Chapter 608 Great Melee (1)

   "Mr. Minister, something is wrong!"

  Henry. Paulson is enjoying his breakfast, oatmeal, toast and diet Coke, and is enjoying with Bernanke. Even though it was 9:40, the busy finance minister hadn't had time to eat his own breakfast until then.

At 7 o'clock, he was giving a report on the "two rooms" to Mr. President; at 7:30, he was discussing countermeasures with officials of the Federal Reserve; at 8:20, he was communicating with some members of Congress; at 8:50 At the minute, he hosted some friends from New York.

   Busy until 9:30, Paulson was able to deal with the matter at hand. In the coming time, he will discuss with Bernanke a definite solution, which not only includes funds and policies, but also has sufficient predictability and a reason that can convince members of Congress and ordinary people.

   Even if the two bigwigs have the support of the president behind them, they find it quite difficult to formulate a similar plan.

However, it happened that the room was leaking and it was raining all night. Just when Paulson was seldom taking a breath, assistants James Wilkinson and Neil Castries from the Ministry of Finance barged in again. Paulson lost his appetite.

  James Wilkinson is in his thirties, with a burly figure. He is a middle-aged man with outstanding personality and radical style. He is a typical technocrat. And Neil Castries is a mature and prudent official. He is slightly short in stature, and his face is much older than James. However, he is well-known for his ability. He has worked diligently in the Ministry of Finance for most of his life, and he has reached his current position step by step.

The reason why Paulson chose the two of them as his deputy and assistant was because of their complementary personalities. Usually, the two of them can solve some trivial matters in the Ministry of Finance, which saved Paulson a lot of money. less energy.

   Now that the two are visiting together, their expressions are extremely dignified. With James' character, Paulson might still have doubts about what he said, but Neil Castries also had a serious expression on his face, which made him realize that something might really have happened.

  In this case, where would he have the desire to eat?

   "The stock prices of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have plummeted, and they have already exceeded 10%." James was so anxious that he took the lead in reporting.

Before Paulson could say something, Neil Castelli added blankly, "15%, the latest market price." He said blankly, and sent Paulson Go to the phone.

  Due to the negative news about the "two rooms" during this period, the stock price has fallen from around US$60 at the peak last year to around US$30 today, which cannot be described as tragic. And just when the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Reserve were preparing to take action against the "two rooms", their stock prices plummeted again.

"What exactly is going on?"

   Glancing at the phone screen, Paulson's heart sank. The fall in the stock price means that it will cost more funds to take over the "two rooms". The budget originally discussed may need to be revised again, and the increase in funds may require more words to persuade the outside world and members of Congress.

   "There are mainly news from several aspects!"

After looking at each other, Neil Castelli finally took a step forward and reported in a calm manner, "First, the analyst of Raymond Brothers released an analysis report on the 'two rooms' , claiming that the two rooms lack sufficient core capital, and the amount to be raised is large enough to bring them down; the second is that the "Wall Street Journal" published an article saying that the two rooms may consider issuing additional bonds or stocks. It does not rule out the government’s capital injection into them; the third is that there are reports that there are false profits and write-downs of losses within the ‘F&F’.”

   After a short pause, Neil Castelli continued to explain: "In addition, Moody's lowered the credit rating of 'F&F' today, which is also one of the important reasons for the stock price plunge this time."

   "God, how do they know what we're up to?"

  Paulson was furious, he slammed the Coke can in his hand, and said angrily, "How did the Wall Street Journal know our plan? Damn it, I know, someone must have leaked the secret!"

   Compared with the other two pieces of news, Paulson is more interested in the content reported by the "Wall Street Journal", because in his opinion, the other two pieces of news are all market behavior. And this alone is news from the government. If this one is confirmed, it means that the problem of the "two houses" is indeed very serious. It is so serious that the government is considering whether to take action. The lethality of performance is particularly huge.

  Especially under the premise that the government had once shot Bear Stearns, Paulson really dare not imagine how the market interprets this piece of news. Bear Stearns was sold for $2 a share (although they later managed to get $10 a share), and while Fannie and Freddie are such behemoths, who's to say the Treasury won't sell them for $1? How about selling them at super low prices?

can not imagine!

Looking at his cold gaze, both James Wilkinson and Neil Castries felt a little numb. Although they were not informers, they still felt the coercion that Paulson exuded at this time. Great pressure.

"Henry, now is not the time to investigate who leaked the secret!" Bernanke, who had been silent on the sidelines, finally said, "The most urgent task now is to find a way to stabilize the performance of the 'two rooms' stock price, if something goes wrong , It’s also very difficult for us to clean up.”

"Yes, sir, we think so too!" James Wilkinson echoed without losing the opportunity, "Now it's up to us to come forward and issue a statement to appease investors' confidence. Otherwise, the 'two rooms' will really collapse If so, the consequences would be disastrous."

