Chapter 966 965 [Third Uncle]

A three-story modern-style building on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan is the home of Zhou Hexuan's third uncle, Zhang Yuannan.

Zhang Yuannan now controls the condom business and is married to an illegitimate daughter of the Lawrence family, thus becoming a peripheral member of the Boston consortium. It is precisely in this way that Zhou Hexuan's condoms can continue to sell well, otherwise they would have been hacked by other condom manufacturers in the United States.

While gaining support from large financial groups, of course, the price is also inevitable. Zhou Hexuan signed several equity exchange contracts in the United States two years ago. He only holds 28% of the shares of James Bond, the Zhang family holds 23%, and Lowell, Lawrence, Adams, Lodge and Kennedy The family holds a total of 49% of the shares.

Not only that, Jisbon has also hired retired senior U.S. government officials as deputy general managers and senior business consultants. The future President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, had just dropped out of Stanford Business School due to illness, and he was also arranged to work as an intern at a James Bond branch.

The 49% stake in Jesse Bond was not given away for free. As a result, Zhou Hexuan received shares in some companies under the Boston Consortium - 0.6% stake in the First National Bank of Boston, 6.5% stake in Mutual Life Insurance Company, Textron Corporation 1.8% of the equity and 1.1% of Raytheon.

Cross-shareholding and joint monopoly are common tactics of American consortiums after the 1930s.

If the world economic crisis hadn't caused heavy losses to the Boston consortium, and the condom business was booming during the Great Depression, they wouldn't have brought Chinese people along to play.

Zhang Yuannan resisted this kind of deal at first, but could not withstand the dual pressure from the American political and business circles, so he finally chose to compromise, and now he has fully integrated into it. But he is only a peripheral force of the Boston consortium, and he only marries an illegitimate daughter of the Lawrence family. At least he needs children and grandchildren to truly join the upper class society.

"Brother-in-law, how are your family members?" Zhang Yuannan asked as he poured wine for Zhou Hexuan.

Zhou Hexuan said: "Everything is fine, your father's body is very strong."

Zhang Yuannan is holding a red wine glass in one hand and a cigar in the other, wearing a stylish suit and leather shoes. He crossed his legs and said, "Hey, I asked my dad to immigrate to the United States with his family a long time ago, but he refused to listen and insisted on staying in China. What's so good about China? It's bombed by Japan every day, and even life safety cannot be guaranteed. Now the immigration policy of the United States is becoming more and more relaxed. Although it has not opened its mouth to the Chinese yet, I definitely have a way."

This man has changed!

When they met two years ago, Zhang Yuannan was still very patriotic and kept talking about how much money he wanted to donate to fight the war. But now he showed a disdain for the motherland.

Zhou Hexuan glanced at the bodyguard outside, then at the foreign girl (Zhang Yuannan's wife) who was making fruit salad, and said with a smile: "You are living a good life."

"Absolutely," Zhang Yuannan complained, "After all, I am Chinese. No matter how rich I am, I will inevitably face discrimination in the United States. When I attended a cocktail party a few days ago, I was laughed at by a brat from the Addams Family who actually called me a Chinese monkey. , I gave him a slap on the spot. Damn, even a collateral descendant dares to look down on me, you really think I am easy to mess with!"

Zhou Hexuan said: "After all, this is someone else's country."

Zhang Yuannan said angrily: "I am also an American now! I can't stand their appearance. They are a bunch of white-skinned pigs. They really think they are a noble race. Let me tell you, these rich Americans are nothing special, so they just reincarnated. A good investment is nothing more than collusion between officials and businessmen. Many heads of families are not as smart as me. How can they compare to the wisdom of us Chinese people?"

Zhou Hexuan didn't want to talk about these boring topics anymore and asked: "What do you think about the acquisition of Coca-Cola's shares?"

"That's not easy to do. Coca-Cola's current stock price is too high." Zhang Yuannan shook his head repeatedly.

"Didn't you say that Coca-Cola is facing difficulties now?" Zhou Hexuan was a little confused. Could it be that the information in his mind was wrong? Those information were all obtained from Xianshu, so it is normal for problems to arise.

Zhang Yuannan said: "Coca-Cola is indeed facing difficulties now. Their store is too big and capital turnover is difficult. But Coca-Cola's brand is too strong and its stock price is frighteningly high. Buying it now is like being taken advantage of."

Zhou Hexuan said: "Please tell me what the specific situation is."

