America: My Time

Chapter 825 The Time Has Arrived
Chapter 815 The Time Has Arrived

Actually, John's factories are different now. The development in Japan has changed, but it's not noticeable compared to the old 7-Eleven. The reason is simple: the scale is too big now, so no one has noticed that 7-Eleven in Japan has changed. Nowadays, more people in Japan prefer inexpensive goods.

It's not just John's factories in Southeast Asia and China that are changing; even the clothing industry in Japan is undergoing transformation. After all, Japan will soon collapse, and people will no longer be pursuing luxury goods, but rather inexpensive items. So, John's situation in Japan is changing. The designs are in Japan, but the production has begun to shift entirely, with only a small portion remaining. And this is the trend, a trend that no one can change.

In short, Japan's labor costs are too high, just like in the US. These exorbitant costs severely impact business profits. However, Japan has the advantage of hardworking and reliable workers, while in the US, workers are often treated like royalty. South Korea's situation isn't great either; the quality of their products is nowhere near that of Japan. Even with US support, improving quality takes time, as they lack the capital and resources of Japan.

Koreans are no good, especially now. John doesn't think these guys will have a good impression of him. These arrogant bastards, after being dealt with by him, would be lying if they didn't harbor resentment. After all, these guys haven't really suffered a blow yet, and they're still very arrogant.

John understands how despicable the Koreans are, which is why he's always been wary of them, never giving them a chance to interfere in his business, and never forming a joint venture—that would be foolish. Even though his development in Korea is slow now, John won't cooperate with them; he'll stick to his independent path.

In the eyes of many Americans, John is an oddball, and many believe he simply doesn't want to share profits. And John does share those same thoughts: why should he share benefits with those people? If it's an American company, then there's no way he can refuse, but with overseas companies, it's out of the question—if he can control it, he absolutely won't share it with them.

John understood the importance of overseas markets far better than those Americans, and he paid even more attention to it than to his own businesses in the US. Looking at the situation at Western Energy, how could John not be cautious? Those guys were all watching him closely, unwilling to see him grow and expand, so he had no choice but to compromise; after all, he couldn't monopolize everything.

John wouldn't tell this eldest princess of Samsung many things; she had to think about everything herself. Only what she thought about and saw herself could leave a deeper impression and make her more cautious.

With his presence, John won't allow South Korea greater potential and development in the semiconductor industry. He won't give them any more opportunities. Therefore, if South Korea wants to succeed in semiconductor chips, they need to work hard on their own. Trying to poach talent from Japan is out of the question; John has already set his sights on those talents. Furthermore, John won't invest in South Korea's semiconductor industry, making it much more difficult for South Korea to achieve greater development.

Now, those old guys in the US have their own ideas. John's emergence has made them pay more attention to semiconductor chips. With the rise of internet cafe alliances and the rapid development of personal computers, they've undergone even greater changes. Although these guys haven't yet fully engaged in another major battle with John over semiconductor chips, they are now placing even greater emphasis on chip and semiconductor development, accelerating their own progress.

Now, with the outbreak of war in the Middle East, some have set their sights on Gulfstream Aerospace, and many more are envious. Unfortunately, John doesn't give them the opportunity; he has no intention of going public and raising funds. Other companies are listed, not Gulfstream Aerospace, which has caused dissatisfaction among many. As for those greedy individuals, the crocodiles of Wall Street, they don't care about John's intentions; they only care about getting enough profit for themselves.

However, after John's last ruthless purge, aside from the oil tycoons secretly causing trouble, few others on Wall Street stood up, and no one dared to accuse John of being unwilling to share profits with them, because they all knew such accusations were baseless. John had always been sharing profits, just not in the way they wanted.

Morgan Stanley had enough confidence and patience to wait, but others wouldn't think that way. After all, not everyone has the same opportunities as Morgan Stanley, who can get access to IPOs and financing every time.

Now that oil futures trading has ended and John's investments in the Japanese stock market are nearing their end, many are worried that he might use this momentum to enter the investment banking arena, compete for profits, or even launch a takeover to expand his influence on Wall Street. These people are overthinking it. John has no such intentions. He knows he doesn't need to take the risk of going to war with those companies at this time. He doesn't need to make any moves; the Wall Street crocodiles will act to change the rules of American finance for their own profit, and he can simply sit back and reap the benefits.

In a few years, the banking system in the United States will change, and there will be fewer restrictions. John's only task now is to accelerate the expansion of his savings bank, ideally covering the entire United States, to prepare for his future development and actions. As for competing with those old fogies and Wall Street giants for profits, John has no such intention yet.

While everyone was focused on John and Hurricane Investment, the development of Honourable Bank and East West Bank was accelerating and expanding. This was because John was now a member of the Federal Reserve, and the US banking industry was undergoing changes. Therefore, John's expansion did not put pressure on them, since John was only targeting savings banks, which did not pose much of a challenge.

Compared to the expansion of Sinotrans and East West Bank, the old guard on Wall Street is more worried about Standard Chartered Bank, which is now their biggest headache. Standard Chartered has not only completed its expansion in Asia but is also making waves in Europe, naturally causing them concern, since Standard Chartered is not subject to their control.

Many people want to know just how powerful Standard Chartered Bank is now, but unfortunately, they have no way of knowing its full strength. After John took over Standard Chartered, it developed and expanded at an astonishing pace, putting the entire bank on a fast track. The only problem is that Standard Chartered hasn't entered the US market, so even if those old guys wanted to know, it would be difficult, and they could only watch helplessly as Standard Chartered dominated Europe.

October arrived quickly, and oil prices peaked at $41 a barrel. Many panicked, and simultaneously, the Japanese stock market collapsed. However, this was no longer relevant to John. He had already withdrawn from the market, and his investment company in Japan had exited the stock market. Although he could still short the Japanese stock market, John refrained from doing so.

While this approach would still yield considerable profits, it would also severely offend those in Japan. Their target wasn't the Japanese stock market, but rather Japan's talent and assets. The stock market had already collapsed, and the housing market wasn't far behind. With the changes at the Japanese central bank, Japan's economic bubble was already bursting.

"What a bunch of lunatics. Even if those guys at the Japanese central bank are dissatisfied, they can't be this crazy and directly burst the bubble. This will send Japan from one extreme to another, and the situation will get out of control." Only by truly standing in this era and experiencing the changes in Japan firsthand can one know how crazy these guys are.

However, although the changes in Japan were dramatic, everything was under John's control and did not impact him. Now, John's focus was not on Japan, even though he was in Tokyo; his gaze was on Europe, more precisely, on Germany. The time for German reunification had arrived, and his investments in East Germany were beginning to yield profits. The vast amount of currency held by Standard Chartered Bank could now generate even greater value for him.

With the reunification of Germany and the rebirth of the nation, Standard Chartered Bank reaped enormous benefits. It can be said that John's years of strategic planning in Europe finally paid off. Because John had been planning for a long time and had been operating covertly, many people discovered that John had a considerable amount of assets in East Germany after reunification, many of which were assets they coveted, leaving many stunned.

Looking at Standard Chartered Bank's portfolio, it immediately shocked many people, especially when they learned about its assets in East Germany, which was even more astonishing. However, upon closer examination, it becomes understandable, because John had been trading with the Russians, primarily through barter, but currency was often needed, resulting in Standard Chartered Bank's enormous assets.

The Americans set their sights on the Russians, while John set his sights on East Germany. Now, the reunification of Germany has brought John huge profits, showing many how brilliant his strategy was and how terrifying his vision was. Such methods have also made many people shudder.

(End of this chapter)