The Industrial Giant Reborn

Three days later, Henry Morgan brought Chen Zhiwen to a building in the middle behind Wall Street.

"This is not the headquarters of Morgan Stanley, is it?" Chen Zhiwen asked curiously as he looked at the building whose name had nothing to do with Morgan.

"This is Morgan Stanley, the place to entertain VIP customers. Only long-term cooperation with old customers or introductions of deep relationships can come here. Eric, you are here because of my guarantee." Henry Morgan explained Dao: "Morgan Stanley's main business is investment, which is different from Citibank and JPMorgan Chase. The investment purpose of many customers will cause a great impact on the market, either because of the identity of the customer or the need for confidentiality. , This type of client is inconvenient to be exposed, not to mention journalists and the media, even people inside Morgan Stanley, the less they know, the better. Some well-known ones will be news if they appear in one place, and they will be news if they appear in Morgan Stanley , It may cause a lot of stock fluctuations, so we will arrange it in a more hidden place, in fact, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers almost have such a place."

"Understood." Chen Zhiwen nodded, just like he was in Hong Kong, if he appeared in one place, it might arouse some speculation from the media, but fortunately in Hong Kong, the media is still very weak, and he owns TVB and It is relatively easy to control public opinion if you have invested in some paper media, unless there is a big consortium against you.

But the United States is different. It is true that capital is king in the United States, but there are too many capitalists here. It is unlikely that there are only a few capitals like Hong Kong. At the same time, as long as there are no major conflicts and the interests are in the same direction, almost Foreign capital will also cooperate, but there are too many interest groups in the United States, it is impossible to unify, and there are big capital behind many media, there is no fear of everything, even the president of the United States can do it for you.

"Let's go, there are already people waiting for us." Henry Morgan said with a smile.

Several people followed Henry Morgan and walked in. After verifying their identities, only Chen Zhiwen and an assistant were able to follow Henry Morgan up. Soon, they reached the 26th floor.

As soon as the elevator opened, a blond man about 40 years old was waiting at the door of the elevator. When he saw Henry Morgan, he smiled and said, "Hi, Henry, hello, Mr. Chen, hello."

"Eric, this is Jim, the vice president of Morgan Stanley, and my good friend. This time, he will be in charge of your investment plan." Henry Morgan introduced.

"Hello, Jim." Chen Zhiwen nodded, shook hands and smiled.

"Inside, please." Jim politely stepped aside, and then they came to a reception room together.

Henry Morgan didn't go in, and said, "You two, go in and talk, it's not convenient for me to go in."

"OK." Jim nodded. The conversation with the client is top secret. Even Henry Morgan would not be able to know about it without permission from the client.

"Then wait for us for a while, it shouldn't be soon." Chen Zhiwen said.

"Eric, don't worry, talk slowly. There is a special spa on the lower floor, which is exclusive to VIP members. I'll go and enjoy it slowly. Take your time." Henry Morgan waved his hand and left with a smile.

"The 25th floor is where we provide VIP members with various leisure services. If Mr. Chen is interested, you can go and find out later." Jim said.

"Then let's talk about business first." Chen Zhiwen nodded. Since the customers here are super rich, there are naturally corresponding services, not just financial services.

"I heard from Henry that Mr. Chen wants to invest in futures, but which one is it?" Jim asked.

"Gold." Chen Zhiwen said, "I want to go long on gold. My principal is 200 million U.S. dollars. I hope to use this as collateral to borrow a billion U.S. dollars from Morgan Stanley."

"U.S. $1 billion to go long gold?" When Jim heard this, he suddenly regained his energy. This is a big deal, even for Morgan Stanley, it is not a small deal.

Although the top major peers in the United States all control hundreds of billions of dollars in assets, they are not actually their own. They are just escrows. They use various financial means to make money for customers, and then get a dividend from it .

Most of these are very stable low-risk returns. For example, many large retirement funds will entrust American investment banks to invest, but only allow the purchase of government bonds, debt issued by large companies, stable company stocks, etc. This type of business, There are too many institutions that can do it. Therefore, investment banks do not make much profit in this area, but because of the large base, they can form economies of scale.

And private high-risk investment is the investment bank's favorite model. To go long or short, the funds needed need to pay a lot of interest. As long as the risks are well controlled, it is basically free.

"Yes, about the end of this year, the official start, there are still two months, I will prepare the corresponding principal." Chen Zhiwen said: "I just don't know, can Morgan Stanley prepare it? "

"Mr. Chen, don't worry, 1 billion US dollars is nothing to Morgan Stanley." Jim said confidently.

"That's good. Then I need to get the interest issue and the corresponding contract as soon as possible, and then my legal department will review and verify it. If there is no problem, we can sign the contract." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

If it’s just a small investment, such as tens of millions of dollars, going long or short at investment banks such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley is basically a standard contract, and you can sign it or not, but if it reaches the level of tens of millions of dollars, you can already If it affects the investment manager or even the annual KPI of this department, then there is room for bargaining. After all, such customers will also be the targets that other rival investment banks want. And if it reaches the level of 100 million US dollars, it is the investment bank who came to ask for cooperation. After all, it is a company with a scale of hundreds of millions of dollars going public, and various investment firms will fight to the death in order to compete for business.

"Okay, I will report this matter as soon as possible. As long as I have accurate information, I will notify you as soon as possible." Jim said.

"This is my contact information." Chen Zhiwen handed over his business card. There were several phone numbers on it, corresponding to his assistants. There is no way. Although the big brother has appeared early, the telecommunications infrastructure is not enough. Not every place can have a signal. It is much more convenient to contact by phone, and there is always an assistant by the phone.

"Thank you, Mr. Chen, for choosing Morgan Stanley. I will serve you wholeheartedly." Jim said with a smile after taking the business card.

