The Son of Finance of the Great Age

  Chapter 576 Buying the bottom?

  Two days later, on March 16, this day is destined to leave a strong mark in the history of world finance, because Bear Stearns, one of the five largest investment banks in the United States, was acquired.

   It is said to be acquired, but in fact it seems more appropriate to describe it as "selling yourself", because Bear Stearns actively sought to be traded when it was desperate. Alan Schwartz first called Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke, declaring that Bear Stearns had fallen into a liquidity crisis, and hoped that the Federal Reserve could come to the rescue in an emergency. During the conversation, he emphasized that Bear Stearns has a huge position in subprime mortgage bonds. If Bear Stearns is allowed to go bankrupt, it is very likely that the entire market will be in big trouble.

  Because of the anti-mouse strategy, the Federal Reserve had to allocate $30 billion in emergency funds to Bear Stearns to ease its liquidity. Because if Bear Stearns declares bankruptcy, the news will drop a blockbuster on the currently deteriorating subprime mortgage bond market, and may even make all the efforts made by the Federal Reserve and the US Treasury Department unsustainable. Vanish to nothing, because this time it is no longer the terminal of the entire financial ecological chain, but the middle link.

  The entire ecological chain of subprime housing mortgage bonds is unfolded in this way. First, home buyers obtain loans from mortgage institutions and lending institutions, and then start to purchase houses and pay in the form of mortgages. The resulting housing loans with poor credit are sold by these institutions to intermediaries (investment banks) for securitization and turned into subordinated bonds. After rating agencies classify these bonds, the investment banks sell them to those Bond dealers, such as mutual funds, bond funds, commercial banks, insurance agencies, etc.

So far, some primary mortgage institutions and lending institutions have fallen down, which has caused extensive and heavy impacts. If the investment bank that is both a dealer and an intermediary goes bankrupt, even if there is only one, the entire business will be destroyed. The ecological chain may face the danger of collapse.

   Neither the Federal Reserve nor the U.S. Treasury can afford this risk, nor do they want to. So they found **** very quickly.

  Since the merger with Chase Bank, **** has become a giant in the market. Currently, their market value ranks second among global banking stocks, and they are top financial giants. But besides operating in the traditional commercial banking business, this financial giant is also actively thinking about entering other financial businesses, including investment banking and brokerage businesses. Stanley, which was separated from them back then, has become the second largest investment bank in the world, and its market value once exceeded ****. brother.

Although **** currently has its own investment banking business, it is far from being on the same level as other major investment banks on Wall Street. The investment bank whose staffing is no less than that of Stanley has become a shortcut. Naturally, the two sides hit it off immediately and immediately sat down to discuss the acquisition of Bear Stearns.

Among them, there is naturally pressure from the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury Department, but it is more related to the opening up of mixed operations, which is related to the fact that major commercial banks intend to get involved in the investment banking business. After all, these businesses are too profitable. .

On March 16, after two days of urgent negotiations, the Board of Directors of Bear Stearns and the government finally reached an agreement to acquire Bear Stearns by exchanging 0.05473 shares of **** common stock for 1 share of Bear Stearns. Deng, the boards of directors of both parties approved the relevant transaction request in the first time. According to the agreed price, the market value of Bear Stearns was compressed to 236 million US dollars, equivalent to about 2 US dollars per share.

  As soon as the news spread, it immediately caused an uproar in the market.

The reasons for the shock in all parties are nothing less than the following three points: First, according to the closing price two days ago, Bear Stearns’ stock price was 30 US dollars at that time, with a market value of 3.54 billion US dollars. The 236 million U.S. dollars has shrunk by as much as 93%, which is too amazing; secondly, three days ago, Alan Schwartz swore on TV that Bear Stearns has good liquidity, and there is no Any problem, who knows how the situation will change, in just a few days, Bear Stearns was acquired; in the end, there was a move by the Communist Party, and there was almost no sign before. After the news was announced, many people realized that large Commercial banks are moving towards mixed operations, and are preparing to chase the same piece of cake as the separate investment banks.

