America's Road to Fame

Chapter 141 The End of Bear Stearns

Hearing Miranda's words, Chen Weilian felt that she was also a wonderful person, so he couldn't help asking her:

"Aren't you afraid that I might misunderstand something when you talk to me like this?"

"Misunderstanding? What kind of misunderstanding? Do you think I have a crush on you, but this is not a misunderstanding."

Feeling the hotness in Miranda's eyes when she said this, Chen Weilian didn't expect that even a supermodel couldn't control his own charm?It's really troublesome.

"It feels a little stuffy in this room, want to go out for a walk, together?"

Miranda took the initiative to invite, at this time, William Chen would naturally not refuse.

The two were walking in the nearby garden, and they could vaguely hear the voices in the room, as well as the occasional people coming in and out at the door.

"William."

?

When William Chen heard Miranda suddenly say his name softly, he couldn't help turning his head to look at her.

It was almost late November at this time, and the temperature in New York had dropped significantly, so both of them wore coats specially.

At this time, Miranda's face was half covered by the tree shadow under the moonlight, making her look a bit more mysterious.

"Actually, I met you a long time ago, William, and we talked, maybe you have forgotten."

Hearing what she said, William Chen couldn't find the relevant hundreds of millions from the memory of his predecessor. He couldn't help being a little worried. Could it be that she had some entanglement with his predecessor in the past?
But she continued to say:
"It was three years ago, not long after I came to the United States, I met you for the first time when I attended a Hollywood party with my friends. At that time, you were already a big star. At that time, I was just an ugly duckling. In the crowd, I looked at you silently, you are so handsome, like a prince in a fairy tale, your whole body is shining."

The two of them stood under the tree like this, William Chen silently listened to her memories:

"When I was talking to others, I could feel that those big stars, on the surface, had approachable smiles, but in fact they were either impatient or had other thoughts in their hearts. Only when they greeted you, did your smile It’s from the bottom of my heart, William, I still remember that scene to this day, when I finally got some fame and wanted to meet you, you had already left Hollywood.”

Miranda sighed softly, her eyes were shining, she looked at William Chen and said:
"Do you believe in fate? William, I can see you today. I believe this should be the arrangement of fate. I don't want to wait any longer."

If someone else said these words, William Chen would subconsciously take them as a special compliment to himself, but now looking at the woman with shining eyes in front of him, he somewhat believes that these words are true, if they can all be staged , then this kind of acting skills should go to Hollywood to film, and he will definitely win the best actress.

Seeing that after she finished speaking, William Chen just remained silent and did not give the reaction she expected. Miranda asked with a bit of disappointment on her face:
"What? William, have I frightened you?"

"No, it's just that you may have heard about me, Miranda, I admit that I'm a bit of a scumbag, but those situations...you should understand, but for someone like you who is emotionally invested, I don't want to hurt you .”

William Chen considered his words and said this to Miranda.

"I understand, William, but feelings are hard to control, aren't they? But I'm already mentally prepared, even if it's just a good memory, I only hope that person is you."

Now that Miranda had already said that, William Chen naturally did not hesitate any longer. He opened his arms, pulled Miranda into his arms, and kissed her lips.

Miranda felt the warmth in William Chen's embrace, closed her eyes, and began to meet his kisses, gradually immersed in the tenderness of the two.

At this time, the temperature outside could not affect the growing love between the two at all. After they ended a kiss that seemed to have lasted for a century, Miranda said in William Chen's ear:

"Let's go, William, wherever we want."

Looking at the ripples in her eyes, William Chen knew that she was moved, so he didn't hesitate anymore, took her hand, and left here.

When they got into Chen William's Rolls-Royce, the car started, and Chen William turned the partition into black, so he couldn't wait to kiss Miranda again. Seeing that the back had been shielded from the driver's cab, she no longer held back. , the two immediately embraced again...

……

On November 11, two funds under Bear Stearns, the fifth largest investment bank in the United States, reported losses due to their involvement in the subprime mortgage bond market.

This news called William Chen back to the company from the gentle hometown of Miranda.Before he left, Miranda asked reluctantly, "When will we meet next time, William."