Zhang Yuannan said: "Coca-Cola, like our condom business, was one of the few profitable industries during the Great Depression. They..."

After Zhang Yuannan's detailed explanation, Zhou Hexuan finally understood the cause and effect.

Since the company was founded, Coca-Cola has gone bankrupt twice and changed several bosses, but its business has become more and more prosperous.

When Coca-Cola went public in 1919, its stock price was $40, but it fell to $19 a year later. But the U.S. stock market in the 1920s was too crazy. Coca-Cola's stock price once soared to US$200, and when the economic crisis broke out, it was still US$147.

The economic crisis caused the U.S. stock market to collapse. Take Goldman Sachs, for example. The stock price was $222 in 1929, and it became 50 cents three years later. But Coca-Cola was very strong. Although it once fell below 100 US dollars, it started to boom again after Roosevelt's New Deal. In 1935, Coca-Cola's stock price even exceeded the 200 US dollars mark again.

Fortunately, another economic crisis broke out in the United States in 1938 and 1939 (known as the "Roosevelt Depression" in history). Roosevelt even extended the Christmas holiday to promote consumption, and Coca-Cola's stock price fell below $150.

Zhou Hexuan asked: "Coca-Cola's stocks are so popular, why are they facing difficulties again?"

Zhang Yuannan said: "First, competition from Pepsi-Cola. Pepsi-Cola has been aggressively cutting prices. At its worst, its price was half that of Coca-Cola, and its portion was twice that of Coca-Cola. Although Coca-Cola slandered Pepsi-Cola as a 'drink only for black people' , but it still occupied a large amount of the market, forcing Coca-Cola to continue to sell at lower prices, and profits doubled. Secondly, Coca-Cola is plagued by lawsuits. From 1935 to the present, Coca-Cola has been litigated every year, and has also been accused of containing cocaine and other drug ingredients. According to the survey, social groups call on the government to ban the sale of Coca-Cola every now and then. Coca-Cola’s public relations expenses are horrifying every year. Third, advertising costs are too high. Coca-Cola now hypes itself as a national beverage, but the price is the annual advertising investment Accounting for more than 40% of net profit. Fourth, the stall is too big. Coca-Cola has been trying to open up the European market for the past ten years, but except for Germany, its sales in other countries are very poor, and it does not even have the money to invest in factory construction. Earn it back, and the advertising fees in Europe are even worse."

Zhou Hexuan nodded and said: "Continue."

Zhang Yuannan concluded: "In other words, Coca-Cola's current sales situation in the United States is very good, and its superficial performance is amazing, which has led to its stock price being artificially high. But in fact, its profits are not as good as they seem, and because of overseas The expansion is unfavorable and the capital chain has been very tight. Some time ago, the president of Coca-Cola personally visited the Rowell family. I was standing next to them drinking at that time. Coca-Cola wanted to get the Rowell family to invest."

Zhou Hexuan asked: "Has the Lowell family agreed?"

"Of course I don't agree. Coca-Cola's stock price is too high. It's a big deal to attract investment. Whoever gives money will be stupid." Zhang Yuannan said with a smile.

Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "I am very optimistic about Coca-Cola, so I want to be a fool."

"I advise you to think again," Zhang Yuannan said of the U.S. economic situation. "Two years ago, Roosevelt felt that the U.S. economy was improving and was too optimistic. He actually issued a series of austerity policies. This was the stupidest policy since Roosevelt took office. The results of several years of New Deal were almost ruined due to a stupid move, and the economic situation at that time went back to 1935. In the past two years, things have barely recovered, but the situation is still very bad, and more than 70% of the companies have operational difficulties. Don't Look at Coca-Cola's sales reaching record highs, but their profits are declining year by year. Especially last year when the minimum wage for workers was raised, many bosses were so depressed that they wanted to jump off the building. Coca-Cola has been greatly affected. You see, it will last two years at most. , Coca-Cola’s performance bubble will be burst, and the stock price will fall below $100 in minutes.”

Zhang Yuannan's speculation is correct and consistent with the facts. But he didn't know that the United States was about to join the war, and Coca-Cola would sweep the world along with American soldiers.

Zhou Hexuan said: "Please help me contact the head of Coca-Cola. I want to talk to him."

"Oh, it's up to you. I've said everything I need to say. There's nothing I can do if you really want to jump into the trap." Zhang Yuannan shook his head helplessly.