Chapter 22: The Bull Market in America

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  In mid-December, the situation around the world was not optimistic. The European war was escalating, and Germany's momentum seemed to be getting stronger. However, in Shandong Province, the situation was vastly different. The Japanese army was advancing steadily, and the German troops stationed there were no match for them, just like a weak and timid woman being chased and beaten by the Japanese all the way.

  The recruitment notice publicly posted by the Southern Guangzhou government in the newspaper some time ago indeed shocked the whole country, but it is not clear why this news gradually faded away two months later. Mr. Sun Yat-sen hastily returned to China from Japan and drafted the organization of two full-fledged armies, but so far there seems to be no movement.

  On the same day in Shanghai, four shareholders of China National Bank acquired a stake in other banks through forced entry, becoming major shareholders of three local banks: Shanghai Development Bank, Bank of Communications and Shanghai Industrial Bank. This effectively gave them a monopoly on Shanghai's financial credit industry. These banks couldn't understand how China National Bank could have accumulated such enormous financial power in less than four months since its establishment.

  Of course, what forced these banks to accept the capital injection was still because under the prestige of Li Wanqi, Yu Kuizeng and Huang Jinrong, all major merchants and government agencies in Shanghai and Jiangsu-Zhejiang transferred their business to the National Bank, making the business of these small banks worse and worse.

  This day was also a big day for Xu Shao-wen, the manager of Shanghai Flag Bank, Mr. Brown, rushed to the Dujunfu early in the morning to see him. Xu Shao-wen arranged for Mr. Brown to meet in his own official residence's living room, but when he saw Mr. Brown's anxious and sweaty face, he couldn't help but feel nervous too. Had Brown lost his $50 million?

  "Oh, thank you, dear Director Xu, I'm deeply honored to have the opportunity to meet with you..." Brown had just sat down and launched into a string of flattering remarks.

  "Alright, cut the crap, what's going on with the stocks?" Xu Shaowen immediately interrupted the foreigner's words, hastily asking.

  Brown pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead, making an effort to calm himself down. "Well, I'll just come right out and tell you," he said. "You've become the new stock god of Wall Street. The $20 million you invested in American Railways has now turned into $45 million. And your $10 million investment in American Express has skyrocketed to $30 million. This stock is still soaring, and it's estimated that it will break through $32 within a few months."

  In fact, the total number of shares issued by American Railways this year did not exceed 200 million. However, after Brown swept up the scattered stocks in the market, American Railway stocks immediately stood out from the chaotic stock market, driving the transformation of the national stock market. Therefore, American Railways naturally issued additional shares during World War I economic crisis.

  Xu Shaowen himself didn't know that the 1915 US bull market was actually created by him. He finally let out a sigh of relief, showed a smile and said: "That's great, what about Remington Company?"

  "Oh, God," Brown's face fell into worry, saying, "Actually, I came to see Mr. Xu today for two things, the first thing is that you have become the new stock god of Wall Street, many American journalists are asking me and asking me to tell them who my client is."

  "Did you tell them?" Xu Shaowen's expression became slightly serious.

  "No, I'll certainly ask for your opinion on this." Brown shook his head immediately.

  "That's good, don't reveal my true identity for the time being." Xu Shaowen nodded slightly and then asked, "So the second thing is about the Remington Company?"

  "You're really perceptive, it's true," Brown's face turned even more awkward, he hesitated for a moment before speaking up, "Remington Company has a total of seven shareholders, and the scattered shares on the market are at most only over 20 million. Although Remington Company took on quite a few foreign orders this year, the tail end payments for these orders have not been collected yet. As a result, many stockholders don't trust this stock very much, so they all started selling."

  "That's great, Remington's stock is plummeting, I'll just buy it all up at a low price." Xu Shaowen said to Brown. He knew this piece of history, especially after two years, the October Revolution broke out in Russia, and Remington's orders from Russia were all defaulted on, almost causing the company to go bankrupt due to lack of funds. At that time, Remington was able to get through the difficulties only with government subsidies.

  "Yes, I bought all of them according to Mr. Xu's intention, but at the same time, four out of seven shareholders of Remington Company also began to lose confidence in Remington Company. They knew that I was buying their stocks aggressively, so they found me and were willing to sell their shares." Brown said this, and he couldn't help swallowing his saliva again, with sweat appearing on his face once more.

  Xu Shaowen was taken aback and exclaimed: "Is this really the case? Then you've acquired all of their shares?"

  "Yes, Mr. Xu, at that time you asked me to buy two hundred million dollars worth of Remington shares, but I could only sweep the market and get a few tens of millions, so I thought about it and bought out the remaining one hundred and several tens of millions from these four shareholders."

  "So, how many shares do these four shareholders hold in total?" Xu Shaowen asked.

  Brown replied slowly: "It's almost nineteen million, but they were willing to sell it to me at a low price, so I bought it for eighteen million."

  Xu Shaowen became urgent and asked: "No, I'm asking what percentage of the total shares of Lumingdun Company these four shareholders hold."

  "Uh... in excess of sixty-five percent, plus the scattered shares you hold, you now own seventy percent of Remington Industries." Brown stammered out the words.

  "So that means I'm now a major shareholder of Remington?" Xu Shaowen was somewhat incredulous, his heart felt like laughing, but his expression hadn't reacted in time due to shock.

  "Yes, but because of the rumors about Remington's shareholders selling their shares, it has had a significant impact on Remington's stock. Your $20 million worth of shares may have even dropped in value instead of rising." Brown sighed and continued without waiting for Xu Shaowen to speak again, "Moreover, the other three shareholders of Remington have been coming to see me frequently over the past few months, hoping I can persuade Mr. Xu not to sell his shares, or else Remington will really go bankrupt."

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