Manhattan Reborn 1978

Europe.

London, England.

Docklands Port Area, located at the estuary of the Thames River and east of the city, was the most concentrated service-oriented commercial port area in the world's shipping and shipbuilding industries before the 50s.

At its peak, the Docklands Port Area had more than 8 commercial ports, covering an area of ​​about 14 square kilometers, providing more than jobs for London.

However, as a estuary port, London's inherent limitations on the river determine that it will not be able to carry increasingly larger container ships.

As a result, ports continued to move towards estuaries away from London.

In 1976, London lost 15 jobs related to the shipping industry. The ports in the Dockland Port area were closed one after another. There were numerous bankrupt companies. Many port land plots were nationalized by the London government and were prepared to be auctioned at public auctions. An expansion area is being built in the increasingly crowded City of London. .

(This area is now London’s famous Canary Wharf financial district.)

. . .

It's approaching evening~

sunset.

The top floor of a high-rise building near Docklands.

Carnes was holding a cup of hot coffee in his hand, standing by the window with a frown, looking at the Thames bathed in the sunset in the distance, and looking at the heir to the Duke of Westminster, Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, beside him. , asked curiously.

"Your father wants to buy that land?"

"Um.."

"Does he have that much cash?"

"should have."

Jellal turned his head and glanced at Angres Holm and Bill Gutherland sitting far behind him, and whispered.

"My father wants to sell part of the family's investment in Xiangjiang to buy this land."

"Xiangjiang?"

Kanes, who was about to leave for Xiangjiang, asked more interestedly: "What does he want to sell?"

"If the price is right, how about selling it to me?"

"you?"

"Yup!"

Kanes saw that although Jellal showed a hint of surprise in his tone, he controlled his expression very well, making him look very stable, so he deliberately teased.

"My views on the future development of Hong Kong are basically the same as David's."

"We are all more inclined to be optimistic about it than to be pessimistic like you..."

"pessimistic?"

"Haha~" Jellal smiled and shook his head, feeling a little weak and sighing.

"In the past half month, Angres Holm has been helping my father handle business in Xiangjiang."

"Like you, he is very optimistic about the development of Xiangjiang's real estate and financial industries."

"But neither he nor I could convince my dad, let alone make him change his decision..."

"so what?"

"Are you really not going to invest in cooperation with us?"

"Of course... no!" Jellal raised his eyebrows and said with a long note deliberately following Carnes's habit.

"Holm met many people in Xiangjiang this time and had a very in-depth chat with them about the reasons for withdrawing investment from Xiangjiang."

"In addition, he also conducted a very detailed business investigation on many major real estate companies and financial companies in Xiangjiang~"

"He feels that if we have enough funds, we can start with HSBC's acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa shares and tentatively increase investment in Xiangjiang."

"Hutchison Whampoa?"

"What industry is it in?"

"Who mortgaged it to HSBC?" Kanes asked "three questions in a row" with great interest, which made Gerard couldn't help but laugh.

He turned to wave to Holm and said with a smile: "He can give you all the information you want."

"But I must make a statement beforehand!"

"These information are not free!"

"Holm spent a lot of effort and time to collect and organize them."

"Tch~" Kanes despised Jellal's "stinginess" and waved directly to Holm who looked over.

"I don't want it if it's not free!"

"You should keep it for yourself!"

"Hahaha~" Jellal smiled proudly and patted Karnes on the shoulder.

Kanes looked at him laughing and was about to say something sarcastic when he heard a familiar and "annoying" voice coming from the distance.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen!"

"Otis Parker?" Bill Gutherland turned around and saw this annoying guy with a gentleman's smile on his lips, and asked with his lips curled up.

"Why did you come here again?"

"Haha~" Mr. Parker ignored the hint of "disgust" in his words, walked slowly to Kanes and Jellal, and whispered.

"My boss, let me come over and deliver a message to you."

"Clear all crude oil spot stocks as soon as possible!"