"As long as you have time, anytime, dear."

Upon hearing his promise, Miranda showed a sweet smile on her face. After kissing him, she straightened his tie.

The next day, in the face of an interview, the spokesperson of Bear Stearns admitted the rumors that the two funds were losing money, but did not specify the amount of the loss.It is said that the two funds, when they were the largest, once exceeded 200 billion US dollars.

On the same day, the stock price of Bear Stearns fell from the previous high of 170 US dollars to below 135 US dollars, a drop of more than 20%.

A few days later, under the pressure of investors, Bear Stearns finally issued an announcement, claiming that after verification, the two funds that have fallen into losses due to their involvement in the subprime mortgage bond market are expected to lose more than 100. over US$[-] million.

All of a sudden, the company was surrounded by angry investors, who strongly demanded an investigation into this loss, and even did not rule out taking Bear Stearns to court.

Infected by this panic, Bear Stearns' stock fell below $100 that day.

Finally, under the intervention of the US Securities Regulatory Commission, Bear Stearns admitted that the losses of the two funds were more serious than expected, and that they might be unable to recover. In fact, the two funds were worthless.

The company's co-president and co-chief operating officer, Warren Spector, resigned the same day.

Bear Stearns issued a statement on the same day, saying that the company hopes to restore investors' confidence through the adjustment of senior personnel.Alan Schwart, the company's other co-president, will become the company's sole president.

Once the news was disclosed, all investors immediately took Bear Stearns to court, believing that the company had misled investors in subprime mortgage investment.

Affected by this, the stock of Bear Stearns plummeted 50% that day, falling directly below $50.And because of this company's drag, the overall financial stocks were in a downturn that day, and investors from various investment banks began to ask about the losses of their funds that were also involved in the subprime mortgage securities market.

So the first Nomino fell, causing a chain reaction. In the following time, various investment banks, including Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, Citibank, Lehman Brothers... issued announcements one after another. Funds in the subprime mortgage bond market were all in the red.

The market began to focus on the subprime mortgage bond market. The 3A-rated CDO bond index plummeted. Within a week, it fell from above 60 to below 30, a drop of more than 50%. The 3B-rated CDO bond almost become waste paper.

A week later, Bear Stearns, whose losses continued to increase due to its deep involvement in subprime mortgage bonds, announced that then-CEO James Cain resigned, and his successor was company president Alan Schwartz.

At this time, the stock price of Bear Stearns has fallen from the previous high of 170 US dollars to below 30 US dollars, with a cumulative decline of more than 82%.

At the same time, Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, and Lehman Brothers, the stocks of the other three investment banks that Chen William used to short-sell $16 billion from Goldman Sachs, all experienced a cumulative decline of more than 50% during this period, of which Lehman Brothers suffered the largest decline. , has exceeded 75%.

The most frightening thing is that in addition to its proprietary bond business, Bear Stearns, as a senior securities dealer, also undertakes the settlement bank business.

After the credit crisis, many customers doubted Bear Stearns' asset status and withdrew their capital from Bear Stearns one after another, and the company's operating funds were insufficient.

There were rumors on Wall Street that some large investment banks and hedge funds began to refuse to accept securities transactions related to Bear Stearns.In the days that followed, the credit crisis triggered a run and financing difficulties, and Bear Stearns' $170 billion in cash was quickly drained.

Faced with this critical situation, Bear Stearns had to seek help from the US federal government. Their CEO sent a letter of distress, claiming that Bear Stearns would face bankruptcy if they did not receive support.

Since Bear Stearns manages a large number of client assets and provides guarantee and clearing services for a large number of small and medium-sized market traders, if Bear Stearns goes bankrupt due to liquidity exhaustion, the US bond market will be severely impacted, and a large number of small and medium-sized traders will not function properly because it cannot be cleared.If investors' funds are frozen because they cannot be liquidated, the market will not be able to trade normally.

After receiving Bear Stearns' call for help, US Treasury Secretary Paulson attached great importance to it and urgently discussed Bear Stearns' situation with Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke and New York Federal Reserve Bank President Geithner.

(End of this chapter)