America: My Time

Chapter 873 Buying at the Bottom?

Chapter 843 Buying at the Bottom?
Traveling south from Beijing to Hong Kong, John was exhausted, but the experience provided a comprehensive understanding of coastal development and allowed him to better plan for the future. Upon arriving in Hong Kong, John was filled with mixed emotions. In a few years, Hong Kong would be restored to its former glory, but a new storm was brewing, and he needed to be prepared to avoid being outmaneuvered by that scoundrel, Soros. John hadn't forgotten Soros's past provocations, and Hong Kong would be the place where he would face off against him. Most importantly, John held substantial assets in Hong Kong; a large portion of British assets were in his hands, and he naturally didn't want anything to happen to Hong Kong.

However, before the showdown in Hong Kong, John will teach Soros a lesson, a lesson about the pound, making Soros take the blame for his actions. The pound crisis is fast approaching, and perhaps Soros is already preparing. John needs to be vigilant and cannot afford to be careless!

"So, do you think there's a problem with making Hong Kong the group's headquarters?"

“There’s a problem, and a big problem. Hong Kong’s market is too small. It’s better to have Seoul as the headquarters than Hong Kong, or even Taiwan!” Lee Boo-jin didn’t think there was anything good about having Hong Kong as the headquarters. Other companies need to use Hong Kong as a springboard, but John doesn’t need to. There’s absolutely no need for that.

“This isn’t about market size, it’s about location and environment. Hong Kong is a free port, and it’s better to have the headquarters here than in Seoul!” John didn’t think Lee Boo-jin didn’t understand the advantages of having Hong Kong as the headquarters; she was just still thinking about South Korea. South Korea wouldn’t do. After all, the group would be expanding in Asia in the future, and South Korea wouldn’t have such good conditions. John didn’t want South Korea to benefit from this; Hong Kong was the best choice.

Bringing Lee Boo-jin to Hong Kong this time wasn't just for the group's development; it was also to let her meet with Yuan Tianfan of Standard Chartered Bank to ensure the group's funding. Although retail sales are substantial, a full-scale expansion across Asia still requires the help of banks. John can't get money from Japanese banks right now, and interest rates in Japan have increased significantly. Instead of borrowing from those Japanese banks, it's better to let Standard Chartered Bank take over the business, as Standard Chartered Bank is certainly not short of money these days.

"Where did they go? Why are you all alone?" John was puzzled when he saw that only Zhong Da Meiren was there. This was not the case before. Why was this happening this time? Did they all have something to do together? However, John quickly realized that this was their way of resisting Lee Boo-jin's arrival.

“They all have things to do. Sister Mi Xue has a lot of things to take care of. After all, she has chosen to retire from the industry, and there are still some things she needs to do. Things are different now than before; personal relationships are more important now. Over the years, Sister Mi Xue has made quite a few friends.” As for Ye Qianwen and Wang Zuxian’s situation, Chung Chuh-hung didn’t say anything, because it would be useless to say anything; lies simply cannot stand up to scrutiny!
"Forget it, let them be! You have time to spend more time with Fu Zhen. She will be taking over the group's affairs in the future and will be staying in Hong Kong for a longer period of time!" Although it is decided that Hong Kong will be the headquarters after the group's restructuring, the arrangements here have not been completed yet, so the headquarters still needs some time to prepare.

As they spoke, Yuan Tianfan arrived at John's residence in Hong Kong. Although John didn't live there often, and it was managed by Cherie Chung, many people knew about John's appearance in Hong Kong. The news spread quickly, and many wanted to know the purpose of John's visit. The big commotion in the United States was known to the bigwigs in Hong Kong, and his investments in China had also shocked them; the scale was truly astonishing.

"Tianfan, the main reason I called you here today is to introduce you to Fuzhen. She will be in charge of everything at Huikang from now on. You need to arrange the funds needed for the company's expansion, especially in Southeast Asia and Japan. You need to be prepared for that."

"We need to make preparations in Japan. Is the boss planning to buy at the bottom?" Upon hearing John's words, Yuan Tianfan's first thought was to buy at the bottom. After all, the Japanese stock market had collapsed, and now the real estate market had also collapsed. Buying at the bottom was a good option. Judging from Hong Kong's experience, it would soon be time to buy at the bottom in Japan.

