract. The price will be capped at a 4.1% discount. The negotiations can be intense, but they cannot break down. The Americans may ask the Soviets to buy equipment. Don’t worry, the Soviet Union cannot buy much, but Be sure to get rid of the old equipment that the Soviet Union also wants! "

The last sentence made Leo and Antonio look a little suspicious, but after careful consideration they nodded understandingly...