America: My Time

Chapter 591 Opportunities for European Integration

Chapter 581 Opportunities for European Integration

“John, just tell us what good projects you have. If it’s an opportunity, I believe everyone will remember this favor!” At everyone’s urging, Morgan had no choice but to speak up. After all, this was Morgan’s home turf, and as the host, Morgan should serve everyone and find out what opportunity John was talking about.

"Europe, I don't know what you all think of Europe, but my previous trip to Europe showed me an opportunity. I don't know if you have heard of European integration. I think it is a good opportunity and a good project. If someone can seize the opportunity, they will definitely make a fortune. Unfortunately, Hurricane Investment and Standard Chartered Bank are not suitable. After all, I have a lot of industries in Europe now, and they are all real industries. If I make a move, I will definitely be suppressed by them!"

Everyone present frowned slightly at the project John mentioned, eager to understand. However, John wouldn't say. They all understood that the passerby had already pointed it out; if you still couldn't understand it, it was simply your own inadequacy, and you couldn't blame anyone else.

Would John really not participate? That's impossible. He had already begun his planning, but this time John's planning was deeper and his preparations were more thorough. As long as someone made a move to attract the attention of European countries, Hurricane Investment, Standard Chartered Bank, and even the assets hidden in the shadows would quickly strike and complete all operations with lightning speed.

With the changing environment, John believes that to reap sufficient rewards in the future financial markets, one must plan ahead and conduct thorough analysis of the macro environment. Failure to anticipate these changes and plan accordingly makes one vulnerable to exploitation. John, whose business is primarily based on manufacturing, certainly doesn't want to be targeted by other countries and have his businesses negatively impacted.

The term "European integration" left a deep impression on all the bigwigs present. After the reception, more experts would be gathered to discuss and find the project John mentioned. These Wall Street crocodiles would never let go of any opportunity, since they didn't have as many scruples as John. They would go all out as long as there was profit to be made.

"John, do you have any other good projects to recommend to us? We don't have many reservations!"

"Haha, if such a good thing were possible, I would have taken action myself long ago. This is already a pretty good result. If it weren't for my trip to Europe, I'm afraid I wouldn't have seen this project. You all shouldn't have such thoughts!"

"That's true, we were overthinking it!"

Sitting with these old guys, John felt pressured. None of them were good people; they were always testing him, as if they were afraid he would find out something. This made John sneer inwardly.
Actually, John had already anticipated this when he saw how those old guys behaved at the last cocktail party. He figured these Wall Street guys weren't any better, and they were probably all up to no good. And sure enough, they were all frantically probing him in various ways.

"John, what do you think of Japan? With their financial liberalization, there are plenty of opportunities. You know Japan better than anyone else in the US!" Soon, someone else turned the conversation to Japan. These guys seemed unwilling to let John off the hook, wanting to get more information from him.

"I'm not quite sure. I don't know much about Japan's finance. Besides, with the continuous expansion of my business and the investment in the United States, I have to give up my real estate in Japan. I don't have the same mindset as you all. I've always been concerned about the changes in Japan. Japan is not my focus!"

Seeing that John was unmoved by their words, these guys all sighed inwardly. They didn't believe John's words. It would be a lie to say that John didn't understand Japan. Just look at how much wealth this little fox controlled. Moreover, the Japanese were all trying their best to win him over.

They were all very familiar with John's real estate dealings. Now, as the stock market crash gradually subsided, Japan was the first to recover from the crisis because the yen began to appreciate again. At this point, many people discovered that Hurricane Investments was still investing in the yen. There are no secrets on Wall Street. How could these guys not have any ideas when they discovered that Hurricane Investments was still bullish on the yen?

After a brief exchange, these guys quickly gave up on communicating with John, as they hadn't gotten much useful information from him. Aside from the European 'project,' they hadn't learned anything else from him, especially the information about Japan that they most wanted to know. After the Wall Street tycoons left one by one with beautiful women, only John and Morgan remained in the corner. Looking at the composed John, Morgan said, "This is the norm on Wall Street. The Hurricane Investments are so powerful right now that they're making these guys uneasy. And now, with Hurricane Investments going long on the yen again, they're under even more pressure. You should know that many of them have significant investments in Japan."