"Whether we can cooperate or not depends on the conditions you offer." Chen Zhiwen said lightly.

"I will definitely not disappoint Mr. Chen." Jim said with a smile, and then asked: "Mr. Chen, besides gold futures, do you have any other investment intentions? Nice project."

After receiving the notification from his friend Henry Morgan, Jim immediately investigated all the information of Chen Zhiwen, including Costco in the United States, major shareholders of Wal-Mart, Hutchison, Wharf, Midea and Red Bull in Hong Kong, etc. He was surprised He found out that apart from the Hong Kong real estate industry, which he is not very clear about, the other companies are all very high-quality. At the same time, he probably consulted his friends in the industry, and he knew that Chen Zhiwen must have a lot of cash flow in his hands.

Regardless of whether there is any extra funds beyond the 200 million US dollars, just those few companies can obtain a large amount of funds from other commercial bank loans. This is the ultimate goal he wants, to squeeze out all the value of customers.

"That's not necessary, but as long as this cooperation is happy, I can find you first if there is any project in the future." Chen Zhiwen drew a big pie. He naturally knows his current weight, and uses the future pie to hang the investment bank It is also good, at least if it is successful, it may be able to reduce a little interest, and futures borrowed with a billion-dollar fund, a little less interest is still a lot of money.

"Understood, we will definitely provide you with the best service." Jim nodded and said, it is indeed impossible to let someone invest in him for the first time, but there is no loss if you ask, this kind of customer is actually stable If you are used to cooperating with a company, it will not change under normal circumstances. American investment banks have been in business for hundreds of years, and they already know human nature well. Many super rich people cooperate with big investment banks, and they may be incomparable Trust me, even without going through a lot of formalities, I sent the money over for investment.

Of course, this will not be most of their assets. At the same time, several major investment banks also attach great importance to the interests of customers on the surface. They really have a bad reputation and have a great influence on themselves. Therefore, they also attach great importance to customers.

"That's it for today. If there is news in the next step, then I will come here again." Chen Zhiwen said.

"Okay, Mr. Chen." Jim nodded and said.

In the next half month, Chen Zhiwen went to Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns, Deutsche Bank's New York branch, Barclays Bank's New York branch, etc. to more than a dozen of the world's top investment banks through other channels. After walking around, each family has drawn a big pie, directly borrowing 1 billion US dollars of funds, which made each family very excited, and then patted their chests and promised to give him the best discount.

It is naturally impossible to cooperate with so many banks, and the principal of selling him is not so much. In the end, you only need to choose the few with the most favorable discounts. Going long on gold this time is the most important move in his strategy over the years. Most of his previous investments were prepared for this day.

It is really that the increase in gold next year is too fragrant.

Before the 1970s, gold had been pegged to the U.S. dollar, which was one of the main contents of the Bretton Woods system. All countries used the U.S. dollar as their foreign exchange, and global transactions were denominated in U.S. dollars. Anyone can exchange U.S. dollars for gold.

This regulation was not a problem during World War II, because during World War II, except for Pearl Island, other places in the United States were not threatened by war, and a large amount of money and gold flowed into the United States, not to mention that the US government spent a lot of resources such as arms and oil during the war. The windfall, sold out Germany and sold Britain, sold out Japan and sold China...

After World War II, the economies of Asia and Europe collapsed, and the United States held more than half of the world's gold. This was also the basis for the establishment of the Bretton Woods system. However, with the economic development of countries such as Western Europe and Japan, they earned a lot of dollars and a lot of money. The gold was exchanged, and finally in 1971, the U.S. government saw that the gold was almost gone. President Nixon quickly abandoned the Bretton Woods system. Since then, the price of gold has let itself go.

In 1972, the price of gold reached $66.

In 1973, the price of gold broke through $100.

In 1975, the price of gold broke through $180.

In 1978, the price of gold broke through $214.

The previous few years were not outrageous, and the growth rate was considered normal. This is why Chen Zhiwen did not invest in gold before 1978, because the return on investment was not as good as that of real estate in Hong Kong. By the beginning of 1979, the price of gold was only rising slowly and steadily. Wall Street All kinds of bearish voices are heard endlessly. Countless people do not believe that gold will continue to rise, but the fact is about to slap them hard.

$300.

$400.

$500

...

The price of the first grade was raised within two months. It was not until January 1980, when the gold peaked at $850, that it gradually fell back under the forcible intervention of US President Carter.

The most basic logic of this is that in the past few decades, the global gold reserves have not increased much, while too many U.S. dollars have been printed. Before the 1970s, so many countries, including European countries, ran on gold because they After discovering this, the U.S. dollar had to be decoupled from gold in the end, but it still couldn't control the price of gold.

Because the U.S. dollar has lost its calibration, people don’t believe in the U.S. dollar. Until the U.S. dollar is linked to oil, and the oil price soars after the second oil crisis, all countries need U.S. dollars, and the demand for gold is not so strong. In addition, the U.S. government intervenes. In the end, the price of gold was suppressed within a year.

This kind of "golden" opportunity can only be compared with the third oil crisis in the history of modern business. At that time, the price of oil soared by about 3 times, and the time interval was shorter, which was more suitable for long positions.

As for the second oil crisis that is about to break out, because oil futures have not yet been born, there is no way to speculate. Of course, the method similar to his hype plastics in the first oil crisis is actually feasible, but the scale is almost impossible. At the billion-dollar level, and a lesson has been learned, those chemical and oil giants are not fools. Therefore, it is far inferior to gold futures in terms of return on investment.

A futures contract with such a large value is enough to attract the attention of several major investment banks. This cannot be quickly decided within a few days. After leaving some relevant personnel behind, Chen Zhiwen returned to Hong Kong again.