"what?"

"What does he mean?" Kanes stopped laughing.

He stared at Mr. Parker quietly, waiting for his further explanation.

Mr. Parker smiled and invited Karnes and Gerard to sit down and said in a calm voice.

"I received this message from him three hours ago."

"But he didn't explain the reasons for doing this in his mouth."

"So in order to give you a reasonable explanation, I spent three hours collecting some interesting information. I hope you can make your own judgment."

"Say~" Karnes frowned and waved his hand to Mr. Parker.

Mr. Parker glanced at the four people and said with a serious expression.

"First of all, after the OPEC meeting held in Kuwait City a few days ago, there was a wait-and-see atmosphere in the international crude oil market that stopped panic buying."

"Because since Iran announced the suspension of crude oil exports at the end of last year, the price of international crude oil spot market has soared from around 14 meters to nearly 30 meters in the past two months."

“Many international crude oil traders and large companies are trying every means to grab oil, and the hype atmosphere of chasing the rise and killing the fall is on the verge of getting out of control~”

"Especially the United States, the largest crude oil importer in the world!"

"In major cities in the east and west of the country, gas stations have been hoarding fuel and reluctant to sell it, which has further aggravated the panic buying mood."

"The United States suffered a lot in the last oil crisis."

"Prior to the establishment of the Department of Energy in 1977, energy jurisdiction was dispersed among more than 40 federal agencies."

"As the 12th cabinet agency in U.S. history, the Department of Energy integrates the functions of the Energy Research and Development Administration, the U.S. Energy Administration and the Federal Energy Commission."

"The power marketing agencies, which previously reported to the Ministry of Interior, have also switched to reporting to the Department of Energy."

"but!"

Mr. Parker's tone changed and he smiled.

“Since President Warren White was successfully elected, international oil prices have been in a state of relatively stable fluctuations. The newly established Department of Energy has formulated a series of strategic crude oil reserve plans for this purpose, which have also been slowed down and slowed down in congressional meetings. Put it aside.”

"It wasn't until around August last year that the Department of Energy reached a cooperation agreement with the Mexican government to establish a strategic reserve capable of storing 600 million barrels of crude oil in the country."

"Half a year has passed and the reserve cooperation plan is coming to an end, but the amount of crude oil in storage is far from the expected amount in the plan."

"So, just yesterday evening, U.S. time, the U.S. Department of Energy officially submitted a crude oil spot purchase plan to the Mexican government. It is expected to take two months to purchase 500 million barrels of crude oil as a strategic reserve."

When Mr. Parker said this, he looked around the four people, raised his eyebrows and smiled.

"Guess what the price of this purchase plan is?"

"Do you think it's fun to do this?" Bill Gutherland stared at Mr. Parker sharply and said in a slightly cold voice.

"Haha~" Mr. Parker's eyes flashed with excitement, looking at the gloomy Karnes, he raised his left hand and smiled.

"17.5 meters per barrel!"

“The Mexican government agreed?”

"Of course!"

"But~ although the two parties have not signed a formal agreement yet, this news is undoubtedly a major negative for the international crude oil market!"

"in addition!!"

"Chevron, the largest oil company in the United States, also issued an announcement last night~"

"It has signed a two-year cooperation agreement with Petrobras."

“The content of this agreement includes that Petrobras will sell more than 6 million barrels of crude oil to Chevron every year at a price of 2500% of the international crude oil market price.”

"2500?"

"What was Brazil's total crude oil export volume last year?" Canes heard this sensitive number and immediately looked at Bill Gutherland.

Bill frowned and shook his head slightly: "Last year's export figures are not important."

"That's right!" Mr. Parker answered.

"The important thing is that this is another piece of news that is negative for the spot price of crude oil!"

"And~" Mr. Parker successfully attracted the attention of several people with another twist.

He already liked this appetizing way of speaking. After a brief pause, he continued.