"I am aware of that, but unfortunately it has little to do with me. My investments in Japan are all in real industries, which have nothing to do with them. As for Japan's economy, I am still very optimistic about it. At least it won't be a problem in the short term. Even if those old guys have joined forces, I don't think they can take down Japan in a short time!"

"John, you're so optimistic about Japan's economy and their semiconductor capabilities. Aren't you overestimating them? Without the North American market, their operations will definitely be affected. North America is their biggest market!"

"That's true, but the North American market can't completely reject Japan, not to mention the European and Asian markets. Most importantly, they have a cost advantage. Unless the yen continues to appreciate and causes cost problems for them, I don't think the Japanese semiconductor industry will be defeated. Oh, and I forgot to mention, I've reached an agreement with Sony to license their 8-inch wafer technology, so I don't think those old guys can defeat Japan in the semiconductor industry."

“John, this authorization is unacceptable; it will ruin everyone’s plans!” Upon hearing this, Morgan frowned. He hadn’t expected John to make such an arrangement and cooperate with Japan!

“There’s nothing wrong with that. Bell Labs needs funding for new research and development. Motorola can no longer be relied upon; they have their own ‘Iridium Project.’ Therefore, Bell Labs can no longer count on their cooperation in next-generation communication technologies or their patent assistance. They have to take on the responsibility alone. So, in order to obtain sufficient research and development funding, technology licensing is not out of the question. Not only them, but if Taiwan and South Korea are willing, we will also grant them technology licenses. Bell Labs focuses only on technology research and development, not production!”

Upon hearing John's words, Morgan understood that this was a done deal, unchangeable, and no one could stop it. Bell Labs had 8-inch wafer technology, and so did Japan; Bell Labs simply had achieved results first. If they waited any longer, Japan would also have the same technology.

"John, hasn't ASUS ever considered building its own 8-inch wafer fab to take a further step in the semiconductor field?"

"No, ASUS doesn't have that idea right now. We don't have enough manpower, nor enough orders. Without the gaming world and the mobile phone factory, our demand for chips has decreased by more than half. Building an 8-inch wafer fab at this time would only be a waste of that capacity. There won't be any changes in Taiwan for the time being. Relatively speaking, I would prefer to invest in a new 6-inch wafer fab in China!"

"John, do I think there's any hope? This is no small matter. Although Bell Labs has successfully developed 8-inch wafer technology, 6-inch wafers are still the mainstream. I'm afraid the White House won't agree, and Rockefeller and his group probably won't agree either. This will put a lot of pressure on them!"

"It all comes down to lobbying skills. I know many people have moved their factories to Southeast Asia, but I'm more willing to trust China and invest there. They are more trustworthy than I am."

"Okay, Morgan will be on your side and try his best to persuade the White House. Your idea wouldn't be possible if 8-inch technology weren't already mature. One neon has already given us a lot of headaches!"

"Then I'll leave it to Morgan! To be honest, I don't have a high opinion of those old guys' plans. They should know very well how serious the situation is in the US semiconductor industry right now. To completely suppress Japan, they need to invest a lot, not only in production lines but also in R&D. Without strong R&D capabilities, even if they can regain the North American market, it will only be temporary. If I were them, I would focus my energy overseas, on the Koreans, wage a price war, and crush the competition with cost!"

"That's impossible, at least for now. They won't do that, and they can't afford such losses. A price war would put too much pressure on them. They don't have control over Samsung, and they can't trust the Koreans. At least not right now. Do you think they would pay such a high price? Besides, they've already invested so much in the US and made so many arrangements. How could they possibly give up such huge profits? I heard that the next generation of game consoles in the gaming world has already made progress. I believe that once their factory is built, everything will be different!"

(End of this chapter)