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

Chapter 153 Timely Rain

On Friday morning, Mr. William Wallace put aside some business to help Larry acquire Henry Ford's 20% stake in Ford Motor Company.

Larry received a call from Mr. Coster instructing him to go to the Morgan Building at 32 Wall Street this morning.

It's obvious that Mr. Koster has some information about a targeted share issuance, and his private banking club will definitely have some shares that will be revealed.

After the last conversation, Larry also privately considered that acquiring stocks through a private banking club would actually be quite costly.

After all, according to Mr. Koster, the seller may raise the price, and Mr. Koster himself will charge a commission of 5% to 10%. In other words, in extreme cases, this investment may cost 20% more than that of ordinary private placement investors.

When Larry considered this, he hesitated a bit because the atmosphere for speculating on new stocks in the stock market wasn't that strong at the moment. Moreover, this kind of restructuring and expansion company was destined to invest the funds raised in power plants and power line construction in the first few years, and it was impossible to distribute dividends.

Therefore, even though it is a project of Mr. Morgan's restructuring and merger, there is still a possibility of it falling below the issue price, that is, the possibility of it falling below the issue price at the opening.

In the long run, General Electric is naturally fine; but if something really goes wrong like a price drop below the issue price, Larry, as a trader, will definitely be uncomfortable.

However, after thinking it over again, Larry decided to continue working with Mr. Coster.

The fundamental reason is that the stock is General Electric. Even if the stock price falls below the issue price, it will at most annoy people, but it won't necessarily cause you to lose money.

After all, I have the ability to travel through time, so I know at least that the future belongs to electricity. The stock price of a company like General Electric has unlimited potential. Even if it falls below its IPO price, or even if Morgan's bank is broken up, it will remain unscathed and continue to grow in the long term.
Another reason Larry decided to leverage his connection with the bank.

Mr. Koster's connections are definitely a stepping stone into the banking system. Although this could also be done through J.P. Morgan, Larry knew that if he really wanted to entrust him with something, he would never bother him with such a trivial matter. After all, the opportunity to meet Mr. Morgan was like the three life-saving hairs given to Sun Wukong by Guanyin Bodhisattva—it couldn't be wasted.

As for Koster, he was a senior partner of Mr. Morgan, and dealing with such a person was perfect for handling goals that could only be achieved by insiders.

At eight o'clock in the morning, Larry arrived at the entrance of Morgan Building as promised.

The Morgan Building is a six-story retro-style building, tall, majestic, and imposing, with dark wood paneling walls and tall Roman columns dividing the space at the entrance.

On the top floor of the bank, there are giant arched windows overlooking the entire Wall Street; that is Mr. Morgan's office.

Upon entering the lobby of the branch, one is greeted by tall counters painted in a dark brown color. Bank staff are gathered behind the counters, processing various transactions for customers in an orderly manner.

Morgan Bank's headquarters does not engage in retail business, meaning that their clients are not ordinary depositors, but rather big business dealings involving banking and cash flow for large business owners.

Even so, the bank lobby is now packed with customers and extremely noisy.

Larry stood in the lobby for a few seconds before a lobby manager in a tuxedo approached him and politely asked, "Sir, what kind of service do you need?"

“I’m looking for Mr. Coster; I have an appointment with him,” Larry said quietly to the lobby manager.

The lobby manager's eyes immediately turned serious. He gestured for Larry to enter and then personally led Larry to a door in the lobby marked "Internal Passage." He spoke a few words to the two employees in navy blue suits guarding the door.

The two employees' gazes towards Larry instantly filled with respect. One of them immediately walked up to Larry and personally led him into the internal passage, then took the elevator to the elegant reception room on the third floor.

Before Larry could even settle into his seat in the reception room, he received an invitation from Mr. Coster's secretary.

Larry keenly noticed that the blond secretary was pale and thin, and was not the same secretary who had previously served Mr. Coster.

Larry followed his secretary down the corridor for a good 20 meters before arriving at Mr. Coster's office.

Mr. Coster was on the phone when he saw Larry arrive and gestured for him to wait a moment.

