Mediterranean hegemon

"3 dollars!"

"3.1 dollars!"

"3.2 dollars!"

"3.3 dollars!"

"Oh my God, the first day of the new issue of United Petroleum closed at 3.45 dollars, and the first-day increase was as high as 39%. This is incredible for a company with a total market value of more than 1.2 billion US dollars! When did large-cap stocks also have such an increase? Now the price-earnings ratio has reached a high level of 40 times, while the market average price-earnings ratio is only in the early 20s..." All the veterans and traders of the stock exchange exclaimed after the closing.

"Charlie, I think your analysis is wrong. The annual oil production of United Petroleum (Algeria) Company is expected to reach 7 million tons, 50 million barrels, this year, and the company's overall profit can exceed 30 million US dollars, which is a 40 times price-earnings ratio. But you have to know that this profit estimate is very conservative. In fact, the oil production of this oil field is far more than 7 million tons. I think it can reach 15 million tons. And you can't use the current oil price to speculate on the profit level - haven't you seen that the upper limit of storage and selling amount has exceeded 1.5 US dollars? This number will definitely be adjusted up next year... For the oil field, after the construction is completed, the cost is locked. Every increase of 0.1 US dollars per barrel in price means an additional net profit of 5 million US dollars. Buying this stock is equivalent to holding a long-term crude oil bullish option. If the oil production doubles next year, it means The price-earnings ratio has dropped to less than 20 times. If crude oil prices rise again, it may only be 14-15 times... Now it can only be said to be normal, and everyone is betting based on future judgments! "

When Contini received the news from the stock market, he was touring Hawaii with his fleet and enjoying the local hula dance. Hearing that the price of United Oil had skyrocketed, he laughed: "Send a telegram to Uncle Antonio, and disclose the hidden blocks in a few days, so that we can add fuel to the fire."

On April 5, when Contini and others were preparing to cross the Panama Canal, United Oil disclosed two good news to the market: the first was that the oil output exceeded 23,000 tons/day, and the annual oil production was determined to be increased to 8 million tons; the second was that three new oil-producing areas were discovered, which could increase the existing reserves by 9%. United Oil is preparing to step up mining and ensure that the external output will exceed 30,000 tons/day next year.

This news directly pushed the share price of United Oil to US$3.7, with a market value of nearly 1.3 billion-but no one said that the valuation was overvalued at this time. Everyone thought that the price was still cheap, and the sooner you buy, the sooner you get rich!

Seeing the price of United Oil rising continuously, the United States and France were ready to accept Antonio's price for Libya shares, but as luck would have it, on April 17, the day before Contini arrived in New York, the Libyan Administration announced new news: two large associated natural gas fields were discovered. Natural gas had been injected into Libyan power plants to start generating electricity. In the future, Libya's energy structure will be dominated by natural gas. The Libyan company vowed to lay pipelines to transport natural gas back to Italy - the submarine pipeline is only more than 600 kilometers, and it is relatively easy to lay pipelines in shallow waters such as the Mediterranean.

This news finally stunned the Americans and French - they didn't buy the shares when they were worth 70 million, but now they are desperately buying them when they are valued at 100 million. The three major French banks bought 15% and spent 150 million US dollars, and the United States bought 25% and spent 250 million US dollars. The valuation of the entire Libyan Oil Company reached 1 billion US dollars before the official IPO. However, with the Algerian company as a target in front, everyone thought it was a good deal. After all, when they first bought the shares, the valuation was only 550-600 million, and now it has doubled.

Before going to the United States, Contini had stayed in Cuba for a while and bought 200,000 US dollars of high-quality cigars - this was a local specialty to give as gifts, and reached a deal of 2 million US dollars worth of Cuban sugar. He even signed a "coffee for warships" contract with Colombia and sold the reconnaissance cruiser Guardo to the Colombians - instant coffee is now selling well and there is an urgent need to purchase raw materials. A batch of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee was also purchased, but these are all top-quality goods, which are good enough to give as gifts, but it would be a waste to use them as raw materials for instant coffee.

April 21 is Rome Day (according to legend, Rome was founded on this day). All officials and naval officers who have accompanied the president on visits in the past six months have received gifts from the president - Chinese tea, Japanese sake, Cuban cigars, Jamaican coffee and of course American cigarettes. The president is very generous to those around him. Besides, as the president who owns one-third of the shares of United Oil and 60% of the shares of Libya Company, as long as the stock price jumps by even 1 cent, it means tens of millions of dollars will flow in. The mere gifts are really a drizzle.

