Mediterranean hegemon

Accompanying Ada for a summer vacation had an immediate effect. Not only was Dai Vicki sent to Somalia to eat sand by Mussolini, but the Pope had negotiated the first payment for the purchase of preferred shares, and the US$10 million was also easily received. . The Vatican is not a fool. They are also paying attention to the political trend in the city of Rome. In their eyes, Contini's current status is as stable as Mount Tai. Whether he can become the prime minister's son-in-law and successor remains to be further clarified, but they say he is the person closest to this position. I'm afraid no one will dispute that.

When investing, always focus on the future!

The money came in time. By September, the US$30 million in stocks that Contini asked American brokers to purchase was fully in place. As he remembered, the U.S. stock market slowly stopped declining in the third quarter of 1923. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has begun to turn upward. Although the momentum is still very weak, most stock commentators and veterans still believe that this is a rebound after a long-term decline. It is not certain whether it can be regarded as a reversal. But Contini knows that there is a 95% probability that the U.S. stock market has bottomed and is about to reverse.

However, whether it is a rebound or a reversal, we still cannot clearly judge it now. The only good thing is that the floating losses of the stock account have begun to decrease, and the current loss rate is less than 4%.

Under his persuasion, a group of people including Poti, Vivian, Adriana and others tried their best to open an account. Poti invested US$50,000, Adriana invested US$20,000, and the most surprising thing was that Victoria Wei An, she actually took out $200,000 in one go!

Contini couldn't help but ask her: "Where did you get so much money?"

"The US$10,000 is pocket money that I collected in various ways, and the remaining US$190,000 was loaned to me by my father, with an annual interest rate of 5%!"

Contini slapped his forehead, finally remembering that the other party had a banker father, and said with a smile: "You are very courageous. You dare to borrow this kind of money. What will you pay back if you lose?"

"What are you afraid of?" Vivian smiled and said, "What you are sure of will be right. Besides, if I lose, will you watch my loss in vain?"

Contini was speechless: "What if I lose more than you?"

"No, I know you just got $10 million from the Pope!"

Contini's eyes widened and he couldn't believe his ears, and asked in a low voice: "How do you know? Did your father tell you?"

Vivian nodded: "This amount was withdrawn from the bank that my father was in charge of, and then went to the United Group account. Do you think he knew it? It's because he knew it that he was so confident and bold. Lend me $190,000! He admires your ability to make loans. In terms of your broad-mindedness and boldness in financing, he only obeys the United Group in Italy!"

"Okay." Contini felt that he was completely defeated, "Remember to keep it a secret from me."

"Of course! Now can you tell me your favorite stocks?"

"You can also buy some of General Motors, American Radio, and other blue-chip stocks that are pleasing to your eye."

Although the last 100 million lire credit loan obtained by the United Group has not been fully spent, Antonio reminded Contini that the remaining funds must be reserved for the spring of 1924, because the United Group has to pay a lot of project fees and expenses in December and January. Preferred stock dividends and bonuses to workers must also be paid. This is the credibility of United Group. There must be no problem with liquidity! Although the Pope has promised to continue to purchase US$30 million in preferred shares, who knows when these funds will come out, so flexibility must be maintained. In addition, he also suggested using motorcycle orders to obtain short-term credit support of 20 million lire, which should be in place before the end of November.

Leo, who is responsible for financial coordination and supervision, also issued an early warning: Although it has not yet reached the deadline of September 30, the deadline for the third quarter report, United Group's losses this year have officially exceeded 100 million lire, and may reach 1.5 by the deadline of the annual report. billion or more. So far, the overall loan amount of the United Group has reached 250 million lire. If the Pope's US$10 million is also regarded as a long-term loan, the total liability is 450 million lire. Calculated based on a cost of 6%, it would cost 27 million yuan in interest per year, which is more than 1 million yuan greater than the actual operating income of the United Group for the whole year after deducting internal related transactions.

Although Contini was very confident about the future, he still accepted the suggestion under the advice of professionals, leaving 5 million US dollars as mobile capital and remitting the other 5 million to the United States, instructing the agent to complete the work before Christmas Eve. With a $15 million stock purchase, by that time, his investment in the stock market will reach $15 million, and he will have a $45 million position, with a leverage ratio of exactly 300%!

Regardless of such a huge debt, the performance of the United Group is still very eye-catching: the completion of the Milan Special Line became a model for Italy's new industrialization and municipal development. Mussolini boasted proudly for a long time, regarding it as his rule. He attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the Rome line with officials of all sizes. This line is about 7 kilometers longer than the Milan line and is scheduled to be completed in the spring of 1924.

The Genoa dedicated line project was also approved by the Ministry of Transport without stopping. The length of this dedicated line will exceed 45 kilometers and will be jointly built by the Ministry of Transport and the United Group. More importantly, according to the second phase plan, the Milan dedicated line and the Genoa dedicated line will eventually not only be connected It is also necessary to build a double line, because the distance between the two cities is only more than 120 kilometers, and the entire industrial belt can be completely connected. Relying on the dedicated line, a two-hour traffic circle can be realized. This was an ambitious idea that was simply unimaginable in the past. Conte Ni set the final completion date for Christmas 1926!

Once the rapid connection between Milan and Genoa is established, the industrial layout of the entire north will change significantly: resources and raw materials from the north will go to Milan and then to Genoa via the China-Europe Railway, and materials from the Mediterranean and Africa will arrive in Genoa by sea. Moving on to Milan, this is a vital lifeline for Italy, which lacks local resources and relies heavily on imports for almost all materials. This lifeline will have Italy's chemical, steel, petroleum, machinery and vehicle manufacturing bases.

More importantly, the distances from Turin to Genoa and to Milan are only 120 kilometers respectively. They can also be adjusted through dedicated lines. The three cities just form an equilateral triangle. This is why the Italian industrial belt first emerged in these three cities. It’s not without reason. Contini’s dream is to build this triangle into Italy’s Ruhr area, and he is the king of the area!

However, this planning goal can only be stored in his mind for the time being. He will not tell anyone except Antonio: Who knows what the attitude of the Agnelli family that controls Turin City will be in the future. The United Group is still very immature now. Contini's political status is not high enough and he must wait for his time...