The secretary deliberately led Larry to sit on the sofa on the side of the office and then served him tea.

Bored out of his mind, Larry began to observe Mr. Coster's office, which was extremely spacious and luxuriously furnished.

The custom-made mahogany desk features a brass lamp and a Victorian-style inkwell. Various documents are piled on the corners, but regardless of their size, they are neatly categorized and arranged without appearing cluttered.

The key is that the office air is fresh, without the cigar smell that many wealthy people are used to having in their rooms.

Perhaps because Larry was present, Mr. Coster did not reveal much information when he was on the phone, mostly just saying "yes" or "no". When he encountered a topic that he could not avoid, he would say a few words briefly, but without any specific subject, so that the listeners could not hear any useful information from his calls.

Two minutes later, Mr. Coster put down the phone, looked at Larry with gentle eyes, and said with a smile,

“Mr. Livingston, I have good news for you. I can spare at least 8000 shares here, which is slightly over 10 yuan, but not by much.”

Larry quickly calculated in his mind that if $10 could buy 8000 shares, then each share would be worth a little over $12.

After a few seconds of thought, Larry asked, "What's the maximum share you might get?"

Mr. Koster raised an eyebrow and calmly replied, "Twenty thousand shares!"

Twenty thousand shares would be around $25. Larry thought that if Colt Company resumed trading, he should be able to afford the shares. So he nodded and said, "Okay, Mr. Colt, I need to discuss this with my client when I get back. Also, is the share price you mentioned the original price or the price after the markup? And how should your commission be calculated?"

Mr. Koster smiled faintly, “These shares are at the original price. There’s just an unlucky guy who can’t afford the high short-term lending rates and is in a hurry to get the money. If you pay in cash before noon this Sunday, he’ll even be willing to give you an extra 4 percent discount.”

A two-point discount? Larry thought to himself, that's 96% of the face value! That's a good price.

Larry didn't speak. Mr. Coster looked at him and continued, "Of course, if you can pay next week, that's fine too, but there won't be a discount."

Larry nodded and said, "I'll inform my client... And what about your part?"

Mr. Coster smiled faintly, glanced at Larry, and asked, "Are you familiar with this client? Or rather, is he important to you?"

Larry nodded, thinking to himself that this was extremely important; that client was himself. Mr. Coster tapped the table with his finger and said casually, "Since this is our first collaboration, and he's an important client of yours, I'll give you a discount and only charge a 5% commission."

“Yes, Mr. Coster!” Larry nodded, then stood up to take his leave.

To be honest, Larry was a little afraid of the "eagerness" in Mr. Coster's eyes, and wanted to leave as soon as he could after finishing his business.

Koster didn't stand up, but looked at Larry with a smile and said calmly, "Mr. Livingston, you're very well-informed, and I think you should charge the client an additional 5% commission, because he'll definitely make a lot of money on this deal."

Larry smiled too. "Really? That's great! Mr. Coster, if we have a good working relationship, I'll be working with you often in the future."

Mr. Koster nodded, a barely perceptible look of satisfaction in his eyes.

Larry said goodbye to him, and just as he reached the door, he suddenly frowned, turned around, and asked, "Are short-term lending rates very high lately?"

Larry asked this question for himself. His original idea was that if Colt's stock did not resume trading and he could only allocate limited funds, then he should also do some short-term restructuring.

This kind of business is perfectly normal on Wall Street.

Upon hearing Larry's question, Mr. Coster frowned slightly, paused for two seconds, and then said, "It is indeed quite high. The annualized interest rate for one week has reached 16.4%."

Larry was a little taken aback, thinking that this interest rate was a bit excessive. He decided to just eat what he could stomach.

He then nodded to Mr. Koster, said goodbye, and left.
.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Larry waited quietly in his suite for Mr. Wallace's good news.

At 3:05, there was a knock on Larry's door.

Larry quickly got up and opened the door. Mr. William Wallace, beaming, picked up his suitcase, patted it, and said simply...
"nailed it!"

Larry smiled and quickly took the suitcase, thanking Mr. Wallace. "I'm so sorry to have to borrow money from you again!"

