America: My Time

Chapter 540 One general succeeds and thousands of bones wither
Chapter 540 One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand.
"Damn it, how could those guys let things get to this point? How could those bastards refuse Dreamworld's hardware upgrades just to save a little money? How are they going to explain this to everyone now!" Morgan Stanley was furious when he heard this. This wasn't just a matter for the New York Stock Exchange; it concerned the entire Wall Street and the entire United States.

"Boss, it's not just the New York Stock Exchange; many other exchanges are in the same boat. They never imagined they would face such a massive volume of transactions, and they didn't expect their servers to be unable to handle so much information."

“They’re all a bunch of crazy bastards. Their ignorance and stupidity have affected us too. Have you contacted John, that little fox? He can’t hide from everyone anymore. He needs to step forward and dispel everyone’s fear!”

“Boss, I contacted John, but he refused. Right now, Hurricane Investment has the biggest interests in the stock market. How could he possibly sacrifice his own interests at this time? Moreover, the fact that things have become so crazy is also due to the media’s hype. Legendary Entertainment and Phoenix Media are among the leading media outlets. I even suspect that this was all arranged by John long ago.”

"Don't doubt it, trust your own thoughts, this is his arrangement. John, this little fox, is becoming more and more adept at using the media. Before, many people thought he was crazy, that Hurricane Investment was insane, but now who would dare to think that way? Do you remember what this little fox once said, that the US economy wasn't that good, and that the world economy wasn't doing well? Now all of that has happened, and this little fox has already made a fortune by acting ahead of time!"

"Yes, Hurricane Investment is about to make a fortune again. Judging from the current situation, a stock market crash is a foregone conclusion, and no one can change it. Panic has taken hold, and countless people have gone mad in the panic. Many people on Wall Street have already chosen to end their own lives. This storm came too suddenly, and it is more terrifying and dangerous than ever before!"

“Jimmy, you have to adapt to all of this. If you can't, you'll be eliminated by the market. This is Wall Street, this is the cruelty of the financial industry. 'One general's success is built on the bones of countless others'—this saying isn't just empty words. Behind every success lies a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood. This is just the beginning; what's more terrifying and cruel is yet to come. In a way, it's all the New York Stock Exchange's fault. Their ignorance and stupidity made things spiral out of control. David Rudd was also stupid. Even if all the major exchanges have similar situations, he shouldn't have said those things. It only exacerbated the panic and didn't do anything good.”

At this moment, Morgan sighed at John's good fortune. It was a classic case of "when luck is on your side, everything works in your favor; when luck turns, even heroes are powerless." John, this little fox, was truly blessed by Lady Luck; everything he did went smoothly, even a stock market crash had a fool like David Rudd stepping forward to help. Morgan didn't believe David Rudd had been persuaded by John to do such a foolish thing; John wasn't that stupid. With the overall situation clearly under control, there was no need for such superfluous actions. It was simply a result of good fortune.

Because of Dreamworld, United Press International, and the power of the media, in this information age where global financial transactions are linked together, the speed of information dissemination is astonishing. When a stock market crashes, other stock markets are hard to escape, not to mention the United States, a global bellwether for the stock market.

With the US stock market crashing, other global markets are almost inevitably affected, unless you're outside the global financial system. During this stock market crash, United Press International (UPI) mobilized its full resources, ensuring its clients received immediate notifications from UPI, allowing them to stay informed about the situation at the New York Stock Exchange. Naturally, the news of the New York Stock Exchange's server outage also spread throughout the global financial markets.

Although this was just a technical and hardware issue, it did not reassure people. On the contrary, it made them even more fearful and uneasy because they did not know what was going on with them. So, they all chose to sell their stocks immediately. Those who became clients of United International were able to learn about the true situation of the New York Stock Exchange immediately, which enabled them to make accurate judgments and reactions, allowing them to escape from this stock market crash as soon as possible.

Of course, this only applies to large financial institutions. Most individual investors are unable to escape the stock market crash. Moreover, not all large financial institutions accept United Press International's services. Therefore, very few people were able to escape the crash immediately; most were caught up in it and became victims.