"No, we can choose not to buy at the bottom. Japan's situation is different from Hong Kong's. Don't be fooled by those so-called experts who say that land in Japan is as expensive as in Hong Kong—that's all lies. It depends on the situation. Moreover, Japan and Hong Kong are two different things. Most importantly, the Japanese are different from Hong Kongers. They are too extreme and will swing from one extreme to the other. Don't even think about buying at the bottom this year, or even in a few years. I don't see any hope for Japan's real estate market in the future. It will be difficult for it to recover within ten years. The bubble they created before was too big, and the methods of the Japanese government were too violent, almost a one-size-fits-all approach, which directly dealt a heavy blow to them. Don't be fooled by how crazy Japan's consumption was before, buying all over the world. Soon they will swing to the other extreme." John's words surprised Yuan Tianfan and Li Fuzhen. This was completely different from the comments of those experts and scholars. Many people believed that Japan would recover quickly, after all, Japan's economic size was there, and as long as it got through the short period of chaos, it would get back on track.

In fact, the Japanese government itself believes this, and even some Japanese citizens share this view. However, they have no idea how large the loopholes Japan created during the bubble economy were, or how serious the problems with its banks were. Many people believe that Japanese banks are very wealthy and have no shortage of funds, but this is a huge misconception. Soon, Japan's financial system will be in trouble due to corporate bankruptcies and the collapse of the real estate market. Once the banks collapse, the entire country will be plunged into an even greater crisis, not to mention the impending wave of layoffs, leaving countless employees jobless.

John knew perfectly well that the more reckless Japanese companies were during the bubble era, the more disastrous their fate would be. However, not everyone was aware of this. Even Yuan Tianfan, who had been closely monitoring the situation in Japan, couldn't believe that Japan would head down such a path and face an even greater crisis. After all, in his mind, Japan was incredibly powerful—the world's second-largest economy—how could it possibly collapse so easily?

"Boss, should we tighten our belts?" Yuan Tianfan quickly thought of tightening the belts to prevent problems in Japan from affecting Standard Chartered Bank's overall development. If problems occurred there, it could even affect the entire plan.

"We already had preparations for the situation in Japan, so we'll proceed according to the original plan. There's no need to tighten credit, but we need to be cautious about loans. After all, Japan is currently in a huge bubble crisis, and it's impossible to recover in a short time. You can tell this by looking at their overall economic environment. Just like Hong Kong, a chaotic economic environment is not suitable for business development!"

At this moment, Yuan Tianfan said with a wry smile, "There's nothing we can do about it. Those British guys simply ignore it and let those guys cause trouble. Even Wang Dehui got into trouble, and there's still no result. You can see how chaotic it is. I wouldn't say everyone is on edge, but that's close enough. Now nobody trusts the British anymore!"

"Wang Dehui is long dead. So much time has passed; there's no way he could have survived. If I'm not mistaken, he was probably drowned. His downfall was entirely his own doing. He already had an accident in '83, yet he didn't learn his lesson and dared to be careless. Did he lack the funds for bodyguards? A top tycoon without bodyguards—if he didn't get into trouble, who would? And Hong Kong will become even more chaotic. The British are too ruthless; you need to be extra careful. Security is no small matter. If you don't have enough manpower, you can have Jaguar Security Company increase its manpower. At this time, we absolutely cannot let those guys have any improper ideas. Anyone who dares to cause trouble, anyone who dares to mess with us, we'll wipe them out."

When it comes to security, John won't be lenient. If any fools dare to cause trouble, they'll be prepared to die. He can't act in Hong Kong, given the British attitude and the risk of giving them an excuse to target him. But outside Hong Kong, there are fewer such concerns. The Jaguar Security Company's power is not just for show. If a showdown could serve as a warning to others, John wouldn't mind having Jaguar Security Company mobilize to deter potential enemies.

Why has Jaguar Security been so aggressively developing its operations? It's not about revenue, but about personal security and deterring enemies. In the Middle East, it's about deterring those who have designs on them. After the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East, Jaguar Security's strength gained recognition from the wealthy Middle Eastern nations. Furthermore, the global positioning system and the strategic plans Jaguar Security devised for them were validated, demonstrating combat capabilities far exceeding their expectations.

Just look at the large number of orders Gulfstream Aerospace and Bentley Motors have received to see how satisfied Middle Eastern tycoons are with Jaguar Security. This shows how much they approve of the tycoon strategy. Money is not important, but power is extremely important. Without real combat experience, the Middle Eastern tycoons still had some concerns, but now they have no such concerns.

(End of this chapter)