  Affected by this news, the Dow Jones Industrial Index fluctuated by 4% in the next day. The financial sector, especially the investment banking sector, plummeted, while the market of commercial banks was bullish. Although the S&P 500 saw a small drop, the market volatility reached 2.37% throughout the day, forming a market that opened low and moved low.

And on Monday, that is, the 17th, the trial about Zhong Shi also came to an end. After submitting the relevant evidence, the prosecution voluntarily withdrew all the charges against Zhong Shi, and instead issued a wanted arrest for one of the employees of Tianyu Fund order, but the employee is now undergoing judicial trial in Hong Kong, and I believe that the approval and imprisonment will be carried out in Hong Kong in the future.

   "Mr. Zhong, you have successfully cleared your suspicion this time, do you want to say something?"

   "It is said that someone deliberately framed you this time. I don't know if the rumors are true or not. What do you need to respond to?"

   "Mr. Zhong, what is your opinion on the acquisition of Bear Stearns, can you express it to us?"

  …

There were still so many reporters gathered at the gate of the court. When Zhong Shi and his party came out of the court, they surrounded them in a swarm, and each of them tried their best to send the microphone or microphone to Zhong Shi. At the same time, one question after another was asked thrown out.

  Zhong Shi naturally didn't respond any more, just smiled slightly, got into the car and drove away, leaving only Alan Sean to deal with these reporters.

"Okay, everyone, regarding this lawsuit, I can only tell you that it was a complete misunderstanding. After the prosecutor realized his mistake, he took the initiative to withdraw the complaint. This is a happy situation for everyone." Allen A rare smile appeared on Sean's old-fashioned face, "My client is innocent from beginning to end. He and I both believe in this, and today's trial has also proved it."

   "Can you tell me the details, Mr. Sean?" A reporter immediately asked.

  Due to the application for a restraining order, journalists were not allowed to enter the trial site, which was also because some details were inconvenient to disclose. The reporters were very curious about this, and naturally hoped to dig out more details from the lawyer.

Alan Xiaon's face suddenly revealed an expression of surprise, and after scanning the crowd looking forward to him, he said slowly: "Due to the signing of the confidentiality agreement, I can't disclose more details. But What I want to tell you is that among the economic dispute cases I have represented, this one is the most miraculous one. After this lawsuit, I know that there are really miracles in this world."

   "Miracle? Mr. Sean, what are you referring to?" The reporter quickly grasped the point of Alan Sean's words, and asked persistently.

   At this moment, Jason Butler came over, bowed his head and whispered something in Alan Sean's ear, and soon Alan Sean's face showed a clear look. After communicating for about 20 seconds, he nodded heavily, then turned his head and said to the reporters: "Gentlemen, I have just received authorization from Mr. Zhong to disclose to you some details about the operation of Tianyu Fund. Facts On the Internet, they began to be bearish on certain companies more than a year ago. As for the specific name of the company, please forgive me for not revealing it here, but I can give you a little hint, which is the company that has recently become a topic in the market. Excuse me, in a Could this be insider trading, an operation that started more than a year ago? Obviously not.”

As soon as the news came out, except for a few reporters who hadn't reacted yet, the other reporters were all shocked. They immediately thought of Bear Stearns, the investment bank that has been hailed by the public recently. . However, Tianyu Fund actually targeted this company a year ago. You must know that Bear Stearns was at its peak at that time. and nuanced analysis?

  After this reaction, the reporters seemed to be blown up. They surrounded Alan Xiaon in a tight circle, and tried their best to get more details from him.

  …

   "Mr. Zhong, your phone number!"

   Just as Zhong Shi closed his eyes and meditated in the car, Lu Rover beside him delivered the phone to him and said softly.

"Huh?" Zhong Shi took the phone, glanced at it, and found that the other party's number was hidden, and his heart was moved. He didn't answer the phone immediately, but after lowering his head and thinking for a while, he pressed the connect button. "Hi, I'm Zhong Shi, who are you?"

