Countercurrent 1978 starts with the production team

A fly did not affect the mood of the two people too much. Chu Jianghe ordered a glass of whiskey and sat opposite Nalan Qing to look at each other carefully.

Chu Jianghe's eyes were clear, without any naked desire like the fat man's just now, but just a pure appreciation of beauty.

At first, Nalan Qing felt a little uncomfortable under Chu Jianghe's gaze, but after seeing Chu Jianghe's clear eyes, that discomfort completely disappeared, and was replaced by a sense of pride.

The long time they have been together has made her very clear about how outstanding Chu Jianghe is. From another perspective, the fact that she can attract him also proves her own excellence.

"This kind of dress is more suitable for your age. The previous dress was too serious and not good-looking."

Nalan Qing was slightly stunned. She didn't expect that the other party would say this after looking at her for a long time. If she remembered correctly, this was the first time that Chu Jianghe praised her appearance. She was happy but also a little shy. She lowered her head and smiled.

"What's my age? I want to dress casually, but it's for you. We are in business occasions, so I can't dress like a little girl. It won't look good."

After saying this, Nalan Qing realized something was wrong. Her tone sounded like she was acting coquettishly with her boyfriend. A blush appeared on her face, making her look even more charming.

"Okay, okay, it's all my fault, okay." Chu Jianghe had seen Nalan Qing's performance in the past few years and had long regarded her as his own. He said with some heartache: "Most of the business is now on the right track. You don't need to charge at the front line. It's so tiring. If there are some things that can be let go, let the people below do it. You just need to grasp the general direction."

It's so easy to say. Nalan Qing complained to the biggest boss: "I want to relax too. I don't know who it is, but I have to take a flight for more than ten hours just to get here. I can't even adjust to the time difference."

Chu Jianghe also knew that his last-minute call had caused her to come to New York in a hurry, so she smiled awkwardly and quickly drank two sips of wine to cover up her embarrassment.

Nalan Qing knew his temper. He would never let her come if it wasn't something very important. She picked up the cocktail on the table and took a sip. She raised her eyes and gave Chu Jianghe a way out.

"Boss, are you calling me here to make a big plan?"

When it came to business, Chu Jianghe no longer cared about being embarrassed, and said with a serious expression: "What do you think of the current US economy?"

"U.S. economy?"

Hearing Chu Jianghe mention such an important topic, Nalan Qing was stunned again. As the chairman of Qiangsheng Group, he was naturally very concerned about the US economy.

Qiangsheng has its own information channels. To analyze the economy of the most powerful country today, it can not only rely on the channels of Qiangsheng Group, but also have top consulting companies from all over the world to provide it with information.

Of course, Chu Jianghe would also see the information she had, but Nalan Qing knew that her boss would not ask her to come here to talk about the US economy without any purpose.

Nalan Qing pondered for a moment before saying, "From the 1980s to the present, the United States has been experiencing a serious inflation crisis. Under the influence of factors such as the oil crisis and the war, the inflation rate in the United States soared to 15% in 80. The moderate measures of the Federal Reserve no longer worked, and inflation remained high. Coupled with the fact that the unemployment rate did not improve, the tough Paul Volcker took office as the chairman of the Federal Reserve. He dared to face the risk of a US economic recession after raising interest rates and began to raise interest rates with an iron fist. In 20, the federal interest rate once reached %."

"Of course, the cost of raising interest rates is also huge. Real estate and energy prices plummeted, and the U.S. economy fell into recession in 82. However, since 83, the U.S. economy has shown signs of recovery."

Nalan Qing was in a high position, so he was naturally familiar with all kinds of data about the US economy. Chu Jianghe listened carefully and nodded silently.

"That's right. With the Fed's tough measures, this year's inflation rate is expected to be controlled at around 3%. It can be said that the Fed's measures have begun to show results since the 80s. However, inflation will fluctuate. In order to maintain a reasonable inflation range, I believe it will be difficult for the Fed to stop raising interest rates, and the federal interest rate will remain in the range of 6%-12%."

Nalan Qing didn't understand what Chu Jianghe was going to do, but she didn't agree with his judgment.

"Boss, I don't know where your judgment is based on. With such high interest rates, do you know how many banks go bankrupt in the United States every year? At least more than a hundred!"

Chu Jianghe smiled: "It's just some small banks, no big deal."

He is very familiar with bank bankruptcies. Lehman Brothers in 08 and Silicon Valley Bank in 23 both collapsed against the backdrop of rising interest rates.

He had seen big banks go bankrupt, but he had never seen the U.S. economy collapse, let alone the collapse of some small banks. It was normal.

There are a large number of banks in the United States, large and small, and most of them are private banks.

Apart from anything else, there are more than 3000 S&L banks alone, so more than 100 a year is really nothing.

"It's harmless?" Nalan Qing looked at Chu Jianghe with eyes wide open. "Boss, do you know how many people are affected by the collapse of a bank? And what are you going to do?"

Facing Nalan Qing's surprised expression, Chu Jianghe smiled slightly and stated his purpose: "I plan to acquire several banks."

Acquiring a bank is just Chu Jianghe’s first step. With his own bank, many actions will become much easier.

Besides, as long as banks control their own risks, there is almost no risk of bankruptcy. It can be said that this is a business that is sure to make a profit.

In the final analysis, many of those banks that went bankrupt were pursuing higher profits and adding a lot of leverage in the financial market. Once they encountered a cycle of interest rate hikes, the high cost of funds became too much for them to bear, causing them to collapse.

After understanding Chu Jianghe's goal, Nalan Qing silently calculated in her mind. Qiangsheng Capital has been active in the United States in recent years and has already gained considerable strength. Acquiring a few banks is not a big deal.

However, Nalan Qing still expressed her concerns: "The federal interest rate remains high, and the S&L banks are currently the first to bear the brunt. They have a single business, and facing high interest rates, many have already suffered huge losses. The most important thing is that if your judgment is correct, facing high funding costs, the banks will also be under great pressure."

S&L banks are credit savings banks. Their main business is to collect short-term deposits and issue long-term mortgage loans. Their profits mainly come from the interest rate spread between the two, and their business is relatively simple.

In the past, short-term deposit interest rates were mostly around 3%-6%, and long-term mortgage interest rates were around 10%, so S&L banks still had room for profit.

But after several federal interest rate hikes, they were no longer able to bear the increasing interest rates.

Chu Jianghe certainly knew this, but this was a great opportunity to integrate Bank of America, so how could he let it go.