America: My Time

Chapter 835 A big tree attracts the wind
Chapter 825 A Tall Tree Catches the Wind

Although John's loans in Japan were almost all from major banks, not all of them could hold out. The larger the bank, the more enormous their spending in the real estate sector during the bubble era. Under these circumstances, they too faced pressure. However, with contracts in place, even if they wanted to negotiate early repayment with John, it would be difficult unless they were willing to forgo profits. This was too much for them; it meant they wouldn't earn a single penny from John, essentially giving him years of loan repayments for nothing. No one would accept this unless absolutely necessary.

As John's plans changed and his assets became more concealed, those who were watching him felt uneasy and had some doubts. Was such a crazy plan worth it? In their eyes, it was self-harm—starting to harm oneself before even encountering danger!
John didn't care what those guys thought or what they were thinking. He only had one thought in his mind: to quickly change the model of his overseas assets, so that foundations, banks, and investment companies would be in the lead while he remained hidden in the background. Only in this way could those guys not easily know how much his assets had expanded.

Although John is based in Taiwan, he is under just as much attention as he has. There are enemies and friends alike, and many people are very concerned about John's itinerary. The reason is simple: he controls too much capital, which makes some people feel uneasy and fearful, especially those in the oil industry.

Everyone was focused on John, unaware that his sights were set on the Middle East. They only saw John's frenzied actions, failing to notice his expanding influence there. With the backing of wealthy patrons, Jaguar Security's power was skyrocketing. However, while everyone saw the increase in Jaguar Security's personnel, they didn't realize that John had been quietly smuggling gold from the Middle East.

It's already November, and soon the allied powers will reach an agreement and issue an ultimatum to Saddam Hussein. War will begin soon. John will naturally pay close attention to the support from the Middle Eastern tycoons, as this is related to the future development of Gulfstream Aerospace. This war must establish the reputation of Gulfstream Aerospace's weapons and the Bentley Group. Only in this way can they secure more orders and ensure that the company can weather the crisis in the darkest times to come.

"Tianfan, sit down and talk. Don't feel pressured. Even if someone says something, there's no need to pay attention. I'm very satisfied with Standard Chartered's current development. Ignore what those guys are saying. Focus on increasing our presence in Europe; that's our priority. Don't get involved in Japan or oil futures. Those guys are all making noise, but who dares to get involved? They're just talking. We won't be paying attention to oil futures for a while. Give everyone a break and let them relax. As for when we'll use it again, that depends on how things develop in the Middle East. We'll have results soon. Until then, we won't do anything."

With Standard Chartered Bank and Hurricane Investment withdrawing their investments, many people are clamoring that they withdrew too early and missed out on maximizing their profits, believing that the oil futures market still has great potential. John simply ignored these clamors, but Yuan Tianfan was somewhat worried. After all, judging from the current situation, the oil market still has potential, and many people believe that Standard Chartered Bank's involvement in Taiwan's 'investment' carries great risk, and are all belittling Standard Chartered Bank.

Indeed, the split-up company was affected. To put Yuan Tianfan at ease, John had no choice but to invite him to Taiwan for a meeting, as he didn't have time to go to Hong Kong this time. After things were settled in Taiwan, he would return to the United States, since he had been away for too long.

Upon hearing John's words, Yuan Tianfan breathed a sigh of relief. As long as his boss approved, no matter how much others clamored, it was useless and there was no need to care. Those guys had no idea how huge Standard Chartered Bank's assets were now. Moreover, starting from this operation, Standard Chartered Bank had begun to get involved in more investments and take control of real businesses. This was also John's requirement and a new strategy. The bank's funds could not remain on the books forever; they had to be put into action to generate more revenue.

“Boss, I understand. But if we don’t explain anything, many people will think that there’s a problem with our funds, which will cause some unnecessary trouble. HSBC is behind those rumors.”