"Mr. Zhong Shi, hello, I'm Gao Dongfang!" A slightly unfamiliar voice rang out, first introduced himself politely, and then the other party seemed to remember something, and immediately explained, "I'm Huaxia General Manager of an investment company."

  In addition to the industry, Zhongshi’s Tianyu Fund rarely sets foot in the mainland, and basically invests in Hong Kong, Europe, the United States, Brazil, South Africa and other regions. Although there are not many investments in the mainland, it does not mean that he does not understand the current situation of his counterparts in the mainland. When Huaxia Investment Company was first established, it tried to hire him as a special consultant, but Zhong Shi politely refused because he repeatedly beat I don't have enough time to manage my own fund, let alone have other energy to help others.

  Now the other party actually came to the door on his own initiative. Although he hasn't explained the purpose of coming, Zhong Shi has already made up his mind. After being silent for a while, he decided to wait and see, "It turned out to be Mr. Gao. It was really a surprise. I wonder if Mr. Gao wanted to ask me for something?"

Gao Dongfang didn't care about Zhong Shi's indifference. He also knew that he was a bit reckless in making this phone call, but because he was in a bit of an embarrassing situation at this time, he didn't care about it, so he directly said straight to the point: " That's right, Mr. Zhong, I just saw something about your lawsuit on TV, and one of the cases has interested us very much. It just so happens that we have also encountered some troublesome things here, so I want to invite you to come over, See if you can help us a thing or two."

"I also know that this request is a bit abrupt, but because of the large amount of money involved in this matter, we have to be cautious again and again, hoping to listen to the opinions of professionals, especially the opinions of big people like you. And, from Judging from what happened just now, your understanding of the American market is much deeper than those of us, so we hope that you can come to Huatou's office in New York and guide our work here."

  Zhong Shi gradually heard something. It turned out that people from Huatou wanted to find him to give some professional advice. Of course, such a meeting could be an academic lecture or an official meeting, but Gao Dongfang didn't mention it, and there might be something hidden in it.

Zhong Shi thought about it, and felt that he should give the other party this face. First, Huade Real Estate's business in the mainland can hardly bypass the government. It is naturally a good thing to have a good relationship with high-level officials. From the taxpayers, it would be bad if the gang really lost. At that moment, he made an appointment with Gao Dongfang, and hung up the phone nonchalantly.

   "People from Huatou?" Lu Hu answered the phone and asked casually. During the process of answering the phone, Zhong Shi didn't deliberately hide it from him, so he heard it clearly.

   "Yes!" Zhong Shi leaned back on the back seat, closed his eyes, and said to himself, "It seems that they are planning to buy the bottom!"

  Jiang Shan, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat, heard the conversation in the back seat, and quickly turned his head and asked, "Boss, people from Huatou live in the Sheraton Hotel in Shang/City District, should we rush there now?"

   "There's no rush, let's go to Bear Stearns first!" Zhong Shi narrowed his eyes, looked out the window at the tall buildings receding quickly, and said casually.

  Jiangshan doesn’t understand, neither does Land Rover, why are you going to Bear Stearns now. But it didn't take long to get there, so they tactfully didn't ask any more questions.

   Not long after, the Mercedes-Benz was parked beside the street at the entrance of Bear Stearns. As usual, the entrance of Bear Stearns was still full of people coming and going, an unusually busy scene. It's just that everyone who enters and exits has a different face from the past. After the sale to ****, these people don't know which departments the new owner will focus on in the future and which departments will be cut, so except for a few people who enter and exit, they can still maintain Apart from their normal expressions, the others all looked preoccupied.

   After staring blankly for a while, Zhong Shi suddenly pushed open the car door, walked out, and pasted a two-dollar cash bill on the glass curtain wall of Bear Stearns under the eyes of everyone.

   Thanks to book friend Xing Xiyuelang, it wasn't me last night, Xiao Yang Maimai voted monthly!

  (end of this chapter)