Mediterranean hegemon

Late at night on December 9, a week after Antonio and Leo arrived in the United States and handed over all their work, Contini, escorted by a large number of guards, quietly boarded the USS Caracciolo anchored in New York Harbor. Although he The official departure time is tomorrow morning, but he doesn't want to board the ship in a big way and let people see him off. That would be too ostentatious. He likes to board the ship quietly and in a low-key manner.

But this was what he thought. The National Guardsmen on duty in the early morning completely saw the majestic posture of the President's Guards, and they were all stunned with fear...

"Jack, wake up, wake up... a convoy is coming."

"What is it?" The person on the other side kept dozing off.

"What came out of the United Bank should be the President's motorcade."

"What did I think it was?" Jack was about to go back to sleep, but suddenly he was startled, "Didn't he say that the president won't leave until tomorrow? The boss wants us to do a good job in safety protection."

"Wake up, look at this situation. Is it our turn to protect you? Do you see it? It's the president's motorcade, the only tycoon in the world who travels abroad on a battleship."

Following the direction of the opponent's finger, Jack saw a majestic scene. Qing Yishui's Hummer assault off-road vehicle and armored vehicle equipped with a 12.7mm heavy machine gun, the front clearer, the left and right escorts, and dozens of sidecar motorcycles, it was simply blinding. It caught their eyes - this equipment is more powerful than the National Guard, but they still don't know who is protecting whom?

"Where is the president?"

"Did you see those eight bulletproof Mercedes-Benz sedans in the middle? The president is sitting in one of them, but you don't know which one... This is grandeur, much more majestic than the president."

"Yeah..." Until Contini's motorcade had gone for a long time, the two of them were still sighing: poverty has limited their imagination, but they can still live like this.

"Come on, come on, something has been handed out, something has been handed out..." The second lieutenant leading the team came over.

"Sir, what are you giving us?"

"The president gave it to him when his motorcade passed by. The president said that we have worked hard on patrol. Anyone who meets us tonight will have a share, one for each person! This belongs to both of you. I didn't keep it to myself..."

After unpacking the exquisite and heavy packaging, Jack exclaimed: "Oh my God, there are so many things!"

Of course, the president sent out good things. There were 7 items in this big gift package: a pack of Italian macaroni, 2 bags of United biscuits, a box of instant coffee, 2 packs of Italian cigarettes and a matching lighter, a box of teabags, and United A bottle of energy drink. Jack unscrewed the lid of the drink, and the tangy aroma came out - this was clearly fucking brandy! As for why it was called a functional drink, he immediately understood. There is still a prohibition on alcohol. Isn't it illegal to call it brandy?

While he was still sighing, the second lieutenant next to him had already started to protest: "Damn it, I've been fooled! No wonder Christopher wanted to switch patrol areas with us. It turned out that we should be patrolling the block of the United Bank headquarters. of……"

The two people next to them nodded, their hearts filled with infinite regrets: When they met the president's guards while patrolling outside, they all got gifts. Isn't it great to patrol that block all day long? Facts have proved that Christopher is indeed a smart man. The superiors asked him to patrol this neighborhood. It was better for him to lead his troops around the outside of the Union Bank every day, guarding it tightly and never leaving. It was called preventing armed elements from attacking the Union Bank. He has a friend who works in United Bank, and he knows that the people there believe in a saying - as long as you perform hard, the president will not be invisible! The CEO is different from those stingy tycoons on Wall Street. The CEO is a very generous person!

For such a smart person, the benefits are inevitable. Not only did the platoon receive two such gifts, but each person also received a Christmas condolence payment of $99 in cash - with a little more money they could go to the market and buy a nice car. This made their morale extremely high, and they were full of energy when patrolling every night, which was in sharp contrast to other places.

For Contini, this is completely small money. He doesn't even need National Guard patrols to protect his own safety, but he has to do it this way and use a subtle signal to tell the American people that he will not suffer any loss if he follows the president. .

This will not suffer losses is also reflected in the investment market. When asked by reporters two days ago about his views on the market outlook, Contini said meaningfully: "Judging from the current situation, the stock market sentiment has been overdone. In fact, the U.S. economy is not It's not that bad, and Hoover's Five Points specifically curbed this panic. Now is an era when confidence is more important than gold. As long as everyone strengthens confidence, does not believe in rumors, does not spread rumors, and closely unites under the leadership of President Hoover Around the core federal government, I believe that the stock market will get better, and the U.S. economy will also improve. I can’t say whether it can break through the previous highs of the stock market, but at least there will be a decent rebound. "

The reporter asked: "What do you mean by not believing in rumors or spreading rumors?"

"For example, there are rumors that our United Group is very risky. For example, there are rumors that United Bank cannot stand it anymore and is going to collapse..." Contini spread his hands, "Actually, there is nothing wrong with it? There were so many people lining up to withdraw money. Although At first, for the sake of fairness, the limit was limited to US$1,000 per person, but in the end, all those who wanted to withdraw money were able to do so, and even the 4 billion risk exposure that some institutions vowed was gone. Don’t you think this scene is funny? In the past two months, small and medium-sized banks have closed down every day, but United Bank customers have been crowded - first queuing up to withdraw money, now queuing up to make deposits! Of course, in a sense, I also have to thank this malicious force for their spread! The rumors and rumors have given United Group a good advertisement. Now the deposit volume of United Bank is higher than the previous historical high! Investors who invested in United Bank were also implicated. There was a panic decline at the beginning. In fact, the bank's performance this year is very good. Yes, especially since you have made some extra money by investing in stocks. The board of directors issued an announcement a few days ago, saying that a special dividend will be distributed before December 20 to reward those investors who have firmly held the shares of United Bank and let everyone have a good time. Happy Christmas…”

This method was proposed by Francisco. After the debt-for-equity swap was withdrawn, United Group significantly increased its holding ratio in United Bank, from just over 40% before the stock market crash to nearly 65%. The implementation of dividends is equal to three points. Two-thirds of the funds flowed back into the hands of United Group, but the boost to market confidence caused by this dividend was extraordinary - other stocks were busy issuing announcements saying that this year's performance would be expected to suffer losses or be significantly reduced, except for United Bank. Not only did it not lose money, but it also grew significantly, attracting funds to come to pursue it. The stock price quickly recovered the conversion price.

On this basis, the Wall Street rating agency also raised the credit rating of United Bank, re-assigning it to the level of A-. The future outlook is positive, implying that the situation is good, and then United Bank launched a five-year US$500 million line with great fanfare. United Group Construction Bonds, with a coupon rate of 5.25%, were subscribed for 100 million with bank funds. The US$100 million is made up of demand deposits, short-term deposits, and medium- and long-term deposits. The cost of acquiring savings is less than 3%, and a 5.25% rate of return means a profit of more than 2 million yuan a year.

Under such a demonstration effect, the other 400 million U.S. dollars were basically sold out - everyone was scared of the stock market, but suddenly looked back and felt that bonds were more reliable, and the return level of 5.25% bonds was not bad. The most important thing is that Safety, the safety of United Group has been tested by time and challenges. Isn't this still worthy of trust?