That same day, the Japanese stock market, heavily reliant on the US stock market, followed suit and began to plummet without any apparent reason. Upon learning of the situation at the New York Stock Exchange, everyone had only one thought: if the US stock market crashed, then the Japanese stock market would inevitably crash as well, without exception. Because of this belief, everyone immediately wanted to sell all their stock and futures holdings, otherwise they would become worthless. One person having this thought isn't dangerous, but when hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of people share this idea, it becomes dangerous; a stock market crash will ensue.

Unsurprisingly, the Japanese stock market plummeted uncontrollably. Meanwhile, John's investment company in Japan was making a fortune, as they were all shorting the stock market. Shorting the yen was only a small-scale operation; the stock market was the main focus, and the yen was merely a decoy. After all, Hurricane Investment, Standard Chartered Bank, and other Japanese investment companies had previously profited handsomely from the yen's appreciation. Without using such tactics to mislead the enemy, how could they successfully orchestrate their strategy? The Japanese stock market was crashing relentlessly, and Hong Kong was no exception. The crash was complete; there were only sellers, no buyers. Stocks that were originally over ten dollars per share had fallen to half their original value, and no one wanted them. Cries of despair echoed from the trading market, and speculators were beginning to take to the air. Hong Kong people have an even stronger gambling instinct, and stock market speculators are as numerous as hairs on a cow. Many people in Hong Kong play the stock market, so this time they too faced a terrible disaster.

The Hong Kong tycoons have also noticed the abnormalities in today's stock market, and their small groups have gathered to discuss countermeasures. However, the current situation is beyond their control, as it all stems from the United States.

At this moment, HSBC's Sir Michael Sandberg also looked grave. HSBC had been severely impacted by this disaster, and their investment department was holding a large number of orders. Now, they wanted to sell, but found no one willing to buy. He was fully aware of the stock market fluctuations, as he had been closely monitoring Standard Chartered Bank. However, what good was his awareness? HSBC had also been caught up in it, and now he was powerless to do anything about it. John's insightful analysis of the financial markets had once again frightened him.

He had some understanding of how profitable Standard Chartered Bank was, at least regarding the situation in Hong Kong. He was unaware of the situation overseas, as HSBC's capabilities abroad were limited and couldn't compare to Standard Chartered. Now, this HSBC executive was also uneasy; if things continued this way, HSBC would suffer heavy losses.

Just as Sir Michael Sandberg was deep in thought, there was a knock on the door. Soon the door was pushed open, and the investment manager came in, sweating profusely: "Chairman, the Hang Seng Index has fallen below its historical low. If this continues, Hong Kong will suffer an unprecedented stock market crash, and HSBC will also suffer heavy losses. We need to step up and stop this!"

"Stop it? Do you think we have that ability? This isn't a problem in Hong Kong, but a massive change coming from the United States. We are willing but powerless. Even if HSBC intervenes, it's impossible to change anything!"

At this point, even if HSBC did everything in its power, it couldn't stop the market crash. People were panicked and had lost faith in the stock market. This was beyond human control; HSBC certainly didn't have the power to reverse it. As long as there was no resolution in the US, the stock market crash would continue to spread, and HSBC would have no influence over it.

Now, not only has a stock market crash occurred in Hong Kong, but stock markets in London, Frankfurt, Paris, and other European countries are also falling. In less than a day, a global stock market crash has already formed. This is inevitable and no one can stop it. Everything depends on how the United States handles it.

Although local governments have taken measures to rescue the market, they have not been effective. The Americans have not taken action. No matter how much effort they put in, it is all in vain. It can only exacerbate people's panic and make the situation more dangerous, because this stock market crash was triggered in the United States and occurred at the New York Stock Exchange.

As the stock market crash spread, the White House couldn't remain completely indifferent; they were also urgently discussing countermeasures. However, David Rudd's foolishness caused the situation to spiral out of control. Although the Securities and Exchange Commission stepped forward to clarify, the New York Stock Exchange's servers crashed at that crucial moment, rendering the situation utterly ineffective.

When fortune smiles upon you, even the heavens and earth seem to conspire. John hadn't anticipated this turn of events. Upon learning of the situation at the New York Stock Exchange, he couldn't help but sigh, surprised by everything. He was astonished by the unexpected turn of events in this stock market crash. However, this situation actually benefited his plans, allowing him to reap even greater rewards from the crash!

(End of this chapter)