"Last night, a spokesperson for President White's cabinet advisory group publicly stated to several media~"

"They will vigorously promote the Clean Air Act passed by Congress this year and launch a series of preferential policies to encourage domestic refined oil manufacturers to increase investment in producing e5 ethanol gasoline containing ethanol!"

"e5?"

"Ethanol gasoline containing 5% ethanol?" Bill took a deep breath and asked Mr. Parker.

"Yes!"

"But isn't there someone who has done experiments on ethanol gasoline and thinks that it will damage the service life of the engine during the combustion process?" Angres Holm, who had been silent just now and had no sense of presence, suddenly asked .

"Haha~" Mr. Parker tilted his head and looked at him, smiling.

"I can answer your question by borrowing what Bill said just now."

"None of these...are important!"

"Including several American TV stations broadcasting this news last night, they also predicted that President White may consider promoting E10 ethanol gasoline on a large scale in the country to cope with the possible recurrence of the oil crisis."

"But from the data I can collect, currently, of the more than 12 gas stations in the United States, only more than 700 can provide ethanol gasoline to customers."

"In the past few years, this number was only over 200."

"But these figures do not prevent it from becoming the last straw to cool down the price of international crude oil market!"

"..." The four of them fell into silence.

Mr. Parker was very happy to appreciate the thoughtful expressions of the four people. He tapped his fingers lightly on the leather surface of the sofa and continued in a relaxed voice.

"There is another latest news that you may not know~"

"The Trilateral Commission will hold an emergency meeting in New York the day after tomorrow, U.S. time."

"The main content they will discuss at the meeting includes how to deal with the skyrocketing international oil prices in the past two months!"

"The convener of this meeting, David Rockefeller Sr., also specially invited Herman Kahn of the Hersend Institute to attend the meeting."

"Herman Kahn, do you know?"

Karnes and Jellal both shook their heads silently, saying that they had never heard of this name.

Angres Holm glanced at several people and turned to Bill, and said.

"Herman Kahn is the soul of the Hudson Institute and the most influential and controversial futurist in recent years."

"After the establishment of the Hudson Institute, he served as director for many years. His influence was everywhere in the institute. People called him the Herman of the Hudson."

"Herman Kahn, in recent years, has switched from studying defense issues to studying economic issues. He has published "Imagine the Unthinkable", "What's Coming", "The Island Challenge", "The Next Two Hundred Years" and "On Upgrading" and other well-known works."

"The last time I went to New York, I heard that he was preparing to publish a book called "World Economic Development in 1979 and Beyond."

"If the Trilateral Commission invites him to attend the meeting..."

"What will happen?" Bill asked cooperatively.

Holm smiled bitterly and spread his hands: "How do I know!"

"Haha~" Mr. Parker laughed very amusedly.

"I have a friend in the Energy Information Administration, which is under the U.S. Department of Energy."

"He said that if the U.S. government cannot take effective measures to control the continued rise in oil prices, it will definitely set off an even more crazy wave of speculation in the international market, causing oil prices to skyrocket several times as they did during the last oil crisis."

"So, although there are ongoing debates within the US government, they all have a very clear tacit understanding and consensus."

"If the United States experiences another violent impact from the oil crisis, the U.S. economy will fall into the largest economic crisis since the Great Depression!"

"This kind of crisis will not be diverted by the will of one person or some people..."

"It will only make people who can't see hope become more panic and pessimistic!"

Mr. Parker looked at Karnes, stood up slowly, and smiled.

"My boss, David Coleman, has finished the message I brought you."

"How to decide? Please send someone to inform me after you make your decision."

"I can give the boss an accurate answer."

"No, I'll tell you now!" Karnes waved his hand very decisively, looked at Bill and said.

"You go contact the buyer and we will clear out all crude oil spots now!"

"..you sure?"

"Ok!"

A trace of relief flashed across Bill's face, and he asked again: "According to the current oil price, we may not make much money..."