After delivering the gift, Contini announced at the press conference held by the New York mayor's authorities that he had set up a 240 square kilometer special development zone in southern China, referred to as the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, which would be managed by Italians and welcome Americans to invest. He would represent the United Group to do all the preliminary work. As a gesture of sincerity, he would take the following measures:

First, issue special zone construction bonds to support relevant infrastructure. The United Group would set up a development zone to achieve the "six connections and one leveling" conditions of water supply, drainage, electricity, access, communication, ventilation, and site leveling. At the same time, it would also build ports, power stations, Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Railway and other infrastructure in advance;

Second, there are preferential tax policies. All enterprises entering the development zone can implement the policy of two-year exemption and three-year income tax reduction by half, and the income tax rate is only set at 25%, which is lower than the general standard. There are also tariff-free, sub-export and Preferential policies to reduce taxes and fees by half;

Third, the planning and design department of the United Group showed a rough planning map: the port area, warehousing area, industrial area, residential area, commercial area, cultural district, transportation area (airport) and other functions have all been distributed, and United Real Estate will develop 100 The 10,000-square-meter high-end model residence is the result of several months of work by the planners who traveled with the ship. In fact, they didn't have much time to survey the site at all, and they were purely doing drawing work.

In addition, he also answered questions about the development projects of the Italian Concession in Tianjin and Shanghai United Wharf, and said that US$300 million in China Special Economic Zone Development Bonds will be issued, which will be issued by the United Group instead of the Special Zone, to maximize capital strength and boost market confidence. .

In addition, he also answered reporters’ concerns about the listing of member companies of the United Group: United Motors will be listed in September this year, and United Petroleum (Libya) will be listed before the end of December this year. In the future, United Airlines will be promoted as circumstances permit. , United Defense went public.

This statement was enthusiastically received by the United States, especially since the 300 million special zone development bonds were issued in the name of the United Group rather than the development company, and was commented by Wall Street insiders as a "consistently responsible" attitude.

After the meeting ended, Agnes suddenly asked: "Calais, I remember you told me that you are not going to invest a lot of money in China, just build a dock, port, airport, and develop some ordinary factories. Yes, today you are uncharacteristically saying that you will vigorously develop, and you also said that you will raise US$300 million in bonds. Have you changed your mind?”

"No, I haven't changed my attitude."

"What about your statement at the press conference?"

Contini smiled: "That's true too."

Agnes said in surprise: "Isn't that right? Even I can see that these two cannot be true at the same time. You must have laid a foreshadowing somewhere."

"Mother..." Contini laughed, "Don't forget what I said at the press conference today. If China's political situation can remain stable while being open and innovative, what will I do... This fully illustrates I have a precondition.”

Agnes suddenly realized: "Are you not optimistic about the direction of China's political situation?"

"To be honest, China's political situation has always been unstable, so I am very cautious, but I think this delicate balance is an illusion. Sooner or later, the two sides will fight again." Contini smiled, "Italy's national strength does not allow me to China has poured too much money into it. Not to mention that China didn’t give me the right to garrison troops. So what if it gave me the power to fight a large-scale battle with just a few thousand people?”

"I understand, you are trying to paint a picture of the market. What are the benefits of this?"

"There are many benefits. First, with this gimmick, I can get 300 million US dollars in development bonds. Borrowing money is not so easy, there must be a reason. This is a good gimmick, and I believe Wall Street understands it; second Second, it can indirectly drive the price of listed shares. Everyone knows that my financing must be done through United Bank, which will increase his capital and profits. They know that I will definitely consume North African oil, which will increase the price of crude oil shares. Third, I will strengthen the purchasing gimmick in industrial orders and push up the stock prices of key companies. I hold the stocks of many American industrial companies. If I release cooperation and large orders, their stock prices will also follow. So you see, when I sign a contract, I never look for the one with the lowest price. I always look for the one where I hold the most shares and where I can get the maximum benefit.”

"I understand the first two points. Please tell me about the last point..."

"Currently, the main measure of stock valuation is the price-to-earnings ratio, and the mainstream price-to-earnings ratio of blue-chip stocks on the New York Stock Exchange is between 18 and 24 times. This means that for every extra yuan earned, it can be reflected in the market value of 18 to 24 US dollars. Then this business That's easy." Contini smiled, "I deliberately signed contracts with these companies and transferred 1 dollar of profit to them. On the surface, I lost 1 dollar. In fact, I held shares in these companies. Earn more from the increase in stock price - this is the way to gain first, and it does not constitute a related transaction, because the shareholders are not the same as the contracting parties, and the shareholders are not the major shareholders no matter how you check. There’s no way to argue.”

Agnes quickly figured it out: "As long as you hold more than 5% of the shares, this kind of business is worthwhile. The more you hold, the more worthwhile it is."

"This algorithm is relatively mechanical. In fact, if I want to reduce my holdings, I must continuously let the company release good news, so as to support the decline in the stock price during the reduction process, so even if I lose a little temporarily, I must transfer it. After the reduction is completed in the future, Maximum benefit.”