Mediterranean hegemon

While the Hoovers were discussing the future direction of the situation and related countermeasures, it was rare for Wall Street tycoons to get together to exchange views.

They have always scorned Contini's statement at the press conference, but one thing they have to admit is that Contini dares to say it, can say it, and has huge appeal and influence among the people. Dupont The representative muttered: "This guy is a disaster..."

But no one paid attention to this statement. Even Rockefeller and Morgan just laughed. Of course they knew DuPont's trick-to let their opponents fly on the ground. But Contini's position was too important and critical. The effect of the airplane may not be good, so I can only suppress this emotion temporarily.

Mitchell and other financial giants shared their current thoughts and believed that it was not impossible to rescue the market, but the current point was too high and United Group was a time bomb - who knew when Contini would go crazy and sell these stocks.

Andrew Mellon is a well-spoken senior government official in this circle. He explained: "Little Ciano's meaning is very clear. He wants to use this opportunity to lower the price of industrial equipment, especially the 4.4 billion order..."

Someone next to him immediately said: "We have actually agreed to lower the price... Many people are willing to give 95% off, 92% off, but do you know what the discount this bastard proposed is? 20% off, plus the deposit he has already paid. Including it—irritating or not?”

This is of course an exaggeration. In fact, not everyone is 20% off. For example, petroleum equipment is only 30% off, while precision instruments are 15% off. The problem is that no one wants to accept the discount ratio given to them by the United Group - Contini's inspiration Let his subordinates propose a price that the other party cannot accept, and he doesn't really want to buy it.

"Are the Russians interested?"

"There is intention, but the Russians have no money. Not to mention the installment payment, they have to use agricultural products and oil to compensate... What do we need these things for? The United States itself can't sell them."

"Didn't the Russians have some foreign exchange wealth before?"

"That's because the United Group has made large purchases in Russia. Now the United Group has announced that it will not renew the contract unless Russia offers a 20% discount on the market price. The Russians do not want to accept such a harsh treaty, so they want to trade directly with the Germans. … Coincidentally, the Germans also lacked foreign exchange, so they generally had to engage in barter transactions with the Russians.”

"So where have all the funds gone? Others say there is a shortage of dollars or pounds, but we issue dollars ourselves. Why are there so many gaps?"

The financiers immediately explained in a flurry: United Bank has an exposure of 1.8 billion - all lent out by various banks, and it will take some time to recover them one after another; but this is not the bulk, the bulk is in the stock market. According to statistics from various banks, at least 8-9 billion US dollars of funds have been deposited in the stock market. Now they have all turned into cold stocks and cannot be recovered. Perhaps forced liquidation can recover a large part, but now the circuit breaker has made it impossible to release the funds. Come out, and the funds cannot escape.

"Another point is that since the economic crisis in Europe has begun to show signs and stocks are falling, a lot of funds have begun to flow back to Europe, which has aggravated the current financial tension to varying degrees." Mitchell also did not forget to tell the Federal Reserve. "Also, the Federal Reserve's high interest rates are also hindering the release of market funds."

Mellon got the taste: At the beginning, everyone agreed to use a liquidity crisis to cause a run crisis on United Bank and eventually force United Group to bow its head. Now it seems that after several repeated battles, especially Contini, he would rather give up the 500 million order and sell. The stock also needs to maintain the confidence of United Bank. After the confidence of United Bank was clearly seen, these guys backed away again, as if they had never been involved in this matter.

In fact, the fundamental reason why Mitchell and others complained was that several of their banks wanted to lend out the US$600 million that Union Bank had returned to the Federal Reserve for short selling. Unexpectedly, the Federal Reserve did not agree to this matter, which made them feel very unhappy. Now It's also the intended meaning of the question, but what's the point of taking a stand? In order to make money, the position can be changed!

"We'll see another day. If the circuit breaker breaks again, the rules will have to be changed..." Rockefeller ignored these confusing remarks and frowned, "Since everyone has deployed short positions, let's continue to fight on Monday. The circuit breaker can also be lifted naturally... Is it the suggestion from that idiot? It could have been a fall in place, but now it has become a daily torment."

Mitchell and others did not dare to say anything. He was the one who came up with these crazy ideas.

Everyone expressed concern and agreement with this suggestion, and then everyone showed their talents.

Hoover was determined, Wall Street was determined, and countless people were eagerly awaiting Monday's opening.

