Reborn in America, I am a legendary short seller on Wall Street.

Chapter 127 The Most Profitable Railway Stocks
On Friday morning, Larry went to work at Paine Weber Securities as usual.

As soon as Larry arrived at the company, he saw William Boeing Jr. sitting in front of the price list, looking through a small notebook intently with a thoughtful expression.

Larry frowned slightly, thinking to himself, "Is William learning how to read and analyze charts as well?"

When I went back to the casino to place another bet, it was definitely my shadow...

Larry walked over to William Boeing and sat down next to him.

William Boeing sensed someone approaching him, hurriedly closed his small notebook, turned around and saw Larry, and quickly said...

"Hello, Mr. Livingston... I... I'm just taking a short break before starting work. I'll definitely work hard and not slack off when the market opens."

Larry smiled and reassured him, "It's okay. I was the same when I was a data entry clerk like you. Just do your job well."

William Boeing nodded, a smile spreading across his face.

Larry pointed to his small notebook and asked casually, "What's written in there? A diary?"

William shook his head, thought for a moment, and then handed the notebook to Larry.

Larry was convinced that William Boeing, like himself, had recorded the patterns of stock price changes in a small notebook, but to his surprise, when he opened it, he found several pages of maps drawn on the route from the East Coast of the United States to Seattle on the West Coast.

"Oh? William, you're thinking of going to Seattle?" Larry turned to look at William Boeing, a look of surprise on his face.

William Boeing Jr. smiled and blurted out, "My dad also has businesses in Seattle..."

When talking about his deceased father, William Boeing suddenly looked a little downcast, but the look was fleeting, and he continued speaking to Larry.
“He ran a timber logging and processing business there. After he passed away, one of my uncles took over his business. But my uncle promised that he would hand over my father’s business to me when I grew up.”

Larry nodded, looking at the four lines marked with different pens on the notebook, and smiled. "Have you figured it out? Which line is the most suitable?"

William Boeing pointed to the topmost route, “Take the Northern Pacific Railroad. It’s the shortest route from Boston to Seattle, but I’ve heard it gets snowy in winter. And because of the heavy freight traffic, the railroad is often congested. If you want to play it safe, take the Central Pacific Railroad. It goes through Omaha, Utah, all the way to Oakland, California. The scenery along the way is quite beautiful!”

Larry nodded, listening to the names of the railroads that stretched across the east and west coasts of the United States, but his mind was filled with the names of stocks:

The North Pacific, a major railroad artery connecting Minnesota to Seattle, Washington, links the Great Lakes with the Pacific Northwest, facilitating the transport of resources such as timber to the Great Lakes industrial region.

The relevant listed company is the Northern Pacific Railroad Company. After the railroad was completed in 1883, it became a star stock in the stock market because the goods it transported were the most profitable industrial materials, and the profits were quite substantial.

This stock keeps hitting new highs.

The Central Pacific that William mentioned refers to the Union Pacific stock listed on the NYSE. This is a railroad line in the central United States, with a rail network covering 23 western states, and its stock price performance is relatively stable.

Another one is the Santa Fe Railway, which connects the Midwest with Los Angeles, linking the agricultural states along the Mississippi River with the Los Angeles Bay Area.

Larry looked at William Boeing's notebook and had a sudden impulse: he should take a long train journey across the East and West coasts when he had some free time. He was still young, why should he always tie himself to work...

Thinking of this, Larry smiled at William Boeing and said, "Actually, I'd also like to go to Seattle. How about this, if we wait for a vacation, we can go there together!"

“Really?!” William Boyton stood up, a barely suppressed smile spreading across his face. “Oh, Mr. Livingston! I’d be thrilled to travel with you.” Larry patted him on the shoulder, thought for a few seconds, and offered a suggestion, “By the way, I have a few favors to ask of you. If you can handle them, you can earn some extra money.”

“What are you talking about? As long as it’s within my power, I will definitely do my best!” William Boeing said.

Larry nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "On Sunday, I'm going to talk some business with someone about setting up a small factory. I might not have time to keep an eye on it for long, so I need someone to handle the expenses. You can be the company's accountant. Are you interested?"

William Boeing looked surprised. "You mean you want me to be the accountant? I... I don't know anything about company accounts! I'm only twelve years old."

Larry waved his hand and said with a smile, "I'm not really asking you to be an accountant. You'll just be going there to calculate the price of the machines and roughly manage the accounts. It'll probably only take about a month. Once the company is on track, we won't need you anymore."

“Okay! I can do it!” William Boeing said with a determined look.

Larry smiled at him and said, "Do a good job! Your reward will cover all your expenses for the trip to Seattle."
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Larry returned to his office, his mind filled with the railway stocks he had just thought of. Those well-known railway companies that were listed on the stock market were always offering generous dividend plans and were the darlings of the market.

Larry sometimes wondered where these railroad companies got such good results.

In the 19th century, the invention of the railway changed the fate of the United States. Through the construction of railways, a highly efficient mode of transportation emerged in the coastal and inland areas of the United States, and for the first time, high-speed connections were made between the east and west coasts of the United States.

American railroad tycoon Vanderbilt became one of America's wealthiest men by building railroads. Larry still remembers Vanderbilt's extravagant spending at the Astor Hotel in New York.

Wherever the railway was built, bustling towns emerged. The trains first brought immigrants, then goods, and then resources and industrial products.

Or to put it another way, it was precisely because of the invention of the railroad that the United States officially transformed from an agricultural country into a powerful industrial nation.

A few days ago, Larry saw a summary of an editorial in The Boston Globe: Between 1881 and 1890, the United States built 73,000 miles, or about 118,000 kilometers, of railroads, a speed that set an unprecedented record in the history of human infrastructure construction.

Larry recalled the information he had read when he was in school in his previous life. Even in China in 2003, the total length of railways in operation was only 7.3 kilometers.

By 1892, the total length of railroads in the United States had reached 17.9 miles, which is approximately 28.8 kilometers.

According to statistics from The Boston Globe, at this time, the United States already accounted for nearly 50% of the world's total railway mileage, far exceeding the total of all European countries.

The United States is indeed the undisputed first-generation infrastructure powerhouse.

Now the question is, if the American rail system is so efficient and profitable, why will it be completely replaced by cars and highways in a few decades?

Of course, everything has its cycles of rise and fall. But what Larry is most interested in right now is: when exactly will railroad stocks decline, and whether he can make a small profit from the plunge in railroad stocks...

Since starting to trade stocks, Larry's first thought when looking at anything is whether he can make money from the corresponding stock.

This is practically an investor's instinct.

Thinking that the stocks of North Pacific and Union Pacific, which are currently soaring high, will one day fall, Larry felt that if he didn't short them, he would really be letting down his eyes that see through time.

(End of this chapter)