Pillow Book of Talmud Wisdom

Chapter 29 Only Bugs Don’t Fall—Jews on Risk (1)
The Jews believe that risks always come with benefits. As a shrewd person, you must know not to let go of opportunities. Even if you need to take risks, if you dare not even face the risks, you will not achieve much. of.

As the "Talmud" says: There are three things that cannot be used too much, that is, yeast for making bread, salt and hesitation.

Adventure is one of the most important things in life
Take the risk if it's worth it.This method of panning for gold in risks is a very convincing investment method for Jewish businessmen.

The following case illustrates this point.

Armand Hammer was born in the United States on May 1898, 5. When he was in college, he started to run the pharmaceutical business left to him by his father, and achieved remarkable results. As a result, he became the only college student millionaire in the United States at that time. In 21, he rushed to the Soviet Union and became a trade agent, amassing a huge fortune. In 1921, at the age of 1956, Hammer acquired Occidental Petroleum Company, which was about to go bankrupt, and became the entrepreneur of the world's largest oil company. In 58, Hamer's Occidental Petroleum Corporation had an astonishing $1974 billion in annual revenue.Throughout his life, Hamer had a close relationship with political leaders in the East and West, and his reputation spread all over the world.

Hammer is often asked about the "magic" of getting rich.They insisted that Hammer's fortune is not only due to due talents such as diligence, shrewdness, wit, and prudence, but also "secret weapons".

At a party, someone came up to Hammer to ask for "the secret of making a fortune." , as soon as you get there, you go around the various trade departments of the government, buying and selling, and there are probably no less than two or three hundred in these departments..." Hearing this, the person who asked for advice muttered angrily, turned and left .

In fact, this is exactly the incisive summary of Hammer's 20 business operations in Russia in the 20s, which contains the prosperity and decline, success and failure of his business.

In 1921, the Soviet Union experienced civil war and famine, and urgently needed relief supplies, especially food.Hamer could have sat in a clean hospital with a stethoscope in his hand, and lived his life without worrying about food and clothing.

But he loathes this life.In his eyes, it seems that those places that are not known by people are the battlefields that are worth taking risks and doing a great job.He made a choice that most people thought was crazy, and set foot on the terrible Soviet Union that was described by the West as hell.At that time, the Soviet Union suffered economic depression due to civil war, foreign military intervention and blockade, and people's life was very difficult; cholera, typhus, typhoid and other infectious diseases and famine seriously threatened people's lives.The Soviet regime led by Lenin adopted a major decision - the New Economic Policy, to encourage the attraction of foreign investment and rebuild the Soviet economy.But many Westerners are full of prejudice and hatred towards the Soviet Union, and regard the Soviet regime as a terrible monster.Going to the Soviet Union to do business and invest in enterprises is called "exploring to the moon".

Of course, Hammer knew this in his heart, but the risk is great, and the profit must also be great, so it is worth taking the risk.So Hammer finally entered the Soviet Union by train after suffering from seasickness on the Atlantic voyage and the troubles of being entangled by the British secret police.

The scene along the way was horrible: cholera, typhoid and other infectious diseases were prevalent, uncollected corpses were everywhere in cities and villages, and birds that ate carrion and rotting meat hovered above people's heads.Hammer closed his eyes in pain, but the businessman's shrewd mind told him that the most urgent need of the Soviet Union, which was plagued by famine, was food.He also thought about the bumper harvest in the United States at this time, and the price had already dropped to one dollar per bushel.Farmers would rather burn their grain than send it to the market at a low price.The Soviet Union has furs, platinum, and emeralds that the United States needs and can be exchanged for food.If the two sides can exchange, wouldn't it be the best of both worlds?Hammer learned from an emergency meeting of the Soviet Union that the Soviet Union needed about 100 million bushels of wheat to feed the hungry people in the Ural Mountains through the famine.Not to miss the opportunity, Hammer immediately suggested to Soviet officials that grain be shipped from the United States in exchange for Soviet goods.The two sides quickly reached an agreement.The first battle was won.

Not long after, Hamer became the first American to run a concession business in the Soviet Union.After that, Lenin gave him even greater privileges, letting him be in charge of the Soviet Union's trade agent with the United States.Hammer became the general representative of more than 30 companies including Ford Motor Company, American Rubber Company, Ellis-Charles Machinery and Equipment Company in the Soviet Union.As the business grew bigger and bigger, his income also increased.He has a staggering amount of rubles in the Bank of Moscow.

The first adventure made Hamer taste a huge sweetness.Therefore, "As long as it is worth it, take risks at all costs" has become the biggest feature of Hamer's business.