The stock market did not disappoint expectations. On Monday, the stock market gapped down by -5%. The Dow Jones instantly broke through the previous low to 259 points. This point shocked all those who still had illusions. Selling orders surged out like a tide. In less than 5 minutes, the -7% fuse valve was triggered. The second fuse came to the world, and the trading volume was only US$700 million. Most of the orders were completed by Wall Street institutions, because only they could have the opportunity to borrow money. to the stock and threw, while still having the runway and speed advantage, and then fell into a 15-minute deadlock.

Hoover received a call from his subordinates in his office and said expressionlessly: "I understand." He hung up the phone and never said anything like "I'll find a way." 15 minutes later , despair was staged again. Brokerages and investment institutions frantically searched for customer orders, and then threw out orders one after another that were about to be liquidated. In these 15 minutes, a race against time was staged for life and death. Countless people were praying outside. They hoped that a magical force would emerge to pull up the stock market, but they were completely disappointed. After the cooling-off period was lifted, the stock index continued to fall, all the way to the abyss... until the circuit breaker broke again, and the stock index hung alone at 226 points.

This also indicates that the index of large stocks, small stocks and theme stocks have once again halved. The mortgage rates of many stocks have been adjusted to zero by various banks and brokerage firms, which means that these stocks can no longer be used for mortgage, which has accelerated the collapse of small stocks.

In such a day when the whole world was falling, Livermore quietly bought a small amount of stocks to close his position, and then bought back some of the falling United stocks - Contini was surprisingly generous in his own He lent his shares to others for shorting, letting the joint stock price fall, and then quietly took it back. I wonder what kind of desperate situation these people would be in if the stock rebounded in the future and could not find the stock to close their positions.

The cabinet meeting that day only came up with one result: the temporary lifting of the circuit breaker, the suspension of short selling proposed by Hoover and the statement of the top 100 companies refusing to lay off workers were all rejected - it was considered that this kind of interference in the market was unacceptable.

After the news of lifting the circuit breaker came out, the stock market stabilized slightly on Tuesday, only falling from 227 points to 211 points. However, the turnover rate throughout the day reached 40%. Almost all actively traded stocks fully changed hands. Many people Many people rushed in, thinking that they had finally stabilized and rebounded. Dozens of people jumped off buildings one after another on the streets of New York. Now the police are too lazy to pursue them and just ask the property owners of these buildings to take good care of the rooftops.

However, although the rooftop was well managed, disasters in other areas increased. Investors who could not find a platform to jump from the building fell in love with the Brooklyn Bridge. More than 20 people jumped off one after another in one night - just jumping off is not a problem. Okay, there were also people who drove their cars into the fence of the bridge, knocking them down with the car and people, so that the bridge was hit 7 times in one day, causing an unprecedented traffic jam.

Wednesday, October 30, was the beginning of the stock market disaster. The famous "Black Wednesday" came. As soon as the market opened in the morning, the stock price suddenly dropped like water from a bursting dam. People sold their stocks one after another, regardless of the price. Brokers were surrounded and the trading floor was in chaos. The Dow Jones Index plummeted, with more than 12 million shares changing hands throughout the day. The Dow Jones Index plunged 32.15 points, and the stock market dropped to only 178 points - more than two years of gains were wiped out in two months...

On this night, New York set a suicide record. Various suicide methods emerged in endlessly: jumping from buildings, jumping into rivers, and hitting bridges were common methods. The most violent one was to drive a truck full of gasoline into a public place and explode together. The British came The family of Mr. Winston Churchill who was visiting New York suffered a tragic death in this unfortunate explosion, and as many as 23 innocent people in New York were killed together...

The United Bank headquarters building was also hit by suicide trucks and cars, but it was of no use. Facing the outer wall with a thickness of more than 1 meter and a battleship armor belt incorporated in the middle, these vehicles made useless efforts.

However, the Blackwater Security Company activated the highest alert and set up cordons in the surrounding alleys. Everyone must undergo security inspections. Once a Ford sedan rushed over desperately and was hit by a 12.7mm erection from the window 4 seconds later. The Ronning machine gun formed like a honeycomb and exploded on the spot.

After the police came to investigate, they had only one expressionless conclusion: it was self-defense and there would be no prosecution.

Faced with increasing pressure, Hoover finally couldn't sit still...