In his stock layout, in addition to the initial 2 million pounds used to purchase NetEase stock, Barron's main focus was on Amazon stock.
The company went public on May 15, 1997. In the last round of the Internet bubble, the stock price reached its previous high of $113 in December 1999. If the stock split is taken into account, the company's stock price has risen by about 100 times compared to when it was listed!
However, the bursting of the Internet bubble also seriously affected the company's stock price. At the lowest point, Amazon's stock price even exceeded $5, which can be said to have fallen by nearly 95%!
However, starting this year, as Amazon announced that it had begun to make profits, the company's stock price began to recover.
In early July, Amazon's stock price was hovering around $12, but Baron knew that by early December, the company's stock price would rise to over $25, more than doubling.
Not only that, if the time continues to extend, Baron knows that in the future, Amazon's stock price will still increase by more than a hundred times.
More importantly, the market cap of this stock is huge!
Amazon and Apple can be regarded as super high-quality potential stocks with large market caps and a growth rate of more than 100 times!
Therefore, Barron took out 10 million pounds and used 5 times leverage to finance and invest in this stock.
However, Apple's stock price did not start to rise dramatically until the iPhone came out.
This year, its stock price will not only not rise, but may even fall. Therefore, at this stage of Barron's capital accumulation, it is not the time to start buying Apple stock.
Barron invested the remaining 10 million pounds in the US and British stock markets. Among the stocks he selected, there are some that could rise more than 5 times in the second half of this year. However, those stocks are small-cap stocks, so for safety reasons, not much money can be invested, and the maximum purchase amount is generally no more than 1 million pounds.
…
"Daisy, please help me contact a headhunting company. I need an assistant."
"Boss, you didn't tell me before that I need to be responsible for so many tasks. I need to register the company, confirm the office, and then buy stocks and futures. It's really not easy for you to get your salary..."
Hearing Daisy's complaints on the phone, Barron knew that she was indeed busy recently, so he comforted her:
"My beautiful Daisy, you know, everything is just beginning now, so there will definitely be more things to do. Don't worry, when the company makes a profit, I will give you a satisfactory bonus."
"I'm afraid that I'll be exhausted before I get the money. Where's the tolerance and gentlemanliness of the nobles? Why do I feel that you are becoming more and more like those capitalists..."
"Haha, I take that as a compliment."
"Goodbye. Well, now that you have an assistant, I can get rid of those tedious daily affairs."
She said this as if accepting her fate.
Daisy's words made Barron smile.
"That's right. I hope it can be done as soon as possible. In addition, you should also hurry up and form an investment team. After all, you can't do everything yourself. When the amount of funds increases in the future, you will definitely not be able to handle it by yourself."
"Wow, this is the most comforting thing for me today. In addition, regarding the assistant, do you have any requirements? Boss, pretty? Big? Or do you need more considerate service?"
As expected, Daisy still had the same personality, but Barron was not afraid at all:
"If these are the only requirements, I'm afraid I should keep you and not look for another assistant... Oh, except that Xiong Da is too demanding for you."
"F**K, Barron, you..."
"Just kidding, Daisy, but you should know what kind of abilities an assistant needs..."
…
Now that he has the funds, Barron is more confident and starts to pay attention to the situation in King's Cross again.
"Dear Ms. Moore, I wonder how the investigation is going in King's Cross?"
"The situation over there is a bit complicated..."
Her words reminded Barron that Viscount Bute had said something similar that day, which made him curious.
Yulia pointed to the map on the table and said,
"King's Cross is located in the center of Camden, which is a relatively core area in Greater London. The biggest regional advantage here is the transportation hub - it has King's Cross Station and St. Pancras Railway Station. King's Cross Station is a transportation hub connecting to the UK, and St. Pancras Railway Station is the terminus of the Eurostar in the UK and the gateway station connecting the UK to the European continent."
"I already know all of this. Let's get to the point, Ms. Moore."
Yulia glanced at Barron, bit her lip, and continued:
"Your Highness, you should know that King's Cross was originally an industrial area. With convenient transportation, there were factories, grain stores, and warehouses everywhere. But after the electrification era, coal transportation was gradually eliminated. In addition, Britain began to deindustrialize, and it became a slum, full of drugs, prostitutes, low-end nightclubs and strip clubs, becoming a synonym for dirtiness and chaos..."
"Even now, the land prices in King's Cross are much cheaper than other parts of London."
"But the problem is that after investigation, very little of the land around that area is currently in private hands. At least one-third of the land belongs to coal, grain and cloth merchants..."
Yulia's words also made Barron suddenly realize.
In some street literature, it is inevitable to exaggerate and attribute the entire world to the control of one or several secret groups, such as the Freemasons, or the Papal Knights. This conspiracy theory is very popular among ordinary people who like to hunt for novelty.
Well, just like the Duke, in some people's minds, he may be extremely powerful and can use the power of the country at will. His mercenaries or gunmen can go to any country to deal with those who offend them...
But in reality, the oldest non-royal duke, the Duke of Norfolk, presided over the funeral of the King of England... and then had his driver's license revoked by a policeman for violating traffic regulations.
Another duke, the Duke of Roxburgh, a member of the London Guild, was also fined for fare evasion on the Tube.
Speaking of the London Guild, according to rumors, it is said to control the economic lifeline of Britain and hold trillions of pounds of wealth...
In fact, the Livery company evolved from the guilds, and its history can be traced back to the Middle Ages. In certain industries, craftsmen and merchants formed groups to supervise industry skills and trade transactions.
Today, there are more than 100 guilds of various names throughout London, some of which are new and some are old, and some have a history of thousands of years.
Indeed, some trade guilds with a long history not only have prominent members, but have also accumulated a lot of wealth themselves. In particular, some trade guilds that have obtained royal charters have a certain say in the industry.
For example, trade guilds such as goldsmiths and wine merchants not only have the qualifications to identify the quality of related products, but also have a great say in the formulation of industry standards.
Many ancient trade guilds are not even supervised.
Moreover, these guilds owned a lot of land. According to a survey by Datscha, a commercial real estate data company, the Drapers' Guild and the Goldsmiths' Guild were two of the largest landlords in London, ranking 55th and 73rd respectively in London.
If the two guilds' holdings are combined, they own more land in the City of London than the supermarket chains Sainsbury's and National Grid.
As Yulia mentioned, because of the deep involvement in the development of King's Cross, some of the land there has always belonged to the relevant trade guilds.