   "Investors must understand something!" Bernanke also nodded, "At least let them know that the report on the core capital of 'F&F' is purely fabricated, and they cannot go bankrupt now."

  Paulson thought and thought, and finally nodded, "That is indeed the truth. By the way, Ben, is it appropriate for you to make this statement, or for me to make it?"

   "I think we should make a joint announcement!" Bernanke lowered his head and thought for a while, and finally decided, "This issue is quite complicated, but the joint announcement by the two of us is enough to dispel the market's doubts."

  Paulsen didn't say anything more, just looked at Bernanke's calm face, and then at his two subordinates. After a long silence, he nodded in agreement.

   At 10:30, the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Reserve jointly issued a statement signed by Paulson and Bernanke. In this statement, the two giants said: "F&F" is currently not in danger of bankruptcy.

  This statement has greatly stimulated the confidence of the market. Although it is not enough to dispel the rumors in the market, at least so far investors can be sure that the "two rooms" are indeed unlikely to go bankrupt at present. Their stock prices also began to rise slowly. As of the close, although they have not recovered to more than 30 US dollars, the 4.5% and 6.2% declines have smoothed out the panic during the crash, but a total of more than 3.5 billion The price of the dollar's market value evaporating is a bit too miserable.

  …

   Just when Paulson was furious, there was another person who was also furious. He was the president of Rayman Brothers, Dick Foud.

Just when the market was rumored that the "two rooms" might go bankrupt, the rumors about Leimen Brothers did not stop. First, a rumor that Pacific Investment Management Company had cut off all transactions with Leimen Brothers came out of nowhere. Another news came that the SAC Fund had cut off the Rayman Brothers deal.

  Naturally, as soon as these two news came out, the stock price of Lehman Brothers immediately plummeted. The 12% drop made the stock price of Lehman Brothers only a mere $18 per share, which made Dick Fodder very angry.

"Damn it, these are all fake news, outright fake news, don't they know to verify it?" Dick Foud roared in his office, "Let the company's public relations department quickly clarify everything and publish Statement, immediately, right now!" he yelled into the phone.

   It's all a conspiracy by the bear who is still eyeing my company. After arranging everything, Dick Foud lay on the sofa chair panting heavily, thinking viciously in his heart.

   He has been plotting for weeks to report on the hedge funds and the makers of these rumors, but so far, he still has no clues about the source of these information, which makes it difficult for him to do so. And for every extra day of delay, the danger they face in the capital market is higher by one day.

   But at this moment, a long-awaited phone rang.

"Sir, it has been found out that the source of these news is from Goodman Company!" A deep voice said on the phone, "To be precise, it is from their trader. I don't know if it is their high-level instruction. Or their own meaning, but there is no doubt that these messages were released by Goodman’s traders themselves, or provided to other institutions for release.”

"Why did they do this?" Dick Foud's expression changed, obviously he was very surprised by the answer, but at this moment he couldn't care less, he needed to know the purpose of the other party, "Why are they slandering us behind our backs? "

  Strictly speaking, even if the traders of Goodman Company are spreading these news, at least not all of them are "slandering", because some of these rumors are still true. The highest state of spreading rumors is falsehood, truth and falsehood, and these people are obviously familiar with this.

As the leader in the investment banking industry, Goodman Company is more than a step ahead of Lehman Brothers in terms of asset size and market influence. Even the current U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson went to Washington from the position of CEO of Goodman. Not to mention the harsh reality that Goodman's disclosed financial statements are still profitable so far.

  If you choose to believe one of the news released by Lehman Brothers and Goodman Company, 99% of investors in this market will choose to listen to the news from Goodman Company.

"Hedge funds are working with them!" said the voice. "A lot of hedge funds, including Greenlight Capital. If you die, your bond market share will be vacant, which will give them a lot of opportunities." Said At this point, the voice chuckled, "Dick, don't you understand this truth better than me? Whether it's stock underwriting, bond trading, or wealth management, the fewer competitors in this market, the better. Isn't it?"

  Although there was some thought in his heart, hearing such words from an outsider still made Dick Foud shudder. Even though the two parties were on Wall Street and fought openly and secretly on weekdays, Dick Foud never thought of putting the other party to death. But judging from the current situation, it is clear that Goodman Company intends to completely eliminate Raymond Brothers.

  Evil starts from the heart, and anger grows to the gallbladder. After hanging up the phone, Dick Foud couldn't control his anger at all, and angrily called Lauder Blankfein, the CEO of Goodman Company. He wanted to ask carefully what the other party was going to do!

   Thanks to the book friends Europe 56, the gambler who voted for the monthly ticket! Thanks to Xiao Qi for another reward for the miracle of civilization!

  

  

  (end of this chapter)