To buy Henry Ford's 20% stake, $4.5 in cash was required. Larry didn't have that much cash on hand, so he naturally borrowed money from Mr. Wallace, who had just received a large bonus.

Mr. Wallace entered and sat on the sofa, waving his hand and saying, "This is nothing at all. Oh, by the way! I also gave that guy named Gore another $2000, as promised."

Larry nodded and casually replied, "Of course. Actually, I thought he would ask for at least $5000, so a $2000 commission is very reasonable!"

On Wednesday night, Larry stumbled upon Henry Ford's deal with Gore and immediately thought he should find Gore to intercept the deal, or send someone to lure Henry Ford into a deal with him at a higher price.

Larry's estimate at the time was that it would take at least $70,000 or $80,000 to acquire a 20% stake in Ford from Gore. After all, judging from their conversation, Gore seemed quite interested in the car project, and someone who could afford $30,000 wouldn't give up shares for a few thousand dollars.

But when I spoke with Mr. Wallace on Thursday morning, he immediately said that Gore was probably a money broker and there was no need to think too highly of him.

Mr. Wallace then said that these money brokers are everywhere on Wall Street, and they usually make money from both sides, earning brokerage fees.

In cases like Ford's sale of equity, he would first lure Ford into making an offer, and then approach wealthy individuals to sell the shares, making a profit in the process. There are far too many people like this on Wall Street.

Larry didn't believe it at first, but then Mr. Wallace made a call to his colleagues at headquarters, and within 30 minutes they found the person who wanted to buy 20% of Henry Ford's shares.

The other party was overjoyed that business had come knocking on their door before they even went out to find clients.

In short, that was the end of it. Larry paid a total of $4.7 to get 20% of Ford's stock.

But this is totally worth it!

Larry opened the briefcase and smiled as he looked at the notarized Share Purchase Agreement and the Share Trust Agreement, both signed by Henry Ford.

Previously, when they jointly invested, he paid $5 to acquire a 25% stake. This time, he spent $4.5 to acquire another 20% stake from Ford. The important thing is not how much money he spent, but that he has secretly become the largest shareholder of Ford Motor Company.

He now owns 45% of the company's shares, while Henry Ford, who had previously worked hard to become the controlling shareholder, only owned 30%.

Paying more money to secure the controlling shareholder position is worthwhile, even if it's doubled or tripled.

Mr. Wallace, watching Larry intently focused on the two agreements, chuckled and said, "Oh, Larry, are you really that optimistic about this car project?"

Larry nodded and said with a smile, "Mr. Wallace, in an era of change, we should naturally invest in products that have the potential to change the world; otherwise, wouldn't we be letting down our times?"

Mr. Wallace's eyes narrowed, he pondered for a moment, then nodded heavily and said thoughtfully,

“You’re right! A few days ago I visited Mr. Klein, the chairman of Continental Express, and he mentioned to me that General Electric is about to go public and suggested that I subscribe to its stock! I’ve been thinking of holding onto my money for now, but now that you mention it, I think I should do some subscriptions…”

Larry raised an eyebrow; it seemed he wasn't the only one who was optimistic about General Electric!

Since Mr. Wallace has brought this up, we might as well work with him to see if we can raise more money...

Larry then mentioned his desire to acquire General Electric, but didn't mention Mr. Coster's connections.

Mr. Wallace was surprised but also pleased, because with Larry's endorsement, he had a more positive outlook on General Electric!
The two agreed to work together to find ways to acquire more General Electric stock, and to do this deal together as well.

After this matter was settled, Larry leaned back in his sofa chair and sighed softly, "...I just don't know when Colt will resume trading. If I can sell my Colt holdings, then I can repay your money first and then subscribe to GE's newly issued shares!"

Upon hearing this, Mr. Wallace looked up at Larry and said with a smile, "Larry, you're really lucky. I just got the news that Colt is having a debriefing tomorrow!"

Larry sat bolt upright, a smile spreading across his face. "Great! Then we'll sell the Colt stock tomorrow. Oh, and while we're at it, let's pay a visit to Mr. Porter!"

(End of this chapter)