John sneered, "HSBC has jumped out again. It seems they haven't learned their lesson enough, or maybe those British are up to some tricks again. We don't need to pay them any attention now; we'll have plenty of time to deal with them later. Our focus now isn't Hong Kong, but Europe. Our operations in Asia can continue as normal. Shift our focus to Europe! Don't be fooled by the British's current antics; they'll suffer after the Middle East crisis. As for Japan, I don't see any improvement. Their stock market crash is unlikely to recover, and their housing market will collapse soon. You know how crazy the Japanese housing market is right now—Tokyo alone could buy the entire US. Do you think that's normal? So don't listen to what those guys say. If they dare to enter the market, let them. We'll proceed according to our original plan. Our focus is on Europe. Standard Chartered will become the settlement bank for major companies; that won't change. As for the US, we'll ignore it for now. Don't be tempted by those guys; the US isn't all that great. Just look at HSBC's disastrous situation, and you'll understand how dark it is there!"

If it were feasible in the US, they could expand freely. Why would John restrict Chengxin Bank, keeping it focused solely on deposit banking and avoiding investment banking? It's simply too murky; it's not worth getting involved now. Hurricane Investment is sufficient. "HSBC's intervention is likely due to their awareness of our activities in gold futures. Many only saw the oil and Japanese stock market crashes and didn't notice our actions in gold futures, but HSBC did. This is likely connected to their activities in Britain; after all, it's difficult to keep it from them for long!"

"There's no need to worry about that. We've already withdrawn and made a clean getaway. They were just trying to force Standard Chartered to reveal its true strength and find out how much we've gained in this storm. As long as we do nothing, they won't dare to make any rash moves. Otherwise, we wouldn't mind teaching them a lesson. Right now, HSBC is no match for us in terms of capital!"

John wasn't concerned about gold futures. After all, he was a gold tycoon himself. Quantum Mining held a huge amount of gold, and Standard Chartered Bank, Sinolink Bank, and East West Bank all had considerable gold reserves. It was necessary to plan ahead, otherwise, a drop in gold prices would inevitably result in huge losses for them, which would be very detrimental to the bank's operations!

However, John had no intention of letting the banks sell their gold reserves. He knew that while it was easy to sell such a large amount of gold, it would be difficult to get it back. Although there were rumors circulating in the market that the Russians were going to sell their gold reserves, these were just rumors and not to be believed. No country would sell its gold reserves unless absolutely necessary.

Standard Chartered's gold futures have been exposed, and it won't be long before rumors spread from Quantum Mining as well. Those old guys will be uneasy again, worried about Quantum Mining's expansion. However, they would be sorely mistaken. This time, John isn't planning on a frenzied expansion; instead, he wants to consolidate his position and digest the effects of previous expansion.

Integration was inevitable, not solely for asset transfer, but also to cripple Sumitomo. The London copper crisis was looming, and the Americans and British were already eyeing Sumitomo; they needed to be prepared. If it meant destroying Sumitomo, John would show no mercy.

John, as the owner of Quantum Mine, was well aware that Sumitomo had been controlling copper prices. Hamanaka Yasuo's belief that he could control copper prices was simply wishful thinking. Even John wouldn't dare to have such an idea, even with his vast copper reserves. Yet those guys from Sumitomo had such a crazy idea.

Only a madman like the Japanese would dare to dream of controlling the market. Any rational person wouldn't have such a crazy idea. Just look at the US silver crisis to see how terrifying the danger is. Even John, who controls vast precious metal mines, didn't try to control gold prices because he understood it was beyond his capabilities. He was far too weak to fight the market.

The more you understand the market, the clearer you become about how terrifying it can be. When you manipulate the market, you have to bear the backlash. Companies and governments won't allow you to act recklessly. But that madman Sumitomo didn't know when to stop and even created the title of "Mr. Five Percent." Isn't that just courting death?

The bigger the tree, the more the wind blows. Even John has to be careful, not daring to reveal his actions in the gold futures market. Meanwhile, Sumitomo and his ilk arrogantly believe that with enough capital, they can manipulate the market. So, his future is predictable. Now, the British want to learn about Standard Chartered Bank, and even intend to use this opportunity to learn about Quantum Mining, but John won't give them the chance. He'll simply ignore them; no matter how much they clamor, it won't make a difference.

(End of this chapter)