"Are you sure you want to sell?"

"Yes!" Kanes nodded affirmatively again and said to Jellal sitting next to him.

"Can the loan I applied for from your family bank be revoked first?"

"Yes, yes."

"But..." Jellal glanced at Mr. Parker who was standing there and did not continue.

Karnes guessed what he wanted to say, waved his hand to Bill Gutherland, and said very decisively.

"Go ahead and do it~"

"As long as we don't lose money, you can find a way to clear all the positions as quickly as possible!"

"Okay~" Bill knew in his heart that he had to race against time now.

He nodded to Mr. Parker, expressed his thanks, got up and left quickly.

When Mr. Parker saw that Carnes made such a major decision in just a few minutes, he suppressed his sigh and smiled.

"Then can I leave now and tell my boss the news?"

"Well~ you go ahead."

"By the way, tell David that I will wait for him in Xiangjiang."

"Ok."

Otis Parker, gone.

After Jellal made eye contact with Holm, he looked at Karnes and asked.

"If the U.S. government could come up with strong measures to control oil prices, the last oil crisis would not have happened."

"I know~"

"But you still..."

"Yeah!" Kanes smiled and nodded, expressing his confidence that he understood everything in his heart, and explained simply.

"You should also know my character very well~"

“Compared to whether I can make money, I would rather trust David’s judgment on the current situation.”

"Believe in your friends and believe in yourself!"

"This is my character and the principle of doing things that I have always liked."

"So even if he doesn't make much money from this investment, I wouldn't blame him for being cautious."

Karnes leaned back on the sofa, looked at the ceiling with a somewhat wandering gaze, and said in a low voice.

"No matter what his considerations were, he really gave me 2 million yuan to invest in crude oil spot!"

"He did what none of my family could do~"

"Say it!"

"I don't believe him, who should I believe?"

Jellal and Holm were silent.

Mutual trust between friends may seem very common when spoken of, but it is extremely difficult to practice!

2 million yuan. .

I don’t know where that kid David got the money, but he actually gave it to Carnes and asked him to make a big gamble. .

If it were anyone else, would they dare?

Jellal asked himself, shaking his head with a wry smile that felt powerless in his heart.

Holm looked at Karnes with twinkling eyes, was silent for a while, and then suddenly spoke.

"What Odis Parker mentioned just now...ethanol gasoline, do you understand it?"

"Of course not~"

"Why do we know it?" Kanes said very matter-of-factly.

Holm sighed speechlessly and said: "The best ethanol preparation method in the world currently is to use high temperature and high pressure + adding biological enzymes to prepare high-concentration anhydrous ethanol from corn starch."

"But the industrialization cost of this preparation method is relatively high and may not be possible on a large scale."

"high cost?"

“Does it cost as much as oil?”

"Uh..." Holm was speechless by Karnes' questioning.

Jellal couldn't help but rolled his eyes, patted him and said.

"Holm means..."

"I know!" Karnes raised his hand and scratched his forehead, laughing.

"Can the U.S. government really promote ethanol gasoline on a large scale in the country? Will the American people accept ethanol gasoline?"

"These are actually not important!"

"It is being raised again now as a means of cooling down the international oil price speculation market."

"So in the short term, the upward trend of international oil prices may slowly shift into a period of shock adjustment, and it will only rise again after the next major news that is good for oil prices is revealed."

Kanes pointed his finger at his chest and said: "More than half of the crude oil spot I hold was purchased using financial leverage."

"The international oil price has entered a period of volatility. If I continue to hold this batch of crude oil spot, the interest cost of financial leverage will continue to increase my psychological pressure and put me in a state of anxiety."

"Huh~ I understand." Jellal let out a long breath, looked at Kanesi who was decisive in dealing with things, and shook his head with a little envy.

"You're so lucky!"

"Hahaha~"

"Luck is also contagious!"

Holm saw the two of them smiling at each other, and an interesting smile appeared on his lips.