[Chapter 497: The View from the Summit]
On December 29, it was a day to remember, as the stock market in Japan nearly soared to 39,000 points.
If you bought stocks on that day, then congratulations; for the next few decades, you would be living in a tragic world.
A rebound?
It's possible, but it wouldn't be worth much. The market had dropped as low as 8,000 points, a loss of 80%. Even at its peak, it barely reached around 20,000, which meant a significant cut in value. If you factored in the cost of investment, anyone who entered the stock market on that day pretty much lost everything.
For a long time after, the personal savings rate in Japan was the highest in the world. Even when bank interest rates fell to negative numbers, not many were willing to invest in stocks.
Such situations were rare in the world. The U.S. stock market, no matter how much it crashed, always managed to bounce back. As long as you held blue-chip stocks, you were sure to get your investment back.
As for Japan, there was really no solution to this.
Freefall was not a pleasant experience for any economy.
An economic soft landing?
That's already unrealistic; it's no soft landing at all. It was more like hitting the ground face-first.
The critical point was that property and land prices remained stubbornly high without any signs of dropping. They had only lost their momentum for rising.
Of course, don't expect any trading volume now. No matter how bold one might have been, nobody dared to dive in anymore.
"Sir, we lucked out this time. Those guys are likely going to need to discount their profits?"
"They're probably having a hard time selling stocks, huh? If they all tried to sell at once, we might see a panic." William White knew that this bunch wouldn't escape easily.
"Sir, it's not the stocks. They've already made back their initial investments; the rest is profit. They're definitely going to sell off, though if the sell-off is too large, they might hold back. The biggest trouble now is the land and property."
"What's with the prices? Haven't they barely changed? At least they haven't dropped too much, right?"
"Sir, nobody is buying. If this keeps developing, they might have to buy and sell to themselves."
William was taken aback. What kind of operation was that? Why hadn't he heard of it?
Seeing the puzzled expression on William's face, Filson had to explain.
"Sir, it's like you sell the house to me, and I don't need to give you a down payment, or I might provide a false payment info. Borrowing 80% or 70% of the contract price from the bank isn't very hard. The bank system in Japan has too much liquidity."
"I see now. If the prices go up, I keep paying the interest. If they drop too much, I declare bankruptcy. After all, prices would have at least doubled."
"That's pretty much it. When they bought those assets, they used loans, along with some corresponding funds. All in all, through their network, they'll cash out most of their assets unless the land prices crash in a short time."
William let out a sigh. Playing this financial game, the Japanese was no match. If the exchange rate saw a massive devaluation right now, it could prevent this situation.
Even if doing so would invite a harsh blow from the U.S., he could still significantly adjust interest rates. If the borrowing rate shot up to over 20%, these vampires would really suffer.
Unfortunately, Japan couldn't manage such things because Uncle Sam wouldn't allow it. The longer they held this stance, the greater their losses became. Japan wanted to fight back, but they were truly scared of Uncle Sam.
"Filson, did the major consortiums do that too? Do the bank guys in Japan really think they can get away with it?"
"Well, the internal assessment report from Sumitomo Bank shows that this time, property prices won't drop more than 20%."
"Ha, keep an eye out. Let's see just how much they profited, especially from the Rockefeller family and the Rothschild family."
"Sure thing, sir. Those two have significant investments in Japan, especially Rockefeller; they got in early."
"Right, check it out thoroughly."
The plummeting stock market in Japan made other Asian nations extremely anxious. Countries closely tied to the Japan economically were significantly impacted.
Such a crash caught the Japanese off guard; they never anticipated it would be this severe. Now, even rescuing the market seemed too late, and this bubble was one they had actively burst.
Japan was done for; without decades, recovery was impossible.
The good days were over for Japan. Now, a rush of properties from Europe and America were looking for buyers, with everyone throwing their properties onto the market; there would be no good deals left.
This time, Uncle Sam really laid into his little brother; the top ten consortiums became fat pigs. These guys were fortunate enough to still need to pay taxes to the government, unlike those families who weren't held to such standards.
Utilizing offshore accounts to dodge taxes was a must for the elite. The later account, "Currency Wars," described how the Rothschild family amassed a trillion-dollar fortune.
Suddenly, the Rothschild family was known worldwide. Yet, many in Japan still believed in that notion. After William investigated, a trillion wasn't possible; it was only hundreds of billions at most.
The modern-day Rothschild family publicly dispelled the rumors, claiming their wealth was about 8 billion dollars.
William didn't buy it. Half of the world's top vineyards were owned by them, along with numerous luxury brands, various estates, and obscure overseas assets. A family that hoarded several tons of gold after World War II claiming to be worth 8 billion? Please, let's not kid ourselves.
Post-World War II, American high society began fading from public view, with the Morgan family remaining the biggest single shareholders, even after being split into two companies.
As for the Rothschilds, they were essentially coasting on their legacy, since with no substantial political capital, it was impossible for them to earn much more.
Just like William now, many factions were watching him closely; if he showed any weakness, they would surely seize the chance to wipe him out completely.
This time, there would absolutely be a lot of assets speculated in the Japanese market; Rockefeller and Morgan definitely invested plenty, and the Rothschilds had to be involved as well. It was simply understood among them. Those who brought cash back to the U.S. would be a lot, while those who didn't would be even more.
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