Seize the opportunity, dare to think and dare to do

What kind of businessman does the Jewish nation admire most?
The survey shows that they admire businessmen who dare to make amazing investment strategies the most, because these people best embody the investment level of the Jewish people who are "bold and careful, and make quick moves", that is, they throw a lot of money when they see the right one.

The American financial giant Morgan is a typical Jewish businessman who dared to make an amazing investment strategy. Someone joked: "As long as Morgan starts his own work, it is equivalent to the money printing machine running at full speed, because the investment concept in his mind is completely complete. Mature."

At the end of the 19th century, railway transportation was the pillar supporting the transportation system of the American industry, but various sections of railways like a plate of loose sand could not fulfill this important task.If you want to connect the scattered railways into one and form a railway network, you still need to invest a lot of money in railways.In this way, the degree of dependence of the railways on investment banks is quite prominent.With the development of productivity, the degree of socialization of enterprises is getting higher and higher, and the splitting and merging of companies are becoming more frequent, and the amount of borrowing funds is also increasing.This requires investment banks not only to have strong financial backing, but also to have a high reputation.In this situation, the bank syndicate founded by Morgan has become a model for the banking investment industry in the new era.Faced with the economic crisis in the United States, many bankrupt companies pinned their hopes on Morgan, hoping that he could acquire their companies, become their savior, and give their companies new life.

At this time of crisis, Morgan turned the tide and helped the building to collapse.He picked up the scalpel and performed major surgery on the railway industry.This time he adopted the "buy at a high price" strategy.Whether it is the western railway or those railways that no longer meet the requirements of today's development, he will buy them all so that he can quickly rectify the American railways.

Morgan's strategy of buying railways at high prices is known as the "Trust Plan", which reflects the power of Morgan's strategy.Morgan's large investment this time is not speculation, but to promote the development of railways.The reason why he set a price that beat all competitors this time was also because he did not want to make a profit from this investment.In addition, his newly won supremacy in the financial world will be threatened if the backbone of the railway industry economy is occupied by others.For this alone, it is worth fighting for him.Morgan's major reorganization of the railways marked the transition of the US economy from the initial stage of development to the modern stage of emphasizing operation and management, which fundamentally changed the traditional American business strategy and thinking.His success had a major impact on the direction of the American economy.This is even more so in Wall Street. His business ideas and management methods have become the targets of Wall Street to emulate, and they still have far-reaching influence.

From "pirate" operations to the formation of syndicates, and then to trusts, Wall Street has transformed from a place of speculators in the past to the economic center of the United States.Wall Street later became a symbol of the development of the US economy and aspired to the status of the world's financial hegemony. Morgan's contribution is of course second to none.

From Morgan, we found that Jews are full of risks and opportunities in investment. They are willing to try to make money from risks, and they will never get rid of their own risks easily.This kind of investment strategy of "bold, cautious, and quick action" should be the basic quality of an excellent businessman.

In the process of getting rich, we must also distinguish between opportunities and luck. We do not rule out luck, but more importantly, we must use our own financial intelligence to tap the opportunities hidden in life. Only in this way can you get wealth.

The experience of Jewish businessmen is: Having a high IQ not only allows you to know how to create wealth, but also allows you to know how to seize the opportunity of wealth and turn luck into wealth.

Risk and reward are directly proportional
Opportunities are fleeting. If you can’t overcome the weakness of indecision, you may never be able to seize opportunities. You can only sigh when others succeed: “I could have been like this.”

"Talmud" said: Please the Lord send tribulations to test my faith in the Lord; ask the Lord to send pains to distinguish me from ordinary people; ask the Lord to give me adversity so that I can succeed.

The ancestors of the Morgan family migrated from England to America around 1600 AD. When it was passed down to Joseph Morgan, he sold his farm in Massachusetts and settled in Hartford.

Morgan initially made a living running a small coffee shop while also selling travel baskets.After working in this way for some time, he gradually made some money, built a very grand hotel, bought shares in the canal, and became a shareholder in the steamboat industry and the local railway.

In 1835, Morgan invested in a small insurance company called "Itna Fire."The so-called investment does not require cash. The investor's credit is a kind of capital, as long as you sign your name on the shareholder register.After the investor signs the promissory note, he can collect the handling fee paid by the policyholder.As long as there is no fire, this business without capital will be profitable without loss.

Soon, however, a major fire broke out in New York.Investors gathered in Morgan's hotel, all pale and anxious like ants on a hot pot.Obviously, many investors have not experienced such an event.They panicked and were willing to voluntarily give up their stake.

Morgan bought all their shares. He said: "In order to pay off the insurance cost, I am willing to sell this hotel, but there is one condition, and the handling fee must be greatly increased in the future."

Morgan is betting on the future.This is really a gamble, success or failure, all in one fell swoop.

(End of this chapter)