On the last Thursday before June, a layer of visible dark clouds hung over Manhattan Island, New York, as if heavy rain was about to fall.
In order to avoid the heavy rain and the stuffy air, Ben unconsciously quickened his pace.
This was Wall Street. If the global economy was a complex neural network in the human brain, then this street was the most sensitive and critical part of this complex neural network.
As a top student who graduated from Harvard and was an elite in the investment banking industry under Goldman Sachs, Ben was one of the most sensitive neurons in the world …
Ben went into the company and stood in the elevator. He avoided his colleague who was walking toward him. He walked into his office and placed his briefcase on the table.
His colleague, who was one step ahead of him, turned his chair and looked at him.
"Did you pay attention to the news this morning?"
Ben: "I woke up a little late today, did something happen?"
Carell: "It is because nothing has happened that I feel like something is about to happen. You know, yesterday afternoon, our Department of Justice announced that they have key evidence that proves that the patent acquisition from six years ago was illegal. I've been waiting for news from Star Sky Technology … Or rather, China, but I haven't heard anything yet. You should be able to tell that this is unusual. "
He took out his tools from his briefcase and placed them on his desk.
Ben turned on his computer and shook his head. He spoke in a disappointed tone.
"It's not just unusual, the longer it takes, the more serious the situation is. I can't think of any reason that would make China choose to let this go. I told you long ago that using an antitrust investigation against Star Sky Technology was a stupid decision, and now the White House wants to use the Department of Justice to overturn the patent acquisition from six years ago, which is even more stupid! Do they think they're the only ones who can do the same thing? How naive! "
If it was five years ago, other than the fact that they had no reason to do so, they would have done it anyway.
At that time, killing Star Sky Technology would be no different from killing an ant.
But now, whether it was the international situation, international influence, or technological strength, it was completely different from when the previous president was in office.
Especially with the failure of the Ares program, the Mars rescue, and the official unveiling of the ILHCRC, more and more countries began to admit that the center of the world had shifted from the intersection of Times Square to the center of the Pacific Ocean.
If the bureaucrats in the White House had a little strategic vision, they would discover that the cross-regional power grid that was spreading like a spider web in Southeast Asia and Central Asia had completely eroded the influence of North America in the region.
Because of the positive factors that the Mars rescue had won for China in the international community, as well as the radiation effect of the cross-regional power grid on the economic growth of the covered area, more and more small countries had taken the initiative to open their doors.
Under such circumstances, trying a high-tech company in China under domestic law would not only not gain any benefits, but it would also cause a lot of trouble.
Of course …
Perhaps the White House had no choice.
But that was not something Baim could complain about.
Carell spun the ballpoint pen in his hand and spoke in a contemplative tone.
"That's for the big shots to worry about. Since it's already happened, there's no way we can stop. We just have to go with the flow. I just want to know, what are China's countermeasures? "
He paused for a second and shrugged. He said, "This is related to our operational strategy for the next two days, as well as whether we can have a relaxing weekend."
"It's difficult to predict China's actions. Right now, they're better than us in at least two key areas, so it's theoretically possible for them to attack either side." Baim, who was already in a working state, thought for a while and said, "I'm more inclined to think that they might protest today, give the White House some buffer time, and then issue their first countermeasures next Monday …"
"Which area do you think they're going to attack?"
"I don't know, it's possible anywhere. I suggest that we should focus on reducing our positions today and appropriately withdraw some funds to balance the risk. Especially the West Coast utilities and electricity-related companies that we heavily invested in a while ago … Tesla and Mobil, but we don't seem to have bet on them, so it should be fine. "
Carell snapped his fingers.
"Good idea, we're thinking the same thing."
Baim curled his lips in his mind. I'm the one who came up with all this.
However, they weren't in the company's morning meeting anyway. They were all on the same boat, so he didn't care about such a small matter.
The entire morning, the capital market was relatively calm. It was like the dark clouds outside the window. It was so boring that it made people feel uncomfortable.
Baim chewed on his sandwich and sat at his desk with his feet crossed. He stared at the news on his computer screen and took a sip of his coffee.
"Carell."
"What's up, my friend?"
"Don't you think the market is a bit too calm this morning?"
"You're saying this is the calm before the storm?"
"I do think so," murmured Ben, looking at the dark clouds outside the window, as if talking to himself. "We all know it's coming, but what I want to know is what date it will be."
"Speaking of which, today is Thursday."
Baim was confused, and he looked at his colleague.
"Yeah, why?"
"The movie I've been waiting for a month is finally going to be released today."
Baim: "…"
I'm f * cking discussing business with you, and you're talking about a movie?
The news continued to play on the computer screen.
Brazil's Vale iron ore company had just announced an increase in production. The next piece was Belgium's Umicore Group's announcement to invest 1 billion euros in a new chemical park in Southeast Asia to fill the demand gap for lithium anode materials in the Asia- Pacific region.
Baim put his attention back on his computer and realized that there was a strange pattern to the news.
That was, out of every 10 news articles, five were related to China.
Even if it wasn't directly related, it was at least indirectly related.
For example, Brazil's Vale iron ore company announced an increase in production because of the booming infrastructure market in Southeast Asia, which led to the rise in iron ore prices. According to the professional analysis of the investment bank, the cross-regional power grid played an extremely important role …
As for why there was such a huge demand gap for lithium anode materials, some people were even researching the introduction of modified PDMS materials into the futures market.
Just as he was thinking about whether there was any important investment information behind the news, the host standing in the online news broadcast room suddenly took a note from the assistant next to him.
The news anchor glanced at the contents of the note and his face suddenly changed.
Even though they were separated by a screen, Ben could tell that something was wrong with the host's expression.
This kind of thing happened from time to time on both online news platforms and TV news platforms.
Often, the news that was inserted into the news was incredible.
However, just as Baim was about to put down his leather shoes and listen carefully to the news anchor, the next two sentences that the news anchor said almost made him fall off his office chair.
"… Here's an important piece of news.
"According to our reporters in China, just an hour ago, China's environmental protection department suddenly intervened in the investigation of East Asia Power's nuclear core export project to California. According to sources familiar with the matter, due to policy reasons, the project will be suspended for at least a month. The specific restart date has not been determined. "
"Sh * t!"
Baim stared at the computer screen with a look of horror in his eyes. A drop of cold sweat gradually slid down his forehead.
He was negligent.
He underestimated the determination of the China people.
China's counterattack was inevitable, even the security guard downstairs knew this.
He just didn't expect everything to happen so suddenly, so suddenly that he didn't even have time to prepare in advance …
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